Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of posts within the military community about different military installations mostly focused on the bad aspects. 

We are currently in the summer move cycle and friends are heading to new places and for me it's always interesting to see the thoughts and feelings that are thrown out there. We have been at 4 different posts and all of them have been amazing in their own ways. The funny thing is most people have stated that they feel we got the short end of the stick when it came to where we were sent. 

Here are my thoughts on where we have been:


1. Fort Bragg, NC. We spent 4 years here and it is where we started our married life. We actually consider this place to be our "home". Kyle always had a desire to be Airborne and this is the mecca for those wanting that. We met some of our best friends here and went through 2 deployments that let's face it made us much stronger. Being a part of the 82nd Airborne was intense but it was such an amazing experience for both of us. I learned there that I had a huge passion to volunteering and it changed me. Plus you are close to awesome places like Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, Washington D.C. and Myrtle Beach. We definitely made the most of our time here. 



2. Fort Huachuca, AZ. I am pretty sure that unless you know something about the intelligence community in the Army you will likely not know much about Fort Huachuca. I have to say that while we only spent 7 months there it was absolutely amazing! It is located in southern Arizona and butted up against mountains. It's a beautiful and small installation. The outside community is primarily retirees and they were amazing to us. We packed so many amazing experiences into our time there and we have so many wonderful memories. We were able to visit Tombstone, Bisbee, Tucson, Phoenix, and The Grand Canyon. I would go back in a heartbeat.





3. Fort Bliss, TX. When we first told people that we were moving here, we heard a lot of "oh my gosh I would cry if I got sent there" and "you're going to be so close to Mexico, aren't you scared?!". We laughed and went into it with an open mind like we always did and we were pleasantly surprised. Fort Bliss is an amazing place! I mean when you have a place called Freedom Crossing on post that has a Buffalo Wild Wings, that is a win in my book haha. The El Paso community is by far one of the nicest when it comes to people that we have ever encountered. We chose to buy a house here and live in the community and I am so glad we did. Despite being so close to Mexico, it is considered to be one of the safest cities in the US. We did SO much while we were here. We went to so many concerts, festivals, ran a ton of races, and went to places like White Sands and Roswell. We even were able to visit the Trinity Site where the first atomic bomb was tested. I dove headfirst into volunteering with Kyle's unit here and it was such an amazing experience. Don't knock Fort Bliss until you try it. :)


4. Fort Polk, LA. Oh this one probably has the worst reputation of everywhere we have been. When you mention Fort Polk to someone in the military you immediately see a sour puss reaction. To be honest when it comes to soldiers most who hate it have only been here for training, and lets be honest the training is supposed to suck the life out of them. Yes, the area is small but gosh it's packed full of history and wonderful people. We have been able to explore New Orleans, Lafayette, Natchitoches, and other cool places like the Tabasco Factory. The hiking and outdoor activities you can find here are better than most places. I can honestly say that when we move next summer we will be very sad. We love it here. 



We have always done our best to make the most of where we live because to be honest it takes more energy to be miserable than it does to be happy. :) 

Have you lived somewhere that has a bad reputation?




24 comments:

  1. How cool is it that you have had the chance to live in all these different places!

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  2. It wasn't until we left Fort Polk that we knew how great it was. And you are right, most the ones that hate it, do because they didn't get to make the most of it. It's a great jumping point to all sorts of great places. I still consider NOLA my second home.

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  3. Living with a positive attitude no matter what the outcome, is the reason you guys thrive when others don't. Never lose that!

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  4. I love your attitude! Some people are just negative and ungrateful! Posts like that are annoying. I can't stand all the bitching about the military. Love you!

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  5. We never had "adventure" on our minds but Scott's stipulation was always that he didn't want to be in the south because of the heat. Hence, Alaska. The airborne community there was amazing and I miss it. We made the most life-long connections there and, yes, I would go back. Several of our friends got out and settled there and I had a community of coworkers, so I don't see Alaska being out of the question in the future.

    Ft. Leonard-Wood also has a bad reputation but it was very easy to make friends there because you need things to do. I don't know that I would go back (because my friends have also moved on), but I enjoyed some parts of it.

    Ft. Carson is odd. We've yet to really make friends here, and it's been two years. My closest friends are people I've met through work and I told someone the other day that this is the only base in which I haven't had army wife friends. It's just not that kind of base.
    Clearly I could write my own post on this!

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  6. It is so fun to explore other areas of the country, you may not have gotten to choose where to go, but good for you for making the most of it! I was at my sorority convention recently representing New Orleans and I could not believe hoe many people had negative views about my city! Sure there is crime, but every big city has it! May wherever he next place his service takes you treat you as right as you have the places you have been!

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  7. I love that you always try to look for the positive in every situation that you're put into when your moving. We have friends that are in the Air Force and so far they've been stationed in Shreveport LA, Minot ND, and now they're in Italy. They both thought that they would hate Minot, but I think that while they were there they got to travel and they met some of their best Air Force friends. You can make anything positive if you put your mind to it!

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  8. People have been asking ME where we were previously stationed and I'm just like "My husband was at Ft Polk" and it seems like everyone has a comment about how we must be glad to be out of there. Well the only time I was at Ft Polk was the day before my now-husband proposed so... haha!

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  9. Yes, it really is all about how you look at it! If you enter a new station with the mindset that you'll make the best of it, it will be great! I heard SO many bad things about 29, but I love the community of friends I have here. Unfortunately, though, this base has completely ruined my view of base living. But, that's because of really malicious people in our cul-de-sac, who have decided they don't like us for whatever reason I don't know. *sigh*

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  10. Awww... I love that you are sure to get the best out of where you live! <3

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  11. YES! You just have to make the best of where you go.

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  12. I agree with Erica, your attitude is second to none!

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  13. I love your attitude! It's so important to remain positive..! And also, its all about the people!! It's the friendships that make or break the place!! <3

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  14. I'm a big fan of getting out and enjoying wherever you are stationed. A friend of mine once told me that no matter where you are stationed, you can always find more good things than bad. I try to remember that. So far, we have only lived in two different places with the military, and we are about to move back to a place we have already lived (Hawaii!). So I love that you have been able to get out and explore wherever you have been stationed and that you have gotten to live so many different places. There are so many places to see in our beautiful country and living in different places makes it so easy to explore.

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  15. I have lived in some pretty crappy Naval towns, but luckily there were great people around to make it better.

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  16. I think you lived in some cool places. We were in FE Warren in Wyoming and people would be all, "Oh, it sucks, there's nothing to do!" But I liked it. There was a Target 10 minutes away, so I was set.

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    1. It's amazing how people freak out about the smallest things!

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  17. I love your attitude...about everything. I really do. I never thought I would find myself in that "don't like our duty station" rut but here I am. I think the trouble is grieving what I left behind: community, friends, a place I fit in, etc. Just like any loss it takes time. For some, more time than others. But I'm trying every day to have a new perspective and I'm out exploring. And I pray for the day when I feel those same feelings you expressed :)

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  18. I love seeing all the places we'll be able to visit from each base! We didn't particularly care for our last base much (the city it was in just wasn't much fun), BUT we were within a 5 hour drive to LOTS of cool places, so we took advantage of that! :)

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  19. Love this! We get a sour puss reaction when we tell people we're going to Drum (I had a bad reaction at first, too). I'm trying to focus on the positives about moving there and I'm finding so many. The director of the company I'm contracted to is a retired Army Officer and he said that the 10th mountain has a great rep and that the area is beautiful. That is the only positive thing I've heard and I was so grateful to him for not telling me how much my life is going to suck in the winter. I definitely think that it's all about what you make it, and we plan to make the best of each place we get sent. :) This was a great post to read!

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  20. Everyone said how crappy Holloman is, but we like it! Everyone said there's nothing out here and there's nothing to do and blah blah blah. I guess it's all in how you approach a situation. Sour attitudes will always equal a bad time. We choose to go the fun route and look for the good.

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  21. I have visited Bliss and loved it, I wouldn't mind living there at all. We loved Hawaii but I know lots of people who hated it because they never did anything. Making the most of your duty station is definitely key

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Love hearing from you!! :)