Navylife(your region).com

Navylife (your region).com is a great way to get involved with other spouses and families on base. This is the Navy Fleet & Readiness Programs. It’s similar to the MWR. MWR means Moral, Welfare, Recreation. The difference I’ve found is the MWR is more of a ticketing office for places like Sea World and Disney. However, they do also do other things that’s just the biggest thing I look at it doing.

As spring and Easter are coming most every base will be starting their Easter egg hunts and other fun spring activities. Here in San Diego we are doing an even called Spring Fling on March 19th with an Easter egg hunt. Many events on base that are family oriented will have games, crafts, movies, and many other fun family activities.

As my husband and I do not have children yet we chose not to go to the Spring Fling event even though they encouraged families with no children to come out as well. Now truthfully we have more than one reason not to come since it’s also held on my husbands birthday.

Some of the other fun things are meant for non families with children as well. Not to say parents of children can’t come. It’s just meant for the adult rage. I’m getting ready to go to a painting night. Where I will get to have fun meeting others  and learn to paint a specific painting. Plus I get to take it home! And here in a few weeks there is a date night event that my husband and I will be going to.

Here in Sand Diego they have bowling nights, dance classes, 5k run/walks, we even have an air show. This month is also Military kids month so I’ve seen a lot of fun contests for the kids to be involved in.

*Many events will be free or at a reasonable price.

I definitely suggest you take use of the different activities you can do  on base. Especially if you don’t have friends in your area yet. It’s a great way to make friends. Just remember to be your self. Also no one likes a person who uses their spouses ranks to get what they want. That’s his rank he earned not yours. Earn respect the old fashion way. By being nice, friendly, and even by knowing how things work in military life. That may seem strange but if you  know what your talking about and you are nice (not trying to show off) I and others probably appreciate it more. (Sorry that was extra but I felt the need to say it.)

If you live in the South West such as I do in San Diego the website in

navylifesw.com from there you pick your installation.

As for other regions you will just have to replace the SW with your region. Unfortunately I’m not sure of how all the regions are set up.   If I had to guess they would all be simple such as Midwest would be MW, Northwest would be NW, and so on. However , I’m sure there are other regions I wouldn’t be able to think of. Especially if you live in another country outside of the USA.

I found the best way to find out the area you are in if you don’t already is to either ask your spouse. Or the way I found it was by looking at the different signs as you drive off the main gate for base. I was able to fine the website I use to find all the events for base. I already knew the region I was in I just didn’t know how to find the event page. (Did all that make sense? I’m sorry if it was rambled.)

 

Talk soon,

Marena

P.S. I’m sure all military branches have something similar. I suggest finding it and taking use of the different events.

 

To Work or Not Work?

This is a question I’ve been asking not only myself but my husband on a constant basis over the last few weeks. 

We’ve been in San Diego 2 months and I still don’t have a job. Not because I don’t want to but because California is strict on their medical field requirements. 

I am a nationally certified phlebotomist and you’d think that would be enough. No state requires you to be certified they just want proof you passed the class. I on the other hand wanted to be at a higher standard so I got nationally certified. However, California and New York are two states unlike the rest. They don’t care if you’re nationally certified. They want you to be state certified specifically for their state. I find this to be ridiculous if I’m already nationally certifide why should I then get state certified for a state I may not be in very long. 

I just spent tons of money for the class and my national certificate that I don’t want to then she’ll out tons of money for a state my husband and I don’t want to stay in our whole life. Let alone the fact he’s in the military and we not even be here longer than a year. Not only do I pay for the certification California wants you to spend roughly 400$ to take a 4 day class before you can even take the certification exam. So this means I put my medical career on the hold. 

All that’s fine I’m okay with waiting till we move agin. So people might ask why not get a different job. Like Lifeguarding or being a waitress both things I am qualified to do. My answer is I’ve been a lifeguard for 10 or so years and I’m tired of it. As for being a waitress it was one of those been there done that never going back kind of jobs. 

So then came the question of do I really need to work. We are gone in 8 months roughly do I need to work for that time frame? The answe from my husband was no you don’t need to work nor do you ever have to if you don’t want to.

That bothered me. I never have to work? So I’d turn into THAT military wife that never works. Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with military wives staying at home. I’ve just always thought if they were staying home it’s because they had children. Not because they just didn’t have to or want to work. 

So after a long decision process and talking with my husband I decided I would look into babysitting with care.com on an occasional basis. This way I can bring in extra money to put into our save every once in a while and I can get out of the house. This also helps me feel like I’m needed as more than a cleaning person or cook. It makes me feel like I’m contributing to our finances even if it’s only a little. 

I also decided I wanted to find a place to volunteer with children so if you know of good places in San Diego with children let me know!
Now this is just our plan for California living. Every new location means a new plan of action. 

Talk soon,

Marena