I debated about blogging again already or not, because not much has happened since the last entry. However, a week has passed, and I know there are a few people who care about all the little, tiny things that go on.
The main thing that has happened is that we have a phone and Internet (Woohoo!). We were beginning to get desperate to be in touch, and spent the majority of the first day on the phone. We stayed up late catching up, and regretted it the next day.
For the most part, things are going pretty well. This is Ben's last week of in-processing, so next week he will be with the band, which he is really excited about. He brought a horn home and has begun practicing upstairs in the maid's quarters. Natalie and I have taken the bus several times, to the store or library, just to give us something to do. One day I took the wrong bus, and it cost us and extra hour and a half on the bus. As you can imagine, I was very frustrated! Some days I get a little down about not having our belongings or much to do, but I am trying to be patient. We are wanting to buy some curtains and area rugs, and it is discouraging that we don't have a car to go around and shop for them. Not that there is a whole lot of places to look. I think it will seem a little more like home once we get something in this empty apartment. So that's where we are, just waiting...
I have met some really great people. There is a lady in the band that lives at the bottom of out stairwell, Kailin. We visit with them several times a week. They have a 1 year old little boy that Natalie gets to interact with. Kristin, a band wife, has showed me around some and given me rides. Today, Nat and I went with her to MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers). Natalie got to play with some kids her age, and I mingled with other moms as we learned about decorating cakes, painted a plate, and talked about how our families celebrate birthdays. It was really nice to get out.
Tomorrow begins a 4-day weekend, which is not so exciting when you have noway to go anywhere and nothing to do. Maybe we will catch the cable car and go downtown. Next week will bring busier days for Ben, and I have several appointments to attend. Another week closer to getting our stuff!!!
Take care & God bless!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Out of Touch
Even though we are now in our house, it is so hard to be without all of our belongings, without a car, without a phone, and without the Internet. We hope to have Internet at the house by next week, and our belongings will come by the end of next month. I am trying to be patient.
So how are we surviving? We have loaner furniture and have checked out some necessary items, such as small appliances and kitchen gadgets. Other than that, there is a lady, Kaylynn, who is in the band, who has tried her best to keep us as comfortable as possible. She lives at the bottom of our stairwell, and has brought over several armfuls of things for us to borrow, such as a bathmat, a super-comfortable pillow, and even a few bath toys. Just some little things that make a big difference.
By now we are adjusted pretty well to the time, although it is a little hard to get used to it being light outside until 10 pm. Our next obstacle we are tacking is potty-training. I thought it would be a good time since we have no furniture, so we bought panties yesterday and she is pretty excited. Hope it goes as well as I think it will in my mind!
A friend that Ben knew previously, Will, took us out one evening to downtown Heidelberg to eat and sight-see a little. We ate at a place called Vetters, where I ate snitzel and Ben had a German sausage. As expected, it was delicious. The restraunt was located by the river and the castle, so we got to see that, although we did not take our camera, but we hope to return soon.
For now, we are still gathering essential items and trying to get settled in a bit. Hope to have the Internet soon.
Take care and God bless!
So how are we surviving? We have loaner furniture and have checked out some necessary items, such as small appliances and kitchen gadgets. Other than that, there is a lady, Kaylynn, who is in the band, who has tried her best to keep us as comfortable as possible. She lives at the bottom of our stairwell, and has brought over several armfuls of things for us to borrow, such as a bathmat, a super-comfortable pillow, and even a few bath toys. Just some little things that make a big difference.
By now we are adjusted pretty well to the time, although it is a little hard to get used to it being light outside until 10 pm. Our next obstacle we are tacking is potty-training. I thought it would be a good time since we have no furniture, so we bought panties yesterday and she is pretty excited. Hope it goes as well as I think it will in my mind!
A friend that Ben knew previously, Will, took us out one evening to downtown Heidelberg to eat and sight-see a little. We ate at a place called Vetters, where I ate snitzel and Ben had a German sausage. As expected, it was delicious. The restraunt was located by the river and the castle, so we got to see that, although we did not take our camera, but we hope to return soon.
For now, we are still gathering essential items and trying to get settled in a bit. Hope to have the Internet soon.
Take care and God bless!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Catching up...with time
The next few days have been a lot better. We are now at the guesthouse- with cable, Internet, and a phone, so we feel a lot better.
We went to look at houses (apartments). There are two housing sections here- Patrick Henry Village (PHV) and Mark Twain Village (MTV). The apartments at PHV are quite a bit smaller, but also located at PHV is the commissary, PX, movie theater, bowling alley, and library, so I was hoping to get into an apartment over there. However, there were only two open, both at MTV. There is not much else over there, just a few small parks.
So, we took a house at MTV, and I am getting a little excited about it. It was about 400 sq. foot larger, and with the baby on the way, we need all the space we can get. The apartment comes with a few pros and cons. Some features I am less excited about is that fact that it is located on the top floor (3rd), the laundry facility is in the basement, and the electrical outlets are all European. But, the size makes up for most of the negative aspects. There are huge windows overlooking a large mountain, so it is a beautiful view. The floors are all tile and wood. There is adequate storage, and in addition to all of the built in closets, we have a small storage in the basement, ideal for storing bikes and things that you use frequently, a large community room about the size of our house, and each unit also has a maid's room, which is like a small guestroom located on the top floor, that we will most likely use for storage. I guess the dogs and I will get plenty of exercise with all of the stairs!
The band will be relocating in about a year, to another post about 20 min away. I am not sure why they are, I think something about better facilities. So, in the meantime we will reside at Mark Twain Village on the top floor of Building 3703.
One last thing before going-
Our mailing address is:
CMR 432, Box 167
APO AE 09081
Take care & God Bless!
We went to look at houses (apartments). There are two housing sections here- Patrick Henry Village (PHV) and Mark Twain Village (MTV). The apartments at PHV are quite a bit smaller, but also located at PHV is the commissary, PX, movie theater, bowling alley, and library, so I was hoping to get into an apartment over there. However, there were only two open, both at MTV. There is not much else over there, just a few small parks.
So, we took a house at MTV, and I am getting a little excited about it. It was about 400 sq. foot larger, and with the baby on the way, we need all the space we can get. The apartment comes with a few pros and cons. Some features I am less excited about is that fact that it is located on the top floor (3rd), the laundry facility is in the basement, and the electrical outlets are all European. But, the size makes up for most of the negative aspects. There are huge windows overlooking a large mountain, so it is a beautiful view. The floors are all tile and wood. There is adequate storage, and in addition to all of the built in closets, we have a small storage in the basement, ideal for storing bikes and things that you use frequently, a large community room about the size of our house, and each unit also has a maid's room, which is like a small guestroom located on the top floor, that we will most likely use for storage. I guess the dogs and I will get plenty of exercise with all of the stairs!
The band will be relocating in about a year, to another post about 20 min away. I am not sure why they are, I think something about better facilities. So, in the meantime we will reside at Mark Twain Village on the top floor of Building 3703.
One last thing before going-
Our mailing address is:
CMR 432, Box 167
APO AE 09081
Take care & God Bless!
The first days
Well, we are finally here. The trip was not too bad, although I started feeling kinda sick during the last hour, mainly due to the lady in front of us wearing some old lady perfume. Natalie was wonderful, thanks to TVs installed on the back of every seat . After arriving at the airport, we were shuffled around like herd of cattle, and eventually sorted and shipped on a bus. I was unconscious for most of that ride. We got on post and met with our Sponsor, Alan. He showed us around a bit, and then dropped us off at our hotel, which was off post.
By now, it was about four in the evening, and we had been up for 24+ hours. We went for a short walk to look around the area. By this point, we had realized that we were one bag short, which we thought only contained some toys for Natalie, but upon further review, we realized that it also had our shower bag, which stored our toothbrush, Ben's razor, and diapers for Natalie among other things that we have missed. We came upon a market, and purchased the bare essentials. Then, we were off in search of food.
Next, we stumbled upon a coffee shop which boasted that they served Paninis. Recognizing the type of food, we entered. We soon discovered that they only had a few items left. Ben ate salmon patties, he thinks, and I chose a turnover-looking thing stuffed with spinach, which turned out to be cold and not very tasty. Feeling frustrated, we walked back to the hotel, to dine at the restaurant there, where we both ate angel hair pasta and shared an $8 bottle of water. Exhausted, we returned to our room, feeling lost, out of place, and frustrated.
We got up the next morning and started the process of checking in. We asked a lot of questions, ate Burger King, and went to the commissary before going back to the hotel. Feeling slightly more rested, we had a much better day. We all took a nap, then ventured across the street to the ice cream shop in celebration of Natalie’s second birthday. She quickly announced that she wanted diet coke ice cream, not sure what that is all about, but she ate her blue bubblegum ice cream, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Our third day, we were able to check into a hotel on post, which is much more accommodating. Here we have a bathtub, a few American channels, and access to the internet!!! We have two joining rooms, which are connected by the bathroom and a small kitchen. We slept very well, and are up and dressed. Today, we are headed to see the houses, apartment-style, and hopefully select ours. I hear that our choices are all on the top floor. Oh well, we are ready to trade in our suitcases for a closet!
Take care and God bless!
By now, it was about four in the evening, and we had been up for 24+ hours. We went for a short walk to look around the area. By this point, we had realized that we were one bag short, which we thought only contained some toys for Natalie, but upon further review, we realized that it also had our shower bag, which stored our toothbrush, Ben's razor, and diapers for Natalie among other things that we have missed. We came upon a market, and purchased the bare essentials. Then, we were off in search of food.
Next, we stumbled upon a coffee shop which boasted that they served Paninis. Recognizing the type of food, we entered. We soon discovered that they only had a few items left. Ben ate salmon patties, he thinks, and I chose a turnover-looking thing stuffed with spinach, which turned out to be cold and not very tasty. Feeling frustrated, we walked back to the hotel, to dine at the restaurant there, where we both ate angel hair pasta and shared an $8 bottle of water. Exhausted, we returned to our room, feeling lost, out of place, and frustrated.
We got up the next morning and started the process of checking in. We asked a lot of questions, ate Burger King, and went to the commissary before going back to the hotel. Feeling slightly more rested, we had a much better day. We all took a nap, then ventured across the street to the ice cream shop in celebration of Natalie’s second birthday. She quickly announced that she wanted diet coke ice cream, not sure what that is all about, but she ate her blue bubblegum ice cream, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Our third day, we were able to check into a hotel on post, which is much more accommodating. Here we have a bathtub, a few American channels, and access to the internet!!! We have two joining rooms, which are connected by the bathroom and a small kitchen. We slept very well, and are up and dressed. Today, we are headed to see the houses, apartment-style, and hopefully select ours. I hear that our choices are all on the top floor. Oh well, we are ready to trade in our suitcases for a closet!
Take care and God bless!
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