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?

 

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 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!