Editor 💜 Amanda Beltran

For more than 22 years, I’ve had the privilege of "traveling the U.S.", learning from diverse cultures, experiencing unique real estate markets, and making the most of every place the military has sent my family. But the truth is, it didn’t start that way.

In the beginning, I went kicking and screaming. Each move brought new challenges, bouts of anxiety, and seasons of uncertainty. It took time and, a lot of grace, to learn how to “make the best” of each duty station. Then one day, deep into my husband’s Coast Guard career, I realized something life-changing: I had a purpose, and I was exactly where I was meant to be in that season of my life. That mindset shift changed everything.

This past August, my husband retired after 22 years of dedicated service. While his chapter in uniform has closed, my heart for serving the military community remains wide open. It’s a community that grew us, from the time we were just 19 and 20 years old when he left for Cape May, to eight weeks later when I packed up everything we knew and moved with a newborn in my arms. It was never easy. There were times I wanted to give up and begged him to get out after each enlistment, but he didn’t, and we didn’t. I’m grateful that we stood the test of time. Along the way, we made lifelong friends, built countless memories, and learned more about life, love, and resilience than we ever could have imagined.

Together, my husband and I have two children (Giovanni and Anthony), two dogs (Maia and Demi), and one African Sulcata tortoise, by far the hardest family member to PCS with! Let’s just say hotels aren’t built with desert tortoises in mind, and New England winters are not her favorite.

It wasn’t easy for our kids, either. My oldest son attended three different high schools due to my husband’s promotions, and their last move happened during COVID. School became a laptop, a mask, and a six-foot radius. “Try not to talk to one another,” they said. Imagine being the new kid in High School in a new town under those conditions. It was lonely, and the impact was real, and not in the best way. But they pushed through. They finished strong. Today, one is a college senior applying to medical school, and the other is in his second year of a journeyman program. They still don’t quite know where home is, and honestly, that’s something we talk about often. Each of us has a different vision of where “home” should be, but the beauty is, wherever we land, we build it together.

Despite the challenges of this lifestyle, I never gave up on my dreams either. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Education from Florida Atlantic University and had the honor and absolute privilege of teaching kindergarten for ten years. Then, I took time off to homeschool our kids when one of our duty stations didn’t meet my expectations for their education.

Eventually, my path took an unexpected turn into real estate, a career I never planned for but now can’t imagine living without. I’ve since become part of a Top-Producing Real Estate Team (2022 & 2023) and now proudly serve as a Top-Producing Independent Agent.

I absolutely love to travel, read, and learn, and I’m grateful for a life that continues to teach me something new every single day.

FAITH - FAMILY - COMMUNITY