advice - Mission: Milspouse

Don’t Open an Account: Open a Financial Dialogue

by Hope For The Warriors | Jan 20, 2020 | Blog, Expert, Financial Planning

For many military families, financial awareness and wellness don’t pose a problem; all parties are on the same page when it comes to family finances.

But for many, a lack of financial awareness and wellness creates not only a financial crisis, but can cause a seismic rift between partners.

There are plenty of warning signs, but too often one or both partners play the role of the proverbial ostrich with his head in the sand . . . they just ignore the warnings and keep spending full speed ahead.

If you are worrying about bills, getting out of debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and not having enough money to cover bills, or if you don’t know the total amount of debt owed by your family, or the interest that’s being paid on that debt, there’s probably a problem.

The Legacy of Visual Memories

by Retired Blogger | Jan 17, 2020 | Blog, Expert, Household 6

As I sit here at my computer working on my next blog post to you all, I had to stop what I was working on and save it for another blog post due to this pressing on my heart and what I feel God urging me to share.

In the light of the recent weeks’ events, things that are going on in the Middle East, soldiers being mobilized, and families separated due to deployment, this month I am going to write about legacy.

First, let’s define legacy. Legacy is anything handed down from the past; from an ancestor or predecessor. You may wonder, What does legacy have to do with photographs? I truly believe that photographs are a window into the past. A record in history that someone was here or something happened.

Mapping Out Your New Year

by Retired Expert | Jan 12, 2020 | Blog, Expert, Household 6

t’s arrived. I turn it over in my hands, appreciating the new leather, running my fingers over the embossed 2020 on the cover. Cracking it open, I am met with initial stiffness and resistance as with the start of any new thing. To limber it up, I shuffle the pages with my thumb from front to back and back again. Now the crisp, sparkling blank pages greet me openly. They are bright white, empty, and brimming with the promise of things to come.

It’s a new year and a new calendar. A tool to plan and direct the flow of time as best we mortals can. Skipping past January, February, and all the other months, I find the few blank pages in the back. It is here I will make my mark.

How many of us get into our car and begin driving to a new destination without first putting it in the GPS?

More Manageable New Year’s Resolutions

by Retired Blogger | Dec 22, 2019 | Blog, Experience, Health & Fitness, Household 6

Looking forward to a New Year often includes making New Year’s resolutions. Mid-December, I get all optimistic and create lists of things I want to accomplish in the New Year. It’s so easy to dream big in the middle of all the holiday magic. Then, the New Year rolls around and without all the cheerful holiday décor, the gloomy winter days start to drain all that built up holiday magic. I don’t know about you, but it never seems to fail that by mid-January, I’ve already hit a slump for a good chunk of those goals and am spiraling toward defeat.

What if there was a way to help make those New Year’s resolutions more manageable?

Making Space at the Table

by Retired Blogger | Dec 21, 2019 | Blog, Experience, Household 6

When I was in high school, I used to pride myself on how filled the calendar pages of December were—events and deadlines coordinated by color. Busy equaled success and accomplishment.

But now, as I look at my calendar for December, I realize just how quickly January and 2020 are approaching and 2019 slipped through my grasp. All of the events and deadlines on my calendar no longer fill me with pride, but rather with an unwanted desire for this season to be over so I can simply move on to the next (hopefully) less busy season (spoiler alert: it won’t be less busy).

Plotting a Course to Gratitude

by Retired Expert | Dec 5, 2019 | Blog, Expert, Health & Fitness

You know those people who always seem to find something to complain about?

You know those people who always seem to find something positive in every situation?

Maybe you’re one of them—quick to catastrophize or let a moment turn into a bad day or always encouraging others to find good. Perhaps you have the patience of Job.

Did you know that our thoughts literally wire our brains? They create connections as synapses form—perhaps they start off like deer trails in the underbrush, difficult to see and follow, but before you know it, if you don’t guard your thoughts, that path has become a newly opened toll road and you have an express pass, quickly getting you from Point A to Point B.

But is it worth the cost?

Effective Leadership: The Art of Mentoring

by Sara Jane Arnett | Dec 4, 2019 | Blog, Career & Education, Experience

If you were able to apply any of the previous information to your current leadership role, we encourage you to take your leadership abilities one step further and explore the art of mentorship.

A mentor is a trusted person who advises and serves as a role model in a specific field of expertise. The purpose of a mentor is to develop, encourage, and allow the mentee to achieve their goals with their mentor’s support.

Have you ever been given the opportunity to be mentored? If so, think back to how the relationship began. Did you grow and bloom as an individual with your mentor’s guidance?

I’ve had several mentors throughout my life—professional mentors and life mentors.

Little People, Big Emotions

by Retired Blogger | Oct 3, 2019 | Blog, Deployment, Experience, Household 6

There I was, that mom with a screaming toddler on the floor of Chipotle. My blood pressure began to rise, I started to feel my facial pores open up, and could feel my oversupply of milk leaking. There I was, with two small humans and no spouse.

There I was, feeling like a failure.

Being a mother to a toddler is full of amazing firsts, a lot of joy, and a heart filled with love. It can also bring about challenging times. On top of those challenging times, let’s add in a new baby sister to the mix and a deployed dad. As a mother, you start to see these big emotions come through in your child—you want to help, but don’t know how. That night at Chipotle, I knew something had to change or it was going to be a long deployment.

7 Back-to-School Books to Help You Enjoy the Silence

by Sarah Peachey | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog, Experience, Household 6

Like many families at this time of year, you might be sending your kids back to school. Now that they’ll be occupied with school during the day, activities, sports, and homework in the evening, you may find you have more time to kick back and relax. Why not do so with a good book?

Here is a list of books that you can add to your TBR pile for when the kids are busy: