Should We Stay or Should We Go? Part 2

After baby Silas was born, Justin started talking about how he wanted Silas to grow up in the same place that we did and be raised the same way we were and around the same people. He didn't want Silas to be a military brat and never having a place to call "home". He wanted him to have stability. Justin started looking into this program called Palace Chase. It's where you transfer from active duty to either the guard or reserve. Justin decided that he wanted to put in for it so we could go back home and raise Silas around his family and give him the life that we (thought) we wanted for him, and all Justin would have to do is be a weekend warrior. I wasn't sure what I thought about it. I really didn't want to get out of active duty because I loved everything about our life in active (well, most everything). But I had to be supportive. That's what military wives do. So, he submitted his package for this program and a couple of months later, he found out that he had gotten accepted and he would now be an Airman in the Tennessee Air National Guard. We moved from Okinawa at the first of November to start a new life in the Guard and back home in Tennessee. It was scary coming back home to no jobs and soon to be no income. But thankfully the good Lord had plans for us and we both found jobs within a month of being home. I started working at a Mini Cooper dealership and Justin got on with Norfolk Southern as a conductor. Everyone had always told us that working for the railroad had great benefits and great pay and all that good stuff that people look for in a career. But what they didn't tell you was that you only get those great things if you have the seniority. Justin went to training and then started doing rotationals at each rail yard.  We had a steady pay check until the rotations ended and he got put on the extra board. The extra board is a stupid system that the railroad uses to screw over new guys. They put you on this board and you're on call 24/7 and go to work whenever and where ever they need you. And the real kicker is that you only get paid for the days you work. Justin was doing good to get 2 days of work a week so needless to say his paycheck was microscopic. After a few months of tiny pay checks, Justin started his mandatory two week orders at the guard base. After a few days of being a full time Airman again, he started to second guess his decision of getting out. That's when he started looking for ways to get back in. Justin thought he would go talk to a recruiter to see what his chances of getting back to active would be. Again, the good Lord was watching over us and had a plan already layed out for us. There just so happened to be a program open at the time that was geared towards filling spots in certain career fields to 200 prior service members. Jackpot! Most of the career fields that they were looking to fill were special operation jobs. No way. Not gonna happen. Thankfully, there was a position open for recruiters. Justin and his amazing recruiter, MSGT Israel, started to put his package together to submit for this prior service program. We had to go interview with the superintendent of the squadron and explain why we wanted to go back and all that jazz (Yes. Even I was interviewed).He put in his recommendation and we were told that we would find out whether or not he got accepted back into active duty the first week of December. But you know the military motto...hurry up and wait. And that's exactly what we did. We waited. We waited and we waited and we waited. And finally, he got the call that we had been waiting for for over a month! He had a phone interview with the selection commission on a Friday afternoon and she said we would get a definite answer sometime at the beginning of the week and find out where we would be stationed. Talk about the longest weekend of our lives! Monday passed and we hadn't heard anything. Tuesday passed. Nothing. And finally, Justin got a call welcoming him back to active duty and telling him that our new home will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We were elated! We just found all of this out in early January so the excitement hasn't exactly worn off yet. Justin leaves in mid April for tech school at Lackland for 6 weeks and then we will be on our way to Arkansas around the end of June. We are nervous to move again and a bit sad that Silas isn't going to be around his family all the time like he is now, but it's honestly what's best for us. And you're probably wondering what made Justin change his mind about the things he wanted for Silas. The answer to that is that he wants what's best for him. We want to him to have family, and values and a place to call "home" and he will. We aren't going to let those things fall to the way side because they are important to us and we want them to be important to him as well. We will only be 8 hours away so it will be much easier to come home for a visit than it was when we were in Oki (and way cheaper too!). I'm looking forward to this new journey that we are about to embark on and cant wait to see what life brings and to share this experience with y'all through my blog!

Okay, now my story is over...for now. I'm going to move onto more important and useful things now that y'all know a little more about me! If you have any ideas for topics or anything you would like me to post information about, just let me know and I'll see what I can do! I'm here to help!