good is great.

I want to love Georgia- mostly because I always wanted to live here when I was in college. I thought, "After school, maybe I'll try to get into UGA in a Master's program there. I'll move away, but not too far. I'll be closer to the beach. Life will be grand."

Little did I know, I would soon move very far away. I used to also think, "Who moves to Alaska? That's so weird." It's funny how life works out, isn't it?

Anyway, back to Georgia talk...

I haven't been all that impressed with the last 3.5 months (our time here). But I think it is less of Georgia's fault and more of the Army's. I know, I'm a Negative Nancy today. What?! I can't blame myself!

We can't really put our fingers on why we don't like it much here, but I think it's a mixture of so many different things, some of which I've mentioned on my blog already. I've told you that we aren't exactly city folk (read: we're the opposite of city folk). I've also mentioned (probably more times than you would like) how much we miss the beauty and adventure of Alaska and all the friends we left behind there. Maybe you've heard a time or two how bad my allergies are back in full swing living here, but you don't know about the nasty critters that sneak into Georgia homes (I've found cock roaches crawling on me twice now!). I also haven't mentioned my disdain for the areas that tend to spring up around military posts. If you've spent any time around some of the larger military installations then you know what I speak of- the ghettos.

On the outskirts of many of our nation's Army posts, there tends to be that bad part of town that you don't want to find yourself lost in during the middle of the day, much less in the wee hours of the morning. The strip clubs, the drug deals, the shady spots around town where you just know trouble is lurking. This is what I hate about Columbus.

We live a couple exits away from this so called ghetto, but we're still affected by it here in the "better" part of town.

When we signed the lease for this place, we were told it was one of the safest neighborhoods around. We quickly got chatty with our neighbors and they told us differently. The truth is, there's not much of this city untouched by crimes ranging from small to large. We were told that our house in particular had been broken into several times. THAT would have been nice to know (can a girl get some Southern hospitality?). We set to work installing lights and securing our house via an expensive alarm system.

We've had our share of issues- nothing too bothersome or pricy, but when my car was broken into the other day, it just sent me over the edge.

I'm frustrated that I'm bringing a child into this (often) screwed up world. I want our son to be safe. I want to be able to protect him from all the bad stuff in life, although I know I won't be able to always do that. I don't want to have to worry about someone breaking into our house next time (b/c then I'd be in court all the time b/c you know I'm bringin' out the big guns!). I'm also annoyed that people can't make ends meet  for themselves without trying to take from other people to advance themselves in life, but that's just a whole other vent in itself.

I'm mostly unhappy with Georgia because I know we'll be moving soon. I haven't had time to like it here yet and we're moving again. This is why I'm satisfied in blaming the Army for right now. Because they're going to make us move to another post that is even more dangerous or so I've heard. I'm not the wife who has her mind made up that she'll hate the next post they're PCSing to just because everyone told her it was terrible. In fact, I get annoyed when I try to think positively about it and people continually tell me, "oh, you're going to HATE it there."

ma-ma-mama says, "Life is all about what you make of it."

So, gosh darn it- we're going to love Ft. Polk if it kills me. Our baby will enter the world there and teach us how to love on a whole new level. It might be hard, but it's only temporary. I'll just keep reminding myself of that.

As far as enjoying the Georgia chapter of our lives, I will say we're doing a good job of it. There are times when I look behind at Alaska or forward to Louisiana and wish to be there, but I don't want to wish my life away. We've had good times here. We found out we were expecting here, Savannah was spectacular, spring came early for us ex-Alaskans, and we've made some fun pals here that are in the same predicaments. Just last Sunday, J and I were able to make our first fishing trip of the season together. We found a great marina where we'll house the boat, which includes a beach area, marina restaurant, cabin rentals and coves and coves of Georgia water and landscape. I even caught the first fish of our season opener! The weather is perfect right now and I really shouldn't complain. Sometimes I just need to focus on the good...

And the good is pretty great around here. I'm so blessed to be very much in love with my husband and carrying our child. As long as I have these two boys, I'll be alright any ole place we end up.