Guest Post from "Smile As It Happens": " What to know: From Military to Civilian Life"

I hope everything had a fabulous Fourth and is ready to enjoy the weekend!

Today I am collaborating with Emma Banks, from Smile As It Happens.

Emma is a military spouse who contacted me and offered to write a post with some of her military insight on some of the difficulties of, as well as myths concerning, making the transition from military life to civilian life, particularly in regard to finding and keeping employment. In Emma's words: "The article discusses the importance of helping our country’s service members find employment either during station changes, or once they have either finished their active service, or become disabled while serving and thus been forced to end active duty."

Emma currently seeking a career in life and career coaching and she has some really helpful tips on the matter of going from military back to civilian:

What to Know: From Military to Civilian Life

Here are four myths that, if you buy into them, may kill your confidence in finding a post-military career. I’m here to counter these myths with truths that will make sure that you are as prepared as possible to be successful in your post military transition.

Myth #1: It is difficult to find non-military jobs after spending so many years in the service.

Truth: As a veteran, there are many jobs that you are more than qualified for. There are programs available that are designed to help you in your job hunt. A group called 100,000 Jobs Mission works specifically to provide information on open positions that former military will be well qualified for. This resource also provides job outlook, qualifications needed and salary expectations.

 

Myth #2: Most companies do not care about applicants.

Truth: While employers are definitely looking out for their own interests, they do care about potential employees. Just as you are attempting to make a good impression on your potential employer, the company similarly desires to impress you and make applying for a job as easy as possible. In order to streamline the application process many companies have started to partner with services like JIBE, a mobile recruiting company. These services allow you to upload your resume and various job-related documents instantly from your smartphone or tablet.

 

Myth #3: There are not any companies that are specifically looking to hire veterans.

Truth: Many companies are looking to hire former military members. Companies that are run on-base such as military credit unions or insurances are a great place to start looking. Additionally, several websites annually list companies that specifically look to hire veterans. Among those are GI Jobs and Military Friendly. Visiting these sites regularly will keep you up-to-date with the latest job availability and will help you in your quest for future employment.

Myth #4: Job seekers do not need to promote themselves to prospective employers.

Truth: Even though veterans are highly sought after in the civilian world, it is still very important that you, as the interviewee, sell yourself. Mention any awards and promotions you have received and what you have accomplished during your time in service. Remember, you are most likely one of several people who want the same job, and making sure the potential employer hears about all you accomplished is necessary to give yourself the best chance at employment.

Emma is a mid 20-something year old with a passion for life, love, fitness, and helping others. She loves to be active and get involved in as many sport and community activities as possible. Emma is currently studying to become a Career & Life Coach, and loves to network with people from around the world! Check out Emma’s blog at http://smileasithappens.blogspot.com/! 

Thanks, Emma! Check out her blog for more tips and show her some love! I hope those that info is helpful to some of you! My husband is still active duty air force, but in the not-so-far future he will be making that ever-so-important transition and I bet some of these tips and truths will be helpful to us as well!

Stay tuned for my future guest post on Emma's blog! I'm working on a great summer-time recipe post for her and her readers! Coming soon!


*All article content: Emma. All photo content: my own.

DIY: How to Make a Backyard Firepit Out of a Salvaged Dryer Drum

My husband and I are fire fans. Fans of fire. Bonfires in particular.

We live on a military base and have a very small fenced in back yard, but we didn't want to have to experience summer here without being able to enjoy evenings outside by a blazing fire. We had been looking for months hoping to find a nice looking, good quality and reasonably priced fire pit, but it seems that all the remotely nice ones were $80 at least, some even up to $200. That just seemed outrageous for me. I had been weekly checking craigslist hoping on would pop up, but while I was waiting I was seeking out alternatives. At first we thought we might cut down a large metal barrel and just use that, but then I stumbled upon a most genius idea (thank you, pinterest): FIRE PITS MADE OUT OF WASHER/DRYER DRUMS!

 

The moment I saw that people were converting the insides of washing machines into bonfire receptacles I knew we had to make one. I was very surprised when I was able to find a drum on Craigslists just a few days later. The man selling it had it listed as a Washer drum, but upon further inspection we have decided it in an industrial/laundry mat sized drum from a dryer. I am not sure how he came upon it, but that is no matter. It had already been removed from the actual dryer and for $25 it was ours! (If you wanted to create something similar I recommend looking for old washers/dryers out to the side of the road, or finding a cheap salvage place. I've heard that the drums are easy enough to remove, but hopefully you get lucky like us and someone does that step for you.).

drum, upside down, before we did anything to it

 

It was a bit of a process start to finish, but we love the way it came out. The way we went about creating it might not be possible to everyone, as we have access to a lot of equipment and tools, due to my husbands job maintaining structures for the Air Force. However, with a little craftiness and know-how, you could easily create something similar on your own. 

 

In summary we-actually he, while I took pictures- took off the...spike...on the back (some part which connected it to the dryer; it was just screwed in) and removed all plastic parts from the inside.

Next, he drilled some extra holes in the bottom and top, just to allow water to drain (all the holes in the sides are part of the drum design and they make for really great air flow!). Then it got trickier: my husband welded three legs with feet on the bottom, punched holes in them, sand blasted them and screwed them onto existing holes in the drum.

You could definitely do without the legs, but we thought it gave it more of a finished look. Another option would have been to leave the spike on the bottom part on and drive it into the ground for stability. But, if you have welding skills, put them to use!

After he had done all the tricky bits at his shop, we brought it home and I painted it with 3 coats of black Rust-Oleum high heat spray paint. That was about $7 at Lowes; it is made for grills and can withstand heat up to 1,200 degrees F. NOTE: ONLY PAINT THE OUTSIDE PARTS ON IN CONTACT WITH THE FIRE! Paint really made it look finished and it so far holds up very well to the high temperatures.

We love how it turned out! We've had several fires and are looking forward to many more with this lil' beauty. We had a lot of fun working on it. Start to finished it took us between 3 and 4 hours, and cost us $32! Function and frugal, not to mention a pretty good conversation starter. We couldn't be happier!

How to Save Money on a Hawaiian Vacation (or any vacation):

My husband and I just recently returned from a 8 day trip to Oahu, Hawai'i. It was our combination honeymoon/anniversary trip. We were so blessed to be able to spend our first anniversary in such a beautiful place!

As you may know, going to Hawaii can be very pricey. There are a lot of variables on the cost of a trip, such as where you are flying from, and the type of place you choose to stay, etc, but overall it can be a rather high cost place to visit as far as the USA goes, because it is an island. Food, especially, can be very costly there as it is mainly imported. Regular grocery items can cost up to twice as much.

I'm not one to normally discuss numbers and finances, but I think this may be beneficial to some, so I am posting it. With some careful planning and budget we were able to enjoy 8 days in Honolulu for $2,000.  Not per person. Yes, total. Two people, 8 days, hotel, food, rental car, activities (including beaches, hikes, jet skis, a catamaran cruise, snorkeling, a luau, and significant historic sites)= two thousand.

I have done a little research and there is not exact number as far as what a trip/honeymoon to Hawaii can cost you, but after reading several articles and travel magazines I have come to the conclusion that the average for a week is about $1,500 per person. So I think we did pretty alright.

Please do keep in mind we are a military couple, so we did get some great deals related to that. We stayed at a military resort (the Hale Koa, right on Waikiki, if anyone is interested), which was lovely and much lower priced than your average Hawaiian resort. We had a nice balcony room (which we, by favor, got as an upgrade) which we were charged about $90 a night(ground floor price). We also got a deal on the rental car, and were able to save about $200 off the extra fees they would normally charge (due to age and whatnot) because my husband is in the Air Force. But a lot of the money we saved was purely being frugal.

 Initially we had planed on taking a military "hop," but we decided that was a little to risky for us. Planes only went from our base to Hickam once or maybe twice a month and our budget couldn't afford us getting stuck there. As plan B, we got a great deal on plane tickets. We live on the West Coast and were able to fly, without lay overs, straight there. Tickets to Hawaii based on where you are flying from can be anywhere from $300 to $1,500 per person round trip. We flew Alaska Airlines and ours were very closest to the lowest possible price on that scale.  Another huge factor in ticket cost is the season: Hawaii is considered to have its peak season of tourism from November to March. Since we went in the end May, that also saved us a bunch.

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I am not going to give any more exact break downs of what we spent.  On to the frugality tips...

*LUNCHES/PICNICS:
The first day we arrived we hit up a grocery store to stock up on lunch items. Family who had been before had already warned us about the high food prices so we had packed some snack items in our luggage from home and then purchased rolls, cheese, lunch meat and the like from the grocery store (commissary @ Pearl Harbor for you military folk) and kept it in our hotel room fridge. We spent about $30 on lunch goods for the week. Since we planned to spend most mornings on the beach we figured packing our own lunches would save us a bunch rather than having to find a place to eat out or have a meal at the resort. If you figure that sandwiches or your average lunch foods would be about $20 total bill for the both of us for 8 days, that simple move right there saved us about $130. We did eat lunches out a couple times, but overall that plan worked great.

*ACTIVITIES:
While food on Hawaii is high price, activities are fairly cheap if you choose carefully. What is NOT cheap is doing the 800 different tours the resort will try to offer you. We went to some great places: We snorkeled in Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, we hiked Diamond Head Crater, we went to Pearl Harbor and ferried out to the USS Arizona Memorial, we hiked to Manoa Falls, amongst other things. We also enjoyed many different beaches, all of which were free (except for the occasional parking fee). The resort offered all manner of tour packages for luaus, sightseeing, and museums. Heck, they had shopping center tours! But honestly, with the rental car (or with Hawaii's huge bus system) you can easily enjoy the island without paying for someone else to bring you places. Most the places we went parking was about a dollar and admission was $5-$8 per person.

Maybe in some situations would be nice, but we had a great time without them. HERE is a list of some tour options: PRICEY! As a comparison, you can do a "Pearl Harbor Experience" for $119.00. We went to Pearl Harbor. The Arizona Memorial is free to all, you just have to wait for it to be your turn for the ferry. There are other museums, battleships and monuments you can see for a charge, but we enjoyed several hours there just walking around looking at memorials and going through their Valor in the Pacific centers (mini museums). You can also purchase an MP3 tour for about $20. We also visited some other places which the tour covers, like downtown Honolulu, Iolani Palace, the Kamehameha statue and Punchbowl cemetery, all for free. Plus, you have so much more freedom to enjoy things at your own pace when you don't have to worry about keeping up with a group. This is just one example of many. Do your research in advance, use resources like Pinterest, Yelp, or Trip Advisor and figure out where you want to go and what you want to see and then just go do it for yourself! With a rental car and GPS the possibilities are quite endless! Adventures are fun!

Also on the topic of activities: CHECK GROUPON! This applies to Hawaii or any place you intend to visit. You can get deals on local restaurants, shops and activities! I browsed through the Honolulu offers several times before we left and there were many great offers for things like surf lessons, massages, fancy restaurants, and all sorts of water sport rentals. We personally purchased a lovely catamaran sunset cruise for half off its normal price. It ended up being one of our favorite things we did there!

We did "splurge" and do a luau at the Hale Koa as we felt it was worth it. There are many Luaus to choose from and they can be pricey, but it just seems necessary for the Hawaiian experience. We also splurged a bit and rented a jet ski. Decide what you want to do, save where you can and then spend where you want to!

*SHOPPING:
We aren't shoppers. We do not so much like to browse and wander stores. We do not like to purchase many things. So we save money by not shopping. Honolulu had MASS amounts of malls and shopping centers but we avoided them for the most part. We did get some souvenirs, home items, clothing items and COFFEE but over all this isn't a big chunk of where our money goes on vacations.


*DINNING:
Obviously, the best way to save on dinning is to not dine at super fancy places. On past trips elsewhere we have also gone to the other extreme and dined at places like taco bell too many times and while we saved money, we felt ill. Find a happy medium. Maybe plan for a nice romantic dinner or two, and then for the rest of the trip see what else you can find. We love local food and little less-frequented-by-tourists establishments. Farmers markets or food trucks and sometimes have great deals on local cuisine. The fresh fruit is the best! We also stopped at a flea market and got several different local handmade breads which served as snacks and breakfasts a couple days. Other Tips: Order water. Sometimes we get an appetizer (its always calamari) and split a meal. Sometimes we have salads and a dessert. Or two meals and split dessert. And then there is alcohol: we aren't what you call drinkers, but Hawaii is not really Hawaii without a few fruity rum beverages. Those $8 drinks can add up real quick and take a huge chunk out of a budget, so...just consider that.

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Just as is with any vacation, with a little careful planning and budgeting you can have a great time for a relatively reasonable amount of money. Does anyone have any other tips I missed? I can't wait to post more photos and stories about our lovely trip to the gorgeous island of Oahu!

And that's all my phone has to say about that...

 

planted some grass seed in our back yard. it is amazing for the amount it rains out here how dry stuff can get. and how moss can choke out the existence of all things. also, how bird would rather peck at my grass seeds than eat from their feeder.

 

flash back to JoJo circa 2009. I think this was his favorite shirt.

the back says "chain saw brutality, tornado strength"

 Back in the day of hardcore bands, size small, skin tight shirts, long hair and skinny pants.

(good lord...) (and no, those weren't not his sunglasses, thank you Jesus.)

now its my shirt. strangely, it seems to fit pretty well.

 this both fascinates and disturbs me. so I wear it because it is laughable.

 

there isn't much that the kitty boy loves more than popcorn. it is second only to milk.

every night we munch some while we watch TV and Trink begs until we throw him some little kernelless pieces.if we aren't quick enough he tries to steal from us.

We throw it, and he catches them between his front paws.

 It is adorable. So we keep allowing it.

(we don't feed him people food...save for milk, popcorn and pretzels...)

 

what is this weird thing, you ask?

 a washing machine drum. purchased on craigslist for $25. Why? Because my cool welding husband is going to transform it into a super backyard fire pit. quite excited about that project! (note: its upside down in the picture)

 

there are few things more curious and suspicious than feet under the covers. cats are so silly.

 

you know those people on facebook who seem to constantly be getting free samples in the mail? I'm one of them now.

 

my mother in law just had kittens!!! 4 little itty bitty black ones! 

 well, her cat did...obviously. next time we are home visiting we are taking one (or two or all of them, according to JoJo) back home with us. Trink needs a baby sister. Just think, then you can all endure constant pictures of ALL our cats! Yup. We're crazy cat people. Deal with it.

 

Giant garlic clove. Next to an average sized mushroom. This intrigued me for unknown reasons.

 

this weekend we are attending a birthday party for our friend's fabulous baby girl. she is turning one. and i wanted to buy here every outfit in the store, but settled on this one as she like to play in dirt and garden.

 

my cat has an eyebrow nibbling fetish. it is weird. as you can tell, we own Mr. Kitty Personality, over here.

 

Pearls! Real ones!

 Anniversary gift from my love for me to be fancy and fabulous in Hawaii.

According to the anniversary chart thing, your 1st anniversary is paper and your 30th is pearls. I don't understand any of that stuff one bit, but lets just pretend JoJo is prophesying into our marriage with these. Besides...who wants paper?

Unless its plane tickets to Hawaii. Those were good too :P

 

most importantly, this week I finished school and began packing (and forming detailed lists of attractions, activities, stores and restaurants) for OAHU!!! We leave Tuesday. We never had an actual honeymoon, as he deployed shortly after our wedding, so this is our honeymoon and one year anniversary and first vacation all rolled into one. We are excited out of our minds over here. Don't worry, thousands of (quality, not phone) pictures to come!

Home Tour: Our Base Housing Bedroom

Since moving to Washington I've had a significant bedroom downsize. While the husband was deployed at was living at home, sharing an over-garage, converted attic bedroom (of like 400 square feet)with one of my sisters. Walk in closet, room for 2 twin beds, a couch, 3 chairs, a desk, a table to seat 4, a keyboard, etc. It was BIG. And now I live on McChord AFB with my husband in base housing. I love our house. It is little and cute. But did I mention little. I am not sure of the actual square footage, or the specific square footage of rooms, but our bedroom is a lil' thing. However, I adore living here and actually being in the same geographic location as my husband. It's great.

When I moved out here and he returned from Qatar we had NO furniture to our names. I shipped some dishes and blankets, packed my clothes in a suitcase and that was it. We spent weeks on an air mattress with a open sleeping bag as a blanket and all our clothes in piles and suitcases (and we were plenty happy about it after 2 years of long distance and 6 months of deployment). Eventually we got a (super nice) mattress, but had to wait on our bedroom set to come back into stock. Since then it has been slowly progressing and looking more and more like a home.

Due to the temporaryness of being in military housing, we have opted not to paint or hang curtains (because we have to return it to as was upon leaving), so the challenge is finding other ways to make our house look homey. Black/red/white/tan is my favorite color combo, and it is on the approved as "not too girly" list by the husband. Slowly, our bedroom is coming together. We've been here for about 5 months; not quite there yet, but well on the way.

Here's a lil' peak:

air mattress phase

 

mattress on floor phase

 

Finally, about 2 months in, we got some furniture.

Hard to get everything in a picture, but we got a set with bed frame, chest of drawers, dresser, and one night stand (and I, to this day, remain nightstandless. Still hunting.)

 

While I greatly miss my walk in closet, I am very thankful for the closet space this house has. Our room as two decent sized closets with sliding doors. Separate closets are wonderful! Guess whose is whose?

 

I think art is a key way to turning a space into a home. However, we (I) have yet to find some reasonably priced art fitting for the bedroom. The words over the window are a decal from Urban Outfitters ($19)  that just arrived by mail last week.

 

 My plan is to take one of my own photos, probably something regarding nature or architecture (hopefully from our upcoming 1st Anniversary trip to HAWAII!- more details soon!), make it black and white, blow it up and hang it over the bed.

 

Little bits and pieces also make a home more homey.

I swapped out the red dresser runner for my vintage hand made British flag.

I picked up a unique lamp for $5 at Goodwill.

 I continue to hoard throw pillows.

 

I also recommend finding yourself a rascally furbaby to shed on your blankets to add character to your home. Our furbaby finds a freshly made bed to be most exciting (jumps, runs, spins and digs) and cameras are also pretty fun to get in the way of.

 

As time and budget allows I hope to keep adding character and personal touches to our bedroom.

The husband was content once we had furniture, but for me it is all a little too...new...I hope to find some older, used and vintage pieces to mix it up a little.

 

And that's all my phone has to say about that...

This week according to my phone.

This is my cat. This is the face my cat makes when I am taking notes for school and he desperately wants to chew on my pen. Any pens left unattended in this house will be pen-napped and will wind up under a fridge or couch with many little teeth marks in them. Silly cat.

 

We had been putting off buying a weed whacker and lawn mower as long as possible and then all of a sudden it poured for like 2 weeks and that grass just kept on a growin'. Finally we got that situation taken care of. By the end we had a huge pile of grass and it looked like a freshly hayed field.

Also, please note my husbands stylish combat boots and jeans. You can fight wars in them or weed whack your grass- super practical!

 

This blurry mess is my husband playing the 1st Squadron intramural volleyball game of the season. JoJo's the blue blur, haha.

 

Finally, it decided to stop raining and let me plant some more of my garden!

 

wearing a bracelet or two (or 6) on Friday evenings to our young couple's small group so that the leader's beautiful blue-eyed baby girl will want to play with my jewelry and be my bff.

 

BEWARE OF THE BIG EYED MONSTER...