Home is where the Marine Corps sends us

In case you hadn't noticed, I've been gone for quite a few weeks. I've been busy traveling all the way across the country with my husband to our new home in Virginia. He went off to check into his new unit today so I guess we can officially say our first PCS is finally over! For our first one, it went much better than I had anticipated. You hear so many horror stories of military moves, priceless heirlooms lost, big screen TVs damaged, missing boxes, weeks waiting on household goods to be delivered. When it's your first PCS, those stories have a tendency to worry you to death. With two cars and two dogs, we didn't have much of a choice on the way we moved. We had to let the military move us and we'd have to drive the 3000 miles across the country. In January no less, with threats of snow and ice storms abounding.
Our parents were worried about the weather, in the weeks leading up to the move we received several phone calls about the impending weather that was sure to plague our drive. We reassured everything that we would be careful and keep them updated on our routes and progress.

As I said, this was our first PCS. We'd been in San Diego since 2008 and were pretty sure of the fact that we'd never be leaving. When you're a military family you expect to move around every couple of years, it's certainly what you're told to prepare for and be prepared for at all times so that it's not so much of a shock when it does happen. But no, 4 years and we were still in San Diego. I'd started to dislike the city, sure it's beautiful and has nearly perfect weather but for me that was part of the problem. We rarely saw anything but sunshine, being from the Midwest we're used to seeing snow and thunderstorms. Oh how I missed the seasons! Having a tan year round is ok but I longed to hear a good loud thunderstorm. And the weather was only part of the problem, California has some of the rudest people, worst drivers, and most expensive anything that there is. I had to learn to be an aggressive driver, other peoples attitudes had soured my own and made me just as rude as they were. I'm not saying California is a bad place to live but it's just not for some people, like me.

When my husband came to me last July and told me we might be PCSing, I was skeptical. It's understandable, with the military you learn to have a healthy amount of skepticism. You don't make plans that you don't want cancelled, you don't believe what they say until it's actually happening. And that's what I told my husband, "I'll believe it when I see it." But on the inside, I was jumping for joy! The possibility that we might be leaving San Diego was thrilling, to start a new chapter in our life, to see new things and live somewhere we'd never lived before. This is why my husband joined the Marine Corps, to see new places, and since he's already been to 13 countries a new state to live in was next on the list.

Over the next couple weeks I'll be putting down in words our PCS experience, partly for my memory, partly to help others with their first PCS. I hope you enjoy our story, it's not exciting at every turn but hopefully you'll learn something!