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Hiking in the Cold North
I set a personal record for a winter hike yesterday! It was a cold day but not bitter like it had been for a while (seemed like months actually). It was a long ways from those hikes in Panama, Nevada, Florida, Virginia, Texas and other warm places that the Air Force sent us. Much closer to Iceland, Illinois and Washington state in many circumstances like the wind chill (about zero during the hike), the snow covered surface and cloud cover. Maybe I should explain why I hike outside in the wintertime? I think they forgot to plow us today!First, I like a challenge! Yep, it is a challenge to get…
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Happy to be Home! DoDLive Blogger Roundtable
Photo Credit: Real Warrior Campaign“Happy to be Home”Normally you start a blog with the beginning and work your way to the end; today, I started with the closing comments of Master Sergeant Aaron Tippett, US Army. The Blogger Roundtable had the opportunity to interview and listen to the comments of an American hero and how he dealt with the challenges of PTSD. Listen up military spouses! He responded to his spouse after she saw the cumulative effects of multiple deployments. Stay in touch with your spouse! His advise for spouses was, “be there, listen, be supportive,” but don’t push it, each soldier is different. After his wife encouraged him to…
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Are You Making the Right Choices for Alcohol Use?
See Below for Photo CreditDecisions! We make them every day – active duty, reserves, guard members, retirees, military family members – all of us are faced with small or critical decisions every day of our lives. Sometimes, they are almost routine; like, what shoes do I wear today? Well, that might be a bigger decision for some than others. Sometimes a decision leaves us with a ‘I wish I had done it differently” or “What if” or a WTH (I prefer “heck”) moment or maybe, “Wow, I made the right choice”. Alcohol (for everyone over 21) can be a big decision. If you have not reached your 21st birthday, you…
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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”…
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Getting Ready to Garden! How to Build a Fence and Gate for Your Garden
Primary Tools for putting in the fence postsEnter 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…
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Pets for Patriots > A “How To” for Veterans
Stephanie and Fly > Photo Credit BelowOur four legged friends can be the best when we face the tough times: Sharing our time, greeting us at the door, telling us when we need to pet them, finding us when we need to “snuggle”, a warm blanket while watching March Madness, taking walks in the woods, chasing squirrels while we laugh, playing “catch”, sitting on our feet when they know we are deep in thought and so much more! So it was with eager anticipation that I waited to talk with Beth Zimmerman, the founder of Pets for Patriots! Are you a veteran or active duty service member? Do you need…
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Raising a Generation that Loves
Today Newtown, Conneticut will bury the first of their children. Noah Pozner, age 6, will be laid to rest at 1:00pm. (Newtown shooting victims: First funerals to be held) Then there will be 19 more funerals for children and 7 for adults. Oh deep sorrow runs through my blood. My husband, the level headed soldier who has seen more then I would like to imagine, came home on Friday and immediately turned on the news. He watched for a quite a while, standing there stunned. Then the man who is never sick complained of a headache the rest of the night. I don’t know if it was a headache as much…
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More than just the winter-blues
The Holidays. They can be a very tough time of year. Not only is it getting darker and darker in our part of the hemisphere but we are missing family, friends and loved ones that are around the world. We are looking back at our year and have seen changes we may or may not like. We are looking ahead wondering what the year ahead will have in store for us. Your spouse might be deployed. Your parents might be thousands of miles away. You may be experiencing the mind-blowing effects of PTSD. Your schedule is crazy and the thought of ‘Silent Night’ is really only a song. Or it might…
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Refreshing View from the Top of the Army Reserve – Blogger Roundtable
It was a great interview and so different than most of the other air coming from DC during this political season! Refreshing candor, integrity, willingness to acknowledge the occasional problem being worked,… the newest Chief of the Army Reserve—Lieutenant General Jeffrey Talley spoke with his heart and had the facts on issues affecting the Army Reserve. In addition, this was a great follow on to the blog we posted in August: Are You Ready for the Army Reserve? Or, Is Your Soldier Ready for the Army Reserve? Army Reserve Capabilities – See Below for Photo CreditsFirst off the start line: What does the Army Reserve bring to the fight? Twenty…
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US Navy Health Promotion and Wellness – DoD Blogger Roundtable
When we see images of our military community we see a young, vibrant and healthy group of Americans. But realistically our vision may be wrong. The Department of Defense spends $1 Billion per year on weight management, many still smoke and health and wellness are hot topics among the defense medical community and leaders. Talking health! See Below for Photo CreditYesterday Cmdr. Denise Gechas, Director of Population Health, Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) met with the Blogger Roundtable (BRT) to discuss the launch of the Navy’s health and wellness campaign. She was in Norfolk for the launch and the roundtable asked her about the campaign and she…
