Changes! Exciting news!!!

Army Wife Living & Raw Adventures has officially moved to Wordpress. Not sure how it came about other then a want to have even more control over how the site looks and finding information within it faster. So a few days have been spent with a few more to get everything from all the blogs moved over and in fantastic order. 

Although I am content having 2 actually 3 journals/blogs/sites going at once (perhaps I should see a therapist) I am enjoying having all my many personalities in one spot. I would love for you to stop by and say hello.

The Forks Farm is a creation to express more of myself. A mix of Army Wife Living, Art, Food and Life. Feature all the shops in one place and giving a voice to every part that makes me ME. 

One thing I am rather excited about is the fact that you can simple click on one link in the blog to get all the Army Wife Living updates you want. 

I have imported all the posts from this blog to Wordpress so no one is missing comments and you can see how the shops have progressed over the years. 

Stop by Say Hi

The Forks Farm on Wordpress

If you are interested in getting quick updates and finding out about specials in the shop

Facebook Fanpage is up

Playing Games with TBI *an update

Life in our house has changed a bit over the 10+ yrs of marriage. And most of it good, some of it sad and others funny. We have moved, moved, moved and moved again. We have cried, been elated and down right confused. From moving across an ocean when we first married to moving to Washington, moving with in Washington State about 20 billion times and then Moving to Kentucky and back again. We have seen car accidents, robberies and an IED explosion rip through our world. But in the end we can say 10+ years and counting. 

But TBI has been a very different type of something that we are working through. TBI = Traumatic Brain Injury. That injury occurred when The Big O's vehicle rolled over and IED (roadsidebomb) in Afghanistan over 5 months ago. He came out unscathed visibly, but with a TBI. Imagine placing his head on a soft surface and putting a large board on top of his head, now have an elephant stand on the board with two more elephants on its back. Let him stay for a minute like that and then quickly release the elephant and all its pressure. The brain swells in reaction to the pressure and things get smooshed. Nerves, receptors and connections get jumbled. Everything intact but not normal. He can walk talk breath move be a normal functioning human in most cases. But the little things are what have changed and could get better or could remain the same for the rest of his life.

It has changed his reaction time to most things that we, as people without a TBI take for granted. The littlest of things is Sarcasm. You know those dry jokes that are made to poke fun at a situation or thing. Well it goes right over his head. Math is a tricky subject, counting change is humorous most days, figuring out what month it is in Number form is a hassle and remembering what year it is gets in the way. Numbers are his folly right now. That and lack of sleep, headaches, nightmares, quick trigger to irritation. Sudden childlike whims to do something, buy something or conquer something only to be left frustrated when he can't get all the pieces to work together at the same time. All those things are workable, one day at a time things. We laugh at some, I see his frustration in others and I do cry with certain reactions I get. Hard to change how you communicate with a person and not take an off reaction as personal even with a great excuse like being Blown up. 

 How can it all be fixed? Tough question when it comes to the brain being that no one is quite the same in healing rates with a TBI. But we do have homework and different things to try in order to get him "back to normal" or I like to think maybe better then normal. One of the things we do is play games.

The games are brain teasers, "think Fun" found at most game shops and book stores. They create little challenges, work his competitive side but also teaches strategy and patience. We take turns playing them completing each skill level before moving on. And I have to say it is fun. We turn off the tv, one person reads while the other completes the puzzle and doesn't cheat by watching how it was done. And of course his winning moment is when I can't figure out a puzzle and he has to teach me.

One day at a time, one math problem at a time. With Laughter and Patience things can only get better. 

*I am not a doctor, or counselor, I am a wife of a soldier who was injured and taking every moment as it comes. Injuries (all of them) are hard and need professionals to diagnose and treat.

Being Selfish or Am I?

One day we will be out of the Army. One day we will know what that out date will be. But you know how it is, nothing is truly final until you have the paper in your hands. So while one day lingers out there I am, we are, slowly transitioning into doing what we want to do, what we hope to do and dreaming of what we could do. Will we move to the largest island in the world to live the rest of our days? Perhaps. Or will it be just a visit and we return "home" which for us home will always be Washington State. And even though we are home we are still in the Army and although we have settled into a house we are still not truly settled until the Army no longer has say in where we live.

Even with the army still holding our foot to the ground I am making sure I work on my dreams, yep I have dreams too. It's not all Army all the time in our house anymore. Working on my own things more, putting ME ahead a little bit more, now that The Soldier improves daily. I can see light all around us. A few bumps happen every now and then. TBI is always a work in progress with great days toppled by moments that make you say "what the hell happened" as a schedule falls apart, things get forgotten and moods swing wide. Thankfully those days are happening less often and the good days more often. And with each good day, good moment, good hour I get a little farther along in my dreams. I would love if you stopped by The Forks Farm to read all about a few of them. 

Why a different blog? I suppose I needed a break from all that is Army, call it an alter ego or the real deal. Either way I need to be me, and the me that is a separate identity from my husband and his army world. An Identity that is truly all mine. Not My Husbands career, but MY career. Not My husbands promotion or deployment worries but My achievements and my worries. Of course he can't help but be a part of some of the dreams I have, the world would stop spinning if it were any other way. The Army world and the one I am starting to create will definitely have to co-exist for a little while longer. 

Hope to see you snooping through The Forks Farm soon and getting a glimpse at some of my dreams. 

Lets Get Dirty Together

Speaking your mind

I recently read a blog post and wonder how others feel. I read her journal/opinion blog and farm blog often and love how she writes. She is frank about how she feels and really lays it out there. Her point in the entry, aside from the military members that have lost their lives, is a great one. Get involved, know what your state representatives, senators & president is up to and voice your concerns. 

She begins her post with a disclaimer, which I appreciate, It kept me reading without getting irritated or angry with her first statement, "... I will make no bones about it, not one god damned soldier died for ME last week. Not one soldier died for ME last month." Click on the title of her post to read the entire entry, but I would love to hear your opinion. Just your opinion. I can relate to what she is saying in the later half of her post after I stop flinching from the first half.

Here is a snippet of what I liked about her post:

The One That’ll Probably Piss a lot of People Off

From Diana Prichard

And another section from her post: 

From Diana Prichard

A portion of my response to her was this... "... He was recently hurt in Afghanistan and is now home with me. And although he serves, although I am proud of him, we/he feels it is pointless to be there… anywhere but home. Protecting the people at home, protecting our rights at home, defending our boarders, not theirs. You are right in your opinion (how could you be anything else, it is your opinion) no one sent him there other then a politician. When I look at my husband and see him struggle with his injuries I get angry. Angry at him for signing up again and deploying, angry at the man who planted the bomb that blow up next to him, but mostly angry at the politicians who allow this to continue. A fight not for freedom but for something so much less in value. I love the idea of picketing the meat counter at the supermarket."

I chose not to jump up and down about soldiers dying and how she felt the media and others push it on her to "mourn" them and remember them. I chose not to respond to that because I felt she has a right to feel that way. And also I agreed with the rest of what she was writing about. Read her blog post and see what I mean by picket the meat counters. She has a point. But please come back and tell me what you think.

Finally feeling like Home

We have arrived in our new home and new post. The Big O is spending the glorious day In-Processing and getting to know this Warrior Transition Battalion. They seem to have all their ducks in a row. But onto more exciting news... We found the perfect house. Well at least it is perfect to us. A roomy older house sitting on 1/2 an acre of land with fruit trees and space. I have my own studio to work in, the kitchen is old but works. Now we just needs a large table. I wonder if we are the only married 30somethings that don't have a proper dining/eating table. We have a small one but nothing you could call out to others and say "Lets eat." Oh well, back to the house... 

 

 The House includes an apple tree, pear tree, plum tree and a newly discovered cherry tree. The apples are growning well. The pear tree is lacking sunlight and the pears are pretty small, the cherries need to be picked and the plum tree is looking great.  Bigger bonus, Black berry bushes at the edge of the yard. Can you say Jam? Pretty excited about that.

The grass was cut the day after I took these photos so it looks a little better now. It definitely need more work, the raise bed vegetable patch is in pretty bad shape. Weeds Ivy and a mole have taken over. And the Fire pit outdoor spot is weed and spider covered. All in time and with some sweat I will have it together. The truly wonderful part about getting this house and having yard work to do... I Can Breath.