Happy 4th

Also:

Settling

So we've been here now for a few months. We're mostly settled into our new house. And, as a woman who has always bragged a bit on her skill in being able to unpack a house in 2 weeks and make it seem "lived in"...I'm sucking in that department this go 'round. I think it's lived in, for sure. But I still have 2 rubber maid bins and a foot locker sitting in my dining room and 4 large "art" pieces sitting on the floor against the wall in the living room...NO pictures hung in aforementioned room, and still no entertainment center. The last not being my fault though. I can't unpack a new entertainment center until it decides to deliver itself to my door, now can I? If only it were that easy...
There are not enough furniture stores on this island. Does every one really want cheaply made, contemporary-modern stuff? Because that's all I can find. Help?

As we're plowing through yet another year, things are pretty good. Our first visitor has come and gone. We're meeting some fun people and slowly gaining in the friend department. The girls are really happy in their school and I'm happy to date with the school's curriculum. We've found an amazing church that, so far, has met all of our criteria...
I can't tell you how happy that makes me. With all the different options out there, we found one that is really authentic and genuine in its faith and teaching. The music is amazing. We feel like we're at a rock concert every Sunday. I can't wait to go back this weekend.

I've also started up Zumba classes again. And here's the really good part... they're free!! They're all at the base's gym. I can't believe they have actual Zumba instructors leading classes. I feel like I'm at a fancy civilian gym every time I go. Is this what I've been missing for the last years not on an Air Force base?

Oh! So I'm finally going to cave in and go to a bunco night. I've resisted bunco for years now because it's always been the type of thing that "those kind" of military wives go to. It's been way to vanilla. But these women here... they're a different breed. They're so much fun. I can't imagine the night being dull. Plus, I don't know a ton of people yet. And I'm not completely settled in my circle of friends. So I need to network right?
Speaking of friends, I'm finding that I'm so much more picky this time around than ever. I have a small set of friends here already...I think I've put them in the gym partner/drinking buddy/beach & BBQ category. I need the "let's hang out every day and our husbands like each other" set. Time....it will happen.

I'll go ahead and close in saying that I'm happy here. It's hard to adjust to the switch from working long days to not working at all. But the fall semester is fast approaching. I'll be neck deep in the books soon enough and then we'll see just how much I'm loving life!

Home in HI

These past couple of months seem like such whirlwind to me now, as I knew they would. Since that last moment, we've been re-united, had 6 Christmases, a New Year, a wedding, a funeral, 2 engagements, a major surgery, a move overseas...

Now as I type, very sleepily I might add, from within my new home at our new base-I am again grateful and blessed. God does come through for us, every time, regardless of form. This time we get to live in a breath-takingly beautiful place and we have a nice ((new)) roof over our heads. I'm so happy with the house that we ended up in. It feels right. It feels comfortable. We've only been living in this place for a week now, but I can already sit here in the living room and look over at the kitchen and feel like I've done that a thousand times before.

I guess that's part of being a nomadic family. The instant "home" you feel through your new front door. Granted, that has not always been the case. At our last base, we felt comfortable enough but that house was not really and truly home. Time will tell if this new one will be. I feel as though it maybe already is.

The girls have already made a ton of friends, as they always do. Luckies. It's so much easier for kids...kids all over the place at school and in the neighborhood. They have the ability to just walk up to a kid and say, "hey, want to play/be friends?" And then viola! BFF's.

Can you imagine the crazy lady that knocks on people's doors saying, "hi, I'm new here. Want to be my friend?"

No. It's tougher for us. Military Wives as a whole have a ton in common, and it's natural for us find each other and eventually become friends... but the waiting for those moments to come stinks.

We got lucky this time, and the 2 bases before this-come to think of it...that we had some friends already stationed here ahead of us.
See, another testament as to how God is taking care of us. ((THANK YOU LORD!))

OH! So get this. Hawaiian guys that were delivering our HHG's were telling us all sorts of goodies about Hawaii. A few hours into our Stuff-Delivery-Day, a big fat giant moth lands on our screen door. I commented on it's giantness and Hawaiian dude tells me that those moths are special. Hawaiian people believe they represent ohana,family, spirits and are good signs. They never kill them.
Hours later, after Hawaiian dude is gone, My Love and I are in the garage and see another giant moth just chillin' on a box.
I guess that must mean we are home... and welcome. E Komo Mai!

Pop

I finally had that separation break down... the top on my emotional wine bottle completely shot right off. But that's ok. My Love was there (on the phone) with me to help me trudge through. Now that I've let those emotions leak out, I'm ok again. Seeing him again in 2 more weekends and then again after that two weeks later makes things easier to stomach now. One more month of this and then we're done. At least for a long while.

I skimmed down through older posts and noticed that I'd said, "...I'm so grateful, no matter how hard these times apart are..."
I definitely am grateful. I just forgot to remember that last night.

L♥VE

One thing that I do l♥ve about these "separations" is the phone time. Granted, sometimes the length of the calls are so short and disappointing... But it seems that, for us, we sort of rekindle that teenage excitement a little when we have to communicate mainly through phone calls. I can hear his longing for me and his missing me in his voice. There's a tenderness that's different than usual. Appreciation. Just... L♥ve.

I love that man. And I'm so grateful, no matter how hard these times apart are, for what he's doing for us...and for our country.

Home is where the Military Sends Us

Separation is so hard. We're apart again. Only for 4 months. But it's still so tough. The kids miss their Daddy, I miss my Husband/comfort/best friend/relief/release/LOVER...
We've opted to stay with family during this time. I've never done that before. I've never been the military spouse that goes home to their parents when their husband leaves. But it just really turned out to be the best option for us. It's going to be trying and most likely stressful. But I've made up my mind to make the best of it and take everything in stride. We haven't seen most our family for 2 years. How horrible to say out loud. So they're all super excited to see us. Everyone wants to get some time in. I know that will die down eventually.
Mostly, our routines are completely changed. Sitting around is absolutely different in your own home, as compared to in someone elses. Cleaning habits are different... the kitchen!!! is not "right"....

A positive... my family will distract me from remembering every second of every day that I'm uprooted.
And there really are so many more....

Baby's First Steps

We were 18. We had a kid. We were engaged....living with his dad... trying to go to school and working dead end jobs. Things were going ok. But we were surrounded by family, while wonderful, had a toe in everything that we did.
Enter the Air Force.
My, then, fiance' had been considering the military for a couple of years. Recruiters knocked back a coke or two on his couch through out high school. But now he had a family to support. His considerations turned into very really possibilities. We talked and he signed his name on the dotted line just 3 days after his 19th birthday and one month after we were married.

Those first 3 months apart were so hard. (Little did I know what was in store for us later on.) I hurt so bad missing him. But 3 months passed quickly. I saved up all sorts of odds and ends during that time in a little nest egg for our first home...for the first place we would start really growing as a unit... a tiny family.

Basic finished and then tech.... and we were on the road to our first base. 12 hours and 4 states away. Our families took it hard. We were babies after all. I rode on an ice chest the entire way between the bucket seats in our tiny U-haul. The Baby's car seat had to take the belt and the chair. But I didn't even notice. We were so excited for the change...the first step in the global trek we'd take.