Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

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That Breast Pump Might Just Change Your Life

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That Breast Pump Might Just Change Your Life

This is a sponsored post!

When I had my 3rd little boy, my older two were around 4 and 6 years old. And they were active little boys! Having only two hands, adding that third baby was a bit of a balancing act.

I had one boy in elementary school, one in preschool, and a new baby. I remember that I would sit and use my breast pump in my room, having to be plugged in and sitting down to do so. This meant that I had to make sure my other two boys were safe and entertained elsewhere.

My “baby” is now almost 10 years old, and things have gotten even better for breastfeeding moms. For one thing, you can now get a free breast pump from TRICARE.

That’s right! This is a benefit for all military spouses and military moms.

How does it work?

  • TRICARE will give one breast pump out per “birth event.” What is a birth event? Either a pregnancy, or an adoption of an infant with plans to breastfeed.
  • This is true for any TRICARE plan, from active duty to National Guard.
  • You can get your breast pump in a few different ways, including from a civilian stateside or overseas retail store, or an online store.

The Breastfeeding Shop is one of the best places you can go to get your TRICARE benefit breast pump.

In addition to this TRICARE added benefit, there are now more choices when it comes to what breast pump you want to get, including wearable and wireless pumps.

With a wearable breast pump, you can more easily multitask, not be stuck pumping in one location by an outlet, and you can quite literally pump on the go.

Interested in a wearable breast pump? The Breastfeeding Shop can help you out with that.

The Elvie, Freemie, and Willow are popular wearable pumps. Right now, the Breastfeeding Shop has the Elvie and Freemie avaliable. Here are a little about both:

The Freemie- This pump offers hospital power suction, in a hands-free double pump. The pump is small, quiet, and you can wear the pump under your bra. There is a rechargeable battery and has super light cups so you don’t always have to use a bag. This pump would be $0 out-of-pocket with your TRICARE benefit.

The Elvie-This pump is an amazing wearable pump that fits into your bra. The pump is practically silent, includes custom fitting breast shields, and has 7 settings for suction. This pump does have an up-charge as TRICARE doesn’t pay 100% for luxury pumps, however, the Breastfeeding Shop will have the lowest out-of-pocket costs for this type of pump.

The Breastfeeding Shop also carries plenty of other types of pumps if you are not interested in a wearable one. Sometimes it is best to go with a more traditional pump if breastfeeding is new for you and/or this is your first baby.

A wearable pump can be fun and convenient for moms that would like to have that flexibility. However, the wearables are limited with their size flanges available. So if you do need a specific size flange – they might not have it. That is something to keep in mind when making your decision on what type of breast pump you want to get.

If you take a look at the Breastfeeding Shop’s website, you can see they have a comparison chart of the different types of pumps. When you are ready to move forward, you can fill out their online form to get your pump. You will need to have a prescription from a TRICARE-authorized doctor, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse-midwife.

I love that this is a TRICARE benefit, as I know being able to have access to a breast pump is very helpful for so many moms. Head on over to the Breastfeeding Shop and enjoy your new pump!

The Top 10 Takeaways From Military Family Lifestyle Survey

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This post is sponsored by Blue Star Families!

Have you heard of the Blue Star Families Annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey? This survey provides a comprehensive understanding of the experiences and challenges encountered by military families. It is a yearly snapshot of the state of military families.

The data from the survey isn’t just to share with military families, it is also there to help change things for the better. It helps to inform national leaders, local communities, and philanthropic actors. It helps increase dialogue between the military community and broader American society, minimizing the civilian-military divide and supporting the health and sustainability of the all-volunteer force.

Blue Star Families conducted its 10th annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey from May through June 2019. They had over 11,000 respondents, including active duty service members, veterans, National Guard, Reserve, and their immediate family members.

The Blue Star Families Annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey is the largest and most comprehensive survey of the military and their families.

There is a lot of information in the survey, so I wanted to highlight the top 10 takeaways based on the top trends and findings for 2019.

Military families act to offset the impact of relocation on their children’s education, an issue that continues to be a top-five issue of concern for respondents.

Military families have concerns around family stability and dependent children’s education. Some are either turning to homeschooling, or voluntary separation from their service member.

Availability and affordability of childcare are barriers that negatively impact service members’ pursuit of employment and/or education.

Not being able to find or afford good childcare is making it difficult to pursue employment or educational goals.

Military spouse respondents who are unemployed indicate their top challenge to working is service member day-to-day job demands making it difficult to balance work and home demands.

A service member’s day-to-day job demands is a top barrier to employment among military spouses. Top barriers do however differ when children are present.

Three-fourths of employed military spouse respondents experience some degree of underemployment; this issue persists among spouses of veterans.

77% of employed military spouses and 68% of veteran spouses report at least one circumstance of underemployment.

Potential impacts on a service member’s career is the most common reason for not seeking treatment for active-duty, National Guard, and Reserve family respondents who had seriously considered attempting suicide/had attempted suicide in the past year.

40% of military, veteran, National Guard, and Reserve family respondents, who had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, and received help after the most recent incident, did not find it helpful and 8% couldn’t find that help at all.

Families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) report difficulty obtaining specialty medical care in a reasonable amount of time after a relocation.

40% of military family respondents who have an EFMP Family Member are unable to obtain a referral and be seen by a specialist in a reasonable amount of time after relocating.

Military family respondents caring for a child with special needs report their community does not have all the resources their family needs.

More than a 3rd (36%) of military family respondents feel like their community doesn’t have all the recourses their family needs.

National Guard and Reserve families feel local civilian support agencies are not effective in addressing their needs.

Nearly one half of National Guard and Reserve families feel their local civilian support agencies are not effective in addressing their needs.

Military and veteran family respondents who perceive that civilians in their local communities have greater military family lifestyle competence feel a greater sense of belonging to that community.

40% of military family respondents don’t feel a sense of belonging to their local civilian community.

The majority of military families have a positive experience with their children’s schools but identify improvement opportunities related to the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children.

The majority of families with school-aged children report their oldest child is thriving at school, but feel schools can improve.

Please take the time to head on over to Blue Star Families and download the survey results. There is a lot of information there, and it would be helpful for any military family member to read the results and learn more about the military community in general. Knowing what the struggles and frustrations as well as about what is going well for the military community is important.

My Easy Treezy Christmas Tree

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Easy Treezy Christmas Tree

This is a sponsored post! I received a free tree for the review!

When do you put up your Christmas tree? It seems like people are pretty divided on this. Should you wait until after Thanksgiving? What about the weekend before? Does it even really matter?

Well this year, we put our tree last week. I was super excited to receive a free Easy Treezy Christmas Tree to review on my blog, I didn’t want to wait.

With Easy Treezy you can choose from a pre-lit or a pre-decorated tree. I went with the pre-decorated because I am all about the easy here. I wanted something that didn’t take a lot of time, was easy to put up, and still looked really nice.

My Easy Treezy Christmas Tree

From the moment I opened the box to once I was done fluffing the tree was less than 25 minutes. And this was with taking some photos and checking out the parts of the trees as well as the decorations. It will be even quicker next time as I now know exactly what to do.

The Easy Treezy IS very easy! The tree came in four different parts that come together and line up with color-coded areas and magnets. That part was super quick! I usually get frustrated with artificial trees since it isn’t always easy to know where the parts go but this one is made to be easy to put together.

I spent the most amount of time plugging in the lights as each section needs to be plugged into the other sections in order to light up the entire tree. After I did that, I spent some time fluffing up the tree to get the branches to look the way I wanted and to fill in over the middle pole of the tree.

My Easy Treezy Christmas Tree

We decided to go with the slim tree as we have limited space in our Living Room. Before we got this tree I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about a tree because of this. I didn’t want the tree taking up too much of our minimal space. The slim tree is pretty perfect and fits in nicely right in front of our front window.

Our tree is 7’5 because I like a tree being taller than me 🙂 But you can also get them in 5’5 if you don’t want one that tall. They also have flocked trees if that is your preference.

As far as whether you should get a pre-lit or a pre-decorated tree, that will depend on what you like. I like the decorations on the tree, I think the poinsettias are my favorite but they might not work for everyone. They are glittery so when putting up the tree I did get glitter in my living room but since the tree has been up to over a week now that hasn’t seemed to be a big issue. The decorations are fixed on the tree so you don’t take them off and reposition them or anything like that.

My Easy Treezy Christmas Tree

The lights are clear lights, and every Easy Treezy comes with 270 durable, long-lasting clear LED lights. You just need to make sure you have them all plugged into each other for the whole tree to light up.

Now, the base of the tree means that the tree won’t lean or fall over but that also means that there isn’t any space under the tree for presents.

Easy Treezy also sells wreaths and garland, as well as holiday decor kits.

My Easy Treezy Christmas Tree

I love how easy this tree was to put up, how the slim design doesn’t take up too much space, and how once I put it up, the tree was already decorated.

So, head on over to Easytreezy.com and check them out 🙂 Use the code SNOW50 for $50 off any product on their website.

5 Tips For Being a Military Influencer On Social Media

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5 Tips For Being a Military Influencer On Social Media

This is a sponsored post for T-Mobile with Sofluential Media!

Social media can be such a fun way to connect with other people. I have been in the military spouse blogger space for almost 10 years now and I can hardly believe it. Twitter was the first place I shared my blog posts and started building my community. Soon after I started a Facebook page, and later a group. And a few years after that, Instagram became part of my social media space. 

After being a military influencer on social media for so long, I wanted to offer some tips for others who would like to do the same.

Have a plan for each platform

Whether it is Instagram or Facebook, have a plan for what you want to do and what you want to accomplish. Each platform works a little differently so make sure to keep that in mind when creating a social media plan for yourself.

Memes help 100%

Memes can help grow your following, and they are fun to make. You can use photos, and create captions or put a quote on a pretty background. A meme can go viral and boost your numbers rather quickly.

Use social media to connect with your followers

Use your accounts to connect with your followers. Respond to comments, and answer questions – a little engagement goes a long way! You can really build your community and build credibility by maintaining a conversation with the people that follow your channels.

Start with one post a day

If you are not sure how to get going, start with just one post a day and go from there. You might not even need to do more than that. Routines can be good, and scheduling out what you want to post can make social media feel a bit less overwhelming.

5 Tips For Being a Military Influencer On Social Media

Use a good phone

If you want to post regularly on social media, having the right smartphone is really the first thing you need. To capture meme-worthy content you want a phone with a good camera. The iPhone 11 features a dual-camera system with all-new Ultra Wide and Wide angle cameras that produce the highest quality video a smartphone can offer, plus major improvements in low-light photography and Portrait mode — making it even easier to capture picture-perfect social media content. Ready to upgrade your phone? Right now, T-Mobile customers can get 50% (or more) off a new iPhone – including the new iPhone 11 – via bill credits with a qualified trade-in.

If you aren’t on T-Mobile already, consider making the switch. T-Mobile has long been a champion for the military community through employee programs — the Un-carrier was named one of the Top Military Friendly Employers by Military Friendly®  for the 12th time. And, T-Mobile’s Magenta Military plan makes it easy for military spouses to keep up with social media and family:

  • Update your social media at home or on the go with unlimited talk, text and high-speed data, plus unlimited hotspot with 3GB high-speed data per month.

Magenta Military offers military, veterans and their families one of the best prices in wireless. For one line, it’s just $55 per month with AutoPay (normally $70 on T-Mobile’s popular Magenta plan). If you need more than one line, the discount gets even better at just $25 for the second line and $10 per line for lines 3 through 6. Plus, monthly taxes and fees are included so the price you see is the price you pay.

There’s never been a better time to get in on the Magenta Military Plan and take advantage of the best iPhone deal on the market. With T-Mobile, it’s easy to up your social media game, stay in touch with family and friends and connect with others the way you want to. 

Let AAFMAA’s $5,000 CAP Loan Help with Your Summer Bucket List

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This is a sponsored post by AAFMAA!

Let AAFMAA’s $5,000 CAP Loan Help with Your Summer Bucket List

Let AAFMAA’s $5,000 CAP Loan Help with Your Summer Bucket List

By Charlene Wilde

AAFMAA Assistant Secretary

MilSpouses are nothing if not resourceful. With school out and summer in full swing, it’s time for planning family fun, hustling kids to camps and activities, or tackling projects around the house. Personally, I can hardly wait for a break from the frenetic hum of lunch packing, homework, book orders, and running for the bus so I can enjoy a lazy morning with nowhere to be.

But money doesn’t grow on trees, and we all know that even summer days become tiresome, giving us a renewed focus to plan activities with friends, family trips, and other ways to fill the longer days. So, what are the options to get the funds needed to fuel your goals and summer bucket list? AAFMAA not only understands the military lifestyle, we’re living it right alongside you — and we can make it even easier than you think. 

AAFMAA offers a $5,000 CAP Loan that lets MilSpouses take control and keep their family finances on track. It’s reliable, affordable, and able to help Active Duty military families achieve that secure financial future we all strive for. With a host of other benefits, you won’t get from any other financial solution, it’s our way of continuing to thank you for being part of our AAFMAA family. 

Here’s how our $5,000 CAP Loan stacks up against other options, such as credit cards and other consumer loans: 

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If you’d like to hear more, check out this video on the $5,000 CAP Loan from AAFMAA’s Chief Operating Officer, Carlos Perez. He discusses how you can use the loan any way you want, with a low 1.5% APR and 5 years to pay it back. There’s no credit check, no collateral required, and no prepayment penalties — making it simple to apply and get started on checking off your summer goals. 

Whatever the season has in store, we at AAFMAA are here to help you make it fun, affordable, and part of your ongoing plans for a secure financial future. 

Ready to get started? Visit us online at www.aafmaa.com/cap or call us at (800) 991-0268 with your servicemember spouse to start their application for AAFMAA’s $5,000 CAP Loan today.

Have you heard what Macy’s is doing to help military families this summer?

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This is a sponsored post! 

Have you heard what Macy’s is doing to help military families this summer?

If not, here you go. Macy’s is offering their Macy’s Salutes Those Who Serve this summer from July 1st through July 18th. What is Macy’s Salutes Those Who Serve?

Between those dates, you can simply round up your Macy’s purchase amount, and donate that amount up to $.99 to Blue Star Families and Bunker Labs.

Helping Blue Star Families in this way means helping create communities of mutual support and stability for military families who experience frequent moves and deployments. The other portion of the change will go to Bunker Labs, which is a group that inspires, equips, and connects military veterans, active duty, military spouses, and family members to start and grow successful businesses.

Sounds pretty amazing right?

We were able to take a trip to Macy’s in anticipation of this upcoming campaign. I was also able to go on a little shopping spree and pick out a few things. My husband found a pretty amazing shirt, we bought some new bed sheets, a new cookie sheet, and my son picked out a pretty rocking Avenger’s backpack set.

Although each Macy’s may look a bit different, the Macy’s at Green Hills Mall in Nashville is three stories high with so many different departments. This mall is about an hour from Fort Campbell.

You can find new furniture and items for your home after a PCS in their home section, find a new bathing suit in their swim section, or start shopping for new school clothes for the kids for the fall.


They have make-up counters, shoes, purses, and more. You can even use their free styling service if you want to try out some new looks. Macy’s is also bright and had such a nice atmosphere. We enjoyed walking around the whole store, checking out all the different departments.

I think my son’s favorite part of the visit was the VR set they had to help you try out different looks for your home. Every time we go to that store, that is the first thing he wants to do.

So…make plans to head to your local Macy’s store, or visit one on vacation and round up your purchases to help raise money that will help military families.

Remember, this campaign goes from July 1st, through July 18th.

Blue Star Families is also going to be giving away a $1,000 Macy’s gift card! This would be an amazing prize to win to put towards new household items during your next PCS or pick out homecoming outfits for your whole family.

How do you enter this awesome giveaway?

Just fill out this form here—>>> https://bluestarfam.org/macys-salutes-those-who-serve/

Good luck!

I am so thankful for companies like Macy’s that see there is a need to help military families and then make it happen. Make sure you choose to round up when you head to Macy’s between July 1st and July 18th. The military community will really appreciate it.

Get an Extra Boost this Military Spouse Appreciation Month!

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Get an Extra Boost this Military Spouse Appreciation Month!

This is a sponsored post by AAFMAA!

Charlene G Wilde, Assistant Secretary of AAFMAA

As MilSpouses, our lives are truly a combination of adventure, uncertainty, service, sacrifice, and many other things in between. And let’s face it, the truth is sometimes being a military family is downright challenging. Whether it’s working to juggle your kids solo — when just surviving a trip to the grocery store can feel like climbing Mount Everest — to feeling the pressure of having to take care of the household operations while your servicemember is away, there aren’t many dull moments (or any maybe in your case!)

First off — if any of the above speaks to part of your life and experience as a MilSpouse so far, you’re not alone. I’m right there with you. With that in mind, I wanted to share an opportunity that could give you and your family an extra financial boost. Your servicemember spouse may be able to qualify for a benefit of AAFMAA Membership called the CAP Loan.

AAFMAA’s CAP Loan is an easy, smart, and affordable way to get some additional cash. It’s open to ranks E-5 to O4 and you get $5,000 at just 1.5% APR with five years to repay. The best part? There’s no credit check, no fees, no prepayment penalties, and you can use the money for whatever you need — whether it is to tackle projects around the house, take a family trip, or something just for you.

As a member of the AAFMAA team and a MilSpouse myself, I can tell you this is a great opportunity to take control and move toward the financial empowerment we all want. Your military lifestyle and your unique needs as a military family are important. You deserve the expertise and understanding of a not-for-profit organization that has been exclusively serving the military community with smart, secure financial solutions for over 140 years. Helping MilSpouses like you achieve a secure, confident financial future for your military family is our only mission.

On Military Spouse Appreciation Day and every day, at AAFMAA, we are here to help you breathe a little easier through your day-to-day life. We stand together as MilSpouses and military families, and AAFMAA is right beside us.

Interested in the CAP Loan? Learn more on our website at www.aafmaa.com/cap or call us at (800) 991-0268 with your servicemember spouse to start their application for AAFMAA’s $5,000 CAP Loan today.

How AAFMAA Can Help Military Spouses Financially

When You PCS and Have To Leave Your Job

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When You PCS and Have To Leave Your Job

This is a sponsored post for T-Mobile with Sofluential Media!

Things are going great for you. You love your job, your kids are in a good school, and life feels right where it needs to be. But then, your spouse comes home from work one day with the news, you guys are PCSing to the other side of the country. And you leave in four months.

You panic. You can’t help it. What will you do? What about your job? What about your career?

If you have ever been in this situation, you know how stressful it can be. When you work hard on your own career, a PCS can take all that away. But it doesn’t have to. Here are a few things you can do that can help:

Breathe and come up with a game plan

I know it isn’t easy to do, but don’t panic. Remember, you are not the only military spouse to deal with this. You also need a game plane. Figure out what jobs are available where you are moving and what you might want to do. Some spouses take a PCS as a time to change things up. They might decide to go back to school, or even change their career path. Create a list of steps you need to take to go from your job at your current duty station to a job at a new one. That will help keep you calm and allow you to see exactly what steps you need to take.

See if you can take your job with you

This won’t work for every job, but see if you can take your career with you. These days, more and more companies are allowing their employees to work from home. You want to see if this is even an option before you quit your job. Even if it hasn’t been done before, your employer might be up for giving you a chance to do so.

Keep your resume updated

Make sure your resume is updated and then you will be ready to apply for jobs when the time comes. If you have been at your job for a while, your resume could be vey out-of-date. Work on getting that sorted out and you will be more ready to start your job search in your new city.

Look for companies that support the military and military spouses

There are companies out there that go out of their way to support the military and military spouses when it comes to employment. T-Mobile is one of these companies. The fact of the matter is that Veterans and military spouses face significant challenges when it comes to employment. Overall, veteran unemployment rates now hover around the national average, but nearly 53% of the US military experience some period of unemployment within 15 months after leaving the military, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The military spouse unemployment rate is at least 4x the national average. This is of course due to having to move around, and not being able to grow their careers like their civilian counterparts are able to do.

Here is what T-Mobile does for the military community when it comes to career support and hiring veterans and military spouses.

●  T-Mobile knows that veterans and military spouses do make a significant contribution to their workforce, and so they are committed to hiring 10,000 veterans and their spouses by 2023.

●  T-Mobile also wants all veterans to be able to land their dream jobs after serving their country. That is why they have an ongoing partnership with FourBlock to help with the transition from military to civilian workforce – and even helped launch an online course so everyone can take advantage!

●   When a military spouse employee in one of T-Mobile’s retail stores has to move because of the military, they have a formal process in their to request a transfer to another retail store within 50 miles of their new location. They do their best to make it happen every time.

●  T-Mobile has an employee network group, the Veterans and Allies Network, that is specific to supporting and advocating for the military and their families. People can share stories across the company, and the network provides feedback on how to make T-Mobile the best place to work for veterans, military and their families.

If you are looking for a new company to work for, T-Mobile can be the right one. As a military spouse, you want to look for companies that do support the military and military spouses. As you can see, T-Mobile definitely fits that description.