Mil-Spouse Friday-Fill in #36

I realize I'm missing 3 Friday Fill-Ins, but since its unlikely that I'll ever be able to catch up completely before the next installment comes out in a week, I figured I'd just answer this week's questions and catch up on the missing ones as time allows...

1. What romance movie scene reminds you of your s/o or spouse and the LOVE you share? submitted by Simply Sunshine and Daisy’s

Umm...honestly? I have no idea...I'm running through movie clips in my mind right now and I can't come up with one that reminds me of me and Mr. V. I tend to think that romance movies, while good, are also really fake, so maybe thats my problem here. I'll have to get back to you on this one.

2. If you were allowed to deploy with your husband to a war zone would you and why? submitted by I & J

Yep..and we've had several conversations about this already. He claims he "wouldn't let me" go to a war zone with him, but the truth is, I was given an opportunity to teach in Iraq before I even met Mr. V. I turned it down at the time, but I do think its something that would be really interesting to do. Plus, I think it would be really interesting to see parts of the world that the average person doesn't get to see. I don't know if I would want to live out in town in a war zone, but I think I would at least feel halfway "safe" if I was on a guarded military base. (the teaching job was out in town, but I would have been escorted by armed guards to work every day)

3. Have you ever done anything (intentionally, or unintentionally) to embarrass your spouse/significant other in front of his military cohorts? submitted by Marrying the Navy

Intentionally? Definitely not. Thats just cruel and unnecessary. Unintentionally? I sure hope not...although I did recently sit at a table with his CO and the CO's wife, while talking about the figure skating competition that Mr. V and I just went to. The CO's wife said to her husband, "See? HER husband will go to a figure skating competition with her." At that point I realized that perhaps I shouldn't have told his CO that he even somewhat enjoyed the competition. However, I'm going to say that it doesn't count because Mr. V wasn't there, so technically, it wasn't in front of him :-).

4. What is your most irrational fear? submitted by Eights on the Move

I've only recently figured out what my most irrational fear is. I'm afraid of falling, but I don't think thats necessarily irrational. I'm also terrified of bees, but since I've only been stung once in my life, by a wasp, and never a bee, I also don't find that completely irrational. The wasp sting HURT like you wouldn't believe (or maybe you would believe it) and on top of that I suffer from tons of allergies that have gotten worse as I get older. So aside from the fear of the pain of a bee sting, I'm also afraid that I'm going to be deathly allergic to bee stings, and die within minute of getting stung. So maybe thats slightly irrational, but I don't think its completely irrational.

As for completely irrational, I'm afraid of wide open spaces, and I really just figured this out. I know there's a name for this fear, but I can't remember it offhand. Mr.V and I have gone on several day and weekend trips around here and I've realized that when I'm standing on a beach that has no one on it, and its HUGE and you can't see or hear any sign of life outside of the beach, it makes me feel panicked. (I'm talking about 2nd Beach in La Push in case anyone wants to know which beach freaked me out.) I also felt panicked driving through Wyoming when we moved out here, because there was just nothing around. Same with the Canadian Rockies, near the Athabasca Glacier. There are just mountains, and fields of snow, and NOTHING else around, and it just panics me! I honestly have no idea why, but its a feeling I don't like, and I do realize thats its completely irrational.

5. If you could only live in one kind of climate for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? submitted by Many Waters

I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I think I'd choose Western Washington...but without the rain, gray skies and clouds. I do like having 4 distinct seasons, but moving around so much has taught me which types of weather I can and can't physically handle. Hot weather, while occasionally nice, really takes its toll on me. I've always been very sensitive to hot weather to the point where even 90 degrees makes me feel like I'm going to pass out. Cold weather, is just cold and uncomfortable, so I think I could happily live somewhere where the temperature is typically between 50 and 70 degrees year round, with the occasional really cold day or really hot day mixed in there. And honestly? Western Washington has that climate. But I hate the rain and the dreariness and the 3pm sunsets in winter. So ideally, I would live somewhere where the weather stays between 50 and 70 degrees on most days, it only rains 2 or 3 times a month, and the sun sets no earlier than 5pm (but preferably much later than that) every day.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #32

This is going back a few weeks, but in an attempt to finally catch up on things, here are my answers to the 32nd installment of the Friday-In (on a Tuesday night):


1. Do you or your {spouse} ever wish your {spouse} was in a different branch of the military? submitted by The Turner Family

Nope. To be honest, I haven't given it much thought. Mr. V just seems like a Navy guy. I honestly couldn't even picture him in another branch. Personally, I like the Navy because the deployments tend to be shorter than Army deployments. Plus, I don't know much about life in the Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard...so I'm content with the Navy for the time being.

2. What duty station(s) are on your “No Way, Hell No, Not Going, Have Fun Unaccompanied” list and why? submitted by Every Branch

Corpus Christi, Texas....oh but wait....that's where we are headed next. I did throw a nice little adult temper tantrum when I found out we were heading back there, but at the same time, I really have no intention of staying behind. Plus, its a city that I already know, so while I don't particularly like it there, at least it won't be something horribly new and drastic.

I'd like to say that I would follow Mr. V anywhere, but when he was in the process of choosing his next set of orders, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba came up as an option and was promptly dismissed as an option. Thankfully, Mr. V knew that there was no way in hell I was going to go to Cuba with him. Living on a secluded piece of island, next to a high security prison, in a country that I can't even visit while I'm there, gets a big "Hell no!" from me. Thankfully, the option was there, but wasn't a good career move and it was just mentioned to him in the off chance that he might want orders there. It was never really considered in the final order choosing process.

I can't really think of anywhere other than Cuba that I would flat out refuse to go to, though I can think of MANY places that I wouldn't move to willingly.

3. If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose and why? submitted by Three Krakens

I don't really know. So far every age has had its pros and cons, so I can't say that I would want to stay at one age forever. I did enjoy my 21st year though. At least thats the age that is popping into my head as I ponder this question. So I guess if it was possible to stay in college forever - with minimal life responsibilities, but also the freedom of being an adult - I would choose that.

4. If you were a breakfast cereal, which one would you be? submitted by the C.W.

Frosted Cheerios - something good for you, with a touch of rebellion AND sweetness in the sugar frosting

5. What is your morning beverage of choice and why? submitted by NH Girl Displaced

It used to be water, but then I moved to Washington - the land of coffee stands on every single corner and a Starbucks in every shopping center. I drank coffee occasionally before moving here, but the endless darkness, rain and general dreary-ness in the winter time made me quickly realize why this state is addicted to their caffeine. I now require some type of caffeine before I can even begin to function for the day. Its going to be a shock to my system when I can't find a drive through coffee stand (or several of them) on every single road in Corpus Christi.

Meow Monday

I'm going to attempt to use this week to catch up on all the Friday Fill-Ins I've missed, and to finally talk about some of the adventures we've had over the past few months. But for now, I've decided to turn Monday's into "Meow Mondays". I have a new camera that I'm still in the process of mastering, so the cats have been my unwilling practice subjects for the past few weeks.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #30 and #31

Head over to Wife of a Sailor for the latest Friday Fill-In!

I missed last week's Fill-in so here's two weeks of my answers:

Friday Fill-In#30

1. What is your favorite MilSpouse blog (not including Wife of a Sailor who we all love, or your own)? submitted by Our Crazy Life

I don't know that I have a favorite one. I enjoy reading about everyone's different perspectives, thoughts and feelings about military life. Some of the military spouse blogs that I follow are linked on the side bar on my blog. I follow others too that I haven't gotten around to putting up there yet. There's definitely something about each of them that I like so I don't know if I could pick just one.

2. What are your favorite perks about your s/o being deployed (we all know there are perks)? submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife

I like that I can do what I want when he's gone. Not in a "he controls me when he's here" kind of way, but when he's home, I definitely make more compromises regarding everything. From the TV, to day trips, vacations, work around the house, etc....its all done on a 2 person basis. When he's gone, I can watch whatever TV show I want to watch. I can clean the house on my schedule without worrying that he's going to think that I'm a slob or lazy (he's never actually called me a slob or lazy, but I do feel motivated by my desire to not have the house looking like crap for him when he's home). I can do things that he has no interest in doing, instead of dragging him along with me with the knowledge that I AM dragging him along with me. I guess its a sense of freedom and the fact that I don't have to compromise with anyone when he's not here. Life at home becomes about me and me only, and I enjoy the fact that I have several months to be completely selfish :-).

3. How long did you date your before getting engaged? Married? submitted by Utterly Chaotic

To be honest, I don't know what day we officially started dating. But we were dating for about 6 months before getting engaged, and we were married 8 months after that.

4. What do you think your SO would do if s/he wasn’t in the military? submitted by Adventures of M-Squared

He'd be doing some kind of aerospace engineering thing. He's mentioned that he wouldn't mind working for Boeing or Lockheed-Martin in the future.

5. If you could talk to the Secretary of (fill in your appropriate branch) what is one suggestion you would like to bring to their attention in order to improve the lives of military families? submitted by My Life as His (Air Force) Wife

That's a tough one because there is a lot about this lifestyle that I don't particularly like. Since this question is going directly to the Secretary of the Navy though, maybe to make tours for officers a little longer. I know that there are a few select jobs that will stay in one place for a long time, but the general rotation of an aviation officer is 3 years on sea duty, 3 years on shore duty, then repeat - for 20 years. I don't think I would mind the moving so much if I could feel like I could actually settle into a place for a while. Maybe a 5 year tour would be better. I feel like we just got to Washington, but in 5 months we're going to pack up and move again. I don't like the feeling of being unsettled, so I don't think I would mind the uprooting so much, if it was done less often.


Friday Fill-In #31

1. Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life “perfect”? submitted by Oh How Delightful

As a continuation of my last answer from the last fill-in, I would want to move less. I do like the idea of "seeing the world" so moving in general isn't the problem for me. Its the constant moving that I don't like. I want to stay in one place long enough to feel settled there. At the rate we move, I'm starting to forget how to answer the question of "Where are you from" because no place feels like home anymore.

2. Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army

This definitely deserves some kind of witty answer, but I'm not a very witty person. So the simple answer is "a pack". At least if I'm remembering the tongue twister correctly. Isn't it "Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers"?

3. If you could have any career in the world with nothing holding you back, what would you do? submitted by It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To

I think I've answered a question like this before, but I'm not sure where my answer is to link back to it. I'd be a Civil War historian, and work on a Civil War battlefield. If I wanted to put both of my degrees to work, then I'd produce a Civil War documentary for the History Channel.

4. Do you have a service oriented tattoo and if so what is it. If you don’t what would you get? submitted by The Squid’s Accomplice

I have no tattoos at all. Although, I do want one. I won't get a service related one though. As much as I love Mr. V, the Navy is about him, not me. I honestly don't think it would even cross my mind to get a service related one. Instead, I'm trying to work up the nerve to get a small cat's paw print tattooed somewhere on me.

5. Imagine a block of time has opened up in your busy day for you to take a class in anything you like. What subject would you choose? submitted by To The Nth

Something history related. Preferably history of the American South related, because I'm basically a huge history nerd and would have fun taking more classes related to my degree. On a non-nerd level, and more on a crazy old cat lady level, I'd take more craft classes - mainly more quilting and sewing classes.

Finally Updating...

I think the last time I updated about anything was back in November when it snowed. So to recap the past few months (in more than one post):

We found out in January that we'll be moving back to Corpus Christi in July. I had a feeling the day would come when we'd be told we were moving back there, but I had still hoped that it wouldn't happen. Mr. V is scheduled to finish his tour here at a really bad time for orders. Basically, there are only orders available in Corpus, Oklahoma and California (which would have been great but its apparently a career killer job). I do like the XO of the squadron though. Mr. V told him that I'd probably throw an adult temper tantrum if we moved back to Corpus, and apparently the XOs wife basically flipped out when they moved to a city she hated once, so he sympathized :-). Before Mr. V talked to him, he was only offering the orders to Corpus or to California. Mr. V said no to the California orders immediately, which left only Corpus. But then the XO got in touch with the detailer and they both figured out that Mr. V could do the exact same job in Enid, Oklahoma. The only difference would be that its at an Air Force base instead of a Navy base. Flight school is a joint forces training thing so there are Air Force pilots training in Corpus and Navy pilots training in Enid. We seriously considered the idea of going to Enid, and the decision was left up to me. I spent 2 days researching everything I could about Enid and in the end it was me who chose Corpus. The decision was easy once I realized that there is NOTHING in Enid. And I mean nothing. The closest Target is about 2 hours away, and while I don't need Target to survive, I just can't handle the thought of literally living in the middle of nowhere for 3 years. I've gotten used to living out here, but it still drives me crazy that I have to drive even 45 minutes to get to Target. Aside from the fact that there is nothing in Enid, I was also convinced that it was a bad place to live when I started looking at houses for sale. The words "the storm shelter gives you peace of mind" on several listings made me hyper-aware of the fact that we'd be living in tornado alley. And while I know there are natural disasters everywhere, tornadoes terrify me. The fact that they really can't be predicted is something that I'm just not ok with. There was a storm in Jacksonville when we were there that actually had a few decent sized tornadoes touch down right down the road from us, and THAT was terrifying, but thats also rare in Jacksonville. Its not so rare in Oklahoma.

When Mr. V went and thanked the XO for finding different orders for him, but that we'd decided that we would rather live in Corpus Christi, the XO responded with "Did your wife look at a map?" in reference to my aversion to Enid. Apparently he was expecting me to say no to Enid, but wanted to give us the option just in case. So I hope I won't regret this decision. I know I don't like Corpus and I highly doubt I'll ever learn to love it there, but it IS a place that I know well, and there are definitely some positives to it (every store you could possibly need being within a 10 mile radius is one of those positives) so I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and deal.

I think the worst part of this deal though, is that Mr. V will be deploying soon, and he'll leave the deployment early to move to Corpus. We always do DITY moves, so that means that I'll be the one packing up the entire house by myself and flying to Texas by myself to find a house to buy by myself. I'm not really looking forward to that part. I guess the positive thing there is that we've been looking at real estate listings and disagreeing over every house that the other person likes. I'll get to make the decision on my own, which I find "fair" especially since Mr. V chose our house out here without me.

Anyway, I'll continue to post more updates as I get more free time!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #29

Check out Wife of a Sailor for this week's Friday Fill-In:

1. Since most of the country has had nasty weather, what has your weather been like this week?

Nasty in its own way. We definitely haven't had the snow and freezing temperatures like the majority of the country has had, but we still had rain (the annoying kind where its just sort of drizzles constantly) and gray skies, with temperatures in the 40s-50s. I suppose thats nothing new for Western Washington though. The sun did come out for a day though which was nice. I have to admit that the weather has been a little disappointing. Before winter started, it was being predicted that we were going to have the worst winter in 50 years. That certainly hasn't happened here by any means, though it seems to have happened to the rest of the country. We got snow back in November, and now I'd like a little more snow before winter is completely over.

2. What is/are your best money saving tip(s)?

Coupons - I love coupons. And meal planning to avoid eating out so often. Whenever we crack down and limit our eating out to once a week I'm always amazed at how much extra money we have left over at the end of the month. Also, I'm a big fan of generic products. There are a few things I won't go generic on (Pop-Tarts are a big "no generic" thing for me), but a lot of food really doesn't taste any different whether you buy name brand or generic. Household supplies are the same in many cases. A lot of my cleaning supplies come from the dollar store and work just as well as the $5 bottles of cleaner you can buy somewhere else.

3. What was your favorite vehicle you’ve ever owned??

The one I own now - my Honda Accord. I love it and will most likely get another Accord when this one kicks the bucket.

4. What is a question you’d like to see asked in a future fill-in? (Your question & blog just may appear one week!)

There was a recent question about pets you had while growing up, but I don't think I've seen a question about the pets you have now. So I guess the question would be how many pets do you have? And what type?

5. Fill in the blank: You might be a MilSpouse if….

you've spent more than 50% of your marriage away from your spouse.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #26, #27 & #28

Catching up on 3 weeks of Friday Fill-Ins:

Friday Fill-In #26:

1. What are you looking forward to most in 2011? from Jessica Lynn Writes

This is a hard question because if anything, there's a lot that I'm NOT looking forward to in 2011. We'll be leaving Whidbey in July, and heading back to Corpus Christi (a place I despise - more on that later), so I have been finding myself hoping that the rest of our time here goes very, very slowly. Also, Mr. V will be going on another deployment right before we move, which means that finding a house to live in, and packing this house up, falls onto my shoulders. We always do DITY moves so I am NOT looking forward to packing up an entire house by myself. The good news is that he won't complete the deployment. He'll be sent back about halfway through to detatch from the squadron here and then move. The bad news is that that won't be enough time to help me pack. So since the answer to this question is supposed to be something positive, I suppose that I'm looking forward to enjoying our last few months out here. Also, because Mr. V will be deploying, that means he'll get some pre-deployment leave, and we plan to drive to Alaska during that time. Its potentially a pretty crazy trip, but I'm looking forward to it!

2. What is something random you do on a boring night when your significant other is away? from Lovin Ma Soldier

I don't know that its random, but I read. Mr. V always has the TV on, which makes it hard for me to concentrate on a book, and I don't like locking myself in another room and ignoring him when he's home. So when he's gone, I love curling up on the couch with a good book.

3. What has been your greatest adventure as a MilSpouse?

Moving across the country. I had always wanted to go on a cross country road trip, but I never had the time or the money for it. So a three week forced "vacation" was one of the greatest adventures I've ever had. As much as I'm not looking forward to moving back to Texas, I'm looking forward to the drive there. We'll be taking a southern route to get there, to see states that we didn't see on our way out here to Washington. Moving might suck, but the places I get to see along the way make it more worthwhile.

4. What is the ugliest fashion trend you ever bought into (I’d like to make fun of you, so can you please provide a picture as well)? from More Than An Army Wife

I was an 80's child so I sported the over sized shirts tied in a knot on the side, neon colored spandex with a skirt on top, crimped hair, side pony tails, and huge thick socks pushed down with brightly colored keds sneakers. I have a lot of pictures from when I was a kid, but I wouldn't even know where to start as far as choosing one to display here. Thankfully, I wasn't a teenager in the 80's. I was just right on the cusp of the ridiculous fashion statements, so I like to think that they way I dressed was forgivable since I was really too young to know any better :-).

5. What was the high point of last month?

A relaxing Christmas. That may not sound super exciting for everyone else, but Mr. V has been so overworked and so stressed for months now (I'd say he's over reacting but when other wives from the other squadrons here ask what squadron my husband is in, they always say "Oh I'm so sorry" when I answer them. Apparently, it really is the most ridiculously overworked P3 squadron here.) So for Christmas he had 4 whole days off! He didn't get official Christmas leave, because he was forced to give it up so we could go on our Victoria trip in January (which is a whole different vent), so those 4 days were the most relaxing days ever. It had been almost a year since he even had 2 days off in a row, so when 4 free days came up, we did absolutely nothing. And it was wonderful. We spent Christmas together - just the two of us, and for the first time ever I can say that doing absolutely nothing was the best part of my month. It was just so nice to see him finally relaxed, which made ME relax. We did some other random stuff in December, but 4 days of nothing was definitely the best part!

Friday Fill-In #27:

1. What do you usually want to know about someone when meeting them for the first time?

I want to know where they are from. This lifestyle leads to meeting lots of new people from lots of different places, and that fascinates me. I love meeting people from different places and learning about those places.

2. Would you rather know everything about your spouse, or be regularly surprised?

Well I hate surprises so I'd have to say everything. I suppose its nice to occasionally learn about small little things, but for most things I'd rather know everything. I don't like being clueless, and even if its something completely un-harmful, it still annoys me when I learn something about Mr. V that I didn't know before. I think its my personality though. I hate not being in the know about everything.

3. If you could live in one city for the rest of your life, where would you live?

Victoria, British Columbia. We just got back from our trip there and I absolutely loved it there. If I couldn't live in Victoria, then Vancouver. I love Canada. I love the people that I meet there. I love the atmosphere of both Victoria and Vancouver and I could see myself being happy in either place.

4. When you go out of town, what one material thing do you ALWAYS take?

A computer. Mr. V and I would probably die (or at least feel like we were dying) if we couldn't be connected to the world via internet.

5. Using no more than 10 nouns, and ONLY nouns, describe yourself.

Pack-rat
Friend
Wife
New Jersey
Traveler
Nerd
Cat Lady
Procrastinator
Daughter
Quilter


Friday Fill-In #28:

1. If you were a famous movie star, what types of movies would you star in?

Historical Fiction

2. What is a vacation you would like to take if money were no object?

I'd take a trip around the world, seeing as many countries as I possibly can.

3. Did you have pets growing up?

I've had at least one rabbit ever since I was 4 years old. I think at the most we had 7 rabbits at once. I also had fish, an occasional hermit crab and I had 2 frogs at one point.

4. What do you do for exercise?

ummm...nothing. And I need to do something. I have a gym membership that is basically going to waste at the moment. The good news is that after spending a week in Victoria, I feel like I'm getting back into shape. I had gained about 5 pounds, which isn't a lot I know, but I'm a tiny girl to begin with so I noticed the 5 pounds. It took walking everywhere for 6 straight days to unintentionally lose the extra 5 pounds so now I'm trying to convince myself that its fun to stay in shape. I'm not doing so well on the convincing, but I'm trying!

5. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received as a MilSpouse?

Go with the flow. Something that I find VERY hard to do, but something that is definitely necessary for me to learn (since I haven't learned how to do this yet). Going with the flow means never being able to make definite plans and never knowing what life is going to throw at me next. Maybe one day I'll be able to take that advice and not want to cry every time something changes or goes wrong or differently than I had planned.