A Veterans Day Guest Post

I normally don't post on Sundays, but today is special. Today is Veterans Day and I have a special guest to share with you some great facts, tips, and fun activities that you can use to celebrate this date (and honor our veterans!)

Please give a warm welcome to Courtney from www.militaryvaloan.com: 
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What is Veterans Day?

Veterans Day comes around every year on November 11^th. It’s a time for remembrance, gratitude, and honor. But just how did it come about? It dates back nearly 100 years to when President Wilson declared November 11, 1919 as Armistice Day. A year earlier on that date, the United States signed a peace armistice with Germany, marking the end of World War I.  The armistice went into effect at eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, and The United States Congress made it an official holiday in 1938, though many states had already declared it a holiday.  In 1954, Congress changed the name of the holiday from Armistice to Veterans Day, and set it apart as a day to celebrate all American veterans who had served in all wars.  Today, we celebrate a long line of rich history and countless brave men and women who have served throughout the past century to protect the freedom that makes our country unique.

Ideas on How to Celebrate

Make the day more meaningful than just another day off of work. These are some ideas to help the real meaning shine through.

1.       Do some Veterans Day crafts. Help your kids understand what the day is about by spending some quality time together making cute crafts that have Veterans Day tie ins. Think patriotic pinwheels, wreaths, popsicle stick flags, or a string of paper stars to decorate the house. If you’re feeling especially adventurous, try your hand at baking some yummy red white and blue treats! Rice Krispy treats work well, as do cupcakes.

2.       Go to a flag raising ceremony. These events can include reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the National Anthem. It’s a great and easy way to get out of the house and into the spirit of patriotism.

3.       Write a thank you note to a veteran or service member from you and your family. It’s a meaningful way to show gratitude to those who have defended our country’s freedoms and liberties. It may be to your husband or wife, son or daughter, to a friend or to a stranger. A little note goes a long way.

4.       Find a way to be a good friend or neighbor to those who are family members of a deployed military member. This obviously is something to do every day, not exclusively on Veterans Day, but it is a good time to reevaluate what can be done to help these families out. Offer to listen, to babysit if appropriate, to help out with yard care, just get out there and serve.

5.       Have a moment of silence at 11:00am. Remember those who have fought for our country and for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice of giving up their very lives in our behalf. 

This year, November 11^th falls on a Sunday, so Monday November 12^th will be a holiday.

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Courtney writes about VA news for MilitaryVALoan.com, a VA home loan refinance site that helps veterans and their families save money on their VA mortgages. 

Thank you, Courtney, for stopping by! I hope y'all take a moment this Veterans Day to do one of the above things and honor the veterans in your area. Oh, and check out the restaurants in your area. Many of them give free entrees, dessert, or at least a discount to those with active military ID's. 

Guest Post: A Big Sister's Take on Parenting

Poekitten asked for a slew of guest bloggers a while back and I offered my help. Of course, the reason for her absence was the birth of her little one, so she wanted the guest posts to be parenting themed. I thought about it for a minute and presented my angle: parenting from a big sister perspective. She loved the idea and I wrote it up!

Head over there, give her and the new family your love, and let me know what you think!

Finding Solace in Photography: A Guest Post by Holly Robertson

When I posted a call for guest bloggers on Facebook, Holly stepped right up and offered. I was grateful to have her perspective and thankful she is here today to share her story. I am continually inspired by entrepreneurial women, like Holly, who took her passion and turned it into a successful business! Kudos, Holly and welcome to my blog! 
Check out her blog here and her business here. 

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Mel from Head in the Game Heart in the Sand asked me to do a guest post, and I'm so excited to be here! I'm new reading her blog, but it's something I look forward to when I'm online.

She only asked two things;

That I write about something I am passionate about.

And That I keep it stress free.

Not much in my life these days is stress free. I work two jobs and own my own business.

While that can be a stress into it's self sometimes I just sit back and remind myself why I am doing what I am, what I am passionate about!

The answer is simple. I LOVE Photography. I love the creativity, and the technical side... But most of all I adore creating something Beautiful that I get to share! Be that the fine art side or the portraiture, I love it all. I am one hell of a lucky woman. I am doing my DREAM job. It's happening, and I am Making it Happen. I really am a professional photographer. It's kind of amazing really. Ever since I was small I have owned a camera and I have always loved to be the one taking the photos. A little shy, a little of a shutterbug. My mom has also always been really into genealogy. So I learned early to appreciate the process of documenting lives through photography. 100 years from now, how will people remember you?

I love getting lost in my work. Some nights Eric will come into the office to tell me he's going to bed and I realize I've been editing for HOURS. Some people clean or run when they are stressed I head straight for my computer and photoshop. Maybe not the healthiest, but It's whats best for me. Plus you get to see lovely images like the ones below.

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How to Study for Licensing Exams: A guest post by Charting New Territory

I am really excited to have Sarah from Charting New Territory guest-posting today! She has been a huge supporter of my studying and has encouraged me along the way. Today, she is giving her story on what studying for the NCLEX was like for her. Please give her a warm welcome!

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So, you want to be a Nurse?

Hello, my name is Sarah and I am a Registered Nurse and I blog over at Charting New Territory. I love introducing myself, and if you have a title that you worked hard for, and had to pass a national or state exam for, you know just how near and dear my title is to my heart. As nurses, we are put through the ringer during school. We work for that title, and everything we do in our nursing programs leads up to that one glorious day; the day we take NCLEX!

I had always been horrified of the dreaded (dun dun dun) NCLEX. Since my freshman semester in nursing school, I knew, that one day- this one exam would be the end all, be all of my success. Then, finding out that only seventy five percent of people in the United States pass on the first try scared me even more. Failure was NOT an option for me. You can imagine my stress level.

When I was preparing, I took a course called the Kaplan Test Prep for NCLEX-RN. My whole strategy prior to taking this class was to learn everything, memorize every disease, treatment, and care planning process. Boy, was I wrong and in need of some better test taking skills. Thank goodness for the Kaplan course. I learned how to answer questions by process of elimination. Hello easy! Instead of trying to learn everything, I learned how to strategically approach an exam where you are expected to know everything. Who can know everything? No one. Not me anyway.

So, I took one month to prepare. I graduated on January 11, and I took my exam February 11. I found out I passed on Valentine’s day; February 14th. In order to prepare I watched content videos, I committed to one every day. I also did a maximum of one hundred practice questions each day, and on three days out of that month I did a mock NCLEX with two hundred and sixty questions- which is the max you can expect to get on the exam. Those were rough!

When the day before arrived, I was horribly stressed, and anxious. I couldn’t concentrate or focus on anything. I did not study that day. I went to the spa, and I got a massage and hung out in the jacuzzi all day before coming home, popping some Benadryl and going to bed so that I would get a good rest.

Boy was I a wreck the morning on. When I arrived to the testing center my stomach was all in knots. I couldn’t sit still. The building wasn’t open yet, so I decided to run around the building and up and down some stairs in order to try and burn off some of the pent up energy. I must have looked like a loon, and that didn’t even work. Once I sat down though I calmed down. The exam started. It looked exactly like the practice exams I had been taking at home, and it felt very familiar.

So, I’m taking my exam and it’s really easy. Beyond easy- and I start to panic. I think I must be doing horribly because there’s no way this test is supposed to be this easy. Then my screen shut down. I answered seventy five questions; you either get seventy five questions because you passed or because you royally messed up. Of course I thought the latter and I went home and I cried all day. I was literally depressed from February eleventh to the fourteenth. On the morning of the fourteenth, I woke up at three in the morning and I checked the boards. I saw my named, screamed, cried and went dancing all over the house. I’m pretty sure I scared the living daylights out of my husband, but from that day forward my life was forever changed.

My name is Sarah, and I’m a Registered Nurse!
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And, in an interesting turn of events, I am guest-blogging on Sarah's blog today as well!  Head over to Charting New Territory and read my post on balancing my career and my husbands!

The Stress of De-stressing: A guest post by A Girl

When I sought out guest bloggers for my time away, this lady came forward immediately. I was so excited, because I have only recently started following her and was excited to hear what she had to say. I was not disappointed! 


A Girl is a 20 something blogger who began blogging in 2008 as a means of coping with a deployment.  She is a Veterinary Technician by trade and loves her work in Emergency and Critical Care.  She is married to a 10 year veteran of the USMC reserves, whom she meet shortly after he returned from a deployment.  They have been married for four years, have three, very bratty dogs, and are currently trying to muddle through the aftermath of a difficult deployment for both.


You can read her blog, A Boy, A Girl and the Marine Corps: A love triangle at Aboyagirlandthemarinecorps.blogspot.com, via her FB page http://www.facebook.com/ABoyAGirlandtheMarineCorps or on Twitter @BoyGirlUSMC

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De-Stressing is Stressful!

Just me?

Finding time to myself, let alone time that doesn’t feel stressful is a huge challenge in my life.  I work a stressful job, I have three crazy dogs (two of which are puppies only 6 months apart in age), I have family obligations, and, recently, have lost a number of loved ones due to age and illness.  The very idea of taking a small break in my day to read a book, take a bubble bath, or even just to watch a little TV throws my over active, unable to slow down, mind into overdrive of how to appropriately SCHEDULE said time. 

I’m here to tell you, after years of working in an ER, marriage, dogs, family, deployments, and life in general, that that is 100% the absolutely WRONG way to look at things. 

When I was going to school, and after I graduated and was studying for my boards, I had a very simple way of relieving the stress.  I set goals and rewards.  If I studied X number of hours, or finished this chapter of my review book, I got a prize, a piece candy, a movie, some TV time, or even just a walk in the park.  But when I was done and went out into the real world, got a job, two more dogs, and life moved forward, it was harder and harder to have tangible goals in my day, let alone a reward for meeting them.  I get busy, I can’t justify time for a bath when there is so much to do.  I get stressed, I get overwhelmed and then, suddenly, I’ve been sitting on my couch doing nothing for three hours and haven’t even realized that I still haven’t finished what I started on the computer (ex: this post LOL!)

So what do I do?  It’s really so simple that I feel ridiculous that I haven’t thought of it before.  Why I wasn’t’ doing this 3 years ago, I have no idea.

I just don’t do anything.  No, I haven’t walked out on my responsibilities.  The house payment still has to be paid, the dogs must be walked, and my job doesn’t really accept, “I just don’t want to come into work today” as a valid reason to call in.  But when I find that the laundry needs to be folded and there are dishes in the sink, but I’d rather watch TV, I watch TV, if only for 30 minutes.  If I want to sip a cup of tea while staring out of the window for 5 minutes before I start moving forward with my morning, that’s what I do (most of the time, as long as I’m not running late).

The key I have found is that I CANNOT be everything to everyone all the time.  And that is what we want, it’s what we tell ourselves we should be.  “I am superwoman.  I can take on the world and still be home in time to cook dinner.”  And maybe you can, some of the time. But if you are like me, you can’t be that person all of the time.  I find that I am no good to my family, or my job, if I’m not taking care of me while I’m busy taking care of everyone else. 

So, I try to read a book sometimes.  Granted it can take me a month to read one, but I do it.  I try to savor my coffee, and find time to just pet my dogs.  Even when the world feels like it’s spinning faster than I can keep up with, I have to make time to do something that is just for me, just for a minute.

I have also begun setting goals again.  I registered for the Tough Mudder this year and have dedicated certain days of the week to train.  I don’t always train for a long period of time, but I am making the effort to make this goal happen and finding peace of mind in the mean time.  Running is a great way to be too tired at the end of your day to care about your stress.

It’s not about scheduling time to relax.  I hate the phrase, “making time to relax.” That makes it feel more stressful to me.  It’s about taking time to savor the things you love, even if just for 5 minutes.  Look out your window at the sunset tonight, take 30 minutes to watch your favorite TV instead of doing the dishes.  Grab that cup of tea with a friend just because, or add 10 minutes onto your dogs morning walk to just enjoy the air.  Quality over quantity.  Enjoy the things you do, find a few extra minutes to do something you love that is just for you… I like to keep a few pieces of candy hidden in my nightstand so that I can enjoy a few after a rough shift at work.  And if I’m facing something that I just don’t want to do, that can wait, then it can wait for a little longer, because sometimes, you just need to have a moment to do nothing important.

MilGirl Interview

The lovely Melissa Jaine interviewed me for her military spouse series on her blog.
The interview is also featured on Sisterhood of the Camo Pants.








Please head over to both sites to read my interview! I tried to keep things interesting and provide information that even my long-time readers would find new and fun!


Let me know what you think!

Adapt and Overcome: A Guest Post

Today, I wrote a guest post for Dani while she is on Spring Break (lucky girl!)

 My post is about learning, from a young age, how to adapt and overcome and how that has carried with me into Army life. I really enjoyed writing this post and it has been a while since I wrote something really reflective.

Please check it out and tell me what you think!

Thank you!

The Cute Blogger: Guest Post by Chambanachik

My guest blogger today is Erika from Chambanachik! She is one of my absolute favorite bloggers. She is the sweetest person and her blog is the perfect blend of honesty, humor and good, down-home feel-good! I have a special place in my heart for a fellow Midwestern girl. Plus, have you seen her beautiful daughter? 

I am pretty honored to have Erika here today, so please give her a warm welcome!

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Sometimes, I wonder what it would like to be her. You know the one.

The cute blogger.

She wears her hair in a tight knot on the top of her head. She has nerdy glasses that probably aren't prescription. She wears lots of vintage clothes mixed with J. Crew, indie labels, and a dash of Urban Outfitters. Mustard yellow looks fabulous on her. She has a small apartment in New York City, but it costs thousands of dollar a month and looks like it. She's likely never seen the inside of a Wal-Mart. She plays the piano perfectly. She's a whiz on the sewing machine. Her makeup and red lipstick are immaculate when she wears them, but she's also the sort of rare breed who can be bare-faced and still look darling. She has lots of cute friends who meet up with her at coffee shops, and she takes pictures of every outing. She has so many friends, she is never really alone.

The cute blogger has a cute husband, who she sees as a great accessory. He wears cardigans, has slightly disheveled hair, and brings her flowers on a weekly basis. The cute couple go on frequent dates because they always have a babysitter and plenty of extra cash. They drink wine and know a lot about it. They do things like go to a ballet, stay out late at a local pizza place, and take lots of photos with huge, open mouth smiles and loving looks. They kiss a lot.

The cute blogger and her cute husband also have a cute daughter. She always has a little bow or flower in her hair, because she is a patient baby who doesn't tear them off right away. She doesn't really cry or need a diaper change. She has outfits as stylish as her mama. She has a designer nursery, and plays with fancy toys that never come from places like Target. Everything she has is customized and embroidered with her name. Everything in her room looks handmade by her mama, but wasn't. She loves rolling around the city in her expensive stroller while her parents socialize and shop.

Blogger envy is everywhere, and occasionally I find myself comparing my little blog to the girls who seem to have it all. But it only takes a minute to remember she doesn't have what I do- my husband, my daughter, my family and friends. She doesn't have a messy house to remind her that the people she loves the most live there. She doesn't have a husband who looks darn fine in ACUs, or a daughter who has the world's most contagious giggle. She didn't ever drive a beat up Honda out on country roads lined with cornfields. She doesn't have crazy Muppet hair that makes me laugh when I wake up.

Glamour is all well and good for a few hours here and there, but Pinterest doesn't have the pictures of what I want most-this life. Perfection is overrated. So cute blogger, keep your cuteness.

This reality is a better home for me.

Crafty: Guest Post by Ashlee

Today, I have a blogger relatively new to the scene who I started following not that long ago. She is a milspouse and she recently added a second little boy to her beautiful family! Despite some medical complications, they remained strong, loving and positive. Her (healthy, yay!) little boy is now home with his big brother and mom and dad! 
Even on top of all that, she took the time to write me a wonderful guest post. 
Please make her feel at home here!

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Hey All, 

I am Ashlee over at Our Little Fam! I am so happy to be guest posting for Mel, she is so sweet! 

Recently I have dedicated Thursday nights to craft nights. I decided I had been spending too much time pinning things on pinterest instead of actually making them. I have started with pretty simple basic crafts, but hey it’s a start right? 

Here are a few of my recent projects. 

Fun and cheap, clipboards with scrapbook paper and vinyl letters. My sister is a teacher and I made one for her to have in her classroom. For mine I put magnets on the back so I can keep it on the fridge and clip notes or shopping lists to it.

This next one was fun and simple as well.  

I bought the clear frame from Walmart and used left over scrapbook paper. Decorated it with a simple ribbon. Cute for leaving notes, you can pretty much use it for whatever you want. 

This next one has been one of my favorites.. 

 

Who hasn’t washed something in the dryer?? I have done it and realized once it was too late. Guilty, I have even washed my cell phone in the dryer before. Haha. I love this because it helps me remember now to check all pockets before throwing something in the washer. 

Have any of you made something you found on pinterest, or were you like me and only pinning? ;) 

Come visit me at Our Little Fam and share with me some fun project ideas you have found. Would love to hear from you.  Always looking for fun new crafts. 

Thanks Mel for letting me guest post for you. I hope you are having a fun time in Colorado!! 

Xoxo, 

Ashlee

Grad School and the Military: Guest Post by Dani

I want to welcome Dani to my blog today. When I first read her blog, we instantly bonded over the similarities of our school and dating situations. She works hard and has a great sense of humor about how crazy life can get sometimes and I am thrilled to have her here today! Please show her some love...

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Hello all! Mel was asking for guest bloggers, so I thought I would give it a try.  I’m Dani over at My Heart is in the Army, My Brain is in Grad School.  I’m a long time Army girlfriend and pursuing my clinical Doctorate in Audiology, yay for ears!  When Mel was asking for guest posts, I was at first a little nervous seeing as this would be my first one.  So I hope you enjoy.

I was going to start off this post by talking about graduate school and how wonderful of a life decision it is, but I’ll save that for a time when I’m not as bitter about my workload.  It’s also a whole additional level of stress to throw a military relationship into the mix.  Then on top of it, when it comes time to graduate and find a job there is that sneaky little piece of paper that complicates everything even more.

I’m talking about licensure.  In my field, I have to maintain a state license to practice and some states also require a separate hearing aid dispensing license.  In other fields you have to take and pass school certification if you are going to be working in the school in any capacity.  There are some states that offer reciprocity, but they are few and far between. 

With Mel going into law, she recently mentioned about taking and maintaining the bar in multiple states, which is very expensive to do.  While I don’t have it nearly as difficult as lawyers or some medical professions, I may still have as much as a 6-month dwell time between when I move to a new state and when I can finally practice there in addition to all the costs of reapplying.  I’m currently going through the process of where to apply for my license, so that is why this topic is on my mind.  There are some states with reciprocity agreements, but they only number in the teens.  Then wash, rinse, and repeat the whole process in another 3 years when you are reassigned.  If that reassignment happens to be overseas, that is an entirely different animal.

Many spouses/SOs talk about issues with the licenses and maintaining certification.  My question for those of you who have been through all this red tape is: why aren’t more states doing this?  Those of us in military relationships want to work and do the jobs we have spent so much time studying for, why not fill these positions?  And have any of you benefited from these reciprocity agreements?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and advice!

Passion: Guest Post by Whitney

My first guest blogger is Whitney, from Everything Happens for a Reason (linked below.) She is a sweet, Southern gal with a new-found spark for life. Below, she tells you why: ~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~

My names is Whitney from Everything Happens For a Reason. I'm glad that I am able to guest post for Mel. She is a fellow military spouse, and I have been following her blog for quite some time.

I want to discuss something very important; passion.

While growing up, it seemed that everyone, but me, knew what they wanted to be when they "grew up." Everyone, but me, that is. After high school, I went to college. I wanted to because a) that is what society "tells" you do and b) I wanted to be more educated.

 Throughout college, I did not know what I wanted to be when I "grew up." I had no intentions of using whatever degree that I was going to pursue. I was deadset of moving to California with my boyfriend at the time to attempt to break out in the acting industry. Seriously, no joke. We both had acted in numerous independent movies and that's what I wanted to do. The only thing that I wanted to do was act. It was like I hadn't "grown" out of the "little girl" fantasy that a lot of us had as kids. In 2006, I ended the almost two-year serious relationship. Over time, my priorities changed, but I still did not know what I wanted to be. It seemed like everyone else did, except me. In 2008, graduated college in four years with two bachelor degrees. Five months after graduation, I moved to another city and lived on my own. (Where I went to college was in my hometown, and I lived within walking distance. It only made sense that I live at home).

I assumed with two bachelor degrees that I would be able to get a job. I had almost ten interviews in one week. Some of the jobs were promising, others not so much. Instead of working in the field I majored in, I went in a different direction. The job that was in the field was not what I wanted, so I obviously chose the one that seemed like the better deal. It was doing technical support for Apple. To be honest, I was embarrassed. I never told anyone where I worked. Here I was, a college graduate with two bachelor degrees, and I got a job that anyone could get. Literally, anyone can get hired there. Seriously.

I was miserable and quit about a year later. I began a temporary job and just stopped going. Cue the misery. I then began another job similar to the tech support, except it was for people's insurance, prescriptions, etc. I thought people that called into technical support were rude, but I had no idea. Guess what? I quit that job too. However, I made the decision to get my master's degree in counseling.

Two years later, I do have my master's degree, but I have no intentions of using it. I mean, I'm never going to say, never. I just don't want to now or in the near future. All throughout graduate school, I worked in the counseling/social work/human services/case management field. To make a long story short, I absolutely hated it. I hated it with every ounce of my being. I know that it is possible, that it was just the agency that I worked for all that time. There was more going on behind the scenes besides me hating it. I felt singled out, treated unfairly, and I had proof of it. When I say, singled out, I mean, if you were to do something, it would be okay. If I was to do the same thing, I would get in trouble. Another instance, I would do as I was told and then get reprimanded for doing as I was taught (For example, I would not tell clients that we could spend money on them, because some would take advantage of that. I never told clients, unless there was an instance where I could help. A client found out that I could have bought them things, they got mad, and I got in trouble. I was doing what I was taught. Then later, management would tell the employees to not tell clients we could buy them things (but yet I got in trouble). Shady, I tell you. Make sense? I hope. I wish I could go into more detail. I could tell you all some stories.

So about two weeks after graduation, I quit. I know some may think I am crazy for quitting a relatively good paying job (it was twice as much as I made in 2008). Some may think I am crazy for not having any plans of using my master's degree. It's all about choices. I don't want to be at a job that I dread going to and one that makes me miserable. I was a different person, and now I am much happier. My husband and I talked about it, and decided that we had the last straw. Basically, they were getting onto me about everything. I felt that they knew I was graduating, they wanted to get rid of me. They wanted to find anything they could to "write" me up. So, like I said, I quit.

I realized there are way more important things than money. My mental health was suffering, and I was at my breaking point. I could not take it anymore. I would scream, yell, and cry. Going through all of this, it allowed me to rediscover a hobby and passion of mine that I had forgot about; photography. I have a website (but no one can access it at this time), business cards, and everything. All of this, I have had for about three months or so, but I never have told more than a handful of people. This is something I am serious about. This is something that I want to pursue and prove to be successful.

I now have the time to regroup and concentrate on what makes me happy; photography, "me" time, silence, and time to be with my thoughts. Trust me, I was not getting that. With all this babbling, I guess what I am trying to say is, don't let anyone or anything stand in the way of your passions. You may have to discover yourself and go through many paths to discover it, but once you do, you will never want to turn back. Not everyone is born knowing what they want to do. Also, if you have a passion, don't let anyone discourage you. 

It doesn't matter how you get there, it is just that you find your way there.

Calling All Bloggers!

Hello ladies!

The time has come for me to reach out, once again, for some lovely guest bloggers.

I am going to be traveling to Colorado to help Al get our new place set up. I will be gone for about 10 days and would love as many bloggers as I can get so I don't have to worry about blogging while I'm gone. If anyone would like to guest blog - about absolutely anything you'd like (within reason) - please let me know!

Either respond in the comments section or email me at:

melcandersen(at)gmail(dot)com

Thank you in advance for your bloggy-love!

European Road-Trip with Mel's Mom

{Hey all! I am currently driving to Texas, with my car stuffed to the windows, blasting old Backstreet Boys while my sister and I sing along. I'm going to be out for a couple of days to account for travel, recovery and unpacking time. Oh, and to shower my husband with kisses and other signs of affection. In the meantime, you are lucky to have a couple of my favorite bloggers making guest appearances in my absence.}

That's right, on my last day of guest bloggers you get the most special blogger of them all: my momma! I asked her to write a post about her time growing up all over the world. She did precisely that, and yet, I think the post turned into so much more.

Without further adieu...

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I think most of us have moved at one time or another…

Maybe with our parents to a new home or to college and the dorm? Or you’ve PCS’d?

It’s funny how moves are fun AND scary at the same time.

I grew up all over the world, Bermuda, Japan, Germany…obviously you can’t do that without moving, and moving, and moving again, seven times before I graduated from high school. If you’ve read all of Melissa’s blog, you know there’s a recurring theme here.

With the view of the world that many of you have I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re thinking, “Military brat!!” Nope, but not too far off.

My father was a teacher, coach, athletic director and later a principal for the DODDs school system. So I grew up WITH the Military brats and I liked it, most of the time.

I’m sure things have changed, what hasn’t? Back then, the Military families typically moved about every four years. So, between our moves and the moves of those around me, not many people were there for the long haul (that’s the part I didn’t like!)

You learn to make friends fast, and how to say goodbye. But you also have an opportunity to create a family bond that is amazing because those ARE the people there for the long haul.

As a child, I saw the world with my family close to my side. I’ve seen the Tokyo tower, the Eifel tower, Neuenschwanstein castle, the Mona Lisa, the statue of David, the Swiss alps, the Mosel wine valley, Dachau concentration camp, the Arc d’Triumpf, Normandy beach, and those are just the places that come to mind first. Castles, Churches, war memorials, beautiful miracles of nature all over the world from Africa to Asia!

We skied, golfed, walked, ate dinner and generally lived our lives together as a family. What an amazing way to live your life, yes, I am blessed.

When I came home, yes the USA is home and always has been. Throughout the world we attended every 4^th of July air show, every parade and patriotic event we could. We watched AFN and got the culture etc. so mostly we were American. My father said, “It’s time to go home and become an American!” I think he was worried that I would marry a German boy and not go home to the USA.

Off I went to college for my first move by myself. This is where I think we, my family and I went wrong. Suddenly, no family, where was the milk and cookies when I came home every day? The culture shock of not having my family resulted in me getting married as fast as I could! I wanted that family and closeness that had been so important to me…what I got was Melissa & Megan! The greatest gifts that God has given me! The man, not so much. He’s a good guy but not for me.

I did the single mom thing for a lot of years, my parents and sister came home, and eventually I met the man that I want to see the United States with…MY family man! Melissa too has her man and we’re growing our family, it’s amazing to be me now.

So, what is the moral of this long history of my life?

Spend time with your kids, show them the world, even if it’s just your part of it (when my girls were little we did what we could with no money, Duluth, nature reserves, the zoo, science museums, etc. ~ The girls may not remember all of it but they know they are loved!) Prepare your birdies to leave the nest as best you can, and mostly, when you move, and move, and move again…hold on to the ones who will always be there for you.

An Old School Road-Trip Mix with Caroline

{Hey all! I am currently driving to Texas, with my car stuffed to the windows, blasting old Backstreet Boys while my sister and I sing along. I'm going to be out for a couple of days to account for travel, recovery and unpacking time. Oh, and to shower my husband with kisses and other signs of affection. In the meantime, you are lucky to have a couple of my favorite bloggers making guest appearances in my absence.}

Today is really fun for me because my guest blogger is my best friend of over 13 years!

If you want to check out her blog, do so here. In the meantime, enjoy her great list of songs reminiscing of our lifelong friendship.

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Fall 1997. I'm in my first year in junior high school; a seventh grader with a thirst to make new friends. I go to a predominantely black school and as a 13-year-old white girl from the suburbs, I was having a hard time finding these new friends to make.

Off and on, I noticed a teeny tiny girl that rode in the first seat of the bus and chatted up the bus driver on our way home. Her blonde hair was down to her butt and sometimes she had too much make-up on for a junior high kid, but she was always smiling and cheerful.

One chilly fall day, I board the bud to find every seat taken except for the first one, straight across the aisle from chatty blonde girl. I sit quietly and zone out thinking about homework, or the Backstreet Boys, and suddenly notice over-make-upped blonde girl putting on dark purple lipstick. Needless to say, I judged her and wondered why she thought that was cute. Blonde girl notices me staring, puts down her compact and lipstick, smiles and says, “Hi! What's your name?”

“Caroline.” I replied hesitantly.

“I'm Melissa!” She exclaimed.

Fast forward 14 years and here we are. Still best friends, still enjoying telling the story of how we met and still making new memories to share.

During Melissa & I's college roommate days, we got a wild hair up our asses to make themed mix cds. Of course, these were the days before iTunes playlists. Our cd themes ranged from 'Even Better Than Chocolate' (songs about sex – though we were still as virginal as the day we were born) to 'It's All In A Name' (songs with a name in the title).

We've had an amazing friendship that has only grown stronger as the years go on and I am incrediby proud of her and all that she has accomplished. She inspires me to do more and be better. She is like a sister I never had.

In celebration of our amazing friendship, I have compiled a playlist of our most favored and memorable songs so far. And without further adeiu...

Peaches & Skittles – Greatest Hits – Vol. I

1. Everybody (Backstreet's Back) – Backstreet Boys

2. Wild Thing – The Troggs

3. Miss Independent – Kelly Clarkson

4. Get Naked – Methods of Mayhem

5. Shake Ya Tailfeathers – Nelly/P. Diddy

6. Dirrty – Christina Aguilera

7. Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard

8. Toxic – Britney Spears

9. We Danced Anyway - Deana Carter

10. This One's For The Girls – Martina McBride

11. Slow Motion – Juvenile

12. Walking in Memphis – Marc Cohen

13. Lady Marmalade – Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Pink & Mya

14. Home – Michael Buble

15. Whiskey Girl – Toby Keith

Bonus Track:

16. Then – Brad Paisley (My dedication to Melissa and Al's future together)

    
    

Road Trippin' with Grandma from Just a Girl

{Hey all! I am currently driving to Texas, with my car stuffed to the windows, blasting old Backstreet Boys while my sister and I sing along. I'm going to be out for a couple of days to account for travel, recovery and unpacking time. Oh, and to shower my husband with kisses and other signs of affection. In the meantime, you are lucky to have a couple of my favorite bloggers making guest appearances in my absence.}

Continuing with my lovely lady bloggers, I've got Just a Girl. She's an ex-Army-girlfriend, turned super-Army supporter and a good friend. Because, really, once you're part of the Army family, you never really leave, do ya!? Anyway, she was also one of the first gals I met on the mil-blogger block. Today, she recalls one of her road-tripping adventures.

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I’m so honored that Mel, one of my first blogging friends, asked me to write a guest post for her while she’s busy road-tripping it down to Texas to spend the summer with Al.

When I sat down to write this little post for her, I started thinking of all the road trips I have been on (and believe me there have been many). My family went on at least one major road trip every year, but there is one trip that sticks out in my mind: Our family road trip to Canada.

This trip was masterminded by my grandma (yes, the infamous grandma for those of you that are familiar with my blog). We drove from Idaho to various places within Western Canada and we were gone for 3 weeks. Oh, and did I mention we were camping in my grandma’s 5^th wheel the whole time? Now I’m not princess, and camping is definitely fun… for a few days at a time. A week, at the most. Three weeks of camping was not something I was on board for, even at the age of 10. I was also the one that got stuck with sleeping in the same bed with grandma since my parents got the “master” bed and my brother “couldn’t sleep with someone else.” I would like the record to state that I told him I was going to use that excuse and that little brat stole it from me before I had the chance. Sorry, can you tell I’m still a little bitter?

Although there were many life lessons learned on this trip one sticks out in my mind above all. When we pulled up to one of the various campsites we were staying at for the night my grandma decided it would be a good time for me to learn how to empty the “waste” tank of the 5^th wheel. If you’re not familiar, you have to attach a big blue hose to the tank and it empties out. I was not thrilled with being assigned this task, because really, who wants to be responsible for emptying out the poop tank? Plus at this point I was pretty disenchanted with being in a car for multiple hours everyday and my attitude was probably not the greatest. Anyway, there were some technical difficulties and the waste was not draining, so my grandma sent me to investigate the hose to see if I could figure out what the problem was. Well, I decided that it would be a good idea to pick up the hose and look inside of it to see if there was a clog in it or something (yeah, I may not have had a lot of common sense). Anyway, when I picked up the hose it apparently released a kink and with all the pressure that had built up well, let’s just say that there was a “waste” explosion all over my face. Lesson learned; never investigate the exit end of poop hose. Y’all can thank me later.

Oh, the trip culminated in my dad’s car breaking down on the second to last day of our trip in some intersection in the middle of nowhere Montana. My mom and I had to hop out and push the car through the intersection. Fun times.

And in case you were wondering; no, my family has not joined in on any “grandma” planned trips since.

~Just A Girl~

A Brilliant New Packing Strategy with Annoyed Army Wife

{Hey all! I am currently driving to Texas, with my car stuffed to the windows, blasting old Backstreet Boys while my sister and I sing along. I'm going to be out for a couple of days to account for travel, recovery and unpacking time. Oh, and to shower my husband with kisses and other signs of affection. In the meantime, you are lucky to have a couple of my favorite bloggers making guest appearances in my absence.}

Of course we are going to kick this off with one of my favorite bloggers: Annoyed Army Wife.

She is honest, funny and one of the coolest people I've never met! And in true Army-wife fashion she has moved as many times as the rest of us. Today, she is going to share her new techniques for packing and moving.

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When Mel asked me to write a guest post for her as she prepares to move down to Texas for the summer I was ‘Of course I’ll do it!’ First, here’s an intro for those of you who do not know me; I’m the annoyed army wife married to OccDoc, an Army doctor recently returned from a deployment in Afghanistan. As I like to say ‘I support the troops, just not always the one I’m married to.’ Now, on to my topic: PCSing/Moving Techniques.

OccDoc got back from Afghanistan at the end of February and when we went to pay our rent at the end of March we got this news: We’re selling your house, but you can stay as long as it takes to sell. Have you ever sold a house? Have you ever rented a house currently on the market? Well, if not both situations suck and the kicker if your renting is that it’s not even your freaking house and your life is completely affected. OccDoc and I offered to increase our rent and do some (costly) home improvement projects if the landlord would let us sign a new year lease, then put the house on the market after that lease was up. He turned down our offer. So, after having to move every year or two because the army makes us, we now find ourselves moving after two years for other reasons. I guess we were being unreasonable thinking we could live in the same house for three years. We should have known better.

We found a house to rent that is closer to the army post OccDoc works at (there is no on post housing there) and signed a lease to begin on May 1. Our move out date on our current house is May 31, one month after our lease ended. We could have stayed put until they sold our house, but we’re still a bit upset our landlord turned down our offer and that he waited to the last possible second to tell us he wasn’t renewing our lease. So, if the house takes forever to sell, which we’re pretty sure it will in our neighborhood with the ridiculous asking price they have on it, then our landlord is screwing himself out of a lot of income. Too bad, so sad for him.

Since we essentially have a whole month to move I will be debuting a new revolutionary moving technique. Okay, so many not quite, but we’re so used to packin’ up and movin’ out in a day or two that I feel like this technique is new and revolutionary for us. In the time OccDoc and I have been together (7 years) we have moved going on 6 times. So, it’s not like I’m a PCSing/Moving virgin; I’ve been around the block and around and around. You know how it takes forever to unpack? Maybe not, but for us it does. Like there were some boxes in our current house I just unpacked 4 months ago (if I would have known we were moving again I won’t have bothered). I suck at unpacking. Suck. Here’s my new technique: one room at a time moving, then the big stuff at the end. Let me break it down for you.

We’re moving one room at a time, so everything I can fit into my car from a particular room will be moved and unpacked immediately in the new house. Theoretically, we should have one empty room in the old house and one totally set up room in the new house. My first room is the office. I’m going to put everything from the office, except the giant bookcase, into my car then drive it 40 miles to our new house and unpack it AND set it up. After I’m done with all the trips needed to empty that room I’m going to clean the room in the old house and shut the door. We have a guest bedroom and our master bedroom, so we plan on moving our bed (it’s a Sleep Number that comes apart semi-easily) towards the beginning so we can make the new house ‘homebase’ and move all of our crazy animals there. That will make getting ready for showings at the old house way easier since I won’t have to sit in my car with two Chihuahuas and two rabbits. And we’ll just leave our guest room intact until the end in case we have to sleep over at the old house. Then towards the end of the move we’ll rent a moving truck to move our couches, washer, dryer, and other stuff I can’t fit into my Subie. A lot of stuff fits in the Subie – we put a picnic table in there one time.

I know my new and revolutionary moving technique probably sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but I’m pretty confident it will work out. And by spreading our move out we’ll need less help since I’ll be able to do most everything myself. I think we will be able to bribe our neighbors into helping us on our ‘big stuff’ move day. What do you think? Disaster waiting to happen or brilliant idea?

Short-timers vs. Lifers

Go over to Annoyed Army Wife's blog and check out my guest post!

I talk about the military and the differences between short-timers and lifers and the military community that surrounds them.

But you should check out Annoyed and her amazing blog anyway.

Her husband is a doctor in the Army and on his return from deployment.

She has a candid, witty and classy outlook on life in the military and has become a wonderful (blog and hopefully, someday, real-life) friend of mine.

So go check it out.