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Stories in Uniform A Look at the Heroics, Laughs, Sorrows, and Tragedies of Our Soldiers Review And Giveaway

May 24, 2013 by Julie 6 Comments

Stories in Uniform A Look at the Heroics, Laughs, Sorrows, and Tragedies of Our Soldiers Review And GiveawayStories in Uniform
A Look at the Heroics, Laughs, Sorrows, and Tragedies of Our Soldiers
By Editors of Reader’s Digest
Published by Reader’s Digest
Hardcover: 224 pages
May 2, 2013; $15.99 US/$16.29 CAN; 9781621450634

Description
From boot camp to combat, a collection of Reader’s Digest’s unique, emotional, and wide-ranging coverage of military life.

Stories in Uniform is a chronological retrospective of the best military pieces Reader’s Digest has run; pieces that will make you weep, make your heart sing, inspire you, enrage you, and make you laugh. Beginning in World War I and continuing though to the war in Iraq, readers will follow soldiers into the trenches, peer in on emergency surgery taking place in the depths of the ocean, watch heroes carry the bodies of fallen brethren, trail Eisenhower for the three days leading up to D-Day, and be inspired as men and women rise above and beyond normal human limits to preserve our rights and save their friends.

Stories include:

  • A moving memorial to D-Day
  • A tribute to one of the first African-Americans to serve as a Naval Officer • A pilot rescued after his F-16 is shot down
  • A soldier returns to the front after losing his foot in action
  • An American soldier who takes a big risk to save a dying Afghan girl

This book gives a complete perspective on the hell that is war, the love that grows from camaraderie, the pride from accomplishing the impossible, the humor that springs from the military bureaucracy, and more.

About Reader’s Digest
RDA is a global media and direct marketing company that educates, entertains and connects more than 130 million consumers around the world with products and services from trusted brands. With offices in 43 countries, the company reaches customers in 78 countries, publishes 91 magazines, including 50 editions ofReader’s Digest, the world’s largest-circulation magazine, operates 78 branded websites and sells 40 million books, music and video products across the world each year. Further information about the company can be found at www.rda.com.

For more information please visit http://www.rda.com, and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Uniform-Heroics-Sacrifices-Soldiers/dp/1621450635

Link to Reader’s Digest Store: http://www.rdtradepublishing.com/book_display.php?isbn13=9781621450634

Julie’s Thoughts: I am a big fan of books like this. I love to read the stories and learn more what it was like in previous wars. I like that the stories come from different points of view. They are not all told from someone who went to war but from the family members too. Each of the stories in the book is short which is nice if you only have a few minutes to read each day. Make sure to keep a tissue by you when you read this book, you will need it.

Giveaway: I will be giving away TWO copies of this book to a couple of my readers. Just enter using the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* I was provided a review company for this post.

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Life Tagged With: Book Review, giveaway, military life

A&E’s Be the Boss Series Premiere and $100 Giftcard to the Melting Pot Giveaway

November 30, 2012 by Julie 82 Comments

The series premiere of Be the Boss will air, Sunday, December 2 11/10 C on A&E!

A&E presents the new original real life series Be the Boss, a competition-based series that pits two employees of a franchise-based company in the battle of a lifetime, competing for the chance to become the owner of their very own franchise.

From the Emmy-award winning creators of Undercover Boss, Be the Boss faces off two lower-level employees from the ranks, giving them the chance at what they think is a big promotion. In each episode, the CEO summons two deserving candidates to the company headquarters and subsequently puts them through a series of challenges to test their mettle at being in a senior management role. Both employees battle to prove they should earn the promotion, but they’re in for the shock of their lives when they discover that an even greater opportunity is ultimately at stake – the keys to their very own franchise! With franchise fees often running into the hundreds of thousands and sometimes even exceeding one million dollars, Be the Boss offers one of the largest prizes in all of television…and the promotion goes to the runner-up!

Iconic American companies featured in the first season include Complete Nutrition, Auntie Anne’s, Signal 88 Security, Molly Maid, Jazzercise. and The Melting Pot.

Be the Boss is produced for A&E Network by Studio Lambert. Executive Producers for Studio Lambert are Stephen Lambert, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Brien Meagher and Phil Lott. Executive Producers for A&E are Elaine Frontain Bryant, Drew Tappon, Nicole Reed and Tom Moody.

You can view a clip of Be The Boss here 🙂

This show looks like it is going to be a great addition to the A&E lineup!  It is going to make people very happy when they find out they have won their own franchise!  There are a lot of different types of reality shows out there but my favorites are the ones that help others and just make you feel good when you watch them.

Here is a great blog post about it… http://www.lifetimemoms.com/lifetime-shows-blogs/whos-the-boss-i-am-sort-of

One of the brands featured on the show is the Melting Pot!

With more than 140 restaurants in North America, existing locations in 36 states, Canada and Mexico and more than 20 locations currently in development, The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc. is the premier fondue restaurant franchise. Founded in 1975, The Melting Pot continues to be a memorable dining experience. Guests enjoy a choice of fondue cooking styles and a variety of unique entrées combined with dipping sauces. The menu also includes cheese fondues, salads, fine wines and chocolate fondue desserts. The Melting Pot is an affiliate of Front Burner Brands, a restaurant management company headquartered in Tampa, Fla. For more information, visit http://www.meltingpot.com.

How would you like to win a $100 gift card to the Melting Pot?  I will be giving away one to one of my readers 🙂  Just fill out the Rafflecopter to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Remember to tune in on Sundays at 11/10 Central time on A&E!

* The Melting Pot Gift card is provided by A&E Television Networks

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Movies, Television, and Media Tagged With: giveaway

Hickory Farms Review and Giveaway

November 21, 2012 by Julie 39 Comments

Home for the Holidays Hickory FarmsWhenever I hear the word Hickory Farms I think about Christmas and the holiday season.  I was given the opportunity to review a gift box from Hickory Farms.  They sent me the Home for the Holidays Gift Box which included:

-Our Signature Beef Summer Sausage 10 oz.
-Spicy Savory Beef Summer Sausage 10 oz.
-2 -Turkey Summer Sausage 5 oz.
-Mission Jack Blend 4 oz.
-Smoked Cheddar Blend 4 oz.
-Jalapeño Cheddar Blend 4 oz.
-Farmhouse Cheddar 4 oz. 
-Creamy Swiss Blend 4 oz.
-Three Cheese & Onion 4 oz.
-Parmesan Herb Blend 4 oz.
-Olive Oil & Rosemary Crackers 1.5 oz.
-Golden Toasted Crackers 1.5 oz.
-Honey & Pineapple Mustard 2.5 oz.
-Sweet Hot Mustard 2.25 oz.

Lots of yummy treats to have on hand during the holidays.  My family likes to relax a lot during the holidays and it is nice to have a box of this around for a quick snack.  There are a lot of different types of cheeses in this one and a few different types of sausage. I also like that the box came with some crackers.

This would make a great gift for family or friends or even to your deployed spouse or family member.

Here are some links for more information:

  • Gifts for military – http://www.hickoryfarms.com/category~name~Military%20Gifts~c~600.asp
  • Gift basket – http://www.hickoryfarms.com/
  • Summer sausage – http://www.hickoryfarms.com/category~name~Essentials~c~400.asp
  • Gourmet cheese – http://www.hickoryfarms.com/category~name~Sausage~c~100.asp

How would you like to win your own Home for the Holidays box?

Just enter the Rafflecopter below which will run until November 29th!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* I was provided a free gift box in exchange for this review post. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Life Tagged With: christmas, giveaway

Happy Family Products Review and Giveaway

October 15, 2012 by Julie 6 Comments

happyFamily

I had the opportunity to review some yummy snacks for toddlers by Happy Family Organic Superfoods.  With a toddler in the house I am always looking for new and fun foods for him.  I am lucky in that he will eat a lot of things his brothers were too picky to eat at his age.

We tried the Happy Yogis Yogurt snacks for babies and toddlers, Happy Munchies canisters and Crocs, Happy Tot pouches, Happy Tot Plus pouches, Happy Tot toddler meal bowls and Happy Times snack packs.  I have to say that Baby J’s favorites are probably the Happy Munchies and the Happy Tot Plus pouches.  He just gobbles them up!  I love the pouches because they are easy to take with us places or pack in a lunch for him.  The yogurt snacks and munchies are perfect for a little snack in the morning and afternoon.

You can find Happy Family products at the Commissary  Publix and Target…at least around here in Clarksville.

Happy Family

HAPPYBABY is committed to making baby and toddler food as healthy and delicious as homemade with the essential nutrients needed for optimal growth and development.  

Their products are allergy free with all organic, 100% natural ingredients.

You can visit them on Facebook or Twitter too!

How would you like to win a Happy Family prize pack?  You will receive two coupons for each of the products I have listed, recipes, Nutrition Guide and Happy Family FAQ.

Just enter my Rafflecopter below 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I also wanted to share that Happy Foods is hiring on these Military Bases/Posts-

Camp Pendleton

Fort Lewis

Fort Carson
Fort Hood
Fort Campbell
Please let me know if you are interested and I can email you the information 🙂

* I was provided items for review from Happy Family Organic Superfoods.

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Children, Military Life Tagged With: giveaway

My 10 Year Anniversary Post and Giveaway

August 6, 2012 by Julie 43 Comments

Young Couple

When we first met~2001

10 years! Sometimes it seems so hard to believe. 10 years has gone by so quickly. We have done a lot in those 10 years. We have lived in 7 homes. We have lived in California, Kentucky, Germany and now Tennessee. We have three boys and no pets…yet. Hoping we can change that in the next year. We have been through three deployments and a few other separations. We have been through good periods and bad. I feel so lucky to have an amazing man by my side and looking forward to the next 50 years with him 🙂

San Francisco

Our 10th Anniversary

We celebrated our anniversary twice this year. We got to spend a day and night away from the kids and went to San Fransisco. We had a great time walking around Pier 39 and down to the Embarcadero. It was just nice to spend that time together. To not have to worry about the kids or any of that. Just us, on a date. It was fantastic!

Then on Friday night our actual anniversary a good friend of mine stayed with he boys so we could go out. We went to dinner, yay Outback and then went to go see the Dark Night Rises. We loved it! It was such a great movie. It was just a great night.

When we first got married I thought our 10 year anniversary would be spent on a cruise or a trip to Europe or something big like that. In the end it didn’t work out that way and I am fine with it. With Military life and just life in general we never really know what we can do for our anniversary. I am still hoping for an anniversary cruise in the future but it will have to wait for a few years.

I wanted to thank everyone who shared their blog posts with me. If you missed them on Facebook and Twitter you can visit them here…

Kathryn blogs about her first anniversary!

Chantal blogs about her 4 year anniversary!

Amanda talks about her wedding on her 1st anniversary!

Holly tells a sweet story about how she met her husband waiting for a bus!

Nadine has been married for 16 years. She talks about the life that they have had together!

This is a very sweet post from Erika about being married two years 🙂

Sarah tells us about her Garden wedding last year 🙂

Amber takes us through her wedding on her 5 year anniversary 🙂

Monica talks about all the things they have been through as a married couple and how surprising life can be 🙂

Sarah blogs on her 1st anniversary and shares pictures of her wedding with us.

Jennifer tells us about her first date with her husband 🙂

Sarah writes about her wedding day. It was very very special 🙂

April tells us all about how they met with lots of beautiful pictures 🙂

Fran tells us how she met her Army husband 🙂

Madeline tells us about her Wedding, with a lot of lovely photos

Jane tells us all about her special R&R anniversary 🙂

Erin tells us all about her special 5th anniversary!

Sarah blogs about the last 4 years of marriage 🙂

Tammy blogs about spending her 16th anniversary on a cruise ship 🙂

Bonnie tells us how she got engaged to the boy she met when she was justa child 🙂

And now for the giveaway…

Our first date was actually a double date. We went to Olive Garden and then to a ball at my school. It was a lot of fun and I will always have great memories of Olive Garden. So for my giveaway I will be giving away 1 $25 gift card to Olive Garden. You can go on a date, with your friends or take your kids 🙂

The giveaway starts right now and will go until Friday August 17th, 2012 at 11:59pm! Please fill out the Rafflecopter to enter 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Marriage Tagged With: giveaway, marriage

Army Wives Season 6 Kindle Fire Giveaway

March 1, 2012 by Julie 88 Comments

I am VERY excited about Army Wives season 6 starting on Sunday.

It is going to be a good season, I can tell. I was able to watch the 1st episode last weekend and my friends and I all thought it was really good! We can’t wait to see the next episode!

Please make sure to tune into Army Wives Sunday March 4th 9/8c. It is a two hour long episode. YAY!

Who else is excited to see what all the Army wives are up to this season?

Now to the giveaway…because Lifetime is awesome they are letting me giveaway TWO Kindle Fires with Army Wives branded covers to the readers of Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life.

Kindle Fire

How cool is that?

Army Wives Season 6

Good Luck everyone! And make plans to watch Army Wives on Sunday evening 🙂

Use the Rafflecopter to enter 🙂


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Lifetime is providing the Kindle Fires for the giveaway! I was not compensated in anyway for this post.

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Life, Movies, Television, and Media Tagged With: army wives, giveaway

Cooper and Me and the Military book review and giveaway

February 9, 2012 by Julie 3 Comments

Cooper and Me and the Military

 

Raising children in a Military family has its challenges. It is nice to come across anything that can help in that journey. Books are a great resource for children in the Military. I was given the book Cooper and Me and the Military by Monique and Alexa Peters to review.

Cooper and Me is a children’s book series was started by a young girl, Alexa Peters (now 13), who has always loved to write stories and draw pictures about her experiences as a means of expressing her feelings. Cooper and Me grew out of Alexa’s gift for storytelling and compassion for other kids. The mission of Cooper and Me is to both entertain young children and help them gain emotional resilience as they navigate the challenges of everyday living.

Alexa Peters (age 13) was inspired to write a story about family friends who were separated by deployment. She wanted to write this book to help kids process their feelings about loved ones being away from home and honor those in service.
Overview:
Meet Trooper, Cooper’s best friend, and learn how he was adopted by Gracie and Joe and their parents, who both serve in the military. Find out how this family stays close despite being separated.
A must-read during patriotic holidays and for anyone with friends and family in the military, this book helps children know, that even when loved ones aren’t with us, they still love us and think about us. This book, along with all the other books in the Cooper and Me series, includes these interactive features:
• A Special Memory Creation
• Life Lesson
• Connections
• Learning Together
In addition to a fun adventure, each Cooper and Me story teaches an important Life Lesson and features interactive materials at the back of the book to drive the message home. Included are activities that help children name and process their own feelings about what they’ve read.
Julie’s thoughts on the book:
As soon as I took the book out of the mailer I knew I was going to love it. The cover is bright and has some pretty cool illustrations on it. The story is interesting and I think a lot of Military children can relate to it. My son said it was “cute” and enjoyed it. I also really liked that at the end of the book there were questions I could ask my son about it. One of them was “Have you ever missed someone? How does that feel?” I thought it was a great way to connect with your children through the book.
I know we plan to check out other books in the Cooper and Me series!
Please visit these sites to learn more about the book:
Website: http://www.cooperandme.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooper-and-Me-Inc/214695101924101
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/cooper_and_me

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I ONLY recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews, Military Life Tagged With: giveaway, military kids, military life, review

100 Postcard Giveaway from Uprinting.com

May 31, 2011 by Julie 17 Comments

How would you like to win 100 postcards from Uprinting.com?

You can use your own artwork & photos to come up with a pretty cool card.

Uprinting offers postcard printing as well as other online printing services such as brochures, calendars, business cards and more.

This is going to be a quick giveaway!  It starts right now and will go to Thursday June 2nd at 8pm Central time.

One winner will receive:

100 Postcards
5″ x 7″
14pt Cardstock Gloss
Front Only printing
2 Business Days Print Turnaround Time
Restriction: Limited to US residents 18 years old and above only.

To enter:

Mandatory: Please leave a comment about who you like to send snail mail to 🙂

Extra Entries: Follow me on GFC (1 entry)

Tweet about the giveaway (1 entry per day)

Follow Uprinting.com on Twitter (1 entry)

Make sure to answer the mandatory question and leave 1 comment for each entry.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org on Thursday night.


This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive postcards for hosting.

For more information about postcards, please visit UPrinting online printing services.

Filed Under: Giveaways & Reviews Tagged With: giveaway

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About Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life

 

Welcome to Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life! I am so glad you are here.

My name is Julie and I first became a military spouse in 2005 when my husband of 3 years re-joined the Army. Then, in 2014, he joined the National Guard. In January of 2024, he retired from the National Guard after 21 years of service.

During our time in the military, we got to spend 4 years in Germany as well as Tennessee where we now call home.

We have three boys and have been through four deployments together.

I hope that you can find support for your own deployments, PCS moves, or anything else military life brings you through my articles and social media posts.

 

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