Post by Jenn:
So, after some waiting and process, we are very close to completing our physical/ medical/ dental evaluations. As a word of caution if you plan to do this, check all your forms before you go to the doctor. Check them before you leave the doctor's office as well. I missed some forms with the doctor. They are simple and can be easily completed, but I will have to wait until next week, as today is Friday. A little preparation could have saved that. We both have our dental exams done. There are a LOT of x-rays to do. We are now waiting on copies of the x-rays and that is done. After all of the currently missing paperwork is done, Joshua will need to complete his physical. Another bit of wisdom is that you can offer to have the Peace Corps reimburse your doctor for your visit if you can't pay out of pocket. They reimburse for men under 50 up to $165 and women up to 40 get $125. This can help if you don't have insurance as well.
It is moving along now. I feel like we are making progress now that most of the appointments have passed and nobody is sticking needles in me anymore. Now that we are almost past this stage, we are now doing finacial planning. We are moving to a cheaper apartment next week to save $200 monthly. They require you to show a plan for how your debt will be paid while you are deployed. You can have your student loans deferred while serving, but all other debt must be paid before you leave or you must show how others can take care of it for you once you are gone. So, we are moving to save money so we can knock out our little credit card balances. I have also started couponing for about a month now and have found that it saves quite a bit of money. So, we are using this tactic to stock up on toiletries and non-perishables to last until we are set to leave in July 2012. The more we are stocked, the less we have to spend on these things and can put even more toward debt. We also plan on selling our car as well, because no one can care for it for 2 years. It is very exciting to start making all these changes as it gives a renewed sense of momentum and purpose. I think of how quickly November came once we started this blog, and realize that July will come quickly as well. It can be scary as we think about this being a major life decision. However, we keep finding new people in our path that reaffirm our decision and encourage us. We will post again when we mail our things and then it is a waiting game to find out our country of service. The wait can be a 4-6 mos wait we have been told. This is why we want to mail things ASAP, so that we have time to prepare before July. Also it gives us time to amend any mistakes or missing information from our medical packets. Will post again soon!!!
