As I Type...

The move is happening. Right now. We have strangers in our home, packing and rearranging beautiful brown cardboard boxes, all around. It is an odd feeling, looking at the boxes and hoping that the belongings inside of said box make the journey to our new (although, yet to be determined) home in once piece.

This is our second PCS move in three years. We have moved from three different addresses in those three years though. This one has been the least stressful, easiest thus far, and the snowiest of them all. Ross and I realized on Monday, a mere four days ago, that we should attempt to prepare for the move. Luckily, we haven't been around much in the last few weeks, so the house wasn't a complete wreck. We will really learn how well we prepared when we unpack in a few weeks. That is, if we figure out our housing situation.

We are not sure how long we will be at Fort Sill. Could be six months, could be 5-6 years. We do not know if we will be moving in the Oklahoma August heat. And we do not know where we would be moving to, if we do move. What we do know is that we have the absolute BEST support system of family and friends. Our family is frequently reminding us about how excited they are to have us close to home again. Our Army friends are willing to help search out homes in Lawton for us, keep Levi so I don't have to pull out from under the movers feet consistently, and reassuring us that Fort Drum has been an absolute life changing experience.

When we moved here, we had been married for 10 months. We were expecting Ross to deploy by the end of the 2011 year. We had only seen 12+" of snow at ski resorts. We had no pets or child. We didn't own any major appliances. And we moved to New York with 60 boxes.

We are leaving Fort Drum with 3 years 6 months of marriage under our belts. 1 deployment that happened two years after we thought it would. Many inches of snow in our memories and currently on the ground. 1 dog and 1 Little Man. A washer and dryer (Big kid status!). And over 100 boxes.

We have developed some amazing friendships as well. Some will be following us to Fort Sill this winter, and some we may have said our forever goodbyes to. It's the harsh reality of the military life, but you give a hug and a "keep in touch" and you part ways. I hate this part. I'm not good at this part. I'm hoping it gets better as we go through a few more moves.

We will spend our final weekend here having true quality family time, aka cleaning this place. Our volunteer passenger for the trip back will be arriving tomorrow evening. We are pretty thankful for Lindsay and her willingness to join for her second trip of the year! It is not a fun trip and it's even less fun with a 20 month old, but she is a trooper and we are thankful.

Merry Christmas to you all and the absolute happiest of New Years!


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