The SWCL Shop was started in 2021, to bring my designs to the marketplace.
I have created a store on Zazzle to offer my designs and memes on magnets, stickers, prints, and more! Perfect for your military spouse life.
This post contains affiliate links!
Here is what you can find in the shop!
I get commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this post.
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, no one was stirring, except one military spouse.
She knew what tonight was, but wasn’t feeling the cheer, her husband of 12 years was simply not here.
He was serving his country, on deployment #4, she simply couldn’t wait until April, when he would walk through the door.
Her kids were in bed, excited for
She looked at a picture, taken last year, when he was home beside her and she didn’t have much to fear.
But this year was different, and he was far away, but she still wanted to try to have a wonderful Christmas day.
She put on some music, and finished her last chore, she loved her sweet family, down to the core.
Christmas was special and a time to love, and she would get through this deployment, with help from above.
Her husband was deployed, and that made her sad, but thinking of her children Christmas morning made her heart very glad.
She turned out the
As hard as it was, she found her inner strength, she could handle this deployment, no matter the length.
Solo parenting was hard, and she hated missing him, but she knew in the end, it wasn’t so grim.
She had her friends, and her children by her side, and would take this deployment day by day even if she sometimes cried.
Because one day in April, would be homecoming day, and she would load up her children in her van, not a sleigh.
And they would head to the gym, where they would need to wait, with the other spouses and children on this very important date.
As a military spouse, we can spend Christmas alone, but we do what we can to warm up our home.
She would spot him right away, standing in the crowd, and when it was time they would run to him
So if you are a military spouse, with your love far away, I want you to know you will get through Christmas Day.
It might not be exactly like before, but Christmas has magic you just can’t ignore.
Merry Christmas to all and know that it’s true, you got this military spouse, you absolutely do.
Orders have been cut, and they say: “Fort Campbell, Kentucky” Say what? Is this where you wanted to go? You aren’t sure. You don’t know anything about Fort Campbell.
The truth is, getting stationed at Fort Campbell can be a great experience. It really can. The area isn’t perfect, and there is some room for improvement, but here are 9 reasons you might want to get stationed here at Fort Campbell.
We have four seasons
Yes, we have four seasons here at Fort Campbell. Sometimes all in the same day. But really, just when you get tired of a season and can’t take much more, things change. We have falling leaves, it can snow, but not too much, humid summers, and refreshing springs. Hmm…the summers might be a bit much but you will miss them when you leave. Maybe. Okay, probably won’t miss the summers.
We are centrally located
We are pretty centrally located. Want to head to the midwest? You can be there in a few hours. Want to head down south? Go for it. Many families are closer to extended family when they get stationed here. If you are however from the west coast like we are…that isn’t going to be true at all and the airport is a pain to get to but it is what it is.
Many families like to vacation at the beach, Walt Disney World, Gatlinburg, or St. Louis. There are many different options whether you want to fly or drive.
Choice of where to live
One of the great things about being stationed at Fort Campbell is you have quite a few choices where you can live. You can live on post, live in Kentucky, or live in Tennessee. And with each state, you can choose to be closer to the post or further away. You can stay within the city or live out in the country. The choice is totally up to you, and well your family size and BAH of course.
Nashville is an hour away
Nashville is only an hour away! Nashville has almost everything you might need. However, Nashville is also an hour away, which isn’t always easy to deal with, especially if you don’t like to drive.
Nashville has the Nashville Zoo, the Adventure Science Center, Broadway, McKay’s bookstore, Opryland and Opry Mills, and much more. We live to go about once a month and always have a good time when we do.
Lots of Army
Fort Campbell is of course an Army post and there is so much Army everywhere. From active duty to retired military. Many people come here as their last duty station and stay, and others grew up in an Army family, married a soldier, and have stayed. Many people in the community have connections to Fort Campbell and the Army in one way or another. If you do want a break from the Army, I go back to choosing where to live. Some places in this area are more civilian than others.
Nature
From the Greenway to parks! We have nature here! Which can be a great way to spend your time. You can tube down the river, or go for a long walk on a Sunday afternoon. Of course, nature isn’t always fun and if you try to be outside in the month of July you will probably regret that. Unless it is a pool, and even then…you might just want to stay inside. Sorry July, you are not my favorite.
We have things to do
Fort Campbell is not in the middle of nowhere. Even if it CAN seem that way if you compare it to other bigger places. We do have things.
We have your chain restaurants, Olive Garden, Outback, Applebees, etc. And we have many local restaurants as well. New ones seem to be opening all the time. Yum!
We have entertainment for kids such as Defy, the City Forum which is our favorite and so much better than Dave and Busters, and plenty of parks in the city. We have soccer teams and little leagues and plenty of actives for kids on post as well.
There is the Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel, movie theaters, and Clarksville has a mall that is pretty okay. If you want the nice big malls, you will have to go to Nashville.
We are lacking libraries and bookstores IMO. This is the only city I have ever lived in with only one library. But that’s a rant for another day.
Plenty of events
There is a lot going on in the Clarksville and Fort Campbell area. Clarksville has many events from a Christmas parade to a farmer’s market every summer. If you do get stationed here, follow some of the local pages to learn about what is going on. Clarksville Parks and Recreation, Fort Campbell MWR, and Fort Campbell & Clarksville Tennessee Fun and Events.
Military supportive city
Clarksville, Oak Grove, and Hopkinsville are all very military friendly. There is a lot of love for Fort Campbell and the soldiers and families that get stationed here. That can be comforting for a lot of people. During normal times, we have concerts at Fort Campbell, and those can be a ton of fun getting together with the community.
Overall I think Ft. Campbell is a great place to get stationed. A lot of people agree with me. There are also plenty of people that do not and that is just fine. We all have different experiences. In the end, duty stations are what you make of them. Good or bad. Popular or not.
If you are getting stationed at Fort Campbell, welcome, and I hope your experience is a good one!
My husband joined the military back in 2005. These were heavy Iraq and Afghanistan days. Deployments were long and the breaks between were way too short. This was my intro to military life, and the years following shaped me into who I am today.
I was also a SAHM. Choosing to be home vs working on my career, at least for the first few years. We were stationed in Germany and at the time, I just wanted to be home with my boys. However, it was in that environment where I gave birth to this blog, which has led me to my career as a freelance writer.
This type of job fits in easily with military life. We no longer move, but if we did, if we had to be stationed somewhere else, I could take my career with me, as many of my active duty spouse friends do. So many spouses have made their careers work through military life, working on their own dreams within the crazy that this life brings.
During my early years as a military spouse, I was surrounded by the military pretty much 24/7. I depended on them for everything it seemed. From the schools my son went to, to where I bought groceries, to where I got my mail. We lived and breathed it.
There were FRG meetings, and balls to attend, and military events. So many of the spouses I met along the way were SAHMs or those who worked part-time. This fits in well with the military culture which seems to assume that if a service member is married, their spouse is at home, tending to everything they can’t.
But times change. People change. And I am not sure as many military spouses are choosing to stay home. I am not sure as many military spouses want to give up a career for their service member. If their spouse wants to join the military, they expect to be able to keep their own career path, and I don’t think that is asking too much.
The military needs to figure out how to embrace the modern military spouse. Yes, some spouses will still want to be stay-at-home parents, and that is totally fine, but if a spouse chooses not to be, can their service member still serve? Will they just walk away?
What about the FRG? Run by so many volunteers. How will that structure change with the needs of the modern military? What can be done to take that burden off of the military spouse volunteer and still provide the services that military communities need?
Will the military put money behind any of this? Will they care or just assume that things will always stay the same? Will they just assume that even within the modern military there are enough military spouses to fill in those gaps?
Age is another factor. More people are waiting longer to get married. How does this impact the military community? How will this shape the future of military culture?
I am not sure what needs to be done but taking the spouse’s career path in mind is important. Maybe making the norm of being at one duty station 5 years instead of 3 would be a great start? That would allow the spouse to put down some roots, at least for a time. I just have to believe there is more that can be done.
I know I am not the only one who has thought about the future of the military and the military spouse. There is a lot that needs to be done. There is a lot that needs to change. But the question is, with those who have the power to change things work to do so?
What do you think needs to be changed about the military in general to reflect a more modern military culture???
I became a Veteran’s wife the day I got married, although it didn’t mean as much back then. My husband was not Active Duty at that time and the Army was a part of his past. Still, it was in the back of my head.
Fast forward three years later and I became an Army wife as my husband re-enlisted and he started the 2nd part of his Army career. These days, he is a member of the National Guard. He is a Veteran and that makes me a Veteran’s wife.
Veterans Day is always so emotional for me. Not just because of who I am married to but also because of all the other Veterans and their spouses who have come before us. All the men and women who have served and those who stood beside them. Veterans Day is a day to remember them and to thank those that are still with us.
The Veteran’s spouse is not a new role. As long as there have been people who are willing to sign up to join the Military, there have always been spouses who have stood beside them. They stood by as their husbands or wives went off to war.
Whether that meant fighting against another American in the Civil War, going to Europe during the World Wars, staying behind as they headed to Korea or Vietnam, or the “modern” Veteran’s spouse who watched their spouse join up during a time of war and knowing they would most likely be headed over to Iraq and Afghanistan fighting a war that might never really end.
We are strong, we have to be. We have to be there for our spouses. Stand behind them and be their rock. Through peacetime and wartime. Through a PCS or goodbye for a two-week training. Some have had to say goodbye and were not able to say hello again. Their spouse did not return. Some have stood by when they did return but as a different person.
Some have had to walk away from their marriage, some have stayed.
Some have stood by for 20+ years of Active duty life, others only needed to fill that role for a few years before their spouse moved on to a different career.
Military Spouses are strong not because we are made of something else. We are strong because we have to be. Because history wanted us to fill this role and we decided we could do it.
Being a Veteran’s spouse can mean a lot of different things. It always means that there is a story behind your spouse’s career and time in the Military. We don’t know all of it. We only know what they tell us but we do know there is so much more they could never share.
As a Veteran’s spouse, I belong to a community of people who are doing what I have done. Whether it was in the 1940s and all they got from their soldier was a letter in the mail to those who can video chat every day.
We might all have had different types of experiences but one thing is clear, we are the spouses of those who have signed up to serve their country. We are the ones left behind and the ones they come home to. We are a part of history and we will always be there to help those who come after us.
To the veterans who served before our time…in wars, we can only imagine having gone through.
To the veterans who served while life was changing back at home…when they were not even sure what the future would bring.
To the veterans who served even when that meant leaving their loved ones for way too long…unsure of when they would be returning back home.
To the veterans who served when serving wasn’t the popular thing to do…putting on the uniform isn’t easy.
To the veterans who first left for Iraq and Afghanistan, before we even really knew what was going on…and going back time and time again.
To the veterans who joined after 9/11, even though they knew how much the world had changed on that day…and how things would never be the same.
To the veterans who served because their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents did…and they knew joining the military would always be a part of their future.
To the veterans who are the first in their families to put on a uniform…and they truly are not totally sure what that will mean.
To the veterans who served as the first women in the military, paving the way for future generations…so that today, women in uniform are a regular part of military life.
To the veterans who served, even when serving seemed too hard…some roads to the military can be more complicated than others.
To the veterans who came back home…and will always remember those who didn’t.
To the veterans that get up every day to go to work, not sure if anyone they will see today can truly understand what they have gone through…and hoping that they can find the support they need.
To the veterans who keep serving, even in the smallest of ways…to help future generations.
To the veterans who never thought they would make it home…and to those who did but will never feel the same again.
To the veterans with all the stories, hoping that younger generations can truly understand the sacrifices that were made…and all the stories about the friendships made during our countries battles.
We can never thank any of you enough for what you have gone through and what you have done for our country. One day a year simply isn’t enough. We can learn so much from your years and your wisdom, and America would not be America without you.
Who are the veterans in your life???
To love a soldier means to stand by him or her as they put on the uniform and commits to serving our country.
To love a soldier means wiping the tears away and promising to love them no matter how many miles away they must go.
To love a soldier means not understanding why things take so long or why things change so much.
To love a soldier means finding others that love soldiers and making friendships that last a lifetime.
To love a soldier means loving a man or women in uniform, wherever their career might take them.
To love a soldier means temporarily fulfilling the role of both mom and dad and being the default parent that your children know will always be with them.
To love a soldier means having to explain to your child why their daddy had to miss another birthday.
To love a soldier means being a part of history as a spouse that stood by while their loved one fought for freedom.
To love a soldier means we have something in common with others that have loved their service member through our countries wars as well as peacetime.
To love a soldier means that we grow stronger as the years go by because we have dealt with realities others have not.
To love a soldier puts the words from our wedding, “in sickness and in health” front and center as we try to understand and help those coming home from war.
To love a soldier means being a military spouse, supporting our spouse and being part of an incredible group of men and women who are doing the same.
I love my soldier and the life we have created together. Through living overseas, multiple deployments and the twists and turns that this military journey has given us.
Whether you love a soldier or a service member of another branch, you know what this life is like. You know how hard this life can be, but you stand by them because you love them and that is the basis for getting through anything military life throws at you.
Fall is just about here, although at this moment it is 96 degrees outside. Tennessee is being ridiculous this year and summer doesn’t want to go home. At the same time, leaves have started to fall, and you can tell the season is about to change.
Fall is my favorite season, even more so now that we live somewhere with four seasons. I love how the weather changes, and how colorful the leaves are in the fall. The start of autumn takes me out of summer and leads to me a cooler time of year, filled with the holidays, cozy nights, and warm drinks.
Go to a pumpkin patch…take your kids, take your camera, enjoy the time on the farm and come home with a pumpkin for each of you 🙂
Admire the leaves…check out all the colors, take a lot of photos, and share with your friends and family that don’t get to experience their amazingness where they live.
Decorate your home…grab your fall decor, buy a few new items, and get going. Your house will feel like the season is here, even if it is still pretty hot outside (Tennessee, I am looking at you.)
Bake! Bake! Bake! From Halloween cookies to apple pie, it’s time to bake all the yummy treats. Try a new pumpkin cookie recipe and frost some ghost cookies with your kids.
Order that pumpkin latte! You know you want to. You know you can’t wait to have the first one of the season. Look, I am not a huge fan of the pumpkin latte but I always enjoy having at least one, to start off the fall season. Plus, this year, the pumpkin cold brew at Starbucks is actually pretty yummy!
Carve a pumpkin with your kids, if you don’t mind the mess. Or, you can skip the carving and paint your pumpkins, which can be just as fun. Unless you want to roast your own pumpkin seeds. Then you will need to carve them.
Light some pumpkin candles…or get your pumpkin-scented Scentsy or both! It’s the time of year for all the fall scents. They are the best, from applies to pumpkin to fall nights!
Hopefully, by the time you read this, it feels like fall where you live too. I am hoping we get our fall weather any day now. So I can break out my sweaters and put my shorts back into my closet 🙂
What is your favorite part of fall???
