While I have been married to my active duty Air Force man for over thirteen years, a few bad experiences early on led me to say phooey on all things spouse related. I later learned that one bad apple should not spoil the bunch and have spent the past five years learning how to be an 'active' Air Force spouse. This crash course in all things military has led to some very interesting situations, some humorous but mostly humbling, as a Key Spouse, president of spouse group, positions on various boards, DoD substitute teacher, and an Arlington Lady. There is no professional writing experience in my past (it shows) but feel the need to jot my thoughts down anyway for therapeutic reasons and, as my husband says, to get stuff off my chest. My life is the house that testosterone built with two growing boys, my high school sweetheart-turned-husband, and an aging Labrador that still thinks he is a puppy. In my free time I enjoy anything that gets me outside, rehabbing our short sale purchase, figuring out what I want to be when I grow up, correcting my verb tense, and learning more acronyms.

Two years ago, Jessica Lynn married her Air Force husband and moved from her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join him across the country in Georgia. If getting married and embarking on the life of an Air Force wife wasn't enough of an adventure, they recently traded in their Georgia peaches and for pasta and wine when her husband got orders to Northern Italy.

No longer a PCS virgin, Jessica is already gearing up for her second PCS in two years. When she's not twiddling her thumbs waiting for more answers about their upcoming move, you can find her learning Italian so she can have a conversation with her 90-year-old neighbor, traveling as much as time and money will allow, hanging out with her husband and puppy, and blogging about her OCONUS adventures at Jessica Lynn Writes.

John is married to an active duty Navy officer. He has been a Navy spouse for (checks calendar) 12 years and a Navy boyfriend for an unknown number of years before that. Before going active, his wife was an enlisted reservist, so his family knows multiple sides of military life. He has been "That Guy" in multiple spouse clubs along the way and is accustomed to being addressed as "ladies...oh, and John." He owns a tuxedo because in a room full of men wearing choker whites, there's no way to be confident when you're wearing rented pants.

John's first career was in IT consulting and helpdesk management; when his son was born, he caused dismay among his clients and jealousy among his peers by ditching his career to stay home with his son and figure out what he wanted to do if he grew up. He has been an off-again-on-again blogger since 2002 and is very pleased that most of his past writing is no longer on active sites.

This week, he is living with his family in Naples, Italy, where everyone is still getting used to the idea of his wife being home every night.

Leanne is the mother of three rambunctious little boys and the wife of a Marine. Her days are filled with laundry, shuttling kids around, helping with homework, volunteering, dodging nerf bullets, repeatedly putting the toilet seat down, and tripping over flight boots. It truly is the American Dream.

When not refereeing someone's fight, she blogs {all to infrequently lately} a journal of military wife life and the random thoughts of an often solo parent as The Mrs. at Trying Our Best. However, since discovering twitter two years ago she has become a twitter fiend @mrs_flyboy and is debating starting a 12 step program.

Lori Volkman is a Deputy Prosecutor who started an online diary in September 2010 to chronicle her family's one year deployment journey. Incorporating both humor and touching realism into her posts, she quickly garnered attention from the blogging community. Her blog was featured on "Freshly Pressed" by Wordpress in October 2010, and she was a finalist at the Military.com blog awards in April 2011 for "Best Spouse Blog." She cares for two young children, has a full time legal career, and writes about the challenges of separation that she faces, from the mundane to the significant.

She is also a lifetime military supporter with a wide array of experience; her father was a naval aviator, as is her husband. She grew up a Navy brat in the military community and then experienced life as a military spouse both in the active duty and reserve roles. After twelve years as a commercial UPS pilot and Navy Reservist, her husband's ticket was up, and the whole family embarked on a new journey. Her husband is now deployed as an "Individual Augmentee" for one year, and has changed into an Army uniform to work at an Air Force base with joint forces in the Middle East. Like many IA spouses, Lori is experiencing the benefits of the online community because there are no nearby military installations and very few similarly situated spouses in her immediate area.

In addition to her writing, Lori also recently launched the nonprofit Lens of Hope which provides free photography to families fighting cancer. She was inspired to help a photographer get the project going after her good friend's little boy passed away and her own mother was diagnosed with a rare cancer. She uses it as an opportunity to stay busy and to focus on the blessings of her life rather than the challenges.

Mollie has been a Navy Wife for just over two years, when she married the boy who was a blind date to her senior prom. Since then, they have moved four (going on five) times while her husband transitioned from ROTC to his training pipeline. She now knows that it is possible to fit over 700 pounds worth of stuff in a Nissan Versa, that it is important to know how to open the hood of your car before your drive your husband to work on base, and that finding a pen in the pocket of Summer Whites before they go into the washer earns you an ice cream date with the husband. She has yet to figure out what two-thirds of the three letter acronyms her husband speaks in mean, but she is debating making an app for that.

Mollie currently works as a part-time consultant writing reading passages for standardized tests, which isn't quite as boring as it sounds. Between wrangling their dog Finn and keeping up with her husband's ever changing schedule, Mollie enjoys writing, playing tourist in each new city they move to, and perpetually job hunting --ha. After this next move, she hopes to put her degree to use and finally land a job teaching writing courses.

Rachelle began her Military Spouse career when her future husband proposed to her in a letter during Desert Shield. Mail took over a month to arrive back then, and they only had three phone calls with each other in the ten months they were separated. They were married at a small ceremony a week after he returned home. Rachelle's husband moved her to Ft. Bragg, NC, all of their combined possessions filling her small, two-door car. In 1992, they left active duty and moved back to their home state where she went to nursing school and he joined the Army National Guard as a traditional Soldier as he went to school. In 1999, Rachelle's husband was offered a full-time National Guard position in Arkansas, where they lived for eight years.

In 2002, their son was born (MFO Deployment) and in 2003, their daughter was born (OIF2). In 2008, they moved back to their home state to live close to family. Rachelle has been an active contributor with SpouseBUZZ since 2005. She currently works full-time at a physician’s office, and is active with her church and school's PTO. Her son has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a subject that she is exhaustingly studying and learning to work with day-by-day. In 2010, Rachelle's mother-in-law moved in with the family, and they added a German shorthaired pointer named "Poncho" to the tribe as well. Rachelle enjoys spending as much "down time" with her family as possible - usually something outdoors or movie nights. Her favorite foods are sushi, steak, chocolate, and coffee. Her special skills include being an awesome cook, identifying odd accents by state or country, having an incredible sense of smell (almost bloodhound-like), and watching people at airports during long, unexpected layovers.

Sarah has been an Army wife for only eight years so far, but what an eight years it's been: 5 duty stations, 4 branches of the Army, 3 deployments, 2 years of failed attempts to start a family, and 1 baby born a week after a nine-month deployment.

Sarah spends most of her time these days involved with various baby playgroups on post. She also spends so much of her time in sweatsuits that her husband says she belongs in a Wes Anderson movie. Sarah's hobbies include making babyfood and trying to squeeze in a bit of knitting in the evenings. Notable projects include a stuffed Chinook and a four-fingered glove for Joan D'Arc's husband.

Partner in well traveled active duty Air Force family. I served and retired from the Air Force. Was born and raised in an Army family! Proud overseas brat. Married to a wonderful, successful southern man with 4 children, one of whom is active duty Army. And yes, I am too young for that! Not the typical family, not the traditional 'mom'. Love military life, social media, writing, business, pop culture, and travel. Born to do more!

Sespi met her Sailor while she was studying international policy and he was learning Arabic in Monterey, CA. He convinced her to tag along as he PCSed to Georgia, and they were married a month later. They're stationed at an Army post nowhere near the ocean and after two years have already been through more deployments than she can count.

When she's not checking the calendar to see how many days are left until shore duty, Sespi reads like crazy, explores the city with her husband and their two dogs, and pretends to be a runner. She also blogs about whatever happens to be on her mind at And You Never Did Think and can be found pretty much 24/7 on Twitter: @sespi.

Oh dear - SpouseBUZZ wants a bio from me. I hate writing bios! What do you want to know? I'm a Navy wife and have been for something less than 20 years. I have four daughters who are approaching the teenage years faster than I can drink a Diet Coke. I love writing for SpouseBUZZ because I know that someone out there understands whatever it is I am saying. I also write about money at The Paycheck Chronicles and I am studying for the Certified Financial Planner exam. This year, I have managed to avoid most of my usual volunteer responsibilities (Girl Scouts, PTO, church, etc.) so that I can focus on helping out at the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. It also allows me to make decent but unappreciated dinners and keep relatively up on the laundry.

Still haven't learned to get Christmas cards out on time, though.

Kris, writing as The New Normal, married her Soldier ten years ago, before the Army became part of their lives. After six years of marriage and feeling the strong call to serve, her husband decided to join the National Guard, throwing them into a whole new world! When asked his reasons for joining at the old age of 28, he simply stated, "How could I tell my children that during the war I sat back and let other people fight for my freedom? I wanted to do my part...for them." He is currently serving his first deployment.

In addition to proudly supporting her husband while he serves, Kris is a first grade teacher and is currently working on a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology. On the homefront, she stays busy raising their two amazing kids, ages seven and five, and taking care of the family zoo - one neurotic dog, two cranky cats, a blue fish and three friendly hermit crabs that were the result of her husband's shopping excursion at the beach during R&R. Between working, taming the zoo, and herding the cats...I mean kids, she networks on the Internet with other MilSpouses to stay in touch with others who are living a similar crazy life. With her husband's unit hours away and no other military families nearby, these online connections have helped her to realize she's not alone during this deployment and has found a wonderful and supportive community. She has grown to love being a MilSpouse and couldn't be prouder of her the service of her husband and her family!

Currently, you can find Kris documenting the family's experiences dealing with their first deployment on her personal blog, The New "Normal".

In the course of the decade since she accepted a certain Annapolis-bound young man's invitation to the senior prom, To the Nth has found herself a midshipman's girlfriend, a student pilot's fiancée, and a Naval Aviator's wife. As the couple's first sea tour unfolds, she discovers anew each day that life with a husband in "the fleet" is quite a different ballgame from the flight school experience.

To the Nth, being unable to keep her head (along with the rest of her) out of the clouds, devotes her volunteer time to Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. She is a qualified Mission Observer, trained to fly as a member of the aircrew in operations ranging from search and rescue to homeland security.

She maintains a personal blog and a Twitter account, either of which may, without warning, be used to inflict pictures of her cats on the Internet at large.

Wife of a Sailor is small-town woman who fell in love with an enlisted Navy man while he was on shore duty in Michigan. She has been married to her active duty submariner for two years. So far they have survived recruiting duty (a feat in itself!) and nearly a full sea tour together.

While pretty much homeported in the state of Washington, even though they don't have PCSing fun, being part of the submarine community has its own unique set of challenges. To add another twist to the equation, Wife of a Sailor has been a reserve Navy officer herself for two years. Yes - that means her husband has to salute her. She not-so secretly loves that fact.

Wifey (as her husband likes to call her) and Huzzy are the head of the Wuzzy household - or at least they like to think they are. Their two dogs, a 90lb monster of a female Greyhound named Lulu and Skah, a fuzzy, white, deaf 130lb Great Pyrenees, think otherwise.

You can find Wife of a Sailor on her personal blog at wifeofasailor.com, where she also hosts the (surprisingly) popular MilSpouse Friday Fill-Ins.

airforcewife started her military journey as an Army National Guard wife, but upon experiencing base housing decided to aim high and made the switch to the Air Force. That's worked pretty well for Air Force Family so far, even though airforcewife holds the spouse world record for Come to Jesus talks with various members of the command.

Air Force Family has four children, two pit bulls, and a Mother-in-Law who lost her mind eight years ago. Despite the reputation of pit bulls, airforcewife would like to assure you that her Mother-in-Law is truly the most dangerous of the group, and is banned in more places than the dogs.

airforcewife gets through Air Force Guy's frequent deployments and TDY's by frequently attending her boxing gym, after the chance discovery last deployment that hitting things really does make life better. She also volunteers as the Ambassador for Sew Much Comfort to Bethesda National Naval Medical Center and in a variety of other causes throughout the year.

airforcewife has no idea what the future holds, but decided five years ago that she wants to be Andi when she grows up.

Andi is married to an active-duty soldier and is the founder and former editor of SpouseBUZZ.

She is the founder of the Annual MilBlog Conference. The MilBlog Conference is the premiere event of the year for military bloggers. President George W. Bush, U.S. Representative Adam Smith, GEN David Petraeus, LTG Mike Oates, LTG William Caldwell, RADM Mark Fox, MG Kevin Bergner, MG David Hogg and The Honorable Pete Geren have addressed previous conferences.

While living in Washington, DC, Andi was the Ambassador to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for Sew Much Comfort, a non-profit organization which makes and delivers, free of charge, special adaptive clothing for wounded service members. Andi has worked with several non-profits to help our wounded heroes and their families. She finds that work to be the most rewarding and meaningful of all.

Andi strives to find humor in the good, bad and ugly of life and is a firm believer that laughter has the ability to cure most ills.

DL Sly contributed to SpouseBUZZ in 2009 and 2010.

Erin Rages is a past SpouseBUZZ blogger.

GBear is a current SpouseBUZZ blogger.

Melinda, who writes as Guard Wife, hails from a rural farming community in a Midwestern state. She moved to the southwest part of her home state to attend college and remains there some twenty years later. Today, she's a licensed attorney who spends most of her professional time working within the academic support and bar exam passage programs at her alma mater. Her volunteer interests vary from pro bono legal work to Brownie troop leader to Soldiers' Angels. Melinda and her husband have three daughters, the youngest of whom the couple brought home from Ethiopia the same week Melinda's husband returned from a deployment to Iraq.

Melinda also writes about her experiences as the mom of an older internationally adopted child at www.5forHope.com and maintains her individual blog at www.mostcertainlynot.typepad.com.

Navy wife. Tired Mom. I like to talk too much and don't like military bases. Good thing I am moving to Guyana!

Homefront Six is a past SpouseBUZZ blogger.

Jackie is a past SpouseBUZZ blogger.

Hi! I'm Jessica! A 20-something Army wife, working woman (well, when I can get a job!), and wannabe Domestic Goddess. I love reality TV (the trashier, the better!), reading, food, exclamation points, traveling, and learning new things. My current project is learning how to play the piano. My husband has a grand plan that involves me morphing into a concert pianist by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure his plans to quit the Army and to live off my performance earnings as a "Kept Man" aren't going to work out if my out-of-tune rendition of "Jingle Bells" is any indication. But we can't blame a guy for trying, right?

Speaking of my husband, I'm married to C, who has lovingly put up with all of my {mis}adventures for the past 6 years, and we have 1.5 fantastic cats -- Hailey and Zoey! Since Hailey thinks she is a dog, she only counts as half a cat - although she's probably "fluffy" enough to count as two cats.

I grew up surrounded by the Air Force, and I swore I would never get involved with the military. Period. I guess the joke's on me! Not only did I marry a military guy, but I have found a passion for being involved in the military community. Thanks to a few PCS moves, I feel like I have not only held almost every volunteer position an Army wife can hold, but I have also worked in a myriad of military support positions. I've worked as a financial counselor, a transition counselor, and a military health care benefits counselor and marketing representative. Even with those diverse experiences, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

I chronicle my military spouse {mis}adventures on my personal blog, so feel free to drop by and say "hello"!

Joan D'Arc has been an Army spouse since 1997. She started her marriage as a geographical bachelorette and experienced her husband's first deployment before their first wedding anniversary. Since then, she has had two beautiful children who amaze her (and frustrate her) every day. Joan fought her way through graduate school and is now a Licensed Social Worker. Joan enjoys volunteering with Soldiers' Angels and giving back to the military community in any way possible. Joan feels very blessed to be an Army spouse and wouldn't trade this life for anything!

Katy currently resides in England with her Air Force hottie, their baby boy and a manic depressive dog they threaten to give away on a weekly basis. If he eats one more dirty diaper, she may just do it. In their first five years of marriage, she and her husband moved seven times. Seven times. Katy is proud to say she has changed locations more times than the majority of America's Most Wanted. And equally proud that she has not yet found herself on such quality American programming.

Speaking of programming, Katy has a journalism degree and loves all aspects of film, TV, radio, Internet, and live production. However, she has found her niche as a stay-at-home mom and a self-employed executive communications coach. Katy's passion is to teach business professionals how to confidently deliver effective presentations, and she does that with her corporate seminars and one-on-one coaching.

In her spare time, Katy blogs about everyday life as a military spouse and mom living in a foreign country. She is trilingual and speaks fluent English, British English, and Air Forceese. She seamlessly composes sentences like these: "Honey, since we're on the VML, could you talk to TMO about our PCS – and ask them why it's taking donkey's years for them to give us a bell? I'm about to go off my trolley!"

She hopes to one day turn her love for writing into enough money to support her decorating habit. But for now she constrains her caviar taste to their Spam budget. For now.

I am an Active Duty Army Wife. I have enjoyed living in the US and overseas. I have volunteered in many realms over the years with various FRGs, Sew Much Comfort and a Wounded Warrior Equine Therapy program. I consider myself lucky to have been a part of the SpouseBUZZ family since 2006.

I homeschool my children and continue to love volunteering when time allows. The Army life is a busy life, but a good life!

Maintenance Toad One, or simply "Toad", retired from the Air Force after 26 years and brings 18 years of marriage, 14 years of it Military-married-to-Military experience. His wife remains active duty Air Force and they have just completed their 22nd PCS, which includes Toad having two tours in the Middle East as well as the initial campaign of OEF. That life behind him, he now focuses on all things mil-spouse, turning up and speaking to any forum that will allow him the opportunity to address the issues facing the mil-spouse.

Marine Wife is a former Army Brat who married her Marine in 1998, making theirs a mixed marriage. She has two Devil Pups that keep her on her toes and threaten her sanity daily.

But that might only be fair since Marine Wife just might hold the record for getting her husband called on the carpet. Hmmm....that might be why he now enjoys the fact that she never took his name.

While Marine Wife often wonders what it would be like to live at the same address for longer than 2 years, she enjoys all the adventures that life with the Corps affords. OORAH!

Molly Pitcher is a past SpouseBUZZ blogger.

Navy Reserve Wife is a past SpouseBUZZ blogger.

Navy Wife is a past SpouseBUZZ blogger.

Penny contributed to SpouseBUZZ in 2009 and 2010.

I am a wife, mom and whatever else life calls for. My Hubby and I have been married for 17 years and in that time we have been active duty Navy, National Guard, and now active duty Army. We have five children, two dogs, a fish and a Texas Spiny Lizard. We are still at our first duty station as Army folks and see no chance of us leaving here in the near future.

Dawn (redlegmeg) has been married to her Army husband for 19 years and is currently surviving his third deployment. She is a stay-at-home mom to four red-heads who keep her busy, but not necessarily sane. When she's not busy running kids back and forth and then back and forth some more, she enjoys volunteering, socializing with grown-ups, watching mindless TV, and reading trashy tabloids. The Army hasn't made her a pessimist, just a realist. At least that's her story, and she's sticking to it!

Semper Fi Wife has had a military ID card continuously since she was ten years-old. As an Air Force brat, she horrified her father and grandfather when she chose to marry one of the few and the proud.

Almost 25 years later, she is the wife of an OIF vet and the mother of an OIF/OEF vet.

While her motto has always been "Sanity is overrated", in her more lucid moments, she volunteers with Injured Marine Semper Fi fund as well as heads up her own very small military support organization called Honor Their Service.

Shari is the wife of a career Air Force man and mama to a beautiful teen daughter. Though she describes home as "where the Air Force sends us", she remains devoted to her southern roots.

After spending twenty years in the corporate world, both in the legal/financial fields as well as more recently in online media specializing in women's interests, Shari's professional life took an unexpected turn when an injury paralyzed her left leg. As a direct result of her injury, Shari was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

Through her darkest days, Shari has found her faith renewed and strengthened. Not content to merely accept such a diagnosis and determined that something positive would come from the negative, Shari launched Rain into Rainbows. Rain into Rainbows serves both as an outlet for Shari's thoughts and emotions regarding her life-changing injury and chronic illness, as well as a resource for other women with similar experiences. Her hope is that by sharing her story with others, she might begin to turn the page into the next chapter of her life as well.

Wifeunit is a past SpouseBUZZ Blogger