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Military spouses have a distorted sense of normalcy. We think it’s normal to speak in acronyms. We think it’s normal to send Christmas cards to friends all over the world. We think it’s normal to pack up and move every two to three years. And sadly, most of us think it’s normal to live without our husbands.

Just days before the kick-off to Military Family Week (April 4-10), "'Like' it for TIME" (LIFT) announces a worldwide paper chain effort - LIFT LINK LOVE.  LIFT LINK LOVE will loop together individual links mailed in by people from around the globe until they form one very long paper chain. The completed chain will be used in a special project to be announced at a later date.

As a nation, we tend to focus primarily on the service members who willingly put themselves in harm’s way to protect the freedoms that we cherish. However, we often forget that the families they leave behind sacrifice just as much as our heroes do. These families are affected in countless ways, and we have an obligation to do right by them.

If you happened to be on the Riverwalk near the Crockett Street bridge Saturday afternoon, you may have noticed something in the air – patriotism. At exactly 4:20, a boat slowed in the river, a man in red lifted his arms as he faced a group of teenagers in the boat, and strains of our National Anthem began to reach pleasantly surprised ears.

Spring is here and April is coming soon! But April doesn't just mean a celebration of warmer weather and green grass, it's also the month that we celebrate our littlest heroes, military children.  For the Month of the Military Child, Blue Star Families wil be celebrating with a series of posts by and about our military kids and we'd love for you to participate.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day, the wind wasn't that bad at my house. I had everything in the car ready to go and my girls dressed. So excited to get to hold this event at the mall, and meet Jordan from the Cherry Point BSF chapter.

Blue Star Families (BSF) will bring its popular program to thank the children, parents and spouses of military service members to Cross Creek Mall, allowing mall goers to write cards of thanks to our military families.

I suppose I should first lay my biases on the table. I am a proud military spouse and a former Supply Officer in the Navy. I am also a doctoral student working on my dissertation in public administration.

Below you will find seven ways to begin changing the story of you. As I travel around and meet candidates I am amazed that military spouses and veterans do not understand the value they have in the workforce.

Military women and men who come back from a deployment injured often feel they are forgotten as they struggle to rebuild their lives. And maybe there is some merit to those feelings giving only one-percent of our population has served in the United States Armed Forces since post- 9/11; the impact of two wars is felt by relatively few.