Diary of a Navy Wife

Call from Washington, D.C.

2012-02-28T00:19:00.002-05:00

Picture this, I was at work discussing a matter with a colleague when my cell phone starts ringing. I excused myself from the conversation, hoping it was the deployed hubby. A lot of times I don't even look at the Caller ID. I've been known to answer the phone with a "Hey babe!" only to find out it was someone else entirely. I guess it's one of those times when the anticipation doesn't match reality.

However, this time I glanced down to see if it was the bazillion digit number signaling an international phone call. Nope. But it said "Washington, D.C." Had a slight panic attack and answered the phone only to hear a recording requesting I participate in a survey.

Really?!

While I hate to receive that kind of call, on my cell phone no less, I was elated to know that it wasn't my husband or his C.O. calling to say something was wrong. I don't know if I've become a pessimist? Or if I was having flashbacks to my brother rushed to Walter Reed during one of his deployments? Or watching your daughter die in your arms makes you lose some sort of innocence?

Two years ago I would have seen a call from DC on caller id and thought it was something political for election support. One things for sure... being a military family changes your perspective.

Blessing or Burden?

2012-02-26T16:09:00.001-05:00

I'm online right now because i'm waiting for the duty van to be ready. Tonight I get to drop off the patrol and then go to bed. The annoying thing about here is the immaturity of our Sailors and Marines. They really don't know when to call it quits and are unwilling to pay for their mistakes or take responsibility for their actions. It makes me wonder what the people here think of us and why at times when i'm out with [name removed] or getting groceries the locals have two reactions. 1 they either laugh and point. 2 if they have small children they shoo them away from us giving us dirty looks over their shoulder. I asked some of the other guys if they noticed and they said not any more. I know that I'm here to protect these people and serve our country, but I wonder if we are more of a burden to these people than a help at times.

Hubby sent me an email this morning while I was out at church. The above was included an email talking about his Shore Patrol last night. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, they rotate shifts called shore patrol on deployments. The person on this shift then goes around to the bars and other places to make sure people are staying out of trouble. In my mind it's kind of like being an MP (Military Police) or MA (Master-at-Arms) for the night. For those of you who are MP's or married to MP's, I do understand it's different and hope I didn't offend you by any reference to it, but it's the best way I can understand it. Because Ben is one of the older guys there and doesn't make it his goal to get wasted every night, he has this responsibility assigned to him quite a bit.

In this email, he was telling me about he had to break up some fights, dodged three punches, and had to handcuff six Marines. I wish I could say that this was abnormal, but every time he has Shore Patrol he tells me stories that blow my mind! I feel for these guys and girls. They go through so much, with such little pay, away from family and friends. I understand the need to let loose, and they should be able to. However, I'm surprised to hear all the stories of how they get too carried away. I've lost count at how many bar fights he's broken up. Add to that the ones who've had to be rushed to medical because of falling down stairs in there intoxication. There's even some who are now in the local nation's jails because of their actions. I'm sure this isn't the case at every deployment location, but I echo Ben's sentiments that when it crosses the line and starts affecting the locals as well as our own reputation, are we really helping anyone? Aren't we more of a burden than a blessing?

What do you think?

Oh, hi Blog! ...awk-ward

2012-02-25T22:54:00.003-05:00

You know how you go back to the town where you grew up and you see someone you used to know and then you both do the "wow, so nice to see you! what've you been up to? oop, gotta run, but we'll stay in touch" dance, knowing that since you haven't communicated in this length of time, you'll probably never talk again until the next awkward encounter?

That's how I feel blogging right now after so much time has lapsed. Not because of any of you, although I'm not too sure anyone will even read this, anyway, but for myself. In all honesty, prior to remembering it was tied into my Gmail account, I was surprised that Blogger even remembered my info or didn't spontaneously combust upon login.

A lot has changed since my last post. Let's see...

Changed Churches
...we struggled finding the right fit, but a shipmate of Ben's invited us to his and we have found our home.
Changed Jobs
...in following God's leading, I now work at said church (and no longer write my newspaper column).
Changed Homes
...twice actually, but we are now in our first house and are loving it!

Changed Schools
...still pursuing my education online, however now I am going through Liberty University.

Changed Degrees
...switched from Math to Psychology.

Which brings me to more changes. I became pregnant around the time of my last post with a due date of April 15th, 2011. (I'll be honest that I am not in the right frame of mind to be going into too many details, although I am pretty open about it and love fielding questions.) The pregnancy alone was tough, especially once I was put on bedrest. About half way through, we found out we were having a girl and we named her Ashlyn Rose. Ashlyn, meaning dream. Seemed fitting for the child whose diagnosis was fatal. You see, she didn't have kidneys, and one thing we learned really quickly is that you have to have at least one of your kidneys in order to live. She was born at the 32-week mark and was absolutely beautiful! My husband and I were able to spend almost 2 hours with her before she went home to be with the Lord.

That was one year ago. February 21st.

You might wonder why I didn't blog about that until now and I have no answer, other than "I couldn't." Even now I'm somewhat hesitant. However Ben is deployed (our first), and I know I need to hold "it" together and thought of my previous blogging friends and the wisdom you've shared regarding your deployments and, well, life. I could use some of that wisdom right about now.

The Blog

2010-09-08T09:56:00.000-04:00

So... I may or (ahem) may not have been updating this blog ~~recently~~ i~~n a little bit~~ in a LONG time.

I've written about balance previously, and well, to be honest... one way I started balancing things is by cutting out blog time. If Ben was to be deployed, or sent away for more schooling, etc then I'd definitely be back just like before, but with work, school, and everything else in between, it just hasn't been a priority. Maybe a different life event will get me writing more. We'll see?

So it's not the end. It's just a break. And we all know what happened with Ross and Rachel in the end, so it can definitely be a positive thing. :)

Looking for:

2010-08-02T06:55:00.000-04:00

I came across this thanks to Google Alerts and had to share. I've heard about people looking for love through ads, and who doesn't love a man in uniform, but wow. Just was surprised to see this point blank. Enjoy!

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/w4m/1875217568.html

Are you in the army or military?
Do you want to have children soon?
Do you want a loving respectful young women to bring home to your parent?

If the answer to all of these is YES, then you've found your girl

I'm 32 year old african american female, healthy, educated with a bachelor's degree from hunter.
I'm 5'8 140 pound with brother and sister and a lot of respect for the constitution of family.

please reply only if serious.....

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/w4m/1875217568.html

Although the wording was interesting... "army OR military?" Isn't the Army a large part of the military??
Well, here's to military love!

It's all about balance

2010-07-24T11:31:00.001-04:00

Without going into too many details, Ben and I are once again looking for a new church. It's really tough to leave this one, even though we've only been attending for a little over a month, but we need to. So that makes one more thing that I'm juggling now.

So I have that, family time, school full-time, military life, freelancing work part-time, and full-time work among others. I'm not complaining. I'm actually quite thankful for these opportunities. I just know that I lean toward extremes. I've never been one to do something halfway. It's actually more like full-force or not at all. Even in school. I'm a great student now because I've learned this about myself, but when I was younger? I'll be honest, I didn't like turning something in unless I knew it deserved a 100%. If it didn't? I lied and said I never completed it or "forgot" it at home and took a 0%. Does this make sense? No. Do I want my future children to follow in my footsteps? Heck no.

In adding new things to my juggling act, I find it important to find balance. This past week I started the new full-time job. And other things suffered as a result of my lack of balancing. I didn't do much schoolwork and I certainly didn't write in my column. (You didn't even hear from me here, now did you.) I'm going to give myself some slack because it was an adjustment to get back into the work routine (and getting up that early again), but now I have no choice. I need to find the balance. AND I need to give 100% in all areas. It's okay though, I know I'm a work in progress. Reminds me of a song we used to sing when I was REALLY young:

"...He's still working on me to make me what I need to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be. He's still working on me..."

Guess what's (fashionably) back, back again...

2010-07-18T16:11:00.001-04:00

Anyone else notice a resurfacing fashion trend?

Yep. Your spouse/boyfriend/sibling's uniforms and daily wear are once again inspiring those who tell us what we should be wearing.

So, what do you think...

Are you in on this trend or does it upset you? Are you proud to see the world behind the, well, clothes your loved one has to wear? Do you don the similar looks to back him/her up? Do you coordinate matchy-matchy outfits or do you let him/her have all the fun?

I adore some of these feminine versions that are military-inspired. As long as they don't rip off any ribbons or medals our ladies and gents have worked hard to earn, I say:

Hello, Camo! And Good-bye, Parachute pants and Jumpsuits!

Change

2010-07-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you make plans, great plans. And then things happen.

When you know you get to have your husband for the weekend, you start dreaming of the things that are possible. No late night watches or day guard duties to send him off to. No training classes or meetings for which he needs to leave.

You think, Maybe a great concert this weekend? After all, B.B. King is at the Pavilion Center in Portsmouth and Jack Johnson will be at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater. Ooh, or a romantic date to listen to the sounds of Brian McKnight and Robin Thicke at the Chrysler Hall. Even John Mayer will be in the area this weekend.

Okay, Maybe a day at the Beach? Excuse me, the Oceanfront. Locals are great at correcting you when you assume Virginia Beach is referring to the, ahem, beach. You can spend the day in the sun and the night walking along the 3-mile boardwalk, stopping to enjoy the street performers along the way, as well as a spin on the Ferris wheel off 15^th. Not a bad date to remind you of the beginning of your relationship.

Of course, there are many other date ideas in the area. So you make your plans. And then your car dies. Anthony J. D’Angelo was right when he said, “Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant.”

At least the apartment has a pool, right?

Supporting him

2010-07-16T11:48:00.000-04:00

So... Ben was told yesterday that he is the first person in the entire Navy to actually strike for Air Crew.

hmmm. Not sure how that makes me feel.

Apparently, most people end up in that position because they wanted to fly the aircraft but didn't make it, or they got transferred to it because what they "struck" for was filled, etc. My husband? Nope. It's what he wants. He's going for it full force.

And instead of listening to the hesitancies in my head (what's wrong with the job that no one else wants it??), I'm choosing to get on board and support this choice! After all, that's what he would do for me.

Who knows? Maybe some day there'll be an aircraft named after him for being the first?

Steinway, Young Chang, and the like

2010-07-15T22:41:00.000-04:00

Tonight I felt joy. Tonight I felt song. Tonight I felt a piano whose keys were an extension of my fingers. Like an addict, I couldn't stop. It's been too long.

Music is in my soul.

What's in yours?

Undesignated

2010-07-14T10:27:00.001-04:00

So normally when you start a job, you're hired to complete certain job duties and tasks and with that given a job title.

Of course, that's not always true with the military. Especially in Ben's case. He joined as an undesignated Airman. Something I've briefly touched on previously, and throws people off when they hear it (Airman? But he's in the Navy? Isn't he a Sailor? -yes. yes. and yes.). But talking about the first word, it's exactly like the name implies. Undesignated. Or not yet given a title.

Not for long!

It's been his desire to join the Air Crew. I've already talked about how his squadron works with the big and bad helicopters, nicknamed Sea Dragons. And he's been soaking everything up, but has wanted to join the Air Crew and actually ride in the helicopters, among other things. When you're undesignated, you can stay undesignated but that makes you sort of stagnate, unable to advance. So it's important to get a rate if you want to move up.

Well, Ben knew what he wanted to do after talking to several people and doing other research. It's just not exactly up to him. In order to do the job, you need classes. In order to do the classes, you need on-the-job-training. In order to do OJT (on the job training), you need permission to what they call "strike" for the job. Sometimes waiting for that permission can take longer than the actual training.

The good news is that after almost 2 months of waiting, Ben received his permission to strike for air crew today! The bad news is that the OJT could take 18 months alone! I guess that means we know where we'll be living for at least the next year and a half months! He still could be sent on deployment for 6 months with the squadron in November, but our home will still be here in VA. After that, he'll most likely be sent to Pensacola for about a year for the classroom stuff.

I'm starting to think that "One Day at a Time" is going to be my Navy mantra!

The "D" word

2010-07-13T12:06:00.000-04:00

So... there's talks about my husband deploying later this year. Obviously we know this can happen, and obviously it can change. There will always be talks. But this is the first time I've heard about it actually affecting us.

It's weird.

Not sure if it's better to know until it's finalized or not. I'm deciding to still keep going one day at a time, and if it happens, it happens. Right?

Valentine's Shoes!

2010-07-10T12:20:00.000-04:00

Remember those lovely shoes my hubs got me from Charlotte Russe for Valentine's Day? We're taking a break. It's not them, it's me. Well, and a little of them. But mostly me, because I chose to wear them on Thursday. After I was done for the day at a temp job, I had an interview lined up at a store a mile down the [busy] road.

And then my car wouldn't start. On a blistering 109* day this past weekend, I saw the battery light come on so I had it checked out. The battery's fine, but there's an issue related to the alternator. Not cheap. Great timing. Anyone else love that vicious cycle? Car breaks, need money to fix. Need car to drive you to interviews/ work to get money.

So sometimes the car starts, and sometimes it doesn't. Awesome. And in Thursday's case prior to the interview? It didn't.

I started walking. All I could think about was how much I needed this job. Or any. But this one was interested in me so it's my best shot so far. I couldn't count on temporary jobs or the Navy's pay to get me through school. So I started walking. And walking. A mile normally isn't too long. But when you factor in the 4-inch heels, the black suit (Thank God I could take the suit jacket off and had a sleeveless top on underneath), the terrain of the road, and the 90+ degree weather, it wasn't too pretty. Nor was I. I could feel my makeup dripping down my face.

Great first impression for the interviewer, right?

If anything, I'm hoping they factor in my dedication into their hiring process!

The Good News? I've been asked to come back on Monday for a second interview.

The Bad News? I don't think my feet (thanks to the 7 blisters they incurred) will allow me to wear those shoes again for a loooong time.

MilPay

2010-06-30T09:09:00.002-04:00

So... one area of military life I knew would be safe is the paycheck. I knew that it would be steady, and knew exactly when we'd get paid. However, I never anticipated that the amount would fluctuate so much. I guess when you can find out your base pay, BAH, BAS, etc all online, you think you'll actually be receiving it. The shocker I'm coming to know is that's not always the case. I started budgeting for a paycheck of about $250/paycheck less just to make sure we'd be okay. Apparently I should have been budgeting for $500/paycheck less because that's been more accurate lately. We've had 2 paychecks so far that are "normal." Awesome. I guess that's just one thing they don't tell you about ahead of time.

Has this happened to anyone else?

The other thing I didn't think about was that in living in the largest naval town, the amount of MilSpouses going after the same job openings. Please Lord, open the right door for me!

Butterfly in the Sky

2010-06-29T08:40:00.001-04:00

Sea Dragons. A little bit bigger than a butterfly, and a lot louder, too. But for my husband and I? We think they're rather pretty. I wonder if that's what happens once you join other squadrons... that suddenly your aircraft or whatever your situation might be, is beautiful to you.

Ben brought me to his shop a little while ago. I was able to meet the team he's been working with, and see these helicopters up close. It was pretty amazing. They look massive from far away, so it was pretty crazy to be that close! And to watch it take off? I'm sure I was feeling a dose of the same pride Ben gets while watching them.

I hope that never gets old. Ben was able to start his air crew training yesterday. Let's just say, they put him to work! He's really glad to get that going, but he came home super tired! I'm sure a large part of that was him getting home around 1am after giving a buddy a ride from the airport. As soon as he got home, he fell asleep on the couch. He didn't even wake up when I tried to help him by taking off his boots and socks.

But this is what he's been waiting for since we arrived in Norfolk, so I know he's ultimately happy. Why wouldn't he be, he's chilling with these [beautiful] bad boys!

Remodeling

2010-06-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

If you stopped by over the weekend, or even in the next couple days you might notice some changes. While I love loved my old blog design, my husband's phone did not. He let me know that he tried to read it while he was in A-School, but the format and font 'n such wasn't friendly with his Palm Pre+.

Yes, I could have just changed the font, but then the colors would have been off, and rather than change something that I thought had its own perfect little flow I'm changing everything. K, it makes sense in my head at least.

I'm not techie enough to design exactly how I envision the site in my head. And I don't want to write posts about how much I want to win people's giveaways (although if it's your thing, I know some very talented bloggers like Mrs. Gambizzle who could hook you up). So until I learn how to do it myself, there may be some periodic changes to the look of this diary as I try-on different designs.

Just bear with me!

What treats a jellyfish sting?

2010-06-27T17:56:00.003-04:00

Started the day off with a trip to the library yesterday. They have a summer reading club for adults, too, which brought me back to my childhood. I love love the library. Socrates said something about libraries being the delivery room for the birth of ideas.

In the summertime, my mom, the older bro's (brother #3 wasn't born yet), and me would ride our bikes up to the library and spend a couple hours there. Mom would enjoy quiet time around one of her favorite things in the world: the written word. She has quite the library herself at home, too. This library had a decent children's section, but the coolest thing about it was the claw-foot tub. Yes. The library had a claw-foot tub in the children's section to sit in while reading. Since most kids were at summer camps or daycare whenever we went, it was up to my brother's and I to take turns reading in the tub. It's still weird for me to walk into other libraries and see that they don't have a tub. As long as we were good, didn't fight over the tub, and didn't bother mom, we would be able to pick out one piece of candy from an old-school pharmacy store as a treat on the way home. I always picked Necco wafers since there was "so much more candy" than a single candy bar and would last longer. I still smile whenever I see them in a store. Thanks for humoring me with a trip down memory lane.

Anyway, after reading and then writing a review for 3 books, I get a Library beach towel. Cute, right?

Well, I picked up a couple books, and headed home to find my husband walking towards me with a hand-in-the-cookie-jar kind of face. Although not quite a cookie jar. He caught his pinkie finger in a dresser drawer and broke it. The finger, not the drawer. He's had experience breaking and then setting the same finger previously (I may or may not have been the one to actually break it previously, hypothetically speaking), so it's as straight as it's going to be again albeit very swollen and rather purple.

If that wasn't enough, his day got worse. We packed up our beach stuff and headed the 3 miles to our local beach. Set up the beach chairs, umbrella, etc and headed in the water.

The cutest little 9-yr old befriended us and let us know that someone saw jellyfish in the water. I asked her where they were seen and she pointed way out to where some boats were. Ben let me know not to worry about them since that was even farther out than where the buoy's marked for us to not swim past. Even so, I moved a little closer towards shore. Just in case.

Apparently Ben should have too. Later on, I saw him wince and asked what was wrong. Jellyfish. Good thing he was an oceanfront lifeguard previously so he knew how to treat it. And good thing I picked up some vinegar on our last grocery trip!

If you're ever wondering what to do:

Don't rinse it off with fresh water or rub it as that can make it worse
Do apply shaving cream to the area and then shave it or scrape it off (Ben put his library card to use a little differently than me)
Do soak the area with vinegar for about 30 minutes

These are just some suggestions you can use, but don't quote me. You should know what kind of marine life might be in the area you're swimming. Some jellyfish have a terrible poison in their sting that could kill no matter how much vinegar or shaving cream you lather on the sting. Sensitive areas like eyes, mouth, etc need to be treated differently too.

Better yet, quote me as saying: Always seek medical attention with any jellyfish sting. There. Please don't sue me. Remember, I'm not an expert; I'm just giving some general guidelines to help you so you don't have an awkward situation where you think you need to have a buddy to pee on you a la Monica/Chandler/Joey's situation.

Beaches, Aquarium, Lighthouses, Oh my!

2010-06-25T09:44:00.002-04:00

I'll try to make this a brief recap...
Monday: Spent most of the day hanging out with Cindy Crawford. Then did some unpacking/ cleaning.

Tuesday: Went to Virginia Beach and enjoyed the Food on Foot Tour that we got at half off thanks to Groupon!

Wednesday: Met up with some friends from NY at the Cape Henry Lighthouses and then ate at a local Seafood Buffet! Yum!

Thursday: We found a beautiful beach 3 miles from our home and had a blast! Although it was a little scary at one point when I saw fins poking out of the water coming towards us! I swear I thought it was a bunch of sharks. The lifeguards laughed at me as I was coming towards them and explained that it was "skates" which are similar to stingrays. Later on we saw dolphins in the water, too!

Friday: I had to think for awhile to remember what we did this day... I think I was trying to block it out, actually. We pretty much spent the entire day trying to get to Portsmouth. There's a reason why we avoid the highways here at all cost. Traffic is horrendous! And if you need to go through a tunnel? Fuhgedaboudit! After the madness, we went to the Commissary and took advantage of the Father's Day specials on meat!

Saturday: Virginia Aquarium! Yet again, we took advantage of Groupon! Normally a regular admission ticket costs $17 and a membership costs $75. Thanks to groupon, I became an Aquarium member for $37 (only $3 more than it would cost for Ben and I both to visit one time). Now we can go to the Aquarium for free ANY TIME! One member can bring one guest for free anytime and up to 4 guests at 1/2 off! So we put it in my name so I can bring family/friends who want to go even if Ben's at work. We had SO much fun, even if my favorite animal's exhibit was closed (good thing we can back for free, right?).

(btw... the larger "stingray" in the last pic is actually a skate. they roll up their sides so it looks like 2 shark fins swimming next to each other at eye level)

Sunday: We discovered the $2 movie theater at Little Creek NAS. Ben sucked it up and went with me to see "Letters to Juliet" which was sooo cute! Predictable and at sometimes cheesey, but those kind of chick flicks are great every once in awhile! Plus the landscape was beautiful and the themes of Juliet and Italy are right up my alley.

And then this past week Ben has been at INDOC. From what I understand, it's like a combination of Orientation and high school Health Class. My ~~cocky~~ confident husband even made a deal with an instructor one day to get everyone out early (him getting all the test questions right at the beginning of class in exchange for not having to sit through the lecture on alcohol awareness -they were done by 9:30am).

Tuesday night we had another house guest! (#4!) We picked one of Ben's buddies up from the Airport and gave him a place to crash. He was at boot camp and A-School with Ben, so Ben was really glad to have him around.

An old friend asked me this week: Do you feel like you're constantly on vacation? And I have to answer for the most part: YES! I'm loving the adventure of getting to know this area and spending time checking it all out with my husband! There's so much to do, so much to see! Granted my answer may change in the next couple weeks when I start my college classes again, but for now I'm loving it and grateful how God got me through the rough times to get me here!

Be-A-Utiful

2010-06-25T08:35:00.000-04:00

My husband told me I could blame him if any readers are wondering where I've been. While I guess that's a little true, I'm not going to offer any excuses. Why would I offer any sorry-for-not-writing excuses when I know most of you would stop if it meant you got more time with your man?? Pretty great reason, right? He had all last week off!!! Apparently you're supposed to get time off to find a home (still not sure if that's correct with every PCS, or just because it was our first?), so Ben's boss let him know he was off. I'll post more about that week later! And then this week is INDOC, and he's been able to come home early! I wake up, work-out, get ready for the day and then he's home! These last 2 weeks have been beautiful!!!

Speaking of beautiful... I logged in to find that I received another award! It's called the Beautiful Blog Award. I think this may be my favorite one yet. Who doesn't like to be associated with "beautiful?" And I kind of think the chick in the picture looks like me. Okay, I'm not that skinny YET, but I did recently chop my hair that short and have a thing for funky trees haha

Anyway, I also appreciate where it came from, too! PLEASE check out Our Soldiers Make Us Sisters! 6 Military Spouses contribute to this blog giving different stories and perspectives. I like the reminder that we're "in this together" through their blog. Thanks again ladies!

The rules are to pass the award along to 7 other blogs:

Stop by their beautiful blogs and say hi!

Our second day with Cindy Crawford!

2010-06-14T18:55:00.002-04:00

Last week on our way home from grocery shopping, we saw a cute kitten wandering around outside our apartment building. She enjoyed chasing bugs in the grass and playing underneath the parked cars. The first part of that was cute. The second part of that scared me.

We held her and walked around the complex knocking on doors trying to find her "mom" or "dad." She had a bright green collar, so she had to have "parents," right? If she did, we couldn't find them. It was in the high 90's and she was panting, so we decided to take a break and get her some water and food. Good thing we picked up a 4-pack of tuna with our groceries.

I put half a can of tuna in a bowl, which she mowed down in no time! She loved playing with Ben and cuddling up to me. We had two cats in the past (even though we're dog people) which we often actually miss. They didn't handle our move from NH to WI well (as in they peed on everything to show their disgust in the move -even the vet said so), so when we were planning our move from WI to NY we found them a great home with a co-worker so they didn't have to go through it all over again.

We made a bunch of phone calls, and left her in the hands of the apartment management. Again, that was all last week.

So she was taken care of, right? Ha! Coming home today... guess who was waiting outside our apartment building? Cindy Crawford! Oh, I guess I should explain... we started calling her Cindy Crawford since she has a beauty mark above her mouth.

So yeah, she was waiting there at the front door. We both started laughing as she looked between us and the door, waiting for it to be opened. After we opened it, she walked right to our apartment door. Crazy how she knew which one to go to for tuna!

We made the same phone calls, only to be told that we needed to call Animal Control this time. I reluctantly made the call while Ben played with her on the floor. It was so cute though, every time a sound alarmed her she would run over to me and stand between my legs. I wish we could have kept her. It was really difficult to let her go, but Animal Control said that since she had a collar, they hold her longer before putting her up for adoption -if it comes to that. And if it does, she'd probably get adopted quickly since she's a kitten. I hope so!

I made Ben continuously remind me about the $250 non-refundable fee to have a pet in the apartment, plus the $50/mo extra, plus the cost of food, litter, shots, vet bills, etc, because I wanted to keep her! (I think Ben did too) If any of you have a pet, make sure you have tags on their collar so you can be reconnected if anything happened! Don't tell Ben, but I'm thinking about checking up on her in 2 weeks to see if anyone claimed/adopted her! hehe

Bahati Mafuru Magidinga

2010-06-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

It's been a big weekend!

I was reminded that I graduated from high school 10 years ago, my "little" brother graduated from high school as his class salutatorian (sad that we couldn't make it back to NY for it), we hung decorations up in the new place, visited a new church (at the invitation of one of Ben's shipmates), caught some great World Cup games, AND had our first house guest!

One of Ben's buds from A-School was stationed here, so we had him come over for movies and homemade pizza! He ended up spending the night, too, because he wanted to go to church with us. We had a great time and it was nice having the company and another person to cook for!

Even bigger than that though... Ben and I decided it was time to follow-through on something that's been on my heart and mind for several months now. We are now sponsoring a child through Compassion International!!! We wanted to help someone who's in an AIDS-infected area, as well as who has been waiting 6 months or more for a sponsor. You can narrow down your search even more at www.compassion.com if you want (like, a specific country, etc). You can also check out the Compassion blog here.

About our sponsored child:
His name is Bahati Mafuru Magidinga. He's 9-year's old and lives in Tanzania. It said that he loves soccer, singing, and hide-and-seek! Ben and I both got choked up when we read this paragraph in our confirmation email:
We encourage you to pray for and write to your child regularly. Children in poverty are susceptible to believing poverty's darkest message: "You don't matter." Your prayers and letters help your child know that they matter to at least one adult -- you.

Doesn't that break your heart? We're excited to receive our information package in the next week or so. I don't share this for attention to us, but instead to ask you to please pray with us for Bahati, and check out Compassion's website. We like what they stand for and how they are fiscally responsible. We're SO excited about this!

WORLD CUP 2010

2010-06-11T11:29:00.000-04:00

This morning marks the beginning of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa!

Who do you want to win?

My husband and I (and family) have been counting down for this and it's finally here! We have our favorite players and picked the countries favored to win... time will only tell how it plays out!

Brunch recap

2010-06-11T11:16:00.000-04:00

No sooner had I mentioned how they always say Welcome Aboard, and I was welcomed with a How are you/Have a nice day combo instead. I wonder how I had only heard "Welcome Aboard" for so long?

The brunch was nice! I seriously gave myself a pep talk about not being shy 'n all that since I didn't know anyone who would be there. I had pressed the wrong address in the History of my GPS, so I ended up being a couple minutes late instead of early. And then I wasn't sure what room to go to so I was nervous about that, and almost gave up when the main door was locked anyway. But a sweet lady must have seen me and ran out to get me when I was looking for another door. There's about 8 entrances to this building, for reals.

Entering the room, I saw 6 women there already chatting about various things, and one got up to greet me. They were having a drawing, so she helped me get my name in for that, as well as filling out a connect card for future things. There was plenty of food for the brunch, too. I learned that the #1 question MilSpouses (at least this group) ask is "Is your husband attached to a ship?" I was asked that 4 times during the brunch by different women haha At first I wasn't sure what they were asking bc I hadn't been asked that before. Once it made sense to me, I knew to answer "No, he's part of a squadron not a ship." Such a simple question, but one that a civilian would never ask haha

I wasn't sure if this was a meeting with an agenda, but I learned quickly that it was all very casual. It was a chance to just get together and chat about whatever we wanted. The conversation went from topics of food, to children, to the military, to Tricare, to summer fun ideas, etc. I learned a lot about the area! Apparently this weekend is Harborfest! There was also talk about Busch Gardens, Botanical Gardens, and different parks and beaches. A couple more people came in at various times (which made me feel better about being late!). It was a variety of ages too with some spouses of retired military as well as active duty.

I found out that they usually have several more people, but with school's finishing up not everyone could attend. In some ways I was glad that it was a smaller group than I was anticipating because it was easier to converse. We pushed two tables together so everyone could see and talk with each other. Overall, I really enjoyed it and how welcomed I felt. It's sad that the group doesn't meet again until the Fall (they take a break for summer's), but they invited me to their Sunday morning Bible study and talked about meeting at a park sometime this summer? It's so nice to connect!

Welcome Aboard!

2010-06-10T07:23:00.000-04:00

I never get tired of being greeted with a smile and "Welcome Aboard" anytime I drive on base! I'm sure those on gate duty get tired of saying that, but I've yet to come across any showing their annoyance.

I had to drop Ben off at his shop today. With his earlier work schedule, he's eerily becoming a morning person -something I am most definitely not! But I'm going to try. I've tried going to bed when he does, but then I toss all night thinking about how I should be sleeping but can't. And even when I sneak a flashlight to at least read next to him, I often hear the "do you think you could turn off the light soon?" from him. And he obviously has a job where he needs to be rested. I don't want to stop him from that. And I also want to be next to him at night. I guess this means I need to figure this sleep-thing out.

Speaking of a job where he needs to be rested... he literally does work super hard (and I want to update on what he's doing more, but I'm trying to figure out the line of what I can say and what I'm responsible not to say before posting on it) to the point where he sometimes comes home and could probably fall asleep right then. But what is he doing today and tomorrow, you ask? Oh, let's just say he went to work in board shorts today. Yeah. He's assisting the Red Bull tent on Virginia Beach to set up for their sand soccer tournament. Not sure exactly what he'll be doing (probably some beach clean-up?), but he was told to dress in civilian clothes, including board shorts, and not to bring a lunch! I'm happy he gets to be a part of this, but it may actually be harder for him than normal work since he'll be so-close to a soccer ball without getting to do anything.

And my day? Today's the actual date of the brunch I wanted to go to last week! I decided to go with monkey bread! It's super easy and super yummy, and only has 4 ingredients (5 since I'm adding walnuts). I'm going to wait another hour to start it so it will be warm when I bring it to the brunch. No one can resist that warm cinnamon smell! I almost went with some of the suggestions I was given last week, but I chose monkey bread, well, because I am totally craving it myself! Selfish, I know. But that means it'll keep at least one person happy! I'm a bundle of excited nerves to meet other military spouses!

Oh, and my business cards came in, so I'm all prepared with those, too! I think they're really cute:

Of course they look better with the info I blocked out, but you get the idea. I intentionally left the middle blank so I could write something if needed, and also because I didn't want to put an address, especially if we move before these get used up. I read that they're convenient to have when meeting others in military and MilSpouse settings. We met a great couple at church two weeks ago. Before leaving, they came over and greeted us again and the wife handed me her card with a little note on it to call if I ever needed anything. Their sweetness aside, I admired how she did that. It wasn't too pushy or over the top. With her handing me the card instead of "what's your number?" with cell phones out, it placed the ball in my court to contact her if I wanted without obligation. Yes, I'm over analytical, but that example plus everything I had read in a MilSpouse book about the cards made me excited to get mine in the mail before today's brunch. Just in case!

Let's do brunch!

2010-06-03T13:07:00.000-04:00

~~My morning... actually, let's back this up...~~ Last night... I could not sleep. I've been dying to meet other MilSpouses and be involved on base somehow. I've emailed the Ombudsman several times and haven't heard back from her. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt because there may be a situation going on that I'm not aware of, but at the risk of sounding like a jerk... isn't she supposed to be available, to give some direction, especially to newbies like me? Any suggestions??

Anyway, the two Sunday's we've been down here we've gone to the same church. Normally I would like to "play fair" and visit all of the same faith as us in the area and then compare them (you got it, on my spreadsheet haha) to narrow them down and then do another round of visitations until we decided on one. BUT... the first one we visited really resonated with us. The preacher was amazing! I described him to some as a heavy-hitter. He speaks the Word in boldness, not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, but also in humility. He doesn't water it down, but he also doesn't add anything. Something important to Ben and me. He also has a great sense of humor! The music was amazing, almost like a free concert without the performance aspect since it was very unified. There's even a full orchestra! Playing pro's and con's, it's a pro that it is so large that they can have special ministries but it can also be a con that it's so large. They now have 4 Sunday services totaling 2100 people. Yeah. That large. But that's where it's our responsibility to get involved in their Sunday morning Bible studies to be involved in a smaller group setting. Because of the 6 yr age gap between Ben and me, it narrowed down which group we'd attend if we want to go together. So this Sunday, we're going to visit a group with 21-40 year olds.

What does all this have to do with not sleeping?? The first Sunday we visited the church, we filled out a guest card. Some people visited the apartment to welcome us and give us some literature on things that might pertain to us since we checked the "would like more info on..." boxes. And then the beginning of this week, I received a postcard inviting me to a brunch Thursday at the church... just for military spouses! AH! I've been wanting to meet others! (don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful to find MilBloggers here, but you know what I mean about meeting them in person). I tossed and turned and stared at the alarm clock all night. I was so excited for the brunch that I couldn't sleep!

It said to bring a favorite dish and that I could invite friends. Ha! I don't know anyone down here yet to bring, but I love to cook/bake so the other part would be fine. I put the postcard on the fridge, wrote the info on our calendar, and made sure I would have the car (it's been Ben's week to drive since he's been carpooling with a shipmate who lives near us). I decided since it was a brunch and I was new, I wouldn't go too crazy in the kitchen. Since I had some bananas that got over-ripe faster than I expected, I decided to make some banana nut bread. To me, that's always good no matter what time of day so I figured it would work, especially if I made it in the morning so it would be nice and warm when I arrived.

I usually start with creaming soft butter and brown sugar together and then going from there. What did I do? I was so nervous this morning that I threw the mushed banana and the butter together without paying attention. And on top of that, the butter wasn't as soft as I thought so now I have chunks of butter in my mush. I thought well, maybe I can still pull it off and added the brown sugar to that. Nope. I was off my game and decided to give up on it. Maybe it still would have worked, but if you read this blog you've probably already gathered my perfectionism. I had already cracked the eggs in a separate bowl, about to beat them, when I decided to stop.

Now what can I do that can use those eggs? I was running out of time to make a different bread, so I decided on brownies (something the hubster said he's been craving last night). It might not be a traditional brunch-y food, but I figured the majority of MilSpouses are women and what woman doesn't like a good chocolate fix. I made peanut butter/chocolate chip brownies that turned out perfect, grabbed a serving spatula (Pampered Chef, of course), threw on my sandals, and decided I was ready to go with 5 minutes to spare. At second thought, I decided to grab the post card since it said which room to go to and I'm still finding my way around. That's when I noticed under the word "Thursday" was the date "June 10th."

Are you kidding me??! Well, at least Ben will get to have some brownies!

Any ideas on what I should make next week???