Random Ramblings Blog Hop

Hi Y'all! I'm super excited to join Random Ramblings Blog Hop! I actually missed Riding the Roller Coasters, so to get another chance to participate in one is great! If you are interested in joining go here: ( But it's only open until tomorrow night so you'd better act fast!)



So...a short bio:

I'm a Navy Wife in my late twenties and my husband and I have been married for just under 3 years, and we've been in the Navy for the entire time. I'm a SAHM and we have two BEAUTIFUL children, a 20 month old daughter who keeps me on my toes, and a one-month old son we just love having around! I've been keeping a blog since I got married to keep my long distance family updated on my life, but have recently dived into the world of mil-spouse blogging, and it has been a real treat for me to read about so many of these womens experiences with being a military spouse. I LOVE to craft and DIY, and actually have a crafting blog that isn't public yet, because my mom and my sister and I are planning on opening a small business within the next year so the blog is still under construction. I promise to update on this blog when I do a cool craft and I can't help but share with all my mil-spouse friends! We're Latter Day Saint, or Mormon if you are more familiar with that term, and my faith is the ONE thing that gets me through the long lonely nights without my husband! I love to read, though finding time for that is a challenege, and I LOVE to blog, though finding time for that is also something I have to work to find! I hope you will stop by often, and I look forward to getting to know you as well!

until next time,

Blog Hopping

Alright, I've already posted about being addicted to blog hopping mil-spouse blogs lately ( see post here) and I stumbled across a few more new ones today ( One in particular that made me BAWL! Check out this, BUT only if you can handle reading about a perfect strangers pain and how she is getting through it. Really made me feel pretty petty about complaining about deployment in my last entry :/)

Well another mil-spouse blog I have stumbled across is holding a small contest, and really I can't help but join. The purpose of me opening up more about everything that's going on in this military life of ours is to meet more spouse and learn from them how they deal! And hopefully this'll help me accomplish that!

In any case, you can check out the contest here, and what she asked us to do was write an entry about what being a military spouse means to me. So here it goes:

Being "in the military" with my husband is the hardest most challenging thing I have ever done. I really didn't know or fully understand what it would mean to be a military wife when we decided to get married. I remember talking with my mom a lot about what it would be like, because my dad joined the Navy and went to boot camp just after they were married and then ensued several years of craziness for her. At that time we both came to the conclusion that I was strong enough to handle it. But I have days....frequently, when I seriously doubt it.

I miss my husband A LOT. He works a ton, even when they're in port, and when they're not...I'm lonely, and feel totally inadequate to being a single parent. I miss my family, I really dislike being stranded across the country from the only other people I really depend on to help me when I need it.

But there are always positives right? It's just about finding them in any given situation. I feel blessed that I can be a stay at home mom for my kids when they are so young. And right now, the military is the only way that we would be able to do that, because in the civilian world one of us would be going to school to finish some kind of a degree and working part time, while the other works full time just to make ends meet. The military makes me and my husband closer. Granted we've only been married under 3 years, but not seeing each other for extended periods really does help keep the spark alive. ( Though, I have to say, at this point I would prefer to be putting effort into keeping the spark alive, versus it just naturally staying lit because of lack of time together!!) I'm proud to be giving silent service to our country, no matter how much I complain on here about it. And I'm grateful that I've had this opportunity, and look forward to the day that we can talk about our experiences in the Navy and be stronger because we had them.

Anyway...in a nutshell, what being a mil-spouse means to me is....well, it tests your limits and you will do things you never in a million years thought you could do. You will cry, and laugh, and be proud, and will dream about running away to Canada on a long weekend when no-one will notice you've deserted until you're already over the boarder! :) But you will be stronger for it, and I think I will always treasure my time with my husband in the Navy.

until next time,
Jen

Slightly obsessed...

Alright...I've become slightly obsessed with searching, finding, and reading other Navy wives opinions about life in the Navy. Seriously...I can't stop myself. I look for new blogs to read, I join walls on facebook, I talk to almost complete strangers all in an effort to...I don't know... I guess fill an emotional void I have in my life right now. Or at least find out how other women fill the void. I mean....I can't be the ONLY Navy wife in the whole world that is struggling right now...can I?

I came across this post on one of the blogs I have recently started reading. It's funny...because it actually mirrors something I have been feeling lately, AND something my Home Teachers brought up today during their visit. As most of you know, my husband is underway right now, and of course my HT's wanted to know where he was. When I told them he was at sea, they were both really surprised that he had not been allowed to stay home because I am so close to my due date. I told them I was actually grateful that they were out now, because it would allow him to be home for the birth... ( provided I don't go into labor before he gets back!) which of course is MAJOR. But, since neither of my HT's are in the military, that lead the conversation in the direction of other things I find difficult about "being in" the military, and then one of them said " But really, you have to realize all the benefits you get from being in the military and how good this experience is for your husband."

The thing about it is...I DO realize how much being in the Navy really has blessed my life. I mean...for one thing, and really the most major thing, is that I'm not sure Erick and I would be married if he hadn't made the decision to join the Navy. I remember being really impressed when he told me he was joining, by the type of commitment it took to join the military. It showed a level of maturity I had not seen in him in the four years I had known him, and it allowed my eyes to be opened a little to the potential of him as a husband.

And marrying Erick was the best, most inspired decision of my life. I think that's where it gets so difficult for me as a Navy wife. I can deal with long work hours, and bosses who are dishonest and only there to take care of themselves. We'd get the same thing in the civilian world. But I LITERALLY feel like 1/2 of myself has been torn away when he leaves, and I am forced to function as a mother, and a father, a sister, a friend, all while walking around as an incomplete person. So the Navy has both given me, and frequently takes away, the biggest, most important blessing of my life. And that's a contradiction I find hard to swallow sometimes. :)

But...I don't want to be one of those whiny military wives that other people really can't stand to be around! And almost everyone I've read about and talked to are so...just... positive about their life in the Navy. So what can I do? How can I show my gratitude for the lifestyle that my husband and I live right now, when I'm hurting in my heart and it's hard to see past that?

I don't know...that's something I'm going to work on I think. :) I'm hoping it will help to not be pregnant and hormonal. :) Also...I know it's gonna take a little strength from above, and I have faith that Heavenly Fathers knows me, and knows what I need to make it through, and if I rely on him anything is possible.

Until next time,
Jen