Our First PCS to Our FDS

Michael and I had been married for 8 months before we ever had our own place. Namely because the Army was just borrowing my husband to teach him some important stuff, no big deal or anything. When I found out we were going to be stationed at Fort Bragg, I was so excited. I said from day one that I wanted to go there. Michael wasn't as fond of the idea as I was, but it didn't really matter because we were going anyways. Uncle Sam said so, and that was all that mattered.

We personally chose to live off base. This is definitely a personal choice and you need to discuss it long and hard before choosing because a lease is at least 6 months just about everywhere you go. Here are our top 5 factors into why we chose OFF base:

1. I am a budget guru. I love crunching numbers and seeing all the savings I can accumulate by doing a little extra research. I knew with the housing allowance we were given, I could save us money living off base.

2. We do not have children.. so basically we don't qualify for much of anything on post. We would be put in the run down 2 bedroom apartments after living in a hotel for a few months waiting for our turn on the waitlist.. No thank you.

3. While living on post they have the right to inspect your living quarters anytime. I, personally am weirded out by the thought of someone coming in my house unannounced or unplanned. I have nothing to hide, its just a control thing for me.

4. Pets, I love pets.. On base housing only allows two and they have to be registered with housing and its a big hassle.

5. We hardly have visitors, but when we do, we didn't want them to have to drive around to a certain gate to get a pass and then try to navigate to a place that not all GPS systems register. It is once again too much of a hassle for me.

House hunting.. not nearly as fun as it sounds. I spent many of hours on Trulia, starring at the computer screen, scrolling through all the houses in our price range. I researched all the surrounding cities to see the demographics and crime rates. I decided I wanted to live in Spring Lake. It was just close enough, yet far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I kept searching in all the cities anyways just to see what may come available.

Pause, side note.. My SMIL (step mother in law) is such a blessing to me. She is so giving and uplifting. She is always there if I need her, and for that I am so grateful. Continue..

Michael was still a couple weeks out from graduating AIT and I wanted to go see Fort Bragg in person. I wanted to house hunt in person. I was tired of looking on the internet. Anyone can edit pictures and make it look good, I wanted to see these places for myself. Who was up for the ride along? Carla, my SMIL. We drove half way Monday night, got there Tuesday around lunch, then drove all the way home Wednesday evening. I think I got those days right, but you get the point, it was a super quick trip.

You can believe in God, destiny, fate, or all of them, but this must have been it. This was the weirdest (and my favorite) part of the trip. The night we started our trip I called 5 different realtors about properties listed that were available. I got confirmation indeed they were all still available and got contacts to view them the next day. As I mentioned earlier, we got to Fort Bragg around lunch. I listed my houses in order from favorite to least. I called the first and the house was still available. Took the address of the office and plugged it in the GPS. We ended up at mortuary on the wrong side of town, by that I mean the fear that we would end right back at that mortuary, side of town.. Called the office back and got the correct address. (insert random Phil Robertson line here) Now we were cooking with peanut oil. Made it to the office, only to find out the house was being viewed frequently. They didn't have any keys left to lend us to go see the house.. As soon as we got that news, a key walked right through the door. Fingers were crossed they didn't like it, but then on second thought, if they didn't like it what was wrong with it. She really didn't say anything besides the washer and dryer hookups were in the garage (who cares?!), then suddenly another key comes in too. This lady seemed interested but also complained about the W/D hookups (what is wrong with these people?).

We checked out our key and drove straight out to the house. The moment I turned the key in the doorknob, I felt something. I felt something telling me this was going to be my home, this was the one. Part of me fought it off because I knew I had other houses to see, but part of me just wanted to go back to the office and sign on the dotted line. We explored the empty house, I fell in love more and more every time I entered another room. Just as a side note, my house is nothing special, I just love it because it is mine. So we knew we needed to hurry up so we could get to the other houses on my list. I would have you know, every single other house on my list rented that morning. I told you it was weird. Carla and I drove around just looking for houses with a sign in the yard and calling realtors. They were all out of my price range. So that was it, the house chose me, it was were I was suppose to be. I went back to the office and got my applications and emailed michael his. We paid our app fees and left. The couple of days waiting for a response was like torture. We got the house was the call I got on Friday. I sent the Deposit on Monday to secure it and that was final. We were moving in, in two weeks! Now onto last minute packing, goodbyes at work, and picking up that sexy soldier of mine, and then moving to NC!

Our little humble abode!