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!!!!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
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 :)
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 :)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
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....
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....
Friday, February 1, 2013
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!
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!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
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. :)
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. :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I SWEAR
Well there is another failed attempt to blog in a timely fashion. UGGH There have been so many things going on, then again I think I use that excuse every time I have this issue, which is more and more frequent lately.
Currently, I am wondering... Where are all the hours in the day going? I was certain there was 24 hours in a day, and yet I feel like I barely have time to sleep! I know there are plenty of you out there that can relate. I don't know how to juggle it all sometimes.
There are a few new things that I don't know if I mentioned in my last post. Then again I made the mistake of now reading that one before making this one. Oh well. Alittle up date won't hurt.
Both boy, yes both, are in soccer. Dallas plays Mon thurs and games on sat. Colton plays on Mondays. Dallas has soccer pictures on Thursday, which I am excited about. So is he, because that means tomorrow he gets to go with daddy to the PX to get a hair cut. If you have little boys on a military post this is probably a privilege to your little ones as well. Well the boys anyways. Of course he has school pictures the following Thurs. Which of course is going to cost an arm and leg. They could not have timed that all at a worse time to have them within the same pay period.
Dallas is doing FANTASTIC in kindergarten. He loves it. Currently working on his 7th week. I go for conferences at the end of the month and expect nothing more than a good report. I can see a really big difference since he has been there. His teacher is amazing. She is one of the those teachers that has been there a long time. So she just doesn't take any crap from any of the kids. At the same time she has been there long enough to know how to effectively teach them kids.
On another note, My school is..... well going. I like it, most of the time. I mean I just feel like sometimes I know I should be doing it, but I am so tired. I know that if I start it, I wont be done till late. Somehow still I am getting good grades and cruising right along in the courses.
I started a new job.... In Aug. I am now a Paraprofessional at the Middle School here on post. I work with 6th graders. I know that when I was job hunting, I was really skeptical about taking any job that ment working with kids. After all I have spent the last 5 years with them at home. It has turned out to be my favorite job I have ever held. Which is not saying to much LOL. I interviewed for all the elementary schools, the head start and the Middle schools. I was offered all the positions which amazed me and made me happy. I chose this one because this Middle school is on post so I will not have to drive to Junction City everyday. I also decided that I have spent my years changing diapers and working with little kids. In the end, my kids are only going to get bigger and not smaller, so why not learn the ropes about kids that are older. The pay and hours were the same across the board. Ultimatly, I know I made the perfect choice. It really fits me. This kids never seem to amaze me either.
UMMMM> we got a new dog. I know you think that I am crazy, and I think that also. He is a mastiff/lab mix. Now you all really think that I lost my marbles! I did. He is really sweet, and his name is Bruno. I wish we could have changed his name, but he is already 3 and knows his name. So that was out of the question. Dave just really wanted him and he needed a home. His family got orders to the middle east where dogs are not allowed. Someone had to take him. We take good care of him though. Bently and him get along well for 2 very different dogs. I feel silly sometimes when they are both outside with me since they are 3 pounds and 95 pounds LOL It all works out thought.
My Auntie came to visit this past weekend and although I could not take time off, we had fun. We really only one full day together. Oh well, we made the best of it. She came in Thursday night, late. Friday she was home with the boys and then when I got home, we had an FRG BBQ that I was heading that we went to. That was a total success. Saturday, we had a blast. Made a trip to Freddy's for lunch, went to dallas' Soccer game, Went to Rockstar and Rogers, The PX, Starbucks, Made a trip to walmart, BBQ steaks here, painted pumpkins and made caramel apples. I was overall a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed as did I.
I think I need to start working on my test though for Computers in the Medical office. I have more to say though, so I will be back tomorrow@!!!!!
Currently, I am wondering... Where are all the hours in the day going? I was certain there was 24 hours in a day, and yet I feel like I barely have time to sleep! I know there are plenty of you out there that can relate. I don't know how to juggle it all sometimes.
There are a few new things that I don't know if I mentioned in my last post. Then again I made the mistake of now reading that one before making this one. Oh well. Alittle up date won't hurt.
Both boy, yes both, are in soccer. Dallas plays Mon thurs and games on sat. Colton plays on Mondays. Dallas has soccer pictures on Thursday, which I am excited about. So is he, because that means tomorrow he gets to go with daddy to the PX to get a hair cut. If you have little boys on a military post this is probably a privilege to your little ones as well. Well the boys anyways. Of course he has school pictures the following Thurs. Which of course is going to cost an arm and leg. They could not have timed that all at a worse time to have them within the same pay period.
Dallas is doing FANTASTIC in kindergarten. He loves it. Currently working on his 7th week. I go for conferences at the end of the month and expect nothing more than a good report. I can see a really big difference since he has been there. His teacher is amazing. She is one of the those teachers that has been there a long time. So she just doesn't take any crap from any of the kids. At the same time she has been there long enough to know how to effectively teach them kids.
On another note, My school is..... well going. I like it, most of the time. I mean I just feel like sometimes I know I should be doing it, but I am so tired. I know that if I start it, I wont be done till late. Somehow still I am getting good grades and cruising right along in the courses.
I started a new job.... In Aug. I am now a Paraprofessional at the Middle School here on post. I work with 6th graders. I know that when I was job hunting, I was really skeptical about taking any job that ment working with kids. After all I have spent the last 5 years with them at home. It has turned out to be my favorite job I have ever held. Which is not saying to much LOL. I interviewed for all the elementary schools, the head start and the Middle schools. I was offered all the positions which amazed me and made me happy. I chose this one because this Middle school is on post so I will not have to drive to Junction City everyday. I also decided that I have spent my years changing diapers and working with little kids. In the end, my kids are only going to get bigger and not smaller, so why not learn the ropes about kids that are older. The pay and hours were the same across the board. Ultimatly, I know I made the perfect choice. It really fits me. This kids never seem to amaze me either.
UMMMM> we got a new dog. I know you think that I am crazy, and I think that also. He is a mastiff/lab mix. Now you all really think that I lost my marbles! I did. He is really sweet, and his name is Bruno. I wish we could have changed his name, but he is already 3 and knows his name. So that was out of the question. Dave just really wanted him and he needed a home. His family got orders to the middle east where dogs are not allowed. Someone had to take him. We take good care of him though. Bently and him get along well for 2 very different dogs. I feel silly sometimes when they are both outside with me since they are 3 pounds and 95 pounds LOL It all works out thought.
My Auntie came to visit this past weekend and although I could not take time off, we had fun. We really only one full day together. Oh well, we made the best of it. She came in Thursday night, late. Friday she was home with the boys and then when I got home, we had an FRG BBQ that I was heading that we went to. That was a total success. Saturday, we had a blast. Made a trip to Freddy's for lunch, went to dallas' Soccer game, Went to Rockstar and Rogers, The PX, Starbucks, Made a trip to walmart, BBQ steaks here, painted pumpkins and made caramel apples. I was overall a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed as did I.
I think I need to start working on my test though for Computers in the Medical office. I have more to say though, so I will be back tomorrow@!!!!!
Monday, August 13, 2012
...Then there was work.
So I am proud to say that I am now a paraprofessional at the Fort Riley Middle School starting today. I went in and did my first day of in processing (which was a giant pile of paperwork) this morning. I report for my first day tomorrow. YAHHH... right.
Knowing this, I woke up excited and a little nervous. I knew that I would be fine, but it was the principal of the matter. 5 am, I was up and adam.... ok well though the alarm was set for 515, I finally rolled out of bed at 525. That's beyond the point though. I get ready get the kids to the babysitters.... after noticing was tire was practically flat. I get to the air pump in the next town, because if you live here at Fort Riley, you also know that no one has any respect for the air hoses here and even the new ones are always out of order. I was able to get air in there and make my way to the building I was to be at by 8 am.
I was a little bit early, so I opened my pepsi.... BAM.... all over me and my truck! A whole entire puddle inside, I think I could have went for a swim. Actually, I did in a way. Oh, did I mention that part where I was wearing white pants? Yeah. So.... I have no spare pants.... because well I forgot that I was that big of a Klutz. Other option? Race the clock back to my house and change. So I did! Yeah... so the good news is I made it. 2 mins till 8 am I was walking in the door with new pants on and feeling better about the day. What more can go wrong, after the morning I had already had. RIGHT?!!?!?
Haha well, the rest of my paperwork process went well. Which was a relief all in itself. BUT THEN.... I get home and start to clean out the truck for this morning's wonderful experience. 400$ Dyson vacuum just stops as I am vacuuming it out. Stops. There was nothing wrong with it... just stops. FINE, I was already frustrated and just wanting it to be over. By god's grace I kept my cool, went in and got the other vacuum. Put the other one way and start all over. 10 Mins in... DONE, it also just quit. REALLY.... I am so ready to for this to be done, and if this is any insight on how working life is going to be, I am not so sure I am all that excited anymore.
Praying for a better day tomorrow.
Knowing this, I woke up excited and a little nervous. I knew that I would be fine, but it was the principal of the matter. 5 am, I was up and adam.... ok well though the alarm was set for 515, I finally rolled out of bed at 525. That's beyond the point though. I get ready get the kids to the babysitters.... after noticing was tire was practically flat. I get to the air pump in the next town, because if you live here at Fort Riley, you also know that no one has any respect for the air hoses here and even the new ones are always out of order. I was able to get air in there and make my way to the building I was to be at by 8 am.
I was a little bit early, so I opened my pepsi.... BAM.... all over me and my truck! A whole entire puddle inside, I think I could have went for a swim. Actually, I did in a way. Oh, did I mention that part where I was wearing white pants? Yeah. So.... I have no spare pants.... because well I forgot that I was that big of a Klutz. Other option? Race the clock back to my house and change. So I did! Yeah... so the good news is I made it. 2 mins till 8 am I was walking in the door with new pants on and feeling better about the day. What more can go wrong, after the morning I had already had. RIGHT?!!?!?
Haha well, the rest of my paperwork process went well. Which was a relief all in itself. BUT THEN.... I get home and start to clean out the truck for this morning's wonderful experience. 400$ Dyson vacuum just stops as I am vacuuming it out. Stops. There was nothing wrong with it... just stops. FINE, I was already frustrated and just wanting it to be over. By god's grace I kept my cool, went in and got the other vacuum. Put the other one way and start all over. 10 Mins in... DONE, it also just quit. REALLY.... I am so ready to for this to be done, and if this is any insight on how working life is going to be, I am not so sure I am all that excited anymore.
Praying for a better day tomorrow.
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