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!