Getting close..

Well, we are now 29 days away from our move to Illinois. I have most everything taken care of for the move but I Have a few more calls to make this week. I am still working on getting us a bigger place to live when we get there. Hopefully housing will cooperate with me. I also have to make sure everything is ready with the mazda as well.

The van is pretty much all set, I just have to clean it out and make sure there is enough room for all of our things. I am praying for a gentle winter at least until we get to Illinois. I have to admit driving through the ice and snow is worrying me some.

I still have packing to do and some Christmas shopping. Kris and I were able to get some shopping done today but the bulk of it will be taken care of on black friday.. Man I love black friday..lol.. It caters to the super saver in me! haha..

So with piles of paperwork and many things that never seem to get done (like cleaning) it seems we will never leave. Yet time is proving to us otherwise.
It seems to be dancing away from me faster and faster as I prepare to say "see you later" to my friends. Ahh Military life. However, I feel lucky to have had this time with them to get to know them. If we weren't in the Navy, I wouldn't even have had that option in the first place, so for me.. This life is a good one.. even with all the goodbyes ..

Sad Goodbyes & Happy Hellos,
~Pamela

cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning....

Move day is getting closer and closer.. We now have a little over 3 1/2 months until we are leaving Washington and I can tell you that the stress of it all has not been lost on me. Although I have already gotten the major things done, such as scheduling the move with the Navy and turning all our paperwork in with housing in Illinois... There are still somethings that need to be done.. Downsizing for instance... I have been working on getting rid of the things we don't need, want, or use.. seems like a simple task.. but, not really.. as our things are randomly stored all over the house in not so easy to access areas.

If only I could get my kids to do this!! haha

Then there is the cleaning that has to be done.. I am slowly working on getting things cleaned up from the tornadoes called children that I live with to a point where I can keep it decent until the heavy cleaning begins a few days before we move. I will also be hiring someone outside of the family that was recommended to me to help me with the cleaning.. as apparently housing here does not clean up after people move out the way they are supposed to.. Don't get me wrong, I expected to leave the place clean.. but I think that wiping the tracks that the kitchen drawers run on is a little excessive.

So.. it is replacing light bulbs, scrubbing tubs, sweeping carports, washing walls, and sorting through toys and clothes for me. If anyone wants to help grab a magic eraser and come on over!! haha

30 days of me- Day 18

Day 18 - whatever tickles your fancy

So this blog is just about anything and everything.. Lets see.. I have been having issues with my weight loss this past week.. as in I gained two pounds for no apparent reason.. I mean literally, I have continued to eat right and even exercise and suddenly I just went up two pounds and stayed there.. My FF thinks it is stress.. and although I kinda shrugged off that explanation.. I am now wondering if that might be true..

To say the least I have been stressed lately.. Kris is gone, again.. and we still haven't gotten the necessary paperwork to schedule our move.. At this point time is getting short to get everything taken care of.. My worries increase about him not being able to go to my graduation on Nov. 6th. They are supposed to be here on that day and I have scheduled a non-refundable hotel room..:( We have requested leave for the move during that time but again, still waiting to find out if they are going to approve that or not..

Due to all that I have found myself becoming very tense lately.. Everything seems to aggravate me easily.. I have been trying to keep myself busy with things.. like getting stuff together to get rid of and sell.. Still need to get a package together to send to my sister, but I am waiting for something in the mail from her.

Alora's birthday is this month.. and I need to take some pictures with and of her.. I also need to take a family portrait before I can take down my studio and I have to say that is making me a little crazy too.. cause I am ready to take it all down but I cannot due to necessity..

I also need to clean this house, the carpets, the walls, everything, and get it ready for inspection.. I need to call housing and set up a move out date with them as well.. but how can I schedule that when I can't even schedule a move! Ugh.. you see my frustration..

I find time growing short and my list of things to do growing longer.. so I guess today will be a work day. .. time to get this house straightened up.. maybe that will help relieve some stress.. I also have to get the van packed up so I can take my stuff over for the yard sale tomorrow.. Anyone wanna help!? lol

My Life as a Navy Wife

Among the Navy Wife community it is asked many times where all have you been stationed.. So I figured I would tell you!

When Kris joined the Navy, we lived in Pensacola, pretty close to the naval base over there.. After he finished boot camp our first duty station was shore duty in Annapolis, Maryland at the Naval Academy. I can tell you this about Maryland, it is really beautiful.. The flowering trees and beautiful scenery make from some really relaxing back road driving.. I really wouldn't mind going back there again. We were supposed to be stationed there for two years but since Kris was undesignated we were there for about 1 1/2... We had arrived there in April 2005.. and left in Oct. 2006.

I tried to find some of my pictures from Maryland, but apparently I didn't upload much then.. but here is a picture of my gorgeous husband from when we were living there.


We arrived next in Great Lakes, Illinois for Kris to go to A school and get his rate. We were there for 9 months during the fall and winter and I loved it there also.. it was beautiful.. the peacefulness of watching the snow fall at night through my window cannot be matched. Not only was watching the snow fall wonderful, but having impromptu snowball fights with Kris made for fun times! When there wasn't snow, the landscape was so green and lush, just absolutely beautiful! Also, driving on snow, not so bad.. After all .. people I think learn how to drive better up there because they have to be more careful..lol..
The beautiful scene that is Illinois



Once Kris finished with his school it was once again time to move.. this time though he had to make a stop beforehand.. So Kris left for Virginia and his C school, while the kids and I went down to Florida to live there for a month. Kris and I made a visit to each other once during the time he was in Virginia .. we met sort of half way in upper South Carolina and spent a night or two together.. :)
Once he finished with his month long school he drove down to Florida and we prepared for our trip to our current duty station, San Diego.

Kris & I and our at the time two kids.. Made the cross country drive from Florida to California. What is good about San Diego.. hmm... I have a great nail place here! I have met some wonderful Navy Wives... and.. um...yeah that's about it..

Before Kris left on his last deployment he had to go to Pensacola for another C school that was 2 months long.. to make a long story short.. we ended up moving there for the 7 1/2 months he was gone.. one of the best decisions we ever made.. of course it should have been made a little sooner.. but hind sight is 20/20.. During that deployment I got to mend old wounds with my family and foster relationships with my sister, dad, and nieces, that I have been wanting for years!

These were taken on my last days in Florida, before I made my trip back to San Diego.









March of this year I moved back to San Diego with all 3 kids and myself in one van making the 2000 mile journey to be here in time for Kris to return from deployment.. now that was a happy day! It was the longest amount of time that we have spent apart to date! That was a stressful deployment! but back to the point of this particular blog. ...

Although I am not fond of San Diego, I have taken quite a few pictures here.. so here are a few.

This is the neighborhood that I live in on a beautifully gloomy day.. I love it.. those days don't happen often here.


This one was taken when my dad and I went to seaport village


And lastly, this one was taken at Balboa Park




It is now that time again, time to add another move to our roster of moves.. We are going to be moving this coming November to Washington, which I am sure if you read my blog you already know..lol.. We will only be in WA for a short time before it is time to move once again. Where to? I do not yet know.. but I will let you know when I do.. We will start to look at orders this coming March.. and I have been told that he could choose and we could move as early as next October.. but we shall see... either way, we will only be in WA for about a year.. then it is off to who knows where.. but I am sure wherever we go, I will meet some wonderful Navy Wives..

Thinning things out

We have been carrying around so much stuff for so long that we had totes, upon totes, upon totes, in our garage and storage room. Well, we finally decided it was time to start thinning out all this "stuff" we have been carrying around. There is just no reason for us to have all of these "things" when we don't use them and they don't really serve a purpose.. Some things were easy to get rid of, while others, well, they had a sentimental value attached that made letting go pretty hard. So since we knew we needed to let go we decided to take pictures of the things that we are getting rid of so we can keep a memory of that item without taking up the space with the actual item. I think it was a nice trade off. Now comes the part where I will actually try to sell some of the stuff.. and throw away the rest. Kris & I will have a garage sale sometime in Sept. but I will also be taking some of the stuff to a garage sale at a friends house on the 4th. Any little bit of money I could make would definitely be helpful in our move. We still have several more totes to go through, but we have definitely put a big dent in things and that makes me very happy. Even if letting go is a little sad, the weight being lifted off of us by getting rid of this stuff is even better. :)

Washington

Well we are officially moving to Washington in only 2 short months. It took over 3 months for Kris to get his 1306(extension form with the Nimitz) approved so we could schedule a move and know for sure that the navy would move us. Now we know, as of just this past sunday we finally got word it was approved. We will be moving to Washington in November and we will be there until December of 2011.. I don't know where we are going after that. With the Navy there is no telling but we are ready for whatever comes our way. Lately I have been thinning out our things, trying to get rid of all the extra baggage we have acquired over the years that we just don't need. It is depressing sometimes for me to get rid of somethings .. I am a pack rat and find sentimental value in pretty much everything.. So for me getting rid of things is a show of strength that until now I have been unable to muster. I have to dig deep in myself and make the decision, "do i really need this? will I ever use it?" Many times the answer is no, and if the item has no seriously significant sentimental tie, like my dad or Kris gave it to me, then it has to go. There are still many things I keep, that probably should go. I will probably need to go through our things at least 2 or 3 more times before I can really get rid of all the unnecessary stuff. For now though, at least I am doing something about the tons of stuff we seem to be just dragging around with us from place to place. Even though it has been hard, I feel some sort of freedom by ridding myself of these "things" it is almost liberating.
Anyways,
So now I am waiting for a copy of the HPC form so that I can send it to the moving office. Gotta have that to schedule my move on the Navy's dollar. So again I wait, but this time, it isn't scary or unsure.. I know I will have that paper, I just don't know how soon.

I am really looking forward to the drive to Washington, taking lots of pictures, and spending time with my dad, since he is supposed to fly in and drive up with us. I am supposed to call him today to buy his plane tickets.. hopefully he will still be coming, but only time will tell.