update

So, we may have a house to rent!  By "may" I mean that they guy said we could rent it and so our application went through, all we need to do is sign a contract.  We'll do that when we get there next week, so assuming he's not a flake, we should have a house!  With a yard!!  My mother-in-law and father-in-law were gracious enough to watch Po while we house hunted and they have a sizable backyard.  We think Po became accustomed to being able to run more than 10 feet while dodging furniture and having to turn around and run back to get some of his energy out, so he'll be super happy to have a yard!  So, we'll be working on packing up and such this week and heading on out! 

A moving post

It is truly interesting to me, just how God's plan is slowly unfolded for us to see.  If you asked me 2 years ago what the best way to move to a new base would be, I would have probably said something completely naive like "oh you can just live on base!"  Little did I know, but found out pretty soon after, if you're already in the possession of orders that tell you you're also going to be training at a nearish by base, you may want to live 1/2 way in-between the two, to avoid hour long commutes.  You may also want to look at places before you roll into town with some of your worldly possessions and the rest headed towards you in the very near future.  This keeps you from running around a brand new town in the pouring rain begging for any apartment that will take you.  We were definitely blessed to find the one we did because it was a great complex, but it could have gone quite badly.  

From that experience, we learned to check with the people on base first since they have a plethora of resources, and give you information on rental properties before you try to just go at it alone.   However, not everyone loves 64 lb boxers.  We didn’t know that, because we’re smitten with ours and who wouldn’t want him?  Apparently….most people don’t.  So, again, we’re freaking out trying to find anyone who will take us and our dog.   Again, we were totally blessed to find the place we did, because it too has been a very nice place to live!

Now that we’re pros….ahem…we know to do research before we get here and talk to the base housing authorities and to weed out all those dog hating properties, because apparently they exist.  (please don’t leave comments on why they don’t allow dogs, I get it!  I just wish I had known so many people didn’t want them.  BTW people looking to rent a property, when putting your pet restrictions on the advertisement, just spell out your policy.  Don’t waste my time if you don’t want my dog.  Don’t make me waste your time by asking you if you’ll take him.  Cut and dry folks. Thanks and gig ‘em.) 

So although the past two house hunts have been incredibly stressful and very much fly by the seat of our pants, God was teaching us how to go about this more efficiently.  While it’s still not easy, we’ve grown and learned so much about this process that by the time Brandon retires, we’ll be able to find a house blindfolded!   What is our system?  (I know you’re dying to know) The apartment guide or apartment finder magazine you get for free from the grocery store is bar-none the best resource for apartment hunting!  As for houses, we use AHRN (a military only resource) and Military for Rent.  They list properties and their information, we type in what we’re looking for.  Then, pick out stuff in our price range, close enough to base, allows for dogs, has a fenced backyard.  Then, we drive by and check out the area.  Is it shady?  Is there a creepy trailer park in  your backyard (yep, we weeded a house out because it looked like a meth lab park was basically on the other side of the low back fence…not pleasant)  Are there people out and about, does the house look sturdy?  Then, if it’s good we’ll call the realtor and set up an appointment.  It’s not a science yet, but hopefully we’ll get there.

FYI We haven’t found a house just yet, but we’ve only been here 1.5 days and it’s been weekend, so we haven’t had a chance to meet with many realtors.  There are prospective properties though, which is pretty exciting and we’re really hoping for a real live house instead of an apartment!!!!!!!  !

florida bound....again

Yep, that's right folks, we will once again be residents of the "sunshine" state as of May.  This time however, we will be by the Atlantic coast, so there is a change I guess.  No more Gulf of Mexico for us!  At least not for a few years.  This time, Brandon will be training on the P-3 Orion for 6ish months and from there he'll be attached to a squadron.  (That's when he'll get his call sign his nickname like goose or maverick or iceman)  So this is yet another short term living arrangement, but after this we'll get to be based somewhere for around 2 years!!  Yay!  We can be based out of a Marine base on Oahu Hawaii, Whidbey Island Washington or we could stay in Jacksonville.  Either way, we're pretty blessed to have any of those opportunities.  That is a plus about the Navy, you're pretty much going to be based on the coast of somewhere. 

I probably won't be making much for a month or so, other than packing boxes and travel arrangements, but if/when I do, you'll be the second to know!   

In case you were wondering

I designed the wings to the left of the page using my Wacom Bamboo tablet, as kind of an aviators wife/spouse/loved one/whathaveyou emblem.  I'm hoping to one day figure out a way to make it into a piece of jewelery, and have been intrigued by Lonestar Crafty's knack for creating jewelry with precious metal clay, and may consider using that if it's easily moldable.  The emblem is based on the design of the juxtoposition of the Navy wings and the James Avery charm for faith and love.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to go about doing this, I'd be very appreciative!  Think of it as a Make Something Monday in reverse :)