Girlfriends, Fiances,and Wives of Sailors

Hawaii is wonderful, but cheap?  Not really.  

Dad was stationed there when I was a kid, so all my military info is out of date and nothing you can't find online.  We do go to the Big Island when we can, and airfare is freaky expensive.  You can get good deals if you keep an eye on the travel places, or find a travel agent who has deals.  Look up the MWR pages for your sailor's base. he can book you into places like the Navy Lodge, or the other places the military has for leisure travel in the area. 

Posted on the Great Lakes A school group this morning:

Permalink Reply by Skipper Lintner 1 hour ago

If you sign up for 'deal' newsletters, sometimes you get lucky. I'm signed up with Southwest, United, Alitalia, Air France, Delta, Cathay, Kayak, Travelocity, Expedia - any decent travel site. It's a lot of junk mail in your inbox, but sometimes worth sifting through all of them. Also, signing up and keeping track of your frequent flyer miles helps. Boyfriend has been in Italy for a long time, so...yeah. Learning to be my own travel agent. 

Apologies if I did this comment thing wrong. I'm new here.

@ Wingetah, I'm sort of in the same boat. My boyfriend is at bc now and we don't know what his orders are going to be yet, but I am in school (19 months until graduation!!!) and since I am a dental hygiene major it's not really possible for me to switch schools. So that means for the next 19 months I will be stuck in Ohio.

I go to school at miami lol small world

Le Shelby, same here. 

Oh! Oh! I'm from Ohio. :)

About an hour North of Dayton. :)

I grew up about 40 minutes North of Dayton, I just moved to Cinci for school.

Hi ladies, I booked the Navy Lodge for my bf's PIR and I was wondering if there was a shuttle or something to the ceremony or if I will need to take a cab? Also, anyone know about shuttle services to and from the airport?? I asked this in another group, but no one answered... haha.. I just wanted to get a heads up :)

No shuttle from the Lodge to PIR.   It isn't far though and there are taxis, they know people will need a ride.  Lots of families going, you may be able to catch a ride.

Hello Ladies! we Just moved from texas to Norfolk. I would love to meet other people that live here and here about ways to stay busy and groups in the area. especially for kids being that I have a two year old that is going crazy in this apt. any ideas or advise

Anti M, I saw it's about 2 miles but I doubt I'll wanna walk in the cold when I'm used to San Diego weather. Haha, I don't mind taking a taxi! :) Thanks!!

Okay I will look into that because I was hoping to get some kind shuttle service to and from the airport! Thanks Le Shelby!!

@NewNavyWife, contact the FFSC (Fleet and Family Service Center) on base, they will be able to give you great local information.  Check with MWR too, they sometimes have mommy and me programs.  

New NavyWife are you on facebook? If so there are lots of awesome pages for military wives in the area. Spouses of Norfolk Naval Station, Military Wives of the Hampton Roads, Navy Wives of Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads, also you might try searching for fb pages for your Sailor's command so say he is on the Truman, there are lots of fb pages for that ship! Just type it in the search bar in different ways and a lot will pop up! If you go to like Spouses of Norfolk Naval Station and post on their wall for ladies with your sailors command or looking for friends of playdates in your area a lot of ladies will typically respond! I live up in Hampton but I typically don't swing down that way really with the tunnel traffic but I know there are TONSSSSSSSSSSSSS of Navy wives and miltiary wives in general in the area! lol

I am also from Ohio :)

Its always a possibilty they will get sent overseas. Unfortunately as a single sailor that can raise his chances a little I have been told. (not to say yall arent dating lol but to the military he is single until he is officially married)

Unfortunately, there isn't a set percent chance anyone can give about him going overseas.  But they send single sailors more often because a married E-3 or below can't take a dependent overseas.  Cheaper and easier to send single sailors.  Are the chances high?  No, but that's no help to you if he's the one who catches those orders.  Once the orders are issued, they will not be changed if he marries.  And the marriage must happen with enough time so the detailer gets the information the sailor got hitched.  There's more than the page two there's an action form which goes in (a DD-1306 I think, but I'm not positive about the form number)

Depends a lot on the commands too, as the sponsorship is approved  by individual commands.  Yokosuka commands are notorious for not approving the sponsorship waivers for E-3s, especially the ships.  A little easier for the petty officers.  

I know Bahrain sucks for you as the GF, but those are some great orders.  Plenty of opportunities to be outstanding.  Also, darn good shopping.  I know the price of gold is up, but there's a terrific gold souk (bazaar) there ... they sell by weight, beautiful jewelry with none of the jewelry store nonsense we get here in the US.  All of it is just out where you can touch it.  

(figures I couldn't find a picture of the gold out loose....)

Well, a CS does start their sea/shore rotation with sea duty, so best guess is a ship.  I know, the Navy and ships, huh?   

Just got home from dropping my boyfriend off at the hotel for tonight. Cant wait to see him swear in the morning. This is sooo bittersweet, I miss him already

My Boyfirend is in A-school right now, and already been through bootcamp. I Just feel so alone some times. Im sure I'm not the only one that does but what do you all do to keep strong and not cry every time you think about them?

Abbyy319,

I know exactly how you feel. My boyfriend is in A school as well and that's all I seem to be doing these days. I just feel like no one in the world understands how I feel even though I know thats not true. Ive never felt more lonely than Ive been feeling lately.

My boyfriend is in boot camp and I have been watching my phone like a hawk this week. I got a text from his dad saying that he got a short phone call and he is still sick and has a sore throat. I was a little disappointed because I thought he was going to call me. A few hours later I got a call from my mom saying that my boyfriend left her a message because he tried calling me and I didn't answer. But the call never went through and I didn't have a missed call. I have no idea what happened but it's been a rough night/day knowing that I missed a chance to talk to him. And on top of that as of Sunday he still had not received any of my 22 letters (I had the wrong address for the first week because his DIV moved after they sent out the form letter). Hopefully he is at least getting letters from me now..

Ahh I am sorry Love my SR. I missed every call in BC until the last week because I was working. Keep your chin up! I know its hard! The letters should catch up to him soon!  

Love my SR, you are just having a rough couple of weeks! I feel so bad for you :( Don't worry, I missed my bf's first call too- but he called me unexpectedly the other night after winning a phone call! Things have been better since I missed the phone call, and I know that things will get better for you too! So sorry to hear about your mishaps!! But just remember you're making it through the hardest part and each day it will bring you closer to PIR :) Good luck!

briana&isaiah forever,

Im glad im not the only one that feels like this. I know that i think about him being gone all the time, do you have anything that you use to distract yourself?

Thanks everyone! I got a second letter this week (he wrote it Monday) saying that he had received his first letter from me. It was letter #11, the first one that I sent to the right ship. So at least now he knows I have been writing. He said it's pretty hard and it sucks but he's hanging in there. He was pretty upbeat actually. This was before I missed his call though.. ): But at least some things are looking up!

Abbyy319,

I am in my sophomore year of college, and I work, but still I often find that even that isnt enough to keep me busy at times. Ive always been kind of a house hermit, so I dont go out, but I have a few hobbies. I like to write, and music is my absolute refuge on those bad days. It has been very hard on me lately, but I try my best to just think positive. Wish I could over you some solid advice, but truthfully, I have none to even comfort myself...but one thing I can say is prayer works wonders :)

I have to say after going through deployments and BC, I would say the best thing to do is to get out there! Stop moping around the house or being miserable!! First off you got to realize that it doesnt make you a bad person to have fun while your sailor is gone! Believe me you will resent them if you sit around miserable and they go on deployment and start partying in port instead of being sad too. Second, realize time passes sooo much faster when you are enjoying it, instead of thinking about how much you are missing your sailor. Yeah I missed my sailor while he was gone but I can honestly say I lovedddd going to school! I loved working. So I enjoyed myself. Volunteer! Pick up a new hobby! Anything you enjoy that passes time! While my husband was gone I bought a few pieces of furniture and started redoing them!! I loved it! Is there anything you are passionate about? Puppies? Helping children? Elderly? Whats your career field? Is there any volunteer opportunities you can get into that will be good on your resume? Its a great opportunity to put you ahead of the curve! and will help if you move somewhere new. A lot of places require experience so thats helpful! Third, let yourself have a sad time. If you bottle it up and just think about it then you will start to focus on it. So find something that allows you to get it out. I did what I call a mini bath lol. I turned the shower on and sat on the floor of the tub and just let it out. If I was sad I cried, if I was mad I yelled, if I needed someone to talk to I just talked, if I needed to think I used the shower to think it out. Then I get up off the floor and let all the negative go down the drain. andshower and get on with the day. :) I hope none of that was too blunt and helps you in some way :)

meagan - thank you. that whole comment was amazing and inspiring. us newbies needed that. THANK YOU!

Well said, Meagan! Three deployments into our relationship, and have another very, very long one coming up. If I didn't have my job, I would have probably gone nuts by now. Also - one word: yoga. It really does help. It's hard to be sad when you have something to calm you down and give you some peace. (And the weight loss & flexibility aren't bad perks either!)

you are very welcome ladies :) I am glad it didnt come off harsh or bitchy. Sometimes I tend to come off that way via internet... ok maybe even in person too lol. :) But I hate seeing girls so sad and miserable and depressed.

Not yet, but mine is still in BC. But people have their own opinions and if YOU believe you'll make it, then you can. He's been gone a month so far and while it sucks, I know that i still love him and thats not going to change. You should be fine :) We're hoping to be married during christmas break also hopefully :) Whats a chit though?

Lacylynn - When my husband was in A School in Great Lakes, all the guys he knew who were married were either getting divorced or on their way to it.  One of his instructors told the class that if they were married, their wives were probably banging someone while they were gone.  Pretty crappy and demoralizing way to start a new career.  But that's the attitude a lot of people have.  The happily married ones are probably not as loudly outspoken about their marriage as the negative ones.  We're still happily married and we both managed to keep from "banging someone" while separated pretty easily. 

LittleMissRed - a chit is a request for permission.  Sailors have to do some stuff to get permission to get married, I think there is a class or counseling or something.  I know when my husband got to A School, he was offered a class on marriage, which he took and said was pretty un-helpful.  But the official line seems to be that they want their sailors to stay married and be happy.  The attitude of some people kills the message though. 

Get married if you want to, the naysayers will always be there, just prove them wrong.  There are tons of benefits of being married, not the least of which is that you get to live together.  If he doesn't want to listen to people giving him a hard time for getting married, suggest that he go to the chaplain, who may be able to tell him the requirements and what papers to fill out.  then he can get it done without broadcasting his personal life.  His chain of command still needs to sign it and approve the chit, but such is life in the Navy.