Somewhere Over the Camo: guest post

Showing posts with label guest post. Show all posts

at 10/15/2012

at 4/30/2012

Hey guys.. today I bring you Sue.. she's kind of a big deal. But luckily she is letting me swap blogs with her today. So if you are looking for my post you can find it over at Hello. Also, I love you. Sue lives in Japan.. a very far away land, and blogs about many great things, not just one topic, but many. I highly suggest her blog to each and every one of my readers.. so without further ado, here's Sue.. (I rhymed.)

Hello Amanda's lovely readers! I'm Sue and I blog over at Hello. Also, I love you. I live in Japan with my husband and my puppy. I write about the ups and downs of life and everything in between. I try to always be honest with myself and others in my writing. I don't have anything that I consider my "specialty" in blogging. I'm terrible at WIW, recipes, and crafts, although I sometimes attempt each of them. If you have some time come visit my blog and say hello- I love to make new friends!

Amanda and I are swapping blogs today to talk about something our world is obsessed with. Perfection. It seems like that's what we're all chasing, doesn't it? We want to be the perfect wife, the perfect daughter, the perfect mom, the perfect sister, the perfect girl. We see someone skinnier than us and think if I had her body I'd be so happy. We see someone prettier than us and think I wish I looked like that. Then I remember that every skinny girl I know has something else she hates about her body and every pretty girl I know has something she'd change about her face. I don't know anyone who lives in perpetual happiness with who they are and how they look. And it's because we're all chasing that elusive thing called perfection.

But here's the secret no one tells you when you're growing up: There's no such thing as perfect. Our idea of perfect is really just a lie. If you lose those 5 pounds you're complaining about are you going to be perfectly content with your body? Probably not. You'll find something else you want to change. It's a vicious cycle and the only way to change it to to make the change inside ourselves. The picture of me above? I can tell you 5 things I hate about how I look. Or I can tell you that I look cute and happy and that's what's really important. I know that my body isn't perfect, that I am not perfect, but slowly I'm coming to accept that it's okay. And just because I'm okay with who I am doesn't mean I'm going to stop changing. I work out, I eat healthy (most of the time), I take care of my body. There's nothing wrong with wanting to lose a little weight, or changing a feature about yourself, as long as you know that doing it doesn't make you a better person- and it won't make you "perfect."

If you're a beautiful person on the inside you will be a beautiful person on the outside.

And at the end of the day, perfection is overrated.

I prefer to just be me.

Hey guys.. today I bring you Sue.. she's kind of a big deal. But luckily she is letting me swap blogs with her today. So if you are l...

at 3/29/2012

at 3/02/2012

I am super excited to bring you this post today while I'm on temporary leave from the blogosphere. Hands down the craftiest, busiest blogger going through a deployment I know is Janey. Her posts always touch on something creative, serious, hilarious and 100% truthful about the Army. Residing in Hawaii (aren't we all jealous??) and nearing the finish line of her own hubby's deployment she managed to squeeze some time in to write a very truthful post about how to survive deployments.. so grab your wine (not kidding my glass is right in front of me..) and don't forget to hop on over to Janey's blog A Few of My Favorite Things...

I'm Janey from A Few of My Favorite Things, a newlywed Army spouse surviving my husband's first deployment. In the military spouse world there seem to be a few queries that we all get, the most common being a version of the question, “How do you do it?” in regard to getting through your spouse’s deployments. Replying, “I don’t really have a choice now do I?” doesn’t seem to be a warm, wise, or understanding answer, which got me thinking, really how do we do it?

5. Wine

Just call me wino. That magic happy juice keeps me from worrying so that much I break down crying hysterically every time I’m at the commissary and see someone in uniform. Besides, it’s made out of fruit so it’s healthy. Really. You can look it up. (Okay, don’t actually look it up.)

4. Friends

These are the individuals that are right there along with you in the happy wine juice drinking department. They reassure each other this is normal adult behavior while inviting each other to as many Scentsy, 31 Bags, CaBi Clothing, Lia Sophia Jewelry, Pampered Chef, Amway, Mary Kay, Jamberry Nails, and Passion parties as humanly possible. Anything to make the days speed by.

3. Family

You know, those cool people that, even when you do call crying hysterically because you forgot to take your daily dose of happy wine juice and went into the commissary and saw a happy little family, listen patiently and help pull you through. (Yes? Someone else relate to this?) Well, it’s those people who still answer your calls after that ordeal no matter the time difference (“Really, it’s 4 am there? I had no idea”). I would be lost without family.

2. Faith

Getting a little serious here on this one, but in all honesty it’s a big one - a little faith. It doesn’t matter if that is God, Yahweh, Allah, Ra the Sun God, Mother Nature, or Chuck Norris. Just, knowing there is something a greater purpose; an infinite wisdom in the midst of this chaos can get you through the hard nights.

1. Your Soldier

A big ole fat duh. None of us would do it if it weren’t for the man or woman we are waiting for. None of us would go through the stress and heart break if that person wasn’t worth every once of fear and hope, every second of missing, every moment of that and more.

Always,
Amanda

I am super excited to bring you this post today while I'm on temporary leave from the blogosphere. Hands down the craftiest, busies...

at 2/29/2012

I am super excited to bring you this post today while I'm on temporary leave from the blogosphere. One of my absolute favorite blogs to read is Jenn's. At Life With The Lietenant she talks about everything including life in the Army, being a mother, expecting another little one and everything in between. I'm usually laughing by the time the first paragraph is done because of her amazing ability to say it how it is with no sugarcoating. I asked Jenn if she would guest post for me.. she said yes, and here is what she has to say...

Hello Somewhere Over The Camo readers! (Does anyone else sing Amanda's blog title every time they click over, or is that just me?) My name is Jenn from Life With The Lieutenant and Amanda graciously asked me to write a little something for her blog so that it does not gather dust while she's enjoying her husband on R&R. If only she could see my house, she would know that keeping dust at bay is not really my forte, but I'm going to give it the ol' college try!

I honestly had no clue what to write about since I've never guest posted anywhere before, and while Amanda suggested I write about my experiences with the Army so far, I just couldn't come up with anything particularly USEFUL or even slightly interesting to write about. So as I was darting in and out of sleep last night (am seriously pregnant! Sleep does not come easily anymore!), I started thinking about what Amanda and I have in common, how we are different, and how that could somehow form a blog post. So without further ado... Ahem.

Amanda has gorgeous red hair.

Ain't she cute?

I do not.

Ain't he cute?

My son and husband have red hair, and so help me God, if this next baby comes out with red hair too, I am probably going to have to start scheduling appointments at the salon to make myself a redhead as well so that I look like I somewhat belong in this family. (Side note: I will not be a very attractive redhead.)

Amanda's husband is in the Army.

Mine is too! Similarity number one!

Amanda does not live near a military installation.

I live ON a military installation. I can see the pros and cons to this ("this" being living on or off-post). Everyone comes at it differently. Some people say that they want a separation between their work life and home life. Some people want the convenience of a five-minute drive to work. Some people think they can make money off of their BAH by living off-post. Some people can get a better house for "cheaper" on-post. We have tried both. On-post wins by a landslide for us. In our area, we get a much bigger house on-post and don't have to pay utilities. We have easy access to the commissary and PX. And having my husband home for breakfast, lunch and (sometimes) dinner beats out the "cost" of sharing a wall with our crazy neighbors. Our neighbors often provide some good dinnertime chatter for us and where else can I get a free, live performance of the latest Rhianna songs while sitting on my couch? (My attached neighbor has no idea that we can hear him singing through the wall. Yes. HIM. HE sings Rhianna songs. Quite talented too, I might add. Bravo.)

Amanda has a very large dog that is like a child to her.

I have a very small dog that is like a child to me.

That is just a wee tennis ball, made specially for wee doggies. It is in no way close to the size of Piston's mighty tennis ball.

Unfortunately, this little doggy-person has had to take a backseat in the attention department once my son arrived, and she has made no bones about letting us know that she does not appreciate this demotion. I'm assuming these are her moody teenage years (she's four years old now) and we will get over this little hump soon enough.

Amanda appears to have the type of husband that will bowl her over with an unexpected kiss or twenty.

I do too. I believe this is a very nice quality to have in a husband.

Amanda likes to sleep in until noon when she can.

I would like to also! I really would! Evidence:

I present to you- the most flattering picture ever taken of me.

But other little people (and big people) have different plans for me. Those plans usually revolve around the hours of 6-7am. This is ok with me (for now) since morning time is when the rest of this household of mine is in their best of moods. I have no qualms with making their breakfasts, washing their clothes, doing their dishes, and cleaning up messes that aren't mine because I know that ONE DAY (in a galaxy far, far away) I will be able to sleep in again. Probably in 20ish years or so. I can do it. One day at a time...

Amanda is working and going to school to complete her degree.

About a hundred years ago (or maybe it was only three years ago...) I was doing the same. Not always easy (can I get an Amen?), but totally worth it in the end. Fortunately, it seems that Amanda is going to school for a degree that is useful in attaining a real, let's-make-some-actual-money job. Unfortunately, I did not have my wits about me in college and I settled for an Exercise Science degree. This has proved to be utterly useless so far, except for the fact that I know what I need to do to get back in shape after having these babies. (However, "knowing" and "doing" are two totally different things altogether....)

Amanda's husband has deployed.

Mine has not. So I can't imagine what she's going through and the emotions and feelings that surround her husband's R&R homecoming. But I do sincerely THANK YOU, Amanda, for your commitment to your husband and country and hope that you truly enjoy every second of having him home. You so deserve it. Thanks for letting me guest post for ya and I hope this didn't just drive away half of your readers.

Always,
Amanda

I am super excited to bring you this post today while I'm on temporary leave from the blogosphere. One of my absolute favorite blogs to ...

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One more thing...

Sue's take on perfection.

Guest Post

How to Get Through a Deployment Janey's Way!

And now a word from Jenn...