I came to the military lifestyle without a clue as to what to expect. The closest thing that could help get an idea, aside from asking my husband a million and one questions, was Lifetime’s “Army Wives” and even the show isn’t that accurate. I relied heavily on books, social networks and websites solely dedicated to wives, fiancées and girlfriends of those in the military.
We now live in a day and age where by just goggling things we can find mostly anything and everything. To say the least, 5 years ago that wasn’t the case when I got engaged to my husband. Yes, Internet was out and people where becoming more and more dependable on it, but it wasn’t what it is today. There was no such thing as Facebook pages or groups. Blogs weren’t considered “cool” and word-of-mouth was still something we heavily relied on and to say that this was only 5 years ago.
I tried to ask as many questions as I could to my husband. Questions about the military, the lifestyle, where we would live, if I would be able to get a job and so many more that in the end I would forget the answers because of the vast information I was getting. To say the least, my husband could only answer so much because since joining the military it was just him, so, of course he only knew what he could do.
Google and Amazon.com became my best friends for getting the information I needed. I began to join those websites for wives, fiancées and girlfriends of someone in the military. The closer it got our wedding the more nervous I was getting, I felt like I wasn’t quite prepared for this military lifestyle. I felt like I was back in college and I was getting ready for my final but I just needed a little more time with my notes, only difference was that this was real life and not a test.
We got married and headed off to our new duty station. I was pretty much confused for the first couple of months after we got married, but was relieved that I wasn’t as “dazed & confused” as I could’ve been. I thanked the research I did, books I read and the ability to not be afraid to ask the silliest questions.
This life shouldn’t intimidate you, no one is ever prepared for this lifestyle and no one is ever going to be an expert.
Photo Credit – Photography by Louis, Inc.
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Very Nice! Its always nice to meet other military wives, for me especially if there in the marines like me! Thank you for posting your story! Be Blessed!
thank you
that’s very sweet of you!
Being non-military (oh, sorry “civilian”
, I have been really impressed by the milspouse community and how you all support, help and encourage each other. And I too am grateful for Google every single day – seriously don’t know how I used to find things out!
mj.x
Melissa Jaine recently posted..tech-ation
thank you!
oh Google! What did we do before then? oh yes! encyclopedias…I remember those days. I have thank my lucky stars for any and all research available at my fingertips via the internet. I would have been completely lost with out it.
I found Google to be pretty useful as well, as well as word of mouth. When we found out we were going to move to Germany, we actually heard more from people who had already been there than from the people we had to turn things into along the way as far as what we needed to do and when. The relative lack of information/confusion surrounding nearly every step of the moving process was one of the reasons I decided to start my blog with the moving process instead of my original intention of starting from the time we got to Germany.
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I think that happens with every move. People who are suppose to help you are people who haven’t been there or through that process and, for me, its rather unnerving.