we're here :)

We arrived at Fort Bragg almost two weeks ago and have been busy acclimating to life on post. We were in a hotel for the first week which was..... interesting. We had connecting rooms so that we had a bit more space. The first night, as soon as we arrived, I locked the dead-bolts and put the chains on the doors (I don't do hotels with outside entrances very well). We had the doors between the rooms opened and we were rearranging bags. All of us were in the kids' room and Ben ran into our room and slammed the door behind him. Unfortunately, if the connecting door is closed, there's no way to get it open from the other side (just from in the room that Ben was in). And we couldn't get in through the front door because I dead-bolted and chained it. So Jacob spent half an hour unsuccessfully trying to pick the lock and then we called maintenance. They were able to open the deadbolt with the master key and Jacob broke the chain on the door. And poor Ben was sitting on the floor in the bathroom (in the dark) playing with his flashlight. :)

Jacob spent the first week here at Fort Bragg in-processing. He had to attend various briefings, check in at Finance, set up Tricare, register cars, etc. Then he was picked up by his unit for more in-processing there. According to his orders, he was supposed to be in a garrison law-enforcement (non-deployable) unit. But, as we've learned is the Army way, things are ALWAYS subject to change. He is now part of the 108th Military Police Company (Airborne, Air-Assault). It is the ONLY Airborne/Air Assault MP Co in the Army! He's very excited because there will be more "action" involved in this job (vs the garrison unit). However, that "action" comes in the form of deployment prep followed by a deployment in late spring/early summer 2010. So, I'll be up for any and all visitors from mid-2010 to mid-2011!! :)

Last Friday we signed paperwork and picked up keys to our house!! The people that were in the house before us completely trashed it so there was a big overhaul done right before we moved in. We have all new carpet and paint which is nice, but I am amazed at what people do to housing that isn't "theirs". For the record, bathroom sinks are NOT ashtrays, and cigarette burns do not come out of countertops!! But aside from a few cosmetic issues (damage), I love the house and it has a great layout and TONS of space. It's several hundred square feet smaller than our house in Colorado, but has much more usable space. We're just about finished unpacking and then there will be lots of pictures up!!

The kids are enjoying NC and Fort Bragg so far (we are too)! They are pretty amused by all the "Army Guys" that we see walking around. There are a ton of kids on our street-- once we're a little more settled I'm sure we'll be out front playing a lot. Ben and Lexie have been sick since we moved into the house-- Hand, Foot, and Mouth is not fun AT ALL!! They seem to be getting better every day, so hopefully we have a healthy house in a few days!!

And the most important news of all, our new washer and dryer just arrived!! We'd been going back and forth on when to replace our washer and dryer because the dryer takes two cycles to dry the clothes and the washer was leaving mystery oil stains. When our washer/dryer arrived in NC, the washer was leaking oil, which explained the mystery oil stains. It was definitely time to replace them!! So, we are the proud owners of LG front loaders, and I'm REALLY excited!! I don't think I've EVER been excited about laundry, but front loaders are fun, especially ones that sing!! So on that note, I'm off to do laundry!! :)