All in the Family

Welcome to 2022! Sometimes I can’t believe all that has happened over the last year. The pandemic being the largest thing, and how it has changed the way life continues to happen. It sometimes seems so strange to think about how things were before. Even stranger to wonder when we might finally find our way back to a place where we can all exist without the stresses brought on by the situation. I can only hope 2022 will see the end of this long and stressful episode that we have all faced these past two years.

We celebrated our one year milestone in recruiting. While we still don’t love recruiting itself, I think we have all gotten more used to it, and it seems strange to think we are already a third of the way into our time at this duty station. Time seems to go by so quickly! There are still quite a few things I hope to do during my time here in Chicago, and I hope that I will actually get to accomplish those things. I have left a number of duty stations with regret for not taking advantage of everything I could have.

I certainly still miss living on base and having access to certain things, especially the commissary, but there is a bright spot that has recently come to our recruiting environment—my brother. My brother has been in the Army for about eight years now, and has spent his entire career at Fort Bragg, with my sister-in-law and their kids. But he decided to volunteer to become a recruiter, and is now moving to our area. It’s the first time in nearly a decade that my siblings and myself will all be living near one another, and be able to be there for family events that we have missed out on over the years.

I’m excited to have him nearby, and for our kids to get to spend more time together. It will be nice to have their cousins even closer to them, and for us to do things together. 

The biggest challenge they’ve had with this PCS is finding housing. It seems not to be a buyer’s market, but certainly a seller’s. Many times it seems the sellers are more hesitant with VA loan buyers, and even beyond that, most of the home inspections they’ve had, do not go well by the end. I am hoping that they will soon find a house that will work for them, and will actually pass an inspection. There are many options here in the suburbs, but finding what fits their needs seems to be a struggle. It sounds like there might be a chance they have found something, but after so many disappointments, it is definitely hard to know for sure.

I’m excited to soon be celebrating my sons’ birthdays this year as well. My oldest is turning six, and I almost can’t believe it! He has changed so much this past year, and grown so tall! He’s inquisitive and intelligent. 

My youngest will be turning four shortly after his older brother’s birthday, and he’s so smart and sweet. I’m excited to see more of his personality emerge as time goes on. 

This year, we have to decided to have birthday parties for each child. This is something we weren’t able to do before. Last year we didn’t have parties at all, for obvious reasons, and prior to that we lived so far away that we had to have a three day weekend available and usually did a joint birthday party. I think it will be great to be able to give them their own spotlight and to let them enjoy their days separately. 

Despite many of the ups and downs that have gone on through these last months, and especially these last couple of years, I am hoping that 2022 has a lot of positives and we can finally get some true normalcy back into our lives. I am looking forward to this year, and hope that the recruiting world will continue to treat us well. 

What changes has 2022 brought to you? Sound off in the comments below!