Spouse Spouts

Today is a little different. Susan is out for surgery for the next 2 weeks which means we will have a substitute host!  Join Moni Jefferson on Spouse Spouts today as she fills in for Susan, helps out Dave, and tells us how to quiet the noise that is overwhelming social media and so much more! Moni Jefferson Air Force spouse, Public Relations Strategist, founder of the MilSpouse Creative a gathering place for MilSpouse creative entrepreneurs to connect +collab + cultivate and the creator the MilCam the perfect military filter app to tell you military lifestyle thru social media. She is an Air Force spouse and mother of 3 who gets it all done between coffee+wine + a few colorful words. Moni has learned in the past few 2 years by aligning her purpose -to serve military spouses and her passion- public relations she able to walk in her gift and support others.

Employment, finding a job, updating a resume, getting your Linked In profile looking sharp, can be overwhelming! A few years ago the US Chamber of Commerce decided to help transitioning service members, veterans, retirees, and military spouses by creating Hiring our Heroes!  Today on Spouse Spouts, Megan Paone Senior Manager, Military Spouse Programs and Liz O'Brien Director, Military Spouse Program will be on the show talking about employment.  Questions about resumes, career events, and preparing for an interview will all be answered. Also, share in the laughs that will surely be on this week's episode of Spouse Spouts! 

Have you ever heard of Drew Hernandez? What about A Combat Veteran? Have you watched his vidoes? Hilarious, truthful, and contagious are just some of the words that describe Drew, A Combat Veteran. In 2015 while Drew was deployed as a private contractor, he created his first video, " 10 Way to Identify A Combat Veteran". Drew went viral. From that point Drew has shared numerous vidoes and grabbed the attention of our military and veteran community, and the civilian community. "A Combat Veteran is a brand passionately dedicated to bringing more light and comedy to the Veteran community. Drew Hernandez continuously turns his past experiences into opportunities by creating distinctive videos about what it means to be or to know a Combat Veteran on a weekly basis. By doing so, he has grasped the attention of not only the close-knit community of Veterans alike, but that of civilians as well and has contagiously resonated with all who support the military." Drew served on Active Duty status as an MP from 2006

Have you seen her videos? We've shared them on our Facebook page. Do you know who she is? She the Honest Dependa, and we're talking with her on Spouse Spouts today! The Honest Dependa brings humor, and truth to our military life. In hilarious videos, she has already tackled tough topics such as neighbors in housing, hold times with TRICARE, and military kids missing their parents.  What questions do you have for her? What questions would you like answered? Join Susan and Dave as they interview The Honest Dependa.     

Is change possible? An age old question with little answers until today. David Mike, author of Dishonor: One Soldier's Journey from Desertion to Redemption, is on Spouse Spouts sharing his journey as military kid to soldier to deserter, and lastly to serving time in Leavenworth.  Listen as Susan interviews David and hears his story about how a troubled kid, was able to redeem himself, find his faith, and let that faith guide him in life. Change is possible, and David shares with us how change occurs. 

April is Month of the Military Child and we're talking about our kids here on Spouse Spouts!  From the littlest warriors born in the military treatment facility to the child that has grown up, and become a service member as well. Military kids are simply wonderful and we can't wait to share their stories of strength and truimph on Spouse Spouts!  Join Susan and Dave as they talk milkids, Military Child of the Year, Famous Military Kids, the history of the word BRAT, and more! 

The Exceptional Family Member Program or EFMP is designed to help military families impacted by disability or chronic illness.  Is this program working? For the most part the answer is yes, but what happens when EFMP doesn't work? What happens when misinformation is shared? What happens when EFMP doesn't help?  The answer to these questions and more will be discussed on this episode of Spouse Spouts. Join Susan and Dave as they talk about a tough subject, share ideas, speak with families from across the miltiary to discuss EFMP, their experiences, suggestions for improvements, and more! 

What a rough episode we had last week! Both Dave and Susan had technical difficulties. Advocacy is such a great topic, so we are here to talk about it again.  However, let's look at a specific area of advocacy. Let's talk about healthcare. How do we navigate a system that is full of red tape? How do we navigate a system that is reactionary and not preventative? We wish we had an answer to those questions, but we don't. What we have is tips on how to get the best healthcare for you and your family.     

We're talking advocacy and what it means to be an advocate. More than that, we're also talking who needs to advocate, why a person needs to advocate, and where and when it's appropriate to advocate.  Why tips and tools do you use to advocate for change? What works and what doesn't work? Get the answers to these questions and so many more on today's Spouse Spouts.  Join Susan and Dave for a lively discussion on the finer points of advocacy on Spouse Spouts. 

Have you ever wondered what it would take to reach our potential as a human race? Cerno's Mission, "Help those who aspire to Keep Climbing! We challenge people to think and act differently, step outside their comfort zone, and activate their limitless potential at work and in life." Michelle is more than the co-founder of Cerno, she's a military spouse in the STEM field, a passionate advocate for families, and the 2016 AFI Air Force Spouse of the Year. Join Susan and Dave for a candid conversation about stress, families, getting outside, and how to keep climbing towards success.       

Support the military. Support the troops. Support military families. All nice phrases and slogans, but is it actually happening? What about suport within the military? Is that happening?  What is meaningful spouse support, and when do we stop being blindly supportive and say "enough"? Also, how do we support each other as spouses? A lot of questions, and hopefully we'll get some answers.  Join Susan and Dave as they talk spouse support; what works, what doesn't work, and when to say enough. 

For this episode of Spouse Spouts Susan and Dave are talking with Cara Loken, the 2016 Armed Forces Insurance National Guard Spouse of the Year.  Cara is the founder of Nebraska Arts for Vets, an organization that brings the arts to our veterans.  "Nebraska Arts for Vets is a creative outlet for veterans that suffer from PTSD, mental issues, physical concerns, and other combat related issues. It is a way for them to take their mind and focus on something else besides the side effects left from war. Our mission is to show our veterans other outlets that can help them focus on creativity and using the imagination to create a masterpiece, or help them tell their stories using different artistic methods. Art therapy is considered by many as a mind-body connection that can influence physiological and psychological symptoms."  Join Susan and Dave as they talk art, veterans, mental health, PTSD, and ways to help! 

We love a great discussion here on Spouse Spouts and expect that a discussion about family support will be both interesting and great.  The question before us is this: is family support and family readiness working in its current form? Susan grew up a military kid and remembers what family support used to be. Dave is a Navy veteran and remembers how family support used to be in the Navy.  Join Susan and Dave for a lively discussion on family support and the sharing of ideas to help military families. 

Less than a week till Valentine's Day. Is this a day that's special for you, or is it just another day? What is your spouse is deployed or training? What do you do? How about if you can't get a sitter to go to dinner? What about remembeing cards for your kid's classroom? There's so much to remember! Join Susan and Dave on their "It's All About Love" episode as they share Valentine's stories and how to create your own romantic holiday, even if your loved one is away. 

Nomination are over and it's time to start voting. But who do you vote for?  Join Susan and Dave as they look through the profiles and share who the nominees are for the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year! Susan and Dave will go base by base, post by post, to read to you the nominee information and the new voting rules and timeline for the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year.  Don't forget to listen! Susan Reynolds and Dave Etter met because of the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year, so this program holds a special place in our hearts! 

Susan and Dave are pleased to have Babette Maxwell on the show! Babette will be here telling us all about MilSpouseFest and how it will be in six locations this year!  From the event page: "During the event, you’ll participate in hands-on activities and interactive discussions. There are no lectures or PowerPoint presentations here. We promise that our activities have a purpose and our guests have something real to say. That’s because our guests are connected to the military (and many of them are military spouses themselves). They’ve been there and done that… and not only survived but succeeded too! New this year we have added an "After Hours" for anyone who wants to hang out and have questions answered from our amazing sponsors. Or shoot, just hang out, mingle and have more time to make connections. And by the way… did we mention that there will be all kinds of giveaways, freebies, and some truly killer prizes for attendees? We’re talking gift cards, Fitbits, Apple Watches, iPads, and other giveaway

Money, money, money. Finances, and more money. It seems so complicated, but is it?  When Susan was in college, she got into serious credit card debt. Susan also learned some tough lessons. But there's more that Susan wished she would have known when she was younger. With this being a new year, Susan and Dave thought it would be helpful to bring Doug Nordman on Spouse Spouts to talk about finances and the military. There's a lot going on with upcoming tax season, and changes to retirement.  You can read about Doug here: http://the-military-guide.com/about/about-doug-nordman/

I'm not one for resolutions, how about you? Every year I would try and stick to my resolutions and every year I would fail miserably. So, I stopped making them and so did Dave. However, resolutions work for some people. Maybe you're one of those people they work for.  What about a goal? Or what about a theme? Maybe goals and themes work for you instead of a resolution. Whatever it is that you do, call in and speak with Susan and Dave about your plans for the new year! 

It's our third and final episode on Mental Health and the Holidays. For today's show we'll have Keita Franklin, PhD and Wendy Lakso from the Defense Suicide Prevention Office as our guests.  We will talk about what the Department of Defense is doing to help combat suicide with our service members and their families. We will also discuss the myths that surround mental health and what is being done to dispel those myths.  Susan Reynolds and Dave Etter are the host and co-host for Spouse Spouts.

Well we had to change things up a little this week. Due to illness, conflicting schedules, and meetings, our show is a little shorter than usual, but it still has the charm of Susan and Dave!  We're talking holidays and holiday traditions. We might even throw in a little early Festivus celebrations!  Join Susan and Dave for Spouse Spouts the holiday episode and laugh until you cry with us! It will be a great time and fun will be had by all!