My Experience as the Wife of an Airman
The military has been a huge part of my life. My dad is retired Air Force and my husband joined on and is currently active duty. For the most part this life is all that I know. Being a part of a military family means waiting. Saying goodbye. Holidays, birthdays and anniversaries without a loved one. Even with all of the sacrifice of being a part of a military family, I wouldn’t want anything different! The military is a family of it’s own. It means making best friends and saying goodbye as their family moves on to Japan. But I think we can all understand that even a short time with the greatest people is better than not having met them at all. I wouldn’t trade the experiences this life has given me for the world. It’s not always easy. But as long as my husband is happy being a part of the Air Force, it’s beyond worth it.
My husband joined just about 3 years ago. At the time we were a family of 4. It was just us and our 2 boys. We lived apart for 7 months. That was definitely a BIG transition for our family. If you’re here because your about to become a military spouse, I’m sure being a part from your loved one is on your mind. These are the times that I thank God for my husband’s family. Having the support and help of family makes the experience so much more enjoyable. We always miss him when he’s gone.. but we made so many memories with his family in the meantime. It was such comfort having help with our boys and I believe having family around made the time go by faster.
When my husband went off the basic I continued to live in our home with our boys. I kept busy taking them to the park and story time at a local bookstore. We did a lot of “tot school” during this time. Once he entered into tech school, I moved in with his dad and their family for a few months, and later moved to Florida with his mom and step-dad for the 2nd half of his training. I knew we wouldn’t be seeing them near as much once we got to his first duty station so I made sure that we prioritized family time while we had the chance. While in Florida I decided to focus on getting healthy. This is when I did my first Whole 30! I began going to the gym 5 days a week and got in the best shape of my life. I think the most helpful thing is keeping busy when your spouse is gone. Having a goal helped me SO much. The beaches weren’t too bad either ?
Once he was done with training, he had a couple weeks off and then it was time to travel across the country. We had a 26 hr drive with our 2 boys and 2 puppies. This ended up being 3 days of traveling to his first duty station. I had to drive the whole way because we had 2 vehicles. It was exhausting. Luckily we eventually got to an amazing base in a city that we love. We’ve met some wonderful and unforgettable people here. Making friends as a military spouse is definitely different (especially as an introvert) and needs it’s own post. If you are new to this life, I am no expert, but I know a thing or two. Feel free to comment with any questions that you have!
XOXO,
Alexa Peters
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