Long Weekend: Normandy, France

This summer marked the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy. We thought it would be pretty cool to be able to see Normandy on the 70th anniversary, but that was not realistic. However, we definitely did want to visit while we lived in Germany, it was just a matter of planning the best possible trip.

Omaha Beach

Day Trip: Idar-Oberstein & Gemstone Mines

Last Saturday was a beautiful day to go Jeep-ing, so Greg planned for us to take a trip out to Idar-Oberstein. Greg frequently makes trips to another military base further west of us that requires him to drive through several small towns. That's how he discovered Idar-Oberstein, the capital of gemstone mining in Germany. It also happens to have the only gemstone mines in Europe open to the public. When we were dating, it became somewhat of a tradition of ours to collect gemstones from different places we visited, so it was fitting that we visit the Steinkaulenberg gemstone mine while living in Germany.

Did I mention there is a church built directly into the side of the mountain?

Thinking Happy Thoughts

Some days, living in Germany just really, really sucks. I'd like to think of a more eloquent way to put it, but there just isn't one.

Greg was assigned today to a month long duty in January that requires him to be within 3 hours of post at all times. It wouldn't be so bad if, you know, I hadn't already booked and paid for a 4 day snowboarding vacation in Garmisch for MLKJ weekend. I get it, the unexpected is part of "army life", but that doesn't make it any less irritating. Plus, from the second you step off the plane in Germany, everyone is telling you how you need to go travel. Then, the second you do attempt to travel, the Army makes other plans. We almost didn't get to go to Switzerland because of his school and now we probably won't be going snowboarding again this winter between his extra duties and my new job.


Instead of being frustrated, I'm going to attempt to be positive and think of all the good things we have going on right now. Today, we custom ordered a 2014 Jeep Rubicon X from ENCS. While Greg was still in Afghanistan, he expressed a desire to trade his car in for a Jeep again. Most of you know, when we met, Greg had recently bought a Rubicon and managed to win his first date with me by offering to take me for a ride in it. I know, it sounds incredibly cheesy looking back, but I'm sure girls have fallen for worse things than that. After moving to Colorado, Greg traded his Rubicon in for his GTI which he's loved, but also outgrew. We were planning on trading his GTI for another Jeep when he returned from deployment last year, but changed our minds when Greg received orders to Germany. Having a VW in Germany seemed like a much better idea than a huge Jeep. For that reason, we left my Jeep Sport with my Dad in Georgia and only shipped his GTI.
After spending a few months here, we started to rethink our decision. Sure, the GTI is great for small parking garages, but it's also quickly depreciating in value and our financial situation is not permanent. Right now, we both have good paying jobs with benefits, very few bills and disposable income. That very well may not be the case when we return to America, and we know it. We have always talked about eventually getting a larger sized Jeep as a "family" car and realized that we're better off taking on a car payment while we can still afford it. Will the Jeep possibly be a little inconvenient here in Germany? Probably, but we know our situation here is not permanent and we still have the "beater" BMW we bought when we got here. Ultimately, we decided to buy the Jeep because we want it for the future and would like to be able to pay it off before we leave Germany.
Because it was ordered from the factory, we won't get to pick it up for a few more months when it comes to port in northern Germany. Once we get it, I'll have plenty of pictures to post!

Today, I also got a letter in the mail from the 4 year old Nepalese girl I sponsor through a charitable organization. I've sent her a few letters and gotten some updates from her caregivers, but this was the first letter I received from her. It was just a very simple page allowing her to circle pictures that showed things she like to do and eat. Even so, it helped to put a smile on my face this afternoon.

She drew me a flower.

Greg completed his GoPro compilation from Zermatt which you can view here. I tried in vain to link it directly into the blog entry, but it wouldn't work properly. Fair warning, it gets really loud after the first song.


We may be taking a day trip close by this weekend to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. Since Greg can't leave the 3 hour radius, we'll probably visit Trier, a city in western Germany known for his Roman history. Others around here have told us that it's a cute city to visit with a lot of interesting things to see, so we're hoping it will be worth the drive!

Fall, Frankfurt & Frankenstein

I haven't written recently because it seems every time we start planning something, it falls apart at the last minute, but that doesn't mean we haven't stayed busy. I was hoping for several weeks to take a trip down to the Black Forest to see the autumn leaves, but the weather here has been horrible the past few weeks. It's been cold, wet and miserable. Our front lawn is currently a sea of wet leaves that act almost like snow in how slippery and sticky they seem to stay. Fall appears to be just about over here in Germany and winter is quickly approaching. According to most of our friends, winter here tends to be cloud, cold and miserably but not particularly snowy. I personally hope we get some good snow!

Leaves in our neighborhood a few weeks ago.

Last weekend Greg had a four day. If you aren't familiar with the military, four day weekends are relatively common place and happen about once a month, usually around national holidays. Columbus Day warranted a 4 day here in Germany. To celebrate, we had a camp fire at our house, a party at a friend's house and went to Frankfurt with our friends and their children to check out the natural history museum. Germans have no issues with nudity or sexuality, so it was pretty interesting to see a whole area on how babies are made- explained to children- through the use of very "adult" pictures. We also got a good laugh at the American children's responses to said pictures. Needless to say, Germans aren't shy.

Aside from that, there were some pretty cool exhibits about dinosaurs, sea life and oddly enough, preserved human and animal parts for medical experiments (?). Most of the descriptions were in German, so we were a little lost.

Halloween is quickly approaching. Apparently, Halloween is viewed as an American holiday here in Europe and isn't celebrated, but the younger and more "Americanized" generation of Germans seem to be catching on. Our neighbors have warned us that trick-or-treating around our homes will be flooded with confused German teenagers who want to participate in the festivities, but don't really understand the concept of dressing up. In recent years, the very real Frankenstein's Castle, which is about thirty minutes from our house, has started to cash in on the young German's sudden interest in the holiday by having an adult Halloween party and haunted house in October and November. The castle itself is not very magnificent, as it is mostly in ruins now, but it was pretty entertaining to go see how German's try to celebrate the holiday. The party had shuttle buses that proclaimed "This way to Halloween!" and a lot of the Germans dressed up like movie characters. All of the food was apparently supposed to be in some way horror themed, but we didn't always understand the analogies. Maybe they were German horror movies?

Hanging out with Frankenstein's monster at his castle.

The "haunted house" itself was pretty hilarious. In Georgia, I remember friends going to Netherworld every year where you would wait in line for an hour or more to walk through a house where they told you made up spooky stories and tried to jump out at you to scare you. At Frankenstein's Castle, it was mostly just people dressed up in crazy (and sometimes very realistic) outfits trying to touch you. At one point, I got shoved inside a metal cage by two of the actors for trying to out-smart one of them. An older bald man apparently took my earwax and turned it into a piece of amber, which he let me keep. At certain times of the night, all of the "monsters" came together to dance to "Thriller" which was pretty good. Pretty much all of the actors tried to come after me at some point to scare me, probably because they thought I was a 14 year old girl. It was a lot of fun, but kind of pricey so I doubt we'll go back.

 

So, this picture was taken in the pitch black chapel of the castle (one of the only parts still remaining.) I couldn't see this guy standing there until the flash went off, so we all had a good laugh at his great photo bomb.

Also this week, Greg had a very interesting Army experience that I don't think he would have in America. To make a long story short, Heidelberg is also pretty close to where we live and once had a huge military presence. It's a beautiful city that is apparently extremely friendly to Americans and tourists, unlike where we are right now. Anyway, a guy that Greg works with chose to have his re-enlistment ceremony at the castle there prompting a mini work field trip for them, in their uniforms. Usually, it's highly discouraged for them to walk around anywhere in uniform, so the response from the crowd was pretty comical. Greg came home saying that Germans were asking to take pictures with them, stopping to watch and take pictures of their ceremony, and swarms of elderly American tourists migrated over to shake all of their hands. When he told me the story, I pretty much laughed all the way through because I could imagine being one of those prying spectators stopping to get a good pictures. What was more fun was the way he described people trying to "discreetly" snap a photo by pulling out their phones and pretending to be texting or something while pointing the camera at them. I really wish I had gotten to witness this ordeal.


Now that the shut down is over, Greg gets to go back to school again. As much as I'll miss him, I'm glad he's going because we were getting concerned that the longer his classes got pushed back, the more likely they were to cut into Thanksgiving and our trip to Switzerland. As of right now, snowboarding in Switzerland is still the plan for next month. Hopefully, everything will work out. We also have a hotel booked for a four day in January to spend in Garmisch, which should be fun. I was hoping we could go over our anniversary weekend, but pretty much all of December is booked everywhere I looked into going. Next year, I guess I'll have to plan further in advance.

Speaking of planning, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping we can settle on a Mediterranean cruise sometime this upcoming spring or summer. I really want to see Greece and cruises over here are crazy inexpensive, but it always seems that cruise lines try to throw in extra destinations that you really would rather not see along with the best ones. For example, I don't have any desire to stop twice in Turkey on an 11 day cruise of the Greek islands and Greg would prefer to stay far away from the Middle East. The only cruise I've found that met our parameters was through Norwegian, which is more expensive than the European lines. I told Greg when we came to Germany that the only thing I really cared to do here was go on a cruise to Greece. Considering that a week long Mediterranean cruise is about the same price as 3 days snowboarding, I don't think that's an unobtainable request.

The Move

In case you've been curious what we've been up to, Greg and I have been lost in a big black hole called moving. After 30 days of living in a hotel, we finally have a place of our own that is somewhat put together. If I ever run across someone who is PCS'ing to Germany, I have a whole ton of advice for them when it comes to the move itself.

Two weeks before our apartment lease expired in Colorado, Greg managed to set up for us to have all of our household good shipped. So how do you prepare to move overseas in less than 2 weeks? You don't. You just wing it and hope everything arrives in one piece in Europe.

When the movers arrived in Colorado, we were surprised to find that the moving company had sent two older women and one young man to pack up our whole apartment in four hours. Yeah, it ended up taking 2 days. At the end of day one, it was pouring rain and hail to the point that they decided to just give up and come back in the morning. Greg ended up needing to be around the whole time to help them move out the larger furniture.

Our big empty apartment in Colorado

A couple of things to note:

• Greg and I sent all of our clothes, half of our linens and some of our kitchenware and utensils "unaccompanied" meaning that it flew on a plane instead of being packed onto a ship to get here. The purpose is that some of your stuff gets to your new location earlier so you aren't completely stranded. The trade-off is that it's less secure and your stuff is more likely to be damaged this way, so don't send anything of any significant value. How did this work out for us? Well, after spending all the time planning what we would send and shipping it 30 days before our arrival in Germany, our unaccompanied goods arrived 2 days after we did. However, we were not able to access our unaccompanied goods until we had a place to live, which didn't happen until we had been here for a month already. By then, our household goods had already arrived as well and both shipments were delivered the same day to our apartment. Luckily, nothing in either of the two shipments were broken or damaged, not even so much as a picture frame. So, send some things unaccompanied, but don't set your heart on actually getting them sooner than everything else. Maybe you'll get luckier than us and get a home right away, but if you're coming to where we're located, don't hold your breath. The housing situation here is crazy and you don't get to decide whether you live on or off post.
• PRO-GEAR! Make sure you separate everything that is pro-gear and most importantly, if you are  a spouse with a career (or in school), everything needed for or related to that career counts as pro-gear. Textbooks, work clothes, diplomas all count as pro-gear and do not go towards your total weight. Greg and I don't own much stuff, but we do know of others that have gone over their total weight and had to pay for part of the shipment. We shed several hundred pounds off the shipment total by being sure both of our work related items were labeled pro-gear. This also allows you to get away with more stuff in your unaccompanied goods, if you choose to go that route.
• Buy things you'll need before you leave and pack them to ship! We did this to an extent, but no where near like we should have. Fair warning, don't expect air conditioning when you move to Germany. If you are coming in summer, you'll want some good fans and black out curtains at the very least. Get them before you come here! We knew we wouldn't have air conditioning, but we were told that the temperature stayed so low that you didn't need it. Summers are rather mild, but there are days it gets 90 degrees and your apartment will feel like a sauna even when it's 80, especially if you ever plan to use your oven. You'll want fans to cool the bedrooms and living areas and good thick curtains to keep out the light. One set of curtains at the PX cost $70, when I know the exact same ones were half of that price back in the states. You'll be hard pressed to find black out curtains on the economy because German buildings have these awesome metal blinds to keep the light out that you won't get on post (and probably won't get to choose if you live on post or not). Fans at the PX are often sold out and will cost you $40 for one of those ugly stand ones that won't match any of your decor. Sure you can wait for Amazon to deliver, but if it's 85 degrees the day you're unpacking, you probably won't want to wait. Plan ahead and buy curtains and fans. If you want to be really proactive, you could consider buying an air conditioning unit, but they are not allowed in government housing. Yes, a lot of people over here have air conditioning units even though they aren't supposed to, but we surprisingly aren't one of them. I'm way too cheap to spend $400 on one. Finally, look into whether or not your housing will have a microwave, and get one if you feel you need it. We don't have a microwave and we may eventually break down and get one, but I'm not a huge fan of them anyway. If you can't live without a microwave, you may want to buy one in the states before leaving because they aren't a household staple here like in America.

We've surprisingly unpacked most of our stuff in the past 3 days. It helps that we have a whole spare room just to throw empty boxes and storage. We've realized that we still need a lot of things to really make this place home. Slowly, it will come together I hope. Until then, I'm just enjoying having my own bed back and a kitchen to make bread in!

Housing Crisis

Before I write this entry, I'd like to explain that my purpose is not to bash the housing workers here or the military, but simply give my point of view on an ongoing issue. From everything we've heard, we have not been the first people to have this same experience. My hope is that others coming here can use our situation to help them make their own personal decisions should they end up in the same predicament as us.

For anyone who doesn't know, Greg and I have been living in a hotel for a month now. Compared to a lot of people here, that's nothing. Some in bound families have been stuck in the hotel for many months at this point with little chance of getting out. Let's be honest, living in one room for over a month is horrible and wears on your nerves quickly.

The policy where Greg is stationed is that almost everyone has to live on post unless there is absolutely nothing available. However, the post is broken into separate housing areas that vary greatly in quality. Some are for enlisted, some are for officers and they range from 2 to 5 bedrooms. Since Greg and I are child-free and not of any particular importance, we've been on the housing list for a long time. When the option finally came up last week for us to take a place and get out of the hotel, we were thrilled! We talked about it and decided that no matter what, we would take the first place offered to us. I mean, how bad could on post housing be?

Then, we saw the place offered. I'll make this as short as possible, it was atrocious. The apartment itself was okay, although you could tell nothing inside of it had been updated since the building was built in the 50's. It was worn and old, but I didn't have very high expectations from the beginning. The area around the apartment, though, was about equivalent to a housing project. Many of the building around it were completely empty or only had a few residents. Trash and construction waste was thrown outside and through the stairwell and neighboring playground (which I failed to mention was literally right outside our bedroom window). There were no cars parking around the vicinity of the building. Doors were left wide open and there was evidence of break-ins in the storage area. We decided we did not feel safe there.

We were informed on multiple occasions that we would be given two options of housing. Since this was our first option, we planned to just return to the office, decline it and move on to our next option. Once back to the housing office, it was apparent that declining housing was easier said then done. In my opinion, the housing workers know that many of the quarters offered are less than desirable, but they still have to get them filled. I don't think it's the individual worker's fault, I believe this company just has certain policies that are not in the best interest of the families. They offered us an unsafe place to live, and when we tried to decline it, they attempted to tell us that we were not allowed to do that because the "housing list was too long". During this conversation, the office manager got involved, some yelling happened (from her, not us) and ultimately Greg was able to look up the regulation and prove that we were in fact allowed to decline the housing offered in order to see another location. They were less than happy that we were informed and standing our ground, despite their attempts to guilt and deceive us. Clearly, these tactics had worked on other families who were now living in these run-down areas.

That night, I got online and submitted an ICE complaint about our treatment and the condition of the apartment we saw. Trust me, they read those things. Our next experiences with the same individuals at the office were a complete turn around. I popped back into the building we were shown yesterday and it was obvious an effort had been made to clean up the area and make it appear safer. Here are some pictures after the clean-up started:

Waste all over the stairs being cleaned up 

Piles of dust and trash

Area where the walls were breaking apart under the stair railing

Temporary fix

Water damage from leaking down the ceiling

Greg was called on Monday afternoon and told there was another unit available for us to view today. We were cautiously optimistic. I mean, nothing could be worse than what we were shown first, right? The whole feeling in the office was completely different this time around. They seemed happy to see us , offering fruit and making small talk. Needless to say, our next option was far beyond what we were expecting. It was a top floor stairwell walk-up that was completely renovated with brand new appliances, windows and fixtures. The kitchen was three times the size of the one I had in Colorado and the living area in general was much more spacious. It was in a good location close to where we can easily walk everywhere and you could tell the neighbors were keeping up with maintenance. Plus, it didn't have a giant playground right outside the windows. Obviously, we hurried back to the office and accepted it. We're moving in on Friday.

Seriously, this kitchen looks like the inside of an Ikea.

So, what is the point of me even sharing this story? If there is one thing I've learned the hard way in life, it's that you really have to be your own advocate. We could have easily been pressured into taking a home that we were unhappy with and felt unsafe in, but we (mostly Greg) stood up for ourselves. We decided that we were not okay with being pushed into making a decision we would regret, and were ultimately rewarded for it. Do not let anyone try to take advantage of you or guilt you into something simply because it's easier for them. Always, always, always stick up for yourself because no one else will do it for you. Trust me, it will save you a lot of grief and disappointment in life!

The Process, Part 2

So, as quickly as everything became a giant headache, it also suddenly fell together over the course of a week.

Last Tuesday, I had my medical screening with EFMP. Before I went to my appointment, I was completely terrified. Everything you read on the internet about EFMP and the overseas medical screening for dependents is completely terrifying. They pretty much make it sound like it will be hours worth of someone combing through your entire medical record and asking in-dept questions in an attempt to enroll you into a program that may prevent you from going overseas with your spouse. Rest assured, it's no where near as horrifying as everything on the internet tells you. My medical screening took about 5 minutes. I requested all of my medical records from the past 5 years which the nurse glanced over, reviewed my EFMP paperwork and my medical records from the military treatment facility and that was essentially it. The doctor signed my paperwork, forwarded it on to the travel office which passed it on to Germany for approval. Within 24 hours, Greg had my passport in hand and an amendment saying that I was approved for concurrent travel.

What does all of that mean? Basically, Greg and I get to fly to Germany together with Augustus in cabin. Flights are booked, movers are coming in a few days and all that's left to do is wait. Moral of the story: Don't listen to what you read online about how horrible the command sponsorship process can be.

About 2 weeks from now, we'll start our adventure towards Europe! Along the way, we have everything in our house to ship, families to visit, a chihuahua to prepare and when we finally get there, housing to select. So much done, but still plenty of work to go!

The Process, Part 1

So, those of you who have noticed that I am particularly negative recently regarding our move to Germany, you're probably thinking, "How on earth could anyone be upset about spending three years with the opportunity of traveling through Europe?"

Because, well, we ARE dealing with the Army here. There is no such thing as "easy" when attempting any PCS, let alone one on the opposite side of the world.

After Greg accepted his orders several months ago, he was told that when he returned from Afghanistan, he would be sent to a LEVY brief where he would get all of the paperwork needed to start the process of PCS'ing overseas. In December, he arrived home and went on post-deployment leave. At the end of January, everyone began returning back to post from leave and preparing for "PCS season", as they call it. Greg asked week after week if his S1 completed the paperwork required to attend the LEVY brief. Week after week, it was still not finished. February came and went. March started with no word on when he would be able to start clearing Ft. Carson. We applied for tourist passports so we could travel when we arrived in Europe. We made sure Augustus had everything needed and was ready to go. We told our apartment complex that we were not renewing our lease because we would be moving to Germany before it ended. We did everything we could possibly do without the paperwork supplied at the LEVY breif. Finally, on March 19, Greg turned 27 years old... and finally got to attend the brief he had been begging to go to since January. What exactly did he learn from his LEVY brief? That he really needed to attend it about 6 months sooner.

Long story as short as possible, we finally had the paperwork needed for me to apply for a no-cost passport needed to obtain SOFA status. For those that do not know, being in Germany under the SOFA agreement allows spouses to live in the country without having to leave every 3 months and to hold jobs. It's kind of like a visa, but covers for however long your husband is stationed in the country. The morning after my husband's brief, I ran down to the passport office with paperwork in hand to apply for my no-fee passport. We were told it could take 6-8 weeks to get it back and it has now been exactly 4 weeks and 2 days. At least that was one step we were able to complete with no major issues.

"Command sponsorship" is what the Army calls it when family members are approved to go with the service member to an overseas duty station. It's not as simple as just jumping on a flight and arriving in Germany with a big freakin' smile on your face and an apartment all ready for you to move in to. Greg's unit in Germany has to agree that he can bring me, the medical offices in the US and Germany have to agree that I'm healthy enough to live in Wiesbaden and the housing office in Germany has to be sure they can accommodate us accordingly. Since Greg's orders to Wiesbaden did say that he could bring family members if they are cleared through EFMP (Exceptional Family Members Program), we assume that his unit did agree that I am allowed to accompany him. The big hurdle right now is the entire EFMP process. My medical screening appointment with EFMP is scheduled for Tuesday. It was the earliest appointment we could get when I scheduled the first week of April. If everything goes well and I am not identified as having issues requiring enrollment in EFMP, we may very well being on our way to completing the most difficult chunk of the command sponsorship process. If not, there is a good chance that my medical clearance will not be complete by Greg's new report date of June 10.

Oh, did I forget to mention? Since Greg was sent so late to his LEVY brief, they allowed him to request a 30 day extension on his report date. Instead of reporting May 10, which was basically impossible when he's only able to start the paperwork to leave 6 weeks before, he has an extra 30 days to throw all of this together. He found out just today that his extension was approved, 3 weeks before he was supposed to report.

Despite the extra 30 days, we still have to move out of our apartment on May 12 as of right now. We've been begging and pleading for them to allow us to stay past our lease date. They've been extremely kind and working with us on this issue, so hopefully we'll be able to strike a deal on staying here later than expected. If not, we'll be packing our belongings into a storage unit and staying in a hotel until we have some idea what is going on.



Greg still has hope that my medical screening will go well and we'll be out of here and on our way to Germany together on time. However, there is still the chance that he may need to go before me and Augustus and I will join him in a few months. There is also a chance that my medical paperwork will not work out to my advantage and I will not be allowed to join Greg in Germany at all. There is also still a slight chance that maybe his orders will be cancelled entirely and we'll end up somewhere completely different. We have absolutely no idea at this point.

And it is very possible that we will not know until a few days before June 10. Welcome to Army life, right?

This is what PCS'ing makes me want to do. But, without the sash.

The Reunion

I'm home sick from work today. I've been sick since last Tuesday, exactly one day after Greg came home from Afghanistan. And let me tell you, it was a long time coming.

Originally, Greg was scheduled to be home the weekend after Thanksgiving. That didn't happen.
Then, Greg was supposed to be home on November 27.
Then November 28.
Then his flight was cancelled all together.
Then he was told they'd be home December 1.
Then December 2.
This time, they went through customs, boarded the plane and sat on the runway for 2 hours. Oh yeah, then the plane in front of his slid off the icy runway...
So, finally, on December 3 at slightly before noon, I lined up at the Special Events Center to claim my husband.

For anyone who has never experienced the horror of a military homecoming, let me just explain the scene that unfolded. First of all, the SEC gets packed the second the doors open, about 2 hours before the actual ceremony. If you want to show up say, the hour before, you might as well prepare to stand. Babies and small children are abundant and often uncontrolled. The place reeks of cheap perfume like everyone took a Shore Shower the minute before entering the room. The media takes up half of the floor. It's hot. Kids are getting upset. And, in true Army style, the ceremony is never on time.

But, despite all of that, I was excited out of my mind. Nine months of deployment were finally over. 26 long months of living separately were coming to an end. For the first time in our marriage, we would actually get to live like a married couple- in the same home. Words can't even describe how excited we both felt.

It seemed like a century in that gym before they finally started entering.

Greg is in the second line, closest to the front. I didn't notice when I took the picture.

Thankfully, it only took about two minutes for them to get lined up and dismissed to find their families. We seriously lucked out that I showed up so late and was standing about four feet from Greg when he was released. It only took about 30 seconds for me to find and jump on him. I'm almost entirely sure that we were on the local news that night.

This is our obligatory homecoming photo.

Regardless of the delays, the set backs, the awful smell in the SEC and the fact that I've had a horrible sinus infection for almost two weeks, I'm thrilled that our family is finally back together. Onto our next adventure- Europe!