Malmstrom AFB

It's about time a wrote another post...

Last I left you, we had just visited Disneyland.

Well, now we are in good ol Montana.

We have successfully made the move to Malmstrom AFB.

We didn't have to wait even a day for our home!

(The wait for our stuff to get here is another story)

-18 degrees...that was the temperature the day after we arrived.

A nice warm welcome to say the least.

But, after a few days of the freezing cold, we are back in the 40's.

I must say I love it here so far.

It would probably be a whole different story if we didn't know other people living here.

Ethan hasn't had to work since we have gotten here.

It's been all about hanging out and setting up shop in the house.

I'm so thankful for this time.

I imagine it would have been a much longer process had he been working.

Our house is the perfect size for the two of us.

And definitely has some room to grow for the future ;)

Don't get too excited! That won't be for a little while.

We have what is considered a 2br 2 ba house.

However, this is quite deceiving once you take your tour.

We have a kitchen and living room downstairs.

There is also a bathroom, HUGE laundry room, coat closet and walk in closet.

Upstairs we have the master, a guest room, an office, a bathroom, and a random GIANT room.

We have NO idea what we are going to do with it.

I plan on turning it into a seating/craft/office area for now.

But that room is the last of our priorities at the moment.

So as you can see...

It's more of a 3 bedroom + study home.

I think Reagan might finally realize that this is his home.

We have never lived with just the 3 of us.

So you can see why he would be a little skeptical.

He has his own yard, and his own bed, and loves the big empty room for tail chasing.

And NO ONE steals toys out of his toy box.

All of our stuff is looking great so far.

The walls are a bit bare at the moment.

Once I get everything a little more home-y I'll be sure to post pictures.

As far as the base goes...

This place is like a little card board box compared to Vandy.

In Cali, it would probably take you 30+ DRIVING to get from one side of base to the other.

Here, you can walk from one side to the other in that amount of time...or less.

None the less, it's pretty nice.

They are building a new BX and while the commissary is lacking in it's produce department, it still provides.

The best part so far is the gym.

It's GIANT.

So giant that the equipment looks a bit awkward in the sense that its all so spread out.

A few things that I'll miss is watching gossip girl on the treadmill.

(No iPod connectors)

and being able to run on the beach

My main focus now is to find a job.

I've applied and sent my resume to a couple of places in town.

No one seems to be in the need or looking for a Graphic Designer in this town.

This wouldn't surprise you if you drove down the main road.

Everything looks like it stepped out of the 1970's.

I don't think a single building has been updated in years.

I have been doing research on tuition assistance given to military spouses.

There is a program known as MyCAA which gives military spouses up to $4000 worth of tuition.

There's a small catch in the sense that you can't pick absolutely anything you want to do.

This isn't bothering me too much though.

I'm thinking about taking online classes in medical coding and billing.

The great thing about this is that I can take classes at my own pace.

(I can take up to a year)

But if I study full time I can finish the classroom and certification within 4 months.

The other great thing is that medical coders can work both within a hospital and from their homes.

So, once that time comes, and mini Rego's are running wild.

I'll be able to work from home.

Which is my ideal scenario.

I'm going to go talk to the education office here on base before I make any huge decisions.

But a free education and certification sounds good to me.

Especially if it means a second income for Ethan and myself.

We can get his loans out of the way and start saving, saving, saving.

Since we have been here we haven't done too much.

We spent about 4-5 days in Helena with Sarah's family.

They were so sweet to let us stay with them while we were waiting for our stuff.

We hung out, watched her sister hold a master's dance class, went out to eat, and took a spin class that nearly killed me.

Sarah and Blake are really the only people we have spent time with so far.

They also came over for our first cooked meal in our house!

Oh yea!

Ethan's a local celebrity already.

Haha, the story that was in the Vandenberg paper about him and his dad was just posted in the Malmstrom AFB newspaper.

Well, that's about it for now.

I'll update you as time passes.

For now, things are pretty boring :)