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Our Blog

Fast fact: Our blog will publish it’s 3000th (yes, you read that right!) blog post in 2023. All of the content is brought to you by empowered experience volunteer bloggers and insightful expert bloggers. You name a topic that a military spouse or organization could write about, we’ve probably got it. Current topics include PCS, deployment, parenting, finances, solidarity, humor, milspouse experiences, expert advice, and more. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can always join us as a blogger to share your story!

Investing in Military Families

Investing in Military Families

by | Jan 4, 2020 | , ,

Happy 2020, AWN readers! I hope the Holiday Season found you in good spirits. I also hope that the season showered you with many blessings and that you were able to spend time with the ones that support and value the most wonderful you.

I’m super pumped about 2020, the newness that is in the briskness of the air. The plans that I have in store for myself and for my family are coasting me into this New Year with hope for an even brighter future.

I’m going to be a student again. Say what?! Growing up (during adolescence), I detested school. I didn’t enjoy studying, and I didn’t like feeling inadequate because school was hard for me. To this day, if something doesn’t come fairly easy, I kind of check out.

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I’m not Glib; I’m a Connector

I’m not Glib; I’m a Connector

by | Jan 3, 2020 | , , ,

Sometimes military spouses can get a bad reputation. People use words like dependent, clucking hens, glib, and other derogatory names. What if we started using words like connector, networker, or change seeker?

Every day, I make the conscious decision to be a connector. To me a connector is someone who builds a large network, not for popularity, but for the sake of helping others. A connector is someone who reaches out to others, engages in conversation, and genuinely cares about building new relationships while nurturing old relationships.

To a milspouse, the military community might seem large, but it is actually pretty small. Only about 1% of the population serve in the military. Being a connector allows you to help others when they are in need.

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Creating a Mom-Guilt-Free New Year

Creating a Mom-Guilt-Free New Year

by | Jan 2, 2020 | , , ,

The weary woman glanced around her house and sighed. With the holiday season officially over, she was at a loss for what to do with her family for the next couple of months. Christmas movies had been played and replayed and new toys had already become too familiar, but the kids were driving her crazy… so the woman wracked her brain for some kind of creative inspiration.

Limited options, however, made creativity hard. January meant no overspending because she and her husband had already agreed to stick to a strict budget and focus on saving. Sporadic trips to the movie theater, drives to the city, and visits to the children’s museum were supposed to be out of the question.

But while she stood there, feeling helpless and at a loss, Mom-Guilt reared its big, ugly head and nagged at her. You can’t just stay home, you need to give the kids experiences. You’ve got to push past your limit of too tired, you’ve got to spend money in order for your family to enjoy life. She could hear it, but she shook her head and ignored it for just a bit longer…

And that’s when she saw it. The pile of barely touched board games on the dining room table. Maybe, she thought.

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A Toast: To a New Year and You

A Toast: To a New Year and You

by | Jan 1, 2020 | , , ,

Today we all woke up with 365 new days ahead of us. Happy New Year!

I like to start each year off in my pajamas. I’m talking about a pj party all day long.

This party of mine includes lots of leftovers from the holidays that my family can munch on (so I don’t have to cook!), piles of cookies and treats, a fresh notebook with no writing in it, my favorite orange pen, a warm sherpa throw, crackling logs in the fireplace, and a lot of reflection on the past year.

2019.

I’ve heard from a number of people that they are looking forward to the end of last year. It’s almost like with the clash of pots and pans, the flash of fireworks in the sky, a glass of champagne, and a midnight kiss, all their troubles will end. All the negatives were left in the past and the future suddenly looks bright.

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The Waiting Place

by | Dec 30, 2019 | , ,

There is a book written by Dr. Seuss entitled, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It really is quite remarkable how this children’s book can both entertain the very smallest child and yet speak volumes to adults, both young and old.

Over the years, it has become a graduation staple, full of autographs by every positive and influential teacher the alumnus has had since preschool. If you have not had the opportunity to read the pages of this book or if it has been a while, I strongly recommend that you seek it out . . . more often. What I believe you will find are comforting words that can inspire you to do, act, and be as you ought to be and not as Life would have you be.

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Reflecting on Life with Blue Highways

by | Dec 29, 2019 | , ,

As milspouses on the move, we don’t often have a specific physical place where we build up years of memories. It isn’t like we have a favorite path we can walk daily and then reflect on how it (and we) can change and grow over the seasons and decades. Since we are by nature nomadic, we have to come up with other benchmarks to use when we reflect on our lives. For me, the book Blue Highways has served as my tool for reflection.

I am about to re-read the book for probably the 20th time. Blue Highways is a book I bought at the college bookstore before . . . everything–before becoming an Army wife, before finishing growing up, everything. The author was a professor at my university, and I remember wondering at the time if I should take one of his classes, as I had not met an author before. Instead, I knew them through their writing.

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