Review of the book " Married to the Military " A Survival Guide for Military Wive, Girlfriends and Women in uniform "

Alright everyone has been talking about this awesome book, telling me to read it as soon as I can no matter what I said they simply wouldn't let up! So here you all good! My review of the book Married To The Military! 

      I am not going to sit here and pretend that I read a lot of the Military Spouse books that are out there. Lord knows I haven't read any of them ( I am working on it as we speak! lol ) I love to read however I never thought that I would care about what these books had to say. I am shocked in so many way for so many reasons. I loved this book and I can not wait to read the next Military Spouse book on my list ( which happens to be " The Army Wife Handbook, because well this book had a lot of great information in it however I want to know a lot more I can't learn enough about this life I am jumping into head first! ) the things I learned are priceless. I can not explain all of the reasons why I feel like every female or male for that matter! Who decides to be with someone in uniform needs to stop what they are doing and go read this book right now! It was the BEST $14.00 I ( okay fine my Mr ) ever spent. It hit every topic I wanted to know about and then some, The break down of Military life mixed in with real life stories was perfect and just what I needed to feel better about this life I have started. I feared I wouldn't be able to relate to the other ladies in this life that they were all young , just out of high school. I am not scared to admit that I WAS WRONG! ( if you know me out side of my blog you know that holy crap that doesn't happen very often but YES I just said it and well of course its not online where the whole world can see it! lol ) The other Girlfriends, Wives to be, and Wives are just like me ( most of them at least ) they are just like I am in way more ways that I honestly would have never thought about if I hadn't came across the book. ( okay so kicked into is more like it Thanks to my best friend Terrie MacLean who told me about the book to start with and is the reason I ended up buying it even though I'm not sure that she knows that at this time.) I am not going to lie I do have some amazing best friends who also happen to be Army Wives and who keep me in line and up to date when I get lost and need someone to vent, ramble, yell, scream, and well just talk to. ( Terrie MacLean, Kellie Mckenzie and a few other ladies who will be around I'm sure to yell at me via comment and explain everything about the Army to me as I go along my way lol ) 

           There were so many things in this book that I feel like everyone needs to know however I know that once I start I may never stop. So I am sorry for everyone who has not yet read the book if I give you more information then you wanted to know. There are many reasons why everyone should read this book and here they are in no set order.

1. The break down of what you have to do right after you get married ( getting your id, POA etc. )
    I am not yet a Army wife ( I'm not going to lie I do believe that some time from today until a year or so from now that I will be a very Proud Army Wife to my amazing MR. ) however if and when that day does come for me I know that I will have way less problems and fears about getting everything done. The break down of how everything works made me feel so much better because I honestly had no idea how all the paper work really works. 

 2. Explaining the ranks and how they work!
    I honestly had no clue about the ranks in the Army I  knew what my Mr's rank is and how long he has been that rank and well that is all I knew and understood. I never thought about it before however I am so happy I know now and I will be keeping the book not so far away in the future when my MR asks me questions or starts rambling on about the high or lower ranking people he works with. Not only is it a break down of the Army ranks, but Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard! so ladies I am sorry I ramble so much about the Army but well that is my mans branch I don't mean to make any one feel as if they were left out. 

3. Deal with a man who is a career Military man is way different then I am use to for many reasons. The Career tracker has proven to be a life saver!
    I know that I want to travel the world with my amazing family. However I never knew that there was a guy " the jobguy " as it is called in the book.  There will pretty much be a helpful buddy to have when deciding where we would like to live through out his career. No there is no set thing that says that you can get duty stations simply because you want them however I never even knew you had the option of saying where you would like to be stationed at! That was awesome to find out and made me feel asif I have a little more control in my life even if it is just the thought that counts. lol 

4. The Master relocation Check list! Lord help me I fell in love and I haven't even PCS'ed ever , yet!
   okay so I fell in love for so many reasons! to start with I am scared to death of PSC'ing! I want to get out and see the world however geeze I never knew how much went into moving a whole house and family to anywhere in the world. Nor did I know the Military paid for movers to do it all for you if you want them to or they will give you the money to move your self. That will be a large help because well I have two kids fulltime , a step son to be and my Mr who I will have to deal with moving and all that mess pretty much on my own from what I have read. I don't know what that will be like yet but Lord this Master List is being put where I can find it forever and always so I will know what to do when that day comes!

5. Marriage Hoo-ah! was an all around awesome chapter!Along with Preventing Trouble in Paradise.
   I can not say how much I loved this chapter it broke down so many things that I really had a lot of questions about. Not to count deployment information. I know that deployment is coming there is no question about that however I am scared to death of it. I don't know how other people make a marriage work and keep everything together while there other half is gone for a year at a time. I am not going to lie and say that I am not scared to death still however I feel like, well like I am not alone in this life. No matter where we go, what we do there will be other spouse's around no matter what going through what I am going through, so I will never really be alone. I may fall apart, go nuts and stay in my pjs a lot more then I do now. However I will live and he will be back in my arms one day. This life isn't easy but Lord I feel like its not as bad as I thought it was to start with. lol The things that she wrote about the signs that a marriage will or wont work well I know what to look out for so that when we do get married ( Fingers crossed lol ) we will have a great marriage that will with stand not only the test of time but the test of the Military! and for that I am blessed to have gotten a chance to read this book!

6. Really Stupid Acronyms and Jargon!
   Holy Cow! I  do not understand anything when it comes to Acronyms! its sounds like a whole new language to me. I have had something explained to me from my Mr and my friends  however I didn't understand most of it I mostly just said " okay" I figured it would make them stop talking because I didn't understand a word they were saying anyhow lol ( I know I will catch heck when they read this if they ever read this, but well I can live with that lol )  I understand way more now then I thought I ever would and I plan to keep trying to learn them so that one day maybe I will be in the place to teach someone else what they and this chapter has taught me!


There are so many reasons to read this book in my opinion however lets be honest you have to go out but it, check it out, or heck if you need it and you live near me come borrow mine anytime! This book is a refreshing take on all of the awful stories I have heard about being with a Military man. I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as I did!

Freedom Of Speech .... For kids

        Yesterday was a day like no other....

  

  For a very unexpected reason at that. At what point is it okay to allow your children to speak their mind?

    What age do we say yes you can say what you think. ( as long as it comes out respectful , open and honest ) 

  

That was my struggle for the past 6 months of my life.

My 8 year old son walked up to me one morning in December 2014 and asked me if it was okay. For him to say what he thinks and feels to someone that he fears. Someone that had been none stop trying to take over his life. ( how he feels )

He struggled with my answer to the question as did I for months of his asking me. If it was time yet that he could speak his mind. Even after he had declared to the world his wishes and wants. Still he felt no one cared or wanted to hear what he had to say.

 He asked me what seemed like every day. At what age he was going to be old enough to be able to say what he wants and thinks. That he will not only be able speak his mind but for it to really matter. To those adults who should allow him to have the freedom to say who he does or does not want in his life.

  I prayed , spoke to my priest, my husband and then I prayed some more. After months if struggling with the question I sat down and had a talk with my kids. ( 8yrs and 9 yrs old ) We decided that as a family we would allow them to speak their minds. That as long as they did this in a way that was respectful in their eyes. That my husband and I would be respectful of our kids wishes.

Parenting is hard enough with out other people trying to control our kids. We decided that their is no age limit for kids to have an opinion. That their age shouldn't matter as long as our kids aren't harming their selves. That they need to keep an open mind because everyone has an opinion.

I'm proud of my kids especially proud of my son for wanting the freedoms. That he as an American citizen has and has the right to not only know but the right to use. 

We try to teach our kids about not only their rights
 but about our country and why its so great.

The Battle Rages On.... Update On Jay

                                  

I know that this is a subject that I have spoken about before but as it is one that We struggle with each and every day. Odds are this will not be the last post about it. 

            Jays struggle with 2nd grade reading, writing ,spelling and sounding out words .

We have been working on different 

Styles of learning tools.

There are so many different tools out there

These days. The internet provides

So much that I never knew was out there.

We checked out a few sites

Not anything that was great until

We found Education.com

Where you can get great print outs for free!

You can also sign up to get even more for

A very small monthly price.

I would recommended this site to everyone

Homeschooling or not.

This site can help build your child skills

And remind them why learning is fun!

               ( Example of some of the First Grade Sight Words)

     

      

      I know these struggles are not Jays and Jays alone  there are millions of children out there fighting the same fight he is. 

I am so proud of him in the way he works so hard to learn everything he needs to know. 

His reading has gotten better in the past few weeks and I hope that soon we can move on to 2nd grade reading sight words. 

          

    I know that with continued support and one on one teaching that he will be on the right grade level sooner then Sylvan Learning Center or any where else he had been tested with in the past. Could have hoped to have him on. 

        
                              ( I love how much he is enjoying learning )
                            Thanks to Education.com and there print out!

                                

                                      ( Jay with his flash card sight words)

                                                      

      I have added some helpful links for those who have been struggling with the same issues with their own children and please feel free to email me anytime for help or support. 

                                          Thank you to everyone who has been there for us in the past few months as we started our home school journey and those who have emailed educational links to us. To help ensure that we are using all of our resources to help him in his struggle. He is loving learning and I hope he keeps that love for learning for the rest of his life!  

                    Just Remember You Are Not Alone! 

Homecoming At Last!

                                              HE'S HERE!!     HE'S HERE!!

                                    

( The kids with their homecoming sign

Waiting at the airport )

           At last my buttface ( my hubby's nickname from me sense we first started dating ) is home at last! After the longest year and dome change of my life. He's home at last.
     
                                                  GOOD BYE KOREA!! 

      

       ( The kids playing on their phones, waiting at the airport )

           I don't know who was more excited me or our kids!

Their relationship warms my heart! There is nothing better then seeing the love my kids and husband have for each other. He is the greatest dad ever.

                                                       

               ( He is here at last!! The kids with their daddy )