House hunting in Florida

It is time to start planning this PCS at a more active level. We were recently sent the housing information from Eglin AFB and based upon what we have seen and what we were told by friends living there already we have decided to live off base. I am not to thrilled with this decision because it means more work for me but what can you do?

I spent yesterday researching area schools on greatschools.com and I have narrowed the list down to 8 towns I will send my kids to school in. Due to driving times for my husband to and from work there are only 2 towns I really want to live in. So now the decision is smaller house, closer to the beach with great schools or larger house, further from the beach with great schools.

I am definitely leaning towards the latter though my husband is not in agreement. It will be great to live in Florida and go to the beach and enjoy that lifestyle after being in the desert for 9 months. I just wish I could higher someone to do all of this planning for me. I just need to look at it from a positive outlook. The hard research is done, now I just have to wait for houses to come available for the time period I am looking for.

California Vacation

 

Family Vacation to California went exactly as I hoped. We had a wonderful trip to California. Driving through Arizona was amazing. The views were fabulous. 

Driving in the greater San Diego area was not nearly as bad as expected and the ocean air smelled wonderful! We were lucky enough to have great weather most day though the forecast called for rain. The beaches were beautiful.

Our first and second days there we found time for the beach and amusement parks. If you have never been to Lego land it is definitely a must do on the family vacation list! It is amazing the things that can be built out of legos. The Aquarium at LegoLand is a wonderful addition to the amusement park complex.

I think my favorite part of the vacation though was our trip to La Jolla beach. We explored the tide pools and spent hours watching the seals in there habitat. To be able to get that close to wildlife in the wild is an amazing experience and one you should not pass up if you travel to that area.

I was sad to return to our temporary home in Arizona but with the move to Florida on the horizon it will not be long before we return to the beach!

Why do they call them Orders when they make everything chaotic?

My first blog on blogger. Let me catch everyone up. I am an Army wife. I have 2 children and a wonderful husband.I listed them that way on purpose because I see alot more of my children then I do my husband. My husband and I have been married for almost 11 years. In military time that is FOREVER! Alot has happened since we met so here is a summary. 

We met when we were both in the Air Force. We were married in 2000. We moved to Germany. I had our son and became a stay at home mom. He deployed for all of 9 months of our 3 year tour there. After a deployment I became pregnant with our daughter, that's very typical in the military. My husband decided he was gone to much and after our tour in Germany he got out of the Air Force. Within a month we both missed the military life so much. It was then he decided to go back in and he was offered a full ride to TCU by the Army. For those of you who don't know, TCU is VERY expensive so he took it. He commissioned in May 2007, graduating cum laude after only 3 1/2 years. We were stationed at wonderful Fort Hood Texas *that's typed in a very sarcastic tone* After 3 years there and the tragic loss of some dear friends during deployment, we were sent to Fort Huachuca Arizona. Just one more hot place to live. This is our current duty station, well at least until this summer.

Now that you are caught up let me get to the point of this blog.

Why do they call them Orders when they make everything chaotic?

If you or anyone you know is in the military then you can probably understand my question.

I understand that orders means "they" are ordering us to go somewhere new and as it is in our life we just pack up and go, but in my mind Orders should means that this process should work in an orderly fashion. NOT SO.

We have our orders. We are moving to Eglin AFB. Yay! We are excited. We get to live near the beach. Here is where the disorder comes in. Movers will invade my home in a few short months and turn everything in to utter chaos. We will live out of suitcases for the time it take the movers to pack, move, and unpack our stuff. Unfortunately,sometimes this can take awhile. 

We will be put on a waiting list for housing and hope we get a decent home, if not we will spend a few short days looking for a new place to live in a place we are unfamiliar with. And this would happen after we spend 5 or 6 days driving across the country with 2 kids 10 and under and a few pets, in 2 separate vehicles. All the while trying to minimize said chaos for the benefit of our children and pets. 

Don't get me wrong. There is a sense of adventure in living places you never thought you would live before. But is there any way the Military could change the word orders to chaos. It would be so much easier to understand :)