Happy Armed Forces Day

Happy #MilitarySpouse Appreciation Day

Happy Armed Forces Day #ArmyWife #Hooah

 

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day #ArmyWife #Hooah

 

Happy Memorial Day 2019

Happy Armed Forces Day 2019 - Thank You

Happy Armed Forces Day 2016

April Is The Month Of The Military Child

April is the Month of the Military Child. This awareness month was established to underscore the important role children play in the Armed Forces community. There are approximately 2 million military children, ranging in ages from newborn to 18 years old; 1.3 million military children are school-aged. Care of military children sustains our fighting force, and strengthens the health, security, and safety of our nation's families and communities.

 

PBS Kids Series Arthur Explores Childhood Challenges

Produced by WGBH, the Emmy Award-winning PBS Kids series Arthur explores childhood challenges with heart and humor while promoting friendship, family, and pro-social skills. This spring, viewers will join Arthur and friends as they celebrate Autism Awareness Month and Month of the Military Child on-air and online. A new family history game also launched recently on Arthur's popular website. It all begins the week of April 4th on PBS Kids (check local listings). Viewers will celebrate National Autism Awareness Month with new and fan favorite episodes featuring Carl, Arthur's friend with autism. In one of the new stories, George enlists Carl's musical talents for his upcoming puppet show. However, Carl's routines are getting in the way of their rehearsals. Should George keep working with Carl and risk the show? Or replace Carl and risk his friendship? In addition to the broadcast, fans can enjoy select episodes and clips on pbskids.org and on the PBS Kids Video App, which is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and Chromecast, throughout the month of April.

Also in April, Arthur honors military-connected children with online episodes and a social media campaign featuring Ladonna, a character whose dad is in the Army Corps of Engineers. Full episodes and clips of Ladonna will be available on pbskids.org and the PBS Kids Video App, centered around the 2016 Month of the Military Child theme: "Grit. Determination. Perseverance. Military Kids: Tomorrow's Trailblazers." In addition to learning about military families, kids can explore their own family heritage through the recently launched Arthur Family History Fun interactive game. Family History Fun provides kids with a simple and fun way to interview relatives about their own childhoods and memories of growing up. These one-page interviews-printed or saved to a mobile device's photo gallery are a creative and meaningful keepsake for families. For its efforts in helping to teach children empathy and understanding, Arthur was recently honored with the 2015 Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation. "With its warmth, humor and social-emotional curriculum, Arthur helps kids develop critical skills-from compassion to perseverance," said Carol Greenwald, Senior Executive Producer of Arthur. "We hope Arthur and his friends can inspire kids of all backgrounds, as well as teach them how to better support one another."

 

Myths About Military Spouses

As a former military spouse, and a current veteran’s wife, I know that there are myths about military spouses that a lot of people think are true. I am here to tell you that that is not the case. Let’s clear a few things up here!

Myth #1: Military marriages never last.

Well, this is just plain stupid. I have been married to my husband for 12 years this year. We went through hell and back in the military, and afterwards. I have stayed by his side, as well as he by mine. But if 12 years is not long enough for proof that military marriages can last, then I can give you a long line of military marriages in my family, including my grandparents who were married over 60 years before my grandfather passed away.

Myth #2: Military spouses are lazy.

This pisses me off. Sometimes military spouses are the hardest working people in the world, especially when their spouses are deployed. Who is the one to take care of everything at home? The spouse. And this ties in to myths #3 and #4.

Myth #3: Military spouses don’t have any bills to pay, and Myth #4: Military spouses don’t work.

I am assuming that a lot of civilians think that active duty military personnel and their families don’t have to pay rent, or any bills. Well, housing is not free. We paid rent monthly like everyone else in the world. Yes, we got a housing allowance, but it was taken directly out of our pay, and paid to the housing companies. We never saw a dime of that money. And as far as not working – well, I may not have had a job outside the home that paid me money, but I worked my ass off taking care of house and home so my husband would not have to worry about anything on the home front while he was away.

Myth #5: Military spouses can’t further their education.

Who says? I know at one point I myself believed this myth, but this is just not true. There are so many great programs out there these days for military families, and education benefits for spouses are one of them!

 Take the benefits at Martinsburg College for example!

• Students attending Martinsburg College have access to a sophisticated learning management system (LMS) which provides an interactive and rich educational experience and makes it simple to progress logically through your program.

• Depending on the program, students are provided with digital access to one or more textbooks related to their areas of study. These resources are very expensive ranging from $100 to more than $300 per program if a student were required to purchase them.

• The textbooks are made available within the learning management system or students can choose to utilize a tablet which the college provides on loan for more comfortable and portable access. The college also provides a resource library of thousands of textbooks which are available online at no cost.

• In addition, if a student requires one-on-one and direct telephone or digital tutoring sessions the college provides those resources.

• The college has been working with the military community since 2004. They understand the needs of service members and their families and have adapted their institutional policies to ensure that they take into consideration the unique challenges faced by this student group.

• While the college strongly encourages each student to adhere to their learning plan and their schedule, it recognizes the need for flexibility when the demands of service interfere. They work with students for as long as it takes in order to achieve success. The instructional methodology accommodates a wide variety of learning styles as well as providing for flexibility of time and place for engaging in coursework.

There is even a group that Martinsburg College has created on Facebook to provided resources to Military spouses about their benefits. Check it out!

Don’t believe all the myths you hear, because the majority of the time, they are just that – myths!

 
This post is sponsored by Martinsburg College. I received compensation for this post through my relationship with the Quality Blue Community. All opinions are my own.

My Heart Goes Out To #FortHood, My Former Home!

Should I?

I've been thinking lately that I should write a book about my experiences as an Army Wife, though I would make it sort of fiction, because, well, when I talk about certain people, I would not want them to outright know I was talking about them. Hmmm. So should I do this? On top of the other book I am writing about my ancestry, and on top of the 10,001 other little projects I have going on? Hmmm. I think I just might do it. Yup.