And so it goes...

"Home is where the Navy sends us". It is our mantra as a military wife - you can insert any branch of the military for "Navy" and it still works. If you are REALLY lucky sometimes it is "Home is where we really want to go and the Navy happens to have an opening for us". I feel fortunate that we've been able to use THAT line for DevilDoc's entire career. Yes, yes - you read that right. We CHOSE to come to Great Lakes. Obviously we hadn't been here before! But, I am an Indiana girl and since we couldn't get in at Crane, IN we took the next best thing to be close to my family. We had just spent 3 years across the Pacific ya know.

When we married he already had orders to NAS Pensacola. After that we CHOSE to go to IDC school in San Diego. From there we CHOSE to go to Hawaii to join the in-laws who were also stationed there. Then this choice. You hear many people call this place "Great Mistakes" but I just can't seem to force those words from my mouth. To do so, to me, would mean that our time here was a bad choice - a mistake. It wasn't.

It was NO mistake that DevilDoc was selected as a CPO when we got here. It was no mistake that I took that train ride into the city with a group of women I had.never.met - those are the same women that became my confidants over the past 2 years. It was no mistake to then go to a complete stranger's house for a potluck lunch/playdate with more women I had.never.met. It was there I met my parallel twin. It was no mistake that I finally began my Tastefully Simple business. It was BECAUSE of my business that I met (or re-met?) my Hawaii connection. How can I call those things mistakes? It is NO mistake that DevilDoc went on to more college while we lived here. Completing all the necessary pre-requisites to apply for the PA program that will lead to a commission. It is no mistake that I found a WONDERFUL school for my children to attend and a job for myself to boot. How lucky am I to be able to come away from that experience with ANOTHER friend I know I will have for life? It is no mistake.

It is no mistake that I volunteered for a role helping families in our military command. That is what I DO - I simply adore HELPING. It certainly was no mistake that I was a part of a team for that endeavor, it is no "one woman show". It was no mistake that I was asked to co-chair an assembly of volunteers. It was the perfect fit for me. It wasn't what I set out to do, what I WANTED to do would have been a mistake.

To call it "Great Mistakes" would be to trivialize what my life - our life - has been here. No mistakes. Only learning opportunities. The chance to better oneself in the face of adversity.

I will miss you Great Lakes. I will miss your morning colors and the call for Taps. I will miss the cadence of recruits being molded into sailors. I will miss the Navy way. We are off to a place where they say things like "I'm going on post" or "I need to stop at the BX". *shiver* I'm still gonna call it "base" and "the exchange" just like I still refer to the "Hoosier Dome" and "Deer Creek".

But mostly I will miss the people who remain at Great Lakes when we leave. I have been reminded over and over the past few weeks what a truly amazing group of people I have surrounding me. And it isn't just friends and personal relationships. I have developed unforgettable professional relationships here as well. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet individuals from all walks of the Navy. From commanding officers to students at NHCS, spouses with 30 years of experience in the Navy to those who have JUST married a sailor. It's EVERYONE who makes this place tick - makes it so unique. It truly is like no other place in the Navy. These people, my friends I call them all, these are the people I will miss. I have had more "going away", "last hoorah" and "farewell" events than my mind can get ahold of. It feels good to know I will be missed - but what feels even better is to know that I have in some way - touched each and every one of the people at those events.

And so it goes...thank you for calling me friend. Thank you for taking me as I am - it is no easy pill to swallow, that I know for sure. Thank you for listening, for crying, for celebrating, for tolerating - for being there. Thank you for being a part of my life - OUR life.

Without you, it very well could have been "Great Mistakes".

Don't wear out your welcome

The name of my blog sums it up pretty well - allbluezoo adventures. It is ALWAYS and adventure around here. We are about to embark on our next adventure courtesy of the US Navy. Awhile back I shared that DevilDoc had been selected for a commissioning program; he'll attend graduate school, do a year of clinicals, get his Master's as a physician's assistant and the Navy will pay for it.

This means that we are moving.....again. We've been here just shy of 2 years - not the norm in the rotation, but we don't seem to do anything normal. Anyway, we are packing it up and moving it south to San Antonio. Yesterday we signed our lives away at the closing on our first home! I was excited, happy, nauseous and panicked all at the same time. Somewhere to live - checked off the list. Now - to get ourselves OUT of this house.

That involves a garage sale, or 2 or 3 as the case may be. It means going through every item you own, every box you have tucked away and reducing. I have a garage full of stuff for sale and I haven't even looked in our storage shed outside. Good grief.

And lastly, the part I am really not good at. Saying goodbye to our friends. It's bittersweet really, because it is a small Navy after all and the hope is that we'll meet again at another duty station .... as long as it is not back here! I'm sure I'll be on my typical emotional roller coaster, I'll be distant and standoffish. I'll try to make people be mad at me - because if they are mad at me I won't miss them so much. What kind of screwed up psyche is that?! I will try my hardest to NOT do that, but sometimes it happens and I don't even realize it. Damn defense mechanisms.

SO, in code I will thank the people who have made this place tolerable for the past year and 9 months - I am so lucky to call you friend.

My parallel twin - Where will I go for coffee? Who will talk about their guts with me? Listen to me whine? Understand the pain? And it's not just you that I will miss, it is your entire family. Lindsey will have to bring over pumpkin cake and beer bread in my place. I'm glad Dr. Hottie glasses is leaving too or else I would be jealous. Great, I'm crying.

My island connection - Oh how I wish we could have started our friendship in Hawaii. But then it would be even harder to leave now I am sure. Thank you for sharing your family with me, with us actually. A "no need to knock" kind of friend, if you know what I mean. We've been through the ringer on some things in this short amount of time, and still here to tell about it. You are a wonderful friend and mother - such a special combination.

Thrifter extraordinaire (did I spell that right?) - you are the kind of person I try really hard to be, and I feel like I fail miserably. Dependable, not judging, open, caring, warm, encouraging - I could go on and on with the adjectives. The most important thing to me is that you love my kids (and my dog) as if you have known them their whole lives. I know that you will be blessed....

MamaG and KP - you round out my core. You each bring something special to our friendship. Always keeping me on my toes, forcing me to expand my mind just.a.little.bit.more to see something from another view. Your fun-loving and easy going natures take me over when I am in your company, I hope enough of it sticks that I can carry it wherever I go. You let me be a part of your families - allowing me in at the most private of times, when you were carrying new life. Such a gift, thank you.

There are so many more people who touched me during our time here - but these 5 women, to me they are my core. I know I could call ANY of them (I have!) and they would be there for me no questions asked - because that is just what WE do. WE being a military spouse I guess - it is a special bond, as sisterhood almost. One with unwritten criteria and outrageous dues - but lifelong rewards.