Be a part of something bigger.

     On the evening of April 16, 2011, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and the surrounding areas were hit with a horrible band of storms that produced multiple tornadoes.  These tornadoes caused devastation beyond imagination in the lives of Marines and Sailors and their families living aboard Terewa Terrace I and II.  These neighborhoods are base sponsored communities full of children, wives, and families who all serve their country through their fathers or mothers, husbands or wives.

     Thankfully, these storms did not cause any fatalities, they did cause injuries and wide spread destruction.  Leaving almost 100 residents displaced for their beautiful homes and many others living in homes that are damaged.  I personally know of one wife, whose husband deployed less than one week ago to serve his country, whose car was destroyed by the storm.  One young boy, age 23-months, was air lifted because of injuries sustained by the tornadoes destruction of his home.  His mother was home with him and injured herself.  His father at a train up in Mojave Viper, California.  He will be home soon.  

     The community saved that little boys life.  And so I ask this of you.  Help save the community.  A community that is my family.  A community of heroes.  A community of families missing loved ones who are deployed.  A community of fighters.  A community that deserves to be lifted out of the shadows of this devastation.  A community that deserves the support of those outside of it.  

     These photographs show the damaged that occurred during the tornadoes on April 16, 2011.  These photographs were taken by a very talented friend, Kim Graham of Kimberly Graham Photography.  

     I am a military spouse and I can attest to the strength that is the military community.  It is a community where a stranger can instantly become your best friend.  It is a community of families that know exactly what it feels like to have loved ones off fighting a war.  It is a community that never faulters because they carry the weak to strength.  This community will not sleep until they see everyone affected taken care of.  But they cannot do it alone.  They cannot do without help.  

     So I ask you to please forgo your latte today and donate to help the warriors of Camp Lejeune rebuild their lives.  Forgo your pedicure to help rebuild a primary school that is causing displacement of many young students.  Forgo your lunch out of the office, in exchange for a brown bag and help support a young wife rebuild while her husband is deployed.  

     Support your troops when they need it the most.  Support your military.  And support a community that was ravaged by storms.  Help them rebuild.   

     If you would like to donate financially, please follow the following directions. 

          1.  Visit http://uso-nc.org

          2.  Click DONATE in the upper right.

          3.  Click the DONATE NOW button in the top right corner. 

          4.  In the special instructions section, specify JACKSONVILLE TORNADO

     If you would like to donate items to the USO for distribution, please mail these to 

               USO, Jacksonville Center

               9 Tallman Street

               Jacksonville, NC 28540

     Hygiene/toiletry items, baby items, undergarments, and food are being requested most. 

     * Please note that you are seeing Jacksonville in these directions.  Jacksonville is the town in North Carolina that houses Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

     * I hope to post pictures to this post soon, but without the permission of some of my friends I cannot do that.  Soon though I hope.  

Couponing.

     So a few nights ago, I watched a show on TLC.  It portrayed the crazy women (and men)that can buy $1900 worth of groceries for $100.  Because they take couponing, sales shopping, and stockpiling items to the EXTREME.  (The show is called Extreme Couponing.)
     Couponing has always ben something I have been interested in.  But I never thought clipping a coupon here and clicking a coupon there would ever save me any money.  That's because I never got the idea.  I never knew the rules.  I never understood HOW it worked.  I thought it was simple.
     Boy was I wrong?!?!?
     Couponing is about ORGANIZATION.  You plan the coupons you will use, the meals you will serve, the way you will shop, how much of each item you will get, the way you store your coupons, how you will store your unused coupons, et cetera.
     Couponing is about planning.  You must plan your coupon usage around the sales flyers for your local grocery store.  It is about planning your trip to the grocery store.  It is about planning every detail (and using your organization to keep all straight).
    Couponing is about buying as many products as possible on sale AND then using your coupons (both manufacturers and store and competitors- if your grocery store takes them).  You want to "stack" your coupons as much as possible.  Which means using 1 manufactures coupon and 1 store coupon per item that is on sale to compound your savings.
     And guess what?  It works!  I may not save 95% on my groceries (yet).  But over the last few days I have put in some effort.  I have clipped more coupons than I knew possible.  I have found some websites to help me.  I use e-mealz.com for meal planning, a coupon match-up website, and multiple coupon websites.
    Today, I went shopping today at Publix and drum roll please...  I bought $260 worth of groceries for $150.  I saved $110!!!!  On my very first "couponing" trip.  I have a lot to learn (especially the only buy what I need, not just something on sale).  But I think that this is considered success.

$110 PEOPLE!

Sometimes you just have to... cry.

     Deployments teach you about yourself.  They teach you to change the beliefs you have had for years.  That sometimes change is good and that sometimes you do whatever you have to.  No matter what the situation.  

     Scott and I had our first fight a few days ago.  Not a big fight.  But I have to say, regretfully, that I did not talk to him for 2 days.  By talk, I mean email.  I want to crawl under a rock for admitting that because 1) my husband is in a war zone and I passed up an opportunity to talk to him and 2) it was my fault.  It was my neediness and my emotions and my psycho freak out that caused the fight to begin with.  

    But what I learned is that I was upset because I pent up my emotions inside instead of talking about them in the first place.  I learned that I CANNOT do that.  I learned that the whole situation made me feel 100% worse than it did it to begin with.

     But the thing I learned the most about was that even after the fight, even after the silence I did not feel better.  What made me feel better, was just crying.  I laid in my bed, hugging one of my 3 extra pillows, and I cried. And I cried.  And I cried.  And I felt better.  

     I felt the tension melt away.  I felt the stress blend in to the joy.  And I felt at peace- finally.  

     So I will gladly cry more this deployment.  

It means.

     As I sit here, trying to pinpoint my thoughts, I am fighting back tears.  Because my thoughts are thoughts of loss, of sacrifice, of duty to country, of war.  And my heart is fighting the idea that I am a military spouse.  I am mourning the loss of every Soldier, every Marine, every Sailor, every Airman that has been lost in the last 10 years (and the many, many more before it).  But mostly I am trying to wrap my head around what it means to be a military spouse. 

     Now you scratch your head, thinking: "But you have been a military spouse for 4 years now.  You should know this already."  But I did not really get it.  I know what the military is, I know that sacrifices are involved.  My biggest sacrifice, sending my husband to the field for two or three weeks a few times a year.  I never GOT it, because I've never REALLY lived it.  I was spoiled, thankfully.  I was guarded from deployments and war and loneliness and sacrifice for 4 years (because I believe God knew that my husband and I were not ready for those challenges).  

     But now it is hitting me as I read other blogs, watch television shows, and carry my phone everywhere I go exactly what it means.  

     It means that you change.  You change in a way that makes you stronger.  More in love.  More independent.  More successful.  A better wife.  A better mother.  More emotional (at least I am).  

     It means that the "I love you" you used to hear and take for granted, now sends shivers up your spine.  As you never know when you will hear it next.  

     It means that you make decisions on your own that you never thought you'd make alone.  Financial decisions.  Emotional decisions.  Parenting decisions.   

     It means that you will pray/think/hope/whatever it is that you do, more.  You will grow in your relationship with whatever you believe in.  Me, I believe in God.  And He hears on a constant basis how I hope he keeps my husband safe.  And He knows the needs I have, without my ever admitting to them out loud.  

     It means that sometimes ice cream and chicken nuggets are considered dinner foods.  And that sometimes you will eat no dinner at all.  

     It means that bad days are faced alone and without loving arms to greet you when you get home.  You learn to deal with things on your own like you never have before.  Whether it is learning to confide in a friend like you never have before, keeping a journal, praying, exercising, whatever- you learn to cope with not having your spouse there. 

     It means that I may never see my husband take another breath.  It means that my daughter may never really know her father.  It means that my most cherished possession could become a flag, given to me by a Marine.  It could mean that I wear a dress that I will wear only once.  

     It means that my husband is supporting his country and that no matter how he comes home, he is a hero.  And that I pray constantly that he is not called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice.  

     It means that every email is precious.  Every phone call is cherished.  Every I love you is knee-weakening.  Everyday is another day closer to seeing him again and a reason to thank God for our both waking up, healthy.  

     It means that tears flow when I hear taps, no matter what the circumstances, no matter where I am at.  

     It means so much more than this.  But I know that it is something I would never give up.  I would never give up the bad if it meant I couldn't be with my husband.  Because my husband is my hero, my best friend, my soul mate and if being with him means that we must sacrifice and spend time apart, than I will 100 times over.

curly hair?

     So sometimes I get bored of the ponytail, or the bun, or the stick straight hair.  But i have never been good at curling my hair.  So after some practice, I think I like it.  But what do you think?

     The picture is not the best, the lighting is bad and the photography is shotty, but do you like my hair?  I just want to have another option when I do my hair.  

The good times.

     I am trying to better organize my photos since I am really trying to take at least one picture everyday the whole time my husband is gone and today I found these beauties.  It made me teary eyed and melty hearted to see these pictures.  A little girl, her dad, a park, and a beautiful day make for great memories.

     This was one of the first times we had taken Maggie to the park and she loved just running around in the open areas used for dog walking and picnics.  She loves chasing her daddy.  And she loved running up to him for a drink out of her big girl McDonald's cup that daddy had.  

     It was a great way to spend one of the last days Scott had with his daughter and I am so glad that he did.  The pictures are something I will cherish forever and the memories are ones that will always make me smile.  

Thursday Purgeday. Volume 1 of 1.

     See there is the awesome mom/blogger/so-much-more over at the818.com and she is pretty much one of the most awesome women I have found on the internet.  She is doing a segment on her blog called Thursday Purgeday and I thought i would join in for a week to explain a purging/organizing journey I have been on for the last 3 weeks.
     Most of you know that my husband deployed a few years ago and will be gone well into next year.  SO I decided about the second I learned of the deployment that my daughter and I would move back in with my parents.  So a journey to pack and store and organize and pack some more ensued.
     So here we are months later.  All of my stuff is unpacked.  And I have moved myself into a room that was originally my parents office/craft room.  It has not been used as a bedroom is about 8 years.  Now I not only had to make this my bedroom and my office and my craft room, I had to share it with my parents as there office and craft room.  I wish I had pictures of where this room really started.  But I don't.  (It would be too horrible to share anyway.)
     But I cleaned it out.  I threw stuff away (with my parents' permission of course).  I painted.  I built.  I moved around.  I unpacked.  And I bought containers.  And the room looked like this...

     And I just couldn't stand it.  These pictures don't really do it justice either.  But I showed you some of it (I just can't own up to the rest of the room).  So I organized.  I rearranged a little.  I finished the building projects.  I filed away paper work.  And I am now happy with my room.  I can live here for the next year.  I promise I can.  And I promise I will keep it as clean as I can, so that the room can look like this most of the time...

     You can see the separate areas of the room: where I sleep, where I scrapbook, where I work, and where my TV is.  Much better, right?

     Can I keep it up?  Do you believe in me?

     And don't forget to check out Morgan as she goes through a much longer and larger journey to organization and purging.