Homecoming Outfits

In honor of the hopeful  end of this deployment; I figured I'd write about awesome looks for homecoming. This is a big thing to us spouses & girlfriends who get all dolled up just for our skype dates. So; homecoming is a big deal to us; for sure. I see many ladies asking "what should I wear for homecoming?" on many military spouse support pages I am on.  I know our solider's probably do not care if we showed up in sweatpants with no makeup; however to most girls; we seriously usually think a lot about them! My advice would to not overdo it; and wear something just incase you to run & jump in his arms :) If it's colder; wear something like a sweater dress, leggings and super cute boots. Dress it up with jewelry and beautiful makeup & hair. You do not want to look over done; but you can still look beautiful; this is a big day! Keep in mind his co-workers and many families will be there; with children so do not dress revealing...save that for later. By the way; sexy lingerie to suprise him under your clothes will have him super excited! I have shared some of my favorite ideas; for both warmer & colder weather.

Military Spouses; Interested in continuing your education?

✨✨Attention Military Spouses ✨✨
You may be eligible to attend online courses at NO cost to you! Don't let it go to waste or wait until you are no longer eligible! Find out If you qualify! I was able to use this grant which is a $4,000 grant for online courses. This grant is for spouses of active duty, deployed or service members on title 10 orders. Spouse must be within following ranks: e1-e5, o1-o2 or w1-w2. Use this benefit before its too late or you no longer qualify. Courses are done at your own pace and are completely portable. This is great to stay busy during deployments or to do something positive for yourself. We will get you all set up and enrolled! Don't delay!
For any questions or to get started fill out the form here:http://referral.careerstep.com/ref54141

Military spouses; you can attend online classes FREE

✨✨Attention Military Spouses ✨✨
You may be eligible to attend online courses at NO cost to you! Don't let it go to waste or wait until you are no longer eligible! Find out If you qualify! I was able to use this grant which is a $4,000 grant for online courses. This grant is for spouses of active duty, deployed or service members on title 10 orders. Spouse must be within following ranks: e1-e5, o1-o2 or w1-w2. Use this benefit before its too late or you no longer qualify. Courses are done at your own pace and are completely portable. This is great to stay busy during deployments or to do something positive for yourself. We will get you all set up and enrolled! Don't delay!
For any questions or to get started fill out the form here:http://referral.careerstep.com/ref54141

Tips to get through a deployment

...Don't you hate when someone says "Oh; the time will go by so fast," or "A year deployment will be over before you know it..."  And it's always from non-military spouses/gfs. I totally understand they are only trying to give you some comfort and maybe do not know the right words to say. That is totally fine; it's hard to ever understand unless you live through it. I will be honest and say I do not think the time goes by fast...it seems to go by even slower the better you and your soldier are getting along because it makes you miss each other more. It seems like everything that can go wrong will when he's away...you take your phone to the bathroom with you; because the one time you do not, you miss his weekly phone call or his random phone call you miss so much all day. You find yourself wondering if he's missing you or getting upset when you go in pubic and see happy couples; because that could be you having a blast with your loved one. I do not think it ever gets easier; however I've learned being negative and not very productive will not bring my husband home faster so I've found things to help! Here are my tips on what I do to make things easier during a deployment.

• I would first recommend starting your own home based business. Why? Because you can earn money and owning a business is great for self esteem, personal growth, meeting new people and staying busy. My favorite perk? You also will be your own boss; therefore...you probably won't ever have to miss your soldier's phone calls,ask for time off during his R&R and so on! It is so nice not ever having to ask for time off to spend when he will get back from deployment,either! Here are some great work at home opportunities: www.freedomathometeam.com/davia  & www.davianewman.scentsy.us     Other ideas would be having a home daycare or maybe even something like coaching a sport you once did in highschool or volunteering at the local animal shelter...anything to stay busy!
• If you are not interested in starting a business; get a job at a military-frendly company; such as Kelly Service or Home Depot. Home Depot is awesome because they even allow you time for your soldier's R&R. How cool is that? A company that actually appreciates our lifestyle!
• Join a gym! Usually the ymca lets deployed spouses go to the gym free if your spouse is active duty of course; the only catch to the ymca in my area was that you need to attend the gym at least 8 times a month. The bases also are great places to work out and usually always for free if you are a spouse. You could also join women's only gyms. If you hate working out; try doing fitness classes like yoga! More than likely your soldier will be working out a lot overseas since they do not have much else to do...and wouldn't it be nice to both have smoking hot bodies after deployment? :) 
• Be active in your soldier's FRG. If you are a spouse, and sometimes girlfriends are allowed; see if your FRG has a facebook page or newsletter.Stay up to date and attend the meetings. You may not like the group but at least you would be doing your best to still support your soldier. Who knows?You may even meet another woman who can be a deployment buddy for you! Make sure you are mature with the FRG; never get caught up in gossip or drama. Remember you are there for more resources and to support your soldier and to get additional support. I hear many ladies have bad experiences with FRG, but it is probably due to lots of drama. Do not expect the FRG to be your sole support system; those ladies are 99% of the time other deployed spouses anyhow so often they do not have much time to offer tons of support but they usually will organize monthly newsletters, meetings, etc.   I notice some spouses are way too dependent on the FRG; don't be one of those ladies. 
• Find what you are good at! Any hobbies? Any crafts? You do have a life besides your soldier and use that to your advantage during this lonely and difficult time. Perhaps you always loved to sew or maybe you love to read! Keep a list handy of things you love to do and read over them when you feel lonely or bored
• Don't forget your girlfriends! Now; I'm not saying to go out nightly and drink your pain away, but a night out with my girlfriends are always an instant way to make me happy. At least once a month or even once every 2 weeks have a girls night. Whether its dinner and a movie; or cocktails at your favorite bar. I do not think it's bad to go to bars without your spouse; he is gone and should want you to have a life. If you do not have trust at a bar; he should not trust you to wait for him...just my opinion. Anyhow, adult interaction with your girlfriends is perfectly fine but I always say be respectful to your soldier and have a two drink maximum. Do not be the sloppy drunk married chick. If you want to drink more; stay home and just invite your girls over for a wine night or maybe you all can cook together and drink together. Do not go out and get drunk without your husband there; I think it would make any person feel quite uncomfortable...just my opinion! 
• Toys. Toys. Toys. Need I say more? Tell her D'Avia sent you! Click here
• Pre-Deployment Checklist---Use it. My Pre-Deployment Checklist Trust me; things will go wrong during the deployment....maybe your car won't start one morning or the dishwasher just mysteriously stops working...calm down. Things happen. Make sure you do check all you can before deployment however; such as things like the smoke detector, getting your oil changed on your car...prevent as much damage as you can and really let your family, friends,etc. help if they offer it. Of course do not use them or over due it but if they want to watch the children for a few hours so you can have alone time or go workout; let them. Too many ladies say they get zero support; but yet they have too much pride to know when people are being kind. 

Tips for a successful R&R

Aren't those days exciting the closer and closer it gets to spending a small amount of time with your honey; for your "break" during their deployment? It's not much of a break; but to us it means the world. Being a military spouse is one of the hardest jobs I believe; we look forward to things like this so much...we are used to sleeping alone and getting quick 5 minute phone calls. We cringe everytime there's a knock at the door; the mail man is our best friend...but before I start rambling I'd like to share my tips on how to make the best out of your significant other's R&R! First; don't be upset if he uses a lot of the time to catch up on rest. More than likely he's traveled a ton to get back to you and remember...they work 16 hour days most of the time...they don't have "weekends." Respect this is their break time and they may want to use it to catch up on a ton of rest; they work very hard. I know we probably sit at home or have normal jobs while they put their lives on the line...but your soldier deserves some rest too! It does not mean he/she loves you any less.

* Schedule a photoshoot! Oplove.org is a wonderful organization that does free photoshoots for military; I believe they must be active duty; but take advantage of this. Memories are very important and you can use the photos for your home, for photo albums, facebook, holiday cards and more. My then fiance and I did these a few days before we got married and they mean a lot to me...someone took the time to give us free photos and of course I get to look at them whenever I'm lonely!

*Do a couple's massage...spoil your soldier. They work hard for us. This also falls under the super romantic category.

*If you live together; decorate for his arrival...if you are meeting him at a hotel; you can still decorate the hotel. This is wonderful company in which you can get free welcome home banners custom made for your soldier; you just pay for the shipping. http://www.buildasign.com/Troops      Not sure how long that great deal will last; but you can also use vistaprints.com banners; they are affordable...or you can make your own. Something that says Welcome Home or just anything you wish to put to show your soldier you are excited they are home for even a short amount of time...until the next "see you later." Maybe add a cake, his fave food waiting on him and balloons. You do not have to go all out; but just a little something will be fun, don't forget to add a card!

* A counseling session....even if you have the most perfect relationship; I think this is an amazing thing to do for yourselves. This will help you just release emotions and communicate! Also; going to church will be something very nice to do; to just have a spiritual bond with your partner. If you are not religious; still consider the counseling session to just work on maintaining healthy emotions and communication for the rest of your relationship and/or deployment

* Create a memory! What have you all never done together? Have you never went to a certain aquarium you've always thought about visiting? Ever rode a hot air balloon? How about rock climbing? Whatever it may be; why not do something new together! Make the most out of it!

* Plan at least one family night and one friends night! Fun things to do are dinners, amusement parks,etc.   Remember there are other people missing your soldier as well! Share your soldier with other people who love and support him.

* What are his favorite colors? Get some super sexy lingerie in the color for the occassion? Have a video camera? Don't be shy...use it!

* Do nor argue! Sure; your soldier may just irritate or annoy you in the little time he's back home for a bit; but do not sweat the small stuff during this time...you will regret it as soon as he's gone again.

* There's life besides you...what does this mean? Do not become angry if he does use some time for his/her friends and you may just feel left out. Why? The wives are the ones alone....for months and months...sometimes with the kids...we lose our minds a few times...we wait and wait for these day...and they want to not spend all their time with us? Yeah; it bites. But realize it's not healthy for your soldier to only consume their lives with you; allow them to spend time with friends or even if it's on that annoying Xbox of theirs. Don't feel left out if they use some time for themselves...

* Do not spend all of your time with everyone else...what do I mean by this? Save some alone time. Do not think that your family member's have to be around nonstop; or your soldier's family member and friends have to be around 24/7. Sure; they miss him too and he misses them...but it's the two of you who have suffered enough; do not spend all of your time with everyone else. That may be hard for them to understand; especially their family but the couple should come first; especially when you are married. Save a few nights to do family outings; maybe a dinner or game night...then maybe have a night where you get all the friends together for a night on the town. Save the first and last night just for you two at least! I had a friend that hung out with me and my then; boyfriend...now husband; a night before one of his trainings for his deployment and I always regret it. I cherish every day we get together and I feel like I would have rather just had that night for just the two of us. He was gone for two months and we should've had more alone time. Lessons learned :)

Military Spouse? Join my new facebook group!

Join my new facebook group for military spouses. Tons of fun this will be; invite your friends

military spouse? join our fab new facebook group!
http://www.facebook.com/groups/313742885309819/

Great Military Spouse groups, websites and forums

I would like to share fabulous online military spouse groups that I've been so fortunate to be apart of. It is so nice to feel like you are not alone and we have so much fun discussing the pros and cons of military life, deployment, our soldiers and more. The groups are great and have really given me some light on many things; it is nice to meet other ladies; even if they are stationed in Germany or I find out they're local. Thank gosh for the internet! Here are some great military groups, forms and websites dedicated for the spouses; and some for the girlfriends or fiances :)


http://www.milspouse.com/     *This one is fab because they have a newsletter that I get via email approximately weekly, a forum that is somewhat active...but best of all a military spouse magazine; which is super cool because you can get it online if you're a "green gal" or you can get it via mail, of course. Really neat to know there's a magazine dedicated to us "mil spouses." One of my favorite features it Brittany Barlow's deployment diaries; I've talked to her on twitter and facebook; and thanked her so much for those weekly videos she makes, she is such a doll! Really nice to know she dedicates her time to give us some ideas, tips and comfort during deployments.

http://www.militaryspousesupport.net/     

http://www.militarysos.com/

http://cinchouse.com/Hubs/tabid/90/Default.aspx

http://spousebuzz.com/blog/2010/12/online-groups-for-military-spouses.html

https://www.militaryonesource.com/    Oldie but goodie - More of a "resource" site in my opinion.