A few months ago I joined a new church. It's a far cry from the somewhat cold Catholic church I grew up in--the church doesn't have its own building, and services are held in another church. There are a couple of young pastors, and a few bands alternate playing the music every Sunday. Mostly, from what I learned, it was a grassroots movement that grew slowly over the years.

What I like about this place is the community. It is mostly made up of people my age, in their twenties and…

I am constantly amazed by the generosity I see in my military community. I have a hard time believing that the spirit of cooperation and kindness that I see between military spouses can be replicated so strongly in a civilian community (with the exception of church communities, which often share a similar spirit).

Over the past few weeks, a friend of mine discovered that a small medical procedure she was scheduled to have had developed into a full-blown surgery, requiring anesthesia.…

1. The health insurance is very good.

Tricare offers two plans to choose from--Prime or Standard. The benefit of Prime is that you don't pay anything out of pocket--but you must go to your appointments at base medical (or at least go there first in order to get a referral somewhere else). The benefit of Standard is that you can see any doctor who accepts Tricare Standard and don't need to go on base at all (in military towns, most practices accept Tricare). However, you will be a…

Sometimes, especially in a military town, you encounter stories of heroism when you least expect them.

Last night, my husband and I were driving to the grocery store when we decided that what we really wanted for dinner was, in fact, hibachi. We took a detour to the restaurant, even though I was in gym clothes and slightly embarrassed to go inside. We were seated at a large hibachi grill next to an elderly couple. Throughout the meal, they casually spoke to us, mostly about the…