107.Connecting with the Defence Community

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