Home of the Brave!

On the heals of our 4th Anniversary I thought I would take a break from the ordinary and let you in on something a little different this time. Although, I in no way consider to be an expert on the subject(after all we have yet to experience a deployment), I do believe that once you marry a military man you are automatically entered into a contract unlike any other.   So, without further a-do

Things I have learned being a military spouse:

• Patience is a virtue- and one that I am constantly working on.  For some reason when life altering situations are on the line the Government and I are on totally different pages.  Although I knew when I entered into the military life that we could be asked to move at anytime, what I wasn't prepared for as the amount of waiting and uncertainty that came along with these moves.  If you know me well you know that I like things to be VERY organized and I seem to stress about things that are out of my control.  I am still learning to relax, be patient and have faith that everything will eventually work it self out.

• Friendship is invaluable.  I have been lucky enough to have some of my best friends built into my family unit, but when you constantly have new people moving in and out of your life you come to realize just how much you cherish true friends.

• You have to make the most out of every situation.  Once you have come to grips that you really have no control over the direction your life takes at any given moment you realized that there is nothing better to do than enjoy the moment.  I have been given more once in a lifetime experiences living this journey than I can count and as long as we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to take advantage of new situations together as a family that is what I intend to do.  Although our situation may not always be ideal, sitting on the sidelines will only make it worse. 

Remember this little Gem!

• Take help when it is offered.  I pride myself on being very independent.  I would much rather bite the bullet than feel like I am putting someone else out.  However, as they say it takes a village, and when your family is literally half a world away sometimes you have to just let go and happily accept handouts :)

• You are never alone.  I don't think that there is anything out there quite like the military community.  No matter where you go there is ALWAYS someone who understands exactly what you are going though and will go out of their way to help in any way possible.  Military families share an instant bond which provides comfort in a lot of unknown situations. 

• Stress does not do a body good.  If you let your mind wonder there are a million things that can stress out a military wife on a daily basis.  Plans the government makes change on a DAILY basis, therefore my motto is.... if it is not 100% than I don't even want to know about it.  80% chance of a deployment- don't want to know about it. 75% chance of moving within the next 3 months- don't care. 10% chance of not having to work through the weekend- keep it to yourself.  Unless it is written in stone I have come to the realization that ignorance is bliss!

• God blessed the USA.  I grew up knowing that I was lucky to live in the States, but now I know what it really means to be PROUD to be an American.  When your heart walks out the door every mourning  laced up in combat boots Home of the Brave takes on a whole new meaning.  Knowing that your friends and family are the ones literally out there fighting for our freedom your heart becomes patterned in red, white, and blue.

In reality most days the military is nothing more than a job.  Nate goes to work in the morning and comes home at night just like everyone else.  Yes, he wears a uniform; yes, he can be called to deploy at any minute; and yes, we make sacrifices (but I don't know many families that don't), but on most days I wouldn't trade the privileges that come along with serving our country!!


***Ironically as I was writing this we got 100% verification that our next journey will be taking us to
 Omaha, NE!***