Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Home is where the Navy sends us

Have I ever mentioned how much of a love/hate relationship I have with moving? It's a viscous cycle for me.

We have been lucky to stay put in one area for the past 5 years. Although, we have lived in 4 different homes since being here, we've been lucky to not have to PCS to another location. Lucky because Norfolk is only 13 hours from home. We knew his orders were coming, but we didn't expect all the craziness. Well, I didn't expect all the craziness.

November 2012 my husband was told he was going on shore duty early since the USS Enterprise was being decommissioned and he had less than a year on Sea Duty. At that point, most of his rate and rank were being sent to Fallon, Nevada for shore duty. We waited and waited. He finally received orders and it was for continued sea duty with VFA-135 Knighthawks out of Oceana. He was going from Ship's company to Squadron starting July 2013. Thankfully, that meant we were not going to be moving for a little bit longer. It also meant we were still waiting for his orders.

My husband picked his "Dream sheet" for shore duty before November 2013. He was told he would hear something before Mid January. Of course, everything is last minute. He received hard copy orders to Lemoore, California and was to report in July 2014.

Come May, there was a hold up on his orders. His orders were going to change, but at that time the report date remained the same. Which was scary because that's a short notice and we have a lot to take care of in Virginia with our home and my job. We had no idea where the Navy was going to send him, and where our family would be going. We didn't hear anything back on his orders until June, just a few weeks before we had originally planned to head out of Virginia. The orders had changed some, but remained for Lemoore. There were some issues with the class he was required to take which caused his orders to be pushed back. At last minute, he was told to report in September. It was relief and headache at the same time. Relief because we had more time to prepare things here, headache because I was forced to hold out on our house hunting again.

We cannot get base housing because we 1 pet over the limit for housing as well as my American Pit Bull Terrier. Also, the BAH rates for Lemoore dropped and everything that would suit our needs was as the previous max BAH. If we happened to find something suitable, they couldn't hold it until we needed it. It was just too much stress on me and my husband. With my unidentified heart condition, I didn't need stress making it come up again. I've went nearly 2 years without issue, and I'd like to continue this path since the doctors haven't found cause (not stress, no heart defect found, not asthma, not my thyroid.. etc). Anyway! Thankfully we found an amazing Realtor named Brianne who was an absolute Godsend. She helped us find what I feel will be the perfect home for my family. We purchased a home 44 hours away. Scary? Yeah, a little bit! Brianne went above and beyond for us. I cannot wait to get into our new home.

The downside? We still have our house in Norfolk to deal with. We go back and forth about renting or selling. Being that we have less than a month until we move, it looks like we're going to rent it out. We've done so many projects in our home and are completing a couple others, it'll be perfect for whomever moves in. I'm sad though. Our Norfolk home is our first home together. We've grown a lot as husband and wife as well as individuals here. We've also put a lot of work into our cozy little home. I want to take my floors with me. I seriously would if it were possible. So, if anyone is looking for a home to rent starting October 1st, get in touch with me ;)

Our movers come on September 9th. So, we'll be going about 2 weeks with no HHGs (household goods). My husband has school until the 19th and we'll head out the 20th. It's sneaking up on us really fast. I'm so full of mixed emotions. I'm super excited about the new adventures and change of pace.. AND no more tunnels. I'd love it if I never had to see another tunnel again! Nervous because I fear change and stressed because I have so much to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

We have right at 10 days to be in Lemoore and ready to work- both of us. My husband says we can make it in 3 days, I'm betting it'll be more like 4 1/2 days. We'll see who wins this challenge.


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