One For the Gentlemen...

Normally all of my posts are directed to girls in military relationships. But today, this one's for the guys. Okay so everyday at work I get asked questions all the time. About ribbons, medals, blouses, gear, etc. But two days ago, a guy asked me something out of the blue and completely unexpected.
"Is it hard being married to a Marine?"
Knowing that this guy was in a relationship, I assumed that he was probably preparing to pop the question to his girl, in which case he really just wanted me to tell him all the glamorous sides of being married so his girlfriend would be okay with the idea.
So first things first. Military men: If you are just marrying a girl to get out of the barracks, you're a jerk.
Being married to a guy in the military is no easy task. That girl is going to leave her home and family to make your life easier. If you are using her, try again.
Second, never ever go into ANY marriage, military or civilian thinking that things are going to be all hunky dory and easy. Marriage is WORK, and just like any job, you get paid for the time and effort you put in. Not in money necessarily, but in affection and appreciation.
So here's the deal military boys, if you found a girl that has stuck with you through bootcamp, or deployments, or training, without asking for a "break" or "time to cool off", you have most likely found a diamond in the rough. You better hold on to that girl tight, and treat her with some serious respect because while you're training or deployed, that girl is in a new environment, alone, waiting and praying for your safe return, and that...that is no easy task. So to my wives and girlfriends, I respect you and look up to you. You are all some of the strongest people I have ever met, and there is a special place in heaven for girls that put up with all the BS! We really do have the hardest job in the Corps! <3

She Works Hard For the Money

I can't believe it has been so long since my last update! In the past two months, we have moved on base, my mister went on his first PTA, and I started my job. So far, I absolutely love living on base. It's so nice waking up and knowing there are wives just like me right next door. Working has helped me tremendously in so many different aspects. I work at the military uniform shop, and while the extra paycheck certainly doesn't hurt, the part I love most is that I have learned so much in a short amount of time. I know the ribbons, rank insignia, types of uniforms, and gear. I went from scratching my head everytime my husband opened his mouth to nodding and contributing to military related conversations, and I must say, that feels really good. My job also makes me feel important. I work at a place that is vital to our service men and women's needs, and along the way I have become someone important in their lives. They know that Emma at the "Moto Store" is gonna take care of them. It's nice feeling valuable to people I hold with high respect. Moving on! Brandon survived his very first PTA, (a training op on the big island) and he had a lot of fun. He learned a lot, and being a smarty-pants, even got to teach. My boy even caught the attention of higher ranks, and is now facing a meritorious board next month which could potentially promote him. I am so proud! All in all, things are going swimmingly for our little tribe, and we can't wait to see what life brings us next!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Things have been absolutely crazy! After my Mr. received our orders for Hawaii, our next mission was getting us  back together. I hesitantly packed a few things hoping that the day for me to follow him would come soon, but after weeks of waiting, I kinda gave up. We found an apartment online and bought a car. On a Wednesday, my Marine texted me a one word text. "Pack." My mind began racing! I was so excited! Then things got tricky. He eventually called and I immediately asked when I would be leaving. When he said, "Friday", I thought for sure he meant the following week. Wroooong! I had a day and a half to pack my entire life and mentally prepare myself for my first PCS move. (But luckily, it doesn't take a lot to prepare your brain for paradise.) Things were hectic I can tell you that much. I was allowed four suitcases, and one was all shoes. Don't judge me. The best advice I can give is to roll your clothing, and USE SPACE BAGS! They don't get enough credit. Thursday came, and I had my tearful last day at work, and a big going away dinner. I  was too tired to be grateful at the time, but looking back now I realize how much I am loved by the people that came to my little party. It really meant a lot. Friday morning came, and at the ass crack of dawn I was standing in a line longer than the Mississippi waiting to go through security. While I had my military id, the grumpy lady would not let me through the "express lane" if you will, because I was not in military uniform. (Which caused a very angry, irritated, bitchy Emma.) Eventually I got to my gate and thus continued my long journey to Hawaii. I got bumped up to first class from Seattle to Honolulu, which was cool and all, but not so exciting when you're not old enough to drink the complimentary mai tais. Bummer. At the end of my nearly seven hour flight, I had my eyes on the prize, and basically ran to baggage claim to see my green eyed guy and hold him for the first time since our wedding. Everything was finally falling into place, and as I walked with my dear husband to the car, I gazed upon all the palm trees and smiled as I thought to myself, "Girl, you are definitely not in Kansas anymore."

Aloha Kansas.

So basically, we had the wedding of the century. Everything was beautiful, and things worked out very well. Sure, our minister made random "Wonder Twins" references, but it was all good. I know the groom was nervous, because he was acting super sarcastic and silly the whole time, which sort of got to me, because it made me feel stupid. But I knew he didn't mean anything by it. Finally we were pronounced husband and wife at 3:38 p.m. and we faced our family and friends to walk back up the aisle. It wasn't until then that my mom saw my beautiful, hand bedazzled bright blue converse shoes. I didn't see it, but from what I hear, her face was priceless. I mean, did she expect any different from me? Besides, if all excuses failed, they were my "something blue." My brother drove us away in his Ford Fusion, and took us to Sonic for about fifteen minutes to let the church clear out for pictures. We're a classy bunch, huh? =) After pictures and such we went to the reception and danced the night away with our partially inebriated relatives. We took turns sneaking away to the gift table and unwrapping corners of presents to see what the were. After the fun and laughs, my new Mr. and I headed to the hotel in town for a quiet evening alone. My mom booked us a suite complete with a hot tub in the corner of the bedroom. We sat in the hot tub for at least an hour, talking about what had happened today, and how excited we were to start our lives together. I remember we fell asleep with all the lights on, watching South Park, for God only knows what reason. We took turns trying to wake each other up to pack for our actual honeymoon, but it wasn't until 9:30ish that our feet actually hit the ground. We ate breakfast together and headed back up to pack, but my new husband slinked back into bed for a nap, so I found myself packing alone. I didn't mind it except that everytime I walked by his uniform all hung up, it scared the piss out of me because it looked like someone standing there around the corner. Eventually all was packed, and we were on our way to Oklahoma for our real getaway that he had planned all by himself. He was pretty proud, and I must say, I was too when we pulled up to a quaint little cabin complete with a wrap around porch that was all ours for the weekend. We snacked on chips and dip, and took a hike through Mount Scott. We snuggled all night, and stayed in bed as long as we wanted. All together, life was good. I still had the ticking of the clock bothering me however; I knew he had to leave in a matter of days. And unlike all the times before, we didn't know when we would get to see each other again. But he had to go back eventually, and I had to let him, this time making no promises about containing my heartache, and I cried. An elderly lady in a wheelchair even gave me some tissues. I couldn't see the light at this tunnel until about three weeks later he called and told me that he had received his orders, and we knew where we were to be stationed....A little placed called Hawaii.

Family Matters

     Planning a wedding without a groom proves to be very difficult. He had to go back to training in California about three days after the proposal. But in those few days, we managed to pick out a church and a reception hall. This helped, but there was still so much more that needed to be addressed. The original date was set for December 20th, because it was our anniversary. That fell through because it would have been on a Tuesday. So then we shot for December 17th. Once again, it wouldn't work because one of my far away siblings wouldn't be able to make it, and family is important to both of us. We tried for New Years Eve, but the church wouldn't allow it. Apparently, even pastors want to get wasted! So we finally settled with December 30th, 2011, at 3pm. That gave us precisely three months for planning and preparation.
     The day he left was rough, but I knew I would see him again in roughly 12 weeks. I once again promised not to cry, and I kept that promise. He had MCT for about a month, therefore he wasn't really allowed much phone time making it near impossible to go any further with wedding plans. He said it didn't matter and that he would love the wedding no matter how it was put together. But I wanted his opinion. So I made things difficult by waiting. This endeavor made things stressful on both sides and I don't particularly recommend it; but it seems that I learn things the hard way which is better than not learning at all. It was hard on my side because of course I missed him terribly, and also because my mom is a "get it all done right now" kind of gal. (God bless her.) It was hard on him because when he did get phone time, he wasn't exactly looking forward to making decisions, and I don't blame him. There were several meltdowns, but the one I look back on the most and can finally smile about is when my sister, mom, and I went ring shopping. I had intended on just picking my wedding band out just to prepare for how much we were going to have to save. But with my family, tings never really turn out the way I plan. We ended up looking for his ring, which was stellar and all, but I wasn't exactly keen on the idea of buying his ring without him having any say-so in the matter. I realized that I had no idea of what he liked when it came to that. So immediately, I'm sweating, hunched over the glass looking at all these rings that wouldn't pop up and say, "Hey! Pick me! I'm his favorite!" It was a pretty frustrating ordeal. My mind was racing and I suddenly sympathized with Him. He went through this for me already! And did an amazing job picking my ring. Eventually I chose a ring I thought he would like. I got up in preparation to leave, thinking that I would describe it to him when we got to talk this weekend, but my mom insisted that we buy it right now and get it over with. "It's not that big of a deal, Emma! He will love it. Let's just get it now." But to me, this was a very big deal! He has to wear this ring for the rest of his life, and I wanted him to have input. Somehow we ended up raising our voices and I hurriedly exited the store in hopes that no one would see that I had involuntarily started crying. My sister came out and bought me a drink and told me to just get it today because we were allowed to bring it back for full store credit within 90 days. I found this comforting, so we bought it that day. (Duh. Why didn't I think of that?)
     Looking back that seemed soooo stressful. But that was only the beginning. We had a food finding frenzy about a week before the wedding, flower mishaps, and a lack of funds. But with the cooperation and assistance from both families, things progressed and pulled together. There was a lot of drama between families, and a lot of tears and heartache on both sides. Somehow though, we worked through it, and when the big day came, everything was sincerely perfect. Sure, there were some last minute freakouts; (Example, my dress wasn't finished being altered, I lost my eyelash glue, a flowergirl tore her dress...etc) But we got through it. Together. As two people united, two families did as well. And that in itself, makes a ceremony truly worth remembering. Having one challenge checked off my list, I faced another. I married the military.

Not a Typical Evening

Having him home was absolute bliss. I woke up to his green eyes every morning, and fell asleep in his arms every night. I knew he had to leave soon, but I pushed it into the very back of my thoughts every time it creeped up on me. But there was one thought I couldn't shove back no matter how hard I tried. What if he doesn't ask me to marry him? During basic I had missed a call from him, and he left me a sweet voicemail saying that he missed me and when he returned, he planned to propose. But my brain constantly brought to my attention the fact that he may not do it; that he may not even want to. He had about three days left, and I had finally been nice enough to let him out of my sight for a little while. My brother wanted to take him to see his college dorm room and to meet some of his friends. I approved his leave request, and off they went. They returned a few hours later as promised, and we finished the day like normal. dinner at the house, some movies and cuddling, then off to bed. But this night was different. We were laying in bed, but we kept talking and he was being rowdy, which isn't really all that abnormal. But he kept chatting about how pretty the sky was tonight and he wanted to look at the stars and blah blah blah. So I finally gave in and we grabbed a few blankets and headed out to the backyard. There we were under the big black sky filled with tiny little diamonds. Little did I know that he had a bigger diamond in his pocket. That's right ladies and gentlemen, he did it. He asked me to marry him. And I said yes. Let the madness begin!

Home Sweet Home

After graduation, I finally had Him all to myself. I couldn't wait to get him out of his top notch Marine status and actually get to talk to HIM, without all the jargon I didn't completely understand yet. (It's a work in progress.) I knew that everyone expected us to just attack eachother when we were alone, but that really didn't happen, and I can honestly say that talking and snuggling until we fell asleep for three hours was 10 times better. The weird thing was how shy I felt. I have known this man for almost five years! He was my best friend! Why do I feel so flippin bashful?! I swear everytime he even said my name I got goosebumps or my cheeks would feel hot, and I knew that I most likely had the goofiest smile ever pulled across my beet red face. He never said anything, but I have a feeling that he might've been laughing at me a bit on the inside.Finally back in civillian clothes that his loving girlfriend packed for him, we walked hand in hand down the street from our hotel in search of food. We came across an iHop and jumped on the oppurtunity for pancakes. After dinner, we walked out of the resturant and he politely held the door open for people as the exited with us. He even gave some hobos a few bucks on our way back. I picked a downright sweetheart, and it made my chest swell with pride. He's definitely a keeper. Upon our arrival to the hotel, we began packing up some of our things, and went over our flight schedule for the following day. He woke me up that morning with kisses and told me we had to get ready to go and to call up a taxi. Well THAT was an experience. I couldn't understand a single thing that guy said. But somehow, I managed to understand that he would be there when we needed him. We loaded our bags into the cab feeling somewhat grown up, and rode to the airport with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts. The flights were good, but it wouldn't matter if they were horrible because I was in my own little happy world sitting next to him, without a care in the world. I drove us home from the airport, and once we reached our hometown, my marine rolled down the window, and stuck his head out like a puppy. There was nothing I could do but look at him and smile happily thinking, "Heeeeeee's baaaaaaack!"

Meeting my Marine

The day had finally come, and I found myself sitting on an airplane on the way to California. I had my big meltdown of nervousness the night before, so all that was left was pure excitement. I remember my heart jumping whenever the captain said that we were flying over sunny San Diego. I smooshed my face up against the window and thought to myself, "he's down there somewhere." After landing, I got my luggage and waited patiently for His parents to pick me up. They had driven all the way there, and agreed to meet me at the airport. I didn't think I would ever get to sleep that night, but I fell into a nice slumber pretty quickly. The next morning, I tried my absolute best to contain all the energy and excitement I had running through me. But as soon as His stepfather and mom left, I jumped from one bed to the other and into the bathroom saying, "Yaaaaaaaay!" It wasn't long before His mom and stepdad poked their heads into the room to figure out what all the sudden racket was about. The whole morning was absolute agony. We got on base by about 9 am, and I didn't get my arms around him until about 3. That moment was indescribable. I patiently waited for his sisters, brother, and mom to hug him before I took my turn. I wrapped my arms around him and took in everything. He smelled different. Not bad at all, but it wasn't the smell I remembered. He was skinnier, and his arms were bigger. The sun had kissed his freckled face, which was incredibly smooth from an intense shaving lesson he must've gotten. He greeted me with a, "Hey baby. I missed you." Tears immediately greeted my eyes, and all the time we had been seperated was lost.  I had him here, in my arms, and that was all that mattered. For the rest of the day my new Marine strutted around, proudly giving us the tour of where he had been stuck the past three months. I couldn't stop looking at him. I was in awe of everything. I just couldn't believe we had made it this far. The one thing that really sucked however, was that we were not allowed to kiss nor hold hands. This would probably be easy for most people, but not me or him. While giving us the tour of a museum, he yanked me around a corner and kissed me real quick. It was then that I knew that nothing had changed. All my worries about him being different were washed away at that moment. He was definitely the boy I knew and loved, the only difference was that my boy was now a Marine. And I couldn't wait to get him back home.