Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

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My Grown Up Christmas List

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My Grown Up Christmas List

My Grown Up Christmas List

I have always been a fan of Amy Grant’s Holiday albums. We used to have them on cassette tape, then CD and now I pull them up online. One of the songs on one of her albums is, “Grown Up Christmas List.” It’s a song about being an adult, no longer being a kid and having a different type of Christmas list.

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies

Well, I’m all grown-up now
And still need help somehow.
I’m not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here’s my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree
Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth?
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, oh
This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only life long wish
This is my grown-up Christmas list

It’s a song that makes you stop and think. Sure, I would LOVE a new camera lens, a trip to Hawaii and some new shoes, but if I really think about it, my list looks a little different. This would be my grownup Christmas list…

Grown up Christmas List

  • As much as I would love that all war would stop and no one would ever be deployed again, I know that isn’t even close to being realistic. So I would ask for this. I would hope that those that do get sent to war are ready, that those that are war-weary would get a break and that those going through a deployment in the new year would be comforted and would have the strength to make it through.
  • For financial security. That we would be able to pay off our debt, that we can just have enough. Not too much, not too little. Just enough. That we both can have jobs that will be fulfilling and yet can allow us to be financially secure and provide a good life for our boys.
  • That someday, we can live by family again. Right now that doesn’t even seem possible. It just seems like it won’t ever happen. I just hope it does someday. Even if we have to wait a few more years.
  • That racism wouldn’t be an issue anymore. It hurts my heart to see people being treated badly because of their race. I know we have come a long way in the last 100 years but we sill have a long way to go.
  • That there would be respect for all religions. Our country is made up of so many different belief systems and they need to be respected. If we want the freedom to practice our own religion in the way we see fit, we need to allow other people to do the same.
  • For good friends. I feel lucky because I do have a lot of really good friends but most of them live far away, some are moving away soon and it is always nice to have a good group of girlfriends to depend on, especially in the Military community.
  • That we can help my son with Asperger’s be able to figure it all out. He has come SO far in the last year but there are still a lot of things to work on. I love watching him “get” things. To see that he is understanding why school is important or why you should do certain things is a great feeling. What comes naturally to most people has to be taught to him which is hard but it is great when I see it clicking and see him understanding it more and more.

What about you? What would you put on your grownup Christmas list?

Navy Seal Noel Book Review by Liz Johnson

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Navy Seal Noel

 

A few years ago I was able to read the book A Promise to Protect by Liz Johnson. I enjoyed that book and was excited to hear about her latest, Navy Seal Noel.

A LETHAL REUNION

Abducted by a drug cartel, scientist Jessalynn McCoy’s orders are simple—release a deadly toxin, or be killed. Trapped with no options, she’s desperate for help…she just never expected it from Will Gumble. The boy who let her down years ago is now a navy SEAL. She trusts his skills, his experience. Yet trusting him is a struggle. Will’s Christmas wish is to heal their damaged relationship and get them to safety. But time is running out and the danger is rising. Any mistake could mean the difference between spending the holidays together or apart forever.

Excerpt:

          “Jess, calm down. I won’t hurt you.” The words made no sense to her muddled brain, but they continued, quiet and assured. “Don’t scream. It’s all right. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

          It wasn’t the words that made her sink into him, but the voice that, even after all this time, she’d recognize anywhere. Her eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on her that afternoon. Will Gumble was in this compound. In her very room.

          “I thought I saw you—I thought that was you, but…” Her words were little more than a whisper despite his assurance that it was safe to speak. Her stomach pitched, fear and relief mingling with alarm and the echo of a remembered betrayal. But dealing with her emotions would have to wait until she felt steadier on her feet. Exhaustion and the ebbing of her fight-or-flight adrenaline rush had left her legs like jelly. She leaned into Will. He held out his arms, as though he knew just what she needed. As though he was still someone who cared about taking care of her, being there for her.

          But she didn’t want him holding her. She wanted answers. She wanted to understand what on earth was happening. Most of all, she wanted to silence the little voice in her head that kept saying Will’s appearance was simply a dream or hallucination.

          Yanking herself upright at the last possible moment, she shoved his chest with both hands. “You scared me to death! Why did you break into my room? What are you doing here?”

          His lopsided grin had always started with a little quirk to the left before spreading across his mouth. And that hadn’t changed, even as he looked down at the tiny black-and-white-checkered floor tiles.

          He scraped his fingers over the black whiskers covering his chin. “Your dad sent me.”

          “My dad?”

          “Well, I couldn’t say no to my new XO, could I?”

          “So you’re still in the navy?” Oh, she sounded bitter—so much more bitter than she wanted to. Why couldn’t her words be flippant and nonchalant, as if it didn’t really matter that she no longer knew even the most basic things about him? He’d popped back into her life, and she didn’t want it to matter.

          But it did.

          Maybe because of the extreme situation.

          Sure. She’d just keep telling herself that.

          His smile flickered for a moment before he nodded slowly. “I am.”

          Forcing a chuckle, she said, “I figured when my dad realized I was missing, he’d send a SEAL team to bring me home.”

          “Not a full team—he just sent one.”

My thoughts: I am a big fan of books that are in a series. Sometimes that means that each book is about the same people and other times it means that the book includes the same people but changes who the main story is about. This is the case with the Men of Valor series in which Navy Seal Noel is book three. In previous books we got to hear the stories of Ashley and Matt and then Staci and Tristan. This one is about Jess and Will whom we have seen bits of before. I loved the fact that Jess was a scientist and that they came from San Diego. I wasn’t sure how this story was going to turn out. I knew somehow Will would save Jess but it was exciting waiting to find out how that was going to happen. If you like romantic suspense, you will like this book.

About the author:

unnamed (1)By day Liz Johnson is a marketing manager for a Christian publisher. She finds time to write late at night and is a two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. Liz makes her home in Nashville, TN, where she enjoys theater, exploring local music, and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her nieces and nephews. She loves stories of true love with happy endings and shares about her adventures in writing at Facebook.com/LizJohnsonBooks and Twitter.com/LizJohnsonBooks.

 

 

Links to retailers carrying the book:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

CBD

Book Depository

 

I was provided a free copy of the book for review.

5 Reasons Why E-Readers Are Better Than Traditional Books

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This post does contain affiliate links. 

I bought my first E-reader in 2010 and I fell in love with it. I am one of those people who is always reading a lot of books at once. It is a pain to carry them everywhere so the Kindle made so much sense.

Years later I still love my Kindle but have recently tried to read more traditional books as well. I had missed them.

I think there are benefits to both and I talked about why traditional books are better than E-readers in my latest post. This post is about why E-Readers are best and why I like them so much.

I read on a Kindle Paperwhite and I know some can read their e-books on an ipad or other type of tablet or phone, I only prefer the E-ink ones. They are closer to reading like a traditional book and don’t hurt my eyes.

1) The space factor. I love my books and filling bookshelves but there is only so much space. I like that I can carry so many books in one place. This is especially good for me as I tend to jump from book to book until one of them really draws me in. It is also super handy for travel because I don’t have to worry about packing too many books which I always used to do in the past.

2) You can get books instantly. When I have been in the middle of a book series and end one of the books at 11pm on a Friday night, I can get the next book right away if I want to. No waiting until I can get to the store. It is so nice. It was one of the things that drew me to E-readers in the first place.

3) I don’t have to remember to return library books. When you borrow e-books from the library, they expire and that is how you return them. If our town had more libraries, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal for me but we only have one and it is on the other side of town. And I have it set up that if I am on a waiting list and the book becomes available, it automatically goes to my account.

4) Reading at the gym. I always bring my Kindle with me because it is so much easier to read that way then a more traditional book. I am sure there are other places where this is true too. It is nice because reading makes my workout time go by a little bit faster.

5) I can easily read at night. Before I got the Paperwhite I bought a cool little light that attached to my Kindle. Now with the one I have I can read in the dark without any issue. This is one of my favorite features because I like to read in bed at night and I don’t want to keep my husband awake when I do it. I also like knowing how much time I have left in a chapter. I am not sure why, but it is a cool feature that I just don’t have with a traditional book.

 

What about how? How do you like to get your reading done?

 

7-Eleven Veterans Franchise Contest

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of 7-Eleven Franchising for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

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As a Military spouse, I am excited to share with you a new contest just for veterans. You can win the chance to have your own 7-Eleven Franchise! This is such an exciting promotion open to all U.S. veterans.

A Veteran is anyone who has served in the military and veterans know what it is like to serve their country. They also work hard to create a life for themselves after they are out of the military. Many go on to become business owners taking the skills they have learned in the military and applying them in their new workplace.

7-Eleven is a company that supports veterans because the President and CEO, Joe DePinto, is also a military veteran. He understands what it is like to be in the military and then attempt to find your way afterwards.

As a military spouse, I am thankful that there are companies out there that do support veterans. My husband served in the active duty Army for 10 years and is now in the National Guard. Being deployed, going through multiple PCS moves and learning to navigate how the military works can all be very stressful. It is great to see people giving back to those who have lived the military life.

As our own family has made the transition out of active duty life, we know how nice it is to have a plan. We have stressed about what my husband will do during his years after the military. This opportunity can help a veteran achieve their after-military goals and allow them to have a good life while letting them use the skills they have learned in the past during their time in the service.

7-Eleven makes a great partner for veterans as it was voted Best for Veterans Franchise. In the past four years, 203, 890 new veterans and military spouses have started franchising careers and 5,608 vets have become franchise owners. In the past year alone, 50,000+ vets have found employment in the franchise industry.

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Want to know more about what it means to have a Franchise?

  • It’s turnkey – 7-Eleven will provide the store, land and equipment
  • A gross profit split means they’re invested in your success
  • You get extensive training support from franchise pros
  • Start-up is fast (3-6 months) and 7-Eleven is with you every step of the way

Sound good to you?

This is how the contest will work…

  1. Enter – fill out the form on the website to enter.
  2. Apply – apply through January 25, 2015.
  3. Finalists announced – top finalists will be announced in March 2015.
  4. Make a video – each finalist will create an impressive video explaining why he or she should be the winner.
  5. Videos are posted to Facebook – all finalist videos will be posted to the 7-Eleven Franchising Facebook page.
  6. America votes – the top three are flown to Dallas for a final interview.
  7. We have a winner! – the 7-Eleven franchise winner is announced April 13, 2015.

Remember, if you are a U.S. Veteran, you have a chance to win this. Just head to the OPERATION: TAKE COMMAND website to enter 🙂 Good luck!!!

Visit Sponsor's Site

5 Reasons Why Traditional Books Are Better Than E-Readers

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E-readersThis post does contain affiliate links. 

In case you are new here, I love books, I love to read and I always have. In 2010 I got my first Kindle and I fell in love with it. I loved that I could have so many books all in one place. Over the years I have upgraded and have been using the Kindle Paperwhite for almost a few years now. I love that thing I really do. I get books from the local library and every once in a while I might buy one if the price is right.

That being said, there is something about a traditional book that you just can’t get with a Kindle. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I decide I wanted to go back to reading more traditional books. I still have my Kindle, I will still read on it but I am going to try hard to pick up more traditional books because, I have missed them.

Here are 5 reasons why traditional books are better than E-Readers. And before you call me an E-book hater, I am not. I actually plan to write a post about why they are better than traditional books. I love both equally but for different reasons.

1) The feel. There is just something about holding a book in your hand you don’t get with a Kindle. Maybe it is the thickness or just the way it sits. It is just nice to hold a real book in your hand.

2) The smell. Kindles don’t smell like old books. That smell. The one you encounter in a used book store. The one you encounter in a regular book store. There is nothing like it. It is like roses to a book-worm like me.

3) Thrift stores and garage sales. One thing I loved to do in my pre-Kindle days was look for used books at thrift stores and garage sales. Finding a book for a quarter or even just a couple of bucks was exciting. Especially if it was one on my to-read list. I really started to miss that when I was reading almost everything on the Kindle.

4) The covers. I picked up Beautiful Ruins this summer because of the cover. I just had to have it. I couldn’t help it. It turned out to be a great book too. I like walking around at bookstores and looking into different books because of their covers. Although you can pick out some pretty neat Kindle covers, it just isn’t the same.

5) Resale value. I used to sell my used books all the time. I only kept the really good ones. You can’t do that with E-books. It is nice to get a little bit of money back for new books when you are done reading them. I would like to go back to that as I start reading and collecting more traditional books again.

What about you? What is your reading choice? Do you like both methods or are you firmly in one book camp over the other?

 

7 Reasons Why I Love Having Friends Whose Husbands Are In The Military

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Army Wife Friends

 

Friends!!! We all need them and it has been such a great thing to have been able to make friends with so many other Military wives over the years. They have helped me to see that I am not alone and that other wives have gone through similar situations over the years. They can be a huge support on a bad deployment day or a great way to get out and have some fun together without the kids. Thanks to Facebook I have been able to stay in touch with so many of them over the years.

Having other Military spouse friends are a huge benefit to Military life. This is why…

1) They understand what it is like to have a husband away for long periods of time. They get it. One to two days away is nothing. They understand what it is like to be the only adult in the house for a period of time.

2) They understand what it is like to be both mom and dad for long periods of time. They get the solo parenting and how hard it can be. It isn’t easy and it is nice to be able to vent to others about it that truly understand.

3) They get how the military is.  That sometimes what we think might happen will change at the last-minute and we have to be ok with that. That we can’t plan. That we have to wait and wait and wait.

4) When we are having bad days, they might be having good ones but can remember what the bad days are like and can encourage us. When it is reversed, we can step in and be the shoulder for them to cry on instead.

5) We can spend the holidays together if we are both going to be without our husbands.  We can make fun plans with our kids on the weekends when the rest of the world is having family time. This is great because it can be hard to be the only one without a spouse on the weekend or over the holidays. Knowing you can spend it with someone else can really make life a little bit easier.

6) We can vent about all the ways the army is annoying us and they get it and probably vented about those things as well. We can get annoyed that our husband is going to miss another birthday and they get it. We can get mad about housing and they have been there.

7) Because we move around a lot, there is always the chance of running into an old friend or a friend of a friend at any new place we might go to.  The Army world is small and the infantry world is even smaller. I love seeing new friends again and knowing that because we live by an Army post, there is always a chance that an old friend might move here someday too.

The Military spouse community truly is a sisterhood. From those you meet locally to the Military Spouse blogger community. We support each other and help each other make it through.

 

What would you add to this list?

Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

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Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Last week I decided to try Royal icing again to make Thanksgiving cookies to bring to my friend’s house. I had the turkey cookie cutter and also wanted to use my square one. I planned to make turkeys and the squares would say “give thanks.”

I started with a yummy cookie recipe. I hear that is really important for these types of cookies. I went with this one.

Sugar Cookies

 

It was then time to make the royal icing. I have worked with royal icing before and it seems to be something you have to work at. I understand the basics of it but then I make mistakes. I am going to keep trying because I want to get it right. I used this recipe and the Sweet Sugar Belle website because she explains it so well! Bake at 350 also has some good advice.

1) The first thing I did was make the batch of royal icing. I used my KitchenAid for this with the paddle attachment. You want stiff peaks and you don’t want the icing to be able to move very easily.

Making Royal Icing

 

2) I then decided to color some of it brown for the turkeys. The color turned out to be more of an orange color but that was okay. I kept it the consistency you need for piping. I wanted to outline the turkeys and the squares.

IMG_9709

 

piping

I used these bags and tips from Wilton.

 

piping outline

 

3) I then needed to make the icing the right consitancy for flooding. You do this by mixing in a little bit of water until it is the way that you want it to be. I was waiting until I stuck my spoon into it and the icing went back to where it was within a few seconds.  With flooding I use bottles you can get at a craft store. They work well and make it a lot easier to flood the cookies.  After I flooded the turkeys I wanted to do the same with the squares. I wanted white. This is where I messed up. I added too much water to the icing. I flooded it too much but didn’t realize that until it was too late.

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This is what happens when you do that. I also mixed a little of the thicker icing thinking that would help which is while it is a mix of the colors. If the icing is too watery, it will go over the edge like that. Luckily that didn’t happen to all the cookies.

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flooding royal icing cookies

 

Luckily I had enough cookies turn out. I tried to write on one of them but I goofed on that type of icing so I went with sprinkles. Sprinkles make everything better, I am sure. Plus, kids always love sprinkles.

Have you ever made cookies with royal icing? Any tips?