New blog, New weightloss, New life after retirement from Army

It's been a long time since I have blogged and a lot of it was due to the fact that when your spouse decides to retire from the military you lose a sense of who you are at first and there's not really much to blog about. Well, that is if you don't want to be whining and complaining the whole time. I personally would not want to read somebody's rants all day every day so I didn't blog really.

We are now settled and happy and have been going strong for over a year. My husband is happy with this job and even through all the downsizing and layoffs his company has gone through lately he still loves his job. All I ever wanted was for him to be happy with his job so for me this is the best thing that could have happened once he retired from the Army!

Our kids are doing great and love being settled and having a forever home. Of course, the first things they wanted to do was paint their rooms and put their own stamp on their space. We allowed them to pick out their own colors and even after doubting them a few times their rooms looks great. They both made wise choices and we loved it in the end. They are doing great in school and have made some really good friends. We all know that's the biggest thing people worry about with military kids. We always want them to made new friends when they have to pick up and move to a new place. Again, happy!!!

After dealing with a few health issues and a few years of gaining weight due to them I have finally found my passion. I started clean eating and using Beachbody programs to work out and have lost 20 pounds since December 2014. I am happy and feel great! Since losing the weight and finding a great team that helped me along the way I decided to become an Independent Beachbody Coach. I absolutely love my job!!! Not only do I love and believe in this company because their products worked for me but I absolutely love the fact that they have coaches. What is a coach?

A coach is someone who is there for you no matter what!!  As a coach I am there for my customers to guide them, share their successes with them, deal with bad days with them, encourage them, motivate them and make sure that they feel like they are not alone in their process.  We all know that losing weight is hard and eating right is learned so we all need help getting started with that and working out is not easy to maintain until you create a habit so we need encouragement, accountability and motivation. That is what I get to do!!  How fun is that?  I love helping others and I love it even more that there is no gimmick or fast results that do not last. This is the real deal! Hard work and effort is the only way to truly lose weight and keep it off and we all know it.

I can be a coach to anyone who signs up for a free membership on my website. That means that you can have me as a coach for absolutely no cost!! YUPP FREE!!!   I love that too!  I don't want restrictions on who I can and can't help so this company doesn't give me any. I can coach you and help you get started on losing weight today and it won't cost you anything. I can offer you different products and try to help you find the one that works for you. I have a team of coaches, certified personal trainers and nutritionists that work with me to help give you the best results you've ever had. I can show you at home workout programs that you can even take to the gym with you if you prefer a gym. There is literally something for everyone and every fitness level available.

As I said before I had some health issues that left me overweight, extremely weak due to muscle loss and taking medication that actually works against me being able to lose weight. So I had everything in the world going against me and yet I have pushed through every day and found the programs that work for me. I started using the meal replacement shakes because it gives me this incredible energy and has everything I could possibly want from a health shake in it. My kids even love it and I love them drinking it because I know it's so good for them. I would never let my kids drink or eat anything that I thought could harm them!!

So if you'd like to find out more about me and my new life and how I am doing on my weight loss journey and more about my coaching then please visit my new blog at www.susandrexel.com  or my coaching website at www.beachbodycoach.com/susandrexel

If I can help you then I would love to. What do you have to lose anyway right?!

Left: November 2014, Right: March 2015

Randomisms and the green pool!

Ok first off all yes randomisms is a word...to me! LOL!  So far Mr. M has been on transition leave from the Army for almost 2 months and he now has applied for a bajillion jobs, been on bajillion interviews and even attended a 3 week school to get a class A drivers license. He decided to not take some jobs just because he didn't feel he was right for the jobs or else he did not agree with company policies. I have to say that I have never loved him more right now. He spent the last 20 years doing what the Army told him, following their policies whether or not he believed or agreed with them and most of all enforcing them either way. He has now taken a stand in his life and is able to choose his path and I couldn't be more proud of him for saying no to anything he doesn't believe in whole heartily. He has a very busy week and several job offers to think about before he needs to make a decision and start to get back to work by beginning of August.
At the same time he has been doing that I have been house selecting. Now you would normally think I would say house hunting however it is more like an art and very difficult one at that. I swear I am going to invent a way to look up house by the school zone you want. Not the school district! That can be done but within each school district there is the school zone for which school your child will attend. So what are we to do when we like a district but not all the schools in it?!?!??!?!?  Yes I should invent this and yes I should go on shark tank and manipulate my little heart out and get to be a millionaire. Just saying!! :)
So ok I have been house selecting and with the help of a real estate agent that I swear was sent to me by the angels we are narrowing the choices to make sure we get what we really want.  I believe we are down to about 24 houses after 2 months so wish me luck. What is that you say? Will I share pictures? Well of course I will!!! Who doesn't want to see my dream house online right?!?!  Haha I know I'm so entertaining!!
In the mean time the kids are enjoying more family time and getting to know everyone. The bad part is they are getting to know everyone and their quirks. No one has a perfect family and mine certainly has it's quirks but they are family and yet my kids have never lived close enough to see them all or be around them lock enough to care about so now it has begun. Yes, yes I mean the whole explaining why people do some of the things they do. *sigh* It is a grueling process for sure and one I am not enjoying but hopefully when it is all said and done we will be one big happy family once again.
So upcoming blogs will be all about buying a house, Mr. M picking a job, the kids getting back to school, dealing with movers, family and just normal civilian life and how we are handling it.
Oh wait, how could I ever forget to tell you about the green pool!!!  We decided to buy one of the cheap pop up pools for the girls just for the summer until we got a house. The pool was around $200 so we thought it would be cheaper then paying for White Water all the time and easier as well. After many many days of rain our pool turned green. We fussed and asked questions and finally got the pool to turn back to blue. We rejoiced for about 2 hours until the filter pump quit working!!!!! Ok for real?!?!?! I couldn't write better stuff to happen to us people. So after days upon days of cleaning and trying to get chemicals right and spending more hundreds of dollars on the pool we had to come to a decision of put more money into the temporary, supposed to be cheap, just for summer plastic piece of junk or let it die and do without until we get our house and our real pool. The decision was not easy, there was some crying(including my wallet) and in the end we said goodbye to the stupid nice pool we had hoped we would have for the summer.  That's ok it's just a push to hurry up and get the house with the in ground, beautiful, to die for and much needed in this heat pool!

How to find a job and buying a house.

So obviously with Mr. M retiring from the Army the most important thing to do is to get a job. It is so funny how much goes into finding a job and how many outlets are out there to help you find a job. I have heard for years from people that the economy is so bad and therefor they are not retiring. Well let me share with you that we have been sharing Mr. M's resume online for about 2 months now and he has already had several offers as well as emails from potential employers wanting to hire him. I honestly think that most people just don't know where to go to start looking for a job. All I can say is use every resource you have available to you. If you have a computer and Internet you have your own job finding equipment already. I searched for all job sites and uploaded Mr. M's resume to all of them. Of course, make it public so that potential employers may contact you even if you haven't contacted them yet. The biggest problem we have had is people wanting him to start now and he can not start until he starts his transitional leave.
With his job decision becoming a reality now we can start concentrating on buying a home. We already have a realtor and have been looking at houses for a while now. I am so overwhelmed with this whole process though. First we have to find a house we both love, then we have to find the best lender and then begins the seemingly never ending process of paperwork and bidding and holding our breathe. As excited as I am to finally have a forever home where we never have to move unless we want to its a lot of work.
Honestly I think I just am more picky than Mr. M but still it's a giant process! The only things I know for sure is that I need plenty of room in my house for my family and of course room for our friends to come and visit. We have made some really wonderful friends in the military and I am really hoping that they will want to come and visit or even see us as a nice place to stay in the middle of a pcs. Our door will always be open to our friends in the military! Free room, free food and of course amazing environment because do you really think I don't know how to entertain after 19 years as a military spouse?!
As soon as Mr. M makes a decision on the job he wants to take and we find the perfect house I will definitely update everyone along with pics. Who doesn't love pics right?!

Have a blessed day and as always please feel free to ask me any questions you might have about being a military spouse, retiring from the military, buying a house or anything else.

Retirement and the Montgomery GI Bill

With Mr. M's retirement getting closer we began to look into all the benefits and entitlements he will need to apply for, ask about, qualify for. Let me just begin by saying this. You better ask questions people because no one is going to just tell you what to do nor what you have to complete to make it happen for you.
So the first priority for us was to find out about Mr. M using his GI Bill after retirement. First, you have to send in for your eligibility status. You have the choice of using Montgomery GI Bill or Post 9/11 GI Bill. Make your choice wisely because once you make your choice that's it and you can never go back.
If you choose to use Montgomery than you also need to know when you have used all 36 months you can then apply for another 12 months through the post 9/11 GI Bill. We had to probe deep for that one folks! You can look up the benefits of both and decide which works out best for you.
Another little hidden fact is that if you choose to not use your Montgomery and go with post 9/11 then you may ask for your $1200 back that you paid for the Montgomery bill.
We were told it takes about 4-6 weeks to get your eligibility paper so be sure to apply for it as soon as you know what you want to do. You can ask the start date to be after retirement date if that is what you are planning to do.
Bottom line is ask questions, don't skip anything, and always take your time in making any decision. As is with most military decisions you do not get a second chance. I know I have said this before but you truly do need to be on top of your own stuff and do not just take someone's word for anything!

4 months left in Kansas and the fun has begun!

Ok so Mr. M is 4 months from beginning his transition leave and the job hunts, house hunts and school hunts have begun. Of course it is our luck that there is now a federal hiring freeze in effect but that's ok  because we have a backup plan. For all you military spouses that are unaware of where to even begin looking for jobs for your spouse when they decide to retire or ets let me give you a little help. Always look for federal jobs available because your spouse's experience and training will work best with these jobs. If you ever have any questions about how his/her training will turn into civilian experience there are a ton of tools available with military.com.

As the months have seemed to fly by for us and our girls are moving along with their schools and extra curricular activities we have learned so much about benefits, retirement, entitlements and most of all learning how to manage it all on our own. Of course their is ACAP to help the soldiers out but the limited information that they will give you is not going to cut it. You need to become your own advocate and the old saying "it's not what you know it's who you know" is going to make a huge  difference in the way you end up working your retirement program. If you depend on your resume to find you a job you will more than likely retire from the military without one. Enlist as many friends and contacts as you have made in the service to help you out. Start asking friends, family and anyone who will listen just what you are looking for. The biggest thing to realize is when you switch to the civilian world you need to understand what you are making now and how that will translate into a civilian pay system. Don't forget to add in BAH, BAS and medical into the salary you are looking for.

When you retire you will choose so many options and all of them will cost you money. Your retirement check will go down as you add on Tricare, Dental, SBP and if you choose VGLI.  Thankfully I had already done my homework on all of these and all I had to do was update the rates and fees as they updated at end of fiscal year this year. Now I have a more accurate idea of how much we will need to continue making what we are now.

If your husband has the GI bill he will need to check with them in advance to find out his options. We were going to transfer the benefit to your girls but have since found out we would have had to make that choice 4 years ago or give the Army 3 more years of service to do it. Well with Mr. M determined to get out as soon as possible we let it go. It hurt don't get me wrong and I was so furious that noone had told us about the whole option but in the end it is working to our advantage. Mr. M is going to use his GI bill and finish his education so that he can eventually move up in his next job and reap the benefits. Don't be scared to ask questions!  As I said before YOU are your best advocate in your life.

So with the applications being sent out, Mr. M completing a much put off surgery and myself looking forward to a biopsy and upcoming surgery we are well on our way to being civilians soon. As scarey as it seemed a few months ago right now I am more excited than I have ever been.

Next blog I will tell you all about starting travel agent courses, thyroid issues and the search for the perfect retirement gift for a man who has made my life amazing.

The beginning of the end...oh yeah I'm back!

Ok so I have been a bad bad blogger and taken a slight hiatus from blogging. Honestly, life has been hectic and so much has been going on that blogging seemed to be in the past. Lately though I have found myself wanting to share things and write out my thoughts without putting it all out there on Facebook. I have always loved keeping up with friends on Facebook but do not think my entire life needs to be an open book at the same time.

So much has happened in the past year and so much more is coming up. Mr. M has put in his retirement paperwork and I am learning so much about how this whole thing works. We did move to Kansas and I really like it here. I haven't met too many new people but I do have a few very good friends from previous  duty stations here as well as one on the way. DD1 started high school which scares the tarantino out of me and DD2 is just as wild and fabulous as always. Bith doing very well in school and making life worth living.  Mr. M and I have been looking at houses and I have to admit that is extremely fun.  Although I am finding out that houses today are so Rey different than years before. It's definitely an adventure and a fun one at that.
I'm not sure where exactly I left off with blogging but I will go over my account and see if I left out anything fun. Did I blog about Spain? The canary islands? If not no fear because I will. Of course including pictures.
To all my followers I am truly sorry for being gone so long and will hopefully be able to make it up to you. Please give me a chance to wow you all again with my fabulous family and our fabulous adventures.

Christmas in London....Cheers!

So our trip to London was fabuloso!!!  We spent 4 days taking in all that London had to offer. I have to say the biggest thing I learned from being there at Christmas time is that we as Americans expect a lot more from retailers then any European country gives. All the stores closed on us early Christmas Eve and almost nothing was open Christmas day.  I guess they think we are nuts with our store hours. It was hard to get kicked out of the Hamleys toy store Christmas Eve before our girls were able to pick what they wanted but we ended up having a really great time in spite of all the closings.

 Across from St. Paul's Cathedral. On the back side was a button that the girls were dying to push. What they thought it did I had no idea but they pushed it and DD2 was covered in water and we had to find a close by restroom to dry her off before continuing for the day. Kids!! lol

 View of St. Paul's Cathedral from the Milennium bridge.

 The London Eye. Very cool to ride on and the views were fantastic from the top.

 Parliment and Big Ben.

 Buckingham Palace...we arrived there just in time to watch the changing of the guard. Really cool to see!

 Of course we had to go to Harrods on Christmas Eve...busy and fabulous!!

 Don't all tourists take pics of the red phone booths?!?!

 Westminster Abbey..simply gorgeous!!

Mr. M and the girls couldn't stop laughing as the horse would not stop biting Mr. M's arm so we could get a pic!! Awww memories from London!!











If any of you have the chance to go to London I highly reccomend going to Hard Rock cafe for a meal, Hamleys toy store on Regent if you have kids and you must go to Harrods to look around, shop and grab some yummy goodies from their food court.