Welcome to a Day-in-the-Life where we get an inside look at how individual military spouses fill a typical day and keep their wits about them by hunting the good stuff.
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I’m Hannah, a 36 year old small business owner, homeschool mom, and wife of a retired veteran. My husband and I have been married for 12 years. My husband served in the Marines and the Army. I can’t live without coffee, chocolate, and exercise. You can find me at www.hannahstoffel.com.
Retirement sprang up on us a bit sooner than we expected. The transition wasn’t perfect but I’m continually amazed at God’s faithfulness and His blessings. If I could give any new military spouse one piece of advice, it would be this; military life is what you make it. Get involved in your military community and enjoy what each duty station has to offer. Being a military spouse is an amazing thing and it goes by SO fast – enjoy each day!
6:00 am:
This is my quiet time. Most mornings I’m up at 5:00 am. While I often set my alarm, I really don’t need to. We have three cats who have clever ways of getting me out of bed if they feel I’m sleeping in too long. If you’ve ever had cats, then you know what I’m talking about.
I empty the dishwasher, put on a pot of coffee, have my lemon water and feed the cats. After my few chores I do my devotions. I find if I don’t spend time in my Bible early in the morning then it just doesn’t get done.
I also use this time to work my business. I’m a Certified Health Coach. My primary focus is teaching women how to eat to look and feel their best, with an emphasis on women struggling with adult acne.
My own health struggles and struggle with acne brought me to this place so it’s all very near and dear to my heart. I write content for my blog and work on my book (so weird to say out loud). I find I write best early in the morning, when my mind feels fresh and there are no distractions from the day.
8:00 am:
By now everyone in the house is awake and any hope of me continuing to write is lost. My husband is currently finishing his bachelor’s degree. As a full time student his schedule varies some from day to day. Some days he’s up and out early and other days he doesn’t leave until 9:00 am.
Regardless of when my husband leaves for the day, he’s not a person who requires breakfast so I only have to worry about fixing something for myself and our girls. I’m a bit obsessed with nutrition but I also LOVE food and taste really matters to me.
I use a nutrition shake every morning. The irony of this situation? I am NOT a fan of smoothies or shakes – like, at all. I know people equate them with health and when people think of eating healthy, a nutrition shake or smoothie often comes to mind. I find smoothies leave me feeling as if I haven’t eaten anything (since you don’t actually chew), and leave me wanting more.
Despite this I believe in the nutrition so as a compromise I make myself a thicker textured, smoothie bowl and top with it with unsweetened shredded coconut, raw nuts, and frozen organic blueberries. I can’t even tell you the difference between using this method versus simply mixing the shake with almond milk and blending it. It’s like night and day! I make a similar version of this for my girls.
After breakfast, we start our school day. History, geography, and a short devotion make up our morning. I also try to knock out spelling or math.
10:00 am:
By this time my girls are ready for a break. It’s the routine I’ve established so I can fit in my workout. They’ve become so accustomed to our routine that the few times I’ve tried to change it, it’s completely blown up in my face.
It’s important to me to exercise and I’m not a woman who is content with ‘taking the stairs’ or simply ‘counting my steps for the day’. When I say exercise, I mean a full hour of devoted time, showing up for myself and really sweating.
I use Tracy Anderson Method which I love for many reasons. Two main reasons are: 1) I can do it in my own home which eliminates traveling to a gym, making sure I have the latest, cutest leggings and that my hair looks half way decent. 2) It’s completely changed my body, especially post babies, unlike any other fitness program I have ever done.
Some days my girls hang out with me while I work out. During this time I give them freedom to choose what they want to do. Usually they play together with Barbies or horses.
By now we are all getting hungry for lunch but I like to get a little more school work finished before we eat. We usually do a handwriting assignment followed by reading. A funny secret is my girls love to watch “I Love Lucy” during our lunch break. They know in order for that to happen their reading and handwriting has to be done. It gives them a bit of incentive to finish on time.
12:00 pm:
Typically we’re finishing up lunch. My girls like to eat grilled cheese sandwiches. I always add a fruit and a vegetable to their plate. Green beans, cherry tomatoes, and carrots with ranch dressings are their favorites. Apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes are all commonplace in our house. Basically whatever fruit is in season you’ll find it in my home.
My lunch varies based on my mood. While I’m not a vegan, many of my meals are! I do a lot of stir-fry type meals and work off of whatever I have in my fridge at the time. I typically always have zucchini to make zucchini noodles.
I always have cabbage on hand because when you shred it, it immediately becomes a base for just about any dish. I do everything from egg roll-in-a-bowl to a stir-fry pizza using cabbage. I also like to keep homemade black bean burgers on hand. Depending on the flavor of my stir-fry I either add raw nuts, a fried egg or a black bean burger for extra protein.
On my husband’s shorter days, he comes home around this time. He’s usually starving. Remember, he doesn’t eat breakfast?! I like to give him some space in the kitchen so he can fix his cup of coffee and grab some lunch.
2:00 pm:
We are finishing up our school day. Usually by 3:00 pm we’ve completed all our assignments. The girls play outside and quite often we’ll go for a walk together. It’s nice to soak in the sunshine and fresh air.
Running my own business while being a homeschool mom means finding pockets of time in the day that suit both ventures. I have learned that it’s not wise for me to try to mix the two.
When I try to work on my business during the school day, I end up not doing either thing very well. It works best when I give both jobs the full, undivided attention they deserve. I use this time to finish up any work that didn’t get completed in the morning. It’s also the time of day that I schedule one-on-one sessions with my private coaching clients.
4:00 pm:
I am preparing dinner. It’s important to me to get dinner started on time. I prefer not to eat late and I feel like kids get whiny when they have to wait too long for dinner. Lately, I’ve been out of my normal routine a bit and dinner prep hasn’t been happening until 5:00 pm, which means we don’t eat until 6:00 pm.
As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of how much better I feel when dinner is served earlier in the evening. I simply don’t feel as frantic about it. My husband is home every evening so we always have dinner together as a family.
6:00 pm:
Dinner has been served. The kitchen is cleaned up. The girls are getting their showers or bath. My husband is a big help to me during this part of the day. I’m usually exhausted at this point and ready for bed. Remember, I wake up at 5:00 am!
8:00 pm:
Our girls have been read to, teeth have been brushed, and they are put to bed. My husband and I watch TV together. We find a series we like on Netflix or Hulu. This is our time to talk about our day and relax.
10:00 pm:
By 10:00 I am sound asleep. My husband usually stays up a bit later depending on his schedule for the following day.
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As a bonus to Dependent Diaries readers, Hannah has offered a free resource for those who may be struggling with clear skin. Follow the instructions here.
Want to share about a typical day in your shoes? Submit your Day-in-the-Life here.
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