I was looking back through my Facebook memories the other day and they kicked me back to posts from when I was married for 6 months. Over and over again, the posts mentioned my “long-distance marriage” or how I had been married for 6 months but had only lived together with my husband for 1 month of that time. Everyone’s military journey will look different but for both Kirstin and me, ours started out very busy and fast-paced and life for our guys was wild! Was there sadness, loneliness, and intense feelings of missing our guys? OF COURSE! But those years also hold the best memories of incredible adventures and heartwarming girl’s nights that we miss dearly to this day.
Family dinners
This is one of my fondest memories. Especially when one of us was solo, our friend group at our first assignment would host a family dinner so that whoever was alone didn’t have to worry about feeding themselves (why is that so hard when you’re alone??) and could spend an evening in good company!
Weekend getaways with milso friends
We have always heard, growth comes from traveling the world. So while our husbands were away on missions and traveling, we wanted to make sure that we were growing as well through exploration! Does that mean that we have checked out new spots that we have never been to with our spouses to this day? Yes! And that’s okay! One of our favorite trips was traveling to Portland together, having an incredible steak dinner for my birthday, and staying at the cutest new hotel.
I also want to add that sometimes, missions and trainings can pop up at the last minute! A lot of our planned trips could flex to incorporate 1 guy or both guys! Flexibility with our relationships, both marriage and friendships, is key for the busy seasons we often find ourselves in as military spouses!
Host a spouse event
Those nights at home with your spouse are so special. Especially when they are few and far between! And while we are very pro getting out there and meeting other spouses and pouring into friendships, we know that can be hard to justify when it takes missing a rare night home with your favorite person. So when they are gone, this is the perfect time to put the ball in your court and host a meet-up with other significant others! Havent been able to make it to an event due to time or place restrictions? That may be the case for someone else as well! Plan it for when it works best for you and see what happens! It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a simple wine night or just a general hang is perfection.
Try a new restaurant
We totally get the romance behind trying all these new things with your loved one. It’s so fun!! But in our experience, that could potentially leave a huge list of “things to see” that brutally, may go unseen if you are always waiting on your servicemember to be home. Go on and try it out with a friend, or, alone! Take it in, see if you like it, and scout it out for the two of you to enjoy during the date night that you have planned for when they get back!
Check local events and invite a friend
This is definitely location dependent but when you are done binging all of the trash tv shows you saved for your spouse to be gone to watch, it’s nice to get out of the house for something, ANYTHING. My M.O. is to look up “Events in [assignment location] this weekend”. Usually, a link from either the local tourism office or eventbrite.com will pop up and hopefully give you an idea of something to do! This is a great time to reach out to a new spouse to see if they want to join you as you check it out!
Take a trip or schedule a friend’s visit
If your friends wait to come to see you until your SO is home, they could potentially never come to visit, so to that, we say take advantage of seeing your people when you need them most! And if they can’t come to you, use those AMEX perks and book a trip with your points to go see them.
