Up In The Gym

Last week Gene and I got a little more serious about our gym time and working out. We hit the gym every day and worked out for at least a half hour! Each day we do various things: weight lifting, rowing, stair climbing, rope pulling, kick boxing! The tough mudder certainly isn't going to run itself and those vertical walls are not going to jump over themselves! It has been quite the experience working out in the Base gym!

There are all these fit Marines and Sailors walking around, and then I'm over there like "Oh, you know, just sweating thinking about working out!"

Sweaty & I Know It sweatshirt from Fit Bottomed Girls!

Never the less, Gene has been so supportive of my desire to get in better shape and strengthen up! He's been showing me how to do things he thinks I don't already know how to do, like use a rowing machine (which I've been using since High School), or the basics of weight lifting (bless his little heart- I learned the hard way I'm not supposed to be able to lift more than him!). He's also taught me how to do some stuff I had no idea how to do, nor did I think I could ever actually do, like this:

My body hurt just looking at this thing, but then I tried it and got NINE knee lifts done!

There is even a kick boxing machine with three posts and as lights go off you have to punch or kick that section:

Total Beast

This last week we've been recovering from the Ridiculous Obstacle Course 5K Challenge so we haven't hit the gym at all! I've been rocking out to Hip Hop Abs with a few friends and rocking our way into summer! Today, we're taking back our afternoons and hitting the gym again! I think we'll work on legs, since a little lifting left me SORE for a few days!

How is your fitness journey coming? What are you working on? If you are on this journey with me, STAY MOTIVATED, keep ROCKING IT, and remain committed to yourself and your goals! Have a great weekend, friends!

To keep up with my fitness journey throughout the week

and to get fitness tips and motivational posts

head on over to The Young Retiree Gets Fit!

From Konnichiwa to Sayonara

Back in April, Gene came home one day with a list of "job openings," or billets that he was eligible for. It was quite a list! Germany, Italy, Quantico, D.C, Japan, Texas! We sat with the list and looked at each job in each location. There were about 5 that would be beneficial to him continuing building his career, so making a dream sheet was pretty easy.

The list included: Okinawa, Germany, Texas, Quantico, and Maryland.

Gene spoke with his detailer and it looked like we would be headed to OKINAWA! I never dreamed of living OCONUS! I never imagined his Naval career taking us to exotic lands and fairy tale places! But, he was written in for Okinawa and we were beginning the process of freaking out!

In my mind I began figuring out what we would donate, what we would take, what we would store! I began researching the base we would be living at and I even took a class to familiarize myself with the Marine culture, since he would be with a Marine unit. I even found "Hey, we're moving!" cards!



Something like this, except with an anchor over Okinawa
with the saying "Home is where the Navy sends you!"
Announcement can be found at Four Harp Designs

Then it hit me: in Okinawa you have to live on base unless housing is at 95% capacity. I have never lived in base housing! We would be moving in July of 2014! We couldn't fly with the dogs! Who could watch them until we could fly them over? We could fly Fiona in cabin with us, but what about the boys? Could we get housing for all three dogs? Would we have to leave one behind with grandma and grandpa in South Carolina? FOR THREE YEARS? I cried every day at the idea of having to leave one (or more) of my babies behind! I cried over being so far away from Nan. I cried over living in such a completely foreign culture!

I learned quickly to look on the brightside of this new adventure! We would get to travel to coutries I never thoguht I would travel to. I would be so much farther away from my family and their hate for one another! We could entertain the folks from the Company Gene was going to be in charge of! We would enjoy our time on Okinawa and make the absolute best of it. I was done throwing my pity party and began to celebrate the journey we would be on!

Then just like Guam- our adventure was taken away from us. The person already there told Gene he wanted to extend his orders through 2015. With budget cuts, I knew they would let him extend to save the cost of two OCONUS PCSes. Gene contacted his detailer and A WEEK later, heard that yes, the fella was extending. I was furious.

Read between the lines.

I was furious at how we sat for a month thinking Gene had these orders and is now left with only billets that are demotions in the real world. I was furious that Gene had to ask about it before he was told. I was furious that had Gene not reached out to the guy, when would we have found out at all? WHAT WE HAD HERE WAS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE. I swear, I think I'm going to have ulcers before we actually know where we're headed next!

So now? Now Gene is going to apply for a director position. A position where I don't know his likelihood of making it, but I know if he is chosen, they appoint you to a command so the decision is out of our hands. If not DFA he is hoping for an Officer In Charge of a clinic and I think once again, you put your hat in the ring for OIC and they appoint you a command. All I know is, if you are the praying type, we sure could use good vibes!

I know God has a plan for us. I know there is another grand adventure waiting for us out there! It could be in the cold wilderness of Bangor, ME, or the hot desert of Yuma, AZ! It could be along the shores of Gulfport, MS, or along the baran lands of 29 Palms, CA! It could be at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, or the armpit of the Marine Corps in Camp Lejeune, NC. I know that one way or another, in July of 2014, we will be hitting the road for our new home, wherever that may be, and to Gene's next job. I just hope the Navy doesn't mess with us too much before then!

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. ~Jer 29:11 (from USCCB.org)

Summertime Service with #Odwalla4Kids

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®, Odwalla, and Champions for Kids #cbias #SocialFabric. All opinions expressed are my own.

When I was a kid, school lunches weren't all too great, but there were days when it was the best food I got. There are thousands of children in this country who rely on free school lunches as their source of nourishment daily. During the summer months, when vacation hits, those children rely on the kindness of strangers to donate to their food pantry, so they can eat. As a military spouse, I recognize the community I'm living in will only be mine for a short period of time, and I hope I can leave each community a little better than when I arrived!

The Fallbrook Food Pantry has been my go to spot monthly. When I went Paleo back in the summer of 2012 I took up at least 10 totes full of food from our cupboards! Now, I buy things and try to toss in healthy snacks for the kids, not just food I don't want to eat!

I have to tell you I'm not the hugest Walmart fan, but I love that it usually provides one stop shopping for me! Last week I knew I needed a few different things and figured I would stop at the Walmart right by our bank!

I don't mean to brag or anything, but I had to go to two Walmarts (San Marcos & Temecula) and I have to tell you they are both well kept, clean, and pretty non- "People of Walmart"-y! I think I found a few new stores to grab essentials from!

So I was grabbing beach towels for our Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge 5K (more on that later in the week!) and a few new work out outfits and decided it would be the perfect time to swing by and grab some food to donate for kids this summer!

Odwalla bars have been my go to snack since my high school days! They are power packed with good nutrients, vitamins, and REAL FOOD! They definitely make snacking nutritious!

Please friends: the next time you find yourself walking around Walmart, for less than a dollar, you can help give a child an afternoon snack! For the price of your green mermaid drive-thru, you could provide an afternoon snack for a week of summer vacation! It is ultimately our job to help the communities we live in: if it's the town you grew up in and are raising a family in, or if it is the town your husband just got stationed in and you'll only leave a brief mark on it! We can all help a little bit and pay it forward!



For more pictures from my journey, head on over to my Simple Service Project G+ story!
Follow all of the amazing work being done for kids at: Champions For Kids!
Keep an eye out on awesome Odwalla goodies by finding them on Facebook, twitter, and Odwalla.com!

Menu Plan Monday // Five.Thirteen.Thirteen

HAPPY MONDAY MORNING! Jane and I are back with another wonderful edition on Menu Plan Monday! Show us what you've got on your menu for the week :D

This week, friends: again, I have no clue what I'm going to be cooking. I NEED to get my menu plan done before Friday, because the weekends have turned out to be total busts! So this week, I fully intend on winging it with whatever is in the fridge.

This morning I took out the crock-pot! We're doing Salsa Chicken! This is a family staple around here! I toss some chicken thighs in and dump a jar of salsa on top. Cook on low about 6 hours and call it DINNER!

I also grabbed some pork chops out of the freezer! I'll have to peruse pinterest to see what kind of recipes I have been wanting to try with them!

We're doing burgers and beans on night. With salad.

We are definitely going to the Oink & Moo one night as they have their crazy summer corn back and I have been ready to grub on some since I saw them post a picture on Facebook about it!

I think I'm also going to make my veggie "noodle" bowl again this week. It was so delicious and easy to make!

Be sure to check out The Young Retiree Eats {blog and facebook} since I usually post what we're eating when we're eating it! What are you making this week, friends? Let us know by linking up down below!

You Serve As Well

One of the most profound things that I think the Chaplain said to us over the course of our marriage enrichment retreat back in November was this:

"If you are serving your country on active duty,

it is only because your spouse is letting you."

Ever since I married Gene I have identified as a Navy wife. I'm not walking around in his PT gear or Navy Wife gear from my head to my toes. I don't walk around saying "Hi, I'm Elizabeth, Navy wife." I am the wife to a man who serves his country though, and I always stood proud as a military spouse.

Every deployment that he served our country: by leading his team in Afghanistan or being the administrating medical officer on the Vinson, I felt the sense of pride that I was serving my country by spending my nights alone, sending care packages and letters, and manning the homefront until he could return to it.

It was so amazing to hear a Chaplain- someone who has served his country for 23 years as a line officer and then Chaplain -express that yes, we wives serve as well by letting our husbands serve.

I have stopped identifying as a "military spouse" recently, mainly due to the drama that comes along with it, the pretentiousness of it all, the one-upping of each other, and the general feeling of entitlement among military spouses. Maybe we feel that way because our life is "hard" for us. I don't think so though. I think most of us feel that way because we generally think the world owes us something. We bash each other, we create hostile environments among one another, and we compete in the proverbial pissing contest of who has a harder life, who has a tougher husband, and who is the best at it. Don't get me started on "wife of the year" crap.

Maybe it's simply because Gene doesn't have another deployment coming for the foreseeable future. That we get to live a "normal" life of the husband who gets up, goes to work, and comes home for suppertime. He gets to spend every night at home and I don't have to wait for our first kiss all over again. I'm getting away from myself with a rant though, and Lord knows I don't want to be that military wife. You know: the jaded one who comes home to a million e-mails about how wrong I am, or GOD FORBID end up back on the greatest spousal bashing site in the world: Overly Sensitive Military Spouses.

Since the Reagan Administration, we get to have a special day, all to ourselves, where we get to puff our chests out even more than we normally do, and claim a day as our own: Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I don't know about you, but this is a life I live year long, day in and out, and my husband recognizes me for it every night when he comes home an hour later than he should because there was some young kid doing something he shouldn't have and most of the leadership had to stay behind and fix it.

We do serve as well. Let's just not let it go to our heads too much. Let's not call ourselves "superheros" (yeah, have you seen that one going around?) because we married a man who wears a uniform to work. So do mailmen, so do firefighters, so do janitors.

I love my life. I may hate parts of it like the separations, long working days, and the ever increasing "me" generation marrying my husband's colleagues, but I love the sacrifices I have made and wouldn't have it any other way.

So go get your nails did, because it's apparently your day/week/month now? 

(and sorry for the "jaded, not what everyone else is going to post today" post. I know you'll let me get that off my chest, agree or disagree, and still be my friend... I hope?)