The second week of November, Billy received a phone call and then an email that began, "Congratulations! You've been selected to be Company Commander for a unit in Columbus, Ohio..."
They might as well have said, "Congratulations, we're going to turn your life upside down!" So much for having three year orders for Des Moines! Apparently Uncle Sam wants us in Ohio. In June. I will admit, I was not a happy, go with the flow, it's all in God's hands, army wife when my husband gave me the news. I like Des Moines. I love my house. I finally feel like I have friends here. The schools are good, the parks are fun, and there's so much more we wanted to see and do! And, being that the Des Moines move was our first "active duty" move, I never in a million years thought the army would just change our orders - now I realize how absurd that sounds - but I honestly thought three year orders meant we'd be here three years. So I pouted and cried and prayed and questioned...and then, in the way that only He can, God gave me an answer that left little room for questioning. Two days after we found out about our pending move, I opened my materials to prepare for the kids class I teach two Saturdays a month at our church. I started reading the "lessons for the leader" section, which began, "Pack up! It's time to move! If you've ever had to relocate for a job, you know the stress associated..."
Yeah. I laughed out loud, and I got the message. We're going to Ohio. Columbus, to be exact, and that happens to be the state's capital. The fourth state capital we will have lived in! The spring will no doubt be challenging as we attempt to sell the house we closed on just last December, and Billy will be in South Carolina. He has to attend a four month course at Fort Jackson beginning in January. He will have days off and be able to fly back here, or we will head to Fort Jackson on school breaks, but being apart is never fun...
But here are the positive aspects of the move - career-wise, it is a great opportunity for Billy. Columbus looks like another nice place to live with lots of fun kids activities to explore. We will only be six hours from the DC area where we hope to spend more time. We will only be ten hours from my brother's family and hope to be able to meet in the middle somewhere for vacations together. The weather in Ohio looks to be somewhat milder than Iowa (ten degrees or so, but still better!) There are several airports within driving distance, giving us options to explore when looking for cheap tickets to either visit family or have visitors. Alexa is excited about the opportunity to meet new friends and live in a new place! I'm sure it will be harder on her as she gets older, but right now, she enjoys the adventure, and that makes it more fun for all of us!
So stay tuned....the latest Hill household adventure is soon to begin, and with it will come a new address!!
5 comments:
I was wondering if the orders became final. Never got a reply from my email, so I figured they did and you were extremely busy, upset, frustrated, overwhelmed, or all of the above!
Good luck with your move and if we get back to OH before your next set of orders, at least we will have more time to visit than 30 minutes or so!
I was going to call you like several times to get an update, but obviously, an opportunity never seemed to present itself. I hope you had fun w/ your family this weekend!! Sorry I couldn't join yall. I'll call you soon... Miss you! And, LOVE the fall pictures!!! Wow, that's beautiful!
Oh, Jen, I'm sorry about the move. If anyone can handle it with grace, though, you can. You're awesome at making friends quickly and you leave the many people whose lives you've touched better off because of having known you.
Yeah, so that last comment was from Jodi Davies, not The Journey. That was wierd.
WOW! How many addresses in how many years? I still need to get this one.
You'll like Ohio, it's really pretty. And you are soooo good at making friends and it looks like that trait has been passed down to the kids.
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