Join the #BlogTwitLov Hop

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Welcome to the Twitter Hop!

The only "rule" here is to follow as many people on the hop as possible!  I'd love it if you would grab a button and put it on your sidebar or "where hop/party" page.  Alright, let's get this party started!  So, put your TWITTER on the first link up (http://twitter.com/YOUR USER NAME) and your BLOGLOVIN blog on the second link up, then gain some new followers.

Your Hosts:

Dawn~from Dawn's Disaster

Natasha~from Serenity You


Your Co-Hosts this month:

Daydreaming Of A Kid-less Vacation

Often times during a hike, Zac and I will find ourselves behind the others. Ky suggests we are hereditarily slow walkers. I believe I'm out of shape. My husband says we are slow. Whatever the reason, I don't mind. Zac and I are bonding. Zac loves to talk. At some point along the way, Zac will direct the conversation to money. He might ask If this rock were gold, how much do you think it would be worth?  Then I reply, I don't know anything about rocks or gold.  Zac will suggest some dollar amount and I will say Yes because I know where the boy wants the conversation to go. He wants to imagine how he would spend an endless amount of money. It's cute.

I suppose Zac's daydreams are similar to my daydreams about life with adult children. When my free time will be spent freely. When my vacation days accrue endlessly and a vacation means relaxing. Can you hear the steel drum and ocean waves? I think so!

Jenni, from Story of My Life, poses the question If you had 3 months off to do anything in the world, what would you do? My first reaction was pack my bags. I want to go somewhere! There are so many places I haven't seen. I've always wanted to see the United States from coast to coast. A road trip maybe. Some time in the Big Apple. The Nation's capital. The Northwest.

Part of me would like to do something daring. Lately I've been following the journey of two Marines walking across America to bring awareness to Wounded Warriors.  I am inspired. How cool would it be to walk across America? Meet people. Walk with them. Share an important story.

Zac and I talk about the two Marines as we followed the group up the mountain. He agreed a cross country walk should be in our future. Did you catch that? The kid just crashed my kidless vacation daydream! Maybe I am destined to have a tag along.

Military Ranks

The military. Enlisted. Officers. Military spouses. My opinion.

I attempted to start a blog post about all of these things about 20 times. I had to keep erasing. My readers who are not military spouses, I will guess you are confused. For the military spouses, I'm guessing you are intrigued. Here is the thing... the separation of enlisted and officer spouses is like the elephant in the room. It's the question on the tip of every wife's tongue. "Who is your husband?" But nobody admits it.

There are a rare few who want to hear a birth name in response. Most spouses really just want to know if the husband is an officer or enlisted. Why? Because there is well established military culture which honors an imaginary line between officer and enlisted. Our knee jerk reaction is 'We can't be friends'. An overstatement at best. A complete generalization, I know. But there is truth here.

Spouses do not have rank. That is what they say. Bottom line, our military families haven't quite figured out how to look past the issue. In my 15 years as military spouse, I find those who successfully blur the lines to be few and far between. There is no rank more guilty than another. Quick judgements exist on both sides of the lines. Insecurities hold us back. The challenge is to push past the comfort zone of friends at arms reach and not accept the preconceived ideas of who they are.

Recently, my kids have become interested in the military ranking system. I'm sure my husband's recent promotion sparked their interest. Nonetheless, they ask questions. The raw honest questions which usually have to do with why and why not. Lately it has been why some Marines are officers and others are enlisted. We tell them the most basic difference is education. Officers A.) have a bachelor's degree and B.) are trained at an Officer Training School (OSC).  Don't get me wrong some enlisted military members join the military with a college degree. However, still not an officer until they complete OCS.

I always tell my children if they want to join the military become an officer. There are several reasons why I encourage this. #1 I want them to finish college. #2 Financially it makes better sense especially if you retire. #3 The officer ranks have created a strong support system for their families. I believe it's something the enlisted have not achieved.  #4 Being an enlisted military member is sort of the shit end of the deal. Enlisted are the worker bees. They make the plans happen. The yes sir, yes ma'am person.

Then there are things I love about the enlisted side. #1 We don't have a hundred work related social events to attend in our free time. #2 My husband doesn't have to move every 1-2 years. #3 He doesn't (typically) have to deal with work outside of work.

Ultimately, the military is the military. The job couldn't be done without any rank. The officer and enlisted ranks carry individual responsibilities needing recognition. As far as the separation between spouses, I think the key is how you approach it. I have found the way I treat people is typically the way people treat me. I guess the Golden Rule still applies. There is always going to be a spouse who believes fraternization applies to them. A character flaw.  I am not really interested in getting to know them.

My best advice is to be yourself. Don't chat about the military. Smile. Be funny. Blur the line. Those interactions make better conversations anyways!

Linking up with Eights on the Move

Tales From The New Home {week 8}

Two full months in the new house. I think we can be settled now. My office is still a modge podge of boxes and misplaced items. I need to figure out what the room will be. I like the idea of a guest room but we don't have a lot of overnight guests. Other options include office, craft room, or storage room. Still thinking on that one.

This week has been hot. 102. 103. It's September, right? An East Coast friend posted a picture in long sleeves, pants, and boots on Facebook. I almost cried. Southern California is notorious for skipping fall. My favorite season, of course.  September is here and I am just now running the air conditioning all day. Doesn't seem right.

The house continues to keep me busy with cleaning and organizing. I should say re-organizing, thanks to my three children. I had to make some returns to Lowes this week and stopped through the paint and flooring sections. The inside walls need a new coat of paint. We put painting off when we moved in due to my indecision. Our second major project (after the backyard) is replacing the flooring downstairs.  We are switching from carpet to laminate (wood). I picked up two samples of the colors I would like.

My first option for paint/flooring is:

Yellow walls.

Acorn or Maple flooring

The second option is:

Gray walls.

Dark flooring.

Which combo do you like? I have wanted gray but I think the yellow/maple combo is more me.

Before I sign off I have to share a (blurry) picture of my little engine that could. Do you remember the massacred lime tree? Here is the latest photo update on its recovery. We have blooms. I think it is a good sign!

Hiking Idyllwild {Devil's Slide Trail}

We finally took our hiking adventures to the mountains. Idyllwild, California in the San Bernadino National Forest. The terrain changes from desert to forest covered granite mountains in a matter of miles. I didn't know such places existed in Southern California. I am in love. I'm hooked. I wanna go back right now.

Best. Hike. Ever.
We made it to Saddle Junction at approximately 7700 feet.
We were all feeling pretty accomplished.

(Thank you, rock, for taking our picture.)

LAST DAY TO VOTE!!  Please vote:
Adventures of a Semper Fi Family
at the link below
http://voiceboks.com/top-50-military-mom-blogs-of-2013/

Thank you!