Moving

It's not a secret that I'm moving.
Though, I haven't really updated the blog on how the move is going.

Well,
it's going
uh
at a glacial pace.

Jer graduated his course in early August. The rest of his classmates had PCSd quickly after that. We were stuck in Monterey (Not a terrible place to be stuck, mind you.) but we were ready to move on since all of our friends had already left. So we FINALLY got out of the house mid-October when I left to go stay with my family while Jer went on to Omaha to do some kind of training that needed to be done before he left.

So being the hopeful, optimistic person that I am we bought plane tickets for Layla and I to join Jer in Omaha so we could spend some time with his family before moving across the pond.

Well we pulled the trigger too quickly.
His training is taking FOREVER. FOREVER.

He still hasn't started.

So time is being wasted.
Money & resources are being wasted.

& worst of all we have a 3 year old who is displaced & confused. She doesn't understand why she can't sleep in her bed. She doesn't understand where all of her toys & books are.

Moving around & living in temporary housing is tough on her.

Though I'm trying to make the best of it, this period of adjustment couldn't come at a WORSE time.

It's the holidays.

We should be in our own home with a Christmas tree lit up & decorated. All of my fun decorations spread throughout the house in every nook & cranny. I like to make this time of year a whimsical winter wonderland for Layla.

Last year was the first year she understood the concept of Santa & I was really looking forward to living the magic through her eyes this year.

I'm still trying my best to give her some of that magic, but seeing as how we don't have any more room in our luggage we can't get decorations for our temporary home & we can't get her any presents. So Santa is going to have to skip us this year, and the thought of that just devastates me. I love being Santa for my little girl. I love seeing her face in the morning.


So it's almost December & we're STILL not moved into a new place. We're still not even close to being in the country we're supposed to be making our new home in. This was supposed to be done September.

So please keep us in your thoughts. Send good Juju our way & hope that the Air Force stops this whole "hurry up & wait" business. It's wasteful, annoying, and difficult for families.

Off to dream of being on a plane making it's way to England.

Happy Halloween!

Little miss Layla as Princess Tiana from Disney's 'The Princess and the Frog'

I hope you all had a safe, candy-filled Halloween!

She's Spooky & She's Kooky

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I go all out decorating my entire home, and I love sitting out on the driveway or porch in a lawn chair handing out candy to all the adorable monsters & witches and super heroes & princesses. It's gotten even bigger for us every year since Layla was born as she becomes more aware of the festivities around her. Last year was the first year she was really starting to understand what was going on & I was devastated at the fact that we were in the process of our move from Nebraska to California. I had no home to decorate & we had no neighborhood to go trick-or-treating in. We had made it to California the week before Halloween, but we wouldn't be able to move into our home until the first week of November. Well, the Halloween lover in me would not stand for it! Jeremy knew the neighborhood we would be living in, so I dressed Layla up as Cinderella & grabbed a Halloween themed bag to go trick or treating.

I was saddened by the fact that I couldn't decorate my home or throw a Halloween party for friends, but I just kept telling myself that I'll be settled in a new home next year & I'll be able to dust off my spooky decor to display for the entire month.

Well, we got our orders, and since we're moving overseas, things aren't moving as quickly as I'd like it to. Jeremy has to re-enlist, then go TDY to another base for some re-qualification, & only after that can we leave for England. So for the entire month of October all of my Halloween decorations will be in crates making it's way across the Atlantic to our new home in Suffolk.

& again I am devastated.

At this point in time August is approaching us. If you know anything about the bay area in California you know it stays a comfortably chill climate all year round...so technically it feels like Autumn...so...maybe...why not? Start decorating for Halloween in August & then take the decor down when the movers get here in September?! I THINK YES!!!

Actually, I'm still a little on the fence about it since I didn't think I'd be needing my decor at all I put it in the way back of our storage closet. I don't really want to dig all the way through there and have to rearrange my boxes all over again, but I think it might just be worth it!

Cheers,
Jenna

P.S. I hope you don't think I cover my house in bright orange & black with glittery, cartoony pumpkins, spiders, and monsters. No, I have more subtle decor with a hint of gothic macabre.