A few months ago some of my Army wife friends and I decided to start walking. You know for exercise and fresh air and stuff. We called ourselves the Arse Reduction Club. It started out with just six of us getting together once a week to walk a four mile loop around post. We took the kids, pushing our little jog strollers with gusto. We were very proud of ourselves.

As we should be. It takes a lot to get up off your arse sometimes. Especially after a long, cold, dark Alaska winter. Or after having a baby (or two). Or just plain old getting lazy or too darn busy to take time for yourself.

So we did it. First once. Then again the next week. Then another and another. Pretty soon we were meeting up every single week. We moved to better trail. Our group expanded. More ladies from the squadron. More from beyond our squadron, even a civilian wife who is has totally become “one of us.” The group is 10 strong, and still growing.

We’ve seen moose. We’ve been threatened by bear sightings. We’ve chased kids out of the street. We’ve added tots on bikes to the mix. We’ve toted those bikes in our strollers when 4-year-old-legs got too tired.

We’ve built and strengthened friendships.

We only skipped out once and went to IHOP instead. Don’t judge, it was cold and raining. And I was tired. And really grumpy. Coffee and girl talk was absolutely necessary.

I love these women and I couldn’t be any more proud of them for getting out there week after week. They inspire me to keep moving, even on my crankypants days!

We have even added a “running edition” on Tuesday mornings. It’s hard. But, in the end it will be worth it. Our goal is to complete a 5k in August. We might have to walk a little. We might be sore for days after. But we are all going to finish. Together.

We’re Army wives, we can handle anything.