Wow! I know life is busy for most of us on a regular basis….just taking care of a home, working, kids, pets, parents…all of those things keep us on our toes. For us though, life has been especially crazy as of late. As many of you know, Jason made the decision to get out of the Air Force. They wanted him deployed for at least 6 months out of every year. He said that was too much for him to be away from his family (and I happened to agree) so he got out…not without much thought and prayer, but he did get out.
As a result, the past couple of months, we have been in chaos. I don’t like chaos..there is a reason I married an engineer, but that is another blog for another time. He has been steadily looking for jobs..he currently has about 17 resumes out there but at times there have been as many as 25. We have had a couple of good leads, but nothing permanent yet. And when you no longer work for the Air Force, you can’t live in their house. So with the separation from the Air Force, also came the need to move.
Leading up to Christmas, we started packing our household goods and putting them in storage. Then after Christmas, we really got to work and eventually packed the entire house…oh my goodness, we have A LOT of stuff. Not junk, but it takes a lot for a family of 5…and when you add to it Jason’s bad knee and the fact that I cut off the tip of my finger on Christmas Day…it just makes for a lot of work. And we would not have survived if it had not been for our neighbors and friends in Shreveport.
So our stuff is in storage in LA until we know where we are moving. The last 2 days when we were pushing hard to get our stuff in storage, it rained. And rained. And rained. We got our stuff in to storage…packed like sardines in a can…a day later than planned. We had so much out of the house, we couldn’t stay there but not enough that we were going to be able to leave so some neighbors offered to let us stay at their house. We did and they watched the girls while we finished up.
So we gathered up the girls, the dog, the fish…yes, the fish…there is a lesson in this to teach my girls that you don’t just discard living things….and towed a small u-haul trailer to the panhandle of Florida. We are staying in a friend’s home for a couple of months if we need it. What should have been a 10 hour trip turned in to a 14 hour trip involving lots of rain and coffee for the grown ups. But we made it safe and sound.
And even though our lively hood is up in the air…we don’t have a job, we don’t have a permanent home…I can’t help but feel thankful. Thankful we have family and friends who support this crazy decision. Thankful we have savings to get us through this period. Thankful we have our health and each other to hang on to as we make this jump!
