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!