Deployment

The Deployment Journal For Spouses

So you spouse just deployed, and you feel a bit lost. You just aren’t even sure what you are feeling but you know you are feeling something. You just want to get it all out. Have you ever thought about keeping a deployment journal? I have been writing in a journal since I was about 16 years old. I love them and while I write more during certain times of my life over others, I still keep one to this day. During my deployments, they were like a best friend for me. Anytime I was upset, felt angry, or was …

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Deployments Never Truly Go Away

Deployments Never Truly Go Away

A Military spouse is never going to forget how hard it was to let their spouse go, how lonely the nights were or, how happy they were when they finally came home. It’s been years since the first time my husband deployed, over a decade ago. But that deployment changed my life forever, as it changed the lives of so many of my military spouse friends. That deployment changed my husband and all of the men he served with. That deployment still comes up in my mind, and I always think about those who lost so much during those 15 …

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To the Burned Out Solo Parent

To the Burned Out Solo Parent

It’s almost bedtime, almost. You start your bedtime routine at 6:30 on the dot and if all goes well, the kids will be alseep by 7:30, or 8:30, usually by 9, but sometimes even as late as 10:00. It just depends. As your spouse is deployed at the moment, it really doesn’t matter how long bedtime takes, it will still be 100% on you to get those kids to bed. There will be no trading off nights, no asking for help, no relief if you had a burned out day and need to just chill by yourself for a bit. …

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When Your Spouse is Deployed and You Only Have Two Hands

This post is sponsored by Baby Tula! I was also provided free product for review. Whenever my husband was deployed, I hated going to the grocery store. I know there are more options these days such as grocery store pick-up or affordable delivery services, but back during our previous deployments, we didn’t have any of that. So, once I had three kids, it became a big issue. I could sometimes get around this by going to the grocery store when my older two were in school, or trade with a friend. However, there were sometimes when I still had to take all three and head to the …

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How to Celebrate Valentine’s Day if Your Spouse is Deployed

How do you like to celebrate Valentine's Day when your spouse is deployed?

It’s time for Valentine’s Day! The holiday all about love. The one where you feel the pressure to buy your spouse candy chocolates, or flowers, or teddy bears, and make plans to go out to eat on the most crowded night of the year. Super fun right? Or not… Maybe you think the whole thing is silly. A holiday made up by Hallmark to get spouses to buy cards for each other, and make more money. And with the lack of candy hearts this year, is Valentine’s Day even worth worrying about? (PS I did find some at Target a …

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The First Night After the Deployment is Over

You have waited for months and months, and the day is finally here. Homecoming… The deployment is over, and you will get your spouse back, after so much time apart. If you have never been through a deployment or homecoming before, you might be asking yourself how that first night will go, after the deployment is over. For months now, you have joked with your friends about how that will be, and how exciting having your spouse back in your arms again will feel. You have some idea of how things will go, but you still might not really be …

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When Deployments Don’t Get Any Easier

When Deployments Don’t Get Any Easier I couldn’t believe he was leaving again. Just two weeks before we had thought that he wasn’t going to go. Now he was and it was time to say goodbye. This time, he was leaving very early in the morning. We were all there, my three boys and I. We took some photos and said goodbye. Knowing that when he returned they would all be a little bigger. They would be doing new things and we would have made a lot of memories together without him. I knew this deployment wasn’t going to be …

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When the Holidays Don’t Feel Like the Holidays

When the Holidays Don’t Feel Like the Holidays The holidays are here, and with this season comes decorating for Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate. This season means parties, and gift wrapping and baking yummy holiday treats. This season means being together with family, and being thankful for everything in your life. But what do you do when your spouse is deployed? When they are off in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, or some other part of the world too many miles from where you are? What do you do when you just don’t feel like doing Christmas? When you just …

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Surviving A Military Deployment

Surviving A Military Deployment

Surviving A Military Deployment I am sitting in my living room, in our 3rd-floor stairwell apartment in Schweinfurt, Germany. We just got back from the park, and my two-year-old is finally asleep. I am nursing my baby to sleep and will put him down in a bit. I plan to take a well-needed bubble bath once I do. It’s been a day. It’s been a week. It’s been a rough deployment.   And we still have so much more time to go…   Way too many days…way too long. And while every day is a day closer, the time ahead …

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How to Get Through a Deployment With Toddlers

How to Get Through a Deployment With Toddlers

How to Get Through a Deployment With Toddlers Deployment #2, my husband left, and it was just me, my two-year-old, and my four-year-old. A deployment with two toddlers. If you have ever had a toddler, you know how much work they can be. Toddlers are a handful, even the easy ones. And here I was home with two of them, with my husband too many miles away. I was a SAHM and didn’t have a spouse coming home at the end of the day. I didn’t have a spouse who could watch the kids for 15 minutes so that I …

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