Pictures have arrived!

Long overdue, I know.  But here they are!! 

As we go into our second month in Germany- I feel like we are starting to settle in some.  We found a house off base, it's about a 25 minute drive to work for Bry, but he's okay with that.  It's a little further out than we'd planned, however, the house is amazing.  Here in Germany, usually the rent contract is on a month to month basis.  So, in a year, if we decide that it's just too far for us, we can always move in closer to base.  We wanted to submerse ourselves in Germany, in the culture and see how we liked it.  So far, so good.  Our home (pictures of the house are at the very end of blog) is adorable.  And huge.  So much bigger than what we could afford in the states- which is polar opposite of what we had been told about housing here.  We live on a side street, so the only traffic is the cars that belong to the homes- which are 3 other homes besides ours on our street.  Kind of like a dead-end cul-de-sac if you will.  There's a walking trail literally one block from our front door, and so that is awesome.  We have went on a couple walks- but it's been so cold that we haven't done more.  Cannot wait for Spring when we can go a few times a week. 

The kids have been doing great.  Aside from a few issues that we sort of expected (listening, testing, etc) they have adjusted pretty well.  They love our house, and are use to it I think now.  Petey hasn't adjusted as well as I expected he would.  He's still pretty whiny and paces a lot.  I've noticed just in the past week that he's started settling down some and is a little less high strung during the day- so hopefully he will chill out.

Bryant has been super busy at work.  The first couple weeks we were here, he only had to go in a handful of times- but was off for the majority of the first 2 weeks.  Since he's been back, he's been putting in a lot of hours.  He likes the shop he is in, but says it is very very disorganized and lacking any real leadership.  It's a large shop, with almost 20 people working in it.  It's the biggest shop he's been in so far, and he is use to max 7 people- so it is an adjustment for him. 

I've caught a cold.... second since we've been in Germany.  I am hoping the kids don't catch it this time, but I guess turn about is fair play (haha).  I caught it from them last time.  I'm really liking the house, and the area.  I'm not real fond of how far it is from base- remember- we haven't lived off base in a LONG time.  So getting use to living off base, in another country is a bit of a challenge.  I have been to the German market a few times- and have only ran into a problem one time when looking for paper plates.  No one there spoke English.  They had no idea what I was asking for, and I had no idea what they were telling me.  So they kept showing me tortillas.  We finally got it figured out- if you are good at the game Charades- you'd be a pro here in Germany. 

I'm having a hard time adjusting to being here though as well.  I'm pretty homesick, and craving familiarity and comfort.  You can't just run down to your local Target or Fred Meyer, and everything off base is priced in Euro.  If I pull 40euro out of the ATM, we get charged almost 55 American dollars. 

I can't just call my family or friends whenever I want to, it's a large time difference so that's been hard as well.  I know once our things get here (MARCH 5TH! yay!!) things will be easier, I will have my "stuff" back, and things to do.  The weather has been pretty crummy, so I have been in the house with not much to do. 

Anyway- enough of that pity party! 

A couple weekends ago, we went with some friends to try our hand at Indian food.  A first time for both of us- and we LOVED it.  The kids enjoyed it as well- which was shocking to us since they haven't been liking much here yet.  (even American food- so they're just being picky!)  It's definitely a place we will take family, and a place we will return to.  Last weekend, was our friends daughters birthday, and she chose Mexican for her dinner.  We went to a place off base called Cantina's.  NOT what we were use to, but it was good.  The chips and salsa, in Bryant and my opinion, was definitely the best part- they were GOOD. 

Other then that, we have tried one German restaurant with those same friends in their town of Weilerbach. (All w's are pronounced as a V) It was delicious!!  We were very thrilled that our first German meal was amazing- so we are anxious to try more.

 This is a little pond in a park in the town of Weilerbach, which is where some of our friends live.

A zipline in that same park.  Kids loved it.

 Sydney's turn.  That is Mike with her, one of Bryant's good friends. (We were stationed with this family at Shaw AFB in South Carolina.)

 First German coffee from a Bakerei- it was delish!

 The kids waiting on breakfast one morning a few days after we arrived.  This was in our TLF kitchen. (Temporary Living Facility provided by the military)

 Driving through roads of Germany. 

 This sign means Exit.

 This is 20 euro.  Their money is all different colors depending on the amount.  Also- they have coins for 2euro and 1euro.  Weird!  If you pay for something with a 5euro bill and it only cost 1euro, you will get two 2 euro coins back. 

 We got this sign shortly after we got here.  LOVE LOVE it!

 We took a trip to Rothenburg ODT, Germany.  This was our group. It was a blast, and SUCH a beautiful place.  We will definitely return there once it warms up. It was freezing this day.  It's about a 2.5 hour drive from us.  Following pictures are from Rothenburg.  The city is surrounded by a stone wall from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when.  There were even bowman's points and such that they used.  It was unreal to see, and even harder to imagine it in use.

 This is the entrance to the city.(above)

 These pasteries are called "Shneederballen" (no idea how to spell it) but they are famous for these.  We all tried them, and were NOT impressed.  No flavor actually.  They are basically a pie dough rolled in a cool way, and then cooked and topped with chocolate, sugar, ect.  Not impressed!

 This was amazing.  I'm assuming it's the center of town.  I believe it was 5 o'clock and the bells started chiming and little "people" popped out of the windows.  It was like a real life coo-coo clock!

 This is a picture outside our window at our home. 

 Picture (zoomed in) of our town from our 2nd story window

 On a walk on the walking path I wrote about above.

 There was another dog playing and Petey would NOT look at me!

 Our home! (not our cars)

 Side of home

Back of home.  It's a duplex home- but you'd never know it.  We never hear our neighbors, ever.  So that's very nice.  I guess it helps they are a quiet couple- maybe they hear us?? haha!!

Anyway- that's our life so far!  Check back soon for more updates!

xoxo

k.