Kevin is Being Medically Retired

A few days ago, Kevin received the call that we have been waiting on for what seems like months! Wait, what am I talking about, it has been months of waiting. Kevin's PEBLO called him to inform him that his rating from the Army was sitting in her office. Yes, family and friends, it is official... Kevin is in fact being medically retired from the Army. We are now waiting to receive his memorandum, which could take around thirty days. For most soldiers in this situation, it has taken about two weeks to receive the memo, but as his PEBLO stated to us, the majority of them don't have a file the size of Kevin's. So, for now, we will continue playing the waiting game and should be able to move from El Paso in the upcoming weeks.

We are still moving to Mena, AR for many reasons. It is the best thing to do for our family and especially for Kevin with all that he has going on. He needs a small town environment and as we said before, he has fallen in love with this town. We are super excited to get out there and to start this new chapters in our lives together.

For now, we are packing our slowly packing our house and trying our best to prepare for the upcoming move! We already have a house lined up, for the most part, to rent upon us arriving in Mena. One that we can't wait to move into! The house sits on about an acre and a half with an amazing view of the mountains out the front door. It is all one story, which we are super excited for! Seems that stairs are a little too much for the time being. It is a brick house with three bedrooms and two and a half baths. This will be the first house since living in GA that we have had an actual laundry room inside the house. How the little things bring even more excitement! In Germany, our laundry room was in the basement of the apartment buildings, and in many of the houses in El Paso they feel the need to put the washer and dryers in the garage. Not something either of us are a fan over! As soon as things are final, we will post photo's of the house!

Family and friends, please give us time and respect throughout this adjustment period to get situated. There will be moments of ups and downs due to this being a huge change for us. We know that the roads ahead may be a roller coaster, but we will be okay and we will get through it all! Thank you for the continued prayers and thoughts through everything!

Our Decision on Moving Has Been Made.......

A couple months ago, after serious thinking, Kevin and I made the final decision on where we are going to move to following his medical retirement. We have picked a town that Kev fell in love with right away, a small town that has a population of around 5600 people, located away from big cities. A beautiful little town that is surrounded by mountains.... Somewhere perfect to raise our kids and somewhere perfect for Kev and his PTSD and TBI. We need to be somewhere that we can focus on us and away from the chaotic life we have come to know a little too well.

We are moving to........................

You read right, Mena, AR. We absolutely love it there and cannot wait to start a new chapter in our lives. Mena is located in Polk County, near the Oklahoma border. It's about 55 miles from Fort Smith, AR; 144 miles from Tulsa, OK; 150 miles from Little Rock, OK; 192 miles from Dallas, TX; and of course Atlanta...We will be 660 miles away from Atlanta. Which, as we all know, is a lot closer and an easier drive than we have had in eight years now! The drive to Atlanta will take around eleven hours.

Sites to check out on Mena:
http://www.cityofmena.org/
http://www.gomenaarkansas.com/attractions.asp

Everything is still the same as far as Kev's retirement goes. We are still waiting on Fort Bliss, Fort Lewis, and everyone else that is involved. The military is a little behind. As of now, he will be done with the army sometime late this year and at some point following this, we will be headed to Mena. We have no summer plans on coming out to GA, however, our house is always open to family and friends that want to visit, nor do we have plans or any idea as to when the next trip out there will be. Sorry we cannot give you any more information than that. We just have a lot going on here and are focusing on our family. 

There are still a lot of health battles that are taking place as I write this. Tomorrow morning Kevin has to undergo a surgery to remove another cancer spot from his face. Once we are moved and settled, he will have to undergo another surgery for disc replacement in his neck. I have another colonoscopy scheduled for next week due to intestinal issues I keep having. I am still waiting to hear on a surgery date for my lower spine and coccyx. There is more going on past what I have mentioned and will write about is as I know more. 

We hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!