Our Jones Family Experience: September 2015

It's that time again. . . moving time. I love the military lifestyle. I enjoy living in new places and experiencing new cultures, the camaraderie between military spouses, and so much more. Usually after two years or so, I am ready to move. This time was different though as the girls and I had the most amazing group of friends (family). We saw each other almost daily and nothing can beat knowing that you have friends that are always there for you and will do everything they can for you. While I loved so much about Hawaii, it was the people that made me so sad to move.

Military moves can't be avoided though, so we began preparing for Charleston, SC. At first things seemed to be going well. The movers came mid-August to pack up our household goods. We were living with very little, but it allowed me to completely clean the house. Unfortunately, the title for my car was shipped with everything else, which was needed to ship the car to SC. After determining there was no way to expedite the title from VT, we got a power of attorney for a friend to ship the car after we left (one of our amazing friends I mentioned earlier).

Gideon's car which we had planned to sell decided to break down 3 days before the move, which caused the sale to fall through. The day we left the island was spent trying to sell the car. While we were able to sell it, the price did not even cover the cost of the repairs. But, we were just glad to be rid of it and not have to worry about it once we were off island.

We had a night flight to start out and while the girls slept most of the flight, Gideon and I were awake for most of it. We had a 5 hour layover in Houston which I was dreading, but it turned out to be a blessing as we were able to visit the USO and all get a few hours of much needed sleep.

Sleeping on the plane

Thank goodness for the USO

Before we knew it, we were on our last flight to SC. Things seemed to be going well until we landed. All nine of our bags arrived, but we were missing one vital thing. Our cat Sasha! Cassie, our cat arrived without issue, but United could not even tell us where Sasha was. After waiting for about an hour, the girls, Cassie and I headed to the hotel, while Gideon waited to find out more information.

Eventually they were able to tell us that Sasha had been put on the wrong plane and was in Miami. They ended up flying her back to Houston for the night and told us that she would fly through Chicago the next day to arrive in Charleston at 2:00 PM.

We have arrived, minus Sasha

The next day we were back at the airport. Again, Sasha was not there. Back to the hotel for the girls and I. Two hours later she finally arrived. They decided to send her directly from Houston to Charleston instead of through Chicago, except they did not tell us or anyone else within the airline. Throughout the entire ordeal, no one could tell us what happened or how she ended up on the wrong plane.

We had such a good experience living in base housing in HI, we planned to do the same in Charleston. The girls would be in a good school, Gideon could bike to work, and we would hopefully have a neighborhood with lots of kids where the girls could play and we could make friends. That hope was quickly dashed when we went into the housing department. There were no houses available, no one had even put in their move-out notice, and there were five families on the list before us.

Begin the house hunt. From talking with others who had previously lived in Charleston, I knew I wanted the girls in the Dorchester 2 School district. It would be a bit more of a drive for Gideon, but we agreed that the girls' school was the most important thing. After being told the military would only pay for 5 nights in a hotel, we quickly began searching.

We were lucky to find a house quickly. The house has a lot of space which I love, and it is walking distance to the girls school, which they love (and me too). The house did need to be cleaned, so we weren't able to get in it right away, which meant 10 days in the hotel. Keeping our fingers crossed that the military will cover it.

Our next task was to find me a car. I had my heart set on a Honda Pilot. After checking out a few other models, we found a 2013 Honda Pilot on our first Saturday here. On Tuesday, we got to try out our Roadside Service when I got a flat tire.

My beautiful new car with its flat tire

As for all of our stuff, we are still waiting for it. We have been told multiple times for the past two weeks that it will be delivered in 10-14 days. We have been in the house for 3 nights now, camping out on air mattresses and eating on the floor.

The girls started school today and I have started researching activities. While it has been a bumpy ride so far, we are hoping for a fun, memorable stay in Charleston; at least for the next year and then it starts all over again.