Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Julie

See’s Candies Invites Consumers to Visit Local Shops to Write Personalized Thank-You Notes for U.S. Service Members

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I love See’s Candies! Here is some information on how they support the troops 🙂

See’s Candies Invites Consumers to Visit Local Shops to Write Personalized Thank-You Notes for U.S. Service Members

See’s Candies Expands Partnership with Operation Gratitude to Show Appreciation for Men and Women in Uniform

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LOS ANGELES – June 26, 2014 – See’s Candies, one of the most trusted and timeless candy makers in the country, is expanding its partnership with Operation Gratitude to support members of the U.S. military.  Starting Saturday (June 28) through July 6, See’s will provide materials in its shops for customers to write personal notes of gratitude to our troops. Shop associates will collect these notes which will be delivered to Operation Gratitude, to include in their care packages and send to service members who are stationed all over the world.

See’s has worked with Operation Gratitude since 2006, providing candy for care packages. The organization assembles packages year-round and delivers them to veterans, first responders, recruits, wounded warriors, care givers, and U.S. service members deployed overseas. Their mission is to lift spirits and meet the evolving needs of the active-duty and veteran communities, and provide volunteer opportunities for all Americans to express their appreciation to members of our Military. See’s fans and customers can now join the candy maker in showing their own appreciation by visiting a shop and writing a personalized message for the troops.

“As we approach Independence Day, we at See’s think it’s important to make sure our military know how grateful we are for their service,” said Brad Kinstler, president & CEO of See’s Candies. “We’ve been working with Operation Gratitude for years to share our American-made chocolate with U.S. service members.  We’re pleased that we can now invite our customers to join us in supporting our troops by sharing their thanks in personalized, handwritten letters.”

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See’s fans and customers who are unable to visit a shop before July 6 can show their support by visiting www.sees.com/operationgratitude and completing an online form with their personal messages for U.S. service members. See’s will print the notes and deliver them to Operation Gratitude for inclusion in their care packages.

The troops often express surprise and appreciation when they receive these special care packages and personalized notes.  In response to receiving a package, one lieutenant colonel wrote, “I received an unexpected care package from you today and it is a little embarrassing how touched I was by your generosity. I have been sitting here trying to understand why this care package was so different from the others. I think it’s because you don’t know me. We expect to get things from friends and family, but you sent me something out of a deep respect for your country and its defenders. That’s powerful. I wanted you to know that your thoughtfulness made today better for all of us.”

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About Operation Gratitude:

Operation Gratitude annually sends 150,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment, hygiene and hand-made items, plus personal letters of support, to Veterans, First Responders, Recruits, Wounded Warriors, Care Givers and to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed overseas. Our mission is to lift the spirits and meet the evolving needs of our Active Duty and Veteran communities, and provide volunteer opportunities for all Americans to express their appreciation to members of our Military. Each package contains donated product valued at $75-100 and costs the organization $15 to assemble and ship. Since its inception in 2003, Operation Gratitude volunteers have shipped more than One Million Care Packages.

About See’s Candies:

Delivering deliciousness since 1921, we happily continue to make candy Mary See’s way, using only the finest ingredients — with no added preservatives. Our chocolates and treats are American-made in our own candy kitchens, from our decadent truffles and chocolate-covered nuts to gourmet lollypops and our crunchy Peanut Brittle, its quality you can taste in every piece.

Step inside one of our shops, and you’ll see a crisp, clean black-and-white checkered motif inspired by Mary’s original kitchen.  Each day, visitors are welcomed with the friendliest service and can choose a delicious piece of candy to try.

Headquartered in sunny California, we have over 200 retail shops across the country and an online shop that serves See’s fans around the world. We continue to uphold our commitment to delivering the highest level of taste, quality, tradition and service.

Mary would be proud.

Last Day Of Active Duty

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My husband has just finished 10 years, 11 months of Active duty service.

Four deployments to a war zone for a total of 35 months deployed.

Two to Iraq, two to Afghanistan.

Four duty stations, Ft. Drum, Schweinfurt, Grafenwoher, Ft. Campbell.

He missed Drew’s birth, missed my 30th birthday and many other things over the last 8.5 years.

We got to see places we never would have and met some amazing people over the years.

We made it. Now, on to the next chapter…National Guard life, here we come 😀

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AHRN Giveaways And Win A $50 giftcard to MilitaryLuggage.com

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AHRN (Automated Home Referral Network) is a fantastic resource for looking for a new rental home at your next duty station. We used it when we were moving to Fort Campbell. They make it easy to search for rentals and tell you how much you will expect to have to pay for rent.

I am excited to share that in celebration of turning 10 years old, they will be giving away some amazing prizes!

10-Year-Promo-Email

 

You can win vacation resort certificates, gift cards, move credit and Military luggage!

The promotion ends on June 27th so make sure you make you way over to AHRN to enter 🙂

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You can also enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Militaryluggage.com right here on my blog. Just enter the Rafflecopter below 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Taking A Child With Autism To Church

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Taking A Child With Autism To Church

Taking a child with Autism to church can be a different type of struggle.

Finding a good church home can be difficult for anyone. Add in a child that doesn’t always do or act the way everyone else does makes it even more complicated.

We have been trying to find that mix between going to a church we believe in, with people who are loving and welcoming, where our kids can learn about God and Jesus. We have attended great churches where we just didn’t agree with the theology as much as we would have wanted to. We have gone to great churches where the pastor was amazing but it just didn’t work for our kids. Especially our child with Autism .

Last June, with my husband deployed, I took a little break from church. I didn’t know which church to go to and I didn’t have it in me to look for a new one. However, a few months of not going to church really got to me. I missed it. I decided to try a church I had heard about before. I was told they were really good with special needs kids. I hadn’t tried it before because it is about 20 minutes from our house. I know that is not too far but I really liked the idea of being really close to church.

I took my boys there and ended up really loving it. The people were so friendly and helpful. The pastor was very nice and I loved the service. I joined a Sunday school class and now nine months later we finally have found our home church. That being said, sometimes it is hard to go on Sunday morning.

My child with Autism just finished the 1st grade and was in a Sunday school class with 1st and 2nd graders. His teacher is really amazing. She has a family member with Asperger’s and she totally gets my son. This made me feel so comfortable. When he had a rough morning, she seemed to know what to do to help him. Other people at the church have been very helpful and understanding too. It really has worked out well for us.

Still, I feel sad sometimes that church is so challenging.

It is another place we go where it can be very stressful for my son. I know that in the end it will be worth it and he will get a lot better about it in the years to come. I want my children to have what I had. A strong church background. I want them to know the Bible stories, experience church camp and all of that. If they decide church is not for them as an adult, at least I know I gave them that background.

Little things like the church Easter egg hunt or a longer than normal service can make for a frustrating day. for a child with Autism. Even things you wouldn’t even think would set him off, sometimes do.

Some mornings I just can’t do it. I want to stay home and relax and not have to worry about it for that week. I know church is important though so we do try to go almost every Sunday.

A couple of months ago I met a couple at church with a son with Asperger’s who is about 21. They talked to us about some of the struggles they had when their son was our son’s age. That really helped. It made me think about how as the years go by he will be able to understand how to act a little better. And that when he is 21, he hopefully will be able to have a job, go to college and be an independent young man. Finding other parents with a child with Autism can be very helpful.

I am thankful we finally found a church that really works for us and our family. I am so thankful that it is filled with people who are willing to be patient and help my son when he needs it. Even if the time at church is challenging, I am so glad we have finally found a church home.

If you have a child with Autism or another special needs kid, have you found church challenging?

 

 

Thoughts On My Last Week As An Active Duty Army Spouse

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Eight days. That is all we have left as an active duty family. The day after we will officially be a National Guard family. Talk about a change.

It seems weird. We have been waiting for this day for a while now and here it is just a week away.

I think back on the last 8.5 years and everything we have been through.

20120413-IMG_7430We started this journey in November 2005 when I dropped Ben off at the recruiting office in Lexington, Kentucky. We had one little 13 month old boy and no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It seems so strange thinking about life back then. We had been married a little over three years at that time and we knew life was going to seriously change. We were just not sure how.

We knew that it would take a while for Daniel and I to join Ben in Germany. We had no idea it would take 4.5 months and too many tears to get over there. Joining the Military right before Thanksgiving is not the best plan.

Once we made it over there, we were in for quite the adventure. Not only did we have to figure out what Military life was like (it was all new to me) but we had to figure out how to live in Germany. On top of all that I was pregnant.

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Within a few months of getting to Germany we were getting ready to say goodbye to Ben for his first deployment. We assumed it would be a year. In the end it was 15 months and very difficult for us. Luckily there was an amazing support system of Military spouses and somehow we made it through. During those 15 months I really learned what it meant to be an Army wife. I knew how hard it was to be away from my husband. I knew how hard it was to be the only parent in the house. I gave birth without my husband next to me and somehow figured out how to be Mom and Dad to two very small children for a very long time.

It was then I thought things would get easier. That deployments would be easier. That because I made it through that, I could make it through anything. In some ways this is very true. Had I started my life as an Army wife with a more simple and shorter deployment, would I have had the strength to get through others? It is hard to say. It is hard to know if that 15 month deployment wore me down too much or made me stronger. I might not ever know.

After that deployment we ended up moving from Schweinfurt to Graf in Germany. That was such a nice change. It was then I learned that not all Military housing is the same. He didn’t change rank, we just moved and they totally upgraded us. We went from a 3rd floor stairwell apartment into a brand new 4 bedroom duplex. And even though it was a duplex, it didn’t feel like it. We hardly heard our neighbors.

At pretty much the 365 day mark after Ben got back from his deployment, he left again. He was going to Iraq a second time. This deployment ended up being 11 months. It also made it so we had to stay in Germany a little longer. This was frustrating because as amazing as Germany was, we were ready to go back to the US.

Once he was home we went on one final trip. A Mediterranean Cruise. We never would have been able to go on this trip and I am so glad we did it. We got to see 7 countries on this trip too.

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We moved back to the US in March of 2010 heading straight to Ft. Campbell on the KY/TN border. We decided we did not want to live on post here and found a rental. Ben got into his unit and I got pregnant with our 3rd child. Then we heard the news that his unit would be deploying at the end of that summer. Since he had just returned in November, he was able to stay back until at least then. I was due December 1st and it kept going back and forth as far as when he would leave. He ended up not going anywhere until February which gave us 15 months in between deployments.

When he returned from that 5.5 month deployment, we bought a house in Clarksville, Tennessee. At the time we didn’t know what our future would be with the Military but we knew we would be here until 2014 and we knew there was a good chance we could stay longer than that. Deciding whether to buy a house when you are in the Military can be a hard choice but we decided it was the best one for us.

It was in the time between our 3rd deployment and 4th that we decided it was time for Active Duty Army life to end for us. There were several different reasons for this. I honestly didn’t think we would have a 4th deployment. It kept going back and forth. At one point he was pulled from the list because he was getting out. Then, with two weeks to go, he was told he was deploying after all.

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This crushed me. I am not sure if it was because I thought we were done with deployments, if I had just done too much in too short amount of time or if I was just tired with everything and it was the last thing I wanted to deal with. I don’t know but that 4th deployment was my hardest. Don’t get me wrong, they were all hard but the last one was pretty brutal on me emotionally.

Somehow time passed and we got through it. He came home a week before Christmas.

Since then we have been preparing for ETSing from the Army. He isn’t retiring. He isn’t getting medically discharged, he is just ETSing.

As I look at the past and the future, I know the last 8.5 years have changed me in a lot of ways. Somethings are easier for me to deal with and others are harder.

I am not sure what the National Guard life will be like. I am going into it without that many expectations. It will be so different from what we have been through the last 8.5 years but at the same time we will still be apart of the Army family. It will be a change and hopefully for the better.

 

 

 

Life As A Special Needs Mom

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In 2007, my almost three-year old boy was diagnosed with a developmental delay. We first realized something was going on when by 2.5 he was not saying a whole lot. He could say a handful of word such as “mama” or “ball”but he was not talking like the other 2.5 year olds we knew.

Life As A Special Needs MomI don’t remember being terribly upset about this. I knew that if we knew what was wrong it would be a lot easier to get him help. He started a developmental preschool right away. At age 5.5 when we moved to Tennessee he started extra speech therapy and started in a special needs Kindergarten class. The next year he repeated Kindergarten in a regular classroom.

He is now  9.5 and only needs a little bit of speech help at school. He dropped the DD label last April. They told us in 2007 that around 2nd grade he would probably be caught up. That is pretty much true. While he is by no means a “mature” 9.5 year old, he is right where he needs to be school wise. His special needs were very hard from ages 2.5-around 6. I remember trying to talk to my 5.5 year old boy about his day and he couldn’t have a conversation with me. It broke my heart, it really did. But now at 9.5, we can talk about most things. I will never forget those years.

I have friends whose children are very young who are just starting the speech process. I am glad that I can be there to support them as we have already gone through what they are about to. To let them know that their own child is going to be just fine.

In 2012, his brother who was 5 at the time, was diagnosed with Asperger’s. This was going to be a whole different special needs ball game. You don’t grow out of Asperger’s like you do a Developmental Delay. It is who my son is. Luckily we were able to start therapy with him right away.

It’s been two years and we have had so many ups and downs. He just finished the 1st grade and academically he is at the top of his class. Socially andbehaviorallywe have a long way to go. I have heard from Moms with kids with Asperger’s that it will get better. That he will figure out how to act, how to control his anger, that he won’t always expect to always get his own way. Some days it seems like we will never get there. I also have to remind myself that things are different for our little family. In some ways we can make life normal, in others we have to adjust a little bit.

That is one of the hardest parts about being a special needs parent. 

Being able to accept that the vision you had for your family, is not going to be your reality.

And it might be farther off that you could have ever dreamed. That situations you thought would be easy, become a big challenge. That you cry more than you thought you might. That some days you question what you did wrong to cause it, even if it had nothing to do with you. You can’t help it. Your mind just keeps turning, trying to make peace with it all.

And I remember that I am really not alone in all this. There are others going through what we go through, there are others that have it much worse. At the end of the day, I look at my little family and feel in my heart that everything is the way it is supposed to be. That being a special needs mom is just who I am. That some days it will be hard and others will be a little easier. That really, there is no such thing as normal. It is just a setting on the dryer 😉

 

Memorial Day When You Are a Military Spouse

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Memorial Day When You Are a Military Spouse

Today is Memorial Day

A day when most Americans remember those who have lost their lives to war. A day when most Americans have a day off, go to a parade and bbq. This is just what we do on this day.

But for the Military community, Memorial day is a little different. We do usually have the day off, go to a parade and bbq. But we also remember those who have lost their lives. But for each of us, it gets a little more personal. Each of us knows a Gold Star family. I know of four of them personally. Four friends who became widows during our past deployments.

They are who I think about on this day.

  • I think about how we all said goodbye to our husbands together, yet some did not return.
  • I think about my husband telling a fellow soldier what it was like to be a Dad, only to have that soldier lose his life the very next day. His wife was pregnant with their first baby.
  • I think about reading that email about the soldier who died and realizing I knew that last name. It belonged to a friend of mine.
  • I think about hearing my husband talk about his buddy. How they had a lot in common. How he was a family guy too. And then receiving a phone call while I was in Vienna of all places, that he had also been killed in action.
  • I think about the fence outside the elementary school in Germany with the photos of those who we had lost during that long 15 month deployment.
  • I think about the little children that will never know their own fathers because they died before they were old enough to be able to remember them.
  • I think about the older children that still feel the loss so greatly years later.
  • I think about the Moms sending their children off to war only to get the knock on the door that they were not coming home.
  • I think about the end of a Memorial service when they call for the soldier and he does not answer. I think about how heartbreaking that really is.
  • I think about the table that sits empty at every Military Ball.

This is what I think about on Memorial Day. I can’t help it. As a Military spouse, I have experienced all of this. It is real. Not just something that happened 50 years ago.

So when you are enjoying your day off and having a bbq, please remember the Gold Star families who are missing someone. Remember what they have been through and what they have given up. Say a prayer and remember that freedom is just not free. It always comes with a cost.

 

Full Measures by Rebecca Yarros Book Review

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FullMeasures_500I get excited when I hear about Military Spouses that write their own books. I am a big reader and I love lots of different types of fiction. I have been following Rebecca Yarros’ blog, The Only Girl Amoung Boys for a while now. When she asked if I wanted to read an advanced company of her new book, Full Measures, I was very excited to say yes.

 

Full Measures is considered an NA book which I have learned means “New Adult” which are books written about young 20-somethings that are trying to figure out how to be an adult. No longer a teen but not quite into full adulthood yet.

She knew. That’s why Mom hadn’t opened the door. She knew he was dead.

Twenty years as an army brat and Ember Howard knew, too. The soldiers at the door meant her dad was never coming home. What she didn’t know was how she would find the strength to singlehandedly care for her crumbling family when her mom falls apart.

Then Josh Walker enters her life. Hockey star, her new next-door neighbor, and not to mention the most delicious hands that insist on saving her over and over again. He has a way of erasing the pain with a single look, a single touch. As much as she wants to turn off her feelings and endure the heartache on her own, she can’t deny their intense attraction.

Until Josh’s secret shatters their world. And Ember must decide if he’s worth the risk that comes with loving a man who could strip her bare.

 

Now I will say that the book does deal with some sensitive topics. The story starts out with the death of Ember’s father who was killed in action. I know that can be hard for some in the Military community to read about it. It is also has some mature scenes in it.

I thought this was a great read! Even though it dealt with a sad situation, the book was about a girl trying to figure out how to get life back to where she could really live it. The relationship between Ember and Josh is an interesting one. There were tears, laughs and lots of not wanting to put the book down. I love it when that happens with a book.

I can’t wait to read Rebecca’s next one 🙂

You can purchase the book on Amazon for just $.99 for your Kindle. Go check it out 🙂

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned below for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”