Marines

Prior to taking my kids to Disney World this past year, I hadn’t been in over 20 years. While I will admit that I wasn’t the one in charge for that mid-nineties vacation, I don’t remember the enormous lines,...

Moving away from your tribe is arguably the hardest part of a military permanent change of station (PCS). You spend between two and five years (give or take a year or two) building relationships, finding those people who are...

I have started and deleted this post many times. I am at a loss for words, which is weird for me because when I'm telling stories or trying to explain complicated concepts to my three children, my introverted husband...

Snail Mail Still Matters I am entrenched in our on-demand, instant gratification world of communication. Landline phones and calling cards seem so outdated that it’s hard to imagine I once saved babysitting money to buy a 500 minute calling card...

Unless you've been living under a rock (pun totally intended), you've probably heard about or seen The Kindness Rocks Project (or one of its MANY offshoots) in action.  The concept is simple -- brighten someone's day by painting rocks, hiding them...

We've all been there. It is two months into the most recent deployment, and you realize that you haven't sent one care package to your spouse who is deployed. Whoops! The fact that you are raising tiny humans who need...

I don’t like asking for help because I don’t like bothering people. I tend to assume there are worse things in the world than my problem, and everyone is busy, so why bother them. Because of this thinking, I...

In terms of military assignments, I’ve been pretty fortunate. Even for some locations with mixed reviews, I have always found something positive about my time there. Bloom where you’re planted and all. What I never expected was to instantly and...

I love bath time with my son. He's three months old and thinks I'm awesome. Every splash is hilarious, and every silly face I make is the greatest moment in his life. He makes me feel like the best...

I have three kids, and when they were babies and toddlers, it was so easy to find “friends” for them, i.e., I found friends for myself who also happened to have kids my kids’ ages. Now that my kids...

Every few years the military sweeps us from coast to coast and sometimes even OCONUS (Outside Continental United States). For a woman who grew up with a very defined hometown (hands up for Dallas, Texas!), a cosmopolitan upbringing, and...

Call me crazy, but I absolutely love PCSing! It is a great opportunity to purge all the junk in our house, find a new place to call home (usually with more space, maybe a pool, and better appliances), redecorate/buy...