A Big Day

Today is an exciting day for the Phelps family! Another phase in this military journey is complete, and we are anxiously waiting to hear what the next phase will entail. Tonight, we find out if the Navy will be keeping us in Virginia for 3 more years or if we will be heading to sunny California. 
Whatever happens tonight, I feel very content and at peace with the decision. It took me a while to get to this point, though. I have been pretty open in the fact that Virginia has been an adjustment. Norfolk is not my favorite city, and I didn't love the 6-month winter (Texas girls can't hang!). California was a pretty clear first choice in my book, and Parker felt the same way. He would put California as his first choice and we would see if the Navy would grant us our request. At least, that's how I thought it would all go down. Had this selection happened just 3 weeks ago, this is what would have happened. Now, everything has been flipped.
In an effort to not break OPSEC 15 times over, I'll just say that staying in Norfolk will yield better opportunities for Parker's career at this point in time. This news came about just two weeks ago, and I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing. The goal from the beginning has been to get to California. Even if Virginia might be better in the long run for the career at this point in time, who cares? We would live in California! That beats any plane-related reason in my book. 
I had to really step back from the situation and look at it from Parker's perspective. To me, the Navy is all about getting to see the world with the occasional dreaded deployment mixed in. To Parker, it's about fulfilling a life-long dream. Flying planes for the Navy is truly a dream come true for him, and he only gets one shot at this. We only get to do this journey once, and I want him to be able to look back and know he went after every opportunity that came his way. He talks about the upcoming opportunities in Norfolk so passionately and with such a smile on his face that I can't help but be completely content with staying to let him pursue those. 
Preferencing Norfolk over California means we are giving up a dream. Yes, there is a chance the Navy will still send us there, but we pretty much shot all chances of that in the foot when we didn't rank it #1. Giving up the California dream means saying hello to a different dream. There are pros to staying here, and I have been focusing on those. We have friends here that we would be sad to leave and we've made a life here. There are also people in California that I would basically give my left toe to be reunited with, but that may not be in the cards for this go around. 
The point of all this rambling is to say this: As the wife, I tend to look at it from my own narcissistic viewpoint, which is essentially "Now I don't get to live in perpetual sun with some of my favorite people and breed California babies". It's about looking at the bigger picture, though. Parker is chasing his dream, and I made a promise to love and support him through thick and thin. If they call out his name and announce Norfolk, VA tonight, I will have nothing short of a huge smile on my face. I get to go through life with my best friend and watch him live his dream. That means more than a location. It's the bigger picture. 

This is a throwback from the dating days. I had no idea what this military life would look like then. No matter the outcome of tonight, I can't wait for more adventures with this guy.