As I post my first entry, I have 2 days left at my job before I begin a new adventure as a SAHM (stay at home mom). Many have I asked if I am excited to begin this new chapter in my life and though I would love to say "more than you know!!" or "of course!!" with a huge smile on my face, it's not the truth. My husband is being deployed as an officer with the Army National Guard. With much prayer and thought, my husband and I decided it would be best for me to stay at home with our 4 kids.
So, as I have been trying to decide what to do with my new found "free time," I remembered how I felt so lost during my husband's first deployment. I was given a big packet of information before sitting thru an all day presentation on TRICARE, United Concordia, FRGs, FRCs, POAs, etc. (ok...maybe it felt that way because I was about 34 weeks pregnant with our last child!!) We were ready on paper, had websites and phone numbers to use if I had questions or needed assistance but what I didn't have was someone with experience.
My husband's unit is based in one city while we live about an hour away. The unit's FRG must have forgotten that not everyone lived in close proximity to the unit. I never felt included in the FRG. All events were held at the headquarters with very little notification given. Now this isn't to say that all FRGs are the same. I'm hoping that my experience this time will be completely different!!
I have created this blog to not only journal my experience this time but to hopefully act a resource to all those other moms and wives out there who feel as though the are alone. Feel free to post questions/comments and I will try my best to answer/respond as needed. There are many resources out there to military families, you just have to know where to look and not to be afraid to ask!!
