Moving Date
We have a moving date! It seemed like it took forever to her the final orders. Our PCS (permanent change of station) orders are the papers TO RULE ALL others. My precious orders ( please read that in a Gollum voice). Not to be dramatic or anything, but this paper is everything. It allows us to book travel, schedule movers, put in letters of resignation, etc. So officially we will fly out of the Continental United States on January 25. As in 40 days from now.
This process was so complicated to wade through. Part of the issue was that we are so terribly naive about all things military and part of the issue is that so many things needed to be coordinated to literally transfer our entire lives across the ocean. Think about all the things it takes to have a life now where you are and then assume there are four different forms about setting them up in Germany. Exactly. I feel very lucky to have had guidance from both friends and strangers along the way. If anyone has found themselves at this blog looking for a timeline or advice about the process of moving with the DOD overseas, please contact me, because I am indebted to so many who helped me and happy to pass it on.
Next up for us is securing a sponsor to help arrange our temporary housing when we get there. We have up to three months to find a house ( they pay us less and less each month as incentive to get the heck out of the temp housing). There are so many little towns around LRMC (Landsthul Regional Medical Center) and everyone says to just explore when you get there, that I haven't put any energy into looking at housing. That will be a fun adventure when we get there.
We are trying to sort our things into three groups: long term storage, quick ship and slow ship. Our contract allows for long term storage stateside (although there is some question about if it is a temperature controlled area), a short term shipment (things we'll need quickly like clothes, dishes, sheets) and the longer household goods shipment ( everything else). They also are shipping one vehicle for us. All of the items in the house have to be put into one of the three groups when the movers come to walk through the house. We have a weight limit for each shipment, 18,000 pounds for the household goods shipment, so it takes a bit of figuring to get everything where it needs to be. The houses over there have mostly tile, so rugs are a commodity and the walls are different making hanging pictures more difficult. I keep wandering from room to room looking at things trying to figure out which pile to sort them into. There is also always the risk that it gets damaged in transit, so we don't really want to take anything that is precious to us. IKEA is down the street so I feel like we can get what we need there. We will have access to the base and the BX (base exchange) so they will stock some of the things we might need. I'm trying to figure out how many adaptors to bring with us since all of our things won't work in their plugs. The army will give us a washer, a dryer and a fridge, so we sold those things with the house. J got apple TV for Christmas and we hope to use that in place of cable. Any tips on what to bring or leave? Anyone use Apple TV or Netflix, etc successfully overseas?
We are spending our time seeing family and friends and trying to be as calm as possible. I fully feel the fact that I will go to work full time in 40 days. It has been so lovely having all this time with my sweet boys and I will miss being my own "boss". How lucky am I that J agreed that me being home was a priority and has graciously taken on the lead earner role for all these years. I'm excited for him to get the chance to stay home ( while doing some remote work) with the boys and get to know them in a way that only homeschooling and staying home allows.
This process was so complicated to wade through. Part of the issue was that we are so terribly naive about all things military and part of the issue is that so many things needed to be coordinated to literally transfer our entire lives across the ocean. Think about all the things it takes to have a life now where you are and then assume there are four different forms about setting them up in Germany. Exactly. I feel very lucky to have had guidance from both friends and strangers along the way. If anyone has found themselves at this blog looking for a timeline or advice about the process of moving with the DOD overseas, please contact me, because I am indebted to so many who helped me and happy to pass it on.
Next up for us is securing a sponsor to help arrange our temporary housing when we get there. We have up to three months to find a house ( they pay us less and less each month as incentive to get the heck out of the temp housing). There are so many little towns around LRMC (Landsthul Regional Medical Center) and everyone says to just explore when you get there, that I haven't put any energy into looking at housing. That will be a fun adventure when we get there.
We are trying to sort our things into three groups: long term storage, quick ship and slow ship. Our contract allows for long term storage stateside (although there is some question about if it is a temperature controlled area), a short term shipment (things we'll need quickly like clothes, dishes, sheets) and the longer household goods shipment ( everything else). They also are shipping one vehicle for us. All of the items in the house have to be put into one of the three groups when the movers come to walk through the house. We have a weight limit for each shipment, 18,000 pounds for the household goods shipment, so it takes a bit of figuring to get everything where it needs to be. The houses over there have mostly tile, so rugs are a commodity and the walls are different making hanging pictures more difficult. I keep wandering from room to room looking at things trying to figure out which pile to sort them into. There is also always the risk that it gets damaged in transit, so we don't really want to take anything that is precious to us. IKEA is down the street so I feel like we can get what we need there. We will have access to the base and the BX (base exchange) so they will stock some of the things we might need. I'm trying to figure out how many adaptors to bring with us since all of our things won't work in their plugs. The army will give us a washer, a dryer and a fridge, so we sold those things with the house. J got apple TV for Christmas and we hope to use that in place of cable. Any tips on what to bring or leave? Anyone use Apple TV or Netflix, etc successfully overseas?
We are spending our time seeing family and friends and trying to be as calm as possible. I fully feel the fact that I will go to work full time in 40 days. It has been so lovely having all this time with my sweet boys and I will miss being my own "boss". How lucky am I that J agreed that me being home was a priority and has graciously taken on the lead earner role for all these years. I'm excited for him to get the chance to stay home ( while doing some remote work) with the boys and get to know them in a way that only homeschooling and staying home allows.
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