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reccewife
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s avoiding things I don’t handle well. Like this picture. Because when you love someone, you hate to see them hurting. Yet every time I see that picture, I am confronted with my DH’s face, dusty and tear stained. I’ve never seen it look like that in person, yet there it is. It was there when I picked up my newspaper that morning, and on the news report on TV. It’s there in the Google search engine. And there’s nothing camera shy DH could do to stop that. Because that’s his friend under that flag. And that’s his shoulder his friend is on. And that’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. Despite the dangers, the rockets, the sand, the fighting, the close calls, the IED’s and all those other things he experienced in 3 deployments to Afghanistan that he may never share with me, he will tell you it was the times he was on that tarmac while the piper played and they said goodbye before heading back to work… those were the hardest moments. And even though this photo is already over 4 years old, DH’s tears always, always make my heart break. ____ This is my grandfather. He’s a 92 year old veteran of WWII. When talking to DH about Afghanistan, DH told him about something he was given when he got back. My Poppa replied “I was in the artillery. All I got was…
Some days, you forget what it was like when she was in your arms for that brief moment, tiny and silent and purple before they whisked her away to that other hospital. Some days you forget that even though she was one of the biggest babies in that NICU,she looked so very small compared to the machines that made sure she kept breathing. Some days you don’t remember how much you longed to take her home, to leave the beeping and the worry and the cords behind. Those are usually the days you forget about the chair you slept in, the curtain wall you lived behind and the sound of the breast milk pump that made you feel like a milk cow. Sometimes, looking at her now, you forget how big that soother was against her tiny face. And how many desperate, exhausted, tearful prayers were answered when you brought her home for the first time Sometimes, you forget that like every single baby, she is a miracle. And today, that miracle turns 7. Some days, we just need that reminder as you grow up before our eyes, that once upon a time just getting you to breathe was a struggle. Once you got the hang of that, well, regardless of the battles we will face from here on out, everything else you will acheive is just icing on the cake. Happy birthday, Drama. There are so very many ways you are beautiful. ****PS: I can’t seem to get my Disqus to work. Could you try and comment and let me know by facebook or twitter if you can’t…
The majority of married couples report that their biggest source of tension is money. DH and I have never once in our marriage argued about money. We don’t have much of it to argue about, and DH doesn’t really care what happens with what we do have. For a man who’s biggest expenditures are when I force him to buy a new pair of combat boots, there’s not a lot to fight about. That’s not to say DH and I don’t do our share of fighting uselessly about crap that doesn’t really matter. Our biggest battle is just a little different. Cleaning. Dh lived with his parents until he joined the army as a teenager. His super clean mom may be the definition of perfect military wife, I like to call her the definition of unreasonably high expectations. She keeps an impeccable home. Sparkling floors and daily vacuuming (sometimes more than once), windows always washed, everything constantly dusted and even that little cupboard under the sink is clean and organized all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mother in law, she’s the perfect military mom to have because she’s been where we are and she knows the best ways to be supportive. I just can’t compete woth her house. I don’t even try. Thing is, Dh he joined the army and shortly thereafter married and moved in with me. I am not dirty, but I am no clean freak. When we were first married he would go away often and our little house would go to ruin. I would keep it clean enough…
I actually wrote something! ….Just not here. My attitude needs to be adjusted. Dramatically. And I wrote about it over at Wives of Faith this week. As much as I wish it was the story of holding on with every last fiber of your being….. It’s the story of Letting Go. http://aligoldfield.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/learning-to-let-go-when-youve-made-a-mistake/ So head over to the Wives of Faith page and read it. And leave me a note. Because you all know how I feel about comments. It’s here, by the way. Just —>click here<—– for those of you who might not find it, I wanted to make it easier…
Today’s post can be found over at Soldier’s Wife Crazy Life. Because fall is like Christmas, but without the stress over gifts or obsession with decorations. I love it! And on a year when everything changed, I love that fall looks the same. And still tastes like Pumpkin Spice Lattes! So go over to Julie’s blog and check it out, and leave me a comment while you are at it, I LOVE those…
Remember back when I started the “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along” series and answered some questions and had some great bloggers and posted a contest? A Canadian Contest Ya. That. Let’s get back to what we started, shall we? Starting with a guest post by an Air Force Vet and current Air Force Spouse! _________________________________________________________________________ This is MilLifeRocks, you can find her on Twitter here! She had some quick thoughts on being a duel service family, as well as an Air Force Family. When you hear people talking about ‘finding balance’in their lives, we can relate. That was our everyday life when we were a dual Air Force couple. There were three children to raise (the fourth came after I was out of active service) and a house to maintain. There were days when it didn’t seem like we were both going to be able to give our unit what it required from us. We worked very hard at overcoming the inevitable glitches that happen with those things called plans, but it was stressful when we had to be five places at once. At one base, we were fortunate to have my parents and siblings nearby. This allowed us to spend a lot of time together as a couple. It was easier to study for promotions, military courses and college classes with them having the kids to their homes. I know some families will never have the perfect timing of family thirty minutes away when life is at its busiest. We are similar to other military families in wanting to know what’s next! Where? When? Similar in not wanting to be separated for days, weeks and months. The negatives are that some spouses…
I have a new blog ‘look’. I should have a new blog URL too, but right now Google Custom Domain’s are down. Hence why my blog dropped off the Internet last week. So until they figure that out, we are back with the old URL, new blog :). Because it was time for a change. Brea over at Utterly Chaotic, who was so very patient and calm with me and my indecision and my freak outs, made this design for me. And I love it. The most common way someone found my blog in a search engine before? By typing in ‘though she be but little, she is fierce tattoo’ Because, well, once I showed a blog photo of that tattoo. And apparently, people are into that tattoo. So am I. That’s why I got it. I decided to use this new ‘Fierce’ blog to finally write something, months in the making, something that rattles in my head while I run and writes itself silently at night when I can’t sleep. It is decidedly not ‘fierce’. In fact, it is much more of a whimper than a war cry. More of an eventual confession than a victory yell. 2 months ago, I moved to this city. When people ask how I am adjusting, I always say the same thing. ‘It’s a beautiful city.’ And that’s not a lie. The lake, the trees, the old buildings and the abundance of climbing ivy…. it’s gorgeous. And let’s face it, that’s what you want to hear, right? Because the truth is decidedly less fun. No one wants to…
Dear America, Do nations read letters from nobodies? Probably not. But there’s something that today, I wanted you to know. I am proud to call myself a Canadian. I wouldn’t trade my country for anything. I am not American. But I hurt with you anyways. For over a decade. 12 years ago, I was a newlywed. Living my life in Northern Alberta until one day after the long bus ride to the depot and walk home after a 9 hour shift at the shelter downtown, I collapsed asleep on my bed just after 8a.m. without changing. And that’s how September 11th, 2001 found me, after a phone call woke me up less than an hour later, watching the horror of the 2nd tower get hit while still in my nursing scrubs, sitting in my living room on a pile of laundry. And even though I am not American, not only could I not understand the unspeakableness of what the news was showing me, I acutely aware that this day was going to somehow change my life, here, completely. I couldn’t reach DH, I didn’t even try. He was in the bush training with a military competition team he was a part of. I wondered if he knew, if he was watching. Would he come home at all? Would reaction be immediate? Was there anything we could do? Had this been a third world country that was the victim, I have no doubt our Canadian Forces would have mobilized a disaster assistance team to be there as we have done for dozens of countries in need before and since then. But instead this was arguably the most powerful country in the world we were watching face this attack and the…
This blog series is called Why Can’t We All Just Get Along What that means, is that sometimes we tend to turn life into a big loser contest, where we figure we have it harder than everyone else. Especially on Military forums and support groups. We judge the experiences of different branches, different bases, different families, and we argue over who has it worse. Let’s not anymore, okay? So in this series, I have some amazing guest bloggers who have written me what it’s like to walk a mile in their shoes. The good and the bad. Because all our struggles and victories may be different, but that doesn’t make them any less valid. And for my readers who are not military, it’s a chance to see how unique each military family is and what their day to day life is like! Before each blogger, I am going to take a moment to answer a question from you guys about what it’s like to be a Canadian military spouse. And the best part is, commenting and asking a question enters you into a draw for Canadian Maple Syrup candies! When the series is all done, I will use random.org to pick one of our question-askers as the winner of the candies :). A Canadian Contest Today’s question comes from Sarah, and I love it! (And I totally do. All the time 🙂 When we were at Fort Drum and lived on the St. Lawrence River across from Canada, I spent a good amount of my day staring over the water and wondering what was going on over there. Do the people on the Canada side…
This blog series is called Why Can’t We All Just Get Along What that means, is that sometimes we tend to turn life into a big loser contest, where we figure we have it harder than everyone else. Especially on Military forums and support groups. We judge the experiences of different branches, different bases, different families, and we argue over who has it worse. Let’s not anymore, okay? So in this series, I have some amazing guest bloggers who have written me what it’s like to walk a mile in their shoes. The good and the bad. Because all our struggles and victories may be different, but that doesn’t make them any less valid. And for my readers who are not military, it’s a chance to see how unique each military family is and what their day to day life is like! Before each blogger, I am going to take a moment to answer a question from you guys about what it’s like to be a Canadian military spouse. And the best part is, commenting and asking a question enters you into a draw for Canadian Maple Syrup candies! When the series is all done, I will use random.org to pick one of our question-askers as the winner of the candies :). A Canadian Contest So today I decided to answer a question from the fabulous guest blogger today! Elizabeth had A LOT to ask, which is so awesome. I’m going to try and be to the point so this doesn’t take long and we can get to her great post! Is it difficult with part of the country speaking French and part…
