Hannah's Heartstrings

Kyle sent me this list shortly before homecoming. I had learned several of these things, but its a wonderful reminder. Its makes you think about just how different the world of a military girlfriend/fiancee/wife really is. I know this is aimed towards Marine girlfriends, but really it applies to all branches. So adjust as necessary and heed the wisdom! 

*I have no idea who created this list. It is brilliant and if you are or know the author, please let me know!*
*Edited slightly for content ;)*


1. Don’t count on anything! Hurry up and wait.

2. Don’t listen to anyone on the outside. All you will get is negative remarks which will make things harder for you to deal with.

3. When he becomes stubborn and a royal pain in the butt, just remind yourself he’s probably had a bad day and being away from you is hard on him too. SO just let him rant and don’t take it personal.

4. When your down, treat yourself.

5. Learn how to listen, if you don’t know how! He will need you. You will be the one he comes to when he needs to complain, but don’t complain back. That is what the USMC girlfriends are for! This is a hard time for our men and they need us much more than sometimes they think they do.

6. Love your marine, be truthful, and reassure him, even if he is deployed, he’ll have someone to come back to.

7. He will try to pull away at some point, whether directly telling you to move on and not wait for him or just becoming distant. It’s a way they try to deal. Stick with him because he really does want (and need) you there.

8. When he is away for a long time or even just a couple of hours away, write a lot of letters. Communication is key to a relationship!

9. Some of his friends will probably be morons. Expect this.

10. You aren’t the only woman in his life. His mom misses him and loves him too, so make sure to update her on what's going on with him.

11. He needs to feel important so don’t hold back on the compliment's-remind him how proud you are of what he does.

12. Chances are they wont call when they say they will. That especially applies for the deployed!

13. Don’t buy that non-refundable airplane ticket too early.

14. When eating with a marine you wither finish your “chow” in 15 min or less or be stared at until you finish.

15. Never take one single minute with them for granted. Live each day with them like it’s the last one you’ll have for a while because with the Marine Corps it just might be.

16. Take lots of pictures, so you can remember what each other look like.

17. Don’t even TRY to compare your Marines to ordinary men. You can no longer complain about broken plans, the phone call you were supposed to get but didn’t, missed birthdays and anniversaries, his snoring (hey at least he’s sleeping beside you,) spending more time with “the boys” than you, etc, etc, etc.

18. Always look on the bright side of things. How many of your gal-pals got to get their first encounter, first date, first kiss from their man over and over again?

19. Gotta be able to keep up with your man. We give our marines a whole new meaning of PT.

20. Even if he says he will, he probably wont. Maybe he really means probably not OR probably not when he said he would. Example: “I might not be able to call you tomorrow,” or “I might call you tomorrow,” but he cant find the time to call until a week later. That might turn into 2 weeks.

21. Being a Marines girlfriend is the toughest job in the corps. You have to deal with stress similar to the wives, without the promise of forever or the benefits and support they get.

22. Patience is the biggest key to making the relationship work. You have to wait a lot but in the end waiting is what makes it all worth while.

Where food is concerned, we live in a world of absolutes, particularly here in the U.S. We have a broad spectrum of foods before us, but there are generalities that all food must fall under in order to please us. We know what pizza is supposed to taste like. We know what ice cream, spaghetti, hot dogs, and potato salad are supposed to taste like. Christmas dinners, birthday cake, chocolate and cotton candy. There are differences and variations within each of our foods. Different flavors and combinations. But ultimately, we have set in stone ideas about what our food should taste like, and for that matter, look like.

But what if…what if…we’re wrong?

Have you ever seen the movie “The Matrix”? It is rather brilliant tale of a man who comes to learn that the world he believes he lives in doesn’t really exist, but instead is an elaborate computer generated hoax designed to trick the minds of humans being used as slaves for robots that have overtaken the real world. The concept of the movie is really quite amazing, and gets you thinking. What if this isn’t real? What if we are being tricked? How would you feel if you woke up one morning to find that everything you thought you knew was completely and utterly wrong?

Step back for a moment and, with the Matrix in mind, open your mind to the possibility I am about to suggest to you.

What if everything you know about how food should taste and look is wrong?

From the very beginning of our lives, as small children learning to eat food on our own, we are given food and told exactly what it should be like. This is ice cream. This is cereal. This is a hamburger. There are no other options. This is what food is. It is engrained in our minds. We don’t question it, and grow up with these stereotypes dictating our every meal.

But just imagine if we were wrong. What if those stereotypes were just that…stereotypes?

Imagine breaking out of the matrix to find a whole new world of food. A world where food was different. Where people eat to live, not live to eat. Where people don’t expect food to be the same as it has been for years and use creativity and ingenuity to create food that blows the mind of all who even hear of it.

Yep. You’ve now entered my world.

Welcome to the world outside the matrix.