Goodbye Navy / What’s Next

As of this fall, Curtis’ time in the military has officially come to an end. This wasn’t a decision we took lightly, especially in light of the current economic state and uncertainness in the world, but after months of prayer, planning, and dreaming, we know this is the right choice for us. Curtis’ passion lies with engineering and nuclear power, and at this point in his career with the Navy, he wouldn’t be able to pursue these things as much as he would have liked. He made attempts to transfer to the engineering community within the Navy, but the need for submarine officers was too great to allow that, so instead he turned in his resignation.

Join me on a little trip down memory lane: First up, OCS – the longest time we were apart

We’re incredibly grateful for everything that joining the military gave to us over the last almost 10 years: The ability to get married “young” and live comfortably as a college-aged couple. Assistance with paying for school, free healthcare, and a National Park pass every year. The opportunity to live all around the country, and travel beyond that. Training and experience that will be valuable to Curtis as he starts his new job in the nuclear industry. So many wonderful friends in the military community everywhere we’ve lived that have stood beside us, taught us, helped us overcome the trials that come with military life, and made our lives better. And for how this entire experience has drawn us closer to each other through time spent apart, through having to rely fully on each other each time we move somewhere new and start again, and through learning to make the most of any time we had together. Now, it’s time to take all we’ve gained from our time in the military and learn how to apply it to civilian life!

OCS Graduation in Newport, RI

The path to finding a new job that will be the right fit for us has had its share of highs and lows. Curtis began the job hunt earlier this year, maybe a bit too early considering he wouldn’t be fully out of the Navy until December. But once it came down to the 3 month mark, interest picked up and interviews started happening. Most were virtual, (Curtis’ wood topography map made a great backdrop for those) and he traveled a few times for some in-person ones.

Balls and Graduations made for great excuses to get dressed up!

Finally, offers started coming in, and it was decision time. Throughout this whole process, we had the chance to envision ourselves living all around the country, with lots of different job schedules and responsibilities, opportunities for travel, and living many different lifestyles. We dealt with decision fatigue, knowing that we were so blessed to have options, and that many of those would be just fine, but worried that we’d pick the wrong one. Of course now that we’re out of the military, switching jobs is always an option, but it felt like the first job post-Navy would be the most important, possibly controlling the trajectory of any future jobs. Much of our decision making centered around locations: We thought we knew we wanted to live out West, but after living so close to family for the past few years, the decision wasn’t as simple as we thought it would be.

Promoting to LTJG in 2017 after arriving in Pearl Harbor, and becoming a qualified Engineer in DC. “You can’t join mathletes, it’s social suicide” – Curtis (Also Damien from Mean Girls)

Throughout the process, Curtis would constantly ask if I was okay with a certain job or location. My answer was always, “I can live anywhere and do anything for a short period of time” — something that I’ve definitely learned from being a military wife. My favorite part of military life was being able to move around so much and experience what it’s like to live in different states. Sure, maybe we wouldn’t enjoy some places as much as others, but we would always make the most of it. And to be completely honest, we don’t feel like we’re ready to give that part of our lifestyle up yet. We crave newness and motion, the feeling we get when we arrive in a new hometown for the first time and get to learn its streets, its parks and trails, and what makes it different and special. We know of certain cities where we feel like we could settle down in for a long time and be content, but we just aren’t ready to move to any of them yet.

Submarine life: stationed on the USS Chicago, and a few rides on the USS Charlotte

As it turns out, there is a job that allows us to do exactly what my answer was: to live anywhere and do anything for a short period of time! Curtis accepted that job and is now working as a field service engineer, where he will travel to nuclear power plants during scheduled maintenance periods and perform the work that needs to be done, and then move on to the next one. Charlotte and I will go with him and live out of whatever hotel or housing he has in each location, since I can work wherever there’s wifi. These plants typically only have maintenance in the spring and fall, during lower usage months, so we’ll have time off in the summer and winter to travel and spend time with family. We already have a schedule for this coming spring outage season, and we’re getting excited about the different places where we’ll be “living” for a short period of time! (Sure, there’s always a chance plans will change…but we’ve learned to be very flexible thanks to the military!)

Last Submarine Ball, and last day of work and in uniform.

There’s a lot of little decisions and details we don’t have figured out yet, but ready or not we are excited to have started this new chapter. It’s already given us some fun experiences and memories, which I’ll be sharing about soon. Thanks for reading and supporting us through our time in the military — feel free to stick around as we begin our semi-nomadic journey!