Motivation Monday: Live in the Now

Living in the now. It's a concept that seems simple but is a lot harder than one might think.

Download High Res version here!

As of this morning, Jake officially passed his final flight in his training program for the Air Force. He has a few more weeks of academics, but we will find out his next assignment in less than five weeks, followed by his graduation, and a whirlwind of things that ultimately lead to us moving to wherever the Air Force sends us next.

The point of all that is that here in Pensacola, we are only a few months (weeks maybe?) away from an upcoming PCS (military lingo for "permanent change of station"). This beach town has been the Ortiz home for more than a year now, but in many ways we seem to just starting to settle in. (Story of military life, right?)

Typically at this point prior to big change, I tend to set cruise control on my life and ride out the remaining time until I move/graduate/get married/switch jobs, etc.

A few weeks ago the studio owner where I teach asked if I wanted to put together a barre fitness class. The first thing I thought was, well, I'm moving soon. But I decided to say, why not? Barre has been on my radar as the next class I want to teach, but I've put it off. So she and I proceeded forward in planning and putting a class in the schedule. I officially taught the first class last week and now will be doing two classes a week through... whenever.

Now taking on something new this close to a move is not something I would typically think about doing. But it's been a great exercise for me. Even if I teach this new format less than two months before moving, I have a new skill and class plan to take with me.

As an opposing example, when I was in 10th grade my family was planning a move across the country. My dad moved first while we kids stayed behind with my mom while we sold the house. Well, a couple months turned into eight, nine, ten months. (I'll be honest, I don't remember the exact timeline or plan.) But this is around the same time the olympics were taking place in the state. Because we thought we'd be gone long before that event, I turned down many free tickets and opportunities to attend.

Seasoned military families are probably much more skilled at "living in the now," so I know I've got a lot to learn. There seems to be a fine line in wasting resources and embracing opportunities as they come. But right now I'm focusing on the now, not getting too far ahead of myself, and continuing to live day by day in the best way I can.

The Movers Are Coming!

It's 11:48 p.m. Our movers show up in the morning around 10 a.m. Things are getting real.

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind, the latter week especially. This week was much much busier than I thought it would be. It's been go, go, go every single day. Most time has been spent finishing up obligations and such. Today has really been the first time I've actually had the chance to focus on packing and preparing. (Jake has done a little more.) And here I am tonight sitting down with a few minutes to spare in the day.

Our bags for the next two weeks are packed. We have a box for D.I. (plus the contents in the entire trunk of my car). We have a box for items for the road trip. We have a box of food items we are taking. We have a box (figurative) for items that we need to return or give to family and friends in the area.

We feel ready. I feel calm. That I did not expect. But I don't really know what to expect. I have never been professionally moved before and don't know how that is going to go down. Jake expects the move to take around two hours. I'm super excited to see that go down. Granted, we don't have a large home and it's just two of us. In my mind I envision a SWAT team type of approach: Six official men swooping in, taking charge, yelling orders, magically making our belongings disappear into officially marked boxes and then moving those boxes out in a relay line fashion. In, out, and on their way.  

No matter what, I'm definitely most excited to not have to move anything!

Obviously, we are really liking the concept of not having to do anything. In fact, we've even scheduled professional cleaners to come in the next morning and take care of the move out cleaning. That's the last thing I want to do after everything this week.