To Pass The Time

I've started knitting again.

I'm at this weird void where I'm not really sure what to do. I'm so used to having him around that I feel at a loss. Even when he wasn't physically around, he was still with in contact reach. 2am? Didn't matter. Phone call away. Now we're both sleeping by 2000-2100PST and awake 0500. He for the obvious reasons, myself for work.

I knew I needed to preoccupy myself. First and foremost for keeping my sanity. The day he left for Bootcamp was my first day of work. I was hired on maybe 3 weeks, prior but needed to spend as much time as possible with him before that 3 month gap. Amazingly, they let me delay it quite a bit. I even had the initial interview pushed back 2 weeks.

I get to talk to him before bed, and a few hours on the weekend, so to pass the time I'm picking  up all the old hobbies I dropped. Knitting is whats been on my mind recently. I finished a 6ft scarf, and am pretty proud of myself that I saw it through til the end. My guy said he wanted a hat so we'll see how that goes. Crocheting is also something I once did. I feel it requires more patience for some reason. The image of myself in a rocker with needles spewing out scars and mittens makes me giggle. I feel its a closer reality then I might think.

Oh Red Heart. What would I do with out you? Thread that has kept me company and kept my sanity.

MilSpouse (Almost) Friday Fill-In

So I've been reading these for a while, and always wanted to do one myself! :D
I missed friday by a couple days... but maybe I'll get it on-time next month.
So this is my frist Friday Fill-In From WifeOfASailor

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?
This month had its ups and downs, but I'd say wen't better than expected.

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in November? 
We took his first Vegas trip! We didn't get to see as much of the strip that I wanted to show him, but we had tons of fun hitting Arcades. He got way into the shooter games (of course).

3. What is your favorite holiday memory?
Not sure if I'd call it my favorite, but it's something I'll remember. I was into Taekwando growing up but still had a girly side. I wanted a My Lifesize Barbie more than anything. One morning under the tree I saw a giant box and figured that had to be it! Opened it up, and found a punching bag. I was sad at the time, but it's probably one of the most useful, longlasting, presents I've gotten. A lesson in "Things aren't always what they seem to be."

4. What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? 
As cheesy as it sounds, a New Years Kiss. 20-something years old and due to other plans/bad timing/other things, I've never had one. He took leave and I get him for the holidays!

5. What are you looking forward to in December?
River of Lights with my guy, Seeing My Grandpa, and Getting to spend (Part of) the Holidays with them both. This will be the first time those two meet, and I'm pretty excited.

Glowing Uniforms (Phosphor BDU)

I wasn't kidding when I said this was a new adventure for us. Today the realization hit that I have so so much to learn. Things that might seem really obvious, once in your head.

Through general browsing, I came upon something that never even crossed my mind... Washing BDUs incorrectly. This goes for ACUs, ABUs, etc. Ive known a few things about laundry detergent such as allergens, bleach stains, and so forth. Never once has it occurred to me that laundry could be a safety hazard to My Marine.

The majority of laundry detergents have something called Optical Brightener. What this does to their Cammie's, is acts as a Phosphor and reflects more light then wanted under Night Vision and Low Light areas. It makes them more visible, and thus, put them in unnecessary danger. Along with adding additional chemicals, it also tends to wear and tear faster to the fabric and blends colors together, from what I understand. Fabric Softener is also something that should be avoided on BDUs, as it wears down the Ripstop fabric. Bleaching, Starching and Hot Irons also seem frowned upon. I have also heard once washed with Optical Brighteners, it'll never come out. I'm not sure how true this is, but on my guys new Uniform, It'll be a safe detergent from hear on out.

The Internet shows quite a few lists with 3 brands showing up on every single one; Cheer, Surf, and Woolite, with a few others making frequent appearances. Never trusting what I hear, I decided to email a hand full of companies from all over the board that cover various brands of detergent and get my own findings. 3 have responded.  

"Hello ____

Thank you for contacting us regarding "all" Small & Mighty No Optical Brighteners.

all® 3x Small and Might® for Military.

Army combat uniforms (ACUs) have special technology embedded in the fabric that prevents the soldier from being detected by the enemy. Optical brighteners are known to interfere with this technology. A new 'all®' Free Clear detergent liquid has been formulated with out optical brighteners specifically for  use with army combat uniuforms.

Here are some product features:

-No "Optical Brighteners
-Same concentrated cleaning
-Does not contain enzymes
-Only available at Military Commicaries

Sincerely,

Your friends at "all" "

 

"Thanks for Contacting Cheer, _____.

Cheer powder is the only detergent that P&G sells that is going to be free of brighteners.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,


Tina
Cheer Team"

"Dear Ms. _____

Thank you for your email regarding Woolite® Detergents.

We are pleased to inform you that none of the Woolite® Detergents contain any optical brighteners.

We hope this information is helpful and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to your inquiry.

Sincerely,

Paul White

Consumer Relations

Reckitt Benckiser LLC"

*Companies such as P&G Cover detergent brands such as Cheer, Gain, Tide, Ariel, and the fabric softener Downy. Sun Products are behind the production of all, Surf, Wisk and the softener Snuggle. Rickitt Benckiser produces Woolite.

From my own findings, I'm able to say that Cheer Powder, All 3x small and Mighty for Military, and Woolite are the 3 detergents I'm sticking with. Guess we can eliminate Surf being from Sun Products? I also e-mailed the main production company with no response. I'm very likely to go with one of the 3 I listed first because of their recipe being free of optical brighteners, and secondly because of their quick responses (Its been a week since starting my search). I'm into companies that jump on things right away. I think at this point it might come down to which one has a cleaner/better smell.

...and just to throw in some other laundry knowledge, It's good to flip the uniform inside out before washing to help stop fading, and to wash top and bottom regardless of which one is dirty to keep colors consistent with the other piece.  


Source:
AF Tactical
Army Study Guide
Ranger Joes
Vandenberg AF

Thanksgiving (Day Late)

Maybe its just me, but I'm not too big on the Holiday.

I'm thankful for all the little things that are constant through out the year. I don't need a single day to reflect on 'em. I feel as when they happen, they happen, and I should take the time to be glad then.

In light of this Thanksgiving weekend, I am thankful for having him home with me. Complications were spewing up days before, and I'm slowly realizing that I can't think too far ahead. It hit me that I have no idea whats going to happen in as little as a few weeks. That I have very little control with where things are going, and where we're off to, in this crazy thing called life.

I really need to switch my tunnel vision from years, to a broader view of months, weeks, and maybe even days.

Semper Gumby. Something that I've gotten used to, but will continue to scare me.

The Escape From 29 Palms

**Update**
You might have arived at this page lookin' for Rides and ways too/from 29 palms. Since this is mostly about our own escape, I've updated a page here. 
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I needed to see him, and he needed to get away. Between my work, his work (Working Party?), and being quite a bit distant, I needed to figure out how to make this work. Factoring in a bit of a budget, also.

You see, he’s in 29 Palms right now. I’m about a 3 hour plane ride away. Something in the semi-middle was Las Vegas. He’s never been, I thought of it as an adventure. I rented a car for the first time because I was having problems with transportation.  I’ve spent weeks researching the best way out of 29 Palms and came up with a ton of different answers.  In case you somehow stumbled upon this, let me share with you what I’ve found.

Bus/Shuttle

Greyhound is the only option I was able to find. They offer discounted military tickets if you buy round trip, or 10% off one way for walk up. Greyhound also offers Military (Active and Retired) a maximum fare of $209 round trip to anywhere in the United States. Not bad at all for traveling quite a distance. I would just prepare for a long travel. 

Another escape from 29 Palms (the easiest way I’ve discovered) is the MBTA. Morongo Basin Transit Authority. Every weekend they have a special #15 but that runs from MCGACC straight to Palm Springs starting Friday and ending Sunday. One of the stops is Palm Springs Airport. MBTA has a Bus to the main city of Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, and Palm Springs during the week and weekends. Round trip is pretty cheap and a good temporary getaway.

Other shuttles are available for an additional fee such as Super Shuttle (Cheap in LA, expensive everywhere else), AM/PM, and  a few out of LAX.

Vehicle

After a bit of back and forth, this was what we finally decided on. Renting a car from the McCarran Rent-a-Car Center runs about $20-$30 for a day. This was bumped up to $100+ for me being A) Under 25 and B) Having my normal Insurance not cover Rentals. It still wasn’t bad. Unlimited miles from Budget and was good on gas (38-40mpg).

The Route I decided on taking went straight though the Mojave National Preserve (170mi). It was actually my first drive all alone of that of length. They have signs through there that stated “Watch for Tortoise.” It scared me at first but was later explained there’s probably only 5 in existence as they’re very endangered, and the chances of seeing one* are very slim. The drive in itself was pretty relaxing with a few fun dips and a really beautiful sky. I left late at night around 2030 so the only lights were from my car and the sky remained unclouded.

*If one is spotted in the middle of the road, you should stop the car and exit the vehicle. Get down into the tortoise’s face, pick it up with both hands by the shell, and walk backwards to help it continue its destination across the road.

An Alt Route is to stay on the main/bigger roads of the 95, until coasting on I-40 instead of coasting under it. It takes a bit longer, but you would have to worry less about wild life.

I read warnings on Travel Adviser of it not being the best choice. Driving alone on Amboy road. Female alone, dead of night, lack of cell service, etc. I got a bit scared at first, but it wasn't too bad of a drive at all. I did have Cell service 98% of the time (Sprint w/ Roaming), only cutting completely for a minute or so.  What I do recommend though is bring a CD. Radio stations cut in and out and some stations are iffy all together depending on your taste in music.

Airplane

With this trip in particular, he decided not to mess with a bus on the way home and found a last minute plane ticket into ONT (Ontario) for $149. Still not content, he searched further and with US Airways, found one for $214 to PSP (Palm Springs). Although I wasn’t fond of the cost, it put him at ease and made getting back to 29 palms quite a bit easier. There are quite a few Airlines that frequently go to ONT, but only a select few for PSP (American, Alaska, Delta, United, US Airways are the major ones with select non-major).

Personally, I found the mini-road trip a lot less time consuming, despite being a 3 hour turn around drive. There were those additional costs, but driving a new car was kinda awesome. In addition, it's 3 more hours we got to spend together (Even though 1/2 of it he took a nap) so when all I get is the occasional weekend with him, I was glad for those 3 hours.

Traveling in and out of 29 Palms will become part of a regular schedule for us. Mostly myself flying in. I might update this single page if I find any other useful information. Last weekend was my first technical time there, this weekend will be Round 2. This time, actually staying in California haha.

Introductions

This adventure is new for the both of us. We’re young (Early 20s) and he’s still working his way through his MoS. We’re both in the dark about this whole life style we’re about to embark on, but we (Mostly I, Haha) are getting prepared as much as possible. The only major difference between the two of us, is he loves to think about now, and I fill the future with a ton of “What Ifs.”

I feel like blogging is as much better way to express random thoughts in my head vs talking to myself or going crazy. I love to do this thing where I spam his Facebook with various thoughts even though I know it’ll be quite a long time before he’s actually able to read them. It keeps me sane.  I feel like this will help quite a bit more.

So hey! I’m Pigeon. At least, that’s what he calls me on quite a regular basis. It’s a name I’ve adapted quite well that still gives me warm fuzzies. I’m a PC Video Game Junkie and can easily say it’s my biggest addiction. I have a love of zombies and have more of a plan in case of an attack, then I’m actually prepared for anything else. I also have a love of Tattoos, Colored Hair, Interesting Makeup, The 1950s (Music and Fashion) and have quite of fondness of Pigeons. I find the normal ones cute, carrier pigeons smart, and King Pigeon’s just gorgeous.

Then you have Him. My love, my World, my Hero. (I’m sure that sounds overly sappy) He’s gotten me to break out of my shell and do some things I never thought I would. I like to refer to him as Ceje/Cejex. Both his nick name and this blog name come from our shared addiction of World of Warcraft. He’s my Gladiator in game, and out. He was also quite insistent on the blog name after throwing 100+ ideas his way. He’s my Zombie Survival Partner, 2s Arena Team mate, My Best friend and Other Half. I’m 2 years his senior, and he loves to call me “old” sometimes. He loves his music, loves his food, and gets grumpy when he's not in range of food while hungry.

The vision I have for this blog might turn into something completely different along the way, but in the meantime, I want to aim it twords various adventures, stress full situations I’d normally just talk to myself about, and just everything going on day to day. Possibly week to week.

Here We Go:

Blogs of Military Spouses are something I’ve been reading since I realized my guy and I were at that “Serious” stage of our relationship, and he was headed off into Boot Camp. I went out searching Google on how mail would work, what he was going through, stories from those who have lived it and so forth to find myself in a world of Blogs. There were a few that really stood out to me after I found myself returning frequently for more information or heartwarming stories. A few that made me stop and think and go “Wow, I want in on this amazing community too… but what do I write about?”

The more stories I read, the more blogs I come across, the more I realize maybe I just really want to get my story out. Get my adventures in writing to look back at them later or maybe show him when he’s home just what I’ve been up to and how I’m keeping myself sane. Beats talking to yourself, eh? This blog maybe not as enticing, not as detailed or not as adventurous as some of the amazing ones I’ve come across but, with the days that lay ahead, this blog is more for me than anything else.

I’m not a Dependent just yet, though. The Wedding is planned for 3 months away, and with a ring on my finger, I hold the title of Fiancé. We’re both dead set on what we want and I couldn’t be happier to where our life is going. I never pictured myself marrying Military growing up, but I fell in head over heels for this kid. I support his decision and wouldn’t want it any other way.