Weight and PRT standards...

So ever since I came into the Navy, I have had issues with weight and being within "their standards" Now I have a real problem with this not because I am lazy but because it is really hard for me to lose the weight and inches I need to lose...and then even when i do lose it its even harder for me to keep it off....I try to have a healthy diet, but being a busy mom and working all the time i am so tired when i get off work that i tend to just grab something quick and easy. But back to these standards. Okay so in the navy for my height, I think i have to weigh like 172LBS. and then if i dont meet the weight i get to be taped. I have to have a body mass index (body fat percentage) of 34% or less...now the instruction for after you have a baby is 6 months after you ahve the baby you are supposed to be abck within NAvy standards....ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Like I didnt even get to start working out till almost 3 months after i had my baby which gives me 3 months to get back within satnadards after having a baby....WTF!!! I know its the navy and thats how it is but still i think that the should give women 6 months from the time they are allowed to excercise again...like some women get C sections and they have to wait even longer to excercise...so what does the navy do with them....anywho...so i leave you with this...what are some rules or regulations for something you are involved in that you would like to change....?


HEATHER

Missing my hero!

At first I thought this blog was supposed to be about only my experiences. So I didnt think that me missing my husband was part of it. But really it is. Dealing with having my husband gone on deployment is part of my experience in the Navy.  So here it goes...

I am mad! I miss my damn husband. I miss him every second of every minute of every hour of every day!!  I sit here and its like I am a damn single parent. I am here and he is there and half the time he cant email or call. So here i sit at home trying to do things to keep busy...even this blog...but really i do everything in my power to stay busy! Dishes, cleaning, laundry, taking care of the baby, working out...you name it i do it...and still it isnt enough to keep my mind off the fact that my husband is gone. My rock, my world, my life...

Ya know this happens all the time and I am supposed to be used to it by now but it seems like everytime i get him back he has to go away again. It sucks! I cant tell you what its like i cant describe...its an undescribable pain...pain that no body except my husband coming home can cure. I know this sounds like a typical military wife blog about "oh i miss my husband and blah blah blah" no this isnt like that...but I REALLY DO MISS HIM!!!  Well I am hoping that this touched some of you and if not then oh well...

I leave you with this...

If you have a husband at home, consider yourself lucky because there are some of us, the best of us, are here on the homefront awaiting our hero's return!!!

I love you Andrew and I miss you!!!

I have been to the edge and back....

Because I am in the Navy, I get the privilege of traveling all over the world. I have been to so many places that i thought i would never get the chance to see.
Where was the first place I went? Well technically, the first overseas place I went was Tokyo, Japan...but I was only at the airport. The navy was sending me to meet my ship and I had to go through Japan to get to Guam....which was the next place I went. And Guam is basically like a poor man's Hawaii. But its really pretty. Then the navy flew me out to my ship in the middle of the ocean. I cried. I didnt wanna go, but I went and then like a few days later we oulled into Hong Kong, China. That was a really great place. I really enjoyed it, I got a lot of shopping done, but it was VERY crowded. Well there was a "typhoon" that was going to hit the phillipines so they recalled us out of Hong Kong, it was wierd. So then we went to the Phillipines to provide relief to them because of the Typhoon. It was so sad, but we helped them and then a short time after we went to Guam (again). I had fun I went swimming in the ocean and got a pedicure and ate out at normal place and then of course I drank. I drank in every port and i honestly think I got drunk in every port. But before I did that i toured the country i was in first. So after Guam, we went to Sasebo, Japan. Oh man...that was fun and the country was gorgeous. When I was there I saw where we dropped the "A" bomb. That was very sad. Im not trying to start controversy. Then we went to Malaysia...and that was my favorite port...everything was sooo cheap and like it was just in general awesome...i had so much fun!!! And then we were on to Dubai...i stayed in the sand box...i didnt wanna go out into war zone...but i had fun in the sand box...it was very very very hot though...OH GEEZ!!! And then for Halloween I was in Singapore. that port was fun but i didnt like that it took an hour to get back to the boat from out in town....and then last but not least HAWAII!!! LOVED IT!!! My dad came out to go on Tiger Crusie with me and we went to the Pearl harbor memorials and we went to a real luau and we got to see the USS Arizona memorial...it was awesome we had a blast! If i hadnt joined the navy i would have never got the chance to go to any of these places...I am so greatful for it...I LOVE IT!!! I leave you with this: Go on a vacation everyone once in awhile!!!


-Heather

Laundry petty Officer(s)

How can I put into words how I feel about this individual and her family? She is the most...NO! Thats not gonna work...They have been....NO! Not that either...Man...I can't express how I feel about this family. And I didnt realize until this individual texted me and told me that I hurt her feelings with one of my other blogs just how hard it was to put our relationship into words. This amazing girl and I have been through what no normal people go through in a friendship, plus not to mention she fits into my theme because her and I are in the Navy together. And this is not to say she is more important than anyone else or anyone else is more important that her, its just that her and I have this special bond that I know will never break. I first met this girl in boot camp. We were laundry PO's. We dealt with everyone's dirty, nasty clothes all day long. We got out of beatings by our RDC's because we had to do laundy, but then we would get our asses beat when something was wrong...and there were others that we worked with but it was mainly this girl. We graduated bootcamp and I thought man I am never going to see her again...but one drunken, no wai let me rephrase that...ONE WASTED...night I found her again...er well she found me...and its really sad...I couldnt remember her name at them time, probably because I was completely drunk to the point of no return, but when she walked onto that Liberty boat I WAS SO ECSTATIC!!! From that moment on, we were inseperable. We were liberty buddies for the whole rest of that deployment. Well, that deployment ended and we got back to San Diego, where something VERY tragic happened. My father had come out for Tiger Cruise and 4 days after we pulled into San Diego he had a massive heart attack and passed away. This awesome girl, without even skipping a beat, let one tear fall and then went into "TAKE CARE OF HEATHER MODE" She instantly was like getting shit done and getting people off my back that knew what had happened, she put me in a hotel room so I wouldnt have to stay on board the ship that night, she took me to the airport, she returned my rental car, she just 100% HELPED ME out!!! AND ON TOP OF ALL THAT...the very same day she found out she was going to be a NEW MOM! I'm sorry I have to stop and give KUDOS to her!!! So...quite a few months later this genuinely caring girl gave birth to her son CASH!! And it was the most amazing thing...well i wasnt actually there for the birth but I was there afterward, and even tho she had just given birth she still looked awesome...and lets face it I have seen this girl at her worst...but she just was amazing...well shortly after she gave birth to her son I found out I was going to be a MOM...and let me tell you what she did, WITH A NEWBORN SON might i add, she took me to the hospital got me registered and got me a dr and gave me all the necessary info I would need for the duration of my pregnancy...she also told me right then and there no matter what that she would be in the delivery room with me guiding me through so that I wasnt so scared. She answered phone calls at 2 am from me..."OMG this is happening what do i do?!" "Heather calm down you are fine thats normal...GO TO SLEEP!" HA! Well the day finally came and this girl was right next to me and my husband saying "GO HEATHER! YOU GOT THIS!!" She even held my left leg while I gave birth to my daughter....thats FRIENDSHIP!!! This girl has been there for me in everyway someone can be...shes supported me when i was having money troubles shes supported me when I made stupid decsions and shes even been there to knock some sense itno my ass when I was being really stupid...I LOVE HER SO SO MUCH!!! Throughout this story I havent told you her name, but I want everyone in the world to know that this girls name is MEREDITH GRETCHEN RAY BITTNER!!! AKA "RAY"....I love her and her family and I love that she has supported me for the past 3 years and I know that she will continue to support me from now until the end of time. In one of other blogs I said i didnt join the navy to make friends but I am definitely leaving the Navy with some of the most awesome and true friends I could ever ask for. This is not to say that my friends from back home are any less important, because they aren't; this is to say that I made friends in the navy that i never thought would treat me the way a "REAL" "TRUE" friend should treat you. I regret not knowing who these gals were when I was back home. It just goes to show that leaving my tiny little hole in the wall podunk town opens numerous windows of opportunity, not limited to meeting SOME of the best people I will ever know... I LOVE YOU RAY! and I know that this doesnt even come to close to what our friendship is really about but at least I tried!!!!

Heather Eritano

The Ins and Outs of having a Miliray baby

HA No pun intended for my title!

So back in November of 2009, I found out that I was pregnant...wait wait wait...WHAT?!?!?! Freak out mode...Andy is there I am here....what the heck amd I gonna do...? Well after the shock went away I realized I will be okay, Ive got a great support system and Hey i mean its not exactly like we were preventing it. So fast forward...first appointment...Dec 17, 2009...Congratualtions you are pregnant...here is a midwife who specializes in gynecology. OKay awesome...except for the fact that everything she knew was what she read from a book. She didnt have kids. Then my next appointment came...January 21, 2010....Different doctor...so now I had to explain everything all over again...ya know the typical questions..."when was the first day of your last menstrural period...are you in any pain...is this your first pregnancy...have you ever been pregnant before (seems like the answer to the last one would answer that question)...?"  But whatev so I answer all her questions and she looks at my chart and says okay we will see you next month...Ummm ok....didnt tell me anything about what i should be doing or what was abnormal or what was normal...Just see ya later...Did I ask...YES!!! Oh dont worry you will be just fine she said....well fast forward about oh i say about 4 months....same dr oh wait no i am sorry midwife who didnt have any kids..." hi how are you feeling today?" "well i am having these pains and i dont know what they are..." "Oh dont worry you are fine..." WHAT?!?!?!? Um no!! She didnt ask me what they were where the were or what it felt like...just oh you will be fine...this same MIDWIFE who had never experienced this before...Hmmm....Can i get a real Dr please? No oh ok....your in the military this is completely normal...Lets just say child birth was nothing compared to the 9 months of hell i went thru because my "doctor" "midwife" what the heck ever she was is an idiot. So then I had to deal with whether my husband who was really the only family I had out her was going to be there when I gave birth to our child...Apparently, in the navy having a baby isnt like a life or death situation even though it is not something thats routine crap could happen and i had no family other that him here....hmmm...but those of you that know me know that I ranted and raved and pitched a fit  and got what i wanted.....so 9 aggravating painful terrorizing months later....it was that special day when I knew it was time for me to have Miss Rylee...so I am in the room getting ready to ya know do everything and they say oh we have interns...can they watch...I am thinking umm...hmmm....NO! But it was only one little girl and she was sweet as can be and I hope i helped her learn...Rylee comes out and is more beautiful than I ever imgained....so i go to my recovery room and I am still pretty drugged up from the nite before and i still kinda have some of my epidural numbness...well that starts to wear off about 330 in the afternoon and all the navy wants to give me is tylenol...not ibuprofen...TYLENOL!!! ARe you kdding me I just pushed a damn watermelon out of my vagina and you think Tylenol is going to cure that pain...and then theres also those postpartum contractions OH HELL NO!!! Well all i got was tylenol until I left the hospital and then they gave me a huge bottle of ibuprofen and some birth control pills....thanks guys...bc i am so gonna do that again real soon!!! NOT!!! Anywho so this was my story of having a baby in the military not too different...but different enough to know that next time I am doing this in the civilian world...LOL!

I didn't join the Navy to make friends...or did I?

So when I was in bootcamp I kept getting told "you didnt join the Navy to make friends." So as I went throught "A" school I had this mentality of "its only me" and wuite frankly that was driving me insane...I was all alone and never did anything. Well you read my other blog about Andrew. SO as i went through the Navy I made other friends. But there are only 2 that I really want to keep in touch with.  At least 2 that are in the Navy with me and have been there for me thru thick and thin. 

I met them onboard the USS Ronald Reagan. I call us the TRIO! Kortni, Kimber and me. WE have been thru so much together, deployment, people screwing all of us over, a pregnancy and even not talking to eachother for like 3 months. But still we are all friends and even room mates. IT has struck me just recently like in the last couple of days that I only have a short time left with these 2 amazing girls. Granted, we have all had differences but these girls are like my sisters and I would be heartbroken if I ever lost touch with them. Since I had a baby, I am not onboard the ship with them anymore and they are leaving very soon to go on deloyment and then they will be back for a couple months and then I am out of the navy and am leaving them. Will we stay in touch? I hope so...because if it werent for these girls, I dont know i would have made it thorough the things I have. Its a support group but not for like alcohol or anything but for eachother. We are friends and we stick together. I will miss these girls so much and I hope we can hang out after we are done.

I leave you with this...Keep those who have been there for you close and dont forget those people because they will be the ones who have your back and are your support group when you need it...

-Heather

MIL to MIL MARRIAGE

Being married in the military. WHEW...thats a job in itself...I have been married a little over a year now to the most wonderful man. We have been together for almost 3 years and up until April of this last year (2010) we didnt live together or see eachother everyday and sometimes we would go months at a time without talking to one another...Why you ask? THE MILITARY.

It all started on April 5, 2008. I was in "A" school after bootcamp in the navy. I happened to have been friends with Andrew ( my husband) and we hung out all the time but this particular day was different. I felt an attraction to him I never knew I had. SO we went to the mall and he took me to a movie and out to eat and we just really had a great time...well then we were texting back and forth in the movie we went to go see....and he said "I really like you..." and from that point on we have been together. A week later he graduated "A" school and was gonna leave and go home for 2 weeks and then go on to his duty station in NORFOLK, VA and i was sure he and i would never see each other again. But he left me with this..."i'll come back this weekend..." I thought...YEAH RIGHT!!! Sure enough Friday came and he rode a greyhound bus from Phoenix,AZ to Pensacola, FL...WOW! So we stayed in touch saw eachother a couple more times and then i got sent to the USS RONALD REAGAN...which was not it VA...it was in CALI!!! OMG what am i going to do i thought...so for the next 2 years me and andrew went thru some struggles. I mean thats to be expected when you are stationed on opposite coasts. We thought that was really hard. Half the time i was on the ohter side of the world from him. And even then it wasnt as hard as we thought. Then...WE GOT MARRIED. And thats when it really got hard. They say if you are married in the navy you get more money....HA! NOT MIL to MIL...(Military married to Military). Money wasn't even the half of it. Changing your name in the military is almost impossible. You have to request just like everything else. Then there was the money and housing allowance issues. Oh man we went round and round with our personnel offices and finally $14,000.00 later...everything was worked out. Being married to another military member definitely has its challenges but you know I wouldnt have it any other way. Sometime its better. Like for instance right now my husband is on deployment and we can talk in military code so that i know where he is in the world. And i can understand when i dont get an email for a couple of days or when he talks "military" to me! The point is life in the navy is completely different from being in the civilian world. Including getting married. Hell we really didnt even have the wedding we wanted. I remember when we were just dating how everytime we wanted to see eachother we had to take leave. I know for the first 2 years of our relationship I can count on one hand how many times we saw eachother. It has beena  rough ride but ive enjoyed every single day of it because i love Andrew and he is the best thing that has happened to me.

I leave you with this, Love knows no boundaries and distance makes the heart grow fonder. I AM LIVING PROOF and so is my husband.

Do Something Special with your life

I graduated High school in 2007, and after doing some odd and end jobs, being a dispatcher and a waitress and even a bartender, I got the "SPEECH" from Dad. Ya know the speech that goes something like this "you arent in college i really want to see you do something better with your life, you are so smart, i would hate for you to ruin your future..."

Well a little over 3 years later here I am in the US Navy. And no it wasnt that easy. In the past 3 years, I have had a baby, gotten married, got engaged and separated, struggled through the hell of being half way across the world for months at a time, and above everything else I lost my father unexpetedly.

However, with all the hell I have been through, I dont think i could have made it without being in the US Navy. It has definitely made me the person I am today. I used to care about things like what I am gonna do on Friday night and how to weasel my way out of going to work so that i can party with my friends. After going through boot camp and being on a deployment right after that I realized there are too many other things in life I need to worry about. I realized there are far better things in life than partying it up with a bunch of useless people who werent really your friends to begin with. They tell you when you are in bootcamp, you are doing something with your life...those people you used to party with back at home I guarantee you in a year from now you will go home and they will be doing the exact same thing they were doing before you left....NOTHING...and its true...I came back to my little hometown and the people I hung out with were doing the same things...only life and relaity had smacked them in the face and they were kicking themselves in the ass for not going to college or not taking an opportunity to do something special with their life. I did. I joined the US Navy and though it may have its rules and regualtions that I dont like, it has still made me who I am today. Thats why I am proud to say I am a United States Sailor...

I leave you with this...

Have you done something special with your life?