Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Military Life

Fort Hood, Texas

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I wanted to have some guest posts about different duty stations.  The first one is by Daneilia who is stationed at Ft. Hood with her family.  She blogs at Anchors Away.  She is about to join the Military herself 🙂  If you would like to do a guest post about where you live, please send me an email at soldierswifecrazylife@gmail.com.  I would love to have you 🙂

Living at Fort Hood Texas

Hi, everyone! I’m Daneilia, my family and I are currently stationed at Fort Hood and if you didn’t know it is the largest Military installation in the United States. I think its just one of those things that make it really neat and interesting. At the gates when they say “Welcome To The Great Place”, it is true at least I think so. There are an unlimited amount of resources at this base for Military families. When I say unlimited, I mean it. I had no idea about support groups for Autism, Cancer, Diabetes, and so on until I arrived here. There are so many resources I know about and am still learning about many more. There are an extreme amount of housing sections, there are a couple of Commissaries and PXs’. Also, Fort Hood has so many resources for Religions, Finance, Parenting (there are classes and groups), any kind of assistance you can think of. Of course, many duty stations have this, but being the largest installation to thousands of Soldiers and families they have to provide much more.

Every year Fort Hood hosts a couple of handfuls of free events for Military families. Every now and again you’ll catch Sesame Street performing because of our wonderful USO on post. Sesame Street works in coordination with the USO on providing things for the Military Children. Ah-MAZ-ing right?! The United Service Organization provides Soldiers and families with so much. Soldiers always have access to free internet and computer services as well as other services. Not only do they work with Sesame Street but they work with Fort Hood and famous music artists to come and do performances at large events on base.

Do you like to exercise? Well you’ll never have to go off post for a gym and if you like to Run 5ks or 10ks they have a 5k every month and every so often host a 10k as well. They have more than a handful of gyms on post. If you need childcare some of them provide it. But there are plenty of Child Care buildings if you can’t get your child in the ones at the gym. All child care is really great and I can vouch for that because I’ve used plenty of the child care resources with my daughter. They don’t just watch them and let them play. The providers do crafts as well as other fun things too. If your child is of a certain age they are eligible to attend Head Start on post which is a preschool for your little ones. If you are unable to get your child to the day care on post you can go off post and there is a program called NACCRRA which you may be eligible for too. It would help with the costs.

If you think you are missing out on something don’t be afraid to ask people for help. There will always be one good person who will give you the ins and outs.

I think maybe one of the frustrating things about being at this post here is the City of Killeen. Its a very small town and traffic is awful. But the good part is Austin is only an hour out. There are outlets in Georgetown which is right before Austin. There are fun parks and museums for older kids. There is the Austin Children’s Museum which is pretty fun for little ones. But if you want to get farther out Dallas/Fort Worth area is about 2 1/2 – 3 hours out and there is a Six Flags up there. Then down South you have San Antonio and the Alamo and all other sorts of fun things to do. There is good and bad wherever you go so don’t be discouraged.

I’m hoping that some of this information can assist you as you make your journey here or if you are already here. I’ve mentioned some resources below.

Daneilia
Anchors Away

Resources
Hood MWR
U.S. Army Fort Hood

Fort Hood Community Resources
Fort Hood Area Resources
Post with the Most: Fort Hood, TX | Army Wife Network

Facebook Resources:
Fort Hood Area Events
Fort Hood Army Wives
Fort Hood MOPS [Mothers of Preschoolers)
Fort Hood MWR
Fort Hood Living

Ft. Campbell Air Assault Graduation

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I was SO happy and proud that Ben graduated from Air Assault school on Friday! I always say I am never going to cry but when I hear a bunch of Soldiers sing the Army song I always tear up…

“Then it’s hi! hi! hey!
The Army’s on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong;
For where’er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.”

 

Ft. Campbell Air Assault

 

Ft. Campbell Air Assault

 

Ft. Campbell Air Assault

 

Ft. Campbell Air Assault

 

Ft. Campbell Air Assault

 

Army Wives Season 6 Episode 6 Review

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Did you get a chance to watch Army Wives Season 6 Episode 6 yet? You can watch online at Mylifetime.com. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t read any further. I am going to be talking about it and don’t want to spoil it for you!

Army Wives Season 6

 

First of all, what do you all think of Roxy as FRG leader? I think she will be good at it. Not sure how I feel about the dress code thing. I get wanting people to dress nice and not trashy but I really didn’t think Roxy dressed too trashy. We were talking about FRGs and dress codes on my Facebook page and a few of us thought that if FRGs had dress codes they might turn more people away. Since most FRGs are hurting for more people this wouldn’t be a good thing. On the other hand I don’t think I have seen too much inappropriate dress at FRG meetings in real life so maybe it isn’t even a huge problem to begin with?

David and his HIV. What an emotional part of the episode. I felt for both sides. In the end though, after looking at the facts they presented it seems that David is safe to be around. I like how Roland brought up the safety of his own daughter too.

I really liked the scene between Roxy and the new girl. They were able to connect a little bit. I think there are probably a lot of Army Wives or Military Wives who are newly married, now in a new state, far from what is normal to them. It can be really difficult to get use to everything. Hopefully she found a friend in Roxy.

What did you think of the episode? I miss Pamela. I miss her personality. It just added something extra to the show.

Army Wives Season 6

Army Wives Season 6, Episode 4 Recap

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Are you caught up on Army Wives? If not there are a few ways to catch up. If you just need to watch episodes from season 6 you can do that by going to Mylifetime.com. If you need to start for the beginning or catch up with another season you should be able to do that on Netflix.

I will be talking about Army Wives Season 6 Episode 4 the rest of this post so if you haven’t watched it yet, don’t read anymore. I wouldn’t want to ruin anything for you.

Army Wives

 

What did you all this of last weeks episode? I really thought that the German wife was one big stereotype. I have met so many wives of soldiers that were German and not one of them reminded me of her. A German friend of mine saw that episode and got really frustrated over it. It just feels like they could have introduced her character in a different way.

The concert seemed to go well although Claudia Joy seems to be having some issues with Jackie. But after talking with the lady in DC I could see why she would be uncomfortable around her. I know if I was CJ I would be feeling so much pressure and would feel really uncomfortable around Jackie all the time.

Army Wives

Roland is going to be helping teen boys which is great but he sure didn’t want to do that at first. I guess that is understandable being that he would have to add something else to his schedule. I didn’t like the comment that was made about how the Fathers were gone a lot so it was like they were growing up essentially without Fathers. Maybe I just understood it wrong but it just didn’t sit well with me. Yes Military dads are gone a lot but they are still there and it is not the same as not having a Father.

I am hoping that they will be adding a new wife to the mix soon. I would love to see a lower enlisted family join the mix. There are a lot of lower enlisted families in the Military and it would be great to see a family portraying that. When I first started watching the show I thought that would be Trevor and Roxy. Here was a family with two little boys just like us. But I feel like they have gotten away from that.

Army Wives

What did you all think?

Here is the Army Wives preview for Episode 5!

Watching tonight on Lifetime 9/8c 🙂

I Made Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

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I am addicted to Lofthouse  Sugar cookies.  This is why I try not to buy them because then I want to eat every single one of them!  I came across this on Pinterest…

 

This past weekend I decided to make my own!  I used the receipe from Authentic Suburban Gourmet and made some in pink, blue and green.

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

Making the frosting…

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

Frosting…

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

The cookies…

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

Blue ones 🙂

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

Would you like a cookie?

Now I thought the cookies themselves tasted like the store bought ones but the frosting was a little different.

Still a really yummy cookie but not the exact taste of the ones you can buy in the store.

Favorite Military Homecoming Outfits

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Favorite Military Homecoming Outfits

So…who has trouble coming up with the right homecoming outfit?  I always do!  I want to look pretty and cute but never really know the best way to do that. A lot of wives spend hours if not days searching for the perfect outfit. The secret is, it really doesn’t matter what you wear because your husband will be so happy to see you and you will be so happy to see him. However, spending the time to find the outfit passes deployment days and getting ready for the event passes the hours right before you get to go pick them up.

Here are some ideas 🙂

 

I also have a board on Pinterest all about this! You can visit and see some great ideas of outfits you might like. Some will be for you, others for your child. Some are very fancy and others are more casual. Go with your own style, what you will feel comfortable with and have fun with it 🙂

Follow Julie Provost’s board Military Homecoming Outfits on Pinterest.

Army Wives Season 6 Episode 3 Recap

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Are you all caught up on Army Wives? If you are not there are a few ways to catch up. If you just need to watch episodes from season 6 you can do that by going to Mylifetime.com.  If you need to start for the beginning or catch up with another season you should be able to do that on Netflix.

I will be talking about Army Wives Season 6 Episode 3 the rest of this post so if you haven’t watched it yet, don’t read anymore 😉

 

 

Army Wives Season 6

 

First of all I am so very glad that Pamela told Roxy that she needed to be with her husband.  It was getting a little ridiculous with Roxy getting a bigger place so Pamela could stay with them.  I was wondering how long that was going to go on for.  That being said it was pretty sad to see Pamela leave.  I hate saying goodbye to people and have done it many times so I knew what that felt like.  I cried a few tears during those scenes.  Partly because I had been through it before and partly because Pamela was leaving the show.  I don’t know many details but the actress that plays her, Brigid Brannagh is going to be on a new show called Gilded Lilys.  So I am guessing that is why Pamela is leaving the show.  Either that or because Chase is no longer on the show it made sense to have her go to.

As for Roxy, I was irritated that she name dropped at the housing office.  She should know after being an Army Wife for 6 years now that you just don’t do that.  Shame on her!

As for the drama with the new lady, Jackie.  Part of me felt like Claudia Joy was just irritated over nothing but since it is a drama on TV we know there is going to be trouble with her.

Army Wives Season 6

As for the Roland and David story line, it was sweet to see David having fun but I guess there is going to be drama with the head of the center.

So what did you all think?

 

Here is the preview for tomorrow night!


 

Too Much Deployment

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Yellow Ribbons

I am sure by now you have heard about what happened in Afghanistan. An Army staff sergeant shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children 🙁

There are a lot of reasons why people think this happened. Maybe he had been deployed too much, maybe he was having too many personal problems, maybe he just went crazy or maybe he just did something awful.

One of the first things I thought when I heard about this is that he probably had been deployed too much and for too long.

And he isn’t the only person to be in that position. There are a lot of Military men and women that have simply spent too much time over there. They are not given enough time at home. Not everyone can handle that although some can. What should the Military do about it?

Back in 2007, we were a part of a deployment extension. Our 9-month deployment got pushed to 12 months and then to 15. I still remember sitting with some ladies right after the news hit. We were in shock. We could not believe that our husbands were going to be deployed that long. Some friends of mine got pregnant on R&R and assumed that their husbands would be there for the birth. Not only did the husbands miss the births but they came home to 2-month-olds. My middle son was born in the middle of this deployment. Ben came home from R&R when he was 3 days old and said goodbye to him when he was about 2.5 weeks old. He didn’t see him again until he was 11 months old. I knew of other people that went over a year between R&R and homecoming. And then there is what happened up in Alaska. Some of the Soldiers had just come home, others about to leave for home and some still in Iraq.  All to be told that they were to spend four more months in Iraq.

The thing about this is that even though this was in 2007 and even though Ben has been deployed two more times since then, that 15-month deployment still stings. That was just too long of a time to have a husband deployed. Too long to have him in a war zone without any break. It was hard to them, especially when they hit the year point. They should have been getting ready to go home but they still had a few more months to go.

HomecomingI pray so hard that we never have to go through something like that again. When your husband joins the Military, you know they will be gone but you are still human and super long deployments just break you.

And now, it is 2012 and I think, “How did I get through that?  How did I go so long without my husband?”  I guess somehow you just get through things because you have to.

When I hear stories like the one up above I want to ask the Military to please make things a little easier for everyone. Please try harder to give people longer periods of time at home. Try your best to avoid sending anyone there over a year. And please, help those that are having trouble after deployments heal before they have to go back for another tour. I hope that is not asking too much.