Trying out app

Blogger now has an app for android. There's several free versions along with ad-free versions. There's been an email post option that I've used before, but this seems real neat so far. 

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in

1. What are some  of your ideas for staying connected with family…you know, those people we moved thousands of miles away from? submitted by Live it. Love it (or not). Write About It.
I use facebook and text messages mostly. We also snail mail each other things every so often (birthday cards, Christmas cards, etc.)

2. What’s the most romantic gift you have GIVEN? submitted by Painting My Canvas
My husband thought that taking him to a video game store at midnight to get Starcraft 2 while he was recovering from surgery (and drugged out of his mind) was the most romantic thing I've done. Since he loves sushi, I bought him a sushi-making kit when he graduated AIT, I think that's the most romantic gift I've given.

3. Would you encourage your child, if they came to you and wanted to join the military?  submitted by Perfectly Imperfect

I don't know if they would let her join or not, can cats join the military?

4. What is your least favorite bill to pay and why? submitted by A Little of This, A Little of That

Since we're on a family plan (mom, her bf, Vx and I), mom's been covering our cell phone bills since we haven't been able to afford it. Right now, I guess car insurance, it's never the same amount, so it's hard to budget around.

5. What is the proudest moment you’ve had as a military spouse?  submitted by Our Okinawa Life

At a color guard ceremony for some older vets, everyone just seemed so appreciative that these "4 young men" came out to their Elk's Lodge for an event. Just seeing how appreciative they were, despite the fact that they more likely than not dealt with a lot worse than Vx & his group has (2 f/ROTC, Vx & someone else, at least 3 of them haven't deployed, not sure about the other one).


To join in, visit Wifey's blog by clicking on the picture at top or on the left sidebar.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in

1. During military separations (whether short or long) how do you keep yourself positive and motivated? submitted by Married/Single Parent
This is tough for me to do because of Salsa, but the longest separation we've had since we got married has only been 3 weeks (that was supposed to be a year, give or take). I don't trust orders anymore, so I guess that's my way of staying positive & motivated, knowing he can return at any minute, despite what those so-called orders say.


2. What is your favorite concert you have ever been to? submitted by Young but Not (Completely) Dumb
METALLICA!!! No doubt about it, but there are some that are a close second for sure, Caroline's Spine, MWK (both w/original line ups), Mad Verb (RIP), Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown, Sevendust, just a few that come to mind.


3. What do you miss most about your "hometown"?  submitted by A Florida Girl and Her Soldier
This pizza place/deli a friend of my mom's ran. I loved the food there, the town gossip was interesting at times, & I was able to go there for lunch at times (it was closed campus, but if we were "selling" ads for the newspaper (our class was right before lunch), we could eat on our way back to school.


4. If you could run in any race, which charity would you choose to support? submitted by Wookie & Co.
Hm... So many good causes out there. Many local musicians I like do the MS walk every year for one of their mom's, while its not a race you run in, I think I would like that best. 


5. You find out Willy Wonka is your father, what 3 course meal do you INSIST he create in that stick of gum?  submitted by A{muse}ing Mommy on a Pink Park Bench
Why does it not surprise me that this came from Mrs. Mootz? lol
Bread w/marinara sauce, manicotti, & italian creme cake.


To play along, visit Wifey's blog by clicking on the graphic at top or on the left.

1. Do you or your {spouse} ever wish your {spouse} was in a different branch of the military? submitted by The Turner Family
I think Vx has mentioned how Coast Guard might be neat, but he really wants to stay in this area, and there's definitely no Coast Guard, also he's at least third generation Army, so I highly doubt he'll ever change branches.

2. What duty station(s) are on your “No Way, Hell No, Not Going, Have Fun Unaccompanied” list and why? submitted by Every Branch
Like Wifey said, someplace with extreme cold/snow, I would really have to think hard about those posts before ever moving there. Vx spent several of his childhood years in Alaska, so he may like being there, but I would not be able to spend every single day in 3+layers of clothes (2 weeks straight at my old job was bad enough), pain, or trouble walking (especially in snow or rain). 

3. If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose and why? submitted by Three Krakens
21 was a pretty good year, maybe that, idk.

4. If you were a breakfast cereal, which one would you be? submitted bythe C.W.
I just finished eating some cheap capt. crunch w/berries, that's not appealing. Fruity pebbles might be ok, not sure really. 

5. What is your morning beverage of choice and why?  submitted by NH Girl Displaced

Tea, hot chocolate is too sweet most of the time, pop is usually a lunch/dinner drink, and I hate coffee.

Visit Wifey's blog to play along by clicking on one of the two pictures.

Military Monday Family Blogger Carnival

Welcome to the Military Monday Family Blogger Carnival! This is my first time to join in, I hope its as much fun as @ArmyWivesLives made it out to be on twitter. This post will explain how my husband's drill weekend went over the weekend.


First off, his unit is about 2,100 miles from our home, so this weekend's activities occurred at "Fort Couch" (home). Since most everyone in his unit is like himself (live far away), they have conference call(s) on drill weekends, then they make up their drill time at a nearby unit, recruiter station, or as Vx sometimes does, funeral details & honor guard ceremonies w/a nearby unit he used to be part of (if you read some of my other posts, I call this nearby unit Warriors).


Incase the name didn't give it away, my husband Vx is a CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear, every unit's supposed to have at least one), he's a chemical warfare instructor, or he's supposed to be.


Last year right after he joined the unit, he had to have a hernia operation. This occurred right when he needed to take some classes so he could teach & go to WLC, also the unit was changing some of their higher-ups. In typical Vx fashion, nothing has worked out like it should have.


There were 2 calls this weekend instead of the normal 1, someone new mentioned that 2 of them hadn't done anything for the unit like they were supposed to, & one (Vx) has been asking about the classes every week, so hopefully the ball will finally get rolling!


One of the conference calls was a class, I don't remember the title, but both of us had the impression it was about DADT, it wasn't. I wonder if it really was supposed to be & the person got off topic or couldn't find enough info on the subject.


While he's been wearing them more lately with the cold temperatures, he usually saves his marshmallows for these type of weekends. They're so attractive & the cat (P, she's his girlfriend, & the closest thing to an Army brat we'll probably ever have) likes to knead on him when he wears them!


Before I ramble too much more or get off topic, I'll end my post for this week. Thank you for stopping by, feel free to read some of my other posts (very random topics, then there's Random Thoughts Tuesday), if you click on my name to your right, you can read an intro post I wrote about us, just feel free to make yourself at home here, no need for comments unless you really want to, just explore & have fun!

Speaking of tattoo's...

I saw this & thought I would share it as well!

You Should Get a Tattoo on Your Lower Back

You are a confident and courageous person. You just go for it and don't care what others think. You are sexy, and to be honest, you know it. And you like to up the sex appeal from time to time. You love to be the center of attention. You've got the goods, and you like to show them off. You make bold choices and stand behind them. You are proud of who you are.

Where Should You Get a Tattoo?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in

1. Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life “perfect”? submitted by Oh How Delightful
Sorry to burst your bubble, but no deployments doesn't make MilSpouse life "perfect". Deployments are the only chance that some spouses can even consider having health insurance & the benefits that come with that. I doubt deployed units ever have to worry about whether or not the military will actually pay them, or that their assignments will be shortened greatly (one month turning into 3 days, one year becoming 3 weeks, etc.).

2. Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army
What?!?! She picked one of my questions? Ah, thanks!

Now my answer, I have to agree w/Wifey's response,  if his wife's there making sure he's doing it, then a whole lot more then he would on his own.

3. If you could have any career in the world with nothing holding you back, what would you do? submitted by It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To
On-air at a music radio station. Although, I have enjoyed listening to "my boss" do play-by-play at hockey games, I'm really not a sports person (could go either way, I wouldn't be too caught up in the game, but the enthusiasm may not come out on air like it needs to). I have also enjoyed doing some PR for the hockey team & other various things, while the two can go together ("my boss" does both), most of the time they're separate jobs.

4. Do you have a service oriented tattoo and if so what is it. If you don’t what would you get? submitted by The Squid’s Accomplice
The only person in our apartment w/a tattoo is the cat. I guess her green line on the belly could be her way of having a service oriented tattoo. She had it before she decided to live here, so its probably green since her fur is white & her eyes are green, or that's the color the vet who fixed her had available at the time. Vx would like to get a black light tattoo of something CBRN related; if I ever get one, it would either be a star or some musical notes.

5. Imagine a block of time has opened up in your busy day for you to take a class in anything you like. What subject would you choose?  submitted by To The Nth

I have the time, but no desire to take any classes. Nothing seems interesting enough to want to pay the money & sit in a classroom to learn about. If it was an independent study, I know I wouldn't do it, it'd probably be the same way online.

Two away games this weekend for the hockey team, they need to win these & this other team (they're not playing them) needs to lose, so my team has a better chance of making the playoffs! The regular season ends in about a month, so keep your fingers crossed!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in

1. What is your favorite MilSpouse blog (not including Wife of a Sailor who we all love, or your own)? submitted by Our Crazy Life (Wifey note: whaaaat? You can’t say my blog? No fun! LOL, just kidding)

How could the best one be left out of this question posted on her blog?!?! Oh well, I'll have to list some of the others I enjoy. 

First off, who DOESN'T love Mrs. Mootz? Seriously, she rocks! 

Hellcat Betty hasn't blogged in a while, but she came up w/a word I love to use (civilitary), so major props to her. 

New Girl is an Okie (like myself) who lives in Italy (a country I would like to at least visit someday), & she's a pretty good photographer. 

Another photographer I like is Ann Marie, she writes great posts, takes great pics, has some of the cutest kids I've seen, and we share a middle name. 

Last, but certainly not least, a fellow CBRN wife Nadine. She's a mom to three boys & seems to do lots of volunteer work around FLW.

I haven't been reading many MilSpouse blogs lately, so there's probably others I'm missing out on.

2. What are your favorite perks about your s/o being deployed (we all know there are perks)? submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife

In those 3 weeks he was gone, I enjoyed watching tv shows he hated, listening to music out loud he hates, eating food he hates, & all those other things I enjoy that he hates. 

3. How long did you date your before getting engaged? Married? submitted by Utterly Chaotic
We dated about a year and a half before we were engaged, a few month or so after that he went to Basic/AIT, he was gone 5 1/2 months, then 3 weeks after we came back (& I had my car wreck), we got married.

4. What do you think your would do if s/he wasn’t in the military? submitted by Adventures of M-Squared
Same thing we do now w/less headaches & the ability to plan out things more.

5. If you could talk to the Secretary of (fill in your appropriate branch) what is one suggestion you would like to bring to their attention in order to improve the lives of military families?  submitted by My Life as His (Air Force) Wife

Don't treat your Reservist & NG like shit! Don't give them last-minute orders & expect all of the civilians in their lives to bend over backwards to help. If you give out orders for a specific time & place, then keep your word, don't send a soldier away for a month to the wrong base for a class that's full, so he has to return home 3 days later. If you send someone to a MOB site for deployment, then don't have that dentist hate on another Army dentist's work, & insist on the soldier being sent home to have a civilian fix the problem that your dentist was too lazy to fix themselves, leading to deployment orders being cancelled. If your gonna tell a soldier he's going to do all this stuff, then have them do all that stuff.

Tonight's hockey game is Military Appreciation Night sponsored by the National Guard, w/money raised for the local Blue Star Mothers, so hopefully it'll have a great turnout (despite the recent losses). Have a great weekend!

Who would've thought...

Wifey's taking a break this week, & I haven't blogged in too long, so I thought I would write a quick post:

Who would've thought...

...an ice rink would be warmer than a dirt floor arena???

...the only employee that was not allowed to step outside to warm up would be the non-smoker!

...my former supervisor would be the one more likely to die than her very-ill husband.

...14 inches of snow would make my happy to be unemployed!

...I would love hockey!

...my cat would bark like a dog!

...we'd get 14 inches of snow at one time! (normally we might get a few inches that melt away immediately, most of those 14 inches are still here about 2 weeks later!)

...I would consider applying for a job w/the baseball team who moved & caused me to lose my awesome summer job somewhere else.

...my husband would still not deploy after 3 years while other are on their 2nd/3rd tour.

Yeah, some random thoughts. I blame cabin fever! Hockey game tonight & tomorrow night, so maybe my sanity will return soon. Have a great weekend!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in

This week's questions are:


1. Since most of the country has had nasty weather, what has your weather been like this week?
The meteorologists in the area kept saying several inches to a few feet of snow, they've said this many times in the past when we only saw a few flakes, so it was somewhat taken seriously. Late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, it starts sleeting. Tuesday, it snowed on top of ice & sleet. The official count from the airport was 14 inches, while for some that may not seem huge, we usually get a few inches that melt away in a day or two. My mom was at work Monday night/Tuesday morning, her & her truck was stuck there, Vx & her bf couldn't get their vehicles out of the parking lot Tuesday morning, my car sits low to the ground, so it wasn't getting out either. She brought extra food w/her, she had planned on mopping the floor, the guardshack doesn't have running water, so the water she didn't use was in jugs from a building that she could drink. Finally she did get a ride to the street on the west edge of our apartment complex Wednesday morning. Her bf met her at the street & they made their way through the thick snow to our apartment. Wednesday, Vx was also able to clear the snow around my car well enough to drive it out & since the major streets & highways had their snow cleared off, he was able to drive around & gather a few extra supplies. Schools have been closed since Monday afternoon, the hockey team had to reschedule their game Wednesday (other team had bad weather in their area as well), & may have to do the same w/their weekend games in Mississippi. If you follow Pioneer Woman on twitter, you may have seen that she was stuck in New York because Tulsa airport was closed, a sports broadcaster was stuck in Tennessee for the same reason, while a public speaker in my area flew out Monday ahead of the storm for her speaking engagement she had in LA Thursday.

2. What is/are your best money saving tip(s)?
Coupons and shopping the sale ads mostly. When we know there are hockey games coming in the next day or two, we'll make marinara sauce in advance (taste better after sitting in the fridge overnight for some reason) then come home & cook noodles, or buy a pizza crust & toppings so we're not as tempted to eat out. We usually snack around before the game as well, since we're sometimes there for about 6 hours & we can usually smell the expensive concession food the whole time. When we do eat out, we usually go out to places where we get a good deal. A Qdoba in our area gives a military discount (not all of them do), if the hockey team scores 4 goals that night, we can get a free burger at Jack in the Box (we usually get to visit w/some fans when we're there as well, we also order other items as well [shakes, fries, dessert, etc.]), Sonic & other fast food places also have coupon inserts on occasion. You can also join email lists/text alerts for food places, clothing stores, etc. to receive discount codes as well. Not to get too twitter crazy, but she can also help you save money. She has helped me find coupons for things we actually like & use, & provide other tips to help out (I'll warn you, she does get into christian topics at times, but if that bothers you, you can skip over those parts).

3. What was your favorite vehicle you’ve ever owned??
Despite the color, my first car, 91 Subaru Legacy. It was "ugly brown" but it sat high enough to not hit things (like I've done in my current car & the one I wrecked), I never had to worry about leaving my head lights on (as soon as the car's turned off, so were the lights), and many other things. My current car & the one I wrecked have automatic lights, which is nice, but it did cause problems at my former job (shine at inappropriate times, in horse's eyes, etc.).

4. What is a question you’d like to see asked in a future fill-in? (Your question & blog just may appear one week!)
Sometimes I have trouble answering the questions, but I can usually come up with some kind of response, a question I want asked...
Why is the sky blue?
Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick?


5. Fill in the blank: You might be a MilSpouse if…....you spent about 2 years telling people, "my husband's deploying in a few months" when in fact he didn't.
...you use a military id, but the bank teller wants a "real" id (especially when you have a special military bank account).
...there's more challenge coins laying around your home than nickels, dimes, etc.
...your husband pulls out the pro mask anytime your sick.
...your tempted to dye your pet's hair green (or blue in the future to match the Class A's).
...you know to shine the Class A shoes w/Windex.

Wow! I really must have cabin fever, look at my LONG & colorful answers! Unfortunately, I think more snow's on the way, so I should probably try to escape today w/Vx just incase.


Have a good weekend!