A Milspouse Once Again

I guess he just couldn't stay away.

In reality, we had gone back and forth about B joining the Navy Reserve after his separation from Active Duty. For various reasons, he decided to postpone any decision one way or another until we knew where we would land. He actually kept telling me that I should join it myself, and I was honestly starting to consider it. It would be nice to have something of "my own" I thought. But then I also thought that I would have to do a full 20 versus B's 11 years left for retirement. Why oh why didn't I do this when I was 23 and living in Norfolk?

{Source}

Well, now that we have landed ourselves somewhere, the decision needed to be made. Once B found out he could drill two hours away in Indianapolis, I think it sealed the deal. I can even tag along and just go hang out with my in-laws for the weekend if I feel like it. He signed the contract for three years. They threw a bonus at him, and he started telling me how much it was. I said "Yeah yeah, that's great, but when can we sign up for health insurance?"

Yes, this is a enormous blessing in the insurance department. His new job offers really crappy benefits that were going to cost and arm and a leg and still have a high deductible. I don't think his company even subsidizes the insurance since I found something similar online that I could just buy privately. The Reserve version of TRICARE insurance isn't free by any means, but it's pretty good in comparison to what we were offered.

He's actually gone for his first drill weekend right now. I was a bit concerned about doing church on my own for the first time since Cora was born, so I called up his aunt. Of course she wants to help hold the baby during mass! Living near family, even if it is family I married into, is such a godsend and something I should learn to utilize more often.

One weekend a month and two weeks a year. That's how we're doing the military life now, and I'm happy about it.

30 Things I'm Thankful For

It seems like all my Facebook buddies are doing this, which is great and all.  But I don't like updating my Facebook daily (and many of them have gotten way behind or abandoned the idea by now), so here is my "thankfulness dump" I'll do it here in one post, and hooray, it won't take me all month!  Genius, right? (Of course I would have had to start 27 days ago, so maybe I'm just lazy.)

In mostly stream-of-consciousness order, I am thankful for these things:

1. Good health for me, husband, and baby
2. My husband
3. Our baby
4. God, Jesus, Holy Spirit; our faith
5. My husband's job
6. The internet
7. My college degree
8. Our home
9. Living near family members
10. Having the option to be a SAHM
11. Music and my singing voice
12. Over-the-air (read: FREE) television (and Hulu)
13. My parents
14. My car
15. Friends and family both near and far
16. That my baby keeps a schedule now
17. Breastfeeding and a vaginal delivery
18. Electricity, heat, and indoor plumbing
19. Literacy
20. The public library
21. Our gym
22. Laughter
23. Clean water
24. Blogging and the friendships it has led me to
25. The many adventures I have had
26. In-laws. Mine are pretty cool :-)
27. Pizza, chocolate, and other good food
28. Love
29. Hope
30. Charity

Also, I absolutely adore this VeggieTales song, and I think it is fitting for this post!



And hey, there's a linkup for this!

Linked up at It's Just Called Spicy

What I Wore Sunday (Vol. 6)

Link up your church attire with Fine Linen and Purple

My husband now refuses to take my picture for me. Once he heard the word "blog" he went running the other direction. It would probably be better if we weren't always rushing out the door for mass every week. We finally got to try a new church today, which our GPS had never heard of and wasn't marked on our map. I had a vague idea of the directions based on my online research last night. We made it before the processional was over, but this church filled up fast! And its attendees didn't know how to scoot to the center of a long pew so the stragglers (there were a lot of us) could fill in easily. An usher came to our rescue after the "Gloria" was over. I still remember back in college the reader would make a pre-mass announcement to get close and make some room.

Well, I now either have to use self-timer or do mirror shots. Here is my attempt at a selfie:

This is my "slightly peeved with my husband" look

Shirt: H&M // Pants: Old Navy // Shoes: they're actually knee-high boots from DSW (Impo brand I think?) (These are the only shoes I could wear that made the pants not drag on the ground) // Necklace: made by my aunt // Watch: a gift from a long time ago (I rarely wear it and found out today that it needs a new battery)

But really, who am I kidding here? The churches here don't want to pay to heat their spaces, so this is what I really looked like the entire hour:

Check out my "after mass" hair

The coat is from Old Navy, and yes it is too big. I've had it since college, and my mom convinced me I needed to "size up" to fit however many layers underneath there. What my mom didn't realize is that coats add that extra room to your regular size (at least all of mine do, that is). Never take coat-buying advice from someone who grew up in Florida and then moved to Atlanta. Remember that, everyone.

I have actually bought a new coat, but I still haven't committed to it enough to wear it or even take the tags off. I thought I wanted a colored coat--like burgundy or at least a light gray, but I also didn't want a pea coat again (so many useless buttons!). Well, I found a gorgeous coat at Burlington and it is black black black. But it was too nice not to buy. And unlike the pea coat above, it actually buttons all the way up the neck so I don't really need a scarf. I should probably just wear it and get it over with already! Next week, my friends. Next week. Feel free to hold me accountable.