Articles by mgross

Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC): Benefits, Eligibility, and How to Get One

For veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, the Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) is more than an identification card used at medical appointments. It helps verify enrollment, establish veteran status for participating civilian discounts and, for certain eligible veterans, access military shopping and recreational facilities. Understanding which benefits apply to you is the difference between ...

Survival Mode: The Ultimate Solo-Parenting Tips and Tricks Edition

We’ve all been there...when the house or car door closes and your spouse is off to school or a deployment. In an instant you become the sole referee, chief of the house, and only bedtime navigator. All on top of those other roles you play as a stay at home mom like nurse, chauffeur, maid, comfort giver, and time manager. As a military spouse, it’s easy to find ourselves forced to “embrace the suck...

HOME & FAMILY

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month: How to Prepare for your Mammogram

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know Breast Cancer affects 1 in 8 women in the U.S. every year? Throughout the year you’ll see people wear or display a pink ribbon. The pink ribbon is a universal symbol to raise awareness and bring women together in solidarity. It is recommended that women start receiving mammograms at age 40. However, if you have a family history of...

HEALTH & FITNESS

You Are Not Forgotten: National POW/MIA Recognition Day

POW/MIA Recognition Day began with the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. It was founded in 1966 to lobby the U.S. government and the United Nations for treatment of Prisoners of War in accordance with the Geneva Convention and information on servicemembers declared Missing in Action. Before their efforts, families received little to no information abo...

HOME & FAMILY

Members Only | Author Spotlight – Rosamaria Mancini

Welcome back everyone! This month we are going to feature another great debut author and military spouse, Rosamaria Mancini! Rosamaria shares her unique story of her move from the world she knows in New York to her life abroad with her military husband! I know we can all relate to this story. She sought connection in podcasts. I am totally guilty of this, but catch me with an audiobook instead. So...

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Mission Ready Resources: The Military Family's Toolkit

As military families, we are blessed to have a variety of FREE resources available to us throughout our military journey. We have pulled together some of the most common ones to have all in one place for you to save. Crisis Resources:Veterans Crisis LineDiscover More: veteranscrisisline.netCall: 988, then Press 1Text: 838255Emergency ServicesCall 911Visit your nearest emergency roomMilitary Resour...

RESOURCES

Portable Careers for Military Spouses

PCS orders can change your address in a matter of months, but they should not have to erase your career momentum.For military spouses, a portable career is more than a job labeled “remote.” The goal is to find work built around skills that employers need in many places, credentials you can transfer or maintain, an employer that can keep you on through a move, or a client base that can travel with ...

12 min read

The Invisible Battle: POTS Awareness Month

October is POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) Awareness Month. This is a time dedicated to illuminating a complex chronic condition that is invisible to the naked eye, but it affects millions. As a military spouse who lives with POTS, I know the daily challenges and how widely misunderstood this autonomic dysfunction is. It introduces a unique layer of difficulty, as military life de...

HOME & FAMILY

4 min read

Wander & Wine: A Narnia Winery at Briar Rose

Briar Rose has always felt like a place you stumble upon rather than plan for. A Snow White cottage tucked quietly into the Temecula hills, stone walls softened by time, crooked lines that feel intentional in the way fairytales always do. However, in winter, something shifts. The air sharpens. The light changes, and suddenly, this familiar story opens into another one entirely. During the colder m...

TRAVEL

The Scariest Thing This October? Your Dog’s Breath

Ghosts, scary movies, and things that are spooky in the night may get all the attention this October, but there is something even scarier lurking in our house…dog breath. While we are stocking up on treats for Halloween to hang out, I am making sure the dogs have a treat of their own with DentaLife Daily Oral Care dog chews. Adding a dental chew to their routine is an easy way to give them somethi...

HOME & FAMILY

Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC): Benefits, Eligibility, and How to Get One

For veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, the Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) is more than an identification card used at medical appointments. It helps verify enrollment, establish veteran status for participating civilian discounts and, for certain eligible veterans, access military shopping and recreational facilities. Understanding which benefits apply to you is the difference between ...

Survival Mode: The Ultimate Solo-Parenting Tips and Tricks Edition

We’ve all been there...when the house or car door closes and your spouse is off to school or a deployment. In an instant you become the sole referee, chief of the house, and only bedtime navigator. All on top of those other roles you play as a stay at home mom like nurse, chauffeur, maid, comfort giver, and time manager. As a military spouse, it’s easy to find ourselves forced to “embrace the suck...

HOME & FAMILY

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month: How to Prepare for your Mammogram

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know Breast Cancer affects 1 in 8 women in the U.S. every year? Throughout the year you’ll see people wear or display a pink ribbon. The pink ribbon is a universal symbol to raise awareness and bring women together in solidarity. It is recommended that women start receiving mammograms at age 40. However, if you have a family history of...

HEALTH & FITNESS

You Are Not Forgotten: National POW/MIA Recognition Day

POW/MIA Recognition Day began with the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. It was founded in 1966 to lobby the U.S. government and the United Nations for treatment of Prisoners of War in accordance with the Geneva Convention and information on servicemembers declared Missing in Action. Before their efforts, families received little to no information abo...

HOME & FAMILY

Members Only | Author Spotlight – Rosamaria Mancini

Welcome back everyone! This month we are going to feature another great debut author and military spouse, Rosamaria Mancini! Rosamaria shares her unique story of her move from the world she knows in New York to her life abroad with her military husband! I know we can all relate to this story. She sought connection in podcasts. I am totally guilty of this, but catch me with an audiobook instead. So...

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Mission Ready Resources: The Military Family's Toolkit

As military families, we are blessed to have a variety of FREE resources available to us throughout our military journey. We have pulled together some of the most common ones to have all in one place for you to save. Crisis Resources:Veterans Crisis LineDiscover More: veteranscrisisline.netCall: 988, then Press 1Text: 838255Emergency ServicesCall 911Visit your nearest emergency roomMilitary Resour...

RESOURCES

Portable Careers for Military Spouses

PCS orders can change your address in a matter of months, but they should not have to erase your career momentum.For military spouses, a portable career is more than a job labeled “remote.” The goal is to find work built around skills that employers need in many places, credentials you can transfer or maintain, an employer that can keep you on through a move, or a client base that can travel with ...

12 min read

The Invisible Battle: POTS Awareness Month

October is POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) Awareness Month. This is a time dedicated to illuminating a complex chronic condition that is invisible to the naked eye, but it affects millions. As a military spouse who lives with POTS, I know the daily challenges and how widely misunderstood this autonomic dysfunction is. It introduces a unique layer of difficulty, as military life de...

HOME & FAMILY

4 min read

Wander & Wine: A Narnia Winery at Briar Rose

Briar Rose has always felt like a place you stumble upon rather than plan for. A Snow White cottage tucked quietly into the Temecula hills, stone walls softened by time, crooked lines that feel intentional in the way fairytales always do. However, in winter, something shifts. The air sharpens. The light changes, and suddenly, this familiar story opens into another one entirely. During the colder m...

TRAVEL

The Scariest Thing This October? Your Dog’s Breath

Ghosts, scary movies, and things that are spooky in the night may get all the attention this October, but there is something even scarier lurking in our house…dog breath. While we are stocking up on treats for Halloween to hang out, I am making sure the dogs have a treat of their own with DentaLife Daily Oral Care dog chews. Adding a dental chew to their routine is an easy way to give them somethi...

HOME & FAMILY

Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC): Benefits, Eligibility, and How to Get One

For veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, the Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) is more than an identification card used at medical appointments. It helps verify enrollment, establish veteran status for participating civilian discounts and, for certain eligible veterans, access military shopping and recreational facilities. Understanding which benefits apply to you is the difference between ...

Survival Mode: The Ultimate Solo-Parenting Tips and Tricks Edition

We’ve all been there...when the house or car door closes and your spouse is off to school or a deployment. In an instant you become the sole referee, chief of the house, and only bedtime navigator. All on top of those other roles you play as a stay at home mom like nurse, chauffeur, maid, comfort giver, and time manager. As a military spouse, it’s easy to find ourselves forced to “embrace the suck...

HOME & FAMILY

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month: How to Prepare for your Mammogram

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know Breast Cancer affects 1 in 8 women in the U.S. every year? Throughout the year you’ll see people wear or display a pink ribbon. The pink ribbon is a universal symbol to raise awareness and bring women together in solidarity. It is recommended that women start receiving mammograms at age 40. However, if you have a family history of...

HEALTH & FITNESS