Home Is Where The Military Sends Us...

This picture is the perfect representation for how we feel right now. My "bad news" that I spoke of earlier is making us feel just like little man feels in this photo. So, here it goes:

Our orders to Virginia Beach, Virginia were taken from us this past week. We will NOT be returning to the east coast as planned this November. We have NO IDEA where we are moving to.

Let me elaborate (and explain for those of you not affiliated with the military.) Back in February we came into our 9 month window (meaning, in 9 months, we'd be moving to another naval installation.) So we were allowed to start looking at orders (new places to move.) WE both want(ed) to be back on the east coast so very much. We like the navy on the east coast, we're familiar with the east coast, we like the weather, and well, the east coast is just so much better. So ALL we have been applying for was east coast orders. We've applied to Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and Connecticut and we were denied these orders every time...not because Kevin isn't qualified for any of these jobs/orders, but because the budget for the military is pretty tight right now and they don't have the money to move us back to the east coast. Not just us, but a lot of families. Basically if you're here, you're staying here.

Well, back in May we were ECSTATIC to find out that we were picked up for orders to Virginia Beach! Sure it wasn't the most ideal of orders (because Kevin would be leaving A LOT) but I was totally alright with that because I would be back with my friends, close to family, and back where I LOVE. So we spread the good news! We told our friends back in VaBeach, we told our families, and we told people here.

A month passed, and during that month hubby would say to me, "I can't wait to be back in VaBeach..." and I would do the same thing. I mean, we were pretty excited...we were even making a mental list of all the places we wanted to eat and things we wanted to do that we never did when we lived there a few years ago. And then it happened. I was sitting at the dinner table eating breakfast with little man when Kevin walked out. He looked pretty perturbed, but I just figured he was extremely exhausted from work the night before and then the words tumbled out of his mouth...."we lost our orders." Now, this may not seem like a HUGE issue to y'all, or you're probably thinking "just try for orders again" but it's just not that easy. It is a huge issue...we absolutely do NOT like it here. There are so many things that I'm not going to list because those feelings are how my husband and I feel towards people here, and about work, and other things and it's not worth it to even bother with. Just know that we absolutely do not like it. And yes, we are going to TRY to get orders again, but here's why they took our orders away.

Apparently the detailer (the guy who talks to and works with Kevin on getting us where we want to go) cut us our orders and had no clue that Kevin had two dependents (Decklan and myself). We didn't even mention the fact that I'm due to have another baby in October! But the problem with this is that the more dependents you have, the more money the military has to pay you to move you and your family, and with the budget the way that it currently is, it just wasn't going to happen.

So now we are in limbo. We are five months away from moving....to god knows where...and it's just extremely, EXTREMELY stressful. When you hit 4 months from your PCS (move) date that's when it gets really bad. You become what's called "needs of the navy" and well, they send you wherever the hell they want you to go. Lemoore, CA....Fallon, NV....El Centro, CA....and so on. These are places that you NEVER want to live. I mean, I don't speak for everyone when I say that, but a vast majority of people do not want to live there. My family included. As much as I detest where we live right now, I'd MUCH rather stay here than go to one of those places.

Hubby is talking to the detailer who is "working" with us, but who knows what will happen. We have compiled a list of places (5) that we want to apply for, but again, it's a long shot. They're not all east coast because we don't want to get our hopes shot down and stomped on again, so we're trying to look at [doable] options. Talk about being stressed. There's just a lot that's going on: trying to figure out moving, what if I have to move before Kevin and have the baby elsewhere, being pregnant, and just life in general. But, thus is life in the military...right?! I guess a better title for this rant would have been "home is where the military sends us, even if it's 5 months before we're supposed to leave and oh yeah, have a baby somewhere in there too." Is is too soon to say I'm ready for a tall glass of wine?! I'm kidding y'all. We all know that it'll be vodka.