Tomorrow we leave Virginia to drive home and back to our life in Arkansas. I can hardly believe this time is here. Our stay at Fort Lee has been something that has been in our future for so long that I can really hardly believe it's over. We really have made the absolute most of our time here and I have no regrets. I'm going to miss all our adventures. I thought I would make a list so I could remember our time here. So I'll start with the things I will not miss so I can end with the positive. Here it goes!
Things I will not miss about our time at Fort Lee, Virginia.
Housekeeping: This is also on my positive list, but for another reason. I'm not an immaculate housekeeper, but I do my best to keep a clean house. It's hard to not have access to cleaning supplies when I needed them. Most of our room is carpeted and living with three kids is messy. So it's hard when the kids spill something and I can't immediately vacuum it up. Or when juice gets spilled and it's sticky on the floor until the next morning when housekeeping comes back around. I tried calling once or twice to get extra service but they are so slow to respond. When the kids broke a plate on the ground and it shattered ceramic everywhere, I immediately called housekeeping to have it cleaned up. It took them 1.5 hours to come vacuum and sweep. I had to keep the kids off the floor for that entire time. It was hard. I will be glad to get home and have access to my own broom and vacuum again!
Driving on Base: Driving on base is so ridiculous. The speed limit is 20 mph almost everywhere. Unless you are in the family housing or parking lots and then it's even less. It's a constant stress for me. I'm always riding my brakes to make sure I don't go too fast down a hill or on a straightaway. So I definitely won't miss the low speed limits. lol.
Hotel Food: After the first two weeks of continental breakfasts at the hotel, I swore that once I got home I would never eat another boiled egg. I can't wait to get home and have access to my kitchen, my oven, my counter space. I'm so sick of bagels, danishes and boiled eggs.
Crockpot Recipes: Because we don't have an oven or a grill, making dinner is difficult sometimes. We did bring our crockpot from home but at this point, I'm so sick of it. If I never make another crockpot meal, it will be too soon. I think I've tried every single crockpot recipe that pinterest has to offer and almost every single one would have been better if cooked in an oven. I can't wait to get home and bake!
Terrible Internet: This has been hard! We have the worst Internet ever in the hotel. It's seriously so bad. We are constantly getting kicked off and even when it's working, it's super slow. I get bored a lot here and so I want to watch netflix or hulu, but I can't because the Internet is so bad. On the plus side, I'm getting a lot of reading done.
No Cell Phone Signal: This was probably the hardest part about our time here. I have felt very isolated. I get zero cell phone reception in our room. I'm use to having lots of girls nights out and play dates, so losing those was hard but then to be cut off from communicating with family and friends- it's been hard. I look forward to getting home and being able to use my cell any time I want!
Things I will not miss about our time at Fort Lee, Virginia.
Housekeeping: This is also on my positive list, but for another reason. I'm not an immaculate housekeeper, but I do my best to keep a clean house. It's hard to not have access to cleaning supplies when I needed them. Most of our room is carpeted and living with three kids is messy. So it's hard when the kids spill something and I can't immediately vacuum it up. Or when juice gets spilled and it's sticky on the floor until the next morning when housekeeping comes back around. I tried calling once or twice to get extra service but they are so slow to respond. When the kids broke a plate on the ground and it shattered ceramic everywhere, I immediately called housekeeping to have it cleaned up. It took them 1.5 hours to come vacuum and sweep. I had to keep the kids off the floor for that entire time. It was hard. I will be glad to get home and have access to my own broom and vacuum again!
Driving on Base: Driving on base is so ridiculous. The speed limit is 20 mph almost everywhere. Unless you are in the family housing or parking lots and then it's even less. It's a constant stress for me. I'm always riding my brakes to make sure I don't go too fast down a hill or on a straightaway. So I definitely won't miss the low speed limits. lol.
Hotel Food: After the first two weeks of continental breakfasts at the hotel, I swore that once I got home I would never eat another boiled egg. I can't wait to get home and have access to my kitchen, my oven, my counter space. I'm so sick of bagels, danishes and boiled eggs.
Crockpot Recipes: Because we don't have an oven or a grill, making dinner is difficult sometimes. We did bring our crockpot from home but at this point, I'm so sick of it. If I never make another crockpot meal, it will be too soon. I think I've tried every single crockpot recipe that pinterest has to offer and almost every single one would have been better if cooked in an oven. I can't wait to get home and bake!
Terrible Internet: This has been hard! We have the worst Internet ever in the hotel. It's seriously so bad. We are constantly getting kicked off and even when it's working, it's super slow. I get bored a lot here and so I want to watch netflix or hulu, but I can't because the Internet is so bad. On the plus side, I'm getting a lot of reading done.
No Cell Phone Signal: This was probably the hardest part about our time here. I have felt very isolated. I get zero cell phone reception in our room. I'm use to having lots of girls nights out and play dates, so losing those was hard but then to be cut off from communicating with family and friends- it's been hard. I look forward to getting home and being able to use my cell any time I want!
Things I will miss about our time at Fort Lee, Virginia.
Chris' army hours: For the most part, Chris had amazing hours. He would got to school between 8:30-9 am each day. Then around 11 am he would come home for lunch. He would spent about 2 hours home with us, eating lunch and relaxing and then head back to school around 1 pm. Then by the time I got home with the kids from school (about 3:30) he would be home from school already. It was amazing. I will miss seeing him so much during the day. I will miss our sporadic and spontaneous lunch dates in Richmond.
Historic landmarks: We really tried our best to visit historical sites and absorb as much history as possible. Sometimes the kids cooperated and really enjoyed it, other times they were bored but tolerant. Some of their favorite historical outings were "Jamestown" "Washington DC" and "Williamsburg". Chris' favorite was probably "Gettysburg" and mine was "Jamestown". Although I really enjoyed learning about the siege of Petersburg and touring the battlefields that surrounded Fort Lee.
The Laundry Room: Oh man I will definitely miss the laundry room. It was totally free and there were three washing machines and three dryers. I could do 6 loads of laundry in about 2.5 hours and it was amazing. And the kids loved the front loading washing machine so it was fun for them too. I will miss how productive I was. Although, if there was ever a time for me to spend hours doing laundry, it is now. I have no life, so my small chores like laundry and grocery shopping are keep me from going crazy.
Housekeeping: I will miss coming home from the store every Monday and finding a nice clean set up sheets on my bed and a clean room. I really hate making beds so this was a real treat. Clean sheets every week and no work for me. Awesome.
Late Start School: Tanner and Bailey don't start school until 9 am every morning. In Arkansas schools start at 7:30 am and so we are really enjoying our late start mornings. The kids don't have to wake up until they want to and then after they get ready for school they have time to play before school. It's so relaxed and non-stressful. I will definitely miss this schedule when we go home.
Carefree Weekends: Every single weekend we go on some adventure. These adventures usually take us a couple hours from Fort Lee, but the kids are such great travelers that they don't care. We just hop in the car and find something fun to do. It's so nice. We don't have soccer games or dance or any church responsibilities on the weekends and we love it. I will never forget all the fun we've had Virginia and all the amazing things we got to see.
Zero Responsibility: It's been so fun (only a little crazy making) to have no commitments. Usually we have dance and swim after school. Not to mention, school commitments and play dates. Plus we would typically have church responsibility during the week. We have no commitments and it's kind of really nice. Chris has no responsibilities at school (besides homework) and no stresses from his corporate job. It's been pretty relaxing.
The Food: OH MY WORD- I will miss the amazing seafood. We spent almost every weekend of the first two months of our time at Fort Lee at the beach. We tried tons of different seafood restaurants and discovered which ones we like best. We loved all the delicious seafood at the coast and it will be hard to leave that behind. Oh and also- I will miss "Cafe Rio". I will miss having one only 40 minutes away. Usually we only get to eat at Cafe Rio when we go to Utah, which is often.
Family Time: If looked at from another angle, this might go in the negative column, but really our time spent here in VA in our little hotel room changed us. It changed our family. We all grew up and grew closer. Tanner and Bailey spent every night sharing a hide-a-bed and I will definitely miss their sweet giggles as they whispered each night before falling asleep. They really became the best of friends. And Tucker too- we would pull his roll-away crib over and he would lay right next to the couch where Tanner and Bailey slept and I think the sound of their breathing settled him each night. And then once Tanner and Bailey started school, it's so cute to watch them walk into school each morning. Tanner helps Bailey get out of the car each morning and then holds her hand as they walk into school. I think being at a new school made them really rely on each other and they grew closer because of that. We are definitely crowded and no one had any personal space but I feel like it brought us closer emotionally. We literally spent every minute of every day together until the older kids started school. We would go watch movies together, play on the playground, go to the splash pad- it didn't matter what it was- we did it together. We miss our friends but with the absence of friends and playgroups, we found friends in each other and I hope that never changes. I love the family that we became during our time at Fort Lee and I hope when we go home we stay close and our friendships don't change. We have always love each other, but I feel like now we really like each other too.
So that's it. That's my ode to our time at Fort Lee. Now home and onto our next adventure!!!
Zero Responsibility: It's been so fun (only a little crazy making) to have no commitments. Usually we have dance and swim after school. Not to mention, school commitments and play dates. Plus we would typically have church responsibility during the week. We have no commitments and it's kind of really nice. Chris has no responsibilities at school (besides homework) and no stresses from his corporate job. It's been pretty relaxing.
The Food: OH MY WORD- I will miss the amazing seafood. We spent almost every weekend of the first two months of our time at Fort Lee at the beach. We tried tons of different seafood restaurants and discovered which ones we like best. We loved all the delicious seafood at the coast and it will be hard to leave that behind. Oh and also- I will miss "Cafe Rio". I will miss having one only 40 minutes away. Usually we only get to eat at Cafe Rio when we go to Utah, which is often.
Family Time: If looked at from another angle, this might go in the negative column, but really our time spent here in VA in our little hotel room changed us. It changed our family. We all grew up and grew closer. Tanner and Bailey spent every night sharing a hide-a-bed and I will definitely miss their sweet giggles as they whispered each night before falling asleep. They really became the best of friends. And Tucker too- we would pull his roll-away crib over and he would lay right next to the couch where Tanner and Bailey slept and I think the sound of their breathing settled him each night. And then once Tanner and Bailey started school, it's so cute to watch them walk into school each morning. Tanner helps Bailey get out of the car each morning and then holds her hand as they walk into school. I think being at a new school made them really rely on each other and they grew closer because of that. We are definitely crowded and no one had any personal space but I feel like it brought us closer emotionally. We literally spent every minute of every day together until the older kids started school. We would go watch movies together, play on the playground, go to the splash pad- it didn't matter what it was- we did it together. We miss our friends but with the absence of friends and playgroups, we found friends in each other and I hope that never changes. I love the family that we became during our time at Fort Lee and I hope when we go home we stay close and our friendships don't change. We have always love each other, but I feel like now we really like each other too.
So that's it. That's my ode to our time at Fort Lee. Now home and onto our next adventure!!!
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