The Milspouse Quiz

I saw this on several milspouse blogs, and finally decided to snag it from Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life!

The Milspouse Quiz

1. How did you and your spouse meet? He and my brother were in the same unit in the National Guard, and were roommates in Afghanistan. You can read the less abbreviated version here, but we actually didn't meet until he was deployed.

2. How old were you when you two met? I had just turned 24. Sky was almost 27.

3. How long have you been together? We'll be married two years in January- we only dated 9 months before getting married.

4. Where are you and your spouse originally from? I was born and raised here in Chambana. Sky's dad was in the Army, so he lived various places, but has lived in Illinois since he was 10 (a couple hours south of here).

5. How did you feel about him joining the military? The first time, of course, it was not my decision at all. It never occurred to me to even date someone in the military, but I doubt anyone thinks of their husband/boyfriend's profession more than the actual person. We obviously talked together about him re-enlisting in the Reserves.

6. Where did your spouse go to Basic Training? He went to Fort Benning (just as my brother did a few months later). Infantry! He doesn't have to go back to Basic for the Reserves since he's already been.

7. Has your spouse ever been deployed? Yes, to Afghanistan.

8. Ever been to his promotion ceremony? Not yet, but I already made him promise that I'll get to pin him when/if he does! I think it'd be a big honor.

9. How long have you been a military wife? Basically as long as I've been his wife- 2 years!

10. Did you marry him before or after he joined? Yes! He joined the Army National Guard before we were married. He just recently joined the Army Reserves.

11. How did your husband propose? The first time, we already were engaged and our wedding was a few weeks away. He got down on one knee on the side of the road where we first saw each other. The second time was on my birthday.

12. Where did you get married? In our tiny upstairs apartment in an "old, drafty house". It was a cold, January day.

13. How old were you two when you got married? I was 25, and he was 27.

14. Did he wear his uniform on his wedding day? Most definitely. It's better than any suit or tuxedo!

15. Where are you and your spouse currently stationed? Being Reserve, he's not stationed anywhere.

16. Do you live on base? Nope!

17. How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation? As a married couple, we've only been separated for a few weeks at a time due to training or being called to state active duty. We met while Sky was on leave from Afghanistan, so the first five months of dating were spent apart.

18. What is your favorite base so far? I've only been to Fort Benning (Georgia) to see my brother's turning blue ceremony and graduation, and to Scott Air Force Base (Missouri) for ID cards/DEERs enrollment, so I couldn't really say! If we were somehow magically active duty and Air Force, I'd want to hear to the AFBs in England! Sigh.

19. Do you think your spouse looks good in his uniform? Of course. Any guy improves his looks in a uniform, and Sky happens to be handsome already.

20. Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life? I don't really understand the question. Advanced? No...different than the mainstream? Absolutely.

21. Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent? As a Reserve (or National Guard) dependent, my benefits are much different (i.e., less) than active duty spouses, so that's a tough question. When Sky deploys, we will briefly have the same benefits as active, but otherwise, I suppose the 10% military discount from Payless was nice!

22. Do you have a lot of military wife friends? In real life? None, because we don't live on or near a base. But online? Of course! I would say the majority of my blogger friends are military spouses, and I think that's amazing.

23. What is the hardest part of the military life? Because we're not active duty, I think we often have it much easier than a lot of military families- we don't have to move, deploy as often (most of the time), etc. The hardest parts for us personally have been 1- the disconnect between our particular life and the lives of our friends who may not understand, and 2- the paycheck issues when switching from military duty to civilian jobs- people in real life don't usually realize that the delay in military pay + no pay while not at work in the civilian world = bill collectors calling. That's difficult and frustrating. 

24. Do you own military wife stuff? Not really- Millie has a few ACU patterned toys (her TroopPaws dog and her Daddy Doll), but that's about it. 

25. Do you support your spouse as a member of the military? Definitely. I'm very proud of him, and I know he's doing things I'm not strong enough to do.

IF YOU’RE A MILITARY SPOUSE-TAG YOU’RE IT!