7 Quick Takes Friday #5

---1---

I'm still hanging out in TX. It's a little weird not being my own home, and seeing my neighbors every couple days. But in all this, I've learned something. I actually have my own home now. During my first marriage, 1 thing remained the same. My parents house remained my home. Moving out changed nothing. But for the first time I feel comfortable, loved & cared for. I have begun my own home.

---2---

Vacation time is over!!! I took a weeks vacation from medical transcriptions, and now work begins full bore. And I mean work on everything!!! My Mom & I are planning on starting a workout routine together, all in our attempts to Wage War on Frumpiness. I'll be going full-bore on medical transcripts again. I've set up my next weeks schedule on all 3 blogs. And I need to crunch down on reading for the challenges. And then.....
 

---3---

 the church my parents attend is having a weeklong marriage seminar. How very odd that the first marriage seminar I attend, will be without my husband. Oh the life of a military spouse, lol. But I'm excellent at communicating things I learn to him, so best believe he'll hear about everything I learn. We've had a blast doing that before. I read Gary Chapman's The 5 Love Languages to him over Skype. And we learned something in our first 6 months of marriage, that couples 2x our age haven't learned yet.

---4---

Speaking of my beloved Gunlover, our anniversary is in less than 1.5 weeks. Amazing!!! I know that in the grand scheme of marriages, 1 year is nothing. But it's my one year, and my gosh it's been an adventure. In this 1st year of marriage, we've been pregnant, had the baby, deployed, journeyed overseas for Thanksgiving, been to Disneyworld, driven 14 hours alone & pregnant, and begun a court battle.

---5---

 3 months & 3.5 weeks! That's the magical, approximate time frame before I'll have him in my arms again. Or I'll be in his arms..however that ends up working out. I'm really not picky. I don't think he is either.

---6---

Speaking of all the reading challenges that I've taken on, I still need to come up with about 20 YA books. Any suggestions for good books to read? I'm not interested in Twilight, Harry Potter etc. And if you can come up with something that's YA, and a fairly quick read, bonus points. Obviously the faster I can crank these puppies out, the more likely I am to complete the million challenges.

---7---

Well Coffee Girls...what can I say? I miss you. I'm not home, so I really can't participate much, but I am keeping an eye out on y'all periodically. I'm still linking up for the fellowship, but I do have a confession. I'm not drinking Coffee right now...I'm enjoying an ice-cold carbonated beverage. I'm not going to advertise...but it does start with a P. And it tastes so much better than that yucky stuff in the red cans that starts with C.

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Pound For Pound/Kroger giftcard giveaway!!

Tim @ Families Again just posted a very cool giveaway! If you like Krogers, or losing weight, or helping charities, you'll be pumped. And if you like all 3, you should go check out his post.

Here's the basic gist. The Pound For Pound Challenge is teaming up with The Biggest Loser to raise money to fight hunger. For each pound you lose, Pound For Pound will donate the funds to cover 1 pound of food at Feeding America, which is one of America's larges hunger-relief organizations. For the rest of the details, go check out Tim's post, and follow his instructions to win one of 2 $30 Kroger gift cards.

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Tell the Truth Thursday - Tattoos & Piercings

Redhead Riter asked a question this week. How many piercings or tattoos do you have, and what's the story behind them? Well..I used to have 7 piercings, but you have to remove all jewelry during basic training. So when I was in the military, some of my piercings closed up.

My ear lobes were pierced when I was 10, because that's tradition in my family. The girls get their ears pierced at 10, the boys get their first pocketknife.

My bellybutton piercing was inspired by my first pregnancy. During pregnancy, I loved my belly. Caressed it, rubbed cocoa butter into it, and sang to it. Okay, so I was really singing to my daughter inside, but you get the point. I wanted a constant reminder of that connection to my child, as well as future children. When I wear my bellybutton ring I remember that feeling.

My cartilage piercing, I've always wanted one of on the top of my ear, and once I got it I realized I want my other one done as well. But I when I get my other ear done, I need to get this one redone. It was supposed to be 12 gauge, but it shrank to the size of standard earrings.

My tongue piercing was done for 2 reasons. Number one, I love to stick my tongue out at people. Don't ask me why...I really don't know. I'm saucy, impertinent...I'm SpitFire darnit!!! And having it pierced just draws attention to the fact I'm sticking my tongue out, so it works for me. Plus the man I was married to at the time, was related to the owners of the piercing shop, and they needed to finish the new apprentices training. When you have a new piercer being trained, they have a set number and style of piercings that they have to do, before they become full-fledged piercers. And he lacked 2 tongue piercings. So I signed up for one of them.

My tattoo. I always wanted at least one, but debated back and forth as to the kind & location. My husband at the time wanted to me to get some tattoos that weren't family friendly, and were symbolic of his control over me. Fortunately, I think God intervened, and those never came to be. When I remarried, my new husband had a lovely Celtic cross on his arm, and I realized I've always liked cross tattoos. He has a shamrock in the center, so I got a more feminine cross, with a shamrock in the center as well. But our shamrocks have reversed coloring. Where his is dark, mine is light, and vice-versa. It allowed me to match him, without being barfy about it.

I realized that whatever tattoos I get, I need to make sure it's something I'm comfortable with when I'm 97. I figured, if I'm uncomfortable with a cross, there's more wrong with my life than that tattoo.

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A "Typical" Day A SAHM

I snicker everytime I see the word typical applied to stay at home moms, homeschooling moms, and military spouses. Each of those types has such a complex life, it would be hard to peg down a day as being the typical one. And for those of us who fall into all three categories, things really get nutty! Now homeschooling for me, is just in the planning stages, so fall is when it will get really chaotic.

If I did things the way I always plan, my typical day would go about like this.
Wake up/shower/dress
Spend at least an hour in prayer & meditating on God's Word
Eat breakfast/feed baby
Post on at least 2 of my blogs/update Twitter
Explore new blogs/leave comments until lunchtime
Eat lunch/feed baby
Work on medical transcriptionist training until dinnertime
Eat dinner/feed baby
Enjoy a little TV while planning my next brilliant blog post
Go to bed at a reasonable time

Wonderful, right? Nicely organized, right? Never happen, right?? Yeah...my typical day feels more like a fractured personality disorder in a stream of consciousness journal entry.

Wake up late, because I got to bed late, again. Race to jump in the shower before the baby wakes up, get the water turned on...crap she's up! Go feed the baby, and turn on the TV while I'm feeding her, just because I'm bored, and I'm tired, and I'm afraid I'll try to go back to sleep. Oh look The Sentinel. I haven't seen that show in years...a marathon? What luck! Watch too much TV (guilt!), and suddenly remember I still haven't had a shower. Glance at the baby, pray she'll stay sleeping, run for the shower and take the worlds quickest version. Get dressed, remember I didn't eat breakfast, and I feed the baby, so I need to get some nutrients quick. (guilt!) Scarf down some food, praying I'll finish eating before she wakes up again. Baby wakes up half way through and I spend the rest of the meal juggling her on one hip, standing in front of the kitchen counter eating the rest of the food, trying to calm either myself or the baby down. (But never both..it takes too much energy, and and since it's only 11am, it ain't lookin' good!) I never turned off the TV when I hightailed it for the shower, so the marathon is still running and I get hooked into another show. Suddenly I realize I never posted on my blog yet, and rumor has it the most readers look in the morning. Ugh! Go try to think of some brilliant post while I'm feeding the baby. Meanwhile my Skype goes off, because overseas my husband has just come back from work, and is calling me. So while I'm talking to him, I try to read one of the books I'm supposed to be reviewing for my other blog. He asks if I've eaten lunch, no not yet, I didn't eat breakfast 'till 11. (guilt!) I go to fix lunch......

Okay you get the idea. Don't forget that later I'll feel guilty because I'll suddenly realize I forgot to spend time with God that morning, I didn't get nearly as much studying on medical transcriptions done as I wanted too, and I will fall asleep with the baby and wake up wondering if I should have gotten something done while she was sleeping. I would think I'm just a sad example of motherhood, but I've talked to enough of my friends, and seen enough Mommy blogs to be certain of this: the typical life of a typical Mom is anything but typical.

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Top Ten {Tuesday}: Ten Things I'm Grateful To the Military For

Yay! I'm getting my Top Ten out, on Tuesday for a change. As you know, yesterday was Memorial Day, a day we take to celebrate the sacrifices that so many have made, for our freedom. Being both a veteran, and a military spouse, this holiday means a lot to me. I explained my feelings in yesterdays post, so without further fuss, here goes.....

1. The experiences they provide.
Okay, so I wasn't able to complete my service obligation, and I was only stationed at one base (in the middle of the desert no less). But I still met people, and had incredible experiences, that I will never forget.

2. They take care of their own.
As I said, my service was terminated early due to medical difficulties, but I still have VA benefits. I will get a small paycheck for the rest of my life, have medical benefits, discounted home loans etc.

3. Education.
Thanks to my military service, I now have the Montgomery G.I. Bill that I can apply to the Bachelor's degree of my choosing. There's so many to choose from that I'm still deciding though!

4. Potential for language skills.
Through our military libraries, I have access to Rosetta Stone, online & for free. Those programs are expensive!!!! But because my husband is active duty, we can use them freely.

5. Seeing the world.
I've always wanted to see the world...at least most of it. Until recently I'd never been out of the country.  But last November, I joined Gunlover in Asia for Thanksgiving. Yep that's right! Pregnant and round, I took a 14 hour flight overseas. And had a blast!!!

6. Courage to set things right.
Because my military career was the first job I'd had, where the employers actually want to know what's going on in your life, everyone knew I had a bad marriage. None of my other jobs knew, or would have cared. In the military, I had people going to bat for me, and it gave me the support & strength to get out of an abusive marriage.

7. The opportunity to realize how even small parts can play big roles.
When I was AD, my career field was Services. That encompasses lodging, food & recreation. I was trained in all 3 areas, but I personally worked in the Fitness Center (AKA the gym). When I was in tech school, Services was sort of regarded as very low on the totem pole. Where all the screw-ups who couldn't handle any other career went. I scored a 92 on my ASVAB, and this was where I'd been sent. I can't express how frustrated I was. Civilians were even worse. They'd ask what I did in the military, and when I enthusiastically explained my job, they'd give me pitying looks as if to say "oh, you don't have a real job." When I began working at my first base I discovered that in the real world, we're loved. We provide the soft bed for the TDY personnel, the hot meal after a long hard day, and importantly a place to become more fit to fight. A quote that sums it up best, has been attributed to both Sun Tzu & General Patton: "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."

8. I'm grateful for the freedoms this country still has.
Winston Churchill commented during WWII that "Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization". Can you imagine how different our country would be if the Nazi's had won? What about the Japanese? The Viet Cong?

9. Singing opportunities & cleaning up my bucket list.
I sing. All the time....if my Mom has me waiting while she answers another phone call, I'm creating my own hold music. In a fit of insanity, I put "sing the National Anthem for a sporting event" on my list of things to do before I die. When I was in the military, one of my coworkers outed me, and I got drafted to sing the National Anthem for a boxing match. From there, a civilian in charge of a basketball tournament in town, asked me to sing for it. I later sang for a squadron merger ceremony, a 4th of July celebration, and many other things. All totaled, I sang for 14 on & off base events. Until that point, I didn't even know I could sing the National Anthem.


10. Probably the thing I'm most grateful for of all, is my darling Gunlover.
I met my husband at the community center on base, when I was still active duty. Seeing as he's from the East Coast, I'm from the South, and we were both stationed in the West, the odds of me having met him outside of the military, are slim to none. So USAF, I thank you for the husband I have today. I thank you for the chance meeting, the events that led up to our marriage, and for the precious bundle laying beside me now.

Alright now the lovefest begins! Link up with Amanda for Top Ten, and check out some other nifty blogs. :)

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