More about Christie and #armywifelife

Christie has been an Army wife since she said I do. Married her high school sweetheart as a 2LT in 2003, two weeks after college graduation, and before digital photos were a thing. Little did she know the journey that was before her. Both originally from Georgia, the Army was about to send the happy couple to places they’d never thought they’d be.

Shortly after marriage the young and thankfully naive couple excitedly moved to Fort Leonard Wood Missouri. After six  months of training, living in a tiny one bedroom apartment, soaking up new marital bliss with all the minutes they could, orders came for Fort Irwin California. Whoa, here’s where the #armywifelife gets REAL.

10 days after arrival at Ft. Irwin (in the middle of nowhere Mojave Desert) 2LT Nix deployed to Iraq for a year. Christie stayed and dived full on into what being an Army spouse had to offer. It was the experience that challenged her to learn what kind of Army wife  she wanted to be. Far from family, far from home, without her man, #armywifelife on blast.

Housing would take 3 months, so the Landmark Inn was her home for then. She stood there and waved goodbye, defeated at the     thought of a year apart, and went into her hotel room (home) and sobbed.

During that year she thankfully received housing, made many friends mostly within the FRG and PWOC, and immersed herself in FAITH, trusting God during a stressful and scary deployment. She served on the PWOC board two years in a row, coached U-12 soccer, and became a student of FRG and what that meant (family readiness group)

After 11 months in daily combat, LT Nix came home 4 weeks early after being combat wounded. Christie experienced first hand casualty notification, care team presence, FRG readiness, and frustrations with medivac situations. Almost two weeks after initial notification, Christie was able to meet up with her wounded soldier for long term care at Madigan Hospital, Ft. Lewis Washington.  

Quickly after the deployment, the Nix family grew, Gracie Nix was born at Ft. Irwin and from then on being an Army family would forever be different.

After 3 years at Irwin, The Nix’s moved back to Fort Leonard Wood for another 6 months. And in true Army family fashion, the family grew again. But not before ANOTHER move to Ft. Carson CO. Mary was born in 2008, a snowy day in May, and 8 months before deployment #2.

Now CPT Nix, deployed as Company Commander to Iraq, Christie stayed far from home with her two girls (2 and 8 months old)  in beautiful Colorado. Christie served as the FRG Advisor to a very fruitful group of women, it was a HARD year and they needed each other. Completed all the FRG Leader courses again, Care Team training, and even served on the Care Team which to this day is one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do. She stayed busy with FRG activities, PWOC events, lead small group bible studies, participated in a mentorship groups, and tried her best to make the days count while she counted the days.

CPT Nix stayed busy as well. His company went on 100’s of missions, sometimes weeks at a time, with limited communication. It was clear the stress and fear from deployment #1 made the realities of deployment #2 much more difficult to fight through each day. The BN suffered many losses, some weeks multiple at at time.

Praise the Lord, that deployment ended, Christie kept the kids alive and CPT NIx successfully re-deployed his entire company. What a long year.

Quickly after Change of Command, the Nix’s were off to Ft. Knox Kentucky. CPT Nix was selected to work in the Engineer branch of HRC (human resources command). Ft. Knox would be where Christie re-discovered her passions for fitness, especially as a new mom, for new moms. Christie started working as a trainer, entered bodybuilding competitions, and would meet Val, her business partner, together they would forever change their future with the adventures they’d go on.

After two years in KY, CPT Nix was selected into the ACS program to earn a Master's degree from Georgia Tech. The Nix’s moved home to Atlanta after 10 years of being on the Army train.

Shortly after arriving in Atlanta, feeling the stress of the last 10 years relieve, they decided to GROW AGAIN! And there they  became a family of 5. 18 months total in Atlanta, one masters degree, one new baby, and a promotion, congrats to MAJ Nix.

From there the Nix’s moved again, to Knoxville TN. MAJ Nix worked for the Army Corp of Engineers, a big switch from his years of combat. There they enjoyed the civilian like lifestyle while they had it. Another 18 month duration and the Nix’s received orders for Ft. Stewart GA.

They headed down south to the low country, two weeks to unpack and make a home before MAJ Nix was deployed again to Afghanistan. Welcome to the Marne Express of 3rd ID. Thankfully this would be a short deployment of only 5 months. Christie stayed and created a new life and home in the low country  for the 3 Nix kids, and again made the days count.

After a year at Ft.Stewart Nix was assigned to the 92nd Engineer Battalion where he would work as the BN S3 and XO. In 2018 assigned to Hunter Army Airfield as the FEST Commander, and currently the Deputy Commander at the United States Army Core of Engineers Savannah District.

Since her time here Christie realized she had created her ALLiN life. As a wife, mom, military spouse, and fitness professional passionate about empowering women in all things, it was an orchestration that took many moves, many life lessons, and lots of inspiration from all the friends she’d made along the way.