3 Must Take Avenues for the the Entrepreneurial Military Spouse

I had the wonderful opportunity to share my thoughts on Military Spouse Entrepreneurship over at USAA's Spouse Community.

Image Source: Army.mil

"As an entrepreneurial military spouse you have three avenues that you must take to help build your business clientele. Part of your journey you will have a small 'toll' to pay a charge to get from your starting point to your final destination. Some of your road-trip will be on the 'free-way'; there is no charge except for your time. Part of your journey is pure open country road, taking the time to get to know the passengers, otherwise known as your new clients. All three roads are a part of your journey, a great way to get to your final destination. You could become a known professional, reliable business, and successful entrepreneur."

Wounded Warrior Creed

The Wounded Warrior Games are taking place in Colorado Springs, May 11-16.   What an amazing group of Veterans these warriors are!  The Department of Defense Community is doing a great job of covering and you can learn more in our Reading Room or at the Department of Defense Warrior Games.  

Take the time to read their Creed.  How can you apply it to your circumstances?  Their will to succeed far exceeds my heap of troubles of the day.  These are soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that we can look up to.

Redux! Happy Military Spouse Day! Let’s Talk Jobs for Spouses > DoD Blogger Roundtable

During the Happy Military Spouse Day! Let's Talk Jobs for Spouses > DoD Blogger Roundtable they told us that 36 states had passed legislation to assist military spouses with the transportability of their licenses or credentials between states which is absolutely fantastic.  I had asked which states had NOT passed legislation so we could highlight which states needed to take action > to walk the talk of support to the military community.  You can look up your governor or legislator and send them a note in support of legislation to assist military spouses with this critical issue.  

Happy Military Spouse Day! Let’s Talk Jobs for Spouses > DoD Blogger Roundtable

Do you remember...

What a great day! Celebrating the contributions of military spouses to their families, services and country! A special shout out to my favorite military spouses > MilAve_Deborah and MilAve_Leanne. Immense contributions at that but I digress from the purpose of this blog which is to announce how much progress can be said for military spouse employment and provide "How To" tools to help!

When the DoD Blogger Roundtable met yesterday afternoon there was no big announcements, no laudatory pats on the back, just continued improvement of tools that military spouses can use to find gainful employment or continued success in their choice of careers.

Active Living in the US Navy Even Has an IPhone App! DoD Blogger Roundtable

"They have an IPhone App for their program..."

Spring seems to be a great time to get started on new workout plans, healthier eating, gardens and more! May is even designated as physical fitness and sports month so it was great timing for the DoD Blogger Roundtable to discuss the US Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System and some new and better ways to help stay healthy!

As a long time advocate for a healthy lifestyle I was very interested in the topic but wanted to make sure that it would be interesting for our followers. Diana Strock, Physical Fitness and Injury Prevention Program Manager said they had “resounding feedback” from sailors that the program was helping with resilience, reducing anxiety, improving nutritional choices, fitness test scores and much more.

Then they caught my ear:

Getting Ready to Garden! How to Build a Fence and Gate for Your Garden

Primary Tools for putting in the fence posts

Enter into these Gates with Thanksgiving 

Our gardens during our years of PCS after PCS, overseas, deployments and lengthy TDYs etc. were small and mostly flowers. After retirement we settled in Michigan and focused on a vegetable garden in addition to the flower beds. We live in deer country – and rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks and more critters that love our garden too.

So we upgraded our garden fence this year! It was a good improvement and allowed us to hope for less damage from those lettuce loving animals.

Our first step was planning over the winter as we took down the previous metal pole and chicken wire fence that had served us well for a number of years but had become a bit worn and porous. We were looking for something easier to maintain and that required little expertise. We decided on treated 4 by 4 X 8 posts so we could staple a 7 foot high deer netting (plastic) to it. No tie wires, no zip ties, etc were going to be needed with the staples and wood combination.

Wrapping up Month Of The Military Child: Brat Town Bugle

Today is the last day of Month of the Military Child; but isn't it something we should celebrate all year long?

We highlighted some great resources throughout April on our Facebook page.  We shared Tips on Relocation, YMCA’s Operation Kid Comfort Program, and most importantly a reminder that YOU are the ultimate resource for your military child PLUS so much more.  (Scroll through Facebook.com/MilitaryAvenue to see them all.)

One more resource I want to share is Operation We Are Here's Brat Town Bugle (tm). 

How to Paint Your World Yellow

How to Paint Your World Yellow

Plan, Plant, Play!

Plan: Picture a garden. Let the flow of colors move with the seasons!

Continue Reading for Gardening Tips

“Welcome to Stagecoach"

A quick introduction to our MilitaryAvenue guest blogger.  Mike Liguori is a Marine veteran and we are excited to share his coverage for MilitaryAvenue of Stagecoach.   He is doing tweets, Facebook posts and blogs for us during this fun event!  Be sure to follow along on some great stories about the performers and military supporters at "Stagecoach".

Today was quite the day for me. I barely have been able to sleep due to the overwhelming excitement of covering the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. You think after not getting the consistency of a good night’s sleep I would be dead tired today. Well folks, you are wrong. I am actually more energized now at 9:23 pm the night before. It reminds me of my old college days, anticipating the countdown of the kickoff. I could never sleep and tossing and turning became part of my pregame ritual.

Of course, I’m not playing football anymore but the pregame ritual still remains. I can’t stop thinking about the acts, the atmosphere, the promotions, the parties, all of it part of Stagecoach. But all of this does not topple the fact about the overwhelming support for the military Toyota has. I am thoroughly impressed. Being a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, service is engrained in you. It becomes part of who you are. I must say it is a little difficult to get such great treatment from Toyota and everyone involved in this weekend since Im use to doing things myself. But it’s their way of paying tribute to all those who served so I cant express how much gratitude I owe for their generosity.

Now on to the important stuff. Stagecoach is huge. It’s the country version of Woodstock. Some of the top artists in country today will be performing each day and I cannot wait. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get close enough to Toby Keith or Dierks Bentley to get some love from them for our men and women in uniform. Ill keep you posted on that effort.

Make sure you follow me on Twitter @mikeysandbox, Militaryavenue @militaryavenue, and Toyota @Toyota. Toyota is also giving away 6 signed Dierks Bentley guitars so enter by clicking on the link below https://www.facebook.com/toyota/posts/10151573066874201 We all keep you in the loop especially when Saturday night rolls around. Trust me. you don’t want to miss it. God Bless and I look forward to keeping you all in the loop -Mike Liguori

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Disclosure: Toyota partnered with MilitaryAvenue by providing transportation and lodging for our blogger at Stagecoach.

40 Ways to Find Solace in a Storm

“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”

― Oscar Wilde

 

1. Call your dad
2. Sip a hot cup of coffee
3. Take 10 minutes to soak up some sun on a warm, sunny front porch
4. Feet up & a good book
5. Jump on your bike and take a ride
6. Grab the music player, pop in the ear buds, play your favorite upbeat music and ask the vacuum to dance (Bonus you get some clean floors)
7. Give a lingering hug with someone you love
8. Look through old photos, create a collage of someone you love using Picasa or other photo editor
9. Take a quick walk around the neighborhood
10. Clean the kitchen window and let the sun shine in