More Than A Military Wife

Being raised in a large family does not automatically make someone 1) good at taking care of younger children or 2) want to take care of children. I, however, happened to experience all of the above. I did not start out as being good at nurturing and protecting others. My desire to love and nurture and ultimately become a mother helped me to learn how to be a good childcare provider. At 13 I started babysitting outside of my family and found that I could be good at it. I loved it for a few years but as I reached maybe 17 years of age I lost interest in babysitting. I didn’t take a break for too long. I was 18 years old when I started living on my own and had my first “job.” I became a basic childcare provider at a daycare in Las Vegas where I lived. I found a place to rent with roommates near my workplace and moved out of my parents house. I was underestimated upon hiring. The manager thought I wouldn’t last...that I was not cut out for childcare. It turned out I loved it. Fro...

 When living far from family at "the holidays" it is not a surprise to reflect on memories of holidays past. Especially those that were spent with family and even those of one's childhood. I was a child in the late 80s and early 90s. Back then a "good parent" was one who set strict rules and had high standards but let their children go out into the world to live, to play, to learn and grow. Children would play in the street and at friends' houses, parks and corner stores.     Since then America's majority society has changed the standards of what a "good parent" is. A good parent now will keep their children inside the home where they cannot be kidnapped, molested or influenced by bad friends. Under the watchful eye of Mom and Dad. This is great, however, children are too protected. They are kept from getting too dirty outside. Kept from climbing too high on the playground structured. Too often kept from taking chances, making mistakes and gett...

When I was a young adult I did not know what my future looked like. I searched for it every day. I wanted to be a wife and a mother. But what would that look like? Who would my husband be? Where would we live? What kind of life would we have? When I met him he had just left basic training in the military. He wasn't sure if he wanted to make a career out of the military or leave when his first four years were up. We had grown up one state away from each other. Raised in similar family lives; being raised in large families practicing the same religion. We both dream of love and family. I had decided prior to meeting him that I was not going to marry a military man. After high school my boyfriend considered joining the Army and I put my foot down. He did not join the Army but we did not end up together anyway. When I met my husband to be I was ready to change my life. Ready to accept what path he was on and take it as my own.  We met in April and married in August. When it's meant...

 My husband and I have lived at four military stations in 15 years.  We started in the desert. That is where we wedd and began our life together. We lived in a house we rented from my father. The very house of my own childhood, in fact. We had our first baby while living in that house. It was the summer and I tell you: it is not pleasant to be huge and pregnant in the summer in the desert! It is also hard to keep active in that situation. When it is too hot outside but the only exercise you can really do is walk. (I happened to be on "bed rest" two weeks just before going into labor)  I learned that being lazy before giving birth makes the delivery more difficult. Location number two was overseas. My husband had lived in that country before and knew the language which is super convenient when you want to travel or mingle. My hubby and I were happy to be there and we decided to have baby #2. Also a summer baby however, not born in a hot climate. I kept active to the very e...

  Motherhood From childhood I dreamt of one day becoming a mother. I gleamed at the thought of carrying a baby in my stomach and giving it all the love I possess. I grew up in a large family (9 children) and with my desire to have kids and give my time and love to them I decided I wanted a large family. Lots of babies. My husband did not want a large family. Less is better, he felt. He came from a family of 8 children and he and I had two opposing views of large families. He was great with children even when I first met him! And he wanted to be a father. However, he felt that if you have a lot of children some of their needs and their safety sadly get missed. He felt that having less children and devoting our time and attention on every aspect of raising those few successfully would result in healthy and grateful human beings. As you can understand, when I was pushing out baby #1 my desire to have a large family evaporated! Poof! Never again did I wish for that. My f...

My Physical Trials I wish I could be healthy. Feel healthy. Have a normal amount of daily energy. When we moved to Japan I was sick. Unbeknownst to me I had a great deficiency of vitamin D. It caused me to have headaches and be drained of energy. To feel bad all over my body. I would spend 1/3 of my week in bed. When I realized it wasn’t depression but something physical I did eventually go to the med clinic for evaluation. The vitamin D pills they gave me helped. If I missed a single day, however, I felt it. I would feel sick. Despite getting an hour of walking in the sun a day with my friend Misty before she moved away, I was sick. We walked for months but it didn’t help me get better. I have been on the vitamin D pills this whole year. It is now December. I still have to take them daily and I wonder if I always will? These days I get sick about twice a week. Sometimes it’s worse than others. Yesterday was a particularly bad day. I woke up with no energy and feelin...

I want to start this blog out with an introduction.  Who am I?  First, let me start with who I use to be: Born and raised in North Las Vegas, Nevada I was fifth of 9 children. My family was 1) religious and 2) chaotic. Sometimes it was wild and loud and crazy in our house.  I was extremely imaginative. I loved daydreaming and making up stories/games. I was also a social butterfly. I had a typical amount of nerdiness and weirdness. With so many individuals living in one space we all had our own views on our life. We each had our own experiences. Mine, thankfully, were mostly positive. I was blessed to be optimistic and view things as "glass half full." This has made my life happier. In high school I started dealing with depression and changed my claim to be not an optimist but a realist. I still claim "realist" to this day. I married a realist as well. It can be hard sometimes. Life would be easier if my partner were an optimist. To look at the positive when I cannot...