milspouse

First Things First

March 26, 2014 by Jennifer Taylor Leave a Comment

whatisbeauty

How do you define BEAUTY? What does it take for someone to be BEAUTIFUL? Well, let’s look it up and see! According to Merriam-Webster online there are a few definitions of beauty. Here they are…

1. “The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.”

2. “A beautiful person or thing; especially: a beautiful woman”

3. “A particularly graceful, ornamental, or excellent quality”

4. “A brilliant, extreme, or egregious example or instance “that mistake was a beauty”

So, according to this popular source, beauty is quality in a thing or person that pleases one’s senses, mind or spirit (I quite like that part because it doesn’t just attribute beauty to a physical feature). Furthermore, it can be a woman… elegant or decorative… or a bright, thrilling occurrence. (Say, what?) Taking the definition literally, it can seem degrading; but, of course, once you think through it, it makes sense. Isn’t a painting or a vase decorative, but also beautiful? Personally, I don’t want to be just decorative…pretty to look at, but of no real use. No, thanks. As military wives we have to be useful, resourceful, crafty and independent. There is beauty in the military life and being a wife! As a military spouse, isn’t there beauty in seeing our military member step off that plane/ship after a deployment? That nervous excitement we all feel, seeing them for the first time in months. Whether they are dirty, tired, in camo or not — the fact that they are in your arms safe is beautiful in itself. Imagine the beauty they see after stepping off of that plane. No matter how short…tall…thick or thin…makeup on or not. You are the most gorgeous being in the world to him. You have supported, stood by, and loved your spouse through something so few will ever experience. Remember: making it through a deployment together and alive is a thing of beauty!

Do you think there is an equation to achieve beauty? Something like: the right clothes + perfect hair + flawless makeup + the right body+ impeccable nails = One Gorgeous, beautiful woman? Are we never to see ourselves as beautiful because we are lacking in some aspect of this equation? Have children…there goes the body. Wash dishes…there goes the nails. Don’t know how to apply makeup…there goes the perfect face. That’s what popular culture wants us to believe. Heck! They built the beauty industry on it! But, do you think that super models and actresses are flawless? They have scars, wear hair extensions, have makeup teams to overhaul them, and will starve themselves to achieve “the prefect body”. So few women truly think of themselves as gorgeous or beautiful. Pick something about yourself. Eyes, nose, ears, hair, etc. that you think is beautiful and play up that trait. You’ll soon notice that other parts of you are beautiful, too. Having flaws doesn’t make you lacking in beauty. It actually sets you apart and makes you unique. Take me, for example; I am 6 feet tall. It’s horrible finding pants that fit correctly and are long enough. Don’t get me started on skirts and shorts! My height intimidates women and men. I guess constantly looking up to someone is an uncomfortable feeling? Many people have said to me, “I would love to have your height!” Really, you don’t want these extra inches. I have had to wear high water pants my whole life and been teased for my height since middle school. Plus, wearing heels is very problematic. But, since I haven’t heard of a shrinking serum besides in Alice of Wonderland, I have to live with it and I try my hardest to find flattering clothing. Without looking like a giant daddy long leg spider wearing Polly Pocket clothing. I don’t like being this tall, but I have learned to embrace my awkwardness and play it up. Realistically, the perfect person doesn’t exist, so stop trying to achieve it. Settle into your body and accept that no matter what you look like, you are beautiful. Your husband, children, friends and family see it everyday!

Yes I am going to be blogging about beauty, how-tos and reviews, but remember: you are BEAUTIFUL inside and out, you just have to recognize it! <3 Jenn Taylor

Apple Dump Cake Recipe

October 17, 2012 by VanessaW Leave a Comment

So I’ve been eyeballing this recipe for the past month now. I’ve pinned it to my Pinterest account and promised myself I would make one as soon as possible. Well, now that I’ve discovered I have 2 bags of apples that need to be eaten, I figured why not fix one. The weather is getting cooler and the smell of baked apples is totally autumn-ish right?

The recipe calls for sliced apples on bottom of 9×13. I used approximately 8 small red apples.
***You may also sprinkle a little cinnamon and brown sugar over the top of the apples for an apple pie-like flavor***
Then you spread cake mix over the top. I found spreading it out into an even layer helpful.
Then pour 2 sticks/1c melted butter over all of the cake. DO NOT MIX.
Bake 350′ for 35 to 45 minutes.

Since I have a gas oven, I baked mine for 35 minutes…checked the cake…added a little more melted butter and brown sugar to the top for a crispier crust and baked it for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!!!

Apple Dump Cake

Memorial Day

May 28, 2012 by TessaT Leave a Comment

I’ve never really been a patriotic person. Not to say I don’t tear up when the Star Spangled Banner plays on July 4th or that I burn the flag or anything, but I’ve never been one to run around the streets of America professing my love for my country and it’s people. Truth be told, if there was a distant opposite of patriotic… that’s probably what I would have been considered. Not anti-American, not aloof or unconcerned, and definitely not painting my face red, white, and blue. On the patriotic spectrum, I really didn’t have a set in stone place… until I became a military wife.

By no means do I have Uncle Sam Wants You posters throughout my home or am I typing this wearing a flag inspired Dr. Seusss hat. Understand, I still very much so question where our country is headed as well as who is running it and by all means do not always agree. However, since leaving the US behind a year and a half ago for the vineyards of Italia, I have been reminded almost on a daily basis how lucky I am to be an American.

Oddly enough, my new found appreciation for the USA did not come from seeing acts of service being done on base, or gripping inspirational stories from military members overseas. I’ve learned to love my homeland from seeing my Italian neighbors’ eyes light up at the mere mention of New York City… at the admiration and almost envy many Italians and other Europeans have at the fact that English is my native language… and most of all, realizing that America is not only the land of the free, but also land of opportunity and convenience… and this is where I call home.

So today, on Memorial Day, I feel differently than what I did before becoming a military wife. I see group shots of my friends at the beach posted on Facebook and tweets about just how much liquor will be consumed this weekend filling up my newsfeed. The other half of my feed is now taken over by fellow milspouses and members that have a very different message. Pictures of widows crying over their fallen soldier’s grave are posted with messages below like “Remember what Memorial Day is about.” As much as I’d love to be working on my tan, in the back of my mind lays the real reason why my husband has off from work today.With this being said, by no means are Tyler and I spending the day learning how to fold flags or weeping over articles on the Internet (because I’m not sure of any cemeteries in Italy that would have American heroes in them?). We’ve spent most of the weekend checking out nearby vineyards and playing with our dog at the lake. But to me, Memorial Day is still about spending it with family and friends down the shore and making delicious, patriotic recipes you’ve found on Pinterest. And, as I’m doing all of these things, I think about my little brothers – both who are deployed right now. I think about my husband who right now is sleeping safely in our bed, and thank God for this day because I know I’ll be with him. And lastly, I think about those wives and sisters and mothers who aren’t spending Memorial Day with their loved one… and I hope that after reading this, you do, too.

Reposted on my personal blog Ciao, Blogga.

Coupons To Troops

April 11, 2012 by TessaT Leave a Comment

I first heard about Coupons to Troops while lazily scrolling through my Facebook news feed as I have so many other times before. Cool, so-and-so got her hair cut. Great, this dude is at work. Blah, blah. Same old, same old. However a picture of a ton of coupons caught my eye that was posted by a fellow milspouse friend with the caption, “Thanks, Coupons to Troops!” Now, I’ve never been a real coupon-er at all but boy, do I love me a sale. So naturally I immediately went to my Google toolbar where I typed: Coupons to Troops. The result was phenomenal.

So often, even before being a military spouse, I would hear the phrase “Support the Troops!” Coming from a small town in Pennsylvania, you couldn’t go three cars without seeing some form of yellow ribbon or American flag. The pride that US citizens have for their military is both overwhelming and admirable; as well as bullet proof. And even though the catch phrases and bumper stickers are nice, it is always refreshing and eye opening to see people putting action behind their kind words.

Coupons to Troops does just that – random strangers silently support the troops and their families overseas by ‘adopting’ a family and sending them coupons that they may use on their base. After a year of being a military spouse I just found out less than a month ago that we can use coupons that have expired up to 6 months on base being military in Italy. How fantastic is that! So essentially, not only are people who ‘adopt’ military families and send them their coupons fabulous for supporting the troops, but also because they’re not throwing away coupons that are expired – because we can use them!

Received 11 envelopes full of coupons today!

Personally, my favorite part about Coupons to Troops is not the coupons themselves by any means. Sure, I feel really cool (and old, let’s be honest) with all my cut out coupons and envelopes – and I may be planning a coupon party with girlfriends – but the real magic is in the emails to one another. I’m not sure if everyone who participates is as lucky as I’ve been with generous coupon-givers, but I’ve learned so much about random strangers all over the world – all who support the military in their own way – that sometimes, it takes my breath away.

One woman I’ve been chatting to has a husband who retired from the military. We’ve been discussing how different the world is from when she was a military spouse to today. She also made me see the light at the end of what can sometimes be a very long and strenuous military tunnel. As she wrote about her fantastic husband, I grew more and more proud of my own vet and realized, yet again, how blessed we are to be living this life. It is connections like this that make the world go round. And Coupons to Troops is just one more amazing military support network that you should absolutely check out.

‘Like’ Coupons to Troops on Facebook here

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