The Unspoken Life of the Military Wife | Building community and connection for military spouses

We are continuing our holiday mil spouse business spotlight today with Ashlee who wears all the hats at Woman and Warrior Co which is a mil spouse clothing line. Ashlee shares their very non traditional path to active duty. Her husband actually spent 12 years in the coast guard reserves before going active duty Army. She shares the ups and downs of that transition and how they are coping today wit...

Continuing our mil spouse holiday business spotlight, today we are talking to Sheri from Hartnett Homefront. Sheri makes the most beautiful wood art! Sheri talks to us about her military life so far and navigating her nursing career with military life. I know a lot of mil spouses think about health care jobs because they are everywhere! Sherri shares with us what she has done to keep her career wh...

We are kicking off our mil spouse holiday business series today with the creator of The Dainty Forces jewelry line, Navy spouse Erin. Erin is currently stationed in Hawaii. We talked about being stationed there, and the best way to get your dogs on island without having to put them in quarantine. Which I know is a big factor in many military families not wanting to be stationed there.  Erin shared...

Well, we finally got orders, and we are headed back to the PNW and the sub base Bangor.  This will be our 9th military move and our 2nd full DITY or do it yourself move. I thought it would be helpful to share with you, in real time, the process I go through to prepare for and execute a full DITY. 9 months out, there are 3 things I am focusing on: 1-purge purge purge! Nothing is safe! If you haven’...

Today we are talking with Dyan who is the founder and CEO of Operation Turbo. Operation Turbo is a 501c3 non-profit that sends “boxes of home” care packages to deployed service member with a focus on those that aren’t receiving support. Boxes are sent to ALL branches of service. Operation Turbo is a grassroots organization that stated back in 2010 with Dyan just trying to support the shipmates of...

Today we are talking to interior designer Brittany, from Bleu Bee Designs. Brittany is what I call a “late in life” mil spouse, meaning she already had a home and career established before marrying into the military. Brittany and her husband just completed their first PCS together from FL to WA. Brittany shares what she did in her interior design business PRIOR to moving to WA to help keep the mom...

I love sharing what I have been reading with you. Today we are talking about the book Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima. She is the founder and CEO of IT cosmetics. The company that was sold to L’oreal back in 2016 for 1.2 billion dollars! We talk about the back story, it wasn’t from Denny’s waitress to 1.2 billion sale. There was 6 years of struggle in there.  My biggest takeaways: When you believe i...

Learn about the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program. If you’re the child or spouse of a Veteran or service member who has died, is captured or missing, or has disabilities, you may be able to get help paying for school or job training through the DEA program—also called Chapter 35. We go over who is eligible! Also a couple of REALLY important things to know about the GI...

We are continuing our homeschooling discussion this week with the host of The Military Homeschool Podcast, Crystal. Crystal is an almost 25 year mil spouse veteran and has been in various stages of homeschooling her children for the past 23 years.  She shares with us why her family decided to homeschool, what she did to get started including choosing curriculum and how that evolved over the years....

Today we have the honor to speak with 23 year homeschooling veteran Natalie Mack. Natalie and her husband felt the pull of is this the life we want for our kids? Running to school, working, picking up and being utterly exhausted to then go do it again?  Is there another way to parent and teach our kids? We are going to talk about that and answer all of your questions like…… -I’m not qualified! I b...

Buckle in! We are learning how  our guest Britnee Kinard started a service dog training non-profit from the ground up. Britnee is back with us, be sure to check out episode 76, if you haven’t listened to that one yet, where Britnee shares their horror show of a  time trying to get VA benefits for her catastrophically injured husband. Britnee is truly a force of nature and embodies the see a need,...

Did you know that there is a such thing as high school stabilization for military kids entering into their junior or senior year of high school? Essentially it is a program you can apply for, and each branch of service has different requirements and forms, but you can apply to NOT be moved while your kid completes high school if they are in their junior or senior year at your rotation time. The mo...

Its been 22 years since the 9/11 attacks. 2,977 people were killed that day and many others have succumbed to health issues related to the attacks since then. Every year on or around 9/11, the Travis Manion Foundation hosts the 9/11 Hero's run. An event to honor those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice and should never be forgotten. This is a 5k event, so very doable for almo...

Hey there, wonderful listeners! We've got an exciting episode lined up for you today. We're diving into the fantastic world of 'Fast Like a Girl,' a book written by the incredible Dr. Mindy Pelz. So, get comfy and join us as we take a closer look at the awesome insights and practical wisdom this book has to offer. We talk about: -Why fasting might be a great fit for your busy m...

Cheating. No one wants to talk about it but we know it happens. Especially in military relationships, because long distance for extended periods of time, is REALLY hard.  Add to that the unique military dynamic where your significant other spends lots of time with other people in close quarters and you can see why it is so prevalent. Not to say your significant other is going to cheat just because...

Today is short and sweet! I share with you the best advice I ever received as a new mil spouse. I also share my best advice for surviving deployments. My best advice for marriage and potentially being separated. And finally, my best advice for new mil spouses. Remember, in life, events don't get easier to handle; you become better equipped to handle them.  Keep growing! https://view.flodesk.c...

Today we are talking to retired Army wife Lissa about how we can be more effective with our time. It begins with being aware of how you are actually using your time. Are you checking your email 30 times a day? Are you getting sucked into the Insta or FB scroll and all the sudden 2 hours have gone by?  Lissa tells us that step 1 of taking your time back is just simply being aware of how you are spe...

We are closing down on 80 episodes! Which just blows my mind! I thought I would take a few minutes today to reintroduce myself for those of you who may be new to the show. Who am I?  What has my military life looked like?  What has me career looked like?  Why did I start this podcast?  Who is it for?  Whats the point? Whats next for the show? Its all in there! As I get back into hardcore recording...

Today I am sharing with you a book I just finished called Mind Your Mindset by Michael Hyatt and his daughter Meagan. There is a lot of science in there about how our brains are wired and why we think they way we do.  And how can we challenge that inner narrator? What questions can we ask? How can we change our mindset around fears and life events? I think the more we can learn about our brains, t...

We are in the middle of summer and you might already be losing your mind with your kiddos. Summer can be hard to manage sometimes with trying to keep everyone busy but also not driving yourself crazy with schedules and expectations. I talk about Mother’s Day at the start and how we sometimes let expectations overtake our experience. We might find ourselves caught up in what you think you should be...

Today we have the honor of having retired Army spouse Britnee Kinard on the show. Britnee has a really unusual story and path in their families military life. In 2005, Britnee’s now husband was catastrophically injured by an IED in Iraq. Britnee didn’t meet him until 2008 and they were married in 2010. From the time they were dating, Britnee has been fighting a battle against the VA for her husban...

Today’s show is a little different topic. We are going to talk health and wellness and how to maintain that through a PCS. We have Lizzie on today who is a nutrition coach and retired Navy wife. She is a published author with a really novel idea of looking at what is happening in our brains before tackling our health and fitness goals.  This episode is coming at the end of our PCS series and we ar...

Today we are talking about preventing the summer PCS slide. Like the summer slide we all hear about, but adding the loveliness of a PCS on top of it. Tips include: -asking your kiddos teacher to make you a packet or give you online resources you could continue to use -downloading books to tablets or iPads for easy access - you can join your school or libraries summer reading program here is the li...

I am so excited for todays show! We are talking with Lindsay who is a language consultant. Coming in the end of our PCS series, I thought it would be a cool topic for those military families who might be getting stationed overseas this PCS season. If you didn’t know it yet, the military does NOT provide any language services or learning for mil spouses. You are on your own! So what is the best met...

Today we are sitting down with Box Ops owner and army spouse Shea. Like most great products, Box Ops was born out of a pain point.  Military families are no stranger to moving, we are the experts! Shea took her nightmare moves and came up with a system to help streamline the process and make it as smooth as a move could possibly be.  We talk about moves, what things you really want to look out for...