Making it in the MilLife

I was researching laptops last night and happened to type “military…discount…apple…mac” into the search engine and up popped information on an Apple discount for military and government employees. For some reason in the back of my mind, I was convinced they gave us a 6% percent discount, but happily, I am wrong. The discount is actually up to 17% and if your purchase is over $50, you get free shipping. Not a bad deal considering I have to buy a new laptop anyway. Every little bit helps!

It’s hard to believe that we have another symposium behind us.  What a great time it was!  We had a great turnout and people were furiously jotting down notes during Phil’s Military and Financial Benefits presentation.  Just goes to show that regardless of where people may be in their lives and careers, there’s always something new to learn out there!

After Phil’s presentation, Doc Finch took the stage and wowed us all with his insights into the traits and quirks that make our service member spouses so unique.  From there, it was lunch and the Heroes at Home presentation to winner, Michelle Galvez.  The day was already flying by.  While everyone was at lunch, I squeezed in some interviews with Navy News Media on the importance of providing such forums for military spouses to share experiences, network and learn from one another. 

We barely had time to thank the sailors for their coverage and support of the event before everyone began filing back from lunch.   We were ready for them though.  Our afternoon panel was entitled, “Culture Clash: Military Spouses and the Media”.  We had assembled a talented group of spouses to address the perception of military spouses and who is shaping it.  Joining me on stage were: Sarah Smiley, Tanya Biank and Laura Dempsey.  It was a spirited discussion about the challenges faced by these trailblazers, the perceptions they fought against and what they learned about the disconnect between military spouses and the rest of society.  I thought surely there was no way to top the panel…..until we headed out to the networking reception.  How fun it was meeting everyone and introducing people to one another.  I’m always amazed at the connections that occur at these events.  Once again, the symposium did not dissapoint and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that we were already scheming for next year’s event on the drive back to Northen Virginia! 

We’ll have the pictures up soon, but for now, check out the coverage of the event.