July 15th, 2011
Chapter 1
Longest. chapter. ever.
**Understand much of what is posted below may or may not be of interest to some of you, but I wanted a chronological documentation of our journey and that includes my detailed e-mails.
Leaving Abilene was more difficult than I had ever imagined. We built forever friendships and I am grateful for the love and support we were selflessly given during our 4.5 tour. The Abilene community is unlike anything I've ever experienced. I was welcomed with open arms and farewelled with closed arms in the form of hugs and a sincerity so rare. I left with a heavy heart of mixed emotions.
Mike snapped a picture as I was walking out of our home for the last time.... Long night before, very sad morning... I look pretty great eh? :)
Us saying "See ya later!"
I look at these pictures and remember how exhausted we were that morning...
We spent the next few weeks traveling across the country visiting family and friends. The downtime from excessive planning and just thinking was fantastic! The dogs had a difficult first few days. Ali actually slept in my suitcase the first night and I won't ever forget that.. Heartbreaker! She just wanted to go home. In those couple of weeks Dempsey lost 7 pounds and Ali lost 4. They just wouldn't eat! Fortunately, towards the end of the trip they became a little more comfortable and eating resumed.
Our first stop... Branson MO
She was in the bed with us when I fell asleep...Woke up to this...
Mike joked the hotel was pretty gross...
We stopped in the St. Louis area to rest, eat and visit Mike's Uncle Wim and Aunt Arlene
Thank you to the Leches for opening their home in Alexandria VA to our little family for an extended stay! We had a great time and ate a lot of cheese! ...And Mike's ribs...
Sunday champagne brunch
My favorite picture from Jet's photo shoot!
My sister flew in to house hunt in Crofton, Maryland! I think we looked at about 15 houses in one day but she was successful and found a beautiful home! In fact, they just closed yesterday! Congratulations!!
On this day, the two Sarahs and I spent the day watching
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and other useless reality TV.
It was great!
We were even able to meet Team Starr for lunch while in Alexandria!
Our last night in Alexandria before the last leg to Newark NJ
Mike found this swanky Chinese joint. Ok, not really. It was a dump.
Jet liked it. Proof below.
Next stop, New Jersey!
The boardwalk... Jersey Shore.
I am happy to report we never spotted Snookie.
Mike however, was disappointed.
Wow! What a welcome by our two super sweet nieces!
Lauren... So mature, cute, smart, and just one incredibly thoughtful young lady!
And Jessica.. The bubbly, hysterical, mischievous drama queen!
I think that pretty much describes Mike too.
Thanks for everything Ingrid!
Our last night in the States....
Stanley, owner of Tarantellas restaurant where
Mike worked when he was younger.
What an amazing group of people! They had even made a special cake!
THE day...
The hours and minutes leading up to our departure flight from Newark International were unusually calm however, my stomach was in a knot I cannot even begin to describe. I kept waiting for an inevitable panic attack but it never happened...(I don't suffer from panic attacks but just assumed if ever it were to happen, this would be it!) In fact, I became numb and just went through the motions. The months of preparation, worry and anticipation were draining and I think for once I sat there and thought "Well, here we are. And whatever is going to happen is ...going to happen." Of course I am referring to the dogs' flights. Putting them in their crates, making sure they had a piece of our worn clothing, and then locking those doors... Brutal. Seriously brutal. I will say however, Lufthansa is an amazing pet friendly airline that offered personal service and it was clear they truly cared about the animals they transport. That was comforting beyond words. Our flight took off at 10:05PM. I had taken an Ambien and was drifting during takeoff. I woke up about two hours out to find I could watch our course on a little computer screen on the back of the seat in front of me. Mike was asleep but I could see us over the ocean and Ireland, Spain, France and Germany pinpointed on the map. I was so excited I couldn't sleep any longer. I stared at that map until we landed... at noon.
There was a small, fenced yard to take the pups right before the flight.
We spent the last hour out here playing and running them around.
We didn't have any of their toys but Dempsey found a rock.
Our dogs crack me up!
Because Dempsey's crate was so huge and heavy,
Mike helped carry him to the truck that transported him to the plane.
You can see Ali on the right waiting for her best friend...
Landing in Frankfurt, we really weren't sure what to expect. Our sponsor was there with a van big enough for us, the pups and their huge crates. What a difference a great sponsor makes! Stuttgart was a two hour journey from the Frankfurt International and I was so tired but trying to watch everything around me.. These were my first moments in Germany and I wanted to remember it all! We stopped at a German rest area for a bathroom break and a little snack. Laugh all you want but, This was my first real experience. German rest areas often have little motels and they most definitely have little restaurants with people out on the patio enjoying lattes and pastries. With dogs. Odd? Maybe. Fabulous? Absolutely!
Jim took us straight to have our ID cards made. When I see Jim now, I like to show him my ID card picture with one eye half closed. That is my picture. I almost fell asleep sitting in the chair that day. We checked into the Panzer hotel about 4 that afternoon. We had a little time to unpack, shower and Jim and his wife returned to pick us up for dinner at their house-with the dogs. They also brought us a bag full of groceries for our little kitchen, dog treats and toys and other incredibly thoughtful items like Tylenol and Pepto. You never know... Dinner was great but I was a zombie--legitimately incoherent. I don't even remember riding back to the hotel.
Below is the email I sent to the family before dinner:
It's been a really long day but we are finally checked into our small, but new, temporary apartment on base. Things went pretty smoothly. In Frankfurt we had to wait longer than what we expected for the dogs to be brought up and Ali was very shaken but that was only 5 hours ago and she's perfect now. She even peed. It's only been about 18 hours since she last did that. No, really. The temporary housing here has awesome grounds with tons of walking trails through the woods with green areas for them to run.
We have about 15 minutes before our sponsor is picking us back up to head to his house for dinner. I want to lay down and sleep until Friday.
We had our first German pretzel at a rest area on the side of the road! And yes, it was delicious.
More later...
Great walking trails behind the hotel. The fence marks the base boundaries.
The other side are also walking trails and we frequently saw Germans walking their dogs.
They would wave to us and speak to Ali and Dempsey!
Our tiny little kitchen in our temporary apartment. Really, not bad!
The Panzer hotel is new and very nice.
Give them a couch and a squeaky toy and they're good!
You probably can't tell but, Dempsey is our sensitive boy. He had the hardest transition-
Not bad, but he did mope.
Our little Mamsy..
I am going to use more e-mails to recap the next few days. My memory of that first week is a bit foggy...
This morning we are headed to get cell phones and look at cars on the lemon lot. Mike spotted a cute little BMW out there so we're going to go check it out.
After that we will be going to the housing office to begin the process of house hunting. From what we hear, finding housing can be difficult. A little bit of a pain but that's the way it is. I imagine we will be in our temporary housing for up to a month and I think that will be good case scenario.
The dogs are doing great. The temperatures here are excellent and they love all the walking trails and soft grass. There was dew this morning-something we haven't seen in years.
The internet in our room is easy as fast so feel free to email or Facebook. Great connections!
Our sponsor and his wife are absolutely amazing. Not only did they spend their whole day picking us up from the airport, they took us to get our ID cards and face scans yesterday. They came back at 7:00 to pick us up for dinner at their home and brought with them two bags of groceries for our little kitchen. They are so thoughtful. They even brought things like tylenol, bottled water, pepto, doggie treats, dog toys and even prosciutto and Bitburger beer! And, they absolutely adore Ali and Dempsey and Trish said she will keep them whenever we need! (They came with us to dinner last night) We are so lucky because we have heard this is very unusual to have such proactive sponsors.
The driving rules are interesting. It's solidified the fact I will be getting a bicycle first. Oddities such as the right side always has the right away which is difficult to explain why that's so unnerving until you actually see it in action.
More later!
For sale on the "Lemon Lot" on base
I wanted it. Mike, who rarely says no, said no.
And another...
August 10th, 2011 Well, as you guys know we now have a house! What a relief. Our first days in the housing office were daunting. They had asked us to go through the listings and give them our top three. We had a top 1 and then a second the day after. There were minimal homes that met our small criteria: Within 30 minutes commute to the base Mike's working, allowed dogs and a decent yard. We were really flexible about everything else but still, there were no homes! One came on the market two days ago that had these things so we scheduled an appointment to see it--along with many others that wanted the same house. We arrived by taxi to find lots of other people there viewing it. There are no discrimination laws here--It's basically who the landlord likes the most. The other day I heard a woman telling someone they were turned down for their last house because they didn't have enough children. The landlord envisioned many children running around. So, it's really up to what the landlord is looking for!
Anywho, we didn't even like the house yesterday but still put our name in the hat for it because technically it exceeded all of our criteria and it was SO close to Mike's work. (We received a nice, rejection email last night) It was stark and cold, five stories and it was in a townhouse development that literally looked like they had just bulldozed some land and plopped down townhouses--It looked out of the norm of what we have been seeing in these amazingly charming villages with gingerbread homes, shops and cobblestone streets. Yet, people were still all over it because it was newer and very modern--In fact, exactly what we weren't looking for! It was similar to an American home and frankly, we wanted something more German. I didn't like the house or the area. When we left the house I suppose we had not considered how we were going to get back to the base we are staying on-which was about 15-20 minutes away. We were however, 1-2 kilometers from another base (in fact, the one Mike will be working at) and we had to walk back there to catch the bus. Only thing? We didn't know how to get there!! So, we were just walking around aimlessly within the town and then on winding backroads by beautiful fields and farm houses. It would've been awesome if we both didn't have to pee so bad!!! We found this awesome bakery and stopped for a snack and then stopped at a gas station where we found a bathroom. We finally made it to the base and to the bus stop just in time for the next run! This certainly is an adventure. You can't necessarily stop and just ask people for directions! We will be working on our German much harder soon!!
When we pulled into the little town where our soon-to-be house is, I immediately loved it! It was exactly what I had envisioned!! Beautiful gardens, shops and a mix of gingerbread homes and other traditional German homes. (our home is not one of the gingerbread) I literally had the warm and fuzzy about this house immediately! It is older and has lots of trees and shrubbery and a little stone walk way up to the house. The inside has a huge great room area --and honestly, the pictures we sent you guys doesn't really show how great it is. The great room has a HUGE built in cabinet system and it's big enough for all of our electronics and our huge couch. There are windows everywhere and huge sliding doors that open the home up to the back yard. I just love it!! There are built in cabinets and storage in some rooms which is nice since Germans don't often build closets. In fact, there is no closet in our bedroom. :) But, there are large windows and a door going out to the back yard. All of the ceilings are hardwood. We only have one full bath and it's ......let's just say it's colorful and belongs in an Austin Powers movie but I don't care! It's rather large with a tub, shower and two sinks! There is a second half bath. One of the bedrooms has a sink in it. Just a random sink in a bedroom. Maybe that will be the guest bedroom. Many of the homes here are multi level so another huge plus with this home is that all of the actual living is on one floor which is really awesome. Ali is getting older and her back legs are fine but I can tell they are weaker. I really didn't want her to have to go up and down stairs a zillion times a day. There is a HUGE attic and good sized basement-both unfinished --for storage, gym, whatever--
The pictures Mike sent really aren't representative but we will take more soon!! The two owners are sisters. It appears to have been their childhood home. They are keeping the home so the granddaughter can move in after she is married, etc. They own a chain of bakeries here. In fact, have a restaurant in the PX! We asked our Realtor to negotiate free pastries, paninis, and bread into our contract. The sister just giggled and said I was very funny. I guess that was a no. (By the way, one of their bakeries is right down from the house)
They had ripped out the kitchen--I think it was an afterthought because there was no mention about a new kitchen in the listing information. A new kitchen is on the way. There was a man there working on the backsplash and painting. Because of this new kitchen, they were going to raise the rent. To put things in perspective, this home was listed at 1800 euro. ($2552 USD) Our maximum we are allowed is 1900euro. ($2694 USD) They wanted to increase to 2100 euro ($2978 USD) but we didn't know that until we were there and we were very worried about this because we are responsible for any overages. Fortunately, according to our Realtor, the owner and her daughter liked us and they agreed to the 1900euro we are allotted.
The yard was a bit messy--especially in comparison to all of the surrounding beautiful yards. They told us they were having a gardner come in and redo the front and backyard. The backyard has a shrubbery fence but they have agreed to let us put up a real one in front of the shrubs. (at our cost) Germans are particular about their yards. ie: Garden. Many don't like big fences because they feel like everyone should be able to enjoy seeing everyone else's garden. They're not as private as Americans. We already knew this so we offered to put in a shorter fence. They were extremely nice and easy to work with--which is also awesome because we've heard from many, it's not always like that. Having a good landlord is HUGE.
The commute showed 13 minutes from the house to Mike's base but we know that is during the day--With traffic on the Autobahn it could be 15 minutes or it could be 30-45 depending on traffic but that's ok!
More later!
Before we moved in, we explored our neighborhood!
We found this adorable biergarten/pizzeria!
We have since fallen in love with this place and the owners.
They are incredibly friendly and offer a to-go menu!
Lots of outdoor seating in a beautiful town square with church bells chiming in the background!
Mike thinks this guy looks a little too comfortable.
**I'll post pictures of our home and neighborhood in future posts when we have everything organized!
And search for a car was finally over.... I chose to omit the emails whining and moaning about finding a car because it's over and frankly, I don't care to relive. Let's just say "picking up a beater" like everyone refers to is not necessarily that simple--At least not during PCS season. People price their vehicles over book value and finding a car off base in town is difficult because of the exchange rate. Either way we thought we would be over paying for a car which just made me want to grind nails in two with my teeth. We were again, incredibly lucky because after a horrible day where we thought we had bought a vehicle but didn't, there we were ....back on the Lemon Lot doing what Mike called "The Walk of Shame" and oh so randomly this guy walks up and asks if we were interested in buying a little SUV. If you didn't already know, we were looking specifically for a small SUV, 4x4 for the winters for 5K or less. And that's what found us--well under book value! :)
The corresponding e-mail:
August 24th, 2011 We officially have a vehicle! It's perfect...Nothing fancy but it's perfect for the winters and traveling yet still small enough to drive and park on Europe's tiny little streets. We haven't named her just yet but Mike thinks she looks like the yellow Angry Bird so it will be something related. Stay tuned.
And the final chapter before I start blogging about our current events...We went to register the vehicle this morning after we finished with the title transfer. That was about 10:30AM. When we arrived, there was a huge crowd and a big sign stating they would be taking no more sign ins ....for the DAY. Now, we've heard about the Registration office disaster. They normally have four-five people working there and they've been down to one during the busiest PCS time of the year. We've heard all the horror stories but this morning we saw it in person... They open at 8 but people line up at 6AM. This is not a joke. This is not an exaggeration. This is what happens. One lady told us she was there at 6:30 and was finally called while we were there about 11:00. The whole transaction took about 10 minutes. Now, as you may or may not know but the Jeep's seller is checking out tomorrow and flying back to the States on Friday-for good--So, yeah we panicked. Fortunately the super awesome lady felt compassion and at least started the pending transfer on his end so he doesn't have to come back with us tomorrow. But, we do. So, we will be up there around 6:30 in the parking lot...with a make-shift sign in sheet that evidently the people do before they open to just be fair. --And then they transfer it to the real one once the office opens. Have you ever heard of anything this atrocious? (related of course)
Regardless, we are thankful this car disaster is over. :)
September 2nd, 2011
The past week or so has been interesting yet, fruitful. I finally sat for my driver's test on Wednesday and passed! And, while that may sound like no great feat--it was arguably a relatively difficult test. Many fail! Reteaching yourself driving rules that you've known for years can be hard--and add to it many, many new ones plus tons of signs....in German. They have interesting rules over here but surprisingly, most make a lot of sense--More sense than many of ours! Some don't. For instance, a horse drawn carriage and a bicycle are considered and treated exactly like any other motor vehicle. That is much easier on the test than actual driving.
We were able to register the Jeep in pretty decent time-- We only sat at the registration office from 6:40AM until 11AM. That's actually great. Mike's car came into port on Sunday. We haven't been notified it's available yet- We were told it could be a few days or a few weeks from the date it arrived--It depends on how many have a promised delivery date before us. (ours is September 13th)
We spent our first night in the house last night. We were given a bit of loaner furniture from the Army and a few permanent issue items. Loaner: Couch, two lounge chairs, coffee table and a dining table/four chairs. We were permanently issued three wardrobes, a washer/dryer and a fridge for the basement--since most European fridges are very small. Here, they grocery shop almost every day so they don't need large refrigerators. Insane!!! That all made sense when we went to the mall and there was inside, a full sized grocery store and outside of that, a vegetable/fruit market.
One thing we don't have is a TV. So, after a while of walking around admiring our pimp-tastic 70's pad, we really just wanted to sit on the couch and watch a movie but that's a no go. Our household goods don't arrive until late September so we might be buying a little TV before then. We won't have internet for 2.5 weeks!!! They are so slow!!! Fortunately, Mike has figured out how to set our cell phones up as a hot spot and we have a decent connection on our laptops for now. Our kitchen is being put in Wednesday!! Our "pantry" is on the borrowed kitchen table. We have such items as PopTarts, Doritos, a random bottle of mustard (for Mike's pretzels), coffee and Splenda. So we're on night #2 and I aint gonna lie, this has gotten old fast. I want a kitchen and a TV. And surround sound. Oh, and our Roomba.
We have a huge pear tree in the front yard. With TONS of pears on it. And most recently, ALL over the ground. Sounds charming doesn't it? It was for about five minutes. Let me start by saying that this is not a bug infested city. I've seen a mosquito or three, a few flies and a few other random insects but nothing invasive----except, the bees. They have bees here. Fortunately they're not aggressive but guess what they LOVE? Yes! Our pears! They are everywhere around that tree! It's awful. The owners are supposed to send someone over to clean them up but, there are about 1000 more waiting to fall. It's a big tree. I think we might poison the tree. We had bug spray out there the other day but we were trying to be secretive because Germans don't like to kill things like we do. They aren't as into setting mousetraps, ant killer, roach baits, etc. We were a little afraid we might get a good German scolding from some of the neighbors.
Speaking of the neighbors this is where moving into our house has been a little awkward. Living on base has been....essentially a security blanket. We had a nice little apartment, a cleaning lady, WIFI, 2 TVs, free continental breakfast and a coffee machine 24 hours a day not to mention, we could walk to the PX Mall which had lots of stores and restaurants--and all English speaking! Yeah, we're excited to move in the house and get this adventure started but, it is challenging. We were outside yesterday and an older German lady with a little basket saw me in the yard and came running over to meet me. She was all smiles and just a chattering away. I of course, had no idea what she was saying. I finally told her in the best German I could that I spoke little German and much more English. She smiled, kept talking and said something about her husband speaking English. It's a little embarrassing to be honest. I feel ashamed I don't know their language although I have been working on it and will continue! I will be taking a class soon! Not an hour or so later, the same thing happened again with a neighboring man. Again, super nice guy- I mean, I guess. He could've been saying all sorts of mean things but he looked so darn jolly that I'm pretty sure he was a friendly fellow. It amazes me how friendly these people are. Everywhere we go! I really expected different! Today I was walking the dogs down this street and this girl started waving at me...I was thinking "Oh great, here we go again!" but, this girl was American! And they live right across the street from us. She came over, introduced herself and we chatted for a while. She, her husband and four kids have lived here for a while with her husband's job. She said the neighbors were great and she loved the town. Reassuring for sure!
A Cirque du Soleil -Alegria show is coming to Stuttgart at the Porsche Arena in a few weeks. I've never seen a Cirque show and would absolutely love to go but it's $460 for two tickets!! (those are the cheap seats) So, we'll see!
Mike is leaving for Belgium Tuesday for a couple of days. He will be traveling a bit with his job but as soon as we do the meet and greet with the new daycare place, I will be able to go with him on some of these trips! He's going to Lisben, Slovakia and Instanbul soon as well- Not sure if I'm interested in those. I think one is a third world country. I'll have to do a little reading. I'm not geographically educated.
That's all I have for now....
