August Goal Recap

As you may remember I set a few goals for myself over the month of August with the hubbs being gone. Over all I didn't do to bad, however there were a few area's I didn't do great in at all. Dear running injury you really cramped my running this month. More on that in a bit. I'm a little late at getting my recap posted for August, so September's goals will be up with in the next day or two.
To jog your memory here are my August Goals.

*Running- Well I most certainly didn't meet my 75 mile goal. But for good reason, well not by my choice that is. I sadly ended up straining my hip flexor and that kinda cramped my running. I made it through about half the month and totaled 29 miles. Not were I wanted to be at all, but it happens. I've never had this problem before and let me tell you it absolutely sucked. It hurts, so bad to even walk sometimes. So the rest of the month consisted of lots of stretching and icing my leg / hip. I added in a couple different work out routines at home though to kinda of make up for not being able to run and I've got my plank time up to 2 minutes and 31 seconds. I'm quite proud of myself. :)

*Saving- I actually didn't do to bad on this goal at all. I kept track of everything I spent and made sure I didn't make any unnecessary purchases. As funny or silly as it might sound it felt so good coming home at the end of the day and marking $0 on my calendar for that day on not spending anything. I was able to put a little extra aside into our savings accounts like we had planned and make a few purchases for the hubbs Welcome home gift. Not to mention I put some fun money aside for when the In-Loves come in town next weekend.

*Classroom--Success!!! I completed my classroom updates and set up. Shelves & Cubbies are labeled, Pictures are put up on wall and my centers are relabeled and they look so much better. There are a few small things that I still need to do to get ready for our be yearly evaluation coming up in November. Classroom art project, a on going art project with the kiddos, print and hang pictures from last weeks events. I completed all of their evaluations to see were they stand and have started working with them one on one in the area's they are struggling in. Over all I'm pretty happy with were I stand in my classroom.

*Eating Out- This one was a complete SUCCESS, I am happy to say I didn't eat out not one time. I did stop and get a tea from Sonic a time or two which was much needed dealing with my kiddos sometimes. But aside from that I either ate at home or at work. (lunch is provided to teachers when the kids eat) I did have a girls night out for dinner one night but that fell through. Another night I went out with a group of people from our neighborhood to a local bar. A few people ordered food and offered me some and I so kindly declined. This past weekend T from the neighborhood invited me to meet up with her and her friend J at Dunkin Donuts for girl time and "coffee". I don't drink Coffee and wasn't going to eat so I took my lemonade in with me. That same evening T invited J and I to grab dinner and then over to her house to work on a little project. I went with them to dinner at Zaxby's but ate before hand so I wasn't tempted to eat while I was there. After about a month of no eating out it really wasn't as hard as I though it would be to. Will power I tell you, it WORKS!!!! 

*Sweet's & Baking- Another SUCCESSful goal in the books. This one was hard let me tell you!!! We / I don't eat a lot of sweets but goodness every now and then everyone needs a piece of chocolate or some Froyo. The weekends were harder than the weekdays. Being home working around the house or veggie out on the couch every so often I would get a sweet tooth itch. I pushed through and didn't give in. There was no baking done in that oven of ours either. Boy that was a hard one, with the Pinterest randomness searching I found a few…ok many new yummy sweet treats that were so tempting to try but I didn't.

*Puppies- I actually did even better than I had planned out for myself on this goal. I walked the pups every day through out the month of August with the exception of only 3 days. Another one I kept track of on my calendar and made me fill good about myself by marking it down each time I'd come home from our walk. Our 3 days we didn't walk were because 1) it was raining one evening, 2) my horrible hip injury, 3) a late night errand run. We ended out the month with a 5.2 mile walk this evening at a local park / walking trail here called the Greenway. It was our (the pups and I) first time there, it wasn't to bad at all. It was really pretty and the whole trail area that we took was shaded. Next time we'll have to check out the other side of the trail. There were a couple of days I took them on two walks which I know they loved. It def. made me feel a bit better considering I couldn't run.

August shaped up to be a pretty good month even with the hubbs gone. I am looking forward to September and what it has in store for us both. I've defiantly been focusing more on my health and fitness here lately and its been going great. Makes me feel so much better about myself.
Here's to SEPTEMBER, its my brothers birthday month so its bound to be a good one, oh and the IN-LOVES are coming in a week YAY!!!!!! 

August Goals

The hubbs is going away for a month (august) bummers (darn you army and your training schedule)!!! So I'm taking full advantage of it, well the best I can and setting some personal goals for myself. I came across the idea from one of my fabulous fellow bloggers Tamara who wrote a set of goals for herself for the month of August. I might start a monthly goal post's here, simply to help keep myself accountable. We'll see. I really can't believe this starts the 3rd month (4th month for the hubbs) that we've been living in Tennessee. Were has the time gone, we've settled in quite well and are enjoying our life here but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss living in the South!!! There's not a moment that goes by that I don't wish we were there still.

*Running- I've been doing really good with my running, adding miles and dropping my pace. It's still a work in progress and that's ok with me. It'll always be a work in progress. I took some time off so right now I'm just working on getting back to were I was. Over July I ran a total of 60 miles, for August my goal is to run 75 miles. I've calculated it out and its completely doable, staying with the same routine I've been doing. I also have a time goal set for for my 5k time. I'd like to get it down below my fastest 5k time which is 31 minutes. I'm not a fast runner by any means but Its something I love to do and gives me a since of accomplishment and pride. I've got 3 minutes to drop and I'll be at my first goal time. I'm determined to get there by the end of the month.

*Saving- I'm (we're) always about saving, this is a on going goal. We have 4 different savings accounts set up. I'm kinda OCD about our finances (as I'm sure a lot of people are). #1- savings account that we put money in each month from BAH to pay our Mortgage. #2- savings account for our home, the long term goal with purchasing a home is/was to build a nest egg for our future. We pull money from BAH to go into this account as well. #3- savings account for the hubbs, we call it the Gun Fund. Each pay period we put a certain amount in it and he uses that for what ever wants for his gun / reloading hobby. #4- our main savings account that we put the majority of our funds into. The one we don't touch, we've worked so hard to build it up. So while the hubbs is gone, we will be spending less on gas, food, going out, and shopping etc. So my plan is to divide that up evenly into our savings and buckle down even more on what we put aside. In hopes to help us reach our end of the year savings goals even sooner.

*Classroom- Its going on the 3rd month at my new job, in my new classroom and it still seems to be a work in progress. When I started I took a week and worked with it the way it was. This way it allowed me to see what worked and what didn't and what I wanted to change. Once I figured it out I made the changes and adjustments needed. It worked well but there was always something that I still needed to finish up, last minute touches on this or that. Last week was our transition week, with school starting up this week. Meaning I have 15 NEW kids in my class. Just as I was getting settled, a routine, a groove, art work up, window theme's done…..I have to take it all DOWN. AAAAHHHH, of course I knew this was coming but seriously come on. I've gotten a lot done but of course there are still a few things that have been put on the back burner, for one reason or another. I'm determined to get my classroom completely set up and finished by the end of August. Sure there's always going to be art work to put on our art boards, monthly window themes to do. However the basics cubbie labels, birthday boards, napping charts, child portfolios' etc are done. One big project I keep putting on the back burner is relabeling all the shelves / toys / centers with pictures and labels. Its a big job and its going to be time consuming but I want / need to get it done. It will free up so much more time for me with the kids.

*Eating Out- Simple as that, I'm NOT doing it!!!! The only exception to this one will be if I'm invited out on the weekends to dinner with friends. Although the chances of that happening are slim to none. (more on that later) I went to the commissary this past weekend and picked up plenty to hold me over and cook through out the next few weeks. There really shouldn't be any reason to eat out. This one will be a struggle at times I'm sure. Cooking for one isn't always easy but by not eating out it will help with my Savings goal!!!

*Sweet's & Baking- NOT happening!!!! I think that's pretty self explanatory. I love love love baking but I'm not going to while the hubbs is gone. No particular reason here, just a goal for myself. Will Power People! On top of that…...NO sweets eating at all. Cookies, Cake, Cupcakes, Candy, Ice Cream, anything that could be consider a "dessert". We don't eat a whole lot of sweets to begin with but I'd be lying if I said we didn't at all. Really anyone that says they don't eat sweets is crazy. So cutting it all out for this month (on top of no eating out) while he's gone will help with keeping off a few extra pounds.

*Puppies- Oh those sweet, furry, four legged no good for nothing, hair shedding, barking dogs are our babies even when they do annoy the living crap out of me sometimes. I'll always love them. Truth be told we slack in the "dog walking" department a good bit. Partly because we both get home from work after 5pm, I do dinner, dishes, get ready for the next day, watch a bit of tv, sometimes end up falling asleep on the couch and then the next thing you know its 8pm or later and to dark outside to take them on a walk. So while the hubbs is gone my goal / plan is to walk the pups every evening after I get home from work. I'll give myself the weekends off, if I choose to. ;) Our neighborhood is a small circle, similar to a "U". The total distance starting from the entrance and back around is a mile. Of course I'll have to wait till closer to 7:30-45pm-ish when the sun starts to set and its not blazing hot outside. It will help me from being completely lazy and seeings they'll be home all day by themselves it will get them outta the house. They still have so much energy, it never seems to end. A mile power walk around the neighborhood every evening will be a good addition to staying in shape and building my strength.

Here's to a new month, goals, and finishing what I've starting and sticking with what I've got planned. I I (you) can do anything I put my mind to, and I plan on working hard to stick with and maintain the personal goals I've set for myself. I know its only going to better help me, my husband, and our future.
PS: Did I mention I start taking classes at Austin Peay State University at the end of the month, talk about a full plate. Again more on that to come later.

And just because everyone loves a good selfie!!

New School...

After several interviews at various preschools around the area I finally accepted a position at a local preschool as a Pre-K 5 Teacher. I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity that's been given to me. This chance to finally spread my wings and built my experience. I absolutely love love working with kids and being able to experience life with them. Finally getting the chance to expand my experience is really important to me.
I will be in a classroom all to myself, no assistant here. I'm totally fine with that just means I really have to step up my game. I'll have a up to 15, 5 year olds in my care all to myself. Yikes that's a lot'a little ones. Thankfully my classroom is connected by a half wall with the Pre-K 4 classroom and the teacher in there seems to be really great and willing to help me with everything needed. It's always so hard starting over, having to learn new policies and procedures, meet new people, making friends, proving myself and getting the kiddo's to fall for me, learn to trust me and simply have fun with me.
The school is small, much smaller than were I came from at EDS. Its ran completely different as every school is but to come from such a awesome place I can't help but compare. I'm trying not to really I am but its so hard not to.
Another thing I'm having to learn to process and take in every day that I didn't before is "broken families." Believe it or not at the school I worked at before in Cola, there was not but maybe one or two broken families. And there was only two military families that went to the school. So I didn't work with military families or spend my days around children who's parents were away for various reason's. Now don't get me wrong I have worked with military families and their children in Hawaii. But I have never in my life worked with a group of kids that have come from so many broken families, parents that aren't in the picture at all. Children that live with grandparents or even foster care and other relatives. It breaks my heart, why on earth would anyone at all walk out on their child or not do everything in their power to provide a wonderful life for their children. Now don't get me wrong I come from a broken family myself so I am not at all down grading them but to have some of these kiddos tell me "I don't have a mommy," when we are talking about something in class just makes me so sad. I just want to scoop them up and take them home with me.
On the other hand there are a few ever so loving 5 year old's in my class that we refer to as "walking tornado's" and OMG I have to just walk away myself sometimes. I've had one child use multiple curse words in class, another push a chair across the room, kick and hit their friends. Of course they are kids, these things are going to happen but the language is were I drawl the line. Your out the door when you start talking like that.
I'm still learning the routine, the kids, the school, the management, my co-workers, who to talk to and who to watch what I say to as you have to deal with, with every job. It comes with time, time I've got and willing to spare. I'm giving it 100% and putting everything I have into it. My only hope is to leave a lasting impression on these families as I did with my last.
Change is hard, its never easy but I'm embracing it making the most of it!!! But I'd be lying like crazy if I said I didn't miss my EDS family so much. I'll be back, even if its just a visit for now and that's what keeps me going. :)

Oh and well since every girl loves a monogram and we all know I love everything monogrammed, I though I'd share these with yall!!! We have to wear scrubs Monday - Thursday (Friday is bluejeans and our school shirt day) and I'm not all about the prints and patterns on the scrubs so I went with solid colors and MONOGRAMMED them!!!! They turned out perfect and definitely jazzed them up a bit!!!! 

We've Moved & We Bought a House!!!

We'll a lots happened in the last month or so.  Its a long one but worth the read to catch up and see where life's taken us!!

We've made several trip's up to Tennessee to do a bit of house hunting. Our initial plan was to rent, we knew we didn't want to live on post. Once we got up here back in February the first night we started looking for houses to rent. Then quickly started scouting the market for homes that were for sale. We figured why not buy and pay ourselves vs. someone else. This will allow us to rent our home out once we PCS again and make money off of it. Planning and Building our Future. We got connected with a great Realtor through our friends C & B and he showed us a few houses that first weekend we came up. I of course fell in love with the very first house we saw. It was completely renovated and up to date. So much charm and character. We called it the "Red Door House" well because it had a red door of course. We continued looking and looking… we (The Hubbs) wanted to see what all of our options were. We knew with the Red Door House there would be a lot of work we would want / have to put into it with in the first couple of weeks of us being there. Plus a big bathroom reno eventually to make it a full master suite. Not to mention we had to keep in mind renting it out in the future once we leave TN. Would someone really be willing to maintain 2 acres of land, and live with the little quirks that it had.

Isn't it so cute!! 

Jumping ahead to April we wanted to push the closing date back as late as we could. We weren't leaving Ft. Jackson till Mid / Late April and we didn't want to have to pay a mortgage payment on a house when we were living in it. Makes sense right. April 10th we loaded up my car with everything we could. That morning the 11th we got up really and made the 7 hour drive up to TN.

Our New Home!!

We were finally getting to see our home that we were purchasing for the first time in person. Crazy I know we bought a house sight unseen but when I tell you our Realtor was amazing. He really was. He went over the top for us, so we were confident in what we were getting into. Closing was at 1pm, we met up with J at the house about 10:30am. It was so exciting finally getting to see it in person. It was everything we were thinking it would be from the pictures and details we got from J. It's out side the city limits, and back in a none traffic area. If you don't know that the neighborhood is back there then your not gonna just stumble across it. Best part is we'll never had houses built behind us!!! Country Living!! Of course with everything house there are the quirks and "what were they thinking, doing that" comments. There were doubts about our furniture fitting in certain rooms. But we knew we would make it work. We spent the weekend up in TN getting a few things done to and around the house and checking the area out some more.
April 22nd the day after my birthday the hubbs and pups made the trip to TN for good. I was staying back in the South to finish out the school year at my job. A bittersweet decision for sure, since I wouldn't be officially moving till the 1st of June.

Jumping to the First weekend in May, May 1st is the hubbs birthday. It just so happened to be the day he had schedule to get out HHG's (house hold goods) delivered. I was itching to be there. Ever since our move from Dallas to Hawaii I've been a nervous wreck about the military moving us. But was it really worth it for me to make the 7 hour drive to TN for the weekend. I'd have to take off two days of work and give up two babysitting jobs I was offered. I knew the hubbs wouldn't do much un-packing he already had mentioned to me he wasn't going to. Just simple the things he needed to get by with. We had talked and agreed that we would un-pack and set the house up together once I came down the 1st of June. Apart of me still wanted to be there, I went back and forth about it so much. I had told myself if I got my class covered at work I would go and once I didn't I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Apart of me wanted to be there and apart of me wasn't excited about the drive by myself. (although I've done much longer by myself, that doesn't mean I wanted to) The hubbs had left the decision completely up to me, he wasn't saying yes or no. Which didn't help me any, and I couldn't help but wonder if he'd be disappointed if I ended up not coming. It wasn't until Tuesday on my lunch break that I decided I was officially going. I went and had my car weighted and that night I loaded it up so I could go get it weighted again that next morning. Wednesday I got off at 5pm and hit the road to TN. The drive wasn't bad at all, and thankfully I didn't really ever get tired. I made two stops the whole time. Once just across the NC boarder to go to the bathroom and then once just north of Nashville for gas. I love that my car can almost make it the full 500 miles on one tank of gas! I got in just after midnight and was so excited to see our pups and of course the hubbs. I've missed them so so much, and it had just been a little over a week!!!! How on earth did we make it through a 15 month deployment back in 2007??? After a little catching up we headed to bed. Big day to follow with our HHG's getting delivered.

We woke up semi early 7ish. picked up the house, I vacuumed while the hubbs cooked breakfast and the pups played out side in our giant back yard!! We had a appointment with the door people to come replace a couple door nobs. They were here and gone before the movers ever arrived. We decided to go to the store for a drink while we waited since they called and were just leaving Nashville with our things. On our way out of the neighborhood we came across a loose dog. We did the good thing and tried to find his owners but no such luck since he didn't have tags. So the hubbs took him to the humane society so he wouldn't get hurt. We live near a busy highway and he could easily get hit. I'd want someone to do the same to my pups. I wanted at the house hoping the movers would show up sooner rather than later. About a hour after the called they were finally here. ETA was 8-10am and they arrived at 11:30am, whatever its ok. We kept saying all morning that it shouldn't take them that long to unload our stuff and get on there way. BOY WERE WE WRONG!!!! They didn't leave till 4:30pm. That was the longest un-load day ever. 5 hours, it didn't even take them that long to pack and load everything when they did it in Cola. After they were finished and left we had no desire to even start unpacking boxes. I knew if I started I wouldn't want to stop and we were both hungry. So we headed down to Nashville to celebrate the hubbs birthday Dinner at Buca di Beppo, his choice!!!
A trip to Lowe's on our way home for a few things. We've become regulars there here lately, I guess that's what happens when you buy a house. After we got home we unpacked a few boxes, we needed to get to our printer. So while the hubbs was doing that I unpacked a few of the master bedroom boxes. Shortly after we called it a night and headed to bed.

patiently waiting on the movers to arrive

THERE HERE!!!

 Rise and Shine Sun Shine. Friday morning we woke up and got straight to work. We knocked out the entire upstairs before 9:30am. Completely unpacked and put away. We quickly changed and I headed off to a job interview. Afterwards we ran to Target, Best Buy and Lowe's again. Grabbed a late lunch while we were out and came home to finish up the house. By 7pm that night the entire house was unpacked and completely set up perfect. The only thing left to do was hang pictures on the wall and clean up and organize the garage. We opted to save that for Saturday and sat back enjoying a movie with a glass of Vino and Cupcakes!!  (Cupcakes--) Complements of the hubbs on a congrats for my job interview.

I had such a hard time watching them get this beast of a unit up our stairs,
thankfully it made it safely and we don't have to store it in the garage!!! 

Saturday morning I made breakfast and then we got right to work on the garage. Surprisingly I though it was going to take a lot more time then it did but we were done in no time. 2 trips to the local dump location to get rid of all the boxes and packing paper. A quick trip to the commissary to get a few groceries and then back home for lunch. I went through and laid out all the picture on the walls were I wanted them to go before hanging any up. I wanted to make sure I got it right the first time so I didn't have to put a billion holes in the walls. Only a couple redo's but I'm happy to say I'm quite pleased with the out come. We ended the evening at home, the hubbs made Chicken Taco Salad for dinner and Cupcakes for dessert again.
Full tour of the house to come!!!! Stay tune!!! 

Our last day's

The last few day's in our Cola house looked like this…..filled with boxes upon boxes. 

Sleeping on a air mattress in our living room floor, living out of our upstairs bathroom because that's were all our stuff was we didn't want the movers to pack.

Eating off of paper plates because our dishes were packed away. Shredding cheese with a potato peeler because I forgot to leave out our cheese grater. 

Watching movies or TV shows on our laptops because we had no TV. 

Using Commissary bags as trash bag's because we threw out our trash can so the movers wouldn't pack it. 

Life in the mist of PCSing oh the joys!!! I can't wait to get settled at our new place and have everything back to normal again. 

 Wednesday morning I woke up early went and picked up donuts for our movers and came back to finish up a few things before they arrived. Their ETA was between 8:00am and 8:30am I figure closer to 8:30 so I had a little time to spare. NOPE, they arrived promptly at 8:10am just shortly after I got home. The moment I saw the moving truck pull up in front of my drive way my heart sank. Not that everything leading up to today wasn't a sign of hello we're moving but I guess it really hadn't hit me yet. Well it did today. I kept reminding myself of all that we have ahead of us and this is not the end of my time in the South but only the beginning. We will be back! (just not to be stationed at Ft. J)

It only took them a matter of 3.5 hours to wrap up all the furniture and load everything up. They left our couch and hutch for last because they are two of the biggest and heaviest pieces of furniture we have. Cleaning up the upstairs while they finished packing the down stairs reminded me of the way the house looked when we moved in. EMPTY! Life as a Milispouse and the joys' of PCSing. 

Wednesday night was last time I cooked dinner in our Cola house. I made Chicken Fried Rice, one of our favorites. It was easy, quick and we had everything there to make it.  We sat there on our air mattress eating off paper plates enjoy our last moments in our 2nd home together. 

Thursday night our last night in the house we decided to go out to eat. I didn't want to make a mess in the kitchen. The stove, oven, counters, and everything else was already clean and I'd like to keep it that way. We decided to ask our neighbors Mr. Larry and Nita to go with us. And thankfully they took us up on our offer. I was a bit nervous about how the dinner would go but it was great, there was never a dull moment and I'm so glad we asked them to go with us. They are the sweetest elderly couple in the world. Mr. Larry retired from the Army in 1985, he and his wife live on post one door down from us. Mr. Larry pulls the trash can's and recycling bins out to the curb for the entire neighborhood every morning and takes then back up after trash runs. They hand write Christmas cards for everyone in the neighborhood and always have a little something to go with it. A couple days before the movers came they brought over this beautiful cross-stitch that she had done. This way we would always remember them and have a piece of the beach every were we went. 

I'll truly miss them and their sweet hearts. I'm sure the pups will to because they always came over to say hi and give them loves. 

 Friday morning at 10am we finaled out of our house and officially were done with cleaning, packing and stressing over this house. We've heard mixed reviews on how the housing clearing process goes. I've heard that it's similar to a white glove test and then I've heard its really not that bad. I didn't want to chance anything so we made sure that everything was spic and span clean. I'm happy to say we didn't have to pay for anything extra other than the carpet cleaning which we new we were going to have to pay for. We opted to have them do it vs. us paying for someone to come in and do it and it still not be up to their standards. 

When one door closes there's another waiting to be opened, when one chapter ends there's another one to start. 

Goodbye Cola house! 

Exploring Ft. Jackson

DAY 17

One Adventure leads to another

We've been trying to take the pups on a walk as often as we can since getting here to SC. Going out on our nightly walks together is our way to leave everything at home & just enjoy our time together. Last week when we went on our walk we noticed a guide that displayed trails around post & running paths. It maps out distances any were from 3-10 miles around post and trails to follow through the forest. It's a really neat and great for running, it will make things easier instead of having to map out my own course.

This afternoon we decided to go a different direction on our walk and found another Trail Guide. This one was right near a large fenced in wooded area that had a few trails through it. We took the pups off their leashes & they had a blast running around checking everything out and sniffing every thing they could get their noses on.

I think I'm definitely going to start running the marked routes, it will be safer as well.

Life in the SOUTH

The pine trees along the high way followed us for as long as I can remember on our drive. I noticed the miles coming to a end on our Navi system & I told Gabe there better be a BIG city really soon because I ain't living in the woods. Moments later we were greeted with a Welcome to Ft. Jackson sign and more TREES. We finally made our way to our new duty station all the way across the mainland in Columbia, South Carolina. This is home for the next two & half years so let the fun begin. Gabe is going to be a Drill Sgt., he isn't totally thrilled with the assignment but he is going into it with a open mind so that's good. Not to mention that this is really good for his career in the Army, so you can't complain about that. For the next 2 & 1/2 months he will just go to work as normal reporting to his new unit (which he seems happy with). January 9th he has a drill school date were he will go for 3 months a be trained on how to be a Drill Sgt. We were told that the school will be here on post but he will stay in the barracks for the 3 months. I'm really hoping that changes between now and then. After just getting off a year long deployment, then with this assignment ahead of us & the crazy schedule he will have I want every minute with him I can. So we will wait it out and see, I can only hope for the best.
We were able to get a house as soon as we officially signed out of Schofield. I have to say that was one thing I was really worried about. I didn't want to have to stay in a hotel with the dogs. They had been through so much over the last month & half I just wanted to get things back to as normal as possible & stable for them. We had a appointment with housing at 1pm the day we got here & within 45minutes after that we were handed keys to our new place. I'd be lying if i said wasn't bummed that we aren't able to get newer housing. It's quite nice, I'd say nicer than Schofield, it looks allot like Schofield housing but in a RowHome type of set up. However Gabe & I both agreed it still wasn't THAT nice were we'd want to have kids to be able to get into it. I guess we will be waiting on that next rank E7.
The house we were assigned is very similar to what we had at Schofield as far as layout. The difference is this one is more updated with carpet through out the upstairs, laminate hard wood flooring downstairs, central AC & semi smaller. There are four homes in a section A-D and we are C so in the middle (we were offered a end unit as well but for personal reasons we turned it down). As soon as we got to the house & started unloading the car we were greeted by the 3 other families that live in our section. They were very welcoming with open arms and smiles letting us know if there was anything we needed fill free to ask. I was so happy that we had great neighbors, at Schofield we kinda kept to ourselves & so did everyone else in our area no one really came out of there homes unless they were leaving.
About a year ago the Army started letting Retired Soldiers live in government housing, with that being said two of the families living in our section are retired & the other is Active Duty. It's nice having such a divers group of people living around us. It makes me that much more happier with the home we picked, I look forward to getting to know them more & hearing their stories from when they were in the Army. To give you a idea of how long ago one of the couples retired, it was the year I was born '86 & his son just retired from the Army as well with 20 something years in CRAZY!!!!
Once we got the car unloaded, showered & freshened up it was time to do a bit of shopping at the PX. But first a stop at the lending closet, which ended up being a total life saver. They have a life time supply of stock on hand to GIVE you until your HHG's get here. Out of everything we got we only have to take back the microwave, coffeemaker & vacuum. The other things like a entire set of dishes, cooking pot set, table ware, cutting board, mixing bowl, mop, broom, laundry basket, can opener & knife set we get to keep. Now we have all of these things in our HHG's so as much as a help as its going to be we don't need the extra (frankly its a very basic set of items as well not really my taste) so we plan on donating everything to the local thrift shop on post. I made out a list of everything else we needed for the house & we went to town shopping at the PX. I have to say it was pretty fun shopping around and seeing all the different things they had.
Our next stop was the Commissary we had to get some basic items to get us through the next two weeks before we plan to do a mass shopping trip. I didn't mention above about how much smaller the PX was here VS. what we are use to but OMG the Commissary just about drove us nuts. It was set up completely different than the SB Comm. it was nearly half the size & just made no sense at all. I guess it goes along with "I DON'T LIKE CHANGE" just another thing I'm gonna have to get use to.
It was a long day and a very tiring one, we drove around checking out the post a little bit & the city its self some but we mainly took the rest of the day to get settled in.

Ft. Jackson is a big change from were we came from not only the environment but the post its self. It's small like SB but more spread out and more challenging to find things. I know with time we will know it by the back of our hand like we did our last duty station but until then its still all very much a blur to me as it still is all setting in. Being on a Training base is very different in many way, I'm sure I'll blog about it here and there over our stay here so keep a eye out for that.

Follow our journey through my blog here over the next 2 & 1/2 years at Ft. Jackson, I will be posting a picture each day from something we saw, did, something new or something that happen in our life. It's our life captured by daily photographs, just another way for us to remember our time here and I hope you enjoy seeing life through my eyes (photographs) as much as I enjoy taking the pictures & living it.

DAY 1

Our First Meal in our New Home!!

To tired to cook so take out it was, yummy pizza for two please.