The 4M Project

Married to the Military Monday-The Other Wives

2012-02-13T11:36:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I have written a Married to the Military post. Today I want to chat about the "other wives." Recently, someone mentioned to another military spouse, that they were going to make people believe the stereotype of military wives...that they we are all " lazy, dramatic bitches with no life!" Now, excuse that ugly little curse word up there, but that is what she said. I have heard that some people perceive military spouses as certain things, but that is one I haven't heard any of us being labeled as before. As I think about it, I suppose I could recall that some people have heard that we are lazy...that we sit home and do nothing all day as our spouses work. Though, I suppose any stay at home wife could be labeled as lazy. For instance, at the doctor this morning, I was asked if I work. I replied, "I don't work outside the home." The technician replied while looking down an immediately writing, "So, you're a homemaker?" Well, okay...I'm not opposed to being titled a homemaker. I am opposed to that implying that I do nothing all day. I not only work from home, computer-based, et cetera; I also keep house and homeschool. Once the technician heard me talking to someone about homeschooling, she stopped, got wide-eyed, and responded, "Wow! You homeschool?" " I wouldn't have the patience for that!" It's a big job! It's a responsibility that I don't take lightly. It is also a privilege...a big one. I know I am lucky to be able to do the things I do.

Now, back to that big, ugly, stereo-typical label up there... ^ You haven't forgotten about that either, have you? When I first heard that, I was a little shocked...I say a little because I have heard such things before...just not that in particular. I suppose that there are many labels we could stick on military spouses, but the worst part about that one, is that it was more than likely created by the spouse herself. While this was being said, there was a lot of drama going on. There is a group that was started for military only. Most of the wives in this group thought that we were all military spouses (because we were all suppose to be,) so we did share a bit of information amongst each other. Mind you that none of us were breaking OPSEC, but merely talking about what our husband's do in the military. Unfortunately, it was recently brought to our attention that some of the wives had been allowing spouses into the group that are not associated with the military. This immediately divided the group. Not only did it divide the group, but it caused a great bit if drama and stress. There was much bickering back in forth, and even name calling. A few of the spouses began telling many of us that we have a problem with civilians...we dislike civilians, we think they're bad, evil people...and a number of other things that has to do with that. It was nothing of that nature, and we all tried to tell these spouses that. We just thought were all spouses, and felt upset when we found out we had been sharing personal things that we would have only shared with military spouses. I felt betrayed, but mostly because they were telling me things about myself that weren't true...I never said that I dislike civilians, and that wasn't a nice thing to say...That was said to many of us.

So, back to that ugly statement up there...^ Yeah...that was said to me...and it doesn't hurt me...I know that there are stereotypes out there...but, many of them are created by the person that thinks they're being labeled by others. Yes, military spouses can be full of drama...just check out this post on the FRG...I don't stay away from FRG all together...I give it a try first...and, if it's full of drama...or even half-full for that matter...I stay away from there. I prefer a group of people, or even a nice few that will be there when I need to talk about how I'm doing while the man of the house is away, or how the children are making it through the deployment. It would be nice to know that if I'm at home with a sick child, that someone will call on the way to the store and ask if I would like them to pick up anything for me...There are many more things I could say about this topic...and I more than likely will talk about it again the future. I am really interested in hearing some of your thoughts on this subject. Feel free to let me know what you think.

That's all for this week's edition of Married to the Military Monday...Enjoy you week! ♥

The Winner of the $25 Bath & Body Works Gift Card is...

2012-02-10T15:17:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Desiree! I have sent you an e-mail. Please respond to the e-mail within 24 hours. As soon as I hear back from you, I will put your gift card in the mail.

Thank you to everyone who entered. As I announced to you before, I have purchased more items from Bath & Body Works, that I will be giving away to you. I read every one of your comments about your favorite Bath & Body Works products, and I am looking forward to sharing some of those products with you. Thanks again, everyone. I appreciate all of you. ♥

Give-away Update!

2012-02-05T15:42:00.000-06:00

I'm enjoying this give-away so much, that I just had to place an order for some more products that I know you will adore. I've been reading all of your comments about your favorite Bath & Body Works products, and I ordered some more items based on some of your favorites. So, after this Valentine's give-away ends; I will surely be hosting another one shortly after it. Stay tuned friends! ♥

I want these!

2012-02-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

I'm a Hello Kitty fanatic, and I want these shoes! I have several color converse (chucks,) and many other cool shoes. I would definitely wear these Asics. Do you have a pair or two of cool shoes? Do you like to wear clothing items that are out of the ordinary? I definitely enjoy wearing "funky" items. Once, I refused to leave the house until I found my red converse. We were on our way to pick out our fresh Christmas tree. I really wanted to wear my red shoes to match my gawdy Santa earrings, and my other red attire. Since we had recently moved, I had to make sure that my red shoes made the journey. Tell me about your neat clothes. Do you have any favorites? I know my red shoes make me happy. ♥

Lifetime Movies

2012-02-03T16:39:00.000-06:00

Guest post written by our friend Katie Callahan

I love watching Lifetime Movies. The acting is usually terrible and they plots are always so predictable, but for some reason I love watching them. I really like the ones that are based on true stories. Somehow they take a normal story and make it super dramatic. I love drama that I am not directly involved in, so I always get sucked in. Lifetime does not show as many movies anymore. There are so many shows that are always on instead. My sister told me that there is a new Lifetime Movie Network and all they show is movies. I decided to search “glendale direct tv” online to find out if I have that channel. I have had Lifetime Movie Network the whole time I have had direct tv and I did not even know it. I am so excited that I can watch Lifetime movies any time I want now. I am looking forward to the next rainy day. I am going to lay in bed all day and have a Lifetime movie marathon and I cannot wait.

FREE Burger King Onion Rings

2012-02-02T23:25:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to stop by Burger King to get your FREE order of onion rings Saturday February 4, and Sunday February 5th 2012. Stop by and grab an order for your children to share in the car, or grab some for yourself on the way home from church. I haven't been to BK in a long time but, I like free. :)

Find the Burger King location closest to you here.

Valentine's Day Giveaway Blog Hop ($25 gift card to Bath & Body Works)

2012-02-02T13:55:00.002-06:00

Mama to 4 Blessings and Chubby Cheeks Thinks
are teaming up to bring you the Valentine's Day Giveaway Hop!
With over 40 bloggers participating there will be a lot of great Valentine's giveaways! This is the perfect way to get something nice for yourself, your kids, or that someone special in your life. Valentine's Day is another great holiday of giving so we are all going to have a giveaway of at least $25 in prizes per winner and that is just the minimum. Some blogs will have more!

I purchased a $25 dollar gift card to Bath & Body Works that I'm looking forward to giving to one of my readers. Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter entry form below.

There are many great prizes to win during this Valentine's Day Hop. Good luck everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Babies R' Us Trade-In Event

2012-01-31T18:22:00.000-06:00

Have you traded-in a car seat, stroller, high chair, or anything else at Babies R' Us yet? They are offering an "extra special savings" of 30% for certain items. Check out all the details here. Leave a comment if you have all ready traded-in, or if you plan to before this deal ends on February 20th.

Hot Coupon Alert! It's back up! $10 off a 22oz. or larger can of Enfamil

2012-01-19T06:42:00.000-06:00

It's back up! Quickly go here print a coupon for $10 off a can of 22oz. or larger Enfamil. This one won't last long! Good luck! ♥

Cute Kitchen Idea

2012-01-16T16:14:00.000-06:00

Source: overthebigmoon.blogspot.com via Christy on Pinterest

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T07:10:00.000-06:00

Hot Coupon Alert- $10 off a 22 oz. or larger can of Enfamil

2012-01-10T20:26:00.000-06:00

Quickly go here print a coupon for $10 off a can of 22oz. or larger Enfamil. This one won't last long! Good luck! ♥

Sex and the City

2012-01-10T07:01:00.000-06:00

I appreciate the guest post, Rodrigo Coffey

Let’s talk about Sex And The City again shall we? I feel like I bring this show up at least once a week but let’s be honest the show is amazing and must be talked about. I really wish that I would have had HBO in the very beginning when the show was really taking off. Everyone was running around town ordering cosmopolitans just because that is what the fabulous four drink on the show. To be fair, this is now my favorite drink so I am in no way pointing fingers at people who ordered them just to be more like Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and, Miranda! I think that this show will live forever as an icon of all things single, fabulous, and New York. The clothes that the girls wear on that show were mostly cutting edge fashion especially with respect to Carrie and Samantha’s wardrobes. Every time I watch that show I see a new top or shoe that I would love to have even now that the show has been in reruns for ten years. Check out ExpertSatellite.com to find out when Sex And The City comes on in your area.

Rafflecopter Launch Party Giveaway- Win an iPad 2 and a Kindle Fire

2012-01-09T21:06:00.000-06:00

Rafflecopter is a fabulous way to enter give-aways! It has become very popular in bloggy land.

The folks at Rafflecopter have come up with a great way to celebrate the new year.

Rafflecopter is going to give away a 16GB Apple iPad2 and a few Kindle Fires. I know many people who would love to win one of these fabulous prizes.

The giveaway starts Monday 1/9 at 12:01 a.m. and lasts for a month.

To enter, simply tell us who referred you to this giveaway! That would be me- Kristine at The 4M Project! :)

You can receive additional entries by tweeting about this giveaway, following Rafflecopter on twitter, and giving Rafflecopter feedback. In addition, here's another fun way to get an extra entry:

Suggest a Mascot Name – You’ve seen the Rafflecopter smiley-face dude hanging around the web. The poor guy needs a name, and Rafflecopter want to leave it up to you to decide what his (or her?) name should be. For an additional entry, suggest a name! (This should be interesting!)

After the giveaway is over, we’ll go through the list of names and pick out our favorite suggestions (be creative!) and bring it to a vote on Facebook. If your name is chosen, you’ll win a Kindle Fire and be immortalized in Rafflecopter history :)

Good Luck y'all! and Make sure to tell Rafflecopter that Kristine from The 4M Project referred you. Thank you! ♥

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's out with the old, and in with the new!

2012-01-01T14:20:00.000-06:00

Make the best of your new year. Although I'm not big on changes, I'm looking forward to making some. I hope to meet more of you this year! May you all have many blessings to count this year!

2011-12-11T20:53:00.000-06:00

Holiday Krispy Kreme

2011-12-09T07:43:00.000-06:00

Don't forget your holiday doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. They're great for holiday gatherings. Of course, they're delicious any time. :)

Find the store nearest you by using this store locator.

My Love Book Give-Away

2011-12-07T00:00:00.006-06:00

Recently, I posted a review for MyLoveBook. You can read my review here. Now, I want to offer you all a chance to win one of your own. First, I want you to leave a comment on this post telling me who you think you would like to give one of these books. Then, just follow the other instructions below. Please make sure you leave a comment for each entry, and that I have a way to contact you if you win. This give-away ends on December 22, 2011 at midnight. Good luck everyone, and thank you for visiting my blog.

Happy Holidays! ♥

Valentine's Day Giveaway Blog Hop

2011-12-06T22:56:00.000-06:00

Please consider joining Mama To 4 Blessings and Chubby Cheeks Thinks in their Valentine's Day Giveaway Blog Hop. It's sure to be fabulous! Go check it out the details here.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-06T22:21:00.000-06:00

We Love Sons

2011-12-02T21:16:00.000-06:00

Author: Elias Massey
When my husband lost his job in finance, we found ourselves desperately trying to find ways that we could save money. I started to color my own hair, I clipped coupons, and we limited eating out to only special occasions. We also decided, in an attempt to save money, to drop our direct tv down to basic programming. In doing so, we still retained our local channels including PBS, so we could still stay informed of the world’s happenings, and our daughter could still watch the few shows she enjoyed. All of this seemed like a good idea, until we realized our new package no longer contained the FX network. “What??” my husband screamed on a random Tuesday night. I came racing in the living room fearing a child injury! There stood my husband, remote in hand, scrolling through our on-screen guide. “You are trying to tell me that we don’t get FX anymore? This means no “Sons of Anarchy!” yelled my husband. This was all it took. By the next morning, my husband was on the phone amending our account back to its regular status. No job or not, we have to have our “Sons!”

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

2011-12-02T07:28:00.000-06:00

It's time for MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. I am linking up with Wife of a Sailor. It's a great way for Military Spouses to visit each others blogs and get to know about each other. Each week Wife of a Sailor posts five questions for us to answer. We post them on our blog, and then go link-up to Wife of a Sailor's blog.

1) If I could be on any reality TV show, I’d want to be on TLC's What Not to Wear. I wouldn't let them get rid of my multitude of Converse, but I would definitely go on the show.

2) This past Thanksgiving was smaller than I would have liked it to be. The house smelled like Thanksgiving, but it didn't sound like it. There were not enough voices in the house this year.

3) I’m looking forward to December because it's a new adventure, in a new state, with a new weather experience...snow!!! ( *a little note to say all of these reasons are also why I'm not looking forward to December.*)

4)One thing I’d like to accomplish this month is getting prepared for Christmas before it becomes stressful to me.

5) To me, winter is going to be much colder this year than it has been in years past.

That's all for this week's edition of MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. Don't miss out if you're a military spouse, or going to be one soon. Go link-up so I can read yours too! :)

My Love Book Review

2011-11-26T00:00:00.003-06:00

Recently, I had the opportunity to review a custom made book from MyLoveBook. A LoveBook is a book you create for someone special in your life. It's not another photo book. As fabulous as giving a photo book is, a LoveBook is much more unique. LoveBooks have been described as an answer book, and that's essentially what a LoveBook will be for you. Your book will start off with a title page that is as personalized as you would like. You create your book by answering some questions for your loved one. These questions are simple, to complex. You choose the type of questions that you would like to answer. Then, you simply fill in the blank. You are able to choose something simple such as, "I love to make you:" (you fill in your answer) or something like: "The time I felt closest to you was:" (you fill in your answer) That may require more thought. There are even easier pages you are able to create on there. Some of the ones I discovered were "Your Top Five Most Admirable Talents:" and "Ten Words to Describe You."

When I first thought about making a LoveBook, I thought I knew right away who would be receiving this gift. As I begin to research the LoveBook, that decision became more difficult. Upon seeing it, I knew there were so many people that I would really like to have one of these books. After some long thought, I decided to go with my husband. His birthday is not long after Christmas, and sometimes it doesn't get the attention that it deserves. Therefore, the LoveBook I created is going to make his birthday more special.

While creating my book, I realized there is so much more I could say to him. Being a military wife, you think there are no more words to describe the love you feel. You say it all too often in letters and e-mails...I love you, I love you, I love you...What else is there to say? The LoveBook definitely helped me figure that out. Creating this book got me thinking about the love we share, and just how much he means to me. Sure, I know that everyday, but there are only so many ways to say it on a daily basis. As I was answering these questions, I started reminiscing on our years together...the happy times, the sad ones, the funny and the silly ones...

I love that man so much, and LoveBook helped me say it in different ways. I got to have a song in my book that reminds me of him. I got to do some fun fill in the blanks, such as "If you were a car, you would be." There are even suggestions for you to choose...drag and drop, et cetera. How much you want to say is really up to you.

I was really impressed when I got this book. It is sleek and beautiful. There are three covers to choose from and, although I would like to see more choices in the future, I like how this one turned out. It's not just a gift for women. The red interior is great for a man too.

All in all, I am impressed with MyLoveBook. I am going to make another one for my sons upcoming birthday. One of my favorite options was having my book reviewed by an editor free of charge. When my book was reviewed for publishing there were no spelling errors found, but they did some spacing in my book which I really liked a lot. I then had the option to have the original or the edited version printed. The shipping of my gift was quick, and that made me happy. Although, it's a gift for someone else, I've had plenty of time to open it, look at it, and really get a feel for the quality of this book. I really like it, and I know my husband will too.

2011-11-24T06:38:00.002-06:00

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

2011-11-22T21:23:00.000-06:00

I finally made homemade cranberry sauce! I say that I'm going to do this every year. I don't know why I put it off so long. I'm so proud of myself! :)