Never a Dull Moment... Guest Post from Brittney

Hey ya'll! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Today I have the lovely Brittney from A Day in the Life of a Navy Wife. Enjoy! I'll be back soon.

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My life never ceases to amaze me. Each day I encounter new people, experiences, joy, and of course hardships that sometimes leave me choking back tears, while other times I can't help but laugh hysterically. Before my husband joined the Navy, my life was what you might consider "ordinary." I went to school, worked full time and was just trying to survive like everyone else. However, in the current state of the economy in our country, this wasn't so easy. We didn't want to continue living with our parents forever and we desperately wanted to get married. We felt the Navy was the best option for my husband and for us both. Needless to say, we were both a little ignorant...(okay a lot ignorant) as to what being in the Navy actually entailed. Like everyone who joins or is married to someone who joins, you are quickly brought to the realization that this is nothing like you thought it would be. At first I thought it wasn't so bad. Sure boot camp was a rude awakening, to go from seeing and talking to someone everyday, to not hearing their voice for over a month or seeing their face for two months. I admit that I cried myself to sleep the whole first week my husband was gone, but over all I handled it pretty well and kept myself busy with work.

Once we made it to graduation in December, I was ecstatic and I couldn't help but count the days until I would see my Love again. My Mil and I flew all the way to Chicago and landed right as it was starting to snow. This was just "my" luck...my Mil had been stressing the whole month previous to our trip, because she was worried about driving in the snow, lol! So of course it started snowing, and I forgot my gps at home, so we ended up getting lost for about four hours trying to find our hotel (which btw was only supposed to be 45 minutes from the airport). It was the day from HELL, but nothing could spoil my excitement, for I knew that the next day I would see my husbands handsome face! Looking back on it now, I have to admit it was pretty hilarious. We spent a perfect three days together and even now when I look back on those few precious days, they are some of the happiest in my life.

After that I kept telling myself, "I can do this, he just has to get through a-school and then we will get our orders and FINALLY be together again!" Boy was I wrong. My husband made it through a-school and excitedly called me one day and told me he had received his verbal orders to Norfolk, Virginia. I didn't know what to think, half of me was sad that we didn't get San Diego, and the other half of me was thrilled at the thought of starting over somewhere new, and on the East Cost to top it off! We started making preparations to move and applied for base housing. Then the next week when my husband received his hard copy orders and contacted his sponsor he found out he was deploying immediately. In fact, his ship was already underway and he would be flown to meet them and finish the rest of the deployment.

I can still remember that horrible day when my husband called me and told me the news he had just learned. I can even remember what I was wearing and what the weather was like, its a day that will forever be ingrained in my memory. My husband called and said, "Baby, I have horrible F***ing news...I just talked to my sponsor and I'm getting deployed right away. My ships already underway and I have to catch up with them. I will be gone for six to seven months." As you can probably imagine, I was crushed. My heart felt as if someone had ripped it right out of my chest and stomped on it. It felt as though someone came and took a giant CRAP all over my hopes, dreams, and plans for our life together. I could barely speak as I tried to choke back the tears and my body began to tremble. I don't remember exactly what I said, but just as quickly as my husband has spouted off the "news" to me, he hurriedly said, "Baby, I gotta go, I'll call you later. Love you." And he hung up...just like that. He dropped this huge informational bomb on me and was like, "K, gotta go now, byyeeeee!"

I sat on my front porch crying my eyes out. I don't think I've ever cried so hard. I felt abandoned, betrayed, and scared all at the same time. How could God let this happen to me? He knows all, so I was pretty sure he knew that my hearts desire was to be with my husband and finally be on our own. I couldn't fathom why he wanted us to be separated for another six to seven months when we had already been apart for four months. I was naive and like most human beings, I was trying to control the things in my life. I know now that the Lord had many, very good reasons for sending my husband on that deployment. I see now all the many blessings that came from the last year of our struggles and trials.

If it weren't for my husband getting deployed I would have missed my baby niece being born, I wouldn't have been able to fix my relationship with my mother as well as strengthen my relationships with my sisters, and I wouldn't have been able to bond with my mother in law the way I did. We would have had NO money to move cross country, and we would have had NO furniture once we got here. I would have missed out on spending time with my family and friends, who are the very people who supported me and helped me get through the hardest days without my husband. And probably the biggest blessings I received was seeing what our marriage could endure and learning how much we really love and need each other. I can also say that it has increased my faith so much and made me believe even more that the Lord works on many intertwined levels in our lives, and he always has our best interest at heart...even when it may not seem like it.

Because of this deployment I was able to do and learn so many new things and I am so thankful. I was able to handle all our finances, save money for our move and furniture, navigate my way through the whole moving process and get us base housing, move cross country and get the basics of our house set up, install a dryer (ALL BY MYSELF!), survive a flash flood and tornado warnings (the first week I was here in VA), and drive my husbands stick shift car up the street to save it from getting flooded and totaled by the rain!!!! These are just a few of the things I've accomplished, or should I say, "survived?" and I may have forgotten some, but I'm sure you get the point. During the course of the last year, there were times when I hated the Navy, and I'll admit I have my days when I still do...but I am so grateful for the person it has molded me to become over the last year.

A year ago the "Old Brittney" would have never been able to do even half of the things I have accomplished while my husband was away. It has truly shown me the inner strength I possess and has pushed me to endure things I never dreamed I was capable of. My husband came home from his deployment two weeks ago, and this Sunday we will be celebrating our one year wedding anniversary! He was more than a little pleasantly surprised when we stopped and realized all the things I have done while he was away at sea. He is very impressed with the "New Brittney," and especially with the fact that I installed our dryer while he was at work one day last week. It gives me a sense of strength and pride to know that with the Lord's help I am capable of making it through the hardships of this life. This morning as I was sitting down to type up this post, my electricity went off for some reason, and although I was mad at first I had to stop and laugh at the situation. There really never is a "dull moment" in my life as a navy wife...only now the "New Brittney" is more equipped to handle life's little bumps along the road. :)

Guest Post: Dear Someone

Hello everyone. I'm probably sleeping in right now. So, Amanda (shortmama) from Family of Shorts is filling in for me today. She's super awesome and does "Dear Someone" letters every Thursday on her blog. From time to time, I join in on those. Stop by her blog and let her know how awesome she is.

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Hiya everyone! This is shortmama from Family of Shorts filling in for Steph sucker!. Every Thursday on my blog I do Dear Someone letters, basically writing anything to anyone...happy, sad, funny, rude...whatever floats my boat that week! Feel free to stop by my blog sometime and join in! Here we go...

Dear Mother Nature,

Please take the estrogen that I got you for your menopause. The hot flashes are unbearable. The pills may also take care of that "dryness" problem youve been having. So please return to a normal body temperature and let some wetness come our way.

Your burning up over here friend, Amanda

Dear sleep,

Why must you be so cruel? So nonexistant? Please come back! Im going to bed at a normal time and getting up bright and early to get Rhiannon off to school, Im doing everything right! Now get yourself over here right now! Meet me in my bed at 10pm, got it?

Me so sleepy

shortmama

Dear laundry,

Quit breeding while I attempt that whole sleeping thing. Maybe its you that is keeping me up at night...hmmmm.

Washing and drying and folding and hanging...blah

Me

Dear my girlies,

Watching the two of you play freeze dance is hilarious. Rhiannon that rump shaking is a bit risqué but funny all the same. And Layla you are about 5 seconds behind on the whole freeze thing, but completely adorable. You exercise my belly with all the laughing I do...and Lord knows I could use all the belly exercise I can get.

Abs of steel...ok not even close

Mama

Dear Steph,

I hope you still had all the readers you had before you let me guest post. I tried not to scare anyone away..but well ya know I am kinda scary...all 5 feet of me.

shortmama

Thats all for this week! Normally I would include a linky for all of you to write your letters and join in but since Im not on my blog I thought that might be confusing, so if you did letters just let us know in the comments so we can visit and read yours. And if you want to participate in Dear Someone letters next week just hope on over to my blog every Thursday! Peace.

--
Amanda

A guest blog from Mimi

Today's guest post is from the lovely Mimi @ Living in France. Check her blog out. She literally has me laughing out loud at every one of her posts. Thanks again Mimi!

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Hi Everyone!!
I'm so excited to be posting for Steph today!
Can you believe the little brat is actually on vacation? Wait. You don't know what vacation is? Neither do I!
I certainly haven't had one in the last eight years or so.
Not that I'm counting.
I have a vague memory as to what a vacation is...it seems like it was something that I did with my husband about once a year...? And maybe we went somewhere that isn't like the place that we live? We also relaxed a lot?
I don't know. Eight years is a long time.
Not that I'm counting.
Wait.
It's coming back to me now.
We did, indeed, have vacation! You know...once upon a time.
And now that I think about it, it was before two different things happened to me.
The first thing?
I had babies.
Second?
I got old.
Eight years ago, I was young. Eight long years.
Not that I'm counting.
You may wonder why a person who has kids can't go on vacation.
It's simple really. You can go on a vacation. You can go to all kinds of neat places. Have lots of fun.
But at the end of the day, if you've had to referee a fight between the kids, wipe a poopy butt, or utter the words, "If you make that sound one more time I'm gonna 'fill in the blank with whatever it is you wanna threaten em with at that moment,' then you really haven't been on a vacation.
Think about it. A poopy butt is a poopy butt no matter if you are at home or at Disneyland. Even though Disneyland is pretty fun. At least as I recall. I haven't been on vacation in eight years.
Not that I'm counting.
And when you find yourself telling your child, "You are so ungrateful. My parents never took me to 'fill in the blank with whatever place they really want to go to at this moment.' I think you're just spoiled. Back when I was a kid, we didn't have 'fill in the blank with whatever crap you didn't have when you were a kid.'"
Well, you know what it means when you find yourself spewing that stuff. That's when you know you're old.
And that it's time for a vacation.
Because you haven't had one in eight years.
Not that I'm counting.

Thanks, Steph, for having me! Hope you have a great vacation!!
I haven't had one in eight years!
Not that I'm counting.

Bring on Vacation

Over the weekend Matt went with his crazy parents to a tractor pull a couple of hours away. They took our camper and stayed there Friday and Saturday night. I made sure I had to work. Unfortunately, I had to work. I could have dealt with the tractor pull. It's the in-laws that are the problem. But, that's another story for another day.

I worked at the bar Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Saturday night was pretty busy, which is good. After work, a friend of mine, "L", my cousin, and Matt's Army buddy, "M", that lives about 20 minutes away came over and drank on the deck with me. Matt and I are trying to set up L & M up. They seemed to hit it off. Who know's though.

I stayed up too late. See, I drink red bull and vodka. There is a very fine line to drinking it so that I can sleep. 1 to 3 and I'll be fine. 8 or more and I'll sleep like a baby but wake up feeling like shit. Anything between 3 and 8 is trouble though. I had4 or 5 Saturday night. I slept from around 3 to 7 and then woke up and saw that my cousin was still asleep in our porch swing. And then tossed and turned until 11 when I had to get up and get ready for work.

So, I was exhausted all day yesterday. Matt got home around noon and came up to the bar to see me. After work, we laid around on the couch until it was time for bed.

I work at the VFW. It's a pretty mellow place but sometimes there is a little drama. Mostly, I try to stay out of it. There are these two regulars that come in there, a guy and a girl. They aren't "together" but I think they know each other pretty well, if you know what I mean. Anyway, they aren't speaking. I like both of them. It was the lady's birthday Monday. I talked to her Saturday and she told me they weren't speaking because he was being a grouchass Monday night at the bar.

He came in yesterday and told me that he was upset because some other asshat came in that he was deployed with and started telling graphic war stories. He didn't want to hear it. Now, I can totally understand why he wouldn't want to talk about it and why he got upset. He asked me to talk to her and try to get her to talk to him. So I did. She said he was upset before the asshat ever showed up. I tried to explain to her that maybe the asshat showing up was "the straw that broke the camels back."

I'm glad this guy felt as if he could tell me what was wrong. The members that come into the bar know that I know what being a veteran is all about, no matter if they are 21 or 85.

This will probably be the last you hear from me until after my vacation. Be nice to my guest bloggers. ;) Hope you all have a great week!

Wireless Router Drama

Our wireless router has been shady for the last couple weeks. I would have to unplug it and whatnot to get it to work. It was a Belkin. Wednesday evening, I called Belkin. I talked to some Arabic lady. I was on the phone with her for over an hour and nothing was fixed. She told me she would have the supervisor call me back. I never heard from him that night.

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart and got a Linksys router. It came with idiot proof software, or so I thought. I got it working and it was working for a couple hours. I did the set-up with my laptop. When Matt tried to get online on his laptop it shit out.

So I called Linksys and talked to another lady. I don't know if she was Arabic but her first language certainly was not English. Basically she told me this one was junk too and I should by one directly from the company. So that's what I did. It should be here in 5 days or so. The knocked $10 off the price and threw in free shipping.

Talking to programmed robots people on the phone pisses me off. Talking on the phone to people who can't speak English worth a damn pisses me off even more. Before I bought the Linksys, I googled "wireless router with American customer support". Guess who popped up? Linksys. Guess who lied about that? Linksys. I'd rather pay more for a product and have the customer support that doesn't make my blood pressure shoot through the roof.

You know what makes me the maddest? When it's obviously an Arabic person and they tell me their name is Paul/Mike/Bob or something else. Don't lie to me, I'm not that stupid.

I just want our internet to be wireless again.

Oh and I'm linking up with Mimi for F-Bomb Friday because she is awesome.

Little of this and little of that

* Thank you all so much for your kind words and positive comments on my last blog. I've gotten back on the wagon and I'm almost back to pre-funnel cake weight.

* Matt had drill this past weekend so, I worked. Nothing too exciting.

* School starts back up next week. I'm taking two classes next semester. And I'm still hanging on to my 4.0. Monday I meet with the honor's program lady. I have to take an honors class this semester in order to stay in the program.

* Matt starts school this semester too. I'm so proud of him for going. I know he will do well.

* I love finding stuff out via facebook. (total sarcasm)

* 5 more working days until we are on vacation. One of our friends that Matt was in the Army with is ETSing and is coming to hang with us for a week. We are so excited to see him and show him a good time.

* I have a guest blogger lined up for while I'm gone and let me just say, you are all in for a treat. I am willing to have another, if any one is interested please let me know.

* Matt's leaving for the weekend. He's going with his parents to some sort of tractor pull all weekend. Unfortunately (more sarcasm), I requested have to work.

* I'm expecting four packages in the mail right now. Getting good stuff in the mail makes my day.

* That's about all I have today. Hope everyone is having a great week!

I've fallen off the wagon

I need help! On Thursday, my total weight loss was 20 pounds. The last 8 or so have been rough. I've been at this since the middle of March. I know 20 pounds in 5 months isn't that great. But my clothes fit better, I don't feel like such a lardass, and I feel like I have more energy.

That being said, I have fallen off the wagon. Thursday night we went to the fair and I got a funnel cake and a strawberry shake-up. And I ate some of Matt's cheese fries. But we live right across the street from the fairgrounds and I swear I could smell the funnel cakes all week.

I ate like a pig this weekend, drank about a bazillion calories, and sat around most of the time we camped. Since then, things have not gotten any better. I made a huge pasta casserole Monday night and we've been eating leftovers of it ever since.

And it's been so hot and humid that I haven't wanted to do anything when I get home from work.

This is what I had for breakfast today:


But in my defense, one of the girls brought them in and she knows funfetti cupcakes are my favorite. It's not like I stopped on the way to work in search of one.

My jeans feel tight now and my arms seem a little more jiggly than normal.

I need to do something, quick. This is not good. I'm not weighing in this week because I don't even want to know.

Maybe I need to just look at the big picture and realize this is just a small setback. How do I get back on the wagon?

Don't Jack Me Around

When we bought a house, I had to find one that either had a big garage or had room to build a big garage. Our house has a one car attached garage. We've been planning on building a two-car detached garage since we bought the house.

The garage building process was supposed to be finished by now. We were going to have a friend of my brother do the concrete work. (He owns a concrete business) Then get a bunch of people together to build from a kit we could buy. And then have my brother do the electrical work and my dad do the plumbing.

Well, concrete guy has been jacking us around all summer long. At first he said he would come do it at the end of June. I understand it rained pretty much the whole month of June. I talked to him around the beginning of July and he said he could be there in two weeks. Three weeks later I called him back and asked when he was coming. He then said he would be there that Friday to mark it off and remove the existing concrete slab. He never showed up or called. I tried calling him two or three times after that and he never returned my call.

So, I made Matt call him and fire him. We hired a company that will pour the concrete and then two weeks later come and build the garage in one day. It's going to cost us about 35% more to have them do it but we Matt is becoming impatient.

They are supposed to be coming Thursday to do the concrete. So that means by the end of the month we may have an actual garage. Like one I can send Matt to when he gets on my nerves. One that can become his play area. One that all his toys that are in my garage can go to. One that.... oh the possibilities.

Matt wants a urinal (and a toilet) in this garage. Gross. How would you feel about a urinal if there is a chance you would have to clean it? And why do guys like urinals so much? Or is it just Matt?

All the extras of the garage are going to wait until the spring since we'll be spending way more than we planned on. Until then it's going to be a garage with a couple light bulbs.

I'll take some before and after pictures.

Question & Answer Part 2

I really don't have anything new or exciting to talk about. Minus that we went camping over the weekend and had a great time. The boys absolutely love camping.

I had a few more questions to answer so, here you go.

From Katie @ The Adventures of Josh and Katie

When you were little what did you want to be when you "grew up"? I think I wanted to be a teacher. But really, don't most kids?

How did you know he was "the one"? I knew Matt was the one when I told him everything about me and he didn't turn and run. And maybe something to do with the way my stomach felt the first time we kissed.

Do you believe in regrets? Or just learning experiences? I do regret some things but once it's done, it's done so I try not to worry about it and just learn from it.

From Mrs. S at The Adventures of Mr. Superman and Mrs S.

What would you do with a million dollars? A lot. First, I would do whatever it takes to get pregnant. Then, I would pay off our house and truck. Then we would build a house (not real big) in the country with lots of land so that no one could live close to us. I would want an underground pool with a slide and a hot tub for the winter time, a green room for my plants, granite countertops and nice cabinets, and the biggest walk-in closet with lots of clothes, shoes, and purses. We’d have a huge fenced in yard, so the boys would have plenty of room to run.

Then, I would pay off my mom and dad’s house so, mom would quit working and watching my kid(s). I’d drive to Alaska like I want to. I’d keep driving my car, until it fell apart. I probably would work less so I could finish school quicker. As in, I’d work Tuesday through Thursday from 9-1. I’d buy Matt a tractor and a four-wheeler so he’d stop talking about getting one all the time and if we were living in the country we would probably need one. I’d probably get a rabbit, some turkeys, a baby goat, and some ponies.

I would donate some of it to the VFW in our town because they are broke as a joke. I’d donate some money to the animal shelter, too and maybe adopt some animals, no cats though. I would probably buy a bigger camper but keep ours. Then, I’d save the rest.

Now, I really wish I had a million dollars. *Sigh*

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Question & Answer

Awhile back, I gave you the opportunity to ask me questions and in return I would answer them. I know it's taken me forever to do this but here it is.

From Whitney at Everything Happens for a Reason

What is your dream job? I want to be an accountant. So I suppose that’s my dream job. I love numbers.

What is your favorite meal? Currently my favorite thing to make is zucchini casserole. I love zucchini in the summer time. There is a ton of different ways to make it too.

Where is somewhere you would like to go, but haven't been before? I want to go to Alaska, during the summer. Not only do I want to go there but I want to drive there. The hubby said “no way.”

From Los at Plethora

Where is your favorite vacation place? Anywhere camping, I don’t really have to go far to consider it “vacation.”

Who would you most like to meet (dead or alive)? If I could “meet” anyone I would want to meet my friend that died 11 years ago. I like to be able to party with him and our other friends just one more time, listen to him play guitar again, and tell him that I will never forget about him.

What is your favorite food (or drink)? My favorite food is pasta, any kind really. My favorite drinks of the non-alcoholic variation are coffee and water. Sugar free Red bull and Grey Goose and Bud 55 are my go-to alcoholic beverages.

From Mrs. S at The Adventures of Mr. Superman and Mrs S.

If money weren't an issue, where would you go for a dream vacay? If we didn’t have to worry about money, I would like to go on vacation for a couple months and just road trip around The States with our camper and our dogs.

What would you do with a million dollars? I started writing and writing about this so I'm going to dedicate a whole post to it.

From Brittney at A Day In The Life Of A Navy Wife

What do you love and hate most about being a milspouse? I love the sense of pride it gives me. I love that I was strong while my husband was deployed and became a better person because of it. I hate the hurry up and wait and the fact that stuff is always changing.

How did you and your hubby meet and fall in love? We’ve been friends since the 90’s. Literally. We ran around with the same group of people. We started "talking" after we had been friends 10 years and I was love with him before I ever kissed him. He was at Ft. Lewis when we started “talking.”

From Shayla at Sunshine & Sprinkles

How many children do you want to have? Preferably I would like to have twins. One boy and one girl.

What are the best and worst things about being married??? I think the worst part is that I’m not as independent anymore. I used to love how independent I was. The best part is knowing that it is forever, and that no matter what, I will always have Matt.

From Jennifer @ Crazy Shenanigans

Where's one place that you'd love to travel to but haven't been? Besides Alaska, I would love to go somewhere in the Caribbean and drink fruity drinks with umbrellas on the beach.

From Mrs. B. @ From Our Place To Yours

What are the websites you MUST check every day? During the week, besides blogger, I check my facebook, my school website, and our bank website. On the weekends, I don’t write blogs, only read them, and check my facebook.

From Random Musings of My Life

What is one thing you have done (young or old) that you wish you could take back or change? I can’t really think of anything. Everything that I have done has made me who I am today.

What is the grossest habit you have? Hmmm... I'm a picker. Pimples, scabs, ect. I need to quit.

If you had all the money in the world what would you change? (Interpret how you wish) I would get rid of a crappy music. I would pay all the no talent assclowns to quit and burn all their music.

Who was the first boy you kissed? Some douchebag, who is now a rodeo clown.

One fun memory from your wedding... Instead of blowing bubbles or throwing rice when we walked out of the church, everyone took a shot.

Thanks for all your questions! I had fun answering them.