Oh, with the beginning of the new year it makes many think of things they want to do and wish they would’ve done last month. One of those things is volunteering, whether it is more in your child’s classroom, at a shelter or sending a care package. That’s right, even us military families send packages to those far away, even when our spouses are in the same house as us. For those that want to send stuff over to the troops there are many websites that will tell you items to bring, some that will send care packages for them … Continue reading →

It’s the weekend and we are still dealing with traffic, at least on a military base we do. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it is a holiday, week day or weekend. There is always traffic, especially in the military housing area. Most families these days already have two cars, which means they already park one in their driveway and one on the sidewalk by their homes. Where do visitors park when they come? Here’s a question, is this really a big problem for civilian’s? (or what I would call the outside world) I picture life outside the base having … Continue reading →

I thought since I’ve been talking all about traveling and having relatives come down at the last minute I should bring up the fact of what needs to be done before one can actually enter the base. Trust me it will save a lot of time and stress if these are prepared before they come down. First- Let them know whether or not it is a good time to come down. The simple fact that you may already have plans that can’t be canceled really needs to be addressed. It’s hard enough to do certain things in the military and … Continue reading →

Seems that I wasn’t the only one that deals with holidays with family and being part of the military. Granted I knew I wasn’t but it is always nice to hear someone else is dealing with this too. I think this issue has many topics that can be dealt with that I hadn’t really thought of yesterday as I wrote on it. For me, another issue is the fact of those last minute visitors that tend to surprise you. Now most of the time people think, oh the military can’t be surprised which while that is true it is also … Continue reading →

Being in the military can mean being away from family, not just your immediate family but you your parents, sister, brother, etc. How do you handle this? I’ve grown up military so for me this isn’t too big a deal but there are times that I become really homesick for mom and dad, especially around the holidays. I don’t remember many holidays but I do know that my family had HUGE family get-togethers, which means during the holidays I can grow very lonely when I’m hearing about all the family excitement. Yes, I do have my own but it is … Continue reading →

Being in the military means thinking of the future, especially when faced with a new year. As a military family you already know the risks that go along with it. We all know the risks of war and when one goes away, in the military the spouse is always made to update his/her will before deployment. This makes everyone feels safe, especially those going away. One thing I never realized was that his will wasn’t mine. Granted I told him who I thought the kids should go to if anything ever happened to us and that’s whom he put on … Continue reading →

With the holidays upon us there are many things you should know before going on one. The first one is always make sure you have permission to go, yes even families have to have the okay. Well, not the families per say but the marine. Never forget to get that permission before leaving town, I’ve seen too many young marine families get in trouble for not doing this. If you do get permission make sure you will be able to make it back on time. For a few more traveling tips don’t forget to read: Holiday Travel on the Road … Continue reading →

This week I discovered a couple of things and one of which I will be talking about in this post, I’ll save the other for another time. In some ways the military life is very much like that of the civilian life, at least when it comes to traffic and getting somewhere on time. As the holidays approach things only seem to go a bit faster. Have you noticed this? If you haven’t finished that Christmas shopping you better get on to it because even though there are only 7 days left, it’ll jump to two some how. I’m not … Continue reading →