Life As a Navy Wife
yes yes you read the title right. i will give you a second to let that sink in......
soon my post will not only be about newlywed life
but life as a navy wife.
but life as a navy wife.
(get ready for a loooooong post)
never in 100 million years did i think i would be a military wife. seriously never. i mean this in the nicest way possible but all the ones i have met kind of have a "happy/controlled chaos" thing going. seriously more power to them for being able to take care of kids, a house, and deal with their hubbys away for most of the time. i am so impressed how they do everything! i just didn't see that life for me.
...until last tuesday hit.
dane and i are doing our normal thing. i come home from spin class late, we eat dinner and then spend about 1-2 hours with each other before he has to leave for work at 8:40 pm. (ps i think dane planned this next part) it is now about 8:20 maybe 8:30 pm....dane turns to me and shows me a flyer he saw at school that day.
long story short:
the navy will pay him a monthly salary to complete school.
he will go in as an officer.
he will do a 5 year term.
they will pay off 1/3 of his student loans for every year he is in plus he gets all the military benefits (ie free health care etc..) during his time in school.
not to mention that it will look really good on dane's resume that he would have a degree in mechanical engineering and also did civil engineering for the military.
the navy will pay him a monthly salary to complete school.
he will go in as an officer.
he will do a 5 year term.
they will pay off 1/3 of his student loans for every year he is in plus he gets all the military benefits (ie free health care etc..) during his time in school.
not to mention that it will look really good on dane's resume that he would have a degree in mechanical engineering and also did civil engineering for the military.
my first reaction? um you have got to be joking if you think i am going to let my husband get on a ship and be sent god knows where just for some financial support. my second reaction? if this is SUCH a good plan...why doesn't everyone do it? you can imagine it took me awhile to wrap my head around this. but in the middle of my freak out....dane has to leave for work.
rule #1: NEVER leave jenna alone with her mind during a huge life choice.
so no surprise i spent the next 3 hours online looking for blogs, researching the navy's website...pretty much getting any knowledge on this program that i could.
it took a few days, ALOT of talking with dane and also a very eye opening conversation with one of my co-workers (who is a former officer's wife) to decide this was the best choice for us.
dane has contacted a recruiter and we are now just waiting for what the next step is. my prediction from all my research?
rule #1: NEVER leave jenna alone with her mind during a huge life choice.
so no surprise i spent the next 3 hours online looking for blogs, researching the navy's website...pretty much getting any knowledge on this program that i could.
it took a few days, ALOT of talking with dane and also a very eye opening conversation with one of my co-workers (who is a former officer's wife) to decide this was the best choice for us.
dane has contacted a recruiter and we are now just waiting for what the next step is. my prediction from all my research?
- dane has to get into shape
- dane graduates from NAU
- dane is then sent to OCS (officer candidate school) for 3 months...its kind of like the navy's boot camp
- dane gets where his duty will be
- dane leaves for ANOTHER 3 months to CECOS (civil engineering corps officer school)
- ???????
...thats as far as i can guess.
we are really really excited about this. it's very unlike us to take a risk with a huge life changing choice. we almost always take the safe route. this may end up being the worst decision we have ever made, but to us now, it sounds like a pretty darn good one. i am not going to lie and say i don't still have concerns. yes for what dane will be doing it's very unlikely he will be deployed...but that is NEVER a guarantee. i hope that he never has to...really really hope he never has to. with the many pros....there are a few cons.
CON: will it absolutely suck when dane is gone almost 6 months? heck yes it will! dane and i have never spent that kind of time apart. the most we have ever done was 3 weeks when we first moved to flagstaff and i thought that was unbearable.
PRO: dane now is sooo stressed out and exhausted from working late nights and getting up super early for class. with this opportunity dane will be able to quit his job and concentrate on school.
CON: possibility of dane being sent over seas.....do i even need to elaborate?
PRO: not only financially will it make things easier but also we will have a chance to move to another state or possibly country. i know i always complain about being impatient to move back to california but i'm starting to embrace the changes (never thought you would hear me say that huh?)
changes are coming and for once in
my life i am actually excited about it.
this truly might be the best thing
that has ever happened to us :)
...hopefully.
P.S.
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| dane is going to look so freaking cute in his officers uniform i won't even be able to stand it! |
I had to show this to Andrew. He thinks it's funny when I tell him things about you guys... He's like ummm how do you know this.. and he makes me feel like a stalker! haha
ReplyDeleteWe wish you the best of luck and hope that whatever God has in store for you will only bring more love and happiness into your marriage.
p.s. you will make an adorable navy wife.