Well here I am

I know none of you know this out there, but I'm a Reference Librarian at my local public library. I think for the most part it's a good fit for me. I'm a very research orientated person. I get made fun of a lot because if something comes up that I dont' know about, then I usually say, "Oh, well I'll just have to look that up."

Although I do spend a lot of my time blogging and surfing around the Internet, a lot of that "surfing" I do is actually researching things that interest me or that are going on in my life.

Take for example, one of the main things I've been researching lately is everything Army.

If you've never been exposed to the military, such as myself and you marry into it, it's honestly like you've been thrown into a foreign environment, where there is essentially a whole other language and culture being tossed about. The list of acronyms is enormous. I actually have the list of them printed out somewhere, but I think I've misplaced it. Everyday it seems like I have to ask Sean to explain what he's talking about when it comes to the Army. I'm learning, but I still feel clueless.

Let me share with you some things that I've heard thus far and had to refer to my handy list in order to interpret what they mean.

Re-up, Pogue, NCO, Legs, Battle-rattle, ABN, BAH. That's just the tip of the iceberg folks!
I thought I had been doing pretty good on the acronyms until the other day when Sean told me he was wearing his ACU's and I had to ask which one those were. I felt like a bit of a dumb*ss after that since that is one of the easier things to remember.

I feel out-of-the loop though because I'm not living on post with him. Like, maybe I'd be understanding a whole lot more if I was actually there instead of here. That's not an option though, so come January wherever we are at I will be the new girl on the block or post I guess you could say in this instance. That's kind of intimidating when I think about it. I think that's why right now I'm trying to basically absorb all things Army into my brain. I don't want to be known as Mrs. Payne, that girl from Oklahoma who doesn't know her ACU's from her BDU's!

I'm constantly surfing on the official government sites that have to deal with Army things, reading Army Times online from time-to-time, reading military wife blogs, printing off resources I think I'll need and asking veteran military wives questions. (Thanks Amber!)

I think the thing that is most overwhelming right now is PCSing. Or, Permanent Change of Station for all you civilian types out there. If and when Sean and I leave Louisiana this is what we will be doing. Does anyone know how much stuff goes into moving? Yes, the government will pretty much move you, but the amount of things that needs to done before that is mind boggling! I'm a list maker and I've already pretty much started on at least running off checklists and using the advice of others to help get me through this process. Not only is my end of the move a long process, but so is Sean's.

It seems like there's a handbook or rules for everything thing imaginable within our military. From the things I've been reading I'm suprised there isn't an official handbook on childbirth and a checklist for you to complete prior to it.

I have to say though that I'm pretty excited about the life ahead of me as an Army wife. God knows there are some rough times ahead of me. I certaintly don't think this life is going to be a walk in a park. I know that much already. It will be an interesting life though. I can already tell!