Ever see a 26 year old turn into a 12 year old?

Isn't he adorable!?

I was sitting here, eating my jelly beans, and I thought I would post the fun...and most activity of our day. We really over did it on the adventuring yesterday so most of the day was us either sleeping, or wishing that we were sleeping but Mikey did have enough time to go pick up his new toy. This is officially his 2nd new bike and this one was kinda pre-used but I still say it counts because it is in beautiful condition. Hopefully we will find me one soon!

Vogelweh is for lovers

HALLO! We have now been here three days and are getting our sea legs....or German legs. We are currently staying, and will most likely be living, on Vogelweh which just happens to be part of an Airforce instalation. If I havent mentioned it yet, everything here is Airforce, which is not a bad thing, the housing is better, but we are sorta outta the loop when it comes to info because...well...its they dont really tell us. This is not a big deal, it just means we are stuck finding out things by ourselves, or my way which is asking every stranger I meet about 8 zillion questions. I can't help that I am friendly and proactive. I will not be miserable like some other wives here and sit around and do nothing, I need activities...for free or reasonable prices. Today I convinced my husband after much whining and complaining to go off post with me, our first big adventure! No map, slight direction from the lady at the movie theater, and a few euro in our pockets and apparently inappropriate shoes on my part. I got super scared about half way to the gate and have officially decided that I have Stockholm syndrome, I resent the gates and the confinement but when I go to leave I dont want to, super wierd. So off we went into a foreign country! It was the most terrifying experience of my life. Germany is very nice but the safety net is a little thinner here. After much walking we found part of K-town, which is apprently very spread out, and a McDonalds. The prices are more expencive and nothing is in english so it wasnt as comforting as you would think. There were also no trash cans, which I have yet to figure out. Everyone put their trays on wracks with all the trash still on them. I'll let ya know when I figure that one out. Come to find out, along the way, in Germany...everything is in German, go figure! Like no english....NONE! Atleast on street signs and most buildings. Sooooo there are lots of things that look important or like warnings, but theres not a ton you can do when you cant read them. Note to self, learn German, atleast enough to know if your walking into something bad. Luckily, we didnt but still. We walked and walked and walked and learned that, atleast in the part that we were in, there are lots of houses and resteraunts and thats about it! It was fun though, and we saw a swan in a pond, who was just hanging out and swam right to us for pictures which was epic. We basically walked about 4 or 5 hours and then came back. We ended up sampling German Korean food and German Mexican food, niether would I reccomend. It was alot of fun and have learned alot in the past three days.
1. Germans don't believe in air conditioning or elevators
2. They are unbelievably eco friendly
3. They don't pick up on subtle hints, if you want something you HAVE to ask for it. Nothing is assumed.
4. If you see a bathroom, GO! There wont be another for a while!
5. Relationships are built and if they dont know you they really dont want to help you.
6. They will stare at you, alot.
7. Meals should take you a while, so they will leave you to it and wont come back for what seems like forever.
8. Its hard to speak even words you know in German because english runs out of your mouth first. I would say thank you about 4 times before "Danka" would run out of my mouth.
9. Learn basic laws before you set out in a new country. We jay walked several times and I'm not sure thats okay here.
Those are just a few things, I'm sure there is more but I cant think of them right now. I will tackle the shuttle on monday and I'm sure will have more funny stories then.

                                         The symbol of Kaiserslautern- The K-town fish!

                                                                Isn't she beautiful!

                                                          My first real German beer

                                                          Totally scandanavian house

Guten Tag!

So I am finally in the right mind set and have seen enough so that I can communicate my expereinces. After a 9.5 hr flight on a small international plane where the audio didnt work for the movie, and there were no games or outlets for us to plug things into, we arrived in Frankfurt. Now I will spare you the details of the next four or five hours, because they are negative and I dont want to remember them if I come back and read this. I will say that the Army is not perfect and I do not like being herded around like a cow. I will also tell you how scarey it is to be affiliated with the United States Army in another country, even if they are our allies. We were escorted from the airport to the Shariton hotel, which is in another part of the air port, and then from the holding station to the private bus to take us to our posts by security. It was fast, we took back elevators and back doors, and there were armed men in our path along the way, and I think at that point I realized that we weren't in Kansas anymore. We were told if we were going to travel we should blend in as much as possible and try not to call any attention to ourselves, especially in affiliation with the Army. It was very frightening and interesting but I will not allow it to ruin my out look. We are currently living in the German countryside. Kaiserslautern...or atleast the Airforce base we are currently living on is fairly cut off from everything else and reminds me of Colorado. We arent very close to anything and so far it seems as though a car is required to do almost everything, even on post we are very spread out. It was not what I was expecting and I was shocked and upset for the first 24ish hours I was here which is why I avoided writing e-mails and on here, I hoped it would pass. I have adjusted my expectations and have exentuated the positives about this place, sometimes out loud, and I am feeling better. Its beautiful and the temperature is perfect, not to hot, not to cold, and nice and cool under the trees. The scenery is breath taking and the trees are a shade of green I have never really experienced in the states. They have trails and side walks all over and I have taken several walks. I really need a folding chair so that I can sit right off my favorite path and read, they have benches but they are old and wood and I would imagine home to creepies and crawlies. Michael says we are going to try  to get off post on saturday, but I'm not getting my hopes up since I havent seen a gate in about a day and a half lol. All in all I think we will be fine as soon as we get our licenses and our cars, but untill then I will use my legs and enjoy the scenery. Who knows, this may turn into a what to do when there is nothing to do blog!

I'm leaving on a jet plane, dont know when I'll be back again

Well, it has finally come. The end, the beginning, the reason that I started writing this blog, the big move across the big pond. Just another chapter in life, and yet I am terrified. I seem to be the type of person who gets thrown into change, or dragged kicking and screaming, and I eventually level out and it transforms from change into normalcy, but this is ussually not a smooth process. I am sad to leave the place where in just 6 months I learned how to be an adult, and where I relearned everything I thought I already knew. I experienced the worst heart break and some of the best most supportive people I have ever met in my entire life. It has been a wonderful ride. I became an Army wife here. That was earth shattering for me because I thought after 6 years with Michael I knew my stuff, but I couldnt have been more wrong. Yet everyone I met, embraced me and it really did feel like family. K-town has big shoes to fill. I will miss Theresa and Sarah more than I can ever express and I hope you both know how much you mean to me. I've never been accepted that quickly and felt so loved and taken care of, you are amazing friends. I say ARE because we are no where near done :). I love you both to pieces! So this is not good bye, its just cya later!  I'll end with a quote that was given to me by a person who has probably taught me one of the biggest lessons that I have learned while I have been here, "As you sit side by side through this roller coaster of life remember to scream from the peaks, hold hands through the dips, laugh through the loops and enjoy every twist and turn. The ride is much better when you share it together." I'll post again when I have internet.  Ciao!

Dallas/The Helmeci halfway house

 Building from which JFK was shot

 This was a plaque telling the history, but it didnt come out well.

 The old court house, now the Red Museum

 YUM!

 I think she died...........

 ....................................

Nope! Shes good!

So we are bout 3ish days away from the big move and I am EXAUSTED, which is why I havent blogged in the past couple of days. We have been sooo busy and there just has been no time or energy for anything extra. Thursday we made the two hour trip to Dallas to ship our car and got to have a little mini vacation while we were there. Though we didnt get much packing done that night, we did get our minds off things and were able to relax a little. My aunt picked us up from the POV and took us around Dallas to some neat spots and we had a really good time. I finally got to see where JFK was shot, which was super cool, and oddly enough see the X that marks the spot where the fatal bullet....well, did its job. I learned alot, and realized that the shooting of JFK was never really covered in my years of school, go figure. Since then we have moved in with my Texas bestie Theresa (Tessa to her friends ;] ) and have been tackeling air mattresses and going on some crazy adventures. Friday night we bought an air mattress with a batterie pump, which of course broke mid-air up, and we had to trek back to the walmart for a different one...at 12 am. Yep, we were tired! Then we ended up getting a manual pump since we no longer trust technology and took turns pumping up the bed, see pictures. It was a crazy night, but we laughed alot :). Well I am happy to say we are officially moved out of our appartment and in to the Helmeci home. Thank heavens for good friends, they dont come along very often. I will try to keep posting as we get closer but I'm afraid that the posts may be less for a while, its just alot to handle :P.

This one's for the girls

Kidnapped trip to Temple with no shower circa February 2011

This is what I mean by amazing friends. Grown women who will do this with you are solid, hope girls are this cool in Germany. DISCLAIMER: We know they are ugly, thats why we put them on.

My beautiful wonderful friends/ empty appartment

I don't think I could blog about my PCS or my time here at Ft Hood without mentioning my wonderful, amazing friends, because without them I don't know what I would do. Though we met in kind of an unconventional way, I thank God everyday for them all. Kidnapped trips to Temple and Round Rock, Starbucks trips, book club, playing dress up, even at our age, has made my time here memorable and I will miss them sooo much! The recycle material letters above were part of an Easter present from Sarah and Theresa and they are so cool I had to show them off. I'll miss you both more than you'll ever know. Its amazing to me how quickly I was accepted and included in their lives and I have been shown nothing but love and support since we met. I don't think I have ever connected with anyone so quickly and it feels like we have known each other all our lives. If this is what the Army is about, then count me in. Your both wonderful :).

        When I got home on Sunday night I was amazed to find hardly anything in my apartment. I understand that we are moving, but its one of those things that doesn't hit you until you actually see it for yourself. This is for real, we are really moving across and ocean, WOW! It is difficult being an Army wife, and I have a new respect for the women around me, especially the ones with kids! We sleep on the floor and eat frozen dinners because all we have is the oven  and fridge that belongs to the apartment complex. If you know me, then you know I grew up never having to go without things, I always had everything I needed and most of what I wanted, so this is super new and not fun at all. I went to pack one of my bags this morning, only to find that the movers had taken it last week, and again my friends came to my rescue by offering me some of theirs. It made my day. There's a lot we have to pay for and I'm glad luggage didn't have to be added to the long list. I'll take more pictures when we finally move out, but for now this is what we are working with.

The Dirty Thirty/ Happy Easter!

Saturday was my big brothers 30th birthday and so we celebrated one last time as a family, at least for a while, and it was a blast! We went to the Irish pub in Durango, Colorado and went ice skating there as well. Lemme tell ya, if there was one thing I would do everyday for the rest of my life, it would be ice skating! Dad was our photographer and cheerleader because he says he has no coordination on roller blades and doesn't see why ice skates would be any different, which I suppose is a valid argument ;). I fell three times, Brad fell twice and Mom only fell once, the old pro! I tried to do tricks and things and that's usually when I would hit the ice. All in all we had a blast and I would have blogged that night had I not just been exhausted from birthdaying and Easter egg dying. Easter was not as fun unfortunately :(. We only spend a few hours at home on Easter Sunday because my brother took me to Albuquerque to catch my flight back to Texas, and even though I was happy to be coming home, I wish we could have stayed longer. I got to eat a couple Easter eggs and got some candy though so all was not lost :).