Here is a quick update on what has been going on with Bryan and me since August.
We packed up our stuff (well, not us but some company the military paid to do it for us), said a tearful goodbye to our families, and began our 26 hour drive from Denver, Colorado to Goldsboro, North Carolina. We drove straight through to St. Louis the first day and to Goldsboro the second day. Thank goodness for Harry Potter audiobooks! The 7th book was almost exactly as long as our drive. We arrived in Goldsboro, which we knew NOTHING about, at night and somehow drove into the worst part of the town. I was petrified and praying that the whole town was not like the area we were in. Somehow (no thanks to our cracked out GPS) we found Seymour Johnson Air Force base and checked into the long-term lodging. The Air Force paid for us to stay there for 10 days while we looked for a place to live, since there is not enough housing on base. Bryan reported to work the next day and I stayed holed up in the room because we only brought one car. Fine with me though, since it was about 98 degrees with 98% humidity. We looked at some houses, some of which would have been ok if we wanted to live next to chained up dogs and low-riders parked on lawns with rims that cost more than my house. We regrouped and started looking in a different part of town and found a cute 3 bedroom/1 bath house in a townhome subdivision.
I heard that our house was either the home of the developers or their son, which is why we have the only freestanding house. We really would like to live on base though and are on the waiting list.
So, we moved in (well, again WE didn't do it, some mover guys did it for us) got somewhat settled in, and then my wonderful mom and dad came to visit us and bring our (my) dog Bailey. It was really nice to have them come so soon and help us with getting the house together, not to mention buy us a washer and dryer!
Mom and Dad left (*tear*) and I began looking for a job. I started working at Bella, the women's fitness center on the base but needed more hours and more pay. I was hired at KinderCare in town and was pretty excited to start working with kids again, plus I really liked the KinderCare I worked at in Colorado and assumed this one would be a similar experience. Well.....long story short, it was not anything like my old center and I had to get out of there quick. I was treated poorly, belittled, and criticized for anything and everything I did. It was a struggle deciding if I should quit or not, but in the end I had to remember that I am a good teacher and do not deserve to be treated how I was being treated. I really just want these next 6 or months to go by quickly so that I can find a REAL teaching job and get back into the classroom. I miss teaching SO much and pray every day that I will find a job next school year.
After Christmas (on the 27th) my sister Sarah and Bryan's daughter Riley came out
to visit us, which was so much fun. The time went by way too fast and we were really sad to see them go. We baked cookies, went to the"woods", drove down to the ocean, went bowling for New Year's Eve, and played A LOT of Wii. We already miss you and want you guys to come back soon!Right now I am working on my masters in Elementary Reading and Literacy, online through Walden University. It is definitely a little weird doing everything online and watching videos of speakers instead of going to class, but I am adjusting and like being able to work on my own time and schedule.
Bryan is loving air traffic control and is still in training for a couple more months.
He has three areas to be trained in before he can be rated and control traffic on his own. He has already finished and passed ground control, which is talking to and controlling the jets while they are on the taxiways and any cars or emergency vehicles that need to get on the runway. Right now he is doing his training in local, which is the hardest part. He is talking to the jets on takeoff, in the air, and landing. After he passes local, he will go to the easiest area which is flight data. After that, he will be rated and is going to start working on his bachelors in Air Traffic Control. We do not know how long we will be here, but it will probably be between 2 and 6 years (I am crossing my fingers for the 2 years).In all, we really like the military and being in the Air Force, however we are not big fans on the town we are in. There is not much to do and it is a whole different culture of people down here. We really hope we can move on base soon and be around the Air Force families.
We miss all of our friends and family SO much and I promise to keep this updated so you all can know what we are up to down here in the good 'ol South!
P.S. We would love to get some comments from people, so feel free to do that!
