Deployment is scary for many reasons. It's the great unknown. There's the time away from someone you love dearly. There's the solo-parenting part (if you're a parent). The upheaval of your family's schedule and the way you communicate with each other. There's the emotional component to it, too. So if there's any way to make life a little easier during deployment, I'm all about it. I reached out to the Jo, My Gosh! community for their advice, solutions, and hacks that make deployment less difficult. Learn from their experiences and then, share your own in the comments! 1. Be Keep Reading...
6 Tips for Emergency Prep for Military Families
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Navy Federal Credit Union. All opinions are 100% mine. July felt a little like living in Forrest Gump: "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain, and big ol' fat rain, rain that flew in sideways, and sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night." It rained here in Pennsylvania for nearly a week straight--in some locales dumping more than 20 inches in a week-- creating huge flooding issues that Keep Reading...
How to Practice Self-Care as a Milspouse
This post is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/Make the Connection. The opinions and text are all mine. I stared at the wall in our new apartment and I cried. Behind me towered a wall of boxes that wouldn't be unpacked for at least another four months. Ahead was a white, undecorated wall. We had just gotten married and moved into an apartment that we'd only occupy for a third of a year and decided that it didn't make sense to unpack anything other than the bare necessities. John was at C School and was gone all. The. Time. We only had one car. I had Keep Reading...
7 Creative Financial Hacks for Your Military Family
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of USAA. All opinions are entirely my own. I was. Not. Having. It. Just a few months into being a military spouse, our bank account was dangerously low. I was unemployed, not because I wanted to be, but because the slow-moving licensing process of transferring my teaching credentials was super expensive and ultimately not worth it, when we considered our PCSing schedule with the military. John was working hard, and I had begun freelancing, but when it came to our expenses, it simply wasn't enough. We kept looking for new ways to Keep Reading...
9 Long Distance Relationship Hacks You’ll Love
"Dear Jo..." Every week I receive at least one (and usually more) emails from military spouses and significant others who are new to and nervous about long distance relationships... or are exhausted from them. If you have ever been in an LDR (and I'm guessing you have), you know those two emotions very well. Yes, LDRs are tough in some ways. But the beautiful thing is they are lovely in others. My goal with this list is to give you ways to tackle the tough and make everything a whole lot lovelier. 1. Get textual While not everyone in a long distance relationship has access Keep Reading...
9 Must-Have Apps for a PCS
Four words: Permanent change of station. A PCS will either strike fear or excitement in your heart. But regardless of how you feel about a PCS, you definitely feel something about it. And no matter what you think about PCSing, there are three things it can always be: Easier, cheaper, and calmer. Yassss. And your phone can help you with those three goals. Ready? Let's go. 1. My Ultimate PCS How do you start this list without the new milspouse-created app, My Ultimate PCS? Dreamed up by two military spouses, My Ultimate PCS app works to streamline military moves all with an Keep Reading...
The Definitive Guide to Military Spouse Subscription Boxes
There's something really exciting and magical about opening your door and finding a box on your front porch addressed to you. When John was deployed, I found myself so excited for the mail. Even if there wasn't a letter from him waiting for me, there was usually something else-- a magazine, a postcard--something to break up the monotony that becomes deployment. When John deployed, there were no subscription boxes for military spouses and significant others. But in the six years since, there's been an explosion of entrepreneurs from the military community looking to fill an need. Currently, Keep Reading...
Plan a Phenomenal Beach Trip on a Bargain Budget in Jacksonville, NC
This is a sponsored post. I received a trip to Jacksonville, NC in exchange for this post. All opinions and photographs are my own. Last year, John and I had the great fortune to visit Jacksonville, NC for a weekend getaway. Home to Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, is a town beginning to really flourish and find its voice. From artisan, small businesses, to a growing moonshine distillery, to local roasters, there's something exciting happening in Jacksonville. We loved our weekend getaway last year, and were thrilled to be welcomed back to visit once again this summer. Honestly, it's easy Keep Reading...
7 Ways In-laws Can Support Military Spouses
In the military community, it seems that in-laws can be a divisive topic. Either spouses absolutely LOVE their in-laws (and I've read some pretty amazing stories!) or they hate their in-laws with a fiery passion (and I've ready some pretty crazy stories on that end too). The stress of being far away from home and the needs of the military create a lot of tension and frustration that pulls at both parties. So I wanted to write about that. I asked the Jo, My Gosh! community to respond on Facebook or via email and tell me about the best and/or most frustrating things their in-laws have done Keep Reading...
6 Unique Gift Ideas for Expecting Military Parents
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of 1 Natural Way, a TRICARE breast pump provider. All opinions are entirely my own. Military families spend a lot of time apart. A lot. And that doesn't change when a pregnancy happens. After all, the needs of the military always-- and I mean always-- trump everything else. That can make it hard on expecting military parents, no matter if it's the first or fourth pregnancy. Whether there's deployment or TAD/TDY, a PCS, or the loneliness that comes from not being close to a support system, there are almost always military life obstacles to Keep Reading...
