1. During military separations (whether short or long) how do you keep yourself positive and motivated? submitted byMarried/Single Parent  -  By thinking of homecoming, obviously!  Isn't that cheesy?  It's so true, though.  I think about the first time he's going to see me when he walks across the brow of that big ole boat.  I want him to like what he sees, so I keep working on it.
2. What is your favorite concert you have ever been to? submitted by Young but Not (Completely) Dumb  -  John Mayer, opened by Maroon 5, hands down.  My favorite part was actually when John started covering the Maroon 5 songs.  It was so much fun!

1. What do you miss most about your "hometown"?  submitted by A Florida Girl and Her Soldier  -  Uh.  I don't miss my hometown at all.  I miss my family that lives there..  I do, however, miss the quick-serve cafes that abound in the South.  I miss Newk's and McAlister's like crazy.  There simply aren't sandwich shops like that on Guam, and I don't know why.  I didn't find any the last time I was in HI, but I may not have looked in the right places.
2. If you could run in any race, which charity would you choose to support? submitted by Wookie & Co.  -  Definitely March of Dimes.  I don't think I really need to go into why I choose March of Dimes, since their whole platform is premature births and infant health.  I learned a LOT while we were in the NICU. Katie Beth was blessed in that she didn't have any health problems, but I've made friends with numerous  mommies whose babies did.  March of Dimes provides so much education for parents!
3. You find out Willy Wonka is your father, what 3 course meal do you INSIST he create in that stick of gum?  submitted byA{muse}ing Mommy on a Pink Park Bench  -  Ok, this is pathetic, but I honestly can't answer this question.  There are so many different foods that I absolutely love.  Yes, I love food.  I really, really love food.  I'm a foodie.  My husband is a foodie.  We love to cook, eat, and even watch television shows about food.  It's our thing.  Having said that, I am very sad that I can't narrow down one meal that I would love more than any other.  It's so sad!

1.  Do you or your {spouse} ever wish your {spouse} was in a different branch of the military?  Submitted by The Turner Family

I know he definitely doesn't.  He grew up a Navy brat, and it's pretty much the only way of life he's ever known.  I grew up with family in the Air Force, so those customs are still more familiar to me.  It took me months to fully understand Navy rank, and I'll never ever understand rates.  I am thankful that he's not a Soldier or Marine.  Though weeks without an email is hard, I'd prefer it to him being in the Sandbox or the Mountains being shot at.

2.  What duty station(s) are on your "No Way, Hell No, Not Going, Have Fun Unaccompanied" list and why?  submitted by Every Branch

I will never allow geo-bachelor tour.  Will. Not.  He's my husband and where he goes, I go.  I mean, MY GOD, I've handled GUAM!  Having said that, there are a few places that I will fight hard to keep away from.  I do not want to go to Bangor.  Lord in Heaven, please keep us out of Washington!  My body was not made for drizzly weather.  I need sunshine to survive.  I also have no desire to be in San Diego.  I really don't think I'm suited for West Coast living.. I'm an East Coast kind of girl, no matter how far North I have to go to be there.  I was born to be a WASP matriarch.

3.  If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose to be and why?  submitted byThree Krakens

My 24 was amazing.  When I turned 24 I was living with one of my best friends, and by far the best roommate I've ever had.  3 months into 24, I got back in touch with Jason and we all know how wonderfully that went.  3 weeks after that I landed a job that I really liked, even though I only worked there for 6 months.  I got engaged and married to the love of my life.. If Jason had been able to stay with me in Mississippi, 24 would have been perfect.  But as it was, it was still amazing.
4.  If you were a breakfast cereal, which one would you be?  submitted by the C.W.


Lucky Charms.  There are the little oat bits that are good for you, but the rest is sweet little marshmallows.  They are colorful, sweet, and make you feel like a kid again. 


5.  What is your morning beverage of choice and why?  submitted by NH Girl Displaced

Iced water.  I'm always thirsty first thing, and I basically chug a full glass first thing.  It's so refreshing after a long night!  As soon as I finish with it, though, I go for my coffee.  1 Splenda and lots of cream, please. 

One of the strongest traditions on Guam is of the Taotaomona, or the Ancient Ones.  They protect the jungle and the ancient village sites.  There are a bunch of traditions that go along with the idea of the Taotaomonas.  For instance, whenever entering the jungle, you should ask the Taotaomonas for permission.  You should also ask for permission when passing a Banyan tree.  You should never take anything from the jungle without asking permission.  Also, when passing through ancestral burial grounds, you should always whistle so as not to startle the Taotaomona.

In doing my research, I found this article that I really liked:
http://www.helium.com/items/1996682-taotaomona-the-zombies-of-guam

Taotaomona are tricksters.  They will pinch and leave marks on your body.  If the mark is a bruise that doesn't hurt, it means the Taotaomona likes you.  *I got unexplained bruises all the time while I was pregnant, but I haven't since*  If the mark is a big red mark that hurts, you've done something to make the Taotaomona angry.  Taotaomona also cause headaches that can't be explained or cured by contemporary medicine.  To rid oneself of an illness caused by a Taotaomona, one must visit a village witch doctor.  Apparently we actually have those here, which I didn't know until doing a little research.

So, weird stuff started happening a few weeks ago.  I woke up a few times thinking there was an earthquake going on because my bed was shaking.  I asked my friends, and they hadn't felt it, and it never got reported online.  Well, whatever.. I still thought it was an earthquake.  Then the first really creepy thing happened.  Every night when I go to bed, I turn off the cable box, but not the tv.  The tv goes blank, but doesn't turn off all the way.  So one night, KB woke up, so I went in her room to help her back to sleep.  I glanced into the living room like I always do, and everything was fine.  On the way back to my room, though, I heard voices!  I freaked out, and then I realized that it was the tv.  I thought, maybe a power surge had caused the cable box to turn back on.  I went in the living room, and sure enough, the tv was on a cable channel.  But the cable box was still off!  I turned off the tv and went back to bed and tried hard not to think about it.

The night Jason came home, I slept horribly.  I woke up a bunch of times, and one of those times I thought I saw a shadow right in front of me.  I blinked and it was gone, but it still creeped me out.  I thought maybe I slept so badly because Jason and I had switched sides of the bed because I needed to be closer to the fan.  I made sure we switched back the next night, though.

Then two nights ago, more really weirdness.  Katie Beth woke up at 11 pm, which she hadn't done since the time the tv came on.  I walked to her room, still half asleep, and helped her back to sleep.  Then I realized the stinking tv was on again!  Same thing - on a cable channel but the cable box was off.  I turned it off, and went back to bed.  I was almost asleep when something bumped the bed really hard.  Almost as if you accidentally bumped into it in the dark or something.. that hard.  I jerked straight up and tried not to flip out.  I calmed down, and closed my eyes and laid there trying to force myself back to sleep.  Then something put pressure on top of the blanket beside my feet.  Blah.  I turned on the lamp and read for about an hour and a half before I could finally fall back to sleep.

So yesterday I told Jason about it, and God bless him, he didn't laugh.  I don't think he believes me, but at least he didn't laugh.  Last night we went to bed, and of course Jason was asleep within seconds of hitting the pillow.  I was almost asleep when the bed started shaking.  At this point, I just resigned myself to the fact that something lives with us now.  The bed shook without me or Jason moving two more times last night.

The more I think about it and talk about it, the less scared I get.  Obviously whatever is hanging out in our house with us likes us.  From what I've read about Taotaomona, you would know if one didn't like you.  I really, truly think that whatever/whoever is in our house doesn't want us to move!  Stuff didn't start happening until we started packing out.  I think it likes us!  I even found these webpages that have other ghost stories, and they sound so similar to what has been going on around here.

http://www.ghost-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3630

http://www.yourghoststories.com/ghost-stories-countries.php?country=GU&page=1

So yeah.. I know a bunch of y'all reading this are going to think I'm absolutely crazy.  That's cool, I would think that too if I wasn't living the weirdness.  But just so y'all know, I'm going to start being a lot more respectful when I talk about Guam.  Don't want to make my Taotaomona angry!

1. What is your favorite MilSpouse blog?  This is actually the first one I've read, so I don't know.  I closely follow the blogs of a few of my favorite people, however.
2. What are your favorite perks about your s/o being deployed (we all know there are perks)?  Easy!  Though my favorite things are like double-edged swords.  Here they are, and why they are double-edged.  1, Having the bed to myself.  Jason can be difficult to sleep beside because he snores loudly, steals covers and flops.  All that said, I still miss him when he's not there.  2, Being able to have cereal for dinner if I want it.  The bad part about this is that I don't really get to have my favorite meals if I want them.  I hate cooking for just myself, so I pretty much just don't do it.
3. How long did you date your before getting engaged? Married? Jason and I dated for about 2 months the first time, back in 2006.  We got back together on January 1, 2009.  He proposed on March 31, 2009.  We were engaged for 5 days and got married on April 5, 2009.
4. What do you think your would do if s/he wasn’t in the military?  He'd be a managing engineer at a steel factory like Nucor, most likely.   That's what his college internship was before he joined the Navy, anyway.  
5. If you could talk to the Secretary of the Navy what is one suggestion you would like to bring to their attention in order to improve the lives of military families?  I know this won't be a popular answer, but....  Dear Ray Mabus,  I still take serious issue with you caving to the pressure of liberal groups and allowing women on submarines.  

I recently got a good giggle when someone asked me if my tan came from a tanning salon.  I. Live. On. Guam!  There literally aren't any tanning salons on this little island.  I just thought that was so funny..  I haven't been in a tanning bed in almost two years.  (Thank God!)  His next question was, "Oh, do you just lay out?"  Hahahahahahahaha!  I'm a full time Mommy to a 6 month old!  The precious few hours she spends napping each day are the only time I can get things done in my house.  If I took that time to tan.... Again, it just makes me giggle.

I have recently decided that I take issue with tanning beds, except when used for depression alleviation purposes.  If I lived somewhere that never had sun, I would probably own a tanning bed, or at the very least, one of those huge lamps that you sit under.  I need sunshine!  I couldn't live like my dear friend Celeste does, at the beautiful North Pole where there are weeks at a time of darkness.  No, thank you.  The thing she does for love (live there to be with her man) would be a deal breaker for me.

Now, back to taking issue with tanning beds... Why do we feel the need to be dark in the winter?  I'm guilty, too.  I tanned every fall and winter from the time I was 17 until I moved to Guam.  But why?  Light skin is beautiful!   Light skin is natural in the winter time!  I see my friends who are dark, and I don't get it.. Then I see people that I'm not necessarily friends with who are orange, and I want to laugh at them.  In fact, I do laugh at them, just not to their faces.

I don't get why we're all so vain.  Going to a tanning salon means actually paying for something that you can get for free outside.  Why not just wait until it warms up a little bit?  I know they make you feel better during the winter.. Like I said, I'm guilty, too.  I used to love the feeling of crawling in that warm bed when it was 30 degrees outside.  It was the best nap I could get in the winter!  But still.. why?

For the very first time in my life, I have a runner's tan.  The tan lines are huge on my shoulders and back.  It's not going to be very pretty in a dress, but I don't care.  I'm so proud that I've been spending time outside every day.  I'm showing my little girl the healthy way to have a glow to her skin.  (For the record, we both wear sun screen even though she spends 90% of the run in the shade of her car seat.)

I hereby vow to never pay for a tan ever again.  That is, unless Jason somehow talks me into moving to Bangor, Washington.  At that point I will probably have to purchase a tanning bed just to survive.

You've been warned.  That's probably all this post is going to be... bitching.  You don't have to read it, and you certainly don't have to comment.  In fact, if you have an opinion that differs from mine, please don't express it here.  Talk to me about it on a day when I don't feel like crying every 15 minutes.  Talk to me about it on a day when I don't hate Guam.  That day might come in a month when I'm finally off this rock, but I'm sure it will come.  I'm sure, one day (maybe when I'm mired in the snow in Connecticut) I will look back and miss Guam.  Today is not that day.

This move has been crazy.  It's no one's fault and I have no one to blame, except maybe Big Navy (like, the government, not the base) for using our command as guinea pigs.  It's one thing after another, and I'm so sick of it.  I'm also sick of the feeling that I shouldn't have a negative opinion about it.  Sorry, I've got one.  I won't go into specifics in such a public way, but if I don't get this out somewhere, I'm going to explode.  Just writing this vague little paragraph makes me feel better.  I no longer feel the need to throw all three of my telephones into Sumay Bay.

It's the little things that get me here.  For instance, I get so angry just about every single time I step foot into the commissary.  It's always something.  What isn't fair is that if I consistently had problems at a grocery store in the States, I would just NOT go to that grocery store.  Well, here I don't have a choice.  The thing that gets me most often is the stupid self-check out machines.  Why don't they ever work properly?  I've used self-check out machines in probably 15 grocery stores and Wal Marts all over the country, and never had a problem before.  UGH.  Today my bitch is seemingly incompetent employees.  Now what happened doesn't even seem relevant.  So I'm not going to write about it.. Again, my vague paragraph has made me feel better.

Lastly, I'm annoyed at myself because I can't get past this weight plateau.  I get to a certain number, and I only go up from there.  I've gotten to this number 3 times now in the past 2 months, and it seems like once I hit it I can't go further.  I eat less, exercise more, and nothing.  Maybe it's a mental thing?  I don't know.. I find myself getting discouraged when I haven't lost anything the next day.  I've also noticed that I am a defiant eater.  "Oh.  I didn't lose anything yesterday and I did so well.. So today I'm going to eat what I want, since it obviously doesn't make a difference."  That's probably something I need to work through.. I should also probably not weigh myself every single day.  That might help.. Blah.  I don't know.  I don't want to get obsessive, but I see it coming.

Ok, just so this won't be a huge bitch fest with nothing positive.. Jason will home again soon and I am so very excited to see him.  We only have a few weeks total left of under water time before Jason will be on dry land with  me for the next 4ish years.  I am so ready to wake up next to him every morning and go to sleep beside him every night.  I'm ready to find a church, and get into a family routine instead of a single mom routine.  I can't wait to really get started on our life as a family!

Alright.. bitch over.  Now I can finish my day with a big weight lifted off my shoulders.  Sometimes you just have to get it out, you know?

I just ordered a pizza and I'm wearing one of my favorite t-shirts.  I sat down on the couch and grabbed my plastic tumbler full of cold water, and thought, "Man.. these are some of my favorite things ever!"  Move over, Julie Andrews, because here's my list.  For no reason other than I want to think about things that make me happy.

Pizza, but not just any pizza.  I love gourmet pizzas, but my favorite is this:  pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers and pineapple.  Is that an odd combination?  I didn't know I liked pineapple on pizza until I spent a few months pregnant.  At that point I realized that I like fruit in pretty much any dish, with any topping.

T-shirts.  I love me some t-shirts.  I have two that I wear over and over and over because they're just so stinking soft.  One is light blue and says "Ain't Oxford Grand" with the North Face symbol on the back.

The other one is the very first Ole Miss t-shirt that I bought in Oxford.  It's the famous "OLE MISS We're not snobs... We're just better than you."  t-shirt.  There are so many reasons that I love this shirt.  Number one, it's the first one I ever bought.  I got it my Freshman year and I was so proud.  Two, I was once wearing it in the Atlanta airport when a guy chased me down just so that he could see the back of it.  He laughed so hard.  Turns out, he went to State.  Number 3 is a little bizarre.  Jason accidentally took it home with him the first time we were dating.  I had no idea what had happened to my favorite t-shirt.  After we started dating again, Jason failed to mention that he still had it.  I found it when I was unpacking his clothing boxes in Guam.  I was so excited!  Not only was my very favorite t-shirt returned to me, but Jason had kept it all along.. even when he hated my guts :)  And number 4, it got me chased down when we were in HI..  by an elderly gentleman, who, you guessed it.. went to State.  Turns out, it's a great conversation starter.

I love plastic tumblers.  I will choose a plastic cup over a glass any day of the week.  I mean, seriously.. Unless I'm entertaining, I just don't see the sense in using a big heavy glass.  I sort of think they're obnoxious.  Jason will go for them every time, and it annoys me to no end.  (Now that I think about it, that's a really stupid thing to be annoyed at..  Poor Jason, dealing with my little quirks.)  Maybe I associate glasses with extra dish-washing since Mammaw never let us put them in the dishwasher.  Blah.. Give me plastic!  Even better if it's one of the awesomely insulated tumblers that come with lids.. I love those things!

I also love beverages in plastic cups, oddly enough.  I hate cans.  I hate bottles.  I want my beverage in ice, in a plastic cup.  Preferably with a straw, unless the beverage is tea.  Tea should only be drank with a straw if one is drinking from a McAllister's or Newk's cup.  My GOD, I'm neurotic!  My favorite beverage is cold water.  It always has been.. Even as a kid I'd go for water before a soda, tea, juice, or (shivers) milk.  Milk is disgusting, FYI.

Make up.  I have a make up problem, and I always have.  I remember this little problem starting sometime in junior high.  It only compounded when Mom started working for Lancome, and it got so much worse when she ran a Chanel counter.  I have, literally, hundreds of eye shadow colors.  Hundreds.  Ok, maybe more like dozens, but probably close to 100.  The quirky thing here is that I rarely wear make up.  We have to be going on a date, or I have to be meeting a group for lunch to wear it.  I'm too lazy to worry with applying it and later washing it off.

I have listed for you some completely random things that make my day better.  I could go on with this list for hours.  I'm purposefully leaving out how much I love my amazing husband, my beautiful daughter, and our life together.  I think I write about them too much :)