Our New Home

Well, we officially moved in! Of course there is still one lingering suitcase in the guestroom, and about a million miscellaneous papers strewn about, and we are living off of the bare minimum… but still! Life has changed since the move. Even though it’s a slower pace and we don’t go out as frequently, there is calm in the atmosphere. I wake up in my own space and take comfort in knowing I will be here for three years. I don’t find myself longing for home as I did before. It’s kinda scary that by being here, in my own home, I find more of my mother within myself. This is by no way a bad thing, she is an amazing woman, it’s just eerie. I clean a lot, and clean up after someone (no names), a lot. When I’m sweeping or washing dishes I can just see her doing the same, and feeling frustrated but loving too. He drives me crazy with all the messes, but when I dwell too hard I remember why I’m doing it in the first place and remember the love I have for him like the love my mom has for me. There is still much to learn about being on my own for the first time, but in those moments it feels like my mom is closer than ever. When Matt and I talked about moving before we even got on a plane, I only asked him for two things to be in our new home. All I asked of him was for a washer/dryer in the house and a bathtub. Gloriously, we have both! Of course it’s like jumping a hurdle to get in the tub and the dryer door opens halfway into the side of the washer, but alas I have both! This is our home and we already love it. As my good friend Katie pointed out, we have wonderful lighting here. Our location is also pretty sweet considering we are a block away from the commissary and a little bit further to reach the Post Exchange. Everything is within walking distance so I don’t have to rely on the shuttle anymore, and I can pretend that I’m exercising daily!

Days now consist of sweeping, swiffering, dishes and sometimes dinner. Matt tries to help when he can or sometimes asks for feedback on what he can do better to help the household stay clean and I adore him for that. Other than that, I try to get a workout in once a day. If you are a friend on facebook you should be able to see that we have started Crossfit! Of course just as important as keeping your body strong and fit, is engaging your mind to do just the same.

I started school on Monday, MLK day. It’s appropriate to start on such a motivational foot, and I’m thankful for that. I am currently enrolled in a women’s studies class as well as a computer skills class. They are both online and take a lot of reading, but I dig it.

This past weekend we met our future furry daughter. The Mazie’s were kind enough to drive us out an hour into the countryside to see our puppy-to-be and it was definitely an experience. First of all, Jon drove us in a tiny Ford Fiesta on the autobahn. I don’t know how many of you guys have had the chance to experience it, but that thing is NUTS. Imagine a freeway in California, where it’s easy to see people pushing 80 but along with them the grandma’s doing 55 in the slow lane. Once you have that, change the 80 to the slow lane with some crazy random station wagons/vans/sedans of all different brands passing you pushing 110 in the fast lane. Jon was saying that you have to look really far behind in your mirrors because people creep up so quickly. The highlight of the autobahn was getting passed by a 458 Ferrari that was going so fast our car not only shook, but moved over at least 6 inches to the right of the lane. We were all dumbstruck, but loved watching it zoom off. J Once off the autobahn, we drove through the countryside and I swear it looked like the emerald city. Everything was a lush green and the sun had come out of the gray drizzle it had hidden behind a majority of our trip. Matt and I both agreed it was a mesmerizing sight to behold. We plan on taking photos the next time we go to pick up our pup in mid February. The Germans we are buying our little girl from speak very little English. It was funny to watch both Matt and I trying to gesture and reword and guess the dialogue we were having together. Mr. & Mrs. Bruno take very good care of their dogs. We saw all eight puppies at four weeks of age, and to be honest, you can’t really tell the different between the little black furballs. Along with the pups, we met the mother and father dog and another female they had. They were all kenneled but came out of their spaces with enthusiasm that wriggled their entire bodies from snout to tail. When the time was over for visiting, the owners merely asked the dogs back into the kennel and they went happily. Some of you may know that we planned on naming our female Sabine, however we have to give her a pedigree name beginning with the little title letter, which is J in this case. Right now we are deciding between Jannike (Yah-Nick-Ah) or Jnka (Yeen-Kah).  Who knows what will happen, but regardless I will love her just the same.

I guess that’s enough obsessive talk for one dog, so I move on. We had some really great news today! Our car is officially here and ready to pick up!!! Yayyy!!!!! Even more exciting, Matt promised the pet store and IKEA as our first road trip. :D Just as exciting, our household goods (all the items at my home in California and storage), might be here as well! This means that not only could we have a car, but our house can be put together by the end of next week!!! So much to plan! Not much else is happening to us on this side of the world, but I hope that home is treating you all well! Here are some pictures of our house and what it looks like now:

This is our living room, the couches were provided by the military temporarily. The rug we bought.

The windows are super open, and that door to the right leads to our very small patio!

Our living room seems really long and this was taken behind the two arm chairs that are shown in the picture above. We are on the second floor of our building, and that brown strip to the left of the TV is our front door.

I told you our patio was small! We want to put two chairs and a small table out here, so when summer comes  I can blog out there and Matt can read next to me. <3

Better view of our windows. If you look out those windows you are staring at an open area in front of our home, and the middle school/elementary school. With the windows open you can hear the kids at recess. 

From the last picture, imagine you did a 180 and now you're looking at our dining room. The table and chairs were provided by the military temporarily as well.

To the right of our dining room is our kitchen, which holds my VERY tiny laundry room. The washer is on the left and loads from the top, the dryer is on the left and only opens INTO the front of the washer. Laundry can get really intense after like 4 loads.

Here is our kitchen. I love how we have a lot of windows! The microwave we bought and same with the dishrack/dishes/utensils, but it works! This photo was taken from the back wall of our laundry room.

This is our stove and cabinets! Photo was taken from our bar section of our countertop that sits behind our dining room table. 

Our view from the dining room. The high school football field. I hear all the announcements daily, and can hear the bell when periods are changing, but it's bearable with the windows closed. 

This is our hallway! You can see our coat closet on the left, and the next door to the left is our room. Directly ahead is our guestroom, which they decided to put TWO twins in. To the right of that, is our linen closet, and then our bathroom, which looks like another hallway.

Our bathroom is tiny, and has only one sink. Fortunately the mirror is lower than it was in the hotel!

I told you it was a hallway. That is as far as the door opens lol. 

Our bedroom! It's spacious, and that's all CLEAN laundry that I did earlier that morning. Remember what I said about the dryer though?!?! It was awful. 

The leftovers of moving. Last suitcase and items that don't really have homes. If anyone comes to visit, this room will be spotless without that mess on the bed. Lol, please don't be discouraged by what you see!!

Thankfully, our apartment has a lot of American and German outlets. The big white blocks you see under our windows are our heaters, and we actually don't have AC. No one does. Strange, but when the windows are all open it's gets cool quick! Let me know if you have any questions!!!