Thankful

This Memorial Day, I won't be near my sailor. He is currently on patrol and will be for awhile. It's his job, and one I'm very proud of him for doing. Before we met, all I knew of the military came from growing up near Barksdale Air Force Base and a few National Guard posts. I had no real connection to the military, if that makes sense. Let alone an understand of everything that goes into the job of serving in the military.

In the years since high school and meeting my husband, I've known folks in every service. While all very different jobs, in the end, they are all as hard. All of them as tough. All of them as honorable. I've also heard, read and learned so many stories of heroics beyond the bounds of human comprehension. Men diving on a grenade to save their guys. Leaders doing anything they can to accomplish the mission while doing everything in their power to keep their crew safe. Make a sacrifice to protect their families and the other folks back home.

I'm a softy when it comes to military. Probably more so know due to understand the full range of emotions that you go through when your loved one is away. I cry when they show homecomings on the news, and my heart breaks when the show the caskets draped with the flag. Thankfully, I've never personally known someone lost. I hope it stays that way.

To all those that serve, have served, and hope to serve one day - Thank you. My heart is with you all on this Memorial Day. And as I mentioned in a previous blog, I love music and the way it conveys emotions. So here are a few patriotic songs that are near and dear to my heart.

Trace Adkin's Arlington



Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue



This next video is for Toby Keith's American Soldier. I know that this probably best describes my husband's view of his time in the Navy and why he does it. I'm proud of him, and I hope he is doing well today.

The Change Jar #3

So the total now, as of 5/21/10, is $52.81. You might ask, "What prompted the steep jump from last tally?" Well, I kept true to my word about what was in my wallet at pay day went in. I found a twenty dollar bill that I had forgotten about.

Here is the break down:

Cash - $43.00
Coin - $9.81

Bubble Bubble, go to hell...

(Don't ask about the title. It's a giggle point from a story of my husband's. hehe. If you want the story, ask him.)

I miss my husband. It's setting in that he is somewhere in the ocean playing hide and go seek. (Or maybe filming a remake of Flipper and swimming with the dolphins...hrmmm) Or if you ask our daughter, her daddy is eating pizza, on a submarine, in the Ocean. Silly girl.

Ryan, aka the Husband Unit, has made music a huge part of my life. Many memories of him are tied to songs. I've also listened to music that I never dreamed I would of. Things from show tunes to The Red Army Choir. (Yes...he has a wide collection of music.) One of the first few conversations we had together, he ended up letting it be known that he had seen Moulin Rouge. After I got over the shock that a guy actually knew the movie existed more than the fact Nicole Kidman was in skimpy outfits, I was impressed. He knew the songs and sang. *insert swooning* Then came the band geek stories, and then the road trip with those stupid parody cds. LOL.

I figure since music sort of keeps me sane lately, I can post some videos of the songs I'm listening, too. Here are two songs by 3 Doors Down that I love. When I'm Gone is actually the ring tone for Ryan's call on my cell. I also totally love the homecoming footage in the video for When I'm Gone, especially the little girl in the sailor suit kissing her daddy.





This last song is for the National Guard. I still love it because it's very true for all military.



I miss Ryan. I need to stop looking at the calendar. Time is dragging. I'm thinking it's time to start a hobby or book or something. Maybe blog more. We'll see. Who knows if anyone actually reads this. LOL

Does True Love Last?

Recently I went to see the movie Letters to Juliet. This is a movie, as my husband would describe, that is completely for the hopeless romantic F-side of my personality. As an aside, the story of Romeo and Juliet has always been a favorite of mine. (Please reference the previous "hopeless romantic f-side statement...)

So of course this movie sparked my curiosity: A young writer finds a letter from 50 years ago at the wall under Juliet's balcony in Verona, Italy. She writes back as Juliet, and the lady (Claire) comes to Verona with her grandson Charlie. Claire wants to see if she can find her lost love Lorenzo. She does find Lorenzo, and their love is still as fresh as 50 years before.

I walk out of the theater wondering "Can true love last through those many years or through hardships or through separations?"

I write this blog being a woman sitting here missing her husband. He is a submariner, whom deploys for 3-4 months at a time. It's not a huge time period, but we pretty much have zero communications. (Seriously...sometimes messenger pigeons would be more reliable.) We've been together over seven years, and will be married seven years come September. I'm almost afraid to add up the amount of time that he has not been home. This patrol makes our third together, then there is also the many trips with his shore command. So we're getting this "good bye" thing down.

I've seen our marriage hold together through all the time a part, major stress due to medical stuff, and stress from work. Even though we are polar opposites personality wise (Myers Brigg test), we've made it work. We know each other's weak spots, and we know each others strong points. I'm the planner. He is the executor. The favorite example my father-in-law loves to use to describe us is a simple shopping trip. I make the list, give it to my husband, and he navigates. To be honest, it took us awhile to get the "rhythm down." I wouldn't trade him for the world though.

Back to my point, yes, I think true love can last. But, you have to want it. In Letters to Juliet, Claire and Franco both want it. (A neat fact, the actors that play Clair and Lorenzo (Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero) are real life lovers. They broke up a few times, but always ended up back together. They are now married.) True love won't always be the perfect sugary romances you see in the movies.

You have to live through the rough times. I still remember talking to my father-in-law one night after a rough day. (Within the same 24 hour period, I had found out my husband was majorly hyper thyroid and that my grandmother had lung cancer.) He told me that times like that would test the marriage and myself, but that I had to not give up on either. How true that statement was. Those rough times have taught my husband and I many things about ourselves. We still have days where throttling the other seems to be a good idea, but that passes quickly. We have a beautiful daughter together (who has the stubborn streak of bother her parent's...God help me...lol), and we have a life that, while not a perfect Utopia, is one that I wouldn't want to give up. And hell, Utopia would get boring after awhile with everything being the same. (Gah...the spontaneous husband is wearing off on me! *grin*)

To close this, I share a quote originally told to me by my husband, whom heard it from his father. "You don't marry the one you can live with. You marry the one you can't live without."

The Change Jar #2

So I totaled it up the other day while the Little One was off tormenting her grandmother. (Little One loves change lately and thinks it all belongs to her. lol)

As of May 9th, 2010: $26.12

Neat facts:

- It's almost a palindrome of the first total of 11.62 (The geeky husband would giggle at me noticing this.)
- I've also started putting 5 dollar bills in. I had some in my wallet the other day when I was cleaning it, so I tossed them in.
- The little notebook in there is my tally book.