Mom. Wife. Military Life.

Another day, another update. Today’s post is not nearly as angsty/emo as my last post. As I have said before and will say one more time, moving is hard. It pulls your emotions around like a ’90s rom-com. I am not going to say this too loud, but I think we are finding our groove, but shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone. *WHISPER*. We don’t need the universe to uno-reverse on us.

Big things have been happening the past couple of weeks. Pull up a chair, grab a coffee or a wine and let’s chat about it.

Well, we got a wireless internet puck! The people came out to install our internet 2ish weeks ago and were like “yaaaa…. we can’t, we need to call someone to call someone to get this set up. We will let you know in a couple weeks when we can try to come out again”. It’s island time here in the Bay. We have called (by we, I mean Jas) and tried to get updates the best we can without being Karens, and they still are working on it. We were using our neighbor/owner of this house’s internet, but they cut that off trying to get it set up over here. Can’t make this stuff up. So landlords suggested a wireless wifi puck while we are in purgatory. We ordered it, were ready to rock, and then they said they couldn’t find our address, and the puck was getting sent back. We nodded at each other and just laughed because this is about the flow of things lately. HOWEVER, the devil didn’t win this time, because that sucker showed up at the post office the next day. So the Bonds are all now happily fighting over 300GB of internet. This seems weird and small, but when you realize how much of your life is attached to the internet, you learn how quiet things are without it. Good and bad. I was hotspotting off my phone to finish my school work each week, and we were watching good ole’ local channels. That was a weird blessing with the local channels-thing because at 8pm every night we would all pile onto the couch upstairs and watch some kid’s vet show and then a show called “Smart Quiz Kids”. It was weird, quippy, and perfectly Australian in all the best ways. So while we are still waiting for unlimited high speed, we are creeping along just fine at the moment.

We had some birthdays! Cruz turned 13, and Everly turned 14. Just a little pod of teenagers now.

For Cruz’s birthday, he wanted to go to a place, Toboggan Hill Park.

This place was awesome. They had a little roller rink, bowling alley, putt-putt, and the pièce de résistance was the toboggan ride. First, this ride would never fly in America, but that’s what made it beautiful. You get on these little wheely toboggan things and have a lever that you can push forward or pull backward to slow down or speed up.

So you sit down on your toboggan, go around a corner, and it clicks into the conveyor belt thing that pulls you up this MASSIVE hill.

Once you get to the top, it’s up to you and your toboggan how fast you get to the bottom. I was in the back on the first go, and Jason got to be in the front as the pacer toboggan. When I tell you it was SO MUCH FUN. The kids and I went over and over again.

After having a blast there, we headed to lunch down by the ocean at one of our local favorites. Cruz got a GoPro for his birthday and filmed the whole things, I’ll let you know if I ever see content come from it, but just looking at pictures of him with the GoPro stuck to his head strap will be a great picture to reflect on.

Everly’s birthday was just under a week after that. Her words not mine, “This was the best birthday I have ever had”. Ummm, just wanted to make sure I heard my teenager say those words correctly. Just kidding, she’s an awesome kid with a heart of gold and grateful beyond words.

She must have said thank you 100 times that day. We all woke up, she opened her presents we all got ready and made the trek over to the Newcastle area to go to the mall. On the way we made a pitstop at Maccas (McDonalds) for her requested hashbrowns and Powerade. Once we got to the mall we shopped around for a long time before grabbing her some Korean Fried Chicken. On the drive home, we spotted a huge group of Kangaroos, which was awesome. The whole day was whimsical. Long drive, sunshine, and Billy Joel (one of her personal favorites, because she is THAT GIRL). She is a cool kid. Well, young woman. She loves books, art, anime, laughing, and really good music.

I love getting to be all of their mom.

While Jaxy didn’t have a birthday, she has been plugging along like a little champ. She and I do a 2-mile walk together every day (when it’s not raining) down by the ocean. We look for sea creatures, talk about life, giggle, make up funny different voices, and sometimes we are just silent.

We love a good bird spotting. The cockatoos, lorakeets, and kokaburras are top favorites. We realize we have geriatric hobbies, but they make us happy so, ya!

Speaking of birds. Have you met David and Alexis yet?

They are our rainbow lorikeets that we have fully taken in. We noticed a set of birds visiting us every day at the same time. When it rained, they would come snuggle up on the porch together.

They join us for coffee around 7 every day, and if they are feeling extra wild, they will come in the afternoons to visit and scare off every other lorikeet that wants to visit. To make sure they were the same ones, I went and bought some toenail polish and dabbed a little on their toenails and sure enough, they are the same birds.

When we came over, we had to leave Jude and Josh back in Texas (extra shout-out to our family taking care of them and loving them while we are here). Jude has horrible stomach issues and wouldn’t have been able to make the trip. Josh, on the other hand, loves a hotel room and vacation, but we also knew getting him here and settled, along with the intense travel and being misplaced for as long as we were, would not have been good for them. The birds are never going to be Jude Bond or Josh, but they are giving us a little piece of animal excitement that we are missing.

We booked a trip to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef! We have travel credits from all the traveling we have been doing, so we decided to cash them in for a long weekend trip before Jason goes into an upgrade that leaves him in a position where he can’t leave for a bit. We have an excursion booked to snorkel about 45 miles off the coast of Cairns, Queensland. I am hearing mixed reviews on the ride out. Smooth waters and rough waters make all the difference, and I’m crossing my fingers that Poseidon is kind to us. I would be lying to you if I told you I’m not nervous to swim out there in the ocean, but I also know this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I would kick myself if I didn’t dive in. Literally and figuratively. We are also considering doing a rain forest tour, but we decided it was best to make sure everyone makes it through without getting seasick before committing to a full-day adventure, the the following day. I am excited to take that trip and give you and update after.

We are also going on a cruise to New Zealand with my in-laws. They are coming to visit later this year and we plan to take a nice trip with them. New Zealand is to Jason they way Bali was to me. It’s the one place I really, really wanted to go. So the fact that he is getting to see it and experience it with his parents is going to be awesome. It will be summertime here when we are going, so it should be great boat weather for our at-sea days. The kids and I love a cruise, so we are just counting down the days to set sail.

Babies started school today! They are in an online private academy that provides a considerable amount of flexibility for them. In Australia, their school years are from Jan-Dec which means the kids would have had to fall behind half a year or jump forward half a year when we got here. They also structure schools much differently. After speaking with our school liaisons out here, we decided to continue with the online school path. Everly will be returning to the states as a junior, Cruz as a sophomore, and Jax in 8th grade. Not being on the correct curriculum could significantly impact their graduation and college planning, and that was a risk we just weren’t willing to take. It took us over a month to figure out funding, who to talk to, and get them set up. We are still getting the money aspects settled, but they have fully started in school now, and I think this is going to fit best for our time out here. I couldn’t be prouder of them. There was a little breakdown at dinner the other night about not having the traditional start to high school with friends. I feel that. I can empathize. I hope one day, though, they can look back and reflect that they missed moments like that because they were living around the world and experiencing things firsthand that they would read about in that high school classroom. I know they don’t and won’t understand that now, but one day, that is my prayer. For now, we affirm that their big feelings are valid, that change is really hard, but they are strong, capable, and will kick ass this year. As always, ice cream for the first day!

I am still humming through school myself. I am starting to dabble with the idea of doubling up on a couple of my classes to make sure that I am done by the time we head home. I will finish by that summer no matter what, but getting it done a little earlier if I can sounds pretty enticing. I really hope I am able to make it back to walk for my graduation. I am not sure if our move back will align, but it is something J and I will chat about because it would mean alot to me to walk that stage, look my babies (and hopefully husband) in the eyes and say “I DID IT”. Through moves, vacations, summers, school with them, and a lot of life, I did it. I am really enjoying my major and my studies. I am currently in a class on ethical standards in behavioral health. I have a couple of weeks left, but this might be the first class I finish with a 100%. The time off this summer was much, much needed. I came back ready and excited again. I am over halfway done, and the idea of getting to persue my own career when we come back stateside make my heart do cartwheels. I have dedicated the majority of my life to raising our babies and being present for J because military life is incredibly unpredictable. At times, I am the only constant they have in their lives. That can be a blessing and a massive burden to carry, but when I tell you I wouldn’t change it for anything, I mean it. I love being my husband’s wife and best friend. I love being a mom. But I am also really looking forward to who I get to be in this next chapter of life. I got a small taste when I was subbing, and it was liberating.

Jason is still loving his job. It is much different from what he has ever done before, but to know my husband is to know he has a servant’s heart. Helping and advocating for people brings him so much joy. He also got to fly on the new airframe the other day, and he came home with his eyes wide with excitement, like it was Christmas Day. I couldn’t be prouder of his ideas and actions. He is always looking for ways to make things better or reflecting on his actions and how to improve them. I love him. He’s my best friend. We have had more date nights here than we ever had back in Alabama. We love sitting on the porch, having a glass of wine, and watching the sunsets.

Coffee in the mornings while we listen to the ocean and chat with our birds.

Having a movie night downstairs and laughing again. We carried a lot the past year and a half with this move, and now that we are here and things are starting to fall into place, we are beginning to see our lighter, more joyful selves again.

I am grateful that I have a partner in this life who pulls me closer when things get hard. I don’t say this in a boastful way, I say this to remind the world that we wake up choosing to fight for each other every day. Happy marriages don’t just happen; they are worked for. When life gets hard, we decide to wrap ourselves up in one another and then face the world as one. It has worked for us this long, and I have no doubt it will work for us moving forward. You and I can do anything when we do it together.

That’s about all I got for you now. I know your wine glass is empty now, or your coffee has gone cold while reading, so go get a refresh. It was good catching up with you. I miss you and love you and will update you real soon.