through this website, AAFSW receives a small percentage to help fund out activities and services. AAFSW is also affiliated with 
Our Regulars
Special thanks go out to these frequent contributors to our website!
Patricia Linderman (Personal and Confidential)
Kelly Bembry Midura (The Cyberspouse)
Kate Goggin
Francesca Kelly
This longtime AAFSW member is co-author of The Expert Expatriate: Your Guide to Successful Relocation Abroad, with Melissa Hess, and co-editor of the AAFSW book Realities of Foreign Service Life, likewise with Ms. Hess. She is also Associate Editor of Tales from a Small Planet.
Female FSOs and Childbearing (03/05)
Dealing With That Awful Moving Feeling (4/04)
Can a Single Female Find Love in the Foreign Service? (2/04)
Foreign Service Family Challenges (1/04) What challenges do Foreign Service families face?
Prospective FSO Seeks Spouse (12/03) What kind of person does it take to be a Foreign Service Spouse?
Sexual Status and Marriage Maintenance (11/03) What to do when your marriage feels like it's under attack.
Keeping in Touch with Family (10/03)
Coping with Non-Stop House Guests (7/03)
Have a question for our resident expert? Use this form to send it to her!
Kelly has contributed many articles as the Cyberspouse, along with commentaries and essays under her own name. She is a website designer, freelance writer, stay-at-home parent, and veteran Foreign Service Spouse. Email Kelly at kelly@aafsw.org.
Financial Security and the Foreign Service Spouse (1/07) Being underemployed doesn't have to mean financial insecurity. Money advice for every spouse from the Cyberspouse.
The Cyberspouse Goes Grocery Shopping (6/06) Grocery shopping in the Washington area doesn't have to bust your budget.
The Cyberspouse Furnishes Frugally (3/06) Kelly Midura furnishes her new home with thrift store and freecycle finds.
The Cyberspouse Renovates (9/05) FS Spouse Kelly Midura shares her experience renovating a DC "fixer-upper."
The Cyberspouse Makes Her House a Home (2/05) Tips and tricks for personalizing standard-issue government housing and furniture.
The Cyberspouse Declutters Kelly Midura shares her tips on decluttering your house and lightening your load before packout. (4/04)
Frugal Cleaning in the Foreign Service (3/04) Tips from the Cyberspouse on how to keep house overseas without cleaning out your bank account.
Frugal Cooking in the Foreign Service (1/04) The Cyberspouse shows us how to fill up on good food while overseas without emptying our wallets.
A Portable Career Solution (2003). As “trailing spouses” we carry our homes on our backs like snails--why not carry our careers as well? Originally published in AFSA's Foreign Service Journal. (This article is in Adobe PDF format.)
The Frugal Foreign Service Family (9/03) Learning to live and save on one income no matter where you are.
The Cyberspouse Stays at Home (5/03) Choosing to stay home in DC and overseas.
Voluntary Simplicity (11/02) Organize and simplify your life!
Why Would I Want to Go There? (10/02) A Foreign Service spouse questions her family's "worldwide availability."
Spoused! (7/02) Longtime Foreign Service spouse Kelly Bembry Midura offers a new verb for the Foreign Service lexicon.
Cooking in Cyberspace (02/02) Useful websites for tackling foreign ingredients and measurements.
Staying Healthy with the Internet (08/01) Using the Internet to sift through varying medical advice while overseas.
Some Thoughts on the Internet and Foreign Service Transfers (08/00) Musings on moving then and moving now.
Researching Employment Opportunities Before the Bid (10/99) Don't just sit there--find a job!
Writing in Turkey, Translation in Germany (05/99) Profiles of two early telecommuting FS spouses.
My Many-Colored Christmases (12/98) The many varieties of Christmas celebration experienced by one Foreign Service spouse.
Kate Goggin is a Foreign Service spouse (FAS) and freelance writer. Currently living in Northern Virginia, she is available for short and long term writing assignments. Visit her website at http://www.kategoggin.com.
Family Health Overseas Take charge of your family’s overseas health with these resources (4/04)
Life with a Traveling Spouse (1/04) Tips for getting through long, lonely days.
Fighting the Winter Blues (12/03) Depressed by dark winter days? Get the scoop on Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Portable Religion (11/03) You CAN take it with you, but it might be difficult!
Famous Movers and Shakers (10/03) What do you, Maya Angelou, and Vincent Van Gogh have in common?
Developing Financial Sen$e (9/03) What are you teaching your kids about finances? Ideas and resources for parents.
Sanity Savers (9/03) Essential information on adjusting to a new post.
A Change of Venue: Researching your Next Post (6/03) Take charge of the bidding process in your family's interest.
Farewell Gifts (6/03) Great ideas for giving friends something to remember you by.
Home Leave is No Vacation (6/03) Tips for staying sane while living out of a suitcase.
Francesca Kelly
Francesca Huemer Kelly, a Foreign Service spouse presently based in Brussels, is a professional free-lance writer, published regularly in American and international magazines. She is a founder of Tales from a Small Planet, was the Web site's editor-in-chief from 1999 to 2003, and currently serves in an advisory capacity. Also a trained concert singer, Ms. Kelly has lived in Milan, Leningrad, Moscow, Belgrade, Vienna, Ankara and Rome. She is the mother of four children.
Going to College in America (2/06) AAFSW member Francesca Kelly tells FS teens and parents what to expect. Article courtesy of AFSA.
Applying to U.S. Colleges: A Primer for FS Teens (8/05) Reprinted by permission of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)
Eighteen Cups (6/00) Hilarious article about certain between-post M/Med requirements.
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