Rebecca Alwine
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Military, Parenting, Research, Finance, Religion, Families
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Top 4 Things You Need to Develop Your CMS Emergency Preparedness Compliance Program
It’s everything you need in one place.
The world of compliance in healthcare organizations can be confusing and overwhelming. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) emergency preparedness rules seem convoluted and are steeped in jargon when what organizations really need is a step-by-step plan for how to accomplish the goal. If you are unsure of where to start or how to move forward, CCS has put together the ultimate CMS Emergency Preparedness Planning Toolkit and it is now avail...
connectconsulting.biz
6 Tips to Mitigate Flood Damage
In 2017, the United States experienced one of the worst years of natural disasters in history. From floods to fires, there were catastrophes at every turn.
Some of these floods are expected when hurricanes strike. But, as the weather turns warmer, areas that are heavily hit by snow begin to worry about it melting. Rivers start rising, as they do every spring, but most people don’t think, or prepare for, seasonal flooding.
Floods can lead to other serious events, like landslides, which affecte...
connectconsulting.biz
Life Saving Essentials: What You Need to Know about Food and Water
Emergency preparedness, even that of an organization, cannot be deemed complete without a discussion of food.
FEMA suggests having enough food and water for each person, ideally enough for up to two weeks. That hardly seems reasonable for an office building or a hospital, but that doesn’t mean the responsibility can be dismissed.
Water
FEMA recommends one gallon of water per person, per day. For a minimum of three days. That is a lot of water! Storing water is hard, as it is heavy. But there ...
connectconsulting.biz
Breaking the Barrier: Dynamic Women in Emergency Management
Interestingly enough, one of the earliest proponents of women in emergency management was none other than First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She persuaded her husband to appoint Florence Kerr to find a way to utilize women in the war effort, and the two women were instrumental in developing the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). In September 1941, Mrs. Roosevelt was appointed Assistant Director of the OSD, becoming the “first woman in Homeland Security/Emergency Management.”
Since then, women from the...
ameriforcemedia.com
3 Easy Cleaning Tips for Kids
As a parent, I feel like the only thing I ever say is, “Please clean your room.” I’m sure my children would agree. I feel like the majority of parenting is figuring out how to establish cleaning tips for kids, like how to put things away when they are done with them. But, after a little reflection and a long conversation, I realized that we need to do more than tell them how to clean up, we need to show them.
So I started by letting go of my too-high standards. It doesn’t matter how the bed i...
ameriforcemedia.com
Job Hunting Before the PCS Move
Real tips from real military spouses. Learn how to get a jump on your next job, before you move!
Military spouse employment has been at the center of almost every military spouse related discussion for the past few years. The problem of underemployment and the rate of unemployment among spouses has not improved. However, military spouses are working hard to fix this problem, and they are working together to do it. They are starting companies, they are employing each other, and they are sharin...
ameriforcemedia.com
Staying Healthy During PCS Season
3 tips to stay on top of your game
PCS season is a time of trials unlike those you’ve ever experienced. Even those of us who have moved in the double digits know that no two are alike and you can’t prepare for what’s ahead. And one of the most challenging parts about moving is staying healthy.
Once your sleep-deprived, stressed out and exhausted from getting everything out of your house, then you have to clean it, putting all that dust back into the air. Then you live on top of the rest of yo...
ameriforcemedia.com
Tips for a Pet-Friendly PCS
The first thing my kids asked me when we were discussing our upcoming move was where Delilah was going to be. Delilah is our dog, and she’s been part of our family for over six years now. At the time they asked, my kids were seven and eight and hadn’t remembered our previous move, which was almost five years before.
Delilah has now moved with us three times in the six years she’s been with us, and we have gotten it down to a science. But all of these moves have been within the continental Uni...
blog.pcsgrades.com
Help! I’m Packing Out Alone!
In a perfect world, our spouses are around to supervise packers, our children are at hourly care, and our friends are coming over with buckets and mops to help us on our final cleaning. But in the real world of PCS season, our spouses are nowhere to be seen, the packing days fall right after the end of the school year, and all our closest friends are moving too.
Over the past seven years, I’ve been lucky enough to have my spouse around for the pack out of six of them. This last time, we had s...
blog.pcsgrades.com
Geo-bachelor Housing: A Frequent Conundrum
Let’s face it; moving can put a cramp in your style. Just as there are many reasons your neighbors may be excited about moving this summer, there are just as many reasons you are dreading it.
Geo-bachelor Housing
In this military world, we have a different term for everything, and when we start talking about sending our service member to a duty station while the family remains behind, we have a name for it. Living as a geographical bachelor, or geo-bachelor is something that the military has ...
blog.pcsgrades.com
No, I didn’t take a break from working while PCSing. And you don’t have to either.
The military spouse world is full of great ideas, advice, and support. We share intimate details of our professional and personal lives with each other after only a few days. We support each other when the going gets tough.
No Break while PCSing
But sometimes, we aren’t 100% truthful with each other. Sometimes, we tell each other what we think we should, not what we actually want to.
Here’s an example:
Each spring we see military spouses rally to pack boxes, clean houses, drive across the cou...
blog.pcsgrades.com
Decisions! Decisions! An Apartment or A House?
As a military family, one of our main concerns is where are we going to live. Over the course of the last ten years, we’ve had to make many housing decisions ranging from living on or off the installation, renting or buying, and even apartment or a house.
Deciding Between an Apartment or a House
Several things play into our decisions regarding housing, and I’d imagine the same is true with your family. Some of those things include:
Cost
While renting an apartment may be less expensive than re...
powerhouseplanning.com
Accessories Company Hits Break-Even Point at Six-Month Mark
When Shelly Nicholas was growing up, she spent way too much time trying to keep her hair secured in a hair tie. Years later, when taking a venture consulting class in grad school, she developed a business plan to make a hair tie that actually works. Fast forward 10 (yes, 10!) years, and Pretty Knotty’s FIT TIES are part of a flourishing company.
Most of the business owners we see in the military spouse community are either selling a product that has already been developed or selling a service...
ameriforcemedia.com
Three Ways to Get Healthy Together
Perhaps this story is familiar. It’s about a week before your service member’s annual physical training test, and they ask you to make some more salads for dinner. Or perhaps you see them doing some extra push-ups around the house and correctly assume it’s about that time again. Sometimes, our service members ramp up the fitness and healthy habits. Other times we, as spouses, make it a priority. Either way, being the one forced to get healthy can be annoying, even if you are secretly grateful...
blog.pcsgrades.com
Your Pensacola Bucket List
Nine things to do in Pensacola…
no matter how long you’re stationed there!
My time in Pensacola was short, and we knew that from the beginning, so we set off our very first weekend in town to make the most of it. We left the navy lodge on the beach and headed downtown to start exploring. It was so much fun exploring Pensacola that we were actually sad to leave. We wanted more time to explore.
#1 Pensacola Beach
The beaches in Pensacola are absolutely gorgeous. While Pensacola Beach holds the ...