The Truth Behind the Moving Game

I have a confession.

It is one most military wives won't say, but I'm a rebel.

We are at that point. 

We are homesick.

We are longing for Texas Aggie Football, Chick-fil-A, and our fabulous Temple Bible Church. We miss our sweet neighbors and friends, our routines, and our wide open spaces.

We have moved 11 times in the last 16 years. ELEVEN times. That's a lot. So, how do we get over the homesickness? How do we make each new place feel like 'Home'?

The truth is we have a lot of techniques that we try. I wanted to share a few with you just in case you are feeling 'stuck' in your routines or bored with your area. You don't have to move 7,000 miles away like we did to 'spice things up'. You can revive your love of "home" in very simple ways.

1. Be a Tourist. We have meet countless people who don't know, or even seem to care, about the treasures in their own backyard.

Well, get off your duff and go explore! How can you love your area if you don't even KNOW your area?

* Is there a famous historical landmark in your area? I'm from Dallas. I am always shocked that locals have not been to JFK's Memorial. Really? Why not invest an afternoon and learn about the town's most historic event?

 * Is there a restaurant that people from hours away travel to try? We walked into the amazing Gristmill Restaurant in the Gruene district of New Braunfels, Texas. It was so wonderful! I posted where we were on Facebook and was shocked that everyone else had already heard of the place. We had happened upon a famous landmark and not even known it. 

Now, we try to 'stake out' new places to eat by using urbanspoon.com or other websites that recommend the 'hole in the wall' places that locals love. Hey, I never thought my kids would dive into sushi, but they do now! Then again, they think all pancakes should come with ice cream like they do in Japan.  

* What about a new activity that the kids are a tad hesitant to try, but that they would embrace if given the chance? Have you tried the iFly places that let you skydive inside? What about the painting places that are popping up all over the US? Or the local theaters, craft centers or community centers? They often offer mini class sessions that teach you how to knit, put on a play or dance a tango. Come on and admit it. You have always wanted to learn a new dance with your hubby. Jump in!

2. Change your attitude. Ouch! This is the hardest one for me. The truth is my attitude sometimes stinks. 

Come on, take a little walk with me through my day.

Imagine, I'm tired after a trying day. Here's what I would do to feel better when I was In Texas. I would grab some Tex-Mex (Mexican food for those of you not from Texas) on our way home from an event. I would chow down with the kids and talk about our days. We watch some recorded shows (DVRs are awesome). Then, I would send everyone to their own rooms to get some downtime. Finally, I'd grab a hot bath and a good book before I hit the bed.

I loved it. I felt recharged after I finished this simple 'routine'. I felt like "Amy" again and not some alter ego who was ready to scream at any moment.

In Japan, most of that routine is not possible.  Reality hits hard. Time for an "attitude adjustment" and a routine reinvention. Here are the 'tweaks' to my beloved routine.

       a)  It's impossible to just 'grab' any kind of food. It takes forever to get anywhere. Just running in and grabbing something to eat is pretty much out of the question. I can make some mean Tex-Mex though. It just requires some work and hours in the kitchen.
     
       b) We still can eat as a family.
     

       c)  When we go to watch TV, there is certainly not any recorded shows. We barely have TV! (I heard you gasp at that one!)  We only get shows that are several years old and that someone has donated to the armed forces. We are still on Season 1 of Castle here. We also don't get commericals. At all. It cannot appear that the military backs a certain company, so our "commercials" are Public Service Announcements, Country/ State trivia or military tidbits. They have taught me a ton about random state facts.
   
      d) The girls have to share a room here. The boys have to share a room here. Hubby & I have to share the smallest room ever. So, clearly there is no sending anyone to their own rooms. Headphones are a requirement in this house!
   
      e) I can get to take a hot bath. The baths in Japan are very deep, the water very hot. It's awesome!
   
      f) I can still get books here. The libraries on base are quite impressive. They have the newest best sellers and tons of classics. Also, the internet is fast enough to download ebooks. Score.

Yes, my routine has changed. I have to adapt to the Japanese way of life.

Most of all, I have to adjust my attitude! The kids are watching.  They will follow my lead. They will adjust their attitudes and routines, when they see me leading the way.


3. Find new Friends. Your new home will never feel like "home" until you find new friends.

* We start out by finding a new church home. That usually means going to several services and finding the right fit for us. In Japan, we go to a full Gospel service. It is completely different from our church back home. That's not a bad thing. The people are amazing and the doctrine is sound. The music is new, but the choir is skilled. The people are not afraid to share their hearts, say "Thank You Jesus" or clap their hands. They love on our kids, which is always a good thing.

* We start new activities. Whether that is sports, dance or whatever else the local area offers. One of my sons LOVES basketball. He was relived to know that they had it here. Well, when we got here we found out it was cancelled. Man was he bummed. It took him a bit to decide he would play soccer instead. We pumped him up and went shopping for some new cleats. He's excited and starting to make new friends.

* We volunteer at church, help out with Girl Scouts and host our new neighbors for a BBQ. 

Did a new family move in down the street from you? How about you take over some brownies or even those slice and bake cookies? I have been the new neighbor. The moving truck pulled up and the work started. Hours outside in that Texas summer heat. Then, like an angel, I thought I saw someone coming towards me. They were carrying... wait, what is that? Oh man, they were carrying gallons of Blue Bell Ice Cream!!! Seriously, they brought the new family ICE CREAM! They didn't stay or ask a lot of questions. They just left me with Blue Bell and their contact information in case I needed anything. We are still close friends to this day. 

* We talk to people. Sounds simple enough, huh? 

Well, let me tell you a little story.

We met a couple recently and the woman is very shy. It took her a few days to open up and ask us about something that had been bothering her. She said, "I keep thinking about you guys. I just have to ask you a question."

Normally, this is where we get asked about how we meet, or why we have so many kids. Or, we get teased  asked about my hubby being shorter than I am.

It was none of the typical questions.

She asked, "Did you guys take a class somewhere on how to be extroverts? Or how to talk to strangers?" 

Ummm... how do I answer that one?

Hubby and I laughed. No one has ever asked us that.

You see, we are both talkers and friendly. But, we decided a long ago that we wanted to value people. 

We had noticed others talk rudely to the waiter, act like someone not dressed in the finest clothes didn't deserve a smile, or use an attitude with a child. We had both seen it. And, we both hated it. We were going to put others ahead of ourselves.

It isn't always easy when we are tired. Or when we are new. Sometimes we want to stick out heads in the sand and hide. What are we teaching our kids when we do that? We are teaching them to be afraid of the world around them.

Instead, we make the effort. We push ourselves.

We TALK. We ask others about their 

lives. We love on the kids in the neighborhood by giving them high fives or asking about their new shoes. We act silly. We let them be silly.

We teach our kids to talk to the new kids and to sit with someone who looks lonely. Our oldest son helped lead someone to Jesus at lunch one day because he sat at a different table where a boy looked sad. All because he had the courage to TALK to someone.

Now, this is where it gets sticky. We are very hard on our children. We ask a lot of of them. We pick up our junk and go a ton. We  move across town, the state, the country, the Earth every couple of years. If not more often that that. We make encourage them to try new things. They pay a high price to be 'brats'. Somedays they don't want to be nice. Somedays they want to be shy. That's okay too.

At the end of the day, the truth is moving is tough. Reinventing yourself at every new place, trying to find a new circle of friends so you have an 'emergency contact', learning to drive on the Left-hand side of the road... it's just trying at times.

Still, it is so worth it. The girl I thought I was when I met my soldier has completely changed. I no longer 'has to' live in a certain place, or eat at my favorite restaurants to be happy. I don't mind being the only Caucasian in the room where no one speaks my language. I can handle a flight on a Russian airline, a train ride in Japan or a bus to Poland. I am wholly at peace where ever I am because I am safe in the Arms of Christ. 

I can conquer being 'homesick'. It keeps me pushing forward. It means that I have not worked hard enough to make this new place 'home'. I have work to do.

I hope that you have a passion for your hometown. And a passion for others. I pray you try something new at 'home' this week.

Truly, don't we all need a little more adventure, a lot more friendly faces and a dash of grace to get us through the day? Be that for someone today.

Just like the words of our closing song at the Gospel service each week, "I'll pray for you, please pray for me. "

Until next time dear reader,

Talk to a Stranger & Love on Your Neighbors,

 ~Aggie Amy

Sweet Home... well it is NOT Alabama... or Texas... or even New York

We have quarters!!! Can I get a huge AMEN to that one!  We have been in a friend's guest room, in a less-than-large RV, in a retreat lodge or in a guest hotel for several weeks. We love each other, don't get me wrong please. B-u-t, we all need a little more space and a little less togetherness.

The fabulous Japanese government has paid for and built these new homes for the American military. With the budget cuts that just keep getting thrown at the Army, most bases has had money issues. The Japanese want the US here so much, that they show their support by providing nice homes for the troops.

We were offered two sets of quarters. This is not unusual for military life. We were given the keys to two homes and instructed to walk through to decide which would best set our family. Off we went to find our next, temporary, home.

One home was a new home. It was the center 'home' in a building of six 'homes. I am not sure how most people would describe the home et up. I would call it a townhouse. Here is a picture to try and describe this crazy situation.

Here is a 'new' set of townhouses.  There were six in our building. We were in the middle unit of six townhouses. There are quite of few of them lined up. They are all centered around a park, playground or basketball court. They are small, quite small for our family of six. They are about 1300 sq. feet.  There are several different versions, but the one we were offered had a strange living/ dining room combination. It was like two separate blocks, with one being shifted about 4 feet in front of the other. It was... interesting. There were four tiny, and I do mean, tiny bedrooms. A twin bed with a nightstand was about all that would fit. Each home has individual air conditioning and heating units specific for their homes, but the units are ultimately controlled at a central location. That means someone else gets to decide how soon in the season the heat or air conditioning are turned on. That fact is not so good for this Southern Belle.

All of the homes in our area are VERY sturdy. The Japanese are smart, dedicated to safety and build strong buildings. Since earthquakes are commonplace here, the homes the Japanese build for us are almost entirely concrete. They are impressively strong. It does make cell phone reception and wireless signals impossible in the house. I mean we cannot get signal through one floor to the next. However, it means that in the event of a massive quake our home would survive. If I have to give up the cell reception to protect the family's safety, then so be it. The concrete (which may be cement but I cannot for the life of me tell the difference) makes it quite difficult to hear from one room to the next. That is a great side effect of strong buildings says this mommy :)

Just FYI, those families without pets get housing in the 'towers'. There are quite a few 'towers' all over Japan. They are on every base we have seen. It is an efficient was to house the hundreds of military families on the island. This is where I say thanks for that sweet, ol' black lab of ours who helped us 'qualify' for the other housing. 

Now, on to the other set of quarters we were offered. It is referred to by the locals here as an 'old' home. Almost all of these older quarters have been destroyed to make room for the newer housing. However, several of the older units were determined to be in good shape. The home was built about 30 years, and refurbished in 2012.When I heard that part, I thought I would want the newer quarters. We ended up choosing the older quarters. It just makes more sense for us.

Let me take you around a bit.

From the outside street, where we park, it is difficult to see the home or understand how it is laid out. Here is the front of the building. There are four townhomes. We are in one of the middle units.

Each home is approximately 1400 sq. feet. That is pretty small for our family of six, but we were expecting that. We were only allowed to bring about 4,000 pounds of stuff. (For our family that amounted to a few bed frames, a kitchen table with chairs, some bikes and a bit of kitchen stuff.) Even with that little amount of household goods we brought, we will quickly overwhelm this space.

Our front door, which will certainly need a little TLC, is metal. It has a screen door on it already. (I will explain the fenced side area in a moment.)

The older homes have an air conditioning unit in each room. Yes, they are a tad awkward and loud. But, at least, we get to control our own temperature.

Our neighbor was proudly flying his Texas Aggie flag when we to look at the home. Did it sway my vote just a smidgen? Well, maybe.

As you step into the home you realize that the wives network is alive and well. The wives had warned me that everything in the townhome was white... the floors, the lights, the walls, the yucky vertical blinds... all of it is white. Normally, the Army paints all the doors white as well. I am thankful that they left them brown this time. I am a tad sick because our beloved black lab will mess up these floors in a manner of hours. Oh well, like the song says, love hurts... "Hey kids, did you find the vacuum yet?"

The first room you walk past is supposed to be family room. We will use it as a dining room because it has a pass thru window where I can throw the food to the kids without too much traveling. This room also has the washer & dryer. Using it as the dining room enables this Momma to have a big folding surface when she does laundry. Plus, if the kids want dinner they have to put away the laundry. Bonus.

On the other side of the room, opposite the pass thru window, is the patio door that goes out to the front porch area. This is the fenced in part that was in the earlier photo. It is covered and perfect for all of our bikes.

The kitchen is, well, older. It is large though with plenty of cabinets. I like that about it.  The layout is good and the water pressure is awesome. So, it's not as bad as a 30+ year old set of quarters sounds at first. Interestingly the swinging door that is in the picture was not there when we signed for quarters. I am not sure why they took it out, but it works better for us without it.

Looking out the back of the kitchen you run into what should be the large living/ dining room. We will use it as a living room/ family room combination. The room is bright and all, you
guessed it, white. We are thankful we brought those rugs! We will put a desk in this room for all the Momma's crafts  kids' homework. Alright. You might as well know the truth,  it is for my crafts. Nothing refreshes me like a little time with my Cricut!

The older home is about 100 sq. feet larger than the new home, but the biggest advantage to the older home is what every single Army wife craves the most.... STORAGE!  Oh, how I love me some storage. Give me a few plastic bins and a label marker and watch my face light up like Christmas.  There is storage is almost every room! Hoorah!

The storage comes in the form of large closets that look like this picture. The 'holes' you see are to allow ventilation and decrease the chance of musty smells or mold issues. (As I have blogged about before, mold is a huge issue in this island nation where humidity has stayed about 90% since we arrived.) There is also storage under the stairs for all the gear hubby has to carry around.

Upstairs are the bedrooms and two additional bathrooms. There is a small storage room that hubby will use for his clothes. We give the kids the master bedroom so they have room to play and to keep those messy minis in their own bathroom. Hey, I like a clean bathroom. Sue me.

Did you like your little tour? It is a great home for us. We are thrilled to have a place to land after all of time in hotel situations. Plus, we have out first visitors coming less than a week after we move in. It's time to get busy! I will try and take some pictures after we get everything out of the boxes, in the correct rooms and on the walls. I've had a lot of practice, so I'm usually pretty quick at that part :)
For now, the Crew is home.

 Longing for the boxes & loving the journey,

~ Aggie Amy

The wheel is where???

We did it!

We bite the bullet.

We got a Japanese car!

He wasn't too keen on the process, but he really likes the result. Well, he likes that his wife likes the result <3

We were not authorized to bring American cars to Japan.

There are several reasons, but the biggest one is money.

It cost a lot to send the cars. The Army is not willing to spend that kind of money at this point.

Next, it costs a lot more to modify the American cars to meet Japanese standards.

They drive in the LEFT side of the road, remember?

We had heard there were plenty of cars available here, but that is where it gets interesting...

Look at handsome guy trying to figure out why the wheel is on THAT side!

The Japanese are required to insure their cars every year, similar to Americans, but the older the car the more expensive the insurance! Huh???

The main reason, from what I understand is, that the government wants to keep the economy going so it 'encouranges' Japanese citizens to 'junk' their cars when the car is 10 years old. This lets the person get the 'most out of the vehchile' and guarantees that every decade the nation will get a new car sold and put some cash into the economy.

This pattern makes those 10 year old cars- literally- junk. The Japanese have to PAY to get rid of them.

That is where we Americans step in.

We buy their 'junked' cars for a few grand and drive them for the few years we are stationed in Japan.

Then, WE have to pay to 'junk' them again.

(Does this sound like a racket to you? Maybe. But, we don't really have a choice.)

We knew we could get a car for a couple thousand dollars.

We just weren't sure what kind of car we could get that would fit our family of 6 and still fit on this crazy, insane, skinny roads!

This is the "Side Blind" mirror that is the left door's outside mirror to help with tight spots. 

We found one at a shady used car lot frequently used by sailors.

The procedure doesn't make me feel warm & fuzzy or anything.

Let me tell you why.

When you want to check out a car, you ask for the keys.

You can sit in the car to see how it feels, which was great since 3 of the 4 we liked were from really heavy smokers!

You can even turn the car on, but you cannot drive it around.

No clue what it is asking us to do?!?!?

Apparently, it is against Japanese law to drive without 'owning' the car???

So you are out of luck if you wanted to test drive.

We never really understood this one.

We found one we liked. ( There isn't much to choice from so you just kinda have to jump in.)



We put down a deposit and the dealer gave us paperwork to take all over town.

You have to go pay the car insurance. Then, you have to go to another office and 'register' the car with the prefecture (state) you are in. Last, if you are military, you have to register the vehicle on your military installation.

After all of that is done, you bring back the rest of the cash and the car is yours! (Did I mention you have to pay in cash?)

Oh, wait you can't actually drive it yet. Silly you!

You have to wait for the dealer to "file the paperwork". Wait 24 more hours... Finally, the dealer will bring the car to you. (Another fascinating thing I do not understand at all.)

Having the gear shifter, the blinkers and windshield
wipers 'wrong' is going to be tough to get used to!

I am not sure how my hubby got it all done, but my new 'van' pulled up in front of the hotel today.

Yeah!

I say 'van' because even though it is more of a crossover on the outside, it sits like a van on the inside. It is lower & skinnier than most vans in the States. Thankfully, because it has to fit on these roads!

It is a 2003 Nissan Presage. (Never heard of it? Me neither. It is a common Japanese model.)

Glass breakers are on the passenger
side of most Japanese cars. 

It only has about 35,000 miles on it. Or 71,000 km depending on where you come from.

It cost about Y350,000 or $3,500.

It was actually kind of high for the cars here, but it has
low miles and was owned by a non-smoker.
It has a 'large' engine so that makes it cost more, too.

It does have a few things we were surprised by: a GPS, a hidden CD player, a required 'glass breaker', a back up camera and even a separate left side camera for all the tight parking and backing in Japan.

We have NO IDEA what the navigation is telling us to do, what most of the buttons mean,  or what is playing on the radio. We also laughed at the 'mini disc' player- that fad never really got off the ground did it?

We are still looking for Matt a 'rollerskate' car. His car just needs to get him, and occasionally a kid or two, from housing on another post to work on this post. His will be much smaller, but also much cheaper.

This green and yellow sticker identifies a "novice" driver,
or someone who has been driving for less than 1 year.
In other words, avoid them!

One more thing that we found intriguing is that there are several "labels" that Japanese cars have on the back side to identify the drivers. There are different ones for 'novice' drivers, senior drivers, handicapped drivers and "babies on board". This way the other people on the road 'know how to interact' with that car. Well, I learned something new today. Did you?


We are off to explore Japan! We can't wait to put a few more kilometers on our new van!

Where shall we go first?

They fit, that's all that matters to me!

I think the commissary because these kiddos are all out of snacks. And, that is never good!

If life is a highway, then the Bible is the map,

~Aggie Amy

Our new address.... somewhere in the Seattle Airport!

Seattle is beautiful!

The Army has always entertained and amazed me in the way they do things.

The travel arrangements to move to Japan were NO exception.

In order to get to Japan, you have to travel to Seattle first. Whether you are in Texas, Carolina or New York, you have to travel to Seattle first.  (We flew up to Seattle via Houston the day before our flight to Japan.)

The military 'contracts' with an airline to take military members from Seattle to Japan. The military does a lot of things well, but they are stretched thin so it is easier to pay a charter plane than deal with it themselves. That sounds good.

Unfortunately for military families, the cheapest airlines usually wins the 'bid'.

As if that wasn't bad interesting enough, the military also 'rents' the counter space at the airport.

The only time they can get the counter super cheap is... in the MIDDLE of the NIGHT.

That is correct folks. If you fly to Japan, you must check in at the counter at 2AM!!! The flight doesn't take off for SIX more hours, but the seats can be given to other travelers if you have not checked in promtly.

My OCD was in full worry mode thinking we would not get seats if we were not there early. So, we got there early.

Poor Puppy is sick of flying!

Yes, we were the first in line.

We were the first in line at  2 PM.

Yes, twelve hours before check-in time we were at the airport in line.

We moved in to the Seattle airport.

We really didn't have a choice. We had to check out of our hotel at noon.

Where else where we going to go with 15 checked bags, 6 carry ons, 4 children, 2 adults and 1 large dog?

Poor airport, never even saw us coming.

Who am I kidding? You would have to be blind and live in a box to NOT see us coming!

We come in with one, no... two, no... three, no... four, no... FIVE luggage carts and every single kid rolling at least one piece of luggage while carrying their backpacks. Then, I came in with our beautiful black dog.

It was such a sight!

We took over a whole section of chairs by the counter that would become the military counter once the clock struck midnight. 

We were thankful to find the USO close to our 'camp out' spot. They provided free meals, candy and a smiling face on the stressful day for us and the other 250 military passengers.

With hours and hours to kill we decided a distraction might be best.

Well, what do we do when we are bored? We travel!

Hubby took the kiddos into Seattle on the train while the pup and I guarded the bags.

Where do you go, if you get to visit Seattle?  The famous Public Market downtown, of course!

First stop:  the Original Starbucks. (No wonder that symbol had to be changed!) Daddy let them get a drink and give their favorite Super Hero as their Name. The baristas laughed as they called up each kid, I mean 'Wonder Woman' or 'Captain America'.

Next: The Gum Wall. Each kid, and Daddy, chewed gum and then found the perfect place to put their piece. Yes, I too am grossed out! This is one of those things that never would have happened with this momma. They were so glad Daddy took them.

The Crew headed back to the airport in time for some more free USO food for dinner. (Side note: if you ever need a good charity to support the USO is totally, sold-out to their mission of supporting the military. They are always there, where the need arrises. Just a little show of love to them, from me. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.)

After we got to check in for the flight at 2AM, we went back to our little 'camp' and the kids slept. How ever, they could sleep. Where ever they could sleep. Hubby and I stayed awake to watch the luggage, care for the dog and charge the electronics.

Finally, 19 hours after we arrived at the airport we boarded the plane.

The airline was Omni Air for this flight. (I am told that it changes all the time.) They are a charter group out of AZ that started 30 years ago. I think our plane may have been from their original fleet. It was that old. But, the flight was smooth, the food was okay and there was a constant stream of appropriate movies played.

The ten hour flight went quickly by.

We landed, went through customs, learned about Japan curfews and grabbed our pup in a matter of minutes.

Our sponsor picked us up from Yokota Air Force Base in a large shuttle bus. It was such a blessing to have that kind of help! The shuttle brought us to Camp Zama, took us to the Kennels to check in the dog (who is not allowed to stay in the hotel) and then dropped us off at the hotel that will be our home for at least the next month. We will live in the hotel until our housing is available. That can take a matter of weeks or a couple of months. It is all dependent on who moves out when, what repairs need to be made and the needs of our specific family.

As I said, the Army has always entertained and amazed me in the way they do things.

Spread the Love & Kon'nichiwa,

~ Aggie Amy

Rednecks go Mobile

When the idea to rent an RV came to me I thought my husband was going to laugh. Then I imagined the neighbors saying, "Watch out Honey, the Rednecks are on the road!" I felt like someone was going to write an old-style country & western song about our crazy Crew traveling around in the thing!

Here's how it started. We had to pack out, close on the house & get hubby signed out of post. We were going to have a few days of homeless-ness. We decided, since we had to stay in a hotel anyway, we might as well try out RVing.

We rented a Coachman Freelander. It is a 'C' class RV. It sleeps 10, is over 32" long and has a small outside entertainment area. We rented out a "premium" spot at an RV park near Dallas that also has a water park. ( I had no idea what Premium meant, but since Hubby wasn't watching me I decided this Diva needed the "best".) We took board games, a ton of food and a good attitude. We loaded all that and our four constantly-growing kiddos into the RV. (We left the dog at a friend's house.) The drive was only a couple of hours, but it was certainly interesting to be passed on our dear Texas freeways at 80 mph by tractor trailers. They sent the RV about 6 feet off to the right each time they passed. Lesson #1: Use those arm muscles when you are driving a house down the road!

We had a few... let's call them episodes:

   *   The lock on the door broke when we first rented the RV. With the children locked inside and us outside. It is a good thing they are old enough to take care of themselves =)  Super Hubby worked his magic and it was fixed in no time. 

   *   Watch out or you could will accidentally turn on the propane as you walk by the stove.

 *   Black water, Grey water, White water.... oh, Thank you Lord for separate hoses!

   *   It is important to unplug every once in awhile. In the middle of closing on a house, saying goodbye to family & moving overseas... well, that may not be the best time to be unplugged.  We missed a few important phone calls and did not have internet at the park.

Also, we learned quite a bit by renting an RV.
   *  One, we rock at card games. Skip-Bo is still a blast.
   *  Two, our kids are hilarious! They see life... differently!
   *  Three, we started our little family but, all of us have to work to stay that way. We choose to be a family by our actions and our words. It is a daily, sometimes hourly, choice. It is hard at times. It is worth it. Totally worth it.
   *  Most importantly, we learned that we can count on each other. In the middle of the night, when everyone is sleeping it is still ok to wake up your brother to take you to the potty. When you are upset over something silly, it is alright for someone to call you on it. When you are laughing at yourself, everyone laughs with you.

Will we rent an RV again, maybe. Will we always remember this trip, definitely!

Keep the Faith & Try New Things,

~Aggie Amy

Where's Home Mom?

Years ago, when all of our kiddos were less than 6, I started getting the question.

Every military family knows THE question.

"Where am I from, Mom?"

Oh ...no....

I had NO IDEA what to say to that question.

I am never quiet  without an answer.

I had to find a way to teach the kids all about the cool places we had lived.

So, in an effort to quel the questions, and to entertain their minds I came up with ...

The "Home Box"

In the box there are several 'Dividers'.

Each Divider is numbered and a single Duty Station on it. (You can see #2 in the pic below.)

FRONT of Divider : The name of the station, a picture of the home (or apartment) and the years we were stationed there.

BACK of Divider :  pictures of the inside the home, tidbits about the area & things we loved while we were there.

In between the dividers are 'Cards'.

The cards have 'life events' on them for things that happened at that duty station. 

For example, if we had a baby that child would have a 'card' with their newborn picture and info on the birth listed. 

Other examples of cards: Favorite Friends, Best Restaurants, Quirky Quotes or stories that happened.

(Like when one of the boys stopped his won 3rd birthday party to announce, "Daddy, I just tinkled in by Bob the Builder underwear." Or when our daughter told her preschool teacher, "My Mommy is a BIG drinker! She loves her sweet tea!")

I also made sure to have some serious cards. If we learned a tough lesson or lost a loved one I made a card for that. It sounds like a lot, but there are only about 3-4 cards for each divider.

We are on our 10th divider. Which means we have moved T. E. N times already!

This is where I realize how old we are!

It's fun to look over the Home Box every once in awhile. Plus, it helps me remember all the details of our crazy military life. I told you, I'm old. Did I tell you I am forgetful.

The kids love, and learn from, the Home Box. Visitors, and family, can see what our life is like along the way.

It's simple really. It can be just large index cards in a lunchbox if that is what suits your fancy.

It can be a scrap-booker's dream because it is small enough to get it done quickly, but large enough to put several embellishments.

Just enjoy telling the story and it will turn out awesome.

Keep the Faith & Tell their Stories,

~ Aggie Amy