My Life In Short

     Hi! My name is Angela McGuire. Welcome to my blog about my not-so-glamorous-life of being an Army wife and a Mother to a teenage boy. I was born in Oklahoma. I was raised the majority of the time by a single Mom. I had two Stepdads, plus my own Father and Stepmother, that contributed to my upbringing. Several sets of Grandparents were involved in my life as well.  It was a blessing to have so many people from which to learn and love. I grew up with a sister and a brother in the home and three more sisters residing with my Dad and Stepmom. During my childhood, I spent weekends and summers divided between my Dad's home and my grandparents homes. I spent the majority of that time exploring the rural Oklahoma countryside. I went crawdad fishing in the creeks, rode our horses everywhere, shucked corn, skinned rabbits and everything in between. I even watched a tornado or two. Those were the good ol' days!
      I married shortly after graduating high school. With an Army base nearby, yep...you guessed it, I married into the military. My first husband and I were sent, as our first duty station, to Germany in 1992. This country girl had only been to East Texas/Dallas, St. Louis and Chicago. I was anxious to see the world and delighted in going to Europe. However, I missed my family tremendously. My Mom and a cousin were able to make the trip overseas to visit. Those are memories that I will never forget. Three years later, our second duty station was Ft. Stewart, Georgia. The area was beautiful, but the situation was not. I left Georgia in 1996 to return to Oklahoma. I divorced in 1998. In 1999, I met and married my husband, Tai, after a very short courtship. Unable to conceive in the past, I informed him that we may need to aggressively seek infertility treatment or adopt. He reassured me that when the time came, we would do whatever we needed to do. We planned to enjoy our "honeymoon" for a year or two before starting the process. Three months into our marriage, I was informed that I was pregnant. In May 2000, we were proud parents of a bouncing baby boy named Joshua.
     We remained stationed in Oklahoma, near my huge extended family. What a blessing to be able to raise our son around family. That is almost unheard of in the military. In early 2005, my husband received orders to go to Germany. Due to circumstances beyond our control, our son and I did not join him overseas until late 2006. We absolutely loved living there and remained there until 2010. We would have stayed longer, but life had different plans for us. My son and I returned home early to care for my Mother. She had been diagnosed with a rare disease, Wegener's Granulomatosis. She passed away three months later. My husband was able to get stationed back in Oklahoma near the family I love so much. We lived there until 2013. That's when the good ole Army called again. This time, it took us to beautiful Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  We love it here because it reminds us so much of our beloved Germany. We are excited to see what the Show Me State has to offer!
     My life isn't fabulous. It isn't glamorous. And most times, it isn't even interesting. But it is mine. And I LOVE IT! Please join me as I talk about...recipes, crafts, travels, parenting, rants and raves...from the everyday life of an average military wife. Wishing you a blessed day! As always, thank you for joining me as I blog along.