Oh… Military Life! This is likely what brought you to Mission: Milspouse in the first place. It is what binds the military community together with its wildly unique lifestyle.
Whether you are here to learn how to better live in this military life, how to support a loved one who is living the military lifestyle, or to see if this lifestyle is something you may like to be a part of, you have come to the right place.
Here at Mission: Milispouse the military lifestyle is what inspires us, drives our home lives, our moves, and our service member’s career, and gives us a camaraderie like no other. So welcome friend, take a seat and read more about all things that make us who we are and make the military lifestyle a life like no other!
A couple of nights ago, I got a text. Just a few simple words, but they meant so much.
“Hey, are you okay?”
On a scale of 1 to 10, I was at a 7 of not okay. Classes were taking their toll on me, homework was piling up around me, even part-time work seemed like too much, and the house looked like three tornadoes tore through it. All the nopes (my organizational skills can only do so much, apparently).
Recently, our family PCS’d to my husband’s new duty station assignment. Granted, it’s only about five hours south of the post he was previously assigned to, but for me, it might as well have been a world away. I’m an introvert by nature, and admittedly, I’m only three years into my military spouse journey and still on the learning curve. Although, I’ve been told the learning curve never really goes away because, as soon as you figure out how the military system functions, they decide to change things up!
Life is funny.
Why? Because just a few short years ago, I had two “nevers” that I (naively) thought were non-negotiable.
I will never love/marry/follow a man.
I will never run a marathon.
You can probably already see where this post is going. Obviously, I have done both.
As December comes to a close, I can hardly believe how quickly this year has done by. A lot of changes have happened in my life, and though there is much to look forward to in the new year, I have also gone through many ups and downs this past year.
In February, shortly after my husband reenlisted for the third time, we learned he would be going on his first overseas assignment to South Korea. It took me a long time to decide whether I wanted to stay in the U.S. while he did an unaccompanied tour or whether I should go with him and spend two years living overseas. I had a difficult time making the decision, weighing the pros and cons, but eventually we decided that it was better to stay behind so we could get the year out of the way.
Change is impossible to avoid in military life. It’s constant in our life, but our family tries maintaining Christmas traditions, especially during the holidays. Our traditions are simple, but our kids make sure that we always remember them. We look forward to them, and I think it provides some continuity in our ever-changing life and world.
I eyed the calendar suspiciously. I blinked. That can’t be right. Didn’t we just do this like five minutes ago?! But as I looked again, I realized it to be true. The holidays are upon us.
Sure, that sounds a bit cliche, but seriously—it seems the older I get, the faster the pages of the calendar turn.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904