Happy.....well Anniversary anyway

Today is our wedding anniversary and it is being spent apart because he is TAD to A school after crossrating. It is hard to say "happy" in the same phrase as "anniversary" for many reasons, most of all because it is being spent apart. In fact, most of this past year has been spent apart.

We have missed celebrating 4th of July last year (one of my favorite days), Halloween (his favorite holiday), Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, all 3 of my sons' birthdays, our anniversary (today), and in five days we will spend my birthday apart as well. There are some other less significant holidays that have been spent apart, but these are the big ones.

Yes, I know that as a sailor's wife, a lot of life is spent apart. Let me also preface this by saying this is not my first time being a sailor's wife. However, my ex was not in a command or in a station in life where it required SO much time apart. It was very predictable, being that it was approximately Sept/Oct to Feb/March each and every year.

My experiences now have been unpredictable to say the least. I never knew the "boat life" where they come and go so often before and after each six month deployment. I did not have to deal with forced crossrating if you want to stay in the Navy. Then just horrible timing on top of it all. Don't get me wrong, I love him and will do what I have to do. I am just a little tired of always having to be the "strong one".

At any rate, today is any other day to me because an anniversary alone is not much to celebrate. Here is hoping to next year's celebration if the Navy allows it!

Kay Jewelers Military Commercial

As a wife of someone whom is deployed, I hated watching this commercial the first time (let's be honest- every time) because it reminded me that my husband was deployed and not just working at the base as I like to pretend at times. However, upon further inspection, this video actually annoys me besides eliciting the sad emotions.

It shows a pilot getting on webcam with his wife and family while he is aboard an aircraft carrier. They aren't able to get on webcam on the carrier so there is problem number one and if there was some off chance that they could, it sure as heck wouldn't be that clear of an image and sound. They romanticize what it is like to deal with deployment in this short commercial. Yeah if only it were that easy!

I don't know a wife that likes that video. They either don't like the sadness it makes them feel (most cry when they see the commercial) or the unrealistic portrayal of deployment. Either way, we all wish that Kay would stop running the darn commercial!

Anchors Aweigh

Old Navy really has some cute anchor items this year. These are the ones that I ordered for myself. I got the long sleeve shirt first when I found it at a local store. The other items were things I found from their website, first the tote, then the short sleeve shirt and the bathing suit (top and bottoms are sold separately). I purchased two pairs of anchor pajama pants too (not pictured). I guess it is no surprise that Old Navy sells anchor items considering the name of their store, but I believe it is much more than that.

It seems like anchor items are quite popular right now. I purchased an anchor necklace from Tiffany & Co. about four months ago.

Tiffany & Co. anchor pendant

I purchased two anchor charms for my Pandora bracelet and also found a cute little anchor/nautical themed necklace at Aeropostale. I just noticed that Coach came out with a few pieces of sterling silver anchor jewelry items as well.

Coach earrings

Coach anchor ring

I am sure there are other things that I am forgetting or that I have not noticed yet, but this is what I have seen. I am sure that my husband will tease me when he returns from deployment to see all of this, but I quite like it for now. It is nice to see and they are quite fashionable. Maybe this is related to the military themed clothing and purses that had been on runways not too long ago. I could not get into that at all as I believe the only people who should wear camouflage or a uniform is someone in the military. At least anchors can be associated with other things besides the Navy and the ones I have seen are really cute. Who knows how long that will last. I am enjoying it for now, but I am sure there will be a point where I get sick of seeing them. So until then...

Pandora anchor charm

Pandora anchor, heart, cross charm

OPSEC and PERSEC

My fellow Navy wives often get sick and tired of listening or reading about OPSEC (Operational Security) and/or PERSEC (Personal Security). I, on the other hand, do not and am registered to receive OPSEC updates and information from every government entity, organization, and so forth that I can on Facebook so that I can get the latest and greatest information.

OPSEC is important to my husband's safety AND his timely return. When wives have posted countdowns as to the precise date the aircraft carrier (used in this instance because my husband is aboard one), it has been known to upset the CO (Commanding Officer) to the point where he will change the return date. I do not personally want my husband coming home later so don't understand why they would want theirs to come home later and if they do, then there are more important issues at hand that they need to deal with in their marriage and they better not let those issues affect my husband's safe, timely return. Furthermore, if they don't care about their husband's safety enough to avoid such posts, they also have marital issues that need to be dealt with. I do not want the "bad guys" to know where our military is at all times, let alone to know where my husband is.

PERSEC is important to my own safety and that of my family. When wives post countdowns or statuses indicating that they are alone for long periods of time, they are telling other "bad guys" that they are home alone without the protection of their husband. This in turn makes them vulnerable to a home robbery or worse, an attack of some sort. While I worry most about my family's safety, I would hate to see anyone's safety put in jeopardy so I remind people about both OPSEC and PERSEC from time to time on my Navy Wife Facebook profile.

I put this up as my second post because it is important for anyone, whether you are military or not and so it is important to anyone who comes across my blog. Please remember that in this time of technology, it doesn't take much to grab information about anyone. Google your name, your address, and so forth from time to time. Make sure to remove your information from sites like Spokeo and please watch what  you post on Facebook, especially if you don't have private settings and accept just about anyone as a friend!

A Sailor's Wife and Life

As if it weren't obvious by the title chosen for this blog, I am a sailor's wife and we live a sailor's life. You see my life doesn't completely belong to me because I am married to a sailor and his life doesn't completely belong to him either. During his active duty military enlistment, our family's life is dictated by where the Navy sends us and where they send my husband. This can be very frustrating at times, but tis' the Navy way of life.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining because he chose the Navy Life and I chose to be his Navy Wife. However, with that being said there are frustrations that do come with that life as a wife just as I know that my husband has frustrations as well.

Every employee has some complaints, but they aren't the same as when you are serving in the United States military. Every wife has some complaints when her husband may be sent away for a business trip, but they aren't the same as when your husband is sent away for a deployment, TAD (temporary duty), underway period (on a boat), or other military training.

Some people claim that a lot of women are "tag chasers"- a woman who purposely goes after a man in the military and I would have to say that the women that may in fact be correctly labeled as such have to be crazy. Heck, the ones that aren't labeled as such and have married into the military may be a little bit crazy. Who purposely marries a man that must leave for long periods of time? Usually one wouldn't think that a woman in love would choose to marry a man who leaves for long periods of time. Therefore they automatically believe this person must be after him for his money and/or benefits and not be in love with him.

Have you seen the average military member's paycheck? We don't marry for their pay! Have you seen the out-of-pocket costs we pay for dental work not covered by United Concordia? We don't marry for their benefits! My husband could make a lot more money and collect much better benefits if he were to do the same job in the civilian sector. Does that make him crazy for serving in the military? No, it makes him proud to serve and defend his country from threats foreign and domestic. Does it make me crazy for being with someone that I rarely see during a sea duty rotation? No, it makes me a woman who is in love and proud of her man for serving and defending this country.