Part of the Plan

Last night I had the privilege of seeing the First Lady of the Marine Corps., Mrs. Bonnie Amos, for the second time at a dinner social put together by QOSO (Quantico Officer Spouses Organization). She is such a spunky lady, so funny and so much wisdom to share. I love how open and real she was with all of us marine wives.

 

She met her  husband in September, got engaged in October, married in December, and they've been happy married for almost 50 years! When someone asked her how her marriage has lasted so long, she replied, "Well, I'm sexy!" I told you she was spunky! ha ha ha. She then went on say that the foundation of their marriage is God. I really enjoyed everything she shared with us. She helped me realize that it's perfectly normal for me to throw my "pity & pissy party" (first you feel sad, then you're mad) every time I move. Her and her family have moved to over 20 locations and she said she kicked and screamed every time! Mrs. Amos is such an inspiration to me. I want to enjoy every location we're stationed at and really embrace the changes and all of the different opportunities that come with that.

 

 "We're in this position because God put us here."

-Mrs. Amos.

I couldn't agree with her more. One night, 3 years ago, as I was trying to understand why my  husband should commission into the Marine Corps, I got the impression that I was also called to this life. There is a reason why I would be moving around with my family to new and different places and meeting new and different people. I'm still not exactly sure what I have to offer, but I'll continue being myself and work on being and instrument in His hands. I know that this is Heavenly Father's plan for me.

 

 

I wanted to share this reading list with you military (or non-military) friends that Mrs. Amos put together. I just ordered 1001 Things to Love About the Military Life! Can't wait to start reading it!

1. Separated by Duty, United by Love  -Shellie Vandevoorde
2. 1001 Things to Love about the Military Life  -Crooks, Henderson, Hightower, Scherer
3. Help! I'm a Military Spouse--I Get a Life Too  -Hightower, Scherer
4. Confessions of a Military Wife  -Mollie Gross
5. The Military Spouse's Employment Guide: Smart Job Choices for Mobile Lifestyles -Janet Farley
6. The Road Home: Again. Smoothing the Transition Back from Deployment -Elaine Gray Dumler
7. Transformation: The Mindset You Need. The Body You Want. The Life You Deserve -Bill Phillips
8. Faith Deployed / Faith Deployed Again  -Jocelyn Green
9. Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq & Afghanistan & Their Families  -Keith Armstrong
10. Wounded Warrior, Wounded Home  - Waddell, Orr
11. The 17 Day Diet  -Dr. Michael Moreno
12. Service Etiquette, 5th Edition  -Cherlynn Conetsco, Anna Hart
13. A Family's Guide to the Military for Dummies  -Melissa Seligman
14. The Day After He Left for Iraq  -Melissa Seligman
15. Eating For Life  -Bill Phillips
 

Life Lately

this week we... 

PEAKS:

• I'm constantly surrounded by the most amazing people, so kind and completely selfless. Monday and Tuesday Fallon watched my little ones so that I could focus on that endless pile of clean clothes I've been avoiding. Kim invited me over Wednesday so that I could get out of the house and helped tire out my kiddos. and Crystal came over this morning and helped me with the rest of the laundry! What amazing friends I have!
• I got rid of a lot of my accessories at our dinner social Friday night. It was kind of hard letting go of some things, but once I did it turned out being pretty liberating.
• I made brownies! ...I've been on a junk food frenzy lately.

PITS:

• Lincoln and Ella both have an ear infection and I know I do too I just don't want to make a trip to the doctors for myself with these two.
• The kids have been really sick and vomiting all weekend. Friday night, while at a dinner social, Ella threw up all over my friends floor. Then as we were driving  home Lincoln threw up in the car. They slept for a couple hours, then once I finally went to bed the madness continued. Poor Ella woke up with a bad fever and threw up all over me and my bed and pillows. We got in the bath and she cooled down a bit. She was completely restless so we went down stairs at 1:30 am and played around a bit. I finally got her to sleep around 2:45 and right as I'm sneaking into bed, my poor Lincoln woke up with a high fever as well. He was also restless so we went down stairs for a little. His fever diminished because he is so good about taking his yummy tasting Tylenol, and he went back to sleep. Ella still had a fever and was up the rest of the night. Needless to say, I was up all night alternating between them and it doesn't make it easier considering I've been sick these past few weeks as well.
• This has been another very long week for me... I just want my husband home!
• I made brownies... I've been on a junk food frenzy lately...
 

the Dreaded Text...

...I received from Chris late Tuesday night

 

translation (for my non military friends who've been asking what this means): 

we are being moved to Camp Lejuene in North Carolina where we'll live for about  3 years. Chris' job is ground intelligence and apparently the only the infantry guys received their their duty station (where they will be living/working from). So we're hoping there is a possibility this will change.

I've been having a really hard time accepting this right now. I was really looking forward to going back home to California and that is all I had my mind set on. Our plan  was to drive across the country for the holidays with all of our belongings after he finished IOC. The kids and I would stay with family for a few months while Chris finished GIOC in Virginia Beach. I would find us a house and we'd be settling in by the time he got back. We had no other plans. There was no question in our minds that we would be going anywhere else, especially Lejuene. I say especially because at the beginning of this course we were asked to list the top 4 bases we'd prefer and it when like this: 1-Pendleton, CA; 2-Kaneohe Bay, HI; 3-Okinawa, Japan; 4-29 Palms, CA. Lejuen wasn't even on our list. The first thing that came to mind were my kids. I was so sad that they would be so far from family. I don't want them to be that distant relative that gets mentioned ever once in a while. I want their grandparents and aunts and uncle to really get to know Lincoln and Ella's cute and silly personalities and REALLY love them, not just love them because they're family. I was jealous that their cousins would have such a great relationship with their grandparents and my kids would be missing out on that special bond. I just wanted to go back home.

It's been hard for me to even talk about it. My mom and I haven't even spoken about it because I know neither one of us would be able to speak through the tears. My friends were sending me messages and texts trying to cheer me up, but I couldn't even take hearing it.

This was the main reason I didn't want to marry into the military. I moved around A LOT when I was younger (I'm talking 11 elementary schools! ((give or take a couple)). I have no idea what it's like to grow up in a certain neighborhood with the same friends, in the same school or church. At some schools I was the cool kid at others I was the outcast. That was the last thing I ever wanted to put my children through. When Chris and I were dating, almost engaged, he was looking into joining the military. I told him that I couldn't do it. As honorable as it is, I just couldn't be a part of it. I wasn't strong enough to handle that life style and I really didn't want anything to do with it. I told him I couldn't marry him if he joined the military. I know this sounds harsh, but I felt I was doing the right thing. I didn't want to string him along and get married hoping he'd change his mind, and give him hell when he did join. So we both thought a lot about it and Chris ended up looking into other options and finishing up school. I didn't hear again about the military until about 2 years into our marriage. It took a lot of praying and crying for me to realize that this is the job for him. I fell in love with a courageous, noble, fearless, strong, brave, loyal, inspiring man, and no desk job would be suitable for a guy like that. It's times like these (days/weeks/months without my husband, making and losing friends, moving far from home) that make it challenging for me to accept this life, but it makes it easier knowing that it is the right path for us. I'm working hard to embrace this life style, and there has definitely been some improvement.

The day after finding out where we'd be moving to, my friends invited me over for dinner. All I wanted to do was lay around in my pajamas all day and cry. I have the greatest friends! They threw me a "pity party" with a cake and all. They shared my pain and let me vent which is exactly what I needed. I felt so much better after that. Have I mentioned how amazing they are! Thank you so much, Kim, Crystal, and El for making me feel like what I was going through was normal and putting a smile back on my face.

So what are our plans now? Well, Chris and I don't have a plan... He has been so busy with work that we haven't even had a chance to talk about it... Or maybe neither of us is even ready to talk about it yet... I'll keep all of you posted as soon as we figure things out ourselves. I did however, make a few calls to a few important people, but that's a whole other post.

I have the best group of friends - have I said that yet?! They were all so quick to cheer me up and make me feel better about it all. I really couldn't ask for better people in my life. Thank you all for your kind words and being so great to me!

 

So lets start with some pros to living in North Carolina:

 

-I know some great wives already living there.

-the housing market is cheaper so we can buy more property there

 

...that's all I've got for now... 

 

New Outlook

i survived this week!...barely. one night, after going through the house and checking all the door and window locks for the third time, i forced myself to go to bed. i just kept praying for peace and comfort so that i could get some rest. i was finally in a deep sleep when ella woke up screaming and crying. i jumped up and screamed so loud which made her scream even more. i was still so out of it, i screamed "ella!" then i went and picked her up and realized no one had broken in and tried kidnapping my baby. ugh! my heart was racing like never before. i checked on lincoln and put her back to sleep. i was dreading going back to bed. i checked the time hoping it would soon be time for us to get up... it was only 11:48 pm. i was so bummed. i said another prayer, and tried not to be so paranoid. that was probably the hardest night for me, and thank goodness for under eye concealer.

the kids and i kept pretty busy this week. it was mainly the evenings that i wasn't looking forward to going back home alone. i did buy two cartons of ice cream and ate straight from the box - my loneliness got the best of me. but besides that, i'm surrounded by the greatest "wives" and i love spending time with them.

there was a spouses brief late thursday night and i can't even tell you how much i enjoyed it. i went to the last classes spouses meeting and i was tearing up the whole time because of how scary they made IOC sound even for us spouses. this time around it was completely different. the captain in charge, capt. cummings, was so friendly and he answered any questions we had (and we had a ton of questions). you could just tell he really cared about us and our husbands and that just brought me so much comfort. i left the meeting happy and in a way pumped with the feeling that everything is going to be ok. i had a new outlook on things and i just want to enjoy this time in my life as much as possible. maybe i was really excited too because captain cummings said he might have our orders to us by monday. so... i made it a point to go up to him after class and personally request that he send us the pendleton, ca! woo! i hope my dreams come true and i get to go back to the best state in the u.s. oh, and i get to be near family again. ha ha. 2 more days.... hopefully! (do you know how long i've been waiting to find out where the next few years of my life would be)?!

it is so nice to have chris home. it's amazing how much safer i feel at night with him by me. i just love feeling him near me, even if it's just my cold feet are touching his, or i have my hand reached over touching his side or only our figure tips are touching. what a difference it makes in making me feel so loved and protected. one good thing i'm getting out of being separated is learning to appreciate the little things and the things that truly make me happy. i'm really going to look at things in a more positive way. life really is great!

there are only  10 weeks left of IOC! i made this count down for chris with quotes, words of encouragement, and coupons from me. every week he'll tear one link off and we'll get to see how much closer to the end we are. (this might be more for me than him)!

 

My Little Lady's 1st Birthday!

Our little cupcakes turned 1

  Yesterday we celebrated Ella's birthday along with two other babies turning ONE. Little Gerard turned one on August 8th, Makai's birthday was August 9th, and my little Ella is one on August 15th. It was such a last minute combined party but it turned out so nice. It was a fun evening with our military family!  



I had so much fun crafting for Ella's table!

Fallon did a great job on Geradrs table too!

She was so delicate and dainty with her cake...

...then she started really digging in!

There's Gerard enjoying his yummy cake!

and my Linc-a-dinc with his chocolate cupcake!

Happy 1st birthday to our beautiful Ella-Bella!

cuddles with Dana!

with our pretty Camille and Marie

Girl time with Kim, Addie, Kerri, Bella, and Dana!

               

Jon, Kim, and baby Addie

Click here to see some more of her special day!