How it all began...

Phewwwww! It's taken me some time to figure out the whole layout of this blog thing. As you can tell, I'm new to this and am going to wing it as I go along.

Let me start from the beginning......A little over three years ago, I was just a gal trying to get some balance in her life. I had lost some weight, got in better shape and found The Secret. I was on a self-help kick to put it mildly. My juju (as a friend calls it) was on the positive upswing and pretty much life was good. I said my daily affirmations, meditated, kept a positive outlook, smiled incessantly and, finally, loved myself. The only thing missing from this born and raised, wildly independent, East Coast gal's life was a man.

This part will take a tiny bit of backing up. As with every other thirty-something, single gal, I had experienced my fair share of heartbreak. Without going into details (after all, this blog is about the good stuff), let's just say that I was on a pretty good "self awareness" (okay, okay, some may call it selfish) streak. I had been pulling myself out of the financial, emotional and physical rut that the last "heartbreak" had caused and really didn't feel the need to add another potential to my really good gig. I owned a house, a car, a dog and two cats. I had family, friends and a career to die for. I exercised, went to happy hours and hung with the people closest to me. Why did I need to add a man to all of that?

Friends, they do it to ya every time! Yes, I said friends. They are the reason for my current happiness...indirectly, but who's keeping tabs. At the insistance, not suggestion, of friends, I reluctantly joined an online dating site to meet a man they "knew" who was also a member and just so happened to be a veterinarian. Against my better judgment, I joined for the required month and never got a response from the vet. Long story short, I got the vet alright, he just happened to be a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy!

What followed was a series of Universal coincidences, cosmic fates and unbelievable romance! After three months of long distance "dating" we finally met in Hawaii, the motherland for both of us. I had a vacation to Maui already planned and he was finishing up his command course before heading to Groton. Come to find out, we had three days where we'd both be on the islands together. So, it only made sense to, as a friend put it, "meet face to face in paradise, rather than Chili's in Groton". I puddle jumped from Maui to spend the most exciting, romantic and unbelievable three days ever. Having already lived on the island for a combined total of 9 years, he showed me around his old stomping grounds on the windward side of Oahu. I had family on the island forever and had been vacationing there for twenty years or so, but was familiar only with the Waikiki, touristy side of Oahu. It truly was an awesome three days. I then went back to my two week vacation on Maui and he began his weeklong trek to the submarine capital of the world.

Now what I failed to mention, is that this Lieutenant Commander was just beginning his two year submarine tour as the Executive Officer of his boat. For you civilians, it's the number two man in command of a submarine. This is not a glamorous position to say the least. Let me digress for just a moment, I mentioned that I grew up on the east coast, what I didn't mention was that I grew up in a military (Navy and Coast Guard) community. I knew that the military life was tough. I also knew that my friends and I agreed to never, NEVER, get involved with a military man...we knew the horror stories of those that broke the cardinal rule. So, here I was not only involved with a military man, but a military man with huge responsibilities. With those responsibilities comes obligations in the form of Hail and Farewells, Submarine Balls, Auction kick-off parties at the Admiral's house. Oh yes, fun, fun and more fun.....NOT!!! Do you know how stressful it is to not know what to wear or how to behave at a Hail and Farewell (again for the civies, it's a party to welcome in the new guy and say good-bye to the old guy)? Is is formal, casual, fork and knife or finger food? Then there's the Submarine Ball....it's a prom for adults, right down to the prom gowns! See the fun it is now?? I must admit, however, after three years and multiple "obligations", they do tend to be pretty fun, especially with the great folks you go with!!

Fast forward a bit through countless underways, crazy wives politics, many rumors, an endless seven month deployment and one fairy tale proposal in Cyprus, and he and I are now married and happily finishing our first year of our shore tour in, of all places, our motherland! Yep, we're living the life on the water in beautiful, sunny and always exciting Hawaii.

We've come a long way to this point. Ups and downs, good and bad, but every second worth it. The purpose of this blog for me is to bring myself back to center. I need to get that perspective of gratitude back completely. I need to find out who I am - navy wife, unemployed nurse, long distance friend and family member, newbie. Though living in Paradise may seem like a walk in the park, getting here most certainly was not. I didn't completely lose my balance, but I can certainly say I'm off kilter a bit. Can you blame me? I went from a seemingly great life of independence and stability where the only thing I had to worry about was not being late to work everyday to a life of unfamiliarity and unpredictability. That's enough to send anyone in a slight twirl. This will serve as my motivation. My juju finder. My journal. My.....me, whoever that is. Life's a beach, and then you live on one....