Decision Making

 

 

 

I have had a few people ask me why we made the decision to live on post versus renting off post, also how does it feel to go from owning a nice home to living on post. Now there are those people that like to disconnect themselves from the military life, they feel that it would be all work all the time. Which I understand to an extent, but here is a break down of our reasons:

*We like the security of being on post, yes sometimes there is a false sense of security but being in such a rural area it makes sense.

*We would be living above our BAH (basic allowance for housing), rent here is not extremely high but when you factor in utilities and gas for Kyle to get to post it does not make sense.

*Housing takes our BAH, which goes towards rent, utilities, 24 hour maintenance, lawn care and other amenities.

*We are 7 (yes 7) minutes from Kyle's work, I mean you can't get much better than that. We aren't sure what his schedule will be like so being close to home is beneficial.

*We have lived on post in other places, we have never had a bad experience.

 

*Now we loved our house in El Paso, owning was a great experience but it was absolutely terrifying and stressful when it came time to sell it. We have no desire to own again until Kyle retires.

*We already feel such a great sense of community with our neighbors, I wasn't sure how it would be off post here.

*We like feeling connected to the military community, we have never felt like it was too much all the time.

Of course everyone has their owns reasons for doing the things they do and these are ours.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Achieving Goals

Now that we are all unpacked and mostly settled I can finally get back into a routine. 

The one thing I have missed over the last few weeks was having a consistent gym and running regimen. When we were living in the hotel it was difficult to workout because I had to crate Emma and Fishy and if Emma barked it was a problem. Now that we are settled I have finally found my groove again.

I have decided that 4 days a week I will run and will spend 2 days in the gym. I can either utilize the gym in our neighborhood center which is actually pretty large or drive 10 minutes to a gym on post. I thrive on routine and I need to get back into the shape I was in a month ago. 

We have 4 races left to run this year. We are running a 10k, 5k and 2 half marathons and I am looking forward to all of them. With these races we will have successfully completed 28 races this year and our goal was only 25.

When it comes to running I have to continue to remind myself that it is not about how fast I am or how far I'm running, all that matters is that I'm committing myself to a goal and achieving it no matter what.

I love running and it is truly therapeutic for me, something I never thought would happen.

There is nothing better than achieving a goal you never thought was possible.

Ramblings On Wednesday

Well we are in full unpacking mode! All of the boxes are unpacked and we are putting things away and getting things hung up. It is certainly feeling like home and we are loving it! 

In the midst of all this craziness there are other happenings:

*I registered for my last set of classes yesterday, which means I am on track to graduate in August 2015! That means I will have finished my bachelors degree in 23 months. 

*I have started applying for jobs here...I am hoping for at least a few calls. 

*The reason I am applying for jobs is because there is NO FRG for where Kyle will be working. Am I wrong for being slightly happy about this?! It will be a nice break.

*Kyle heads back to work on Tuesday, it has been nice to have him home but we are both ready for a routine again.

*We have our first race in Louisiana on the 15th, I am ridiculously excited!

*Emma and Fishy have easily adjusted to their new home as you can see, it's a good place to live.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Oh Monday...Nice To See You Again!

We enjoyed our first weekend here in LA, it was relatively low key which you can never go wrong with.

We got Emma and Fishy into their costumes on Friday night for Halloween (however Fishy only stayed in his for 20 minutes). We sat outside and passed our candy, we had quite a few trick or treaters but the best part was meeting all of our neighbors. They were all very welcoming and there is a FB page for just our street, they plan get-togethers and other events. We definitely lucked out.

Saturday, we got up bright and early to head off to the gym. Can I just say how nice it is to be back into a running/gym routine?! Loving it!

We ran a few errands which included purchasing a new couch from an amazing local furniture store. We then ended up playing miniature golf on post (yes you read that right, the military base has a miniature golf course lol). I am certain we will end up there a lot.

That night we picked up our first Bountiful Basket (if you haven't heard of it go here and check it out: bountifulbaskets.org). We got a ton of fruits and vegetables plus we did the add on tortilla pack. The quality is awesome and we have already put a huge dent in the fruit.

Sunday was spent watching football and preparing for the crazy that ensues today. We get our household goods! Woo!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Loving Life!

We have Internet! I really loathe trying to blog on my phone lol.

Since we don't have our HHG's yet (they will be delivered on Monday yay!), we have spent our time exploring the area and getting the necessities.

Our neighborhood is beautiful and has a ton of running trails, which makes us happy.

We found this trail yesterday and it made for the perfect 3 mile run to get our day going. I foresee a lot of runs here.

Since today is Halloween we knew we wanted to get at least one pumpkin to carve. So on our way to Walmart the other day we found a pumpkin patch and decided to check it out yesterday. It was beautiful and we found an awesome pumpkin. It may have been late but I'm so glad we got to at least one pumpkin patch this year.

I love our pumpkin and it reminds me slightly of Sons of Anarchy lol. Yup, I'm a happy girl.

We picked up some candy so we can sit outside tonight and pass it out. I'm sure we will get quite a few trick or treaters.

We love it there so far and are settling in nicely, we have met a ton of our neighbors and they are super nice. I can already tell that Kyle is going to be so happy with his new job. He gets to jump again and he is excited.

It's going to be a good life here, I can already tell.

New Home

Yesterday we were able to move into our new home! A week early which was pretty awesome if you ask me. We love it so far and are loving Polk/Louisiana. My friend Kim stopped by and it was really nice to see a familiar face, she assured us that we will love it here and that Kyle will enjoy his new job (her husband is Kyle's boss lol). :)

Our internet/cable will be hooked up today and we get our household goods on Monday. We are settling in great, can't wait to star exploring the area. 

It is nice to finally be settled in our new home. I know Emma and Fishy are happy too!

Hope you all have a great day!

On The Go

Well, this weekend we ran our last race in El Paso. The Flying Horse Half Marathon was a great way to end our stint in the borderlands. This is one of my favorite races because it is scenic and flat. We had a blast as usual and then we spent the rest of the day packing the cars to get ready for the big drive.

We headed out yesterday morning and made it to San Antonio for the night. We don't like driving more than 7-8 hours because of Emma and Fishy. Emma was my co-pilot and Fishy was with Kyle. She was not amused as you can see and Fishy was happy trying to hide in the hotel room. :)

Oh and can I say how awesome it was that my shirt matched the couch in our room haha!!! Pretty awesome if you ask me. Also a quick plug for Drury Plaza Hotels, love them!!! They upgraded us to a corner suite and they have free dinner and drinks (including alcohol) from 5:30-7pm every night.

We should arrive at Polk sometime late this afternoon and we can't wait, however I will be swamped with midterms once we get there, yay! ;)

Hope you all had an amazing weekend!