Getting Settled

I wish I could start off this post by saying that things have gotten better since the last post but sadly they really have not. Things are still crazy chaotic. We are taking things slowly and just going day to day. But there were some pretty good things that have happened ::

We have gotten into our home FINALLY! This has made life a little more stable. I will do a full post of it once things aren't in boxes. We are surrounded by boxes. But the boxes are full of our stuff! 

We got a few new pieces of furniture and new TV for the place. The couches we had were leather and the leather was pealing off, so they were due for an update, plus they were way too big for our current living room and would not have fit. We got this AMAZING sectional from Ashley Furniture, it's so comfy and I am in love with the color! 

We also upgraded our kitchen table to something slightly bigger. I am IN LOVE with it. It has a butterfly leaf that can fold down and make the table smaller if we need it to. And it has a bench seat which is perfect for the kiddos. Our old table was eight years old. It was one of Dan and I's first purchases together when we got married. 

And Daniel upgraded the main TV. He has worked SO hard the past nine years in the military and the last new TV he got was when he returned from his very first deployment back in 2008. This was his "Congrats on Getting Out" gift for himself. I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty amazing TV! I love that it has WiFi so I connect right to Netflix and beige watch my shows! 

We FINALLY got our stuff delivered on this past Sunday. Seeing this big truck pulling up in front of our new home was the best thing ever! It took them ALL day to unload the truck. There were only two guys and they took LOTS of brakes. But our stuff is here, nothing is broken or missing, so I cannot complain. This was our last military PCS and I am SO happy to say that we NEVER had any issue with any of them!! I have heard horror stories from other friends about their PCSs going very very very wrong. 

We really haven't done much unpacking at all. The kitchen is basically done. We have the desk and computers in the office. The kids fall clothes are unpacked. And our beds are up. That's basically it. We really are in no rush to get things unpacked. We are enjoying quiet lazy time and taking it easy. BTW -- That first night in my own bed after 2 1/2 weeks in hotels was AMAZING! I have never missed my bed so much. 

We also ventured out and checked out a local Dairy Farm that hosts a "Pumpkin Patch" yearly. Let me just tell you, this thing was sad. We were very very spoiled by Bishops in Cali. They kids had a BLAST but it was so not worth the $30 to enter the place. It was defiantly a one time thing. 

 

#AinsleyScot has started school. She seems to be adjusting just fine. I really like her teacher and her classroom has a smaller amount of students in it so I feel really good that she is getting the attention she needs and will be catching up quickly. The top photo is from her first day there and the bottom is from her School Picture day. I may be basis but she sure is one beautiful little girl. 

Like I said, we are SLOWLY getting settled and it's starting to feel like home. Now if we could just get this job situation figured out that would be great!! 

Life is FAR from Perfect

I just don't even know where to even start with this post. Life isn't all rainbows and glitter right now. I have never been so stressed out in my whole life. This whole getting out of the military has become such a headache.

We moved all the way across the country. For a job that the Mister got the offer for, but is waiting for ONE DUDE to get off his ass and let the company know that the Mister is approved to enter the building. ONE.FUCKING.DUDE. It's been two months and the company is still waiting on him. What does this mean? It means my husband isn't working. It means there isn't any money coming in. It means there are bills that are going to be coming and savings that is getting drained. It means stress. It means fighting with each other because we are both aggravated and we have no one else to take it out on. I means tears, lots of them! I have cried almost every single night. I have been on edge. I am not happy. Not at all. Not in the least bit.

I am sick of living in hotels, we have been in hotels for two weeks now. I want my stuff. I want my kids to have their stuff. I want them to have room to run and play and laugh and scream and not have to worry about disrupting the people around us. I want my dog to be able to go outside without me. I want to eat a dinner that I cooked, on my table, on my plates. I am DONE!

There is a "thing" happening that I cannot talk about yet. (( Nothing to do with family, just a "thing" that is taking time to work out. )) I am starting to feel like this "thing" is what is really supposed to be happening. This "thing" is causing so much stress. So many "what if" conversations. I am ready for this "thing" to be figured out so we can move past it. It's one BIG HUGE mountain that is in our way of complete happiness, but it has to be done in order for us to know that we are doing the right "thing". Confusing right? Don't worry, all will come out in due time.

There are GOOD things going on. Dan DOES have a job. Which many guys that have gotten out are having a VERY hard time finding. We have a home. It's no where NEAR what we wanted, but it's a home and the price is great! Dan's childhood friend is stationed here at Fort Gordon. He and his family have been a HUGE HUGE help to us with this move! The kids all get along great, I really like his wife, and Dan is just beyond happy to have his friend so close. It really has been a blessing to have them. 

I know I am normally "Mrs Brightside" see the good in everything, and trust me I am trying SO SO SO very hard. I just need life to get back to normal. For us to get into our home. To get back into our routine. Once this and this lingering "thing" happen I am sure I will feel a lot better. But for now, yea excuse me if I am not happy-go-lucky Brooke right now. 

Dingers Do Augusta | The Rest of the Trip

After day seven things got a little crazy.

I knew it was bound to happen. This trip was going way too well. No traffic, clear skies, no fights, great sleeps, and then the night of day seven happened. It all started when the crazy storm rolled through. You see, we Armendingers haven't seen a real storm in a good two years. It rains in California but nothing like those crazy southern storms. And that is exactly what we got that night. Rain. Lots of it. Lighting and thunder. And the wind. Oh how I forgot about the wind. It basically kept #jayceleebriat and I up all night long. I am just not used to it any more. It finally quit around 4am but by then it was too late for a good nights rest. I got some sleeps, but no where near what I needed.

Then on or drive to Oklahoma City I called the hotel we had reservations at to see if we could check in early. Of course you can ma'am -- oh have you had a chance to check out our pet policy? Yea. I mean I assumed everyone would charge us a bit extra for #cambrigirl. But something inside me told me to check it out on the website. So I did. SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS!!! They want to charge me 75 flippin dollars for my 21lb terrier mix?!? Oh hell now! Que the panic -- We are going to be in OKC in just under 2hrs. It's raining. And now I have to find a new hotel to stay at because of the Mister sees a $75 charge for the dog he will FLIP. So I went to work (( thanks Trip Advisor )) and started looking for another hotel. First two BOOKED. So then I really started to panic. I was dealing with trying to find a new hotel, rain, driving, and keeping the kiddos quite. I then decided this was not going to happen when I was driving. So I pulled over, the Mister got the kiddos lunch, and I found us a new hotel. I could breath again. But man oh man that was NOT a fun thing to go though.

And here I am. Sitting at SpringHill Suites in OKC. It was like this was where we were supposed to end up. Nice big room, tons of restaurants around, super quite, and they gave me free wine. It's like the near I NEEDED a glass after the stress I went through today. Super thankful for that! Today also made me realize I needed to go through and check the pet policy for the remaining hotels and found out the one tomorrow as going to charge $100. It's a lot easier to swallow when you are claim after a glass of wine and you have your laptop open ready to find a new place. Lesson learned for sure!!

The rest of the trip is basically a blur. We went to Little Rock and from there decided NOT to go to Virgina. So again it was scramble time to find hotels again going BACK the way we originally had planned. All this stress is NOT fun. Also, somewhere in Alabama my phone decided it had had enough and stopped charging, hence why this post has zero photos. I need to get my desktop from our movers and get my photos off my camera. I have reserved just enough battery life to do this.

So yea, we are here in Augusta (: We started our house hunt yesterday which ended in heartbreak as two homes that we fell in LOVE with got rented before we had a chance to even get our applications in. Rental homes go SO FAST here. And there really isn't much for rentals here. So we are regrouping and going back out today. We are so extremely thankful for our realtor that is helping us. We really would be lost and defeated without her.

So that (( in a nutshell )) is where we stand as of right now life is a crazy stressful beautiful thing and I am trying my very very best at finding the silver lining in all of this!

Dingers do Augusta | Day #6 & #7

Oh this trip is already getting a wee bit crazy. I want to start this blog post off by letting everyone know that there has been a slight change in plans. The Dinger crew is no longer heading straight to Augusta. We will get there eventually but there are a few things we are waiting on to happen before we go there. Instead we are heading to the Mister's parent's house in Virginia! We will be there for no longer than a couple weeks (( hopefully )) but I just need everyone to keep us in your thoughts/prayers for everything to go smoothly for us over these next couple weeks.

Okay so now that that is out of the way -- let's get to the fun! Day six was our trip from Kingman to Albuquerque! This was one of the days I was really looking forward to because my dear sweet friend Jessica (( Jessica Lynn Writes )) is from there and told me a few things out the area!

The drive here there was beyond beautiful! I could totally see why people love this area so much. Dan and I both agreed that we could totally live in the Northern Arizona/New Mexico area. Of course we say that when it's not middle of summer lol.

So I am a little bit sad because one of the things I was really really looking forward to was seeing all the hotair balloons for the Balloon Fiesta but the night that we got there, there was a some bad weather moving in causing loads of rain and really strong winds! So the balloons were grounded. But the one thing we did get to experience was Papa Felipe's aka the BEST MEXICAN FOOD I HAVE EVER PUT INTO MY MOUTH! OMG you guys if you are EVER in the Albuquerque area PLEASE do yourself a favor and go here! (( I had the stuffed sopapilla, green chile potatoes, and rice ))

Day seven was a short (( thank GOD )) drive to Amarillo. The landscape changed from hilly and through mountains to FLAT FLAT FLAT. The winds were CRAZY pushing my car around. I really had to pay attention to the movement of the car and keep it from veering into other cars/semi trucks a few times (( don't worry Mom, we are okay (; )) 

Best part of this trip was Cadillac Ranch!!! I have wanted to see this crazy public art installation since I was in high school and did a paper on it! If you have never checked out the history behind it, I suggest you check it out. It's pretty interesting! And as if fate was on my side there was an unused up can of yellow spray paint there waiting for me to put my mark on it! I was pretty excited about this! 

Dinger's do Augusta | Days #4 & #5

I am no longer a California resident. Our last "home" is currently 660 miles away. How crazy! It feels so strange to be on the move again. Mainly because life is still kinda up in the air at the moment (( more to come on that in another post )) but here we are, in pretty Kingman, AZ right off historical Route 66! It's always been a dream of mine to see this part of the country. So many people have traveled this route for thousands of years!! And here is my little Aremendinger Party of 5 adding to those millions of people. So crazy.

Beale to Bakersfiled was crazy in itself. It was my husband's Dirty Thirty birthday so I woke up extra early and got donuts from his favorite place (( Pinkbox )) one more time. He had one more errand to run at work -- and then just like that he was done and we are no longer a military family. I am no longer a "dependent". We are just like everyone else in this world. It's a crazy concept to think about seeing as my whloe life I have been a militant brat turned spouse. But again, that's a post for another dayWe made it to Bakersfiled and the kids wore off some energy by jumping on the beds. Yes those blurs are my children lol. And yes I was watching them the whole time, they are kids that aren't fine china! I say let'em have some fun!!

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I wanted to take the birthday boy to a Mexican resturant that (( according to Trip Advisor, )) had amazing fish tacos (( his favorite food )) but birthday boy was a bit of a grump and vetoed my decision and we went to the Denny's right next to the hotel (( yuck!)).

Day one of the road trip was pretty successful other then a few grumpies. 

Bakersfield to Kingman was the start of the crazy looking landscape. I was really excited for this part of the trip just because I wanted to see what Arizona thru Texas looks like! There are some crazy looking pine tree things out here. But it's all so beautiful. I am so happy that we took this route! Plus driving along Route 66 is the icing on the cake for me (: We started out a trip but first #jayceleebriat and I needed a selfie (;

My co-pilot did last very long. I am so very proud of how my #cambrigirl is doing on this trip. Sure I have to dope her up on children's benadryl every morning, but she just sits there and watches me drive every once in a while whining for a belly rub. 

So the husband and I have these handy-dandy walkie talkies to communicate with since we never really know when we will have cell service and don't want to risk it incase of emergencies. Once in a while we will talk back in forth about things we see, where to eat for lunch, if we need a pit stop ... But the moment we crossed over from California to Arizona I got a super loud "YYYAAAAAAYYY!!!!!" over the walkie talkie. Needless to say -- the Mister was never really much of a fan of California lol.

Those crazy pine trees I mentioned -- yay, there was one at one of the VERY few rest stops along our route. So I had to get a picture of #ainsleyscot and #jayceleebriate in front of it (: If anyone knows what these are fill me in because I would love to know!

One of the moments I was so excited for on this trip -- CRACKER BARREL!!!!!!!! O-M-G it was everything I had hoped for and the Mister even let me get a Butter N Rum 20cent candy stick! I was so super happy, totally brought me back to my childhood!

Finally as we were leaving Sonic for a milkshake run the sun was just starting to set and was just breathtaking over the mountains and city. It truly was the perfect ending to such beautiful day! 

Five for Fridays

Jessica, over at Jessica Lynn Writes, use to have a weekly blog post called Five for Friday and was always one of my favorite things about her blog. (( She hasn't done it in a while -- maybe seeing this will make her want to start it back up (; ))

She called it "Five for Friday" and every Friday she would lists five things she loves about her husband. How cute is that? It gives you such a good reason to take a moment and remind yourself of little things you love about the person in you life. So I am making this a part of my blog!

1. You lean over and kiss me while I edit and you play your video games.
2. You went to the pumpkin patch one last time (( on a HOT California Fall day )) and totally won my best friends over by helping out with all the kiddos.

3. You totally stepped up and took control of cleaning the house for the final out even though you were super tired.

4. We've been together for eight years and you still give me butterflies daily.

5. The way you kiss my forehead at just the right moments I really could use one.

Dingers do Augusta | Day #3

Today is my family's last day in California. I am trying really really had to not be too sad about the fact that tomorrow we will be putting Beale AFB in our rearview mirror. I know a lot of people that live here hate it, but I really really loved this area. I never thought I would fall in love with it here but I have and I know a big piece of me will always be here.

We had a pretty laid back day today. Dan had a few things to do at his squadron, we had to go and get new ID cards made (( which turned into us finding out we have commissary access for three years when we thought we would only have it for six months, so yea that was pretty awesome )), I got all the laundry done and repacked..,. Like I said, nothing too thrilling happened today!

Tomorrow we start our eight day trek and we are drive to Bakersfield, CA. I am actually really looking forward to this trip. I am one of those odd people that love driving. I love just driving aimlessly and getting lost and finding hidden gems along the way!

Here are a few things I am most looking forward to on this trip ::

1. Seeing parts of the country I have never seen before. 
2. Albuquerque, NM -- It's Balloon Fiesta right now! I have always wanted to see it.
3. Driving along Route 66 and seeing some of the sights along the route. 
4. Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX
5. Cracker Barrel - Strange I know but there are NONE here and I really cannot wait to stuff my face with hasbrown casserole.
6. Seeing a good friend that I haven't seen for s e v e n years when we stop in Birmingham, AL

I cannot wait to share this adventure will all of you! PS - If you follow me in Instagram you will see TONS more images than I will be posting here. Find me @lifeasbrooke

Dingers do Augusta | Day #2

Well this day is just fantastic. Let me tell you why.

First of all #jayceleebriat decided 4am was an acceptable wake up time. This after the killer nights sleep I got on the super stiff bed with the amazingly paper like sheets. There wasn't enough coffee in the world to make the start of this day better.

Then, I went up to our 4271 Tannen Way home full of all my stuff in boxes and waited for the semi truck to come and load up my home and take it to Augusta. Well turns out, this PCS is going to be the extra fun one that causes us loads of stress. The driver of said semi truck got denied access to base!! Why? Who know's no one would give us that answer, all we know was our home goods were sitting here waiting to be picked up and no one to get them. And they have to be gotten today!

**Side Note // It was so so so very nice to have a couple hours to myself to sit in a nice quite place, listen to the hum of my refrigerator, and the birds chirping-- all while reading my book (:

Thankfully, we have a great case worker that went right to work to find us a new driver and crew to come get our goods. The truck finally showed up at 1:30pm and as much as I hate it, it was a good sight to see after the morning we had.

These guys were super quick having the whole house packed in just over two hours! I am so thankful for this crew and that they were able to come out and help us out. They finished early enough that Daniel and I were able to get in there and clean the whole house before sunset!

This view has been my favorite for the past seven months. If have have followed me on my Instagram feed you have seen a good 30 or so sunset images. It was the perfect view. Facing West, the Buttes off in the distance, and a huge big open field. It was perfection for me. I was pretty happy with this last view from 4271 Tannen Way. 

Saying Goodbye

I just witness one of the saddest things that we as military families have to witness every time we move. Our children saying "good bye" to their friends.

You see we as adults have ways of keeping up the communication with friends that we make each place that we go. And a big part of it is social media. But when we have children under the recommended age for these social media outlets it's a lot harder for them to stay in touch. And because of this, saying goodbye is a lot harder on them. I just watched #ainsleyscot say goodbye to her good friend Allision and I watched Allision break down into tears and cling to #ainsleyscot.

My heart broke right there.
Into a million and one tiny bits right there.

I tried explaining to #ainsleyscot that she is such a good friend that her friends love her enough to be upset and really really miss her when she leaves. That I was so proud of her for being such a good friend and that she will make new ones. But in this moment I know her little heart is hurting and that my words don't mean much. All she knows is that we (( Daniel and I )) are taking her away from everything that she knows. The friends she loves. And she's not happy about it.

I hate this feeling. I hate that I cannot make her understand that this (( in the long run )) will make her a stronger person. More adaptable. That she will one day be thankful for the times that she moved. One day she will be able to collect friends along the way and have amazing stories to share with her friends all over the world. That I was her growing up. That I moved around so much and left behind great friends. That because of this I am stronger and am more adaptable. That I have friends all over this world that I still keep in touch with. That I have had to say goodbye to friends only to have our lives cross paths again later on in life and be so happy that we get more time together.

But for now, her little heart is breaking and that is all she knows.

Dingers do Augusta | Day #1

Six houses. We have lived in six houses in the (nearly)eight years Daniel and I have been married. And soon we will make it seven. That's the thing when you are a military family -- you move... A LOT! It feels like I am always just getting settled and falling in love with where we are living and then BAM we moved again. This last one (( georgia to california )) was hard on me. I never thought living so far away from family would be so hard. I was spoiled living in Florida & Georgia. Having family within hours and never taking advantage of being able to just drive and spend the weekend with them. Living here has made me realize how badly I need my family close to me. How much I miss the kiddos seeing their Grandparents more than once a year. Or the Grandparents watching the kids grow up via Skype (( although I am extremely grateful for modern technology and how easy it is to connect with family/friends so far away ))

But today, starts day one of the #dingersdoaugusta move! The house is getting packed up. Last night was the last night we spent as a family in this house. It has been a good little house to us. The kids and I moved into this house and lived in this house with out Daniel for seven months while he was serving over in the sandbox on his last deployment. It challenged me to take on a move alone, to move into this house alone, and to make this house into our home alone. It scared the crud outta me but I did it and I never ever want to do it alone again lol.

I wanted one last picture of #ainsleyscot and #jayceleebriat in front of this place we have called our home to remember how tiny there were when we lived here. How much they will grow and change as time goes on. I want to be able to look back at this and remember the good times we had here (( and even some of the not so good )). We will miss our home here at 4271 Tannen Way so very much but I know our number seven home is out there in Augusta waiting for us to find it, claim it, and make even more memories inside its walls.

Outlet

Hi guys! So if you are a personal friend of mine you know that three years ago I used to blog. I loved it, but then life just got crazy and I stopped. I miss it. I have started and failed at blogging again since but I need it. I need a place to put my thoughts out there. So here we are. New blog. New look. I am super excited to re-start this up again (:

So where do I start -- I will tell you! A big change is happening in my life in three days. On the old blog (( link here )) I had talked about the possibility of us moving across the country from Georgia to California. Back then, it was just a possibility. Well, that possibility became our reality. We moved here Sept 2012. We have lived here for two years and I have loved every it very very much! I never thought I would love living here as much as I do.

The change -- Back in Feb. of this year my dear husband made the decision to put in for VSP ( Voluntary Separation Pay program ) and end his career in the Air Force early. He got approved this past June and then acquired a job contracting though Fort Gordon, GA. So if you are keeping track we lived in Georgia - Moved to California - And now, in three very short days we are moving BACK to Georgia.

Life is really a funny thing right?!

As much as I have absolutely loved living here, I am so very very excited to get back to the east coast - to be closer to our families - to be back on sweet southern soil. Our life is in for a whirled wind of a change but it's what is right for our family.

So that's where I am right now in this moment in life. This is where I am starting things. And I truly hope you all stick around and follow me to see where life takes us. It's not always going to be pretty, but I promise you some pretty real life happenings! No holding back.