Prague

Oh, I forgot to mention we are going to Prague?

Well, we are actually already here...and are picking up Brent & April (brother & sis-in-law) at the airport in the morning. We rented an apartment here for a few days, then are off to Berlin, back to Eschenbach, Nuremburg and probably Munich. Should be incredible.

I just had to get on to tell you all:

PRAGUE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND INCREDIBLE PLACE ON EARTH AND WE ARE NEVER COMING BACK!!!!!

Seriously, Eric and I were just screaming the whole time we were driving up to our place. We are too overwhelmed for me to even type more at this point.

We love our life and are so damn lucky. I'll post updates and photos very soon! Hope you all are incredible jealous :)

Inked Up

As of last night, Eric officially has proven he is one tough guy.




I officially proved that I was a total chicken, as I gagged and winced the whole time.

Quality Time

Boy oh boy is it nice having Eric to myself 24/7. After the dogs all got picked up on Friday (and we said our weepy goodbyes!) we spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, eating and enjoying the weather.

Friday-Eric made the world's most incredible burgers ever, seriously. He had watched the Ultimate Burger Challenge on TV, became very inspired, and definitely impressed me with the final result. I made some sauteed mushrooms and onions for the top but really owe the credit for dinner fully to him.

Saturday-After Eric dragged me to the gym, we came home for the afternoon, then did a little window shopping in Weiden while we were waiting for Liu to open for dinner. Liu is a Mongolian restaurant there that we absolutely love. Eric had ostrich and all sorts of crazy seafood, I didn't get much braver than sushi.

Sunday-We almost splurged on a flat-screen TV, but both talked each other out of it. Instead we bought a new vacuum which was much cheaper and more necessary. We came home for dinner then decided to catch a movie on post. The only one playing was the new Nicholas Spark's drama starring Miley Cyrus-whom we both hate-but ended up seeing it anyways just to make fun of her the whole time. Was a good laugh.

Monday-It wasn't quite as sunny as we both had hoped, but after physical therapy/gym, we got cleaned up, picked up some Gelato and headed to the lakes here for an afternoon walk. It ended up being really nice to get some fresh air and stretch our legs.

It was a quiet and long weekend but definitely some much-needed respite after Eric's long time from home. We were both appreciative of the opportunity to catch up with each other, and catch up on sleep. So so nice.

Here are some photos from our stroll around the lakes yesterday. The whole area is so peaceful and beautiful, and also some sort of bird sanctuary, which made for a great afternoon. Eric was really hoping that a wild boar would appear from the woods but all in all it was a successful adventure.

Happy Father's Day!

...to two of the funniest* men we know.


Wish we could be home with our dads today, they both know how to celebrate. For now this little post will have to do, plus a couple cards we sent out last week, plus some phone-calls this evening. We love you and miss you and are so lucky to have both had the most incredible father figures growing up. Eric always attests his character to his father, and I know I couldn't have found Eric without having such an amazing daddy.

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” -Jim Valvano

*also the smartest and most corny.

Tough Guys

The puppies are getting very brave, and have even now growled and barked at us a few times. They've been trying to wrestle and bite each other, their parents, and us. It's clear they don't realize that they weigh about the size of Eric's dinner each night.

Catching Up

Now that Eric is back--for good!!--we are taking advantage of our "normal" life together. His work let him take Monday & Tuesday off, and this upcoming weekend is a 4-day, so he has a really short week which means more time for me! Most of our long weekend was spent cuddling with the dogs, going to the gym, watching movies and eating good food. Yesterday we ran some errands, did some shopping in Weiden (I got very unnecessary purple shoes and Eric got super short swim trunks), bought lots of chocolate truffles, then came back home to take the dogs on a walk. The little puppies are finally opening their eyes and "walking" around the living room and it's just too cute. We've caught them wrestling a couple times too but mostly they are just clumsy, squeaky and sleepy. Chicken enchiladas for dinner, followed by chocolate chip cookies, made for another great day. Now Eric is back at work so I'm catching up on the housework I have avoided since he came home. It's just so beautiful outside that it's hard to focus. I think we plan on doing something fun this weekend but I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll end up napping on the couch each day like we have the past 3 days.

Traitors

Well Eric came back on Sunday evening (hip hip hooray!!!!) and the dogs have decided that he is a gift from God just for them. He feels the same way.





Yup, it's a love-fest over here and I might start feeling left out pretty soon haha.




PS-Do you notice Eric's crazy tanline from EFMB? Poor guy! He did amazing there by the way and I couldn't be more proud of him! He lost 10 pounds though-insane!-and I am so glad to have him home and get him fed.

Bragging

Eric called about an hour ago during a little break to let me know that he passed the night land navigation test!!! He seemed pretty proud of himself and he should be! This was the one part of EFMB that we were both a little worried about but it must be such a relief for him that it's behind him now. Today he just has to retake the written test and then the 12-mile-march. He sounded confident about the test (he's been studying nonstop) and I know the march will go just fine.

I am so glad this training is nearing the very end. He's been pretty exhausted and is definitely ready for a home cooked meal and a real bed to sleep in. I guess last night, as he was wandering in the woods trying to find the points (you're given a map with 4 points and have to find them using your compass etc.) it was during a crazy thunderstorm. He said at one point the lightning flashed so brightly that he thought he went blind. They're given 4 hours to find the points, and he was finished in about 2. When he went back to the room to check in there were already handfuls of people who had just given up and came back to wait out the remaining time. Before that about half of the people had already failed out.

I couldn't be more proud of him and how well he is doing. He impresses me on a regular basis. But now he is coming home tomorrow and I am thrilled! We've been together only 7 days out of the last 4 weeks and I'm glad to get him back to myself. I took his meal requests and today I'm going to stock up on all sorts of good food for his return. It will nice to have a mellow weekend before we get back to our regular schedule on Monday.

Also the dogs woke me up at 2am this morning because something fell down and scared them--which then terrified me. But all is well and now we are trying to keep cool during another verryyyy hot day.

Couple Updates

Eric is kicking butt at EFMB--but who does that surprise?! He got 100% on land navigation yesterday (woo!!) and he has night land navigation tonight! Which means I hope I don't hear from him until tomorrow (that would mean he went through it just fine). He's really impressing me with how great he's been doing there and I couldn't be more proud. I am ready to have him home though for sure...and just heard he might be home on Saturday-a day early!!! That would be a great start to the weekend.

And now...the puppy-sitting update.

The fell asleep like this naturally! So cute!

Day 1 of Puppy Heaven

Well watching puppies is officially about 1000 times greater than any other job in the world. Speaking of jobs, I had an interview last week--and got the job! But I also had an interview for a job this morning that I want even MORE so I'm hoping I hear back good news next week. I'll keep you posted. Until then...

Happy Happy Happy

Today has just been a great day. Nothing too incredible has happened but the sun is out and I'm feeling great about pretty much everything.

I started the day with a physical therapy appointment--haven't been for a few weeks due to all sorts of paperwork issues--but ohhh myyy gosshhh was it such a perfect way to being my morning. For those of you who don't know, I've had lots of problems with my back and neck over the years and the issues have spread up into my jaw and down my legs. I'm seriously a wreck. I had gotten so tight from lack of therapy that my legs wouldn't straighten out all the way...it's ridiculous. Anyways, physical therapy felt amazing and now I'm actually sore in a good way.

After that I just ran some errands and got a few things accomplished on post. As I was leaving the PX a young woman approached me and asked if I was headed to Netzaberg (that's the military housing area between the base and where we leave). She needed a ride there because she had missed the bus, and since I had been in that situation too many times to count before our car arrived, I couldn't say no. So her, her baby, and all our groceries piled into the Volvo and headed home. And actually it ended up being SUCH a treat to meet her. She's originally from Russia-so had a strong accent-but is married to a soldier and has been living in Germany with him for 6 years. Her story was so interesting too! Apparently "during zee war" her grandfather was sent to prison in the Soviet Union for really no good reason. When he got out, him and her grandmother decided to "makes a beebee" (a baby--her father) right away. Her family moved to Germany soon after she was born because I guess there was some type of deal where Russians could flea to Germany and receive German citizenship. She couldn't have been more enthusiastic about how much she loves Germany. There's a lot about this country that just seems to make a lot of sense to Eric and I when we hear about them, but she brought up a lot I had no idea about. Before she was married, she had a child and the German government PAID her to be a stay-at-home-mom. I guess they view that as a full-time job (as they should!!) and women (married or single) are given up to 3 years to stay home and be paid to take care of their baby--even if they are living in their parents home! And now that she is married to a US soldier, she receives the benefits from the Army PLUS hundreds of dollars each month per every child she has. She says she makes more money staying home taking care of them than she would if she did go get a job, then have to pay for childcare. I thought it just sounded so incredible. I knew that women here get a year off for maternity leave-and are guaranteed to get their job back when they return, but wow! She said that even Americans living in Germany can receive those benefits if their working in the Germany economy/paying German taxes. Don't get any ideas, Eric and I aren't having any German babies, but I just thought that that was such an awesome program. Many bonus points for Deutschland! It's really been so neat meeting such a huge variety of people since we've been here.

Changing subject now, off babies and onto puppies! Starting tomorrow I am doggy-sitting for my new friend. A couple weeks ago I saw an ad online that somebody needed a person (without dogs or kids) to watch her doggies while she was away for a week--and I JUMPED on that chance, especially since I've been home alone. So we talked a couple times and ended up meeting last week and totally hit it off. I showed up at her house "just to meet" and ended up staying over 5 hours! What was so funny is that her husband is actually an instructor at the training Eric is taking...isn't that such a cool coincidence? He's a medic too (but with 17 more years of experience) so I think they'll be great people for us to know. She called her husband and he actually knew who "Clark" was! Yay! It made me feel so much better to have that little link to him, and I think it also made her feel good about handing her dogs to a "stranger". Her and I hung out a few more times last week and I think it's a beginning to a good friendship. Oh, and I'm saving the best part for last: the dogs are 2 miniature poodles (1 boy and 1 girl) and their 2 BRAND NEW PUPPIES!! When I first went to her house the 2 babies were each smaller than a hotdog bun...and a million times cuter. Their a couple weeks old by now and I can not wait to have them all to myself! Eric will be home during the last couple days they are here and he's pretty excited too. Wow I can't wait...I get them tomorrow morning! You KNOW I'll be posting photos too. Yay!

Speaking of Eric, things are still going great for him at EFMB. The rain and mud is gone, and he's now super sun-burnt, but other than that he's been doing well. All the training is over and now they've begun the actual testing. He had chem/bio protection test yesterday-passed it at 100%, followed by a written test where he only missed 1 but is retaking on Friday. He did great during the training weeks, so I really hope he keeps it up and does his best. I think I said this already but they only expect 4-7% to pass so it's really pretty intense. Check out more info here, there's a lot to it. And send some positive thoughts his way!! He sounds pretty exhausted and ready to come home for some good food, sleep and having a girl around.

Alrighty that is all that's new today. I'm ready to have those puppies, get Eric home and enjoy this gorgeous weather with him. Oh! Brent and April (bro & sis-in-law) arrive in Europe on the 1st and we are soooo anxious...but I'll write more about our plans in another post.

Hope everyone is having a good week...I sure am, can you tell?

One More Week...

Until Eric gets home!

So so so excited! Time has been moving pretty slowly and I'm ready to have a man back in this house. I've had to kill spiders and take out the trash FAR too many times, haha. He's been doing so well at all the training so far, and the actual tests start tomorrow, so hopefully things keep going that way.

Yay!