My name is Melissa and I have been an Army wife since May 2015.

 

My hope is that this blog is a place where I can share my experiences with the modern military and being a working wife.  With that being said, dual career families are not for everyone and I hope that this blog is a judgment free area.  Let’s agree to respect the unique decisions that all families make when navigating their future.  My goal is not to convince you that my soldier and I know everything and that our way is the only right way (that is so very far from the truth), but rather to shed light on a few aspects of life within the Army that are rarely discussed.  

 

There is one thing that defines who I am: my relationship with God.  However, there are many things that help to shape who I am: my incredible husband/soldier, having loving and supportive parents and sister, being a Colorado native, my love for spreadsheets, being too outgoing (and talkative) for my own good, satisfying my creative side, my compassionate heart, and my awesome extended family.  Although there is much more that makes me who I am, I would consider these to be the key elements.  

 

I grew up in the suburbs of Colorado.  My soldier and I met and started dating while in high school and looking back, I would have never imagined the crazy journey that the Lord has since taken us on. 

We both decided to attend the University of Colorado Boulder for our undergraduate degrees and since math and Science have always been a fascination of mine, I enrolled to study engineering.  Throughout our time in college, we stayed busy with an on-campus student ministry, and other various activities.  My soldier was a resident advisor to freshman for three years and spent summers training for a career in the Army through CULP, CTLT, and LDAC.  I was an executive on a few student boards, mentored underclassmen women, and stayed busy through the summers, while my soldier was gone, with internships with technical firms. 

Fast forward three years, and my soldier proposes to me as our junior year of college comes to an end! Fast forward another year and he graduates from college with a dual degree in accounting and finance and commissions as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Infantry.  Two weeks later, I got married to the love of my life with the wedding of our dreams and suddenly entered the mysterious world of the Army. 

(For sake of finishing the context of our experiences, my soldier and now husband moved across the country for about a year of training, one month after our wedding day.  I stayed in Colorado to finish my degree and do another internship.  Six months after he moved, I graduated with a degree in engineering plus (engineering design) with a minor in business.)

 

So, here we are.  January 2016. 

My soldier is across the country in Ranger School and I have started my dream job with a Fortune 130 technology firm.  I am so very lucky to be married to a wonderful man who supports my dreams of having a career, and makes sacrifices to help get our family where we want it to be.