Attention DC area spouses! If you are on the job search, be sure to put this event on your calendar.

We will be attending this job fair exclusive to military spouses and hope to see you there!

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Family Matters Blog

by Elaine Sanchez
Jan. 9, 2012

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hosting a career fair in Washington, D.C., this week dedicated solely to helping military spouses find jobs.

The Hiring Our Heroes – Military Spouse Career Forum will feature a host of national and local employers specifically seeking qualified military and veteran spouses, as well as resume and interview coaching, and resources for starting a business. The forum is scheduled for Jan. 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Spouses of active duty and reserve members, retirees, veterans and fallen service members are welcome to attend.

Job seekers and employers can register for this free event and learn about other chamber-sponsored career fairs around the country at hoh.greatjob.net. Be sure to upload your resume when registering. For assistance with registration, email hiringourheroes@uschamber.com.

The Chamber of Commerce launched the Hiring Our Heroes program last year. This yearlong, nationwide effort is aimed at helping veterans and spouses find employment, with a goal of conducting 100 hiring fairs across the country.

The chamber also is involved with the Wounded Warrior Transition Assistance Program, Student Veterans Internship and Employment Program and a Women Veterans and Military Spouses Employment Program.

This “aggressive agenda,” officials noted on the chamber’s website, “focuses on one measure of success: jobs for the 1 million unemployed veterans in America.”

Additional resource:
Family Matters Blog

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Happy New Year friends, from Italia!

This was my first New Years in Italy and I was so excited to continue our holiday vacation once again in Venice. My husband and I had researched the festivities that went on throughout the night, the fireworks to scare away evil spirits, the old clothes and furniture that was dropped out of windows to make room for new things, and of course the romantic group kiss at midnight in San Marco Square. However instead of finding ourselves bundled up under the city of love’s moonlight, we were on the couch, individually wrapped in our Snuggies, watching Lost and popping Sudafed. That’s right – we were sick on New Years. We did get to see a few fireworks that went off throughout our town and I have to say – I did wear red undies which apparently brings good luck. We may have also had a glass or two of champagne (after we felt the Sudafed wearing off, of course). All in all our New Years was nothing compared to our anniversary in Verona or our Christmas in Venice… but that hasn’t stopped me from making a list of resolutions!

I know there are resolution haters out there, saying they always make them and always break them… but to them I say this: Why do you keep lying to yourself? Okay, actually, Oprah said that. When I was little or maybe a teenager. She was on one of her weight crusades and talking about how she was seeing a therapist who sounded like a quack but then she said that one liner and it has stuck with me since. Truly… why are you lying to yourself? I, for one, am not a good liar in the first place. I giggle or turn red or awkwardly stutter, even in the case of needing to keep a gift or surprise secret. I wish it wasn’t the case because I love being in on a good prank – but really, don’t trust me, I’ll blow your cover. So if I can’t lie at even the simplest things – why would I lie about the big stuff – like changing my life? And why, of all people, would I lie to myself? So this year, every year, every moment – if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.

On my personal blog I made a list of 10 resolutions I’d like to keep not only in 2012 but in life. The main one I wanted to talk about on My Military Life was #1 – Organize my finances. When I turned 18 I got a credit card. Everything – in life – went downhill from there. I wouldn’t know it until four years later though, after I had graduated college and landed myself in over $3,000 worth of credit card debt alone. Now, $3k may not seem like much at all but when you’ve never been taught what “interest” was and yours happens to be 23% … $3,000 turns into paying Old Navy for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. I not only had this bill nagging at me but also school loans and, ya know, had to eat. I went to my mom for help and of course she led the way… straight to the bank where we met up with her friend who helped me take out a loan. “Take this. Pay your credit cards. Cut them in half. Pay this off over the course of 3 years. Raise your credit score. Learn from your mistake. Never speak of this again.” I’m almost quoting to the word. This meeting changed my life. From then on, no matter if I was making $10k a year or $30k, I had my finances budgeted. I had an excel sheet that had everything organized – every loan, every bill, every pizza delivery (old college habits die hard, people). And then… I got married.

I don’t mean for there to be such a dramatic “dun dun dunnnn” pause after that statement but hear me out. I got married to a man who had equally been on his own for the past 7 years, who had equally been acquiring debt, but not as equally worried as I had been. Granted, there are some people in this world who are absolutely fine with living in debt as long as they can pay the minimum or more every time the bill comes along. I am here to tell you: I am not one of those people. When I was in credit card debt, I felt like no dollar I earned mattered because it was all going to some pair of stupid pants I bought 6 months ago. I like my money in my bank account. I like to see numbers, not horrid, red negative signs I had seen so many years before. My husband, while no negative signs thank God, has just… a different way of handling things: he handles them, I assume he handles them, all is well with the world. Well my friends – it’s 2012 and let me say, happy NEW year.

There has been so much transition going on this past year of marriage, moving, career loss, no friends or family around, etc that thinking of organizing “our” finances felt more like telling my hard working husband what to do with his money. I also know some people can be touchy discussing moo-lah but the way I’m seeing it is that I may not be able to have a job for the next 3 years being stationed overseas but I don’t think that means I should be blind to our financial situation, whatever that may be. Tonight I made up my fun excel sheet (who knew I was such a nerd, right?) and emailed my husband showing him how much money I had, what bills I had paid, what bills were left, and what I needed to purchase in the near future. I tried, as best and as nicely as possible, to let him know when he gets home from work – we’re doing the same thing for him! (Okay, okay… cue dun, dun dunnnn.) My hope is that once he sees his monies next to mine – loans, debts, needs, and wishes – he’ll realize that I could contribute to our family by organizing ourselves financially, and I pray he really appreciates it.

I elaborated on my number one resolution here at MML hoping that there are other military wives who have gone through the same thing and have some advice for us newlyweds! Talking about money can be touchy, especially if you’re talking to someone who is used to earning and spending for only themselves (and coming from someone who is used to doing the same!). I also hope you all take a second to truly focus on at least one part of your life this new year and make it better. You deserve it!

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Ciao, amicos!

The last time I wrote I talked about the transition from career woman to milspouse and how it was anything but easy. However, I’ve always enjoyed a challenge (well, cried through it but appreciate the outcome) and am up for this one as well. By all means I feel like an awful, miserable person when I complain about anything seeing that I am married to my absolute best friend and we live in Italy. I always think to myself the advice I would give me if I were back home reading one sad blog post after another. The advice would be simple: Get it together, woman!

Something New: Visiting a castle about 20 minutes from home!

That piece of advice is basically what my girlfriend from college gave me last month when she suggested I try something new once a week. Take a class, make a craft, learn a trade – just as long as I was doing something. Every week since I last posted I have done exactly that… tried new recipes, new hair dos, even bought a diddy or two for the living room to make it fancy. I’ve dubbed it the Something New Challenge on my blog and I plan to stick to it for, well, the rest of my life. Trying ‘something new’ is anything but a ‘new’ concept and doing so only once a week is hardly a challenge. It’s a big world we live in and currently I live in Italy but my time here is limited, so I might as well try every cappuccino from here to Sicily. Right?

All of this being said there is still a very huge void in my life – even with all the new things I’m trying. As beautiful as Italy is and as happy as I am in my marriage, there is a part of me that I am not ready to lay down to rest just yet. I have been working with college students since I was one and have been lucky enough to find my passion early in life. I’ve spent the past few months trying to reinvent myself and find a new passion because working with college students isn’t so easy on an overseas military base. However, I feel like I’ve trimmed one too many sides off of my puzzle piece to make it fit… I am an educator. I am an aspiring counselor. Yes, I am a military wife as well but that is not all of me. I won’t deny the military side of my life, but I am exhausted trying to forget the career part of myself and won’t do it anymore. Sure, I’ll get burnt out calling the schools on base (again) and being turned down (again), but I figure if they know my name well enough and a position becomes available within the next 3 years – they’ll know who to call.

What about you? Have you struggled getting a job after becoming a military wife? Or rather, not just a “job” but something you loved doing? Did you have a career before getting married? How have you coped?

For more on my personal life and the Something New Challenge, visit my blog at: www.tessatauschek.blogspot.com

PS. Can you believe its December already? In 20 days I’ll have been a married woman for an entire YEAR! We will be celebrating in Verona and I’ll be sure to post some pictures for you shortly after.

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Military spouses often find themselves going to work for themselves for many reasons—mostly because it means having a steady job that’s portable and that can give you the time off when needed for homecomings, PCSing, and family events. But if you’re starting a business, you may find yourself asking, “What is a brand?” and “How can it help my business?”. This video does a great job explaining what is a brand, click to watch:

What is Brand Anyways? from Urban Influence on Vimeo.

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1001 Things to Love About Military Life

It’s not often a book is written by a group of military spouses, much less a group I call friends.

Today, November 2nd, is the official launch of 1001 Things to Love about Military Life.

Through my military life walk I’ve gotten to know each of the authors personally starting with “meeting online” to in person. They are each remarkable women. Holly and Kathy are the trailblazers and have brought their workshop, “Follow Your Dreams While You Follow the Military” to military installations around the globe, training thousands of spouses and their signature book, “Help, I’m a Military Spouse! I Get a Life Too!” has inspired thousands more. Tara and Star and have changed the face of how us military spouses connect, first with Army Wife Talk Radio, their Field Exercise events and now with Army Wife Network. They have each left a lasting legacy on the military spouse world and frankly, they’ve only just begun. I am proud and honored to call them each a friend.

1001 Things to Love About Military Life tells the military life story from many angles, the personal accounts and resources are rich. The book is layed out in such a way you will find yourself smiling and remembering what you love about military life, especially on days when living that life might feel like you cannot take another step. For the new spouse it will be a valuable guide behind the curtain of military life and service. You can flip to any page and learn something new or have a chuckle. You’ll stand a little taller and have new insights into the importance of your role of supporting your service member.

I’m honored to have our site, MyMilitaryLife.com and Navy Wife Radio | Military Life Radio listed in the book as #501. What a treat!!

This book should be on every coffee table and certainly in every Kindle!

Here’s how to get your copy and while you’re at, pick up a copy to give!

I’m happy to report you can order via Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/1001-Things-Love-About-Military/dp/1455502839

Thank you Amazon.com for carrying this book. It’s available via Hardcover (whoo-hoo) and Kindle.

For more information on the book and each of the authors visit:  www.lovemilitarylife.com

Introduction to 1001 Things to Love About Military Life

When we first told people we were writing this book, responses ranged from “How can you talk about things to love with a war going on and military members being horribly wounded or killed?” to “Thank you for reminding us of all the good in the military and military life.”

There are certainly a lot of things to not love right now about our military reality, as we continue into our 10th year at war. Military members and their families only make up 1% of the population but they are bearing 100% of the sacrifice of war. The horrors of war, death, physical wounding, stress disorders and emotional suffering, and repeated separations, will impact our military families and society for a long time to come. War is hell. Even in peacetime, military life is constantly challenging.

However, research continues to show focusing only on the negatives can pull you into a downward spiral of despair and loss of hope. So, we decided to count the positives. The fact is, there are many things to love about military life. We really did not have trouble getting to 1001.

Our desire is that those of you who are or were in the military will read this—keeping in mind families and children serve too—and find yourself nodding in agreement at many of the items. Of course we know every example won’t apply to every military member. Our military experiences differ as much as we do as individuals. We trust the examples we include will trigger your own memories and encourage you to share your favorites with your family and friends.

For those of you who are not in the military, we are confident this book will give you some insight into this military life and help you see why we have such pride in our military and lifestyle. Why we have not lost hope.

There is no greater love than a love that is willing to sacrifice or die, paying the ultimate sacrifice, for another. Our service members love their brothers-at-arms and at-large, their country. Freely and selflessly, wanting very little in return. In a perfect world, that love is returned. Our aim is to help the country love back, without holding back for lack of introduction to, knowledge of, and insight into our military way of life.
Ask any of us, “Knowing what we know now, would we choose this lifestyle again?’”

“ABSOLUTELY!”

Mostly because of the other amazing people we’ve come to know in our Military Family and because of whom we’ve become as a result of this lifestyle.

There are indeed 1001 things to love about military life or more.

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Hi Everyone,

As previously mentioned, “we are igniting our military spouse group blog! We will be featuring several new bloggers, each with a unique voice and background.”

Next up, I’d like to introduce you to Kristen. She will be writing about wellness / fitness in addition to military life in Hawaii. Kristen is a Navy spouse  and you will find her blog entries under “KristenM”.

About Kristen:

Kristen is a submarine wife, who’s totally in love with her husband, her dogs, and her yoga practice. She believes in seeking out the positive, doing what makes you feel good, and doing good for others. Yoga found her a decade ago, and it was the first step on a path to mind and body wellness. 10 years later, she’s earned her Yoga Alliance Teacher’s Certification. She loves sharing yoga and other positive lifestyle choices with anyone who wants to manage stress, increase wellness, and just feel better!

But wait, there’s more!  I’d like to introduce you to Tessa. She will be writing about “inventing new recipes, photography and interior design”, plus her adventures while living in Italy. Tessa a very new Air Force spouse  and you will find her blog entries under “Tessa”.

About Tessa:

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Guest Post by Navy Wife Jill

Even as Secretary of Defense Panetta starts to back pedal about the proposed radical changes in military retirement, there is a lot of fear of the unknown.  Just today I overheard a conversation between a military spouse and an active duty nurse while trying on some jeans at the mall.  It seems that nobody really knows what is going on.  There are people who swearthat retirement ”can’t” be changed.  They believe that the bait and switch of it would be such an affront that it just isn’t possible and are comforted by the fallacy that the public would be too outraged to allow such a change. Then there are the people who look at it and feel that financially, our current retirement system is extremely expensive and out of date.

As is true with most organizations, people are pricey.  Whether it be salaries, benefits, or retirement, the human factor of most budgets is enormous.  In the military, keeping up with the costs for retirees who have earned free health care and a pension is draining.  In today’s system, a young person can enlist at 18 and retire at 38, then go on to collect their pension and medical benefits while working a second career.  As people live longer and require more medical care, the costs are higher than ever.

At first blush, I get where “they” (The Defense Business Board) are coming from when they take aim at my husband’s retirement benefits.  It looks like a windfall, out of date, and too good to be true retirement package that needs to be updated.  The times, they are a changin’, right?  Yes.  But as this committee seems to have missed completely, the ways of the world have changed in more ways than one.

Recently a PowerPoint was distributed to active duty military members outlining the proposal.  Lucky for them, I was just geeky enough to read every last word.  My background is not in economics or finance nor am I particularly in love with researching it.  But there is no excuse for putting your head in the sand and willing this issue away.  I want to be educated because my husband and I are a team, this is my money and security too. I am not naive enough to think this won’t be on the table again for another 10 years when my husband will be eligible to retire.  Please.  Panetta might be able to stiff arm it for now, but retirement is going to change – it is just a matter of when and how.  And the more we know a spouses, the more we can question the people making these decisions and hope that the decisions are smart and fair.

Reading this details to the retirement changes made me feel invisible as a military spouse.  It made me wonder if the people who created it and researched it actually gave thought to the military family as a whole and not just to my husband as a monetary expense that needs to be lowered.  I actually searched the document and in 24 pages the word “spouse” isn’t mentioned one time.  The word “family” is mentioned one time.  It made me sad and really illustrated the painful truth that at the end of the day, the military doesn’t truly get the sacrifices that the whole family makes.  Or how retirement benefits are for the family, not just the service member, especially in this lifestyle.  My rose colored glasses are officially off.

Even more laughable was how the entire presentation was comparing the military lifestyle to the private sector.  If I have learned anything over the past eight and a half years, you cannotfor one solitary second compare the military family experience to the private sector experience.  I’m not going to go into some whiny diatribe about why but it is painfully obvious that the DBB glossed over some really important factors when making their recommendations.

When I was a brand new military spouse and in graduate school I was completely naive to how draining starting and stopping a career is.  How every time I move, even if I am lucky enough to land a new job, I am exhausted the whole first year while I learn a new system, culture and set of personalities and responsibilities.  Since my husband and I were married in 2003 I have left two wonderful jobs where I earned good money and benefits.  Two tenured jobs.  I realize how completely golden tenured positions are in this economy, and I have walked away from both of them because Uncle Sam needed my husband somewhere else.  The latest one just last fall.   In between those jobs I didn’t make an income.  Our family had to depend on my husband’s salary only. When I’m not working, we save less.  Simple math.

In a report I did for a class back in 2005, I researched the losses that military spouses experience while being married to active duty service members.  Here is a small excerpt (references will be at the end of the post):

On average, military families earn substantially less annually than their civilian counterparts. Hosek (2002) states, over the 1997-1999 period, husband-and-wife family earnings totaled $51,115 on average for civilian families and $40,587 for military families, or $10,527 less (p.xii). Military families often times have a great deal of difficulty making ends meet. 41% of wives married to E-3 and below characterized themselves as being “in over [their] head” (Bureika, et al, 1999). Importantly, the primary reason for this problem is the lower earnings of military wives as compared to earnings of civilian wives. It has been documented that military wives may be willing to accept jobs at lower wages rather than spending more time to find a higher wage job (RAND, 2003, p. 2). Lower earnings for military wives often stem from variables over which they have no control, including frequent moves, undesirable duty stations, lack of seniority, and overwhelming familial responsibilities due to deployments. The total undiscounted loss of a three-year rotation policy is fully 40% of what the wife would have earned had she been able to remain at one location for six years (Gill & Haurin, 1998). Military families are also three times more likely to have an out-of-country move during their career. The longer distance moves entail a greater financial loss due to decreased work time for spouses (RAND, 2003).

40% over six years, people!  Do that math over 20 years, then add interest that the money lost would have made. Because the military expects families to PCS every 3 or so years, they are asking military spouses to sacrifice a lot professionally.  And if the Defense Budget Board is going to start comparing the military to the private sector, they are going to have to start looking more closely at the choices families living in the private sector are making.

It is a sad fact that many families need to be dual income in order to survive.  Especially ones in the income range of military members.  The idea that a woman will stay home when the children are born and dad will work to earn enough to live on and retire is “a thing of the past” and the demise of pensions is a large part of that.  In order to afford to live and play for tomorrow, two incomes is the norm.

Here is the crux of the issue (sorry this has taken me so long):  If the military models their retirement after the private sector then we cannot afford to stay in the military. If every penny we make today is the only money that we will ever have to invest and save, then I need to be working.  Full time.  Just like a gigantic portion of the civilian population.  We can’t afford for me to take a 40% hit every 6 years if the military removes the pension security blanket.  My husband loves his job and is extremely loyal, but we are not martyrs.  And I refuse to jeopardize our future, the future of my children’s college educations, and our comfort because the military decided that somehow our lifestyle mirrors that of a doctor or accountant.

The pension isn’t perfect, but it offers some financial security that allows us to live this unique lifestyle, that allows my husband to serve his country without worrying about how he is already making a fraction of what he would make at a private engineering firm.  If the military decides that we aren’t worth the pension, I have a feeling that many valuable assets (people) will decide to go make a go at the 401K system from the comfort of a job that doesn’t send them away for 12 month deployments or ask their kids to change schools 3 times in 6 years.

I hope that the DBB, the President, the Secretary of Defense, and all other powers that be start paying more attention to the finances of the military family and not individual service member when making these retirement changes.  If they do, I think they will realize that stripping the pension would make the military unaffordable for many families.  And a financial sacrifice that many good people aren’t willing to make.

_______________________

References:Bureika, R., Riser, M., Salvucci, S., Maxfield, B., & Simmons, R. (1999).
Effective strategies to assist spouses of junior enlisted members with employment: analysis of the 1997 survey of spouses of enlisted personnel. Defense Manpower Data Center Report 99-007, Arlington, VA.
Gill, H.L. & Haurin, D.R. (1998). Wherever he may go: how wives affect their husband‘s career
decisions. Social Science Research, 27, 264-279.

Hosek, J., Asch, B., Fair, C.C., Martin, C., & Mattock, M. (2002).
employment and earnings of military wives compared with those of civilian wives.
Monica, CA: RAND
RAND Research Brief. (2003).
13, 2005, from http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB7555 The employment and earnings of military wives. Retrieved April

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About the Blogger:

Jill is a Navy Spouse, find more of her writing on her blog Keep Calm and Have a Cosmo

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Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talk during the kickoff of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., June 29, 2011. Mullen’s wife, Deborah, spoke at the event. The partnership promotes meaningful, long-term employment opportunities between America’s employers and military spouses. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

Today we had the opportunity to sit in on a DoD Bloggers Roundtable with Robert L. Gordon III, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy featuring the new Military Spouse Employment Partnership. Here are some highlights:

The Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) launched today at a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce attended by Dr. Jill Biden, Deborah Mullen, along with her husband Admiral Mullen (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff).

This new website targeted towards military spouses hunting for a job aims to connect companies directly to military spouses.

What you need to know

The website www.msepjobs.com features a section for career seeking spouses and for potential employers.

Although the site is brand new and still being updated with employers and features, I was able to enter just my zip code and see jobs available in my current area with just a few clicks on the keyboard. I also searched for jobs at our next possible location.

Granted some of the jobs were “cashier” at my local Home Depot and not my ideal choice, there were also several other professional level jobs. I was both surprised at the ease of use and excited for this new avenue for spouses to use as a tool in their job search. Although the jobs do not include listings on usajobs.gov, you’ll still need to visit that site if you are looking for a federal job at your local installation for example. Employers include Amazon, USAA, Lockheed Martin, Hyatt just to name a few. Jobs  listed also included portable jobs and telework positions.

Resume Help included

The site features a link to Military OneSource where spouses can get help beefing up their resume.

Some of the statistics mentioned today include:

- 25 % of wage gap between spouses and their civilian counterparts

- 28 % spouse unemployment rate

As part of this new job website, 100 job fairs are scheduled to occur across the country starting on July 10, 2011 in Los Angeles, which you might have read about… The Royal newlyweds will be attending.

What makes this site different?

Mr. Gordon stated the companies who joined the partnership are committed to hiring military spouses. The success of the program will be measured not by resumes received, but by how many spouses accept jobs.

This is exiting news for the over 1 million military spouses out there.

To learn more about today’s events visit the related links below, and take a few minutes to create your account and test drive the site for yourself. Be sure to let us know what you think!

Related links:

Partnership Links Military Spouses with Employer

DoD Launches Military Spouse Employment Partnership

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(Photo credit: Navy.mil)

May 6th, 2011 is Military Spouse Appreciation Day.

President Obama has proclaimed May 6, 2011, Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Cheers to all the Military Spouses out there!! Be sure to check your local installation / base for Military Spouse Day events!

Here’s the proclamation:

Presidential Proclamation–Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Military spouses serve as steady and supportive partners to the heroes in uniform who protect and defend our great Nation every day.  Across America and around the world, military spouses serve our country in their own special way, helping families and friends through the stress of a deployment, caring for our wounded warriors, and supporting each other when a loved one has made the ultimate sacrifice.

Our service members and their families seldom ask for support or recognition.  They carry out their duties to family and country with the quiet courage and strength that has always exemplified the American spirit.  On Military Spouse Appreciation Day, we have an opportunity to not only honor the husbands and wives of our service members, but also thank them by actively expressing our gratitude in both word and deed.

When a member of our Armed Forces is deployed, an entire family is called to serve.  The readiness of our troops depends on the readiness of our military families, as millions of parents, children, and loved ones sacrifice as well.  This means supporting our military spouses is also a national security imperative.  Earlier this year, my Administration released the report on military families, Strengthening our Military Families:  Meeting America’s Commitment, which marshaled resources from across our Government to identify new opportunities to support these patriots.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are working tirelessly to enlist all sectors of American life to address the unique challenges of military families.  Their national initiative, “Joining Forces,” mobilizes Americans to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.  Americans can find service projects, send messages of thanks to military families, and learn more about this initiative by visiting:  www.JoiningForces.gov.

On Military Spouse Appreciation Day, let us join together to show our service members we are taking care of their families back home as they serve our Nation across the globe.  As neighbors, teachers, parents, and fellow citizens, we can reach out to military husbands and wives in our communities.  We can show our appreciation in countless ways, from offering to help with household maintenance and childcare to encouraging the community involvement and career development of military spouses.

It is through our actions that we show our commitment to our service members and their spouses.  By embracing military families, we demonstrate our partnership in the defense of our freedom and the security of the United States.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 6, 2011, as Military Spouse Appreciation Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to honor military spouses with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

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Early on 30 Nov, our group of military spouses set off for New York City for an experience of a lifetime, to attend a taping of The Martha Stewart Show! They were so kind to invite our group as part of November Military Family Month, little did we know we would be part of Martha’s Holiday Show!!

Be sure to set your DVR’s for tomorrow’s Martha Show on the Hallmark Channel (1000am Dish Channel 185) to catch a glimpse of our group!!

Here are a few details of our amazing day:

After taking the train we arrived in Manhattan and walked to the Studio.

We found Macy’s and looked at all the wonderful holiday window displays.

Here we are outside the studio!

Finally we are inside the studio. It is filled with Christmas decorations and looks actually a lot smaller in person than on TV.

After Joey did an awesome job warming up the audience and listening to some cool hip-hop music, Martha was on set.

It was a fabulous experience! Here we are again outside the studio.

More photos of our adventure:

Unique facts about our group:

• Most had never met prior to the trip
• We had spouses from six boats, two shore commands and one IA spouse
• In our group we had Navy spouses, one Army spouse and even a Marine Corps spouse

Look for a more detailed post after “The Holiday Show” airs December 2, 2010 at 1000am Eastern (Hallmark Channel), since we don’t want to spoil the highlights by letting you know all the amazing items we received!

Thank you Martha and crew for a fabulous experience!

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