Why I'm Not A Soldier

Just got off the phone with Eric, haven't heard from him since Wednesday, and it was great catching up. I've been pretty lonely and it was such a happy surprise.

I updated him on life in the "real world":
Celebrity gossip (vital information!)
The newest American Idol winner (Lee Dewyze--our favorite!!)
All of the news about our friends in Afghanistan
Flea market finds and cleaning projects
Almost stepping on a bee (my life is clearly hard)
Family updates and stories

He told me about the nightmare he's experiencing:
Spiders infesting his backpack
Not getting to sleep til 3am last night (averaging 5 hrs per night)
The horrible fact that it's been raining nonstop
How "long" his hair is now
His crazy tan lines reminiscent of the ones post-Iraq (hands and face only)

It sounds like EFMB is pretty miserable, not surprising. He passed the physical fitness testing but now they're just doing a lot of training (mostly land navigation). The training has only been made worse by the weather we've been having: making everything very very muddy and wet. During the day they had to shimmy (probably not the best military term) on their backs through mud under razor wire about a foot above the ground. During the night they had night land navigation...where after the first few minutes Eric's flashlight stop working. So, armed with a glow stick, Eric had to find 4 points in the thick, dark and rainy woods with a map and a compass. It's super hilly here, and even more extreme where Eric's at, so I guess it was really difficult. Eric said at one point he just had to sit down in the mud and slide down a hill because it was too steep and slippery to walk down. He then walked through a bunch of sticker bushes until they were so thick that he had to turn around: which meant crawling under them on his stomach using his rifle to break branches as he went. He said at the end of the night people were so exhausted that they were just laying in the mud sleeping.

Just a bundle of even more reasons why the Army wouldn't be a good fit for me. Eric seconded that in his call saying that he could just imagine me crying the whole time. I think I'd either die instantly of a panic attack or sob my whole way through everything. Realistically, I have a feeling the Army would've kicked me out before that day came. It just sounds like a complete nightmare. And there are about 20 women there doing the training with them. How?!??!?!??!

Aye aye aye, I feel bad for the guy and am super anxious to get him home.

We're Alive and Well

Well our Internet is FINALLY working...such a long & aggravating story on how/why it took forever. But it's up, which means I can finally continue bragging! Haha. So so much has happened since I last posted so I'll try to remember all the important parts.

We moved in on the 12th, just us and our suitcases until the Army brought us some loaner furniture. The Miranda's (remember how they've been helping us out?) really out-did themselves and brought us one of their TV's to use, sheets, pillows, blankets, and a microwave--even their car for a day! So nice! The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying our lovely town. We went to a pizzeria for dinner one night, and the döner place a couple more times too. Downtown is only about a 1o minute walk from our front door. We drank some great beer, and explored some of the local shops. We walked around the field behind our house (our backyard opens up to pure countryside with amazing views of the town) and played in the snow all by ourselves...so fun! This first photo is the side of our house!

From the field we can see the whole town of Eschenbach. There are 2 churches (can you find the steeple of one?) whose bells we can hear from our house! Our home is out of frame in the right-hand corner of the photo.

Above: Eric looking into the woods that are behind our house. There were animal prints everywhere and a little frozen stream. We can't wait to see this area once all the snow is gone! Below: Me trying to walk through the knee-deep snow. Our house is the last one on the right (we are one of the furthest houses out on that side of town.)

Here's a quick video I took on our walk (not super) but I like how Eric looks like a sasquatch..

Since we were together-in our empty home-on Valentine's day, we had to celebrate a little unconventionally. We went to the PX on the 13th, both sneakily picked out cards, and then bought each other a pair of shoes. On the 14th we opened our cards (surprise!!!!) and then walked into downtown, bought some delicious pastries and then to a flower shop where Eric bought me some lovely flowers. We then walked home and had a great day saying how lucky we were. Although it might not have been the most romantic V-day in the world, it was definitely our favorite so far. (Below: Downtown Eschenbach Valentine's morning)

Don't these pastries look great? Omigosh they were delicious!
Here we are! Thrilled to be in our Bavarian hometown!

On Monday, the 15th, Eric had the day off work and we got all of our household good delivered. It was nice having them move in all of our furniture-so hard to do with all of our stairs! The only problem was our 2 shipments got mixed up. We had sent a 1st (and smaller shipment) to get here early: our clothes, half our dishes, silverware, bedding, coffee maker etc. And then a 2nd (and bigggggg shipment) to get here a week later: all of our furniture, decorations, etc. But for some reason they came in opposite order so now our house is totally set up, but we have no extra clothes, and only about 4 plates (and all plastic silverware). So it's a little strange right now but our other boxes should be here sooner than later. (I'll post photos of our empty place in my next blog.)

I spent the rest of the week decorating, and redecorating. Luckily, the Miranda's helped us out even more: driving Eric to and from work every single day, and taking me grocery shopping more than once. So very generous! I plan on bringing them a thank-you note, flowers and cookies this week. I also had a lot of help from my new friend Christalin. She took the bus here from her base a couple times last week to help me hang things, clean, etc. It's been nice having another girl's opinion around here.

Eric and I also got a lot of information about school and financial assistance. He is starting his online classes very soon and has decided on Criminal Justice. He gets this all paid for, and the classes he's taken through the military count as college credits for him. He plans on finishing his BA while in the Army, then he can use his GI Bill to get his Master's when he is out. There are a lot of job opportunities for him with those degrees plus his military background: FBI, police, DEA, Homeland Security, etc etc. We also got information for my schooling, and found out I get quite a bit paid for as well. And there are countless more scholarships/grants I can apply for as a military spouse. I am super excited to get going on that. What's really nice is there is an option to actually take face-to-face classes here on base, as well as online courses.

Above & Below: Us enjoying some great beer at our new favorite restaurant!

All in all, our first week here went really well (except not having Internet!!) which brings us to this past weekend. Friday was a birthday party for a guy Eric works with, which was really fun, and then Eric and I went out for a little German dinner here in town. On Saturday the Miranda's picked us up at about 10am and drove us to the nearby town of Weiden. It was a 20 minute drive there and they showed us nearly everything that place had to offer. They brought us into furniture stores, clothing stores, hardware stores, restaurants, ice cream shops, grocery stores, everywhere! It was such a fun day, and we didn't get back til about 4pm that evening. Once we get our car we plan on visiting Weiden again soon. It was so nice to get a tour of the place-there were a lot of things we wouldn't have known about without the Miranda's help. Again, we owe them!

The past couple days haven't been too exciting. We have finally gotten to Skype a couple times, check our emails, etc. I took my driver's test yesterday, and passed--so now we are both ready to drive the roads of Bavaria! We get our car this week and are excited for the upcoming weekend! We are still having a great time here and feeling really at home in our new place.

Below: A few more photos of our new town.

Aren't the colors beautiful? They really love pastels here in Germany! The middle photo is the church closest to our house, and across the street from the little döner kebab shop.

Tennessee Fall

So far, autumn in Clarksville has been gorgeous. It's been an average of 70 during the day, and bright blue, sunny skies too. Perfect weather for walking and exploring this little southern town we live in. So yesterday Eric & I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car, and went off to show off what the landscape here has to offer. It was so fun finding raccoon tracks, getting stuck in the sticky red Tennessee dirt, watching swans, and pretending we were talented photographers.

Here are our favorites...