FRG= Fucking Ridiculous Group

FRG... Army lingo for 'Family Readiness Group'. Great idea for a unit that is deploying... letting family members know what's going on overseas. Bad idea when the unit is NON-DEPLOYABLE!!!!! Why the fuck did I just attend a 2.5 hour FRG meeting? Nothing even was discussed.. oh, I take that back.. we're having a chilli cook-off next month. It took 2.5 hours to figure that out. Only 5 spouses were at the meeting... with 3 children under the age of two. I managed to get 'spit up' on by 2 of the 3 children. Apparently I look like an amazing puke rag. I sat back and let everyone fight over the coveted jobs..... co-leader, secretary, treasurer... and then felt like they were all staring at me because I didn't volunteer for any..... so when the topic of Facebook came up, and how they wanted someone to make a page... I spoke up. FML. This page is pointless... letting people know when the unit will be performing, letting people know when and where the next meeting is... geezus... because I'm the admin of the group.. I'll probably have to go to every meeting. They even have handbooks for this! And classes you can take!!! WTF!!! Let's all take a moment of silence and pray that I will not punch any spouses in my husband's unit for actually forming this stupid group.....

... That is all.

A Little Q&A...

Military Spouse Survey

Name: Kayla

Age: 23

Sex: yes, please!

Name of spouse: Kyle

Age of spouse: 21

What Branch of the Military is your spouse in? Army

What rank is your spouse? Sergeant

Spouse's MOS? 42R aka Trumpet player

Live on post or off? OFF!!!!

Have you ever been in the military or are you currently in the military? Not yet...

Has your spouse ever been deployed, if so, when and where to? No, Thank God!

Where are you and your spouse currently stationed? Fort Wood

Do you like the benefits you recieve as a military dependant? ehh.. they're ok... shitty healthcare

Do you appreciate what your spouse's job entails? Yes

Do you support your spouse as member of the United States military? Of course!

Do you like military life? It's alright.. I try to distance myself from it

Do you and your spouse have children, and if so, how many? Not for another couple years

Do you think your spouse looks good in uniform? Hell yes!

Do you think military life is more advanced then civilian life, why or why not? It's more controlled... there are more consequences for your actions.

Do you think your spouse's job in the militay is respectable amongst other people in the military?

Unfortunately... most people laugh. Being in the band is awesome, but people don't respect it.

Do you ever use your spouse's place in the military to your advantage? I get military spouse preference for jobs.. that's pretty cool

Do you ever use your spouse's rank to your advantage? I hate it when people use the rank card..

What do you think about other military spouse's? I think highly of some.. and downright don't give a damn about some others

What do you think about people who have gotten out of the military during basic or AIT for reasons on injury? Depends what the injury was...

What do you think about women who get out of the military after becoming pregnant? They don't have to get out of the military when they get preggo... it's their choice.. and that's how it should be!

What do you think about people claiming to be gay to get out of the military? I don't think you get an honorable discharge, or even a general discharge.. so its gonna look bad to future employers.

Do you think it is right to be forced out of the military for being gay? I can see both sides of the picture. I don't think it's right that they are forced out, but it is probably for the best that they are.

Did you know that it is military law that you can only have sex with your spouse and only in missionary posistion, but it is not an enforced law? I did know that was the military law, and I think it's completely ridiculous!

What do you think about that law? See above question. It is ridiculous. And I do not follow it.

What do you think civilian people don't know about the military or military life? I think there's a lot that normal people don't know..

What would you want civilians to know about the military or military life? It's not as bad as it sounds... though it's not as good as some make it out to be. There's a lot of rules and regulations that must be followed... even when you're not 'technically' in the military.

When you see movies about the military, do you notice when things aren't right? I definately do notice when things aren't right.. Kyle and I laugh about them.

When your spouse sees movies about the military, do they notice when things aren't right? Ugh. maybe I should read ahead before answering questions... yes.. he notices them.. and again.. we laugh about them.

Are you and your spouse currently, or have you ever been stationed to overseas Europe? Nope..

Are you and your spouse currently, or have you ever been stationed to overseas Asia? Negative

If you are or ever have been stationed overseas, do you know what AFN is? I have not been overseas, but I do know that AFN is Armed Forces Network.

If you are or ever have been stationed overseas and you do know what AFN is, what do you think about AFN commercials? I definately have not seen commercials, but I'm sure they're pro-military and are approved by some high-ups.

Where did your spouse go to Basic Training? Relaxin' Jackson...hehe
Where did your spouse go to AIT? Armed Forces School of Music on Little Creek Naval Base in Virginia Beach.

Do you know where Fort Lewis is, if so, where is it? Washington state

Do you know where Fort Benning is, if so, where is it? Georgia... terrible place to live!!! Trust me!!

Do you know where Fort Hood is, if so, where is it? Texas

Do you think being a military spouse allows you to travel easily? Travel easily how?? I don't get it.. I suppose???

If you and your spouse are stationed away from home, do you miss it? I always miss home.

Where are you and your spouse originally from? E'burg

Did either you or your spouse grow up as a military child? Nope

Do you think being a military spouse is a job, why or why not? It can be for some.. but its not for me.. i'd much rather have a job that brings in moo-lah!

Do you have any other military spouses as friends on Myspace or Facebook? Yes

Congrats???

How embarassing are Army luncheons? I mean really. First of all, I'm with my husband's parents.... the Question Asking King and Queen of the Century. The luncheon was for Kyle's 'Retention NCO of the Year' award. Now, he's had this award for a good 2 months, and from day 1 ma and pa knew about it. We've explained it to them thousands of times... apparently never fully getting it into their head. So we're at this luncheon... sitting at our table are a few other soldiers, I don't know them, Kyle doesn't know them... but apparently in Ma and Pa's eyes... we should know every single soldier on the entire base... NOT. Then the questions come in... 'Did you compete against this person?... NO' 'What's being served?... Don't know.' 'What does this symbol mean?... It's the unit patch' Good Lord.. be normal and sit there.. smile.. and ask questions later. Even more embarassing... Sgt. Kyle Hagen AND FAMILY please come up to accept the award... Really? He can't even have his moment by himself??? He won the award.. he deserves to recieve it by himself.... and then the pictures... 'smile.. over here.. smile again.. ' and to top it all off.. congratulatory hand shakes. Why must every officer in the Army find it necessary to shake my hand??? To tell me 'behind every good soldier is an even better spouse..' I call bullshit. I have nothing to do with the Army, how Kyle acts.. nothing. Well, ok, so I help him study for his boards, iron his uniform, give him haircuts according to Army regulations, and am competant enough to carry a conversation at these lovely events and luncheons. I really don't think I deserve a 'congratulations' for that... It wasn't me sitting in front of a bunch of high-ups being drilled with questions, heck, I was probably still in bed while it was going on!

So please, don't congratulate me (or his parents) when Kyle gets an award..everyone know's you're just lying.. you have no idea if I'm a terrible person at him.. maybe his parents abused him.. I know for darn sure they don't cut his hair, iron his shit, or quiz him on the regulations (though maybe if they did, they'd stop asking so many damn questions!!!)... just give the recognition to the one who deserves it. I really don't care for your fake smiles, fake attitudes.. fake anything! Another thing... when there's well over 100 soldiers in a room and only 7 or so family members (aka the ones not wearing a uniform that looks exactly the same), please refrain from saying "I want to thank all the spouses and family members that are here today, why don't you stand up" REALLY? You cant see me sitting here? I really don't feel like standing up and being stared at, it's a very uncomfortable situation, yet happens at every freaking event.... let's just put a stop to that nonsense. Thanks for your consideration.

In Heaven There Is No Beer

It's a great freaking day to be a HAWKEYE!

Congrats on a huge win!

2-0

And now... for the victory polka!

"In heaven there is no beer, that's why we drink it here. And when we're gone from here, our friends will be drinkin' all the beer!"

Remember.

So.. I'm super ecstatic today! Since we live in rural Missouri, we have to have Dish Network. I do love the options Dish has... DVR, guide... and some amazing channel line-ups. The only bad thing, when we moved in, we requested The Big Ten Network, and were denied... stating that only states with a Big Ten team could have the network. Really??? What's the point? If you live in Iowa, I'm 99.9% sure that one of the networks there will be showing the game... the point of the Big Ten Network is to bring the Big Ten to places who do not get the games on their regular channels!! ME! I suffered through the Iowa/UNI game by going to gametracker to watch... er.. pretend to watch the game. If you've ever watched gametracker... it sucks... it helps.. but its not the same. Gametracker gives you a little field, and 1 fooseball looking player for each team, and then proceeds to 'tell' you what happened during the play. If you want, you can 'animate' the play... WHOA! Too much! Unfortunately, if you want audio, you get to pay a fee... not a fan of fees.


Getting to the reason I'm ECSTATIC. Kyle called DishNetwork... for like the billionth time since we moved into our house in October to get our channels switched from Fox Sports Midwest to Fox Sports North..(aka.. Twins, Hawkeyes, Vikings... the normal "Iowa" stuff). After being denied all these months... some lady finally gave in. We now have ALL the Fox sports channels... plus.. THE BIG TEN NETWORK!!! All for a monthly fee of $3. I think I can handle being happy every Saturday for less than a $1 a game!! Even better: Big Ten Network was showing the Iowa/UNI game... I got to watch the 2 blocked field goals in real time... without animation :)




On a different note... today is 9/11. Do you remember where you were? I sure do. I was sitting in homeroom my freshman year in high school.. when an announcement came over the intercom for everyone to turn on their TV's. We all sat in awe as we watched what was unfolding. Me, being from Iowa had never really even heard of the Twin Towers, but I knew history was being made. The entire day was put on hold as we just watched the TV's... moving from classroom to classroom, but not doing anything but watch. Even at home all I could do was watch the TV. I watched as huge flags were hung from buildings, people standing with flags, and a new sense of patriotism came over America.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you,
Jesus Christ and the American G.I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom."

To-do Lists

Today is a day full of cleaning... the in-laws are making their way down here. Don't get me wrong, I definately lucked out with my in-laws, but they can be a little overwhelming. Overwhelming in the fact that they pretty much just tell us when they're coming to our house... no asking, or letting us check to make sure it's going to work out on our side. I did have plans to head up to the big game... aka Iowa v. Iowa State... but they decided that would be the PERFECT day to come down. Boo... who does that? They actually are goign to be at a wedding in Des Moines, and figured since they're so close (5 HOURS) that they should just come down.

Ok.. rant complete. Here's my awesome to-do list for today:

1. Vacuum

2. Fold Laundry

3. Start diswasher

4. Empty dishwasher

5. Dust

6. Give dogs bath

7. Make spare room bed

8. Do homework...

So far I've done... #3...

And I took the dogs for a walk.. they were just way too excited to be inside...

I love accomplishing nothing!!

I suppose I should go try to do some more of my list...

Until the Game is Won!

Well, my first blog ever. Guess what it's going to be about.... if you guessed Army life.. you're wrong! My first blog ever will be about my favorite thing in the entire world.... Iowa Hawkeye Football! I don't know when I started liking the Hawkeyes, I'd like to think since birth I've been a fan, but I'm not sure about that. I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to my dad yelling at the TV downstairs. I would then watch the game (and him) and cheered when he would cheer, boo when he would boo, and sometimes... watch him walk out of the room in disgust... but I would never do that. I would sit there and cheer for my team! I wasn't just a fairweather fan... I was a diehard Hawkeye fan!

In middle school and high school I had the lovely pleasure of attending a few Hawkeye football games with....... my grandma. That's right, folks.. my awesome grandma would take me pretty much wherever I wanted to go. She's so cool, I'm not even embarassed to go to things like that with her! She's probably the loudest cheering fan in the crowd, and I'm right next to her trying to out-yell her! When it came time to choose a college, I applied to one: The University of Iowa. When that letter of acceptance came, I about crapped my pants! I was finally going to my dream school, I was going to be an official Hawkeye.

Here's the kicker with going to the University of Iowa, I had a friend who was in the marching band at Iowa State (BOOOOO!!!!)... and he said it was AMAZING. So I convinced my now husband, Kyle to play an audition tape for me (I knew I couldn't make it if I did it myself!). Amazingly, I got another acceptance letter into the Hawkeye Marching Band. If you don't know about this amazing entity... let me tell you. When you're apart of this band, you go to every home game for free, you get to step foot on KINNICK field, you get to stand up for an entire football game--- thats the sucky part!! hahah! You also have an obligation to play 'Beer Band' on friday nights... free beer at every bar in Iowa City (that's a lot of bars!), and then proceed to be at the practice field at 6:00 the next morning... hungover as hell. You also get to travel to at least one away game and if the team makes a bowl game... you have a free trip to a warm vacation area in January. :)

So now we come to the most important game of the Hawkeye season, the game that divides the entire state of Iowa... the Iowa/Iowa State game. I wish I could be there cheering my team on... but I will be the one screaming at the TV from my living room. This is the day where my own household seperates... Me for Iowa, Kyle for ISU. I wish I was still in my amazing marching band uniform, no matter how hot that stupid thing was. I wish I could be on the field in front of 70,000 screaming fans playing the Iowa Fight Song.

On that note.. I'm going to anger my napping husband by decorating our house with Iowa things!! This should be good! *insert evil laugh*

Iowa: 1-0 Soon to be 2-0 !!!!