"Travelin' Soldier" or Airman:)

It's two for one week!! The Memorial Day sales have really got me in the buy-one-get-one mood:) so two blogs this week folks! I've been meaning to post the lyrics to this song, mostly because I've had some feedback saying "you're married to an airman, not a soldier!" and the truth is, I named the blog after a song by the Dixie Chicks that played several times on Pandora during our horrendous drive out.  I was told by a couple civilian friends in Lexington that Dean and I should start a blog so that everyone would know what was going on in our lives and they could follow us as we move. I liked this idea because most of my friends and family are military and moving isn't a huge deal to us, but to our family and friends in Lexington it is! They didn't grow up in this life style they don't go to work on base daily or move to a different location (usually unwillingly) every couple years. So, since most of the reason I decided to start the blog was because of our new-found military life, I thought the title was more than fitting:) Here's a peak into the theme song and blog title of our new life! Although I DO hope the song isn't indicative of how our new life will go:/ good thing I'm not THAT young:)

"Travelin' Soldier"

Two days past eighteen
He was waiting for the bus in his army green
Sat down in a booth in a cafe there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile
And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talking to me,
I'm feeling a little low
She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go

So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you

Chorus: I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home

So the letters came from an army camp
In California then Vietnam
And he told her of his heart
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
He said when it's getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile

I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home

One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read but nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair

I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier's coming home

normalcy at last!

Normalcy (noun) - being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning.

This^ is not exactly normal but it did me giggle:) Dean got issued a HUGE bag of cold weather gear and decided to put it ALL on at the same time. I don't think he'll be getting cold on the flight-line this winter!

Yeah...i guess we're having a bit of normalcy in the Haggard household:) I think it's time to admit that Dean and I are adjusting to life in Kansas. I don't know that I say we are enjoying ourselves yet, buuuut every day is feeling more normal than the last! Last week Dean finally started his in-processing (just lots of paper work and seminars) and getting familiar with his flight and co-workers. I had two job interviews (YAY!!) and got an offer and a second interview (YIPEE!!). I signed up for school and will hopefully be enrolling in classes this week. Maybe I WILL finish my bachelors before 30:) We finalized our housing situation by giving up our base housing option and putting a deposit down on an adorable house in Derby, KS which we move in to June 5th. Plan your visits now!!! We moved into a temporary corporate apartment until then and it feels like we're real newlyweds now! It's a small one bedroom, one bathroom (what else do we need for 3 weeks?) but the best/worst part is that it came fully furnished with furniture, cable and internet! but no dishes/pots/pans/linens:( So in order to 1.) not eat fast food 3 meals a day, 7 days a week for 3 weeks and 2.) not gain 100 lbs by eating only microwavable junk food and cold cut sandwiches I decided to get a couple things to get us by. Let me just say its the saddest (and most hilarious) thing ever! we have 1 pan, 1 pot, 1 spatula, 1 (really crappy) knife, and one coffee cup. I did go out on a limb and by paper plates and bowls and solo cups so we at least have a good supply of those:) But the last week or so has been really humbling, it makes you realize that you really don't NEED all "that stuff" to live and make good food:) Too bad all of "our stuff" will be here in three weeks and our humble living situation will gone! darn!! (I may not be all THAT sad). Dean's not suffering though folks, NEVER FEAR! He's got his x-box and playstation hooked up and somehow convinced me that we needed to buy a new 55"3D  tv (it WAS a really good deal) that takes up (seriously) half of one wall in this "humble" abode we've got. All I do is shake my head and laugh though at this point. We're in a 600 sq ft apartment and we have THREE tv's and only 1 knife. Priorities, priorities:) We are one brand new sports car and a baby away from being the stereotypical lower enlisted couple haha and let me just say thank god for Jerry and Gina! Their the two who helped us find our house and keep us from having no social life what-so-ever! We've been so lucky to at least have the two of them to hang out with and get over-charged for beer with:) 

This is it folks!! 1713 Evergreen Ct. Derby, KS. There are still people living here so no mail until after the 5th of June please!! We can't wait to send out "We've Moved" post cards:) It may not look that  room-y from the outside but there's plenty of space (and rooms) for guests!!

house hunters: wichita??

Well, Dean and I may not have been HGTV but it really felt like we were lost in Oz this past week:( the house hunting started....poorly, and then it continued...even worse, so we accepted a house on base. This was both the answer and the beginning to our NEW problems. Dean was told by several (SEVERAL) co-workers that we NEED to live off base. "Don't do it," they said. "You'll hate it," they warned. I, having lived on a military instillation my entire life had a hard time believing that it was any different than I remembered but Dean, ooohhh sweet Dean was scared to death that his co-workers were right and we would be stuck in a housing area that was awful. SOOOOOOOOOO.....since we hadn't picked up keys or signed the official "acceptance" letter yet we decided to use Dean's last couple days of TDY to search a little more. We looked at EVERYTHING!!! I even (to appease my lovely husband) agreed to look at places without basements. Let me tell you problem NUMERO UNO with the housing in Wichita: it is poorly kept/maintained/updated. I don't know if we looked at a single house that didn't have dark brown trim, old steel windows, and smelly carpet. I'm assuming from the smell of these places that the pet population in KS however is very high. It's also an anomaly to find a single family home in the Wichita-metro area with a basement!! If its a single family home it doesn't have a basement. If it has a basement it's $1,700 a month (I'm probably UNDER exaggerating). If it has a basement, its a duplex or townhome. NOTHING makes sense in this housing market. We were told by one realtor, after seeing a window that was cracked and held together by duct-tape: "well, the landlord really doesn't want to fix this because the windows are old and pricey and this is just a rental." Dean couldn't keep up with me as I RAN out of this place. After looking at probably every rental property (house, apartment, townhome) in the southeast side of Wichita (which is where we were told by many many friends to look) we ventured to the Northeast side of town. THIS IS HOME! (we thought) it reminded us very much of Lexington with all the restaurants and shops and NEW (yeah i said it!) real estate! We found a couple options (apartment options, the homes are OUTRAGEOUS! and rightfully so) but none would be available any sooner than base housing. We were back at square one:( where are we going to live for the next 28-ish days??!!We put the house hunting on hold for the weekend, got our thoughts together and decided to go church shopping instead. Any excuse to go shopping right:) I found a couple churches (through my love, google) that offered contemporary services so we picked one and left. Luckily i had google-ed several churches that morning because before Dean and I even sat down in the pews we knew this was not the church for us! Not that there was anything wrong with the church what-so-ever, it was just very very traditional and came with an older, traditional crowd. SO as embarrassing as it is to admit, Dean and I snuck out the side entrance and drive about 1/2 mile up the road to Central Christian Church. We pulled in and I could tell immediately that this would be a better fit, thank God (seriously, I was thanking him!). The crowd was younger, the worship band was lively and very talented, and the lead minister (we found out later) is from LEXINGTON! We couldn't have felt more at home! Well....that's a blatant lie. We could have felt more at home, at home:( but my gypsy soul was pleased and I could tell Dean was relieved to be able to talk a little UK bball. That afternoon Dean got a call from his friend Jerry. Jerry went to tech school with Dean in Texas and was the ONLY other poor soul who got stationed with him at McConnell. He had good news for us! Jerry's long-time girlfriend Gina has a good family friend who just so happens to be a realtor in Derby, a town very close to base. Jerry goes on to tell  us that Kathy (the realtor) has a house for us to look at for a great price that meets all our needs. PRAISE JESUS!!! (seriously, I was praising!) So, long story short we set up the  meeting and had a look at what (hopefully) will be our new home!! Dean has to work out some kinks with our paperwork on base and we're praying that the housing office doesn't make this difficult for us, as they can. But the place is about as perfect as we could hope for! Full finished basement, 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, small deck, GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, and not more than our monthly salary in rent:) So send your prayers our way! If we get to move in we'll have plenty of room for visitors too! and I  know you're all just dying to visit the wheat fields of Kansas. LOL

following the yellow brick road

Well, its happened. Dean and I officially arrived at McConnell AFB Sunday night around 11:30 pm. We were welcomed to the city by heat lightening and blinding fog, followed by a light rain. But after being on the road almost 14(YES FOURTEEN)hours we were both just ready to stop and be settled SOMEWHERE! Our morning started our successful. We stayed in Hopkinsville with my grandmother, who made us dinner Saturday night and breakfast Sunday morning (mmmmm) and then headed out toward Evansville, IN to start the first leg of our trip on I-64. My dad later told me that my grandmother (an army wife herself) told him the morning was all but nostalgic to her as Dean and I are now the third generation of Military in our family and the second generation to stay at her house before PCS-ing:) This increased my excitement about our move. We made it to I-64 in great time. The weather was favorable and traffic was moderate. We made it to St. Louis by 1:30 and stopped at a local Qdoba that we found (it was like a final gift from god!). Then the problems started.....about 15 miles past St. Louis we hit a traffic jam. After about 30 minutes I saw a roadside marque telling us that the accident was at mile marker 191. This made me uber hopeful because we were at mile 194. 30-45 minutes and ONE mile later Dean had to pee (another gift from god) so we weezled our way out of traffic and onto the exit where a very nice lady told us about an access road that could help us bypass the traffic. THANK THE LORD! at this point we had already stopped for an hour lunch and wasted over an hour in traffic. My GPS that predicted an 8:30 arrival now predicted 10:54 pm and I felt a little queezy. About an hour outside of Kansas City the sun started to set and the rain got heavy. Of course, I had forgotten my glasses in hoptown at my gramma's house so my anxiety was through the roof because I have poor night vision to begin with, adding rain to that situation is a disaster waiting to happen! My exact words to Dean as we were driving through heavy rain, fog, and lightning were "I can't wait to get to Wichita!" Although I'm placing the blame for that comment on my severe fatigue, it was comforting to know we  had a place to lay our heads for the night waiting for us:) We checked into the temporary lodging facility and told the pups goodnight. A day of house hunting and familiarizing ourselves with the base and the city was waiting for us. If only it could be done from the comfort of my borrowed bed!

 It's all fun and games when you think you're stopping for a good ol' lunch "half way" through your trip:/ this may be the last Qdoba we get for a while though!! (which is why I ate for 3:))

 "Treats and snoozin'. Snoozin' and treats. I would have given my life to trade places with him!!"

The gateway to the west!! As you can see, the sun was equally as tired as we were and decided to take a nap and let the rain in:(