military spouse blogger

Military Spouse Bloggers That Blog About Deployment

August 16, 2018 by Julie

Military Spouse Bloggers That Blog About Deployment

Going through a deployment? Looking for support or advice?

There are a lot of ways to find that support, one of them is to find blogs and blog posts that can help you through your deployment.

Here are a few military spouse bloggers you should follow that focus a lot on deployments:

Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life

Well I know you already know about Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life or you wouldn’t be reading this. If you are new, I am an Army National Guard Spouse, former Army Active Duty spouse who has been through four deployments. I have three boys, and love being able to help other military spouses through deployments with my words. I have a big deployment post section you are going to want to check out.

Jo, My Gosh

Jo, My Gosh fell in love with a sailor, and while her husband eventually got out of the military, Jo has many posts on deployment, including posts on care packages. She will tell you about cute themed ideas, puns, and the ins and outs of sending them to your spouse when they are deployed.

The Seasoned Spouse

The Seasoned Spouse is run by Lizann, a marine spouse with four children. The motto of the Seasoned Spouse is, “we are all in this together” and its true. We can’t do military life alone, and Lizann’s blog is here to help. She also has a free deployment Facebook group and a deployment master class.

Airman to Mom

Amanda, a former air force member, traded her combat boots for a diaper bag and shares about deployments from the service member as well as the spouse’s perspective. She also has a series, 31 Days of Deployment Stories you are going to want to check out.

Army Wife 101

Army Wife 101 is a lifestyle community for military spouses founded by Krystel. She has a deployment section with a wealth of posts to help you through your own deployments. Look for posts on reintegration, time apart, and even a Diary of a Deployment series.

The Military Wife and Mom

The Military Wife and Mom is run by Lauren, married to an active-duty marine, with two children of her own. She will help you through your deployments with her posts about military life, and motherhood. She also has a fantastic Deployment binder to help you through your next deployment.

Adventures of a Young Wife

Grace, an army wife and marriage and family counselor, owns Adventures of a Young Wife. Here you will find a wide variety of deployment themed posts, from solo parenting to pre-deployment, as well as posts on other aspects of military life, mental health, and wellness.

A Semi-Delicate Balance

JD, a Navy spouse, owns A Semi-Delicate Balance, a blog about finding balance as a new parent, a working mom, and a military spouse. You can find posts on care-packages, explaining deployment to your kids, and how to create a deployment binder.

Birdie and Bubba

Birdie and Bubba is owned by an army spouse, with plenty of posts to help you through your next deployment. She writes about communication during a deployment, OPSEC, and even what podcasts can get you through a deployment. (She has included one of my favorites!)

Countdowns and Cupcakes

Countdowns and Cupcakes is owned by Rachel, a Navy spouse, where you will find posts on deployment as well as a huge library of posts on care packages. She also has a shop where you can buy her super cute care package flaps to use in your own care packages.

I am sure I could add many more military spouse bloggers to this list! Let me know who to add! And if you blog a lot about deployment too, let me know who you are 🙂

How You Can Become a Military Spouse Blogger

January 4, 2018 by Julie

How You Can Become a Military Spouse Blogger

* This post contains affiliate links!

We were almost done with our 2nd deployment. It was getting colder in Germany, and I didn’t have that many things to do besides taking care of the kids and the house. For a while, I had wanted to become what I called a “public” blogger.

I had been blogging since 2004, but up until that time, my blog was just for friends and family. The blog was just little updates with pictures. I did most of that before Facebook started getting popular. When I realized I was posting everything I already posted on Facebook, I didn’t really blog that way anymore.

During that 2nd deployment, I decided to start my Military spouse blog.

I didn’t know what I was doing. I posted about homecoming outfits and the end of the deployments. I then found other Military spouse blogs and left comments. I went on Twitter and started to connect with others that way too.

Before I knew it, I had a little following. A few months later I was asked if I wanted to giveaway a book for Military Spouses. Things just progressed, and I eventually moved from Julie the Army Wife to Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life which has been my blogging home for almost seven years now.

I love blogging and love that there is such a wonderful Milspouse blogging community. We have all been through a lot of the same things, and we can help each other out.

So how does one become a Military Spouse Blogger?

Start a blog

This is obvious; you must start a blog to become a blogger. Some Milspouse bloggers write all about Military life. Others blog about everyday life or other topics that don’t have to do with being married to someone in the military. The choice is up to on what to blog about.

You can start a free blog on Blogger or WordPress. You can also go self-hosted which means you will have to pay a small hosting fee. You might also want a domain name. I have found if you wait for sales you can get them for $.99 for the first year.

I love my blog hosting service. David from New Blog Hosting is the best. I can always message him if I have any issues and he can help me fix what needs to be fixed. He is also very affordable.

Start writing

After you have set up your blog, you need to start writing. You don’t have to write every day, but if you want to get your name out there, you need to write often. This is especially important when you first start out. Make a schedule for yourself and try to stick to it.

If you are stuck on what to write about, get out a pad of paper and start writing down ideas. What topics are you interested in? What topics could you write about time and time again? What do you want to talk to your readers about?

Being active on social media

Set up Facebook , Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts to go along with your blog. Having a Facebook page is a must. Just create one with the same name as your blog. To start, you can invite your friends to get going. Make sure the friends you invite would be interested in your blog to begin with.

The key to Facebook is making sure you are posting the right type of content. Post both your own links as well as others. Memes work well. One meme took me from 3,000 fans to 10,000 in a very short amount of time. Sharing other people’s stuff is also a way to help other bloggers and is a smart thing to do. Look for content that you know your ideal reader would be interested in.

Twitter is good for sharing links and connecting with people. Twitter will not bring as much traffic as Facebook will, but it can be a good place to establish your brand and connect with other bloggers and readers.

Instagram is great for photos and memes. Make sure to comment and like other’s posts and have fun with the platform. You can also use Instagram stories too.

Pinterest is a search engine and you want a mix of your content and others. You can join a Pinterest group board and schedule out pins with Tailwind and BoardBooster.

Decide how much you are going to share

Since we are all military spouses, there are going to be OPSEC and PERSEC reasons not to overshare. Talk to your spouse about what they feel comfortable being out there on the internet. Some service members do not want any photos of them or even their names to be used. You should also decide if you are going to share where you live or talk about your children on your blog.

If you have your own Milspouse blog or just started one, leave your link in the comments. I would love to stop by 🙂

The Top Military Life Blog Posts of 2017 From Your Favorite Military Spouse Bloggers and Websites

December 28, 2017 by Julie

The Top Military Life Blog Posts of 2017 From Your Favorite Military Spouse Bloggers and Websites

I discovered the military spouse blogging community back in 2009. I was on Twitter, and I started to connect with other military spouses on there. As a new blogger myself, this was a great way into the milspouse blogging community. We all understand what we were all going through.

Over the years, blogging has changed a bit. There is such a wonderful military spouse blogger community that is creating such fantastic content. There are military spouse blogs that focus on all different parts of military life. From deployments to pcsing, to hearing the stories of our military members.

As a military spouse myself, I know how much a blog post can help. Whether the topic is something you are going through, offering tips on the part of your life you don’t fully understand, or a post to simply make you laugh.

As we end 2017 and start a new year, here is a look back at 2017 with the top military life blog posts from your favorite military spouse bloggers and websites. Enjoy, grow, and learn something new 🙂

What Rebecca Thinks brings us, No Greater Love – A True Testament to the Bond of Soldiers. This post is about the documentary movie that came out in November.

Strength 4 Spouses talks about Why Military Spouses are Forced to Choose Between Work & Family and what she is doing in her own home.

NextGen Milspouse has a post called, Yes, I Married My Service Member for Tricare ‘Cause That Makes Sense. This post is a humorous look at reasons you became a military spouse.

Head on over to Military Dollar to read, Retiring On An Enlisted Military Pension. This post is all about how possible it would be to retire on an enlisted military pension.

PCSGrades answers the question, Can I follow my Service Member with Unaccompanied Orders? Something spouses want to know if their spouse gets those types of orders.

Singing Through The Rain has The Ultimate List of Military Spouse Bloggers, which would be the perfect place to find more blogs and websites to follow to help you through military life.

My Veteran Woman Life has a post called, The Military Resume – Why Veterans Struggle with Landing a Job. This post is all about how to write that resume.

The House of Psych‘s post, Military Spouses & Holidays is about exactly that. What we have to deal with and go through during this time of year when our spouse serves in the military.

Airing My Laundry has a post, Things I Thought the “Big Voice” Said which is a humorous post about the things she thought the Public Address System on base was saying over the loudspeaker.

Marla Bautista from Hood Cents did a guest blog for me on the important topic of Stepping Outside of Your Comfort Zone.

Jennifer Lambert has a post on PCSing to Germany, to help anyone who will be doing so in the near future.

Military.com has a fun post, 25 GIFs That Perfectly Explain Military Life. This post will put a smile on your face.

The website, The Millie Journal has a great post on The Ebb and Flow of Military Friendships, something we can all relate to in our military lives.

Jo, My Gosh brings us a post with 99 Fun Questions to Ask Your Partner When You’re in a Long Distance Relationship. This can help you know what to say across the miles.

You can find the post, 15 Bible Verses for Military Spouses Facing Deployment or Separation at Jen McDonald’s blog. A post for those that need some encouragement through a common military spouse struggle.

On Military By Owner you can read the post, 22 Things Military Spouses Never Say During Deployment. All about things us military spouses do not think or say when our spouse is gone.

Her Money Moves brings us a post about Electronic Treasure Hunting which will help you learn about how to search your unclaimed property.

Christ Walk has the post, 101 Reasons I am a Terrible Military Spouse, talking about true life as a military spouse.

At The Military Guide, you can find a post on How To Calculate A Reserve Retirement, which is a good answer to a question a lot of us with a spouse in the Guard or the Reserves have.

Judy Davis-The Direction Diva has a post, How Your Challenges Make You A Stronger Person. This post has a lot of good advice for all of us in our military journeys.

A Purpose Drive Wife blogged about the 5 ways to cope when deployment is overwhelming. A post with some smart tips for getting through the difficult days of a deployment.

On Balancing Grace, read Our Love Story – How I Met My Soldier, a post about finding love.

Visit The Daily Impressions to read a post on Mistakes You Will Make As A New Military Spouse. You know you can relate to at least some of these.

Find out about the 10 Moving Secrets to Help You Prepare for a Move on the blog, Airman to Mom to help you during your next PCS.

Visit Countdown & Cupcakes to read a post on Deployment Myths (And The True Story.) Not everything people assume is true when it comes to deployments.

Servant Mama brings us a post, Encouragement for When You’re Tired of Military Life, something we have all been through at one time or another.

InDependent has a post, I’ll Take the Small Closet, about downsizing your closet and coming up with a move-proof capsule wardrobe.

As you start your new year, take some time to look through these popular military life posts to learn more about this life, your life, and to help put a smile on your face. And don’t forget to check out My Top Military Spouse Posts of 2017 too!

The Best Deployment Blog Posts To Help You During Deployment

October 17, 2017 by Julie

The Best Deployment Blog Posts To Help You During Deployment

I have been a military spouse blogger for eight years this month. During all this time I have connected with so many other bloggers out there. Some of them are other Army wives, and others are from other branches. Some have had similar experiences to me, and others have had very different ones.

Over the years, I have learned from them as I have gone down my own military spouse road. They offer some pretty amazing advice and can help you through anything military life throws at you. From an extra long deployment to a PCS to a place you never wanted to go.

If you have just started a deployment, you might not know what to do or even where to go for advice. The good news is that there are a lot of places you can go to find what you need. You have your FRG, although the FRG doesn’t always work out for everyone. You also have your friends who have gone through a deployment too. But sometimes all of their spouses are home as you try to make sense of yours being away.

The next place to look is online. The internet is filled with websites, blogs, and videos all about deployment. I asked some of my military spouse blogger friends about their top posts on deployments.

I hope that you can find the advice you need for your own deployment through the words of these amazing writers and bloggers:

T. T. Robinson tells the story of her husband deploying, the father of her children, in the midst of a hurricane with More Than a Hundred Sleeps: A Father Deploys. If you have ever started a deployment with children, you should be able to relate to how hard it can be for a father to say goodbye.

Jen from Jen McDonald has the post, 15 Bible Verses for Military Spouses Facing Deployment or Separation. This post gives us Bible verses to think and reflect on during time away from our spouse. Whether you are religious or not, these verses can bring some comfort to you.

Amanda from Airman to Mom has a post, 31 Days of Deployment Stories. She is sharing deployment stories to help encourage and inspire you through your own deployments. Hearing stories from others is one of the best ways to remember that you are truly not alone in what you are going through.

NextGenMilspouse gives us a post, Why I Don’t ‘Just Move Home’ During a Deployment. This post is the guest contributor Kimmie Fink’s response to people, including her own husband, who tell her to “just move home” during a deployment. While moving home is a personal decision, most spouses do decide to stay for a variety of reasons.

Amber, from Airing My Laundry, gives us her own reasons for not moving home in Why I Didn’t “Go Home” When My Husband Deployed. From liking her own things to not wanting her kids to leave their schools, there are a lot of good reasons to stay.

Lizann from The Seasoned Spouse, talks about Things I DIDN’T Do This Deployment in her post. From decorating care packages to not making a homecoming sign. Sometimes it feels like we have to do all the things in order to be a real military spouse, but that simply isn’t true.

Make sure to visit some of my own deployment resources as well. From my deployment posts to my Facebook group. You can also sign up for my mailing list to receive a Free Guide for The First 30 Days of a Deployment.

Remember, you are not in this alone, and there are a lot of people out there that want to help you get through your deployment too.

What is your favorite deployment resource?

10 Reasons Why I Love Being A Milspouse Blogger

February 29, 2016 by Julie 14 Comments

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men. ~Herman Melville

It wasn’t until 2009 that I realized that there was a Milspouse blogging community. Although I had joined an online forum for Military spouses when my husband joined in 2005, I didn’t realize that there were so many amazing spouses out there writing about the same type of experiences I was having. It was refreshing to see. I started my blog and soon found others and it grew from there.

After six years as a Milspouse blogger, there is a lot to love about being a part of this community. I have seen it grow over the years and I feel like it is in a very good place these days. There are a lot of talented spouses out there that have a blog that you can read and connect with.

Here are 10 reasons why I love being a Milspouse Blogger…

I can get my thoughts out. One of the reasons I decided to start a Military Spouse blog was because I wanted a place to share my thoughts with others. Blogging is the best way to do that. I can write and share with people who can understand what I am trying to say.
I can connect with others spouses in all branches of the Military. We live in a city with an Army post so most of the Military spouse friends I make here have spouses in the Army. It is the Milspouse blogging world that allows me to get to know other spouses whose husband represents a different branch. They help me understand the differences between the branches and helps me see that we are all spouses of someone in the Military and go through a lot of the same situations, even if we call them different names.
I can share my photos. Photography is a passion of mine. By being a blogger I have a place to share some of the photos whether it is on my blog or through social media. I love being able to share the pictures I have taken over the years of all the places we have been and have lived.
I can help other people not feel as alone. I love to hear when people can connect to my writing and have been in the same place. It helps me know that I am helping other people with my words. That the difficult situations I have been through can help someone else get through their own struggles.
I can work from home. Blogging and the opportunities I have gained from it allow me to work from home. I can be there for my boys when they need me to be, we don’t have to pay for daycare and I can have a career that works for me.
I don’t feel as alone. When I am reading blog posts from others and can relate to what they are saying, it allows me to not feel as alone. Whether it is a post about missing my spouse or what to do after Army life is over, it is nice to hear what other people have to say about similar situations that I have been through too.
I learn something new every day. Whether it is a tip about blogging or something to do with Military life, I feel like other bloggers and the Military blogging community is always teaching me something new. This is a good thing and it is a great way to grow as a person and as a blogger.
The Military becomes a smaller world. Because I have met people through blogging who have been stationed all over the world, the Military family seems a bit smaller. I can gain perspectives on different experiences even though I have never lived them myself.
It gives me a place to create. Sometimes I get these ideas in my head. My blog is a place to create and figure out different ways of doing things. I always have some idea going on in my head, my blog gives me a place to put it somewhere. Even if I don’t hit publish on everything I do.
I am more aware of what is going on in Military news. When something comes out in the news about the Military, the Military blogging community is always talking about it. By being in this community, I feel like I never miss out on any of it. Always a good thing to be aware of what is going on in your own community.

Are you in the Milspouse blogger too? What is your link? I would love to check it out.

The 3 Social Media Sites That Bloggers Should Be Using

October 26, 2015 by Julie Leave a Comment

The 3 Social Media Sites That Bloggers Should Be Using

When you start a new blog it is important to also set up social media accounts to go with it. I actually did this differently. I had a Twitter account before I had my blog. It came soon after but still. I decided to join Twitter on a whim back in 2009. I am not even sure why. I started connecting with others, mostly photographers. It was fun to share my work there and see what others were doing.

Once I started my blog I ended up finding other Military Spouses on Twitter and connecting with them. I also started a Facebook page for my blog and a few years later a Pinterest account.

There are a lot of social networks you can join but there are 3 sites that bloggers need to make sure they are on and using on a regular basis 🙂

Twitter- Twitter is a great place to connect with others and share your blog posts. I also like to find other blog posts to read on there as well. It moves very fast and has the biggest learn curve but it is worth checking out. I don’t just tweet about my blog. I tweet about pretty much anything that comes to mind. I use lists to keep up with the people I follow and I also set it up to share my blog posts on there throughout the day.

Facebook- Starting a Facebook page for your blog is pretty easy. You can just use your blog’s name and get it going. Start off sharing the page with your friends and family members. Then their friends will see it and you will start to get likes. You should then talk about your new page on your blog as well as other social media sites. You can join Facebook groups to help get you likes. The Milspouse Blogger’s group I am in is great for this. Growing your Facebook page can be difficult. I still haven’t totally figured it out but there is a lot of advice out there on what to do. I really like Hollie Homer’s videos about how to grow your Facebook page and different tips and tricks to use.

Pinterest- If you are not on Pinterest yet you should get on over there, especially if you have a blog. It can be a great way to generate traffic but it is also a great way to share other’s work as well as find new ideas. I try to always have a photo in my posts that could easily be pinned. Then I make sure to pin it myself to get it started. My hope is that others will repin it either from Pinterest or from my site directly. I started off with a personal account on Pinterst but switched to Business once they started offering that. Changing over is easy to do and you should do it if you are using Pinterest with your blog.

I also really like Instagram and although I am following a lot of people I have met through blogging, I don’t use it as much for my blog. Some people do and have great success with that. I find that because I can’t post a link when I post a photo that it is hard to connect the two. I enjoy sharing photos I have taken, quotes I enjoyed or anything like that. I didn’t include Instagram in my list because I think you can get by without it as a blogger but it can add to your social media experiences when it comes to blogging.

What about you? What are your favorite social media sites to use with your blogging?

How To Stick To OPSEC When You Are A Military Spouse

September 26, 2014 by Julie 2 Comments

There has been a lot of talk about Isis and blogging and PERSEC and OPSEC and what we military spouse bloggers need to do about it.

Some of us have decided to keep on blogging like normal. We are not too worried about it and although we are safe with our personal information, we don’t think that we need to stop blogging like we have been.

PERSEC and OPSEC are very important for all military spouses, not just us bloggers. If you have a spouse in the military, you have to be very aware of what you post on social media. There are certain things you can’t say like the return date of your loved one or how many days you have left and other information like that. You also can’t talk about the day they’re going to leave until after the fact.

Different bloggers have different comfort levels when it comes to what they share with the public. Some don’t want anyone to know that they are a military spouse and that is totally fine. Others have a blog that centers on the fact that they are a military spouse and Military life is a huge part of their lives.

It really just depends on your comfort level. This is the decision to tell you that my husband is in the military. It is the decision to tell you where we live, although not the exact address of course. It is also the decision to tell you when my husband is deployed or if he deploys. I know for myself since I blog about military issues, especially deployment, that there would be no way to carry on my blog the way that it is without letting you know that my husband was deployed. It’s kind of one of those things.

When I have spoken about deployments, I have tried to keep it more general. I am not going to tell you the day that he’s going to leave. I am not going to tell you the day that he gets home. I might say he is going to be deploying rather soon. I might say that he will be home rather soon and that we are at the end of the deployment. I really don’t even want to know about his mission or where he is until he is home with me so sometimes I don’t even know what he is doing or where he is exactly.

OPSEC comes into play when you’re talking about dates, locations and all of that. If you are a non-blogging military spouse, the most you have to really worry about is Facebook although it is not a good idea to talk about the dates openly in public either.

For the military spouse blogger, it is even more important since more people are reading what we are writing. If I were to write on my blog that my husband is getting home in 10 days that would not be good in that would be a big violation of OPSEC. There have been cases of groups of soldiers being delayed because of people breaking OPSEC. Think about how frustrating that would be if you’re waiting for your husband and you find out that the only reason that they are getting delayed is because somebody talked about it on Facebook. It happens.

So, if you are a blogger, what are you supposed to do when you want to write about the deployment? When you want to share your feelings about the night before he leaves or the day before he gets home?

What I have done about this is I write about these things when they happen but I did not publish them until after-the-fact. This way, I can share with my readers my feelings on those days but I’m not breaking any OPSEC rules. When you do get to read them, it has already happened and it is no longer an issue.

I don’t want to live in fear. I want to be safe but not fearful and that includes my blog. I don’t want to break any OPSEC rules. I’m not going to tell you things that you don’t need to know. However, I am going to share that my husband is in the military as that has been a huge part of my life and a huge part of this blog.

I do encourage bloggers to only post what they feel they are comfortable with. If they don’t want to share that their spouse is deployed or even in the military, that is okay. Not everyone blogs the same way.