107.Connecting with the Defence Community

In this week's podcast episode, I talk with Navy Spouse Chantelle about making the transition from single and solo to figuring out defence life and finding your community.

Chantelle and I also talk about;

• How a chance meeting would lead to a whirlwind romance that Chantelle tried her best to avoid
• Why it took her Defence member 6 months to tell her he wasn't just a "government" employee and was in the Navy
• Coming to terms with now being in love with a defence member and someone who will go away for months on end
• How an overseas trip for work and being away from each other helped Chantelle make her mind up about her feelings
• Being together 6 months, going defacto, moving in together and deciding to move states together
• The isolation Chantelle felt after moving to a location where she knew no one
• Realising what being a defence partner really meant and making the transition
• Coming to terms with the amount of time spent apart and finding out separations aren't just deployments but are also workups, courses and more
• Getting on the same page and managing differing expectations
• The positive impact a trainer from Cerberus had on her defence member and their relationship
• Finding out she was 5 months pregnant with her second child a short time after moving away from family and friends
• Her family having a hard time coming to terms with her changed goals and priorities
• Working up the courage to go along to a Defence community house and the positive impact it had on her mental health and life
• Finding her community after struggling with the isolation of defence life
• The difference having support makes during deployments, separations and on hard days
• The importance of being your own person, doing your own thing, focusing on what you can control and realising you have a choice

Ready to join the MWL community? Click through the link to get connected xx www.militarywifelife.com.au