For Military Merit

As you all know my husband is back from his 3rd deployment. On this last deployment the truck he was in hit an IED. My husband got the worst of it from hitting his head, another was injured from jamming his knee. Everyone walked away.

Hope you arent queasy. Some people cant believe he would send me these kind of pictures. Im not one to put my blinders on though. I know its dangerous. Hes Infantry. Its what they do. Alot of jobs in the Army arent dangerous. His is and I realize this. Anyways last month he was awarded the Purple Heart.

While Im catching you up on my Army wife life, he was also promoted to Sergeant in October! Finally!

Not Everyone Can Say They've Been To A Ball

A few months after a deployment is over, a ball is held in celebration that its over and to remember the fallen. And just to get shitfaced while dressed up fancy. We went to the ball this time (read: I finally convinced my husband to dress up in his Class As and wear them for an entire evening). This years ball was held at the Opryland Hotel. Yes THAT Opry. Its the hotel for the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Not gonna lie, its expensive, but we got a room there anyway. I could probably do an entire post on just the hotel. Its pretty amazing. Its big enough for a little river to run through it which has boat rides, and at least 2 waterfalls on the inside that I saw. IN the hotel. This is what I saw when we first walked in

Unfortunately this is the only picture I took because we were in a mad rush to get to our room and get changed. By the time we walked around that night it was too dark to get any good photos. The inside has little shops and restaurants and its like walking around outside at night.

This is me right after getting my hair & makeup done by Ashley. Im pretty sure you all follow her blog Lisa Freemont Street but if you dont you should. Shes pretty amazing. And a very nice gal if I do say so myself. Here are some pics she took of my updo.



Heres my husband after he got dressed in the room.

And one my husband took of me during the cocktail hour.

And us after the ball.

I wouldnt say it was *fun* but it was something to experience. Not everyone can say theyve been to a ball.

Kentucky Down Under

Ive realized I havent posted much. Not about vintage or about life in general. So hopefully this post will catch you up some on my ultra fab life haha!
In May the hubby was home for 2 weeks of blissful R&R. We took Lil C to Kentucky Down Under which is exactly what it sounds like. It has kangaroos and dingos, sheep herding demonstrations, places to feed birds (that may or may not attack your head) and cave tours. (Kentucky has a lot of caves, its not related to Australia.)

You even get to pet the roos!

Feeding some birds. These were eager for food, but not as eager as the ones I didnt get a picture of. They swooped down on us a la The Birds and I can totally see them taking over the world if they wanted to. They scared the crap out of Lil C. Damn birds.
Other than that we actually had a couple date nights thanks to my mom coming to help out with the kids so we could spend some alone time. We hadnt been to the movies since Feb/March of 2010. Sadly I cant even remember what we saw besides Water For Elephants which was excellent by the way. Reese Witherspoon does a great job on period pieces. See it if you havent!

The Life of an Army Wife + Doily Madness

If you arent aware the Army is all about paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! I wanted to get my kids registered for the hourly care on post. In order to do so, I had to provide tons of paperwork including birth certificates. So at this point I would assume some of you might be thinking "Shes a stay at home mom, why does she need child care?" Well, Ill tell you why. I need to get some allergy tests done on my son and instead of all three of us being completely miserable for hours on end, I decided it would be best to use the hourly care on post for Lorelei. Not only does she get to be around other little ones but she also doesnt have to endure a couple hours of what I assume will be her big brother crying alot. Because my hubs is deployed we also get a discount which cant be beat for hourly care at only $2 per hour per child. In addition to that, I have to have the kids registered in CYS so that my son can go on a waiting list for their toddler programs. Early intervention stops when he turns 3, so I need to have something lined up for him to continue to progress. Plus the possibility of having a child free hour to myself makes me simply giddy. SO as Im digging out all the stuff I need to take in and provide I realized I couldnt find my childrens birth certificates. And Im freaking out. I tear the whole house apart and where did I find them? In a new file folder I had made maybe 9 months ago under the file marked "birth certificates". Haha yes I am losing my mind. Totally forgot ever doing such a thing. But as I was searching I did find the doilys my MIL made that I couldnt find for my dang giveaway. Arent they lovely?




My MIL has also made little beanies for my son when he was a newborn and she also makes scarves!

She made me scarves in every color so I gave two to my mom because she walks to work and it gets downright frigid where she lives and she swears theyre the best scarves ever. I wish I could do the things she does, or I wish she lived closer. Im told she can pretty much sew anything. Thinking vintage patterns? She would hate living close to me haha.

That feeling when you would like to strangle someone..

That happens alot as an Army wife. Some people think that just because you are married to the Army that you want to hear their opinion on the wars, government, military, and any conspiracy theory out there. They also think that because your husband is a soldier that gives them the right to criticize him for the job that he does. It irks me that the thought has never occurred to them that SOMEONE has to do the job, and my husband stepped up to the challenge. If it doesnt suit them, they should just say thank you and leave it at that. That rarely happens, so I thought Id post about some common misconceptions people have and get those cleared up. *Warning this could be a long post*

*No we dont get paid to make babies. My husband is going to make the same amount whether we have 1 kid or 12. I assume military have more than one usually because of the health care and other little perks that are obscure and hard to find out about. Its also a steady paycheck and their jobs are usually secure unless they screw up real bad.

*"You knew what you were getting into when you married him."
Yes in a way I did and am I supposed to say sorry that I fell in love with a soldier? I think I wouldve loved him if he worked at Taco Bell also but he happened to shoot higher than that.

*"Such and such place is more dangerous so at least hes not there."
Umm, sorry to break it to you but he goes out on missions at least once daily and theyre all dangerous regardless of the place. The taliban doesnt just hang out in one particular area.

*"My S/O goes out of town on vacation/business trips etc so I know how you feel."
No sorry you dont. Your s/o isnt going to be away an entire year, wait in line for hours just to make a 20 minute call on a shitty connection, or go out on missions where you basically just wait because no news is good news. I also dont think theres a big IED problem anywhere your boyfriend is going.

*"Im tired of my tax dollars paying your husband to sit around over there."
Hes doing alot of things there and sitting isnt usually one of them.

*"Is your husband deployed? Oh Im sorry, that sucks."
Yeah it does suck but to be honest I think he looks uber sexy in all of his gear and even though I wish he could be home this is our life and Im happy with it.

*"At least he'll be home soon."
Our points of view on what "soon" means is very different I see. Soon to me is 2 months and we still have 6 to go. And even when he is home he is still gone. Alot. His work day isnt usually shorter than 12 hours 5 days a week. He also goes out into the field to train overnight, or for a week at a time multiple times a year. Theres also JRTC which is a month of training in a totally different state. Not to mention there are schools that help advance his career that he needs to do eventually, and theres been talk of Ranger school and if he decides that he wants to do it Ill support him being gone another 2 months just for that. He can also be called in on weekends if someone feels like it. Hes a soldier 24/7/365.

Ok I think Im done. If you have said any of these things to me dont take offense. Its mostly the random people that get in my business that irk me the most. Those people never say thank you or that they appreciate everything we all do. Little things like that make a huge difference.

Halfway Point - Day #182

Today is a big day. Day #182 AKA the halfway point in the deployment. 6 months down, 6 months to go. Its all downhill from here (sorta). May is R&R so thats our next milestone to look forward to, but feels like it will never come.

Its been getting difficult lately. Their power is either out, or the phones are down, internet is down, or theres a blackout from someone getting hurt. I dont like such long periods without hearing from him. Two days is long enough for me thank you very much, but the longest Ive had to go is about a week so far. The last time he called was on Valentines Day but I could hardly hear him. Its soo frustrating. The government spends millions on worthless garbage but they cant give the soldiers some damn phones that dont make them sound like theyre talking in robotic echos?? Its Afghanistan and the connection can be shotty. Especially when theyre not in a big FOB (forward operating base). We are pretty sure we will have at least one more deployment to deal with and that may be it. Lets hope.

Introductions please..

A great big welcome to my friends that I already know and an even bigger welcome to new friends stopping by. I may be biting off more than I can chew here, Ill be honest. I have a 21 month old son and am expecting our daughter in less than 3 weeks! I have tons of blogs archived at Myspace and you know I will be pulling from those if need be. If youve dropped by and dont know me Im a stay at home mama and housegirlfriend (soon to be Army wifey) currently living in Clarksville TN. I enjoy vintage finds and bargains in general and my perfect day would be filled with thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and browsing etsy with no spending limit! Obviously thats a dream world so I try to save money any way I can for my family and Im looking for other like minded gals & mamas to share ideas with.