Friday, May 12, 2017

Military Spouse Appreciation Day Link-Up

Every year the Friday before Mother's Day is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. This day was enacted on May 23, 1984 by President Ronald Reagan as a way to honor those amazing spouses who give so much to their service members and to the military community.

Military spouses are some of most resilient people and I am honored to be part of such a wonderful group that is supportive of each other and willing to give of themselves so selflessly especially when times get tough. We are all in this together and we all can learn something from each other. This is such a special group to be a part of and I am grateful every day for this community.

  Amanda and I are so excited to host this link up today! We hope that you all enjoy getting to know fellow milspouses, this is such a wonderful community and I am always so proud to be a part of it! I have learned a lot in my almost 9 years and I know there is so much more to learn and so many more amazing people to meet.

Here are a few questions to answer for the link-up. Don't forget to use the hashtag #2017MilSpoDayLinkUp 

//Tell us about yourself and your blog.

//What branch of military are you affiliated with?

//What is one thing you enjoy about the military lifestyle?

//What advice would you give other spouses who are new?

//Where have you been stationed?

//Do you work, go to school, volunteer, or stay home?

 


 My name is Jen and I am the resident blogger here at Marathons and Dog Tags. My husband is Kyle is a Captain in the United States Army and has been proudly serving this great country for the last 10 years. He is a military intelligence officer so his jobs are pretty interesting haha. We have been married for 9 of those years and boy has it been an amazing and crazy adventure. I started this blog as a way to connect with family right after we got married but I never expected to meet some of the most amazing people through this endeavor.

We have called Fort Bragg, Fort Huachuca, Fort Bliss, Fort Polk, and soon to be Fort Leavenworth home. Each place has been amazing in its own way and we grew so much in each situation.

We are the proud parents of a precious 8 1/2 month old little girl, Emersyn and 2 sweet furbabies, Emma and Fishy. We both have Masters degrees in Psychology which makes life in our house both funny and interesting. How does that make you feel?! I am an avid runner and have completely over 70 races in the last 4 years, there is nothing quite like lacing up my shoes and hitting the pavement. I recently finished school and would love to get back into the workforce once our daughter is school so for right now I will focus on volunteering and being a SAHM.



One of things that I love the most about this lifestyle are all the amazing people we have met and interesting places we have been able to see. While of course it is not easy moving around every 2-3 years but the friends I have made have become family and that is something that doesn't happen very often in civilian life. I have also been able to volunteer with organizations and work with families and to me that is incredibly fulfilling. It really is hard to choose just one thing that I enjoy the most, it has been better than I ever expected it to be. People often complain about tricare but we are so grateful because they were tremendous to us during our fertility struggles. 

I would tell new spouses to embrace the journey. Don't dwell on the things that you cannot change because there will be things that are out of your control. Accepting that you don't have control is honestly one of the most freeing feelings, because it forces you to be flexible. Find something that you are passionate about, whether that be running, school, or volunteering. When you have something to focus on when your service member is gone it can make all the difference. Most off all, enjoy this life! It really is an amazing experience to include the good, the bad, and the ugly.
 
The saying "Bloom Where You Are Planted" is so true and so important in this life. Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day to each and every one of you!

24 comments:

  1. So much yes!!! Accepting you don't have control is SO hard. But so necessary. You rock lady! I am honored to host the linkup with you.

    Happy Military Spouse Appreciation day too!!! You make this day what it is! <3

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  2. Happy Milso Day Jen. You're an awesome lady!

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    1. Same to you, sweet friend!!! :) Thankful for you!

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  3. Happy Military Spouse Appreciation day to you!! You are truly awesome!!

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  4. My brother is in the army and he certainly has seen a lot of things. He's suppose to go Germany soon enough

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    1. Oh wow! I've heard amazing things about Germany.

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  5. Totally agree with your advice about not dwelling on things - the Army has already thrown so much at us that if I dwelled on it, it would drive me crazy!

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  6. Thank you for hosting. Thank you for being such a central part of this mil spouse blogging community!

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  7. I'm so glad we've been able to connect over the years! I love your attitude and perspective on military life and have learned a lot from you! :)

    PS - my blog somehow entered twice - I don't know if you are able to remove one of them or not... the first time I got an error page, so I did it again! Oops!

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  8. Thanks so much for hosting, Jen! I look forward to connecting with you and the other bloggers!

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  9. Military Spouses really are a strong breed of man or woman to move every few years, but also to be that support system for their loved ones while they're doing their job. I don't know how I would handle the moving all the time, but like you said finding something you're passionate about has got to help a lot!

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  10. THANK YOU to all Military spouses. I grew up a military brat and am proud of it.

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  11. Happy MilSpouse Appreciation Day!! So excited for the link up - thanks to you & Amanda for hosting!

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    1. Thank you for linking up with us!!!! :)

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  12. Thanks for hosting! I'm a brand new blogger, but have been a reader of yours for over a year. I was wondering "how the heck do I put myself out there?", so this link up was perfect! Plus, I love reading all the advice.

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    1. I am so so glad you linked up with us! :) I look forward to following your blog!

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  13. Thanks for hosting this blog hop and happy military spouse appreciation day! I am so glad that I found your blog because I find your posts super inspiring and I love hearing about your adventures. Us military spouses have to stick together! And I totally agree, I am so grateful for Tricare.

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  14. Thanks for hosting this! I found some cool new blogs to follow!

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  15. I love connecting with all you guys. I'm linking up tomorrow :)

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  16. Sorry I didn't link up this year! Getting a blog post together Thursday just wasn't going to happen. Ha!

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  17. My DIL was a military spouse, and I agree, there is a wonderfully supportive community there. Here to wish you a Happy Mother's Day!

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  18. I love reading more about you. I grew up in a military family so I know some of what you are going through. I think it is great advice to embrace the journey!

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  19. What a fabulous post! Embracing the life is important. There are tons of ups and downs, but it can be a fun adventure.

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    1. Thank you! It really is so important, being able to embrace it has helped me so much!

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Love hearing from you!! :)