Decisions.

Kaylin is doing great! She is sitting up like a champ and trying to make improvements towards crawling. She is just amazing. I really can't believe how fast she's growing.. I know I've been saying that but I just can't wrap my head around it. She's so brilliant and beautiful, Adam and I will have our hands full the older she get's..... I can see it now!

Now on to what I'm posting about... our future.

Adam and I have been contemplating what our next move is. We have always wanted to stay in until retirement but since having Kaylin we have been having mixed feelings. So now we're just waiting and seeing what decision we make. We both have been researching civilian life and trying to save the best we can. We figure we can't just get out without preparing us, after all.. we have Kaylin to consider! We can't just wing it and hope for the best.

We've researched local economy back with family. Looking at job openings (salary), school options, housing options, and considering what all we would do. All in all.. we have a good picture of how things could go if we got out at the end of this enlistment. Right now though, we're not ready to call it quits in the military. There are benefits to staying in and getting out. The two biggest for staying in... medical benefits and Adam having a job. The big one for getting out.. being closer to family!

We can't just take a leap of faith and hope that we will find the jobs we want. Plenty of people can't get jobs now which scares us. Even knowing that their are job openings for our career fields doesn't mean we'd get the jobs, ya know? We just need to make sure that if we get out things will go as well as we'd hope. We're not being unrealistic.. we know it'd be a struggle for a bit but we need to make sure that the decision we choose is best for our family as a whole.

So right now I feel like I'm stuck in limbo. Just waiting until our decision hits us. For now the game plan is extend this enlistment for a year (Enlistment is supposed to end in Aug 2012 but he will extend until Aug 2013). He's doing this to get us a new assignment out of Alaska.. to give us time to decide what we want to do. At the end we will either reenlist to stay at that base or get out. That's the path we're taking now..

I just really have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Thinking about being back with family makes me feel very happy.. even thinking that we may have to struggle a few months to get us into a comfortable living situation doesn't bother me. As long as Kaylin is cared for in every way, I wouldn't care. Then again, I'm so used to this lifestyle.. I'd really miss it! I don't like being away from family but I love the traveling, security and medical benefits (lol, see a trend?). It will really been a big decision.. and one we honestly never thought of making before Kaylin.

We'll just have to keep waiting in limbo for a while... I guess we'll just see where life takes us and prepare for it the best we can.