Falling down on the job.

I write this blog for several reasons. For one, I like to write, and I don't get to do it very often since college. I also know it's a way to keep the people we care about updated on news and events in our lives when it would be very difficult to share photos and stories otherwise. It's a small way for me to try and reach out to like minded people on topics like motherhood and crafting. And finally it's just a great place for me to reflect and share what I'm feeling and thinking. I find that writing things down often helps me recognize patterns and identify things that I like or don't like and want to change.

In terms of news sharing, then, I've definitely fallen down on the job. Two weeks ago Justin submitted our preferences for his next duty station. I think there were something like 39 people vying for the available positions that had been given by list in advance. The Order of Merit for who had the opportunity to select first was based on number of months deployed and dwell time (number of months at home since your last deployment). Thankfully, Justin's purple heart was factored in by including the months he would have completed from his first deployment and we were somewhere near the top of the OML with 23 months deployed and 9 months of dwell time since his last deployment.

Given the available slots, we had ranked our preferences something like this:

1. Fort Lewis (near Tacoma in WA)

2. Fort Carson (Colorado Springs, CO)

3. Fort Stewart (closest to Savannah, GA)

4. Fort Campbell (Clarksville, TN)

5. Fort Riley (closest to Topeka, KS)

We'd hoped to get one of our top three. On the day Justin was to submit his request, he called me, minutes before his meeting with the Branch Rep. He'd heard some information that made him seriously question ranking Lewis as number one. We decided quickly to swap Carson to our first choice, and then the waiting began.

We had anticipated at least two weeks of wait time, so we were surprised and thrilled last week when he got word of his assignment to one of the three available slots at Fort Carson, CO.

From everything I've heard (and from what I remember as a child--we took two vacations to the Springs growing up), Colorado Springs is absolutely lovely and should make a wonderful home for us in the coming years. We are very excited and I've already begun to research (of course) about the area.

I pray that when we make our move in a few months that we will have a smooth transition, find opportunities for our growth, make new friends, and have a new place to call home.