Oh well hello!
This will be my first blog post ever! I thought I would share our life with the rest of the world, and maybe give you a little taste of the awesome life of a military spouse.
This blog post will be somewhat boring. I'm just going to give you an overview of what we have done for our first month out here at Vandenberg AFB in Lompoc, CA.
When most people think of California, (at least those of us who grew up in Colorado our ENTIRE lives) we think of endless amounts of fun, sun, and beaches! This might be the case if you live in Malibu, Santa Barbara, or San Diego. This is NOT the case where we are at.
Lompoc is right on the coast so yes, we have immediate access to the beach. However, 95.78% of the time, the beach on base is foggy and a whole 52 degrees. Not my idea of a day at the beach. After some researching on the internet (on our brand new mac :) ) we found some dog friendly, mostly sunny beaches about a 45 minute - 1 hour drive from where we live. One is the Avila beach and another is in Santa Barbara at the Arroyo Burro beach. Needless to say, Reagan is in heaven after learning how to take on the waves of the ocean.
Our poor dog also seems to suffer from severe allergies out here. His under belly is covered in sores and for awhile we could not get rid of his ear infections. He now gets bathed every single time he gets wet with an oatmeal based shampoo, has a gel treatment for the sores, and gets his ears cleaned on a daily basis. Needless to say...my son hates me. Sadly, he has yet to see the vet due to a 2 week wait for an appointment.
While we are here, we have chosen to live with my grandparents since my grandfather is a retired AF vet. This is saving us a great deal of money, which will mostly be put toward new furniture for our first house in Mt.
I've been trying to get my foot in the door when it comes to meeting other wives there. They tell me that the housing in Montana is brand new and beautiful. This makes me the happiest wife in the world! Apparently, some of the houses have not even been lived in yet so I'll have a bathtub that I don't have to second guess the type of person that has previously bathed themselves in! The other fantastic part is that whether you have children or not, the majority of the houses are 4 bedroom. Who knows what types of rooms we will have since we currently have no kiddos!
Now when it comes to the base here, I have absolutely no complaints. It's gorgeous and it's huge! They also have recently built brand new housing, but from what I hear, the wait for one, is about a year.
They recently built a brand new gym, which I visit Monday - Friday so that my weekends are free to do as I please. I LOVE the machines here. They have an actual iPod connector that brings anything and everything you have on your iPod or iPhone up onto a huge screen for your own personal enjoyment. Since I never really had time to watch Gossip Girl, I have downloaded the first season and watch it as I do my daily minimum of at least a 1.5 mile run. For someone that dislikes running, this has made my workouts 70% more enjoyable. I still struggle when episodes get boring and can't help but catch myself checking the distance every .1 miles. However, at the end of my workouts I'm one happy camper. I feel as though I have accomplished something to be proud of and of course the results of my exercises outweigh the cons.
I could also really get used to the price of our groceries here on base. After visiting the albertson's in town to find something for dinner, Ethan and I could not convince ourselves to spend 9 dollars on a pound of ground beef. So, we made a little trip 15 minutes in the opposite direction to the commissary where we paid less than half of what albertson's was charging us as well as an additional savings on tax. Also for those of you that know about my obsession with the laughing cow swiss cheese triangles, 1.98 . . . enough said right?
I have slowly been getting used to the fact that I actually own a military ID. I am constantly forgetting that I can receive discounts at the awesome stores that provide them, and getting on base, without Ethan or one of his parents in the car, is starting to feel a little more normal. This also reminds me of a story I must tell.
As I was leaving base after the gym on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, I was required to stop at the exit while an airman approached my window. I rolled down the window and all the man said was "Thanks for being a responsible individual and wearing your seatbelt. Here's a sucker, enjoy your holiday". Now, for those of you that know me...I have a seatbelt wearing problem, and let me tell you, I will wear a seatbelt 100% of the time if this continues!
I would like to find a job while I am here, however, with the size of this town, it is a bit difficult. I would like to work during the day so that Ethan and I are home at the same time and can enjoy our time together. During the week we meet with a group of other officers at the city dog park or we sit at home and watch Dexter. On Thursdays, we go to SLO (San Luis Obispo), and walk around the Farmer's Market. The fruit here is to die for and there is a company that comes and cooks the most amazing BBQ not to mention grilled artichokes!!!
Right now our biggest problem is deciding on what kind of dog we will get Reagan once we make the move to Montana. Right now we are leaning toward a Vizsla, which is a medium sized, red coat, bird dog. They have a lot of energy which we are hoping will also help Reagan be a little less of a bum.
I'm hoping that over the next couple of months I will meet other girls like me. It's been tough so far, because not many of the guys in Ethan's flight are married. I'd like to find a group of women who enjoy hiking, running, walking...anything outdoors and out of the malls and shops. We need to save our money! I am sure it will be much easier once we get to Montana since there will be many more officers around our age, and plenty more places to hike without the fear of a thousand ticks crawling under my skin.
We should have our wedding pictures this week! So I will share those with you in my next post!
Love Always, The Rego Family
