I Am No Longer An Army Wife

You read that correct.  I am no longer an army wife.  As of Monday, 2/9/15, Ryan is out of the United States Army National Guard.

I have mixed emotions about it and I'll tell you why.

Without the military Ryan and I would have never met.  Seems silly considering that we actually have known each other since we were 14, right?  Well we weren't ever friends, in fact, we still tell people to this day that I did not like him because he flipped me off at a pool party in 7th grade.  We fast forward 6 years later and we reconnect.  Ryan was on his first deployment and we became friends.  Friends quickly escalated into more of an exclusive relationship and it seemed even crazier.  We were 8,000+ miles apart from each other and hadn't seen each other since high school, how could this be happening?

Well thank goodness it did.  Ryan came home from deployment, thank the good Lord up above, and we began our relationship.  It had it's ups and downs but in the end we were an us and it was awesome.  We dealt with drill weekends and AT in the summer and 2.5 years later Ryan was going on another deployment.  We were committed to one another but not engaged or married.  Then, of course, he surprised me and we got engaged and married 33 days before he left California.

The Army took care of us for that next year.  I moved back in with my mom so we could save up as much money as possible.  I paid off a ton of debt, saved a ton and planned our perfect big wedding.  I booked us a honeymoon to the Bahamas, which was amazing and we can't wait to go back, and it was all thanks to good ol' Uncle Sam.

Ryan made it home from another deployment, thank goodness!  We had the wedding of our dreams and went on an amazing honeymoon.  We decided that we were ready for a family and started trying.  We found out we were pregnant with our little and decided to buy a house.

We, honestly, could only afford to buy a house because of the Army.  Due to Ryan's service and prior deployments, we were eligible for a VA Loan which doesn't require us to have a 20% down payment.  Without this we wouldn't be where we are.  We got to buy a house and bring our baby home with no worries of having to move again with a newborn.

The Army has its ups and downs, just like any relationship.  We love it some days and hate it the others.  In the end it has helped provide us with an amazing life and one that we are proud to call ours.

While I don't think that our military life is completely over, for now it is.  For now, we will live a "normal" life and see where it takes us.

I am so honored and proud to be married to such a selfless man who was willing to give up his own life for his country.  I know that even if we are out for good, Caleb will grow up knowing what it means to be a proud American and proud of his dad for his service.

Until next time Army.

Veteran's Day 2014

I am lucky enough to live with a veteran and my very own hero.  Ryan has been enlisted for almost 8 years now and has gone on two deployments.

Today I thought I would fill you in on some deals for your veteran this year...

Free Entrees/Appetizers:
Outback Steakhouse
Red Robin
Claim Jumpers
Hooters
California Pizza Kitchen
Denny's
Applebee's
Bj's Brewhouse
Cattlemen's Steakhouse
Chick-fil-A
Chili's
Golden Corral
IHOP
Krispy Kreme
On The Border
Sizzlers
TGI Fridays
Olive Garden
McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurnts

Free Haircuts:
Great Clips
Sports Clips

Our local car wash spot is giving out free car washes and all National Parks have free admittance on Veteran's Day.  Our local ice rink is also giving out free ice skating for the day.  Make sure you check out your local spots for great deals and free meals.

And as always, thank a service member for their sacrifice.

I Am An Army Wife

Today I am linking up with Samantha from The Samantha Show to bring you a glimpse into the life of a military wife.

As many of you know I am married to my very own hero.  He has been protecting our country and freedom for 7 years now and I couldn't be more proud of him.

As proud as being a military spouse makes one, it doesn't come with a slice of pie always.  There are very difficult sides to military life.

When I heard about this link-up I knew that I had to join in.

One year ago today, was probably one of the scariest days of my life due to the military and I found it only fitting that I participate also.

Let's start from the beginning...

Ryan joined the California Army National Guard in October 2007.  We had just graduated high school and as any 18-year-old boy might do he joined and left a week later.  Ryan went to Mississippi for Basic Training and then lived in Missouri for a year while he completed AIT.

In 2008 Ryan was deployed to Afghanistan with the 235th Combat Engineers.  He was in Afghanistan when we fell in love :)  Hard to believe, but it is true.  We decided to be in a relationship together before we even saw, hugged, kissed, dated.  A risk that worked out miraculously for the both of us.

Ryan returned home from Afghanistan in November 2009 and we started our life together.  I knew that he was in the military and I didn't mind one bit.  Sure, while he was deployed and we went days without talking I got a little nervous, but when he was home it was all worth it.

Ryan being part of the National Guard means that he has Drill 1 "weekend" a month and two weeks a year in the summer.  Now, this provides us with a nice little additional income but doesn't come without it's own headaches.  Drill weekends aren't always just two days, so sometimes he has to take time off work.  Now we still get paid, but not as much as we would if he could work a full week at work and then the two days at drill.  And AT, it's in the summer and here in California they go to the most dreadful place and Ryan's dreads it every time.

Ryan once again deployed back to Afghanistan in 2012, 34 days after we said "I DO."  This time Ryan went with an aviation unit as a door gunner on a Chinook helicopter.  As terrifying as this sounds, I didn't feel more worried than I was last time.  I think that no matter what job you do, if you are in Afghanistan you are always at risk of not getting to come home.

So we dealt with our first year of marriage via iMessages, FaceTime and Facebook.  While that creates it's own difficulties his location in Afghanistan created more.

One year ago today, Ryan and his fellow soldiers were involved in a very close contact situation.  Two soldiers did not get to come home to their wives and children.  It broke my heart then and it still does.  My husband, and others from FOB Shank, wears a memorial band for them every day.  It was there on the day that we said "I DO" again and continues to be there.  Ryan lives a little more each day for those who can no longer do so due to this war.

As selfish as it was for me to be upset that I didn't get to hear from him that day due to the incident and them shutting off all Internet and phone services, I still can't help but feel annoyed that they can't tell you that they are okay.  I lived 274 days worrying about whether or not my husband would get to come home and I am so grateful that he did.

Being a military spouse is hard.  I believe that it takes a certain kind of person to endure this lifestyle.  I don't mean this to sound harsh, but I know that there are women and men out there that would not be okay with a life where they could move at any given time, be alone for months up to a year or more, or their spouse doesn't get to come home every night for a week out of no where due to training. 

There are horrible stories of soldiers getting cheated on while their spouse is overseas.  I find this disgusting and revolting.  How dare you break your commitment to someone while they are risking their lives for you just because you needs a little action!  It royally pisses me off when I hear about it and I made sure that Ryan knew that that would never happen to him. 

While I am not an active duty wife, I don't think that life in between is much different.  We all still need to help provide the best life for ourselves, spouses, children and family.  I thank the good Lord up above that he has brought my husband home to me twice.  I don't know how you ever repay that, but if I could I would.  

I love being a military spouse.  I love being married to a soldier.  I love that my son will grow up knowing that his Daddy protected this land that we call home and did it so that he could have a better life.

Next time you see a military spouse, tell them "Thank you" or give them a hug.  Let them know that they are doing a great job and that although it seems impossible, they will make it through to the next day.

Budget Friendly February

Hello lovelies! 

It has been a while since I last posted.  I was doing so good there for a while and then jumped on the freeway in personal life and am just now making it back - kind of.

I thought I would update everyone on how our month is going.  We are trying really hard to purchase a house and just be more budget conscious.

We have decided that we will each start saving a certain percentage of each paycheck no matter what.  We have a bad habit of pulling more out of savings than we put it.  It kills me a little inside pisses me off every time I see our savings number go down and I decided that we couldn't do it anymore if we wanted to buy a house and have a family.  Ryan and I both compromised on what percentages we will contribute and have made an agreement that we will be saving 20% monthly of Ryan's checks and 20% monthly of my checks.  We are hoping that this will give us a better security blanket and allow us to be more aware of where we are spending our money.

Speaking of being more aware of budget, the Army told us about this great website to use when tracking our money after this last deployment and we absolutely love it!  It is Mint and we use it all the time.  It uploads your bank accounts each time you open it and it tells you exactly how much money you have where.  It also breaks it down into categories for you and shows you where you are spending the most of your money.  It gives you an estimated budget for each category and will send you emails when you are going over or getting low on a bank account.  We have found it very helpful, although it is very honest and makes you really think about what/where you are spending your money.  Go check it out!  It's free and they have apps for you phone or tablet. :)

As you can see we are doing pretty well with the minor hiccup of Movies & DVDs.  We went to one movie and those suckers are expensive now!  

To also help us not spend as much money we have been eating at home more this month.  We have planned that instead of eating out 6-10 meals a week we will only eat maximum 3!  We have changed our eating out days from Friday - Sunday, with the occasional night that we don't want to cook, to just Saturdays.  I know that this is hard for both of us, especially because Ryan gets tired of sandwiches for lunch and loves going out and I do not necessarily cook the best, but we are making it work.

We have come up with some fun dinners and have even tried new stuff, which is always exciting and terrifying at the same time.

I want to start sharing my recipes on here soon and I hope you all enjoy them.  I think that we take the best of both worlds and make something delicious.  I DO NOT hand-make everything we eat and I think that is where some people will be able to relate.  We use everyday items out of our pantry and make it the healthiest and best tasting that we can.  We are in no way, shape or form dietitians and have no real ground to stand on when it comes to what is "healthy" 

Here are some of the recipes that we have eaten most recently that I plan to share very soon :)

Hamburger Pizza - my mom's recipe that she has been making since I was a little girl

His and Hers Calzones

Raviolis with meat sauce

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

We are headed out to Colorado this Thursday and are so excited!  Can't wait to spend some time with our fambam.  We have been really good with our budget so we can indulge a little bit while we are there :)

Do you have any fun new recipes we should try?? :)

Life on deployment...

Life on deployment...the moment that every Army Wife should does hate.

Our life on deployment started on August 18, 2012.  It was a beautiful Saturday morning with a few clouds in the sky and a gorgeous sun starting rise over the mountains in the East.  We were standing on the tarmac home to helicopters that were going to take mine, and 120 other's, husbands to Afghanistan.  It was a bittersweet moment.  It was so peaceful that morning and gorgeous like the Earth knew that they were leaving and yet so sad and scary because they WERE leaving.  We hung around and said our "see you in a while" talks.  A few last hugs and kisses and they were off.  Into the gorgeous sunrise and one step closer to defending our wonderful country.

Ryan and I got to see each other one more time before he went overseas.  In October 2012 I flew to Fort Hood, Texas to spend 4 days together.  It was literally the best thing I have ever done (well besides marrying the man of my dreams) and I will forever be grateful for those four days.  We spent 4 days traveling back and forth in Texas and although it was kind of annoying to be in a car so much instead of just relaxing somewhere, it didn't matter because we were together.

The final night we spent together was by far the hardest thing either of us had ever done.  Can you imagine saying goodbye to your spouse and just praying and hoping that they return home safely to you and you have no control over that?  I love having control in life and the fact that I had to just send him off to go to WAR was not ideal.  Of course, I did it and he is home safe and sound (thank God!) but it was no easy journey.  We once again hugged and kissed for many moments in that dark parking lot outside of the temporary barracks on North Fort Hood.  It was in that moment that I knew I made the right choice.  I knew that marrying Ryan was the BEST thing that I had ever done and I was so grateful.  I loved him so much before and in that moment my love grew and grew to the point where I knew he would come back to me.  Driving away with him in the rear view mirror is an image I wish I didn't have, but to say that we conquered that deployment is so worth it!

So now...life while he is gone.  Of course it gets lonely and boring at times.  And yes, I missed him like crazy, but thanks to the wonderful inventors and dreamers of this world we had technology!  And I could not be thankful for those folks because I got to "talk" to my husband almost every single day while he was gone.  Now time changes and Ryan working nights was a little difficult at times, but most of the time it was fine.  We would work around the same times so we were able to talk before we each went to bed.  iMessage and FaceTime were our saviors during deployment. 

I spent those 288 days hanging out with friends (which you find out who they really are during tough times like deployment) and family.  I worked and took care of things at home.  I sent a few lot of care packages to my soldier.  I paid our bills and saved our money.  I found us a cute little house to live in and got it ready.  I waited patiently for the man of my dreams to return home. 

July 23, 2013 was an amazing day!  My soldier, my husband, my best friend came home to me!  It is a day I will never forget.  The excitement, love, and pride were overwhelming.  I don't wish deployment on anyone but the coming home part of it - DEFINITELY worth it!