Great Q&A

One of the websites I frequent is an awesome blog called Faith Deployed. It was started by Jocelyn Green, after her book "Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragemet for Military Wives" was a huge hit among military spouses. I bought this book while Greg was deployed (I believe after I stumbled upon it during a Google search for "coping with deployments" in the depths of winter), and love it! I love her site even more, because she updates it daily and, like the book, has many guest writers (both military members and spouses write).

Yesterday there was a great Q&A with a Marine wife, Catherine Fitzgerald. She leads small groups within military spouse circles, and she shared some of her experiences for how she copes with deployments.

One of the things I struggle with is trying to describe the struggles of the military lifestyle with my family and friends. It's hard, especially coming from a wife's perspective, because very few of my family and friends have grown up in the military or been Marine wives. Well, good news - this woman has done what I have been trying to do for years! Her answers perfectly describe how I deal with deployments, Greg being gone, having a baby without him, and how, in the midst of the hardest times in both Greg's and my lives, we grew in our faith so much. Hopefully these excerpts will give a nice window into, at the very least, the take-aways I've had in this life. Enjoy...


What are some recurring challenges you face as a military wife? How do you deal with those?
"I think the biggest challenge is accepting that while most people get married so they will never have to be apart from their best friend, my life is one where I am alone sometimes more than I am with him. The way I’ve learned to handle that is to pursue the interests I have, whether it be trying new recipes I know he wouldn’t eat, focusing on my writing, or learning something new. Embracing the time apart instead of fighting it is so important. There is no way to change it so I need to make the best of it!
 The other major challenge is single parenting. We have a beautiful, energetic three-year-old and I have not recovered from my lack of energy since the day she was born. Having to do everything on my own for half of every year is daunting and can sometimes make me feel bitter or angry. I try to keep focused on why it is so hard when he is gone. He is just such an amazing father that when he is home, my burden is lifted as I have so much help from him. What a blessed little girl who is getting an amazing image of her heavenly father through her earthly one. This can make that time when I am a single parent a time to reflect on the blessing my husband is."


 What are some of the biggest joys related to being a military wife?
 "The greatest joys are the women I have met along the way. They are some of the most incredible people I know and they have taught and blessed me in so many ways. There is an instant bond between us military wives that is not comprehended by those outside this lifestyle. I also think a great joy is learning the art of sacrifice. This life brings me closer to understanding Jesus, whether I like it or not. Every day is a day where I am forced to lay my own desires and interests down for others. It is a hard, hard lesson to learn, but it shows me a glimpse of how difficult that sacrifice must have been for Christ. It draws me closer to Him as I realize I cannot do this on my own."

 When you have a really down day, what do you do to get back up again?
"I let myself cry. I let myself eat the ice cream. I let myself have a day to lay on the couch and watch tv all day, but after that time, it is time to get back up and keep going. It’s important to give ourselves a few liberties, but it is also important to not allow it to turn into a drawn out period of self-pitying. Our life is undoubtedly difficult, but there are lives much more difficult than mine and I have to keep focused on all the blessings I’ve been given."

What role does faith play in your daily life- in the little things, and in the big things (like deployments)?
The past two years, I have faced some of the greatest struggles I have ever dealt with and my natural self is an anxious person. I prayed for years for God to take my anxiety away and the way He did that was through me turning every fear, every emotion, every thought into a prayer. As I am dealing with loneliness that comes from deployments, I’ve learned to pray to God what I am feeling or thinking and get to know Him more intimately through His word. My faith has really evolved in the past couple of years, especially since being a military wife, from being a compartmentalized piece of my life to being my life. I’ve learned that even in the hardest, most difficult, gut wrenching circumstances, I can get through things with God that I never thought I could. The things I thought would have just corroded my faith, have become the things that have made it stronger."

 Do you have a favorite verse that helps get you through tough times?
 ”Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 reminds me to take each day one at a time. Looking into the future of a deployment or upcoming difficulty will overwhelm sometimes. But, just remembering to take the day God has given you and do what He wants in this present moment is so much easier than trying to deal with all the future worries that may or may not come to be."

Vegas!

Last week Greg's unit had its make-up Birthday Ball in Las Vegas. As some of you may know, the USMC Birthday is a HUGE deal in the Marine Corps, and every year there is a big ball to celebrate it. The 234th Birthday was November 10, 2009, and while the Marines celebrated it in Afghanistan (they make sure that even the most remote places receive some form of "fancy food" to celebrate), the actual ball never happened. Because of this, 3/4 decided to create a "make-up ball" - bigger and better - in Las Vegas upon the unit's return. And boy, was it fun!

Let me start by saying that I am not really a Vegas person. I'm not a huge partier, I don't gamble (except for a few $20s every once in awhile in a slot machine, but only when I got o Vegas), and I don't really like to stay out late. Plus, I think the tackiness of the place is bizarre, and have long been a believer that pretty much any town in the Mojave Desert could become the next Las Vegas if a bunch of fancy hotels, casinos, and restaurants decided to plop down. But there was something about this trip that made all of my negative thoughts about Vegas go out the window. Greg and I think it was a combination of being baby-free (THANK YOU Auntie Katherine and Uncle Jake for babysitting Caroline!!), being there with a bunch of friends, and just doing things on the spur of the moment. It was really fun.

I don't want to make this post too long, but a short list of what we did included the Ball (dinner/dancing/ceremony), going to the nightclubs at the Palms Casino, Cirque du Soleil, seeing the Bellagio water show, window shopping at Caesar's Forum, going to an Irish Pub with an Irish band (as in, actually from Ireland) and an Irish dancer, eating excellent sushi, and eating warm homemade cookies at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at 3:30 AM on our last night. All things we don't normally do and would never be able to do with Caroline with us, so it was great to really let loose for a few nights. Don't get me wrong - it was SO great to get back home and we both missed Caroline and Rocky like crazy, but it was fun nonetheless.

So that was our weekend! Now we are trying to rest up before another big trip this weekend, to Virginia Beach for Catherine Brown and Nate McFarland's wedding. More updates on that later. For now, enjoy the pics!

View from the Palms

Ready for the Ball!

Greg never misses a first dance...especially when it's the Righteous Brothers

Some of you may remember this from my wedding ...

a true sign that "Uncle Frank" is in rare form is when he brings out the flips on the dance floor

My friends/fellow deployment survivors enjoying our baby-free night!

...the night eventually led to dancing above tables at a club, while the Marines received free drinks

the result of $5 that Greg put in the first slot machine he saw the morning after the Ball

Dinner at Shibuya in MGM Grand

I love Irish dancing!

Greg and Frank - buddies since 2003

Our latest adventures

Now that we are back in Yucca and Greg is back at work, and now that I am on summer vacation from B-school, Caroline's daily adventures have consisted of the usual shenanigans (which consist of forcing C to try on various adorable clothes at stores), USMC functions (C loves to flirt with the 3/4 officers) and playing with friends. Other than that, not much else is going on, so I thought I'd just post up some pics. The pace pics up in the next few weeks with Katherine and Jacob visiting next week, a baby-free trip to Vegas for the Birthday Ball (SO excited!), a trip to Virginia Beach for Catherine Brown's wedding (can't wait!), and a trip to Santa Barbara for the 4th. Lots of fun things to look forward to, and I'm sure, more blog posts to come. ...

 Cowboy Corral, my fave store in Yucca - trying on her new sheriff's hat

With Uncle Frank @ the BBQ with all the Lt's in 3/4 - 

check out all the high and tights in the background!

Chasing her friend Kaitlyn (who is almost 1) at the Hail & Farewell for 3/4 Officers

Having a Friday Ladies' Luncheon with her friend 

Rylie at Tommy Bahamas' in Palm Desert - they had a blast!

Playtime at home with Rylie

And after a long week of activity, calming down by reading Go, Dog, Go! with Daddy

Top 10 Best-Paying Jobs for College Grads

 Forbes: Top 10 Best-Paying Jobs for College Grads

Because if you're a college grad (or recent college grad) you'll be interested, and if you're not, you'll still be interested, because everyone is perpetually obsessed with any ranking associated with colleges.

Really interesting! I also found it interesting that the military makes it into the top 10....even though the pay for officers isn't through the roof, when you add tax benefits for being deployed (ie, you don't pay taxes while in a combat zone) and stipends for separation (from your family) pay, health insurance, rent, dependents, and other payments, it's not a bad gig! Side note: be prepared to be away more than you're home. But hey, it has one of the highest levels of job security in the country, assuming you don't do something stupid :)

Daisy C. Gehring

Sweet Caroline today in the awesome towel that Catherine Brown gave her...

PS - On a completely different note, my Dad (who receives my blog posts - and therefore comments - via email rather than going on the blog... we're bridging the technological/generational gap together!) commented on my last post saying he wasn't convinced about my pulled BBQ chicken sandwich, and asked me, "Are you sure that's not from Roy Rodgers?" Obviously he was kidding, but it made me smile. Even though you can't see the comments he posts, I've discovered that his witty, dry (and occasionally cheesy) sense of humor comes out wonderfully through his blog post comments!

Yummy (and healthy) dinner recipe

Last night we had a delicious meal, which included an old favorite recipe of mine, as well as two new successes. We try new recipes quite a bit, but this one was a winner because it required hardly any tweaking going forward (I say this because two weeks ago we made chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce that tasted exactly like a bottle of Skippy, leading us to decide we needed non-name brand peanut butter next time!). Better yet, this meal combined my love of Southern food with my desire to eat healthfully.

I'm sharing this with you all because I am more often than not stuck in a rut as to what to have for dinner, and I was excited with how easy and delicious this one was.

Here was the menu: Ellie Krieger's (a nutritionist/chef on the Food Network, who is great) BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches and Cole Slaw, and Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese (an instant classic - this is the BEST Mac and Cheese recipe!). The BBQ is great because it uses a rotisserie chicken, and can be ready in 30 minutes. The coleslaw takes less than 5 to make, and while the Mac and Cheese takes a while to prepare (probably 25 minutes to prep and 30 to cook), you can prep it before hand and stick it in the fridge until it's time to cook.

Here are the links to the recipes - enjoy!


Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - Ellie Krieger


Classic Coleslaw with Caraway - Ellie Krieger (note: I omitted the caraway and it was fine)


Mac and Cheese - Ina Garten 


Photos....

Yummy, healthy BBQ Chicken Sandwich

Ina's Mac and Cheese

New Friend

One of my good friends had a daughter last summer, almost exactly 6 weeks before Caroline was born. Now that Rylie and Caroline are both out of their lie on their backs and not really acknowledge anyone else stage, it's really fun for them to play! We went over to Lacy (Rylie's mom)'s house today, where the two girls had a blast: