The past few days I have been continually reminded how blessed my family is to have good health. Sure, we get the occasional cold, and all my kids have vomited on me a few times, but as far as chronic health issues or allergies, all five of us are completely clear. This is something I usually take for granted, but this week I have learned that good health is a required part of our move to Spain. You see, to move overseas, every family member has to go through an in-depth medical and dental screening. Not just my husband-- ALL of us, even the baby. At first I thought this was to make things more convenient (and affordable) for the military. If someone needs specific prescription medication that will not be available at an overseas duty station, then they will not be allowed to accompany the military member overseas. If someone is going to need serious dental work in the next year, that will also prevent them from going. Thankfully, I am not pregnant, but they usually do not transport a woman overseas if she is more than 29 weeks along, because of a concern in a gap in her prenatal coverage. Also, you cannot have any past reports of abuse, child custody arrangements, or unresolved court cases. We have to all be up to date on immunizations, physicals, and dental check-ups. Needless to say, that has meant a LOT of paperwork and running around getting appointments, signatures, and copies of things to verify that we are all healthy.
I have two reflections on this. The first came from a meeting with our relocation adviser on base. He said the reason for the screenings is not just to make things more convenient for the military, but because we will be in a position of being an American minority on a Spanish naval base. In a way, our entire family is becoming ambassadors to Spain! They only want to send healthy, stable families who seem unlikely to have domestic problems or medical emergencies. That was a interesting positive spin on the medical screening process. Of course I like to think my family is among the best of the best, even if I can't really take personal responsibility for our health. I mean sure, I make a lot of effort to cook fresh healthy meas and stay active and strong myself, but I realize that our basic sound constitution is a blessing from God. So I pray that God will continue to bless us so we can be good ambassadors!
Secondly, as I was tracking down my children's shot records and verifying that I personally am immune to tetanus, MMR, variacella, and polio, I realized how important it was that we all had these immunizations. I know there are some people who are against vaccinating children, and that's not a debate I want to start here, but I personally am totally ok with it. None of my kids have had any adverse reactions to shots, but they would certainly have adverse reactions to those viruses if they were exposed to them without being immunized! I know that some people feel they are protecting or sheltering their kids by not immunizing, but how long does that sheltering last? Do you homeschool all the way through college? Are they ever allowed to travel? Because eventually, kids become adults who will make their own choices and have their own experiences, and if they aren't immunized, they are seriously limited in what they will be allowed to do and where they can go. Is it worth it to me to give the kids a few shots so that they will be able to experience living in another country for 3 years? Totally! And now we don't have to worry about them getting chicken pox while we are there. :-) I'm thankful that my parents gave me the immunizations as a child, which let me travel to Europe before, and will allow me to live there now. Thanks Mom and Dad! :-)
Friday, June 29, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Wait... OK, now hurry up!
My parents always joked that the military motto should be "Hurry up and wait" since Marines typically spend so much time rushing around to get things done... only to sit and wait for endless hours. Well, this week we are going through the opposite scenario. We waited and waited for the past few months to get official orders with dates to our next duty station. Now we have them... and boy do they want us to move quickly! He is ordered to report to Rota anytime between July 20 and August 20. Ummm, does anyone realize that July starts THIS weekend! Eeek!
So today we began the process of running around and getting answers to some of our million questions. How do we get a family of 5 relocated to Spain? How much time do we have to get this done? We are shipping household goods, furniture, our minivan, and even ourselves overseas! But in the military you don't just ask a travel agent and reserve some tickets. There are special flights, special processes, and special paperwork. There are timelines, lines to wait in, signatures to get, and always copies of more paperwork to submit. Luckily my husband is running around doing most of that. I just have to make the arrangements for the kids and myself. Oh, and the furniture and everything else we own. Yep, it is gonna be a busy month! Not stressed yet, because there are way too many ifs and maybes at this point... but hang in there because I will be sharing everything I learn about a military move in the weeks to come!
So today we began the process of running around and getting answers to some of our million questions. How do we get a family of 5 relocated to Spain? How much time do we have to get this done? We are shipping household goods, furniture, our minivan, and even ourselves overseas! But in the military you don't just ask a travel agent and reserve some tickets. There are special flights, special processes, and special paperwork. There are timelines, lines to wait in, signatures to get, and always copies of more paperwork to submit. Luckily my husband is running around doing most of that. I just have to make the arrangements for the kids and myself. Oh, and the furniture and everything else we own. Yep, it is gonna be a busy month! Not stressed yet, because there are way too many ifs and maybes at this point... but hang in there because I will be sharing everything I learn about a military move in the weeks to come!
Monday, June 25, 2012
The long goodbye
This weekend we had the chance to visit my husband's family in Delaware, including his grandfather who flew in from Michigan! We had a wonderful time, very relaxing, but also packed with plenty of fun for the kids.
Saturday we spent lots of quality time with Grandpa and Great Grandpa, went swimming, and had a fun smores and hot dog roast that night. Our kids stayed up late chasing fireflies and playing with their cousins. Such warm memories!
Sunday I got to go crabbing in the boat with Sophia while my husband watched the boys. We had a blast! My first time crabbing, and I loved scooping them off the line. Sophia enjoyed sitting on the bow with her cousin and pretending to fish. They even went for a dip in the Bay! Last night we had a wonderful time at Funland in Rehoboth. The kids got to ride traditional carnival rides like a carousel, and little fire trucks and motorcycles. Sophia enjoyed the haunted house, but was a bit terrified when she rode the hopper (stomach lurcher) ride with her older cousin! Danny had a great time launching himself into the ball pit! We ended the perfect family evening with ice cream on the boardwalk.
Now we are driving home, and even though we plan to see my husband's family once more before leaving the country, it feels like we have begun the long process of saying goodbye. In the next month we will say goodbye to my family in Pennsylvania, our friends in North Carolina, our house, and the town of Jacksonville. We have some experience saying "see you later!" after all the deployments we have been through, but it's different when our whole family is leaving the country together, and we have no idea how many months (or years! ) it will be before we see people again. I have never been a fan of long goodbyes, but it is an unavoidable part of the moving process. Anyone have favorite strategies for making it easier on the kids?
Monday, June 18, 2012
Learning Spanish
Apparently, in 2 months we will be in Spain! There is so much that needs to happen during that time! Luckily I have been able to take advantage of the fact that my husband has been in school for 2 weeks, and I am doing a little schooling on my own. It's time to learn Spanish! I have never had a Spanish class in my life... But I had 16 years of French classes, including being a French minor in college and living in Paris for 6 months. So I used to be pretty fluent in French. (A bit rusty now though, since I haven't had anyone to talk to for 8 years!) I got the Rosetta Stone Spanish package, and so far I am very impressed. I didn't know if "Level 1" would just be colors and food, but it's an amazing program that combines verbs, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation into each lesson. I have been doing it for 1 week now, and am almost 1/4 of the way through Level 1. It's amazing how much I have picked up! I can read new words correctly because of the pronunciation drills, and I can speak whole sentences describing pictures. I cannot carry on any conversation -- unless you really want to say things like "The black cat is small, the running boy is wearing a shirt, and I have three yellow bicycles." :-) But still, it definitely gives you confidence to approach new situations and try to understand native speakers. I am very excited to stick with it so I won't be lost and overwhelmed when we get there.
Note to military: Rosetta Stone courses are supposed to be free to military spouses. However, after asking my husband, contacting the base education center, and searching the Rosetta Stone website, I could not get any information about how to sign up for the free program. So, I just went out and bought it so I wouldn't waste anymore time. It's $180 for Level 1, or $400 for the package with Levels 1-3. Each "Level" is similar to a college course, and by Level 5 you would be considered a fluent speaker. So, I am going to see how Level 1 goes, and find out what kind of classes and programs are offered on base when we get there, but it would certainly be worth it to find out how to take advantage of the military benefit!
As for the kiddos, so far I am having fun teaching them words here and there as I learn them. We have a picture book with Spanish words, and just got a dvd for them. They really like it, and think it is a game to learn how to say things in Spanish. So far they have figured out gracias, manzana (apple), blanco (white) nino and nina (boy and girl) and cama (bed). They like to ask questions and quiz me-- how do you say this? what is that in Spanish? so I am trying to keep it fun and look words up in their picture book.
I forgot how exhausting it is speaking in another language though! I can literally feel the cobwebs coming off some parts of my brain, and it hurts! Haha, so it's off to bed for me.
Note to military: Rosetta Stone courses are supposed to be free to military spouses. However, after asking my husband, contacting the base education center, and searching the Rosetta Stone website, I could not get any information about how to sign up for the free program. So, I just went out and bought it so I wouldn't waste anymore time. It's $180 for Level 1, or $400 for the package with Levels 1-3. Each "Level" is similar to a college course, and by Level 5 you would be considered a fluent speaker. So, I am going to see how Level 1 goes, and find out what kind of classes and programs are offered on base when we get there, but it would certainly be worth it to find out how to take advantage of the military benefit!
As for the kiddos, so far I am having fun teaching them words here and there as I learn them. We have a picture book with Spanish words, and just got a dvd for them. They really like it, and think it is a game to learn how to say things in Spanish. So far they have figured out gracias, manzana (apple), blanco (white) nino and nina (boy and girl) and cama (bed). They like to ask questions and quiz me-- how do you say this? what is that in Spanish? so I am trying to keep it fun and look words up in their picture book.
I forgot how exhausting it is speaking in another language though! I can literally feel the cobwebs coming off some parts of my brain, and it hurts! Haha, so it's off to bed for me.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Making sure my phone is linked up too...
Great! This will make it much easier to keep up on posts and add pictures! I find I spend more time online on my phone than my computer. It's faster, easier, and almost always within reach. How about you?
Beginnings...
Welcome to my new blog! We just received orders to spend the next 3 years in Rota, Spain, so I thought I would start this as a place to share our adventures, keep everyone informed about our family's growth, and hopefully share some learning experiences for anyone who has to go through this after me! I had a blog previously, but it was titled "The Homefront" and was mostly about deployment. It didn't fit this new stage of our life, plus I have been having trouble getting Google to recognize that blog at all, so I am just starting a new one!
First, the basic background: My husband and I have been married almost 5 years, and have 3 adorable kids: Sophia, (age 4) Danny, (age 2) and Alex (10 months). He has been a Marine for 11 years now, and served in the infantry in California, Quantico, and Jacksonville NC with 5 total deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. These past few years have been busy busy busy, and after this deployment, when he was planning to reenlist, we discussed all the career options for the next few years. More than anything, we wanted to have time together AS A FAMILY to enjoy our children before they grow up! After a lot of prayer, a lot of pulling strings, and a bunch of things conveniently falling into place (thank You, God!) :-) he has been offered as position as an Operations Chief with Security Forces in Rota, Spain! It's a three-year assignment, and we are super excited!
Now that this move is a reality, I find it is exciting, intimidating, frustrating, and exhilarating all at once. I should preface this by explaining that my husband has never traveled abroad besides deployments, while I traveled several times in high school and even lived in France for 6 months during college... but that was all before marriage and children! So this is new territory for both of us. I am well aware that moving overseas with small children is not going to be easy. But I truly believe that the benefits of this move far outweigh the frustrations. Here is my wish for the next few years:
1. that my children will learn Spanish (they are at a perfect age to pick it up and keep that skill for life!) I am hoping to learn it as well. I was nearly fluent in French after living there, so I hope I can pick Spanish up easily.
2. that my children will be exposed to a Catholic culture. We are a strongly Catholic family, and it is often challenging demonstrating that in a non-religious environment. Even though military bases are not known for their fervent devotion, and Spain is not as Catholic as it once was, it will still be a rich change from America, and Europe is full of amazing churches and local religious customs that all have Catholic roots. I can't wait to share that with my family!
3. That my family will get to explore new places, experience new cultures, and have fun together! We have spent these last few years in Jacksonville, NC which some have described as a cultural wasteland. After spending my college years in Washington DC and Paris, I was spoiled by the ready availability of art, music, sports, and good food. Rota is a small town in Southern Spain, but all of Europe is at our doorstep and we hope to make the most of it!
So yes, we are going to miss our family and friends, but we look forward to hosting some of you as visitors at our new casa! And I hope that no matter what we face in the next period of adjustment, we can look at each other at the end of the day and know that we are going through it together, and giving our family an unforgettable opportunity. So please hop aboard, follow the blog, and join us on our Spanish adventures!
First, the basic background: My husband and I have been married almost 5 years, and have 3 adorable kids: Sophia, (age 4) Danny, (age 2) and Alex (10 months). He has been a Marine for 11 years now, and served in the infantry in California, Quantico, and Jacksonville NC with 5 total deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. These past few years have been busy busy busy, and after this deployment, when he was planning to reenlist, we discussed all the career options for the next few years. More than anything, we wanted to have time together AS A FAMILY to enjoy our children before they grow up! After a lot of prayer, a lot of pulling strings, and a bunch of things conveniently falling into place (thank You, God!) :-) he has been offered as position as an Operations Chief with Security Forces in Rota, Spain! It's a three-year assignment, and we are super excited!
Now that this move is a reality, I find it is exciting, intimidating, frustrating, and exhilarating all at once. I should preface this by explaining that my husband has never traveled abroad besides deployments, while I traveled several times in high school and even lived in France for 6 months during college... but that was all before marriage and children! So this is new territory for both of us. I am well aware that moving overseas with small children is not going to be easy. But I truly believe that the benefits of this move far outweigh the frustrations. Here is my wish for the next few years:
1. that my children will learn Spanish (they are at a perfect age to pick it up and keep that skill for life!) I am hoping to learn it as well. I was nearly fluent in French after living there, so I hope I can pick Spanish up easily.
2. that my children will be exposed to a Catholic culture. We are a strongly Catholic family, and it is often challenging demonstrating that in a non-religious environment. Even though military bases are not known for their fervent devotion, and Spain is not as Catholic as it once was, it will still be a rich change from America, and Europe is full of amazing churches and local religious customs that all have Catholic roots. I can't wait to share that with my family!
3. That my family will get to explore new places, experience new cultures, and have fun together! We have spent these last few years in Jacksonville, NC which some have described as a cultural wasteland. After spending my college years in Washington DC and Paris, I was spoiled by the ready availability of art, music, sports, and good food. Rota is a small town in Southern Spain, but all of Europe is at our doorstep and we hope to make the most of it!
So yes, we are going to miss our family and friends, but we look forward to hosting some of you as visitors at our new casa! And I hope that no matter what we face in the next period of adjustment, we can look at each other at the end of the day and know that we are going through it together, and giving our family an unforgettable opportunity. So please hop aboard, follow the blog, and join us on our Spanish adventures!
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