We Made It

So, hey! We moved. We survived. Barely.

The movers came, and no one napped. Which is pretty evident just by looking at their little faces. I'm sure a lot of the not-sleeping was due to the fact that a bunch of guys were in the house (or had been in the house), putting all of their toys, beds, and TVs in boxes. It's slightly traumatic for me, so I can only imagine what it's like for the littles. 

I'm still slightly in disbelief that we no longer live in that house. It's empty. (Because GAH no tennants! But that's a story for another day.) We packed up the kids, the dog, the suitcases, and drove 3 hours to our new 'home'.

It was a ROUGH day. We tried to clean our house with the kids running around and awake, and we also had to leave in time for him to sign in to the new unit.... (Which is incredibly dumb....he signed out that morning, and was expected to sign in and the new post before COB on the same stupid day. I can't even.) Both kids passed out before we even got to a place to have lunch. So we decided to haul a** and get as far as possible before someone started crying and/or got hungry.

After what seemed like the longest day ever, we made it. Joe signed in, we got keys to the new place, (thanked God for an amazing realtor managing this place), went to city hall to get water turned on ($$$$$), came to the house, unloaded the car, and then went back out to dinner. At dinner, I ordered the largest beer possible. Because it had been a day and I never wanted this move to happen in the first place.

As stressful as it was for me, it seemed like the girls handled it pretty well. They stayed close to each other most of the time, which made my mama-heart melt. The movers also really liked Charlotte, haha! She provided comedic relief for most of the move. From all the tales I hear about Joe, I think it's a fair assessment to say she is her father's daughter in more ways than one. ;-)

So, there it is. Part of the new house. That's the view from the couch, looking into the kitchen. As much as I don't want to be here (there are days when all of me just screams "I want to go home!"), I really do like this house. The kitchen is smaller, but everything else is really nice. We seem to fit better in this house, which is nice. ;-) The backyard is nowhere near the size of our other house's, but we'll manage. 

If we have to be somewhere for the next 2 years, this isn't the worst place to be. Now, if we could just get our house at Fort Gordon rented, we'd be all set! (So if you know anyone moving to the area..... ;-))

Happy Friday! I'm off to enjoy what is supposed 

to be a gorgeous weekend here, near good 'ole Savannah. 

Woes of Moving

The movers come, you know, tomorrow and here I am writing up a blog post instead of doing one of the many more productive things I should be doing. But that's the problem. There's so many things I could - and should - be doing, that I just really can't do anything. 

I'm trying, but I just can't quite wrap my brain around the chaos that will ensue tomorrow morning. Boxes. Paper. Loud tape machines. House full of strangers, touching my things. A truck that will encase all of our belongings. 

This will be our 4th PCS and I still can't get used to the idea. Of course, it's different now that we have kids. Isn't everything? It's not just the fact that people will be in our house packing our things. It's that I have to take care of the kids, too. I have to be 'hall monitor' and mommy. Like, what am I going to do about naps? And snacks? And lunch? Toys? TV? How do I contain the children?! It's just one day, and I know we'll make it through, but the logistics of it all is making my brain hurt. {Not to mention AF decided to show up this week so I have all the hormones raging, too.}

We also have to worry/think about the house we're leaving, too. We bought this house shortly after moving here, and now we're faced with renting it. No one has signed a lease yet. We're hoping someone will sign one soon and we'll have less to worry about, but there's nothing like having a mortgage payment and rent hanging over your head. Not to mention utilities. 

Then there's the fact that I'm really not looking forward to moving to a new place, not really. I really, really, really like living here. Despite the trouble I've had making friends, we did find a really great church less than 5 minutes from our house and I would love to be more involved. Everything I need store-wise is less than a half-hour away from me. The town we live in is small, and yet we have access to everything we need and more. We have pretty great medical care here, which can be very hard to find. 

And if I let myself think about it long enough, it makes me sad to leave this place. I don't want to go. I want to stay here in this house that is mine, and fix it up exactly the way I want it. (I had so many plans that I didn't get to do!) I'll miss the large backyard, privacy fence, and the porch. I'll miss being close to so many things, yet far enough away from the bustle of town. But most of all, I think I'll miss this house the most because it's our house, and because we became a family of four here. 

There is a small possibility we could move back in the future but until then, I'll hang on to all the great memories we made here.

The One Where I Whine a Little {Or a Lot}

So. We've been in Georgia for 4 months now. I know the same amount of people now as I did when we first moved here. A friend from Joe's unit in Hawaii, and lovely fellow blogger, Amanda. I am grateful that I know at least a couple people here, (and I always have Skype dates with my bestie!) but....

I'm starting to get lonely.

Both of the ladies I mentioned above work. It's great for them - especially if they want to - but kinda sucks for me since I'm home with the bean all day. I love the church we go to, but they forego small groups during the summer because everyone travels. And since we never found one prior to the summer.... No small groups {or friends} for us until they start up again. Boo. And apparently the FRG for this unit is severely slacking, so no luck meeting people there. Though, that hasn't really worked out well for me in the past. Not like finding church-related friends, anyway.

Did I mention I'm carless, too? I mean, I could get Joe to find a ride to work so that I could have the car. Even then, the only things I would do would be with/for Charlotte. It's not like I can go shopping all the time. Still, it would be nice to be able to go somewhere during the day. We live within driving distance of so many things! Oh, what I wouldn't give for a second car... Except money, of course, because we do not have enough for that. {Unless a miracle were to happen and we were either given money or a car. I don't really see that happening anytime soon. Or ever.}

Ugh. Really, I think I'm missing Mrs. C. We talked for the first time in a while this weekend, and I think it made me realize how much I miss her and the things we were able to do in Hawaii. Mainly, hang out at each other's houses and just chat. What can I say? I'm pretty easy to please. I especially miss having friends who just come over and make themselves at home, while ignoring the mess that my house usually is. 

Making new friends is definitely the hardest part of PCSing. *sigh*

Adventures in Housing

Hopefully you read my post a couple weeks ago on our current living situation. It's interesting, to say the least.

If you haven't read it, basically, we got kicked out of lodging and had to move into a house on post. Those lovely 10 days are supposed to be used to go house-searching. In case you didn't know, it's pretty dang hard to look at houses when don't have a car! Grrrrr. Still a little upset about that. Anyway.

So we moved into a teeny tiny house in the "ghetto" on post. I hate it. The only thing I do like about it is the fact that it has more than one bathroom. The kitchen is small. The living/dining area is small. The master bedroom is pretty much a joke. The closets just make me laugh. I'm not a huge fan of our neighbors, or that we've got streets on both sides of us. So noisy. The walls are paper thin... This weekend we heard teenagers outside talking way past midnight. Cool, fine, whatever, but why am I hearing them?! And let's not even talk about the many cars that drive by blasting their bass. Ugh. Basically we've been using all these dislikes as fuel to find a house faster. So far, so good. 

I found out just a few days after we move in that these houses were built quite a while ago. The cab driver that brought me back from the rental car place informed me that these houses where here while we was stationed here. This man is about the same age as Papa. So, he's been retired from the Army for a while. I don't even wanna know when he was stationed here.They've obviously renovated the houses since then (especially since the military is all about the "live billing" for utilities these days), but I'm not sure how great of a job they're doing. Case in point:

Last Friday, Joe came home after PT to shower and eat breakfast. He mentioned that he'd rolled his ankle while running, so he decided to soak it in the bath. Whatevs. I came downstairs with Charlotte a few minutes later and hear drip drip drip. Obviously I thought this was strange, but I just thought we'd left the sink on or something. Checked the sink...nope. Checked the sink in the downstairs bath/laundry room, nope. Then I notice it's coming from above. I flip on the light in the kitchen and.......

There's water in the light fixture.

I ran up the stairs and yelled at Joe to get out of the tub. We put in a called to housing to get someone out. They come, make a boatload of noise, and leave after a couple hours, saying all is well. Cool! Then they tell me that someone else will have to come back and replace the sheetrock in the ceiling. Fantastic, but whatever. Not my house.

Dude shows up on Monday. He's polite and chatty with Joe. They get to talking and we find out that he's replaced sheetrock in countless other lower-enlisted houses all over this place. In one house, he's done it twice. So that's fun.

I'm just glad that we're not staying in this house. Because, geez, I don't know how much longer I can handle it. Hopefully we've only got a couple weeks in the on-post ghetto built in the '40s. 

More on that later. ;-)

Where We're At

So I guess there are a lot of things going on that I haven't talked about... I realized this when a couple different people on Twitter asked me things about our move/current situation. I hope you're ready for an onslaught of info, because here we go! ;-)

We've been in a hotel on post for just a little over a week. As of tomorrow, we're staying on our own dime because the Army will only reimburse you for 10 days here. That's right, reimburse. We have outed the money for our entire stay here, unlike Hawaii where they pre-pay for you so you don't end up in the hole. Whatever. I'm not bitter or anything. Anyway. What was I saying? Right. 10 days.

First of all, who the heck can find a place to live in 10 days...WITHOUT A CAR?! I swear, the military has a sick sense of humor. Or they just want to snag all your BAH by forcing you into a house on post. Which is exactly where we're headed on Friday.

They sucked us in. Really, we have no better option. We don't have a car. We can't afford to stay in a hotel until our car gets here in April {yes, April, even though we shipped it in February} and we can actively look for a house. Also, we're really hoping to buy a house here. Lord knows that doesn't happen in a week or less. 

The house we're temporarily moving into? Tiny. Like our-bed-wouldn't-even-fit-in-the-master-bedroom tiny. Not even kidding. I think the only reason they consider it a master bedroom is because it has a bathroom attached. The second bathroom upstairs is bigger than the master bath! What?! The kitchen is literally half the size of our last one. As is the living room. The only bonus to this house is the extra bedroom (it has 3) and bathrooms. I think the people the Army hired to build housing for them 10+ years ago were smoking crack. Our house in Hawaii had one bathroom, which was fitting of a hotel room - and not a nice one. {It wasn't terrible. It was just small.} This house has a "master bedroom" the size of most people's guest bedrooms. I don't even know...

Just so you can see the ridiculousness for yourself. =P

Needless to say all this has reinforced our wish to live off post. Because good gravy, I think I'd go crazy there! I also caught a quick glance of our new, yet temporary, neighbors. Let's just say I don't think I'll be making many friends in the new neighborhood... ::shudder:: {Side note: Our super sweet neighbors in Hawaii ended up with crappy neighbors in our old house. Win some, lose some, I guess!}

Even though we are no longer "homeless," we're still carless and stuff-less. We will be getting our unaccompanied baggage Friday, but... Let's face it. All I'm getting are pots and pans, an air mattress, sheets, blankets, towels, a TV the size of a computer monitor, and some toys for Charlotte. That's not much. I mean, call me picky or needy, but furniture would be fantastic. Even just a futon to sit on while I squint at the TV! Is that really asking for so much? I think not. {Just FYI, our household goods won't even be here until the end of April.}

Oh, the many, many joys of military life. *sigh*

P.S. Totally spaced on Wednesday Walkabout because of the house-viewing thing. Whoopsies! I'll try to do better next time.

A Last Hurrah

On Saturday, our last full day in Hawaii, we decided to take one last trip to the beach. We had planned to go the weekend before, but we were so busy packing and doing last minute things around the house that it just didn't happen. And this worked out well for us, anyway, despite the fact that it took forever for us to get there. {Definitely don't miss the traffic!}

I really wish we'd had more time to spend there hanging out. But with all our beach stuff packed with the rest of the house, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea anyway. No umbrella + lots of sun = 3 potentially sunburned whities. =P That said, I'm still glad we were able to go one last time. There were a lot of things about Hawaii that I didn't like, but the beaches weren't one of them!

We were both super excited that we got to see a couple sea turtles, too! This one guy was parked out on the beach, just relaxing. I know they don't really have facial expressions, but I felt like he looked so tired. Haha! Joe was especially thrilled to see one on our last trip - he had really been hoping to, but it's always hit-and-miss. Naturally, I took photos. Please note the shaka in the last pic. He's been all about the shaka since we moved to Hawaii. =)

Of course we had to take some time to get pics with Charlotte - our favorite Hawaiian souvenir! ;-) She doesn't quite look like it, though, does she? Haha! Poor bean got her mama's whitey-white skin. We also put her feet in the water, just to see how she'd react this time. She wasn't impressed. In her defense, the water was a little chilly. She did seem to enjoy the feel of the sand between her toes, though!

There aren't many things I'll miss about Hawaii, but being 20ish minutes from the beach will definitely be one of them!

PCS 2013, Part 3: Crossing the Pacific

The number 1 thing I hated about living in Hawaii was the journey it took to get off the island and somewhere on the mainland. Even California is a 4-5 hour plane ride. When we went home for Christmas last year, it was pretty much a nightmare with Charlotte. Being out past her bedtime, being in a whole new environment, and surrounded by a ton of strangers proved to be a recipe for disaster. Naturally, I was dreading this part of our PCS.

Since the Army pays for a seat for kids {hallelujah!}, we took Charlotte's carseat. Girl does fantastic on car rides, so we decided to take her seat with us. Besides, it really couldn't hurt. For the most part, having her carseat really helped.

Of course, having Bunny helped, too. =)

She was pretty upset for the first part of the flight to Atlanta {an 8hr flight, by the way}. She was so upset, in fact, that she wouldn't even nurse for comfort. Pretty sure she was outside-of-her-mind tired. She'd only had 1 nap and nap #2 should've been an hour before takeoff. Fun. Anyways, I ended up draping a blanket over her seat and she cried herself to sleep. I hated it {and I'm sure everyone around us did, too}, but after that she slept for about 3 hours. I nursed her after she woke up and she stayed up for about an hour...maybe hour and a half. She fussed on and off after I put her back in the carseat. I was so tired, though, so I didn't have the energy to fight with her. I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep, hoping she'd get the hint. I guess she did because the next time I woke up, she was out!

In all, I think Joe and I got about 2 hours of sleep the whole stinkin' flight. Maybe we got more, but I doubt it. We had barely an hour layover in Atlanta - just enough time to change terminals and grab a quick breakfast. Our flight out here was barely 30 mins. =P I was glad because we'd spend the whole night flying, but it felt weird to be in a plane for only 30 mins. Haha! So, after about 10 hours of flying/traveling, we finally made it! Georgia. The mainland. The South. Home.

All the stuff we traveled with, minus the pack n play which almost got left behind.

4 suitcases, 3 carry-ons, stroller, carseat and carseat base.

3 humans, all sleep-deprived. =P

 Getting to our hotel on post was quite an ordeal... But suffice it to say we made it! This place has a separate living room and bedroom - YAY! Charlotte is sleeping in the living room which makes life a lot easier. I'm not constantly living in fear of waking her, haha! I honestly don't know how anyone shares a room - or bed! - with their kids. I'd never sleep well...or do anything else. ;-)

We're adjusting to the 6 hr time difference pretty well. Yesterday was rough; all 3 of us ended up taking a nap, and Charlotte had a hard time settling down for the night. She woke up at 10:30, I nursed her and put her back to bed...and then she cried on and off for like an hour. And all 3 of us slept until about 7:30 this morning. I actually had to wake Charlotte up!

Despite being homeless and carless, I think we're doing pretty well. I'm praying our car gets here soon so we don't have to keep relying on the stupid post shuttle to get groceries and dinner. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get a house soon, too!

Long story short - we made it. It's so good to be back on the mainland! {Though, I gotta admit I miss Hawaii's weather!}

WOAH

If I could choose just one word to describe our moving day this week, that would be it. 

Woah.

Backing up to last Friday, a guy from the moving company came by to evaluate how much stuff they'd need to bring Monday. He was here for a total of 10 mins, I think. We were told that they'd pack us up on Monday and take everything out on Tuesday. 

Cool. Not a problem. That's the way it was the last 2 times we moved.

So then Monday comes around. I'm a big bundle of nerves. When the doorbell rings while I'm making Charlotte's breakfast? I almost had a heart attack. I don't know why, either... 

Anyway, I finally calmed down a bit once they got to doing their packing thing. We basically watched and tried to keep Charlotte happy... Which was quite a task since the whole house had been overtaken by boxes, paper, loud tape dispensers, and strangers touching our stuff. Overall, though, I think she did pretty well.

It wasn't until the guy in the living room started covering furniture with paper that I realized something was different... I kept thinking that none of the movers we had before had done this. They all waited until the second day to worry about furniture. Then around 11, a woman - who I'm assuming is some sort of supervisor - came by to check their progress. This is when we were informed that they'd be packing us up and moving us out...in the same day.

I was SO not prepared for that! I had planned on wiping down all the furniture after they left so that it'd be clean before it got put into crates for the next 1-2 months. Not to mention I was planning on sleeping in my own bed...and Charlotte sleeping in hers...one last night. I was completely shocked. I don't know why, but I was really kind of upset about it. I've been so emotional about everything lately, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. It was just something else I wasn't expecting.

And of course, seeing your house torn apart and full of boxes doesn't really help things, either. SO. WEIRD. We lived in this house longer than anywhere else, so I guess that's probably one of many reasons why I feel so emotionally attached to it.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. I took Charlotte to get lunch - so she could nap in the car, I could escape, and we could get food. When I came back, the movers were gone and the house was empty. I was a little sad that I didn't get to see it go {again, weird emotional attachment}, but glad that they were gone. After lunch, Joe had to call the hotel, go by finance and housing later that day just so we'd have a place to sleep Monday night! Of course, we kept the pack n play for Charlotte so at least she had somewhere to sleep. =) {Such good parents we are. Haha!}

Thankfully we got it all worked out and got in our room by 5pm. THEN we had dinner with an older couple from church and our pastor. Y'all. We didn't get back to the hotel until 8:30. Charlotte's bedtime is like 6:30/7pm. She got 1 nap. I was exhausted from not sleeping well the night before, getting up at the crack of dawn, and dealing with moving stress. Charlotte has NEVER been out that late. Ever. {Well, ok, unless you count the days we flew to/from NC in December.} I was terrified at how the night would play out. And it was confirmed that I have an awesome kid. ;-)

So far, staying in a hotel with a baby is tough. She's sleeping ok-ish at night, but her daytime sleep is terrible. Of course, it doesn't really help that they're renovating the room next to us {thanks for that!} and that we're still driving back to our house to clean once a day. The poor girl has had a lot thrown her way lately, and that's not gonna stop...at least until we get to GA. At this point, my life-savers are: thumbsucking (for her, not me, LOL), her lovey bunny, and the sound machine.

If you think about it, say some prayers for us! We're looking at buying a house in GA which means we could have a looooong hotel stay ahead of us. I'm uber protective of her sleep schedule because she's so much happier when we stick with it, so this is hard on both of us. Her poor little eyes were so red before I put her down for the night. She's exhausted and so am I! She's not nursing well lately, either. Way too many distractions - too much stuff to look at in our hotel room. I'm just praying she'll adjust soon!!!

Crunch Time

You guys... We move out of this house in 4 days. 

Four. Days.

Would you like to know what I've done so far to prepare?

Nothing.

Unless you count getting mostly caught up on laundry. That in and of itself is quite a feat these days. I've cleaned up catch-all areas like the table in the kitchen and the desk (for the most part, anyway). I organized under the bathroom sink so I could figure out what's getting packed up and what's going with me. I went through Charlotte's clothes.

My house still looks like a mess. 

Suitcases are empty.

There's a ton of food in the fridge. Though, thankfully, I was able to donate 2 grocery bags full of breastmilk I had stashed in the freezer. So glad to just see this (along with some food) in the freezer! And I'm also happy that I didn't throw all that milk away! I think I would've cried. 

I've made packing lists, so at least there's that. 

We also have one day after we move to come and clean everything, so I don't have to focus on that, too. I'm sure some cleaning will be done before the movers come, but the bulk of it will be done after the house is empty. It'll be easier that way. Though I have no idea what I'll do with Charlotte... I guess she'll chill out in the Ergo on my back if nothing else! Thank God for babywearing!

Though I'm completely ready to move, I'll admit that I'm a little sad to be leaving. Only a little. 

This is where I figured out life as an Army wife...or maybe just how to deal with it. This is where I survived our first deployment - a year long one at that. This is where I welcomed him home. This is where I was pregnant. This is where my sweet little baby bean was born. This is where I learned to be a mom. This is where friends became family because we don't have family close by.

I'm anxious about moving. I hate that we'll be homeless and carless for at least a month. I'm not thrilled about staying in a hotel while we're homeless, or sharing a room with Charlotte. {Nap times and bed times are going to be sooooo fun.} It'll be a little sad to say goodbye to this place, but - at least emotionally - I think I'm ready. 

Now if only I can get our stuff ready to move! Wish me luck! ;-)

PCS Part One - Check!

On Friday afternoon, movers/packers came to pick up our unaccompanied baggage! So now, a small portion of our schtuff is on its way to Georgia!

I thought we'd have more stuff to send ahead, but this is all I could think of at the time! The one thing I was really kind of upset about was sending my red pots and pans that you can see on the bar there. They're my absolute favorite and I use them everyday. I'm so not thrilled about using my stainless steel everything-sticks-to-them pans. BUT, I only have to deal with them for another month!

Funny story: Joe told the people at transportation to estimate 1,000 pounds for our unaccompanied baggage! Hahahaha! How on earth could we possibly use that much weight?! You can't send furniture or anything else "big." Ah, my husband. =) Stand back, ladies. He's all mine. LOL

We've got lodging set up here for when the rest of our stuff goes. We need to set it up on the other end, too. Our flights are booked.

Just one step closer to getting off this rock and back to the mainland! One. More. Month! =)

It's Really Happening!!!

Source: standsinbad.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Finally, finally, finally we are moving!!!!

After a ridiculously long time, we found out yesterday when UCB (unaccompanied baggage) will be picked up (ASAP!), when they will pack and move our HHG (household goods), and when we fly to GA!

Why did we just now find out, you ask? Well...let's just blame it on the Army. Joe's current unit continues to rely on him to do training and extra duties even though we're PCSing, and even though he's not deploying with them. It's dumb, really. These people are going to have to get used to not having him there! Saying this makes it seem like he's a much bigger deal than he might actually be, haha! The fact of the matter is, though, that a lot of people are PCSing soon and the new commander is, well....stubborn, for lack of a more accurate term. ;-) He's been working long hours and has hardly had a chance to do any  PCS-related things. And it's not like I can do them for him! Needless to say, we're ready to get outta here! And in a little over a month, that's exactly what we'll be doing!!

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Being on the mainland - FINALLY!
• Being in the same-ish time zone as my family & friends.
• Shopping at Hobby Lobby!!!!!!!
• Eating at Chick Fil A more than once a year.
• Being able to drive. (And end up in another state.)
• Not being surrounded by water.
• Experiencing seasons again. (I know it's early, but I'm ready for FALL!)
• Not flying anywhere.

Things I'm not looking forward to:

• Flying to GA. (I can't explain how much I loathe flying.)
• Being without our stuff for 2ish months.
• Living out of suitcases.
• Not being able to cook.
• Living in a hotel.
• Being without our car for at least a month.
• Being surrounded by boxes.
• Flying with a baby. Again. {Do you see the pattern here?}

All in all, I'm not a huge fan of moving. But I am most definitely a fan of where the moving process will take me! I'm not ready for the inconveniences, but I am definitely ready to get off this rock!

Are you PCSing soon? Are you excited or dreading it?

Saying "See Ya Later"

It's tough, isn't it? Whether it's to family, friends, or our husbands saying "see ya later" just never seems to get any easier. 

This weekend, our closest friends left the island. While I'm so happy that they're going to be able to see family and will be much closer to them once they get to their next post, it's still difficult to see them go. They were our first friends here and they've stuck with us ever since. 

I actually found Mrs. C through her blog while we were still living in GA. {Surprised? Yeah, me neither.} We "met" via a phone call because we were having some Army-related paperwork struggles with our move. Her hubby was able to give Joe some advice which was golden. We sent several emails back and forth talking about moving and Hawaii.

After Joe and I got to Hawaii and settled into lodging, we were finally able to meet up! They picked us up at the hotel and took us out for dinner. All 4 of us clicked right away, which is really rare. After dinner, they invited us to get out of the hotel and stay with them for the night. I know what you're thinking, and looking back I still can't believe we did this! We ended up staying the weekend with people we'd never met before...and people we met online. =P I think all of us were a little bit crazy!

Mrs. C and I. I'm pretty sure this was the weekend we met. I could be wrong, though.

The Joes. :)

All of us just outside Margaritaville in Waikiki!

It's crazy to think all we've been through together in nearly 3 years. My Joe deployed. Mrs. C helped me unpack the rest of the house after Joe left. She kept me company frequently while he was gone. They invited me to church with them, for dinner...kept Jasper for me/us several times. Oh! We locked ourselves out of the house one day and had to pull boards off the fence... And then Mrs. C broke the screen door on the patio! That was a fun afternoon! She took pics of us when he came home for R&R. And I'm fairly certain we all hung out while Joe was home, but I don't quite remember it.

Holidays. Birthdays. Pregnancies. Births. Girls and guys nights. So many things.

Our girls. 1 month & 8 months.

LOVE.

Charlotte thinks Mrs. C's hubby is hilarious!

I'm glad that we were able to spend a few days/nights together before they left. I know it's difficult getting out and about with a newborn! 

Daddies & daughters = melty mama hearts.

I know it isn't the end - we'll see them again, even if we have to make an extra effort now that the Army has separated us. But it sure is tough to think about them not being nearby during our last few months on the island...and then again when we move to GA.

So much happens in just a few years' time... The ending of our time here in Hawaii turned out to be a little bittersweet after all.

Patience, Promotion, and PCS

At the end of August, Joe was finally promoted! He waited a really long time for this promotion because of one NCO who decided to be a jerk and kept pulling Joe from each promotion board. This went on for pretty close to a year, if not longer. Finally, the jerk left and Joe was able to go to a board which he passed with flying colors! He was so excited and I was proud. It took a lot for him to get there - patience and hard work.

The day of his promotion was a little stressful for me because of Charlotte's schedule and everything. We had to wake her up from a nap she barely went down for and I had to feed her in the car before the ceremony. Fun times, indeed. Despite the stress, I wanted to be there and Joe wanted us there as well. Even though I was a little confused as to what was happening, I got to "pin" him and everything. It was a really neat, if short-lived, experience. And, between you and me, I think we got my favorite family photo out of the deal. ;-)

Next up on the Army to-do list for Joe is/was re-enlisting. He was waiting to see if he could get promoted before re-enlisting so that he could avoid having to re-class to a different MOS. Apparently the Army is super-strong in his MOS as an E4. Re-classing might have gotten us to a different duty station sooner, but I knew Joe didn't really want to. He likes his job and I like that, for the most part, it's a pretty safe job. {I say this because during his deployment he ended up getting a CAB. Hubby never left the stinkin' FOB and got a CAB. Sigh.} Anyway, with the promotion he avoided needing to re-class. 

Joe talked to the retention officer about re-enlisting for a specific duty station - one that would get us much closer to home than we are now. {I'm not sure anything really beats being on an island in the middle of the Pacific, though.} Joe listed his #1 duty station and left hoping for the best. We were also hoping to change his DEROS to get us out of here ASAP, but knew that it may not be possible. Just a couple weeks ago, we found out that Joe was able to get our his #1 choice for duty station! And we got his DEROS moved up, but only by a month. *shrug* It's something, I guess! 

Nothing is entirely official yet (meaning he doesn't have orders), but it's looking like we'll be moving here in March 2013:

Back to good 'ole Georgia and the South!!! We are beyond excited not just to be in the South again, but to be so close to home! I mean, look at that! Look how close NC is!! Just a 3.5ish hour drive to see family and friends. Woohoo!!!  

Obviously we really can't wait to be back on the mainland again. Having the knowledge that we're moving soon is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. I'm getting antsy... I'm ready to move, ready to be on the mainland and back to "normal." I've already been looking at houses in the area online. =P I wish I were kidding! I find myself saying all the time "6 more months, 6 more months and we're outta here!" It's been a long 2.5 years (3 by the time we leave) here on a rock in the middle of the Pacific. Honestly, I don't think I'll miss it all that much. The weather and the beach, maybe. Everything else? Doubtful. Which means the next 5.5 months are probably going to drag by and force me to have patience. Sigh.

Are you getting ready to PCS? Are you excited or dreading it?

A Sigh of Relief...Oh, Wait...

We made it to Charleston! Right now, I'm 'broadcasting' to you from our slightly icky wonderful hotel room. Yay for wifi!

The morning started off rough. We got up, took showers, had breakfast and waited for Mr. Customer Service to call about paperwork for shipping our car. Finally, around 0900 Joe called him to see what the hold up was. He emailed us the documents we needed and we were all set...except to get one of them notarized. *sigh*

Before we headed off to get it notarized, we had to say goodbye to the rest of the family. Last night, Grammy (Joe's grandma) threw a "luau" for us. =) So cute. All of the family that lives in NC was there. It was really fun...and Grammy and my nephew provided entertainment. I'll definitely be posting pictures later. Promise! We said goodbye to most of the family last night, which only left Joe's grandparents and my SIL, Anna, for today. Saying goodbye to them was the hardest part. We packed the car and said goodbye to Grammy and Gramps, and headed off to Anna's with Jasper. By this point, I was already a basket case. We said our sad goodbyes and I hugged my sweet puppy one last time before we got back in the car.

We attempted to get the title notarized at a bank. Apparently, this was not a good idea. She didn't want to notarize it because she wasn't certain where to stamp or sign. She didn't want to lose her notary on something like that, so she told us to go to the DMV. I. Was. Pissed. {Remember yesterday's post about my psycho emotions? Yeah.} I said something to the effect of: Ugh, that means we're going to have to wait for 2 hours, and we don't have that kind of time. Her response: I just don't know where to stamp it and I don't want to risk it. I walked out and left Joe to deal with her. Poor hubby. Then, I proceeded to throw a fit...I slammed the door open while Joe was asking me what was wrong and telling me to calm down. At which point I started crying and said, "It's just one more thing to deal with! I'm so sick of it!" We tried to find out where the closest tag DMV was, but couldn't. So, we decided to go ahead and drive to Charleston and maybe they could tell us what to do.

We (as in Joe) drove like mad people trying to get to the POV shipping place before it closed. It was a fun drive for the most part. I kept thinking Jasper was in the backseat though. =( We stopped at a gas station once and I turned around to talk to Jasper and realized he wasn't there. This is gonna take some hard work! Anyway, we made it to the shipping place around 1520. Woohoo! They close at 1600, so it was perfect timing.

We walk in and they asked for his orders. Joe asked about them needing a copy of the title and a letter of authorization, and she said:

"Oh, you don't need that for Hawaii."

Joe and I: absolutely speechless

*sigh* So, at least we didn't have to worry about all that right?! Woohoo! God is good and took care of all my insane worries for the day! We cleaned out the car, and called Enterprise to pick us up. The kicker: the car may not get there for A MONTH. One. Month. without a car. What the crap are we supposed to do for a month?!

Help! Suggestions? Advice? I have no clue what to do...we're already homeless, and now we're car-less?! Oh, Army, how I dislike you right now....
 

Roller Coaster Ride

I'm sure all of you ladies have been here before. It comes with the territory of being a woman. It's "that time of the month" for me (sorry if this is tmi...), which is not helping my already crazy emotions. I'm sad that I'm leaving, but I'm happy that I'm going to Hawaii. I'm ticked off because my hubby still needs to call the car loan company to get the rest of the paperwork together; I'm happy because he finally called about temporary lodging.

This has been a complete whirlwind and I think my head is still spinning from all of it. Actually, I have a headache right now too. I feel like I don't know which way is up, and we've still got several things to do...and we're leaving for Charleston tomorrow. Do we have all the paperwork we need to ship the car? No. Can I call to get it straightened out? No, because my name isn't on the account. This is all being left up to my very forgetful hubby who is currently helping his grandfather set up a new HD tv. 

See? I told you - emotional roller coaster. Sometimes, being a woman is not cool.  Did I mention that I totally had a breakdown after I took Jasper to Anna's for the day? I walked him up there to hang out with her dogs for the day and while I was walking back, I got extremely worked up. I'm going to see him tonight, and I know he's ok but I still bawled my eyes out. *sigh* My poor hubby has to deal with my craziness. I'm also probably a little too upset about some family drama...I really want to vent blog about it, but I'm afraid someone would read it and get mad. That would probably just make matters worse and I don't think my emotions could handle that right now.

Maybe once I get on that plane, all of this craziness will be settled and all I'll have to worry about is getting sick on the plane. Yes, I get airsick. I also get carsick. I also get motion sick while watching movies that were hand-filmed, i.e. Cloverfield. Needless to say, I'll be taking Dramamine and snoozing through most of our flight to Hawaii. Ah, drugs....how I need them.

For now, I'm going to try and breathe. I feel like I've got so much going on that I don't have time to just relax! Maybe I'll just relax in Hawaii... =)

Time Flies...

When you're havin' fun. Or in my case, having fun with family.

I can't believe how quickly the last two weeks have gone. I spent them the way any of you probably would.

Cuddling, spoiling, and giggling with this little cutie:

And watching her do lots of this:

{Isn't she just the cutest little thing?!}

There was time with family:

{I have to brag that this was taken with my iPhone. I was impressed.}

A Soldier and his niece. =) *love* it!

Shopping with one of my besties {aka my SIL =)}:

{No, I don't have an actual picture of us shopping. Oh well.}

Moving and lots of boxes:

Soooo glad to be out of that hell-hole ridiculous place.

And then there was the vet's office today with this guy:

I felt sooooo bad for him! They had to draw blood to send off to the DoD for testing. Which means she had to use a bigger needle than usual. =( He was ok for the first minute and when he got tired of me holding him and that needle being in his arm, he let us know by squirming. So she decided to take it out and see if that was enough blood for the test. Nope. She had to stick him in the other arm. And when she did, oh. my. word. He yelped really loud, tried to squirm away and I about cried. Pathetic, maybe but he's my baby!!! =( So, blood work, a money order, heartworm meds and a mountain of  paperwork later we're back. The 2 hr drive to Ft. Bragg wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and in my very limited opinion, Bragg seemed really nice! On post, that is. Off post...was a little scary. I think the combination of being in the car for 4 hours and the blood work really wore Jasper out. This is what he did all afternoon:

That, and he was super clingy. I wonder if he knows that we're going to be leaving him here for 4 months on Friday? {Ok, maybe I'm clinging to him a little bit too...} I am not going to be a very pretty sight Friday when we leave. I'm gonna miss my cute baby puppy. =(

Suffice it to say I have mixed feelings about moving to Hawaii. I can't wait to get there, but I'm going to miss my family and my puppy.

One Step Closer

To Hawaii, that is! =D The packers came and went within 4.5 hours yesterday and the movers took about 3 hours today. Record timing, I do believe. The only issue we've had so far is the breaking the lease issue. I don't really want to go into it right now because, frankly, I'm tired of talking about it. Long story short, we had to pay to break our lease and it has seriously ticked me off.

I'm soooo glad that this part of our move is over with! This has been the biggest. headache. ever. I thought the last move was tough....uh, no. I've had a headache on and off for the last 2 days because of all this junk. I still have to get up early tomorrow and take Jasper to the vet too. *sigh* This week sucks, but it's all getting me one step closer to paradise!!!

Here are some pictures from the last two days [for your viewing and PCS pleasure, if that is such a thing].

Most of my unaccompanied baggage pile. I so should have put more in. *sigh*

Living room all packed and ready to go!

Kitchen/Dining/Hallway

Oh my [packing] goodness. Lots of boxes.

Bedroom

(I have NO idea why this picture is retarded...)

The rest of the bedroom...

Spare bedroom. Yikes.

Jasper being his cute self this morning while I was snapping pictures. 

I'm gonna miss him sooooooo much!