Everyday :: Firefighter Wife

An Important Update From Val

Posted on May 17, 2012 by HotWife

I’ve had a rough time writing this post. In fact I’ve stared at the blank screen for hours now. Time to just blurt it out.

I have sold the site.

For those of you on the newsletter list this won’t be a surprise. You were the only one’s that new I was putting it up for sale. I wasn’t looking to sell to a big company and get rich from it. Firefighter Wife was never about the money. I wanted to make sure it was going to be taken over by someone that would continue it forward with being a helpful resource.

I believe I found that person in Lori. I’m excited about ideas she’s shared with me and some of her vision for the future here.

When a decision is right it can be easy to make. Selling FFW was an easy one and one that has also gone smoothly. My other sites are keeping me really busy (yeah) and I’m unable to post as much here as I’m sure you have noticed over the months. It’s been one more thing on my to do list that weighs on me. Instead of letting the site go downhill I wanted to let someone else keep it growing. Not only keep it going but push it in the direction I’m sure it can go.

Lori is graciously letting me hang out and post here and there so I won’t be completely gone. I’ll still be on the fanpage, commenting on posts and joining in on the forums as well. :)

I’m so happy I created firefighter wife. It has served so many purposes over the years helping me work through this new life we entered into once he became paid. All of you have been incredible with support for me and for each other. Not once have I ever have to edit or delete a hateful comment from one of you readers. That is amazing and shows how great all of you are. I know you’ll continue to be helpful to Lori as well.

Thank you to all of you for helping me create the community atmosphere at FFW and for becoming friends. I’m glad this isn’t a case that I’m having to say goodbye. Just a see you around in a different capacity.

With love,

Val

Categories : Everyday, Relationship

Comments (11)

Cooking While They Work

Posted on May 8, 2012 by HotWife

Why does it seem such a chore most days he works to get a meal completed? I cook for four adults in my house. It’s really not a big difference any day of the week. Yet if he’s at work I can almost guarantee that dinner time will be odd.

Right now we’re in the middle of another 24 day challenge so I’m being really good about food. I’ve also noticed the poor eating habits the teens have as I’ve let them slack. This is exactly how and when bad habits are formed. I have to change the habits in a positive way. Not easy with teens that could go cranky at any time for no reason lol

I tend to cook plenty of food when I make a meal. 1) I like leftovers for hubby and I for lunch 2) This way I can send food with him to work. Depending on the shift they may not have time to eat or they may have to snag what they can. 3) The kids and I have the leftovers on the nights he’s working.

Last night I made stir fry and it worked out well. Non-stop running so stir fry is quick and still healthy. I made a ton of it so I’ll be freezing some for later use. That is what I really love to do. Fill the freezer so I don’t have to worry about it. Our chest freezer was leaking so we had to get rid of it and now I’m having to contend with just two normal fridge freezers. Not easy after having so much room before. It’s going to take a lot of relearning.

What’s your fav or go to meal when they are working? Do you cook or is it almost always takeout?

Categories : Everyday, Family

Comments (6)

What a Week

Posted on May 5, 2012 by HotWife

I had deemed this week the week of no. You may have seen that on the forum. You’ll have to log in to be able to read the post btw. Thankfully I did deem it so. I had a lot going on.

My oldest got her license finally on Tuesday. I can tell you that yes, it does make a difference living in district to how I feel about this. We live in district and she looks so much like me there is no mistaking who she is before checking her id. Then we know a lot of people in the town next to us that are fire as well so we have it covered there too. Then cops in both towns and the county cops. We’re golden for coverage. lol

The first day we were sending her out it was raining cats and dogs. It’s the Seattle area, this is how it’s always going to be. Nothing like getting over my fear of her driving alone by throwing her out in a downpour to pick up her brother. I wanted to send money with her and promptly forgot. I remembered well that when I first took my brother out we didn’t go home. Thankfully the youngest had some cash on him because of course he texted they were going to the store. Aww adult bonding, brings a tear to the eye. OK, eyes, stop picking on me.

I had a major proposal to write up that day and it was completely out of my comfort zone. Like freaking out, out of my comfort zone. It didn’t pan out at this time but so many things have come from me taking that step that I’m stuck with a permagrin. I grew a lot on Tuesday. I also opened up a lot to a group that I’ve been a member of for many years. Creeped them out with my honesty but that’s how it goes lol

Now we’re off to the start of a new month. This month hubby only has his “k” day off. Then he also has 2 extra days that he took as shift trades to cover the most amazing summer we’ve ever had planned. Which is a good thing because it’s also the summer before our oldest goes into her senior year.

The winds are a changin’ I’m going along for the ride quite well at the moment. Other moments not so well. But I’m excited for the future. The possibilities, the fun, the personal growth. What are you looking forward to this week?

Categories : Cheers, Everyday, Family

Comments (0)

When Life is Good, Enjoy It

Posted on April 25, 2012 by HotWife

I’m feeling spoiled, loved, happy and fulfilled with life. You know, all the things you hope and dream for. Is everything perfect? No, but it’s perfect for me right now and that’s all I can ask.

It’s all going so smoothly that I have to fight back that voice in the back of my head that it’s going too great. That negative voice in my head that tends to tell me I can’t keep everything this perfect for long. Yes, I fight negative demons, but I’ve gotten good at it and it’s not a daily thing I have to do anymore. I’ve also gotten good and making them go quiet and only pop up here and there.

Why am I feeling all these things? I’ve had an amazing few weeks with my family and the funny thing is it all started with our remodeling projects and me getting really sick from it. I was less my usual pansy self when I get my allergies and asthma that bad and just kept “trying” to battle through. I know I wasn’t much help as I was a walking allergy zombie but it was still good. Hubby and I got a few days alone to work on the house, go to lunch whenever and make dinner whenever. It was like a trial run for empty nesters. Since then the communication has been incredible.

Ever since the kids came back they’ve been getting along amazingly. Joking and harassing each other without it causing a big fight. Doing stuff around the house without complaint. Joking and talking with hubby and I and even wanting to hang out with us more. Hey, they are teens, I’ll take that as long as I can before the bubble breaks.

As you can see above, the weather has been beautiful. This is always a help for me. I definitely have the seasonal mood issue and living in the UNsunshine side of the state is a mood killer. The longer the sun is out the better I’m feeling. And the more I can look and see how I can keep feeling this way. Taking advantage of each moment is the key.

Hence the picture above. Hubby bought me a new laptop to work with. I have a 5 hour battery now! I’M SO BEYOND GEEKED! The sun was out, the kids had mowed and I set a goal to finish things up and go outside to blog. I succeeded at that goal. Not with this post like I wanted but that’s ok. I even ate my dinner out there. It wasn’t lonely today with the sunshine to keep me company and I didn’t feel guilty for eating outside the first time of the season without him.

I know some of you just went WHAT?! But yep, it’s a girl thing and it’s worse after the kids. Taking a step any direction brings some niggling of guilt. It’s stupid, but there it is. It’s not like feelings have anything to do with rational behavior or control. But I’m getting good at fighting them down and I just think it takes practice. AND putting myself first again. Which I haven’t been doing the last 5 years. When I put myself first my entire family always gets this way and I need to remember that. The adage, happy Momma, happy family is very true. Because you really set the tone for the emotion in the house.

This post has been all over the place I know. That’s how I am so you can tell this just spilled right out. I’m trying to figure out a good schedule for getting everything done. But most of all, I’m getting my priorities really straight and trying to add other important things in. Without letting that little nag in my head ruin everything. The one that tries to tell me that everything is going too well.

Do you battle with the feeling that everything is going too well sometimes?

Categories : Everyday, Family

Comments (5)

Winner of American Hero Giveaway

Posted on April 23, 2012 by HotWife

{{{{{ DRUM ROLL }}}}}

Elizabeth G. I find it very fitting that your winning entry was one of your tweets since you were tweeting it every day! I’ll be emailing you as soon as I click publish on this post.

Thank you to all of you that participated! I will definitely start putting these together more often.

And a huge thank you to American Hero Clothing & Accessories for my awesome bag to review and for sponsoring the contest! Everyone go show your love and order your blinged out tank top for the season.

Don’t forget that Michelle is always open to suggestions for items you want and sayings you want imprinted or bejeweled.

Categories : Everyday

Comments (4)

Tv Show Finale’s

Posted on March 15, 2012 by HotWife

I’m a tv addict. I own it. This time of year becomes rough as my shows are all ending and I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the summer without them! How will I know my DVR is working? Good thing we do a lot of camping to take my mind off of it.

Thankfully some summer shows will be starting. My favorite show of all time is Big Brother and season 14 will start in July. Something to look forward to but still months off. Casting calls are going on right now and the applications just closed on the 11th but hurry up! My house knows that life stands still three days a week because I have to watch as many of these episodes live or right after taping. CBS is brilliant in putting it on more than one day a week. Pushed it right into cult following.

There usually are new shows that premier for the summer. These one’s are always hard to get attached to. I’ll love them and then since it’s summer they won’t get the ratings necessary to keep going. Drives me crazy.

This weekend is the finale of The Walking Dead series. I’m a zombie freak from way back. Just like I loved vampires decades before twilight came out. Now I’ve been really tempted to go to an all new form of geekdom and read one of The Walking Dead graphic novels. You could say I’ve already crossed that threshold by knowing it’s a graphic novel and NOT called a comic book, but that’s your opinion. I’ve already been told that the series isn’t following the novels, but it would still give me more time with the characters while I wait for the next season.

I’m sad to see this series come to a close but I’m thankful that we got so many more episodes to watch in season 2. It’ll be rough to wait until next October for season 3 if they have a great finale like they did in season 1. I was already hooked watching it but that put me right into superfan status and talking with friends about it online and in person.

This season has been even more fun because I unexpectedly got hubby hooked on it. My son is already forced hooked as a zombie lover, but hubby was a big surprise. My son missed the first couple of episodes of season 2 so he’s waiting until the season is released and we’ll have a marathon. I can already envision some yucky summer day and all of us comatose from watching too much tv all day and into the wee hours of morning. OH THE FUN TIMES COMING UP! At least I have plenty of zombie movies I can introduce him to in the mean time.

Other shows I’ll be missing are Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Cougar Town, Modern Family, and Whitney. Whitney was a surprise this season. I love her and this show has done a good job of just making me laugh for 30 minutes. Hopefully it got picked up for a second season.

I go back and forth with Grey’s and Practice. I know we’ve talked about them on the forums. I personally feel that Grey’s is getting tired. They either need new writers, need to go back to original writers or end it before they completely ruin it like ER did. I understand they are still getting good ratings but they have been killing the show lines lately. The issues I have with Private Practice are more with certain characters than the show itself lol I want Violet to go away and Cooper to stop being such a pansy. But if I feel that strongly about the characters then they’ve done a pretty good job with them haven’t they?

What shows are you going to be missing for the summer? Have you heard of some summer shows that look really good to pick up?

Categories : Everyday

Comments (0)

Blog of the Year Contest

Posted on March 10, 2012 by HotWife

I’m way behind in posting because of my minor procedure I had done. The deadline for nominations is today so if you have a blog in mind (hint-hint) then you need to go fill out the short nomination form right away.

The contest is hosted by EMS1, FireRescue1 and FireCritic.com, and sponsored by the American Military University. Their goal is to find the best bloggers in the EMS and Fire industry.

This year they will have both judges choice and readers choice for Fire and EMS so there will be 4 winners.

There are a lot of great blogs out there so go make sure that your favorite gets nominated. Voting starts on the 14th!

Categories : Everyday

Comments (0)

Blogging With The Department Watching

Posted on February 27, 2012 by HotWife

I’m not going to lie, hearing feedback from locals about your blog for the first time is very unnerving. Especially since I’d been online with my blogs and sites for years before it ever finally happened. We can thank facebook for that lol

I was asked how I deal with the anonymity issue and any of it getting back to him at work. And I guess that’s easy for me to answer, I don’t. I don’t deal with it that is. He does, and I always have to remember that.

As those locally will attest, I’m an open book. If you want to know something just ask. I keep it easy here. I don’t talk about anything that I wouldn’t talk about with someone in person, face-to-face. That could be up for interpretation if you read earlier posts, but it’s true for the posts from the last couple of years.

I don’t post about actual calls with details. I don’t post about exact situations or issues that come up. If I do talk in a general form about an issue, I set the post ahead months or even a year ahead so we’re not directly in the situation and it’s easily tracked back to people. I never post about things hubby has told me and risk his job with even a hint of a HIPPA violation.

I post about how the firelife affects ME. I post about MY feelings that take place.

If you have the personality that you do worry, even slightly, about what others think of you, it is probably not a good idea to start a blog. If you blog about personal issues, then you are just leaving the windows, doors and roof wide open for others to comment. I think that goes for both people in the relationship, not just the one blogging. It’s my husband that has to hear about it and he has to be ok with it. If he’s not ok with it then it would become a problem in our relationship and there are enough issues to contend with than to add something superficial like that.

That said, facebook was actually an issue that DID come up and annoyed the hell out of us both. To the point I almost deleted my account a few times. I have been on twitter for years and it’s a totally different animal. On twitter you can post often. I didn’t know facebook wasn’t the same. OR WAIT, that wasn’t the case, it was the fact that people who are new to being online wanted to push how THEY felt facebook should be. Hubby was constantly harassed at work for how much I post. SERIOUSLY?! Hit unfriend then if it annoys you moron!

I’ve gone through quite a few periods of no posting because of it. Now if I find out there’s a complaint, I unfriend them myself, that easy. Because my REAL friends get worried and annoyed if I’m not posting on there. lol Facebook can definitely be another blog post. Probably a few blog posts.

I think my biggest recommendation about starting a blog that will post anything personal is to go in with full disclosure with your husband. Mine doesn’t care because I’m careful about boundaries. It probably doesn’t hurt that I’ve also been online blogging and building websites for over a decade. It’s not something new that I’m picking up.

I know there are quite a few regular bloggers here, how did it come up with your husbands? Did you talk about it before you started or ever talk about it at all? How do they feel about it and even more odd to me, do they read your blog? While writing this it dawned on me that I’ve never asked him how he feels about my blog. Hopefully I’ll remember to bring it up tomorrow.

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Categories : Everyday, Relationship

Comments (12)

Adding Forums?

Posted on February 18, 2012 by HotWife

I’m in the middle of some remodeling as you can tell. The plan is to lighten it up here some and make it easier to navigate . I really want to work on getting resources front and center.

As such, I’m revisiting something that I get asked about a lot, forums. They are a lot of work but I know they are also beneficial. It gives everyone another way to interact and commiserate.

However, my biggest issue with forums is that they MUST stay a positive influence. Which is where the forum community itself has to really step up and take responsibility. Now I know that life is not all roses and chocolates, but I wouldn’t be able to handle a place that everyone only came to complain. As a moderator for other boards we always implemented a rule that for any negative(ish) post, you had to post a positive post to balance it out. It’s amazing how much that can help everyone. Especially once you get your vent out of the way and are already on your way to feeling better.

So I’m putting it to the community here as a poll and it’s going to take a LOT of replies for me to even think of putting the time into it. I have to know they would be visited and posted to. Let me know how you feel about a firefighter wife forum you could visit 24/7.

If I do get a lot of positive response then I’ll also be looking for a couple of women to help moderate. So if you are interested in helping send me a line contact @ firefighterwife.com just take the spaces out. No pay for moderators at this time, but who knows down the road? We can hope right

Loading ...

Categories : Everyday, Resources

Comments (14)

Archive for Everyday