The Navy Life from a Navy Wife: February 2011

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

It's been awhile

Hi All!

Sorry it's been a bit since I last posted! I've been a very busy girl! So let's see what I need to catch up on with you..

Christmas...it was nice. We stayed in Va. Was a quiet Christmas this year. But Rob and I were together so it was a nice change of pace!

We left for Michigan for New Years. Got to see family on both sides, which was great! Amazing how much the nieces have all grown! It's always hard to say goodbye, but we know we will probably be back soon!

So this is where the busy comes in. With Rob doing lots of detachments for the past several months, I've been on my own a lot! As of now, he's on anther det on the USS Bush. Only a month long as far as we know. In the meantime, before he left, we worked frantically to get the house ready to be put up on the market. Still no physical orders in hand, but we did get word that the Dearborn office in Michigan has an opening. We will find out when Rob gets back where the situation stands. So since we will have to leave come May, we are getting the house listed. Since he's gone again, it's up to me to finish the house work and get the realtor in here to sign paperwork. I've been working like crazy to get the house painted, organized, and cleaned. I am hopeful to get it listed by very early next week. Hopefully not too long after Rob will be home with me for the actual sale. This will (unless something changes) be his last det in this command. He will not make deployment, so I'm sure he won't mind not seeing the boat for awhile! If we do get orders in hand once he's back, and it is in MI, then we have a 10 day pass to go house hunting. very much up in the air until we do have the papers, and get our house rolling. But as the Navy always says "hurry up and wait" Things are starting to somewhat come together though, which is relieving a lot of stress. For us, that is what is going on lately. Sorry we are both MIA most of the time. I promise this won't last forever! I will keep everyone up to date on the orders and as well as location and date! Until then, we wait! I hope by early March we will have a new state to start calling home! Talk to you real soon!

Our Story Begins...

I met Rob in 2003 while living in Ohio. He was already in the Navy stationed in Norfolk Va. We dated for several years, with trips to and from Ohio and Virginia. A very small glimpse into the military lifestyle for me. The trips would always be too short, but we made it work. In November 2005 Rob proposed. I had been living in Va for a little over a year at this point. we had a fairly long engagement as we we're planning a fall wedding in Michigan. (my hometown) On September 8,2007 we got married. This is where my Navy Wife Life began....

I knew the basics of the Navy from living it from day to day for the past several years. But I was in no way prepared. They don't tell you the rules and loops holes when you sign that marriage certificate. They don't tell you that in light of this happy event you and your sailor have had, that you now as well, are military owned, in a sense. Now don't take me wrong, I am a very proud navy wife. I am honored to be apart of something bigger than myself in this life. I many a times said they should require all new Military wives to take a crash course in this new lifestyle, so they can be prepared in some way. As this is not the way it happens for most new brides, you live and learn the hard way.

Rob and I had never gone a day without talking for the better part of the beginning of our relationship. The first time we no longer had this option was September 8, 2008.....one year to the day of our married life together. I knew it was inevitable. He came home and told me he'd be going onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt for 7 months. Still being a fairly new married couple, I slightly panicked. As to say I freaked out! I tried to stay positive but in the end dreaded this horrible day. Instead of spending my 1st anniversary as a married couple together, I drove him to the pier and had to say my goodbyes. Needless to say I was a wreck for the better part of a month.

You are never truly prepared for this. I remember breaking down when the downstairs toliet broke, and this was something he was in charge of fixing. it's amazing the little things you take for granted until the option id no longer available. So I decided to go to a FRG (family readiness program) meeting to get the latest news on our boys while they were away. While I was there with a handful of wives stuck in the same position as me, I met a few of them and started to get to know them. Well somehow in the mix of going to these meetings, I, along with a friend Emily (our husbands are good friends) ended heading up the FRG for our guys command. I tell you what, if you need or want to learn the ins and outs of the military, talk to a wife who's been doing it awhile! Emily would constantly laugh when I asked what seemed a dumb question to her, but not to me. She and I ran the FRG until our guys came home that following April. A little side note to Emily...thanks for everything! To say deployment was hard would be the understatement of the year! But as I learned so many things along the way, as well as made my relationship stronger with Rob. They say "absence makes the heart grow fonder" Now usually with these types of quotes I roll my eyes, or decide I'm going to punch the person who first said it. But this time it really did ring true. As most married couples, you get into a routine or a comfort zone and forget why you were so excited in the beginning. Put a 7 month gap apart into the mix...you remember in a hurry! As much as I was fuming in the beginning that it wasn't fair they took him away after only a year of being married, after lots of though, I decided that whole "crash course that every military wife should have"....well this deployment was it. I learned to do the things I normally wouldn't have. I no longer freak out when he comes home and says I have to leave for a month for work ups. And I now know to rely on myself to make this all work.

We live day to day and make things work since you never really know what will happen the next day. My words of advice to all new military brides...it's a wonderful life with lots of perks. But be prepared that some days you won't be happy, and some days are harder than others. It's worth it though when your SO puts on that uniform and you can clearly see they are proud of what they do!

The Navy Life from a Navy Wife

Our Little Mister

Love at First Sight

The Mrs.

Like Father, Like Son

The Mr.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

It's been awhile

Our Navy Family

Our Story Begins...

My Groupies

My Rants