Stepping back on the soapbox.... shocking I know!!

So.... deployment time. Here's what it entails, at least for us. I guess all branches do things differently.... heck all units do things differently. First come orders! They make the official really official. Makes sense huh. Then comes the paperwork. The soldiers have millions of paper to fill out every time they deploy. When I say millions I'm really not kidding. It's not an exact count cause hey have you ever counted to a million.... takes a long time!! But really they take several days to do all the red tape paperwork. Then comes the fun part. Verification. Except I think that the soldier think that we're bluffing when we say, we will be calling for verification. So there's a very beautiful and sweet woman, who works for the Battalion. It's her fabulous job to call all these people and make these verifications. Let me share some numbers with you just so you understand where she's coming from.... there are probably one thousand soldiers that she represents... close to anyway. Each soldier is required to fill out Next Of Kin information sheets. These are what we are trying to verify. Each soldier is required to have a Primary and a Secondary. They can have more, but no less. So this is at least two thousand people she is trying to call and verify the information! So she asks for help and I volunteer. Cause I'm nice like that!! haha. Anyway, so she give me a small stack. Let me tell you people!!! When the form says person must live within Colorado state boundaries, why oh why are we listing our long lost relative in Texas!!! Hello?? And when you list your mother as next of kin but list your home phone number here in Colorado as her number, when she lives in Pennsylvania, how are we supposed to contact her? HMMM HOW?? Then there are the people who list their neighbors as next of kin, and even better don't tell them. So when some crazy lady from Ft. Carson call to verify they are totally taken back that they have been listed as next of kin!! I shouldn't be the one breaking this news to them. ARGHHGHGHGH! It's crazy.
It has been my experience not just for this, but in general. That if a form, especially an official form, asks for information, it's good to list accurate information. Oh! and it's good to actually fill in the blanks! It has also been my experience that if there is policy about something, especially as important as a deployment, that there is good reason for that policy to exist. Now sometimes things are out dated or old fashioned, but I don't believe next of kin falls into this category. Is like the warning on preparation H. It tells you not to eat it. I don't' know what happens if you eat it, but I'm sure there's some fool out there that does! And that is why there is now a warning that says do not ingest orally!
I think these soldiers think they are invincible and that the ARMY doesn't need the info because nothing is going to happen to them. Well those people are usually the idiots who walk into bad situations without thinking, and get hurt. And then the whole brigade turns upside down because the next of kin can't be notified. Chaos ensues and a whole lot of bawling wives create a HUGE headache for the poor souls left behind to deal with all the Estrogen. So for the love of Pete!! Fill out the form. Do it correctly. Be accurate. Tell the people who need to know. Use some common sense!! I mean after all we do let you play with guns!

Why can't things just make sense???

Ok so if you know the ARMY at all none of this will come as a surprise... but the ARMY and it's "protocol" just doesn't make sense to me!!! Here's my latest gripe. The King is heading out to "The Sandbox" and while he's out there his contract ends. Our plan is to go back to the Utah National Guard, and gain civilian employment. This is what I want, not him, well mostly me and little him. But it's the plan. So we got the official orders to deploy. Ryan goes over to the JJPSO office (the moving people) He wants to make arrangements for them to move me home. We all ready know this is gonna be a battle so he went prepared. They tell him they don't move spouses just because the soldiers deploy. We say we know. We don't want to move just because he's leaving. We want to move because he's getting out. They say, nope. He says why? They say because you can't do that without orders. He says I have orders. They say we don't accept depoloyment orders they have to be orders to get out. So he goes he talks with the Col. The Col. says he'll see what he can do. He talks to some people. Orders can't be cut until a certain number of months before he gets out... But he also says we're not asking for anything they wouldn't do for us anyway. He suggests just talking to a supervisor. So off to the supervisor we go. We explain everything to him. He says it makes perfect sense. We thought ah ha!! Yeah someone who gets it. WRONG. Even though it makes sense he says no. If I move you for a deployment I have to move everyone!!! ARGHGHGHGHGHH.... not moving because of deployment... HELLO???? Is anyone home. NOPE. So we say fine. We'll just move ourselves and then when we qualify for orders we'll just turn in reciepts for re-imbursement. Oh no. That no workey either. Reciepts can't be more than 60 days old. Are you kidding me!!!??? So I have to waste $1500 a month to stay in Colorado, because why??? Because we don't have a piece of paper. Awesome. Thanks ARMY. Thanks for taking care of families. Thanks for taking care of soldiers who serve. You rock.
I'm moving anyway.
AMEN.

Impending Doom!

For some reason, it hit me today, like a tons of bricks. Ryan is getting ready to deploy. I knew it before. Talked about it even, but for some reason today it became so real. Maybe it's because I counted the Saturdays till he goes and we only had nine. Single digit nine. I don't know.... Funny how things just hit you sometimes. And because I've done this before the alone part doesn't seem so scary. I hate it. But it's not the unknown. And I feel at peace that Ryan will be protected and safe while he's gone. But I'm still worried. I mostly worry for my children. This is so hard on them. Layne is at the age where he needs Dad, for boy things. And Ashlynn just adores him. She chooses him for just about everything. She's Daddy's little princess. I'm worries about how she'll take it. Will she remember him? I don't know. I also worry about when it's all done. We're supposed to be going back to civilian life. Can we make it there? We are so used to being apart. I know we can survive apart, it's together that seems strange and almost scary, yet it's what we ultimately desire most. Some of you have probably come to the conclusion that I've lost my mind. Maybe I have. But there are some who have lived this life, and this makes sense, kind of.
Truthfully, I'm scared we'll get what we want too. We want to go back home. Live in our house and be a "normal" family. But we're so used to this life, what if we get what we want and it's not what we wanted?? ARGHGHGHGGH. My brain is going crazy today. This is the part of deployment that I hate. The uncertainty. The what ifs. The feel that your life is on hold for 12 months. I don't like being on hold for 12 minutes. I guess once I tackle this challenge, and learn what is meant to be learned the Lord will allow me to move onto something else. Oh I hope I learn my lesson this time!
~Annie

Ok.. so since my blog is called the Army Wife, I thought I'd finally write something about that....

My husband loves his job. He basically blows stuff up. What guy wouldn't love that job right?! He loves ARMY. He has since he was a kid. Growing up he played GI Joe's he had battles with any toy he could use as a soldier. Sticks and Rocks were his weapons and ammo. He's always felt a strong desire to serve our Nation and we both felt that it was what the Lord wanted for us too. That is why we are ARMY. That being said, I'm gonna whine now. Being an ARMY Wife is hard. Let's face it, being a wife is hard. Now add any branch of the Armed Forces and it's a double whammy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not for the faint of heart. But there is something in particular that really ticks me off every time I hear it!! There's always some cause. Something that people are so passionate about, and they DEMAND that the U.S. do something to stop it. Granted I usually think what they are talking about is a worthy cause. I don't like Genocide or any other evil anymore than anyone else. But there's so much more to it, than marching in a few troops and stopping whatever atrocity from happening. So what I'd like to say is STOP VOLUNTEERING MY HUSBAND!! Stop Volunteering my kids for this. We all ready do our part. We all ready sacrifice. We are proud to do what we do, and we'll keep on doing it. But stop asking. If you want to volunteer someone, volunteer your spouse, yourself, whatever. But before you start making demands, make sure you'd be willing to pay the price, and not just expect someone else to, in the name of doing something.
Thank-you.

Things That Make Me REALLY Happy!!

There are just some things that make me happy.... I decided to list them. I'll keep adding to it, as I think of more.
1. Good Music! It's amazing how a good song can turn a day around :)
2. Laughter: It's contagious. Especially when it's my kiddos who laugh so hard they snort. That always gets me!
3. Long Talks: I love them, especially with the King Of Battle. He's not into them much, so it makes it even better when I get those with him.
4. GNO! Otherwise known as Girls Night Out!!! Hey I love a date with my King, but every girl loves a night away here and there with girls she loves, and can be silly with!
5. Baby Smell: Especially a breast-fed baby. Sorry if that's discrimination. But I love it. Scentsy should make a brick. I'd buy it.
6. The Beatles. I know that goes with good music. But most every song they sing I love. They are get happy music for sure.
7. Good friends. I love friends who get me. They give me nick-names, they laugh at me, but mostly they sustain me.
8. My Family: All of them. The King, The kiddos, my parents and siblings, The Kings parents and his siblings, all of our cousins.... EVERYONE!! We are so blessed to have HUGE families. I love them all.
9. Church: I get such a charge from my Sunday lessons. I can always tell a HUGE difference in my attitude if I miss a week. I need it. It makes me less grumpy.
10. Feeling Productive: There's something to be said for it... I just don't know what it is.
11. Cooking. I like to cook. I like to find recipes that are treasures. When we get back to my house in Utah, then I will be able to say I LOVE cooking. Cause then I will have a kitchen worthy of cooking!!
12. My house: I know it's such a temporal thing. But I love my house. I like how it looks, I love the yard, I love the colors, I love the location, I Love the neighborhood and especially the ward!! Amazing people there.
13. Dr. Pepper. enough said.
14. A good Book
15. The Pioneer Woman blog. She makes me laugh out loud. I wish she lived by me so I could be her friend. I'm sure we'd be tight, if we knew each other!
16.Surprises. But only good ones.
17.A nice hot bubble bath.... hmmmmmm nice. Ahhhhhhh.
18. A deep sleep: I love it when I wake up in the morning alert and in the same position I fell asleep in. That means I didn't toss or turn. I just slept. YES!
19. The American Idol tryouts.... come on. Admit it, they're funny. Especially Simon. If he ever leaves the show. It'll end. It's a fact.
20. Seeing the light bulb go on in one of my kids heads. It's amazing! LOVE IT!!
21. I love to laugh so hard my sides hurt and tears roll down my cheeks. It doesn't happen often, the last time was game night with the Mendenhall's. But I love it.
22. Playing games. My favorite is Times Up! It's so fun.

This is the butt I wish I had.....

Whats wrong.....

Have you noticed lately that everything seems to focus on all the things that are "wrong". We're in a recession, housing markets aren't good, gas costs, food costs, health care bills, blah blah blah! I'm tired of hearing about all the negatives!! Why can't we focus on good? I understand that there are pressing matters to deal with. That all of the above listed things are concerns, and need for lack of a better term, reckoning. But, there is so much good in this world, and it's going unrecognized!! I believe you get what you focus on. If we as an American people could focus on the positive, we could have an amazing effect on our "situations" Do I think having happy thoughts will miraculously take us out of a recession. Of course not. I'm no genius, but I'm not an idiot either! What I think will happen is this.... Instead of thinking poor me, I can't go and buy anything I want, when I want, because prices are high and the recession is hitting my bank account, we could think I have quite a bit. More than most. I can use what I have been blessed with, and make it work for me. I can run and play outside with my kids, instead of buying that gym pass. I can watch a DVD and pop microwave popcorn, instead of hitting the theatre! Hey and guess what! You can lay down, and wear sweats, and go to the bathroom, whenever you want! Kids love movie nights, I love movie nights!! We don't need the newest cars, or the latest gadgets! We need humility. We need gratitude. We need to focus on the positive!
I'm guilty of the poor me syndrome from time to time. And when I catch myself feeling that way, I start a gratitude journal. I list three things daily that I'm grateful for. They are very specific, and you cannot repeat any one thing. It sure brings things into perspective!! In fact I think I'm gonna do it again! I'll get a notebook today!
As I was "surfing the web" today I thought man, if aliens existed, and read our information they'd think what a pitiful people. Plagued with terrible things. That's not how I want to be. I'm gonna be happy. I'm gonna be positive!
Amen. Stepping off the soapbox now!
~Annie