8. “Framily”
Every military spouse needs a support team and friends that are like family to get them through the hard times and be there to support them through the good times.
9. A Safe
Keep all of your important documents and objects inside of a safe and move it yourself when you’re transferring to another duty station. Keeping everything organized and in one place will make it much easier to know where important documents are even after multiple moves.
10. A Hobby
The more things you have to focus on outside of your military spouse the better you’ll be able to function without them and the faster the days will go by during a deployment. Whether your hobby is reading, running, biking or something else, having a hobby will give you something to focus on, look forward to and even give you a way to meet new friends in different duty stations.
11. Flexibility
For those type A spouses out there such as myself, flexibility towards your future can be one of the most difficult things to cultivate and have. However, the sooner you accept that everything is uncertain and you need to just roll with the punches, the easier everything will be to handle.
12. A Portable Career
These days most families need to have two incomes to survive but building a career while moving around the country, or even out of the country, is a hard task that sometimes feels impossible for a military spouse. Taking the time to research and choose a portable career will make the multiple moves and financial setbacks much easier to overcome in the long run.
13. Roadside Assistance
Because getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no family, friends or spouse around sucks and for some reason that’s when car problems always seem to happen for military spouses. (Murphy’s Law strikes again!) Be prepared and have some type of roadside assistance plan on speed dial. The ability to change a tire by yourself is also important knowledge to have that can come in handy.
14. A Day Off
When you’re busy holding down the home front, taking care of the kids, and/or working long hours it can be hard to remember to take time for yourself but you need your attention too. Don’t forget to take a day or two once in awhile to kick back, pop open that bottle of wine, relax and pamper yourself whether it’s a spa day with friends or a long bath at home. You deserve it.
15. Your Spouse
Because they’re the ones that make it all worth it.
What things can’t you live without?
