Me and my labels.

So today I thought I'd share a few things with you about me. There are two 'labels' that sum me up quite quickly. Mummy. Soldier. My life revolves around these two words and just about everything I do is connected to one or the other. So here we go.....grab yourself a cuppa. Not for any particular reason but just because I have a lovely big mug of tea next to me.

1. I joined the Army straight from school after my parents refused to pay for me to go to drama school. I'm not quite sure where the idea to join the Army came from and I wasn't one of these kids that always dreamed of being a soldier. On my first day in uniform when asked why I had signed up I was honest and stated 'Well, Sgt, I wanted to be on the stage in the West End but my Mum said it wasn't really a career so here I am'. I spent the next ten minutes being roared at and doing press ups. Despite this slightly shaky start I love what I do. I grew in to the role and I love that I was financially independent at such a young age. At 17 I was running my own car and had my first mobile phone. It was a great brick of a thing and I still have over developed muscles in one arm from lugging the stupid thing about.

2. At 18 I got pregnant with my daughter. It became very apparent, very quickly that, if I was going to have this baby, I would be going it alone. So I did, despite many many many people telling me there was no way I would cope. I'm stubborn like that. And thank God. Baby Boo is the best thing that ever happened to me. She keeps me grounded and I love her so much it actually hurts sometimes. It has been bloody hard work juggling both Boo and the Army and we've had some rough times but we've got through them and my little girl is always smiling. I'm one proud Mama.

3. I'm currently serving out in Germany and we've been stationed out there for nearly three years now (which means a posting back to the UK is imminent. Hurrah!). We've also lived all over England and also Northern Ireland. Germany is one lovely country and Baby Boo and I have taken the time to explore and seen some beautiful sights. I am totally in love with Bavaria and would happily settle for life in a little log cabin at the foot of the Bavarian Mountains. I'd buy a cow with a big bell and spend my summers hill walking and my winters skiing.

4. I was last deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan which was one of the most mentally and physically draining things any soldier will do. Sometimes I was so tired I could barely remember my own name. Saying that, I still found time to play in the sand...... thanks for my present Mum!

5. Boo goes to a private boarding school and has been there for a year now. By the time she was ten she had been to more than 6 schools and the amount of moving around we were doing was so unsettling for her. She was also at the age where she was making proper friends and leaving them every couple of years was starting to take it's toll. I miss her desperately and frequently have to fight to stop myself from bringing her home but reading her school report (my kid is awesome) and talking to her teachers (yep....plain awesome) reminds why we did this. I am also scared she's going to leave there at the age of 18 with a posh accent but I can beat that out of her if need be ;)

So there you go. A bit about me. Mummy. Soldier. Fiercely proud of both. I love my labels.