Me and My SoldierMan: Ten Things I've Learned Since We Joined the Army

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Quotes for Life

"Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should....My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether be life or by death."~ The Apostle Paul: Eph 6:18-20; Phil 1:20

"Lord, I intend it to thy glory, and let no profane misinterpreter abuse it to thy diminution."
~John Donne

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."
~ John Adams

"You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something."
~ Winston Churchill

"I would rather have a plain down-right wisdom than a foolish and affected eloquence."
~ Ben Jonson

"The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it."

~ George Washington

"Country music is about new love and it’s about old love. It’s about gettin’ drunk and gettin’ sober. It’s about leavin’ and it’s about comin’ home. It’s real music sung by real people for real people, the people that make up the backbone of this country. You can call us rednecks if you want. We’re not offended, ’cause we know what we’re all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church, and we get up and go to war when necessary."

~ Jeff Foxworthy

"The most dangerous predator of liberals is the real world. They hide from it in college campuses."
~ www.imao.us

"To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."
~ President Theodore Roosevelt

"Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilarating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!"
~ Edna Ferber

"A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in an argument."
~ Robert Frost

"I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it. You know who else was kind of "divisive" in terms of challenging the status quo and the powers-that-be of his day? Jesus Christ."
~Ann Coulter

"Feminism has nothing at all to do with being 'feminine.' Feminine means accentuating the womanly attributes that make women deliciously different from men. The feminine woman enjoys her right to be a woman. She has a positive outlook on life. She knows she is a person with her own identity and that she can seek fulfillment in the career of her choice, including that of traditional wife and mother."
~ Phyllis Schlafly

"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions."
~ G. K. Chesterson

"It isn't going to bed with a man that proves you're in love with him. It's getting up in the morning and facing the drab, miserable, wonderful, everyday world with him that counts."
~ Yours, Mine and Ours

"I owe nothing to women's lib."

~ Margaret Thatcher

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

~ Henry VI

"We're all born pessimists. It takes effort to be optimistic."

~ Rush Limbaugh

"True religion and true philosophy must ultimately arrive at the same conclusion."

~S.S. Smith

"There's no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit."

~ Jack Dake

"If a woman like Eva Peron with no ideals can get that far, think how far I can go with the ideals that I have."

~ Margaret Thatcher

"What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth book since I last saw you. Aren't either of these things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no - my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book; finally, something to celebrate! Maybe this seems funny or trivial, but it's really not."
~ JK Rowling

"Dear Lord
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?"~Anon
"[Judgment] comes from four sources: God, nature, diligence and conversation. Serve the first, and the rest will serve you."
~ Ben Jonson

"I think political correctness is a wonderful fad. Probably not as spiritually uplifting as the hula-hoop, but undoubtedly better for the health."
~ Waiting for God

"Our God and soldier we alike adore. At the brink of danger, not before. After deliverance, both alike requited. Our God's forgotten and our soldiers slighted."
~ Oliver North

"The way to tell the professional writers from the amateur writers is that the amateurs only write when they feel like it."
~ Jerry Van Cook

"Remember that only in cheesy romance novels is the heroine guaranteed to find true love without the risk of vulnerability or pain."
~ Dear Prudence column

"We do not fear censorship, for we have no wish to offend with improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue."
~ from "The Birth of a Nation"

"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree besides the river of truth, and tell the whole world - No, you move."
~Captain America

"While God doesn’t promise tomorrow, he does promise eternity."
~ Tony Snow

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
~ John Stuart Mill

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
~ Alexis de Tocqueville

"I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny - a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls."
~ J.K. Rowling

Wisdom from the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan:
------------------------------
Politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality's foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they're sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.

Live each day to the fullest. Live each day with enthusiasm, optimism and hope. If you do, I am convinced that your contribution to this wonderful experiment we call America will be profound.

The dustbin of history is littered with remains of those countries that relied on diplomacy to secure their freedom. We must never forget...in the final analysis...that it is our military, industrial and economic strength that offers the best guarantee of peace for America in times of danger.

We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.

November 2, 2011

Ten Things I've Learned Since We Joined the Army

Today is SoldierMan's "official" two-year Army anniversary. (I forgot to make a post for the anniversary of his actual swearing in, back in July. Oops). It's been quite a ride. The transition from civilian newlyweds to being the "old married couple" in the Army (by LT standards, that is) has been interesting. We've made lots of great new friends, seen more of the country by car than I ever cared to, and yes, got two insane puppies that I know would not have been added otherwise.

So, today I'm giving you my

Top Ten Things I've Learned Since We Joined the Army

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Erin on Pinterest

10. We joined the Army. I know that sentiment offends people. But it's the truth.

9. The Army is a lifestlye. It's also a job. And it's entirely possible (and I believe essential for good mental health) to disassociate the two from time to time.

8. There are a lot of bad officers. There are a lot of bad NCOs. There are a lot of bad lower-enlisted. Regardless of what either group tries to tell you, none of them have the market cornered on stupid, lazy, inefficient, or useless personnel. The same goes for spouses.

7. There are a lot of good officers. There are a lot of good NCOs. There are a lot of good lower-enlisted. Regardless of what either group tries to tell you, none of them have the market cornered on capable, intelligent, hard-working or essential personnel. The same goes for spouses.

6. "Adaptable" is the keyword.

5. The Army is not SoldierMan's wife, and I am not his mistress. Our marriage will last much longer than any Army contract, so that's where it's most important to invest ourselves.

4. I'm still not much of a "girlfriends" person. But thanks to the Army, I've met some of the most amazing and interesting women in my life, and made friends with whom I have already formed connections that will last a lifetime.

3. There's no place like home. But as long as we're together, we're good.

2. Sometimes the Army is great. Sometimes it sucks. Don't dwell on either.

1. I've changed a lot over the past two years. I'm still me. Just better.

12 comments:

JamieNovember 3, 2011 at 5:00 AM
I love this! So true.

I especially love 8 and 2.
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SLMNovember 3, 2011 at 5:10 AM
Oh gosh, I completely forgot that Mark's army anniversary was on November 1st!!! I agree completely with 1-9, but I admit I am one of those people who refuses to use "we." A lot of people do so I don't get offended, and I get it, but I just don't personally use it.

Although, maybe a year apart will change my mind.
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SusanNovember 3, 2011 at 5:51 AM
Great post! My husband is coming up on his two year anniversary too.
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Crazy Shenanigans-JMONovember 3, 2011 at 6:42 AM
Wow! It's already been two years? How times moves!
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C. E. WelchNovember 3, 2011 at 8:15 AM
Oh goodness. J has been in the Army for almost 7 years now, and active duty for 3. One thing I learned is that the Reserves in an entire world apart from active duty. I didn't consider myself an Army wife until he went active.

I completely agree with the entire list. And yes, "we" did join. It was a decision that we made together, and it was a change that affected both of us.
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MelNovember 3, 2011 at 8:22 AM
Perfect. I'm linking to this today because it's better than anything I currently could put on paper right now!

Big hug and good luck on the writing!
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KayleeNovember 3, 2011 at 9:08 AM
This is awesome!!! Great job summing up a lot of well-learned military-life things!!!
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Katie MaeNovember 3, 2011 at 9:45 AM
Love this list! :)Definitely puts things into perspective for me, as a newbie.
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JesNovember 3, 2011 at 2:48 PM
nice post, I thin #6 would be at the top of my list...if you don't learn that early on, you're in for a rough ride!
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SarahNovember 3, 2011 at 6:22 PM
We hit the 4 year mark in March, it's crazy to think it's been that long already. I love what you said about there being good and bad people of every rank- the same goes for every branch (we're AF).
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WileyNovember 5, 2011 at 3:52 PM
This is a wonderful post. And congratulations to both of you for passing the 2 year mark!

PS, a smaller, way more grudging congrats that your Sooners beat my Aggies today...!
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MeganNovember 6, 2011 at 4:09 AM
Your points are so true! I especially love numbers seven and eight...although I would like to add MOS in there as well. I'm tired of certain people (at least in our current community) act like they are above others because of the job their husband holds.
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