About a week ago... last Wed. around 6pm to be exact ;) Ryan opened up his AKO mail account (that would be army e-mail) and there it was....the official "Congratulations, you have been selected for flight school" e-mail. WOW!!!!!!! I am SO proud of him and so happy for him!!!!!! Not just happy for him though, for us. This is Huge. Flight school is not just a couple weeks, or even right here in NH, it is at Fort. Rucker Alabama! (yeah thats right, the girl who lives for snow storms and hates to sweat, is moving to the deep south! hahaha) He will be learning to fly Black Hawks.
A lot of people don't understand that this didn't just "happen" over night. There is a process to get selected for the aviation slot and we have been going through this process for about 3 months or so now. The decision to even begin the process was not taken lightly and not made solely by Ryan at all. This has been 100% US, TOGETHER from the beginning! He would not for one second think about doing this without me being fully on board. (OK, he might "think" about it, but he definitely wouldn't do it)
This is a big adventure we as a family are about to embark on, and we are so excited! Yes, we absolutely love living near our family and friends, and yes, we have just done so much to our home (mostly backyard that we love so much), Ryan has a great full time job...BUT he loves his job in the Army and so do I! Who wouldn't want a chance to live somewhere new for a little while!? (not to mention an all expenses paid move and trip down..hello!) See new places...show our children what it's like to live somewhere else, and show them places we wouldn't show them otherwise! This is awesome for his Army career and for our future and we will be back.
Some people just don't get it. They wonder, what on Earth are they thinking!? Why would they do this? Especially to their kids? I wonder... why on Earth would you look at it like that? It is not an inconvenience, it is an opportunity! Our kids are excited.... very excited! Of course they are going to miss their friends and family here, of course they will be nervous starting a new school... yes it is scary for all of us. We would be pretty weird if it wasn't right!?
To these people I say.... It's ok, think what ever you want. No one is asking you to do this, no one is asking you or your spouse to join the military. Just be thankful for those who do. Like I said, it's just some though because most are, we have some pretty great family and friends!!
Like I said, as a family, this is what we want, and we are ready. God is opening up doors here.... and I'm also getting answers to why some of my prayers in the past weren't answered how I wished they had been at the time. God had bigger, better, more adventurous plans in store for the Washburn's!
So, all that being said... we are going to enjoy this Christmas and make the most of our time with friends and family, and we are going to start the new year off with a bang! So bring it on 2013 because come January, we are Alabama Bound!
