MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #2

Second week of questions from Wife of a Sailor's MilSpouse Friday Fill-In:

1. Tell us about your dream job… one that you could do regardless of pay.

I want to be a Civil War historian. Yes I'm a huge history nerd and my dream job is to work at a National Park battlefield. Money would be the issue in the sense that a lot of those jobs are usually volunteer jobs, with the exception of a few low paying jobs. However, at the moment, location is my bigger issue since Civil War history doesn't exactly extend out to the Pacific Northwest.

2. What is your most prized material possession (kids and pets don’t count!)?

My pictures. I have several bookshelves full of picture albums and they mean the world to me. I've always said that if my house was on fire, my pictures would be the one thing I would save because they are irreplaceable. To me, pictures are more than just pictures. They are a full history of my life. They tell my story. And without them I feel like a piece of me is missing. From a historian perspective, history is only known through memories - mainly, stories and pictures. If that's missing, the history doesn't exist. I don't think there is any other material object that can be equal in importance to me.

3. What has been your favorite duty station and why?

Jacksonville, Florida (NAS JAX). Its been my favorite for a variety of reasons. First, its on the East Coast and one thing I have learned from moving around so much is that places like New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, etc are all very different, but at the same time there is an attitude and personality that seems to be in every East Coast person that just doesn't exist in places like Texas or Washington (and even Louisiana as is proven by my husband's complete lack of interest in anywhere on the East Coast). I don't know how to explain it exactly. All I know is that I have realized I can be comfortable and feel at home anywhere from Maine to Florida, but I don't feel that same comfort anywhere else. (Not to mention that Florida is overrun with people from New Jersey, so I have to admit that that is also an plus to the area for me.)

From a historical point of view (I'm on a history kick in this post if you can't tell), Jacksonville borders St. Augustine which is the oldest city in the nation. Anyone who has any interest in American history would be lying if they said that they didn't care about St. Augustine. Its such a great city full of history, plus I got married there :-).

4. What is your least favorite household chore?

I hate making the bed. Hate it. Absolutely hate it. I really don't know why, but I do. I hate remaking the bed after waking up, but I especially despise putting new sheets onto the bed. I've been known to pull out a blanket and just sleep on the mattress for a few days just to avoid making the bed.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to a teenager today (not specifically a MilTeen), what would it be?

Don't worry about what other people think! Thats all I worried about in high school, and while I wasn't a follower and I didn't go out of my way to be someone that I wasn't, I was very insecure because I didn't fit into that popular crowd. The stupid thing is that I never even wanted to be in that crowd, but I still felt insecure. Looking back now though, I had a small group of great friends, and those friends are still my friends today. I almost feel stupid when I look back and think about how much I cared about what others thought in high school, and I'm thankful that I never did compromise myself or "sell out" because I am happy with who I am and who I was.