Pre-Thanksgiving

    So tomorrow is Thanksgiving.... well actually it is right now, so happy Thanksgiving folks.  I am up at 12:24....WHY?   Well my pumpkin pie is still in the oven, and will be there for near an hour.  I still have Pumpkin cheesecake bread to make, and I am not sure how to do both of them or how this is going to work without being totally exhausted by tomorrow morning.   I just looked at the instructions, and since it takes the blender that will have to wait till the morning as I dont want to wake anyone up LOL.
    So, I feel a little lost this year with the Holidays.  For starter, family life is a far cry from what it has been.  But, aside from that, I am not hosting it this year.  I know that sounds crazy to some people. I mean I know people that would give anything to not have to clean that mess up and have to do all the cleaning and cooking.  To be honest that's not that part that I miss.  It does give me a reason to clean my house.  By clean I don't mean like turn the dryer on for the 3rd time because I am too lazy to put the damn things away. I mean really clean.  It keeps me busy planning and cleaning a good 3-4 days prior to a Holiday at this house.
    The best part is the day of.  When people are around you in your house, enjoying the food, football, and conversation.  For some reason, I think that it makes me feel accomplished when I can look around when all is said and done, and the craziness of it all starts to calm, and you see people that you care about enjoying themselves.  You know since we have been in the military, we have not spent a Thanksgiving home. However, we have always welcomed single soldiers into our home. Some friends' husbands have invited soldiers into my home when dave was deployed.  I really can not stand the thought of these men and women having to be way from away, and not having anyone to spend this holiday with.
    It is a time to be thankful for the things that you have in your life.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day to day that it seems like it is impossible to see the good in the things around you.  Sometimes you just feel like your day sucked so bad, and you wonder what the hell there is good happening.  I know there is a lot of days that I have had like that here lately.  You feel like whatever was good in your life, is crumbling, and the only thing that you can do is sit there and watch it all happen.  Like it is all out of your control.  The reality of it is that I still have a roof over my head.  I still have clothes on my back.  There is still an income coming in even though it feels sometimes like it is too tight and we have nothing.  I have friends and family.  Sometimes it feels like they are not available when I could use them the most, and most are an ocean away, they are still there.  I have my boys.  I love those little men unconditionally.  They are always there for me.  Colton tells me at least once a day "Mommy, you are soooo cute." and it makes me smile every time.  Dallas gets so excited about the things that he did in school, he sometimes gets a little crazy about it, but I love to hear his stories.
     I know those little day to day things are easy to forget about when you are havin a bad day.  Because you are so used to them, you forget that they are there.  We spend a lot of time focusing on the bad.  I know to say to keep those little things in the back of your mind is much easier said then done.  I know this from personal experience.  Because I am sitting here saying it, but I am not sure most of the time how to follow my own advice.  I seem to really have an issue with that lately.  Well not lately, all the time really.  Being about to see other peoples situation for what it is and able to give them advice at the drop of the hat.  99.9% they don't follow my advice either, so I am not sure why they even bother to ask.  In any case, I do the same thing.   It's just easier to hear someone tell you how it is and get a better perspective on things I suppose. 
    In any case, I will stop chatting.  It is now two in the morning,  I have to be up by at least 6 am.  BECAUSE THE PACKERS PLAY AT 730!!!!!!   I am happy for that.  If I get that far lol.  The only thing that I really have to do tomorrow is to make sweet potatoes and real potatoes and those come closer to dinner anyways. 
    I want everyone to have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING.  from my family to yours.  Try to make sure that you think about what you are thankful for.... not just today, but each and every day. 

What Feelings......

   I am well aware that it has been forever since I posted last, and I think I say the same thing everytime I go to post. There is large gaps in my blog LOL.  IM SORRY.
    Things have been crazy around here.  I won't get into any details, but I can say they happen to be personal matters, and I will keep them that way. People have been bugging me to come back though, so here I am!!!
 
     I have some things to let out I guess, and though I have a personal journal, this seems like something that other people may be able to relate to as well.  So here it goes, that dreaded word...FEELINGS.  You know those things that women wished men had and wished we didn't have to have so many of..  I mean men have feelings.  Certain ones.  Like they may get upset when you tell them to make their own sandwich, and upset is a feeling. 
    I used to have a lot of them, and knew when to use each one.  There were times where I had feelings and knew when to hold them back... grin and bare it.  There was a time that I knew who I was.  You know I knew my morals, I knew what I wanted, and I knew what I stood for.  I knew how to seek out those in my life that would hurt me. I knew who to keep close to me, and I knew who wouldn't walk away when things got hard.  I knew the people that would answer the phone no matter what time of day it was.  I knew who I could ask for help with certain things.  I knew who would give me a straight answer and who would tell me when I was wrong about something.  Something has happened since then.
      Today, I don't know all these things, and I don't feel as sure about them as I did before.  I mean I know who proves their loyalty to me when needed, and who is there, for the most part, in tough situations.  For some reason though, I feel as if I am being tested since being here.  I am not sure why.  Maybe its because I am a world away from family and close friends in Minnesota and Kansas.  Maybe it's the thought that I can't just go home when I want to.  Maybe it's that some of the best people that I had in my life to count on are now all spread throughout the US.
     I can not explain to you why it is that I feel the way that I do nor can I really put into words what it is that I feel, but I will try.  There have been a lot of situations lately that have presented themselves.  When they came about in the past, I knew what to do, what to say, and how to react.  Kinda like knowing when to walk away I guess.  Knowing what situations I could handle, and words that I would not let effect me or my mood.  Lately I am at a loss.  I have feelings that come out...or that I feel, but what the feeling that I give off is usually anger.  I don't always do it.  I guess I can't call it anger, but frustration maybe more. 
   Don't assume that I walk around all day pissed off at the world and everyone in it. That's not the case.  It just seems like I am being tested all the time and it's one thing after another.  Just when I think I have my ducks in a row, something else happens.  All I can do sometimes is throw my hands up in the air and say "WHAT THE HELL"  I have directed my anger at people who do not always deserve to hear it.  It's not ment to come off that way.  I think that I am just saying how I feel and then the next minute someone is mad at me because it came off more like an attack. 
    I am working on this whole talking to others about how I feel thing.  More times then not, I can't find the words that I want to say or the way that I want to say it, and it comes off all wrong.  I get so frustrated with myself because I know thats not what I ment, and this is not the outcome that I was expecting.  I get mad at myself that I made someone else mad, or hurt, or frustrated.  I do not do it intentionally. 
    I think I am just on this roller coaster and personally I think it's because I take care of the way others are feeling before my own.  I let things that bother me just bother me and eventually you think that you don't feel that way about something anymore.  I know how to deal with other peoples feelings and emotions.  I am not sure how to SHOW and TALK about my own.  Which sucks, because all this time I thought I was doing everyone a favor.  I guess I was.  Everyone but myself.  This is something that I have to do, but first I need to figure out the way to do it.  No one can give me the answer, I have to find that on my own.  Through trial and error I guess.   I guess for now I am just waiting for the good, trying to get rid of the bad, and dealing with myself one day at a time to be a better person. 
The good times and the bad times will both pass.  It will pass.  It will get easier.  But the fact that it will get easier doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt now.  When people try to minimize their own pain, they are doing themselves a dis-service.  Don't do that.  The truth is that it hurts because its real.  It hurts because it mattered.  And that is an important thing to acknowledge to yourself.  But that does not mean that it will not end.  That it won't get better.  Because it will..... with time. 

One more reason why I love this army community.

   As much as we fellow army spouses complain sometimes about the way we get put on the back burner is no secret.  All of us as a spouse to a soldier have been a bit angered at one time or another about the way the army "forgets about us"   Deep in the back of our minds, we know this is the way that this lifestyle goes.  Some choose to whine and complain about it, while the rest of us get used to it and move on.  I was told early on this whole crazy adventure that "if the army wanted you to have spouse, they would have issued you one."  This proves to be true time and time again.  While many choose to take it out on their spouses because they can not be there when you want them there, or they have to miss things, or the nice dinner you made is cold by the time they got home... you get the point....   It is not usually your soldiers fault!  You can not be mad at him for something that he can not control right?!?!?   These are all reasons why, we look to the people to the left and right of us, all the time and lean on each other for assistance. 
      This is also why I love this life most of the time. When we were in Kansas in our first little apartment that was tiny tiny and in other words sucked butt, we experienced a little of the kindness that goes around.  There was soldier and his family that lived below us, and in the snow and cold he would always shovel out my spot, and try to save me the spot right in front.  He knew I had 2 small kids, and he also probably knew what a pain in the butt it is to have to haul them through the snow and ice and than up the stairs.  One day I had my youngest (who was a few months at the time) sleeping and my 2 year old napping.  I was a mother and so as many would, I took the time to take a little cat nap.  There was soon a large loud knock at my door.  I was a bit nervous as we were not in the best neighborhood, my husband was not home and it woke me up.  I rushed to the door to find my neighbor there.  He wanted to know if I wanted all the stuff that was left in his fridge.  Condiments and things of that nature.  You can not ship them when you move, so you are SOL unless you can find someone to give them to or just throw them out and waste them.  I accepted.  This was all new to me and I found it a little weird, but I did not want to be rude.  I don't know why out of all the people in the apartment he choose me to give them all too.  Maybe it was because he knew we were new to the military and therefore didn't make a whole lot.  Maybe it was because I had little ones and he felt a little bad for me.  Maybe I am the only one that said hi to him when his jolly little self was out and about.  Who knows.  It was a random act of kindness and not the first time I would see it in the military.
     As I have since seen many friends come and move on, we have all left something or another at someones house.  We all have a little piece of each other somewhere no matter where we are in the world.  I had a friend that left kansas and left all her things she could not take with her, with me.  Candles, lotions, perfume, oils, cleaning supplies..... anything that is liquid can not be shipped.   When I left Kansas I left a lot of my things with a close friend of mine.  Its like "the military lifecycle"
   I had this happen again to me today, but in a much greater sense.  This soldier knocked on my door and said "This may sound like a strange request, but we are moving, and I have a lot of chemicals.  Like you know cleaning stuff.  I was wondering if you would want to take them.  There is kind of a lot, but I thought it was better than throwing them out."  He seemed really nervous about asking me, but for me this was not the first time I had been asked such question.  I said I would and he brought them over, all 3 boxes of cleaning supplies and garage items.  It was a lot more than I expected!  None the less, when you are moving you hate to have to throw them out and see all that money down the drain and they are most likely the last things left in your house, and you just want them gone.  He than said " I don't know if you will allow this, but I have a mattress I have to put in the garbage, can i put it in your garbage."  This seems strange to people that have not lived on post i suppose, but the rule is.... you have 1 day a week that is trash day.  Part of clearing your house, is that there is nothing in your garbage cans and they have been rinsed out.  So say you have garbage day on friday and you clear housing on wends. because your flight leaves early Friday you are SOL..... so of course I said yes.  I asked if there was anything else.  He asked if I needed a grill, but we already have nice one, and than he asked if maybe we need a lawn mower?  WHY YES WE DO.  You see it's not like we are to cheap to buy one, but we are only responsible for cutting the back yard and I could not see buying a weed eater and a lawn mower, so we got the weed eater and have cut the grass with that.  So than he said "Ok, well how about 20..$ WAIT WAIT WAIT how about you just take it since you took everything else off our hands today and have been so nice to let me use your garbage. It has a gas can also and it already has gas in it."  SOLD!!!
   I mowed the lawn and weed wacked and edged the whole little lawn today with a smile on my face.  He very much could have charged me for the mower and I would have probably bought it.  He didn't because, he needed it gone and I needed one.  Kinda the way most things work. You can be in need of anything in the military and someone has one they will sell you cheap or they will loan you or give away because they have no use for it.  I like to be part of something where people can be so giving and we can all help each other out.  Again this man could have choose anyone on the block and asked me instead.  If we can not take it with us when we go, you can best believe I will be returning the favor to someone else as well.
     Don't get me wrong there are some people who are just trying to make a profit, but I love running into those people that just want to help someone else when they could use something.  It is a nice feeling when people around you are that way.  I don't think I would have the same things happen if I was just living in a normal life.  Fact is we are all here for the same reasons.  No one is better than another, we all live in the same place, and some day we will all leave here and move on.  We all live by the same rules and those in the same ranks live by the same paychecks.  We all shop at the same places, and participate in the same things.  We have all felt alone in this life, we have all been alone at one time or another.  We have all played mom and dad, we have all suffered, and endured.  We are the military families of America and we are all human! 


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Blast from the past

I thought that since I started this blog somewhat in the middle of our military life, I would take some time every so often to get you all up to speed on what brought us to where we are, and the challenged and advantaged to this life. 

Do you ever wonder what life is like behind the scenes of the military families?  Do you ever look at a military family and think “man they have it made, and they make soooo much money!”  Do you envy a military spouse because she doesn’t have to work? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I have news for you.  

                I entered into this lifestyle by accident.  I was not looking for a man in uniform, though I must say those uniforms sure make a man look good!  I was married to my husband before he was a soldier.  We were young, and broke. We were having a rough time getting along most of the time. We already had one child and another on the way.  We had bills and had been out of our parents houses for years prior.  Most days, it really felt like it was just not going to work out between us.  We went our own ways for a bit.  To make a long story short, he joined without me knowing to support the kids.  Later on, we worked on things and while he was in basic training in Oklahoma, we were able to work it out and get back together. 

                To make things clear here, there was very limited conversation phone wise while he was there.  He had his phone sometimes on the weekends, and sometimes not.  We had to communicate the most through snail mail.  This included telling him that his next child would also be a boy.  I finally was able to make the trip with his family to Oklahoma to watch him graduate Basic training. We had him for a whole entire weekend. Than we left and he had to stay for AIT.  I remember it really sucking that we had to leave after we finally got to see each other again.  It was a really long drive when you are really pregnant and have a small child along as well.  Needless to say, no one died and we all made it through. 

                Close to the time it was for me to have our second child, was close to the time he was to be done with AIT.  So knowing that he was about to be assigned to a new state and place to live, I moved out of the house we had and in with his parents.  Now, I was happy to have a place to live, and people to help me with things, it was really different living with someone when you haven’t in so very long.  I was there for a month or two before my husband called and told me he knew where he was going to be stationed.  In my mind I thought “North Carolina, Texas, Washington, Colorado, or maybe California.”  I didn’t know where I WANTED to go, but since we had no say in the matter, I did not see the point in trying to find somewhere that I wanted to be.  He called me and told me. I was so confused, and so shocked! Of all the places that the army can send someone, I forgot this state was even a state.  Can you guess where the beautiful glorious army sent us too????  Yup, they were shipping all the little Johnson butts to Fort Riley KANSAS!!!   Don’t forget Todo. 

                He came home a day before he was originally going to, and almost scared the baby right out of me. He was sitting on my bed when I came back to his parent’s house one day.   He had two weeks of leave, and that ment that in order for me to go to the land of Oz with him, I needed to get this baby out in the next 2 weeks.  This part of my life actually worked out well, because 2 days into that leave time, I was ready to deliver.   We were able to pack up the uhaul and both cars, spend time with family, say good bye, and take care of all the little things…like resting…NOT.  Resting doesn’t exists anymore!

                So we make our journey in Aug of 2009, my birthday to be exact.  As I later found out, most all my birthdays, would be me driving.  We started the 12 hour trip, that was planned to take 12 maybe 14 hours.   My husband had the jeep with the Uahul and I had the car, with the kids.  LUCKY ME!  We made it to the half way point, and WHAM, just like that the jeep was smoking and smelling a little funky down the highway.  So, we pull over.  There is no way we are leaving this thing on the side of the road with our life inside of it.  So my husband stays with it while it try and find a phone book.  (we barely had normal phones little lone smart phones than)  We find this little sketchy town and we figure out a tow truck and a hotel for the night.  The tow truck shows up and takes the jeep to the shop.  The kids and I get some dinner and head to the hotel.  Time passes and we get a call.  We just overheated the tranny because, SOMEONE was driving it on overdrive!   SERIOUSLY.   Either way we had to stay the night now.  The next day was a race against time to meet with the people that were going to rent us an apartment before they closed for the weekend.  If you know my husband, you know that time is the last thing that he is worried about when he is driving.  Of course, I didn’t know where I was going so I HAD to follow and it was killing me to go that slow on the freeway knowing we were on a time limit.   Most people would have just opted for a hotel for the weekend.  1. We didn’t have more than 100.00 to our name, and 2. Have you ever tried to get a hotel right by a military post on a weekend?   Families have to live in those for months sometimes. (Which I would also later find out)   Somehow we made it.

                Now we were so tired we all went inside and slept on the floor for a few hours.  I had not seen this place that I was about to live in, only my husband had.  He made sure it was ready for us when we got here.  It was very thoughtful of him. Once I woke up, and was able to look around, there was nothing to look at.  It was a 2 bedroom, and there was four of us!  It was 1 floor with 1 bathroom, 1 level, no place for a washer and dryer, and no storage.  We had no choice, this was it!   This was home!  We now had to do with what we had.  It was alright at first, but as the year ended, I could not stand that little place. 

                We had brought a Uhaul with a few essentials with, but we still had to wait for the military to ship the rest of our things, which at the time, was not a whole lot!  When that stuff finally came, we were so happy, and I was so frustrated because there was nowhere to put any of this stuff!  For the year that we were there, there were boxes behind our bedroom door, stacked to the ceiling, because there was no place to put it.  I could not believe that this is what I agreed to come to Kansas for. 

                I did make my first friend though!  Man was I happy.  Her husband and mine went to basic and AIT together, and they even let my husband stay with them in the hotel before he was able to come home and get me.  This girl was my new partner in crime.  They were still living in the hotel when I got there.  Once we were settled, we invited them to dinner.  My youngest was 2 weeks and my oldest was 2.  My husband had informed me that this girl LOVED kids and more so babies.  So we hit it off from the start. So started the many adventures of the new military spouse's!!!

Tune in tomorrow for more of the adventures of an army wife!

Hold Tight to the ones you love

   Dave is out in the field, as he has been most of the weekends that we have been here in Hawaii.  It is a lot nicer now that I have the house and am no longer stuck in the hotel all the time while he is at work.  We decided to have a fun day that started at 630 am since we had to take Dave to work.  We made homemade caramel rolls for breakfast, washed the car, took showers and baths, waited for the moving guys to come and remove the rest of the boxes from the yard, went to the PX and got a gift for a friends kid, got Dallas' haircut, and I took them to a birthday party of a family we hadn't met yet.  It was a nice long, hectic day. 
    While I was at the party, I got a phone call, that made the whole day change, but made me happy to have spent it with my kids, watching them have fun all day.  I miss my job there and all the kids and the students.  There was an accident with one of the students that I had this year in 6th grade.  He didn't make it and passed away.  It was so sad, and is still hard to believe that it is real.  This boy was always in a little bit of trouble, but it was believed that it was because he was so close to his dad, and his dad was deployed and finally made it home around the time that I moved here, just a couple months ago.  He loved his dad and it showed each day.  His binder for school had photos taped all over it of his dad and him.  Memories that they made, and things that his dad did in the army.  When him and I were walking somewhere in the school, or working on a project, he often got distracted and didn't really want to talk about a lot of things.  Until you asked about his dad and his binder.  He always had a story about his dad and his face lit up when you asked him.  He was a bit of a jokster, and usually had a smile on his face. I can still see that little smile of his. Weather it was a joking smile or a fun loving smile. He is most certainly of the kids that makes an impression on you. 
    He will be missed dearly.  My heart hurts for the fact that I can not be there with the people that it know are hurting as I am hurting.  I know that the kids are all going to miss him dearly.  I know that the teacher that I worked with knew him as more than a student and his family was friends with theirs.  It is most certainly a tragedy.  How having family fun can change in the blink of an eye.  How a little life can end right in front of their parents.  You just never know when your last day is.  You don't know when god will call those you love home.  How horrific it must have been for the family to have to watch all this unfold on a little family trip. They left for the weekend thinking that they were all returning on Sunday, and now they have to go home with one less child.  No matter what, no parent should have to bury their child.
   Sometimes this army life is crazy, and there is nothing you can do.  When things like this happen to the people that you love, when they are hurting and there is nothing you can do about it.  You can not always control where you go in the military, and you can't take all those people that you love with you when you do have to leave places.  You don't get to see family all the time, and when things like this happen it sucks even more when your husband is at work. I know that some people have spouses that have gone on an overnight trip or sometimes come home late from work.  It is not at all the same.  I used to be one of those spouses.  You say you understand, but in my head a giggle, because you have no idea.  Right now, I can hear my husbands unit out there firing weapons.  My windows are shaking.  There out there training for war with very deadly weapons.  Things can happen at any time.  Some people will never understand. I feel for this family, and pray for their strength to get through all this.
    I am glad to say that I spent the day with my kids and they are in bed safe and sound.  For some reason, I feel guilty about it, because there is a family that is dealing with something very difficult tonight.  Hold those you love very very close.  Know that this could be your last day, or the last thing you say to someone you love.  Make sure they know that you love them and are there for them.  Make sure you laugh and smile all day. Make an impression on people, and be there for them when you can.  You just never know. 

From Ft Riley Kansas to Schofield Barracks Hawaii

     A lot of people have asked me what is different from Kansas to Hawaii.  There is the obvious answers like the weather is not as bi-polar here, and the trees and scenery are different.  Clearly there is an ocean here as well.  Housing is somewhat similar for us from our house there to our house here.  The major things that are different are:

                 1:  The schooling systems.  There are 2 schools on post but neither of them are DOD schools.  I find it a bit weird.  It is also weird that they get out at different times of the day.  The blue school (Hale Kula) gets out about 20-30 minutes after the purple school(Solomon)  Yet they are both Elementary schools.  I would prefer that Dallas was in a DOD school, as they seem to be more geared to the military families and some even have programs which allow the kids express themselves a bit while they deal with the life of being a military child.  The middle school here is on Wheeler, which is literally across the street.  If you work on Schofield, you may end up living on Wheeler Airforce Base, or the other way around.  We were lucky enough to live and work and go to school all on Schofield. If you attend the blue school, they have a bus system.  If you are at the purple, like Dallas, you have no busing.  Lucky for us, it is not a far walk for us.  With rainy season almost over, it should be fine to walk on most day.   Aside from all of that, there is a huge difference in the ways the schools are layed out.  There are no gyms, just the great outdoors.  There is not any hallways, its all outside.  When you step out of the classroom doors, you are instantly outside, sheltered if you are not in a portal.  Dallas is in a portal, and so to use the bathroom he has to go outside.  They always have the windows and doors open, so it's like he is always outside!  I personally think that it is pretty cool.  So does Dallas. Much different atmosphere. They also also have a fruit and veggie program and I think it's once a week they get a delivery of a fresh fruit or veggie that the kids get to try out!  They are encouraged to try them all, but sometimes I know the looks of them can be pretty intimidating for a kids in Kindergarten. I was told when we moved here that I needed to watch out for the school system here.  I was really concerned that they were way behind in this school compared to the mainland.  It's not as bad as I thought, and since there is homework every night, at least for Dallas, we can keep up and teach him on our own at home. AKA hotel.  Kansas has a great school system academic wise.  They never had homework there and so it was hard for me to know what he should know and what is not important at this time for him to  know.  This system is helpful and we are able to work with him at home as well.  I really think that some parents think all their kids learning should be taught by teacher, when in reality there is a lot that we as parents can do at home to help them be better students, kids, and individuals.  Learning style are way different now than when we were in school.  You may actually learn something along the way.  If you help your child at home, and stay in close contact with the teacher, I don't see why your child would be behind when you go back to the mainland.

2.  Training is a little different here not just for the soldiers, but for the spouses.  In Kansas, they had something called Custer Hill.  This is where all the soldiers pretty much worked, trained and did PT.  To say the least, you would see soldiers throughout the day at the store, on their way home and things of that nature.  I have never in the 4 years I was a spouse in Kansas saw a TON of soldiers doing PT, ruck marches, or battalion runs.  They don't have that kind of space here.  So you see soldiers doing PT all over the post, Ruck marching in front for the housing places and running all over the place. They close half of the major road through housing to have the soldiers run in the morning.   I did see some soldiers in Kansas at the park or the riverwalk doing PT tests and such, but it was never an everyday thing. It sure is weird, and sometimes a little inconvenient to have the road blocked off, or to see people running out in front of your car, but it's a small post.  Something that takes  a little getting used to, kinda like seeing men in uniform and combat boots driving motorcycles.  :)  took a little time to get used to!!!!

3.  Driving here is a whole lot different than Kansas.  Learn to relax and go with the flow.  The speed limits here on the highway, are like all 55-60 and you are lucky when you get to even do that without getting caught in traffic somewhere.  On post there are only a few ways that will get you where you want to go, so it is often hard to avoid traffic.  Most all the housing is in one main area on this post.  Not like riley where some way across trooper, some on main post, some on the hill ETC.  There were a lot of places that you couldn't walk to in Kansas that you can here.  I have 2 friends here that were my friends in Kansas.  We didn't really live as close as we will now.  We are all in one area yet in 3 different neighborhoods.  Something to get used to.  Parking is always an issue.  There isn't a lot of it, and some is for motorcycles, and a huge majority is for compact cars!  Good luck with that when you are driving a huge truck or something.  We traded in a trailblazer for a ford fusion.  Best decision we have ever made!  I would never be able to fit the trailblazer anywhere close in these spots. 


Like anything else that you do in the military life, you have to be open to change!  Be willing to learn new things, and do things that you are used to doing a different way.  All in all, we are in paradise, with my family and some close friends.  There is no reason to be angry at any time!!!!  PLUS TOBY KEITH is playing here next weekend!!!!

sneek peek of pictures

PCS Debates

   There is a site here that is for the wives of the soldiers here on this post.  Many of them are on there way here in a few months, and are really unsure how all this works.  So, I will sum up how it works NOW rather than when you arrive to the island like in 2008, when there was not so many budget cuts and such!!
   You really can not do much until you have your orders.  Then all the fun begins!  You can schedule your transportation, hotels, dates and get you a hotel here on the island.  You also can go ahead and get your plane tickets and animals taken care of.  I would not advise putting all this money into the animal before you have orders.  Many people have had their orders pulled and you don't get that money back.
    The first thing you should do is to the Island Palm Communities website and get your name on the housing list if you plan to live on post.  KEEP IN MIND that they do not count your time till you have left your last duty station, no matter how early you get on the list.
   They come and pack your things and you take your leave and BLAH BLAH BLAH.  HAVE ALL YOUR IMPORTANT PAPERS ON YOU.  They do you no good when they can not be delivered to you for months.  You need things like all:
 Birth certs
Social Sec. Cards
Marriage license
Medical records
Dental records
Vet records
Car title
Registraration
AND YOUR ORDERS!

When you get your orders, it is a good idea to call the Inn at Schofield Barracks and book your room.  They are full all year long and it is right on post.  It is not the best hotel ever, and if you are traveling with pets, they will have to be boarded.  However this is the place you have to check first before you can book anywhere else.  Its best to just have the reservation and hope for the best.  It is better than having to drive 1.5 hours in the morning for your husband to get to work.  The benefit to staying off post, is the view is probably better, some places are ocean front, and your husband doesn't have to do PT this way.  Also, you may have heard that you don't have to pay until your TLA kicks in, which is true for some places off post, but you have to pay up front with the Inn.  It does sort of suck, but when your husband has to work, and since you have to turn in your TLA papers every 10 days at housing and finance, its convenient.   You also have the Commissary and the PX right behind you and within walking distance.  This helps offset the island price of things, as the Commissary on post is about the same as the ones on the mainland.

   After you get here, get your life established.  It is not Easy!  As i said before we will have spent 52 days in this hotel by the time we finally leave next week.  MAKE SURE YOUR HUSBAND SIGNS IN AT THE AIRPORT. That is a really important step.  Have a ride to wherever you are going.  Have yourself as together as possible, and don't forget how many bags you have to pick up when you get there.
 People say that life is really relaxed here, and to be honest it is.  The speed limits are slower.  I think the fastest one is 60.  Traffic can get really bad depending on what time of day you are traveling and where you are going to.  All in all the first few months are great.  enjoy them, make friends, see things, and be ready for your house, that is the most excited I have been was knowing when I was finally going to be able to move in LOL!!!!  Quick tip, keep and umbrella in your car all the time!  It rains when you least think it will.!!!!!

The end is in sight!!

   So as you all know, we have been living the hotel life.  When I say Hotel, I mean a crappy little room, with limited space for 4 of us, no pool and Housekeeping only on the weekdays.  There is also no room service.  On the plus side, we are able to be on post.  So we can sign our lease on the 29th and move in the morning of the 30th!!!! That means we will have spent 52 days in this little hotel, and we are all feeling the effects!
   Let me tell you how excited I am to be able to be out of here.  I have picked out my front and back lawn furniture, a trampoline, a grill, and have already purchased things to redo the boys bathroom, which will be monkeys.  We have also bought all the things to redo the kitchen which will be a coffee/cafe theme.  The boys have new bedding for their PIRATE room and dave and I have new bedding. I am on the wait list for a bedroom set that I want and we are waiting for it to be in stock.  I am ready.  Our bathroom is next!!!
    The last major thing that we have to do, is get our puppies back into our home, as they are currently being spoiled by grandma and maybe a little by papa also.  I miss them all the time!!   As anything with the army, Hawaii has a lot of speculations before you can bring your little furry friends into the state.  We have done some of it, but as far as a flight and the last few check ups, we have to finish that.  I am hoping that we can have them here in the next month!
   So as I mentioned, the boys decided on their own that they want to share a room and they want a pirate room!  We bought the bedding and dave and I are going to start building them pirate beds! I am super excited for this.We are also going to make them a pirate ship lamp, and a treasure chest toybox! 

   All in all this trip has been a crazy rollercoaster.  We are in paradise and locked in this little room, slowly watching our sanity slip out the crack at the bottom of this hotel room door! A rough estimate as to the cost of this whole thing?  We get some of it back, like the hotel and the food money back! 

149.00*52 nights at The Inn at Schofield Barracks = $7748.00  (you pay upfront and than you get it back little by little in the paychecks.

$1600.00 1 month car rental.

Roughly $1500.00 to send 2 dogs with all the vet bills

Roughly 35.00 a night eating out *52 $1820.00

Grand total is 12668.00!!!  OUCH!!!!!

Anyways we have a short time left and I could not be happier, the next time that I blog, I am sure that I will be in the new place!

Hotel life SUCKS

So, we arrived here in Hawaii March 8th 2013.  We have been in a hotel ever since.  We are on post at the Inn at Schofield Barracks, which means that we have access to everything that we need, and are close enough to my husbands work, and my oldest sons school.  It was a lot of work when we first got here to get eveything established.  I remember seeing people who are not married to the military say that it must be SOOO rough to have to move when they do everything for you.  Truth is, there is a lot more than meets the eye when you have to move from place to place. We went 30 days without our car.When you think about it, it's not that bad since we are on post, and Dave can walk to work.  We have to have a car obviously, so the options were rent one or take on a second car payment.  So onto of the 410.00 a month that we pay on a car loan, we also payed 1600.00 for a rental for the month!  Ya, it sucked, here is a few other tips that I have found in the last month that we have been here.

1. When you finally get that call that your car has arrived and you rush there because you are so excited, take your time looking it over.  When I picked mine up, I looked at the basics of it. Who would have thought to check the tires and the tread. When I got it back to the base, and looked at the tires the tread was like shredded on it. Just on the front 2.  No idea what would cause that, but it happened.  There was also a nice lump in the side wall of the back tire. I know that this was not my fault as this car is not even 3 years old and the tires were new. So i brought it back after the weekend, and the man there said this is not the first time that he has seen this.  No one knows how this happened, but since the damage was a little under a grand, we were able to settle it in the office, and they were able to cut me a check immediately.  I had to go and get an estimate and bring it back, and they cut me a check for 877.00

2.  When you pick the car up, they give you 30 days to get your vehicle registered with the state of Hawaii.  Easy right??  In the state of Hawaii, you have to have a safety check done. This process sucks.  You take your temp registration from the car port, the title to your car, and watermarked insurance card.  That's a little harder to get if you have USAA because as you know they do not have watermarked ones. You have to call USAA and they will have one sent to you from Honolulu.   You take all this somewhere where they will do a Safety inspection. I found a little mechanic place in Wahiawa, that had great customer reviews, and they were awesome.  You will FAIL the safety inspection because you don't have registration in Hawaii.  You take the failed slip and all the other papers to the DMV in Wahiawa and be prepared to stand in line for a long time. They will get you registered and than give you the plates.  You take the plates back to the place you had your inspection and they will than pass you and give you the safety stickers.  This was not all that easy for me and it took about all day! 

3.  The hotel here no longer does the promissory notes.  If you are unsure what that is, it is something that you sign when you arrive at the hotel, that says when you get your hotel money from the army, you will pay them. Check with your hotel, but i KNOW this one no longer does them.  You have to pay up front out of pocket for this. The hotel here is 1400.00 every 10 days.  It took about a month for the army to start giving us our money.  As an E5 with 3 dependents we get about 6000.00 a paycheck now with the TLA and food allowance.  We were offered a home about a week after getting here, but can't move in till the end of this month.  Pack accordingly.

4. Try to find as many meals that you can that you will want to eat in the hotel, and only need a microwave with.  We bought a toaster and they told us we couldn't have it in here.  The only things that we can have is what they have provided.  A frige,a sink, and a microwave.  You are getting paid to go out and eat everyday, and there are some wonderful places to eat here.  We started just going out for dinner, and that got old fast.  So now we try and get like a rotisserie chicken at the commi and eat at the park or in the hotel.  We have all gained weight LOL.

5.  It is hard to remember that you are in Paradise when you are stuck in this little hotel room.  We spend a lot of time window shopping, and going to the parks and ocean.

6.  If you have a license that is about to expire take care if before you come or right when you get here.  If you get to the point that it expires while you are here, you have to take both a written and a behind the wheel test.  (One of my friends is going through this now)

7.  I learned real fast 2 important things to always have with you in the car, or near you.  An umbrella, because you never know when you will get that 5minute super rain storm.  Most likely when you out and about taking care of something important.  Also sunscreen.  The sun is different here and you will probably burn.

Hang in there,one you get your home and start "living" and getting back into a routine, things will seem more like Paradise, at least that's what I like to think anyways.  It is hard to stay in touch with people because we are 5 hours behind our last duty station and home.  We wake up and they are thinking about dinner.  Make your calls in the morning.  There is so much cool stuff here that its hard to not buy everything when you have all this TLA money.  Keep in mind that you have to pay for the hotel, the rental, and you are going to be here for 3 years.  This island is small you don't want to be bored for the next 2.5 years that you are here.  Most things here are for compact cars and smaller ones, if you can downsize I suggest you do.  The gas is only about 1.00 more but the parking spaces are not that big.  We traded out trailblazer for a Fusion before we got here and I am glad that we did.  You spend a lot of time in traffic and traveling!

Thats it for now, and I hope that you are all enjoying your day!!!  I will write more now that I found a way to get this site to work on this hotels wifi!


MAHALO!!!!

PCS Tips and Tricks

   For those of you that may not know PCS mean Permanent Change in Stations.  Meaning we are moving from one military post to another.   For us, we were able to get a pretty neat new location. We went to Schofield Barracks Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Though it sounds like a dream, and looks like a dream, there are a lot of things that go into this whole thing.  I thought I would share a few things that I learned along the way, because this was my first PCS and it was over an ocean which in Military terms is called an OCONUS.(Outside the continental United States.) 

1. If you have animals,they come first.  You need to check with the overseas location that you are going to and see what they require.  For Hawaii, they are a rabies free state, and therefore, your animals will require that they have a rabies FAVIN test done.  Its a blood test, and depending on where you go, get a little pricey.  Since we were at Fort Riley Kansas, we were able to take the animals to KState, and it was 88.00 Per animal. I have 2 smaller animals, a yorkie 5 Pounds, and a Maltese/yorkie mix 8 pounds.  You need to do this 120 days before entering the island. For us, we were not able to get them in on time, and they were not able to travel with us.  They are with the in-laws till their time is up. Plus the hotel we are in doesn't allow animals.  They also need to be micro-chipped and have to have a 14 day and 10 day health check which we have to do.  We will not worry to much till we get a house, than I will let you know how that goes. 

2.  Make a reservation at the authorized Hotels.  They fill fast, and for us, we wanted to be on post to be able to access anything that we needed to get in processed.  We made reservations at the Schofield Inn.  There are better places to go, but they are not located on the base, and traffic in Hawaii can e crazy.

3.  Start to go through the things that you want to take in your unaccompanied goods. These are things that you can take in 3x3x3 crate, and they go on a plane so they get to you faster.  This will be things that you will need right away when you get a house.  Plates, silverware, bedding, inflatable beds, pots and pans, coffee pot, Clothes that you will not need right away, but would like to have when you get a house.  You don't want to have to take everything on the plane.  Your soldier will have to go to transportation at some point and schedule this pick up.  It takes about 30 days for us to get these things.

4.  Check with your next post and see if you need to a memo to be able to send your vehicle over seas if you have a loan on it.  We didn't need one for Hawaii, but we got one anyways just in case.

5.  Go through your house and plan to have a yard sale.  There are probably a lot of things you don't want to take with you and you can get some travel cash out of instead of throwing it away.  For us it was winter things and really big items.  They will not transport gels, liquids, and things like that.  Candles have to be thrown, however we have a unity candle, and they were nice enough to let us take some meds and important candles.  They wrapped them in plastic bags in case they opened or melted int he warehouses.

6.  Figure out where you can take your car to be transported. In the middle of the us the only place there is for a car port is in pontoon beach Illinois.  Which is like 15 minutes from St. Louis.  They will authorize you to take your car to the port, and have you fly back to the base.  We however, needed our car for travel since we were selling the second vehicle before coming.  So we planned to fly out of St, Louis, and get a rental from St. Louis.  We got a hotel across the street from the airport.  Drury Inn Lambert Airport is where we stayed.  We rented through USAA Hertz.  It was down the road from the hotel and across from the airport.  We took the car to the port, and stayed 3 nights to explore St. Louis.  When you board the plane in the morning they will get you a shuttle to the airport, so we returned the rental the night before.

7.  Before they take your household goods, (which go on a boat and take about 60 days to get to you) we made sure that my soldier and I both had folders that held our Very important papers.  Medical records, birth certs, car information, marriage cert, copied of shot records, vet records, airport ticket information, and anything else that you know you have to have in case they loose your paperwork in shipping.  Take it with you on the carry on bags so you can get to it if needed.

8.  Before they come to pack your house, make sure you have your luggage figured out.  The military uses Delta more times than not.  Each person is allowed one carry on, and 4 checked bags.  A car seat counts as a checked bag. There are 4 of us, so we had 4 carry ons, a laptop bag, 2 boosters and 6 checked bags.

9.  Stay calm. When they are packing your house, things are all out of order.  The packers we got we really liked.  You will get overwhelmed and frustrated. Seems like everytime you turn around they have to throw something away.  They can not transport batteries, so instead of having to replace them all when we got here we got baggies and put them in a checked bag along with any other liquids we didn't want to have to replace.  Since you can have 4 checked for free I thought we would take as much as we could to save some money on replacing things when we got here.  Another fast tip, would be to make sure that if you want to live on post, than you need to be on a housing list.  You need to have your soldier make about 30 copies of their orders.  You need 5 just to go to the car port.  You will need them a lot.  Better safe than sorry.  If you are living off post, make sure you get on a list asap.  Anything around a military post can be long and hard to get onto.  You don't want to be homeless they will only pay for your hotel room for so long.

~ Another tip, if you have kids, keep in mind how long your flight will be.  Take things for the flight.  Books, game systems, snacks, whatever else you can think of.  We got flash cards and things for a child that is missing some Kindergarten in this whole thing.     Our flight left St. Louis at 7:10 and landed in Atlanta at 9:50. You jumped an hour ahead in the process so the flight left Atalanta to Honolulu at 10:55.  This gave us enough time to get to the right gate on the tram and start boarding.  To Honolulu it was a 9.5 hour trip and this time we went 5 hours back, which is only 4 hours behind Fort riley.  Now they had daylight savings and Hawaii does not so we are 5 hours from them.  It was only 4 pm when we got here.  Have a plan to get back on a normal sleeping schedule. 

~ Have a plan at the airport.  We were lucky enough to have friends here that picked us up.  It took over an hour for my husband to get through the line to sign in at the airport after we landed.  So we found the USO in the airport and hung out there till he was done.  If it will be awhile, this is a good idea, because they have free snacks, drinks, tv and other things.  They also have one at all the major airports so you will have one at your airport. 

~  If your flight is long enough they have DVD players in each seat where you have a lot of channels, movies, and music to choose from. Bring your own ear buds.  They charge you 2.00 on the plane to buy some.  They do not take any cash on the plane, so if you are buying any food than you need a debit/credit card.  Because our flight was so long they offered food 3 times on the flight.  Snacks and drinks are free though and they offered those a lot.  The food on there is like 9.00 for a small sandwich.  Its not cheap.  Worth it if you didn't have time to get anything in between flights and you left the hotel at 5 am. 

I am sure there are things that I missed.  My husband is in processing today, and so when he is done, I will learn how we go about getting settled on this island.  I will than let you all know.  If there is anything else that you think you have questions about, I would be happy to help anyone, because I know it was a rough, frustrating process, please email me @ whitney_johnson07@yahoo.com and I will answer any questions you have!!! Until then, I am going to relax before the craziness of getting settled starts :)

PCS last minute emotions and feelings

     I am going to keep this somewhat short, as I happen to be sitting in the lobby of the hotel at 10:30 at night when I have to be up and ready at 5 am for our ride to the airport.
    As you know we are moving to Hawaii, and in the next blog I will tell you all about what it takes to PCS with the military, because I know I could have used a little more information before taking the dive. 
     However, at this time, I feel like there is so many emotions and firsts on this trip I am not even sure where it is I start.  After packing my life and watching it drive off in crates on the semi trucks, we made the journey back home for 14 days, a day in Wisconsin, and 2.5 days here.... in St. Louis Missouri.  If you have ever shipped a vehicle with the military, you are most likely aware that there is only one car port in the mid west, and that happens to be here.  So this is how we got here.  We came a few days early to sight see, which was a blast.  I will tell you about that also in the next blog. In short, we ate at some places we have never been to before, like Jack in the box, Hard rock cafe, and we of course saw and explored the beautiful building here as well as the gateway arch. It was amazing. That was a first for me. See when we said we were going the arch, and going to the top, none of us knew what it ment to go to the top. For someone like me that is scared of heights and does not like tight spaces, I was shocked when I got there and realized we had to ride in a small little pod, all the way to the top. Somehow I survived, and in the end it was worth it. It was so pretty and not all that bad up there as long as I looked straight and not down.
  Now I am sitting here in this hotel, lost. There is so much that is left to do, but I am still shocked that I am about to get on this plane tomorrow. Me nor my kids have ever been on a plane.  We go from here to Atlanta which is a 1.5 hour flight and then from Atalanta to Honolulu which is is 10.5 hours.  It's weird that we will be traveling and I will not be driving. If you know my husband, you know he doesn't drive anywhere as he is nervous driver and hates it.  So on all these adventures, I drive. It's tiring to say the least. 
     I keep thinking the army will call anytime and say Oh never mind come back to Kansas, we don't need you in Hawaii anymore. Now I am hours from that plane, and that is clearly  not going to happen.  I am excited and sad, and scared and happy all at the same time.
    I will let you know that survived tomorrow when I also know that I have, and give you the rundown on the whole adventure.  There is still a lot more to do, but lucky for me, I will be surrounded by families and friends that have already had to do all this at one time or another, and we will all have to do it again when we come back stateside.  I think right now, I am at really unreal place.  I feel like I need to pinch myself and wake up.  In reality I need to get off here and catch some zzzz's or I won't be waking up tomorrow.
   Hawaii here we come!!!! Hope you are ready, I am not sure if I am....

Moving at the ARMY standards

    We have known for a long time that we are going to be moving.  When I say a long time, I mean like a year almost.  In that time, we have slowly began to prepare family and friends for the upcoming events  And, as anything in the army may go, we waited and waited to do the things that we needed to do.  We never thought, it would end up like this....
     So if you have never moved with the army before, then the only advice that I can give you, is to be prepared to fly by the seat of your pants.  We did everything that we needed right off the bat.  In July 2012 we did a brief that explained  a little about how the whole thing works.  It was brief that we had to attend to move any farther in the process.  Considering we had so much notice in advance, we thought we would get a head start and not have to run around crazy when the time came.  We then were instructed to go take care of EFMP (Exceptional Family Member program)  Basically that one or more of the family members have a need of some kind.  For me it was that I need to have access a rheumatologist, and for Dallas, he has an IEP.  We were told that before you can even get your orders cut, you needed to have that done.  We did that, and got a letter saying it was all taken care of in August 2012.  We took care of the dogs, as there is a huge quarantine Rabies process that you have to go through in order for them to allow your animal into the state of Hawaii.  5 months later, and we had heard nothing...... so we did what the army tells you to do, and wait. 
    Well, when it finally came to the 60 day mark of us having to move, we started to worry and finally started to ask about it.  Someone around here was blaming it on Hawaii and the people there were saying it was Kansas.  We will probably never know what held the whole thing up, and it was probably the one time that I should not have followed the waiting rule, and asked someone about it sooner. 
     So now we are about 45 days before going, and with us wanting to take some time to go back home, we finally got orders at the beginning of this week.  It has been a mad rush. 
    As I said if you have never moved with the army, you will never what this all takes to get the ship sailing.  I know that people (including myself) think that this is an easy task since the army does it all for you.  What a pain in the ass it is when you feel like the middle man in your own move, with your own things.  You have to do things in a certain order, and things are expected of you along the way.  Sure they will move you for free, but what am I going to do with me and my kids in the middle of an island with no house, none of my things, and no car.  This is if we are also avoiding the fact that I have never been on a plane before and I am about to fly 10.5 hours over the ocean with 2 small children to a place we know nothing about. 
    You also need to realize that deep down this is part of the adventure, and a huge part in why people like the army for the most part.  I am aware that when all is said in done, I will be living in paradise.  Hotels, rental cars (when I am paying on a perfectly good car that I will not see for 30+ day) food, planes, trip home, seeing everyone you want to see and wants to see you, letting someone else pack all your things.  While we are on that topic, you do not get to pack your things.  They do it, and they do it the way they want to, not the way that you would do it. 
    It's all very surreal to me, and since I am working still because they gave us such short notice, it's even harder.  It really is the start to another army chapter, and in the end, this is what it's all about.  Meeting new people, seeing the world, learning new things, and being part of something bigger than yourself.
    I can not help but also be sad.  Sad that I am having to let go of my life here, my job, my friends, and my comfort that I have found in Fort Riley and all the beauty here.  It is a roller coaster.  A beginning and an end.  I will never loose touch with some ladies that have always been there for me, and some that are amazing people.  Each person I have met here has made an impact on my life in one way or another.  I feel like I have made a difference in some peoples lives in the Family Readiness Group that I have been running for 3 years.  With that I will walk away with a smile. 
   We are leaving here in 2 weeks, and I will be sad, and excited all at the same time.  This is a whole new thing for me, and I just hope that we can get through it with the tragic events as possible. 
    ADVICE:  When it comes time for you to move with the army, sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands.  Be willing to let loose a little, and be aware and prepared, that things are going to get different real fast.  If you like to control things and be in control of your life, you need to be able to let loose a little and enjoy the ride the best that you can.  Try not to let it drag you down.  You will get mad along the way, sad, and frustrated.  Try to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Sometimes it seems like a very dim light.  There is one thing that I learned very quickly coming to Kansas.  It is what you make it.  No one comes to Kansas because they want to for no real reason.  Hell no one even vacations here unless they have family here or passing through.  You make your army experience, it does not make you.  Stay strong and carry on!

Christmas and New Years

   Well we all know that it took me entirely to long to get back on here.  With working, school, the kids, the housework, and all those things in between, it really has not been easy to do anything that I WANT to do.  I feel like I am shut off from the rest of the world lately.  I know that is really not an excuse to not get on here, but I don't think to many people even noticed.  Sometimes when I think about it, I think that I like this more to get out things that I need to vent about, or to let people know how we are doing here.  Mostly, I think this is something that my family and I can look back on and read about later to see what we have done.  More for the kids.  This would all be great if I could learn to keep up with it. 
   Anyways, we went back to the cold ass state of Minnesota for Christmas Break and new years.  It was fun, but all that traveling sure gets tough when you have to work the day after coming back.  That was not the smartest thing that we could have done.  Each and every one of us got sick over the vacation.  As I always say though, it's not a trip home without a trip to the E.R.  Which we had to do for the kids.  They both had a virus, along with the rest of the state, and Dallas also had an ear infection.  Which I will say only happens when we are back home in the winter.  His ears do not like Minnesota. 
  On another note, we are now 60 days out from moving to Hawaii.  YAY..maybe.  As the army goes, we are patiently waiting to even see our orders yet.  Which means that when they come this place is going to be a mad house with all the last minute thing that we need to do.  It would have been nice to do it one thing at a time, and not have to stress about it.  I will now admit that I am now at the point of stressing and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop me.  This is nerve racking really.  In 60 days we will be on plane.  Aside from that, we will have to have all our home goods packed and shipped by then.  And so many many other things and nothing is for certain. 
  If that was not enough, there are some classes that I have to take for work, as well as fininsh my courses this month, and Dave was told last minute that he is going to the E-6 board at the end of the month.  Yeah its a huge deal, but there is a lot of time and money and stress that goes into that as well.  The whole house is tense I think. 
    The boys had a lot of fun with everyone in Minnesota, but like me, they were really happy to see their beds again when we got back home.  I think more than anything living in a hotel in Hawaii will be really hard for them more than any one of us.  Because they are used to that routine.  I taught that young because this life is anything but predictable, I wanted them to have something they could count on.  Sometimes I wonder if that was the best thing to instill, because now I wonder how hard this will really be on them.  I guess I just will remain prepared for the worst. 
    Work has been going great.  6th Graders are crazy.  They say things that you could not believe, and I don't think that I will ever be ready for my kids to be that age LOL.  Most days there is something or someone that make me nuts and wonder how long it will take me to end up in a crazy home, and there is also usually someone who says something that is so dang funny.  I really think I should have started this job sooner, and wished I could have been their longer.  The team that I work on is pretty awesome, and more laid back, which is nice.  It's really not a tense work place, and I think I function better in that enviroment.  Going back into work took a lot of thought, AND I was pretty worried about it.  I am really glad that I am where I am, and I could not have asked for better.  I am sad to leave them all though, I will miss em. 
  I think I talked the last time about Bruno who was a wonderful puppy.  Sadly for us, we had to give him to someone that I work with so that he could go and live on their farm.  We know now that we are not a big dog family.  He was just stuck here all day and I know he was sad, and bored, and gaining weight.  He is soooo happy on the farm though and that makes me happy.  As you probably guessed, when we gave up Bruno, Bentley was now sad and lonely.  We found a Maltese Yorkie mix that was free to us.  Her name is roxy and she is 1. She is a little bit of trouble sometimes, but she  is so stinking cute, I can't stay mad to long.  IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!!!  :)
   I am almost done with my last certification and then I can work in the clinic, which I won't bother even starting till I get settled in Hawaii.  I also plan to do a school there as well to try and get as universal as possible so that if we choose to get out, or stay somewhere a little longer, it will be a little easier for me to get a nice job that I want to be at.  I go back and forth between medical and Law all the time.  Honestly, I would rather be in Law school, but there is not much online with that, and I can't be in classes because I can't afford to pay for a sitter for colton unless I am working, and I can't work while I am at school.  See this cycle goes on and on and on LOL.  Soon enough Colton will be in school and this won't be so hard.  I may stay at home in Hawaii or untill he starts school.. Sometimes I feel guilty that he doesn't get me near enough as Dallas did growing up.
    He enjoys school and according to the report card that we just got int he mail he is doing above average, AND MUCH MUCH better than he was in the beginning of the year, which means they may revoke his IEP.  Which makes me nervous because he wouldn't be getting all the extra help that he is getting now, and I fear that may make it a lot harder for him. He is learning to read, and to add.  :)  makes me happy.
   Tomorrow I am having coffee with a friend and her kids, which I have not seen since this summer when they moved back home for deployment.  Life sure changes all the time in these parts.
   The dog had to go in to get all their shots for Hawaii and the rabies test completed.  The vet messed up and told me the wrong timeframe, so they can't come to Hawaii till April time.   Which makes me sad, but they would hate living in hotel.  Instead they will live a month in Minnesota and be shipped to us later. It has put our wallets in the hole about 150.00-200.00 for puppies under 10 IBS. :(  But worth it, because leaving them behind is not an option, and is a choice you make when you adopt dogs as a military family.
   I think that is all for now.  Check back alter for our first PCS journey.  :)