Listen, we all go into the new year with resolutions. Most of the time we barely make it past the first month before those are lost in the wind like a distant memory. Every year we swear that this year will be different…but is it? No! However, I have come to realize that we always use the same resolutions and never think to come up with new ones. Well, let me help this year! Here are 22 resolutions that I personally have come up with for myself and think that they could also help you. Now, I might be trying to implement all 22 but you can pick just a few or even just one to steer you on the r ..read more

Most people know that Veteran’s Day is a day to honor and celebrate the veterans of this great nation. However, did you know that there is so much more to the meaning of this day? Let me explain what I mean by this. First, I want to give you the definition of a veteran (in terms of the VA). A veteran is someone who served on active duty for more than six months while assigned to a regular U.S. armed services unit. How it started Veteran’s Day originally started as Armistice Day. It originally was a day dedicated for reflecting on those who died in service to the country during World War I. Nov ..read more

We have all seen the November gratitude challenges. Each day you share what you are grateful for in preparation of Thanksgiving. I’ve personally participated in that challenge multiple times throughout the years. However, what if we changed that to a kindness challenge this year? My kids started a new school this year, thanks to a summer PCS. On the first or second day of school my youngest came home and was so excited to tell me about “filling other’s buckets”. I asked her to explain what that was, and she began telling me that it’s simple. You do or say things to fill other people’s buckets ..read more

If you need to know how to ship your POV through the VPC then look no further. So what is the VPC? The VPC is the vehicle processing center. This is the place that you will drop your vehicle off to in order to ship it OCONUS. You only utilize the VPC for the one vehicle that the military authorizes you to ship. If you plan on shipping a second vehicle then that is a different process and I plan on writing a different post with that information. So, let’s dig into all the ins and outs of shipping a vehicle through the VPC. VPC Locations First, we need to discuss the locations of the VPCs. As o ..read more

It’s not a secret that military members and their families move… they move A LOT! My family is averaging every three years that we are packing up and heading somewhere new. All of our moves within the last 10 years have been overseas or coming back from overseas. If you think moving stateside is stressful, try packing and moving a world away every three years. Through all of that, I have learned a lot of lessons and have a few PCS tips I want to share with you. I plan on giving you some tips to help you with your next military move. What is most important is that you stay flexible and learn t ..read more

Moving for a PCS (permanent change of station) can be extremely stressful. The first time my husband got orders after we were married, we had to move from the US to Belgium. Talk about throwing me into the deep end and hoping I could swim! I am a bit of a research queen, so I figured it out. Now that we’ve done this for a while and I have learned a lot of lessons along the way, I thought I could share how I survived our last OCONUS PCS and am preparing for our upcoming one.   Understanding the Basics You have to understand that if you are moving OCONUS (overseas) you will have different ..read more

It’s no secret that I have not posted in over three years. The typical “life gets in the way” could be to blame but honestly it was more important that I took that time to get my family and I situated. During those three years we PCS’d (permanent change of station) from Belgium back to the United States which brings about its own set of difficulties. A pandemic swept the world, my husband was sent off to a deployment during the pandemic and Murphy’s Law hit my household in full effect. These past three years have been filled with trials and tribulations but it’s during these times that I have ..read more