Your Digital Deployment Footprint: Preserving and Backing up Emails
In a digital world, keeping track of wartime memories and deployment correspondence is getting more and more difficult. I love saving personal information: be it a letter, note or photo, I’m very nostalgic and find comfort knowing it’s there, even though I may not look at it often. My wartime experience begins after 9/11 with […]
Marine Corps Celebrates Month of the Military Child
Service members put their lives on the line and face adversity whether forward deployed, supporting or preparing for war. In most veterans’ minds, the real heroes are their children who didn’t choose this life, but follow along and serve quietly on the homefront. April is the Month of the Military Child. It’s a small gesture to […]
The Constants of Love in Our Military World
Our military world is difficult to navigate for many. I’ve lived more years alone than I’d like and endured through stress, chaos, and loss. Through it all, I relied on the constant love and joy that my dog provided. My black cocker spaniel, Zazu, was the source of so much happiness in all of our […]
My Weekend in Las Vegas and Review of The Palms
As soon as the words Vegas left my lips, a speaking engagement got extended to a last minute girl’s weekend with some hometown friends. I knew The Palms Hotel and Casino offered great nightlife after some post-USMC ball experiences and decided to check out the newly renovated rooms, which were voted “best in the US” by Hospy. We literally […]
Employment and volunteering: A happy union for military spouses
It’s another typical day as a spouse of a service member. Get the kids to school, check. Finish daily errands, check. Dishwasher unloaded, reloaded, homework checked, scraped knee bandaged, check. Now it’s time to work. Yes, I said it. The W-word. You know, the one you get paid to do. I never knew how difficult […]
Surviving Deployment Separation: 10 Tips to Help You Thrive
Deployments are always hard, especially your first deployment. The unknown can really eat away at you when your life seems to be in a state of limbo. Most of us know what it’s like to try to continue our education, have a child, move, or get settled in life. Add a deployment on top of […]
An Entrepreneur’s Dream: INC 5000 Embraces and Empowers the Military Community
There’s a really great party going on outside my room right now. There’s an open bar, the crowd is upbeat with a live band… and I’m in my room writing. Why? Because I’m overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and appreciation that I have received in the last two days — I had to stop […]
Military Moves: It’s never goodbye, it’s see you later
Living on base has provided one of the most invaluable things in my life: a collection of friends. Throughout my Marine Corps journey, I’ve been lucky enough to find precious gems at every duty station. I will cherish these friendships the rest of my life and will continue feeding them through a journey of communication, […]
Let’s call a truce and end the Working Mom vs Stay-at-Home Mom debate
Being a stay at home mom is the best and hardest job in the world. There are days when you adore your kids more than anything in the world and the next day you’re imaging where you can hide from them for five minutes of alone time. I was a stay at home mom for […]
My First Adventure on a Military Flight: How to Fly Space A
I had butterflies in my belly, not from the excitement of a loved one, but rather from nervousness if my whole scheme would work out. I had heard about the conundrum known as Space A, but knew that it was a gamble if everything would actually work out. I brought my hare-brained scheme to my […]
Military Member Gone: What it’s Like Sleeping Alone
Is anyone else like me? My husband is TAD or deployed and the idea of getting the entire bed to myself sounds great at first. I imagine not getting elbowed in the head or having my covers ripped off me in the middle of the night…
Military Families: Going Home for the Holidays is Hectic
I’ve been reflecting on our yearly holiday journey. It’s always an adventure getting ready for the Holiday drive home. If you’re lucky enough to live close to see your family on a regular basis, then count yourself lucky. Sometimes the journey to see our family can be filled with lots of potholes. Twice every year, we load up […]