I know that the past couple of posts have been a little ranty. I want to be clear that there are two sides to that coin. On the one hand, I am incredibly vocal and upset about the unacceptable issues affecting our military community. There are issues worldwide, but this is the lane I've picked to fight in. On the other hand, though, it's all just, eh, whatever to me. I can't get so heated that I let it overtake my life because then I wouldn't get anything done.

There's an account on Instagram that I follow that primarily covers relationships with in-laws called millennialmatleave. Janelle is great and mainly discusses things like communication and boundaries. As a boy mom whose greatest fear is becoming a toxic boy mom, it's an excellent account to help me plan for the things I definitely shouldn't do. Plus, as a friend to some people with these women as mothers-in-law, it's definitely nice for them to know they aren't alone. She has one segment on her account where she shares out-of-pocket things that people have shared with her that their in-laws have done, which is a great place to see some of the craziness out there in the world.

As if trying to perfectly prove my point that we need tangible changes for military families, the READINESS Act came up for a vote in Congress and met some (not so) shocking opposition. The bill passed with a vote of 30-13 and now heads to the full House for approval, or it may be folded into the National Defense Authorization Act. Overall, this should be a win for military families. However, the comments made in dissension still further prove the point that what we need is not a holiday celebrating spouses but a fundamental perspective shift on what it means to serve.

In honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day, let's talk about what the spouses in your life actually need. We appreciate the candle set and Starbucks gift cards. Still, if we could have tangible changes to the most pressing issues in military families today, we would see lasting gratitude. Let's try to solve the issues facing our community because we know these problems will have long-term effects on the viability of our all-volunteer force.

Over the weekend, our country celebrated both Military Spouse Appreciation Day and Mother's Day. My heart goes out to everyone who spent those days without their partners since Murphy seems to ensure they miss every holiday celebrating us. I think these two holidays have a lot of similarities. That is not to say that the term military spouse only applies to women. I just mean that the things people look for in celebration of the day often don't compare to that individual's needs on a day-in, day-out basis.

The conference I attended a few weeks ago was called A View From The Edge. While it was sponsored by my insurance company, this event was primarily run by a guest speaker. Marc Accetta is a world-renowned network marketing expert who has spent his career helping teams grow. One of his niche training styles is a series of characters that he has designed to further illustrate his message. A View From The Edge is a weekend event packed with a bunch of these characters.

Chasing a dream is not a one-person job. It would be if we existed alone in the world, but that's not the case for most people. We have spouses, kids, parents, siblings, and friendships that depend on us. Changing our habits to chase our dreams has ripple effects in that community. That's a good thing, and it's how we change the world, but it's not always received that way.

While asking friends if they had issues registering their cars, we heard one story that I want to share because it again paints flaws in a system where people should have an understanding of military life. It's something that you may run into and need to be prepared for. And it's something that informs us of our rights. The more information we have, the better equipped we are to thrive in this life.

Here’s just a few other things that the Servicemember Civil Relief Act did for us as military families. There’s a lot more in this bill and I don’t have time or energy to sift through the legal jargon. That being said, if you encounter an issue in military life that just feels off, then check for resources because I think we’ll be surprised what is out there. I learn about new things every day and the biggest thing I’m learning is to trust my gut and look for different options when something feels off. With that, here are a few things that the SCRA also does:

Throughout this car registration process, we learned one big thing: there are laws in place to protect servicemembers and their spouses, but these laws do nothing unless we are informed about them. It is right to expect the people in charge of things like tag agencies to understand these exceptions, but we have to be armed with the knowledge in case they don't. So, today, let's talk about the 2009 Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and everything it does for us.

Now, back to it. We get in there, ready to register our cars, and have this nightmare over with. Again, we looked at doing mine first, and the final charge was $350, which was much higher than we expected. I asked why, and they explained that Georgia does taxes for cars by paying a one-time ad valorem tax based on the vehicle's value, and then every year after, you pay the $2.00 processing fee to re-register.

The car registration is finally (mostly) resolved, so I'm going to share that complete saga over the next few days. I'm doing this for two reasons. Firstly, so that you know you aren't the only one running into frustrating and annoying bureaucratic things. And secondly, we learned more about our rights as military families, which is information everyone should have.

I am reaching the point of no return on this new business jump. It's come to the point where I need to put the money into the game, and once that happens, I have to be all in. To go put the money down and then wobble my way through will be a recipe for disaster. It's just like a gymnast must hold their form and confidence throughout a routine. If they start to get nervous or pull back from the big moves it can lead straight to injury.

The beginning of the AJR concert started with the same vibe as how the movie Now You See Me (one of my favorites, and apparently they are making a third, so that is super exciting) ends. It began with a monologue on the screen flashing different images of the places they were describing. I’m going to share the speech because it was so great, but I am editing a few parts out purely because it had visuals that made the words make sense. I’m not trying to type out an intro to the show, and maybe this will help not spoil too much for anyone choosing to attend at a later date.

 I'm definitely going out of order on the way I planned these posts to go. But we went rock climbing again today, which turned into dinner out, and we didn't get home until 9:30. That is past my bedtime, to begin with, and I have so much to do tomorrow to get ready for the Passover Seder that we are hosting with some friends. So, I want to skip ahead to my post about betting on yourself.

If you've been around the military for a while, you have probably figured out the importance of certain colors, their meaning, and when they should be worn. For example, on Friday, we can often spot more red in a crowd. In true military fashion, red is an acronym for "remember everyone deployed." During my husband's first deployment, I did my best to wear red on Fridays.  

I’m sorry for missing Monday’s blog post. The day I had planned didn’t quite work out, and I decided to skip it. It’s 100% my fault. I could have made it work, but I didn’t. But that’s okay; we make mistakes and then get back up on the horse. I may be one day further from my dream than I could have been, but I can make it up, and it’s never too late to start again.

Wednesday night, I saw AJR perform live. It was an incredible performance! I could feel genuine love and passion coming from the stage into the crowd and vice versa. I'm thinking about trying to see them again when they come to Atlanta at the end of July because the show was that good. Plus, it would be interesting to see them again at the end of the tour (Wednesday was only the 4th or 5th night of the tour) to see how things changed. 

I am leaving home today and will be gone for ten days chasing my dream. Tonight, I have the AJR concert, which I could not be more excited about because it is truly a dream come true, and I imagine I'll be talking a lot about it on Friday. Then I have a work conference over the weekend. That will be followed by working in the field in North Carolina for a few days. The trip will finish off with an early Passover celebration before heading back home.

I have much more to share in the saga of getting our cars registered in Georgia. The process has been incredibly frustrating and has taught us a lot about our rights as military members and spouses. We spent five hours at the tag agency on Friday and another two today. The process is only half done (and some stuff needs to be undone as a result). Ultimately it was a pain in the butt, and there's more to be done, but this will be less of a pain than it would have been.