The Ever-Changing Advice of a Military Wife

So I have attempted to write this post several times. To the point where it has become more like a college essay than a blog post. I mean, how do you attempt to give advice on something so big? How do you try to sound positive about a place you like usually when at the current moment, the weather just makes you want to go home? How do you, an Air Force wife in Germany, give advice to an Army wife moving to Italy? Man.

So anyways, here is my attempt. The best advice for moving overseas. Denise and Allison, since you guys are Army and/or in Italy, please feel free to add some advice!

*Be prepared to go with the flow. This is necessary for military wifeness in general.
*Unless you have a ton of stuff, bring it all with you. This is going to be your home. If you have stuff you can put in storage, do you really need it in the first place? Have a garage sale.
*Use your entire weight allowance for unaccompanied baggage. In this you will need to put enough to live on for a month. Sheets, plates, pots, etc. The movers are slower over here, and you (especially if you move in the summer) may not get your baggage for awhile. We sent ours in May, it arrived in July, and was delivered in mid-August.
*Purchase all your must have items prior to coming. Do not rely on them to be in the BX here. My make-up, a jacket, and wrinkle release were all things I was glad I had purchased first.
*Get your sponsor to give you an APO box as soon as possible. You will be able to forward mail and mail things to yourself. If you don't go over your weight allowance, the military will reimburse you for mailing things to yourself.
*Seriously consider only bringing one car, and buying a junker when you get here. Especially if you have a big here. 1, you will stick out like a sore thumb. 2, a big car won't fit in anywhere!
*The military will loan you a fridge, washer/dryer, microwave, transformers, and shrunks. (closets aren't built in here, none, 0, no storage space outside of the kitchen)
*Buy any 220 voltage items you will need from people who are PCSing. Check your base paper. We bought transformers, a phone, fans, toaster, hair dryer, AFN boxes, etc. at about half of the price.
*Oooo AFN. Yuck. When you get here you will need to get an AFN box and a dish so you can watch your 7 channels of American TV. Watch all the TV and commercials you want before you come.
*Consider living off-base. On-base is nice, but being off-base, you really get to experience the culture.
*If you do live off-base, decide on some things you want, but be open. Don't judge a house by the outside. For instance, we have a GREAT place on top of an antique store. The outside is baby blue. Lovely. The inside is great though! Also, look for a house that has all but one utility included in the rent. Then you get rent and utility allowance, and you can use the rest of your utility allowance to pay for internet, etc.
*Buy a GPS. You will need one for house-hunting and life in general. It's a must.
*STUDY STUDY STUDY for your driving test. You can get a temp one for 30 days when you get here, but then you have to pass the test. Most men fail the first time because they thought they didn't have to study.
*Get out and travel! You would think this goes with out saying, but there really are some people who are too afraid. They stay cooped up in their house for 3 years. It's unreal.
*Your clocks (digital) and your phone (home) will not work here. Leave them (or sell em) in the states.
*Get a pay-as-you-go cell phone plan at first. See if you are using enough to justify getting a plan. They lock you into an auto-renewing plan if you sign up. Cell phones are difficult to use here, since you can't use them while driving. And since you won't have family around to call from the cell, you might not use it all that much. I have not used mine since June. Ha!
*You can get a very good plan for calling back to the states. Even cheaper than Vonage. Check with your phone company.
*Be ready to WAIT! For everything! It took 3 1/2 months for our internet to be hooked up!
*You can bring pets, just plan far in advance. Get all their paperwork together. Although, no one has ever looked at ours :)
*Don't assume you will get a job right away. It took me 6 months to find a part time job. It took 8 months to be able to sub in the schools. I took a year to get a teaching job! That being said, being here is a great time NOT to work. You can travel, volunteer, and go to school. The military offers assistance to spouses overseas. The spouses clubs are very active here. They can become your family. I love love love mine, and don't know what I would do without the friends I met there.
*Be prepared to get pregnant. I may be the only one on base that is not/does not have children.
*The convenience of the states is just not over here. You have to get used to it. There is no Super Target to get everything you need. There is no 24 hour pharmacy when you get sick. There is not last minute purchase before you go to work. You learn to plan ahead, shop online, or do without.
*Get a good sponsor. If yours is bad, get a new one. We met ours in November, we moved here in July. Yeah. Lovely.
*Don't be afraid to ask! We all did!
*Learn the language. Get some CDs and start brushing up on the basics. A few words will get you a long way. The CDs will help more than you think. I can understand a lot more because of them!


Whoa! That's all I can think of for now. I hope that is helpful to someone. Remember though, this is just my experience. It may differ based on branch, location, or even rank.

Do you have a specific question? I will do my best to answer it, and I am sure my fellow overseas buddies will do the same!

Pea in Your P@nts

I'm working on the moving advice post, so while you wait, you MUST watch this. I almost pead my p@nts. Make sure you watch it until the end!



*I changed the spelling of the title and the phrase in the post because I am tired of weirdos coming to my blog!

Take me Home!

Snow?!?! On Halloween?!?!? Boooooooooo! Take me back to Texas!

PS- This is the 2nd post for today, don't miss the first one below!

Finally! The answers to your lifelong, kind of, questions...

Ooooo! Such good questions! You guys are fabulous!

So once again, it's all about me! Here are my witty, thrilling, and informative answers...

DAR asked- Did you pick Germany or was it a surprise? Did you feel some adjustment pains or have you kinda jumped in feet first and loved it?

*All but one of the bases we put on our wish list were overseas. Germany was second to Japan. We were excited to go, but I think I had no idea how different my life would be. As with any new place there were some adjustment pains. Just trying to figure it all out. Everything from our bills to our dishwasher was in a foreign language. After the adjustment, and some really cool trips, we settled in and never looked back.

Betty asked- Ich bin neu zu deinem blog und wollte wissen, wie lange ihr schon in Deutschland seid und ob du schon Deutsch sprichst?

*I was super proud of myself that I could read most of our question! Hooray! However, my Deutsch writing is nicht so gut. Ich lived (I don't know this word in German) in Deutschland 1 jahr. Deutsches zu erlernen ist hart. Ich arbeite. Is this right Betty? I wanted to say- I have lived in Germany for 1 year. Learning German is hard. I am trying.

Laura (my sister) asked- Why don’t you wear your hair curly? Do you say crap to annoy mom? What are you gonna buy me for Christmas? When are you going to send me a prize? What book are you reading? Don’t you have some to send me? Am I annoying you yet?

* A- Too many questions.
B- I don't wear my hair curly because I don't have a diffuser. My 220v blow dryer is crappy.
C- I say crap because I like it. Annoying mom is a bonus.
D- For Christmas I am buying you crap. Maybe from a yard sale. If you are lucky.
E- I actually have a box I am collecting to send you. I am wanting to add that stupid soap you made up that doesn't exist.
F- I am reading Skeletons at the Feast. I already told you about it. Duh!
G- Yes, I will send you some. Too bad you won't have time to read them until Jacob is 18.
H- You have annoyed me since I was born. Ha

Jeri asked- How long ago did you have to mail your voting ballot?

*Shame on me. I have to admit, I did not get my ballot in the mail on time. However, since Texas always votes the RIGHT way, my vote will be counted in spirit. :)

Allison asked- What do you miss most about Texas?


*(Besides family and friends) Mexican food! Oh man I love that stuff. A margarita and chips and salsa can cure any bad day.

Leslie asked- What city in Texas are you from? Would you try to get another assignment overseas right after this one? How long is the tour here? How did you two meet? What is the most romantic thing you husband has ever done?

* My husband and I are both from the Houston area. It's way better than Dallas. We hope to be in the San Antonio/Austin area some day. I went to school for awhile in San Marcos. That entire area is nice.

* I am for sure NOT voting for a back to back overseas assignment. I love the experience, but I am ready to go "home." Maybe after a stateside tour, Japan would be fun. But stateside first!

* Jordan and I met in the Gap! I was working and saw a cute guy walk in to the adult section. I made my way over from the baby store to check him out. We had a mutual friend that worked with me that ended up setting us up. I thought he was a snobby frat guy that would be fun to date for awhile. How wrong was I?!?!? We have been together almost 6 years now.

*My husband does romantic things for me all the time! He makes me breakfast in bed at least once a week. He packs my lunch for school every day! He tells me I am beautiful every time he sees me. He is the sweetest man in the world. I am blessed.

Stevy asked- Did you like Eat, Pray, Love? Will you be home at Christmas time?

* I did like Eat, Pray, Love, although it wasn't a favorite. The travel aspect appealed to me, but I found the author to be a little pretentious.

* I won't be home for Christmas. Tear. My first one. Jordan's parents will be coming over here, which should be fun. I think we will be in Paris for the New Year.


New Girl asked- What advice do you have about moving overseas?

* I think this one deserves its own post! I will do this tomorrow. Great idea! So much to share!

Weekend=Too Short

****Update- Good questions! Keep 'em coming!****


Well no thrilling adventures in another country to blog about this weekend. Just normal, boring, grown up stuff. Randomness to follow...

What did I do this weekend?

* Caught up on laundry (for the most part) while the cleaning lady cleaned.
* Caught up on Army Wives, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and The Hills. Mind expanding stuff right there.
* Researched available test dates for the GRE.
* Grocery shopped for the month.
* Made newsletters and handouts for school.
* Uploaded all pics through the cruise to Snapfish.
* Napped as much as Reagan.
* Sorted book orders for the kids at school.

Anyone else do anything productive?

On a school note, we had our first field trip last Friday. Ugh. In case you don't know, field trips are not fun for teachers. Even when you have 5 kids.

We went to a science museum in Pirmasens. It was really neat, all hands on stuff. My favorite part? The one where you could race different animals to see how you compare. Plus, you could also race sperm. That's right, sperm. Try explaining that one.

On an online shopping note...

Old Navy always has polar fleece right? Well this year they have a more feminine style. They are a micro-fleece, with a more fitted silhouette. If you like to layer, you must get these. Plus, they come in long. Oh how I love them!



Now here is the part where I need your help. I want to do a question and answer blog. I have seen this on some other ones and it seems pretty fun. So where do you come in? Well, with the questions of course! Do you have a question about living overseas? about teaching? about being a military wife? about why my hair always looks so fabulous? anything? :) Well let me know! I will answer them this week!

PS- Laura, no ridiculous questions. I know you.

Uh oh!

Whatever way you choose to vote next month, please be educated!

Kids Say Crazy Crap Volume 2

During calendar we were discussing the concept of a year. One of my girls said it could not be 2002 right now. I agreed and told her that 2002 was a long time ago, before she was even born. To which my little boy replied, "Is 2002 when the dinosaurs died?" I swear I could have peed my pants.

During Bible we were discussing how we help others because God helps us. We were brainstorming ways that we could help at home. One of my little girls says that she helps by "making sure her brother doesn't break any of her dad's little glasses with the pictures on them." I'm pretty sure her dad does not have a collection of water glasses. Nice.

During share time this morning one of my little girls said that she is sleepy because she slept in her mom's bed and her mom slept in her bed. Someone's parents having a fight???? Hmmmm.......


In other news....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Love you!

Grrrr

So for the last 2 days my blog has seen 3x more visits than normal. 3x!! Man! But 4 comments?!?! 4?!? Seriously! Boooooo! That's called stalking, people!

Okay, I am done pouting.

Our last 2 days of the trip were in Rome. After a frustrating disembarkation process from the boat, we headed back to Rome via the train. (FYI- A taxi to Rome costs around 150 Euro, the train costs 7. Take the train.) Then we checked back into our same hotel (Hotel Adler- great!) and headed to the Vatican.

Luckily, my husband is the sweetest guy in the whole world so he agreed to let us take a taxi to the Vatican instead of the subway. The subway was giving my ulcers just thinking about it! The taxi was dangerous in a different way, but much better overall!



Vatican City is its own country right there inside Rome. It holds several things, two of the biggest being the Vatican museum and St. Peter's Basilica.

We started at the museum. The museum has some great pieces. From old to new, from sculptures to frescoes, it has a little of everything. The museum is housed in former living quarters of prior Popes. Each Pope commissioned paintings and other works during their term. Other pieces on display were from around the world. One thing I really liked was the mummies. It was crazy! One was so well preserved you could still see the Henna used in her hair.

Here are some pics from the museum...







The end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo. And to think he didn't want to accept the job because he was a sculptor! Man! It was stunning. You weren't supposed to take pictures, but I did sneak one...



Then it was on to St. Peter's! Man! Another beautiful place! It was built on the site where Peter was both crucified (upside down on a cross) and buried. It was the largest church in the world until one was recently built in Africa that was a little larger.

The courtyard and exterior views...





The interior was made into the shape of a cross. As you walk in, the huge canopy over the altar is the first thing that catches your eye. It was made by Bernini out of bronze, and is placed over the altar used only when the Pope gives mass.



As you continue to look around you see so much more. The details are incredible. The statues at the top of the columns lining the side are 5 feet taller then the ones on the bottom so that they appear to be the same size. Michelangelo's Pieta (pity) is to the right, the sight of St. Peter's death, the traditional place where mass is held, etc. And all of it is exquisite!

More pictures of St. Peter's...







Then it was back to the hotel for some rest.

The next day we headed to the National Museum. Lots and lots of sculptures. Some were really neat. It was interesting to put faces with the historical leaders you have read about. Lots of naked statues too, as is to be expected (although in the Vatican, most are covered with leaves). But what was unusual was that one statue "stood out" from the others. And no, I didn't take a picture of it.





After our visit Jordan's icky feeling finally caught up with him, so we headed back to the hotel until our pickup for our flight out. By the time we got home he had a 101 degree fever! :( He was glad that it happened at the END of the trip rather than the beginning!

Overall we had an AMAZING trip! We would cruise again in a heartbeat.
Anyone up for a tip to Greece?

Paradise

The last stop on the cruise was Santorini. It really is beyond words. I mean Switzerland was beautiful, but the sun and sand is much more my style. The first stop was Thira, which was nice. A few beautiful churches and some nice places.











But then, we saw some familiar people from the ship and they told us they were hopping on the city bus to Oia. Since we didn't have any other plans, we went along. For less than three Euro we got to see the most beautiful place I have ever seen.







One of my favorite parts was sitting on the terrace of a cafe overlooking the water and sharing a yogurt and honey with Jordan. Perfection.





I didn't want to leave. Jordan literally had to drag me back to the boat. Especially once we saw the line for the cable cars and decided to walk down a trail of donkey crap. No thank you.



Although I would have liked a few more hours in Santorini, I am glad we did the cruise. It was fun to see the islands, but there isn't really enough to do on them to keep you entertained more than a day or two. It was nice to see them, and move on to the next cool place.

Ciao Santorini!



After another day at sea it was off the boat and back to Rome. We headed to Vatican City for the rest of the day. Hopefully I'll get that posted up tomorrow.

Gobble Gobble

Our day in Turkey was a pretty long one, with lots of walking! I had already gotten used to my 2 nap days, so I was tired! Our first stop was Ephesus. For those of you who are Christian or are familiar with Biblical stories, you will know Ephesus from the book Ephesians. Ephesians was Paul's letter to the people in Ephesus. (Which he wrote from this prison we saw in Rome!)

The first part of Ephesus wasn't all that impressive, but it certainly improved the further you went in to the ruins. The ruins themselves are some of the largest of their kind. They think only a quarter has been uncovered so far, and are still excavating today.

The beginning...


The main promenade in the off season believe it or not. Can you imagine the place when it's busy?



The library and the theater were the most impressive ruins by far. Even knowing they were partially remade, it was pretty awe inspiring to think of the place in Biblical times.

I promise I didn't photo shop us into this one!



A few more of the library...





The theater was pretty incredible. The acoustics are so good, they still use it today for concerts. In Biblical times, this was the place where Paul spoke out against the idols of Artemis being sold and worshiped. Because of this speech, he was put in prison. From prison, he wrote 1 Corinthians.





A few other shot from Ephesus...



*Laura- Please notice that I am wearing pants.






After that it was on to a rug shop (AKA- The Turkish version of used car salesmen), and then back to Izmir. Once in Izmir we headed to the Bazaar with our dinner friends. We took a taxi. Ahhhh! I think the driver went to driving school in Rome.

The bazaar was its own experience for sure! It was miles long and miles wide! You walk down row after row of shops selling anything you can imagine. Puppies, fish heads, wedding dresses, fake Converse shoes, etc. The wedding dresses were in abundance. And they were skanky. As you walk, the shop keepers yell at you and follow you to try to get you in their store. Who knows what they were yelling. It could have been "kill the Americans," who knows. Anyway, I was too afraid to take a picture in the midst of all the debauchery so I jacked/borrowed one from another site...



I purchased 2 pashminas at the least scary store I could find. You will see one in the Santorini pictures.

And here are two more photos from the town itself...





The next day was SANTORINI!!!! My favorite by far! You should hold your breath for that post, because when you see the pictures you will want to pass out anyway.

Tschuss!

Patmos and Mykonos

After Sicily and a day at sea it was finally time for our first stop in Greece! I was so excited! The first part of the day was spent in Patmos, and the second in Mykonos. It was nice to have a nap and lunch in between.

Patmos is most famous because John lived out his life on the island. (You know- like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and JOHN. Yeah, THE John.) On the island we were able to walk up to the cave where he lived and dictated the book of Revelations to his apprentice (he was blind by that time).









We also made a trip to the Monastery of St. John, which is dedicated to him. (It was never used by him though.)





Of course, there was plenty of time to just enjoy the scenery as well.






Did I mention our cruise was Costa? I don't think so. Anyways, Costa is an Italian cruise line, owned by the same company that owns Carnival, Princess, and Holland America cruise line also. Our ship was called the Romantica. It was fairly nice, although I have heard it was considered small compared to other ships. The only thing I didn't like was the crazy Italians! They don't line up when they drive, and they don't line up when they walk. You literally had to shove old people and children out of the way, or be trampled yourself. Thank goodness there was no need to use lifeboats. I'd be squished under 100 pairs of fancy leather shoes.

Back to the trip...

After Patmos and the break, came Mykonos. Mykonos is known as the Cancun of Greece. Nice beaches and great places to hang out. Since we were only there in the evening, I really didn't get any good pictures.



We had a nice dinner and did some shopping.



One thing we were very glad about is that we only booked one excursion (Ephesus, Turkey isn't a place we wanted to do on our own. I mean their neighbors are Georgia, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Dang.) The excursions are very pricey. If you feel at all comfortable doing things on your own, you can easily see all the same things (and more) and around 1/4 of the price. Plus- you see them without all the old people.

The next day we were off to another continent- Asia! Izmir, Turkey with a trip to Ephesus took up the entire 5th day.

Did I mention I gained 10 pounds on the cruise? 10. 1-0. Holy crap. Can someone give a sista the flu?