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| new beginnings!Longer than not, I've been a military brat. My dad enlisted very late
so I was old enough to know what it meant and how life would change.
But on the flip side, I was young enough to be naive enough to think
I'd still have my friends. I was 7 and not happy to be leaving my home.
It has been 15 years since my dad's enlistment (which was initially for
'a few years to save money and find another job') and I would not trade
the experience for anything in the world. We have moved all across the
country and the world and I've visited more places in the past few
years than most people dream of going to in their lifetime. I've been
blessed with a very large and loving European family and spent 3
fantastic years living in Heidelberg Germany. Sometimes I wonder what I
missed by going to a "normal" high school, my school only had 600
people 9-12 and I knew most of them by sight, if not name. My
graduating class was just over 140 people and we all came from every
corner of the world. Having to move every 3 years forced me to learn
how to interact and how to make friends.
Throughout my dad's
career, there have been many times when he has been deployed. (My dad's
unit is deployed more often than the special forces.) He's been all
around the world - Honduras, American Samoa, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, and
many more. Many of the deployments were short, especially for
hurricane/typhoon support missions. Some of the trips were long, 6
months or more. Twice he's been gone for a year, the last being very
recently to Sinai. It was hard, sure, but c'est la vie and it's the
adjustments you make that build character. But that was while I was the
daughter and responsibilities were much less.
Now, it's my
turn. Recently married only 3 weeks ago, I find myself alone. After the
wedding we moved literally across the country to Port Hueneme, CA from
northern Virginia where I have no friends or family. Granted, it's only
a week - this time. And I know more deployments and TAD's will be
coming, I knew that before I said yes and I do. That doesn't make it
any easier. I have a week to find myself and find a peaceful state of
mind. Yes, his job is dangerous but again, I knew that. That's what the
military is and does, I am well aware of that. Does it get any easier?
I'd like to think so - if past experience counts. Thankfully,
technology has made it much easier to keep in touch and with email and
phone calls, hopefully time and distance goes by much quicker.
I'm
excited, anxious, nervous, happy, scared, content, and glad to be where
I am and thankful for where I came from. I'm a proud Army brat, I love
my father and look up to him for his courage and dedication. His career
and the life he provided for me prepared me well for where I am today -
a navy wife who is completely in love with her husband and life.
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| I'M GETTING MARRIED! =] http://samanddavid07.weddingwindow.com/ leave comments or just look and let me know if you'll be in the area around then! <3 sam | | |
| huh...So...it's been a while, a long while I realize. The thought and idea of having to work out my life into coherent sentences is a little daunting for someone who isn't much of a journal keeper so bear with me while I attempt at a somewhat jumpy (I don't actually know that yet but I'm sure it will be) short story of my life in the recent past.
So back in October, I started working for the Red Cross. I do emergency communications for the military, all branches, and their family; all over the world. It really isn't as complicated as it sounds at first or as bad. But 9 months later, I'm starting to realize how stressful it can be at times. Don't get me wrong, it's a great job and I love the interaction with people from all over the world and the people I work with (for the most part) are great. But day after day of depression and critical illnesses and deaths and the like just start to get to you after a while. Sadly, after having been there for a while, we become blase to the point where things become "routine deaths" and "routine casualty checks" and such. And while we know that to the solider or family on the other end, it's anything but routine, if you don't emotionally detatch yourself, you'll be too overwhelmed. Granted, there are certain cases that tug at our heart strings, we wouldn't be human if that never happened, but for the most part we have to keep that wall up.
I'm starting to feel old lately seeing some of these soldiers and their families. One 19 year old guy was married and had a kid, granted not unheard of. Except that his wife was 15 (doesn't turn 16 until December) and the kid just turned 1 in June. Just woah. And all these young kids that are fresh out of HS - 17, 18 years old, sometimes 16, in basic and deployed already or married... It all makes me wonder if I didn't make a mistake in not joining. It makes me think that maybe if I had put my mind to it I could have made it and been making a difference somewhere. Part of me is tempted to go for it and see what happens now but then the rational side of me kicks in and reminds me that in the long run I'd do more harm to myself than good. (I'm not supposed to run because of some foot/ankle problems which is what kept me from even trying to go to the AF Academy or then enlisting in the Navy. Although lately I've started running/walking around the 9 hole golf course that's right by my house, it's a good 2 miles or so, maybe a little less. I run about half and walk the other half, alternating. Not bad for someone who's never really been a runner before and is used to using their arms to move them long distances.)
My dad is back from his hardship tour in Egypt with the Sinai Project. We got to go visit him though back in December/January which was incredible. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity although it certainly isn't helping with my security clearance application! Ahh, c'est la vie.
Last Sunday we got a new addition to the family, Napoleon Bonaparte, aka Mr B. He's a Boston Terrier that actually has papers and all that jazz (that's new for us, so we had to give him a "fancy" name. We just call him Mr B) and he's about 9-10 weeks old. There are pictures on facebook for those that can find me there or here.
And I think now I'm going to stop for a bit because I'm pretty sure no one really cares anyways but that's okay, it makes me feel a little bit better in some freakish way. =)
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| thanks *SO* much Andrew... =P1. The tagged victim must come up with 10 different points of their perfect better half.
2. Need to mention gender of target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment saying they've been tagged.
4. If tagged again, there's no need to post a 2nd time
My Perfect Guy! (in no particular order)
1. Has to be VERY patient to deal with me but at the same time be able to appreciate the fun =)
2. Has to want kids, at least 3! plus a dog, and whatever other oddities we end up with.
3. Needs to be supportive of me and not get grumpy when i spend time
with my friends, be they guys or girls (vice versa applies as well)
4. Has to like to travel, no way around that!
5. Romans 12:1-2
6. Needs to be able to deal with my slight (at times) OCDish quirks
7. Has to love things that are homecooked or baked, period. i think
this one is self explanatory. i'm not a huge fan of going out, ordering
pizza, etc all the time.
8. Better be able to deal with my books...ALL of them. (there's a lot, trust me. maybe i should be a library?)
9, 10, and tagging will come later, i'm too out of it to come up with more
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| http://kevan.org/johari?name=AlohaKam
it'll be fun for all 
and on another note, happy valentine's day!
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