I’m Still Around!
24 Aug 2010 7 Comments
in Navy Tags: Arlington National Cemetery, Changing of the Guard, military, Navy, Women in Military Service Memorial
I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.
~Eartha Kitt
**So, yeah… this post was supposed to be put up last week, but due to Internet problems, it didn’t go up until this week! This is driving me nuts!**
I’m still here. It’s not just MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins! I am still having Internet problems on the Army post… but pretty much only related to WordPress and getting to my student drive from my room… the two things I want most!
We are learning a lot. Well, let me rephrase that… they are teaching a lot. Most of this stuff, I have already learned in college (since this is what my degree is in). But, the stuff regarding how the Department of Defense does things and their rules is what I’m actually learning. The rest is a refresher course.
I have learned one very important thing, though. I now can tell the difference between Army and Air Force BDUs from a distance, ya’ll! They are so similar I’ve never been able to tell them apart except when I see the name tape on the front. Well, we have such a joint class (though no Coasties), I now can tell the difference from a huge distance. Yay!
The first weekend we were here, my friend (and shipmate) and I went to Arlington National Cemetery and to the Women in Service Memorial that is there.
Women in Military Service Memorial
My shipmate checking out the photographic displays
Duty, Honor, Country
Hall of Heroes. Flags representing women killed-in-action during OIF/OEF.
After the Women’s Memorial, we headed into the cemetery. We checked out Section 52… the oldest section where Civil War soldiers are buried.
Oldest section of Arlington National Cemetery
Unknown soldiers... and civilians.
Next up, it was John F. Kennedy’s grave along… then onto the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (changed from Soldier since persons other than soldiers have been added).
J.F.K. burial site and the Tomb of the Unknown
The soldier who guards the tomb is very regimented. It’s 21 steps one way, a 21-second pause, and then 21 steps the other way. Very, very moving.
We even saw the changing of the guard. It’s very intricate and involves a senior NCO coming out and informing the crowd of what is going to happen, then inspecting the rifle and uniform of the incoming guard, and then the change.
21 steps...
A view of downtown D.C. in the background.
NCO comes out to tell us about the ceremony.
Senior NCO brings new guard out after inspecting his rifle and uniform.
Two guards marching together.
Leaving with the relieved guard.
Almost finished.
New guard on patrol.
So many emotions. I was humbled, saddened, in awe and proud all at once. I am so very honored to serve my country in any way I can.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #9
20 Aug 2010 23 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: blogging, blogging meme, military, milspouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-In
A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time.
~Anne Taylor Fleming
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers. So I created a weekly meme. Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday (like today!) and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky below so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. Please leave a comment too! And please feel free to use the button above!
(Please forgive me if I can’t get to visit everyone’s blogs the next few weeks. I am having a hard time accessing my own blog from the Army Internet!)
I was going to feature one question suggested by MFF participants each week, but since you all came up with such great questions last week, I’m going to have to do more than one a week! This week’s questions are:
Please don’t forget to add your blog link to Mr. Linky below by clicking on it. But also if you are not participating in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In this week, please do not put your link on there… I will remove it. It is unfair to others who do participate.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #9: Questions for Tomorrow
19 Aug 2010 6 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: blogging, milspouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-In, milspouse meme, milspouse questions
How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
~From the movie Annie
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers! MilSpouse Friday Fill-in is taking off even better than I could have ever hoped. I learned so much about my fellow bloggers and can’t wait to learn more… and hopefully even MORE will join in as we go.
Here’s the skinny for newcomers about MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins (and when I say MilSpouse, I mean significant others, too!):
Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. And please feel free to use the button above!
I was going to feature one question suggested by MFF participants each week, but since you all came up with such great questions last week, I’m going to have to do more than one a week! This week’s questions are:
- If you could be a fugitive from the law for whatever reason, what would your crime be? (from It’s a Hooah Life)
- How long do you think you will be a military family? (from Julie the Army Wife)
- What’s your favorite recipe? (from Keep Calm and Soldier On)
- What would you want your last five words to be when you leave this life? (from My Goal is Simple)
- Where do you hope to retire? (from Pennies from Heaven)
I can’t wait to see what you all come up with tomorrow!
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #8
13 Aug 2010 29 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: blogging, meme, military questions, milspouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-In
When we ask advice we are usually looking for an accomplice.
~Charles Varlet de La Grange, Pensées, 1872
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers. So I created a weekly meme. Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday (like today!) and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky below so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. Please leave a comment too! And please feel free to use the button above!
(Please forgive me if I can’t get to visit everyone’s blogs the next few weeks. I am having a hard time accessing my own blog from the Army Internet!)
1. What is ONE thing you’d like civilians to understand about being a military family?
I would like civilians to understand that we do not get “free” housing and healthcare… it’s all part of the package and if we didn’t get those, we’d get bigger paychecks! ‘Cause military paychecks aren’t much compared to the sacrifice. And along those lines… we pay taxes, too, so using the “my taxes pay for you!” line doesn’t work with me.
And one parting note… your husband taking a week or two business trip where he gets to sleep in a hotel with a view, have maid service and have daily access to a phone/Internet DOES NOT mean you understand how hard deployments are. But thanks for trying to understand.
2. What is your favorite mistake?
That would have to be allowing a strange man I’d met on the Internet come to my house–where I lived alone–in the middle of the night while I was (legally) high on painkillers. Luckily he turned out to be a pretty great guy. Ya know, since I married him and all!
3. What indulgence could you give up for a year?
Soda. I love it and it’d be hard to break, but as long as I had iced tea, I’d be fine. And maybe flavored water every now and then.
4. If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?
I would be a Swallow because I think it’d be tons of fun to dive-bomb unsuspecting people and animals. And people would make a big deal of me arriving at San Juan Capistrano. As a Swallow, I’d also not be the showy bird that everyone wanted to hunt down and then I could (hopefully) hide from hawks. And children with sticks. But then I’d just dive-bomb them, too.
5. What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?
I’ve come up with a lot of these, so this is your turn! I plan to use some of them in upcoming weeks (though I still have like a year of questions in a folder!
Please don’t forget to add your blog link to Mr. Linky below by clicking on it. But also if you are not participating in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In this week, please do not put your link on there… I will remove it. It is unfair to others who do participate.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #8: Questions for Tomorrow
12 Aug 2010 4 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: military meme, military questions, milspouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-In
If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.
~Jim Rohn
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers! MilSpouse Friday Fill-in is taking off even better than I could have ever hoped. I learned so much about my fellow bloggers and can’t wait to learn more… and hopefully even MORE will join in as we go.
Here’s the skinny for newcomers about MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins (and when I say MilSpouse, I mean significant others, too!):
Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. And please feel free to use the button above!
This week’s questions are:
- What is ONE thing you’d like civilians to understand about being a military family?
- What is your favorite mistake?
- What indulgence could you give up for a year?
- If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?
- What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?
I can’t wait to see what you all come up with tomorrow!
Internet Problems
08 Aug 2010 8 Comments
Hey folks… I’m here at Fort Meade for my two months of training. Unfortunately, the good ol’ Army can’t spring for Internet that can support WordPress. (I’m doing this from my phone) In fact, due to NSA being on base, I don’t get good phone reception, either!
I hope to have a real post up as soon as I can get to a place with better Internet.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #6
30 Jul 2010 25 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: blogging, military, milspouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins
Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.
~Plautus
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers. So I created a weekly meme. Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday (like today!) and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky below so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. Please leave a comment too! And please feel free to use the button above!
1. What is your spouse’s best feature?
I love his strong shoulders/chest. I feel so cherished, loved and safe when he’s wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him.
2. Mild, Medium or Hot sauce?
Mild. By far. I’m such a baby when it comes to spicy things. Huzzy loves hot stuff, though.
3. What is the worst uniform you had to wear for a job?
I’ve worked at WalMart. That’s pretty bad. But worse than that, I worked at a zoo as an animal demonstrator and event planner. Part of my job (I worked in a team of six) was to do birthday parties at the zoo. One of us had to be the zoo’s mascot… a huge bunny that looked liked the Easter bunny.
Unlike Disney costumes, it had no A/C. In 90+ degrees with 80%+ humidity. And was rarely washed. So not only did you stink in it, but you had to smell others’ stink. It was miserable.
4. You have invisible powers… where is the first place you would go?
I would probably jump on some planes and go see my family. Then maybe a luxiourious tropical vacation. We could sleep on the beach (hopefully Huzzy would be invisible with me) and not worry about being robbed or anything. It would be fantastic!
5. What’s left on your “to do” list for this summer?
Well, I’m writing this post about two weeks ahead of times, so who knows what I’ve done in that time frame. But I really want to go whale watching and I would love to hike the valleys of Mt. Rainier.
Please don’t forget to add your blog link to Mr. Linky below. But also if you are not participating in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In this week, please do not put your link on there… I will remove it. It is unfair to others who do participate.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #6: Questions for Tomorrow
29 Jul 2010 6 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: blogging, blogging questions, milspouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins
Friends are kisses blown to us by angels.
~Author Unknown
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers! MilSpouse Friday Fill-in is taking off even better than I could have ever hoped. I learned so much about my fellow bloggers and can’t wait to learn more… and hopefully even MORE will join in as we go.
Here’s the skinny for newcomers about MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins (and when I say MilSpouse, I mean significant others, too!):
Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. And please feel free to use the button above!
This week’s questions are:
- What is your spouse’s best feature?
- Mild, Medium or Hot sauce?
- What is the worst uniform you had to wear for a job?
- You have invisible powers… where is the first place you would go?
- What’s left on your “to do” list for this summer?
I can’t wait to see what you all come up with tomorrow!
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #4
16 Jul 2010 25 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging
Assumptions are the termites of relationships.
~Henry Winkler
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers. So I created a weekly meme. Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday (like today!) and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky below so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. Please leave a comment too! And please feel free to use the button above!
(Please forgive me if I can’t get to visit everyone’s blogs the next few weeks. I’m supposed to be in South Korea right now, then will have a few days home with Huzzy (for the first time since the beginning of April!) before I head off to two months of school for the Navy on the opposite side of the country… I’m gonna be a bit busy!)
1. What food reminds you of your spouse?
So many (Can you tell he’s deployed? Everything reminds me of him!)! Steak, because he loves to grill outside. Beer Brats because he makes awesome ones. Sushi, because he loves it. And most especially rice… because he’s a rice freak. And I’d have purchased a rice cooker for him for his birthday except he guessed so I decided not to.
2. Who would you rather sit next to in a cross-country plane ride: an irritating non-stop talker, or a quiet stare-er?
Oh I really hope that I haven’t jinxed myself on this one. I don’t want either on my upcoming international flights (one of which will have happened by the time this posts). But I’d rather be next to a non-stop talker. I can tune them out. Or put on headphones. The stare-er would just creep me out.
3. What are your best tips on how to save money?
Huzzy is in awe at the ways I save money, but I know I can do better. I make sure I write down every purchase in a spreadsheet. That way, I’ll know where I can cut out. And those $3 smoothies here and there add up… you can see that in the spreadsheet! I also am a coupon clipper and I compare prices by doing ad searches and Google searches.
4. What is your favorite summer memory?
It would have to be camping. We’d camp at least three times during summer. Two of the weeks (separate ones) would be at a real campsite. No TV/video games. Just family games and talking. And riding bikes around the campground. And fishing. And swimming at the beach. And sitting around the campfire making S’mores, hobo pies and even grilled corn on the cob. The last week was at the fair as we (I) had horses there and we’d camp and enjoy the county fair. All of it was amazing and is something that brought our family together each year.
5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Oh my gosh, yes! We have a resident ghost that I’ve blogged about. And yes, he has moved with us. He’s here in the house in Washington. Not as active, but definitely still here. Maybe he likes having a larger house… he’s not disturbed as much. He’s a good ghost, albeit sometimes a bit tricky.
I think that spirits are all around us. I felt my dad with me for weeks after he died. My mom swears he kissed her on the cheek. I know he was there when I sold his house and at my wedding.
Please don’t forget to add your blog link to Mr. Linky below. But also if you are not participating in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In this week, please do not put your link on there… I will remove it. It is unfair to others who do participate.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #4: Questions for Tomorrow
15 Jul 2010 8 Comments
in MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins, Navy, blogging Tags: military, military spouse, MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader’s Digest, June 1995
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers! MilSpouse Friday Fill-in is taking off even better than I could have ever hoped. I learned so much about my fellow bloggers and can’t wait to learn more… and hopefully even MORE will join in as we go.
Here’s the skinny for newcomers about MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins (and when I say MilSpouse, I mean significant others, too!):
Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. And please feel free to use the button above!
This week’s questions are:
- What food reminds you of your spouse?
- Who would you rather sit next to in a cross-country plane ride: an irritating non-stop talker, or a quiet stare-er?
- What are your best tips on how to save money?
- What is your favorite summer memory?
- Do you believe in ghosts?
I can’t wait to see what you all come up with tomorrow!
Please note that this post (and tomorrow’s) is auto-scheduled because I’m supposed to be in South Korea right now!
