After a holiday/New Year/life-jut-got-busy hiatus, the MilSpouse Friday Fill-In has returned in a new monthly incarnation. Wife of a Sailor (hi, LTJG Wifey!) will post questions on Thursday for us to answer on the first Friday of the month. Checking in with the greater milspouse blogosphere with this meme sounds like a good way to kick off a new month to me. Happy February, y’all!
What is your favorite winter memory?
My little brother and I built some pretty epic snow forts during the notable (read: snow-heavy) winters of our childhood. We grew up in the DC area, which gets snow just often enough that the local governments have plows, but not often enough that people really know how to handle more than a couple inches. That made the rare occasions we got a foot or more of snow nigh-magical for us kids: schools were closed, our seldom-used snow boots were at the ready, and we could exhaust ourselves in our transformed neighborhood secure in the knowledge that hot cocoa awaited us when sledding and snowball arsenal-building was done for the day.
What is your current favorite TV show?
I always get a chuckle out of “The Big Bang Theory,” probably because I recognize (and perhaps bear some resemblance to) the quirks of so many characters.
We’ve also been enjoying “Coast Guard Alaska.” How could we not? It combines military aviation (my husband’s career) with search and rescue (the focus of my volunteer work). Also, there’s always a chance that we’re going to see someone we know; military aviation is a small world. We do roll our eyes a bit when the show tries a little too hard to find the human interest angle; a scene where they showed a bunch of officers getting together for dinner seemed staged and forced. The show is at its best when it displays professionals doing a demanding, often dangerous job with the calm confidence that every member of the aircrew knows his or her role and will get it done. That’s how I would like to be in the cockpit when I fly with the Civil Air Patrol.
What was your favorite thing that happened in January?
January turned out to be a pretty good month despite the fact that Sampson was gone for most of it. SpouseBUZZ LIVE Eglin was a definite highlight. It was wonderful to finally put faces to the familiar names of my fellow bloggers, and to find out that they’re awesome in person, to boot.
What is the best sound in the world to you?
Nothing fills my heart to overflowing like the sound of my family — my folks, Sampson’s folks, our siblings, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, assorted cousins — gathered together and laughing.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned as a MilSpouse (or significant other)?
Though the Navy may play a significant role in my life, and no matter how much I love (well, most of the time) being a part of the military community, my role as a supportive spouse is not central to the Navy. I have other roles that are about me and my passions where my contributions are key; it’s far better to look there for a sense of accomplishment — and yes, recognition for that accomplishment — than to resent always being a mere appendage to my husband in the context of his military career.
Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to LTJG Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this month’s MilSpouse (First) Friday Fill-In!
To the Nth 
I completely agree with your last answer. I think being an independent, supportive spouse has very little to do with the military and much more to do with the people.
Yup. My husband is the one who has the official relationship with the military; I support my husband, not the Navy directly.
I love making snow forts! So much fun!
And it really is important to stay your self through it all. Although that was a lot harder to do when we were stationed in Germany and the Military was pretty much in every part of our life.
I’ve heard that about the “fishbowl effect” of living overseas. I imagine it would be extremely difficult to break out of the neat little military box when connecting with the outside community involves surmounting cultural and language barriers.
Love that answer to #5! It’s true – we may have to go where they go, but our lives don’t have to just revolve around them. It is important to have our own identities, as well, and to cultivate it. 🙂
Absolutely. It isn’t always easy to make the effort toward cultivating a separate identity when the military takes up so much time and mental energy, of course, but it’s important.
There is a little Sheldon in all of us. Just found that show recently and the kids love watching the ball pit clip over and over again 🙂
Bazinga!