Hello,
This is my 1st blog ever. That is if you don’t count Facebook as a daily blog.
So let me introduce myself, my name is Stephanie and I have been married to the military (my husband) for a little over 2 years now. Within the last 2 years ,I have learned so much about this lifestyle . I didn’t know much about it beforehand, since I didn’t meet the man of my dreams until I was 27. Life before military was very different to what I know now. I love my life and everything I have done in my life has brought me to this very moment. I wouldn’t change living this new life, but it can be very hard as I’m sure you may know.
Let’s start with how I met the military (my husband). Well I taught Jr. High and went on spring break to Las Vegas in 2008. Once upon a time, in a casino a guy came over and asked me to dance. The next thing I know I was in a long distance relationship of flying to see each other once a month . He was still in college at The Citadel. Yes I’m older, about 5 years and 2 days to be exact. (My friends refer to me as a puma ,a cougar in training, because I wasn’t old enough to be a cougar yet).
One of the hardest things was being in a long distance relationship, but I think it helped me prepare for the life I was about to lead. While visiting him at his tech. school in San Antonio, TX he proposed on November 7th, 2009 . We eloped in San Antonio at a bed and breakfast on November 27th that same month. His first station was McGuire AFB, NJ. I wasn’t able to quit my job right away because it would not have been fair to the kids I was teaching or the school for that matter. So, I didn’t actually move in with him until January 2010. Ahhh..I could tell so much, but I will just hit the highlights. We moved into an apartment off base to have a little extra money J. Then in May I found out I was pregnant. So excited we weren’t planning on it till later in the year, but soooo excited we were. The very next day we found out he was being deployed to Afghanistan in October. L The next couple of months was very tolling on the both of us. Then he went to Texas for training in August for 2 months before he would leave. I was able to see him for 5 days before he left and that was the last he would see of his pregnant wife until he would return 6 months later.
There I was alone in NJ without really any friends and all my family was back in Joliet, IL. Luckily I had friends and family visit sporadically when they could. My new In-Laws lived only 3 hours away so they made their way up often. Without all my support I would have went crazy. The worst was having to wait for the phone calls, since you can’t call. L On February 1, 2011 my baby boy was born, and daddy was there via Skype. Oh how this invention made it a miracle for my husband to be right by my side the whole time. Then he met his baby boy in April. It was an amazing moment for all of us.
While deployed we learned we were being PCS’d to Minot, ND. We were suppose to move in August of 2011, but with the horrible flooding that occurred the town was devastated. With little housing available we had to wait for verbal notice to move. Then he gets unaccompanied orders to move without us because of the housing shortage. I did not want to be “alone” again in NJ, so we asked the In-Laws if The baby, 2 cats, a dog, and myself could move in since we could be apart as long as a year. They accepted and we lived there for 1 month!!! Woot Woot!!!!…I was thankful to have them, but happier to hear my husband could get housing so fast.
Finally went on our Honeymoon in November 2011, then the day after packed up the car with all of us and the husband made the drive to Minot for the 2nd time with his family. Now here I sit in Minot, ND. Why not Minot???