We're starting a new chapter in my husband's career as of yesterday, and last night was my first spouse social.

Let me preface this post by telling you right off the bat that I'm awkward socially. I just am. I'm terribly shy in groups and it's something I've dealt with my entire life, so this whole moving so often/making new friends/being thrust into new groups thing often scares the tar out of me. I deal with it as best I can, but it's proven to be a challenging aspect of being a military spouse.

I came home last night just grinning from ear to ear after our social, which was the total opposite from others I've attended. When we were first married, I tried to get involved in his unit at the time but never really found my place. A lot of the other wives had come over from another battalion together and already knew each other, so it was difficult for me to ever feel like I fit in. Eventually I just gave up and made my own (fabulously awesome) friends during his deployment. I was looking forward to moving on to a new unit when he dropped the "I've been selected for school a year earlier than expected" bomb on me during that deployment. Once he returned, we PCS'd for the first time and wound up hanging out on an Army base for six months. For whatever reason, I was pretty depressed during our time there. I really didn't care for the area and I think moving during the winter made it tough for me to adjust. I made a couple of friends who also wound up at our current duty station with us and it's been great, but I didn't really get to experience a large unit environment or form that bond with other spouses in the same situation.

I was looking forward to getting to our new (old) duty station and getting to be part of a new unit when they dropped another bomb on us - he wasn't going to do what he'd just gone to school for, he was going to be gone for a year for a deployment with a small group, which essentially meant little to no spousal support. We were attached to a large unit and got their newsletters, but weren't really part of the group at all. There was also the FRO ... well, rather than say something I shouldn't, let's just say I'm very relieved not to be part of that unit any longer. The other thing to contend with was the fact that there were only six married guys in the group and four of the wives weren't in the area during the deployment. The other who stayed here was the CO's wife, who chose not to participate and warned us of that at the beginning (totally fine). Consequently, I didn't get that unit participation I'd been hoping for. We kept in touch via email but that was about the extent of it for the year. The wives were all very nice, it just made forming relationships difficult for me. I leaned on my friends who were already here instead, since we'd come right back to our previous duty station from the Army school.

So, long and boring background aside, I am very optimistic after last night's social! Everyone was very nice, very friendly, and I think I might even have a little Marine Corps Wife crush on our CO's wife; she was just lovely. She seemed genuinely nice and seemed to really care about the unit and the families, which was refreshing for me. I am very much looking forward to our time in this unit. I volunteered to host one of the monthly socials and will definitely be getting involved this time. I've waited nearly two years to do so and I'm glad I finally have the opportunity! It's going to be a long work-up time with lots of time away from home for the guys prior to the deployment, so I'm very happy to finally feel part of such a group. I think I was grieving the camaraderie everyone talked about during our last few assignments and I already see that starting here.

I think I'm also going to have to figure out a way to take notes when the CO's wife isn't looking. She's doing everything I want to do if I'm ever in her position, and doing it with grace. If I can find a way to absorb that and put it to use ...