In August 2011, I was spending a lot of time in the ICU at National Naval Medical Center (became Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in September).  My son was in the ICU for 50 days, and we saw a lot of wounded warriors and families come and go in that time.

One special woman and her struggles gripped my heart.  When I first met Mariam, she looked so fragile.  I was struck by how tiny she was, and how she looked no older than my 16 year old daughter.  First impressions can…

If you did not escape to the shore this weekend you'll want to check out Rolling Thunder. We were able to witness some of it last year and it is an amazing show of patriotism. Here's their schedule so you can learn more!

http://rollingthunderrun.com/schedule-2/

This week an email hit my inbox and I want to share it with you! I have included all the information that was shared with me including the link to the website so you can find this tasty treat at a store near you.…

Welcome to DC Military Living!  Thank you for your or your loved one's service.

Let me start by telling you a little about myself.  I am a single mother of five children and live in Parsippany, NJ.  I have been raising my children alone for the last 13 years, after my ex, a former Marine, left the State.  I am an attorney by trade, but I also have my elementary teaching certificate.  Right now, I am looking for employment due to the events of the last ten months which will be…

Scrolling through our local newspaper on my 'pad' this morning, I saw a photo of Old Guard Soldiers performing the special duty of placing flags at the grave markers in Arlington National Cemetery, as part of the yearly Memorial Day observances. Such a simple thing; just a small square of red, white and blue placed in front of a humble white stone, but multiplied by thousands becomes a moving tribute to those who served our nation. I knew that my eyes would be especially drawn to those white…

We dug in deep, and shot on sight

And prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might

     In the fall of 2003, my college football teammate Tony Tabasso and I contributed an article on CPT George Wood to our college football newsletter. Woody was a vibrant and talented officer in the US Army. But back in college, he was our fun-loving, wryly intelligent brother on the offensive…

As Memorial Day approaches, please pass this along and ask your friends, neighbors and family to post here a tribute to a fallen soldier that you want everyone to remember.  Give their name, rank, service and how you want them to be remembered.  Please pass this along and see if we can get 100 fallen soldiers listed here before Memorial Day

     One of my favorite AFN commercials in Germany was entitled “PCS Dreams”. It depicted an angelic lady who welcomes a servicemember to the land where all of your PCS responsibilities were handled by a container of, I don’t know what, but whatever it was, it freed you up to enjoy all of your remaining time at your duty station and transitioned you into your new duty station, worry and hassle free. The joke, of course, was that there is no such magical container, and that PCSing is, by its…

Starting on Armed Forces Day, this Saturday, May 19, Joining Forces will be offering all active duty military a free annual pass that will grant access to service members and their dependents, to more than 2,000 sites across the country, including National Parks.

The annual pass will be accepted at all public land sites that charge…

Monday I was able to attend the kick off event for the GI Film Festival as the guest of Senator Elizabeth Dole. It was an amazing night. I learned so much about the GI Film Festival and I wanted to share a little of that with our community.

The event I attended was to honor Ross Perot. I knew the name, but was truly ignorant to everything he has done for our country. He definitely has a concrete spot on the list of amazing Americans. Of course I also had the honor of sitting next to…

My daughter is finishing her last week of K-12 learning, and it has got me thinking of how successfully my children navigated their 6+ different schools through those years (and how fortunate my husband and I were). Children of military families often attend as many schools as their families have moves, showing an amazing ability to adapt and conquer new challenges.

As families face each posting, school choices are often limited to the schools on post, home schooling or private…

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Countless men and women serve our country with their spouses. But they serve silently with very little recognition, so make today truly be their day. You never know how much saying the words, "Thank you" can brighten someone's day. Chances are if you are on this site you are or know of a military spouse. So take a few moments and let them know how much you value their service to our country. 

-Jessica

RÉSUMÉ WRITING TIPS

Value Proposition Statement ­– Powerful but brief account of “level of excellence being offered.”

Keywords – Ensure they are characteristic of your industry of interest and will serve you well if typed into a search engine by human resources personnel.  

Customization – Prepare résumé according to position/company specifications showcasing related…

We've all heard about the great savings opportunities that flying Space-Available can offer.  Here in the DC area, we have several nearby air terminals to choose from, including BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport, Joint Base Andrews and Dover Air Force Base (okay, that one's not quite so close, but it's a reasonable drive and they have free parking).  Active duty members and their families and retirees can fly for free or for very low cost to other military air terminals around the…

My Military Family,

Join me as we take this journey together into the blogosphere. I am full of anticipation and excitement about the possibilities.  

My daughter, a senior in an Arlington high school, is having a very unique school day, today. She and her classmates are being paid a visit by the President of the United States. It is probably going to be an event she'll remember for a long time, especially as she gets ready to vote for the first time this fall. 

Don't know whether you saw the recent news article opining that the military will be a key voting demographic for this election. I wonder how many people out there would…

I met my cute hubby on a blind date at Ft Campbell in 1999. Somehow we have remained with the 101^st this entire time. We married in 2001, had cutie number one in 2002 and cutie number two in 2005. Chaz’s Army adventures have taken him to Kosovo, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over our great nation, but he had never been to DC until last year.

On January 22, 2011 I had to hear the words no Army wife wants to hear. It’s amazing how I can still hear them today, “Mrs. Allen,…