Things I'm Going To Miss (Pt. 2)

Things I'm going to miss about being a Marine wife:
The understanding and "sisterhood"
There is just something about being a military wife that only other military wives can fully understand. We know what it is like to deal with training and deployments, being single mothers at times...we've all been there (or will be there) at one point in our husband's career. We understand that while we are their wives, the military is their mistress, and we have no say in what that mistress has our husbands do. We as military wives understand and have come to terms with the fact that we may be apart more of our marriage than together. We understand that the military doesn't care about anniversaries or birthdays, pregnancy or the birth of our children. I can't talk to my civilian friends about any of this because they usually just don't get it. "I don't know how you do it." or "You're stronger than I could be." isn't something I hear from my military friends. Instead it's "Here's some things that helped me out when he was gone." or "Have you tried doing this?"

The pride 
It's not every woman who gets to watch her husband and know that he is part of the greatest military force in the world. He is a hero and every day he puts on his uniform it makes me so proud to call him mine.


Things I'm going to miss doing:  
Shopping at the Commissary/MCX

I've recently done a food budget and I have to say that, surprisingly, the commissary is cheaper than a lot of the Great Value (Walmart's cheap brand) items. Plus I love the fact that you don't pay sales tax. You can get some really great deals if you pay attention!

Going to the Marine Corps Ball 
That is definitely something I'm going to miss a lot. I love the whole tradition of the ball. I love getting all dressed up one night a year and celebrating. Plus I love any time I get to see my man in his dress blues. :-)

Living in on base

I know a lot of people don't like living on base, or maybe they just don't like the fact that there are stricter rules that come with living on base, but I love it. I love the fact that Ethan and I were just starting out as a couple and we could live in a 3 bedroom house with a nice yard for our dog, and eventually our son, to play in. I love the security of living on base, especially when Ethan was deployed. I like the fact that if anything breaks in the house that maitenance will be there to fix it. 

Going to the beach
We are originally from Austin, Texas. Back home, the closest beach to us is about 4 hours away. In North Carolina, we live about 30 minutes from the beach. If we feel like it we just drive out there after work for a quick swim or to let Aiden play in the sand and find seashells. I must say I have fallen in love with the ocean.


Things I'm going to miss having:  
The Naval Hospital
Living on base gives us the added advantage of having the doctor's office within 5 minutes from our house. We all go to the same place, the pharmacy is inside as well and even the Urgent Care (although I really hate going there) is right there also if we need something after regular hospital hours.

IPAC
While I don't really like Ethan's work, I do like the fact that if something happens he is so close to us. He has been lucky with SNCOs and higher ups that let him come to Aiden's doctor's appointments and stuff.

Health/dental insurance
Both Ethan and I grew up without health insurance and while we were both pretty lucky about getting not getting sick and stuff it was still a big thing to have to go to the hospital every time you needed a prescription. I am very glad that we don't have to worry about that with Aiden. I had a pretty big surgery back in February that has really helped with my quality of living. Tricare deemed it medically necessary and covered it, but if we didn't have health insurance we wouldn't have been able to pay for the surgery. Aiden also had surgery when he was a little over a year old to fix a blocked tear duct he had had since birth, and although it was a small 30 minute surgery the bill was not small at all. I'm very thankful for Tricare taking care of us. 

Security
I think this is what I'm going to miss the absolute most. No matter what happens, with the military we will always have a paycheck coming in to pay for food and bills. We will always have a roof over our head. We will always have health insurance. There are no layoffs or job cuts. 




Things I wish I would've done while being stationed in NC and/or being a Marine wife:
Travel
We have been stationed in North Carolina for almost 3 1/2 years and we have hardly been as far outside of Havelock as Greenville (1 1/2 hours). We've gone to Raleigh, which is about 2 1/2-3 hours away, only to take people to and from the airport and we went once for a concert. We went to the mall there once. We have gone to Greenville quite a few times because that is where I had my surgery and my post-op appointments. We've actually spent time in Greenville (that wasn't for a Dr's appt.) all of twice in 3 years. 
Hello, we live on the East Coast!! There are so many places that are within a reasonable driving distance from here that I've always wanted to go to. Myrtle Beach, Disney World, Busch Gardens, Wilmington VA, Washington DC, New York City....etc. We have gone to Florida once with some friends to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami when Aiden was about 2 months old. We haven't gone out of state, except to go back to Texas, since. So if there is anything I wish we would've done while we've been in the Marine Corps and stationed here, I wish we would've gone more places. Followed friends home during a 96...anything to get out of this tiny town we have trapped ourselves in.

L.I.N.K.S. 
Until recently I didn't even know what this was. I've heard people talking about LINKS, but I had never taken the time to actually find out what it was. I really wish I had gotten involved in this when I was a newer wife to help me to adjust to the Marine Corps. I didn't honestly have that hard of a time, but it would've been nice to get to know other girls around here. Sometimes it is really hard to find the right kind of people, especially with the drama that can be associated with living on base. Now I wish I could have had more time to maybe even take the volunteer classes to help other girls. I love helping people and I think this program would be a good use of my time.



I'm sure there are about a hundred other reasons I have, but thinking of them all off the top of my head is a little hard so this is what I'll leave you with for now. I am a blonde (although my natural hair color hasn't been seen in a loooong time) so I do tend to be quite forgetful. Plus I now have the mommy brain so I'm always scatter-brained. If there is anything that you think I should add, or anything that you know you would miss, feel free to tell me.