For all my Civis

I quickly realized when I signed up for the Army (yes I joined the Army too, the day I signed our marriage certificate) that I would have to learn a whole new language. Seeing as most of my family and friends are not part of the military system (that makes you civis or civilians) you probably don't understand half of what I am saying so here is a cheat sheet for some of the most commonly used acronyms.

*PCS-permanent change of station, or in other  words we are moving
*ACU-Army combat uniform, the green camo you always see soldiers wearing
*PX-post exchange, it is the closest thing to Wal-Mart on post
*CONUS-continental United States
*CQ-charge of quarters, this is the duty a lot of wives dread because it means our husband will be on duty 24 hours in the soldier's barracks
*CO-commanding officer, usually one of our husband's bosses
*BAH-basic allowance for housing, money the Army pays us so we can pay our rent
*OPSEC-operational security, in other words 'loose lips sink ships'
*PT-physical training
*DOD-department of defense
*DFAS-department of finance and accounting system, who makes sure we get paid
*OCONUS-outside the continental United States
*RFO-request for orders, you can't move until you have your official orders this is the 1st step
*MOS-military occupational speciality, despite common belief all soldiers do not do the same job they are all highly trained in a certain area

There is also a certain way soldiers and even their spouses talk (I'm guilty!). They will often say "squared away" meaning we are good to go or "tracking" meaning I'm top of it. I don't know how many times I have told my husband something and received the response "roger" or "hooah" meaning I heard what you said. However, "hooah" can be used in a variety of ways and believe me if they can find a way to use it in a conversation they will.

Yes we are a strange breed of people....but hey it's a HOOAH life! ;)

<3 JT

The Fairy Tale

One of the first questions people seem to ask you when they first meet you in the Army is, "where are you from?" So when I respond Colorado and my husband says Oregon they kind of give us that look that says, "how the heck did you two meet?" Well that is an interesting story....

FunSizedShorty

First picture I saw of "orgncowboy"

It was August 2009. I had recently quit my job as a waitress and started as a secretary for my church. It was a nice change of pace and gave me a lot of free time on the internet since I didn't have internet at home (yes I was living in the stone age.) One day as I spun around in my office chair killing time before I could go home I got a crazy thought, I googled Christian dating websites. Christianforfreedating.com popped up. In all honesty, I was sick and tired of the guys I had been meeting recently so I thought why not give this a try. I made an account and started browsing. I had a few guys message me here and there but nothing too serious. Then on August 7th, I came across a profile that would change my life forever. His name was Josh, he was a U.S soldier stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma (I wasn't crazy about the fact that he was in another state but hey the guy was cute!) We started chatting back and fourth until I realized that it was time for me to head home. I didn't want to cut off communication with him because I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to him until Monday, it was Friday and I didn't have internet at home. So without thinking I gave him my number! A few hours later I got a text from orgncowboy (that was his screen name, I was funsizedshorty). After weeks of phone calls, Skype dates, and text messages we decided it was time to meet in person.

The day we met

On September 4th, 2009 I met my soldier in person for the first time. He was everything I thought he'd be and more: tall, handsome beyond words, and sweeter than sugar. Everything just came so natural to us. It was in that moment that I truly became a believer in love at first sight. My mother would even later admit that we are the reason she too believes in it. Perfect love story right? Not quite...Josh was leaving that November for a year tour in South Korea. But we had our minds made up, we were going to make this work. Over the next few months we flew back and fourth between our two places before we had to say 'see ya later' in November. It would be 8 months before I saw him again.

Fast forward.....

After 8 months apart...

It is June 27th, 2010 and Josh's plane has just landed! I don't think I've ever been so emotional to see someone. That night at our special park where we stood in Novmeber to exchange promise rings, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. We were in heaven for those next two weeks he was in the states. We agreed that we would get married the summer of 2012, well as the Army would have it, our plans drastically changed.

During those two weeks on RnR Josh received an email that he would be stationed at Ft. Hood and deploying to Iraq for a year tour. I was heartbroken. I knew this was a possibility but this made the reality of war so much closer to home. In September we decided that we needed to get married before he deployed.

Josh came home from Korea in mid November 2010 and we tied the knot November 27th, 2010 (on his birthday!). We made those next few months really count before he left in May 2011. Deployment was something I never had experienced and has been one of the hardest things I have ever done even to this day. Luckily his tour was cut in half and he was home on our first wedding anniversay.

Homecoming Ceremony

Whew....what a ride it has been this far and has brought us to where we are today as I write this. It may not be the textbook fairy tale, but it is my fairy tale.

<3 JT