Greetings from Wisconsin!

I type this post sitting on a twin size mattress on the floor of the master bedroom of our new apartment in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.

I left sunny San Diego on Thursday and spent three days driving cross country with my dog and my cat (NEVER doing that again!). The drive was long and tedious, but so very beautiful. The further away from SoCal I got, the more beautiful the landscapes.

I had a few moments of panic. Thinking, what am I doing with my life?! I’m moving by myself to the other side of the county!

Then other days, when the landscape turned into the stunning corn fields of Iowa, I would be reminded again of why we are making this move. Small town Wisconsin is where I want to raise my children. Seeing the families out walking their dogs, kids riding their bikes to the public pool…that is what I want. That is what San Diego was never able to offer us.

I arrived in Kaukauna on Saturday afternoon and spent the night with our friends. While I am so gracious for their hospitality…two people, a 3 year old, 3 cats (one of which was mine) and a dog do not mix well together.

Thankfully, I had an appointment the next day to check out an apartment that we had put a deposit down on. It turned out to be suitable and I moved my stuff in that day. Moving took all of about an hour…since I only had what was in my car.

I’ve spent the last few days running errands (setting up internet, buying household essentials, etc.) and exploring my new neighborhood.

One of my favorite things about our new apartment is that we are walking distance from an amazing dog park! It’s about 2 miles round trip, so I’m hoping to make it a daily trip with MacGyver after work.

Jeremy will be joining me on August 24th, and then driving back to CA with his brothers to get our stuff and officially terminate with the Marine Corps! EAS is so close, and we are looking forward to starting a new life together in Wisconsin.

TBT: My First Trip to WI!

The first time I met Jeremy’s parent, we had been married for about 4 months.

The summer of 2009 I made my first trip to Wisconsin. My first time seeing Jeremy’s home town. My first time meeting his family.

As someone who was born and raised in CA, Wisconsin was a bit of a culture shock! Lots of farms, lots of drinking, lots of bars and lots of cheese.

A little drunk at Fundfest (country concert) with Jeremy and his BFF Mallory

People are allowed to smoke inside. It was shocking enough to see so many people smoking, let alone inside! Everything takes place in the bar. Lunch, dinner, football, hanging out. The food is deep fried and cheesy. Culver’s is amazing, I’m very sad they don’t have one in CA. There are farms everywhere. We visited on of his buddies farms and saw baby pigs!

His friend Shorty’s farm

Aside from the culture shock of Wisconsin in general, Jeremy’s family is very different then my own.

My parents are upper middle class people. My Dad is an artist and my Mom owns her own dog kennel. They are liberal, eat a lot of veggies and don’t drink (my Mom at least).

Jeremy’s family is working class. Conservative. Most of them smoke and drink heavily.

And I love them all! They all probably thought I was some kind of crazy California girl, but as different as our lifestyles are, I love them all. They are sweet and kind people who welcomed me with open arms.

His sister has a hilarious sarcastic sense of humor that I always enjoy (even if at times she scares me and I worry she doesn’t like me lol).

His brothers are so close to each other and similar in many ways. They joke around and get on each other constantly, which is so entertaining.

His sister-in-law and her family are so sweet. We bond over the fact that we are married to such similar men and complain about their lack of communication skills.

His Dad has a very distinct personality, but he is the sweetest man I’ve ever met. He loves his children and calls me his daughter.

I got very lucky with my in-laws! And although I know they probably questioned Jeremy’s choice to get hitched so fast to some random Cali Girl, they have been nothing by kind to me.

I love Wisconsin and I can’t wait to move there after Jeremy gets out of the military. I love the open space and the farmland. I love the small town community. The only downside so far is the snow lol

I can’t wait to live in Wisconsin and be close to Jeremy’s family, especially now that we have a niece, a nephew and two more on the way! I love how close his family is. How much they value and love each other.

Funniest Moment From The First Year

I’ve decided to participate in a newly wed link-up for the month of June. Every week they post a question/topic to respond to that related to the first year of marriage. Although I have been married for more than a year, I sill somewhat consider myself a newly wed, it’s only been 4 1/2 years! When does one stop being a newly wed? Is there a time limit? Lol

This week’s prompt is: funniest moments from the first year

I have a good story for this one.

At the time that Jeremy and I eloped, I had never met his family or been to Wisconsin (his home state). When we were dating I briefly met 2 of his 4 siblings while they were out in California working, but I hadn’t met his parents or the rest of his family.

So a few months after we got married we made a trip to Wisconsin so he could introduce his new wife to his family.

It was my first trip to another state other than California.

For those of you who haven’t visited the Mid-West, it is a drastically different culture than the West Coast. Farming, rednecks, hunting, bars everywhere, cheese, etc., was all new to me.

One night I got pretty tipsy and Jeremy was driving us home. Apparently I was chattering on too much and Jeremy told me that we were going to play a game. The game was to look out the window of the car and look for deer eyes, so that we wouldn’t hit a deer if it ran out into the road.

Seemed like a legitimate idea to me. I’m not used to having to worry about deer running into the road so I figured this must be some Wisconsin car game.

For the rest of the car ride I sat in silence starring out the window looking for deer.

At some other point during this same trip Jeremy or I ended up telling his family about this “game” he had me play. Which is when the truth comes out that there is no such game! I was just drunk and annoying and Jeremy was trying to distract me. Such a loving husband, right?! lol

My Californianess is an ongoing joke point with his family. But I don’t mind much. I have plenty more ammunition to make fun of Wisconsinites then they do to make fun of Cali Girls lol

My first trip to Wisconsin! August 2009

We’re PCS’ing!

Well, looks like we are leaving California finally!

My husband accepted the recruiting orders and leaves for school in October. That means 2014 will find us living in new city and state!

There is no “guarantee” when it comes to the military, and that is very true with recruiting orders. You can request a “district” to get stationed at, but they decide where to put you within that district.

The one we want includes Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Ideally we would get stationed in Wisconsin, since that is where Jeremy’s family lives. Jeremy has some connections and has been told that there is a very very good chance that we will get Wisconsin…but again, there are no guarantees.

The suspense is already killing me! lol. We don’t find out his duty station until 1/2 through school, so not till November or December…sucks!

The other sucky thing is that taking these orders means that Jeremy had to extend his contract, his new EAS date is now 2017. That sounds so far away right now lol.

At that point he will have served 10 years of active duty…which means he might decide to go for the full 20 and make it a career.

But that is a long way off and a choice we can make when it arrives.

For now, I am just glad Jeremy made a decision and we can start planning for our future!

I am so excited to leave San Diego. I love it here (who wouldn’t?!) but I’m ready for a change.

Bring it 2014!