But hopefully I will have more to share this week!
I think Austin and I both finally got 100% on board with moving sometime last week. Not that we had a choice or any control in it. We were going to be moving whether we were on board or not, but we seemed to turn our attitudes, focus and perspective around a bit. So now I can ALMOST say I am excited. I CAN say, though I'm not really excited, I'm ready to be there. Living in limbo is not fun!! I am not a quick decision maker when it comes to life altering decisions, but once I've made up my mind I like things to be done quickly. So spending 5 months "moving" has been torture. But, we're almost there!!!
We are still waiting to find out if we will qualify for E7 housing, but in the event that we don't - we have an address!!!! If the management company decides to allow us to move into an E7 house instead we will just transfer our application over. I know posting addresses on the internet isn't the brightest decision, but I also know practically anything can be found online whether you make it public or not. So - here is our potential new home:
2131 11th Cavalry Ave
Seaside, CA
Seaside is the town where the military community is, and "seaside" it is!!! According to google maps the house appears to be roughly 4,000 feet from the water. I don't think it is beach water, so it's not like we'd run and jump in (unless we like landing on cliffs) but it's still water! The house has a balcony off the master bedroom so I am hoping there is at least a glimpse of ocean from the balcony. All depends on where the house faces, but I'm not giving up on it yet!!!
We also scheduled for our household items to be picked up. After spending all day Saturday packing up someone else's house (did you read that post? NOT fun) I realized how thankful I am that the military provides someone else to do the dirty work. I don't mind organizing and packing, I'd gladly do that. But haul everything outside and make the moving truck like a giant 3D puzzle? No thanks!!! The movers will come and pack up our house April 12-13, then they will pick everything up to be moved April 16. So it looks like we will either spend that weekend with friends, with uncle oh gosh, or camping out on air mattresses. Jealous??
I also made a very cute "Moving to Monterey" binder last week. Austin doesn't keep track of dates compounding on dates, especially if days hold more than one event, so I decided I'd make him a little calendar. Then I decided, why stop there? Why not go ahead and build our travel route? What started as two innocent little excel worksheets turn into a binder with 8 sections, divided by pretty color coded dividers. There were only 7 categories I could think of, but I don't like odd numbers so I made an 8th just for good measure. There's a housing section, child care, TMO (the lovely people who will be moving our stuff), Stars and Strips (the rental company we HOPE will find renters for our house), travel plans, pets (i think we will board our cats for the last week we are in Colorado), PCS entitlements (the things we may be reimbursed for through the army) and an 8th section that is yet to be determined. I have a few ideas but haven't committed to one yet. Austin isn't as in love with the binder as I am, but it has already come in handy as a resource tool for him so he does like it.
After all of our household goods have been taken we will stay with Uncle Oh Gosh until I finish work (which I THINK will be April 20, but I haven't made a definite decision yet) and then we will embark in our journey on the 23! I found some pet friendly hotels along the way (although finding pet-friendly-people who allow more than 2 pets and/or more than 100 pounds all together was challenging) and it looks like we will make 2 stops along the way. We will drive to Grand Junction, CO then onto Las Vegas and then we will arrive in Monterey. And, if everyone does exactly as I've told them to we will get the keys to our house April 26 and have our household goods delivered April 27.
I've found that I am very good at managing processes and telling people what to do. So if someone could find me a job where I just get to tell everyone what to do, that'd be awesome. My employment seems to be the only hole in our master plan so if that hole could be filled in I'd greatly appreciate it. But, one month ago we didn't know any details or dates or plans or even have any remote idea what was going to happen other than our arrival in Monterey, so I'd say we made a lot of progress in one month. If we could just execute the plan and maybe, just maybe, get a good job lead for me over the next month I'd be a happy mama.
Hope you're enjoying this ride as much as I am. Well, actually I hope you're enjoying it more than I am...and I think you may be! We hear from people all the time about how "exciting" this must be. We hear how beautiful Monterey is, how much fun we will have immersing ourselves in such a different culture for a few years, and about how "lucky" we are to be able to experience this. I even hear an "I'm jealous!" or two occasionally! While I'm on board with moving, I'm not quite to THAT point of excitement yet. I am averse to change and risk and if life could stay just as it is I'd be happier than a pig in slop (like that one better Brittany???) But, life never does stay just as it is and so I will adapt. I'm just not as adventurous or free spirited as I think military wives should be so its a bit out of my comfort zone. I'm getting there though!!! And I was greatly encouraged when Jodi reminded me last week:
You're a lot like me when it comes to change. It isn't exciting or thrilling and really just scares the crap out of you. But, you're also a lot like me in that you're going to make the best out of whatever situation you are in. So even if you live in a box on the side of the road, I know once you get settled there you're going to find a way to love it. It's just the getting-there part that really sucks.
Almost there.
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