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Army Wives Season 7 Starts March 10th

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It is almost time ladies!!!

They Stood Together…Cried Together…But They Never Imagined Losing the One Who Held Them Together

On Sunday, March 10, the hit series Army Wives returns to Lifetime for its seventh season. AND THINGS HAVE CHANGED DRAMATICALLY. It’s time to say goodbye to a major cast member and to welcome some new faces to Fort Marshall.
Here are some exclusive “behind the scenes” looks into this season through personal conversations with a few in the cast! Bet you didn’t know…

Army wives season 7

Wendy Davis (who returns to the role of Joan Burton) is the complete opposite of Joan: “I am such a pushover as a mom…Last night I told my daughter to go to bed at 8:30, and at 10 she was still awake! Joan would never have that. Joan is very tunnel-visioned (sic) and I am not like that at all.” Did you know that Joan defied expectations and rose through the ranks, becoming Fort Marshall’s first African-American female lieutenant colonel — commanding more than 400 men?

Army wives season 7

Catherine Bell, back as Denise Sherwood, originally went to college to become a doctor: “I studied bio-medical engineering until I discovered modeling. I am a tomboy…I love cars and motorcycles and extreme sports.” Did you know that Denise’s character started out very reserved and unsure of what she wanted to do in life? Over the past six seasons the character has grown dramatically, and Denise is now much more in line with Catherine’s personality.

 

Army wives season 7

Kelli Williams is reprising her role this season (Season 6 was her first!) as Jackie Clark. Kelli brings her experience of growing up in a very conservative household to her character: “I grew up going to country clubs…things that I don’t respond to in my life now but are totally Jackie…so to prepare for the role, I just amp up the pearl-wearing!” Did you know that the fans gave Kelli a tough time about her character, they didn’t trust her and didn’t think she was fair with Claudia Joy? Kelli says she’s the complete opposite of Jackie!

 

Army wives season 7

New to the cast this season is Torrey DeVitto as Maggie Hall. As we meet Maggie we will find that she, like lots of us, struggles to find herself. She left the Army to be a stay-at-home mom, and is having a difficult time with new roles in her life…mom to a blended family, wife to a new husband and a very different life at home compared with that of a soldier. To prepare for her new role, Torrey attended a day of Army physical training: “I didn’t want to tell the guys, but I had to leave early because I thought I was going to throw up…my body was begging me to stop. I have always had such respect for people in the service, and I always knew it was not easy. I was never so aware of how strong you need to be mentally and physically!”

The Seventh Season of Army Wives Premieres on Lifetime, Sunday, March 10 at 9/8c. You can catch up with the ladies and watch full episodes of last season online!

In Season 7, a new tribe emerges from the shadow of tragedy. Maintaining the enduring premise of Army Wives, the audience will witness a remarkable group of women – some familiar, some new – form friendships that see them through the challenges of Army life as their husbands serve at a dangerous outpost in Afghanistan.

Who plans to watch?

 

 

*This section of https://soldierswifecrazylife.com contains a blog discussing products and services for which I have received promotional consideration from A&E Television Networks, LLC (“AETN”) and/or AETN’s third-party advertisers. Unless otherwise expressly indicated, the opinions that you read on this section of https://soldierswifecrazylife.com are those of this bloggers and/or the advertisers that commissioned or paid the blogger.

Supporting Our Troops: Organizations That Make it Happen

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Written by:

Amanda Hughes

Amanda writes for several online sites and shares her views on world news, the environment and technology and how all of these subjects affect financial news in the U.S.

yellow ribbon on green button to sybolized troop supportWhat would you do if you could change the world? Who would you do it for? Very few of us have the money or the power to effect large-scale change, but that shouldn’t stop us from identifying causes near and dear to our hearts and working to further their missions. Entrepreneurs, businesses, politicians and public figures all have some measure of power, be it financial or otherwise, to lend to their most cherished causes. That’s just the case with supporting America’s military forces, their families and our veterans.

Entrepreneurs like Bob Parsons, the founder and chairman of GoDaddy.com, supports military charities because of his time serving with the Marines during Vietnam. In December of 2012, the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation presented a $2 million check to the Semper Fi Fund. Of that staggering $2 million, half of it was donated by the Bob Parsons Foundation as matching funds.

Tough Mudder, a company that runs the toughest obstacle course in the world a 10 to 12 mile gauntlet set up at locations around the world works to support the Wounded Warrior Project, an apolitical charity to support the warrior, not the war. At the end of 2012 they had raised over $4 million to help soldiers and veterans with mental and physical injuries.

If you’re first lady Michelle Obama, you really do have the power to change the world or at least bring significant attention to issues you’re passionate about. One of the platforms Mrs. Obama has been most vocal on is support for our men and women in uniform. She and second lady Dr. Jill Biden have worked though the Joining Forces initiative to improve quality of life for current soldiers, veterans and military families.

One of the simplest ways to improve quality of life for military families is to help the rest of the nation understand their unique circumstances and needs. Many of our veterans have highly-developed and marketable skills and yet are unable to find employment. Military spouses also often suffer from being underemployed or unable to work in their fields. When a soldier is deployed or reassigned to a new post and must move his or her family across state lines, things tend to get complicated. Imagine the spouse is a nurse. Nurses are in high demand and yet, if the new state of residence doesn’t reciprocate the licensure, how can one get work? For non-military Americans its a problem rarely faced, but the families of those who sacrifice everything to protect our freedom it’s a very real problem.

According to the White House, when Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden made their pitch to governors in February of this year, only 11 states had legislation on the books supporting military spouse license portability. In just six months the number of states with supportive measures in place more than doubled to 26 states, and the goal is that no military spouse will ever need to leave their profession behind when their family is transferred. Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden approached governors in February of 2012 to legislate in favor of military spouse license portability. At the time, only 11 states had legislation in place. Within six months, 26 states supported license portability. Military hiring initiative, Joining Forces, aims to see that “no military spouse will ever need to leave their profession behind when their family is transferred.”

Who else out there is helping our servicemen, servicewomen, veterans and military families? We’d love for you to tell us in the comments.

 

Advice For Your First Deployment

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Advice For Your First Deployment

Advice For Your First Deployment

My next guest post is by a friend of mine, Jess.  She was the very first Army wife I met when we started this Army adventure. She was also my FRG leader.  I asked her to write about advice she would give someone who was getting ready for their first deployment.  Our first deployment was in 2006 and Jess was there to tell me a little bit of what to expect so I just knew this would be a great post!  Thank you Jess 🙂

Stressed? Emotional? Perhaps even a bit stand-offish? Sounds like you’ve got a deployment coming up. The bad news is your Soldier is leaving. The good news is you aren’t alone!

There is no specific way to handle a deployment, especially your first deployment. Some people take it all in stride and seem to brush off the hardship. Others seem to physically break down the second their Soldier marches away. Still others seem to change entirely and don’t seem to return to normal until their Soldier is back in their arms again. No matter which category you find yourself falling into, remember this: You are STRONG. You are CAPABLE. You CAN do this!

Just as parenting a child has no actual guidebook, deployments don’t come with magic spouse field manuals. However, let’s not speak that phrase too loudly. I’ve seen some pretty crazy things put into FM’s before. The greatest way to make it through the hardships of a deployment are to simply listen to your heart, listen to other’s advice and pray. If you feel overwhelmed, talk to someone! Believe me, there are a lot of us out there who are willing to listen and lend a hand (or a shoulder) when necessary. Don’t be afraid to ask.

One of the greatest things you can do for yourself is to set personal goals.. You don’t have to get crazy with it; the point of a goal is to be able to accomplish it. Set mini-milestones throughout to ensure you stay focused and on-target. A big favorite that I’ve seen is weight-loss/healthier lifestyles. Say you set a goal to lose 25 pounds throughout the year. Remember to start off in small increments, and celebrate each 5 pounds you are able to lose. This is a great way to have something realistic to look forward to in a relatively short time! The greatest part is-IT’S ALL YOURS! It’s very easy to lose yourself in the constant stress during a deployment. Don’t forget that your Soldier still needs you just as much as you need him/her. Take care of yourself, even while supporting your deployed loved one.

If I could offer just one last bit of advice, it would be to stay busy and not forget that the world is still going round. It’s very common to feel bad about going out and having fun while your loved one is away, but remember, you need your personal time as well. It’s ok to go catch a movie with the girls, or secure a babysitter for a few hours of pampering at the salon every now and again. You are HouseHold 6. You keep the home fires burning. You can’t take care of anyone else unless you take care of yourself first. Make yourself a priority, especially while your loved one is away. Don’t lose yourself to the chaos and stress, and always reach out if you need help. You follow a long legacy of the Silent Ranks. You can do this!

 

 

Family Movie Night A Walk in My Shoes

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I was recently contacted by Walmart/P&G about their new movie A Walk in My Shoes to air December 3rd, 2010 at 8/7c on NBC.  It will air during Family Movie night which I thought was a great idea. That will allow families to come together and watch something great. Something they know will be good for everyone to watch. Sometimes it can be hard to find a movie that is good for everyone in the family.

“A Walk in My Shoes” makes viewers stop and think, “What would I learn if I stepped into someone else’s life?” Stressed-out high school teacher Trish Fahey (Nancy Travis, “Three Men and a Baby,” “Becker”) can’t understand her students’ lack of effort in the classroom and why their parents don’t seem to care. This is especially true of Justin Kremer (Cameron Deane Stewart), a popular, skateboard-loving, basketball star who is underperforming in her class. Trish has him suspended from the basketball team and quickly chalks up the situation as a case of bad parenting.

This perspective dramatically changes when Trish meets Molly (Yara Martinez), a mysterious stranger intent on helping her see things differently. After a car accident, Trish wakes to find herself living the life of Cindy Kremer (Jana Lee Hamblin), the woman she has rashly judged and criticized. Molly helps Trish discover that there is more to the story and learns a powerful lesson that affects everyone she interacts with, including her husband, daughter and the Marine next door. No one is left unchanged.”

I am a big fan of movies with a special message behind them.  This one looks like it will be a great one with a great message.  There is a tie in with the military which is great to see and I can’t wait to see this movie when it airs.

 

 

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Guest Post: Re-integration take 3

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Today’s guest post is by Lauren at Faith and Deploying!  Check out her blog too 🙂
 
Coming Back From Deployment

“The snooze setting on an alarm clock should be banned” I remember thinking that the very next morning after my husband had only been home for approximately 6 hours and had to report for his in-processing. My husband has a habit of snoozing for HOURS! And his alarm goes off every 5 minutes. I definitely did not miss the snooze button during deployment number 3, or the tossing and turning, or the side swipes of the elbow at 3AM. I didn’t have any expectations this time when my husband came home like I did the last two and I think that helped us more than my husband will admit. He wanted to relax and while I did resent the fact that he was living in a hotel in beautiful Guam for 5 months having someone cook and clean for him, if he wanted to relax, well then it was his R&R. He did manage to clean up some things and help out more when I asked and I found myself not nagging him like normal. Usually I only had to request once, maybe twice if I asked through a text message and he seemed to want more time with me not sitting at home (which was completely out of the ordinary). Don’t get me wrong we had our fair share of blow ups and I definitely said my fair share of mean things, but honestly this re-integration has been the easiest. I think I amount that to how well we did this deployment with talking and not holding grudges and learning about our marriage.

The hard thing about re-integration is you have lived another life, one without your husband there to rely on. You realize you can cry alone, fix the power washer as you scream at it in your back yard, manage to discipline the dog, cook dinner, and catch up on emails all without any help. You are the Queen on your Lair and then suddenly, even though you might prepare for it, another person is suddenly there always in the way and making a mess. I don’t think they mean to make a mess, but let’s be honest they have lived in a 12X12 box (if you’re my husband) and only had 1 maybe 2 bags of possessions. The only taste of home is probably whatever came in the care packages you sent. So now an 1800 square foot house becomes fair game for shoes, socks, jackets, underwear, or just mess that you have no idea where it comes from. Let’s face it, it’s an adjustment.

I think the longer you are married the easier it gets. You learn to balance more and explain your way of living to your husband so he can help mold his bad habits out of the house when he is home. But he’s lived a different life too, one where all he had to do was get up to work every morning. If he wanted to sleep until 3pm and snooze that rotten alarm all morning long and eat whatever he wanted and play his video games for hours he could. But now that he is home, things are different. There is suddenly someone who needs attention and duties to fulfill with the house. Responsibilities he hasn’t had to think about or do for 5 months. It’s an adjustment.

I haven’t quite figured out the knack to re-integrating, but I am happier with this adjustment period. I find myself less reliant on my husband and more independent. I have no problem leaving him and going to a meeting or going out with my girlfriends. And we have no  issue just telling each other when we are upset. It’s an adjustment, but I’d rather have the adjustment and have him home than to not have him anymore. And I may just have to disable the snooze button on his alarm…..

Since the time for baby is getting closer and closer, I figured it might be a good idea to have some guest posts. My mind is mostly mush these days and not sure how much blogging I will feel like doing right after he is born.  If you are interested in writing a guest post for my blog, please feel free to email me about it at juliethearmywife@gmail.com.

Guest Post About Christmas Newsletters

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Since the time for baby is getting closer and closer, I figured it might be a good idea to have some guest posts. My mind is mostly mush these days and not sure how much blogging I will feel like doing right after he is born.  If you are interested in writing a guest post for my blog, please feel free to email me about it at juliethearmywife@gmail.com

Today’s post is by writer Tiffany Silverberg.

Christmas Newsletters

Growing up as a Coastie brat, I moved every three to four years and ended up with friends all over the globe. Those were the days before blogs so relied on seasonal letters to get visual and written updates from our dear ones. From the time we could read, those holiday letters from friends around the world were precious. We couldn’t wait for the temperatures to drop and our mailbox to fill. My sisters would always rush to the mailbox to see who we would hear from. And we were happiest when those letters contained two things: a picture and a letter.

*The letters without pictures were informative, but we ached to see how our friends and their siblings had grown. We would even pull out last years’ pictures and compare.

*The pictures without letters seemed to be missing a caption. Why was the family sitting on top of a mountain? And which mountain? Or why were the all dressed up? The letters filled in the gaps. They answered all our questions. They made us feel connected to our friends, in a world before facebook.

Even just last year, my husband and I went home for Christmas. Upon our arrival, my mom handed me “the basket.” The wicker vessel containing all the letters we had received. Each had been opened and read at least once by each family member. Now it was my turn. As I pulled out the pictures and read through the letters, my family watched waiting for my reaction to each story. Just as we had always done.

As a military family, our holiday traditions always included letters that came anytime from Thanksgiving to Valentines Day. Even now, as a Navy wife, my fridge is covered in pictures of dear friends’ Christmas pictures. I can’t wait to renew those pictures with the letters we receive this year.

As you plan your holiday letter, stop by my website www.tiffanysilverberg.com where you can find tips and information about my writing services. Cheers!

Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan Book Review and Giveaway

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Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

I was contacted by Jocelyn Green a bit ago about participating in a Veteran’s Week Blog Tour for the book Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan.  I am a huge fan of her book Faith Deployed so I knew any book she was apart of was going to be great.

Battlefields and Blessings is a book made up of a bunch of different stories/devotionals. Co-authored by Jane Hampton Cook, Jocelyn Green and John Croushorn.

The book has 1 entry for each day of the year. Now I read the book all the way through over a few weeks.  But you could also just read 1 entry a day based on the day or a couple each day.  The entries are from different people associated with the military in some way.  From Chaplains who work at the Pentagon who were there on 9/11, to military wives having to get through deployments.  A lot of people who wrote them have about 3-4 entries each.  I found this pretty cool because it let me know a little bit more about each of the people who wrote them.  At the end of each entry, there is a short prayer for us to read.  I could really see this book as a great tool to have during a hard situation such as a deployment. There are stories of faith, what people have gone through and some very inspirational thoughts that just stick with you.

The people who wrote in this book felt very real to me.   Sometimes there were entries from a husband and wife and it was great to hear from both of them.  There were stories about 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and life back at home.  Stories from mothers and wives and from those who have been to war.  I also really enjoyed the layout and even how the book was put together.  Just a great mix of people.

The one entry that sticks out to me was from a military wife Kerri Hartwick who lost her husband in Iraq.  One of the prayers listed said,  “Lord, prepare my heart for whatever you have in store for me.”  Really this is what we have to deal with in life.  We don’t know the future or if our prayers will be answered but we can know God is there for us through whatever we must go through. There were many other entries that made me feel very encouraged as well.

Would you like to win a copy of this book?  Trust me it is amazing!  It is also autographed by Jocelyn Green.

Here is how the giveaway will work…

It starts now!  And it ends Sunday November 14th, 2010 at 11:59pm Central time.

To enter please answer this question:

What encourages you the most during a hard time?  Any favorite verses that come to mind?

That is it!  Good luck 🙂

PS make sure I have a way to email you if you win 🙂

For more information here are the websites…

Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan

Faith Deployed

I received a free signed copy of the book Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan for this review.  And an additional copy to giveaway to one of my readers.


Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride in Nashville, TN

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Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride in Nashville, TN

 

On Friday, I had a guest post about the Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride.  It just so happens that we got invited to the Soldier Ride in Nashville to cheer my friend’s husband (and everyone else riding) on.  We left early Saturday morning and got there just in time for the opening ceremony.

It was such a great thing to see!  So many people riding their bikes.  They also have a walk and we are thinking of really trying to do it next year.

 

Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride in Nashville, TN

Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride in Nashville, TN

wounded warrior soldier ride

wounded warrior soldier ride

wounded warrior soldier ride

wounded warrior soldier ride

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wounded warrior soldier ride

I had not heard of this before.  It sounded like my friend’s husband had a wonderful time getting together with others and bonding over a 4 day time period.  This race was just apart of what they did together over the weekend.  It sounds to me like an awesome program.

 

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