I was born and raised in Highland, Illinois. Ironically, we were only 30 minutes from Scott AFB but I never had any affiliation with the base or really even realized it was there growing up. I met my husband, Adam, after my freshman year of college in 2005. We were married 2 years later in July 2007. My time as a military wife has been a hectic but a wonderful one! We have endured many deployments, numerous TDYs and leaving our families and friends as well.
During our time at our last duty station I went to many spouse functions and became a key spouse of my husband’s squadron. That is when I really started to understand the saying “it’s the wonderful life of the military wife! Many lifelong friends were made during our time at Scott and then we got orders to Moody AFB. I vowed to make this base and our time here as wonderful as our last, and so far I think Moody has proven to be just as great! My number one motto is “each base is what you make of it.” I just tell myself to take the good and the bad and try to see the silver lining. Moody has so many wonderful opportunities for spouses to get involved and I dove in head first. I am currently serving as the co-key spouse for my husband’s squadron, on the MSC Board and also am directing a MOPS group that starts in January!
Our family has grown over the last 5 years as well. We started out with one rowdy beagle to see how we would handle being “parents.” After that first year, which was rough, we decided to get another dog and a month later we found out we were expecting! Talk about increasing the numbers in our house fast! Just recently we added a kitten into the mix, so he makes 4 “guys” and then there is me. In February our son, Jude, will turn a year old and a whole new mix of fun will begin. Military life may have its downs, but there are so many people in our community willing to help out that it makes it a little easier. In my experience the good definitely outweighs the bad, and I always remember that if I’m at the bottom the only way to go is up!
--Katey Aldinger (MSC Board Member)