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Author: Angie Andrews

Experience Household 6 

November Is…

Angie Andrews 0 Comments ,

Happy November! I wrote those two words before I had a fully-formed idea for writing this particular piece, as this sentiment is becoming my trademark for November writing. I thought a little bit about why November is happy and what I might share. The choices are as bountiful as a Thanksgiving feast—many of us don’t have to rack our brains too much to find a reason for November to be happy. We’re generally feeling pretty festive and thankful at this time of year and that often ties into happiness.

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Experience Military Life OCONUS 

Thanks to Video Chatting

Angie Andrews 2 Comments , , ,

While re-reading my previous post, I keep coming back to the, “You should have seen my face!” exclamation and subsequent wordy explanation of how I did see my own face—thanks to video chatting.

Lately, I have been thinking how thankful I am for video chats. Guessing I am not the only one with an increased participation in video calls, I got a little curious about the history of them.

A recent Time magazine article shared some insight into the history of video calling and how this technology took much longer than anticipated to actually take off.

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Career & Education Experience Military Life 

Dear Mrs. Employment Gap: I’m Rejoining the Workforce

Angie Andrews 1 Comment ,

Dear Mrs. Employment Gap:

Please accept this memo as notice of my resignation. I am no longer able to fulfill my duties as an uprooted professional.

During my time of service, I have gained much needed rest, downtime, and awareness. I’ve had the opportunity to further my skills of both patience and indifference. Thank you for your overall reprieve, which has led me to my greatest level of unaccountability in recent months.

While I appreciate this learning experience, I am happy to inform you that I must be moving on. At present, I have the wonderful opportunity of rejoining the workforce and am eager to accept my new daily habits, purpose, and routine.

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Experience Household 6 Military Life OCONUS 

Milspouse Rebel: Mail Room Edition

Angie Andrews 1 Comment , , ,

Daring the skies to open up on me today was the most fun I have had checking the mail, possibly ever. I knew it was going to rain. Didn’t have to be a genius to figure that one out based on the sky and the fact that it’s the rainy season—ahem, rainy half of the year—here in Okinawa.

I stood in my closet and picked out appropriate clothing.

To check the mail?

Yes.

Is this girl really writing about checking the mail? Like there is something to say about that?

Yes. Yes, I am.

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Experience Household 6 Military Life 

These Words Belong Here

Angie Andrews 1 Comment ,

You don’t want to hear this from me. Clearly, it isn’t mine to say. I am a white girl trying to write something about racism against black people. I’m writing it because…

I stood in the cemetery with my friend and her mom, visiting a gravesite of someone unknown to me. My friend’s mom is a funny lady. You should hear her joke about ladies selling more than a sandwich.

But, I wasn’t laughing as I stood in the cemetery with my friend and her mom visiting a gravesite of someone unknown to me. I was in shock after my friend’s mom made a comment about “my people.”

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Experience Household 6 

Make-Them-Because-of-Mom Food Ideas

Angie Andrews 3 Comments ,

Growing up, my family was one that had dinner together at the table with the TV turned off, usually at the same time each night without fail. On Sundays, we had a big lunch at the table instead of dinners. I’m sure we went out to dinner, ordered pizza, or picked up sandwiches from time to time, but we were still almost always there together at the table, eating together.

I think we all know that Mom is the one to thank for this routine. I have no idea if we showed her gratitude at every meal, and this is reality, so I’m going to guess we didn’t. I do know that I treasure this family mealtime around our table in memory and retrospect.

We always took Mom out for a nice sit-down restaurant meal on Mother’s Day.

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Experience Financial Planning Household 6 

Positive Pocket Change

Angie Andrews 5 Comments ,

Over the past month, my husband and I have used more than 15% less spending money than our usual amount. Also, over the past month, one of our personal investment accounts has dropped more than 30%.

I’m guessing I don’t even have to tell you why either happened.

It’s been in the back of my mind for a while now to share some of our favorite little personal finance habits, and now with an added layer of what is going on around us, I felt there was a bit extra to say.

Starting with what I originally wanted to share: I would really like to emphasize that these are our own personal habits. Neither one of us has any sort of financial expertise, but over the past five years or so, we’ve found our shared personal finance groove. A big part of this was reading about personal finance, seeing what stuck out to us, and actually trying some ideas out.

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Career & Education Experience Military Life 

The Hardest Interview Question is My Favorite One

Angie Andrews 2 Comments ,

Do you want to know a secret? I certainly want to tell it. Shout it even.

I just interviewed for my dream job!

For this moment in time, compared to all the other jobs I have held and interviewed for, that statement is true. My dream job, you guys—an interview for the history books. My personal history books, of course.

Now that the interview is over, the jig is up and I am ready to spill out so much about my dream job interview.

The first time I applied for this job, I was not selected for an interview and it was pretty crushing. Was my resume not right? Do I have the wrong degree? Maybe I submitted my application at a weird hour of the day and they didn’t like the timestamp. I guessed so many reasons why I didn’t get an interview.

Fast forward six months—six whole months!—and the same job was posted again.

I applied. Again.

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