"A"

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "A". And A is for Army. Even though I am not the one in the military my life is still dictated by the Army. They tell us when my husband can use his "vacation time", when we have to pay to get his hair cut (which is every two weeks by the way!), when to donate money, and etc. Being a military spouse is not for the weak, gold diggers, glory hounds, or the plain ol' un-flexible. My husband doesn't have set work hours, he doesn't work a 9 to 5, he normally works a 5 to 6 (am to pm that is). Sometimes we don't get to see him for a few days at a time, sometimes a few weeks, being an infantryman his schedule never seems to be the same. My girls don't see him but a few hours a day during the work week. And of course it sucks when he is away from us, but we couldn't be any more proud of him! Being married to the Army gets quite ridiculous at times to say the least. But over the past 5+ years I have grown accustomed to the said ridiculousness and learned some key lessons along the way.

I've learned many things from the good ol' US Army, mainly the 82nd Airborne (all the way!):
Never write your plans in pen, always in pencil. They will change. And then change again.
When something starts at a specific time, always be 15 minutes early, even though you will be waiting at least 30 minutes for the event to begin.
Expect to buy replacements of things, multiple replacements of things.
Plan to have an extra closet, or a whole storage unit, dedicated just to all that ACU or multicam crap.
Always wash uniforms in their own loads because if you wash something else with them, it will become a causality of that funky smell.
You learn many terms, acronyms, and sayings that make no sense to you, you will know that you've officially become a military spouse when you begin to use them.
Making a meal that can easily be reheated will become second nature. (Side note: they don't care if it's cold anyways)
Some wives wear their husband's rank; why? I don't know, they sure as hell didn't earn it, and it will make you want to donkey punch them in the throat.

But in all seriousness, I love my husband and I am so proud of the soldier he is. We have met so many amazing people, seen many things, and have had great opportunities. And I'm sure that there are more to come. The Army is our life; we love it, we hate it, but we wouldn't know what to do without it. After all, home is where the Army sends us. <3