So much change for Fall

Fall is going to be exciting around here!  I always loved Fall.  I love the color changes and the welcome of cooler weather after a hot summer.  This Fall for our family will be exciting.  We are building our "Nest" (house) which is long over due.  Most birds fly South for the winter but we are heading North.  Our house will be in Howell MI.  It's a really nice town to raise our girls and I hope our family will be very happy there for years.  Being in Toledo away from family and friends has been hard but I am excited and determined to make great friends in my new neighborhood.  This short year here in this neighborhood seemed like forever.  The "nest" will be done at the end of November.  I can already see where the Christmas Tree is going to be...I actually got excited today just thinking "I finally have my fireplace that my kids stockings can hang from every year".  It's funny the silly things that make you happy after living in Military housing for so many years and having your home change every 3-4 years.  (in some cases ever less then that)  I will make sure we have a big house party to make sure you all know you are always welcome at our home!

Larry's Birthday is next week.  He will hit his big "40" even if he wont admit to it!  He seems to be one who doesn't want to celebrate it too much.  Me on the other hand.  I turn 40 three weeks later and I am all about celebrating.  LOL  I don't mind at all that I am 40.  I will also be in Hawaii so that may help too.  The sun on my skin and a drink with a tiny umbrella will certainly help.  :-)  I get to spend some time with good friends and that is greatly missed.  Patience and Melissa better watch out..we are going to have some fun.  :-)

Abby and Chloe are great.  Abby is in 4th grade and doing so good.  She is so smart and I am so grateful for that.  Chloe is home with me for a few months.  She will go into preschool again as soon as we get into the new house.  I didn't want to put her in one here for 2-3 months and then move her to another in November so we just put it all on hold.  She just turned 4 this summer and she went last year too so I think she will survive.

Matt has recently moved back home for a few months.  He is looking for work here in Toledo and then his girlfriend and him will be moving out together when we move to the new house.  At least that is the plan.  It can be trying at times because our views on thing are so much more different then the kids these days but I am biting my tongue.  He will have his own place and responsibilities one day and will look back and realize the mistakes he made just like we all have.  That's the good thing in life, we are all human and we all make mistakes. 

I want to send good wishes to everyone and let you all know I am thinking of all my friends out there.  Lots of love ...

So the moving DRAMA begins!

Well it's been a while and much has happened.  We drove up and picked out all of our colors and materials and designs for the houses finishing touches.  Only to be shadowed with the death of our poor Major when we came home.  That really took the fun out of house building.  : (  Then a week later we find out the engineers say our house is too big for our Lot of land and the house can not go on it at all!  Well that just about done it for me.  I believe in Karma and that house was starting to give me bad JUJU!  

   We picked a new Lot and the basement should be started in July.  That doesn't put us in the house now till probably DECEMBER.  Not what I wanted to do for Christmas but I guess its a blessing to have a house.  I am hoping we can move over Abby's Christmas break so she wont miss too much school.  I am really not looking forward to the painting though.  The builder paints all the houses White because they have had problems in the past were people changed their minds and didn't want to close until the house color was fixed.  Kinda silly and a pain for me because I hate an all white house and I am not the best painter but we'll do what we have to do.  

    We are getting ready to head to Maryland at the end of this week and we are excited to see our friends.  It has been since October since we seen them.  The girls are going to have so much fun just being with them again.  I know I am looking forward to just sitting on the couch chatting with good friends again.  Then always make me laugh.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and a safe one if you are traveling.  We will keep you updated and will put up a picture of our land when I go up there in May.  Till then XOXOXO
 

Our new "home"

Well as a military member I should be use to saying that but I type it and it seems a little weird.  We are embarking on a new adventure in our lives that will allow us to plant some final roots.  We are excited and a basket case of nerves as well.  We are building a brand new home and MAN IS IT SCARY!  I love that we get to pick out the home layout and colors and material but it sure does have a lot of red tape and fine lines to read between.  A whole bunch of number crunching and fun things like that that we never think of when we started this journey.  I will say if I look up one more granite color, marble color, mantle style,wood floor type or appliance my eyes may fall out of my head and hit the keyboard itself.  After a while you start to get confused and don't know what you like anymore.  :o) 


       So come October we will be living in Howell Michigan.  We are really excited.  I think it will be a great place for our kids to grow up.  In some small ways it reminds us of our life on a military base with the perks it has, close community development, community center and pool.  I love that the kids will be in walking distance from the pool.  That will make teenage years easy for Momma to keep an eye on them.  ;o)  See momma plans ahead. 

   Life for us all has changed a lot since Larry retired the Marine Corps.  He has had to adjust to civilian life and I know he misses the Corps a lot.  My children have had to say good bye to friends that they have gotten close to and move to an area where they can not just go outside an run freely with a dozen kids at any given time.  I miss that the most for my Abby.   The security of knowing my Military family was always watching my children and making sure they were safe as we did theirs in the neighborhood.   You just don't have that in the civilian life style.  I have had to watch friends move away that have become my family that I know I will never live next to as a neighbor ever again and that is hard.  Those women have become very much a part of my family as my blood family is to me.  Coming back to my home town has shown me how much I have grown apart from some people or maybe I should say they have grown apart from me.  I'm still here but I never expected them to go away.  I have had the chance to really reconnect with some family that I feel I've had some strain between us because of living far away so long and that has been wonderful.  You never realize what a sacrifice a person gives to be in the military whether it is the active duty person or the spouse and children.  I surely have a broader look on that subject after my tours with my Marine.  I have sacrificed more then I ever would have imagined I would have been asked to sacrifice but in the end I would do it again because my husband is a WONDERFUL man and my children mean the world to me and so do ALL my friends and Family.  I even love and care so very much for the ones who no longer stand by me.  I'm proud to say that number is small that do not but their absents are still missed and count.  Hold your love ones close and thank those who do give all for you everyday.  Not just military but others like Fireman and Police officers and EMT that even have to go into scary situations at times.  We so don't give thanks enough.

Settling into our nest

  Well we have nestled in for the time being.  We are in need of buying some paint and new furniture to decorate our nest but we have finally emptied most of the boxes.  It's nice to not have our house decorated with cardboard boxes and clutter.  We are going to take a trip to IKEA on Saturday to look for a few things for the house...gadgets and rugs.  I'm not sure when I will paint.  Probably the following Monday.  

   Abby LOVES her new school.  She has been there for three days so far.  They are a lot more strict then her last school but she seems to be enjoying it.  She has to wear a strict uniform code here and she was nervous about it at first but it has turned out to be really easy for her.  I love it!  It makes getting ready for school so much easier.  No more worrying that if I don't get up with her Larry will let her go off looking like a crazy women.  :o)  He likes to let her be creative.  LOL  I do too but I don't like to look like we have no taste at all.  :P  


   Chloe is not in school yet.  I just got her shot record yesterday and hopefully they take her old birth certificate.  I haven't gotten her new one yet with correct name on it.  I wanted to wait till I knew for sure where we were settled before sending off for it.  She is very excited to go and it looks real fun.

 Larry starts work Monday.  He is pretty excited.  He is missing his old work a lot and I think getting back to something normal again will be good for him.  Leaving the Military life was more then I think we both thought it would be.  To all our Military family and friends...slow down and enjoy the time.  You realy feel lost when you come out.  You have this weird feeling of not belonging.  It's just a strange feeling.  Now we need to find something else to get ourselves involved into.  


  As for me...huummm.  I am going to try to get the house in order and paint and decorate. I would like to investigate my new area and find some activities for the girls.  Like dance, tap, hip hop and maybe piano lessons.  Maybe even a cooking class for me.  I would like to look into joining the YMCA so that the kids and us can go swimming and meet other families.  Maybe get the kids in some sports through there as well.  I also need to find a good church.  I really have been missing church lately.  Computer church is getting old.  Well until next time...have a blessed day.  I feel I really am blessed.
 

Our new beginning after Retirement

Life after retirement from the Marine Corps was some what a shock to my family.  We went from living in something close to 2000 square footage to living in two rooms in an attic at my moms boyfriends house.  Talk about downsizing.  :o)  I cried the whole weekend we got home.  If you can call it home.  I woke up Sunday and while sitting on my moms boyfriends rattan couch in my make shift living room I decided I had to make light of it all.  After all this weekend I had lost my house, my husbands job, all my belongings were in storage, my girls were without a school (which I had no idea what district or state they would even go to at that point) and I had also said goodbye to my 20 year old son who had finally moved out.  Not to mention all the great people I love I had to say goodbye to in MD.  WOW all in one day.  That's a lot for anyone to take.  

   So as I sat in my makeshift living room my daughter walks up to me while on the couch and I decided here we go.  Let's laugh today because if not my face is going to wrinkle like a child's hands in a pool.  I asked my daughter if she liked my couch and proceeded to tell her it was from Bloomindales.  Then I pointed out my Grandfathers chair we had covered with a fitted sheet and said it was from Ethan Allen's.  I pointed out the 20 inch Computer monitor that we had been watching our favorite shows on online because we had missed them the week before and stated it wasn't a computer monitor it was a 60 inch LCD TV.  I also pointed out that we were not living in an attic but staying in the Penthouse at the CARLISLE.  After that morning I decided I was going to survive this one way or another and humor was really the only way for me.  

    By Wednesday Larry had a great job and we were approved to rent a great home with Abigail's school literally just outside our back gate and Chloe's new preschool is just around the corner.  The neighborhood is quiet and beautiful and upscale.  I guess the Lord wanted to see how strong I was.  I sometimes look back at that week and feel I wasn't very strong and my faith was there but very hidden.  I knew he would take care of us but at the same time I was so sad.  I didn't hide it as well as I normally do.  

   This week we are adjusting a little better.  My girls have been whining a lot and my little Chloe says she can't do things she use to do like pulling down her own pants to go potty.  I am keeping in mind that if I felt and went through what I did then they must be just as bad and they had to watch me break down on top of it all.  We are working on getting them back on the school schedule of bedtime and rise times.  Abigail feel off the wagon there a little.  Her new school starts later then normal so it should be OK and an easy transition.  Chloe is excited to go to school.  She has wanted this for a year now.  She will only go half days for 3 days a week.  It will be great for her.  Larry is even excited to get back to work.  I will be busy with the house.  The girls want their rooms painted and I want to paint the living room and dining room.  It should be fun.   I need lots of advise from my friend Michelle though.  She is way better at this then me.  :o)  Lesson in this I guess is just have faith and keep plugging away at what you want.  It will come.  You just have to make it happen. Plus Lot's of help from the Lord.  :o) Till next time....