New (military) Wife
Since I’m now officially a military wife (I’m hopefully picking up my military ID today!), I was wondering who you are.
Is your husband/boyfriend/fiance in the military? If so, what branch?
I’ll start by letting you know that my husband is in the Air Force and I’m really excited to start sharing more of our adventures within the military. My plan is to share the process of new wives getting acquainted with the military, because as it is right now, I’m going into this completely blind. Kenny’s also scheduled to deploy in a couple months, and although he won’t be gone for long, I’ll need as much support as I can possibly have.
Also, this is just to cure my curiosity, but I made a poll on the sidebar and it’d be great if you would click the branch you’re associated with. Yup, that means that if you’re reading this in Reader (I’m talking to you!), you should hop over and take the poll.
And finally, any advice you have for me regarding being new to the military would be great. We’ve been dating for four years, so I know having patience will probably be my number one ally, but I’ll take any other advice you have to offer!
Welcome to a world of craziness, hold on tight, be open to anything, be ready to laugh and cry at the same time and always keep communication open – he doesnt want to leave you but he has to so one thing I learnt was to not take it out on him (yes I was that childish at first!haha)
Yay for military IDs! haha just beware of the very long wait! 🙂
Hopefully we will get to meet at the next outing, but if you have any questions, you can just let me know!
Jess – ask questions, listen good and keep everything. That's the most practical advice I can give you. If the battalion does family briefings before deployment, make sure you go. Don't just say, "it's his things". Go, listen, ask. Two ears are definitely better than one – he's going to be consumed with his responsibilities, and if something's amiss w/pay, insurance, etc – it's the person at home who's going to notice it first. Make sure you know what to look for. Go to the FRG meetings, even if you think they're pointless and not worth your time and don't offer anything for you. You never know who you might meet. And….allow yourself to have bad days when he's gone – you're allowed. But, allow yourself to have fun – just because he's gone doesn't mean your life stops. Try to make the most of it, it'll go by faster. Good luck, you're going to do great! 🙂
I came across your blog, and wanted to say Congrats!!! I am an AF Wife, and have been married to my Mr. Top Gun for awhile. We are currently overseas, and he just returned from a deployment! He flies for the AF, and I follow him around 🙂
Come check out my blog! And, congrats on your marriage!!
Here's what I've got so far…
1. Be open to change and ready to give up control.
2. If you are PSCing, make sure to have atleast the amount of a paycheck in savings incase a paycheck doesn't come. Both times he's changed bases, things have been messed up. Once he got no paycheck at all. It was later fixed.
3. Go to any briefing you can. I find lots of information gets lost between there and home.
Since you've been a Air Force girl friend and fiance, you know most of this, so it should be a breeze!
Stopping by to say "welcome"! There are a lot of challenges but there are also a lot of rewards. Best of luck and don't forget to ask your fellow spouses whenever you need help!
Yes, patience patience patience! And learn to cook good food to feed him at the end of a hard day (just kidding, well, not really).
With Mr. AF, some days he comes home from work emotionally turned off (sometimes this lasts for a week or more!), and I have to learn to continue being there for him, supporting him, and not getting my panties in a twist about it (sometimes I give in). It's hard, but they go through a lot of stress, and it stresses them out even more to know that we're upset with them!
Oh– and you will learn to LOVE that military ID! Lots of discounts 🙂
I just found your blog and love it!! Congrats on marrying the military 🙂 It is a wonderful life that has (in our 2 years of marriage) already afforded living overseas, visiting places I only dreamed of, and so much more. Take advantage of the awesome community of bloggers, of wives, of friends, and never never NEVER hold back asking for help!!!!!
My husband is in the Air Force and we have been married for 6 months. So far I have found out that nothing is certain when you are in the military. Things can change minute by minute. I just try to be as supportive as I can and spend as much time with him as possible while he is home. In the six short months it has been an emotional rollercoaster 🙂 And be careful who your friends are… I had to learn that the hard way. Congrats on the marriage! And welcome to the crazy world of the military!