Vacation Day 2- Cars and Castles

Okay, so Sunday morning arrived with well rested family members, sans my sister and brother-in-law who spent much of the night convincing their 2 year old when he went to bed it was not for a nap! Our original game plan was to drive to Stuttgart to go through the Wilhelma Zoo. We arrived to the zoo which looked quite impressive from the outside. However, due to a large storm that had come through Germany the night before, the zoo's opening had been postponed. So this was as much of the zoo as we saw.

We were not sure how long it would be so we decided to see what else Stuttgart had to offer. Luckily, my dad had a very handy guide book and we were able to locate the Mercedes Museum not far away that was very appealing given the rain that had begun to fall on us! Jack had more fun that I thought he would because he enjoyed listening to his headset tell him about the cars.

My husband enjoyed the Mercedes Museum much more than the potential zoo visit. He was happy to be surrounded by beautiful cars! It was definitely intriguing to see the progression of things and read about the part they played in providing vehicles for the war. This old style double decker bus was one of my favorites!

After walking through the museum, we piled back into the cars and headed to Fussen to see the King's Castles. We took a tour of the Hohenswangau and Neuschwanstein Casltes. Unfortunately, the Neuschwanstein Castle, the castle Snow White's castle was modeled after, was covered in scaffolding all on one side. It was sad but it was still very cool to walk through it. The throne room was the coolest thing to me because it was just as impressive as it seems in the fairy tales...minus the throne. :) Much of the castle remains unfinished but what little was done is very beautiful!

Although we had to walk through the pouring rain much of the way from one castle to the other- we tried to make the best of it. It gave the high altitude a very smoky, yet beautiful view.

After exploring the castles, we set our sights on finding a scrumptious place to dine. We drove towards a town not too far away from the castles. My dad's guide book came in handy again as we selected a seafood restaurant that claimed to provide quite a view! The guide book did not disappoint, the view was spectacular! My parents right outside the restaurant:

We dug into numerous different dishes. I had schnitzel with pommes! My nephew ordered pancakes with looked tasted more like funnel cake!! Yummm. After a long and wet day, we once again got back into the car and drove to Munich where we would lay our heads for the night. Sleepy crew ready for day three...

Family Arrives- Day One!

Okay, let the trip blogging begin! Last Saturday morning, we picked up our family from the airport at about 10:00, which was 4am their time! Needless to say, they were a little groggy but all in all glad to see us as we were glad to see them. It had been since February since we had seen everyone. I mentioned that this would be the first WHOLE family vacation that we would have since my hubby would be in tow this time, but I don't recall if I shared who the WHOLE is. My mom and dad (of course), my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband, and my sister's two boys- the best nephews ever! The boys seemed to do fairly well on the flight over and even got in a little rest.

The family showed up joking about how my dad left the rest of the family curb-side upon arrival to the airport, because he was already checked in by the time the rest got to the door. :) We teased him about it the rest of the week. Anyhow, due to my dad hustling and bustling everyone through check-in they arrived at their departure gate early where my oldest nephew got to meet the pilot who let him check out the works after landing!

So after they went through customs and got all their bags, they finally emerged from the doors! We were delighted! My nephews were particularly excited about coming to my house, as they have never been before. Every time we go home they would ask to come to my house and I would always have to tell them it was too far. They were also excited about seeing their furry cousins, Cash and Trooper. They have met Cash but never met Trooper before. My youngest nephew is much more a doggie enthusiast and gave lots of hugs and kisses! Anywho, we got the family and luggage loaded up and headed back to our house to let them all rest a little. The first disappointment came from the autobahn. A lot of people have this picture in their head of what the autobahn will be like. My brother-in-law pictured one particular road with a lot of lanes. Much to his disappointment, he discovered it was really just the name for the highways here. At one point he said, "This is the autobahn?" I replied, "Yep, we are going about 100 right now." 

After the autobahn enchantment wore off, we arrived on post to our house. Everyone was slightly hungry so we figured it would be best to eat lunch first and then let everyone rest before going to dinner. My brother and sister and their spouses as well as my dad all piled in the explorer eager to check out the commissary and make sure they got lunch pickings of their choice. It was very funny to hear all of them talking about how cheap things were. My sister-in-law was jealous that her favorite kind of yogurt was only 60 cents here, she pays 4 for $3 back home I guess. My sister got teased about bringing her camera until it came in handy when her silly hubby wanted to capture something funny from the "german" section.

If you cannot see it, the package reads, "putenburst" which my brother-in-law deemed poot & burst! He is a goof! After shopping and eating we all rested, our large sectional couch came in handy- despite the fact we kept offering beds for everyone to rest in!

After a nice long rest period where everyone took turns dozing, we took my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law to check into their room in the hotel, because they would not all fit at our house! We got them checked in and enjoyed dinner on post at our village grille since we would get plenty of german cuisine over the coming week. The nephews had been asking to go play on the large playground since they saw it when we arrived. They were delighted and it helped tucker them out so they could get sleep.

After playing we enjoyed getting an early start to bed to help fight off more jet lag. This was our first day. Look for the post about day two which includes: zoo (sort of), museum, and castles!!

Trier

This past weekend we ventured out to Trier, which is a little over an hour away from where we live. Trier is known as the oldest city in Germany. The Roman influence of ancient ruins is still present in this German city and it was very neat to walk around and experience the mixture of the two cultures. There is a cathedral in Trier which houses the Holy Robe. This Holy Robe is said to be the robe that Jesus wore. It is a seamless robe that is said to be the robe they cast lots for. The robe is typically kept out of light and not on display. Every few years they put the robe on display for a pilgrimage of believers who travel to come see the robe. The last time the robe was on display was 1996. We initially intended on waiting in line to see the robe. However, upon arrival we had trouble finding the actual cathedral and once we did we were all very hungry, looking at a 2 hour wait, and about to get rained on. Needless to  say, we abandoned the line to venture out to see other things before they closed- rather than spending all our time at the cathedral. Here is what we would have seen- had we endured the wait:

In the end, it would have been nice to see it in person but a part of me was convincing myself that nobody knows if this was indeed the robe Jesus wore so it was cool enough to be outside the church! :) Just so you know here is a glimpse of the madness outside the church:

We did get to see some other things that were very interesting like the Roman baths:

We also saw the palace, palace gardens, some other beautiful churches, and the black gate. There are more pictures on facebook that I simply do not wish to move to here because anyone that reads this is my friend on facebook and can therefore go there! :) All in all, it was a good weekend and it was great to have a mini adventure.

Market Mayhem

My sweetie and I decided to venture out to the market on Saturday, yesterday. He had something he wanted to look at and I had no objections as long as it meant that I could get a favorite treat! So we walked down to the straus, the train, and went for a ride down to the water tower in Mannheim which is where the market is. If you remember I mentioned going to the market the day after Thanksgiving. It was a little busier today so we didn't spend as much time down there as we did that day. We walked around a little. Jonathan had found some very interesting woven bracelets he wanted to look at. He ended up finding a couple he liked and is still trying to figure out how they were made.

My stipulation on going on this outing was that I got to get a favorite treat, as I mentioned earlier. I even knew how to ask for this favorite treat in German, "ein erdbeere." They do them a little differently here in Germany and frankly I think they have the right idea- put them on a skewer! If you still haven't figured out what I am munching on- choc covered strawberries!! They always choc covered goodies at these markets and they usually are always on a skewer- pretty good idea if you ask me! They also had choc covered grapes, bananas, and numerous others but I stuck with my tried and true strawberries!! They were good to the last bite!

Jon also got a treat but a somewhat more traditional German food. He got a sandwich from the meat stand. When I asked him what kind of meat it was, he called it mystery meat. :) I think it was the best mystery meat he has ever had because it didn't take him very long to finish it! While I really enjoyed the whole day the best part of the day for me was the train ride. Jonathan brought his ipod along and we just sat and shared headphones like a high school couple and listened to favorite songs and enjoyed the scenery. It was just fun to sit together and listen to songs and enjoy the German buildings on the ride home. It was a day that made me glad to be here in Germany.

Sea of Rocks

Ok so I have filled in on all the fun fall festivities. Well, the following weekend- the first weekend in November (yes that is how far I am behind!), we had a chance to go on a short overnight trip to the Sea of Rocks here in Germany. It was such a neat trip. We drove up Friday afternoon, it was a easy and short drive for the most part which was encouraging so hopefully we will have a place to take family when they visit. Friday evening we got settled in our quaint hotel room. In case you were wondering quaint is one of those words you use to politely say the place was pretty small, not to mention we had "German" style beds.**INSERT RANT ON GERMAN BEDS HERE: Germans must not like to cuddle up at night time because the biggest size mattress you will find here is a full size mattress which is pretty much considered a single bed. So as a result if you want a bigger bed their solution is to put two twin mattresses together. This may not be such a terrible solution if the frame for the bed was bigger, but nope- they just push two twin frames together...uncomfortable couple party of two!RANT ENDS HERE**

Our separate beds!

After settling into our quaint room we all met up for dinner at a restaurant down the road from our hotel. The food was certainly not bad- once it finally got there. Luckily we had good company to keep us entertained and laughing while we waited for our food. I had some sort of chicken pasta and pommes (aka fries). After dinner we met up with some of our group and enjoyed a game of poker. I usually only play poker for fun but I had an itch to play this night so the hubby agreed to let me buy in as well. Low and behold we came in first and second so we basically won the money we had spent on our trip back that night. :) Go Rupard's!!

Our winnings!

The next morning we met up for breakfast and then drove to our destination, the Sea of Rocks. This is a very interesting place to go and granted I have never been at a different time of the year I think when we went was the perfect time to go! The trees were absolutely breathtaking with all their magnificent fall-like colors. I thoroughly enjoyed looking around more than anything. It is kind of hard to describe exactly what this place is like other than to say that it is basically like climbing up a lot of rocks on your way up a mountain. I know that is not the best description in the world and it sounds dumb but it is actually kind of fun- just check out the pictures!

At the beginning of the climb before getting all sweaty! :)

Pretty trees

My handsome man!

Getting closer to the top

This was about the half way point- aka where I stopped

Jon continued conquering LARGE rocks!

The beautiful scenery on the path down

After a wonderful day together!

The Sparrow's Nest

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go on a river cruise with people in our company courtesy of FRG, family readiness group. We met in Heidelberg to board the river boat, we were on the boat for a little over an hour and then arrived in a little village for lunch and some sight seeing. We grabbed lunch and gelato, yum!! Afterwards we headed towards the castles. One of the castles we passed we could not check out because it is a private residence! YES! People live in the castle, no big deal! CRAZY!

Anyhow, we ventured further to find the remained ruins of the oldest castle of the group, built in the 12th century.  There was a tower you could climb to get a better view of the river and village below. After exploring this castle Jonathan and I headed further down to the last castle while most of the group headed back towards town. The last castle was called "The Sparrow's Nest." I assume it was called this because it was the highest of them all. The steep stairs to climb to the top took me back to the old days in our apartment in Georgia where the stairs were crazy steep.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and getting to spend time with friends and meeting some new people along the way. It was definitely an enjoyable afternoon with a pretty good workout! Here are a few pictures from the day, you can find the rest in the albums if you would like to look at more.

12th century castle

This is the one people lived in.

The "Sparrow's Nest" is in the background of this picture.

On top of the world!

Beautiful!

Rocking his TOMS!

Exploring the "Sparrow's Nest"

Kisses in the castle!

A GREAT DAY!

Hey- Where's the Cream Filling?

If you grew up anywhere close to my generation you will remember the Little Debbie commercials that reference to the title. Today is "Cream-Filled Donut" Day. Now I am not a huge fan of donuts with cream in the middle. I know, I know- I must be crazy! My hubby is a huge fan however,  so I might just walk down to the commissary and pick him up one today as a treat for when he gets home!

I figured I should probably give an update of what is going on here with the Rupard's. We have been celebrating so many birthdays lately! My father-in-law's entire family celebrates their birthdays in September. Abby and Karen have already celebrated theirs, Kaity and Pops (Tim) are this week. Kaity's is actually today! YAY! My dad's birthday is next week and we celebrated a friend's birthday here last week. It has just been birthday madness. I am hoping to get up to the post office today or tomorrow to send off our goodies to our family.

Jonathan and I out to celebrate Christina's birthday last week.

We are also keeping an ear out to hear what the plans are for us to move. We have heard we are going to be moved to Heidelberg but we are not sure when. I find this part the most frustrating of all. All the job opportunities that I will have a chance to get are in Heidelberg, so I would rather go ahead and move if that is what we are going to be doing. Unfortunately, I do not have a clue when this is going to happen which puts a huge hold on my home decorating because I do not want to decorate anymore if we are just going to be moving soon. Knowing my luck, it will be a long time though. Who knows with our blessed army!! Well that is all for now!

Busy Busy Busy

Well I have actually managed to stay quite busy this past week or so. We had Thanksgiving with friends of ours here, as well as getting into the Christmas spirit. The day before Thanksgiving my friend brought over her kids for a Thanksgiving craft. We made teepees from frosted ice cream cones. They were beautiful and yummy! Take a look at our pictures:

  

Thursday my hubby had to work but we enjoyed a nice brunch before he left of bacon, eggs, and toast. Not too long after hubby left I got to cooking! My sweet friend made an amazing turkey and a couple sides and I chipped in my own mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and macaroni and cheese (homestyle). I must admit our table looked pretty darn good! Check out the before and after pictures!

 

The weekend after Thanksgiving was dedicated to school work and checking out the Christmas market here in Mannheim. I have to admit I think it is a favorite thing of mine here, all these markets! It is like an ongoing festival!! Chrystal, Jim, Kylie, James, Jonathan, and I ventured out on Sunday to check out the Christmas market and all it had to offer!

James telling "Uncle Jon" how goofy he is!

One of the many candy booths...yummmm!

Chrystal and me

 

A shot of some of the booths.

Kylie even got to whisper in Kris Kringle's ear that she wanted a princess Barbie doll! We had fun even though I almost froze my toes off and ended up buying an extra pair of socks. Since then we have been simply enoying the snow we were given on Monday. I have not yet uploaded the better pictures of those so I will do that soon!

Ten Things I Have Learned So Far

I have been making a mental list of these things for a while now and thought it might be fun to put them up on here. So without further delay here are the top ten things I have learned while living in Germany so far.

1. Always have at least 30 euro cent! I pity pregnant women in this country. You feel like making a trip to the mall? You better go before you go or have change in case nature calls. That is right, you have to pay to use the restroom in public places here. Forget about stopping in a restaurant or cafe unless you want to endure numerous evil glares from employees for using their toiletta without purchasing anything from them first.

2. Never go without a leash. Nevermind that it is understood rule around here to have a leash on your dog when outside. This place is crawling with dogs and little kids, two of poor little Cash's favorites. It is pure torture for him to not be able to reach them when all he wants to do is be their friend.

3. Ashudengan. This is German for "sorry" or "excuse me." I have sadly not learned very much German so far but this word has come in handy more than any other. Although, do not expect to hear it very often from the Germans. Thy are not known for their consideration for others but then again they were not raised in the south as I was.

4. NO personal bubble. One thing you notice upon going anywhere remotely crowded that there is no such thing as personal space. I never would have imagined it more dangerous to manuever myself through the mall than through actual traffic. Making a left to cross over the walkway in the mall can often be more difficult than making a left turn across a busy road in a vehicle. This is also where the excuse me comes in handy...sometimes!

5. Marketplace Heaven. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday there is a market place in downtown Mannheim. You will find the court swarmed with fresh produce, cheese's, flowers, and breads. It makes shopping at the grocery store far less enchanting. Whenever I go to the marketplace I feel like I have pulled back in time to a fairy tale town where you can manuever your way through booth after booth of the most delicious looking strawberries and grapes you have ever seen.

6. Happily ever after. We were told of all the castles but I never dreamed of anything like this. It is romantical to imagine what these grand structures looked like back in their prime. We have already been to a few different castles and obviously things are really never what you imagine they were but it sure is fun to!

7. No casual Friday. I never considered myself a slob by any means but I, like most people, like to just have a jeans and t-shirt kind of day. It is much harder to have those kind of days here. Going to the mall here feels like everyone is looking to be cast for Germany's next top model. Everywhere you look people are dressed like true fashionistas. Skinny jeans, high heel boots, scarves, and oh so cute jackets! It is a nightmare for a bargain shopper!! :)

8. Pet Parade. As I mentioned in a previous blog a few weeks ago, dogs are pretty much allowed anywhere you go as long as they are on a leash. Jonathan and I have learned the hard way that just because you are allowed to take your dogs places does not mean that you should. Cash had one trip to the mall and that will be his last for a long while if not ever because of his "accident" in the shoe store. Crazy dog!!!

9. Weather Forecast? What is that? You really never know what the weather is going to be like here. They do have so-called weather forecast but the weather forecast is hardly reliable here. It could be sunny and beautiful one minute and down pouring within the next hour!

10. Confusion is now an everyday thing. I never imagined myself as someone who could or would ever live in a foreign country. Confusion has become a part of my daily life. I mist admit that I feel that I am blending in a little better. Just the other day a lady turned around and said something to me in German about this older couple and was laughing about something so I simply laughed right along with her.

I still have much to learn and experience about Germany but for now these are the top ten. I have enjoyed myself immensely thus far but as everyone knows it can be all sugar and creme filling. Maybe within the next few years I will have another top ten. Guten tag!

Permanent Housing!!

Well folks, we are officially into permanent housing. We received our key and moved in Wednesday of this week. I will do my best to get some pictures up soon. I am already planning what colors I am going to paint and all that stuff. It will feel much more like home when the rest of our belongings get here. Other than that I finished the MOST, Mannheim Orientation Spouses Tour earlier Wednesday. I learned a little bit better how to operate the train system, the Straub. We also got the chance to visit the marketplace and found a Euro Shop, our version of the dollar store!! That place will come in handy I have a feeling. We saw some beautiful catholic churches located in Mannheim that I did get pictures of with Jonathan's camera. I, unfortuantely, do not have that with me right now! :( I am doing such an awful job of providing pictures I know! I will get better when I have internet of my own I promise!!! I hope I will anyways! ;)

Jonathan has still been going through classes and next week he goes through all his orientation stuff which I might try to come and sit in if I am not busy homing! Cash is doing good. He got super hyper this morning and just ran all over the apartment and then just crashed so I decided to take that advantage to come up to the computer room near all the offices. Still on the job hunt. I filled out a packet that might allow me to work at the day care on base here. But I also heard that the elementary school needs some help with their pre-k classes so I might go by there today and inquire about that. Hopefully, something will come up soon.

I start my first online class for my master's this coming Monday and I am excited right now. In a few weeks I may be the complete opposite but right now I am excited about it. I just hope I can get my internet at home soon so I don't have to walk all the way up here in order to get my school work done. Well, I have to try to go find a planner for my school stuff so I can stay organized. Be back soon!

Address and more

Well we finally got our APO address. It is as follows:
Jonathan or Emily Rupard
CMR 418 Box 333
APO AE 09058

Just try to let me know when you send anything so I know when to go check for it. Once Jonathan starts officially working he will be able to check it when he goes in but for now he does not go over there all too often.

We are still not too sure when we will be out of temporary housing. The apartment we are in right now is not that bad but I am definitely ready to make my home here and I can't do that until we are there! lol. We did manage to get by the lending office and get some pots and pans and other essential kitchen supplies on loan. Other than that there is not much more to update you on. Jonathan did manage to find the soccer team that was put together or soldiers here and they have their first game Sunday. So as you can imagine he is very excited about playing again and is loving that.

Life on Base

Well, our first week has come and gone. Sadly, we discovered that we will not be able to get internet until we are in permanent housing. BOO!! Anyhow, Jonathan have gotten to explore a little bit since we have been here. Saturday we ventured to Heidelberg with some friends and their kids to explore a castle that is there. Sadly you could not go inside without paying for a guide and we decided not to do that this time to come back another time. We still got to see a lot and it was very neat. Jonathan and I decided to go back to downtown Heidelberg to check out the shopping. We saw a few familiar stores such as Claire's and a version of Forever 21. Haha. This one made Jonathan and I chuckle. So you know how over here the legal age for everything is 18 while at home it is 21. The store here is Forever 18- no joke! We thought it was funny that it got changed.

One thing we are also learning that here you can pretty much take your pets with you everywhere you go. So as a result, we decided to take Cash with us on a trip we made to the mall late Saturday. Cash seemed a little overwhelmed at first so I ended up carrying him for a little while until we got into a department store that was a little less crowded. I put him down and he seemed to be doing fine. He apparently was so comfortable in the shoe store that he decided to do some stinky business as Jonathan were occupied looking at a pair of shoes. I freaked out of course and Jonathan and I tried not to bust out laughing as he grabbed some of that tissue paper that gets stuffed in shoes and we used that to scoop it up and walk VERY swiftly out of the store. Needless to say, Cash has had his first and probably LAST visit to the mall. Well, not much time left and I need to get my financial aid figured out before my hour on the library computer runs up.

Saying Goodbye

Well this past week has been really rough and we have not even gotten to the worst of it yet. Sunday morning Jonathan and I went to church with his mom's family and had to say goodbye to some of the people there. Those people are some of the most caring people you will ever meet. After church we headed down to Winterville to catch the tail end of a family reunion where I had to bid numerous sweet cousins goodbye as well as my 90 year old grandfather. That one was difficult because I sincerely hope and pray that is not the last time I give that great man a hug here on earth.

Monday, Jonathan and I were at the apartment all day cleaning, packing, and trashing. Tuesday we had some help from his grandparents loading things to go to Rena's house. We decided since we were headed that way to meet up with my sister, Josh, and the boys for lunch and a little time to hang out. We met up at Zaxby's and enjoyed lunch before heading back to their house to play with Jack and Sam one last time as a 2 year old and a sweet baby less than a year old. Jack enjoyed running from Umple Jonafin and it made me sad that Jonathan has missed so much of them already. Jonathan just met Sam on Sunday and is already telling him bye. It breaks my heart knowing I have been so priviledged to see these sweet boys grow up and laugh with them and play with them but not I can't. I am going to miss so much of them and that makes me so sad. It was so hard to feel that sweet boy give me a hug and a kiss and know that next time I see him he might have grown out of that. He will be a big 3 year old boy the next time I see him! :( Hugging my sister felt like letting go of a best friend. Ever since the boys have been born and she lived less than an hour away we have grown so much closer as sisters and as best friends. She is an amazing mommy to those boys and a great example. I love her so much and it hurt saying goodbye. I did pretty well until we pulled out of the driveway and waved goodbye from the car, I lost it. I boo hoo'd all the way to his mom's house. Thank you to my sister for making so much time for me this summer and I will forever be thankful!!! I love you so much!
Later Tuesday night Jonathan and I went to dinner with his aunt and uncle and their 3 children. We had a great time laughing and cutting up at dinner. After dinner more tears came as we had to bid them goodbye. Jonathan found it difficult to say bye to Kristina, the oldest of those 3. She is not much younger than Jonathan and they have a close bond. She is such a sweet girl who will be loved and missed.


Well Wednesday was a little bit less tearful. We headed back to the apartment in the morning to wait on the movers to come. They came a little after 12 to begin packing up the things we are taking with us to Germany. In the midst of them packing some others guys showed up to work on the air conditioner, washer, and dryer. Then my dad came to take a few things for us in his truck. Our apartment was pack full of people moving all around and trying to get stuff done. It was crazy there for a little while. Once they were all gone Jonathan's dad, stepmom, and stepsisters came up to hang out for a lil while. The girls loved it because Jonathan and I were giving away stuff left and right. Even Karen took home a few prizes! lol. ;) Thanks girls for taking those off our hands. They helped us clean up a little and get things closer to being ready to go and we enjoyed spending time with them. We will be seeing Tim again but we did have to say goodbye to the girls. I know they will have grown up so much next time we see them. Well Jonathan has yet to meet the friends I made in Hartwell while he was gone. These said friends, mainly Kaitlyn, has been dying to meet him. So we managed to work it out to where we could squeeze in a dinner Wednesday night at our usual Mexican location in Hartwell. Well, Kaitlyn managed to gather so many sweet people to have dinner with us. A lot of my past volleyball players and tennis players showed up to say goodbye and eat and laugh with us. It was such a sweet time that we enjoyed so much. We walked away that night with flowers, candy, cake, frosting on the car, and cream in the face! I will post pictures soon for those of you curious about that!

Well here we are at Thursday, our last whole day here and I got to get out of bed and get going because my mom is on her way here to help us get the last of things! It all seems surreal but I guess we are as ready as we will ever be. Germany here we come!

47

We are indeed in the 40's. This week I am really excited about getting prepped to go to the beach with my family next week. It is rare that our family gets a chance to get together, much less for a vacation. We have not been on vacation as a family since the summer after I graduated high school- long time! ANyhow, it technically won't be the whole family since Jonathan won't be there and I am saddened by that. I am excited that I get to spend the week relaxing and having geniune family time for a whole week at the beach. It is a perfect vacation to have my last summer in Georgia for a while.

This week I am trying to get some major cleaning and packing done. Mama Na, Jonathan's mom, will be dogsitting for my sweet Cash next week so my mom is going to come up on Friday with the Durango to take some more stuff to put in storage at her house. Some more scheduled highlights for this week include another splash zone visit with Laura and the boys, pool time with Melanie, dinner with Bray, and lunch with Emmanuel girls Thursday afternoon, and vet appointment for Cash Friday morning.

Ok so I have been tantalizingly promising you some of the information that I have managed to dig up on Germany.
Here is the website for the elementary school that is on base. There is not a whole lot to it right now since school is not in session but feel free to browse:
http://www.mann-es.eu.dodea.edu/
This is the website for the actual base. Most of the stuff is seemingly boring to normal people but thought you might enjoy it anyhow.
http://home.mannheim.army.mil/
I was trying to put the picture in here of what might be our floor plan but it is not working very well. I will try to put it on facebook.

58

58 days to go!!

First sunburn of the summer!! YAY! That means the rest of the summer should be sunburn free!! Cash and I met Melanie and Melissa at the Cape residence and went swimming. Cash went swimming for the first time and seemed to really enjoy it. He kept going to the edge of the pool and whining to get in. He was soo cute. It was warm but fairly cloudy so it was a good day. It was fun to hang out with Melanie and Melissa and we got most of the dogs together for a party as well. Cash got to meet his new friends Baxter and Hudson. He also met Molly, and while Cash made the sincerest attempts to befriend her, Molly is not exactly sociable! :) We had fun catching up and making daquiris, virgin in case you are wondering.

On the exercise note, I have not been running the past two days because of the rain that has started each day about the time of day I desire to run. Nature is working against me! However, I have been doing a little better about what I am eating. I stocked up on fruits and veggies to snack on instead of junkie food. I know this is something Jonathan will help me with too when he is here. He has become hooked on rice down there in GTMO so I see a lot of different kinds of rice in our dinner future, which is fine by me!

Well it is hard to imagine that I have a mere two more months before I get to see my husband again. The last time I saw him was January 2nd. This past year has flown by and I could not be more grateful. Don't get me wrong some great things have happened over the past year and I know that without a doubt I have grown as an individual as well as grown as a couple. I am very excited to see what this next phase will hold for us. We are blessed to have a love like ours and even more blessed to have this wonderful opportunity to go on an adventure together in our first few years together. Well, that is all for now!

Hallo...a new adventure

Well I drove up to my sister's house on Thursday to spend the day with her and the boys. She very politely informed me that it was time for me to update my blog, so here I am.

Easter was pretty good. I went to church with mom and dad. We went to Grandaddy and Glendia's for the great food, fellowship, and finding of eggs. I had a lot of fun helping Jack with his eggs and also got in some cuddle time with sweet little Sam. I also engaged in a very interesting conversation with Brooklyn about how she weighs 11 ft tall. :) I love little kids! hehe!

I have been on spring break this week and it has been fairly uneventful aside from a few tennis practices and some spring cleaning. I did get to spend some quality time with big sis and nephews on Thursday. That was fun. Jack was very excited that he was going to the football game on Saturday. This will be his first Ga football game, even though its only a scrimmage. It will be interesting to see how he does.

On a BIGGER note, Jonathan received and has signed his contract. We will be going to...GERMANY!!! Hence, the "hallo" for the title. I am very excited. Now on to making sure everything that needs to get done actually gets done. I need to get my teaching job figured out. I need to get a physical done at the navy base in athens as well as get my military ID. I have already started to look up things to do and places to go that I hope we will get to all of them. The biggest thing about all of this is that I will be WITH my husband!! I am sooo excited. We have 17 weeks to go!!! This has been a trying time and it has definitely made our love for each other grow in a very special way that I will never regret. On the other hand I am ready to see my husband on a daily basis rather than a few months basis. God has been faithful through this time and has kept both of us strong. We are about to truly begin our lives together but it is more than that. We are also beginning our lives together by embarking on this amazing adventure. I am very excited about all of it and for my sister's sanity will try to keep you updated more often! ;)