Tuesday's Tips

Balancing Life as a Military Wife and Mother

Meet my good friend, Katie. Katie and I met as a result of our sons being on the same baseball team. We had an instant connection in that both of our husbands were away on deployment during the majority of the season. She has a very genuine heart and I am proud to call her my friend. You'll walk away inspired as you get a peek inside of her busy life. 

1) Tell us about your family

Jeff and I met 13 years ago right after he had graduated from The Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. Little did I know that meeting him would lead to us moving all over the United States and even Europe! We have been married for 11 years and have 4 wonderful children. In the 11 years we have moved 7 times, one of the moves was to Germany where we welcomed 2 of our 4 kids. We have 3 boys, ages 10, 5 and 2 months, and 1 daughter who is 7.  

2) How many deployments (stateside & overseas) have you experienced?

We have been fortunate in that Jeff has not deployed as many times as some of our other friends. We have been through 3 deployments and 1 year spent apart in order to keep stability in the kids lives and education. Jeff's deployments have been 2 1/2 months (when our first born was 6 weeks old), 4 months (also during our first borns 1st year of life) and then a 6 month deployment while I was pregnant with our 3rd born. We spent last year apart, when Jeff received a 1 yr assignment stateside, so we elected not move the kids 3 years in a row. It was a tough decision and a tough year but it was right for our family.  

3) How do you manage to juggle it all? (balancing being a military wife & mother)

I'm not sure how I manage it all. I just take it one day at a time and hope that I'm not forgetting something big like a school project! 

4) What advice would you give to a fellow military wife/mother?

My advice for fellow military wives and mothers is to make the most of each new move and treat it like an adventure. There will be times when the base/area you are moving to is less appealing than others. If you go into the that assignment mad about where you are going you will end up hating it, but if you go into the assignment with an open mind and the willingness to try new things you might just end up loving it! 

I would also advise fellow spouses/wives to get involved whether its at your kids schools, your church, or maybe just finding a great place to workout. This way if your spouse must deploy you have people you can rely on if you need help or just a shoulder to cry on.  

5) What do you do for fun? (hobbies, etc.)

For fun I enjoy reading and working out. Reading affords me an escape from every day life. I can tune out the kids and focus on the story and for a few minutes forget that the kids are destroying the house. Working out allows me to blow off steam and it gives me time to myself. I also really enjoy traveling, although with a newborn not too much traveling is being done right now. 

Until next time, thank you for stopping by....