Wow....we are going to be BUSY!

I just posted the R&R blog, but I need to post a general update on our little familia.

Where to begin...

Well, after Brian's R&R, I had to turn my focus to figuring out what courses I needed to register for this Summer. In order to do that, I needed to call Tarleton State University in Killeen, TX and have them draft a tentative degree plan for me since Tarleton is where I was planning to go to school in the event we got stationed at Fort Hood. After submitting my list of courses I have already completed and speaking with the advisor, I discovered that the earliest I will be able to graduate is the Spring of 2012! The reason it is going to take so long is because Tarleton only offers the education classes in 4 class blocks, and there are 4 blocks. These blocks are only offered in the Fall and Spring semesters. So, after finishing up all of my undergrad and lower grad level classes, the earliest I would be able to start my education classes would be the Fall of 2010. Brian is scheduled to get out of the military in the Fall of 2011. So, we needed to do some decision making and decide what the next step was. After discussing with him the details of my school plan, we made the decision that he needed to re-enlist. We decided that he would re-enlist for 4 years (which will start the day he signs his enlistment papers) for an additional 2 years and 2 months added to his original enlistment. This will put him getting out of the Army in April of 2013. The benefit to this is that once I start teaching, we will have 8 or 9 months to put his salary in savings. Another benefit to him re-enlisting is that he will be able to choose his next duty station, so he can be guaranteed Fort Hood! That will take a TON of uncertainty our of the next couple of months. In the end, him re-enlisting is what is best for our family. So, that is the decision that we have made.

We found out yesterday that his re-enlistment and request for Fort Hood is approved. So, he is officially re-enlisting for another 4 years, with a guarantee of Fort Hood as his next duty station. Plus, he gets a $5,500 bonus! Yay!!! Things are really falling into place!

Another decision that we have recently made is to purchase a home in Fort Hood as opposed to renting a home. With the new $8,000 tax credit and the other benefits to home ownership, we just cannot justify throwing our money away in rent. Initially, I was really hesitant to this idea. I just did not see how it would be possible to purchase a home before July, especially with Brian only being home for the month of June, and me being in school all day Monday through Thursday while he is here. After some thinking, and discussing with Brian, we realized that it made no sense for us to move to Fort Hood and sign a lease, just to turn around and have to break the lease because we purchased a home. It is also ridiculous to move twice in a 6 month period. The new tax credit is only good for homes purchased before November 1, 2009. So, we needed to make the decision to buy a home, and start the process as soon as possible. So, Friday, I spoke to a real estate agent, and started our journey to home ownership. The tentative plan is to narrow down houses that we are interested in as per the weekly emails we will be receiving from the realtor. The realtor has our search criteria, and will send us an email containing the homes that match our needs. From there, we will narrow it down to a few houses that we are really interested in. After the first week of May, I will have a 3 week break from school, and I plan to go out to Fort Hood to look at the houses that we have chosen. I will then take more pictures, and have my parents look at the houses as well to make sure that we are not leaving out anything important. I cannot stress enough how lucky we are to have family members in the housing industry to help us out with buying our first home! Then, after we have narrowed it down to a few houses, when Brian comes in June, we will make our selection, and make our offer(s). We are hoping to close by the end of June, so that I can start the moving process by July. So, that is huge! We are both SO excited!!!!!

So, these next couple of months are sure to be very busy and exciting for us. In addition to all of the changes and events that are going to be taking place, we also will be starting Brandon in daycare. I am extremely nervous about putting him in daycare, but I am also excited for him. It is important for me to make sure that we are at Fort Hood with enough time for him to be transitioned into daycare. The poor guy is going to be going through so much that to just throw him into daycare may be a bit much for him, and for me. He is going to have to deal with having Brian home for a month, then gone again. Then we will be moving away from the only home that he knows, and he will not be seeing his grandparents everyday like he is used to. Plus, he is going to be in a new home, and new environment, so that is going to be a big adjustment for him. So, to just put him in daycare worries me. So, the plan for that is to slowly introduce him into daycare. To start off with, I will be with him at daycare, then I will leave him there for a short time and gradually increase the length of time that he is there. Hopefully, that will make that transition easier for him. I am very nervous about it. Yikes!

So, the goal for the next 3 months is to buy a house, go to school full time in June, get moved and set up at Fort Hood, get Brandon enrolled in daycare, and get registered at the school there. Whew! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!! :)