Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

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What You Might Miss The Most During A Deployment

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What You Might Miss The Most During A Deployment

We all know that there are positives to every deployment. We also know how hard they can be and how badly you might miss your spouse when they are away. Sometimes it is just the little everyday things that you miss the most.

This is my list of what I missed the most when he was gone on a deployment…

* Being with me when the boys have activities like soccer practice/games.  I video tape but still…not the same!

* My weekend “break”- When my husband is home I am able to get out for a few hours all by myself.  Even if it is a 15 minute run to the store.

* Sundays after church- I just want to go out to lunch with my husband, I miss that when he is not home.

* Sundays at church- I miss sitting by him & holding hands during the service. It is just not the same sitting there with just the kids or even by myself.

* Having someone to bounce little ideas/questions off of.  I like hearing his opinion about life and whatever might be on my mind. I can also ask him if I am just being crazy about something or just his thought on the subject.

* Watching a movie with him.  I end up watching more movies when he is gone but I love it when we can watch them together. And then talk about how weird or silly they were.

* Hearing his opinion on shows like the Bachelor or Army Wives.  He just cracks me up with his thoughts.  I always miss that humor.

* His jokes.  My husband is a very silly man and always trying to make a joke.   Even if they are pretty corny, I miss them when he is not around. I find myself craving his jokes because they are very much a part of who he is.

Distance is hard, and missing the day-to-day can really get to you. On the other hand, it can really make you appreciate your time together even more. When he is home, you can be thankful for all those little moments that you have together. I know that since my husband joined the Army in 2005, I have been able to really appreciate all the little things when he is home.

 What would you add to this list? What do you miss the most during a deployment???

 

 

 

 

7 Reasons Why I Love Having Friends Whose Husbands Are In The Military

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Army Wife Friends

 

Friends!!! We all need them and it has been such a great thing to have been able to make friends with so many other Military wives over the years. They have helped me to see that I am not alone and that other wives have gone through similar situations over the years. They can be a huge support on a bad deployment day or a great way to get out and have some fun together without the kids. Thanks to Facebook I have been able to stay in touch with so many of them over the years.

Having other Military spouse friends are a huge benefit to Military life. This is why…

1) They understand what it is like to have a husband away for long periods of time. They get it. One to two days away is nothing. They understand what it is like to be the only adult in the house for a period of time.

2) They understand what it is like to be both mom and dad for long periods of time. They get the solo parenting and how hard it can be. It isn’t easy and it is nice to be able to vent to others about it that truly understand.

3) They get how the military is.  That sometimes what we think might happen will change at the last-minute and we have to be ok with that. That we can’t plan. That we have to wait and wait and wait.

4) When we are having bad days, they might be having good ones but can remember what the bad days are like and can encourage us. When it is reversed, we can step in and be the shoulder for them to cry on instead.

5) We can spend the holidays together if we are both going to be without our husbands.  We can make fun plans with our kids on the weekends when the rest of the world is having family time. This is great because it can be hard to be the only one without a spouse on the weekend or over the holidays. Knowing you can spend it with someone else can really make life a little bit easier.

6) We can vent about all the ways the army is annoying us and they get it and probably vented about those things as well. We can get annoyed that our husband is going to miss another birthday and they get it. We can get mad about housing and they have been there.

7) Because we move around a lot, there is always the chance of running into an old friend or a friend of a friend at any new place we might go to.  The Army world is small and the infantry world is even smaller. I love seeing new friends again and knowing that because we live by an Army post, there is always a chance that an old friend might move here someday too.

The Military spouse community truly is a sisterhood. From those you meet locally to the Military Spouse blogger community. We support each other and help each other make it through.

 

What would you add to this list?

Veterans Day Parade

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On Saturday we took part in the Veterans Day parade in Clarksville, TN with my son’s Cub Scout Pack. It was great to see so many people out and about watching our float go by.

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How did you spend your Veterans Day?

 

Make sure to head on over to Twitter and follow #milbizrox and #theconcertforvalor to hear about the Concert for Valor going on in Washington DC tonight 🙂

Veterans Day With Hair Cuttery And The Share-A-Haircut Program

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Hair Cuttery

 

As a Military spouse I am always excited when I hear about a company or an organization that is giving back to the Military. This Veterans Day Hair Cuttery is giving back to the Military in a special way. What is Hair Cuttery? It is the largest family owned and operated chain of hair salons the country, with nearly 900 company-owned locations on the East Coast, in New England and the Midwest. A full-service, value-priced salon, Hair Cuttery offers a full complement of cuts and styling, coloring, waxing and texturizing services with no appointment necessary, as well as a full line professional hair care products. Hair Cuttery is a division of Ratner Companies, based in Vienna, VA.

So what is it that they are doing?

Well, they have started the Share-A-Haircut program to give back to the Military community.

The Share-a-Haircut program was created by Hair Cuttery to give free haircuts
to underprivileged community members, specifically kids in need as they head
back-to-school. Since then, they’ve expanded the program to touch people of
all ages. In its 15th year, Hair Cuttery is proud to say that the program has
reached more than 1,000,000 children and adults in need through haircut
certificate donations, valued at more than $13.5 million!

How does the Share-A-Haircut program work this Veterans Day?
With every adult haircut purchased on Tuesday, Nov. 11, a free haircut
certificate will be donated back to a veteran in need, right there in communities
local to Hair Cuttery’s almost 900 locations. How cool is that?

How will the Veterans receive their free haircuts?
In each market, Hair Cuttery will partner with local veterans’ organizations reach those in need through the donation of haircut certificates. They are hoping to reach at least 25,000 Veterans this year! How great would that be? A haircut might not seem like a lot but as the spouse of a Military man, I know they can add up.

How do you know if there is a participating salon in your area? Just click here to find out where you can participate in this program.

You can keep up with Hair Cuttery on Facebook and Twitter at @HairCuttery.

 

* Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. 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.”

Believe in Heroes And The Wounded Warriors Project

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Our country has been at war for many years. Many Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and members of the Coast Guard have spent time overseas fighting for our country. Many of them have gone back for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 5th time. Some even more than that. Each time they return their family members can breathe a sigh of relief but homecoming doesn’t always mean everything is just as it was when they left. From minor injuries to life changing ones to PTSD, our Wounded Warriors need the support of the American people. Even more so now that so many of them have come home.

Did you know that you can support Wounded Warriors thorough grocery shopping? The Believe in Heroes project allows you to do just that. It was started in 2010 in collaboration with Acosta Sales & Marketing. They wanted to give back to those who have made sacrifices and helped protect our country. The campaign has generated $16 million for WWP to date and has helped enable the expansion of its critical veteran programs that now directly serve more than 40,000 injured service members.

Beginning September 7, 2014 and running through Veterans Day, November 11, 2014, Believe in Heroes calls on Americans to show their support and appreciation for our service members and newest generation of veterans in a simple everyday way — grocery shopping. Each participating brand and retailer will help raise funds and awareness for WWP through the Believe in Heroes campaign.

You can go ahead and get your coupons here!  These will be available through November 30th or while supplies last.

If your family is on a budget like we are, you will find these coupons really helpful. They can help you save a little here and a little there but overtime that adds up. The best part is, using them will help the very people who have sacrificed to keep our country safe.

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The Believe in Heroes campaign is important to me as a Military Spouse. I like knowing that there are ways to give back to those that have given so much. It makes me happy to see American people and companies finding new and interesting ways to help give back. It shows that even though a Military career can be a hard one, knowing that the American people support you can go a long way. It encourages the service members  with what they have to do each day to protect the country.

  • Here is how you can help the Believe in Heroes® campaign:
    • Downloading over $25 in coupon savings by visiting http://goo.gl/X5dn6w.
    • Sharing social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
    • Purchasing Believe in Heroes® merchandise in stores or online at http://goo.gl/X5dn6w.

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I’m participating in the 2014 Believe in Heroes® blogger campaign and received compensation as part of the program. 

 

Vision To Share

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This post is about “Vision To Share” which was created by  with a mission to help people see. They created “Vision to Share” to change the life of a veteran through America’s VetDogs.

There are 21.2 million U.S. Veterans, 1.5 million of them has a vision-threatening eye disease. Many have low vision and 160,000 are legally blind. They can also be at risk of an eye injury during their time in combat.

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During this campaign, VSP will donate $50,000 to train and match a guide dog with a veteran whose vision is impaired.

  • How it works:
    • All you need to do is share!
    • Visit  and click on “Vision to Share.”
    • Every time you share the video, VSP will donate to the care and training of a guide dog – up to $50,000!
  • America’s VetDogs provides highly trained guide dogs to help veterans lead active, independent lives. It costs $50,000 to raise and train each dog, given to the veteran at no cost.
    • Puppies are trained from birth for two years.
    • America’s VetDogs matches each dog’s skills and personality to the disabled veterans’ needs.
    • Dogs typically work with the veteran until they are 10 years old.
    • Retired dogs are adopted.

You can see more at the hashtag #SeeMuchMore

Five Myths About Military Spouses

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Five Myths About Military Spouses

Here is the thing about Military Spouses, we are not all the same. We come from different backgrounds and different places. We have different likes and dislikes. Some of us are older and some of us are younger. There is not just one type of military spouse. The community is made up of different personalities and different ways of looking at life.

Here are some of the most common myths people have about military spouses.

1) We are all Christians and go to church. There are Military spouses of every religion. I know there seems to be a lot of Christians and there are. I am one of them but there are also a lot of people who are not. I love talking about religion with people. I find it so fascinating. And I like that we are not all the same. We can teach each other things we have learned from our own faith and I find that really valuable, especially in a community with a lot of stressful situations going on. Don’t ever assume that everyone has the same faith that you do.

2) We are all Republicans. A lot of the Military Community lean to the right politically, but we are not all Republicans. We all support the troops but we might see other topics really differently. Some of us are liberal, some of us just don’t have a side. There is a big range of people with all types of different political beliefs that are married to members of the military.

3) We all want to have children. There are so many Military children but not every Military spouse wants to be a mom. Some are waiting until after their husband is out of the Military and others are fine without never having children. There are also many spouses that want children and cannot have them. This can get hard when it comes to planning FRG events as some are really geared towards children and others are not. I have also heard that it can be hard to make friends on a Military post when you don’t have children.

4) We are all SAHMs or SAHWs. There are a lot of SAHMs in the Military world. That does not mean that everyone who is married to someone in the Military wants to be one. Some people have their own careers, others wish they could have a career but are unable to do so because of where they are currently living. It can be quite difficult to keep up your career when you have to move every few years. Some spouses are going to school. Some spouses have a college degree. Some plan to work once their spouse retires.

5) We can get through anything with a smile on our face. We are not always happy. We can’t be. Life gets rough sometimes. We need to vent. We get frustrated and we need to figure out how to get through whatever stressful situation we have to go through. We simply can’t be happy all the time. We can try to be positive but the reality is it isn’t always easy to keep a smile on your face 24/7. This is okay. Do your best to get through whatever challenge you need to get there.

Do you ever feel like you don’t fit into the Military Spouse world?

The Military Should Always Be Paid

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download (19)You have seen the news. The government could get shutdown. This could mean that the Military will not get paid on October 15th like they should be. The pay will be delayed.

Luckily, three banks that a lot of Military members bank with are going to help people out. While I am so thankful for this and while it will allow most of us to not feel the pinch as badly, it still really sucks for morale.

No one in our Military was drafted. Every single person who serves made the decision to do so on their own. The Military is the job they decided to do and how they are supporting their families. In some cases the Military member is the only one bringing in a paycheck. Having that regular paycheck is the pay off for a difficult life. If your spouse is deployed, you will receive extra money which helps with what you are dealing with. This can be a good time to pay off debt, save for the future or just catch up on bills.

So whether the Military member is deployed or not, that money is very important. To not get paid is a huge slap in the face.

While it is true that you should have an emergency fund, some do not. While it is true that you should be prepared for something like this, some are not.

But beyond whether a family has enough money this October, what does not paying the Military do to morale? It crushes it. From the single soldier serving in Afghanistan to the Mom of four trying to hold it together while her husband is deployed for the fourth time. To not get paid feels like a blow. To have to figure out how to make a paycheck stretch that much more is added stress Military families don’t need.

I just pray that everything will work out, that the Military will get paid and that our government can see how important it is that we always, without a doubt, pay those that put their lives on the line for their country.