All up in the kool-aid, dont even know the flava

The wait is KILLING ME.

I try not to think too much about possibly moving to Korea. There's no since in wasting a bunch of brain power (and there is little to spare anyway) to the details of a move that might not happen. But that is very HARD. How can I not think about it? How can I not think about it every second of the day? I had hoped to find out something yesterday, but we didnt. Maybe today, but more likely tomorrow. And what if not tomorrow? How much longer???


We took the kids to the local college campus the other day to take some pictures and run off some kid energy.

To be honest, we really went to take pictures of the kids with our new camera.

Welcome to the family Nikon D40. I dont know how we ever lived without you.

Outrage

Do you think Jackson likes his new lilac colored Bumbo seat?

Hey, at least its not pink.

Jason's parents gave us a gift card to Target for Jackson, and I've been holding onto it for a few months trying to decide what to get. Lilac was the only color available in the store.The Little Man loves to be sitting up, so I figured he would love this chair.

I think he's too cool to care about a silly think like the color of his Bumbo chair.

Answers

Thank you for all of your comments and enthusiasm about our Big News. I told you the news would be Big, and I am glad you were not disappointed. lol.

To answer a few questions:

Amanda asked about the dogs- Well, dogs ARE allowed to go to Korea. A few of the airlines, like Delta, have really good pet travel programs that do their best to ensure good conditions for your animal in flight. While you are allowed to take small dogs in the cabin, in an approved kennel, and store them under the seat, I do not think Alfred is small enough for that. Alfred is a sturdy 30 lb long pug. He would have to travel in the cargo section, and while yes, I agree with what you are thinking right now, that does sound scary, again some airlines REALLY do their best to accommodate animals in cargo.

(please don't share stories of the horror stories you have heard about flying animals, especially pugs. I've seen the stories, trust me)

Now, IF we all go to Korea, we do not intend to take Bella with us. High Rise living in a very big city is no life for an australian shepherd. We would find her a good home thru a rescue organization.  I dont believe Holly would make it thru such a long stressful flight. She's got life left in her, but I dont think it wise for her to make the journey. We would find her a good home (possibly with one of you?) to live out the rest of her time on Earth.

Alfred? Alfred I really want to take with us. Alfred is my baby. Alfred is in great shape (save for his epilepsy, but he hasnt had a seizure in 2 years).  But, like I said, I've seen the horror stories. I've also seen great happy ending stories. Please don't share anymore bad stories with me, but if you have a sucessful animal flight story or info to share, please do. I havent made up my mind about Alfred flying. If he doesnt come with us, I will be heart broken. And, like Holly, I would find him a wonderful home before we left. Gah. I cant even imagine leaving Alfred behind. Cant even imagine.

And someone else (Sandy I think) asked how soon we could be moving. Well, I dont know. But it is our hope to be moving by mid-August. And yes, that is soon. But that is our hope.

Right now, Jason is in Kansas for a week with the Reserve Band. He was suppose to be gone for 2 weeks, but because he is returning to Active Duty, he needs to be back to get things finalized. When he returns ( Sunday the 27th) his recruiter will take him to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in Columbia, to get a physical, fill out his contract and find out finer details such as travel times/moving details/etc In theory, we could all leave immediately after he signs his contract. But, the kids need passports, and unless the military can bypass the 4 week (or 2 week expedited) wait times on passports, we'll have to wait at least that long. More than likely, it will take the Army movers a few weeks to arrange a time to come and pack up all our belongings to be shipped over to Korea. If we have to fly out before they can move us, my MIL will oversee the movers.

This is all IF we all go to Korea. IF. BIG IF.

Holly is trying to remind me not to stress about the details.

The Great Big News Reveal

I could drag this out, build up the suspense a bit more, drop hints etc, but I'm not going to.

Here's the news:

• Jason- as of yesterday- turned in his letter of resignation for his job at the jail.
• Jason is getting back in the Army
• 1 or more of us is moving to Korea.

There, now you have the highlights.

This decision has been given a lot of thought for a few months now. Very soon after we had Jackson, and I decided to quit my job, we realized that we simply would not be able to live on Jason's salary alone. It wasnt very much, and when you consider $300 a month was being taken out of lowsy health insurance, it left us with less than we needed to pay our regular monthly bills. We needed to make a big change.

I have always been a big advocate for the Army. I loved our time in the Army life. I love the totally free medical care. I love the support, the opportunities, all of the great concerts and parades and festivals and ceremonies that Jason played in. And Jason really misses playing the trumpet regularly. If you asked him what his dream job would be, he would say, "to play in the Tonight Show band". Well, he wont get there working in a prison. End of story.

Now, he might not get there thru the army band either, but at least he'll be pursuing his passion, getting paid twice as much as he is now, and the kids and I will have wonderfully free health care.

We will have to give up our life in this wonderful town that we had hoped to raise our children in. We will have to give up our new church, our new church friends, the schools I assumed my children would attend. We wont be near family. We'll rent out our house.

BUT, we'll be able to live. And live well.  We'll be able to pay our bills, travel, buy nice things on occasion. See the world.  It's what we have to do to raise our little family. It's been a TOUGH choice- and that doesnt even begin to describe what this decision process has been like. We've been thru it all. We've tried to find other job options. In the end, the positives of the Army outweigh the negatives. As tough as it will be to leave, I am truly excited.

Right now we are doing what the Army calls "Hurry Up and Wait". Jason re auditioned for the band field this past Wednesday (yes, silly- I know), and he passed (of course). And then we found out the bases that have trumpet openings.At this time, our options are limited to Kansas or Korea. And no offense meant to Kansas, but for complicated reasons, we've chosen Korea. What we will not know until next week at the earliest, is if the kids and I can go with Jason. If he goes alone, he'll only (only! ha!) be gone for one year. If we are allowed to go with him (called "command sponsored", meaning the Army pays for us to get to Korea, and packs and ships all our belongings, and finds us a decent off post housing arrangment) then we will be gone for 2 years.

I wont waste time telling you how I feel about either option right now, I'll save that for when we actually know which option we'll be taking. 

I am excited, scared, motivated, extremely anxious, stressed, and hopeful.

And really, those words barely touch on my emotions.