We have Orders!

After anxiously awaiting orders for the last couple months, we finally know where we will be stationed next.  Clearwater, Florida!  So, at the end of the summer we will be packing up and making yet, another cross country move, but this time with a baby toddler.  We could not be more excited about this move for several reasons:  We get to take our first road trip as a family (I'm really trying to look at this in a positive light), we get to stop and sight see a few new places that we have never been, and we get to stop in Arizona and see our family.  Not to mention how ecstatic we are that we got our number one pick.  We absolutely cannot wait to be living in warmer weather again with days full of sunshine.  I visited Florida once in High School on a trip to Disney World and Kolt has never been to Florida at all, so we can't wait to explore the area.  I've already started a mental list of things I want to do with Brinleigh.

Believe it or not, I'm really excited about a lot of little things that most people probably don't think about on a daily basis.  Like having a house that brightens up inside from the sunshine streaming through the windows.  We don't have many windows in our house and we don't have much sunshine so we have to turn on lights every time we enter a room.  Being able to drive around and explore new areas for more than an hour without running out of road.  Having access to a better selection of groceries and not having to order toothpaste and toilet paper online just to avoid paying an arm and a leg for it.

With that said though, there are things about Sitka that will be missed.  Believe it or not.  As much as I hate the isolation of living on an island, I do like the low amount of crime that we have here.  Especially now that we have a child.  It is also nice not ever having to sit in traffic since we usually don't have to drive more than ten minutes to get anywhere.  I will miss our home.  Our small, bland, squeaky floor, no windows, shared wall, living on top of neighbors, POS house.  It may not be the best house, but it was our home.  It was the first home of ours that we brought Gunner to.  It is the first and only home that Brinleigh has ever lived in.  And, it is the house that Kolt and I have lived in the longest, together as a married couple.  And of course, we will miss the friends we made while living in Alaska.  The people who became our "Sitka family" while we were all so far away from our own. 

So as of right now, the plan is to be heading out of Sitka by the last week of July or the first week of August so that Kolt can report to Clearwater by September 1st.  As always, we will keep everyone updated on everything as best we can.


This picture is totally unrelated to my post, however, I had to share it.  Last night Brinleigh came and sat on my lap and turned herself around to face me and then kicked back to read her book.  I took this picture myself and this is the face she chose to give.  Hahahahaha!