The Brown’s 1st Adventure of the New Year

Elgin, OK Shadow Ridge

On 3 January we struck out across the west on the plains of Missouri and Oklahoma.  My oldest daughter and I drove our “hot-rod” Dodge Charger and my Wife and our two younger kids (a boy and another girl) + the family pet (a cat) in our trusty SUV drove all day with few stops because of our excitement to arrive at our new destination.

In the early evening we arrived at Fort Sill and checked into our hotel suite.  We unloaded only the neccesities and had a light supper before relaxing a little bit before getting some well deserved rest for the night.

The next day I checked in with the housing office to see if on base housing was available however, it was not.  There was at least a week long wait before I would be able to move the family into a home that would fit us and all of our belongings and we would have to squeeze my two daughters into one room (not something I recommend to anyone).

With that situation understood we linked up with a local realtor named Barbara Clark who is a brilliant woman and really restored my faith in realtors everywhere.  We looked at homes until early evening, took a break and resumed our search again the next day.

Our home search was not what I expected at all and it was a challenge to find all the right characteristics regarding what we all wanted and what we really needed.  For example, a swimming pool would have been really cool to have however that did not work out.  I really like neighborhoods with sidewalks and yet again, that did not work out either.

What it all came down to was a home in a school district where our kids would be educated with care and quality plus a home with enough room to grow with a storm shelter to ride out those nasty tornados and storms that come through this area of the country.

To make a long story short we found the right home, with allot of help from Barbara.  We now live in a small community that in not far from Fort Sill and a picture of our home is below, (our sub-division is called “Shadow Ridge” ~ pictured above)
Brown Family Home
We don’t have a spare bedroom but your welcome to pay us a visit and one of the kid’s will lend you their room for a night or two.  Please call first so we can ensure you have a clean room to stay in!

We don’t have all of our belongings yet, one shipment is being delivered on Thursday and I am still expecting my military belongings that I shipped from Korea.

The kids are in school and adjusting well, I just started in-processing at Fort Sill and my wife (Kim) is keeping us all in line and behaving appropriately :-)

Leave me a comment and let me know how your New Year is starting, I hope it’s been a good one so far and look forward to reading what you have to share so please comment below.

Mark

The Brown Family Moving Adventure

Brown family move

I recieved a +K on Klout a couple of days ago from my friend Rich Morris (@RichMorris) for blogging so I want to stay as consistent as possible and keep you posted about what is going on with me and the family…we are getting ready to move ~ but first I have to bring you up to date from what has happened since Christmas.

Since arriving at home just before Christmas we have been focused on preparing for our move to Oklahoma.  Between Christmas and New Years the movers spent two days packing our household goods and one day loading it all up.  These guys were real pro’s and I have no doubts that all of our “stuff” will arrive witn no damage or loss.

There were over 220 boxes and another 230 items such as the couch, beds etc. – let’s just say all that “stuff” almost filled a full size drop deck moving trailer, in fact the moving company told us that our shipment would be the only one that would be delivered by one truck and that they would not have room to add another small load to our’s in order for the load to be considered “full”

We travelled to Willard, Missouri to celebrate New Year’s with our friends and relatives, Kevin, Alvina (@Alvina_B), and Jacob Broz.  Kevin makes the world’s best Bratwurst, I’m not kidding, I have only experienced a taste like this that comes from this one “King of Brats”, and that is my man Kevin, he is the bomb all the way around so thanks to the Broz’s for a great New Year’s eve celebration.

I also met Dave Hamilton and his family, he is a cool guy who runs his own business selling tents, he has many other skills and we had allot to talk about because he spent some time in the 82nd Airborne Corps. back in the day when he was a Soldier.  Dave has a great family and it was good to be in the company of down to earth people with common sense, plus like I said – the Brat’s were out of this world.

New Year’s Day was spent getting the house ready to be “moved out of” and I went for a jog for the first time since returning from Korea as well.  All in all not a bad day and I think I will go to bed early so I can wake up and tackle the 2nd day of 2012!

My family and I leave in 2 days from Saint Robert where they have lived for the last 6 years, as you know I have not been there the entire time due to my luxurious and adventurous travels sponsored by Uncle Sam and if you are just joining us ~ I’m in the Army (still, it’s been 23 years so far).

We are headed to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma where I will be the Deputy Provost Marshal which is like the assistant police chief.  We are excited for the move and new assignment.

There are many other exciting things going on but I will save room for that info. to later.  For now just leave a comment and send good vibrations our way for a safe trip and quick acquisition of a new family homestead.

Bye for now and I’ll blog to you on the other end ;-)

Mark Edward Brown

Mark Edward Brown’s Christmas Update

Mark Edward Brown's Christmas Gift

It’s been a couple days since my last post and it is Christmas so I wanted to make a blog post to tell all of my family and friends what the heck has been going on.

This holiday story goes back a couple of months so bear with me; when I discovered that my friend and collegue in the Army was coming to Korea to assume command of the unit that I was scheduled to leave I was thrilled.  My boss even agreed to allow me to leave early so that I could suprise and celebrate the Holiday’s with my family.

Originally I was scheduled to leave Korea around the 7th of January 2012 however because there was a smooth transition and I was done commanding early I was able to leave Korea around the 19th of December.  The month leading up to the day of my departure was really hectic and I had to watch what I said and did when I spoke with my wife and kids.  I even had to monitor what I put on Facebook and such because I didn’t want word of my suprise to get out before I made it home, which would have spoiled the suprise.

To make a long story short; 40 hours of flying and late in the evening of a weary 2 days of traveling I was knocking lightly on the front door of my home.  The kids were all in bed and asleep and my wife had just retired to bed about 20 minutes before I arrived on our doorstep via a taxi ride from the airport.

When she turned on the light and saw me there was a look of disbelief mixed with joy and then a “what in the heck are you trying pull here” look came across her face.  It was priceless and worth the travel time and preparation along with all the anxiety and tight lipped secrecy as well.

The bottom line is both my wife and I experienced the best Christmas gift we could have shared with each other.  My kids might say the same thing however they scored some really sweet gifts from santy claus so I’m not sure what they would say about the whole ordeal, after all they did have to go to a half a day of school before they could get back home to spend some long overdue time with me for their holiday break.

Now that I am back in the USA I will post more as we have a big New Years adventure ahead of us with our pending move to Fort Sill.

Merry Christmas and leave me a comment to tell me how your Christmas went?

Mark Edward Brown

P.S. ~ I miss my Soldiers, Friends and Fellow Leaders from Korea, leaving was bittersweet yet I know they all understood that it was my time to move on.

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