Even My Heroine is Annoyed with Facebook

So with all the broo-haha over the Facebook changes, I started to wonder what Samantha, the heroine in Unleashed, would think about all of this and how she might chat about it with her friend Gunther. So then I thought, why not make a little FB post between the two of them and make a contest out of it?

Why...yes...I think I will...but first, here is a brief FB chat with Samantha and her fabulous NYC bestie, Gunther. As usual, the conversation goes off on a tangent because...well... most conversations with Gunther do.

Contest details are below. Enjoy and feel free to share on FB...if you can find the news feed and figure out how to work it. Buggers.

Samantha Logan Drew

Works at The Dugout/Starving Artist Studied Fine Arts at SUNY Purchase Lives in Westerly, RI Married to Malcolm Drew Speaks English, Latin and Telepathy


Samantha Logan Drew
Gorgeous day here at the beach! Can’t wait for date night this weekend at Paddy’s with Malcolm! It’s their last Saturday open for the season and hopefully this time I can avoid losing my necklace. But seriously? WTF is up with FB changing the format again? It's sooooo annoying.
1 hour ago • • Malcolm Drew and Kerry Smithson like this


Gunther’s Gallery
What in the hell happened to Facebook? I can't find a damn thing. Someone talk to me. I’m freaking out.
Today at 2:37pm Like



Samantha Logan Drew
OMG. Isn't it the most annoying thing ever? Just when I figure this thing out Zucker-what's-his-face has to go and change it.
Yesterday at 10:39pm Like



Gunther’s Gallery
Tell me about it, kitten. So are my clients even going to find my updates? Ugh. Where's the wine?

Yesterday at 2:41pm Like

Samantha Logan Drew
LOL! You are too much. What did you end up doing last night? I usually get updates through the news feed but clearly...that didn't happen.
Yesterday at 2:43pm Like



Gunther’s Gallery
Watched a good old zombie movie. Day of the Dead. The new one. You better watch out, kitten because there are lots of places that zombies could find a way into that giant old house you moved into with your big hunk of man. *fans self* He is quite the hottie.
Yesterday at 10:50pm • 1 person



Samantha Logan Drew
OMG Gunther. Believe me, the last thing I’m worried about is zombies breaking into my house. Sadly, there are plenty of other monsters out there--like the nasty little men at Facebook who keep switching things up. BTW-if you keep watching all these zombie movies you might end up one yourself. A tv zombie! Oh and I agree, Malcolm is a hottie. :)
Yesterday at 2:55pm • Malcolm Drew and Kerry Smithson like this


Gunther’s Gallery
Ugh. I know. When left to my own devices, I practically convince myself that the world is zomibied out and I’m alone and about to become food for freaks.
Yesterday at 2:58pm Like


Samantha Logan Drew
You mean you don’t even want to type about….ZOMBIES?
Yesterday at 2:59pm Like



Gunther’s Gallery
Stop it. That’s not funny.
Yesterday at 2:59pm Like



Samantha Logan Drew
ZOMBIES…..
Yesterday at 3:00pm Like


Gunther’s Gallery
Obviously all that salt air and great sex with Malcolm has gone to your head
and made you totally loopy. I mean it—cut it out or I'll spend the next five hours figuring out how to eliminate your stupid feed.
Yesterday at 3:02pm Like


Samantha Logan Drew
Z-O-M-B-I-E-S
Yesterday at 3:03pm Like

Gunther’s Gallery
Bitch.
Yesterday at 3:04pm Like


Samantha Logan Drew
ROFL! Sorry Gunther. I couldn’t help myself.
Yesterday at 3:11pm Like

Gunther’s Gallery
Sorry, Kitten. Gotta go. Milton got home and well…you know....I need my snuggles ;) See you at Christmas time? Probably not even sooner than that on FB because once I click out of this conversation good freakin' luck finding your posts on here again. Dammit.
Yesterday at 3:56pm Like

Samantha Logan Drew
Sounds good. I'm sure we'll figure it out...but if not we can always go to Twitter. Snuggles sound like a lot more fun than being annoyed with Facebook....I'm going to find Malcolm
Yesterday at 3:57pm Like

Malcolm Drew

You must have read my mind.
Yesterday at 3:58pm Samantha Logan Drew Likes this

***

I hope you got a kick out of this and will share it! Please spread the word about the contest.

Contest Low-Down: Leave a comment here on the blog by 11:59pm on September 30th to be entered to win a signed arc of Unleashed.



I'll announce the winner here on my blog on Saturday October 1st--the official release day of Unleashed (Book #1 Amoveo Legend).


You can find out more info about the Amoveo Legend series on my website http://www.sarahumphreys.com/ and if you haven't given up on Facebook come on by and friend me at http://www.facebook.com/sara.t.humphreys :)

Winners of the 3rd Annual U.S. Military Wives Contest

Happy Labor Day everyone!! I can't believe summer is over already, every year it seems to go by faster and faster. I want to thank all of the men and women who submitted their stories this year and shared their lives with us. If there is one common theme throughout, it's love and devotion. I would also like to thank ASMBA-STAR for their continued support and I would encourage all of you to donate to this outstanding organization.

2nd Runner up and winner of a $25 amazon gift card, a t-shirt and a signed copy of Unleashed is......Semi-Finalist #7 Glena Walker! If you missed it you can read Glena's story here.

1st Runner up and winner of a $50 amazon gift card, a t-shirt and a signed copy of Unleashed is.......Semi-Finalist #2 Kimberly Meyer! You can read Kimberly's story here.

Grand Prize Winner of a $100 amazon gift card, a t-shirt and 4 signed copies of Unleashed to share with friends at a book signing in her home town is......

Semi-Finalist #9 Martha Chavarin! You can read Martha's story here.

Thank you again to everyone who participated and I look forward to next years' contest already!

Enjoy the weekend!

All the Best,
Sara
http://www.sarahumphreys.com/

Semi-Finalist #10: Jenny Baros

**I would like to nominate my Daughter in Law (Jennifer Baros) who is a military wife of my son (Ivan Lee Baros Jr.) who followed his great grandfather, grandfather and father into the military and joined the Army! They are a 4th generation military family.**
"Jenny"
(My sons nick name for her)
My daughter in law (Jennifer), who's family has no military background was shocked to know how lonely it can be when her husband, my son, who was deployed to Iraq into combat last year and was left here in New Mexico to fend for herself after her parents moved to Arizona.

My son met her through his sister (Savannah) who went to school with her and they fell in love once they met and dated for a few months. she fell in love with the soldier who promised to care for her and provide her with all that she needed and dreamed of and my sons only request was to love him and provide him with children once they were married despite them being 5 years apart in age.

Once they were married they settled into an apartment at first then eventually moved into a rental home and eventually having a baby girl their first year of marriage. They were living the dream having a steady paycheck come in, military medical facility and PX within 30 minutes of their home and enjoying life as a young married couple with a brand new baby. Then the dreaded day my son received his orders that all his training in Combat Arms and Infantry tactics would be put to use in Iraq. The news was devastating to all of us since this was going to be his 3rd deployment to the middle East and the first for his wife.

Jennifer, did not understand at the time they received the news the loneliness and despair she would experience while he was overseas putting his life in harms way on a daily basis doing one of the most dangerous jobs imaginable, CONVOY SECURITY!

My son who understood that this was going to be his worst deployment did not want to scare his wife so downplayed his participation in the conflict and started the tedious process of leaving everything in her hands. The bills, the medical documentation and procedures in case of an emergency, the mortgage, the credit card pin numbers, the bank account information and the dreaded WILL he would have to write again and explain to her what it meant IF SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN TO HIM!

Jennifer was raised in a close family but not like like a military family. Military families are not afraid to ask for help, to seek out other military families for support and are very close nit speaking from experience myself. Her family as I said was close but did not ever have life changing experiences like military families do when a soldier is deployed into combat and it took her a good while to understand she was going to be ALONE and the worst part about it she was one of the most shy people we had ever met.

She rarely spoke without being asked questions she had to answer and would rarely make eye contact with anyone. My wife tried to get her to open up on occasion when her and our son would come over but was like pulling teeth with her shyness. Little did she know she was going to have to become a completely different person once our son left to Iraq. She had to pay bills at the same time she had to care for her little baby, she had to call and make doctor appointments for her and the baby, go to pay bills she had never paid before and drive herself to buy groceries with a crying baby in the cart ALL ALONE!

My wife and I tried to tell her to ask us for help or if she needed anything to give us a call BUT, she would not being so shy it was difficult for her to ask for anything or even come over. We would have to go to her house to see if they were OK but sometimes she wouldn't answer the door. Finally when we were persistent and our son would call her in advance to tell her we were going to go visit her from his MOBILIZATION STATION before going into actual combat, to our dismay the house was in disarray and we could see that she was eating out for almost every meal. She was very young and inexperienced and we could see that our son did most everything for her when he was home because he loved doing everything for her.

We had to take action and make it a priority to visit her every other day to let her know we cared and wanted to be a part of her life and to help her set up the computer for her and our sons SKYPE web cam visits she would get almost every other day as he trained at the MOB station in Georgia before his actual deployment! Once he would be in country he would try to get the web cam set up for a weekly call home which became few and far between once he did get his many missions...........it was long, long nights for us and his wife waiting to hear his voice or see him on the web camera and we know now she often cried herself to sleep in front of the computer waiting for her soldiers call!

One day while our son was deployed, the baby got sick throwing up and a high fever and she texted me that she had to take the baby to the hospital and if I would meet her there! I was shocked she even text me but could see the desperation in her misspelled text and once we arrived I could see the despair in her face as the tears rolled down her cheeks as we walked to the pediatric clinic on the base and got the baby seen by a doctor. Once the doctor saw her she was told the baby had gotten a virus and was dehydrated and needed an IV and she began to cry uncontrollably.........I think it was all catching up after a month of being alone.

My wife who got out of work that day and went with us, sat with her most of the day in the hospital till the baby began to recover from her dehydration and the color began to emerge in her little face. We decided once they were released to take her and the baby home that afternoon and feed them both a home cooked meal were sure she hadn't had since my son deployed. Once we arrived at our home and grandma and grampa began to play with the baby, we noticed our daughter in law had fallen fast asleep on our couch for a 4 hour sleep totally exhausted. We knew we had to intervene and keep her at the house a few days til the baby fully recovered. To our surprise, once our daughter in law woke up from her slumber, our daughter in law began to talk to us and tell us how proud she was of our son and how MUCH SHE MISSED HER SOLDIER!

After a few days she wanted to go home and we went with her and helped her get back to normal till her soldier called or web cam'd her in very sporadic times. Since the time difference was so drastic from Iraq to the United States, sometimes he would call or go online at 2 or 3 am but she was always ready to answer his call to support him and to tell him she loved him and needed her soldier home as soon as possible and so my son could see his daughter grow as she would hold her up to the camera. Our son would cry with his wife on occasion but always promised her she'd be in his arms soon as they hung up the call.

That year we saw our daughter in law grow in personality, in love and in maturity! We are so proud of her for getting her husband home safely through her untiring support, and keeping their home together and even learning how to cook for her and the baby so when her husband came home they could once again be the happy little family they once were with alot more knowledge of what a soldier REALLY DOES!

(Retired)SFC Ivan L. Baros Sr.

**Ivan, Thank you for sharing Jenny's story with us. I think it's fantastic that you nominated your daughter-in-law! Thank you as well for your service to our country.

Semi-Finalist #9: Martha Chavarin

Five minutes 'till midnight and I'm wide awake. It's almost noon in Afghanistan, and as always, I wonder what my husband is up to. I wonder if he's eaten, if he got a good night's sleep, whether he got my weekly care package already, and of course, I mostly wonder when I'll be hearing from him again. This is our third deployment together, and our first as a married couple. This one is definitely the hardest.


My husband is SFC Jose A. Chavarin. Pronounced Chaw-va-reen, not Chevron. I met my husband almost 20 years ago, and we've been best friends ever since. He joined the military right out of high school. While I got ready to go out for my first 18 and over club , he was getting yelled at by his Drill SGT. When I graduated from college, and got ready to go into the "real world", he had already been to war and back. My husband's courage inspires me, his will to serve brings out the best in me. I'm trying my darn hardest to stay positive during this deployment, but sometimes sitting here rocking back and forth in his recliner, wearing his favorite vanilla scent makes it very easy for me to shed a tear. As I wait for my husband's return, I can't help to think of the day when I get to tell our children how their father is a three-time war veteran, a bronze star recipient, and the best friend God could have ever blessed me with.


Past midnight now. Past noon in Afghanistan... What do you know, time does pass by. Except that when you're waiting for the one man who you were destined for since you were 12 years old, it couldn't possibly pass by fast enough. Still, it's at these times when true love prevails, and something tells me that my husband and I-- we got that kind of love.


Sincerely,
Martha Chavarin

** Many thanks to Martha for sharing her beautiful story with us. I have to admit that this one tugged at my heartstrings in a big way. I'll be posting one more semi-finalist today and then tomorrow I will be announcing the three finalists.**

Semi-Finalist #8: Mary Lou Vandergriff

**This story is a bit different because this semi-finalist was nominated by her husband who served in our military. Thank you for your service, Larry.**

Dear Ms. Humphreys,

I wanted to say thank you for what you're doing to help our veterans. Being a disabled vet, I can appreciate what your aid means. Also, I wanted to tell you of someone that is doing something similar. My wife, Mary Lou, wrote a cookbook last year based on Mexican recipes she grew up with. She donated all proceeds to helping feed the homeless in our area.

We live just south of St. Louis. During our first outing, we met several disabled vets livingon the street. Since then, we've joined forces with our church and two others to expand our efforts. Visit Youtube and search for Hopeville St.Louis, and you find one community that we help.

She is so shy that it's hard to find apicture of her relaxed and smiling. I like this one because Mary Lou is relaxed and smiling. Sorry, I can't afford a new camera so I wasn't in the shot. Seriously, I hope you can use the photo on your blog. I read your blog late last week, and what you've done for these young kids and their wives is fantastic.

Which is more rewarding,feeding a vet or seeing his tears when his child gets new clothes and toys?I don't know. Thank you for what you are doing.

Larry E. Vandergriff

Thank you, Larry!!! I think what Mary Lou is doing is simply outstanding and I'm honored you shared her story with us. To all the readers, Mary Lou is working on getting her cookbook out there so we can all buy one and help support our vets! I'll keep you posted and let you know how things progress.

Semi-Finalist #7: Proud Military Wife & Mom, Glena Walker

My husband, Richard Walker, enlisted in the Army in 1975. After three years of active duty he joined the Colorado Army National Guard in 1980. He graduated from OCS in 1985 and retired as a Major in 1999. During his years in the Army he served as a radio operator, airfield operations, combat medic, field medical assistant, and medical service corps officer.
His unit was activated for Desert Shield in 1990 and continued into Desert Storm. Our son, Aaron, was four years old and our daughter, Bethany, was born just after he was activated. He commanded the main medical evacuation hub for the theater. When he returned Aaron was turning five and Bethany was six months old.

For the last 20 years he has suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, PTSD, and a disabling injury. They say that dying in service to your country is the ultimate sacrifice. I do not want to lessen the sacrifice of those who have died nor their families. However, being disabled and living with the after affects of your service is a tremendous sacrifice in itself for the veterans and their families. You are reminded of it every single day.

Now our son is following in his father’s footsteps. He enlisted in the Colorado Army National Guard in 2010 and has graduated as a combat medic. He loves serving in the military and is looking forward to his opportunity to serve his country.
I am very proud of both of them. They exemplify what it means to be a soldier, dedication, integrity, and honor.

Glena Walker
Pueblo, Colorado

**Thank you for sharing your story with us, Glena.**

I'll be posting a semi-finalist every day over the next few days and announcing the winner on Labor Day.

Remember you can donate to ASMBA-STAR and help our veterans and their families!