The House Hunt

One of the big events that kept Matt and I biting our nails during TBS was MOS selection. MOS stands for military occupation specialty, so basically a MOS is a Marine's job title as a four number code. Marine officers do not get to choose their MOS. They rank their preferences from one to twenty-three, but a mysterious computer algorithm, their class standing, and the opinions of their superiors during a closed-door meeting are the determining factors. I promise I am not making this up. On MOS selection day there is a big party where everybody celebrates finally knowing what they will be doing for the rest of their career. Matt had plenty of reason to celebrate because he was assigned his first choice! Matt is a 1302, Combat Engineer Officer. He gets paid to build some things blow other things up.

Matt was assigned to a five month MOS school at Courthouse Bay which is part of Camp Lejeune, NC. The Marine Corps does not pay to move dependents (me) for any period of time less than six months, so we decided to move ourselves.

Since Matt was still at TBS, my mom agreed to go on a house hunting trip with me around the Sneads Ferry gate of Camp Lejeune. We stayed on base, and we only gave ourselves one full day to see all of our options. I love the show House Hunters, and true to form I had three options. 1. A furnished house 2. A furnished townhome or 3. An unfurnished apartment.

The first place was filthy! There was a rusted out microwave under the stairs, hair all over the floor, and trash thrown into the closets. Yuck! The second home was clean, tastefully decorated, and fully furnished will all necessary items. The last option was clean with nice upgrades, but unfurnished so we would have to pay for a truck in order to move all of our furniture when we really just wanted to send it straight to Japan from Virginia. I called Matt that night so I could sign a lease the next morning before heading home.

We decided on...

The furnished townhome! 

I am so grateful that my Mom was here with me. House hunting in real life is very tiring and somehow makes you really hungry. So we ate out a lot and found an amazing place. My favorite part about my new home is what is directly across the street....

The beach!

Matt and I on North Topsail Beach. Our new home!