Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Military Life

Living at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas

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Happy to have this guest post by Jenah on being stationed at Ft. Leavenworth. Please visit my Duty station guest post page for posts on other locations or more information about how you can write a guest post about where you have been stationed.

Stationed at Ft. Leavenworth

Stationed at Ft. Leavenworth

My first trip to Ft. Leavenworth was an experience! I was engaged to a Soldier and this was my first duty station. We flew into the Kansas City airport and the images of fountains, shopping, and nightlife that google provided filled me with excitement. Then we got in a rental car and drove AWAY from all of it to the sleepy little town of Leavenworth, Kansas.

The City of Leavenworth

Stationed at Ft. Leavenworth

Leavenworth was the first city established in Kansas and sits on the border of the Kansas and Missouri. It has a charming historic downtown area with murals painted on the walls, repurposed old historic brick buildings, and lots of local shops and restaurants. Leavenworth has your typical Walmart, one off post gym, a few chain restaurants, and there are two Starbucks, but both are located inside another building with NO drive through access. First world and moms with young children problems, I know, but worth mentioning. Right outside of the gate sits a very large federal prison and a field where buffalo roam. Yes, just like the song.

Fort Leavenworth the Post

Fort Leavenworth is a very small and well maintained post that dates back to 1827. The housing ranges from brand new to older pre Civil War era historic housing. The post has modern amenities such as a golf course, 3 gyms, stables, an air field, and hosts numerous family activities and programs. Ft. Leavenworth is known as the intellectual hub of the Army, home to the Command and General Staff College, the School of Command Prep, The Army Management Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies. Most families come to attend a school for a year, maybe two and then leave. There is a constant turn over at this post to include international students from all around the world. In addition to all of these great schools, Ft.  Leavenworth also has an Army Disciplinary Barracks. Prisons everywhere!

Kansas City

Ft. Leavenworth is a stone’s throw from some amazing areas in both Kansas and Missouri. 25 minutes straight out of the main gate into Kansas puts you at a great outdoor shopping area known as Legends and boasts the local Target, outlet mall, and great restaurants.  Take a right out of post and go 25 minutes into Missouri and end up at Zona Rosa which is also filled with outdoor shopping, restaurants, and so many stores. Pass Zona Rosa and in another 20 minutes you will find yourself in beautiful down town Kansas City where you can experience the fountains, museums, WWI monument, Zoo, Royals games, Chiefs games, and so much shopping and good food. It’s overwhelming and amazing.

Local Food and Weather

Stationed at Ft. Leavenworth

BBQ is the local cuisine here and there are more places to try than you could count. Just make sure to stop by Jack Stacks and B.B.’s Lawn Side BBQ. The weather in Kansas is bipolar and will flash flood, sunshine, and tornado all on one day. The winters are mild with snow fall and the summers are hot, but not as humid as down south.

Overall Ft. Leavenworth is a great place to be stationed. Military families can experience the small town feel of the post and city of Leavenworth or venture out and explore the great surrounding cities. This area is very charming and truly one of the best kept secrets in the Army.

 

Jenah Wieczorek Social Media & Base AdvocateJenah Wieczorek, Social Media & Base Advocate

The Father Who Has Missed So Much

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The Father Who Has Missed So Much

“Yes, when he was 2.5 he was doing that too,” my husband said to me one day when we were watching our children play. He was talking about our oldest when he was the same age as his little brother.

“No, he didn’t. You were deployed remember?”

This kind of conversation happens often at our house. Memory is an interesting thing. We never fully remember the way things really were. In my husband’s case, he just wasn’t there for a lot of what happened during my children’s earlier years.

He was deployed. Away from home serving his country.

My husband is a wonderful father. I knew he would be from the first week that I met him. I saw how he talked about children, how he showed me photos of his niece that he kept in his wallet. He was a good uncle then and I knew he would make a great father in the future.

We became parents in 2004 and I was proven right. From the start, he knew just what to do. He and my son bonded right away and our parenting journey was off to a great start.

13 months later we were saying goodbye and starting our military journey.

One that would take this great father away from his children for months on end. He would end up missing so much. So so much.

He missed when my son started to walk. I filmed it and sent it to him in Germany. He missed his 2nd birthday by a month so we celebrated that one early. He missed his 3rd birthday and his 5th birthday and his 9th birthday. He missed the birth of his 2nd little boy and his whole first year. He missed me figuring out how to be a mom to two. He missed our son starting preschool and learning to talk in sentences. He missed potty training and Christmas and summers. He missed a lot of those early years, ones that we will never get back. As I look back over the years I know this is a part of what we signed up for.

When you join the military, you are not only signing up to defend your country but you are also signing up for months without your family.

You are signing up to say that you will miss birthdays and anniversaries and births and all the firsts that most Dad’s get to be around for. As heartbreaking as missing these moments are, you know this is all apart of your job.

This father’s day I can’t help but think of my husband and all the other dads that have missed so much over the years. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to say goodbye to my son at three weeks and not see him again until he was 11 months old. One letter my husband wrote to me during that time talked about how weird it was to have two boys and love them both so much but to only really know one of them.

That’s just how it is sometimes. Some dads don’t get to meet their children until they are crawling. Others miss out on kindergarten and some will watch their son or daughter graduate from high school on a video.

These men know this when they sign up for the military but it doesn’t make going through it any easier.

Let’s remember these fathers this Father’s Day. Let’s remember what they have given up over the years to serve our country. Let’s never forget about their children and the sacrifices they make going through their lives without him by their side for all the moments and milestones they go through.

My husband is in a place in his career where he won’t have too many more times where he will be away from us. This is freeing and I am looking forward to our family always having him there. However, I will never forget the years that he wasn’t, what he has missed and what others are missing in the years to come.

Bloom Where You Are Stationed

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Bloom Where You Are Stationed“I hate it here.”

“We just got orders there and I am scared. I have only heard bad things.”

“I really don’t want to leave here and have to move there. It is the worst place we could go.”

“I really just want the next three years to pass quickly so we can move somewhere else.”

“This place is so boring. There is nothing to do here. I hate it.”

Have you heard people say things like that before? Maybe it was you? I am not going to lie. I was so ready to leave Germany after we had been there a few years. That was hard for me. Very hard. And it was Germany. A place many people would LOVE to go and who never want to leave.

It was the end of 2007. I was standing outside a bookstore with my Mother-in-law in California during our post-deployment vacation. “I don’t want to go back to Germany. I really really don’t” I told her. And I didn’t. I just wasn’t excited about going back. I knew another deployment was coming and didn’t want to be over there anymore. However, my husband still had a few years left before we would move back to the US.

I did what you have to do as a Military Spouse, I sucked it up and got on the airplane and we went back “home” to Germany.

 

A few months later, we moved to a different duty station in Germany. Our housing was a lot better. So much so that I cried happy tears when I walked into our new home. But still, I was missing the United States and just wanted to be back there. I didn’t want to still be in Germany. Then I bought a new camera. I started taking pictures every day and started really noticing where I was. From the trees to the flowers to the old buildings. I was in a magical land. I needed to take advantage of that.

Things being what they were, having two little kids, I wasn’t going to be able to travel every week or even all that often. But I could put them in the stroller and walk around my village. I could walk them around town and into the country a little bit. So that is what I did. One Sunday my husband had to work so I decided to take them for a long walk. It took us five hours there and back but that walk was amazing and one I will never forget. We passed by forests, rivers, fields, apple trees, sheep and old buildings. I still enjoy looking at the photos I took that day.

If you are feeling like you are hating your current duty station, maybe you should try to change things up.

Grab your camera, grab a friend or just go and explore. You never know what you might encounter. Remember that once you leave, you might never be able to return. Try to find the positives in where you live, even if they are well hidden. Of course, some places are easier to do this than others.

When you can bloom where you are stationed, you can have good experiences anywhere you go. You will learn how to find the positives in every situation and figure out creative ways to enjoy yourself even if you are not feeling too happy at first. If you are set to go to a duty station most people don’t like, see if you can talk to people who do like it there. Find out what they have to say and find things about that place to look forward to. Make a list of positives and get ready for your next adventure as a military spouse.

Have you ever lived somewhere you couldn’t stand? How did you figure out how to bloom where you are stationed?

15 Years of War by Kristine Schellhaas

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15 years of war

I just finished the book, 15 Years of War: How the Longest War in U.S. History Affected a Military Family in Love, Loss, and the Cost Of Service by Kristine Schellhaas.

This book wasn’t just good, it was truly amazing! The story of a couple going through the last 15 years of war. I think each military spouse has a story to tell about her time during deployments and dealing with military life in general. This is Kristine’s story and one that I am so glad she shared with the world.

Kristine and her husband Ross met in 1996. He is in the US Marine Corps. The couple married in 2002 and started their married lives in Southern California.

The book takes you through so much of their lives during the last 15 years. From Ross’ training to setting up in a new place and learning what it means to be a military spouse. From moving to San Diego to Georgia to Twenty-Nine Palms to Camp Pendleton to Virgina and back again.

Ross was deployed several times throughout the years and I am so thankful his stories were a part of the book. My husband was in Iraq and Afghanistan too and although they had different jobs and were in different branches and roles, hearing what he went through helped me understand more about what my own husband went through during those years.

The book brings us through Kristine’s pregnancies, the births of her children and the loss of her son. Something that is so hard for so many of us to understand. This book was so real. Kristine and Ross were able to share with us their thoughts and feelings about everything that happened to them.


One aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was that they included their emails to one another. Some of them were fun and had a joking tone, others were more serious. This is so much what it is like to have a deployed spouse. You pour out your heart in an email and then get frustrated that it was an email and not over dinner.

The book goes back and forth between Ross and Kristine giving us the perspective of both. Sometimes they would both talk about the same situation and the same event but from their own point of view.

This book is beyond amazing. For anyone who has been through deployments, you will relate to so much in this book. For anyone that has gone through extra difficult situations in military life, you will relate to this book. For the general public that are not associated with the military, you should read this book too. It will give you a picture of what it is like for military families in the last 15 years of war.

 

  • I was given a free copy of this book for review. 

Forget What You’ve Heard, Fort Bragg REALLY is a Great Place To Live!

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Happy to have this guest post by Kia on Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Please visit my Duty station guest post page for posts on other locations or more information about how you can write a guest post about where you have been stationed.

stationed at ft. bragg

I see it every time I get on one of the FB groups about Fort Bragg. A military spouse posts:
“Hey, everyone! We’re getting stationed at Fort Bragg and will be there in a few months. What’s it like there? What suggestions do you have on where to live?”

And then they come in droves. “Fort Bragg is THE WORST”. “Just stay out of Fayetteville!”. “I’m so glad we got away,” and on and on. Let me be clear on this…. Fort Bragg is not Mayberry, but it’s actually a great place to live.

My family has been stationed here twice, from 2006 to 2011, and we’ve been back since 2014. I will admit that I’m itching to leave, but it’s not at all for the reasons you might think. I love traveling and I would love to have an overseas tour, or go west. We’re from Tennessee and we’ve only been stationed at Bragg and Eglin. I’m ready to explore somewhere other than the Southeast United States. But if we have to be here, then I will enjoy it while we can.

So what does Fort Bragg have going for it? PLENTY!

* A great downtown atmosphere
* Plenty of parks
* Two PX’s and Two Commissaries
* Expansive food and cuisine options (downtown alone you’ll find American, Mediterranean, Italian and West African within a one block radius)
* The Crown Coliseum (many family friendly shows, like Disney on Ice and Entertainers, Music Artists and comedians come RIGHT to Fayetteville)
* Man shopping choices
* Love the beach? You can be there in 1.5 to 2 hours!
* Love the mountains? You can be there in a few hours!
* Raleigh, Charlotte, Charleston are a hop, skip and jump away
* Plenty of Historical elements to explore
* Farms! That means local produce, farm fresh eggs and honey! Most are open to the public for visitors and have great activities for different holidays. We also have a local Farmer’s Market twice a week.
* Fairs, festivals… I feel like there is ALWAYS something going on that I can take my children
* Jobs: The business community is very welcoming to hiring military spouses, there is a wide array of jobs AND an amazing group of military spouse entrepreneurs here that support each other.
* Diversity; there are so many cultures here! That in itself means that your children will have lots of learning opportunities

Of course, with an area as large as this, crime happens. I’m not at all going to downplay it, because I can’t. A lot of people choose to live just outside of Fayetteville in feeder towns like Hope Mills, Raeford and Spring Lake. But there are great neighborhoods IN Fayetteville, just as well. I love driving around Historical Haymount in Fayetteville just to look at the houses.

stationed at ft. bragg

My 3 Musketeers enjoying General Lee Park in the Haymount area of Fayetteville, NC.

In my opinion, one of the greatest things about Fort Bragg? CHOICES. Whether you are searching for public school, private school, churches, salons, grocery stores, neighborhoods or what to do with your family this weekend- you will have a CHOICE. That in itself is something that I’ve heard several other bases lack, and one that I appreciate.
Just like this area has a lot of options, the choices you make will determine your experience here. It’s easy to stay at home, or on post and feel like there’s nothing to do. When you approach Fort Bragg as a fun place to explore and connect with your community, embrace the location of being right between the beach and the mountains; I bet you’ll find yourself falling in love. This town is vibrant, soulful and proud to be called The All American City.

Have you been stationed at Fort Bragg? I’d love to hear about your favorite local things to do and what you’ve enjoyed about your time here.

 

Kia YoungKia Young is probably at this very moment driving one of her 3 kids to school, an appointment, sports or some other social activity. In between being a professional chauffeur that gets paid in kisses, hugs and good grades; she’s a military spouse and small business owner. Her main life goal is to raise happy, kind children who contribute greatly to society and the Kingdom of Heaven. And to publish a book that sells more than 100 copies. You can keep up with her thoughts on family, travel and food over at The Experience Life!
Facebook: The Experience Life: A Family Blog
Instagram: @the_experience_life 

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

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Happy to have this guest post by LeAnna on Hohenfels, Germany. Please visit my Duty station guest post page for posts on other locations or more information about how you can write a guest post about where you have been stationed.

Living in Hohenfels, GermanyHohen-Hells, Germany.  

Oops, I mean, Hohenfels; the Army Post in Nowheresville, Germany where the Commissary is often out of stock of the item you need most (like Pumpkin puree during Thanksgiving!), where it’s 30 minutes to the nearest big city and where you are thousands of miles away from family, friends and the nearest comforts of wandering aimlessly in a Target.

I suppose I can see the point of view of the people that have, not so affectionately, coined USAG Hohenfels as a “Hohen-Hells”. 

After all, the soldiers often work what seems like 24/7, there are the horrible rotation and exercise schedules, it has a small town community atmosphere where it feels like everyone is in everyone’s business and there are grey, dreary, rainy days that can last for months making you believe that the sun has permanently abandoned you.

Yeah, sure, this does sound like a miserable Army Post, doesn’t it??? So, who in their right mind would want to be stationed in a place like that!?

Well, me for one.  

Don’t get me wrong, my husband also has horrible rotation schedules, I miss Netflix and often dream of the conveniences of American life, like 24-hour Walmarts, just as much as the other members of the community here and yet, I often feel like I don’t ever want to leave Hohenfels.

That’s because I CHOOSE to see the positives.  I CHOOSE to realize how fortunate I am to be living in Europe!  I love Hohenfels, for all its faults and flaws, but more importantly for the endless positives it provides and everything that it has given back to me during this very brief period in my life.

The Beauty of Hohenfels and Bavaria

Close your eyes and think of Germany.  What do you see?  

  • Men holding beer steins the size of your head while wearing Liederhosen?

Check

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

  • Pretzels so big you can fit your arm through the loops?

Yup

  • So many Scnitzel varieties that you could eat a new one every day and still try a new one tomorrow?

Uum, do you need to even ask that!?

  • Cobblestoned streets lining the alleys of pastel painted houses so quaint and unique?

Photoshop and Filters not needed here!

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

No, these are not stereotypes of Germany…this is real life in beautiful Bavaria, where beer truly does run freely and fest season provides endless hours of polka music.

And not to mention the actual, physical beauty of Bavaria.  Spring time is like an artists’ dream come true when the canola fields bloom against the patchwork greens of the farm fields as the hills roll in the distance.  

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

Winter is like a picture out of a fairytale book as the soft, white snow drifts down on the castles and Christmas markets.

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

Summer hikes in the Alps or up a castle can leave you breathless, not because of the altitude or physical exertion but because you’ve rarely seen something so beautiful.

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

Sure, I never leave the apartment without an umbrella, but when you look past the clouds and when the sun does pop its head out, there is often nothing more stunningly beautiful than Bavaria.

The Community

The USAG Hohenfels Community:

What small town doesn’t have its nosy neighbors?  If you’ve ever lived in a location where stop lights aren’t needed, you know that you can’t often can’t even change your shirt without the whole world knowing about it.

But honestly, it has been the small community at the Hohenfels Army Garrison that I actually really do love.  For every person that complains about the Busy-Bodies, there are just as many, if not more, that say that they have made some of the best friends of their lives at this duty station.  And it’s clear to see how and why. 

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

Because there aren’t a ton of us here, that means we need to band together.  On winter evenings when black ice is making it dangerous on those steep hills, countless strangers get in their American trucks and SUVs and help out anyone stranded on a snowy incline.  If you are walking out of the mailroom with a box too large to handle, it’s only a matter of seconds before someone steps in to lend you a helping hand.  On the all too common rainy days, it’s not uncommon to see someone stop for a random soldier or spouse walking on Post to see if they need a lift.  It’s this small town feel that makes us feel like we have a tight knit community that sticks together in rain or shine (literally!)

The German and Off- Post Community:

No, not all foreigners love Americans (I know, shocker, right!?) but the German community, for the most part, is amazingly welcoming despite our loud, obnoxious talking in public, our giant SUVs and, what seems to be our inability to learn THEIR language. 

The German/American Kontact Club welcomes locals, ex-pats and military alike.  The schools and sports clubs on the economy almost always accepts any American child looking to learn more German and integrate more into the local culture.  The local farmers market Egg Man loves teaching me a new Bayerisch word every week as I purchase his farm-fresh eggs.

Living in these small Bavarian towns sprinkled around Post is like stepping back 50 years in the US.  You can leave your doors unlocked without fear of intruders.  You can send your small children down to the Backerei on their own for pastries without fear of abductors.  A fellow spouse put living in this idyllic setting so eloquently that I couldn’t have said it more beautifully, “I feel so safe in this little Bavarian Bubble and yet the world has never been more accessible.”  Which brings me to…

Travel

I don’t think it’s a hard concept to consider that the travel opportunities living in Europe are something most people only get to dream of.  Yet, many people choose to stay near the comforts of Post instead of taking advantage of all the amazing things this foreign world has to offer.

I get it, we have horribly bad work schedules here.  Kids’ school breaks don’t always align with the rotation exercises.  Rain forecasts dampen the mood to get out and explore.  The fear of what the world is becoming keeps many people from packing their bags.

But you know what all of these are? EXCUSES! Yes, valid excuses, but excuses none the less.

This is exactly the reason why I teach people in my book, “So You Got Stationed Overseas”  how to overcome those problems, take a positive outlook instead of a “woah is me” attitude, gain the confidence needed to explore a new location and learn to make every minute count of their short PCS abroad!

In the first four years of living in Germany, we were able to visit over 40 new countries, learn about cultures first hand I’d only heard or read about previously and made memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life!!!

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

Not getting out, not traveling while stationed abroad, as scary as it might seem at first, would be doing yourself, your family (and your photo book) a HUGE disservice! 

Living in Hohenfels, Germany

So, is it really a “Hohen-Hell?” here? Maybe.  I suppose it could be pretty miserable here if you choose to dwell on the negatives.   But what city, town or military installation doesn’t have areas to improve on?

Instead, I want to see at as a “Hohen-FULLS”.  Because USAG Hohenfels is actually so FULL of amazing people, full of beauty, full of adventure and travel and full of opportunities that can only come with living abroad and a unique community such as ours.

In fact, forget all the nicknames.  I’ll just simply call it “Home.”

About the Author

LeAnna Brown currently doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up, so to delay major life decisions, her and her husband, Andy, have decided to move to Europe and travel the world via Travel Hacking.  After almost 40 countries down in four years and only a few thousand dollars spent a year on travel, they have learned to penny pinch their way to a bare minimalist lifestyle to help them see and appreciate the world.  You can learn how to travel for next to nothing as well at EconomicalExcursionists.com or get your daily dose of travel tips, advice and motivation by “Liking” them on Facebook or following the EconomicalExcursionists on twitter @EconExcursion.

 

Because Memorial Day Just Isn’t Enough

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Because Memorial Day Just Isn't Enough

Today is Memorial Day.

A day when most of us stop our normal lives and remember those who have lost their life for our country. To remember those from previous generations and those who joined the military after 9/11. We remember who they were, what they did and how they died. We remember their families, their spouses, their children, their mothers, their fathers.

When you are a military spouse, the meaning of this day changes.

Memorial Day is no longer just for those who fought in the World Wars, Vietnam and Korea. It is for your friends and those who went to war with your own spouse. It is for you neighbor or the girl you sat next to in bible study. The day touches you in a different way than it would have had your spouse never joined.

I remember during our first deployment. It was soon after the guys had left, maybe just a week or two. A bunch of us wives was standing around at a fair that the base had put on. Or some other type of event. It was fall of 2006 and our guys were in Iraq. I remember standing around, looking at all of us. Knowing we were all going through the same thing. Knowing that we were all worried about our spouses and all praying they would come back home to us.

Being that this was my first deployment I had no other idea about how I was supposed to feel about having a husband in a war zone. This wasn’t even something I thought much about until he joined in late 2005. When he deployed I just had to have faith that he would come home. I couldn’t think too hard about what he was doing or how much danger he was in.

A few months later we heard the news. One of the wives that were standing with us that day had lost her husband. This war, it was real. Very real. Over the rest of that deployment and into the next one, five of my friends became widows. Some were in their early 20s, just starting out married life. Others had been married for years with several children.

My husband lost friends. His battle buddies that meant so much to him. Men that he had trained with and was supposed to come home with.

Ten years ago was when Memorial Day changed for me. It became so real. So very real.

I am glad that today, in 2016, so many people remember what this day is about, even if it isn’t personal for them. They know that we need to stop and remember those that gave their lives for our country.

The truth is, Memorial Day is just one day. I am glad we have this day but I wish our country could do more. How do you thank someone who gave up everything? How do you make it right?

I suppose you never can. You can never repay someone for that cost. You can’t bring their loved one back and you can’t erase their pain.

Whether it is the family of a soldier who fought in Germany in the 1940s, the widow of a man who left for Vietnam in the late 60s or the children of a marine who lost his life in Iraq just a few years ago.

The truth is, we can never repay them for what they lost. But we can support them. We can support them in our prayers and our thoughts and our actions. We can remember them and make sure they know they are loved and that the person they lost is a hero. We can make sure that we go beyond Memorial Day and that we aren’t just thinking of them on a Monday in May but that we are thinking of them the rest of the year too.

Because Memorial Day Just Isn’t Enough…

 

Living in Key West, Florida

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Happy to have this guest post by Mindy on Key West, Florida. Please visit my Duty station guest post page for posts on other locations or more information about how you can write a guest post about where you have been stationed. 

Living in Key West, Florida

Key West, FL. Home of NAS Key West, Coast Guard Sector and JIATF South. You will find every branch of the military here and a diverse group of locals. Living in Key West can be amazing and difficult at the same time. Being here is an adventure, from the gloriously blue waters to the fun animals you will find.

The difficult part will be the expense you will incur. It is not cheap to live here. Most cost effective will be to reside on the installation. Although it will take a majority of you BAH, it is a lot more house than you will be able to afford in the civilian world. Here is a picture of the duplexes you will most likely be living in, unless you are off post or officer. While these seem lovely, they are still over 70 years old and are just now being renovated, but not completely.

Living in Key West, Florida

For those of you used to large bases, you will not find that here. The island is only 4×2 and consists of a couple of smaller islands that hold the bases.

I can say many things about Key West, since I was born and raised there. I spent approx. 26 years on the island so my knowledge can come in handy. Utilize the base commissary as much as possible except for produce get that at Publix.  Our commissary is quite small, most normal bases would call it a mini mart compared to theirs. I have tons of bad and good things to say about the base. Instead I would like to show you the amazing things that can be done on the island.

The adventure awaits…

First, Key West Chickens DO cross the road, Why? Just because they are everywhere.

Living in Key West, Florida

Dolphin Research Center has so much amazing fun and you can even meet the descendants of the REAL FLIPPER, You can even have one of them pain you a masterpiece.

Living in Key West, Florida

 

Living in Key West, Florida

The ocean life is a miracle. Meet the amazing pod of Manatee that lived behind my house.

image01

 

Living in Key West, Florida

Fury Water Adventures has everything from WaveRunners, Parasailing to snorkeling the only living coral reef in the United States

image03

 

Key West, Florida

Sunrise from my back yard is something that shouldn’t be missed

image04

 

image02

And the sunsets are phenomenal.

So at the end of the day, I cannot bash Key West as much as I want to because the experience is amazing. It will test your relationship, your wallet and your sense of time. But in the end, Key West has memories that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

I may never go back there or choose it as my own duty station, however, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Mindy Brewster is the spouse of a Ret Navy Seabee and mother to two beautiful daughters. She is the Brand Ambassador for Military Spouse Magazine and works with military spouses all over the globe find resources they need through her Dear Mindy column. You can reach her at DearMindyMSM@gmail.com