Slowly But Surely

Well, I should know by now that life never turns out the way you want or anticipate it to. We have been waiting on several refund checks to come in the mail... one from gold's gym, one from Ft. Meade (where we used to live), and we are waiting on Kevin's housing allowance to show back up in his pay checks. We had been anticipating all of these checks to come in this past Friday...and guess what, they still aren't here! Because of this very inconvenient "waiting game" we had not booked my plane ticket to see Kevin yet. As the days keep passing, the price of my ticket keeps rising, and it has reached the point where it would be outrageous for me to spend that much on a ticket, when Kevin will be coming home for Christmas about 3 weeks from my planned trip. At first I was devastated... nothing ever seems to work out in my favor. All through my life my mom has told me that "the hard times just make your tougher"...well I think I'm a pretty tough girl and why is it that the "hard times" seem to just keep coming back to slap me in the face? Wouldn't they like to go visit someone else and toughen them up for a little while? I mean, all I want is a breath at this point. But, being the "strong" person that I am, I am once again forced to find the positive out of all of this (which I am still working on...) but at least I have come to grips and realize that the trip I was looking forward to will just have to be postponed. I will still get to see my husband soon, but instead of next weekend, it will be in a month (which I can hopefully handle).

On the brighter side... in exactly a week from today Kevin will be giving his "picks". Basically they will be told what their options are for their next station. There are 18 people in his class, so there are 18 "picks". They have already been told that only 4 or 5 of the stations are not land based (meaning they would be on a cutter a.k.a BIG boat). This is great news for us, since we want Kevin on land, and close to home. So that knocks it down to about 14 picks that Kevin will be looking at. He will get the list of stations (well, I guess he will be working at a sector now, but it's all the same to me!) next Monday, we will get to talk about, and then around Wednesday they will turn in their "dream sheet" of where he would prefer to go, and the following Monday he should be told where his next billet (basically where we will go next) will be! So, what does all this mean to someone who doesn't really understand what I'm trying to explain... we will know where we are moving in TWO weeks! I could not be more excited! This will give me tons of time to research where we are moving, find good neighborhoods, have plenty of time to find a rental home, and start looking for jobs! When Kevin graduated boot camp I had two WEEKS to figure all of that out... which didn't really work out in our favor, so having three months is about the most exciting news I could get at this point.

So there is my positive to look to when I get upset about not getting to go on my trip to California... I may be at home, but I will be able to start "planning" (thats right...I am able to PLAN and be a military wife...this sure is a first!) Once again I'm trying not to get my hopes up or anticipate too much, but really...I feel a break from these "hard times" coming and hopefully it is going to be sooner rather than later. Even though I still have until March for Kevin to come home for good, it feels like the end is in sight. Not meaning that the time for him to come home is any closer, but the fact that I can feel and see that we will be able to go into this new move and new place much more prepared.

And for everyone who knows me, you know how badly I have wanted to move back to Texas after living nearly a year in Maryland. Well, this may shock you... but I don't know if I want that anymore. That is another reason why I am so excited to just see what are options are when it comes to moving, because this may be the last "adventure" we get to take. Kevin isn't sure if he will want to re-enlist when his contract is up (in another 5 years!) so where we get stationed next will be where we stay for the next 4-5 years. As tough as it was to be so far away from family and friends, it was also one of the best times of my life. It showed me how much my husband means to me, and helped us to build a bond that I think few people are able to expereince. There is a whole different relationship between you and your husband when all you have is eachother. And although there were nights I cried because I hated being so far away, in the end my husband is who I pick. It is time for us to be able to live a somewhat normal life once he graduates, and at this point he could take me all the way to Guam and I wouldn't care, because I would be with him. So, be waiting... this time next week I will be able to fill you in on if Texas will even be an option to us or not!