A Change Has Come

A lot has happened since I last posted on this blog over seven months, to be exact.  And since that time, my husband and I have packed up and moved from Florida to Kentucky.  It was a major move for us because we’d always envisioned ourselves dying in our home in Florida, we figured we’d stay there until they put us in a nursing home or put us in the grave.

But things don’t always turn out exactly the way you figure they would.  Our daughter is a single mom in the army and for over 10 years we have traveled back and forth from,  Florida to wherever she’s at to help take care of our grandson.  In 2023, we spent about six months apart, each of us going back and forth, taking care of the grandkid, and we finally decided, you know what, this would be a lot simpler for everyone involved if we just move to wherever she’s at and follow her around until the end of her Army career.  Because she does plan on making a career.

We made that decision in October 2023 and then in January of 2024 I had to go back up to Kentucky to help her out.  And I was there for five weeks.  While I was there in and since we already made a decision to move, I applied for a rental house on the military installation, got approved for it, but the house didn’t become available until after I went back to Florida.  Our daughter took care of all the logistics of signing for the house, approving it, sending us pictures and video along the way.

So, I came back to Florida, started packing up my studio, and then I had to go back in April because she had another field training exercise.   And this time I was there for three weeks. I decided since I had to be there for three weeks and already had the house, why not just do a partial move and move my studio?  Because I know that what’s going to take a lot of time to set up.  So that’s what I did. In April we moved the studio; I received my  shipment on April the 10th and I had until the 31st to finish or get as much set up as I could.

 When I  Florida at the end of April and we had a little less than two weeks to finish packing up the house and get it shipped.  Now, of course, my husband was doing stuff while I was gone, but when you were in one place for 18 years, you had a lot of stuff.  So, there was a lot to get rid of. But somehow, we managed it thanks to a few good friends who came and took a lot of my goodies that I had that I couldn’t bring with me.

We had our shipment picked up on May 12th.  We departed Florida on May 16th and arrived in Kentucky on May 17.  Our final shipment was delivered on May 24th, and now we finally have our new home here in Kentucky on the military installation setup.

 And you’re probably wondering, why and how can we be living on a military installation?  Well, the why is we moved here to be closer to our daughter and we felt since she lives on the military installation, we might as well too.  That would get us as close as we possibly could be to her.  The How is back in the late 90s, military housing was privatized.  The military no longer manages and maintains the housing; it’s all done by private companies. That happened about the same time when the military was getting smaller.  So, you had all these houses and not enough people to live them.  Being privatized, of course, is about profit.  The rules were changed and now practically anyone who passes a background test and has the financial means can live on the military installation.

 Of course, there are priority levels and active-duty members with family take first priority.   Active-duty members without family, guard and reserve are the second priority ; military retirees are #3; DOD contractors #4 and the general public is #5.  My husband and I fall into the number three category.  It was very easy to apply just like you would from any rental house.  I thought it would take a few months, but it only took a few days after my application was approved before they said they had a house available.  So that’s the why and the how of us being on the military installation.

The main priority for me of course was getting my studio set up, which I did a lot of that in April.  But I still have a lot of work to do, because let’s face it, I have a lot of stuff.  But I got the studio set up and I want to share a few pictures with you here.

 

 To see more of the transformation from dark, dirty, dingy and depressing garage go watch my video, Summer Studio Tour 2024 on YouTube.

I’d love to know your favorite part of the new studio, leave me a comment below and let me know. I’m having a hard time deciding, the transformation was so dramatic.