- Lawton -- I have been pleasantly surprised to find that this city has quickly become home. It lacks a Target and many other things I associate with the comforts of my Texas home, but it is enough. The layout of the city makes sense and I have always felt safe. We lucked out in finding our apartment in a good part of town (if we planned to live off post, this is where I would want to live). Something just feels right about living here.
- Fort Sill -- I miss the brand new PX at Fort Polk, but the Commissary and library here more than make up for that! I will start my sixth library book tonight (that's in less than two weeks). I am a total library nerd/junkie and the library on post is amazing. Huge tables to do school work on, couches everywhere to curl up with a book, and so many book options! I know I'll be a regular visitor. Every time I drive on post (which is relatively often) I feel overwhelmingly thankful for my life.
- Housing -- Two days ago I was complaining to my mom that we didn't seem to be moving on the housing list. We had been hovering around #73 for awhile and I just didn't see how we could get a house on post anytime soon. Our apartment is a little sketchy and the thought of showering in our leaky weird shower for another few months was starting to depress me. Plus, I really didn't want to keep doing laundry in the scary laundry room at $2.50 per load! Well, whaddaya know, I got a phone call this morning telling us they have a house for us. That's how it always seems to go, right? Hopefully we will have the keys to our place on post by Tuesday evening. Then we can move...again.
- People -- We have run into a number of super accommodating people who have made our lives here infinitely easier. Most of our belongings are in storage at the most fantastic storage place ever. Seriously. The couple that owns that place is the nicest duo. I want to keep stuff in storage forever just because we like the owners so much. We also stumbled upon the manager of our apartment complex who quickly offered us a furnished month-to-month apartment for an incredibly reasonable rate. It was waiting to be remodeled so it needs paint and, well, really it needs everything to be replaced, but it was exactly what we needed at the time.
- Brian -- He turned 25 this week. I met him when he was still a teenager and here we are. Sometimes I don't know where the time has gone (2+ years to two deployments, that's where!). His belated bday gift from me arrived today: a big neon Shiner Bock sign for his man cave in our new house. He isn't one to get excited about things, but I'm pretty sure he loves it...in his own subdued way. He's still getting used to his job here since it's muuuuch different than how he spent the last almost-five years. It's been a lot of change for both of us, but he's been a rock. We've had fun and somehow managed to navigate this whole PCS without really fighting. Now that's a miracle!
- Vacation -- We were so used to being at the mercy of block leave dates in LA that the idea of putting in a packet for leave dates here seems odd to us. That's the word on the streets though: put together the packet and if it doesn't conflict with anything, you can have whatever time off you want (so long as you have the leave days, of course). If everything works out, we should be able to spend a glorious 10 days up in New York with my parents this summer. Key words being if everything works out. We'll see.
That's all for now, folks! :)
