Full Circle

One year ago we were anxiously waiting to hear if John had been accepted into AFIT (Air Force Institute of Technology).  If he was accepted we'd be in Ohio for another two years, if not we would PCS (move) in the summer.  AFIT didn't happen, and the AF informed us that they had bumped us up into spring moving cycle not the summer cycle, so we should expect to be moving in February to March time frame.  Okay, no biggie, except no assignment comes in.  So we are informed that we are back on the summer move cycle.  Okay, no biggie, just more waiting.

Well, we're waiting and we're waiting and everyone else seems to be getting assignments except for us.  So we keep waiting and waiting.  Seriously everyone else has an assignment now.  People start cracking jokes about us possibly being sent to ASBC in Alabama.  Well, funny ha ha, we finally get an assignment and sure enough - ASBC instructor Maxwell AFB Montgomery, Alabama.  So I cried at first, but quickly accepted the reality of the situation and jumped on the "hooray we're moving to the South wagon."

We had six weeks before our report date in May.  We decided to do a DITY (do it yourself) move and we started boxing up our life in Ohio.  We gave notice to our landlord to vacate to our current house, scheduled cleaners and a moving truck. We found a darling house to rent in Alabama and signed a lease.  I got excited planning all the vacations and road trips we could take while we lived in that part of the country.

Meanwhile the school year was wrapping up and we did not fill out the paperwork to hold Gabe's spot for the next school year because we're moving, right?  Also in the midst of all this our ward was split and we started attending a new ward which I put zero effort into getting to know people there because I knew we were moving soon.

And then ASBC was put on the chopping block.  Which means everything was put on hold for us again.  So we sat and waited.  Sure enough ASBC was cancelled, but we still had orders to go to Alabama.  On a whim John put in another application to AFIT here in Ohio just to keep our options open.  So we waited and waited and waited for news.  Finally our report date to Alabama was pushed back, so we knew we would be in Ohio now until the end of July.  So we hung out in Ohio for the summer.  A little inconvenient since a lot of our stuff was already packed in boxes.  However, as long as we were stuck waiting somewhere we were happy it was in Ohio with our friends and neighbors.

Then summer was ending and still no news.  At this point John decided to find a job on his own.  He had heard that ROTC needed officers so he got on the phone with AFPC (personnel) and was approved to put in an application to teach ROTC.  Unknown to us another long process had begun.  We realized we would be in Ohio for a bit longer and we should probably enroll Gabe in school.  On Friday I picked up an enrollment packet at his school.  Thankfully they still had space open.  On Tuesday when I dropped the completed packet off at the school I was 10th on the waiting list.  What the?  Oh well, we'll try another school it's not like were going to be in Ohio for much longer.  We enroll Gabe at a Christian School that costs three times as much money, he attends half as much, and is academically far behind his old school.  Which means he's bored and not being challenged.  Whatever, it's just for a few months.

Finally we hear back on John's ROTC application.  He applied to RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) in Troy, New York and the cadre there accepted his application, they just have to get approval from the dean of RPI, which shouldn't be a big deal, they tell us to expect a report date of October 31.  Sweet something is finally happening.  I start to pack more anticipating the upcoming move in October.  I go a little crazy this time packing curtains, pictures off the wall, toys, clothes, lots of stuff!  Basically we are down to the bare necessities.

And then a hurricane hits the east coast.  Do you know how long a hurricane and the resulting flooding will delay an already slow process.  Well, neither do I, but it seemed like forever before we got the approval from RPI.  In the mean time we had been planning on a report date of 31 October like the commander had told us. We throw an early birthday party for Gabe, because he really wanted a party here in Ohio before we moved.  And then we get our RIP sheet and it has a report date of 31 Dec.  Seriously?

Okay, at this point I don't believe we are ever really going to move.  But, here's where things get pretty funny.  Remember that application John put into AFIT on a whim?  Yeah, we kind of forgot about it too.  And then one night while we were laying in bed we realize that we will still be in Ohio when the AFIT decision is made (we thought we'd be long gone by now).  Which means that we've made a full circle and we are back where we were last year where if he gets accepted into AFIT we'd be staying here in Ohio.  After all of this we could end up staying here!  We should hear about AFIT by November 15th.

So in the meantime we have orders to move to New York which means we have to prepare like we are leaving.  So we've again notified our landlord, scheduled moving stuff, notified Gabe's school that we will be withdrawing him from school the end of this month, etc.  Even if we stay in Ohio I'm taking Gabe out of his current school and we will move out of our current house.  I can't even begin to describe how frustrated and tired I am of this whole thing.  Our life has been completely on hold for over a year now.  We couldn't travel home to see family this summer, because we thought we were moving.  My family wants to spend Christmas with us this year, but we can't tell them what state will be living in so they can buy airline tickets.  We don't even know if we'll be in a home or a hotel for Christmas for that matter.

I really don't mean to complain.  I trust Heavenly Father has a plan for us and things will work out the way they should.  For example, had we moved to New York in October when were originally told to I would have been in my first trimester.  I have been so sick with this pregnancy that I can't even imagine having to move when most days it's an accomplishment for me to get off the couch and feed my kids.  So maybe timing was a blessing in all of this.  And as frustrating as every thing's been, I really am so grateful John has a good job and we have health insurance.

And lastly, a side note:  I've decided we will never do a DITY move again.  I'm just not a procrastinator.  It's not in my nature.  Which is why my house has been packed since March.  So next time my husband tries to talk me into a DITY move someone please remind me I said NEVER again : )  Anyways, we'll keep you posted on if we're staying or leaving.  We should finally know for sure in a couple of weeks!