Plans do change- lifer wife blight

We bought a house today in Lacey, Washington; I’m told the area is beautiful. I’ve only seen pictures of it. (We did lock in a 3.275% rate-awesome!) I didn’t feel like flying across the country in the middle of my classes, so I picked one online. Most of my family thinks this is crazy; most of my military friends have done it once or twice themselves.

New house in  Lacey, WA

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This is how I plan because of the military. We bought a beautiful house in Whispering Pines, NC, because Yany was told, “buy a house-you won’t be going anywhere but on missions, until you retire.” OK, cool…we found a nice area, great schools, interest rates were awesome, done deal-found our retirement house.  Two years later the same people tell Yany, “You’ve been here too long, time to move; expect to move every 3 years.” I was surprised, but not overly so. 

Next step, fight for orders to move, rent retirement house and get ready to settle down for 3 years in Lacey, WA, for Yany’s job in Ft. Lewis. Now the typical Army part: Because of the budget cuts, an Army General announced today that some army brigades will be deactivating. Yup, you guessed it-Ft. Lewis is on the hit list. Again, surprised, but not overly so.

So, we’ve decided that everything we want to do we will do as soon as we can. If anyone wants to visit come quick, we have no idea how long we will be there. Be sure to have a passport, Canada is not too far away, eh?

DeeAnn-Military Lifer Wife

Alyse's real birthday

Forwarding mail used to be easy. You went to the post office, filled out the card and like magic-presto!- your mail went to your new address. It's much more complicated now. Computers sort the USPS snail mail and for some reason cannot understanding forwarding mail that has DeeAnn Rivera OR DeeAnn Taylor-Rivera. Also, if you attempt to use the form that is free in the post office online, you will be charged $20 as a convenience fee; a few years ago it was $1, I guess convenience costs more in 2013. Now that I'm off my little soap box tirade-you can see what we did for Alyse's real birthday.

Since I can't seem to get mail I asked that everyone just wait on gifts until we moved. I assumed that Alyse would be fine with this since we had her party early, back in May. What I did not know was that she was expecting 2 parties-one in May and one on her actual birth date, June 27th. Daughters and miscommunication-I think I could win an Olympic Gold Medal in this event.

I know moving is stressful, so I did my best to accommodate another short notice party.

 We decorated

Alyse wore a crown to Vacation Bible School so everyone else would know it was her birthday (Anika has a crown, too)

 Making a wish (mini cupcakes because I'm trying not to gain weight this move)

 Presents

 More presents

She played until she pooped out and took a 3 hour nap. Taking care of babies is tiring.

After her siesta Jace joined us for a fiesta of Mexican food and a Spanish version of Happy Birthday complete with a huge sombrero.

 Blurry pic of Laney in the sombrero-she didn't want me to use the other one ;)

 Yany with the sombrero and Orchata

It was fun, I'm glad we did it. My baby Army Brat is now 6 years old-Happy Birthday Alyse!

DeeAnn-Military Lifer Wife

Free Passes for Military at National Parks this year

Being in the military has its perks. We found out on the last weekend in May that military members and their dependents can get into National Parks for free this year (I like free).

We stumbled across this money saver when my parents made one more trip to see us before we head out west.

My Dad and Barbara planned a trip to Williamsburg, VA for the last week in May and we decided to meet them there for the weekend. Our house rented much faster than we expected and we had transitioned to a furnished golf villa (condo on the golf course). North Carolina and Virginia are some of the prettiest places I have lived so we were excited to hang out with them and see the battle grounds (Well…Yany and Dad were excited to see the battle grounds).

One way the East Coast differs from Texas is in the ages of the towns here.  Some of the towns and states on the east coast pre-date USA. We were tromping around in the exact location where the War of Independence took place. It conjured memories from school lessons about the rag-tag men who were passionate enough to brave the cold without shoes and with inferior weapons, clothes, and training because they desired freedom. How awesome is that?

Us tromping across the fields where American's fought for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (The Grandparents are watching us from the car-it was hot and they saw this before we got there)

We were able to see the land our ancestors had owned (and lost). We drove across the bridge named after our great-great-great grandfather, (Preston) Coleman Bridge; which crosses the river that contributed greatly to the defeat of the British in the War of Independence. This was due to George Washington’s battle strategy and nature’s fury (Washington was a God fearing man, and God honors those that honor Him).

 

If you get your magnifying glass out, you can read about this spot. It says this land belonged to my ancestors and now it doesn't (Reader's Digest version).

 

 I wish my Dad was in this picture. Johnny Coleman is either dad, grandad or great-grandad to everyone in this picture. Coleman Bridge is behind us and we are standing in the York River.

Yany and I by York River with the Coleman Bridge behind us.

The house is still standing where the British signed their surrender proclamation allowing our country freedom from British rule. My Dad, my husband, and I have all felt the need to provide military service to our country, as I have mentioned, I am married to a military lifer (we’ve all served in the Army-I guess we like to run).

Back to the free passes…the tour guide for the house told us that military service members were given free national park passes for this year, we just had to show an ID to get them. So I am sure we will be taking advantage of this benefit as we cruise across America-the land of the free.

We also visited the Yankee Candle Flagship store- oh my gosh! What fun!!! We got there 5 minutes before they opened and let the kids press their noses against the window and doors. We got VIP treatment and were in 2 minutes early-or they didn’t want to clean any more kiddie finger and nose prints off the store front. They had Father’s Day candles out and the best seller is the bacon flavored scent. I love bacon but I thought the candle was kinda’ stinky. They had a Christmas area that snowed-my favorite part. The kid’s favorite part was dipping their own candles in hot colored wax. I am not sure how well these candles are going to travel in the car when it’s parked and hot (I will have to take before and after pictures).

I don't remember this picture-Barbara sent it to me. I guess I wasn't watching my children, I must have been too busy sniffing candles. This is Kasen and Alyse being totems and Laney crashing the picture.

Another fun thing was an ice cream meal. No one was hungry enough for a meal so we headed over to Cold Stone and had frozen dairy goodness for dinner. In the words of Rachel Ray, “yum-ooo.”

My parents had to leave out early Sunday so we stayed and putt-putted with the pirate Blackbeard.

Blackbeard was feared by other pirates-he didn't even show mercy to Laney and it looks like the little kids lost eyes, too-go figure

Final stop was to The College of William & Mary campus bookstore. I can now say I went to The College of William & Mary-I’ve even got the t-shirt.

They got hats-the college is up the street, I guess I am still trying to get the hang of taking pictures ;)

Just another example of weekends being too short.

DeeAnn-Military Lifer Wife

Lighthouses on the outer banks, NC

We've lived in North Carolina for 4 years. When we first moved here, I did my research and found out that the outer banks had lighthouses and the mountains had snow skiing.  The skiing I have taken advantage of, but I kept missing my opportunity to see a lighthouse in NC.

There are 8 total and the range up and down the NC coast. In my romanticized trip planned for this past weekend I figured I could see at least 3 and maybe 4. So, with very little planning (Yany is the planner- I'm the "CHARGE!!!") I loaded us haphazardly into the car and zipped down the highway to New Bern. FYI-New Bern does not have a lighthouse. The GPS announced we'd reached our destination and everyone looked at me while we were in the middle of New Bern without a beach in sight. "The lighthouse is in a town around here," I informed my husband (the planner). I could tell by the flare of his nostrils that he was not real happy with the information. I won't go into all the details, but day 1 did not have a lighthouse in its itinerary. What we did get to see was Carrot Island, (off of Beaufort-Blackbeard had a house here-ARRRG!) where they have wild Mustangs. We spotted a pod of dolphins while we toured the non-lighthouse N. Carolina shore, and there were no vacancies at ALL hotels/motels anywhere remotely close to the shore.

Alyse driving the boat with a fake wheel.

Me, Alyse, and Kasen taking in the water sights.

Alyse with the Captain driving the boat for real.

Cheesing (real smiles-my family is used to my "adventures")

Yany and me (he knows the success of the trip is now up to him)

Did I mention the weather had been HORRIBLE up until the time we hopped on the boat? Smiles for sunshine and being out of the car.

 

 

 

We ate at a mediocre restaurant that had expensive food and realized that Haley and I had miscommunicated. She wanted to be home Sunday by 6pm. The ferry ride to the first lighthouse (Cape Hatteras) was by reservation only and would take 2 hours to get there in the morning. From there you have to drive back making our trip home over 4 hours. Obviously, that plan was not going to work for everyone.

 

 

On to plan B. We decided to drive towards Wilmington and hopefully find a hotel for the night. We would then try to see the lower lighthouses "Old Baldy" and the Oak Island Lighthouse.

 

 

We found a hotel in Swansboro (how appropriate). 

 Stella needs to do some yoga, she is very stiff and not real portable. I am not sure why Laney has an apple in her mouth-saving it for later?

 We were loading up and didn't give Stella a chance to look around Swansboro (Hamilton Inn had wonderful service and the rooms were nice). The one problem with this hotel was it doesn't take pets-good thing Charlie didn't come on this excursion.

 

After a surprisingly good breakfast from the hotel, we were ready to hunt down those elusive lighthouses. Yany decided to do some homework and we were sure we would see Oak Island (this one you could drive to) and then swing up to see Bald head Island (time permitting since it had a ferry crossing). Rain was still pouring, but we were practicing for Washington and so we braved the elements and set sail (I love nautical terms).

 

First stop Bald head Island. Yes, the GPS guided us to "Old Baldy" when we had set our course for Oak Island. (spoiler alert) I have to say this ended up being an awesome mistake.

 

 

It was about a 30 minute ferry ride out to the island. Yes, it is raining.

 

 

Passing Oak Island Lighthouse on our ferry ride. It is still a functioning lighthouse.

Bald Head Lighthouse-it is a little homely and non-functioning.

I wish we had gone to this island before now. The weather broke as we neared this tropical little paradise (it is actually the northern most tropical island). It was so much fun.

Kids are in awe of a payphone (I'm in a payphone trying to call home all of my change I've spent on youuuu)

Kasen did not like his view being blocked by Haley's back, he loved riding but didn't make it easy.

This is our mode of transportation around the island. We could have rented a golf cart, but we were trying to work off our cheesecake from lunch. No vehicles were allowed ferried over. Laney is super-excited about the law requiring helmets for bike riders under 16 (NOT!)

 

Alyse is learning to ride without training wheels so we loved the hitchhiker. I really want to get one of these when we get to Washington.







Alyse thought it would be a good picture (Old Baldy x2 he! he!)

It's hard to see but we are doing "goofy faces"

We biked to the end of the island somewhere around 4 miles, beautiful scenery and fabulous beach houses.

Sun and sand

Happy beach goers

First and only up close lighthouse seen in NC-so worth the trip.

 

We ran out of time to see any more I wish weekends lasted longer...

 

Military Lifer Wife-DeeAnn



Laney's Going Away Party at Heritage Park

Laney always has terrible attendance for her birthday. Since my birthday is near Christmas I always thought a perfect birthday would be a summer birth month. The problem with that for us is that we usually move in the summer. We are in our new house a week to days before July 19th. We know no one and very few people will come to a party for a stranger. So for this move I decided to have parties for Alyse and Laney waaaay before the actual day.  Alyse's was a bowling party in May before Memorial Day and Laney's was the Saturday after school was released for the summer.

Heritage Park Recreation area is a family owned lake/camping area in Whispering Pines. The weekend we had this planned a Tropical Storm was blowing around and the weather was forcasted to be stormy and rainy. In fact at 7am it was still pouring rain like the tropical storm it was. Jace is a pool manager this summer and he texted me about 10am. He said, "I told all my worker to come in-I figured you were praying for sun." I was (as was Haley) and it was an absolutely beautiful day. The lake was VERY full.

Here's the birthday girl and Kasen. Doesn't Laney look excited about taking a picture with Stella?

Stella and Alyse testing out her water worthiness.

Every good beach party has someone buried in the sand. Emma is our token mermaid and the one that got buried in the sand.

Stella is trying to cozy up to the computer guy and military guy-too bad, both are taken. 

 

Tweens in attendance: Nicole S., Maggie C., Mac A., Laney R. (honorary birthday girl), Emma M., Tyhra B., and Isabel P.-great girls that made an awesome party. Thanks girls! You all will be missed!!!

 

 

 

Military Lifer Wife-DeeAnn

 

Sight seeing in North Carolina-Aloha Zoo

Since we are staying in a vacation "villa" (it sounds so fancy) we are visiting and revisiting some places we either were planning to see or just enjoy.

The first one we have revisited is Aloha Zoo.

This rescue zoo is just outside of Sanford, just off of Hwy 87.

We thought perhaps we found a mate for Stella before we even left NC; but we don't know if this one was a boy or girl and it wouldn't come near us. I don't think she/he should be so picky-not everyone can have a pulse, zombie swans need love, too.

The zoo has grown in the 4 years we've been here. We were able to pet a baby alligator-it's kinda' creepy they are dry and leather and this one barked at us. It might be a red-neck alligator, it's mouth is "fixed" with duct tape.

That monkey is fake and hot and taking my place in the group photo (I am not an animal!)

 

We paid extra for giraffe food for Stretch. It was also extra for the tractor ride around the zoo, but worth it. I didn't get any pictures of it-I was too busy throwing bread to the animals.

 

It was a fun day and a short trip to the zoo. Our quest continues for Stella and we still have many things I need to see before we head across the country.

 

Let me know if you have any suggestions for places we need to see.

 

The Military Lifer Wife-DeeAnn

Wrapping up in North Carolina-Ft. Bragg

Hi All,

I am a mother of 4, grandmother of 1 and a wife of an Army Lifer.

We are embarking on yet another move. I naively thought we would retire in Whispering Pines, NC. Such a silly thought-why would the Army want my husband to stay put. We found out recently we were moving to Washington State, Ft. Lewis.

I thought it would fun (and hopefully interesting) to share our move with family and friends.  We have started out with 6 family members going to Washington. My oldest son has decided to keep his home here and finish his degree and UNC Greensboro (Go Spartans!). We have also not found a home for one of our dogs, Charlie-so it looks as if he will be a traveling hound dog.  We've also acquired a wooden goose, Stella. She is looking for a soul mate so we plan on finding someone for her to settle down with.

I am not the photographer of the family. That honor belongs to my sister, Christie; but since she is a loooong way away, I will be attempting to chronicle our trip with posts and pictures. (I've got to figure out how to get my phone pics on here ;)  )

We are leaving several small groups that we belong to from our church, Grace Church in Aberdeen, NC. One is Grace Writers. This group has been gracious enough to allow me to bring my children with me. My youngest started in the writing group with me when she was 4-you should have seen the faces of the members as I came trudging in with a 4 y/o and markers. They looked skeptical but I promised she'd behave and she did (thank goodness!). She and I have things posted on that blog so if you'd like see some of her or my writings (my husband and tween have things there, too) please go to http://gracewritersgroup.blogspot.com/

I look forward to sharing and hearing from everyone!

 Charlie may be going-he's in the pink tutu. Harley (the ladybug) has found a new home.

Kids making the trip: Alyse, Kasen, Laney and Haley

 

The Military Lifer Wife-DeeAnn