Stories & advice that feel like coming home.

This Cooler Company Offers a Military and Veteran Discount

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I received product from Patriot Coolers in exchange for a blog post. All opinions and work are my own. In September 2016, John and I embarked on one of our bucket list goals: a 6-week cross-country road trip to celebrate his transition from Navy life to civilian. We had begun planning it at least a year prior, when John had made the final decision that no, he would not reenlist. One cool, misty late-September day, we packed our car full of stuff--including a cooler-- and we drove west from Quantico, ready for one of the biggest adventures of our lives. As the East Coast melted into the Keep Reading...

21 Financial Assistance Resources for Coast Guard Families During the Shutdown

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It looks as if January 15 will be the first pay period that Coast Guard families will miss due to the 2019 Government Shutdown. You can read more about how and why we got to this spot here. But the facts are, more than 40,000 members of the Coast Guard will not be paid on time for their January 15 paycheck.USAA loan option USAA has rolled out a new loan product for military families affected by the shutdown. With government shutdowns becoming increasingly likely and prolonged, USAA has reevaluated and revamped their loan options to give military families more flexibility. In the past, Keep Reading...

UPDATED! Government Shutdown: What Coast Guard Families Need to Know

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Well, folks. There's a government shutdown... again. For the third time this year (which is unprecedented, btdubs), the US government has come to a grinding halt and military families have worried about getting paid on time. John and I lived through the 2013 government shutdown as newlyweds when I didn't have job; we were nervous wrecks. I get it. It's scary. There are a lot of rumors. And there's a lot of ulcer-inducing fear to figure out how you're going to pay those bills in the event the government does not pay out on time.I've collected as much information as I've been able to find Keep Reading...

6 Last-Minute Party Hacks for Military Families During the Holidays

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine. So... you're scrolling through Facebook and you have a serious case of FOMO.Your friends and family back home are celebrating the season with gusto. There are party pictures and event invites. There are messages from loved ones reminding you that you're missed (which is really nice... but can also be homesickness-inducing). There are the holiday concerts that your nieces and nephews are performing at... and that you're not attending.It can be rough. But the truth is, in life there are no Keep Reading...

Is Your MilFam Budgeting for These Things in 2019?

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Navy Federal Credit Union. All opinions are 100% mine.Finances are a huge source of stress on marriage. But for military families, that natural stress is compounded by the obstacles of military life. The underemployment and unemployment rates for military spouses are much, much higher than the national average. Military families move considerably more than their civilian counterparts. And military families are often far from home and support, which can create extra financial burdens on a family.All of that can make budgeting a hot Keep Reading...

What TRICARE Users Should Know about Urgent Care

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This post is sponsored by MedExpress Urgent Care. All opinions and work are my own.When I was 29, I started not feeling well out of nowhere. It would come out of nowhere--sometimes when I was on the couch, or when I woke up in the morning. Still being a fairly new military wife--I avoided calling TRICARE to make an appointment (I know, I know, I know).The thing was, I was stressed, tired, not feeling so well, and the clinic was far away in terrible traffic that would most likely take me an hour door-to-door. I wasn’t feeling up for the drive or the stress.I figured it would sort Keep Reading...

Here’s How 30 Seconds of Your Time Can Help Hungry Veterans

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This post is sponsored by Operation In Touch. All opinions and work are my own.Busy.It's the word that is defining my life right now.My planner is a depressing swamp of to-dos and appointments that take way too much time when I have way too little of it. And sometimes at the end of the day, I'm glad that I was able to keep the status quo--even though it feels like I haven't gotten anything accomplished, at least I was able to keep my head above water.Sometimes it's a little paralyzing. And sometimes it's downright suffocating.I'm guessing you know exactly what I'm talking Keep Reading...

Here’s How to Make Military Life an Asset in an Interview

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine. You know you're dreading the question-- the one that comes up when the interviewer knows you're a military spouse. Instead of putting it off, dig in! While there are some organizations that might see military life as a distraction, a growing number of organizations are embracing military spouses and veterans. (And that's an awesome thing!) I landed a full-time job as a military spouse (and quite a few long-term freelancing gigs) and learned a lot about what it takes to Keep Reading...

Here Are 3 Unique Ways T-Mobile Supports Military Spouses

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This is a sponsored post in partnership with T-Mobile. All work and opinions are my own.I do.When I said those words five (almost six!) years ago, life did not become lonely or difficult. At least, not right away. When I said those words in the church I had grown up in, surrounded by people I love and who knew me, across from the man who had my whole heart, I definitely was not alone. It was the happiest (although very nerve-wracking) day of my life. It stayed happy for a while.Life wasn't lonely or difficult during our honeymoon.Or during the first few weeks of married life, Keep Reading...

Military spouses are uniquely equipped to be entrepreneurs and run their own businesses. Here's why... #ad

5 Reasons Why Milspouses Are Totally Prepared to Be Entrepreneurs

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This post is sponsored by Bruster's Real Ice Cream. All opinions and work are my own.When I became a military spouse, I literally had no idea that I would become an entrepreneur. (And I use that phrase lightly since most days I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark.) I had been a teacher for five years. Before that, I had been a college student. There was literally nothing in my past that would have pointed to setting out on my own.But you know what?Necessity is absolutely the mother of invention. And as an unemployed military spouse with student loans and bills, I had to Keep Reading...

Love these easy and inexpensive care package ideas! For the next deployment

5 Alternatives to Making Care Packages During Deployment

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You guys know that I absolutely love care packages. LOVE care packages. But let's be real: they can take time, energy, and organization to make (not to mention money). And deployments can be hard on everyone in the family, not just the person who is away. There were plenty of times during John's deployment that I found myself really struggling to just keep up with regular life.Sound familiar? (I really hope not... but I'm guessing you know that feeling.)Whether you're just not able to keep up, you're not feeling very care packagey, or have another reason (which is obviously totally Keep Reading...

This Wireless Provider Is Offering Military Families Deep Discounts

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This post is sponsored by T-Mobile. All opinions and work are my own."My phone is my lifeline.""I don't know what I'd do without video chat.""He doesn't have service TDY, and that makes everything so much harder!"To anyone in the military community, it comes as no surprise that military families take their phones very, very, very seriously. With family and friends located all over the world, phones are the way military families keep up with everyone. With op-tempos increasing, military couples are tied to their phones. (If you’re looking for some sweet texts to send to your Keep Reading...

Here’s the Story Behind the Newest Military-Themed Christmas Book for Kids

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This guest post is by JoAnn Sky, author of Santa's Dog. It is not a sponsored post.We’ve had the pleasure of welcoming six (so far) older shelter dogs into our family over the years. SANTA’S DOG was inspired by our first rescue dog, Sampson. When my husband was deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I had a hard time sleeping in the two-story house we had just moved into prior to hubby’s deployment. So, I decided to adopt a dog to keep me company!  I went to the shelter and saw this mostly black, older mixed-breed dog (part husky, part angel). He was sharing a “cell” with a Keep Reading...

Why Military Families Keep Getting Better and Stronger

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This is a guest post from Michael Joseph Lyons and is not a sponsored post.I imagine most of you who are military spouses came into it either knowing a great deal about the military . . . or almost nothing. Perhaps you grew up in a military family or had close associations—and pretty much knew what you were getting into. But if you were like most Americans, you had almost no exposure to the U.S. Military and its ways; you just fell in love with a member of our Armed Forces—and fell into a military life. Whether the unique culture called the military was a shock, a thrill, or a Keep Reading...

9 Proven (and Easy) Ways to Hack Deployment

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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

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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...

Self-care is a buzzword these days, but here are real ways that military spouses can take care of themselves so they can take care of others. ad

How to Practice Self-Care as a Milspouse

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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

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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...

These apps will help make your next PCS move easier and cheaper.

9 Must-Have Apps for a PCS

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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

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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...

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