Mom. Wife. Military Life.

We were a good 4 months into my husband’s second deployment when I got a call that I never expected to get…. We were moving to Japan. At the moment he told me through foggy connection over a skype voice call (We all know how wonderful it is to talk through that) I realized something, I have zero control over anything in this lifestyle…oh, and I’m scared… and nervous…mostly scared. I immediately got off the phone and called my mom and closest friends to let them know the plan for the Bond crew. Through a bottle of wine, long chats with friends, several encouraging text messages from my husband and a good nights sleep I woke up ready to conquer this move.

Through the next few months we got word that we might not be making the move after all if certain things ended up panning out differently. In good ole’ military fashion we were tangoing down that line of “Will we stay, or will we go?”.  For people like me (OCD and a planner to the umpth degree) this drove me absolutely crazy. I would like to think I’m a pretty tough cookie and enjoy finding optimism in places others cant, but this time it got to me. I was irritable, worn down, and to be completely honest scared for what was to come next. I know you may think its weird that I felt to apprehensive about moving to such a cool place, but I have been able to be within driving distance of my family my whole life. I live and breath for my family. I enjoy the fact that my kids have gotten to know their cousins, aunts and uncles…. I’m not naïve to think that we were always going to live so close, but I also never though we would be moving to Japan. I remember telling my husband when he was going through ROTC, “I will never live in Asia and I will never drive a mini van”… cue God’s belly laugher now.

A couple weeks ago we got the final call. We are going. Its like it happened all over again, this time I knew it was real and we were going within weeks. I cried, I lost my shit, but I think it was for a multitude of reasons… not only the fear being real, but the relief. I feel asleep that night with a plan, and a sense of readiness. I prayed that God would put us where we were needed and where we could grow, and I dozed off in peace knowing that’s exactly what was happening.

I woke up the next morning excited, refreshed, and with my optimism back. I felt ready for this change that everything in my personality usually rebels against. In the military life I have learned never expect anything… that sounds horribly pessimistic, but that’s not what I mean at all. We, as a family, are so often courted with all the “could-be’s” and “mights” and very rarely the “absolutes” and “for-sures”. Talk about an easy way to humble someone. As a spouse we are removed from any direction decision with the exception of our husband’s bouncing possibilities off of us, and wanting our opinion on what could possibly happen…it sounds confusing because it is, but its also that simple. Trust your husband. I pray for mine every night and know that where he leads, we, as a family will follow… and follow happily.

As we open this next amazing chapter I encourage you to follow along with us through the travelling, the cultural experiences, and seeing the world through our families eyes. We have begun packing our life in OKC up little by little, and started collecting our goods for OKI. We have lifelong friends we will be missing as we head out west, but we are incredibly grateful for our new friends waiting for us out there with open arms. As isolating as the military can be (if you allow it), it can also be the family you lean on most when your moving half way across the world.

Thank you for checking out the new blog! I’m beyond excited to share what comes next!

Stay tuned!

Inspire.Believe.Succeed.

-Kinzy