For those of you who have moved in the past you should know exactly what I'm talking about. You move to a new place and it becomes a mission (sometimes a lengthy one) to get to know all the new places and find things to get you out of the house. I'm finally at the stage in the move where I've got time to do this and at this point in my life I'm pretty darn good at it.
Step 1 - Figure out what YOU like to do.
I personally enjoy play groups, book clubs, volunteer work and crafting. Because of this normally our bases ESC (Enlisted Spouses Club for those of you not skilled with Military acronyms ;-) ) is a good fit for me. They normally do monthly meetings that have childcare and a guest speaker, this month on how to help the national cancer society followed by belly dancing lessons (that'll be a BLAST!). They also do a ton of volunteer work around the base and set up groups to deliver meals to new Moms ect. They are also a fantastic rescource when your spouse is deployed. So all in all great for us. I also find all the local play groups I can and attend each at least once before decided which one/s are a fit for me and my kids.
Step 2 - Put your big girl panties on and GET OUT THERE!
Yep that's right. I know darn well it's terrifying to go somewhere on your own where you know nobody. I've been there multiple times throughout my life but if you don't do it you will spend your entire time at any new location bored and lonely which will manifest not only in your attitude but in your marriage and your relationship with your children. Trust me, they will not bite. The worst thing that could happen is that you don't like the group and hey, you're no worse off right?
Step 3 - Keep trying!
You are bound to run into groups you don't like. One's who don't hold the same values as you. Others that may still act like they are in high school. But I PROMISE that you will eventually find a place that you feel happy in! You will meet people you enjoy being around and make some new friends along the way. You'll experience things you've never experienced before and you won't spend your entire tour somewhere locked up in your house with no one to talk to in person.
So my first steps start this week. We have story time at the library on Tuesday, a play group to attend on Wedensday and on Friday I've entered a "Best Dish" competition our squadron is hosting. Meeting new people and possibly winning my husband a couple of days off!
So to those of you out there in my shoes I wish you luck and am so proud of you for putting yourself out there. I'm a shy person at heart but I take the "Fake it til you make it approach" and it works for me :-D
Now I'm off to go put my big girl panties on :-)
Showing posts with label military spouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label military spouse. Show all posts
Monday, March 11, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
It's been awhile!
Yep it's been quite a while since I last posted and boy have we been busy! We have officially moved in to our new home in North Carolina (our new BEAUTIFUL base house) and most of our things are unpacked. We're trying to learn to live on a LOT less money and we're preparing for the dreaded deployment. Yep my dear, dear husband has deployment orders already...as a matter of fact we got them within our first two weeks here! Awesome, right?
So here's the story - Our family made the long flight from Okinawa, Japan to North Carolina on the 5th of January. We then spent a few weeks with my Mum before heading to our base. From the moment we touched down we were all sick. Horribly, Horribly Sick! Dearest Bug had a double ear infection. Little Man (only 6 months at the time!), Hubby and I all had Bronchitis. This went on for almost a month. What a wonderful welcome to America gift!!
Come mid January we all drove down to the base to get our lodging room (which by the SJAFB has FANTASTIC family lodging! The most beautiful I've ever seen!) and we got to hang out there for about a week waiting on housing to give us offers or tell us to go find an offbase house. The first offer they gave us was an automatic no from us. It actually looked like a cute house but we weren't allowed to look at it before moving in and that's kind of important to me...yeah lol. So we talked to the housing office about that issue and they came up with another offer for us. Now take into account that we are only entitled to a 2 bedroom home by military regs. We instead were given a HUGE brand new 4 bedroom home because that was all that was available :-). Yep I am one happy camper! It is litterally twice the size of our last home.
The kids finally have there own rooms and they have SPACE!
Now I'm just unpacking those last little pieces and trying to figure out what works where...you know how it is if you've ever moved! My big pantry is also holding home school supplies right now...I'm pretty sure I need to change that soon lol!
Ohhh pictures!
So here's the story - Our family made the long flight from Okinawa, Japan to North Carolina on the 5th of January. We then spent a few weeks with my Mum before heading to our base. From the moment we touched down we were all sick. Horribly, Horribly Sick! Dearest Bug had a double ear infection. Little Man (only 6 months at the time!), Hubby and I all had Bronchitis. This went on for almost a month. What a wonderful welcome to America gift!!
Come mid January we all drove down to the base to get our lodging room (which by the SJAFB has FANTASTIC family lodging! The most beautiful I've ever seen!) and we got to hang out there for about a week waiting on housing to give us offers or tell us to go find an offbase house. The first offer they gave us was an automatic no from us. It actually looked like a cute house but we weren't allowed to look at it before moving in and that's kind of important to me...yeah lol. So we talked to the housing office about that issue and they came up with another offer for us. Now take into account that we are only entitled to a 2 bedroom home by military regs. We instead were given a HUGE brand new 4 bedroom home because that was all that was available :-). Yep I am one happy camper! It is litterally twice the size of our last home.
The kids finally have there own rooms and they have SPACE!
Now I'm just unpacking those last little pieces and trying to figure out what works where...you know how it is if you've ever moved! My big pantry is also holding home school supplies right now...I'm pretty sure I need to change that soon lol!
Ohhh pictures!
Pre furniture lol...it was kinda like camping!
Check out our view! BEAUTIFUL!
Little Man is getting so big...
Can you believe that this is a base house?
Our kitchen. I love being able to see the kids while I'm cooking. It means I can spend a lot more time in the kitchen :-)
The dining room side. Yep it's fully open plan
My goofy Bug who is in a huge princess phase right now
Big Man Standing!!
I still have so much to write about but Little Man is waking up from a nap now and I need to go wake up my dear husband so we can go out to breakfast :-) We may have missed church due to the time change but I NEED pancakes!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Oh PCSing how I love thee...
So it's been a while since I last posted but you'll have to forgive me! We've had a busy month and it's only going to get busier over the next few months.
As some of you know I'm a military spouse (and brat) My father retired as a MSgt in the USAF when I was 18, my step mum is active duty still and my Husband is a SSgt in the USAF! Not to mention a sister who goes to boot camp soon, a Navy uncle and a brother in law who is Army Reserves! So obviously we have very strong military ties in our family lol!
Anyway in January we will be moving on to a new base and leaving the beautiful island of Okinawa behind. It's been a fantastic 3 years with 2 new babies and a lot of adventures and I will be really sad to leave such a fantastic culture! But as with all things there is a HUGE silver lining. We'll be moving to North Carolina to be 3hrs from my Mum, 8 hrs from my Dad and 10hrs from the hubbys family!! For those of you who've always lived near your family this may not seem like such a big deal but we've never lived near enough to really see ours very often. My hubbys family has only seen Bug 2 times in her life and still hasn't met Mr Man. My Dad has only seen Bug twice but he did meet Mr Man when he was still teeny. My Mum got to spend lots of time with them while I was there to give birth (loooooong story, maybe I'll share another time) but it still feels like they miss out on seeing family when we're so, so far away from them. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change my life for the world and I really hope that in a few years we can be stationed overseas again (maybe Italy next time??) but there are some drawbacks!
Anyway I promise tomorrow I will post something thought provoking (or at least SOMETHING!)
Until then :-)
As some of you know I'm a military spouse (and brat) My father retired as a MSgt in the USAF when I was 18, my step mum is active duty still and my Husband is a SSgt in the USAF! Not to mention a sister who goes to boot camp soon, a Navy uncle and a brother in law who is Army Reserves! So obviously we have very strong military ties in our family lol!
Anyway in January we will be moving on to a new base and leaving the beautiful island of Okinawa behind. It's been a fantastic 3 years with 2 new babies and a lot of adventures and I will be really sad to leave such a fantastic culture! But as with all things there is a HUGE silver lining. We'll be moving to North Carolina to be 3hrs from my Mum, 8 hrs from my Dad and 10hrs from the hubbys family!! For those of you who've always lived near your family this may not seem like such a big deal but we've never lived near enough to really see ours very often. My hubbys family has only seen Bug 2 times in her life and still hasn't met Mr Man. My Dad has only seen Bug twice but he did meet Mr Man when he was still teeny. My Mum got to spend lots of time with them while I was there to give birth (loooooong story, maybe I'll share another time) but it still feels like they miss out on seeing family when we're so, so far away from them. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change my life for the world and I really hope that in a few years we can be stationed overseas again (maybe Italy next time??) but there are some drawbacks!
Anyway I promise tomorrow I will post something thought provoking (or at least SOMETHING!)
Until then :-)
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