mallorym
Mallory is the wife of a U.S. Marine and mother of two. She is a stay-at-home-mom who proudly hangs her Ph.D. diploma in every house the military moves her to. While she looks forward to the day she can be back working and researching in a lab, she cherishes every moment she gets to watch her children grow and support her husband’s career. This is certainly not the life she dreamed of, but it has become more rewarding and fulfilling than anything she could have imagined. She and her family are currently stationed in Japan and love every minute of it.
Arigato! 12 Reasons I’ll Miss Living in Japan
Japan may not be everyone’s first choice when it comes to an OCONUS (Outside Continental United States) move, but it will definitely leave a lasting impression on you if you ever get stationed here.
As...
Reliving My Sorority Days as a Military Spouse
The day my husband graduated Officer Candidate School, I remember thinking to myself that I was going through Sorority Rush (a process in which university undergraduate women join a sorority) all over again.
Before the...
Dress Code Guidelines for Military Installations
It was hard to take fashion advice from someone who used to dress like a pirate on the regular, but there I was standing in front of my husband in my Soffe shorts and...
Knockoff CoCo’s Japanese Fried Chicken Curry Recipe
If you have ever been stationed in Japan or had a spouse deployed out here, then you probably know about CoCo’s (Curry House CoCo Ichibanya). CoCo’s is a chain restaurant specializing in Japanese-style curry....
The Club No One Wants To Join: Tragic Loss of a Military Member
On December 6, 2018, my husband burst through our front door much earlier than I was expecting him. He had been on duty all night, and I had not seen or heard from him...
Take a Picture, It Will Last Longer
My earliest memory of taking photos was when I was 15 years old. I borrowed my dad’s Sony Mavica he used for work. It was my first digital camera, and it recorded photos on...
7 Ways to Make a Deployment Easier
Deployments suck. We can all agree on that. That doesn’t mean we have to lead a terrible life for half the year though. I’m no expert, but I think I lead a pretty happy...
Everyone Stationed OCONUS Needs a Bug-Out Bag
Since our arrival in Japan, the base installation has offered an Emergency Preparedness class almost every month focusing on NEO (noncombatant evacuation operations). I put off taking this class for over half a year,...
Sunday Supper and How I Survive Endless Detachments
I am so over hearing “that’s so nice for you that your husband doesn’t deploy.”
Yes, it is very nice that he does not deploy; however, that does not mean he doesn’t detach or spend...
When Jealousy Strikes at the Commissary: I Wish I Were a Girlfriend
I caught a glimpse of you from the corner of my eye. You were smiling from ear to ear. He had an even bigger smile as you flirted openly with one another in the...
Parents, Easter Egg Hunts Are Not For You!
Parents have completely ruined Easter Egg Hunts.
Last year was the first and last time I will ever take my kid to an Easter Egg Hunt. She was 14 months old and had only been...
A Mom’s Guide to Marathon Training
I have been a runner for the past 16 years. By no means am I a professional or elite runner, but I have run over a hundred races spanning in distance from one mile...