Remember how I was so excited about the list of our base "choices"? Well, the list came out today. Yay! Not.
Here are our "choices":
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
Minot AFB, North Dakota
Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
Cannon AFB, New Mexico
McGuire AFB, New Jersey
I try and be optimistic about life as a whole, though some times are harder than others. This is one of those really hard times for me. I had hopes of a moderate climate, with a great city near by where I could take Eve to the symphony, have good shopping - a Whole Foods near by, perhaps, and a generally great place to live.
Oh, that sound you hear.... it's my dreams dying.
Okay, all you military people, tell me why I should love these places. Good luck.
The Air Force will let us know in a month where they will be sending us.
p.s. I'll chipper up soon - I'm still processing....
Here are our "choices":
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
Minot AFB, North Dakota
Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
Cannon AFB, New Mexico
McGuire AFB, New Jersey
I try and be optimistic about life as a whole, though some times are harder than others. This is one of those really hard times for me. I had hopes of a moderate climate, with a great city near by where I could take Eve to the symphony, have good shopping - a Whole Foods near by, perhaps, and a generally great place to live.
Oh, that sound you hear.... it's my dreams dying.
Okay, all you military people, tell me why I should love these places. Good luck.
The Air Force will let us know in a month where they will be sending us.
p.s. I'll chipper up soon - I'm still processing....
29 Comments:
I'd say go to Mountain Home, ID. My friend Sandra (Diary of a SAHM), just moved from there a little before Thanksgiving. She really liked it there and her husband and her are planning to return once he retires. SHe doesn't like Arizona, that's where they are now.
Just thought I'd share what I know, I haven't been to any of those places.
Hugs,
eden
Oh Andrea! I'm so sorry the bases don't look that promising. I'm the same way. I can't personally speak for any of those choices because I haven't been lived at any of them. I've been to Ellsworth, just passing through when we lived in MT and there wasn't much to it.
We have had several friends who were stationed at Mountain Home and loved the area. If I'm not mistaken, it's not far outside of Boise and there's lots to do there. Also, I fell in love with the beauty of Montana and Northern Idaho when we were out there for two years. And, the pace of life is slower and calmer.
Are you guys leaning toward any one over the others? What's Daniel's career field?
I'm so sorry!
I know how tough it is to try and mesh your plans with God's plan for your life - I'll be praying for you and hope that you find what you're looking for.
Remember, no matter where you go, you'll be together as a family. And that is what makes it all worthwhile!
I'd take McGuire. It's not that far from NYC and the USO there has tickets to random broadway and way off broadway shows there for a $3 donation. We saw several while we were visiting. It is cold, but I'd love to be close to NYC for a few years. My 6 year old would want ND so she could see more dinosaur bones!
I'm going to have to vote for Mountain Home. It is beautiful there. Just think of all the rugged outdoorsy things you could do.
Next, I vote (I like to vote more than once) for Cannon. Again, beautiful. Plus, these two places get you out of your comfort zone? You'll leave the northeast and see some new places.
Finally, I vote for McGuire. I personally don't care for the city, but it is a great temporary place to be.
Well I have to say I have no clue about any except Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. Thats where Sandra was at & they loved it there!
I'm sorry your not happy with the choices but is Military ever easy??? Nope!! LOL!
What I do know is that wherever you pick you'll make it your own place. You have that way about you. You make the best out of anything. I think thats great=)
Oh Andrea I'm so sorry the list wasn't what you were hoping for. Do you get to pick which one or do they? I'm a little confused... your post made it sound like they're telling you in a month.
You'll make anyplace home and it will be new and exciting and just your family which will bring you all closer. It WILL be okay. :)
have a great night!
-Brittany
Oh man, Andrea. Looking at that list, I'd pray for New Jersey. New Jersey's so little, you can get to other places pretty fast. :-)
I hope you don't end up in Minot. My word, that's the coldest place on earth. Seriously.
I'm not military but NJ is nice. I don't know much about the area where McGuire is but it is nice to be close to NYC.
Andrea, I have a wonderful friend in Idaho. Of course, they move more often than military so they may not be there too long!! They are near Boise, I think. Three small children, Jennifer is a super active mom who loves to garden and continually amaze me. You'll make wonderful friends wherever you go.
Too bad the base in NM had to be Cannon and not Holloman! But it's about 3 hrs from us; so we would be able to visit if you went there. I'm not too familiar with the base though. My dad was stationed at McGuire when I was a senior in HS- I think the area has probably changed quite a bit since then! it's not located outside a huge city, but there are lots of cities close by - Philly, NY, etc. and as others have mentioned - you know Sandra was at Mt. Home and she really loved it there.
Good luck! Hopefully it won't be a full month before they tell you!
I'm so sorry Andrea. Hopefully whereever you are sent ends up being a good new home for your family. You're in my prayers.
Oh Andrea..Ewwwww. I'm sorry! I wish they had better choices for you.
I can't give advice about any of those bases except McGuire. Because (yay) we're stationed there right now.
The housing is horrible- you're right. BUT they're in the process of building all new units. We've walked through the model and it's beautiful. It's a 5 year plan though, so you would probably have to deal with the old stuff for awhile :(
Hmmm, positive, positive...
NYC is very close. You can ride the train and go for a day. Philly is only 45 minutes away. Washing DC is about 2 1/2 hours. So there is stuff to do if you're willing to travel.
I'd say the military community here is rather close knit which has been nice. It's not difficult to make friends if you live on base.
Let me know if you have any other questions (I'll spare you the never ending comment here, lol)
I'm sure you'll make the best of it no matter where you end up. You seem to have such a positive attitude about life :) "bloom where you're planted" right?
~Keri
SSgt Addams here.
I my gosh you guys... ouch. Seriously.
My brother was stationed at McGuire. He lived about 40 minutes drive away from the base in Medford Lakes. Beautiful area, and he said it was well worth the drive compared to base housing or just off base.
Moutain Home is actually a very pretty area. It's pretty "small town" without being in the middle of a barren waste land. It's a couple hours or so away from Boise, which is also pretty nice.
Now, as far as the other three... I'd put them in this order: Ellsworth, Cannon, and Minot.
"Why not Minot?" You say...
You know exactly why not. It's proof that hell can freeze over.
I'll be honest...I dont know anything about any of them. I do think Sandra at Diary of a stay home mom was at the one in Idaho though..email her. She may have some positive things for you. I guess my pick would be New Jersey....close to New York....or maybe New Mexico....close to California....looking at other opportunities for you guys. I dont think I would want the Dakota's you already do snow. Wherever you go you will make the best of it.
Each of those places have different pros and cons. But from someone who knows the fun of NJ, McGurwire might not be a bad choice. NYC is only about 1hr 15 min away with plenty of cutlure for you to play with...the jersey shore is only about 1/2 hour away, and the base is down away from all the hussle and bad things that you hear about NJ. Its actually quite quaint and beautiful. Dix at the moment is my home base while XS is gone to the sandbox. And as we've lived in horrible places before like Misery Missouri, NJ turns out not to be so bad. Plus the BAH is really nice. Good luck on your choices with your family. Whichever one you choose you'll make it a home with new memories.
Oh Drat!
Well, hope for New Mexico. It's warmer!
Wow! Well, Aunt Terri, or Tess now, would be close to you in ID. We would all like McGuire 'cause you can drive there from here, you've already done the N Dakota thing.
You might try talking to Buck at Exileinportales.blogspot.com who is retired Air Force living near Cannon. NM would be my choice.
Wow, that's a tough list. If you're outdoorsy, I'd say Mt. Home (it's only 4 hours from where we live). One of the other recruiters in the flight was at Mt. Home before here and liked it enough that he wants to go back when he's done recruiting. If you prefer bigger cities closer to civilization, I'd say McGuire. best of luck in getting what you want.
Faithful lurker here- i (think) the first time i posted a comment was when you had liza, but i'm not sure. anyway- i DO have 2 cents here, because i live in rapid city- we're not military, but of course we know about 1000 people from base, and we're not originally from here, so i think we've got some good "outsider" perspective.
there are a few negatives i could say off the bat, but i won't bc you asked why you should love it here... :)
a) the climate is VERY mild- we don't even have snow removal on our street, because it usually melts off right away- there is rarely an exception to this. i thought that sounded terrible when we came here, but it's great with kids- you still get snow and it turns everything white, but it's almost never cold enough for it to stay on sidewalks, etc,- it's great. mind you, it snows like crazy in the higher elevations surrounding us, but in rc (called the banana belt of sd) it's around 40 most days in the winter, and there's almost no humidity in summer, it doesn't get over 80 most of the warm months, except july, and there's almost no bugs to speak of- we NEVER need OFF in the summertime.
b) speaking of the higher elevations around us- there are amazing outdoor adventures to be had year-round. incredible skiing, hiking, anything having to do with water except surfing- it's amazing. the black hills are amazing.
c) the city is growing a lot- tons of new shopping will arrive in the time you'd be here. right now it's the typical small-ish city fare, but it's improving greatly, which improves my attitude about living here! also, denver (i LOVE denver!) is a quick 5 hours away- not close by any means, but totally possible for weekend trips, even with kids. IKEA, sadly is 9 hours away in Minneapolis. this irritates me often.
d) i don't know your husband's rank, but there's a nice housing development for families that some of my friends have really enjoyed- and made beautiful homes in- that's off base.
e) WOW- i got to "e"- this is a wonderful place to live once- it has it's quirks, but the outdoor lover in us, along with the fun local things like mt rushmore, etc, make it a fun place to experience, though we're not sure we'll live here forever (who knows what God wants- maybe we will!) There's a lot of quaint little towns in the hills with a lot of one-of-a-kind things to offer too.
f) oh, and there are quite a few wonderful, Bible-believing churches here, and the local community is very friendly.
Oh geez. That's not a great list, but I can't REALLY say that because I have never been to any of those places. I am a cold weather girl at hear, so of course I'd be partially happy about the Dakotas. I know how you are feeling....only we are just told where we are going on a whim. Craziness. I hope that wherever you and your family end up, you are able to find peace!
I can't imagine how tough it must be for you to pack up and move like that. I've heard New Mexico has lower gas prices and lower property taxes...that probably doesn't make things any better. :) God has right place for you and the right reason for you to be there. I'll say a little prayer for ya. ;)
I don't know which I'd pick....but really when it boils down to it who cares as long as your all together as a family. Love all the pics of the little one.
Another faithful lurker coming out of the woodwork to put my 2 cents in. I was cracking up when I saw your list. If you added Dyess to it, that's almost exactly what our list looked like when we PCS'd from Kadena a little over a year ago. Long story short we ended up at Whiteman which wasn't even on our list (and no where we would have ever "wanted" to be), but we love it here. I would say Cannon, but only because it's warmer. Second choice would be Mountain Home because it's a really nice area. And believe it or not I would say Minot 3rd because I've heard the housing there is wonderful and there are a lot of family activities on base.
Another lurker here... I love your blog, and the kids are SO cute!
I'd vote for Cannon. I live in New Mexico, and it's not that bad. I don't know the area around Cannon itself, but NM as a whole as some good things going for it. Your children may forget what a "real" tree looks like - you know, the ones with leaves that fall to the ground - but your whole family will learn to love green chile, Mariachi music, tiny Hispanic churches that take your breath away, and you'll be able to pronounce Spanish place names like it's second nature. Not to mention the fact that you might pick up some Spanish from listening to it at the grocery story! :-) If you're lucky you'll even meet someone who can teach you to make your own tortillas! (To go with your rice and beans dish, which I love! Thank you for sharing it!) However, NM is brown, and you'll have to put up with Richardson (for a while...), drunk drivers, illegal aliens, and a local government that doesn't seem competent in the least. Ah well, nothing is perfect... It does snow here every once in a while, and ABQ's a decent city, with the most beautiful sunset you've ever seen if you're on the west side of the Sandias at sunset! They put on some nice operas and such every few months, so it's not quite hicktown. ;) Oh, and another benefit you will have - what shall I say? - the pleasure of, when you travel outside the state, explaining that yes, you are an American, yes, they do speak English in NM, and no, you don't need a passport to visit. It's definitely a state with character, si, si, it is! ;)
Good luck!
Imelda
FWIW, New Mexico has more midwives than OBs, for when/if you want another little bundle of joy. :)
Andrea I LOVED Mountain Home AFB, we were stationed there for 9 years and are planning to return when Curt retires.
It's a small base, not much around, the nearest town is Mountain Home which is about 12 miles out. It's also 45 minutes from Boise which was perfect for us, we don't like living near big cities. No matter which direction you drive out from the base, within 10 minutes or so, you're surrounded by beautiful mountains, rivers etc. It's great for outdoors people, fishing, hunting, camping is HUGE there.
The base school is WONDERFUL, I couldn't say enough good things. Jasmine went there from kindergarten through 2nd grade, the staff is great, the teachers are outstanding.
I can only say that if I could, I would gladly take Mountain Home AFB off your hands.....we're stuck in Luke AFB, Arizona and it's HORRIBLE.
If you do get stationed there and want any other info, just email me :)
Hugs,
Sandra
I was born and raised in Twin Falls Idaho. We visited Mountain Home AFB yearly for their air show. It is located in a fabulous area. You are close enough to Boise for those gotta get outta here and go somewhere outings and date nights. You can ski, hike, camp, bike, you name it if it's outdoorsy. You would love it with your great attitude! Good Luck!
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