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I want to thank everyone who read my post in completion. I never expected so much feedback here or on the Fb Fan Page. I will say that while I accept everyone’s feedback whether negative or positive, I really can’t accept feedback from those who haven’t read this in entirety. If you read my blog posts I am nice but can be alittle overly blunt at times. That can be a positive or negative thing. With that said…I am completely over the get out and explore the island statement. I made it very clear in part one that I have and that I am a big fan of make the best where you are, but in some places making the best gets old. You see in order to explore somewhere (where ever it maybe) you have to “Want To” and you have to like it. Once your done exploring the things your comfortable with (because everyone isn’t into climbing up the side of volcanic mountains or diving with the sharks) what exactly is left to do?…go the beach…ooops I can’t I did that like 5 million times in one month.

For certain people (and I say certain because I don’t speak for everyone) being stuck on a rock in the middle of the ocean is their thing, it doesn’t phase them. For others like myself confinement does not work. When I get tired of Oahu , I’d like to be able to drive else where. Yes yes… I know what your going to say “But Army Wife 101 you can fly to another island”! Bam you just answered your own question, “it’s still another island! I hope I clarified this for those who think that I am a whiner and don’t get out. Best believe I’ve sought to spread my wings here, but there isn’t that much wing spreading in the world.

This brings me to the issue of food:

As you have seen from my pictures I am a pretty thick chick. One of my pleasures is indulging in different types of food. At the same time and on a military budget their is only so much indulging you can do here. You see before I PCS’ed to the this oh so glorious island, I had the pleasure of being stationed in a place that is a foodies dream…Savannah GA. Home of Paula Deen, home of the buffets and if I got  tired of good ole down home country cooking (which by the way I don’t think that’s possible) then I had several options at my disposal. I am from Long Island NY and yes I have had what I like to call my “Sex in the City Moments” where my girlfriends and I wisked off into Manhattan and ate at upscale eateries like Soul Cafe (closed now) Chez Josephine ( that took a whole paycheck) and at the top of the spinning Marriot in Times Square, so I’m used to good food. Then reality set in and I got married and had 2 kids and a hubby in the military. While on the rare occasion we do treat our kids to top notch cuisine, 95% of the time on a Friday night in Savannah you could find us at our local Golden Corral where a family of four could umlimitedly stuff their faces for under $35 and still get dessert.

Let’s just say 2 keikei (That means kids in Hawaiian…see I’m embracing the language)meals and 2 adult meals at your local Chili’s are damn near $60 bucks;forget a dessert. If you love getting a bang for your buck and heading to the nearest all you can eat buffet (that actually taste good) well good luck on that, I haven’t managed to find one, not even a really good chinese buffet. Due to the location of Schofield, the only close options to have a decent family sit down dinner are Chilis and Ruby Tuesdays (that’s if you want more americanized cuisine). Now I would be wrong if I didn’t mention that you will have your fair share of Asian cuisine . This not a bad thing, but damn can I get a Applebee’s , a Sonic , you know one of those places that Hawaii shows on tv commericals but we have none of them here. Yes Hawaii has a horrible habit of showing eateries that don’t exist here. Lest not forget all the specials that a certain chain restaurant will run but , because where in Hawaii for whatever reasons they don’t honor the special here.

Be prepared for rice with everything, rice with breakfast rice with lunch, rice with snack,  rice with dinner, rice with ice cream (I’m kidding but they probably do have something like that). If carbs are not your friend you are going to have a hell of a time avoiding them here. Rice is just the beginning don’t forget the scoop of macaroni salad that comes with everything. If I see one more Blazin Steaks or greasy L&L BBQ I am going to scream (Don’t get me wrong I do eat their food, just tired of it).All I wanna do is have a choice of places to go to with easy parking that I can take a family. I don’t want to have to go to Honolulu all the time to do anything major.  I asked several military spouses stationed here the other day where do they get the best Chinese food, no one could give me a good answer. The one place we thought might be ok got closed down for infestation, yes bugs.

Groceries:

All I can say is this truly the one place I don’t think I have ever brought food on the economy, with the exception of a loaf of bread at Walmart. Speaking of Walmart for those of you who have been stationed in the South, do not count on a Super Walmart, none here. I won’t go into alot of detail , as I think you’ve got the point by now. COLA is good , but I still say the prices suck 10x worse here.

Bug Situation:

When I say I am deathly afraid of bugs, I am not being dramatic , I am serious. I cry, hyperventilate and sweat if I see anything bigger then an ant. The first few weeks we were here I was greeted by several centipedes outside. Not a pretty site when you just happen to be walking and come up on one. Thank the lord one has never gotten in my house, you don’t even want to know the outcome of that.

Gecko’s O-M-G if I hear one more person tell me those damn things are good luck!!! They are all over, I can honestly say I have never had one in my house because my kids know that coming in and out the house is a hell to the noooo!  If you want to avoid Gecko central I recommend not letting little Johnny hang out the front door or stand there with the door open. Nothing like hopping in the shower , with the thought of being greeted by a lizard.

Flies:

The flies here are in swarms, they fear no one or nothing. They seem bigger then usual. This is the only place that you could not open your door or windows for days and still have flies, they come out of nowhere . Forget sitting outside at a nice picnic they swarm around you and demand your food. The only place that I have seen them kept at bay have been around the yummy shrimp trucks. I don’t know if the smell of garlic keeps them away. I always tell spouses to not let the kids run in and out the house if you want to have an attempt at avoiding them.

Roaches:

The roaches here are the size of new born babies, I swear , their is no smashing them with a shoe. You have to spray them dead. They are big , they fly and they are not scared of you. This may not sound serious to bug lovers , but when your husband is deployed and all you’ve got is yourself and 2 scared kids, this kind of crap will make you hate a place. Lucky for me I haven’t rented a car with roaches or went out to my car at night to get an item from my car , only to open the door and be greeted by a family of roaches. For the record you don’t have to have a dirty home, they just exist here. Lucky for me I recommend keeping the gallon of Ortho Home Defense near by it works.

Maggots are awful here because it is always moist or humid ughhh…I’ll just leave it at that.

Last but not least and I mean no offense when I say this , because I am not Heidi Klume by any means. What really confuses about this place is , a majority of the local women here are  sized like linebackers. These chicks are huge , like kick your man’s ass huge. You would think with people this size living here that finding a plus size store would not be a problem, it is. No Lane Bryant’s , no Torrids. My store of choice is Ross.

Because I am who I am , I will say that it is important to make do of where you are. With that said don’t ever feel guilty for not liking a place. Everywhere is not for everyone. I am sure there are people who are stationed in Europe and find it boring after a while too. Just because you are stationed here in what some consider paradise , doesn’t mean it will be paradise for you. Best bet get out explore what your into and at least when people say get out and explore you can say…I have!

My View At Schofield Lodging

I get asked the million dollar question frequently ” So what’s it like to live in Hawaii”? “Ahh how do I answer that” is what I ponder in my head awkwardly as I debate whether or not to give them the vacation version or the real deal.  My persona of being “Army Wife 101″ makes it hard for me to tell PCSing spouses moving here, that my personal opinion of Hawaii is that it sucks living here for an extended period of time.  I do not want to ruin the thoughts of what their home will be like , so I usually give them what I like to call a “PR” answer. This is one of those cliche answers that doesn’t really answer the question , but tries to package it up in a nice little bow.

Well I think it’s about time I share my thoughts, seeing as to how I am constantly asked (which by the way I don’t mind) . I must warn you though some of my thoughts will not be pretty, and that everyone’s opinion is different. Just because I hate it here does not mean you won’t love it. Ohhh…and this is a pretty long post.

With that I bring you Hawaii…One Army Wife’s Thoughts:

I arrived here in March of 2009 (insert the Hawaiian music here) and as I stepped off the plane and entered into the breezeway in Honolulu International Airport, I took in the scent of the Hawaiian air. Being that I was afraid of flying, it was a miracle that anyone got  me to fly over a body of water for over 8 hrs. We proceeded to the military liaison desk got signed in and hopped in the government shuttle which was to transport us here to Schofield Inn on Schofield Barracks. It was 10:30PM at night when we arrived and I was so exhausted I couldn’t focus or see well enough to see what it looked like outside the shuttle windows. We arrived here on Schofield checked into lodging and the adventure began.

Like any newbies to Hawaii, the next day we awakened, picked up our rental car and set out to explore the island. I had heard prior to arriving here that we shouldn’t try to visit all the attractions at once because you will run out of things to do , let’s just say that is true to a certain extent (more on that later). In any event I was actually happy here at the beginning. My list of reasons why I was happy are below:

* My kids were getting the experience of a lifetime. They were going to explore different cultures, different foods, beautiful scenery, beaches and historical attractions such as Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona.

* I did not grow up in a area near many beaches, so the thought of having a few dozen surrounding me seemed pretty nice.

* The weather is always beautiful and consistent, so clothes shopping for the family was easier. Flip flops in every color sounds great to me.

*The biggest reason was that it gave members of our families a chance to come to Hawaii, when they normally wouldn’t have come here.

So there you have it, my very few reasons why I liked it it here. So I guess by now your probably saying well after all of that “What the hell is there not to like”?

Well you see I believe people get to engulfed in these fantasies of paradise. They think Hawaii and they automatically envision palm trees lining every street, a beach in your backyard and mai tai’s everywhere. Little do they know that when they arrive here at Schofield they are in for rude awakening. Schofield is in a small little dumpy town 20 minutes from the North Shore called Wahiawa. Wahiawa is ghetto. I am from NY and let’s just say I would rather walk threw any of those streets then Wahiawa even in the day time. Wahiawa consist of some fast food joints, a few hole in the wall sit down joints, some rundown strip clubs , convenience stores and a General Hospital that looks like someone swallowed the 70’s and threw it back up. Rundown apartments surround the base as well. When I want to get fast food I head in the opposite direction to a town called Mililani. If you choose to live offpost and want to live close, Mililani should be your first option as well.

The schools here are HORRIBLE!!!!! I had always assumed that if a school was onpost then it automatically was a DOD school. This not the case at all. I’ll be honest and say that I’ve lucked up and my kids have had good teachers, but damn these kids are off so much it makes you wonder how much are they really learning. Last year we went through furlough Fridays due to budget cuts, and basically every Friday the children were off. Lest not forget that every Wednesday the kids have half a day . The school day is over at 2:05pm. This is the shortest school day I have ever seen. My kid has PE once a month and my daughter has 2 recesses a day ( she is in the 6th grade). Visit here to read reviews on the schools .

Why It Get’s Old Being Here Really Fast?

1.For starters you can drive around the entire island of  Oahu in four to six  hours depending on traffic. ( I honestly think it’s less time then that , but i’ll be generous.)

2.Unless you love going to the beach every weekend, are a water nut, or are passionate about the outdoors (hiking mountain climbing) , you will quickly run out of things to do. We have a sea life park comparable to Sea World minus several attractions , space and rides. There is also WetnWild water park again water which is okay but ummm…how many times are you really going to go there? Pearl Harbor is a must see and I was honored to have the privilege to visit but naturally it’s not some place you would to go weekly. The Nex is nice to walk around but after you walk around what are you going to do ? Pearl Ridge Mall was ok until my friend got her pocketbook grabbed by a meth addict during a day time visit, so that pretty much prevented me from wanting to go there by myself. Ala Moana Mall in Honolulu is awesome but just not my frugal everyday place of shopping. It’s nice once in a while. The Swap meet is hot and nothing but rows and rows of people selling the same 5 for $20 teeshirts . It was nice when we arrived and wanted to send souvenirs back home, or when family visits and you want to take them somewhere where they can get cheap souvenirs too.

In reference to the size of the island really can drive around the island in four hours. The island goes in one big circle. There are no bridges connecting Oahu to neighboring islands and due to some environmental mess the ferry no longer is in operation. You can count on buying tickets for every member of your family to fly to another island if that is your thing. Speaking of other islands everyone screams about flying to them, but if your tired of this island…are you really going to fly to another one?  Unless you can get some great ticket prices to wherever your from( and sometimes you can get great prices) , count on using that nice hunk of deployment savings you stored. Space A is wonderful, but don’t be fooled it’s free for a reason and that reason usually consists of being trapped in a hotel or terminal of sorts at a airforce base for a few days.

Lastly I had the joyous pleasure of being caught in a Tsunami scare this past February. Imagine your husband is deployed , you wake up in the middle of the night to take a piss and you hear the disheveled looking newscaster on the local news at 1am saying expected time of impact is 11:19AM and sirens will sound at 5:30AM. Ummm excuse me my first thought is the local news is not supposed to be live at 1am and 2nd of all “impact” doesn’t sound so good. Being that my husband was deployed and I slept with my laptop my friend Stephanie buzzed me on Yahoo and informed me of how she was so scared that she was going to get a flight out of here. I took one look at my bank account and pretty assumed that my kids and I would meet our maker here on this side of the mountain in Wahiawa.

There are two more parts of living here that I have yet to discuss which is the FOOD & BUGS! That is a whole post in itself and I would rather discuss it separately. With that said stay tuned for Part 2 of “Hawaii…One Army Wife’s Thoughts on Why She Hates Living Here”.

Army Wife 101's Home on Schofield Barracks in HI

I titled this mostly because everyone knows in the military life rules and regulations change on the regular and exceptions sometimes happen as well. Below is a list of most of the important answers to questions that I see asked frequently in regards to military housing:

* The title says mostly for a reason this post is mainly geared towards CONUS MOVES.

Everything You Need To Know About Onpost Housing
To be quite frank their is not much I can tell you about onpost housing because housing offices and housing in general differ by post. Below I have listed some of the most important info I could think of based on FAQ’s and emails I have received.

1.When you live onpost BAH will show up on your service members LES but will be taken right back out for housing.

2. You do not get to keep BAH when living onpost. (In very rare cases some housing offices have offered to give soldiers back a certain percentage of BAH if they took very old housing or another specific situation.)

3. The minute your spouse receives orders you should contact the housing office at your scheduled duty station to see what their criteria is for being placed on their housing list.
Trust me you will hear many times that you can’t be placed on the housing list until your arrive. In alot of cases this is not true. Your best bet is to not listen to hearsay and call housing, only they will know the correct answer.

4. To view floorplans and pictures of most housing on any Army Installation visit https://onestop.army.mil
All the contact information you will need to contact housing will be here in addition to everything you could ever want and need to know such as the general area of base, schools onpost activities and so on.

5. In most cases the size of housing you will receive is based on your family size and ages of your children. The Army has standards and rules in which they go by in deciding at which age children can room together and also on gender of child. Same gender children share a room up to 10 years of age and opposite sex can share a room until six years of age – no more than two children may share a room in any case). Taken from http://www.garmisch.army.mil/Directorates/D%20P%20W/housing.asp

6. When moving into onpost housing be prepared to pay the pro-rated amount in BAH for that month. If for some reason you have difficulty obtaining the the finances for it, you can apply for what is known as a ASHA LOAN also known as Advanced Station Housing Loan. This is a interest free loan in which your soldier will have to fill out form DA-4187 and submit to his/her command to apply for. Thanks to a reminder tip from a reader, you can also apply for an AER (Army Emergency Relief Loan).  The loan is interest free through the Army and pretty much guaranteed. Is is based on need and not credit . Your spouse’s higher up will have to sign off on it and their is a small process. You can learn more about AER Loans here.

When my family and I PCS’ed to Hunter Army Airfield, we had to get an AER loan to pay for first month’s rent and the security deposit for a house we were going to rent offpost.

Update: I have been told that some places have changed this , but as ahead of time.

7. Houses come with stoves and refrigerators. Both onpost homes I have lived have had dishwashers and central air. Don’t count on having a washing machine and dryer waiting for you. Here in Hawaii we were provided with washer and dryers but this is definitely a first. Some older onpost homes tend not to have central air so be sure to ask about there AC situation ahead of time.

8. Many housing offices allow you to paint your home onpost but usually you have to request permission via a form filled out and submitted to the housing office.

9. No you cannot get a house onpost if you are not married. No offense to the girl friends and fiancee’s but you wouldn’t believe how many emails I have received asking that question. The reality is that the Army does not acknowledge you unless your married and even then it’s a hit or miss

10. If your spouse happens to be deployed and you get offered housing as long as you have a housing POA or in some cases a general POA you will be allowed to taken care of all the housing paperwork to move onpost.

11. Want to see a review from people who many possibly be at your current or future post visit my pal and one of the best writers on PCS moves I know Susanna at Military Duty Stations

12.Yes you can check your position on the housing list online but I would not count on it. The list said I was #120 when I got called for a house the first time and #62 when I moved here to Hawaii. The reality is that  alot of it will depend on when people arrive and if people are bumped off the list should their orders change.

13. Lastly yes it sucks but the fact of the matter is that different ranks will pay different amounts of BAH for the same house.
I hope this list has given you a general outline and answered some of your burning questions.

Feel free to email me at krystel@armywife101.com with your questions.

For the visual: My mock bill this month was $257.53 and my average monthly use (baseline) is $229.00 so I would have paid the difference of $28.53 and that would have been what I owed. If I stayed under my average I would receive a small refund check.

So now that we have completed the math lesson let’s get to the point:

Lately alot of people living onpost are new to the mock bill situation, so I understand the concern and the freak out over it. I mean I know what your thinking. “These M%$#$ take all my BAH monthly and now you want to charge me for lights?

To that I say, Im with you in your line of thinking to a degree. Yes it bothers me that I live in new housing and while visually it’s pretty , structurally it’s shabby on top of the fact that you take over $2000 worth of BAH and now you want to charge me for lights.

On the other hand people we have to think that right now the economy is crap, in the real world people pay light bills ( so we mine as well well get use to it because it doesn’t stay this good forever) and let’s be real how long did you really think housing or the Army was was going to let us live in technically free housing with our rugrats running tv’s galore, lights on in every room (that would be us, but not on purpose) and a house full of Christmas lights (during the holidays)  like  Clark Griswald’s in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. So now there charging us and yes it sucks , no it’s not fair…but we have to be willing to take some responsibility ourselves.

So I know your asking well Army Wife 101 since your a know it all what should we do if we shouldn’t be mad?

Well I am not saying don’t be mad, but what I am saying is be alittle realistic. Electricity cost and honestly I have lived offpost and I will take a $28 electric bill over a $259 bill any day. I say weigh the options before you get rattled up and also take sometime to truly understand your installations mock bill policy. You can start by visiting http://www.ista-direct.com/IstaDirect%2DArmy/

Happy Mock Billing!

Me visiting Pirates of Caribbean ship!

Hello Army Wifers it’s the infamous Army Wife 101 back at ya again with more entertaining news from the Army Wife Home front.

Okay maybe not that entertaining, but I have received so many emails and questions I don’t even know where to begin.

So rather then go into every detail of my life and make a long drawn boring paragraph, I’ll just sum things up in a few pics and sentences.

1. Hubby came back and is now on block leave…Yayyyyy!

2. My mom and brother flew in here to Hawaii to visit and we stayed at the Hale Koa for a weekend just to relax.

3. I and my co-blogging partner launched Today’s Military Spouse with plenty of informative articles on the modern military spouse along with great giveaways from major brands. We recently had 2 Facebook parties and handed out and tons of great prizes. You will soon see Army Wife 101 incorporating more with Today’s Military Spouse.

4. Oh and I visited the set from “Pirates of the Caribbean” Johnny Depp…Ahem! You can read more about that experience and view some great pics “HERE”.

5. Lastly we got a new addition to the family , that we adopted from the Humane Society and her legal name is Star but my son named her Natalie.

P.S.  I have lots of goodies and posts coming up so make sure to stay tuned!