Back in January I put our name on the wait list for on base housing, just to keep it as an option. I think we were #31 on the list for a 4-bedroom house, so I didn't think it would be likely. Meanwhile, I started looking at rental listings online. The closer it got, the more seriously I was looking. And I kept getting more frustrated. I wasn't finding what I was looking for within our price range.
Our wish list:
- 4 bedrooms (to have a guest room/future baby room)
- Or at least 3 bedrooms on the same level
- garage
- First floor entry
- within 15 minutes of the base gate
- Area where kids could play outside
A few weeks before we moved, when I was feeling particularly hopeless, we got a call from the housing office saying they had a house available for us, and we could see it as soon as we arrived. That felt like a weight off my shoulders, because we at least had that option.
The first day we were at Fort Carson--actually, before we even went to the hotel--we drove through the neighborhood, and saw the available house. The next day we spent looking off-post, but we'd basically come to the conclusion that we weren't going to find what we were looking for. We had an appointment to walk through a house, but when we showed up, Hyrum and I looked at each other and thought, "There's no way..." The area was run down, and the lawn was mostly patches of dirt with cracked cement.
The next day we saw the on-post house, and moved in immediately.
Here's my opinion with on-post housing:
- The good: Hyrum has a 10 minute commute, door to door, even at the busiest time of day. In the morning, it can take a long time to get in the gates from outside, so being so close to work is a plus. Being close means Hyrum can come home for breakfast (after exercising) and also for lunch most days. With the kids so young, this is really beneficial for me so I don't lose my sanity being alone with them from 5:30 am until 6 pm every day. Plus Hyrum likes to see them more each day. We're close to a lot of things, including a church building, the hospital, doctors office, commissary, etc. The houses are spacious, and it's not as difficult to get a 4-bedroom house as it is off-post.
- The bad: My biggest issue with living on-post is that the Army is already in so many aspects of our lives, it would be kind of nice to retain some privacy. In a 'normal' neighborhood you have people from many professions and backgrounds. Not true here! Everyone is military, obviously. Also, the houses are duplexes, not free-standing houses. I was also concerned with being part of a military branch, for the same diversity issues. Everyone is kind of in the same stage of life. (So far it's been fine, but that's a topic for another day.)
We love the house itself. The 'shared' side of the house is our garage and kitchen, so we don't hear anything from our neighbors. It's a little bigger than our last house, and has a 2-car garage and 4 pretty big bedrooms. The kitchen is really big (kind of unnecessarily big) and there's decent storage.
I think the most difficult thing for me in this process (honestly, housing is what stresses me out the most about moving) was that there was no clear "right choice". When deciding where to live for the next 3 years, without knowing anything about the area, I was afraid I'd regret our choice. But after we decided what the biggest priorities were at this stage (short commute) it was an easy decision and we just determined to just live with the stuff we didn't like, like our astro-turf-and-rock back yard.
Initially, I had a big problem with the cleanliness of the house. The same management company runs Fort Carson and Fort Jackson, so the move-out requirements are the same. After slaving away for days in South Carolina cleaning blinds, oven grills, baseboards, etc, I expected the same standards for where I moved in. And yet, a lot of things were dirty. They immediately had a cleaning lady come in, and the carpet guy came and offered to re-clean the carpets. I still ended up re-cleaning a lot (like wiping down all the cabinets) but at least it's done now how I want it.
We moved on Thursday, and found out on Friday that they could deliver our stuff on Saturday. We were thrilled, because air mattresses are no fun. Hyrum didn't have to start work for a week, so we decided to drive to Utah for a quick trip. The movers left around 6 pm, and we hurried and unpacked what we could to be able to sleep in our beds that night, and left early the next morning for the 9-hour drive to Utah.
Fortunately! My mom offered to come back to Colorado with us for 2.5 days and help us unpack. We accomplished more in 2 days than I would have in 2 weeks on my own. We unpacked the whole kitchen, grocery shopped (commissary, Costco, Trader Joe's, etc... and spent a lot of money!), organized baby clothes, hung stuff on the walls, and arranged all the furniture. In fact, I think there were only a handful of boxes still packed when she left. And now, a month later, I'm lacking the motivation to just get the rest done! But at least I'm not looking at boxes everywhere.
The whole 6 months we lived in South Carolina I wished it were more long-term so I could get organized and stay organized. Knowing that we'll be here (*hopefully*) three years, I'm making an effort to put things in a logical place and buy the furniture we need to fill in gaps.
So far, we've bought an entryway table, new family room rug (our old one was worn through), and a bench for our room. And probably a dozen other small things from Amazon Prime.
Also, we finally bought a power drill/screw driver. It's about time! It's awesome! I've taken it into my own hands to hang stuff up everywhere, and feel pretty cool while doing it.
I think that's wrap on our house. I don't think I have any pictures of the front, but once I get curtains, I'll take pictures of it all to post.
No comments:
Post a Comment