Military Monday

Getting ready to pack our bags and head out West.  Time for the Stenzels to conquer a new post and a new state. Jason has orders to report to Ft. Lewis, Washington in March.  We have known about this for a few months now, but I haven’t really let it sink in.  The Army is known for changing it’s mind!  The fact that the movers will be here next month to pack up the house and move all our belongings to the other side of the country has crept up on me. I know, that sounds silly, but it is true the holidays kind of sucked up the time I thought I had. So now the planning begins. 

My first research project was schools.  School for Jakob and Aiden. I *hope* this is our last duty station and they wont need to make another change for several years.  This became a project of looking things up, asking people who had been there, or people who were going there where they were planning on living…etc.  I found out that the waiting list for living on post was looooong.  And the living spaces weren’t anywhere near what we would be able to get for our housing allowance. So we are searching for a house to rent.  And I think we have narrowed it to Lacey, Washington.  Good schools, close to post for Jason’s commute, and close to everything I need.  There are a few great houses that we are looking at – 3-4 bedrooms, great kitchen (a MUST for me), and backyard for the boys to play.  I also LOVE that most of the houses in WA have fireplaces.  I have not had a fireplace in my house in over a decade….I miss it so!

I will say that there are a couple things that I will miss about Georgia.  Definitely not the heat of the summer, that’s for sure.  But I will miss the friends I have made here.  I will miss the neighbours on my street.  The kids all around for my boys to play with.  The support and care they gave me for the year that Jason was gone.  I will also miss the great Company that Jason is in. The guys that he works with are pretty great.  His 1SGT, Hamilton, was amazing.  His Cpt, Cory Wallace, was the best leader I have met.  His LT, E. Olvera, is fantastic.  And the guys under him made the platoon a great one.  They helped bring him home safe and sound, and for that I will be forever grateful.

Getting off topic now. The move is right around the corner.  I need to get on it, stop being in denial of it actually happening and get my butt in gear.  Washington is waiting for us.

What is the first thing you do when preparing for a move?  Help a girl out, I could use a great checklist to make sure I am not missing anything!