Ayana- The Adventurer
Hello my fellow blogger-etts and blogger-gents. My name is Ayana, and I welcome to Love and Combatboots- The Blog. For those of you who followed my last blog: Chronicles of the non-housewife, I’m sure you by now are more than well versed in my spasmodic ramblings and light-hearted commentary. I’m sure you’ve read enough of my post to at this point know who I am, and what my blog is all about. For those of you who are new to my blog, I thank you for being brave enough to enter my intricate and sometimes wonderful world of crazy. In conjunction, I would like to give all of you a little background history of all things me. So, here goes…
Now that we’ve established that, I’ll tell you more fun true facts about me. I’m a wife of a Navy Vet with PTSD, mom to a very energetic 4 year old boy, and stepmom to an 10 year old firecracker daughter. I'm an aspiring writer, and lover of all things Independent Film, music and vintage (clothing/furniture and more). In case my super flashy tag didn’t give it away, I’m a bit of a smart ass. But being a smart ass never hurt anyone right? Well, other than that one guy in high school that jumped off a building after an all day encounter with another smart ass. Yikes! But other than that being a smart ass never hurt anyone. And the guy was ok; broken leg, but ok. Wow, did I just take a wrong turn and end up down morbid lane or what?
Anyway, this is me…
As you can probably tell, I’m not a bit camera shy. Shocker right!
Once upon a time 10 long years ago, I met a boy who made me smile, made me laugh, made me absolutely crazy, and then made me a wife and stepmom.
Aren’t they just a big ball of cute! Well, the cuteness doesn't stop there- check out my son and daughter together!
I sometimes can't handle all the cute going on between the two of them. In case I've confused you already, my son was born from my heart...not my uterus. He's adopted, but as far as I'm concerned, he has always been mine. He has the PERFECT cross between mine and the hubbs personalities. It's serious scary sometimes.
I sometimes can't handle all the cute going on between the two of them. In case I've confused you already, my son was born from my heart...not my uterus. He's adopted, but as far as I'm concerned, he has always been mine. He has the PERFECT cross between mine and the hubbs personalities. It's serious scary sometimes.
All in all, life was beautiful…and then the hubby returned home from Iraq after a 6 month tour with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Needless to say this disorder has really turned our lives upside down. It’s a daily struggle, but it’s one that we continue to stay positive about, and work hard to understand. I truly love my hubby, and although things aren’t always easy (but really…what about life is ever really easy anyway?) it’s so incredibly worth it in the end. Both the Lady bug and the hubby are my real reason for re-vamping my blog. Well, that and someone decided to steal use my extremely fitting, witty, and totally creative blog name and use it as a site designed and dedicated to refurbishing home and garden furniture. WTF right? But I digress; that’s for another day, and another blog post.
The blog thief mix-up wasn’t all bad though, in fact it’s the complete opposite. Over the past 8 months or so, I’ve been on a hunt to find groups, forums, or sites where I could connect with other wives and family members of Vets with PTSD. Unfortunately I’ve still only been able to find very few sites with relevant information. Then one day I thought, Why not just make my own site? So, that’s exactly what I did, and thus The Warrior Wife Chronicles was born. This blog is now going to dedicated to sharing facts, support, information, and resources to further knowledge and education of PTSD, as well as provide a forum to not just express lessons I’ve learned along the way, but also find out what others have experience while coping with this troubling disorder. Sound interesting to you? Feel free to leave a comment or contact me!
______________________________________________________________________
Emily- The Chameleon
This is me… I'm a chameleon…
My name is Emily. I'm a thirty-something mixed Islander with 2 gorgeous daughters and an amazing husband. I've lived my whole life in Washington (state not dc) and I can't imagine living anywhere else. This is one of the best places in the world to raise kids, and I get to watch my girls grow up in the same place I did! (Almost literally right now since we live in the neighborhood I grew up in)
So… about me. I'm proud of my Hawaiian Filipino Irish German heritages. I use to be an avid writer, but then I got this writers block about 10 years ago. This is me coming out of that hopefully. I'm a short girl with a big attitude, but the reality is that if my brain had it's way, I would be an introvert. I'm extremely self conscious of my body image and have been for pretty much my whole life. I am the friend of friends, but get hurt very easily by those I keep close to me. I have a sharp tongue when I've been attacked. I am extremely honest with my advice, to a fault at times. I am the kind of person who you really can call at 3 am for a ride and I will do anything I can to help, even if its not convenient for me. And at the same time I am horrible at keeping in touch because I get WAY too much into my own head sometimes. Music helps me deal with a lot of my emotions. It speaks to me in ways that words can't. As I type this I'm listening to AlexClare. This album brings out a depth in my mind that i don't tap into a whole lot anymore. I am the kind of person who inspirational quotes can be game changers for my day to day. I lean heavily into God, but not as much as I should. My heart is His and His alone. He chooses to share it with my family and friends. He speaks through me when needed. I am DEEPLY Patriotic! I cry at commercials of home comings. (that part of me warms my husbands heart) I have battled depression since I was very young. I've seen my fair share of counselors, therapists and psychologists. (they're all nuts!) I can be very random most of the time.
I am the youngest of two kids. Still Daddy's girl (well, most of the time) My brother and I have a veryinteresting relationship. My mom is my best friend. I am very dependent on her (not that I like to admit that, but I know its true) My parents are still married and have only been married to each other.. I'm a rare one.. They still live in the same house that I grew up in. That is still where I consider "home". Both of my parents worked full time jobs while I was growing up. My dad a police officer from the time before I can remember. My mom was a professional singer. I wasn't close to my mom until I grew up and out and had a daughter of my own. And now I get it! I spread my wings early and tried to be the cool girl. I started smoking when I was 10… because I wanted a boy to like me and he smoked. A nasty habit that I gave up a few times and finally gave it up for good when my oldest daughter was about 4. I had bad friends and good friends. I liked the bad ones better.
I am a kid at heart, and a 1940's war bride at soul. I've been through schooling for quite a few different things. I still can't decide what I want to be when I grow up. Although, I would say that my life now is just as I want it. Not exactly the way I thought I would get here, and definitely not the easiest road to go down, but this is what I was made for. I had always wanted to be a stay at home wife and mother. Make the kids' lunches, have breakfast ready to go, send them all off and tidy up the house… have snacks for the kids for after school and dinner on the table by 5:30. This whole "Donna Reed" thing going on.. Well… be careful what you ask for, right?
I had my first daughter when I was 22. Her father and I had known each other for a very long time. He was around until she was about 8 months old. Then he had to make a choice between us or drugs… Best decision he ever made was to walk away (although it took me a LONG time to realize that). Z is the spitting image of me. and I CAN wait for her to grow up. Seems like nowadays kids are growing up way too quickly. But isn't that how it's always been?
I met my husband a little over 5 years ago. When we met I knew he was injured in combat. I wasn't sure about anything other than I felt like I had known him my whole life. His injuries didn't throw me off, much. Our love affair started off in a whirlwind. But I believe God knew exactly what He was doing, for both of us. We were married a little more than a year after we met. And about 9 months later he adopted Z. We tried for 3 very long hard years to have a baby of our own. and in September last year, she arrived bright and smiling!! That was quite the journey… getting sick, a cancer scare, medications and multiple doctor visits. But as with all things, it was all in God's timing.
I've learned that there are some very specifically strong women out there. Some who are able to hold the whole world up on their shoulders and still manage to take care of everyone else around them. They have a voice very seldom heard out loud, but when you do, its the voices that move mountains. They are strong, powerful and almost always selfless. They take the cards that are dealt to them and start handing them out to help others. They are able to juggle running a household, raising children (of all ages), being a taxi, a nurse, a cook, a dog catcher, a banker, a wife and all while taking care of our countries bravest men. We are the wives of Wounded Warriors. But that doesn't even begin to explain who we are. I've learned that I am one of those women. I have fought hard and have earned the right to be a part of this amazing community of women.
I hope you continue to follow my journey. I will take you down paths of deep shit and glorious days. I will be real, even if I don't want to be. I will be honest, even with myself. I will share the high highs, and the low lows. I will share some of my favorite inspirational quotes and always let you know what I'm listening to. I hope what I write will inspire and ignite a fire within those who read it.
Emily
Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (CEV)
My name is Emily. I'm a thirty-something mixed Islander with 2 gorgeous daughters and an amazing husband. I've lived my whole life in Washington (state not dc) and I can't imagine living anywhere else. This is one of the best places in the world to raise kids, and I get to watch my girls grow up in the same place I did! (Almost literally right now since we live in the neighborhood I grew up in)
I am the youngest of two kids. Still Daddy's girl (well, most of the time) My brother and I have a veryinteresting relationship. My mom is my best friend. I am very dependent on her (not that I like to admit that, but I know its true) My parents are still married and have only been married to each other.. I'm a rare one.. They still live in the same house that I grew up in. That is still where I consider "home". Both of my parents worked full time jobs while I was growing up. My dad a police officer from the time before I can remember. My mom was a professional singer. I wasn't close to my mom until I grew up and out and had a daughter of my own. And now I get it! I spread my wings early and tried to be the cool girl. I started smoking when I was 10… because I wanted a boy to like me and he smoked. A nasty habit that I gave up a few times and finally gave it up for good when my oldest daughter was about 4. I had bad friends and good friends. I liked the bad ones better.
I am a kid at heart, and a 1940's war bride at soul. I've been through schooling for quite a few different things. I still can't decide what I want to be when I grow up. Although, I would say that my life now is just as I want it. Not exactly the way I thought I would get here, and definitely not the easiest road to go down, but this is what I was made for. I had always wanted to be a stay at home wife and mother. Make the kids' lunches, have breakfast ready to go, send them all off and tidy up the house… have snacks for the kids for after school and dinner on the table by 5:30. This whole "Donna Reed" thing going on.. Well… be careful what you ask for, right?
I had my first daughter when I was 22. Her father and I had known each other for a very long time. He was around until she was about 8 months old. Then he had to make a choice between us or drugs… Best decision he ever made was to walk away (although it took me a LONG time to realize that). Z is the spitting image of me. and I CAN wait for her to grow up. Seems like nowadays kids are growing up way too quickly. But isn't that how it's always been?
I met my husband a little over 5 years ago. When we met I knew he was injured in combat. I wasn't sure about anything other than I felt like I had known him my whole life. His injuries didn't throw me off, much. Our love affair started off in a whirlwind. But I believe God knew exactly what He was doing, for both of us. We were married a little more than a year after we met. And about 9 months later he adopted Z. We tried for 3 very long hard years to have a baby of our own. and in September last year, she arrived bright and smiling!! That was quite the journey… getting sick, a cancer scare, medications and multiple doctor visits. But as with all things, it was all in God's timing.
I hope you continue to follow my journey. I will take you down paths of deep shit and glorious days. I will be real, even if I don't want to be. I will be honest, even with myself. I will share the high highs, and the low lows. I will share some of my favorite inspirational quotes and always let you know what I'm listening to. I hope what I write will inspire and ignite a fire within those who read it.
Emily
Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (CEV)
listening to Pandora- Hawaiian Radio
