Trying not to....

... pull my hair out.

I don't think unless you have been in the military and have suffered the lack of organization that occurs when one is required to move that you can possibly understand the amount of C-R-A-P that goes into a military relocation. This is something that we military families face every 3-4 years and while it is extremely exciting - and the life we have chosen - it can be extremely frustrating. When it is from an "overseas" location such as Hawaii, the details get even more tedious.

One thing we know to be certain is that we are moving from Hawaii in June and that we are moving to Louisiana. However, we don't have orders yet and orders are those crucial documents that authorizes all the pieces to a military move to fall into place. Without orders, you have no authority to book out processing appointments, flights, lodging, or even an appointment to have movers come to your house to pack up all of your earthly belongings.

If I went into the list of what we have to do between now and when we arrive to Louisiana, I can promise it would stress you out. But here I am on a Wednesday morning, unable to do anything since we don't have orders and so I blog about how frustrated I am.

Here's a small list of what we have facing us: we have to sell our Pathfinder because the AF only pays to ship one car so we chose to ship the Camry. That means that we will have to deal with all the mess that goes into selling a car (parking it on a lot, bill of sale, test drives) and then when we sell it and have shipped the Camry before we move, we will be minus any transportation. We have to decide what we want to go into the suitcases that we will live out of for the next 3 months before our stuff arrives to Louisiana. We have to book flights and make arrangements for our animals on both ends of the ocean. We have to get flights off the island booked for me, Dan and Noah as well as then buy more tickets so we can go to Virginia to visit Dan's family after seeing mine in Alabama. We have to stay indefinitely in hotels here in Hawaii once our stuff gets packed and shipped and then stay with family then stay in more hotels once in Louisiana because we have to buy a house AND a car when we move there. On top of the logistics of moving, Dan is in the middle of a huge exercise with work that affords him zero out-processing time so we are in limbo even longer till he's done with that at the end of the month.

I wake up every day and stare into my freezer wondering what in the WORLD am I going to do with all of our food that we can't ship, or our cleaning supplies, or lotions, make up, toiletries... that's a lot of money down the drain when you can't pack up all the liquids that you have stocked up on in the last few years!

And moving is quite emotional. I have several dear friends here on Island that I will struggle saying goodbye to in June. I am not good at goodbyes at all... especially when you know you will likely never return to the place you have called home for 3 years. We love our church, too, so that will be especially painful to say goodbye to the friends we have there.

I struggle with not stressing out too much about things and I think I am getting much better than I used to be. I know that inevitably, this will all work out. But the minute details that go into moving - and moving with a very active 15 month old - is so daunting to me. I am having to wake up every day and make a choice to not worry. So please pray that I can continue to remain calm and just get everything done that needs attention.

And doesn't it seem sometimes that when you have so much on your plate, everyone begins asking more of you!? Please pray that our friends and family will also be sensitive to the amount of stress we are undergoing in these next few months. It is a big responsibility making sure you say goodbye to all your friends and spend enough time with each of them while also trying to schedule visits with both sides of the family and accommodating everyones busy schedules so we can make sure we see everyone when it is good for THEM as well. Not to mention the amount of expenses that are facing us in this move! Plane tickets to visit families and friends and shipping animals halfway across the world are NOT CHEAP!!! AHHH!

I didn't mean to stress anyone of you readers out at all today. But this is what is going on with our family right now and as each day comes and goes, we are one day closer to the moving process that we are not ready for. There is a family across the street moving the exact same time we are (end of June) and they have already had their belongings packed and shipped as well as their cars. They are living out of their suitcases and in hotels as tourists till they move. I just told Dan last night that I am going to the grocery store each week and acting like we are never leaving this place!!

Prayers and encouragement sent our way are much appreciated by this frazzled mom.