Deployment

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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At the End of the Day, Sometimes You Just Have to Suck it Up

At the End of the Day, Sometimes You Just Have to Suck it Up Deployments are no joke. I hate deployments, and yet I know they are a part of the military life experience. And while there are so many ways to make it through a deployment, sometimes you just have to suck it up and get through the days apart, even if you don’t want to. The biggest thing is making sure you have what you need to get through the deployment. This is going to look different for everyone. Some people love wine, others, not so much. Some …

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When You Hate Deployments

When You Hate Deployments

When You Hate Deployments Our first deployment came about nine months after my life as a military spouse first began. This was after spending about 4.5 months apart waiting to join my husband in Germany. He left the following August, and that deployment didn’t end until November of the following year. That was such a long time to be away from my husband. Even now, all these years later, I can’t even believe we got through that. I had a baby during that deployment, a toddler, and lived in Germany, far away from family and what we were used to. …

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The End of a Deployment is A Good Time to Try Something New

The End of a Deployment is A Good Time to Try Something New So you are at the 8-month mark, finally! You have weeks to go, you are counting down the days in your head (not online of course, OPSEC and all,) and you are not quite sure you are really at this place. How did you make it this far? One day at a time? Somehow you are at the end of the deployment. And now things are dragging again. Time is moving at a snail’s pace. So close, yet so far. What can you do about that? Why not …

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What To Do When There is a Natural Disaster and Your Spouse is Deployed

What To Do When There is a Natural Disaster and Your Spouse is Deployed

What To Do When There is a Natural Disaster and Your Spouse is Deployed I have been through my share of earthquakes growing up in California. Fortunately, I was never in any danger from any of them. After moving to the south, I have been through my fair share of tornado warnings, and fortunately, none of them have come too close to our house. The biggest issue we have dealt with when it came to weather when my husband was deployed was losing power during a storm, for about 37 hours. While we didn’t have any real damage, and USAA replaced …

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When They Miss Stuff

When They Miss Stuff

When They Miss Stuff Your service member doesn’t have to be deployed to miss stuff. This can happen at any time. Maybe they have a school to go to, maybe they have extra training to attend, maybe they have a 24 hours CQ. As military spouses, we get used to this…sort of. We know they can’t be there for everything, we even know that had they not joined the military, their civilian careers could keep them from missing things too. If we are a national guard or reserves spouse, we already know that from experience. Still… When they miss stuff, …

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6 Tips For Surviving a Long Distance Relationship That Seems Like it Will Last Forever

6 Tips For Surviving a Long Distance Relationship That Seems Like it Will Last Forever If you have ever been in a long distance relationship, you know how hard they can be. All you want is to live in the same area as your loved one but for whatever reason, you can’t. Maybe your boyfriend goes to college across the country from where you went to college, maybe you met someone from another state on your last vacation, or maybe you are dating or married to a service member whose military service takes them away from you. Whatever the reason …

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When Your Spouse Deploys

When Your Spouse Deploys

When Your Spouse Deploys When you are married to a soldier, you know the time will come; you know that they will eventually deploy. If they haven’t yet, you know they will and while you might know this is all coming, hearing those words are never easy. They come home from work one day, walk in the door, and by the look on their face, you know what they are going to say. There have been rumors, the other military spouses talk. You knew a deployment might happen, but you hoped they wouldn’t leave until next year. When your kids were …

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Welcome Them Home

Welcome Them Home

Welcome Them Home I’m so excited to be on the blog today you guys! Julie offered to let me use her platform to share with you about my non-profit because we both believe that you guys would totally be into it because THIS IS FOR YOU! Here goes… My name is Bethany Cox and I am the founder of the non-profit Welcome Them Home. I wrote a little about it on our website but I thought I ould share that here with you as well. Welcome Them Home is simple. It is a network of photographers who donate their time …

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