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10 Tips for a Healthy Marriage … on Facebook
A Very Happy Valentine’s Day to our military-families! I will honestly tell you hubs and I have no plans. I am a little sad about it but not terribly over-worked. It is hard with a young family to get out in the middle of the week as a couple. We certainly find time to ‘date’ each other but this Valentine’s Day does not entail a dinner out, fine dining and dancing. I am thinking it will involve a homemade pie, chocolate, wine, and most hopefully some candles, backrubs, lights down low … and a sleeping six-month old.. There is more to a healthy-marriage though then time alone. What about time…
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Reflecting on MLK Jr Day
I have been thinking about Martin Luther King Jr Day the past few days and the impact this man has made on even my life. As a military-brat I grew up in a very diverse environment. There was not a ‘wrong side of the tracks’ on the various bases where we lived. My school friends were black, hispanic, pacific and white, with no real minority amongst us. We brats were adaptable. Different cultures, different values, different points of view. BUT same schools, same neighborhoods, same circles. Military life growing up was one big melting pot. And I wouldn’t change it for the world! Last night, sitting around the dinner table…
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Tradition, Home, Strength and Character: Sears Heroes at Home Registry
Do you remember your kitchen growing up as a kid? I can see the Kenmore refrigerator… a prize possession in the corner. No other color available at the time than white. Mix Master purchased as a huge anniversary gift to Mom along with a variety of small appliances. Items that made it possible to have family gatherings of the magnitude that the Johansens did. Food streamed from our kitchen in Palisades Park, NJ. Mom learned to fill the house with marinara sauce from the Italian neighbors to the right, Polish stuffed veal pockets recipe came from the left. We never had boiled potatoes an fish without a fresh Norwegian remoulade…
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Wordless Wednesday: Wedding Day Bliss… 9 years later
Happy Anniversary to my knight-in-shining armor. My Soldier. My Rock. I love you more every day.– Leanne(from MilitaryAvenue.com)byLeanneonWednesday, April 28, 2010Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestMilitary Life:Anniversary,Leanne,Wordless
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Stand up and notice this: “Salute Soldiers with the Spirit of America” from Jim Beam and Operation Homefront
Are you ready to tell the story of your hero? Or heroine? The “Salute Soldiers with the Spirit of America” contest is sponsored by Jim Beam and partnered with Operation Homefront and has some great prizes! Read below to find out more and get ready to tell them about your friend or family member! The goal of this contest is to recognize and salute the men and women of our armed services and recognize their sacrifices with four special packages for their entertainment and pleasure at very special events! The selected essay winners will receive a Jim Beam® VIP Experience Package for both the winner and the service member described…
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“Happy Birthday” to our military-family blog, ‘Our Letters to You’!
The last few weeks I have been enjoying reading blogs that I wrote a year or two years ago and seeing where I have grown, what has changed, where life has taken me. I’ve even been sharing them ‘again’ on Twitter and Facebook, figuring they may be ‘new to you’, and sometimes life lessons are refreshing to read about again. As I was glancing through this morning I noticed that three-years ago TODAY, March 5th, 2007, I wrote: “A Quick 6 Hour Drive“. The inaugural blog post here on MilitaryAvenue.com! Back then I had a one year old, 4 year old, and 13 year old. At the time I had NO idea my husband would deploy with…
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Exercise Cobra Gold – DoD Roundtable
As the world watches the humanitarian effort in Haiti we have come to appreciate the capability of the U.S. and allied military resources to respond with such effectiveness to a natural disaster of such magnitude. Despite the claims of some the US military was the only force capable of providing relief supplies and medical care on that scale in those conditions. Meanwhile, 12 time zones away the U.S. military continues its efforts to build international support and cooperation with a large scale exercise in Thailand, the site of another catastrophic disaster several years ago when the tsunami struck. The Department of Defense Live (DoDLive) Bloggers Roundtable spoke with Lt. Gen.…
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Haiti and Our Wonderful Military Response to a Natural Disaster
When tragedy strikes anywhere in the world our military personnel are usually immediately called as first responders! Despite fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and worldwide operations that continue today, we find a way to find more cargo planes, carrier groups, hospital ships, rescue resources, security, etc. etc. to respond! I have never heard a complaint during these operations and I have participated in a lot around the globe! As a rescue, special ops and airlift pilot during my career I saw operations as far reaching as Panama, Kosovo, Iceland, within the US and so many more ! Why do we respond? What makes us the leaders during a crisis such…
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Reflections
Eight years ago today America witnessed the raping of their own security on home-turf. I can recall with great clarity the happenings of the day. I had a migraine headache and had laid down for just a bit. That headache to soon be all but forgotten. My co-worker called to see if I had heard ‘the news’, that a plane had hit a major-building in New York City. I turned on TV and just sat there in stunned silence all day. I remember watching as the newscaster being astonished that a plane had hit a second building. A plane had hit the Pentagon. Reports of another downed plane in Pennsylvania…
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Great Travel Weekend in the Great Lakes
Planning to travel? Need a reunion getaway after a long deployment? We recently had the opportunity to travel to Petoskey, Michigan for an extended weekend getaway for an anniversary (can barely count the number on both of our toes and hands)! What a great time and we saw some new parts of the world we had never seen before! We have lived overseas in Central America and Iceland and visited South America, the Caribbean and Europe. We have also lived in numerous US states from the Puget Sound of Washington to the Low Country of South Carolina. After retiring from the Air Force we relocated to Michigan to be near…
