Salute to Spouses Blog

We're excited to be blogging about the latest topics in military life. We want to keep you informed on topics such as current events, education, career advice, etc. Feel free to post comments or questions to any of our entries.
Deployment Soundtrack: Drift Away

          Drift Away

        Uncle Kracker, 2002

             Preview Song

When my sweet friend, Allison, asked me to blog my way through this deployment, I thought, 'This is a year-long deployment! How will I ever figure out what to write every week? What is it that is going to get me through this deployment?'

Homefront Spouse: The Friend Dating Game

We haven’t PCS’d in over four years and I feel like I am totally out of the “friend” dating game. 

That’s exactly how it feels, like dating. I am so glad I already have a husband because my game is weak. I find myself stalking the park to see when someone is out playing with their kids, going to the children’s library and giving a sympathetic eye in the commissary to a mom whose little one is acting up.  

New semester, new columnist

I love the first day of school: new clothes, fresh, crisp, white sheets of paper in your notebook, refreshed hopes and goals.

Military families experience a lot of first days of school, in a lot of new schools as they PCS around the globe.

And though walking through that new door for the very first time can be nerve-wracking, the friends you make on the other side are always worth that difficult first step.

Have dress, do not want to travel

Unlike Cinderella, I was dreading attending the ball.

On Friday night, my husband and I attended the Signal Corps ball in Honolulu. In college, I counted the days until my then-boyfriend came to sweep me away to his military college ball. The gowns, the decorations, the flowers, oh my!

Now, as a mom of five with a pile of laundry as high as my countertops, stealing away for a Friday night was seriously cutting into my chore time.

Deployment Soundtrack: 100 Years

           100 Years

        Blues Traveler, 1990

             Preview Song

Last week I shared with you about taking a deep breath and starting over when you feel like things are getting to be too much. When we are under this amount of stress for this long it is difficult to get past hurt feelings.

Homefront Spouse: New duty station, new house, new baby….no problem!

Here we are at our new duty station and after almost four months, I can finally look back at the whole experience and smile. It wasn’t exactly the easiest move we had ever made and it certainly was stressful at times. But, those types of situations are always the hardest while you’re actually going through them. Now that we have gotten through the roughest part and are starting to adjust, I can laugh about some of the crazy moments. It wouldn’t be a typical PCS if there weren’t a few bumps along the way.

Thank you for your service, now, see ya

Currently, there are a lot of worried senior enlisted families.

In the next few weeks, officials expect to pink slip a large number of senior NCOs who are serving in career fields that are considered to have too many soldiers through the Qualitative Service Program (QSP).

And they way those soldiers are to be chosen, is not exactly fair or clear, from what those of us holding our breath can tell.

Deployment Soundtrack: Wanna Be Startin' Something

     Wanna be Starting           Something

        Michael Jackson, 1982

             Preview Song

So we are almost half way through this deployment, which can only mean one thing ... the crazy is beginning to creep out. And for me, it seems to be bursting out of the door and jumping up and down on my front porch.

Homefront Spouse: Good and bad deliveries, both equal beautiful babies

As a military spouse, I have heard my fair share of horror stories about labor and delivery in a military hospital. The bad stories are usually the ones you hear the most.

Unfortunately, I had a rough first delivery experience in California. I will spare you the details because they don’t really matter. I walked away with a beautiful, healthy child and that’s all that mattered to me.

9/11: It’s who we are

There is an Alan Jackson song, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” that contemplates the events of 9/11 and their impact on our lives.

It asks the average American where they were and how they reacted that day. The song, while popular, has little relevance to those of us who live our lives as military families.

The world didn’t stop turning for us that day. It just started to spin faster.

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