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. :)