Life Update: April

I mentioned in my previous post that we have been busy...well, we have.  I have been running around like crazy and it's even more difficult with a 16 month old that needs to be entertained, changed and fed throughout. Thankfully, the week is almost over. Here is a taste of the past week:
Last Friday: E's squadron picnic/easter egg hunt/garage sale prep
Saturday: Garage sale/E helped friend's move
Sunday: Church/Easter brunch
Monday: My final doctor appointment/passport photos appointment
Tuesday: Audiology appointment for Kaiden (40 minutes away)/Government passport appointment
Wednesday/TODAY: Civilian passport appointment
Thursday: Speech eval for Kaiden/ Ear infection appointment for Kaiden
Friday: TGIF!

I've updated my Facebook friends but I will write a little about it here. When we were at the doctor's office a few weeks ago (for Kaiden's regular checkup) I mentioned to our doctor that Kaiden doesn't say "mama" to me yet. He did once on Valentine's Day, and that was it. She suggested we send him to speech therapy and went ahead and put the order in. I just ignored it because I thought that we could opt not to do so, but as E has been doing his final out-processing paperwork (a stack of papers and documents you gather to leave this base), we discovered our status is pending because of our son's "Speech delay." For one thing, had I known he would be given a label before even being evaluated that would cause a bump in our process, I would have never opened my mouth in the first place. I don't want to even get started on our doctor....anyways, long story short I took him to his audiology appointment, and thankfully he passed with an "Adequate" status. Tomorrow is his speech evaluation so we'll see what the therapist says.

My camera and lens came in the mail! I was having issues in Hawaii but praise the Lord, all the issues have been repaired at no cost since they are both under warranty. If you would like, please check out a series of film pictures I took while we were there. I'm absolutely in love with film and can't wait to share more about that later.

I found a gym! My friend told me about a local gym that offers childcare for $10/month on top of membership fees while you workout. This is my second day on our free trial and I'm loving it. I was telling E that Kaiden has gotten so hyper and I need him to expel energy somewhere else besides our home. Since we don't have family and I'm literally with him 24/7, I find myself mentally worn and I need a break. He suggested I start working out again and so we tried this gym for the first time yesterday. What sells me is the childcare. All the workers know him by name and although he cries for the first few minutes, by the time I'm ready to pick him up he is playing with other kids and doesn't want to leave. It's so nice because I have some time to myself while doing something that is healthy, makes me feel better and can take my mind off of life's daily stresses.

We have about 9 weeks left here in California. Once June rolls around, things will be moving super fast. Movers will come in and take all of our stuff...our house will be rented out...I have one last wedding to shoot before I go...and then we are off. The next 4.5 months will be spent going between Wisconsin (home), Florida (where E is training) and Pennsylvania (in-laws). He graduates, Lord willing, in October and then we move to Germany. I'm excited for a new season in life but it's also bittersweet. It seriously feels like just yesterday when we moved to California. We were all bright eyed about the new sites to see and the new people we would meet.

Flying Military Air aka Hops aka Space A Travel

I decided to write a post dedicated to taking military hops, since I have so many friends interested in flying Space A (military air). For starters, here's some info taken straight from the Space A website:

It should be noted that while flying on U.S. military aircraft is usually without cost, it is not a reliable means of travel. Unlike a commercial airline there are usually no backup flights if the plane is diverted or if there are not enough seats. So your ability to fly to a destination depends on:

• The plane actually arriving at your destination
• The plane being needed at the other destination (if not the flight could be cancelled or diverted)
• Space Available seats being available on the flight
• Your flight category being high enough to qualify for one of the Space Available seats

Making the decision...
 I completely agree with these statements. Initially, we planned on flying to Guam. We have been keeping our eye on hops for about a month just to see if there were any familiar patterns. Travis to Hawaii; Hawaii to Guam...and then the reverse. Last month we saw this over and over and over again. We were set on traveling there until our leave dates (vacation days) came up when we realized there haven't been many flights going back from Guam to Hawaii within recent days. Was this a risk we were willing to take? Nope! We knew that there would be a chance we would have to pay out of pocket and we did not want to front that much money just in case. So instead, we just flew to Hawaii. (In hind sight, I'm glad we did this!)

Getting on the flight is hit or miss...
There were 3 flights to Hawaii on the day we were permitted to leave. Prior to showing up at the passenger terminal, we called the Space A people and put our name on a waiting list. This does not guarantee you a seat, it just notifies them that you are interested in traveling. The first flight was scheduled to leave at 6 in the morning, with a role call at 4:30 am. This means that you have to arrive even earlier to "check in." When you check in you have to give them all social security numbers of the members traveling, ID cards and possibly birth certificates for little ones. Role call is when they announce who has a seat on the flight. There were 65 Firm (available) seats but the terminal had a little over a hundred people. They give the seats based on your category number. The higher category numbers include people that are on emergency leave or are PCS'ing (moving). I believe we were category 3...active duty and their dependents on permissive leave. The rest of the categories included reservists, dependents without a sponsor and retired veterans. Based on your category you are chosen by the time and day you signed up on the waiting list. We were number 46 out of 65. Note, that some planes only have 5 seats available while some have 75.


Pre-boarding experience...
After role call, we walked up to the check in counter and turned in our check baggage. There are no fees and you are permitted (2) 50 lb bags per adult passenger. Strollers and carseats are not counted against you. You may purchase meals for $4.50 a box which include a sandwich, fruit, granola bar, bag of chips, soda and bottle of water -- it's totally worth it! After check in we waited some more for security. You have to take off your shoes like a normal airport and go through that whole ordeal, but they are much more relaxed about it than commercial planes. We didn't have to take our laptops out of sleeves or anything like that. After security you board a bus (when everyone is ready) and they drive you out to the plane. We climbed up the stairs and picked our seats (it's free for all so you want to be in the front of the line if possible, but families have priority).

On-board experience...
I expected us to look like some sort of a combat-action movie. I envisioned seats that sit on the side of the plane...straps that come down from our head...and maybe a parachute exit lol. Our first plane had normal airplane seating and you could tell they tried their best to make it look as commercial as possible. It was pretty nice. The plane itself is noisy...which is great if you have kids. Half our plane was kids and some were screaming and crying but the noise was filtered out by the hum of the engines. Speaking of which, that hum lulled our sweet boy to sleep, making space A a more ideal setting for traveling with little ones. There are on-board bathrooms....they do provide blankets and pillows upon request but I suggest wearing thick socks and bring lots of layers...it's chilly! Also, before I forget...they require closed toed shoes to board the plane....also no heels or flip flops.

Arrival
Depending on your crew and where you land, arrival can be slow or fast. In Hawaii it was extremely slow. I had no room to complain because it was all free...just know that the whole process takes a lot of time.

Getting home...
Getting back was much harder. We attempted two hops and one was cancelled while the other only had 5 seats. We were over their number by one person and infants have to have their own seat. (Keep in mind that an extra day equals an extra night's stay at a hotel plus meals, plus potential cab fares and what not). There weren't as many flights back to Travis as we had seen the week before (where there were almost 5 a day!) and there were a ton of people trying to get on board because Hawaii to Travis is the gateway back into the states. There were 75 available seats the next day and we made it home safe and sound. We arrived at the passenger terminal at 2 pm, flew out by 7 pm, landed home by 3 am (with the time difference).

All in all, planning is key...flexibility is necessary. There are both positives and negatives to hops but the free price tag outweighs all the negatives. I thoroughly enjoyed our experience and I had the opportunity to see planes that I have only seen from afar.

If you have any questions, comment below so everyone can see and I'll try my best to help you out!

We are moving!!!!!!

So we originally thought that we would have to wait until June to find out where we are moving but after a several phone calls, we found out that we are getting stationed in Germany! As I told many of my friends, I was planning for someplace like Kansas but hoping for Germany. When I heard the news I immediately started crying tears of joy. It just goes to show you that God does indeed hear our prayers and is incredibly faithful. Most people dream of doing an overseas assignment but it is rare to actually get the place you want. The best part about all of this is that E was an exchange student for a few years in a town that is only a few hours from the base we will be stationed at. Not to mention, he is also fluent in German. This puts me at ease. It's going to be a huge challenge to pick up and leave, but to do so in an entirely different country is even scarier. Oh friends, God is not a God of coincidence. I have a friend from high school that lives 45 minutes from where we will be and we just found out another set of friends received orders for a base that is an hour North of us. I think the most exciting part is knowing that regardless of where we would've gotten stationed, we had the peace that God assigned us there for a reason. I'm definitely anticipating all the cool experiences we will have but I'm most excited about the people we will meet and the various ways we will be used by Him.

What does this mean for us? Well...we have a lot to do. I'll save most of the military jargon for another post, but in short we will be leaving California in a few months and living temporarily in Florida where E will be training. Kaiden and I will be hopping around visiting both sets of parents in the meantime. Upon E's graduation in October, we will go straight to Germany. We should be there by the end of the year. Prior to leaving California we will have a lot of "out processing" to do. Out processing basically means we have to do a lot of paperwork for leaving our base. It's is a long, tedious and illogical process that has you running back and forth to different offices on base. We will also be getting our house prepared for renting and will also have to sell a lot of our belongings since we can't take too many items with us.

Ah! I honestly won't believe this is happening until we step foot in Germany. I've never been to Europe and now we will have the opportunity to see so many amazing places. I plan on learning German and we definitely plan on teaching Kaiden German so that he will be bi-lingual.

In regards of prayer, if you think of us I do have a few requests...

Please pray that...

•  we are able to rent out our house with zero problems
• we make it safely to all our destinations
• E succesffuly passes his TACP training
• our families will adjust to us being even farther away
• we adjust well to everything...E will have a new job, we will be in a new location and I hear homesickness is very common

A huge thanks to all our friends and family that have been keeping us in prayer. As I was talking to my mom about this on the phone, she shared that she was sad we wouldn't be closer but confident that God made no mistake in placing us there....let the countdown begin!

[Photo Source here]

Scared of Change.

Now that it's 2012, I'm starting to get nervous for all the events that will unfold. When we heard the confirmation that E has a set date for job re-training (he will leave SERE and go TACP), I began to count down the months until he would leave. The few times we would get in an argument I would tell myself, "He will only be here for X months. Get over yourself and enjoy the time you do have with him." I have 6 more months until he leaves, and then he will be gone for 17 weeks. I know that is nothing compared to a normal deployment (especially an army deployment) and I know that he is not going to be anywhere dangerous and I know that we will still be able to talk regularly, but we've never been apart for this long and it freaks me out. I also know that this will prepare for what his real job requires, being gone . I hate admitting all of this because I would like to promise everyone that we will be just fine and we've got it all under control. I know both sets of parents have (valid) concerns and so I feel pressured to stay positive so they won't worry....but I have to be honest with myself. We will be dealing with distance. E will be dealing with a new job. We will be dealing with the transition from Air Force to Army. We will be moving by the end of the year.

Despite all these fears, we have been praying about this for so long. We are at peace that this is the direction where our family should be headed and I stand by our decision 100%. However, I need to start preparing myself more than ever for the long haul. If E and I are going to be dealing with distance, I must make sure I'm rooted in the Word more than ever. We will need God's strength to get through the change. We will need the love and support, not the questioning, of our families and friends. I'm sure I've opened myself to criticism by many veteran military wives (as they've experienced so much more than I have) but I think we all have one thing in common and that is the desire to have our husbands home.

If you remember, please be praying for us this year.

Just a random Kaiden moment. He loves playing with the door on our dog cage and I hate it.
I'm so afraid he'll get hurt so I always try to keep it closed.