The Best is Yet to Come for Army Wife Network…..Stay Tuned!
To Our Dearest Army Wife Network Tribe:
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been what you might call an “anticipator.” Looking forward to the next experience, event, or adventure was my jam.
My family didn’t vacation much when I was a child, but when we did, I was so excited that I could barely contain myself. My bags were packed well in advance. Going to the Missouri State Fair was the highlight of my young life.
As a freshman in high school, I remember lying awake the night before homecoming because my peers had selected me as the female student council representative.
This meant only one thing: I got to miss class all day Friday to transform the smells-like-feet-sweat-and-popcorn gym into the homecoming dance dream destination. Armed with only balloons, cardboard, paint, tape, and a few well-placed streamers, getting to drink pop all day while missing out on class was excitement worth losing sleep over.
My sophomore year of college, I delivered a memorized keynote speech all about “Anticipating Tomorrow” to 1,500 Kansas FFA members in McCain Auditorium in Manhattan, KS, for my State FFA officer retiring address.
Given my propensity for anticipating life’s adventures, it’s pretty handy that I became a military spouse.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Anticipation seems a bit less “shiny” and enjoyable on occasion, because #AdultLife. A lot of the “next things” in the military lifestyle can be either really great or really stressful. A few select experiences fall in the middle.
Orders to our #1 duty station? Shout it to the rooftop! (That hasn’t happened yet, but this milspouse can dream). Last-minute deployment notification? Enter stage left weeping and gnashing of teeth. Retirement inching closer every day? Yay/yikes.
Anticipation comes with the territory, not only as a human and a milspouse, but also as a leader of our incredible organization here at Army Wife Network.
In just a few short weeks, I will celebrate my ninth anniversary serving with AWN. I started out as a blogger, and as it goes, things “escalated quickly.” I’ve now served as Executive Director for more than three years.
Many of those moments have been full of anticipation, like learning more than I never wanted to know about business banking and tax stuff, to recruiting empowered new volunteer team members that make my jaw drop repeatedly with their incredible skills.
As a team, we’ve gone places we’ve never been before, and now, we are in a huge season of anticipation, ready for this next huge thing.
While many of the nitty gritty details are still classified for just a few more short weeks, I CAN tell you that 2023 is going to change the game for military spouse empowerment here at Army Wife Network.
Our team has been working on this “next thing” for more than two years, and we are continuing our big H-U-S-T-L-E as we move into this next exciting season.
Our Command Team is incredibly excited (and a tad bit stressed and tired… but mostly excited). We’ve had held more meetings, asked more questions, created more strategy, and drank more coffee than in my tenure with AWN.
So, with this huge season of “next-ness” in front of us: We would be honored if you join us.
Jump on this anticipation train, plane, and automobile because we are going places. (Just be sure to buckle up! We don’t need to add an extra safety brief to our list of things to do…)
Stay closely connected to our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple, Spotify, and Google Play. Sign up for our SITREP to stay in the loop of all things anticipation. When our big news becomes public, you don’t want to miss it. We will have loads of giveaways up for grabs, so keep your eyes on our (potential) prizes.
The transition we are currently anticipating is one of expansion.
Excitement. Empowerment. It’s going to be bigger than anything we have ever done, and when we make it to the other side, there’s gonna be all the feels. I envision it rivaling those fluttery feelings of pulling out of the driveway, headed across the country (or world!) to your #1 Duty Station of choice.
There are a few nerves and unknowns, but mostly it’s a feeling of warmth, hope, joy, and victory that overtakes your whole self. Get ready, AWN Tribe!
Thanks for an incredible 17 years of podcasting and 12 years of online empowerment. We cannot wait to continue that legacy in 2023.
Trust me when I say that the BEST is yet to come.
With Anticipation and Empowerment,
Dr. Sharita Knobloch, Army Wife Network Executive Director
