Air Force Journey

First, a snippet from my husband:

 If you’d told me 13 years ago that I’d be where I am now, a newly minted Master Sergeant with the most amazing family I could ever hope for, I’d have given you a sideways smirk and walked on. You see, this was never the plan. I was supposed to use the Air Force as a means to an end. To get a hold of that GI Bill, get out, get my degree, and maybe start thinking about a family then. Maybe.

Funny how it all works out, though isn’t it? You happen cross the right person when you weren’t expecting it, and everything just starts happening from there. Two kids and more than half a career later, I can’t think of a better way for my so-called “plan” to have “failed”.

One might think that a new promotion would cause anyone to look forward and dream of the future. But as people I once considered my peers have begun to call me “Sir”, all I can do is look back at the many blessings that have become my life.

Call it fate, or call it dumb luck. I choose to call it by a different name:

Good.

-Ron

 (the sun was really intense this day, resulting in funny faces)

Ron and I first met when I was 19 years old. We were so young, and determined to grab life by the horns-- we barely had our toes wet when we decided to wed. Ron was a brand new airmen, fresh out of tech school when we said our vows; and with these vows of commitment came the commitment of being an Air Force wife and all that being a military spouse entails.

Coming into the role of a mil spouse I was extremely overwhelmed with learning the military lingo, rank insignia, PCS (permanent change of station) procedures, and understanding our LES (paycheck), just to name a few. I remember memorizing faces and name tapes of the guys working with Ron because everyone looked the same in the sea of camo. Year after year, the faces that always run across my mind the clearest are the older men-- I perceived them as being the wisest, the most noble, the strongest, and... the most intimidating. I respected them and their dedication, and I looked up to them as an authority figure, but more importantly I idealized their wives. I envied at how strong these women were to stand by their husbands, deployment after deployment, move after move, enduring all of the hardships and heartbreak that this military life can often times throw our way, all while supporting their family with a smile on their face, standing tall. I wanted to be just like them.

Now, here we are, 13 years later. My husband has been officially promoted to Master Sargent. This day seemed so far away, such a distant goal; it's amazing how fast our military journey has gone by. He is now one of those "older" men, in the Top 3, that I looked upon with great respect and gratitude, and I couldn't be prouder of all of his achievements thus far. I'm anxiously anticipating the future and all of the goodness that it holds.

And as for me, I can only hope to fill the shoes of the loyal Air Force wives that came before me, the ones that have inspired me, and the ones that have lit the unique path of being a milspouse.  And in turn, I can only hope that I'm inspiring a new milspouse somewhere out there.

I'm the proudest wife right now-- I have such an amazing, hard working husband. This way of life has been a wild ride and we're enjoying our front row seats.

Love,

Emmie

We've Moved!

It has been a crazy cyclone of a mess around here.

But I've got some exciting news!

Four weeks ago, we moved! ...not to a new base or state, just to a new neighborhood that comes with a larger house and a better view. We love it so far. It's a breath of fresh air and as close as we're going to come to a new beginning without having official military orders; which I'm still holding out for- I've got that moving bug...ready to go, see, and explore new regions, countries, and cultures.

But for now, we're busy exploring our new surroundings and forming new routines.

In the morning hours, we hit the 3.4 mile walking trail that is conveniently located a block from our home. The best part is, it swings through a park and hangs a left back to our front yard. The kids look forward to this little routine, and to be honest, I'm enjoying it myself...even with the intense heat.

When the sun begins to settle, we pull out the bikes to squeeze the remaining drops of Oklahoma's golden rays. The kids are quiet, expelling their last ounce of energy in a soothing rhythm of petal, push, glide, while the sun drowns the swaying fields of wildflowers and foliage that rattle with the wind in pools of canary yellow and burnt orange; we're bathed in the evening light.

This is my therapy,  my church, my time to reflect and clear my head.

On a side-note, I've been busy wrapping up some projects that I'd love to share with you over the next couple of weeks!

Things are turning out to be on the sunny side-- after all, it is Friday!

Emmie

PS Photos are from instagram. Follow me here:  http://instagram.com/emilyroe

Dream Awake

It hasn’t sunk in that we’ve been temporarily living in Hawaii. I haven’t allowed my mind to go there because every day I want to live like it’s a dream. I want to feel and soak in every moment as if it were something so dainty, so fragile, so rare that if I take this beauty for granted this experience with dissipate and all with be lost. I want to hang on to this dream, to ride its rainbow, and to live everyday with purpose.

We drove down the street to Waikiki, for no particular reason than to witness the sun sinking.

She was brilliant. Stretching her rays on every touchable surface, taking in every remaining drop of the day until she peacefully slipped under pastel painted skies.

It was one of the most beautiful sunsets that I’ve seen here. The sand illuminated to a glowing orange, as shell bits glistened like a rotating disco ball.

Mom and I sat with our toes in the sand watching Krysta and William’s silhouettes race up and down the shoreline in fits of laughter.

How lucky we are.

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. ~Henry David Thoreau

Until your tomorrow,

Em

We've been nominated to participate in the Circle of Moms Top 25 Military Family Blogs 2012! It's such an honor to be part of this group. Please vote for us, once a day until August 16 by click the button below, then the "thumbs up" button by my name, "Writings of an Air Force Wife"! Thank you guys so much!

Happy Day

It was an ordinary day-- a day like most, but a little smidgen of something different. The sun burned a white glow, streaming through fragmented clouds that bounced off of every surface creating a shimmering effect, like silver tinsel during Christmas.  

We shifted gears this afternoon. Instead of the usual mac-n-cheese or peanut butter sandwich, we zipped to the drive-thru and took our lunch at a nearby park that was equally lined with palm trees and city buildings. Spreading our blanket under wispy palms, we ate in silence-- each of us taking in our surroundings and soaking up the local fare.

After several minutes of swiping away ants and tossing french fries at hungry birds, I gazed upon my kids. Their faces were deep in thought, their eyes filled with curiosity. They were staring at the ants-- all single file in a straight line, attempting to consume our crumbs. Krysta asked, “If we give the ants a fry, do you think they’ll carry it on their backs to the queen?” My answer was, yes. She seemed pleased with that conclusion.

A day in Hawaii isn’t complete without dipping your toes in the water, so we headed to the beach for a mid-afternoon swim. It was extremely low tide, making it perfect for wading and searching for broken coral fragments. With every found half shell and coral piece, they ran to show me. “Look at this! It’s a keeper!” they would exactly exclaim. Well, Krysta would say it; William just giggled through his words, attempting to keep up with his sister’s speech. 

We swam until our fingers and toes resembled prunes, and then we swam a bit more. Krysta practiced floating and stretching her new found sea legs. That’s right! She’s swimming all on her own with no assistance. We worked hard to get to this point-- there were many, many days that she was in tears because she just HAD to have her floaties and many days where she didn’t even want to put her head in the water. I’m amazed at how far she has come with just a little confidence and a lot of determination.

all giggles 

And little brother? He’s floating on his own as well! He still uses his floaties for swimming, but he has more than enough confidence to get out there on his own. Practice, practice, practice and he’ll be swimming like a fish in no time.

 straight into the ocean he goes | I love how he pops his feet to a perfect point

sibling kisses

Happy Wednesday!

Em

A Happy Heart featured sponsor

I have a wonderful blogger that I want to introduce you all to! Her name is Kristy from A Happy Heart-- I'm sure you've all seen her button on my sidebar over there -->
Kristy and I met a few years ago through blogger while I was living in Alaska and she was living in New York. We quickly discovered that we grew up just a few towns from each other, and since then we've both been on the go, moving from state-to-state while raising our babies and making memories with our little families.
Enough of the introduction, scroll down and read more about her!

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hi! i'm kristy. i write a blog about my life & family called a happy heart. it's basically me writing our happy, beautiful life down so i can remember all the details! i'm a wife to my handsome husband, mama to our crazy/beautiful daughter and our stinky dachshund tries to run our lives.

we've moved several times and called new york and north carolina home. we call south carolina our home now. it's full of palm trees, southern charm & blue skies. we're a former military family trying to figure out the ins & outs of settling down in one place, in a civilian lifestyle.

i'm a stay-at-home mama, diving into the adventures of running my own business while encouraging my toddler to explore and be her beautiful self (& keeping my cool!), cleaning up after our crazy dachshund who thinks he's a human and doing my best to support my husband as he takes on two jobs and going back to school all while being the most amazing guy we could ask for.

the nitty gritty about me : i bake. i try my hand at crafting. i read books by the handfuls and i have matryoshka dolls all over my house. organziation makes me happy and i have a slight obsession with list making and crisp new notebooks.

i became a thirty-one consultant a few months ago. if you haven't heard of the company, thirty-one is a faith-based company that sells bags, purses, thermal totes, organizational totes & more!

we celebrate and encourage the hard-working women and i LOVE my job. we focus on the indivudial "why". everyone has one : why they started, why they keep going, it's their personal story. but, as a newbie (in my state & job), i'm still working hard to get myself out there! i am always looking for new people to share my why with. new ways to branch out my business and meet new people! i'd love to show you what thirty-one is all about and well, the bags are amazing!

my blog is chock full of all the little and big things in our lives. it's about who and what i love. it's what makes this happy life, our happy life. and i wouldn't have it any other way.

Colored in Love

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that I fell in love with this island. Perhaps it began when I first laid eyes on the twinkling Pacific Ocean as we descended from the airplane, or perhaps it was when I was completely absorbed with fragrant tropical flowers, or maybe it was when golden rays of light streamed through the palms, illuminating the bright green foliage. However, I do know this: it came in a gradual shift from being more than just an idea of loving it and the fantasy of experiencing something so magical, to the realization of actually turning a dream into a reality and truly, wholeheartedly, love the ends and outs of the everyday Hawaiian lifestyle.

This is our new normal. Temporarily.

Our days are drawn out on the Honolulu beaches, sandwiched between sand and sun, and layered with salt water.

This has been a soul-searching experience to say the least. I feel like my eyes are back, the same eyes that I had in Alaska. I see in color again --bright vibrant colors, rainbows to be exact. I feel free and light and butterflies constantly flap around in my belly. I’ve crawled out of a Plexiglas box that I somehow put myself in when we received military orders to Oklahoma. I no longer feel confined, and that in itself is an extraordinary feeling.

We’re so incredibly blessed. I’m blessed to be in paradise, blessed to be around family, blessed to curl up with my sunkissed babies at night, and blessed to be able to talk overseas -on a daily basis- with my husband.

This is paradise… well, as close to paradise as one can mentally get during a deployment. And I realize that all of this will end and we will return to the Midwest where there are no palm trees or salt water or lush tropical foliage, but when that day comes, we’ll be one day closer to ending our seventh deployment and one day closer to being reunited as a whole family. See, even in paradise, I can’t go a day or even a moment without having this deployment on my mind and longing for my husband to be here with us. But, we’re staying positive and motivated to keep keeping on, until the end.

Until that day comes, we’ll basque in the moment and enjoy our slice of the island on the sea. 

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.” Andre Gide

Kipona Aloha  (Deep love),
Em

on we go (otherwise known as the big instagram overload post)

Written several days ago, but never quite made it to the "publish" button...
Flashes of lightening and the rolling of thunder ceased at dawn as the sun attempted to stretch its rays bringing forth a new day, only to be chased off by grey clouds. It’s a dreary morning –one where I slowly drink my coffee, staring out the window, watching the rain as it slowly rolls down my roof, sprinkling across the yard leaving small puddles for birds to play in. Here these birds are --despite previous storms (tornado type storms), current rain, and next week’s forecasted storms-- enthusiastically chirping and living it up in my front yard. I’m reminded that even in the hardest of times and the gloomiest of days, there’s a Bright-side and a positive outlook in very situation. For an example, I lost my wedding ring last week. Bright-side? Um…It’ll turn up…eventually.

As I write, both kids are still sleeping; making this truly a rare moment --a rare moment when I can sit alone and breathe in the silence. I needed this, this moment to myself, to clear my head, to heighten my senses and to grasp and be thankful of the beauty that surrounds me in the smallest of places.

Lately, life has been fast paced, a blur really. I can’t recall our happenings or even describe the little moments that have now quickly vanished with time. But I’m okay with fast paced. I’m even okay with blurry. I get lost in the haze of the day which quietly slips into a week, and before I knew it, it became clear, “life moves on. we're moving on. and we're okay."

Here are some of our blurry moments…

(you see that photo, right there? skyping with my Love is a huge highlight of our day)

photos from Instagram iPhone app. Join us! http://web.stagram.com/n/emilyroe

I knew this month would fly by with all of the preparations for our big upcoming plans. I’ve been diligently checking off my jammed-packed black-hole of a to-do list that consists of ballet, jazz, and pom practices/rehearsals/recital, finishing projects and paintings, wrapping up my current obligations, and preparing the house and my Louie Lou (our pookie cat) for our departure-- that’s right, we’re going out of state to visit my mom (aka Mimi) later this month, and we couldn’t be more excited. I take that back... we're OVER THE MOON! It's all Krysta talks about, and we're counting down the days until we leave. I know this trip is just what we need to fill the empty space until Ron returns.

What are your big summer plans?

On we go,  *click, publish*

Em