Adjusting to not working.

For many years I have been a stay at home mom and college student.  In December of 2009, I finally accomplished my goal of completing college and obtaining a Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology.  While I was finishing up my last semester of school I was working towards my other goal of finding a job.  I was successful in my job search.  A week before my graduation I was offered a contract job as a Family Programs Assistant.  It felt good to graduate from college and have a job all at the same time. 

For the past ten months I have been working full time as a Family Programs Assistant.  It has allowed me the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life.  The most important part of the job was being able to help Soldiers and Family members.  My contract ended last month and since then I have been working as a house wife.  During the first 2 weeks of not working it was hard for me.  I went from getting up at 5 a.m Monday-Friday to go to work for 8 hours a day to waking up with nothing on my agenda for the day.  I missed the friendships and lunch dates I would have with my co-workers in the office. 

I have came to realize that God has the right job for me and he will lead me to that job when the time is right.  Until that jobs comes along I will enjoy my time at home.  Now that I am not working it gives me the opportunity to be able to get up in the morning and exercise! When I was working full time it was hard to find time to exercise.  Also now I have been cooking dinner more and not making fast easy meals.  When my middle school son comes home from school I am here to talk to him and make an after school snack.  I get to go have lunch with my hubby at his office since he is super busy with work that a lot of the days he isn't able to leave his office.

So for now I will enjoy the free time I have until it it is time to PCS to the next duty station next year.

The Pajama Dress Code

I want to start off by saying that there is no set dress code for an Army wife.  Lately I have noticed a lot of wives here on Schofield Barracks that have set a standard dress code.  The standard dress code consist of wearing pajamas, messy hair, bare feet, and saggy boobies.  I have seen with my own eyes wives at the Commissary, PX, Walmart, standing at the bus stop, and walking their children to school  in PAJAMAS!  The sad thing is at the end of the day when the children are being picked up from school or the bus stop the women are still in their pajamas.

Pajamas

I know how it feels having to wake up early to get your child ready and off to school.  Personally I would not be able to roll out of the bed to take my child to school or run errands.  My routine would be based off of what I had planned for the day.  If my day consisted of me working out and staying at home then I would shower, dress in work out clothes,  comb my hair, and brush my teeth.   For days that I needed to go out and run errand I would shower, comb my hair, brush my teeth, apply makeup, and put on a cute outfit.  If I am staying at home or going out to run errands I make time to put myself together.

 
I don't understand why a person would want to go out in public in their pajamas and not take the time to put themselves together.  For myself wearing pajamas in public isn't apart of my dress code.  I recall only one time during an emergency that I went to the shoppette in my pajamas.  I was woken up early in the morning by a friend notifying me that there was a tsunami warning.  I was panicking because I needed to go to the shoppette and get food and water in case the tsunami struck.  At this point being that it was early in the morning I didn't care who seen me because I needed to get supplies.  So I made sure my teeth was brushed, hair combed and I headed out the door in my pajamas on a mission to get food and water.  When I arrived to the shoppette almost everyone in line was in their pajamas except for those who just strolled in from a night full of partying.  Did I feel bad or embarrassed? The answer is no because at that point my mission was to obtain food and water in the early morning.

As women we should take the time each day to make ourselves look and feel good.  It doesn't take long or much to get up each morning  to shower, comb our hair, brush our teeth, and put on shoes and clothes.  I know there are days when we are feeling down and want to stay in our pajamas.  But to live in your pajamas all day and go out in public is unacceptable.  Not only do we represent ourselves but we are also representing our Soldiers and children.

Me getting ready to go run errands.

Spouse Buzz Live

I attended the Spouse Buzz Live event today here at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  Being able to attend the event has opened up my eyes to new and good things.  It was great to be around good friends and talk with other wives who all share either one thing or a few things in common come together.

I usually don't participate in functions or events that involve other spouse.  The mindset I had of attending an event like Spouse Buzz Live was it was going to room full of women complaining.  Instead the event was very positive and encouraging.  All the vendor tables had spouses who were running their own business.  The panel discussion was great and the audience members offered great advice and tips.   There were tons of prizes and other goodies that we were able to take home. I really enjoyed listening to Mollie Gross say the things that I say to my friends.  The group of ladies I was with were all laughing and was able to relate to the funny stories that Mollie Gross told.

I am looking forward to attending the next Spouse Buzz Live event next year. After having a good and positive experience attending Spouse Buzz Live I highly recommend that other military spouses attend.

Myself, Mollie Gorss, Krystal (Armywife101)

Mollie Gross and Angie

Myself and Krystal (Armywife101)

The Panel

Mollie Gross telling funny stories.