“Despite the distance, we put our family first.”

Meet Kaia. She is married to Nate and momma to Donovan. I met Kaia for the first time back when Nate and my husband, Caleb, were in TBS together. In fact, I believe we met in a LINKS class because we were so extremely new to the Marine Corps lifestyle. Since then, Kaia and Nate have endured flight school and four PCSs and celebrated the birth of their baby boy.

When I first met Kaia, I was admittedly a little intimidated by her. She is a very driven, goal-oriented woman. We were all living outside of DC and she was traveling into the city every day to go to work. She continues to work full-time for a technology consulting firm and was only part-time for a short time after Donovan was born.

Kaia notes that the main difference between military and civilian life is that our lives aren’t really our own. Our major life decisions are usually dictated, or at the very least influenced, by the military. Getting married, buying a home, having children are just the first three that pop into mind. For someone like Kaia who likes to have a plan, this can sometimes be difficult…and trust me, she is not the only spouse that has struggled with that! Like I said before, I used to be intimidated by Kaia; however, after getting to know her better, I am no longer intimidated by her, but inspired! She has adapted so well to the military lifestyle by moving four times in four years and maintaining a sense of adventure and optimism. Just the other day we had coffee and I was lamenting our move to Quantico and she continued to find the silver linings for me!

She and Nate have developed a tradition to maintain their family togetherness despite the long days he sometimes must work. Each evening, they go on a walk with Donovan and their pup, Watson, to catch up on everything that has happened throughout their days. Kaia works from home, so her schedule is slightly more flexible to accommodate Nate’s crazy flight schedule. She made it very clear that family will always come first, no matter what the Marine Corps throws at them!