Welcome to the Military Wives' Kitchen!

[ProudArmyWife]

armywife:

Well, it seems so far I am the youngest military wife. My husband had a few years in before we married and I have only “been in the Army” for five years. Total he has 11 years in and will be home from a year-long deployment in March!!! YEA!!!

We have been stationed overseas the whole time we have been married. Hanau, Germany and currently in Vicenza, Itlay. We are trying to get another COT back to Germany, but that seems unlikely.

I don’t have any bad TDY stories, but I have had all three of my children overseas in German/Italian hospitals. As well as all my prenatal care by local dr’s. Great experiences!

My apartment is sooo tiny and windows very tall that my curtains hang about 11/2 feet from the floor.

And thanks for the cup of coffee. And BTW Timidity, we had men in our FRG group, we are equal-opportunity.

Uh - oh! We are both busted for being up past 3AM lurking on the forums!

 

[tamccrackine]

Whoohooo!!! I’m an Army wife… we’ve been married 8 years, he’s been in for 14, I’ve been in for 8 (I’m in the IRR now after my AD stint). We have been in Hanau, Schweinfurt, Kitzingen, Wurzburg, Germany, Ft. Benning, GA (LOVED IT!) and now I’m stuck in Ft. Irwin, CA (HATE IT). He is currently serving in Iraq- he just left in January. We will be in Ft. Bragg in one year… he’s looking at branching to a new branch and I will PCS back to the east coast before he returns from Iraq. We have three yung’un’s, homeschooling the oldest (she’s 6), I have a 3 yr old and a 9 month old.

Our “wild” stories are actually our pregnancy stories… we’ve PCSed every time I’ve been pregnant. None of our babies were born in the same place as where they were conceived! However our last baby… she was born 8 days before leaving for CA. I packed the house while having contractions and after the moving truck left, I headed to the hospital. She was born the next morning. We waited around for the next week, had her Baptised, and we headed out… me driving my truck hauling a trailer and all three kiddos in my truck (I have the DVD player), while following my DH from Ft. Benning, GA to Ft. Irwin, CA.

I’ve suggested a sub-forum for military families… so this should get stickied!!!

Stadre… maybe we can link up?? We should be in the Ft. Bragg area by this time next year!

 

[stadre]

tamccrackine:

We have been in Hanau, Schweinfurt, Kitzingen, Wurzburg, Germany, Ft. Benning, GA (LOVED IT!) and now I’m stuck in Ft. Irwin, CA (HATE IT).

I have to say that we haven’t ever had a bad assignment. The worst was Fort Leonard Wood, but that probably has more to do with it being TDY and living in a furnished trailer. (“Bel Air Trailer Park–the finest in Pulaski County!”) I, too, loved Fort Benning. We lived on post right by the Infantry School (can’t remember the name of it) and DH was able to walk to class. I am sorry you are in Irwin. We loved being in CA, but were very happy to simply cruise through Barstow! Maybe you can PCS a little earlier?!

He is currently serving in Iraq- he just left in January. We will be in Ft. Bragg in one year… he’s looking at branching to a new branch and I will PCS back to the east coast before he returns from Iraq. We have three yung’un’s, homeschooling the oldest (she’s 6), I have a 3 yr old and a 9 month old.

Let me know when you will be heading this way. I imagine you will be renting and I will help in any way I can!:yup: We haven’t found a great homeschooling group, but have been happy with the children in the neighborhood. DD at least has some playmates.

We love our priest. He is a retired chaplain and is contracted at the hospital. Since we found him, we haven’t looked elsewhere although there are several active duty priests here.

 

[armywife]

tamccrackine:

We have been in Hanau

Did you live in housing in Hanau and did you ever eat at Sam’s steakhouse. The BEST steak ever with theiir garlic dip and hummus. We were so happy and lucky to get off-base and righ in the city center. If I had lived on base I don’t think I would have been at happy.

I just love this thread. At least I know where to go when we PCS in a year to find out about a new base.

 

[Peace-bwu]

Timidity:

Once again, another group that descriminates against the military huband who holds down the fort while the active duty wife is away.

I have my (now retiree) dependent ID card in my wallet. I have my big certificate from the President thanking me for my sacrifice while my wife served 20 years. And yet another group is “wives only”.

Bah.

If you want to join the ladies, feel free! No intent to exclude. I had our squdron “wives” group name on our base changed to “Squadron Spouses group” so I’m all about being inclusive. No ill intent here, I promise. I started it because I read more threads and posts from military wives, havent’ heard many from military husbands.

Just beware, we might talk about girlie things like periods, PMS and mom / wife specific topics sometimes. LOL!!!

Timidity, here is a cup of coffee just for you! Cream or sugar or black? Welcome.

Perhaps we could even take a field trip to the military husband’s garage from time to time. LOL

 

[Peace-bwu]

Topic for discussion:

"What are your favorite ways to pass the time when your spouse is TDY or deployed? "

 

[ProudArmyWife]

Peace-bwu:

Topic for discussion:

"What are your favorite ways to pass the time when your spouse is TDY or deployed? "

At night I check Catholic Answer Forums

Since we live in Germany, we enjoy volksmarching on the weekends. One problem - it’s just been too cold! Most of my time is spent making sure the kiddos are going to all their activities. By the time evening comes around I just want to veg out and not have to worry about anything! Speaking of which - I need to go down and get the laundy. Gotta love stairwell living with the community laundry room - LOL!

 

[ReginaNova]

ProudArmyWife:

At night I check Catholic Answer Forums

Since we live in Germany, we enjoy volksmarching on the weekends. One problem - it’s just been too cold! Most of my time is spent making sure the kiddos are going to all their activities. By the time evening comes around I just want to veg out and not have to worry about anything! Speaking of which - I need to go down and get the laundy. Gotta love stairwell living with the community laundry room - LOL!

Oh my, some things about Army life never change! That brings back (mostly fond) memories of 20 years ago when I too was an Army wife in Germany! Wie geht’s?

 

[Peace-bwu]

Prayer For A Serviceman
Oh Mary, Queen of Martyrs, look after
my beloved wherever he may be.
Talk with him during the silent watches
of the Night and spur him to bravery
when he faces the cruel foe.
Keep him inspired by a never-dying faith in his God.
Wherever his duty takes him, keep his spirit high
and his purpose unwavering.
He is my choicest treasure.
Take care of him, Oh Mother of God !
Keep him in health and sustain him under every
possible circumstance.
Touch him with my smile of cheer and comfort and
my full confidence in his every brave pursuit.
Fail him not and may he not fail his God, his country,
Nor the one who loves him.

I hope you enjoy this prayer as much as I.

 

[stadre]

Peace-bwu:

Prayer For A Serviceman
Oh Mary, Queen of Martyrs, look after
my beloved wherever he may be.
Talk with him during the silent watches
of the Night and spur him to bravery
when he faces the cruel foe.
Keep him inspired by a never-dying faith in his God.
Wherever his duty takes him, keep his spirit high
and his purpose unwavering.
He is my choicest treasure.
Take care of him, Oh Mother of God !
Keep him in health and sustain him under every
possible circumstance.
Touch him with my smile of cheer and comfort and
my full confidence in his every brave pursuit.
Fail him not and may he not fail his God, his country,
Nor the one who loves him.

I hope you enjoy this prayer as much as I.

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Peace-bwu]

Peace-bwu:

Topic for discussion:

"What are your favorite ways to pass the time when your spouse is TDY or deployed? "

For the kids:

When he is deployed, and we know how many days he will be gone, we do a “candy countdown” I have three clear jars and I put a jelly bean (or hershey kisses, etc) one for every day of the deployment and at the same tiem each day, usually after breakfast they get to eat one more candy, also checking out the calendar. If I find out he will be spending more tiem than thought, I add the pieces. The last few weeks are cool becasue they can count the candy.

We chat online or via email when possible. This has made the time much easier.

For extra long deployments we keep a bag that has a journal/ picture folder. That way they can write down all the experiences he is missing and can “catch up” when he gets home.

We make sure to have a photo for each child of them with daddy as well as family photos. Each kid has one of those inexpensive photo albums so we can trade out photos as necessary.

We pray for Daddy everynight and we talk abou how we are connected in the communion of saints when we go to Mass.

I spend alot more time at Catholic Answers when he is on a mission or deployed.

 

[candicami]

Hi…
I’m relatively new to both CA forums (I’ve been reading them since we PCS’d in Dec) and to the married/military life. I’ve been married to my AF husband for 11 months now, and lived in Valdosta, GA for about 6 months before we moved to Wright-Patt, OH. I can’t say that I have any TDY/deployment stories as my husband hasn’t had any deployments and I went with him on his 1-month TDY.

So far, I’ve really enjoyed being married and don’t really mind following my husband around. The hardest thing for me is finding new friends. I’ve been looking for a job since I got to OH and haven’t had any luck as I am a recent college grad with expertise that doesn’t seem to match any of the industry up here. Plus I don’t think I have as much experience as most company’s would like. sigh. Anyway’s… I figure that is a work in progress and all I can do is keep looking.

Besides all that, I’m just hanging out trying to find things to keep me busy. I was glad to see this thread and have enjoyed reading all your posts. I’ve already learned much and look forward to reading more about being a military spouse…

Thanks, candicami

 

[grotto]

Good morning everyone! May I join you? My stories will go back a lot farther than yours most likely - career Air Force 1958-1979!
Eglin AFB Fla; Vandenberg AFB CA; (Isolated 1 yr St. Anthony, Newfoundland - me and two babes in Michigan) Shaw AFB, SC;
Bossier Base (on Barksdale AFB, La); War in Nam, mainly at DaNang - me and three babes in Roswell, NM - one long/tough yr;
Change in AF career entered Recruiting and spent the rest of our time in Michigan!

Got to tell ya - two things make such a huge difference in the life of military today and they are cell phones and the internet. You can’t begin to know the process of writing letters and waiting for one back.
And the telephone - very rare calls - a real process to have access to a phone let alone the working technology of LONG remote distance.

I’m willing to bet we can share lots of stories about the never changing problems - housing, health care, short on money and the Big One being the crisis management center 24/7!

 

[Peace-bwu]

Good morning everyone! May I join you? My stories will go back a lot farther than yours most likely - career Air Force 1958-1979!
Eglin AFB Fla; Vandenberg AFB CA; (Isolated 1 yr St. Anthony, Newfoundland - me and two babes in Michigan) Shaw AFB, SC;
Bossier Base (on Barksdale AFB, La); War in Nam, mainly at DaNang - me and three babes in Roswell, NM - one long/tough yr;
Change in AF career entered Recruiting and spent the rest of our time in Michigan!

Got to tell ya - two things make such a huge difference in the life of military today and they are cell phones and the internet. You can’t begin to know the process of writing letters and waiting for one back.

Trust me, I *do *know the process and can remember writing letters (if there was a place to write)I have a whole box full of them. I would be willing to bet that most, if not all , the wives here know exactly what that is like.

I remember what it was like to wait for letters! I have been at this for 11 years (13 if you count basic training and tech school while dating) and we have only had internet access for the past 3 years of those!

We have only had the ability to chat or email for **one **year since we bought him a laptop… a GREAT investment. We just couldn’t afford it on an A1C income! The ability to chat with him and sometimes even use our webcams (very rare to have a good enough connection, so far he has only been able to use them when he is in Kuwait…) is amazing, but again very rare. Now, instead of checking the real mailbox every day and hoping for a call once per week or every two weeks, I check my email, hoping that wherever he is, he has internet access. That isnt always the case. Sometiems we go a week or two (or more) without any contact. It’s nervewracking to not know when he will be back home, whether it will be tomorrow or a week or two. :whacky: Going 3 weeks with the technology and still no contact. Every now and then we get lucky and have a good internet access and can use instant messanger. I would still rather hear his voice, but that’s better than nothing!

And the telephone - very rare calls - a real process to have access to a phone let alone the working technology of LONG remote distance.

I guess that depends on what defines “rare” I am hoping that someday we can get the cellphones that have overseas access. When he is in the USA we are able to talk via cellphone, otherwise they are usually allowed a 15 min DSN call (usually a bad connection with an echo BTW, once per week.) they are monitored and I can hear my voice “echo” and sometimes we even have voices come over the line and are often cut off.

We once had a 10 min call from England that cost over $80 when my daughter was having health problems in 1998 and he called to check on her.

I’m willing to bet we can share lots of stories about the never changing problems - housing, health care, short on money and the Big One being the crisis management center 24/7!

Nothing has changed there, and the technology has improved but isn’t as great as some might think.

But yes, technology has improved our time apart ***when he can use it *(maybe a few times during a two or three week mission) I must admit it is very disapppointing to go for a week or two checking emails a few times per day, with nothing, and no DSN phonecalls. Then the mind starts really wondering where he is, if the plane is having trouble etc. Our cellphones don’t help much when he is overseas (which is usually the case) If I am lucky I will get one DSN call while he is on a two or three week mission.

I usually don’t know when he will be home, so go for days wondering if “today is the day” A flyers wife has to live with total unpredictability,

The technology is there but cannot always be used. Rather than waiting for a letter, I wait for a week or two to get a two- sentence email saying “the plane is broken, we wont’ be home for at least a week.” Or spend my days and nights online at Catholic Answers *hoping *for some kind of contact. That is usually why I’m on here, passing the time hoping every night that he will have internet access.

It is easier for some career fields than others to have contact via new technology. My husband is constantly flying overseas missions that last 1-3 weeks. Amazingly enough, when he is deployed to a “set” location for months at a time, I hear more from him because he has regular access to phones and internet access.

It’s still nerve wracking, even with all the technology, trust me! I am sure that it will improve with time. It will probaby be much easier for us to have regular contact in 5 yrs.

 

[grotto]

Now see how I did not know - I thought the problems would have ended and everyone had reasonably good communications. Darn. I have no real knowledge about sattelite phones but have heard of them - probably pretty expensive.

The Sarge and I usually head South in the winter in our RV - a Class C mini-motor home and pull “my” car on a dolly. This year we are staying home as my 93 year old Mom needs full care but the reason I mention this is the Military Fam Camps. We love to discover more and more places we can stay - some on the bases - some located not too far off. How great that would have been for us to have had a “camper” when we were transferred, long trips home on leave, or just to explore where we were stationed. Even day trips can be so much more fun when feeding a family is too expensive and inconvenient in a restaurant and having your own bathroom, etc. So, I recommend you check out your Fam Camp, probably find a good deal on an RV from time to time. Its a whole nother world!

 

[Peace-bwu]

I call my husband “Sarge” too.

I am expecting him home sometime tonight, but haven’t communitcated with him for several days when he sent an email telling me that the plane was broken so they would be home a day later than they hoped. I hope he makes it home, this is our 16th Valentines day. We started dating when I was only 15 on Valentines Day 1991. Time goes by fast!

Thanks for posting about he Fam Camps. We haven’t stayed at one yet, but hope to someday.

Shades Of Green Resort :
Today I made reservations for Shades of Green, the military Disney resort. It is newly renovated and gorgeous. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there in 2004, and are planning a trip for Dec 1-9 2006, I can hardly wait!

Has anyone else stayed at Shades of Green? It is wonderful, open only to military members and they can sponsor family and friends up to three rooms. The cost is determined by a payscale, according to rank, we are in Category 2 as a Tech Sgt. so pay only $99 per night! It is a deluxe resort and so close to the Magic Kingdom that we could see the MK fireworks from our balcony. The rooms are among the largest of all the Disney resorts and are beautiful Each room has either a balcony or patio. The theme is that of a rustic country club and is on a fantastic golf course. For me, Walt Disney Word Resort is the best destination for a family vacation because there is something for everyone of every age and various interests. There are so many benefits of staying at Shades of Green!

Check if out!
shadesofgreen.org/home.html

 

[Peace-bwu]

grotto:

Now see how I did not know - I thought the problems would have ended and everyone had reasonably good communications. Darn. I have no real knowledge about sattelite phones but have heard of them - probably pretty expensive.

The Sarge and I usually head South in the winter in our RV - a Class C mini-motor home and pull “my” car on a dolly. This year we are staying home as my 93 year old Mom needs full care but the reason I mention this is the Military Fam Camps. We love to discover more and more places we can stay - some on the bases - some located not too far off. How great that would have been for us to have had a “camper” when we were transferred, long trips home on leave, or just to explore where we were stationed. Even day trips can be so much more fun when feeding a family is too expensive and inconvenient in a restaurant and having your own bathroom, etc. So, I recommend you check out your Fam Camp, probably find a good deal on an RV from time to time. Its a whole nother world!

We don’t own a camper but on our base, and probably many others, military members can rent a nice camper from Outdoor Recreation for a minimal fee. We have talked about doing this but just haven’t found the time yet. Anyone interested could check at their station to see if their Ourdoor Rec. has campers available.

 

[tamccrackine]

Peace-bwu … you sound like me… I’m on CA alot now that DH is deployed… after kids are in bed for the evening and there is nothing on TV… I spend it here. All the while, having my IM online hoping DH pops up with a short “Hey gorgeous! I’m doing fine, I love you.” and before I can respond, he’s gone either due to a mission or a disconnect on his end.

To answer your question, I’ve gotten a scrapbook going for each month which will detail what we did for that month.

We also have “Craft Month”. Each month we do a specific craft, like card making, scrapbooking, sewing, culinary… intent is to either enhance skills or learn something new. We’ve got 12 months… so ideas will be helpful!!!

Each month is also a “family month” where we pick a family and that month, we focus on making each person in that family a Christmas gift or we find something for Christmas. That way we’re not rushing at the end of the year and I think we’ll get a little more creative.

 

[ProudArmyWife]

A note about Disney and the Shades of Green …

If they are booked the time you want to stay, ask them if they will put you up in a different hotel. We’ve stayed in the Contemporary ( ) and the Carribean Beach Resort ( ) for a discounted price of $99 a night. We’ve also stayed in All-Stars for around $65 a night.

BTW - Sea World is again free this year for military families! We’ve gone the past two times they offered it. It is awesome. We actually spend more money in the park - eating nicer, etc. because we didn’t have to pay the admission.

I will be at Disney for a convention the last week of June. Anyone going to be there then?

 

[grotto]

Does everybody get to live on-base these days or is it still quite a struggle to get on? Base housing wasn’t an option for us in the earlier years. In 1965 we were transferred to Shaw AFB, SC. The movers had our stuff and it would be at least ten days to have it delivered. We needed to find a place for our little family of four plus dog. Sumter was a much smaller southern town in those days and home owners that would rent were VERY few. Real estate offices had no listings or suggestions. So after two days paying for a motel I came up with what I thought was a great idea! We will go for a ride in the neighborhoods that we thought offered the best possibilities and look for a moving van. When we spot one we will inquire - moving in or out?
The method worked and we had a small two bedroom house with larger yard that we called home for a year and a half!

Cleaning up and painting is another whole subject and I’ll need another cup of coffee please!!