It’s not every day that I get to reminisce about my college days. It seems so darn long ago doesn’t? I started taking classes at my local community college when I was still in high school. The campus I went to was a satellite location so we didn’t really have sport teams, and when I moved to the four year campus they sucked! It’s so terrible, but I don’t think I actually went to a game ever, but I didn’t attend a school awesomely known for its football or basketball, or really anything else for that matter. I went to a gymnastics meet…I seriously did. Total fail in the school spirit program. It’s one of those things you don’t think of until after the fact.
There are tons of things I wish I would have done while I was in college, but didn’t. Maybe that just means I’ve gotta go back (ahhhh!!!). I did, however, peruse the student shop on many an occasion and I just might have gotten a little bit more into the School Spirit thing if I had had the opportunity to see clothes like this hanging there. I mean, seriously, these clothes are absolutely the cutest and coolest clothes. Meesh and Mia is the company. Here’s a little bit about them.
It all started at a football game. Looking around a tailgate filled with colorful tee shirts and sweatshirts, baseball caps, foam fingers and face paint. A tradition loved, some would say worshiped, by so many. But something was missing. There were women all around…but no women’s clothing?! Once it was noticed it could not be ignored…and the Meesh & Mia movement began.
Meesh & Mia has started a female fanwear revolution by taking today’s latest fashion trends and combining them with your favorite school colors and logos. We provide a unique, fashion forward approach to University apparel whether you’re looking for something to wear to the game, to work…anywhere! Providing looks for the diehard fanatic or the closet enthusiast our styles are available with or without school logos, so you can choose whether you want to show your school pride loud and proud, or a little more subtle with just some game day colors!
Gone are the days of dreading getting out that old tee shirt that everyone else has…now you get to stand out in the crowd! It’s time to make it YOUR game.
Being a military family I jumped at the chance to get my hands on some cute moto wear, representing our branch, while giving a little shout out to the Air Force Academy as well. For you other military ladies out there, you can represent the Army and the Navy as well!
Cute stuff right? I chose the Asymmetrical Ruffle Top, in black. It was really hard to decide which one to choose. The sequin tank, shown above is pretty darn cute as well.
The fit on this is great. Right in line with what I would purchase at a store I normally shop at. That is always nice when you purchase online. Sure they have sizing charts, but sometimes I feel like those don’t really accurately describe a fit of woman, if you get my drift. I have small shoulders and a large chest area….that changes the sizing of a shirt that I wear totally. I loved that this was right on, and fit nicely. The fabric is great and the sequin design looks wonderful in person and like its done well. I have no doubt this shirt will be in my collection for a long time. I really love that it can be dressy or casual. More importantly, I can share my moto wife love without being too crazy. Its simple and class, fun and cute! Totally love it!
Now, as I’m sure you are now wanting to run and grab some product!!! So, here’s some housekeeping if you do! Check out my referral link and order something from it and there’s a surprise for you, $15 off! I can’t wait to order more frankly! Also, if you order from one of the armed forces branches you get free shipping! If you are currently serving or a past veteran, but would like to order from a different school, email Meesh and Mia at CustomerService at meeshandmia dot com and they will be happy to help you. I was truly impressed with the communication, customer service and the all around general respect I received. If you are looking for something different to support your college this would be the first and last place I would recommend to you! Please check out Meesh and Mia and buy awesome stuff!!!
Happy Monday everyone! It’s Military Monday here at Cammo Style Love and I couldn’t have asked for a better topic to discuss. If you are friends with me offline or know me you may have heard one of my many OPSEC rants. I even wrote an article for Spouse Buzz about it (in which some lovely readers told me I didn’t to take it easy with the caffeine). It’s okay, I know I’m a little more OPSEC crazy then your average military wife, but that’s just how we are. The truth of the matter is that I think the average Military wife isn’t OPSEC conscious enough. However, I don’t necessarily believe it is all their fault. They aren’t the military member, they don’t often get any training about it, unless it’s a deployment time. Even then the training is severely lacking in my opinion. I’m not entirely sure you’re average military member gets the training they need, especially with social media being what it is. People assume too much. People assume all things are private and that who would want to see what little ‘ole them might be talking about. If you had a mama from West Virginia you might have heard this saying, “You know what assuming does? It makes an Ass out of U AND MI,” get it?!
If I see one more person posting something like, “My husband will be finally home in ___ hours” or posting numerous pictures of all the decorations they’ve put up BEFORE there husband is home, my eyes might roll out of my head. I’m sure people who will read this post will totally disagree with me, some of you may have even done those things. That’s fine, you can totally disagree with me. You can think I’m crazy. But lets be clear, just because those are my opinions doesn’t mean I think you are some horrible person for doing those things, or that you take the safety of anyone lightly. I promise I’m not thinking that. What I’m thinking is that the military is doing a horrible disservice to everyone by not making sure people are properly educated and making sure their own people aren’t doing some of these very things, therefore setting a bad example.
But, that’s not the worst of the worst. I reserve ACTUAL feelings of hatred towards people that know better but choose out of selfish reasons to turn their back on everything they know to be right. Most of you who watch the news have probably seen the story about the former Navy SEAL who has decided to publish a book about the Bin Laden incident. For the record, Military members, including retired military members can not publish or take part in anything without approval from someone. Do you know how many confidentiality agreements he probably signed? And saying that its okay because he is using a pen name is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. He talks about so much that there really is about three people who it could be, and trust me, everyone involved knows who it is. I think it’s selfish and petty and frankly egotistical. Not to mention disrespectful and about a million other things. I personally won’t be reading it. I will concede in saying that how can you expect people to care about this stuff when our own President and Vice President were willing to just toss around what SEAL team it was that participated in the raid without so much as a blink. And its not like anyone could dispute that because disputing it would mean it exists, which they can’t do. The world of Intelligence, and OPSEC and Top Secret, Classified is a complicated one. And just so we don’t get all political here – I’m a huge fan of The Rhino Den – got to meet a couple of them at the Mil-Blogging conference – here’s a good article you might want to check out if you want to know more about this type of thing.
One of the comments I read was someone that said, “oh I think it will be so great to read about the SEALs and learn what they are really like and what they really do!” Well, let me tell you there are plenty of other things out there that can help you do that.
Why don’t you check out these books for starters, both of which have proud places on our bookshelf. You can win a copy of FEARLESS here on my blog as well.
If you’re not a book person you can always watch
Like I said, these are just my humble opinion, and since I don’t plan on cutting out coffee or soda from my life permanently the caffeine will probably continue to make me crazy.
Have a great week everyone! I promise, crazy rants like this are extremely few and far between, but when someone like this comes up I feel like talking about it doing the right thing by those I admire and especially in honoring my husband.
I recently joined forces with Books For Bloggers because reading is really one of my great pleasures. We are a book household. My ridiculous stuffed bookshelves are proof of that. So, getting opportunity to review books is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. There was a book I’d seen floating around that I really wanted to get my hands on; and it just so happens that one of the first books I had the opportunity to review was FEARLESS, by Eric Blehm.
When Navy SEAL Adam Brown woke up on March 17, 2010, he didn’t know he would die that night in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, but Adam was ready: In a letter to his children, not meant to be seen unless the worst happened, he wrote “I’m not afraid of anything that might happen to me on this Earth, because I know no matter what, nothing can take my spirit from me.”
But long before Adam Brown became a member of the elite SEAL Team SIX—the counterterrorism unit that took down Osama bin Laden—there was a fun-loving country boy from Arkansas whose greatest goal had been to wear his high school’s football jersey. An undersized daredevil, prone to jumping off roofs into trees and off bridges into lakes, Adam Brown was a kid who broke his own bones but would never break a promise to his parents … until he grew older, and his family watched that appetite for risk draw him into a downward spiral that eventually landed him in jail.
FEARLESS is the story of a man of extremes, whose determination was fueled by faith, family, and the love of a woman. It’s about a man who waged a war against his own worst impulses and persevered to reach the top tier of the U.S. military. Always the first to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments, Adam Brown’s final act of bravery led to the ultimate sacrifice.
FEARLESS is the intimate story of a devoted man who was an unlikely hero but a true warrior, described by all who knew him as just that—fearless.
This was perhaps one of the most beautiful stories, relating to the military and our current military situation, that I have read in a long time. I felt truly honored to be even allowed to read this book and have an inside look at the life of a man, and his family, who we are lucky to have had tred this ground for the years we did. Eric Blehm clearly took the time and was 100% dedicated to the story of Adam Brown and to honoring him, his family, and his SEAL family. After reading the book I discovered that many of the men interviewed for it were lost to us in a Marine Helicopter crash. That made reading the story even more haunting. I’m writing this review just as it is hitting the media that another SEAL book will be making appearance on bookshelves in a couple weeks. If you are interested in a SEAL book, and what to learn about being a SEAL, the life of one and his family then I would suggest picking up FEARLESS. You can read the first chapter here. There’s also a wonderful podcast with Eric Blehm here, if that sort of thing interests you.
You can purchase the book on Amazon right now for under $14.00. Scroll down for a chance to win a copy thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not compensated in any other way for a positive review. My opinions are my own, take ’em or leave ’em
There have been few times in my life as a Military Spouse that I have felt truly appreciated. Appreciated by someone other than my husband and in a way more profound than simply just a “thanks for your service” or a discount from a store. Not that those things aren’t truly appreciated and I am grateful for those things. Strangers acknowledging your service, along with your husband’s is amazing and always brings a smile to my face. I’m talking about true appreciation. The kind you can see in the eyes, deep in the soul of the person talking to you. The kind that makes your eyes water and your breath cut away. This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Milblogging conference. I was surrounded by Milbloggers of all types – veterans, active, spouses, supporters. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. There were many highlights of the event, meeting a Tuskegee Airmen, meeting women whose blogs I have spent countless hours reading, and meeting Scott, the Producer/Director of Act of Valor. The poster alone could make me just burst into tears, watching the trailers definitely does.
I was given the opportunity to sit down with Scott, thanks to Taylor at Our Military Home. Thank you, thank you Taylor for giving me the opportunity to talk with him. There have been so many interviews with Scott, and so much talked about when it comes to the movie. I mean, from the moment it hit the news that it was coming out people were just freaking out, myself included! First, I was suspicious of several things – Were they really Active Duty Navy Seals, were they really even REAL soldiers? What kind of potential OPSEC violations are we talking about (those that know me know I’m kinda crazy about that kind of stuff), are we relaying too much easily attainable info to our enemy? And lastly, and probably most importantly – how are we portraying these men and our Country. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a movie out there that Hollywood has just trashed our Country, the Military, the war and just have been an all around downer for morale. Movies like Stop-Loss, Platoon and Full-Metal Jacket. Skeptics of the movie ended up being people who hadn’t seen the movie. The easiest part was not to compromise TTPs. Navy Seals wouldn’t compromise their own work? And sure, its propaganda……”lets just show that if you join the Navy SEALS you’ll pretty much die right,” Scott told with a very flippant tone. But he’s right! Sure the trailer shows some pretty freaking awesome, stunt man, rock star moments, but there are plenty of real, raw and nitty-gritty aspects of the movie that they lay out for every one to see. Its not just rock-star moments. Its real, simple, sad moments, that you add to those rock-star moments, that make this movie what it is.
This is something that Scott talked about in his interview with us and publicly later, during a Q & A at the conference. People had been skeptical that a Pro-America, Pro-Military movie could make money! He made the point to say that it wasn’t necessarily that his movie was Pro Anything, it was simply Telling The Truth! What a novel idea. Just simply laying out the truth about this life would be enough to make it look like it was Pro-something. Wow, that thought just absolutely floored me. What does that mean about all those movies out there that are negative? They may be telling the truth, but they magnify it and take far too many liberties with it that they appear to be the norm. When in reality, many of our lives are simply just normal? Sure it might be abnormal to a civilian, but to us this is a military life. I thought it very poignant when Scott talked about the families – the wives and children of SEALS in the movie – that this was just a normal life for them. And as a spouse this is my first focus, during this interview with Scott. What about these families – these, men, these wives, girlfriends, children?
Scott said, “You know the saying, behind every strong man is an even stronger woman?” That is so true.” They really wanted to show that in this movie. And when he said that I gave it some thought. There aren’t too many movies that show that part of it. The mini-series The Pacific, is the last thing that I’ve really seen that focused any length of time talking about the families, wives and girlfriends. Many times they talk the girls that leave their men (Jarhead) and just the sad and negative. Again, not the norm. Scott wanted to focus on little subtle things to really emphasize the amazing “Normal” things, that somehow seem way more than just normal. Things like the pregnant wife putting together her crib. I know about this all too well. Recently I built a twin bunk bed, a chest of drawers, coffee table and put together a couch. So I know that part, as do many of my fellow spouses.
One of more emotional scenes for him to do was the Tarmac scene, showing the goodbye with the wives and children. It was so real for them. The kids became so invested and it was difficult for them to separate reality from the movie. As traumatic as this may sound I believe this is one of the more amazing aspects of a movie like this. You can’t get any more real, can you? Something interesting that he brought up that I didn’t even think about is the reality of a wife, holding it together for her husband, “but as soon as that door closes she’s a basketcase, and that’s what I wanted to show,” he said. Its true. How many of us, myself included, have done just that. We keep it together for them, for our kids, or whoever so that they don’t worry. He’s got so much to worry about when he’s gone. The last thing he needs to do is be wondering if I can hack it. I’m not the one in the middle of the freaking battlefield with my life down the line. I’m not the one riding down some road in the middle of nowhere in a freaking tank of a vehicle because “driving down the road” is a dangerous sport. This isn’t to say that I have to be some cold as ice b-word, but you get the point. Showing this aspect of military life in a real, raw and truthful way was very important to Scott and I appreciated that. “Sure that might not be the way we say goodbye, but that’s the way they say goodbye and that’s something any military wife can relate to,” he said. And yes, that is so true. We each have our own way, things we do.
And now that I’ve yammered on for way too long, stay tuned for more from Scott and Act of Valor on Cammo Style Love, as well as from the conference.
Well, here I am, a day late with my mil-spouse appreciation day post. This has been an amazing week for me and my mind has been swimming with thoughts and ideas for me and my blog, and my readers. One thing I am very excited about is an upcoming series about the military life. There are so many spouses, experiencing different things, in different situations, from different backgrounds and living different lives. But, and that’s an important BUT…..we can all learn from each other. Even if we aren’t going through a specific situation we can still learn from them. I feel like the military life is like perpetual school. I know that every day I’m learning something new. I’m seeing other ways to cope. My kids help me learn. They help me learn to be a better woman, mother and wife! I’m stronger because I know I can be. I hope to bring some amazing stories to you. Stories from some amazing fellow mil-spouses that are strong and beautiful women, along with bringing you my own story.
So to all the strong women out there, Military spouses, girlfriends an fiancé, thank you so much for your example, for your inspiration and encouragement. Stay tuned for a new story every week.
Now just a little tidbit about me
I’m an Air Force Wife, technically Air Guard, but we are full time…ridiculously hard to explain most of the time…….
We have three beautiful children and have been together for 13 years!
I love to read when I can, watch black and white movies, spend time with the huzzy when I can. Watch my crazy children grow, watch the news, read the news, learn as much as possible about the amazing history of our country! We are now living in the DC metro area and Im in absolute heaven! If you aren’t already a follower I hope you come by when you can.
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