2016

oh my 

it's been over a year since 

i have blogged....

 so let me do a quick update...

we completed the bipartisian european vacation...

it was everything i hoped it would be.

we pcs'd from italy 

it was all the heart break i imagined it would be

we ended up in colorado

(it is a beautiful state and close to home)

ken left shortly after arriving

to do a remote tour 

in 

thule, greenland

 

(which should be blogged about but i will do that later)

i unpacked us

found a job

emmi started preschool

i started work

and 

we began this "new" life

we said goodbye to ken's grandmother

we said hello to thule, greenland 

(for a short visit)

 

we said see ya later...again... 

to ken

and 

we survived with minimal damage 

2015

and now we prepare for our last month without ken

and our last month until we have a 4 year old!

(are 4 year olds still toddlers? 

or are they officially "little" girls? 

it's such an awkward age..

what do we have?)

maybe i will blog more

maybe i won't 

regardless

if i document it for all to read

i know that 2016 will be another

"new" 

year 

for so many reasons

 ken will be home

a home he doesn't know

(because he left 3 weeks after we arrived here

and has only spent 3 weeks midtour here)

we will have to adjust 

to having ken home

and a part of our life

here

a life we aren't use to having him a part of

so here's to 2016

and 

the possibility of more blogging

because 

i have fast internet

and

in a short time

a partner

to help with this crazy thing 

called

life. 

love love

from colorado

around my mind in 80 days

in eighty days we will know where we will be come this time next year

while a lot can happen in eighty days 

one thing is for sure

we will have a rip in eighty days to somewhere

so 

how does a planner

like myself deal with the unknown

honestly not very well...

i make up picture collages of what our 'listing' looked like

ha!

so without further adieu 

here is where we may be this time next year 

 

the af likes to keep things pretty specific.....

 

our first 'notification' may come as early as middle june

if we don't hear anything then

our next 'notification' 

will be the middle of august.

any guesses where we may end up?

  so for now my mind will travel between 

belgium, 

united kingdom, 

colorado springs, 

san antonio, 

and the entire lower forty eight 

playing the "what if we live here" game 

oh and let us not forget the curveball of a remote...

(oy vey)

love love 

from aviano

surviving facebook, overseas, and the military

I was one of the original Facebookers.... you know the ones who joined when you had to have a university email address... yep that's me.... (I understand I am dating myself) but knowing that you will understand the following post.

Facebook means something totally different to me than it did in college.  When you HAD to have a university email address Facebook was way to be a part of the "cool club". It was a way to proclaim "YES I attend college!!"  Facebook has since evolved..... and boy have I had to "catch up with the times".  After college I rarely got on Facebook. In fact during college I didn't get on Facebook often. I mean I didn't have an iPhone (they really weren't around then, again dating myself) and my blackberry didn't have a Facebook app (yes, I proudly sported a blackberry that I really had no need for).  Fastfoward a  few years (you can do the math based on the few timeline clues I have left you) and a different lifestyle than college.  I am now living this life known as a "Military wife" and man oh man... Facebook is something else! It's can become a breeding ground for drama, instability, and pure evil. I figured to make life easier for future military wives, I would comply a list of 5 ways to survive Facebook, living overseas, and the military.

1. Join the spouse page/group but rarely post! troll troll troll.......

Every base has a spouse page/group. Some have multiples.  Heck, at the base I am at, there is a group if you are left handed or have a mole over your right cheek.... just kidding, but there is seriously a group for EVERYTHING! Join the group. Utilize the little search icon and search your questions.... DO NOT POST!!! Well I mean you can post but more than likely you will get 100 different answers or 100 of the same answers or somebody saying please refer to the post made three days ago about topic x.

 

See that nice highlighted magnify glass... Utilize that!!!! And of course troll the page, because frankly if you are overseas, TV entertainment is limited to AFN and this will bring you more laughs and "oh mys" than any Real Houswives episode.

2. You DO NOT have to be friends with everyone in the squadron

Seriously folks it isn't necessary to send out friends requests with everyone you meet on base! You MAY learn you don't want to be their "friend" then defriending becomes awkward. Privacy is a thing of the past these days so protect what little is left!!!

Get to know the base, give out your phone number, email address, anything but take time to get to know people before you start clicking that "add friend" button!! 

3. You DO NOT have to be friends with the Active Duty Members in your sponsors squadron! 

This is something that baffles me ALL THE TIME!!! Ok, so I understand you want to be friends with the spouse because that means you get invited to all the 31, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, etc parties BUT why do you feel the need to be friends with the Active Duty member? The military was founded on the lines of respect, rank, etc.... I feel (again this is my opinion, it is my blog) that these lines have become so cloudy and mucky! Is it so hard now a days to keep work and friends separate?  I can almost guarantee you that if the spouse posts pictures or a status update she/he will tag the Active Duty member in the post so there really isn't' a need to be friends with EVERYONE! And then this gets back to what if you really DON'T want to know what's going on in someone's marriage and you are friends with both.... again defriending = awkward situation! There is NO need for me to be friends with any active duty member in my husband's squadron.  He's friends with them so if I need to get a hold of someone, I ask him too.  I get so tired of military talk anyway, I don't want to see it on my newsfeed... but again, maybe that's just me.

4. People are CRUEL! They WILL use Facebook against you.
There are some people out there that are just plain mean and Facebook doesn't have a "mean detector" unfortunately.  Mean people take screen shots and send to people that have no business seeing screenshots.  We all "air our dirty laundry" at some point or another on Facebook. It's easy to do and it's instant. We LOVE instant gratification BUT people DO NOT know how to keep their nose in their own business!!! 

TRUST ME FOLKS!!! This reverts back to the whole watch who you are friends with business.

5.  Restricted Profile, Lists, Blocking= HALLELUIAH!!! 
 Ok, so you made a bad choice in accepting or requesting a friend and you do not want to go through that awkward phase of defriending because well you didn't listen to number 2 or 3 and befriended your sponsor supervisor and supervisor's wife. Well, folks, facebook has answered another one of our cries for help!! Learn to use restricted profile! You still "appear as friends" but they have limited access to your posts! If you are REALLY daring organize your friends into "lists" and only allow certain "lists" to see certain posts. BUT remember whose on these lists because you could post something on the wrong "lists" (I prefer restricted profile, simpler, and I don't have to remember anything). The of course if there is that one "friend" that just won't leave you alone (we all have met him/her) you can defriend then block! This is a little extreme, but trust me folks, sometimes it has to be utilized!!

Facebook can be GREAT!! I love the fact that I can stay in touch with my college and high school friends back home (the cool club that had Facebook when only university email address holders could get it) and that I can stay in touch with my parents, grandparents, cousins, etc.  I post too many pictures of my daughter, too many surveys, and too many news articles.  Facebook, overall has been good to me, BUT Facebook has also taught me a lot about what society is turning or has turned into.  If you delay friend requests, you may actually sit down and TALK to people, enjoy coffee, get to KNOW the person from their mouth, not simply from there 50 plus photo albums on Facebook. For those future military spouses or current military spouses, seriously the cheesy AFN commercial is our reality.  Safeguard your privacy! Very little is left in today's society!!  And enjoy being "old school" and MAKING friends by conversation, not just clicking "add friend".

Now I must go enjoy a glass of wine and troll our spouse page because frankly nothing is on AFN right now!!

Love Love from Aviano!  

 

do you breast feed?????

welcome to aviano!

oh you have a baby!

so do you breast feed??

it's a question i have encountered

more than

"how old is your baby"

here at aviano

your nursing cover 

is more in style

than a louis vuitton bag

step one

get a really cool nursing cover

thanks mimi!

step two

have a baby 

(maybe this should be step one but the nursing cover is just really a cool accessory!)

got the baby

isn't she a doll???

now bring out the boob!!!

wait!

my baby is a preemie!

wait!

the nicu wouldn't let me breast feed

oh no!!!!

maybe i can just wear the really cool nursing cover and hide her underneath

maybe no one will notice

but here at aviano

where breast feeding is the standard

that just won't happen

the lactation consultant

swarms in on me

and

waves her wand!

don't get me wrong

i love my consultant!

she's awesome

she goes above and beyond 

what i would do

and 

she never gave up on me

offering different ideas

suggestions

and 

did i mention she breastfed her adopted child!!

yes her adopted child

so i figure if she can do it

so can i!

problem number one:

baby screams at breast...

oh no..

enter laction consultant with wand in hand and

poof!

i can proudly say 

that although it took two weeks

two very long weeks

my baby no longer screams at the breast

success number one!

problem number two:

i don't have enough milk

geeze!

this breast feeding thing can be tiresome

here comes the lactation consultant with her wand!!

and 

domperidone

 fenugreek

and 

the pump

now

enter a regimented feeding plan

breast,

pump,

bottle

repeat

breast,

pump,

 bottle,

repeat.....

maybe one day we will eliminate the bottle 

but for now

it works

my baby is growing like a weed

impressing the docs with her growth

and

i can proudly answer

yes i breast feed

it wasn't easy getting to this answer

i know we aren't at a whole hearted yes

and some people would argue i'm not breast feeding 

because she still gets a bottle

but to those negative nancy's

i say hush!

there have been moments

where i wanted to give up

but

with the support of my husband

my mimi

my lactation consultant

and

fellow moms here at aviano

and back in oklahoma

emerson and i 

can be in style here 

at aviano

wearing a really cool nursing cover!

featured today:meet a milspouse

 

 today 

i am featured on 

diary of a devil dog wife's

weekly military spouse roundup

it's intimidating 

because today
just isn't any  monday
today

is a special day

today

is memorial day

and 

a day when so many people

are 

at the lakes

hosting a bbq

or just enjoying 

some time off from work

but 
today is more than a three day weekend
for me 
today was redefined

seven years ago

last march
when

i said i do

to a man
who

would introduce me to a lifestyle

where not only he had to be selfless 

which he does very naturally

but 

i did as well

i am not selfless

nor patient

all for the better of our country

so many of men

and women

like my husband

have given the ultimate sacrifice

so many spouses like me

have been selfless 

beyond what i can fathom

so many children have learned 

how to say goodbye 

love this pic of the captain! 
at an age many are just learning to say no

today

it is about them

not me

not the bbq

not the extra day  to relax by the pool

it is about those who put

our freedom 

above their own

 enjoy your memorial day

but please

take a minute

thank a member of the armed forces

they really are something special! 

ten days of nothin'

it's been awhile

almost ten days!

since i've last blogged

and 

frankly tonight

as i sit and stare at my computer

i still don't know what to blog about

in the last ten days

i've accepted a position

that frankly i am not thrilled about

but it's an in

i've worked out 

alot

they say initiation to italy is a "pasta five" 

and i've proudly been initiated to italy

and i've slept

not alot but some

*

so this positon

is an education aid

for the base school

and my first two days 

i left in tears

i have a degree

two in fact

i am a professional 

and 

i do not respect people who don't treat me as one

but i was hired

for a "paraprofessional"

position

which means

"treat me like crap please"

but 

it's a gs position

an "in" to the system

so i grin and bear it for 35 more school days

and realize it's not about me

but about this special student

who needs me

*

working out 

alot

has shed three of the pasta five

but

i can not lie

i enjoy the food to much to worry about the other two

in fact

i might be tempted to put on the other three

the food here is really good

like really really good

*

my sleep pattern

is changing

kenneth's schedule is changing

mission first

and

benadryl second

benadryl=my friend

my way of sleeping

while he tries to be nocturnal

*

so that is my last ten days

nothing exciting

i told a dear friend of mine 

the honeymoon has ended

we realized 

yes it's italy 

but our american chores

followed us

and 

so we have to be 

responsible adults

darn it

happy wednesday ya'll

now back to my boring italian life

 did i mention i was going to croatia in two weeks

:D

rediscovering myself

i had a life

back in good ol' oklahoma

a life

i was 'settled' in

a life

i enjoyed
 

very much so i mean look at these faces! 
that's lovin' life!!

and like any happy military wife

i forgot

that we were military

and

that one day we would move

and 

my life as i knew it then 

would have to start all over again

kenneth had a job

it's the reason we moved

and 

i was given the job

to rediscover myself

it's almost been ninety days since we've been here

and in ninety days

i've not wallowed

i've not pouted
someone should seriously give me a cookie!

i seeked life

and 

smiled 

even though there were moments

where i secretly thought 

about jumping on the nearest plane out of here

in my short time here

of being submerged into the 'military lifestyle'

i had avoided like the plaque at our previous base

i've met many woman

like me 

that 

have rediscovered themselves

they've reinvented who they are

they've found new loves

new passions

new careers

and 

smiled

through it all

a year ago

i would have never seen myself in the classroom

and now

i have found that a classroom 

isn't so bad

today's youth 

while they make me raise my eyebrows
at times

they aren't so bad

and

that my new life

i might just get use to

although i'm secretly trying to remind myself 

it's only four years

and then i will have to start over

i've come to appreciate 

the mililtary lifestyle

and 

i have a new found respect 

for these women who 

have reinvented themselves

every four years

it's a strength 

that all too often gets overlooked

between 

deployments,

kids,

pcsing,

crisis,

and the other duties of being a military wife

so 

happy friday y'all

this military wife 

is going to enjoy a good book

a glass of wine

because

my new lifestyle

has kicked my hiney this week!!