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For many people, $2,000 doesn’t add up to much money in the long haul; it won’t, after all, buy a new car or a house. But for one Air Force family, the money was just enough to fulfill their long-term dream: a family.

Rebekah Sanderlin writes “How I Became a Burlesque Goddess.”

"I’ve been a military wife for 24 years, through ten moves and four overseas assignments. I should have this down cold. I thought I did."

CinCHouse took the opportunity to talk with a few wives, and pick their opalescent brains about their best advice ever.

Effective September 11, the long and often painful process of landing a federal job will be easier for certain military spouses everywhere.

To succeed in landing job interviews (and hopefully job offers), you have to convince an employer that your skills are a better fit for the job than anyone else’s. One way to do this is to have a killer resume, of course.

Advice that's not just for kids. Have you ever wondered why hubby has trouble maintaining weight standards? Just ask him about the chow hall food.

Old friendships beget new ones and provide comfort when you haven’t made new friends yet. The world seems smaller when your friendships stretch around the globe.

Even military wives are sometimes 'survivors' of PTSD.

If you choose to be an active member of a Family Readiness Group (FRG), you may find that all your military life experiences, good and/or less than ideal, are all the richer for it.

There is no escaping PCS season. Either we are moving or some of our friends are moving, or both. This year for me it's both. As I watched the painful parade of departures this summer, I noticed that all goodbyes are not alike.

A couple successfully navigates the insurance system and the fertility options available within the military.

If you are going to be having a baby any time soon you will want to announce it to the world. Or at least your friends and family all over the world.

In her book Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic, Benton provides an eye-opening look into a subset of alcoholics who’ve been constantly overlooked and under-treated, sometimes right here in our own military community.

Missoula Children’s Theatre brings musical productions every year to more than a thousand communities, including military installations worldwide.

This is the fifth article in the series exploring careers that you can take with you throughout military life. (And stay tuned…next we will explore personal care jobs such as hair/beauty).

A military fiancée posted this question on a Cinchouse.com forum:  What are the possible outcomes for my marriage?

Opsec – Operations Security – and Persec – Personal Security – are about safety for you and your man in uniform, and all those who depend on him.  So you’ve got to take this business seriously.

This is the final installment of a three part-series designed to give you the skills you need to land your next job. In part one, we discussed what you should do before the interview while in part two, we addressed the big day itself. Here, we go over what to do after the interview.

Making Sense of the Navy’s Individual Augmentation Program

"He started treating me like one of his private soldiers right in front of all of them. He was degrading and loud and … I was so overwhelmed I had to walk out … I'm afraid of living in this yo-yo life forever."

School has been out for just a few weeks and, if you’re like millions of mothers worldwide, you are already completely out of ideas.

In her book Smith details what it was like to be a suddenly single, not quite 50-year-old “Gramma”, caring for a toddler while his parents were on deployment. Most remarkably, she realized that Marcus saved her from herself and showed her just how strong she really was.

One of the greatest stresses on a military marriage is deployment, and when you’re “suddenly military” – ie. active orders are delivered to a Guard or Reserve member for deployment – the potential emotional tsunami can wash out a relationship.

I’m the kind of woman who knows that if you are a military spouse and you have a few pounds to lose, you may not have a weight problem.  Instead, you probably have a “wait” problem.

There are now 6,000 good reasons to get your college degree and build a long-term, portable career and you can thank the DoD’s recently implemented Military Spouse Career Advancement Account Program (MyCAA) for all of them.

Military parents have been relocating their families for years. And while most of the focus is on how the child will fare with making friends and liking their new surroundings, there is additional cause for concern when it comes to academics.

My husband’s commanding officer drove a Mercedes SL convertible and it's probably the source of my husband’s mega car note. That old man’s car (or something just like it) could be the source of your military family’s overspending, too.

Part 2 of our series on Air Force Basic Military Training.

The first of a two-part series on what to expect in boot camp and Tech School where airmen jump start their careers.

This is a three part-series designed to give you the skills you need to land your next job. In part one, we discuss what you should do before the interview.

Even the most attentive parents need a babysitter once in a while. Finding someone you can trust so you and your partner can go out on much deserved Friday night date can be a daunting task.

It’s important to determine the best care option for your furry friend as the family heads out for some summer fun.

Sara Horn begins a new feature series for Guard and Reserve wives, but this advice works for everyone!

A group of about a dozen military spouses representing Blue Star Families and National Military Family Association traveled to the nation’s capitol to meet with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and 11 other Congressional representatives on Tuesday. Find out what was said.

Get ready for a surprise, after boot camp, you may not recognize your recruit physically or mentally.

Good advice from an active duty family physician.

The second part of our series on Army Basic Training.

Everything you - the spouse or soldier - needs to know about BCT.

Dancing with the hubby for 10 minutes? 100 calories burned. Bike riding on a sunny day with the kids? 300 calories burned.

Part II of our story on Navy Boot Camp.

Home may be wherever the military sends you, but should you rent or buy that house while you’re calling it your own?

Recruit Training Command is the first shock. You’re in the Navy now!

There's a phrase being tossed around military installations, "the new normal." Living in the new normal means that this, this life of repeated deployments, prosthetics, and memorial services, this is what life is going to look like for us for awhile to come, so we had better learn to deal with it.

Pregnancy and the period that follows it present challenges for women that their male colleagues do not experience. These challenges affect a woman’s body, mind, time, and career choices, but, if anticipated and properly planned for, can be overcome in concert with your your desires for career and family.

Boot camp is more than just basic training for the service member. For most couples, it’s also their first introduction to the military lifestyle.

His environment is common, but he is rare. He doesn’t blend in with his surroundings, yet often remains unseen – caring for his offspring, avoiding exposure, scarcely encountering others of his kind.

Everything you need to know about options, protocol and fun!

Face it: You are in a professional black hole and the view is not a pretty one. There is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

From an experienced military wife, a little inspiration designed to see one through the long haul never hurts.

You may just be one of those women that are toying with the idea of working from home. To make the decision whether or not to start a home business you need to know what’s involved.

Not knowing when Mom or Dad will be deployed, or for how long, can create a lot of turmoil in the home before, during and even after the tour of duty.

Just how exactly do you manage your banking in a foreign country? First-timers headed abroad and other inquiring minds deserve to know some basic overseas military banking facts before boarding the plane that carries you to the land of steep learning curve.

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

My husband and I were caught up in the classic "keeping up with the Joneses" syndrome without realizing it. This is a subtle "disease" because of its' insidious nature. The seeds are planted in our thoughts and feelings, and spread until it infects our physical assets. If serious enough, it can bring down your "financial house."

Deployment can leave you alone and vulnerable. Yet when women even indicated that they were willing to resist, half of all would-be rapists broke off the attack

Relocation sometimes forces us to move from a spacious house in the suburbs to a townhome on a new base, or even a tiny apartment in Japan. Living in a small space doesn’t mean that you can’t give a different feel and appearance.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, around 2.5 million children are injured or killed by hazards in the home each year. One benefit of frequent relocations is that military families can child-proof their homes during the moving process.

 Get ready for fun, a honeymoon, and a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions - for everyone.

Avoid thinking about the worst and it won’t ever happen to you or someone you love. Right? Sadly, no. Proactively planing for our ultimate exit from center stage will make the lives of those we eventually leave behind less painful in what will surely be an unhappy time for them.

Shyness is something that many of us have felt or have watched our children experience at some time, especially when relocation forces them to enter a new neighborhood, new school, new everything. Understanding what shyness is and why children are shy is a big key to helping them to feel more comfortable and open up in social situations.

It’s deployment time for many military families, and many are wondering what to expect. The good news is there is a method to the madness, and we can all learn from the experience of many military families who have developed ways to survive and even thrive during deployments. The key is knowing what to expect and leveraging the good parts of deployment – because there are some.

In a foreign country, the way I’ve been conditioned to live, speak and function seems suddenly upside down and backwards. I am out of my element and disoriented. Yet like scuba class, living overseas gives me access to a part of the world I have yet to see.

Two of the harsh realities of life, and the military in times of war, are death and loss. As adults, we know and understand the life cycle, even if it’s something we aren’t comfortable thinking about. But when it comes to children, no matter where they are developmentally, dealing with death or a loss can be a very confusing time.

The average military physician is given only 15 minutes per patient, and since it takes from five to ten minutes to document the encounter, that leaves only about ten minutes of face time with your provider. For this reason you want to make every minute count. Below are some of the most popular questions from CinCHouse members.

most women are under an incredible amount of social pressure to maintain a certain body figure. Unfortunately, this pressure continues to plague women while they are pregnant and more so after they give birth to their bundle of joy.

A family that is educated about the causes of TBI, how TBI shows itself in the family’s soldier or sailor, and the variety of TBI treatments, is a family that is more likely to work together to overcome TBI challenges.

Today more than ever, most families are living with distances between them, especially military families. The fact remains that grandparents are an important part of a child’s life, and there are many great ways to grow a close relationship, despite the miles between.

 Yes, being in the military poses more challenges for those seeking to earn a degree. But with the advent of technology, it has become easier than ever before to do just that.

When all is said and done, the best guarantee of a long and healthy life may be the connections you have with other people.

Every year millions of people move and as a result many children have to change schools. Moving and starting a new school can be a very stressful experience for a child. There are some things that you can do before, during and after making the move to make it a smoother experience.

This is the third of a three-part series examining military marriages.

Many moms yearn for the secret on how to get dad more involved in the day to day care of the kids, especially after returning from deployment. Not only does it give mom time for a break but it shows dad just how special he is and increases his childcare confidence level.

You did it. For better or for worse, you can now call yourself a military spouse.  Welcome to a strange new world where, sadly, love will never be enough.

Landing a federal job as a mobile military spouse has never been easy.  Truth be told, however, it is far easier today than ever before and it’s about to get even better.

You’re not certain, but you find yourself wondering about your hubby’s on-duty gal pal. Does he have an office “wife” and is she a friend or a foe to your marriage?

Moving a household is always difficult, but especially when small children are involved.  These highly-mobile creatures are not always rational when it comes to staying out of the way of movers or putting debris into their mouths.

Before you commit to a marriage, ala Department of Defense, make sure you at least go into the situation with your eyes wide open.

The birth of John Hyman's first child didn't fill him with the joy he might have hoped for. Far from treasuring every minute with his son, the Rockville, Md., college writing instructor reacted by teaching more courses just to get himself out of the house. "I didn't know what my role was there," recalls Hyman, 52. His wife, by contrast, bonded instantly with their son, Jake, now a teenager. "Betsy fell in love. It was primal," he says. "I didn't have that experience. I thought I was broken."

Nearly every week, we see news stories about children living in conditions or situations that are horrendous. Only rarely, however, do we follow up on what happens to the child beyond that moment. Instead, we watch with sadness, hoping that justice prevails and that there’s a system in place to help those children in need. The good news is that there is such a system in place, but it doesn’t work without thousands of people across the country opening their homes to children they have never met before. These are foster families.

Ever wondered why some people make money and others lose out when they relocate to a new duty station?  Here's why.

Relocation is difficult enough without worrying about money. Yet the average military family loses $800 in the process of moving.  Fortunately, the Department of Defense has set up a sweet deal to prevent hardship -- you just have to know what you deserve and where to go.

So you've just moved (again), you've gotten the family settled and, well, it's lonely.  It's time to start building a community around you and your family.

Where to start?

Whether you're a bride-to-be or a seasoned military wife, it is always a good idea to consider the military lifestyle when buying furniture or household items.  After all, these can be high-priced items that will hopefully last a lifetime or longer.  There are two things to consider when stocking up your household inventory: frequent moving and the need for storage.

When a unit is given short notice to deploy, many leading military wives desperately cobble together their unit's family readiness group and other networks.  Certainly there is no better way to maintain a continuous flow of information from the command to the families, not to mention the incredible benefits for supporting each other during deployments. Here are a few thoughts we've picked up along the way to help community/unit leaders get your spouse clubs established.