Government Resume Help

Here's the situation, looking on USAjobs today I ran across a few jobs here at Ft. Sill that I'm interested in.  The bad news is the date that they close is in two days.  Even worse news is that my resume hasn't been updated in awhile and I know that government resumes are different in that keywords in the resume is what helps your resume get sorted from the rest.

I don't have time to sign up and take the government resume writing class before these jobs close, so I'm coming to you, my readers. If you've written a government resume, taken the ACS class about it or know a helpful website about it, please let me know!

I need all the help I can get!

I Need a New Look

I kind of forgot that once I moved back from Italy that my blog would need to be redone, as my "Adventures in Italy" tag on my header is no longer true.

So...I need a blog redesign.  I'll probably need one now and later down the road when Sean is out of the military, because let's face it, I'm not going to be New Girl on Post at that time anymore.

If you are a blog designer or know of someone who is, or just love the designer who did your blog, let me know. I'd love to see examples of your/their work and see what my options are.

Thanks!

Your Favorite Apps?

Sean and I have finally joined the 21st century and obtained smart phones.  Although we were looking at getting iPhones, we ultimately decided to go with Androids. I got the Samsung Galaxy II and am quite pleased with my choice. The only downside is my phone had to be ordered and won't be in until next week.

So, in the meantime I'd love to hear what Apps you love and use often.  I know Android and Apple have some similiar apps, but also there are som that I won't be able to get not having an iPhone.

Let's hear those app suggestions!

Fort Sill Update

I just wanted to do an update to talk about how life has been for us at Ft. Sill so far.

Our flights to the states were pretty uneventful. I was a nervous wreck since we were flying with Boomer, but other than a few minor issues, we got to our destination with all our bags and Boomer.

My family actuallly picked us up at the airport. I can't tell you how great it was to see a friendly face at the airport. Not to mention I haven't seen my family since Christmas and Sean hasn't seen most of my family since last summer.  We got settled in our hotel room, which is pretty awesome in the way of on-post hotels. We have two bedrooms, a bathroom, large living room and a kitchen complete with two fridges and some burners. I'm was hoping for an oven, but we're making do with what we have.  Luckily they have a good lending closet where we borrowed a crockpot and other kitchen necessities. Unfortunately they do not have any government furniture we can borrow, so we will either have to borrow from friends or my parents until our household goods get here.

We have good news about our housing situation.  We actually have a house, although we have yet to see it. We are due to sign the papers and move into it on the 26th of this month. Although like I said before we have nothing really to move into it except what we brought in our suitcases.

Sean has put in a pass for about 2 weeks so after we sign the house paperwork, we can go four hours north to our hometown and stay with my parents for a couple of weeks, which will cut down on the amount of time we have to pay out of pocket for a hotel room/give us the chance to visit with friends and family/ and give us some time to relax and eat at our favorite restaurants. It's win/win.

As far as Ft. Sill goes, I haven't seen a lot of the post, but what I have seen reminds me of Fort Polk.  There are three gyms here, which is a plus and so far I've only been to one. The fitness classes are free which is AWESOME and I went to my first Zumba class here today. It was awesome. I've never been to a fitness class with so many people there. There were probably 60 people in this Zumba class today. I will be going back several days a week, as well as getting back to my running and weight lifting routines as well.  The PX and commissary here are about average. I'm excited to check out the library and thrift store as well.

I'm also excited about the free upcoming Brad Paisley concert happening on post in August. It's been awhile since I've been to a concert, so I'm pretty pumped about it.

What I'm not excited about is the fact that our paycheck is about half of what we were making while we were OCONUS.  We aren't hurting for money, but the fact is I need to buy camera equipment and we need to save a bit more for when we buy a house, so once we get back from leave, I'll be job searching. I'm hoping for something on post. Crossing my fingers for something good!

Now if I could only get my car so I could go visit Goodwill and Hobby Lobby....

Last Days in Italy

Our last days in Italy went by too quickly.  Between packing, cleaning our apartment and Sean finishing up his out-processing, our time was cut dramatically, but we still made the best of the limited time we had. Here are some of photos I captured from our last days in Italy.

This is a field I stopped at near Lumignano. My goal was to get the cliffs, but I loved the shape of the trees in front of the cliffs too.

Grapes on the vine, near one of my favorite vineyards.

Sean and I like to get pizzas from one of the local grocery stores and then add fresh mozzarella before we bake them. This is my favorite with bresola, rucola and parmesan cheese. Delish!

Laduree macarons all the way from Paris from my friend Sarah.  She got me seven of my favorite flavor (salted caramel) and one rose flavored. I thought they were beautiful and of course had to photograph them.

Delish cupcakes from my good friend Annie.  She  made Sean and I birthday cupcakes, I requested strawberry lemonade and Sean had peach cobbler. Our bonus flavor was orange sherbert. So, so good!

Our neighbor has gorgeous sunflowers in her yard, so before we moved out, I had to snap a pic.

Wine with dinner at our fave Italian restaurant in town.

For dinner we had one of our favorite dishes, faggotini, which is pear pasta with cream sauce and slivers of ham on top.

Boomer hanging out in our hotel room.

The fabulous Annie aka Blonde Glambition and I got to tan and hang out one last time this past weekend. I will miss her tons!!

Inside the room of honor at our brigade headquarters.

Four cheese gnocchi at the pizzeria across from our hotel.

Leaving the 173rd Airborne Brigade behind and on to a new chapter in our lives.

Moving Update

Well, the race is on to get everything done here in Italy before we leave in the next couple of weeks.

Our unaccompanied baggage was packed up today, our household goods will be packed and sent off on Monday and our wine shipment will be gone on Monday as well.  Then Tuesday brings the picking up of our government appliances and furniture, Boomer's vet appointment for his health certificate. The rest of the week will be spent cleaning our apartment, finalling out of our apartment, paying the last of our bills and shipping our car.  It's going to be a crazy, hectic week, but I just want it to go smoothly.

I haven't been pleased with a lot of the service we've been getting on this post in order to leave. Out of every ten people, only one is helpful and it seems that most people do not know how to do their job.  I shouldn't have to tell you what to do or ask a question and you not know the answer.  Getting Boomer booked on a flight back to the States was a nightmare and the lady in charge of the tickets on post didn't seem to grasp the fact that we only have one day for travel. She kept trying to book us on days after Sean would have reported to Sill and he finally had to tell her the date in question was the ONLY day he had to travel and she had to make something work.  It appears before we leave I'll be filling out a lot of online complaints about the services on post.

I am a little disappointed that Sean's birthday (the 4th) and our anniversary (the 5th) will be spent cleaning our apartment instead of heading to some exotic location like Portugal to celebrate, but I will be back in Oklahoma for my birthday, so I'm excited about that.

I am so, so excited to see my friends and family in Oklahoma again, but I must admit I am very sad about leaving the good friends I've made in Italy behind.  You know how sometimes you can tell if you'll be friends with someone for a long time or if you'll only be friends with them while you are in the same location they are? I can tell these friends will be life-long friends and that's always a good feeling.

Tonight we are going out for some chicken and beer with one of Sean's good friends from work. We're just trying to eat our fave foods, see our fave people and do a few last minute things before we leave.  As much as Italy sometimes irritates me, I'm going to be so sad to leave.

We Have Orders!

Well, the time has come for the next chapter of our Army life. 

We have known for a couple of weeks where we are going to be finishing out Sean's medboard process, but I didn't want to share it on here, until we had orders that gave us exact dates.

So without further ado....we are going to Fort Sill and will be there by the second week in July.  We're excited about Sill because it is only 4 hours away from our hometown and I already have one good friend at Sill and know of another blogger there.

The only downside is that we have less than 30 days to do an OCONUS move and that's a bit overwhelming.  And I hate leaving the friends I've made here. Not to mention all the delish wine, cheese and pasta I'll be leaving behind.

If you're at Sill, don't hesitate to let me know, I'd love opinions, advice and anything else you care to share about it!