Hello again! Just checking in to give an update on life and things.
During my last post I was so frustrated with military stuff that I completely forgot to mention about Andrea's shower! One of my best friends is getting married on October 17th. So her sister, Ashley, and I, gave her a lingerie shower last Saturday. It was mostly all of our girlfriends plus their mom and mine, wine, and food, how could it not be fun??? Andrea had to guess who each gift was from, based on our style of lingerie/pajamas we chose to give her! She did a much better job than I expected! She got all kinds of pretty stuff and needless to say, Blake, (her fiance) was real excited about this shower!! :) We had the shower on Saturday night, so it was more of a party and we ended the night with trip to the Hollywood Disco...also affectionately referred to as the "Dirty Disco"!! It is a bar in Nashville with a light up dance floor and mirrors all over the walls...need I say more? While we might not have fully fit in...we had SUCH a fun night, dancing like we owned the place!!!
On another happy note my grandma had plans to visit us for a week (starting next Saturday) to finish off her 3 week trip up to St. Louis and Branson, MO visiting family and friends. My cousin Megan, who is living in Philadelphia right now, promised to come visit before I left for Italy, so she decided to fly in while Mama (our grandma) was here so she could see her too. Well once Aunt Joyce (in St. Louis) found out that Mama AND Megan were going to be in Nashville with us...she decided she should come down as well!!! And once Aunt Janet (in Florida) found out that now Aunt Joyce was going too...she had better book a flight to Nashville for the weekend! So now both of my mom's sisters, my grandma, and my cousin will ALL be in town over the weekend for a few days!! My mom says "No one wants to be left out of a family gathering because they're the one who gets talked about!!" No, actually, the real reason is no one in the family ever likes to miss a party!! We're dusting off the tables and getting our dancing shoes ready!!!
So while everyone is real excited about our little reunion coming up...what they might not realize yet is we're kinda short on beds!! (Ooops!) I have confirmed that movers are coming on Monday (yes, while the whole family is here-there's military impeccable timing for you!!) to pick up all my stuff to be shipped to Italy. That includes the double bed that is usually in the front bedroom! I'm sure we'll manage...
Anyway...right now I am a little overwhelmed with the organizing process that goes along with the packing. I am currently trying to separate things that are staying here, things being sent in unaccompanied baggage, things being sent with household goods, and things going in my suitcase on the plane.
PLAIN ENGLISH:
Household Goods- this will take approximately 3 months to arrive in Italy. This will include our furniture, dishes, lots of clothes, etc.
Unaccompanied Baggage- this should arrive within a few weeks in Italy (I don't really know how long...but quicker than our household goods) I am only allowed 350 pounds of this. It will include mostly clothes, probably some pots and pans, and other various necessities.
Obviously what is left then goes with me on the plane in my suitcase! So I am pretty much going to be living out of what is left to go in the suitcase for about a month until we actually leave in October because everything else will be picked up on Monday!
Since we won't get our furniture or most of our stuff for a few months, I am concerned with packing essential things like sheets, a blanket, some pots and pans and things like that in our unaccompanied baggage. But Taylor and I really don't see eye to eye on these things. I just asked him tonight on Skype...
Katie: What are we going to sleep on?
Taylor: We'll figure that out
Taylor: Stop trying to plan everything down to the detail
Taylor: It'll all be good
And THAT my friends, is why he is in the military and I am NOT! I mean, among various other reasons, obviously! I feel the need to plan all of these things out so we're not buying extra stuff once we get there and make it much more detailed and precise and plan for all circumstances. When really...it's impossible to plan for something that you know NOTHING about! I need to accept that, but my personality makes it VERY hard for me to accept that. This is my struggle!
Phew...in other life organizational news...
1) My Visa came in today! I am now legally allowed to live in Italy for 365 days. I have to renew it each year.
2) My car title came back yesterday. My car is now in my new name and without my dad as a co-signer. That was needed in order to ship it overseas.
3) Our flights are booked. We are now leaving on the 18th (the day after Andrea's wedding...that's gonna be a FUN flight!) Taylor is leaving out of Knoxville and I am leaving out of Nashville. We are meeting in Baltimore for our flight over to Italy.
That is about it for now...although I do have to mention that there is another important event going on October 17th along with Andrea's wedding. My roomie and one of my best friends from camp is ALSO getting married the same day! Miss Clarissa Jane and Jason are getting married at camp in Missouri. I have mentioned it in a previous camp post...but my crazy friends (both Andrea and Clarissa...who have never met each other) got engaged on the same day a year ago and picked the same day for their wedding!!! I told them both they had ALL year to have their wedding and they planned it on the SAME day, and a day that I almost missed for Italy! We had to change our dates around a bit!!! But I am very happy for both of them and only wish I could be in two places at once.
Anyway...goodnight for now. Oh, and GO BIG ORANGE! I was very proud of the Vols this weekend...they put up a good fight against Florida's "number 1 ranked team" who, as Urban Meyer announced, was "sick" with swine flu...riiiiiiight.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Military, blah, blah, blah...
If I may, I'm going to vent for a bit...and hopefully you will be able to follow my train of thought and the illogical regulations of the Air Force. Yes, it's a military rant...shocking, huh? I mean, I haven't had much experience with the military...only 1 year...yet I have A LOT to say about it.
So, first of all...we got our official orders. Woo hooo! What that means is all of our paperwork went through and we finally have it in writing which then allows me to apply for my Visa, schedule the packers to move us, schedule flights, etc. Lots of important things. Along with all those important things comes lots of headaches.
Example A:
Taylor's "Home of Record" is Knoxville, TN. Therefore, he must fly in and out of Knoxville for all military related flights. He will be flying into Knoxville on Wed. September 30 (coming home from Korea), just so we can drive to Nashville on Thursday for Kelly's Senior Night and my grandma in town...just to drive BACK to Knoxville on Friday for the UT game that weekend.
When we leave for Italy...he has to leave out of Knoxville. I will probably leave out of Nashville and meet him in Baltimore. We are supposed to be leaving Oct. 19th...when he just checked they had me leaving on the 18th and him leaving on the 19th!
Example B:
Taylor's "home" base where he is stationed is Pope AFB in NC. He is in Korea on a short tour (pretty much like a deployment)...I know...I don't think a year is "short" either...but that's beside the point. Anyway, when we move to Italy it is called a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) Therefore his new "home" base will be Aviano since we will be there for 3 years.
So...after we got married he was in town for 2 weeks and then left for Korea. We did not have the Air Force officially move me to Nashville (i.e. have them pack my stuff and move me to Nashville) to live with my parents. Obviously we didn't need them to do that, bc I was not currently living there at the time and I had no stuff there. So as far as they are concerned, I am still living in NC at Pope. But it was a big technicality that Taylor overlooked and we may be paying for big time now. Since, according to Air Force records, I am still in the Pope area, they will not pay to pick up my stuff in Nashville to ship it over to Aviano. They will come and pack it and they will ship it over there, but we will be responsible for the difference it will cost between shipping from NC and shipping from TN. What that will be...who knows? Taylor is trying to figure it all out. Maybe we will take my stuff ourselves (actually myself) to North Carolina (or even more confusing, I know, but to South Carolina where it will actually be shipped out of...thankfully where Thomas, Taylor's twin, is stationed). BLAAAH...so many minute details...as if moving overseas isn't enough to deal with!
AAAND...if you're still with me, what makes it even crazier is this. We are in this situation because of written regulations (I can't think of the word Taylor used to describe them) and that's just the way it is. Buut, if you look at it logically we have actually saved the Air Force money with the whole situation.
1) We didn't use them to "move me" to Nashville...Air Force would have paid for that.
2) We have been getting a housing allowance for me because I am a dependant that was not allowed to go to Korea, therefore they are responsible for ensuring I still have housing in the States (regardless of where I end up living). There is a set housing allowance for different cities in the US based on cost of living. The set amount we would receive in Nashville is a couple hundred more a month than the allowance for Pope AFB in NC. Well we are getting the Pope amount because technically I'm still there. So they've probably saved a couple thousand on the housing allowance.
And now we have to PAY the difference to move! But if we had just had them "officially move" me to Nashville a year ago...they would have paid for EVERYTHING...plus we would have a few extra thousand dollars from housing allowance. Taylor didn't realize that small decision a year ago was going to turn into such a huge deal...and a huge pain in the butt. And ALL of this is new to me...they could tell me I have to paint my house purple before they will pick up my stuff, and at this point...I'd believe it!!
I'm not sure if it makes sense to everyone and I've now rambled for quite awhile. As Taylor would say, "Does this train of thought have a caboose?" Yes, I'm done.
So, first of all...we got our official orders. Woo hooo! What that means is all of our paperwork went through and we finally have it in writing which then allows me to apply for my Visa, schedule the packers to move us, schedule flights, etc. Lots of important things. Along with all those important things comes lots of headaches.
Example A:
Taylor's "Home of Record" is Knoxville, TN. Therefore, he must fly in and out of Knoxville for all military related flights. He will be flying into Knoxville on Wed. September 30 (coming home from Korea), just so we can drive to Nashville on Thursday for Kelly's Senior Night and my grandma in town...just to drive BACK to Knoxville on Friday for the UT game that weekend.
When we leave for Italy...he has to leave out of Knoxville. I will probably leave out of Nashville and meet him in Baltimore. We are supposed to be leaving Oct. 19th...when he just checked they had me leaving on the 18th and him leaving on the 19th!
Example B:
Taylor's "home" base where he is stationed is Pope AFB in NC. He is in Korea on a short tour (pretty much like a deployment)...I know...I don't think a year is "short" either...but that's beside the point. Anyway, when we move to Italy it is called a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) Therefore his new "home" base will be Aviano since we will be there for 3 years.
So...after we got married he was in town for 2 weeks and then left for Korea. We did not have the Air Force officially move me to Nashville (i.e. have them pack my stuff and move me to Nashville) to live with my parents. Obviously we didn't need them to do that, bc I was not currently living there at the time and I had no stuff there. So as far as they are concerned, I am still living in NC at Pope. But it was a big technicality that Taylor overlooked and we may be paying for big time now. Since, according to Air Force records, I am still in the Pope area, they will not pay to pick up my stuff in Nashville to ship it over to Aviano. They will come and pack it and they will ship it over there, but we will be responsible for the difference it will cost between shipping from NC and shipping from TN. What that will be...who knows? Taylor is trying to figure it all out. Maybe we will take my stuff ourselves (actually myself) to North Carolina (or even more confusing, I know, but to South Carolina where it will actually be shipped out of...thankfully where Thomas, Taylor's twin, is stationed). BLAAAH...so many minute details...as if moving overseas isn't enough to deal with!
AAAND...if you're still with me, what makes it even crazier is this. We are in this situation because of written regulations (I can't think of the word Taylor used to describe them) and that's just the way it is. Buut, if you look at it logically we have actually saved the Air Force money with the whole situation.
1) We didn't use them to "move me" to Nashville...Air Force would have paid for that.
2) We have been getting a housing allowance for me because I am a dependant that was not allowed to go to Korea, therefore they are responsible for ensuring I still have housing in the States (regardless of where I end up living). There is a set housing allowance for different cities in the US based on cost of living. The set amount we would receive in Nashville is a couple hundred more a month than the allowance for Pope AFB in NC. Well we are getting the Pope amount because technically I'm still there. So they've probably saved a couple thousand on the housing allowance.
And now we have to PAY the difference to move! But if we had just had them "officially move" me to Nashville a year ago...they would have paid for EVERYTHING...plus we would have a few extra thousand dollars from housing allowance. Taylor didn't realize that small decision a year ago was going to turn into such a huge deal...and a huge pain in the butt. And ALL of this is new to me...they could tell me I have to paint my house purple before they will pick up my stuff, and at this point...I'd believe it!!
I'm not sure if it makes sense to everyone and I've now rambled for quite awhile. As Taylor would say, "Does this train of thought have a caboose?" Yes, I'm done.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Go Big Orange...
1. I received my passport on Tuesday...I forgot to update. Everything is in order.
2. We are expecting orders sometime this week. Once that happens I will apply for a Visa, and packers will be coming soon to get my stuff to ship.
3. Life has been pretty calm/boring. I don't know how people live without jobs...don't get me wrong...I could fully live working part time for the rest of my life...but I have to do something! I'm feeling pretty worthless right now. As I'm writing this I haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's 10:45pm.
4. How 'bout them VOLS??? That was an awesome and much needed performance from them today, I like it! I only wish I could have witnessed it first hand!
2. We are expecting orders sometime this week. Once that happens I will apply for a Visa, and packers will be coming soon to get my stuff to ship.
3. Life has been pretty calm/boring. I don't know how people live without jobs...don't get me wrong...I could fully live working part time for the rest of my life...but I have to do something! I'm feeling pretty worthless right now. As I'm writing this I haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's 10:45pm.
4. How 'bout them VOLS??? That was an awesome and much needed performance from them today, I like it! I only wish I could have witnessed it first hand!
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