Rolling With The Military Punches | Anchors Aweigh

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July 22, 2013

Rolling With The Military Punches

If you are a military spouse/fiance/girlfriend, you know their schedule is anything but 8-5, M-F. Sometimes Parker gets home at 11 AM, and sometimes he gets home at 11 PM. I started out hating this concept but have grown to understand it and realize it's my job to be supportive. One thing I think all military spouses dread is our husbands being scheduled for duty. Duty of any kind usually means an 8-12 hour shift at odd hours standing watch, taking calls, or something of the sort.

Parker and I were so excited for this weekend. We haven't spent a day just completely the two of us with no studying or work in a few weeks, and Saturday was finally going to break that trend. We found out Friday night he was scheduled for something called duty driver (if someone flies out of one city but lands in another close by, the duty driver picks them up and takes them back to their car in the city they flew out of). Parker contacted everyone on the flight schedule and found out only one person needed to be picked up around noon. Awesome! We could just drop him off really quickly and then enjoy a fun day downtown. We drop him off, arrive downtown to a cute little restaurant I was so excited to try, and then Parker gets the call. There were planes flying back from a detachment all afternoon, and he would need to cycle through picking them up and dropping them off for the rest of the day.

Just like that, our fun little date day downtown was over. It would have been so easy to be upset. We were both annoyed, that's for sure, but there was absolutely nothing we could do. He asked if I wanted to just ride with him while he was driving everyone around. At least we would still get to spend the day together, so I did. This was my view for the next 7 hours (at least he's pretty to look at!):


Right when Parker received that call, plans had to change. Our lunch date at the Bamboo Gardens turned into McDonald's in the car, and our plans to grill burgers and veggies for dinner turned into Taco Bell take-out. You know what though, we spent the entire day together and had time to talk about everything from future trips to kids' names to completely random topics that shouldn't even qualify as conversation. All we wanted was a day to just spend time together. Although this wasn't exactly what we had in mind, God gave us just that: a day to spend together. I felt blessed and ashamed at the same time for wanting more. This was perfect.


We finally got home around 8 PM, but we really did have a fun little Saturday! Never have we driven so much just to end up right back where we started, but with all this military moving, Parker and I have become pros with long car trips.

Did we really just spend over 8 hours in the car?!?
We definitely had to roll with the military punches on Saturday, but we got to spend the entire day together! If that isn't a perfect Saturday, I don't know what is. :)

22 comments :

  1. Such a positive outlook - I love it! Looks like y'all had a great day, regardless of the change of plans. Good for you! :)

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  2. I'm so glad you guys got to spend the day together! Your positive attitude is an encouragement!:)

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  3. Duty can be the worst but you are totally right about everything in this crazy life being what you make it. Glad you made the most of Saturday!

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  4. Sorry your date didnt work out but its good to be so upbeat about it like you are! I dont think I could be as easy going as you =)

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  5. You have such a positive outlook on this. I feel like I would have flipped out... it's so nice to see examples of how to just move on and try to enjoy the situation anyway! :)

    Janelle

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  6. You two are adorable! So happy that y'all made the best of it and had a great day together! :)

    Xo

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  7. Well I just love you guys. Is it sad all I read was kid's names? Bahaha kidding kidding..kind of. Glad you guys got to spend time together!

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  8. Awe it sounds like a sweet Saturday indeed!

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  9. Sorry your plans got ruined, but you are right you were together and that's what's important! Glad you were able to stay positive through all that! Duty days stink but you just have to make the most of them. =]

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  10. love this post and love the Old Navy v-neck :)

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  11. I love your outlook on this, girlie! It really is a blessing to get time with the hubby - even if it's not how you expected!

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  12. Sounds like you had a blessed weekend. I am a new follower from the Mouthwatering Recipe Hop and I look forward to reading more of your blog. Feel free to stop by my blog at www.southernnewlywed22.blogspot.com and say hello.

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  13. That's great that you both have such positive outlooks and turned the 8 hours in the car to something fun! Glad you got to spend time together :D

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  14. Ahh the joys! I've gotten to that like "well at least we spent the day together even if we did nothing special" point too. Duty days for us are 24 hours on the boat with pretty much no sleep though, so that's extra "fun"

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  15. It sounds like y'all had a great day :) I love long car trips because they really give you the time to talk and catch up on things that you never think of on a daily basis.

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  16. As long as you're together, it's still a date! There's always a silver lining!! :)
    And who doesn't love Taco Bel?! Remember AWANA days?

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  17. I am sorry your day date didn't go as planned, but I am happy you were able to be together. You have such a positive attitude, proud of you! xo

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  18. Way to salvage the day! I miss even days like that while my hubby is deployed. I'm sooo looking forward to the fall and his return. Take advantage of those days, because you'll miss them when (being the military there is no if) he has to leave.

    My Wholesome Home

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  19. You two are just too cute! And this is such a positive post! Spending 8 hours in the car seems to be a great way to spend time with someone while dealing with everything else around you. (;

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  20. I know exactly what this is like, Shaun has been duty driver several times. That's cool that you were able to still spend the day with him! Usually when Shaun is scheduled for duty, he has to just hang out on base until he gets called, it's pretty boring for both him and me :p

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  21. Hi Chelsea! Thanks for visiting my blog today! I was reading about how your a Navy Wife! I was a Navy girlfriend now fiance. My fiance is no longer in the Navy, but my brother is in the Army. I know exactly how you feel. Their life is so crazy and comes with so many ups and downs, long distances, and deployment. I actually really look forward to following your blog, and chatting in the fututre!!

    xoxo,Jess

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  22. Oh sweetie this is just the beginning:) I'm very proud of your attitude! I've been an AF wife for 18 years and yes, you just roll with it! We are also Aggies. We are one month into a yr long deployment and I chuckle at people who are suprised I'm not falling apart. It's all about your outlook. Would I rather be with someone else? Of course not. This is our life. I'm blessed my husband loves his job and he's fulfilling a lifelong dream. I've been able to be a stay at home mom and have friends (literally) around the world! Of course there are frustrations, but overall it's been a wonderful life! Retirement and the airlines sound good too though:) I'm posting as anon because I said he was deployed. Can't be too careful.
    Jennifer

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