community - Mission: Milspouse

Retirement: Another Bend in the Road

by M:M Command Team | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Experience, Retirement

I will never forget that day—the day I knew our future was going to change. It was a windy overcast October day in 2013. My parents were visiting and had taken our five children to a movie, and I had the house to myself. At 4:30 p.m. I heard the garage door open.

It wasn’t a sound I usually heard before dark. My husband had been working late almost every day. He’d been under a lot of stress at work and hadn’t been sleeping well. He’d been on edge for months. He walked in the door and I could tell he wasn’t himself. He said he was going on a walk. I really didn’t give it much more thought. He sometimes just needed some quiet time to sort things out.

3 Tips to Kiss the Complaining Culture Goodbye

by Retired Blogger | Apr 30, 2016 | Blog, Experience, Military Life, Relationships

If there was ever a group of people who had the right to keep on complaining, that would be military spouses.

I mean, really!

We endure cross-country (sometimes cross-globe) relocations, separations from our service members for months, spur-of-the-moment field trainings that require our beloved spouses to be gone for weeks, early mornings, late nights, travel restrictions, leave restrictions, missed holidays, and more.

It’s Okay to Disconnect

by Retired Blogger | Apr 18, 2016 | Blog, Experience, Household 6

I’m staring at this computer screen, and I’m annoyed. So annoyed I could cry. Why? I’m annoyed because I’m ashamed of my recent behavior. I’ve become a hermit in a disconnect from the rest of the world.

See, I had surgery seven weeks ago, then I got really sick last week, and I’ve basically become a hermit. Thanks to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and email, I’ve been able to keep in touch with people. Oh, and texting. Can’t forget the good old smartphone.

I’m not out of the loop, but I haven’t spent quality time with people I love in more than a month.

Hermit level: 8.5

Let’s Recon Rendezvous, Military Family!

by Sharita Knobloch | Mar 1, 2016 | Blog, Experience, Military Life

I always prided myself on being independent.

As a military spouse, it’s a good attribute to possess… for the most part.

But shortly after jumping headfirst into this milspouse life, I realized that too much independence wasn’t such a good thing.

Here’s what happened:

Be Someone’s There

by Retired Blogger | Feb 9, 2016 | Blog, Experience, Military Life, Relationships

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).

6 Ways to Make Friends at a New Duty Station

by Crystal Niehoff | Jan 25, 2016 | Blog, Experience, Military Life, PCS

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!

5 Values to Keep in Your Heart

by Retired Blogger | Dec 14, 2015 | Blog, Experience, Household 6

We can probably agree that the holidays, and life in general, have become more about ourselves than family or friends. What a sad realization that is. To change that, I’ve compiled a list of values everyone should keep in their heart, not just now, but throughout the new year to make it a year of compassion.

5 Unconventional Ways to Give Back

by Retired Blogger | Nov 20, 2015 | Blog, Experience, Household 6

The season of giving is upon on, and this time of year tends to hit military families harder, especially if our service members won’t be around to celebrate with us. But for many Americans, this season is yet another reminder of everything they aren’t able to have, whether that be food on the table, gifts for their children, or a roof over their heads. This is, however, a time for us to be thankful for all that the military helps provides for our families and think about giving back to the communities we’re living among, at home and abroad, because the holidays are more about your presence than the presents.

Domestic Violence Happens Here, Too

by Retired Blogger | Oct 15, 2015 | Blog, Experience, Household 6

I’m currently pursuing my master’s in social work and had the privilege of doing a field placement with a local domestic violence agency working with domestic violence offenders. It was an eye-opening experience, to be certain, but also a very rewarding one. Now, I’m at a different agency with a different purpose (an emergency shelter for children), but the domestic violence cases still roll in. It’s heartbreaking work and full of as many tragic endings as happy ones, but I’m grateful to be doing it.