MilGirl Live and Learn: Ines

 Thanks for joining us today! 

We are talking to Ines from The Few, the Proud, the Wife!

Tell us a little about you: Ugh! This is the worst thing I hate talking about because I usually don't know where to start and then I just end up talking nonsense. Here it goes: I'm originally from Spain but due to my father's job I have lived abroad my entire life (10 countries in 4 continents and still counting). I went to school in NY, Manhattanville College (a small liberal arts school in Westchester County) and I went on to Major in Communications with a Minor in African Studies and Latin American Studies. After graduation I moved to France and then to Austria, where my parents where living at the time. I did a bunch of internships and got a job and then headed to get my MA in Human Rights at the University of Essex in the UK. My biggest passion in life is Africa, the continent as a whole. I was born in Kenya and lived in Namibia right after it got independence from South Africa and its history basically stuck to me (man, I should've majored in history). The reason I mentioned Africa being my biggest passion is because if you read my blog there will be a random blog on the subject. I was going to major in African Studies but I knew that if I majored in that I would have to teach and to be honest I don't want to so I did Communications and as my thesis a created a magazine of Africa. My thesis for my MA was different, it was based on Argentina's Dirty War (my mother is Argentinean and this subject is so close to home).

Now I'm happily married to love of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Like every couple we have dealt with a lot but knowing that we have made it means we can make it through anything.
I guess that's what I can sum up about me in a nutshell, education and all.

The branch of service: USMC

 (Wow. Just wow...)

How long have you been together/married? Almost 4 years together, 6 months married.

How did you meet your man? Was it before he decided to sign his life away?:  I met my husband while he was on the MSG (Marine Security Guard) program in Austria. We met through a mutual friend and from then on the rest is history.

Is he career military?: Yes!

How did you initially feel about him being in the military?: To be honest it didn't bother me at all. I had known a few other Marines who where stationed in Austria as MSGs and I got whole different look at the Marines and military. When I met my husband I feel in love for who he was.

What attracted you to him? Was it the uniform?: I won't deny it that he looks amazing in his dress blues, I'm kind of smiling just thinking of it. My husband has a great personality. He gets along with everyone and everyone gets along with him. I envy how a great talker he is and how straightforward he is about things.

How does/did your family feel about him being in the military?: I think, even though they have never told me, my family feels the same way every family feels when their son/daughter marries a military person, the fear of them getting hurt or worse.

Does the sexy uniform (or the sense of pride you feel) make up for the sacrifices you have to make?: The sexy uniforms do help of course, but the most important thing is the sense of pride. He loves the Marine Corps, this is what he does and he's good at it.


Have your plans been messed up thanks to the military?: Oh yes! The MSG program has many ups  and plenty of downs. Curfews, 7 days a week work week, random off days, etc. The program, from my point of views, is a great program. They get to live in 3 different countries for 3 years and the majority go out and visit the neighboring countries. One thing with this program is dealing with long distance relationship,  My husband and I had to deal with long distance relationship from country to country, continent to continent and we made it!

The one thing that got to me was when we were planning our wedding. At the time I was living in the UK and my husband was living in Germany and his sister voluntarily asked if she could help with the wedding and be our wedding planner. We of course jumped to the opportunity knowing that it would be ridiculously hard and expensive to go back and forth from Europe to the US. In the midst of planning my husband tells me that they have changed the dates of when he's leaving the MSG and its sooner than expected. Our wedding was planned for January 9th, 2010, we ended up getting married December 12th, 2009, and he was suppose to get out of MSG December 15th, 2009. Well, apparently he was notified that he had to report to 29 Palms September, 2010. SHIT! So I was stressed and pissed, he was pissed and annoyed and his sister was confused. Hubby worked some magic and got them to move the date later in December where he would start school in January. Perfect!...not so much. We lost our spot of the reception place and had to go for something less...."nicer"?

Does it motivate you as a couple to get married sooner if he is slated to get orders to leave you (go off to training/school, move to a new duty station –PCS, deploy)? Did you elope?
I wish I had eloped but it was more for the reason that I didn't want a wedding. I'm so not a tradition girl :) But my husband wanted one and that was fine with me. Because he was in MSG he could not get married while on the program (they actually sign a contract saying they will not get married) hence as to why we couldn't get married at any time we pleased. ALSO, since I'm not American I was waiting for my fiance visa which I needed in order to marry my husband in the US. So yeah, I was pretty much stressed!

What is one piece of advice you wish you had received PRIOR to getting married or while dating?: Be sure and be strong. Be very sure this is what you want in life. It not easy to being married to someone in the military so be sure. Be strong because you are going to endure a lot and you need to be able to handle it.

Thanks Ines! What a wonderful perspective!

Thank you for sharing your experience of going through the MSG program with us!

It's so inspiring to see couples who make it through such long distances (different continents!)