2015: The Year of BIG Change

change

It’s 2015. How did that happen?!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful time ringing it in, wherever you were and however you celebrated! We decided to forgo celebrating in the cold (by San Diego standards) along with the ridiculous price-tag on a night out and instead had a fun night at home making toasted almond martinis and finally using our pizza stone. I think we’d only owned it for all of a year before we busted that bad boy out! Disclaimer: We reserve the right to celebrate in the cold while spending a ridiculous amount of money some other year.

I am not one to do resolutions or set goals just because it is the New Year. I am a big believer that you can set a goal or make a change any day at anytime you want, and one thing we know – change is constant. For the hubs and me there will be a lot of it coming this year. I have actually had a really hard time writing this. I think it’s because I’m finally accepting the hard, cold, amazing, YES this is finally happening truth: The hubs gets out of the military in less than six months. AND even though I have known the date since the day I met him, this freaks me the F out. At the same time I am doing the craziest happy dance you’ve ever seen.

Carlton Dance

This isn’t downsizing. The hubs was a police officer for thirteen years then entered the Navy for six. After almost twenty years of service, it is time. While I am mourning what feels like the loss of a closeness to the military, I am celebrating that our freedom will no longer be at the mercy of the time it takes to get a leave chit. I am beyond elated my husband will have the ability to see his daughters anytime he chooses. We won’t have to wait with baited breath for forty-five days while a chit that is supposed to take a week finally comes through, all the while watching plane ticket costs quadruple (or 40,000 mile tickets go up to 60,000 miles). We can go out of the country on vacation and it won’t be a “thing”!

And still…I mourned the loss of the military lifestyle when my dad retired from the Air Force. It was extremely hard on me. And now my husband is leaving the Navy. The regimented life, the feelings that come with being a milspouse (which are so hard to put into words right now), the hubs in his uniforms…they’ll no longer be part of our everyday. I don’t really know what to do with that.

What about the blog? Will I still be a Navy Wife? I suppose technically I will. I’ll still be traveling for my career, of course.  But should it stay the same? I’ve given it a lot of thought and it’s safe to say things will change here, too. I haven’t even mentioned things at the office – they’re changing, too! In a good way. I’m taking on more and that means I’ll be even busier. That’s a little overwhelming as I make plans to be a better blogger. As a matter of fact, I was reading Be a Better Blogger this morning and there was such a great, timely reminder:

Nothing Worth Having In This World Comes Easy

So.very.true. By the way, if you haven’t gone over there – you totally should. Kevin is hilarious, poignant and honest. I find him very refreshing in a world of, “I know how to tell you how to grow your blog because I’m so awesome!” bloggers.

It’s not that I am about to encounter anything negative, but it sure won’t necessarily be easy to accomplish all of the goals I have in store for my little blog with so much on my plate and so little time. So ladies and gents, while I cannot let all of the cats of their respective bags just yet, it’s safe to say mid-year you will see some changes coming. Stay tuned and thank you for being part of the journey!

Tomorrow, I am off to Vegas for work (UGH why can’t they do these in the wine country?), than fly straight to L.A. to accept a li’l award. I get home the 9th. Travel will be keeping me busy for at least the next three months, but you will most definitely see me on the road!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-Heather