A good friend of mine described the Greenpages process to me the best and she said it is kind of like
facebook in a way. You make a list of where you want to go next, then you make a list based on which locations are available/open to you at the given time. Then the commanders of said locations review your
profile/resume and if you are lucky, they pick you back. However, if you don't both pick each
other does NOT necessarily mean that's where you will end up, but it doesn't
hurt either.
We got
"the list" of what is available this week and we meet with the branch rep. Oct. 3. We have been throwing around places that we would like to end up next since we got here in June. Obvs my list is location based (Italy, Germany, Colorado, Washingtion, Virginia) and his is job based (Texas, Washington, Virginia). It really doesn't matter where you want to go because the places that you want to go to may not be availble.
Informally, in passing conversations, we have been making verbal lists of what we
want, don't want, locations of what we would be okay with, but
aren't ideal, lists of pros, lists of cons. We have also built quite an Army network and we have been asking our friends for there input as well.
*Our #1 factor is the opportunity for Company
Command. Chris doesn't want to sit on staff for more than a year.
*He has been throwing around going to a combact unit since he's done the construction bit already, but the more people he talks to that have been in a BCT, he has decided to stay construction.
*We would prefer not to be in the middle of nowhere, be close enough to family but not close enough that they can show up too often and travel/adventure opportunities.
We would be fine with Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lewis, Washinton; Fort Richardson, Alaska; Fort
Bragg, NC; and Fort Drum, NY.
We do not want to stay here, but we really do not want to go to Korea, or Polk!
Our list to pick from is SUPER weak and the 27 spots need to be filled by the 27 guys not staying for the degree program. The options are:
1 spot in Little Rock, AR
1 spot in Fort Stewart, GA
3 spots in Fort Polk, LA
5 spots here in Fort Leonard Wood, MO
2 spots at Fort Bragg, NC
1 spot at Fort Drum, NY
1 spot at Fort Dix, NJ
3 spots at Fort Hood, TX
1 spot Fort Bliss, TX
2 spots at Fort Lewis, WA
3 spots at Fort Richardson, AK
4 spots in Korea
Allegedly, It sounds like we
will be hearing where we are going by the end of October (I HOPE I HOPE I HOPE!!!!). Chris had his meeting to discuss his career aspirations with a
counsel or, and then we got the above list to go over, research etc., then we picked our
top 5, and our bottom 2 posts.
Our top picks are Fort Hood, TX and Fort Lewis, WA.
It
is so exciting to be starting this process, this is the first time I have
actually been a part of it. Chris hasn't done this process since he graduated college where his number one choice of branch was engineering and his number one location was Hawaii. The Army Gods must have liked him because he got BOTH of his number one picks, which is SUPER rare. I hope he is still on good terms with the Army Gods this go around =)
Though we
are really pretty open to going most anywhere, we know we don't want to go to Korea. Chris said he would rather stay here or go to Polk before Korea because it isn't an engineering job and it would be a waste of his time. He also said if we got Korea, he would go solo, which would only be for a year vs me going we would have to be there for three years. Chris has a lot of things he wants to do post command, so Korea would really screw things up for him.
What
is interesting is how you play the picking "game". There is a strategy to how
you pick, but the problem is it really depends on how others pick, which you
cannot really predict. For example, If we put Polk in our bottom 2, and someone else chose it
as their number 1, then basically it was a waste of a "bottom 2" pick on our
part. If we put Fort Hood, TX five times (which apparently you can not do), and there
just aren't enough spots, then they will place you wherever because they don't
know your #2 choice. It's a known fact that everyone and there mom picks
Hawaii, Carson, and Lewis as their tops and the Army tries super hard NOT to
send you back to wherever you have just been/already have been.
With that being said, here is how we played the game:
We made Fort Hood, TX our 1st and 3rd pick
We made Fort Lewis, WA our 2nd and 4th pick
We made Fort Bragg, NC our 5th pick
Our bottom picks are:
Folk Polk, LA and Korea
But truth
be told, I wouldn't mind Hawaii again down the line, but I am excited for our next chapter and possibly buying our first house at our next location.
The best advice I have gotten during this process is that "wherever you end up, you have to make the best of it and it's not about the location it's about the people you meet and the attitude you have going into it."
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Life in the Stix
Moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri was inevitable because it's the home of the Engineer Regiment and it's where the Engineer Captain's Career Course is. Despite knowing that ALL engineers HAVE to pay there dues there, I still had to whine about it. Heller, we were living the life in Hawaii for three years after all.
Anyhoo, aside from moving to the middle of the country during the hottest summer on record (the temps were as high as 106 for several weeks) we have made Missouri our new temporary home.
We only spent a few days shacked up in the Days Inn and eating out of a window or ordering in, (we have a pupppy and i was not about to leave him alone in a hotel!) we would have been out sooner if the realtors showed houses on the weekend, and found a nice little house in a nice neighborhood. Funny enough it's next door to where our friends just moved out of!
Taking full advantage of the fact that Chris would be busy with school, me being carless and our house being empty, I visited family and friends in Connecticut and celebrated my 27th birthday there as well. I was hoping and wishing that we would get the phone call that our house hold goods arrived while I was in CT and that we could schedule delivery as soon as I got home.... fail! In true fashion, we shipped my car (June 12) after our hhgs (June 8) and my car showed up first!
I'll address how to live in an empty house for 2 months in my next post.
Lucky for us, we have two sets of familiar faces from Hawaii here, which made our adjustment much easier and we actually have neighborly neighbors on this side of the world as well. One of our new neighbors even brought us over home made cookies!
We have taken full advantage of being able to drive since we have been here. We visited Springfield, Saint Louis and Osage Beach. Springfield is the closest big city with more shopping and it's about and hour and change away. Saint Louis has everything and sadly it takes almost three hours to get there, but it's worth the shlep! We spent the Fourth of July down there with some friends. We saw a parade, the ARCH, an air show and pretty sweet fireworks. Osage Beach reminds me of Cape Code and this part of the state there is a decent outlet mall and a very nice lake.
Believe it or not there are wineries out here! About 400 to boot in the "Show me State." Chris and I did some wine tasting (free!) at the Saint James Winery and had a nice little lunch nearby at a place called Sybils. A few weekends later we met up with our Hawaii friends for a date night at the Meramac Winery where I may or may not have consumed an entire bottle of wine by myself....
When we first got here, I had all intentions of working. As a matter of fact, as soon as we had boots on the ground here I started the application process to sub teach. Naturally they hired me, and by that I mean put me on the call list. However, I was hella burnout from working my rear off for a newspaper in Hawaii and Chris agreed that I needed some time to relax, destress and decompress, I married a real winner didn't I :) AND we were getting a puppy, aka his promotion gift, and this would be the perfect time for me to stay home and potty train him.
Since there isn't a whole lot to spend money on, we have been able to save some green and we can afford for me to stay home while we are here (about 5 and a half months). With that said, Chris has informed me that as soon as we get to our next duty station in January my vacation is over and my toosh will be back to the grind. I think by then I will be ready to get back into the work force, but for the time being I am enjoying being House Hold 6, catching up on my blogging, scrapbooking, recipe testing and just plain old vegging out!
Life is good here in the stix! Did I mention we are smack dab in the middle of Fall? Fall is my favorite time of the year, hands down (The trees, the weather, the FOOD) and we haven't had seasons in three years so I am soaking it all in.
Anyhoo, aside from moving to the middle of the country during the hottest summer on record (the temps were as high as 106 for several weeks) we have made Missouri our new temporary home.
We only spent a few days shacked up in the Days Inn and eating out of a window or ordering in, (we have a pupppy and i was not about to leave him alone in a hotel!) we would have been out sooner if the realtors showed houses on the weekend, and found a nice little house in a nice neighborhood. Funny enough it's next door to where our friends just moved out of!
Taking full advantage of the fact that Chris would be busy with school, me being carless and our house being empty, I visited family and friends in Connecticut and celebrated my 27th birthday there as well. I was hoping and wishing that we would get the phone call that our house hold goods arrived while I was in CT and that we could schedule delivery as soon as I got home.... fail! In true fashion, we shipped my car (June 12) after our hhgs (June 8) and my car showed up first!
I'll address how to live in an empty house for 2 months in my next post.
Lucky for us, we have two sets of familiar faces from Hawaii here, which made our adjustment much easier and we actually have neighborly neighbors on this side of the world as well. One of our new neighbors even brought us over home made cookies!
We have taken full advantage of being able to drive since we have been here. We visited Springfield, Saint Louis and Osage Beach. Springfield is the closest big city with more shopping and it's about and hour and change away. Saint Louis has everything and sadly it takes almost three hours to get there, but it's worth the shlep! We spent the Fourth of July down there with some friends. We saw a parade, the ARCH, an air show and pretty sweet fireworks. Osage Beach reminds me of Cape Code and this part of the state there is a decent outlet mall and a very nice lake.
Believe it or not there are wineries out here! About 400 to boot in the "Show me State." Chris and I did some wine tasting (free!) at the Saint James Winery and had a nice little lunch nearby at a place called Sybils. A few weekends later we met up with our Hawaii friends for a date night at the Meramac Winery where I may or may not have consumed an entire bottle of wine by myself....
When we first got here, I had all intentions of working. As a matter of fact, as soon as we had boots on the ground here I started the application process to sub teach. Naturally they hired me, and by that I mean put me on the call list. However, I was hella burnout from working my rear off for a newspaper in Hawaii and Chris agreed that I needed some time to relax, destress and decompress, I married a real winner didn't I :) AND we were getting a puppy, aka his promotion gift, and this would be the perfect time for me to stay home and potty train him.
Since there isn't a whole lot to spend money on, we have been able to save some green and we can afford for me to stay home while we are here (about 5 and a half months). With that said, Chris has informed me that as soon as we get to our next duty station in January my vacation is over and my toosh will be back to the grind. I think by then I will be ready to get back into the work force, but for the time being I am enjoying being House Hold 6, catching up on my blogging, scrapbooking, recipe testing and just plain old vegging out!
Life is good here in the stix! Did I mention we are smack dab in the middle of Fall? Fall is my favorite time of the year, hands down (The trees, the weather, the FOOD) and we haven't had seasons in three years so I am soaking it all in.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Aannd we're moving.. Part 2
I knew we were moving but I didn't know when I would actually have to get my act in gear because we didn't have orders. Orders are the military's "golden ticket" except you don't actually win anything or get to drink out of a chocolate river... anyway... You need orders to book flights, schedule house hold goods to be picked up, ship your car ect.
After a couple of intense weeks waiting for them, we got them and could finally get the ball rolling. The Army thought they would do us a favor by speeding up our time line and allowing us to leave June 8 but that was just bonkers! After a few more back and forths, we were able to move the move date to June 12, but since we shipped Chris' car to California (Not in any rush to get to MO and I was not about to put my fur baby in cargo!) we couldn't get to Cali any earlier or else we would have to spend $$$ at a hotel, with a dog while we waited for our car, so we had to get to Cali. early on the 14 so we could make it to pick up the truck before the weekend, well because they are closed on the weekeds. Ay caruma!
Anyhoo...I'm good but we had a lot of stuff that needed to get done and two weeks notice wasn't going to cut it. What made me laugh even more was the only day initially available for HHGs to come was June 8. I mean that was the day they wanted us off the island!? How am I supposed to move out, clean up and be on a plane in 24 hours? With that being said, after we wheeled and dealed our departure datem HHG was coming June 8, which only gave us a one day pack out, which is cutting it close. That meant I had to have the carpets/windows/house cleaned on Saturday so we could turn the house over on Sunday and then spend the next few days at a friend's house and the Aulani before saying Aloha on the 14th.
Whew.
Getting these orders was crucial since we were planning to fly to California and then drive to Mo., spending about a week with my family in Az., we had to make sure Chris's truck would be there when we arrived.
On top of quitting my job, shipping the hubby's truck and doing a premove purge my mom, dad, brother and Godmother are comming for a visit. Talk about timing right? They had planned and paid for this visit months in advance and we couldn't have forseen actually leaving before October, which was when he was supposed to leave. Well that's kind of a lie. We got to Hawaii July 2009 therefore we were supposed to leave July 2012 but Chris extended his "tour" because I was supposed to student teach. Well, in true fashion, once I started my master's degree program January 2010 I got the call I had been waiting almost a year for: The Hawaii Army Weekly/Honolulu Star Advertiser wanted to hire me! Since he had already put in the extenstion, it was a done deal but we didn't care. Heller, we are in Hawaii after all!
Before my fam came into town I gave my work my two weeks notice (May 31 was my last day) which was on top of my one week off that had already been approved months in advance, cancelling our trip to Maui (which was a nightmare since I didn't get the insurance but we knew we wouldn't need it since it was a preapproved leave but after an hour on the phone and two people later, I got all of our money back) scheduled to ship Chris's car the Saturday my parents were in town, and being the good wife I am I didn't want to leave him carless and housebond over one of our last weekends in Hawaii so I set him up with a rental car) and went room by room purging things.
Man, when we first moved here we had nada and now after three years we amassed a lot of stuff! I felt good about weeding out our stuff and reorganizing it all, plus with family coming the house had to be spot less and I knew they would open drawers and look in the closets to see if I crammed stuff in there in an attempts to clean up for them.
Aside: My advice to anyone PCSing:
1. Accept that no matter how much you preplan or prepack, things will go wrong.
2. Do a premove purge.
3. Start organized=stay organized,
4. Prepack! Bubble wrap frames, fragile pieces that are either $$$ or priceless because the movers don't know which items carry sentimental value and they are just going to wrap it in paper and throw it into a box; use storage bins and SpaceBag for clothes and linens.
5.Group items that you want packed together, like office stuff, decoractions and ect.
6. Stay on top of your movers and make your rounds to make sure they are on task and to let them know you are watching them to make sure things don't turn up missing on the other end.
7. Lable the boxes as they pack them! This helps you determine what's in what box, because if they see one Christmas decoration if your garage, all the boxes that come out of the garage are going to be lable "Christmas Stuff," and that way you know which boxes go in which room, which ones need to be unpacked first (Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom) and which ones can hang out for a while (office supplies, holiday decorations).
My family came and we had a great time! The timing, although a little stressful, was perfect because I got to play tourist and hit up my favorite spots on island one last time.
The day my family left was the day we went into prepacking mode. I bought a ton of Space Bags, which Chris thought was stupid AT FIRST, but then quickly changed his tune and several storage bins. Like the OCD person I am, our house was pretty organized to begin with and all of our holiday stuff was already packed pretty well in labled storage bins of there own so all we really pre-packed was putting stuff in Space Bags, bubble wrapping artwork and frames and organizing thing into bins.
In true Army fashion, when the movers rolled up in this
I thought we were being punked! I mean the three dudes that showed up to pack us bearly fit in that thing! The movers thought they were just the pack up crew, and that the moving truck was going to show up on Monday. No bra! We need this stuff in a truck today!!! After an intense couple of hours, a moving truck with crates was on its way.
Since we had a hiccup early in the day, we ended up being late for our own fairwell =/
Walking into our empty house after our farewell felt weird. If it wasn't real yet, seeing our house without our stuff made it really real. The next day was cleaning palooza: window washer, carpet cleaners and me. We met the landlord and turned in our keys and one less garage door opener, because welp, the movers packed it and said goodbye to our first place. It was a bittersweet moment.
Goodbye 91-724 Makalea Street, it's been a great three years!
After a couple of intense weeks waiting for them, we got them and could finally get the ball rolling. The Army thought they would do us a favor by speeding up our time line and allowing us to leave June 8 but that was just bonkers! After a few more back and forths, we were able to move the move date to June 12, but since we shipped Chris' car to California (Not in any rush to get to MO and I was not about to put my fur baby in cargo!) we couldn't get to Cali any earlier or else we would have to spend $$$ at a hotel, with a dog while we waited for our car, so we had to get to Cali. early on the 14 so we could make it to pick up the truck before the weekend, well because they are closed on the weekeds. Ay caruma!
Anyhoo...I'm good but we had a lot of stuff that needed to get done and two weeks notice wasn't going to cut it. What made me laugh even more was the only day initially available for HHGs to come was June 8. I mean that was the day they wanted us off the island!? How am I supposed to move out, clean up and be on a plane in 24 hours? With that being said, after we wheeled and dealed our departure datem HHG was coming June 8, which only gave us a one day pack out, which is cutting it close. That meant I had to have the carpets/windows/house cleaned on Saturday so we could turn the house over on Sunday and then spend the next few days at a friend's house and the Aulani before saying Aloha on the 14th.
Whew.
Getting these orders was crucial since we were planning to fly to California and then drive to Mo., spending about a week with my family in Az., we had to make sure Chris's truck would be there when we arrived.
On top of quitting my job, shipping the hubby's truck and doing a premove purge my mom, dad, brother and Godmother are comming for a visit. Talk about timing right? They had planned and paid for this visit months in advance and we couldn't have forseen actually leaving before October, which was when he was supposed to leave. Well that's kind of a lie. We got to Hawaii July 2009 therefore we were supposed to leave July 2012 but Chris extended his "tour" because I was supposed to student teach. Well, in true fashion, once I started my master's degree program January 2010 I got the call I had been waiting almost a year for: The Hawaii Army Weekly/Honolulu Star Advertiser wanted to hire me! Since he had already put in the extenstion, it was a done deal but we didn't care. Heller, we are in Hawaii after all!
Before my fam came into town I gave my work my two weeks notice (May 31 was my last day) which was on top of my one week off that had already been approved months in advance, cancelling our trip to Maui (which was a nightmare since I didn't get the insurance but we knew we wouldn't need it since it was a preapproved leave but after an hour on the phone and two people later, I got all of our money back) scheduled to ship Chris's car the Saturday my parents were in town, and being the good wife I am I didn't want to leave him carless and housebond over one of our last weekends in Hawaii so I set him up with a rental car) and went room by room purging things.
Man, when we first moved here we had nada and now after three years we amassed a lot of stuff! I felt good about weeding out our stuff and reorganizing it all, plus with family coming the house had to be spot less and I knew they would open drawers and look in the closets to see if I crammed stuff in there in an attempts to clean up for them.
Aside: My advice to anyone PCSing:
1. Accept that no matter how much you preplan or prepack, things will go wrong.
2. Do a premove purge.
3. Start organized=stay organized,
4. Prepack! Bubble wrap frames, fragile pieces that are either $$$ or priceless because the movers don't know which items carry sentimental value and they are just going to wrap it in paper and throw it into a box; use storage bins and SpaceBag for clothes and linens.
5.Group items that you want packed together, like office stuff, decoractions and ect.
6. Stay on top of your movers and make your rounds to make sure they are on task and to let them know you are watching them to make sure things don't turn up missing on the other end.
7. Lable the boxes as they pack them! This helps you determine what's in what box, because if they see one Christmas decoration if your garage, all the boxes that come out of the garage are going to be lable "Christmas Stuff," and that way you know which boxes go in which room, which ones need to be unpacked first (Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom) and which ones can hang out for a while (office supplies, holiday decorations).
My family came and we had a great time! The timing, although a little stressful, was perfect because I got to play tourist and hit up my favorite spots on island one last time.
The day my family left was the day we went into prepacking mode. I bought a ton of Space Bags, which Chris thought was stupid AT FIRST, but then quickly changed his tune and several storage bins. Like the OCD person I am, our house was pretty organized to begin with and all of our holiday stuff was already packed pretty well in labled storage bins of there own so all we really pre-packed was putting stuff in Space Bags, bubble wrapping artwork and frames and organizing thing into bins.
In true Army fashion, when the movers rolled up in this
 |
| Soo i did't know whether to laugh or cry, but this is what the movers expected to move us in. Ya shoulda' seen there faces when we gave them a tour of our two-story, four full of stuff bedrom house and full two car garage... |
I thought we were being punked! I mean the three dudes that showed up to pack us bearly fit in that thing! The movers thought they were just the pack up crew, and that the moving truck was going to show up on Monday. No bra! We need this stuff in a truck today!!! After an intense couple of hours, a moving truck with crates was on its way.
 |
| Oh it gets better. So although this truck had 4 crates, only two were usable so we had to wait for another truck to come. That one shows up with three useable crates but the longest part of our three piece sectional needed a larger crate, so a third truck was needed. Whelp they decided to eyeball the size of the crate and when it arrived it was too small! So our couch ( it was wrapped) was just strapped to the truck. It was a looong day. |
Walking into our empty house after our farewell felt weird. If it wasn't real yet, seeing our house without our stuff made it really real. The next day was cleaning palooza: window washer, carpet cleaners and me. We met the landlord and turned in our keys and one less garage door opener, because welp, the movers packed it and said goodbye to our first place. It was a bittersweet moment.
Goodbye 91-724 Makalea Street, it's been a great three years!
Definition of Insanity
Albert Einstein said it best when he said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
And I couldn't agree more.
Before Chris and I decided to get serious about starting a family, the movie "What to Expect When Your Expecting" was being promoted and I wanted to see it because 1. The female cast (Cameron Diaz, J Lo) seemed legit and 2. It looked hilarious! Now, I can walk into a Disney movie no problem but walking into this flick while it was in theaters seemed like bad juju. Not to mention how many knocked up chicks would be lining up to see it, and they would be obviusly oogling every person rocking a vagina wondering how far along they were and ect.
Obvs. I didn't see it in theaters, so when I saw it was available in our local Red Box machine I decided to rent it.
Enter definition of insanity here. If I can't even handle being around babies, watching a movie about people trying to concieve is a clear act of insanity!
I lost it. I balled through the entire movie. Movie recap: Famous health freak gets knocked up and didnt't know it; gorgeous tall drink of blonde water gets pregnant with twins without even trying; a 20- something gets pregnant after a one night stand; another family opts to adopt after they squander their 401k into failed IVF treatments; and the baby-know-it-all finally gets pregnant after two years of trying when she decided to take a breat from trying.
The last character really resonated with me the most. We started trying trying Sept. 2, 2010 and five rounds of Progesterone, three sets of blood tests, one semen sample and a dye test (Sept. 24) later we are still kidless.
My advice to those women out there in my same boat, don't be insane. Don't watch this movie (or any other smiliar movie) until you have a bun in your oven.
And I couldn't agree more.
Before Chris and I decided to get serious about starting a family, the movie "What to Expect When Your Expecting" was being promoted and I wanted to see it because 1. The female cast (Cameron Diaz, J Lo) seemed legit and 2. It looked hilarious! Now, I can walk into a Disney movie no problem but walking into this flick while it was in theaters seemed like bad juju. Not to mention how many knocked up chicks would be lining up to see it, and they would be obviusly oogling every person rocking a vagina wondering how far along they were and ect.
Obvs. I didn't see it in theaters, so when I saw it was available in our local Red Box machine I decided to rent it.
Enter definition of insanity here. If I can't even handle being around babies, watching a movie about people trying to concieve is a clear act of insanity!
I lost it. I balled through the entire movie. Movie recap: Famous health freak gets knocked up and didnt't know it; gorgeous tall drink of blonde water gets pregnant with twins without even trying; a 20- something gets pregnant after a one night stand; another family opts to adopt after they squander their 401k into failed IVF treatments; and the baby-know-it-all finally gets pregnant after two years of trying when she decided to take a breat from trying.
The last character really resonated with me the most. We started trying trying Sept. 2, 2010 and five rounds of Progesterone, three sets of blood tests, one semen sample and a dye test (Sept. 24) later we are still kidless.
My advice to those women out there in my same boat, don't be insane. Don't watch this movie (or any other smiliar movie) until you have a bun in your oven.
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