SUKANDA!!

Moving is hard. It stinks. Having to start over every 3 years, give or take, really can take it's toll on you.

And the worst part about it?? Consoling your kids because they miss their friends, adjusting to the new neighborhood/house, finding activities and schools for the kids, unpacking, dealing with move damage... the list can go on and on.

Nope, not one of those things makes me fear moving.

Finding a hairdresser... now that frightens me. Especially when you live in the land of the mullet... women included. There is no discrimination here. After looking at everyone's hair for the past 3+ months, I was very distraught. I had not seen one person that I wanted to find out where they got their hair cut. Then, while on a field trip with e's school... it happened. I finally found someone who had cute hair. I immediately and shamelessly marched right up to her and asked her who cut her hair. Thankfully, being a military wife has helped me to abandon all reservations and not feel strange at all going up to complete strangers and asking them anything.

Enter, Sukanda (cue harps and choir signing 'Ahhhh').

She is a cute little lady from Thailand that does a wonderful job cutting hair. After seeing her work, I was confident enough to let her not only cut 4+ inches off my hair, but she also thinned it for me.

Whew, one more thing checked off my list. MD is getting closer and closer to home every day.

Manamana!

KK and I were waxing nostalgic this morning of our times with our great friends, The "A" Team, that we left back in California.

We have watched this video over and over and over and... It's sure to put a smile on your face.



Have a great day!

Moving... Stinks!!

Normally, we LOVE to move. I know, strange, but we do.

We actually spend weeks prior to our moves de-cluttering, purging and organizing. Before the movers actually come, we stage everything... all pictures are put together, all of our electronics are hand packed in their original boxes, things that shouldn't be packed are placed in a room labeled 'DO NOT PACK', etc., etc. We do that so that we can have an easy un-pack on the other end. And it usually works... until this move.

We thought that we had the greatest packers when we were in CA. We were so impressed with their speed and the supervisor came out to pack our plasma and he told us that we had his 'A team' packing us. We should have had an idea when one guy actually packed the cat litter box, food and water... and yes, they were all full. Common sense would tell you that if we wanted the litter box to be packed, we would have emptied the poop, but who are we to judge?

Anyway, so it is now 8 days since we have received our household goods and we are still not completely unpacked... mostly, but not completely. Some would say that's pretty good, but for us... not so much. Our last move, we unpacked in 2 days.

Enough rambling... lets take a look at what we unearthed, shall we?

Here is a wardrobe from KK's room.
Underneath the toys and books are E's uniforms, including his Choker Whites... nice.

What the... ?
If you can't tell, it's a box of laundry detergent packed with Woolite, stain spray, dryer sheets... all neatly taped inside the box. Problem is, they packed it in the same box with the turkey roaster and rack which punctured the boxes (yep, there were two of these babies) and powdered detergent was everywhere.

Oooh... another wardrobe. What's in this one? It doesn't seem very full.

Oh... OK... yep, two leather jackets DO provide the right amount of padding for a semi-precious stone globe that E so lovingly lugged around Hong Kong to bring it home to me.

And one last thing for the record books. This box was in our garage... empty. Why not use it to pack in? What should we pack in it?

Good, pack the glass fish tank in the All-Clad box. It is the right size. Make sure you write 'Fragile' on it somewhere so that it's OK.

Oops... you forgot to put any sort of packing material in with it to keep it safe. Did you really forget?

There are so many more things that are just not right but that's just part of military moving. We should be used to it by now, but I don't think you can ever get used to absolute disregard for your things.

Next move, I swear we are doing it ourselves.

Congratulations Graduate!

As most of you know, E has spent the last year and a half at the Naval Postgraduate School working towards his MBA in Financial Management. Not only did he reach that goal, but did very well along the way. We are very proud of him! He graduated this past Friday. His parents and the girls and I were there to share in the moment and capture some great pictures to share with you all.

As you can see, I have become quite the photographer. I have mastered the art of the special effect picture so that you not only see him shaking the hand of the keynote speaker, but you can also see the smile on his face as he walks away. I know, amazing. Just wait... I have more.

E has made some good friends here and they have some special talents.

That, was Trevor. He is so stinking speedy, you can hardly tell that he is there. Very Superhero-like.

Bet you didn't see Trailer there. AKA, the Invisible Man.

Ahhh, Ricky Bobby, you clean up nice... and With Distinction. Who knew?

I see you hiding in there Tec. It's the curse of being tall.

That's one proud and happy family.

Congratulations to all of you. We are going to miss you!

All Our Bags are Packed...

The movers came today and packed the entire house.  Of all of our moves we've done, this has seemed to go the smoothest.  Except for the part when one of the movers actually packed the cat litter box.  Are you kidding me?  E just told me that the guy at least emptied it out first.  Whew!  

Now, if we could just find the cat, we'd be in business.  We caught a glimpse of him running toward the door earlier today and haven't seen him since.  Hoping that he hasn't run away.  Not sure how to explain that to the little ones.  Now if the hamster decided to run away, that might be OK.  Although I'm sure that e would have a bigger problem if 'snow princess' went missing.  All of my attempts to get her to donate it to her class have failed.

The movers will be picking everything up tomorrow and then we will finish cleaning.  I use the term 'we' loosely.  My mother-in-law has practically cleaned our entire house already.  Got to love that.  It has been so nice to have them here to help us.  I will be enlisting help from any willing relative for all future moves.  I am hooked.

Alright, snoring KK is making me sleepy.  More adventures in moving to come.

Green is Good!

E got his 'green card' today which means that he has officially completed his Master's Thesis. Woohoo!! Somebody give that man a Bud. Wait, he already has one.

He flies out tomorrow to present it at the Pentagon. We will keep our fingers crossed here and hope that all goes well.

Congratulations and Good Luck!

Thank You!

Thank you to my parents for serving and teaching me what it means to be an American.

Thank you for those that lost their lives serving.

Thank you to those that have served.

Thank you to those that are currently serving.

Thank for for supporting those that serve and have served.

And finally, thank you to my wonderful husband for doing what he does so that we can live as we do. I love you!

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A good friend of mine emailed the following video (link below) to me. It's about 5 minutes long, so watch when you have time. It was made by a 15 year old girl named Lizzie Palmer. It's incredible and haunting.

And the Winner is...

House...







#2


Thanks to all of you for your comments and advice. We signed a 3 year lease today.

We absolutely fell in love with the yard and the amount of space that it has. We have increased our square footage over our current place by about 2000. We are going to have to be careful to not go crazy buying furniture to fill it. A refrigerator box desk is sounding like a viable option, along with a cinderblock coffee table for the 'formal' living room. When we get into the house, we will post pictures with our stuff. But in the meantime, take a gander at these.

Backyard and pool.


Deck


Kitchen


Dining Room


Breakfast area


Family Room


Living Room


Entrance/Foyer


Wash Room/Mud Room


Bedroom #1


Bedroom #2


Bedroom #3 (door leads to den/craft room)


Master Bedroom


Master Bath


Den/Craft Room


Outside


We might need to paint. I'm not sure if I can live with all that blue for the next 3 years.

House Hunters... East Coast Edition

E and K are searching for a home to rent at their new duty station. They have narrowed it down to three.

Their budget is $2054 (BAH... Basic Allowance for Housing). A good school system, lots of room, and allowance for pets is important.

Here are the choices:

House #1

Upsides: A former model home, loaded with everything... builder trying to show off. 3500 square feet; finished basement with den, wet bar, and pool table room; HUGE master bedroom with jacuzzi tub, fireplace and two walk in closets; kitchen with stainless steel appliances, double ovens and island Jenn-Aire; deck with gazebo; house wired for internet and sound through-out; gas fireplace on main level and finished basement.

Downsides: Located on a corner lot with virtually no yard; close proximity to neighbors; escalating lease ($1900 year 1, $2000 year 2 & $2100 year 3); e would have to ride the bus past a place called the 'insanity farm' with beware of dog signs; no parks except for an open field with 5 picnic tables; water damage (with mold) to the basement and dead yard.

House #2

Upsides: HUGE yard; nicely landscaped; wrap-around front/side porch; above ground pool; wood burning fireplace; master bedroom with stand alone shower and jacuzzi tub; owners leaving riding lawnmower; close proximity to the bay; partially finished attic space for office or craft room; full mud room; walking distance to elementary school; secluded location.

Downsides: tending for yard and landscaping, tons of leaf raking; pool maintenance; single sink master bathroom and bedroom with small closets; older home; kitchen could stand to be remodeled; rickety fence around pool; no basement.

House #3

Upsides: Lowest rent price ($1700); unfinished basement (lots of room for girls to ride bikes inside); 'designer' color through out house; washer/dryer upstairs; HUGE master bedroom with great closet, large tub and separate shower; nice kitchen with island, cherry cabinets, side-by-side refrigerator; first house we looked at and loved; gas fireplace.

Downsides: Door to deck has no deck; SMALL yard not watered since tenants left in June... dead; hurricane (2 years ago) knocked down trees in the backyard (county land) trees remain knocked down; designer paint out of control in some rooms; bedrooms, other than master, are small; propane heating for water heater... what??; located in same subdivision as house #1... same bus problem arises.

We had no idea that we would find this many possibilities... all in one day. PLEASE help us make a decision. What do you think? What is important for you or us? HELP!!

The Hummingbird, Jagman and Robb

Our life is crazy. Since we move every three years or so, it's hard to make good friends and more importantly, lasting friendships. So, when you find someone that is even remotely like you or your good friends, you dive right in and spend ridiculous amounts of time with them. Time is short, so you make the best of every minute that you have. And, you're lonely so every minute that you are able to talk to some one is oh so nice. I have been fortunate enough to meet some great people throughout E's career, but few of those friendships last. That's where my friend The Hummingbird (HB) is different.

A little background for you. Her name is actually Jenn. E gave her the nickname, 'The Hummingbird' (for those of you that know him, that is no surprise to you). See, the first time that E experienced Jenn in all her glory, I was gone. She rang the doorbell and before he even got the door all the way open, she was in our kitchen. She's that fast and as frightening as a small bird is, as E would describe it. I still remember the phone call from him. 'Dude, what's wrong with your friend? I didn't even see her move. She scares me. Tell her never to come to our house again. I don't want to be alone with her... EVER!'

That's exactly what I love about her. She's fast and efficient and organized. I couldn't have found a more perfect friend.

She's also the best gosh darn hairdresser that I've ever had. She had a salon in her house, two doors down from us. I could call on a weekend and walk over a couple minutes later. She cut both of our kids' hair and gave kk her first haircut. When will I ever find that again?

Then there's Jagman, her son. e and Jagman became fast friends too. They both were off of school on the same days so they would run back and forth between our two houses and we took turns watching the kids. I had Tuesdays, and she had Thursdays and then lots of other days back and forth. The two of them were inseparable. Neither of them could function without the other... 'I'm bored, when's he going to be home?'.

And then there's Robb. Just about one of the nicest guys that I have met. He is fabulous with kids and was so good to ours. He's in the Airforce, so the likelihood that we will all be stationed together again is fairly slim.

They moved at the end of August and things just haven't quite been the same. e has made another really good friend at school, but they don't live nearly as close. My hair couldn't be in worse condition and now I have to wait until December for our drive across country... we are stopping in NE for a family hair cutting session. Strange, I know. But it's hard to trust just anyone with your hair. Ladies, I know you know.

Anyway, we miss them and wish them all the best in their new adventure

Seriously?? Is This Really Necessary??

As a military family, you become used to moving often and know what you can and can't take with you. So, when you move, you always pack up that random box that you can't bear to throw away and bring it to your friends or neighbors... lightbulbs, frozen sausage, a package of batteries, candles and cleaning supplies. Surely someone will be able to use them.

By now, you all know that I am all about organization and efficiency and finding an easier way to do things. But this? Come on. I recently acquired the 'Power Sprayer' when a good friend moved... it shoots a continuous spray of liquid so that you don't have to incesantly pull the trigger that comes with a bottle of cleaner.


That must have been one seriously tired cleaning person to come up with this invention.