February Newsletter

Hello all! January has come and gone and here we find ourselves in mid-February, the month of love. Whether you spent Valentine’s Day with the one you love, or wishing he was there with you, we hope you felt the special bond shared by military spouses across the world. The separations are inevitable, but it is the bond you create between the separations that will set your marriage above the rest. I am attaching a link to a story I read and loved. It is just so true. Don’t you agree? Do you love yourself as your spouse loves you?

http://www.mountainwings.com/past/1325.htm

As women we carry many titles; wife, mother, daughter, sister, and aunt just to name a few. You are probably also CEO, CFO and/or COO of your family. Maybe you are also a student, family chef, and maid. As mundane as some of these sound, many of these titles require us to carry a deeper title. As a wife we also need to be a lover, his companion, and supportive of his dreams. As a mother we also must be nurturing, patient, and loving in a completely different way. A daughter must be a listener, a sister should be reliable, and any aunt must be fun! So where amongst all the titles we share in this world is the love we should have for ourselves?

I don’t have all the answers but in my experience I can say that if I devoted as much time to myself as I do to the other 3 members of my family I would truly be a different person. With that said, I really don’t want to be a different person right now, but taking some time away from my many titles to devote just to me helps me to feel refreshed and renewed to bear the burden the rest of my titles require so much of. This month we want to help you accomplish “time for myself”.

Our topic this month is “Love Yourself- Yoga for Relaxation”. Yoga means “union” in Sanskrit. Much like we unite to our spouse, we must unite with ourselves. So wear some comfortable clothes, including your favorite sweatshirt for a little ice-breaker, and come relax with your fellow Warrior Wives. Personal Trainer, Kelly Johnson, will be showing us the ropes of yoga and relaxation. We hope to see you Friday, February 19th at 6:00pm. We always have snacks, free childcare, and a great time with great ladies.

Warrior Wives meet every third Friday of the month.

Friday, January 15th, 2010 from 6-8pm

Pat Jones YMCA

1901 E. Republic Rd. Springfield, MO

(Childcare provided)

Upcoming Meetings:

February 19, 2010

March 19, 2010

Be sure to check out the website @ www.usawarriorwives.org.  We’ve added resources and more changes will be coming in the near future.

Warrior Wives Support Opportunity

Warrior Wives

Candle and Yellow Ribbon

Fundraiser and Bake Sale.

Warrior Wives will be holding a fundraiser/bake sale on Saturday, February 13th from 11-3 at Mardels on Battlefield St. in Springfield.  We will have specialty baked goods for Valentine’s Day, along with handmade scarves, candles and yellow ribbon car fresheners.

If you would like to have your candles gift wrapped for Valentine’s Day, please let us know prior to the fundraising event and we will provide gift-wrapping free of charge.  Included is a picture of the options we have available, along with scent and price lists.

Please pass along our fundraiser information to anyone you know that might support Warrior Wives.  For more information about Warrior Wives, visit www.usawarriorwives.org email  1warriorwife@usawarriorwives.org

These are the scents that we have available for BOTH the candles and the Yellow Ribbon car fresheners (Please keep in mind we did not pick the names…but the smells are great!)

*Abercrombie & Fitch

*Love Spell

*Leather

*Margarita

*Butt Naked (it’s fruity!)

The following scents are in candle form only.

*Coconut Lime Verbena-Compare to: Bath and Body Words, Inc

*Hot Apple Pie

*Ocean

*Sweet Home Alabama

*Very Sexy-Similar to Victoria Secrets

The candles are a 6oz. Classic 12 Sided, Single Wick, Burns approx 45-50 hours.

Candles   $7                   Yellow Ribbon Car Fresheners   $3

Combo giftwrapped Free to be picked up Prior to 2/13/2010   $10

Military OneSource Discussions Boards

Are you geographically dispersed? 
Would you like to connect with other military family members and Service Members?  Military OneSource has the tool for that connection. 

Discussion Boards
Deployment. Health and fitness. Money. Whatever your concerns or needs, the Military OneSource community is here for you 24/7. Our discussion boards, moderated chats, and webinars will help to put your mind at ease. Share your experiences and thoughts or search for insightful ideas from other members of the military community in Missouri. For more information about discussion boards, please go to www.militaryonesource.com
To participate in the Missouri discussion boards;
1. Log in.
2. Click on Online Community (blue tab at top).
3. Under Discussion board click on view and join or discussion boards.
4 Scroll down to Missouri.
5. Click on a topic of interest or add new topic.
6 Have fun connecting with other military families.
 
 
Tracy Anderson
 
Military OneSource
Missouri MOS Joint Family Support Assistance Program Consultant
phone:  573-418-0414
tracy.a.anderson@militaryonesource.com
www.MilitaryOneSource.com
Call 1-800-342-9647
You name it…we can help!
To request event support go to: http://jfsap.mhf.dod.mil/request

Four Star Chef – Offered at no cost to Youth from Military Families

Summers @ Mizzou Camps for Youth July 25-29, 2010 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA

SUMMERS @ MIZZOU
Teresa Bishop
 
Do you have an idea you want to turn into your own business?  Do you want to move from a

seat in the audience to the Director’s Chair?  Do you enjoy eating and preparing different kinds of foods?  Do you like helping people?  Do you like maps?  Do you enjoy helping animals?  If any of these apply to you, Summers @ Mizzou is where you should be the week of July 25-29. 
 
Summers @ Mizzou offers six different camps
·       Director’s Cut
·       Scrub-In to a Health Career
·       Build-a-Business
·       Dog Days of Summer
·       Four Star Chef – offered at no cost to Youth from Military Families
·       GeoTech
 
These camps are offered as residential or day camps.  Camps are available for a wide range of ages beginning with 12 year olds; check the registration information for the age range of each camp.
 
Early registration is due by May 7.  For registration and available scholarships, see   http://4h.missouri.edu/programs/summers.  For those without Internet access, call your local University of MO Extension Office or Teresa Bishop at 573-884-0554 for a brochure.

Speak Out for Military Kids Interactive Theater

Missouri Operation: Military Kids would like to take a team of four middle school and/or high school youth to a  fun and unique opportunity at K-State, Manhattan, KS. If you know of some teens and an adult sponsor that would be interested in attending or you would like more information about Speak Out for Military Kids Interactive Theater, contact:

Joan Zeller -zellerc@missouri.edu

Operation: Military Kids- www.operationmilitarykids.org

University of Missouri Extension

4-H Center for Youth Development- www.4h.missouri.edu/programs/military/

Operation: Military Kids is a partnership of Army Child, Youth and School Services, National 4-H Headquarters/USDA, and University of Missouri Extension. Missouri Operation: Military Kids is supported by the 4-H/Army Youth Development Project under Kansas State University special project number 2007-48661-03868.

Military families can use sitter site free

By Karen Jowers – Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 22, 2010 18:27:53 EST

The Defense Department now is paying for an Internet service that helps military families find in-home child care, nannies, tutors, elder care providers, pet sitters and other services in their local communities.

Active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps members and their families, as well as National Guard and reserve members and their families, can receive a free membership to the service, which costs an average of $120 a year. Retirees are not eligible.

You must go to www.sittercity.com/dod to activate your free membership.

Those looking for the services can do it in two ways, through a sitter search or by posting a job. Those looking for child care, elder care providers, pet sitters and house cleaners can use specific search criteria, including geographic areas. The database will pull from more than 600,000 child care provider profiles nationwide. But there are more than 1 million care provider profiles across all five types of care — child, tutoring, senior, pet, and home, said Mary Schwartz, spokeswoman for Sittercity.

The program provides military families with instant access to caregiver profiles, including background checks, pictures, references, reviews, a four-step screening process, and a specialized matching technology to help select the right caregiver. They also are working to include military spouses who provide family child care in their homes, too.

Sittercity.com doesn’t employ the caregivers; it simply helps match them with families. The family hiring the caregiver negotiates the salary or fee with the caregiver.

The site will help increase options for families, including normal weekly and hourly care and care for those who work in excess of a normal duty day or live off-base in remote areas, said Melissa Anderson, head of Sittercity’s corporate division.

“We’re very honored and excited to be part of this program for military families,” Anderson said.

“Because of the mobile nature of military life, trusted community resources are often difficult to identify and locate. These online tools will help service and family members attain the best match between resource and need,” said Tommy Thomas, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, in a statement announcing the new service.

The site confirms eligibility through the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.

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