First Military PCS--Our Move to Ohio from California

This has been the craziest few weeks of my life. We got our PCS--or Permanent Change of Station--orders from the Air Force on July 14th. One week later, we had packed up all our belongings in our one-bedroom apartment and shipped them off to Ohio in moving pods. Four days after our things left, we started our drive. We left on a Friday morning and arrived Monday afternoon, averaging about ten hour days.

The next two days, we frantically house-hunted, looking for a rental house that would suit our needs. We chose one in a kind of sketchy area that had been renovated and is just beautiful on the inside. Wednesday morning, we had the keys. The next days were a blur of turning on utilities (we had no hot showers until after the weekend!). Friday afternoon saw our belongings delivered in the pods for us to unpack, and we were done by Monday, including hiring two guys to move our couch and upright piano. Whew! 

Tuesday morning, I dropped Nick off at the airport. He is now in Maxwell, Alabama for Officer Training School, a 9 week program that will have him graduate as a 2nd lieutenant. 

... this is not normally how the Air Force works, to my understanding. Usually, one receives at least 2 months notice for a move. Furthermore, it is unusual for the officer trainee to move before the training starts, not to mention toting his spouse along for the ride. 

Basically, because Nick is in this weird program called TDSP (Technical-Degree Sponsorship Program), where he was a part of the air force but essentially still finishing his degree as an engineer before having to really participate, his situation is really confusing to people. And somehow mixed messages came across, and we ended up moving earlier than we probably should have. 

So, now I am in Ohio all by my lonesome, unpacking a house and searching for a job. 

On the bright side, I totally have an excuse to get a cat. And a dog. Yay! 

On the even brighter side, my cousin Jessica is coming out to stay with me because I am sad to live all by myself in a gigantic house in a new place. Yayyayyay! 

Whew, that was a lot of words. How about some pictures of our drive? We actually enjoyed it, even though it was so stressful thinking of all we had to do!