MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #31

Yay for Friday!  For a short week, this has been a long and crazy week.  I haven't been sleeping well at night and Joel has been gone (but now he is back!) so I am just glad to see the week wind down.  So, thanks to Wife of a Sailor for another edition of...

1.  Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life “perfect”? submitted by Oh How Delightful.
I wish that we had more say so in how long we are stationed someplace and where we will go.  The Air Force, so far, has been really good to my husband in that regard.  He has gotten his top assignment a majority of the time.  But having only two years in one place is not conducive to good family time.  Also, I am a working spouse with my own career.  I want to be able to have continuity with my job, be able to finish a degree at only one school, and make and keep friends.  Sure there is facebook, but when I PCS this summer there will be a lot of people that I will miss grabbing dinner or coffee or whatever with.

2.  Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army
He picked the perfect pair of peppers.

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
There are two options.  One, I would work in a think tank of some sort.  Who wouldn't want to get paid to think?!  And I would want it to be one that would make some difference in this world.  Something like, re-vamping how our government works or changing the strategy with the middle east.

The more fun answer would be being a travel reviewer.  I would love to travel all over the world, stay in fancy hotels, eat delicious food and drink the most amazing wine, and get paid for it!  The ultimate dream is to get paid for living your passion.  And as much as I like to travel, this would be a dream come true.

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
Nope.  I would never get a tattoo, personally, but I think there are some amazing ones out there!  I am just too chicken.  I wouldn't get a service tattoo, because as patriotic as I am and how proud of my husband I am, I am not the one who is serving; my husband is.  And that honor is his.

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 love learning new languages, and I am fascinated by people's lives.  I would love to take a course on either a new language, or learning about people, such as biographical lectures or living history, i.e. someone that has lived through an experience and is sharing about it.

Who are any of us to judge?

So, I read something yesterday that upset me greatly.  And if you all don't mind, please feel free to share your opinion of this.

Basically, the article said that women that have children don't trust other women that don't.  As in, it is a growing trend for mothers to distrust non-mothers, especially in a work environment.  I was taken aback by this.  I have never judged a woman for being a mother.  Even when it went against what I personally do (i.e. brand new 18 year old newlyweds that are immediately pregnant out of choice) because it is not my marriage, my body, or my child.  Some people simply can not have children, no matter how hard they try.  Even though they desire motherhood like no other.  Some people have psychological issues where it is hard for them, for whatever reason, do go down that route.  Some people, myself included, just aren't ready yet.  And to be honest, I don't know if I will ever be ready.  But, that is between me and my husband, and no one else.  It isn't that I hate children.  I have a Goddaughter that I love dearly.  But, I want to finish school and live my life a little bit before I bring another into this world.  Is there ever a perfect time?  No.  But why should I have a child before I am ready?  Because society thinks so?  Well, I don't.  And I don't think that it is fair to judge me for my decisions.  I volunteer my time with special needs children, loving my Goddaughter, and animal rescue, and right now that is enough for me.

So, before you (not you my readers, but the proverbial you) think about judging someone and distrusting them just because they are not mothers, just stop before you get there.  Think about the fact that they just may not be able to and your constant berating or judging breaks their heart every single time.  Think about the person that is giving back to children in need, and for right now, that is all they have to give.  Or, just mind your own business 

"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone."

"Judge not, that you be not judged."

My first guest blog!

I feel like a real blogger, now!  My real life bloggie friend, K, from another great "J and K" couple, is hosting me on her blog.  I hope you will check me out on Uncork and Unwined!  It is a real honor, because she is just simply fabulous and a great friend, and I hope that once we both leave Germany that our paths will cross again.

In other "moving from Germany" news, we *may* know where we are going next!  I won't make it official on my blog, until we have official orders, but it was definitely my number one pick and I hope that the Air Force sticks to its plans!  More on that to come soon, I hope.

Friends

This will be a very exciting weekend for me and Joel.  We have never had friends visit either one of us, but on Friday, Joel's best friend from like, forever ago, is coming to Europe with her husband and will be stopping by for a visit!  They are doing a European trek, and we will be showing them the German feel of things, since they will spending the remainder of their time outside of Germany.

We are going to Cochem, Germany and Trier, Germany to visit random castles, go wine tasting, and, of course, enjoy the yummy food!  Fingers crossed that the weather will be decent and not *too* cold.

In other news, well...not too much "other" news to report.  Everything is pretty quiet on the homefront.  That will all change soon enough with our move this summer, so right now, we are just going to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Just Another Maldives Monday...

I am a lover of food.  If it didn't make me gain weight, I would eat all of the time.  Seriously.  Especially being in Europe.  I love trying new restaurants, new desserts, new cafes, new wine, and new coffee shops.  I was a little apprehensive booking our trip in the Maldives food-wise because, well, mass produced food isn't always the best.  The island came with an all-inclusive buffet, serving a variety of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And let me just say that the place totally exceeded my expectations.

(Just a part of the buffet, with fruit, salads, and pasta

and stir fry station shown.)

There was anything you could want, from a carving station, seafood, pasta, potatoes, fruits and veggies, salads, and even some BBQ thrown in!  Joel said they had some of the best curry that he had ever tasted, and, well, I loved the yummy hash browns and french toast that they had for breakfast.  Yum!  I wish I had taken more pictures of the food we ate at the buffet, but I was too busy stuffing my face.  It was that awesome.

And then, because we were on our honeymoon, the island threw in a free four-course candlelight dinner on the beach.  I didn't think the food could get any better, but Meeru surprised me once again!

The first course (appetizer) was smoked salmon, grilled shrimp, and some sort of crab concoction on cucumbers.  Sorry that you guys are getting a picture minus one shrimp!  I just couldn't wait to dig in.  It was tres delicious!

Here you will find the yummiest fruit that I have ever eaten.  Seriously.  We were offered salad during our second course, but I just had to have some more of this yummy fruit.  Fresh mangoes, papayas, oranges, melon, apples, and pineapple.  I will probably never eat this goof of fruit again.

The third course, well...I forgot to take a picture.  It was flambeed potatoes with BBQ chicken on top of a filet of steak.  It was good until I got to the sauce on the steak.  While everything else was great, I was not a fan of whatever they put on that steak.  A little disappointing...that is until the dessert came!

I have no idea what this was called, but it was a lot of awesome!  The hard layers were like a flaky, almost baklava sort of taste, and in between was a creamy chocolate thing.  There is a sugary substance on top, with the yummiest strawberry.  OMG.  To die for!

All in all, this has to be the best buffet style food I have ever eaten.  There was something for everyone (even the most pickiest eater, a la moi) and it definitely didn't taste mass produced.

Happy New Year!

I know that you are probably mega confused by the title.  Right?  Afterall, it is almost February.  However, with all that January brought, I knew that keeping any sort of resolutions would be near impossible, so, even though I am six-ish weeks late, I have decided to make my new years resolutions now.

1.  Get up and move!  I know nearly everyone makes a promise to themselves to lose weight in the new year, and, well...I am no exception.  I have gained what I have called "the Newlywed ten" and I would like that to come off.  I also have been seriously lacking in the energy department, and I know that working on my fitness will bounce me right back!  Last week I went to the gym three times and I hope to do the same this week.

2.  Stop being so lazy!  I have seriously got to stop this.  I am even so bad!  I do things like ask my husband to grab the remote on his way to the couch and grab me some water when I actually sit closer to the kitchen.  I will not become my mother on this!  I am going to try and pick up the house more and when I need something I will get it for myself.  I am sure my husband will appreciate this very much.

3.  Finish my semester with a bang.  If I get A's on my last two classes, I will graduate with honors.  I so need to do this.  So, I need to buckle up and do the work.  The first week of the semester I did great!  Now...ehh, I need to get back on the study train.

4.  Get moved!  I know that I am supposed to leave in June.  Where to, you might ask?  I HAVE NO IDEA!  And, if you couldn't tell from the all caps explosion, it is starting to freak my planner self out just a tiny bit.  I know where we asked for, but that means next to nothing sometimes in the military.  So, I am stuck in this for right now.

5.  Volunteer more.  I signed up to work the huge Special Olympics event on base here, so that is a start.  My last weeks here, while I am not working, I am going to bake cookies for the troops that are returning from downrange.  The USO puts that on and I have always wanted to help.  When I get back to the states, I plan to increase my volunteering with animals (I previously helped with the Kentuckiana Pug Rescue, which is where I got my puggie baby from).  And, if able to, I hope to work with the spouse group on base.  I tried to here but, well, they make it difficult for the working spouse.

6.  Become more domestic.  I have absolutely no crafty skill whatsoever, and while I am ok in the kitchen, I need some work in the wifey department.  At least I am new at it, so I have a little bit of an excuse, but I would like to hone my cooking, decorating, and crafty skills.

I am sure I will come up with more later in the year, as I always do, but, other than maybe learning some sort of hobby, right now that is the dream.

Maldives Monday! No. 1

So, I enjoyed my trip to the Maldives so much, I decided that I would make a weekly post about it in order to share the details.  Our wedding was so small and intimate, which was perfect for me, but it didn't leave a lot to talk about, so I will make it all about the honeymoon!

(One of the islands of the Maldives, from the plane)

First off, a little about our location.  The Maldives are a bunch of little islands located in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.  Being that we live in Europe for the time being, we didn't want to go to the Caribbean or Hawaii for our honeymoon (although I still hope to visit both places!) because we figured for the same amount of money, we could go somewhere that we wouldn't be able to afford to go to in the U.S.  I literally googled "where do Europeans go to the beach" and it came up with a resort in the Maldives.  We looked into it at the travel agency on base, and from the states to there would have been twice as expensive!  So, we decided that we would make that our location since from Germany it would be on the cheap!  We discovered that December and January are peak season to go, and thought that a honeymoon to the beach in the middle of winter sounded perfect!

(Many of the islands in the Maldives!)

There are many resorts in the Maldives, and there is only one per island.  With all of the research we did (thanks TripAdvisor!) and based on the amenities, we chose Meeru.  Meeru had an all-inclusive option, which we really liked.  We didn't want to have to worry about prices of the food, and how much this cost versus that, and it really met all of our needs.  It had an adults only pool, snorkeling excursions, and other things to do.  Plus, they had what was really important to me, bungalows over the ocean!  It was perfect.  We booked it way in advance, although not any cheaper, and had to wait it out.  But man, it was totally worth it!  Stay tuned for the next Maldives Monday!  And if you have any questions, just let me know!  I will answer them for the next segment.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #29

Time to get back into the groove of these things!  I love these questionnaires, and it is so neat to hear everyone's stories!  So, now onto...

1.  Since most of the country has had nasty weather, what has your weather been like this week?
Well, since I am from the Midwest and they are experiencing snowpocalypse right now, I am doing considerably better.  Germany is really cold and we are experiencing a bit of ice, but we haven't had much snow since December.

2.  What is/are your best money saving tip(s)?
If you don't have it, don't spend it!  I could not qualify for a credit card until I was 23, so I was used to only spending what was in my checking.  It has saved me a bundle in credit card debt.

3.  What was your favorite vehicle you’ve ever owned?
My current car!  I drive a VW Beetle Convertible, and I love it!  Super cute, fits my personality, and is so fun to drive in the summer.  Sadly, I think we will be parting ways when I move back to the states.  But, I am enjoying it while we can!

4.  What is a question you’d like to see asked in a future fill-in? (Your question & blog just may appear one week!)
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.

5.  Fill in the blank: You might be a MilSpouse if….
(I will be including some of your answers in a future post (with a link to your blog, of course!)
You use so many acronyms when talking about your day that those outside of the military community have no idea what you are saying.