Welcome to my bubble. Let me take you on a tour.

We live on base housing, which in my opinion, is pretty darn awesome. First time visitors are always blown away by our house because in the past, base housing meant concrete walls and just the bare necessities. Here is our house for those of you who have never visited (hint! hint!).

And this is our neighborhood, taken on a cold winter day. But hopefully you can sense the comfort and peace in this picturesque community.

Now back to my bubble. Our neighborhood has roughly 100 houses (I'm a horrible estimator) and are all Marine Corps officers, with the exception of a handful of international officers. With EWS starting, this means the majority of the neighborhood dads leave for work at the same time. They wear the same outfit (camis). They usually come home at the same time. Does this remind you of the movie Pleasantville? 95% of the moms are stay at home moms and our neighborhood is filled to the brim with kids ranging from the newborn to the teenagers. Needless to say, Audrey never lacks in the playdate department.

Because we are all military families, we have a lot in common. Most of us have the same beliefs and values. I remember years ago a family friend told Nick and I how this will be the best time in Nick's military career because no where else will you find yourself surrounded by people your own age in such a large setting. He was right. Where else can you leave your door unlocked, let your kids run free, walk your dog and stop 15 times to talk to people you know?

My point? We have 10 months left in my bubble and I'm going to try to soak up every second of it because I know too soon we will have to move and join the real world where Nick works longer days and deployments are the talk of the town. I'm not ready for that. I've been spoiled these last 3.5 years in Quantico but they have been the best 3.5 years yet, no doubt.

So ok, no real point to this post. I was thinking of all this yesterday and realized I need to be thankful every day for what I have. And I am. So very, very thankful.