A couple of weeks ago we took the boys to the Bass Pro Shops in Nashville to see Santa. They also had crafts for the kids to do as well as a train and remote control cars. We waited a very long time to see Santa and ended up being the last family before he took his lunch break. But in the end it was a lot of fun and I know my 2 older boys really enjoyed themselves.
Have you been able to get out to see
Santa yet?
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This next guest poster is Tricia at This Happy Home! I first “met” Tricia on a yahoo mailing list years ago. I am still hoping we end up at the same post sometime in the future 🙂 She is an Army wife with 3 little kids stationed in Hawaii 🙂 Since they are getting ready to PCS stateside again she will be writing a few other posts on her blog about Hawaii as well.
Nearly three years after arriving in Hawaii as a disgruntled pregnant army wife who did not want to be here, I’m leaving, with two more kids than we arrived with, a person who is grateful for the experience, enjoyed her time…and wouldn’t fight coming back. Our duty time here has had some amazing highs (one and two) and some definite lows. I came with the attitude that this would be an experience unlike any we would have if we weren’t military, so I was going to take advantage of it.
Keiki should be seen and heard. Everywhere. From church services to high-end restaurnts, normal kid noises and behavior are expected and welcomed. Rare is the “evil eye” from someone when your adorable keiki peeps up in the middle of service to tell you he needs to visit the men’s room or has the wiggles at dinner. You’ll find that Hawaii is one of the most family-friendly places you can be stationed.
The kama’aina are amazing. I have never felt anything but welcomed by the locals. You’ll hear stories about how much the locals hate non-natives, particularly military, but I have never had a single occurrence. And I have spent quite a bit more time in the local communities than most military wives I know. They are friendly, warm, welcoming and helpful. They have a rich history in the islands and they love to share their history and culture. And food!
If you enjoy Asian food, you’re in luck! Hawaii is rich with cultures from all over Asia and the Pacific Islands and, with that, comes incredible foods. From hole-in-the-walls to chains like Zippy’s and L&L Drive In, you’ll never have to search hard for good food.
Where else can you be stationed and have the opportunity to be treated at a big pink hospital?! Tripler Army Medical Center is huge and, because it sits on the side of a mountain, it can easily be seen from many places. And the pink-ness of it makes me smile every time. Add in that I birthed both of my boys there and I have even more reason to smile at Tripler.
One of the greatest things about being here, I think, is the ability to easily travel to the other islands. Airfare is very cheap, with prices starting around $40 roundtrip, rental car deals can be found utilizing Priceline and many hotels offer military rates. In a matter of a couple of hours, you can drive to the airport, fly to your destination and be on an island far different from Oahu. Take advantage of this opportunity!! I’ve known several military wives who have vowed never to travel to the other islands…I can’t tell you how much they’re missing out on!
I’d gladly be stationed here again just went for the shave ice (call it shaved ice and they’ll know you aren’t local!)!! Our favorites are Waiola when we’re in town and Matsumoto’s when we’re on the North Shore.
Its Aloha Friday, No Work ‘Till Monday In addition to the incredibly catchy tune that you’ll hear all over the radio on Fridays, the aloha spirit comes out on Fridays. Everyone moves a little slower, is a little more friendly and spirits are up. I recently learned that Aloha Fridays were the inspiration behind “casual Fridays” you find on the mainland…and that Aloha Fridays were started to encourage wearing of Aloha shirts!
Need I go on?! 🙂 As much as I am not a beach lover, wow…we have some amazingly beautiful beaches!!
And beautiful beach sunsets!
With prices so much higher off base than on base, you’re “bound” to the bases for shopping. While shopping at Target and such is high, it is quite doable. Shopping for groceries? No way! Sale prices can often be decent but non-sale items have prices that are quite prohibitive for regular shopping.
Getting around can be highly irritating some days. Between the traffic at rush hours, the high number of cars on Oahu, the parking spaces made for tiny sedans (which are a rarity!) and the lack of signage (it’s not unusual to be looking for someplace and somehow stumble upon it…without ever having seen a sign for it anywhere).
If you want to eat ethnic food that is not Asian, good luck! Outside of a few restaurants, we’ve found very little good non-Asian/local ethnic food. Tex-Mex is especially hard to find. Pizza places that are not chains are also few in number. And delivery food? Even less!
I knew it would be hard for me to live someplace with very little weather change from season to season. Growing up in the Midwest, I was used to four very distinct seasons. When I read in the guide-book that average temperatures were 80 plus or minus five degrees, reality hit. Seasons really were NOT going to be different in any significant way (save for rain during winter months if it wasn’t a dry year, which it was last year). This fall, for the first time, I noticed a very, very subtle change in weather–the winds were a little cooler, mornings and evenings were slightly chilly. If you weren’t paying close attention, though, it would be easy to miss. I miss different seasons but, more than that, I miss the CHANGE of seasons. I miss those early spring days when it’s just warm enough to go without a jacket, to crack the windows in your house or car. I miss leaves turning colors, the hint of crisp breezes, watching the stores for fresh apple cider and cinnamon brooms. I miss guessing whether early winter precipitation is rain or spitting snow. Every day the same (plus or minus five degrees!!) can be a hard adjustment.
I knew the distance from the mainland (and associated travel costs) would be great. I didn’t realize just how great until I was traveling alone with a 3-year-old and 12 week old!! Add in travel costs and travel to the mainland can quickly become quite difficult to make. Even when staying in Hawaii, the difference in time (as zones can make it difficult to connect with family. Six hours behind the east coast (five during the winter) means that friends and family are almost at the end of their workday just as your day is getting started.
Seemingly minor, it can grow increasingly frustrating when you can’t get online purchases shipped here. eBay sellers who insist custom forms are needed to ship to Hawaii so they won’t sell to you, retailers that only ship via UPS Ground (diapers.com, for example), no Amazon Grocery! And still others ship here…but for very high costs (Target, Frontier & King Arthur Flour, for example). When selections are already limited (groceries & craft supplies), the shipping issues add to the frustration.
As with any duty station, Hawaii is what you make of it. The struggles can be really trying sometimes…but this is truly an experience you’d (likely) never have if you were not military.
Since the time for baby is getting closer and closer, I figured it might be a good idea to have some guest posts. My mind is mostly mush these days and not sure how much blogging I will feel like doing right after he is born. If you are interested in writing a guest post for my blog, please feel free to email me about it at juliethearmywife@gmail.com
Today’s post is by writer Tiffany Silverberg.
Growing up as a Coastie brat, I moved every three to four years and ended up with friends all over the globe. Those were the days before blogs so relied on seasonal letters to get visual and written updates from our dear ones. From the time we could read, those holiday letters from friends around the world were precious. We couldn’t wait for the temperatures to drop and our mailbox to fill. My sisters would always rush to the mailbox to see who we would hear from. And we were happiest when those letters contained two things: a picture and a letter.
*The letters without pictures were informative, but we ached to see how our friends and their siblings had grown. We would even pull out last years’ pictures and compare.
*The pictures without letters seemed to be missing a caption. Why was the family sitting on top of a mountain? And which mountain? Or why were the all dressed up? The letters filled in the gaps. They answered all our questions. They made us feel connected to our friends, in a world before facebook.
Even just last year, my husband and I went home for Christmas. Upon our arrival, my mom handed me “the basket.” The wicker vessel containing all the letters we had received. Each had been opened and read at least once by each family member. Now it was my turn. As I pulled out the pictures and read through the letters, my family watched waiting for my reaction to each story. Just as we had always done.
As a military family, our holiday traditions always included letters that came anytime from Thanksgiving to Valentines Day. Even now, as a Navy wife, my fridge is covered in pictures of dear friends’ Christmas pictures. I can’t wait to renew those pictures with the letters we receive this year.
As you plan your holiday letter, stop by my website www.tiffanysilverberg.com where you can find tips and information about my writing services. Cheers!
On Friday, I had a guest post about the Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride. It just so happens that we got invited to the Soldier Ride in Nashville to cheer my friend’s husband (and everyone else riding) on. We left early Saturday morning and got there just in time for the opening ceremony.
It was such a great thing to see! So many people riding their bikes. They also have a walk and we are thinking of really trying to do it next year.
I had not heard of this before. It sounded like my friend’s husband had a wonderful time getting together with others and bonding over a 4 day time period. This race was just apart of what they did together over the weekend. It sounds to me like an awesome program.
Renee from 1-800-PACK-RAT has provided a guest post for my blog on the Wounded Warrior’s Soldier Ride. Renee was not only raised in the military, but also served herself. Thank you Renee for this post 🙂
I hope to be able to attend the Soldier Ride in Nashville tomorrow. One of my friend’s husband’s will be riding in it. I will blog about that next week.
Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride
Most anyone would find a 3 to 5 day cycling event challenging. Now imagine if you were making that ride in spite of a physical injury. But that is just what happens across the nation, as injured service members participate in the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride. The Soldier Ride provides a supportive environment in which injured service members of all abilities can train for and participate in an adaptive cycling event. The Soldier Ride not only gives wounded warriors a chance to regain confidence and physical and mental strength, but it draws public support and awareness for the brave men and women who have been injured serving our country and the challenges they now face in their daily lives.
The Wounded Warrior Project is a national non-profit and non-partisan group whose mission is to honor and empower our injured service members. As many of those service members return stateside and try to readjust to life back home, the Wounded Warrior Project provides support to help them heal and become stronger both physically and mentally. The organization’s purpose is to raise public awareness and support for the needs of injured service men and women, provide a foundation to help those men and women support each other and provide unique services and programs for those individuals. The Soldier Ride is one of those unique initiatives and an opportunity for wounded warriors, volunteers and supporters from all walks of life to come together to honor the men and women who selflessly serve our country.
Since 2007, 1-800-PACK-RAT has been proud to be a continued supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project and the Soldier Rides. PACK-RAT provides storage support and transportation during those Soldier Rides. “We have been honored to help military personnel store and move their belongings between deployments and after their tours have ended. It is fitting that we would help our treasured veterans move their equipment between the Wounded Warriors’ Soldier Rides,” explains CEO, Bob Poirier.
To see a listing of national tour rides, donate or learn more about the Solider Ride, visit http://sr.woundedwarriorproject.org. To get involved and learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org, call Natalia Rankine-Galloway at (212) 629-8881, or email nrg@woundedwarriorproject.org.
1-800-PACK-RAT is a moving and portable storage company that has proudly helped families with their military moving and storage needs between deployments, when they PCS and when they retire and separate from the military.
Whenever I hear about celebrities helping or supporting the military, I get really happy.
Jim Beam has a partnership with Kid Rock and together they donated $100,000 to Operation Homefront at his concert in Chicago on Sunday night.
Beam Global Spirits & Wine President and CEO Matt Shattock, with the help of Kid Rock, presents Jim Beam’s $100,000 donation to Operation Homefront President and CEO Jim Knotts backstage at Kid Rock’s concert in Chicago on Saturday, July 31. Since forming a partnership in 2008 with Operation Homefront, provider of emergency financial aid and critical assistance to U.S. troops, their families, and wounded veterans, Jim Beam has donated more than $2 million in cash and in-kind contributions to the organization. (AP/Peter Barreras)
ABOUT OPERATION HOMEFRONT
2008
2009
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Thank you so much Jim Beam and Kid Rock for supporting the military 🙂
One thing I try to keep in mind is that at the end of the deployment, we get to experience something wonderful…homecoming.
After all the long nights, computer conversations, emotional breakdowns, tears and lonely nights…it is finally over. You wake up with a smile on your face thinking, “Is today really the day?” And it is. You get ready as soon as you can only to have hours to sit and wait for the final phone call. And finally, you get it.
Someone on the other end of the line tells you those magical words, “Your soldier will be arriving at the gym at 2pm.” And now you have a time. You can countdown in hours! Before you know it you are at the gym with your kids with all the other wives and children waiting for everything to start. It seems like forever as you sit there with a smile on your face. You can’t help it. This is such a happy day!
Finally someone important tells you it is almost time and to take your seat. The gym gets quiet, you see smoke and hear music and see the first of the boots march in. “Where is he? My husband is tall I should be able to spot him, ” you ask as you search the crowd of uniforms for your husband. And there he is, so serious. You know how excited HE is but he can’t smile about it, at least not yet. All the men are finally in the gym and you can’t stand it.
The room goes nuts. The men in uniform start to smile and laugh and the women run to them. Children shouting “daddy daddy,” and you find him, and you hug him and you kiss him. Finally, the deployment is over. He is done with the deployment. The deployment stress is gone and he is in your arms again. All around you are daddy’s meeting babies, wives kissing husbands, and the room is filled with joy.
Other than my wedding day and the births of my children, there is nothing more wonderful than homecoming day. So after he does deploy I will remember that after some time, that day will come again. And we will have another homecoming day.
One reality of being a military wife is that for periods of time I have to be both mom and dad. I have to do it all. And that can be really really hard. I have had to make a lot of decisions that other couples might make together. And then I get to tell daddy after the fact.
This is because of schedules and what he has been doing while overseas. While I could talk with him it was hard to ask him about what I should do when it came to the kids. It was easier to just figure it all out for myself. I was the one with the kids on a day to day basis and he wasn’t. Kids change so much when they are little that when a military member is overseas for a longer length of time they really do not know their own children anymore.
I had to make the decision to get my son tested for his speech delay. I had to make the decision to supplement with formula. I had to be the one to potty train my son all by myself. If your husband is in the military, you know exactly what I mean. It can be very difficult having to make these decisions by yourself, not having your other half there to evaluate and help you decide. Even when you can ask them, they might not know what to tell you because they are not there to see the whole picture.
We are the sole disciplinarian for months at a time. We decide when dinnertime is, when bedtime is and when playtime is. Then they come home…
Now, what? All of a sudden you no longer have to be both mom and dad. You no longer are the only parent in the house. But sometimes that can be a really hard transition. And then once you do get it all worked out, they have to leave again.
This can be a frustrating part of living the military life. It takes a lot of patience from both of you to figure out the best way for Dad to find his way back into the family. Some children will react differently than others and it is important to remember this. Some kids will get used to the other parent right away and others won’t. Many tears will be shed over it and you might even find yourself thinking that it was easier in some ways when they were not there. Then you stop yourself and realize that no, it was much harder and if you can get through this transition your whole family will be better for it.
I imagine life will be like this for us until the day comes that my husband is not longer in the Army. It’s just something we have to work at and struggle with.
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