BIG news

WE ARE MOVING with other BIG changes.

and normally this wouldn't be that uncommon since we are in the military but this one is all our own doing. My husband put in for VSP (voluntary separation program) and shockingly it was approved! When we were at our last base a program like this came down there and we seriously thought about it but we decided in the end that it wasn't the right time for us. BUT we did say if it ever came down again, then we would definitely try do it. Fast forward to a couple months ago, round 1 of this vsp started and it got us thinking again. James went to interview for a national guard position (it's not active duty but he's still be in the military part time) to fly the plane (C-130H) he flew before he went to this base to be an instructor pilot.
Long story short, he only wanted this ONE base and although they did interview him, they did not have enough openings to fit him in. We took it as a sign and we were good with the decision to stay in and continue this journey. I really love my friends here and the position I was holding within the squadron spouses so no biggie.

Fast forward a couple months when VSP1 ended and James gets a call from boss guy in the national guard base he wanted saying we had some unexpected people leaving and we want YOU. He apologized for the bad timing and understood if we couldn't make it work. At this point, we just laughed at the situation, we have the worst luck. Until our luck started to change.... enter VSP round 2... not many people knew that they opened a new VSP but they did and James applied and three weeks later here we are BOOM they've accepted our VSP and are releasing us from active duty Air Force.....
WAIT WHHHHHHAAAAT. The email came out when James already came home from work (one of his friends that applied too, txted him) so you better believe we had to go all the way back to work (ok it's only a 7 minute drive haha) but he walked in printed the email out and slapped it on the window of the car (where I was waiting with hadley) and there it was, vsp approved. life changed, wow. Exactly 2 weeks ago (ok I'm not counting or anything)

Everything we've known the last NINE years.... everything James has known his ENTIRE life (both his parents were military) CHANGING.

So to answer some people's questions

WHO-us of course

WHAT- separating from active duty to very very part-time military flying the C-130 H, where James will also have to get a substantial full time job (maybe flying airlines? maybe working with them somehow? maybe working at lowes? moes? anyone got connections :) )

WHERE- oh wait did I forget to mention one of the most exciting parts.... SAVANNAH BABY! yeah that's right... Savannah, GA his PERMANENT base will be Savannah GEORGIA (did I say that already). He only has to report once or twice a month for duty so he technically doesn't have to live there so even ATLANTA is an option or the surrounding areas (wherever he gets his substantial job)

WHY- I guess this is the most important question. Why did we decide to do this? Well, it definitely wasn't an easy decision. I mean we talked about it non-stop for months and one day we would think we had it figured out then the next we would change our mind 180 degrees. In the end, I told James he needed to make the decision because I didn't want him ever resenting me for the decision or ever not being ok with it. I told him I would be happy either way with any situation and we would make the best of it.
I won't go into too specific of details about the past 9 years and why James wanted to change things up but he wants to see what else is out there for him. I typed a bunch of stuff and decided to just leave it at that.
We are hoping he will have way more time to spend with us and Hadley for sure had a lot to do with his decision. He just can't get enough of her and who can blame him, she is real cute. We also will be around family like way closer than our next base would ever have taken us. We will be closer to James' family and mine (sorta).

HOW- We will be out officially on Hadley's birthday (11/11)! what a coincidence.... or not since James picked the date :) symbolic I guess... don't ask me, I'm just along for the ride. We will have one last move that the AF will help us with, then we're on our own. Bring it on!

We are days away from listing our house for sale and we have high hopes it'll sell! It's hit or miss here a lot of people want to rent, so cross your fingers that it goes quickly, but not too quick!

I will miss my friends here but I look forward to what the next chapter will bring. I am in really good company with SEVERAL of our good friends (from all different bases) going through this exact situation a tad sooner, so I have a lot of support via txt/calls. It's going to be so weird not being a military wife with wives that have to be your friend (not have to but are WAY more accepting because let's be honest, you don't have too many choices usually haha). I guess I will still be a part time military wife but it will definitely not be like it's been anywhere else. They don't have spouses groups or much in terms of that. So please think of us in the upcoming months as we make this transition......

Here's a cute photo of Hadley since who seriously likes to read blogs without pictures, I REALLY hate that :)