The semi-normal, day-to-day life of a female Marine

Excuses, excuses

a female Marine — Fri, 31 May 2013 00:49:17 +0000

This is my excuse for why I STILL haven’t resumed a normal posting schedule: Yeah, right, I know. But she really does get in the way ALL THE TIME.

Cherry Blossoms

a female Marine — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:34:31 +0000

Since I live near D.C., cherry blossoms are a big deal every spring. But even though I live so close to the city, I rarely go downtown to see the famous cherry trees, because I can open my front door and see all this without even having to leave the front yard:

Bleeding Heart Feminist Liberal Military Blogger

a female Marine — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 05:42:50 +0000

About a month ago I decided I should start reading other military blogs again. I do this every year or so in order to see what’s going on in Milblog World and to see if I’m missing any great writing or stories. But so far, once again, I’ve been disappointed. The blogs I find all [...]

I’m not your storyteller

a female Marine — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:58:12 +0000

I don’t like talking about the Marine Corps. I won’t lie to avoid it, but I rarely make an effort to bring it up. Talking to other Marines is usually fine, or to non-Marines who have half a clue about the Marine Corps. But most people ask irritating questions or say dumb stuff and I [...]

IRR Muster – Round Two

a female Marine — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 01:44:10 +0000

I just reread the post about my last Individual Ready Reserve muster and laughed, because I’d forgotten about the Supply women story and because last week on Facebook I NAILED the “free pens and chip clips” memory without having to look it up. Unfortunately, I did not see any free chip clips at the muster [...]

Teaching Women the….What??

a female Marine — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:26:31 +0000

I’d been following the BagNews Notes photography blog because I like the way they analyze news photography. Once in awhile I think they read too much into a simple photo and that’s annoying, but tons of people do that so I let it slide. Today, however, they pissed me off with this posting: Teaching Women [...]

Wine and Chocolate (and flowers) Night

a female Marine — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:34:25 +0000

A few days ago the store where I work hosted a “Wine and Chocolate” night after the normal working hours were over. It was first time they did this, so it wasn’t super-busy and I had lots of time to wander around and take pictures.

Farm Hunting

a female Marine — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 03:58:31 +0000

I found my great-great-great grandparents Broaddus and Caroline’s grave sites on Google Maps a few days ago. I’d been trying to find the location of the family farm in Virginia where my grandmother and mother used go to visit relatives decades ago. I thought it would be interesting to go see it because I’ve never [...]

Spooky White House

a female Marine — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:09:05 +0000

In between Christmas and the Inauguration, I walked around D.C. doing the touristy things with a friend, my brother, and my brother’s girlfriend who was visiting the city for the first time. When we finally made it to the White House area, it was dark and the whole area looked like it was ready for [...]

Swim Qual

a female Marine — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 02:48:22 +0000

Random photos from last year’s swim qual.

Holiday Displays

a female Marine — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:16:42 +0000

At the store where I work, our Christmas shop is about 90% set up. All we’re missing are the live Christmas trees and about 359 more poinsettias, and the space that has Thanksgiving items will need to be cleaned up this weekend. I’m becoming known as the person who “makes displays that sell stuff” but [...]

Real Live Women!

a female Marine — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 02:08:54 +0000

The newest Terminal Lance cartoon features female Marines, a rarity since the comic is primarily about grunts: Terminal Lance #228 “Real Live Women!” “This is nothing new or unusual, the USO is always bringing people that own vaginas overseas to boost morale and always has…but the USO never brings these vagina-bearers to smaller FOBs and [...]

“The Invisible War” and Imaginary Scenarios

a female Marine — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 03:00:29 +0000

“The Invisible War”, the investigative documentary about military sexual trauma (MST) is out now and is also available to stream online. I have not seen it, but the topic inspires many “I wonder…” and “what if…” scenarios. The trailer for “The Invisible War”. “This goes everywhere with me. You always have protection with Jesus, but [...]

A yard gift

a female Marine — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 01:03:48 +0000

This pretty crape myrtle was a gift from my aunt. It was living on my front porch and now it’s hanging out in the flower bed, still in its nursery pot, because I’ve been too lazy to dig a hole… …partly because I know that digging this hole is going to be a huge pain [...]

Benghazi and Cairo – “Where were the Marine Security Guards?!”

a female Marine — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 05:36:20 +0000

As a former MSG who spent her last embassy tour with the detachment in Cairo, it’s clear that there’s a misconception about the mission of the Marine Security Guards. I can’t go into specific detail for OpSec reasons, but I can share information that is already available online. I have seen these types of comments [...]