Tuesday, January 25, 2011

We found a house!

We did it! Its the first and only place we have looked at but we fell in love and the town is so beautiful. It is a 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath apartment kinda of. Our landlady and her husband live up stairs and we have a back door that goes out to what they call a terrace and into a garden. The road to it is narrow and steep but the view from the back is gorgeous. The landlady tells us their are shops, hiking, biking, shooting range and much more near by. It'll be nice to feel comfortable walking in our own neighborhood again. Her cat instantly fell in love with Maddie and was following her around like a dog. His name is Tuttles and he is a fluffy siamese. I took a few pics but not many, so I'll post what I got. After we move in I'll take more pictures.

The steeple of the church right behind us.

Down the street.

A zoomed in view attempting to see the mountains.

The house.

Maddie on the stairs to the entrance.

The view of the terrace/garden from the door.
 (It spreads out much wider past the wall)

A view of the ride home.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Adventure to the Base Exchange (BX)

Last night was rough for me because Maddie woke up around 1 in the morning and did not go back to sleep until 3 or 3:30. I was then of course wide awake and exhausted. I had a break down and instantly called my mom. I'm doing better, just over exhausted and having a tough time adjusting. Especially when Maddie is waking up in the middle of the night.

Anyways, on to a more positive note, we walked to the BX last night and go new phones. I got the iPhone 4 and Dan got a Blackberry Curve. I couldn't resist getting the iPhone since it was an option. We headed over there again today because Dan's wasn't working for some reason and we needed a reason to get out of the house. I pulled out our first "Euros" from an ATM machine and let me tell you, they sure are interesting looking.
Maddie using her arms to balance down the stairs.

All bundled up!



The BX itself is obnoxiously huge. It is basically a mini mall and the prices are insane. I do not plan on going back unless I am super bored or absolutely need something. One of the strangest things I noticed was that you needed a quarter or a euro coin in order to use a buggy (or as Dan says, "cart") at the BX. However, when we opened a bank account the lady gave us a couple key chains with little coins on it we can use specifically for the carts.



Our buggy coin. Yes, it has smiley faces!
We also saw a mini cooper Red Bull car which was funny to us. The funniest of all though was the speeding monitoring sign. It gave the speed limit and then if the car was speeding it gave a sad face. Dan and I were cracking up over this.



Our walk home.
The side of the building we are staying in.
I think this is part of one of the running paths.






Thursday, January 20, 2011

Arriving in Germany

As of yesterday, we have finally arrived in Germany. This is our first time PSCing since Dan joined the Air Force February 2007. We left Tucson and headed to Baltimore for our first leg of the flight. When getting on the plane Monday in Tucson, Maddie was very lucky and the pilot let him sit in his seat and even where his "special hat". She was so excited and it sure did make her day. I'll let you know, not even a week before we left I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and her words were,"I want to sit in a peyplane (airplane) and drive." So yes, my pilot in training was ecstatic to receive such an offer. 




When we stopped in Baltimore for the night, my dad was able to come and see us which was so nice! I didn't get many pictures but I'll share what I have. The hotel room we were in was a suite. It was very noisy because we were right next to the were all the maids come in and out, and do laundry and such. There were no other rooms with us. It was very nice though and had free dinner an breakfast. It snowed overnight and Dan and I saw it in the middle of the night but Maddie missed it and it was all basically ice in the morning.

The duck made out of Washcloths at our hotel in Baltimore!


Overnight snowfall in Baltimore!

Maddie's first in snow (mainly all frozen over), lovin' it!

Pouting with Papa

Daddy squishing Maddie

Playing with Papa



Tuesday we left our hotel in Baltimore around 1:30pm and headed to the airport where we had to wait until 4:10pm to even check in for our flight which didn't leave till 10:10pm. Needless to say, it was a long day. Our flight was about 7hr and 15min long but went by faster then I expected. Maddie did well and slept the entire way. 

When arriving in Germany we set up a room with TLF (temporary living facilities) and tried as best to rest. Since then Dan has been running around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to get stuff done and Maddie and I have done a lot of sleeping, trying to adjust. We went food shopping and then came home and I made Taco Salad for our first home cooked meal in Germany. Now we are getting ready for bed  to try and adjust to the time change but I am having major Jet Lag and could be up all night...if I wanted to, going to try and sleep though.

The next couple weeks I am expecting to be stressful but I know soon it will all be worth it.