It's that time again..

kara811

And just like that he's gone again.. DH just left for deployment, the ship hasn't left yet but he needed to be there early to start up the plants.. He'll be gone all summer long just like the years prior. I hate having to say good byes, it never gets easy. I miss him so much already. 

I'm only ever this sappy person right after he leaves, but a few hours later I'm back to my old giddy self. I guess it's time to keep busy now! Still here in Japan for a few more days then I will be flying back stateside for good. We got orders recently and will be  PCSing in the fall, so I actually have stuff to keep me busy like looking for a new place to live! 

Sorry for being a downer, just needed an outlet since I'm out here all alone. Have a good day everyone! 

shan87

Its okay. I brought H to the airport earlier this week, drove home took a nap and when I woke up and he wasn't there... I cried. It happens to the best of us. He hadn't even landed at his destination yet so when I called I got to hear his VM which helped. The next day I was fine too. Its healthy to let it out

kara811

Thanks Shan! That must have been hard on you since it was right after the wedding. Surprisingly, I didn't cry all that much this time around, H even noticed that I wasn't how I usually am when it's this time of year. It helps knowing he'll be back stateside for good in a few months. I used to always call H's phone just to hear his VM too, it does help!  

shan87

I haven't cried over him leaving in a while, but it was such an awesome weekend so I was on such a high and then BAM way low!

SamiJoeB

I know how both of you feel. It sucks so much when they leave. Hugs for EVERYONE!!!!

Beachy730

I'm sorry Kara and Shan.  Is it for a full deployment Kara, or just workups?  H will be going in and out on workups all summer and fall, and then leave at the end of the year for deployment.

Where did you get orders to next?  

ggirl2001

Hugs to everyone!! It sucks when they leave.

kara811

Thanks ladies!! 

 @dnbeach: It's a full deployment. Their ship is the only forward deployed so they go every single year. Another reason why H loves to be going back home soon. We got orders to Norfolk actually. There was nothing available anywhere else let alone the West Coast. Your H's ship is going over there too right by the end of year/early next? We really tried to get that one but no availabilty.

Beachy730

That stinks about the every year deployments.  But, I did a little happy dance inside to see you that you're going to Norfolk!  H will get there next Spring sometime with his ship, but I'll be moving there during his deployment.  We are still trying to figure out somet things, like when I'll move and where we will live, but I'm thinking later winter/early spring I'll move there.  We will be in Norfolk to start, and then Newport News, but it's all within about an hour of eachother.

kara811

Oh yeah we hate having deployments every year, this is now H's 4th one, but at least he'll only be there for half of it. We really wanted your H's ship for the reason that it won't be going underway for a very long time! We've started to do some research around the area and trying to find places. They have some nice military housing(on and off base) even over in Newport News but we're thinking about getting a "community housing" instead. I've had a few people tell me that Virginia Beach is a nice place to live(so nice you can't even curse in public!) That's my task this summer, trying to find somewhere to live and have an address ready for all our stuff here in Japan to be sent to. 

Newport News is pretty much across the bay. So are all the other neighbor cities.We'll be there around October.  I shall let you know how it is. 

Beachy730

Yes you'll definitely have to let me know.  We have heard Chesapeake is a good area to live, so that's kind of where we are thinking for now.  But we still haven't decided.  We know that we definitely don't want military housing there.  We were seriously debating buying a house, but I think we decided yesterday to just rent instead.  Everyone H talks to says how much they hated being stationed in Virginia, and everyone on his ship is dreading going, so I said if that's the case I don't want us to get stuck there because of a house.  I want to find a house to rent with a fenced in yard for the dog, and then if we end up loving it there and want to stay we could always buy a house after.

kara811

Everyone's told us the same thing. It seems like nobody wants to go to Norfolk! But at least your H's ship won't be going on any deployments while there so that's a huge plus. Chesapeake seems like a nice area too, we looked at a few places there. H thought about buying before too but I told him we're only there for 2 years, I don't think it's smart to do it there. Maybe when we're on shore duty. It seems to be a bit difficult trying to find a house to rent so far, we want at least 2-3 bedrooms with a yard and garage(H wants a motorcycle) and we haven't found any we liked so far. At this point, the Lincoln Military Housing is looking pretty good. But we did find condos/townhomes we really like close to base so we might stick to those instead but they've got no covered parking/garages. I think we might stick closer to base, a few people told us it sucks during rush hour!

Beachy730

Yeah I've heard the same things about rush hour.  Chesapeake to Newport News will be difficult, but there's a chance it will only be for a few months, and we will probably be in Norfolk for almost a year, so it might not be too bad.  There's just so many places, and I know there's a thin line between nice areas and rough areas, so it's scary to do it from here.  I'll definitely be getting your opinions once you move there, and I'll be asking on MN soon too probably to start looking around.  It's frustrating to look so early though because nothing will be available still probably by the time we move.

I definitely would love to buy and stop throwing so much money into renting, but I told H that I want to buy somewhere that we wouldn't mind being stuck.  Our dream is to end up in Jacksonville, and if not then I would be happy to move back to our area here.  I was so against moving here because it was so far from NY and our families, but I love it here now and could definitely stay here.  So I told H that if we do hate it in VA, hopefully we can get out of there ASAP and get to Jax or here and then we will buy.  There is talk about putting a carrier in Jax, so H is hoping to fnid out what carrier it is and get orders onto it and move with the ship again.  Of course it rarely works out how anyone hopes in the military, so I'm not holding my breath.

kara811

That's what's making so difficult is that there are so many places, and we heard about the boundaries too. A friend told us you can be in such a nice part of town and just go down one more block and you'll be in the rough parts already. I hope we're able to find a nice place that we want. I hate not being there to check out places too, but we want one ready to go by the time we get there. I'm thinking about asking around on MN as well for the women there who are familiar with the area and how much they like it there. 

For how long is your H still on this ship? When will you be getting your next orders? A carrier in Jax? Maybe it'll be the one of the newer ones? We will probably settle down in Washington eventually. H and his whole family are from that area and we both love it there. It's such a beautiful state, but I just have to get used to the rain having grown up in areas where it rarely rains. And I agree things usually does not work out to our benefits. Getting Norfolk was a bit of a surprise to us, we really hope for the West Coast but the negotiations with the orders were a bit difficult and took such a long time. We're just happy to be out of Japan soon enough. 

SamiJoeB

I totally have order envy. H told me a few days ago that it might be as late as December when we find out where we're going next. I'm so impatient about it.. But I guess at least if I don't know for sure, My dreams of Beaufort are still alive!!

kara811

@Sami: Lol. We have been waiting so long for ours and we finally got them. Thankfully! I got pretty impatient with it too asking H all the time about it for the last few months. Hopefully you guys get it!  

jessuhmarie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_military-brides_its-time-again?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:13Discussion:78cd3978-d67b-4d90-b42a-26f81cc9232fPost:026f1ca7-6368-4893-a2bb-be38af8076fb">Re: It's that time again..</a>:
[QUOTE]That's what's making so difficult is that there are so many places, and we heard about the boundaries too. A friend told us you can be in such a nice part of town and just go down one more block and you'll be in the rough parts already. I hope we're able to find a nice place that we want. I hate not being there to check out places too, but we want one ready to go by the time we get there. I'm thinking about asking around on MN as well for the women there who are familiar with the area and how much they like it there.  For how long is your H still on this ship? When will you be getting your next orders? A carrier in Jax? Maybe it'll be the one of the newer ones? We will probably settle down in Washington eventually. H and his whole family are from that area and we both love it there. It's such a beautiful state, but I just have to get used to the rain having grown up in areas where it rarely rains. And I agree things usually does not work out to our benefits. Getting Norfolk was a bit of a surprise to us, we really hope for the West Coast but the negotiations with the orders were a bit difficult and took such a long time. We're just happy to be out of Japan soon enough. 
Posted by kara811[/QUOTE]


I'm born and raised in Hampton Roads and my SO is in the Navy in Newport News on a sub, so I'd be happy to offer any advice. Most of what you girls have said is accurate. The traffic on the bridge to go from newport news/hampton to va beach/norfolk is HORRIBLE almost all of the time, but especially during the week and a lot on Saturdays. You can see a really nice neighborhood and then a mile down is slummy and awful. You have to be especially careful about that in Norfolk and in Newport News. Virginia Beach is nice but it's a lot more expensive to live most places there since it's the ideal place, but keep in mind that there can be traffic over there between Va Beach and Norfolk as well. Chesapeake is nice, but depending on where, commuting to Newport News can be awful. It's 30 minutes away with no traffic to the shipyard. Also, a bunch of guys on FH's boat live over the James River Bridge in Smithfield and Carrollton, IMO, it's too long of a drive to the NN Shipyard. GL!