North Dakota Here We Come!

           Just a recap of the past two months...
           We left Germany to come to the good ole US of A! To our next station area, Minot, ND. Now with the aweful flooding that they had last year they were very limited on housing. On base housing, or so I have heard, is on higher grounds than off base housing. (Which is what got the worse of the flooding) So they have been building houses like crazy on base! Andrew and I stayed here in Georgia with my family since there was going to be quite a wait for the housing while my husband stayed in a "dorm" room.
          We were originally thinking that we'd be seperated til at least May so we had already planned for that. We originally started out as #106 on the housing (beginning of Dec.) waiting list but then made it to #84 like right before Christmas and then just the week after Chistmas we like made it to #66! We were shocked it made such a big jump over Christmas break! And then sometime in the first week of January, I think it was the 7th, Drew called and told me that the day before he checked on the housing list and we only are #53 now, so not as big of a drop as I was exapecting... but hey, it is a drop! And then I was in a doctor's office on the 10th and Drew called me and he was like really happy and said he had something to tell me... We got a house!! I was a little shocked.. A house already?! But it was true. And yesterday, January 25th, he got to get the key to the house and check it out. He took a few pictures and sent them to me. He said it was really nice though and he likes it alot! So February 1st at 8 PM I will pick him up at the Augusta AirPort!! Drew and I will get to spend the evening alone, because my parents said they would watch Andrew overnight for us!! I'm SO EXCITED!!
          
           Andrew has grown so much since the last time his Daddy has seen him! His hair has even grown alot too. He says more, doesn't talk in sentences but he uses some words. Right now he really likes the word "play" And he LOVES to play, but what toddler doesn't! (right?!) Andrew has always had a fascination with letters and has always loved watching his Leap Frog DVD called "Letter Factory" For Christmas I got him a Pre-K workbook that just had the Alphabet in it. (Just something for him to look thru during church) Well he REALLY liked it! And he kept studying the letters and within a week of having it he was identifying each letter and saying thier names all by himself! I am so proud of him!! And his favorite show on TV right now is... "Wheel Of Fortune" He says the letters as they show up on the puzzle and loves it! He even claps along with the audience! Too Cute!

January 2, 2012

           I have an amazing husband! He is so sweet and thoughtful. He was finally able to keep a secret from me, and this is a first. He very sweetly behind my back ordered me a birthday cake from Bruster's Ice Cream and got caroline to pick it up for me and even pay for it with our card. He was very slick with it. And he said he does have a gift for me that he ordered that should be here tomorrow. He hasn't broke down yet and he has not told me what he got me, this is big for him! I am sure if we were all living together that it would not have played out the same. hehe. But all in all I had a pretty good birthday. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Drew could have been here with us.

We basically all started crying when we

saw the cake!!

           I am so proud of our son Andrew! He is basically 22 months old and can pretty much identify every letter of the alphabet and name the letter. I was in WalGreens the other day with him and he was naming letters that he saw in the store as we were passing them and this guy said that he could not believe at how well Andrew was doing. He was shocked when I told him how old he is. It really makes me feel like I am doing something right afterall. He has just become so clingy with Drew being gone and now with Spanky Dog up in Heaven. Today I was able to leave him here with his Grandma and Papa while Caroline and I ran a few errands. He did pretty good, didn't really cry thanks to his grandparents keeping him busy. We'll just have to do this more often.
       

Updates

            It has been too long since I have posted on here last. And alot has happened recently. Stuff that I feel should be remembered before forgotten.
          We have been in the States for about a month now and Drew has been in North Dakota for 3 weeks. Andrew and I are in Georgia with my family. Things have not been easy for us, pretty much since the day we landed... My heart was broke that day and this past week my heart has broke even more. But before I get to that let me explain about the housing situation. Drew got to ND and got on the housing list as soon as he could and we started off at number 106. One week later we got to number 84 then this past week Drew told me we are now number 73. So all in all it is going well. And we dropped 11 spots over Christmas week.
           Christmas was good. The weather this year has been very mild so it hasn't really felt like it was Christmas in that sort of way, if you know what I mean. Like today is December 31st and we went for a walk and I had a short sleeve shirt on. But for Christmas Santa brought Andrew a Toy Story Tent, an Auqa Doodle Mat, a Zippy Car thing (double sided wood cars). Pretty much small stuff, but something for him to play with while we are here.
           December 27, 2011 was one of the saddest days. I learned that night that Spanky got hit by a car and was dead. My parents' next door nieghbor, Gill, found him dead on the side of the road. Gill came and told my Dad, I was back in Caroline's room so didn't really know what was going on. Well Daddy and Gill went outside and burried him and I found out later that night. I do not show emotion with this in front of people, it bothers me the most at night when it is time for bed. And calling Drew and telling him what happened was one of the hardest things that I have had to do. Drew is hurt so bad and I worry about him, with being there alone in ND. We tried giving Spanky the best that we could and we were so grateful to have him as part of our family. He will truly be missed but always remember by us.
         

LAST NIGHT IN GERMANY

           Here I am at the Spangdahlem Base in Germany sitting in the temperary housing. It is our last night here in Germany. Tomorrow morning at 4:45 AM we have to catch a shuttle bus to the Ramstein Air Base. Our flight should leave around 10. We are flying in a 747, a really big plane! It does not seem like we are leaving, it does not seem real. Today at church while saying goodbye to everyone it seemed like a movie, like it wasn't us... It was really wierd. I did not cry or anything, until it was time for us to leave. I got to give my friend Tracey Oliver a hug one last time and I just bawled my eyes out! We also had dinner this evening with the Brimhalls. They live in a condo just a building down from us. Dinner was great and it was really nice to sit back and talk and have a good time.
           It is a few minutes past midnight right now and I still have to finish packing everything up for tomorrow. But I have everything in the front room here and it should be pretty easy to get done. A part of me just cannot believe that we are leaving tomorrow... I have several little toys picked out along with a few little books for Andrew and I am grouping them up in quart size zip lock bags. So I can just grab it out of the bag to let him play with it. And then put it back in the bag and get a different one, so he doesn't get too bored with the SAME TOYS the whole 10 hours or so. And another thing that might be a life savor is the Magni-Doodle Board that we got for him at the BX a few weeks ago. He just loves to draw/write so this way he can while we are on the flight and I won't have to worry about him drawing/writing all over everything.
           A hard thing about moving every couple of years is that you make good friends and then just have to move and start all over again. One person that I really am going to miss is Jessica Lymann. We have not really gotten the chance to hang out and think that we really have alot in common. We both really wish that we had more time here and could live alot closer to each other.
           One day Drew and I would like to try and come back here sometime. It will of corse be many years from now. But I am going to go right now while Andrew is still asleep and try and get all of this packing done. :D

Our Final Days In Germany

           (Just a little note) This entry is probably not going to be typed in one sitting, I barely can think things thru right now. So I will post little by little.

            Today is the 7th of November, 2011... And that means that we will be in the States in 14 days. It is a bitter-sweet moment. I mean it will be exciting to go and see our parents again and all, but we are going to miss the simplicity of life here. Ahhh, I am going to miss the friends that we have made here! It is so sad because I have made the closest friends during the end of our time here.              

So The Count Down Begins

           So we MOVE OUT of the apartment on the Bitburg Base on the 18th and move into TLF on the Spangdahlem Base. On the 21st at 10 AM we leave for the States. Tomorrow, November 2nd, some people are coming over to tell me what all NEEDS to be done for when we leave the apartment. I have been trying to get things organized so it won't look so hectic around here when they come. :D
          I found out that the church over in Minot is pretty big, like two wards split between the base!
          There has been alot weighing down on my heart and mind lately. I just do not understand how people can act in such ways. And there is nothing you can say to them because they are just going to blow up at you and turn it on you. I am just so worried about how things are going to go.

Reaching The End

          With only seven weeks left to live here in Europe, we have planned to go on one more trip. Drew was just able to find a really good deal on tickets that he just couldn't refuse. So we will be able to spend two nights and three days in Dublin, Ireland! I am so excited that we will be able to go. It is like one of those places that I've wanted to go since being here but didn't really know how possible it'd be.

          We still have no idea on where we are going next. Drew feels that they are leaning towards (again) giving him Minot, ND for the next base. Now it has changed on how we will go thru with it, if Minot is the base. They don't even have room to house singles hardly and the group he will work with says that they don't even need him there. So if Minot is for him then this is how we will go about it. Of corse when we get to the States we are going to visit family for a few weeks.. Then Drew will head out to ND and Andrew and I will be staying with his mom. Just because there will be no where for Andrew and I to stay. Then maybe 6 months from then, or when it gets warmer there, Andrew and I will be able to go and join him there. But only if the housing situation is any better. Right now they just do not have to room for anyone.

            We've talked and we have made this decission as a family. But after our 6 yrs in the Air Force is up we are getting out. And it is a scarey thing to even think about with how bad jobs are out there right now. But when we joined we were originally only going to do a few years anyway, just for the experience I guess. But this road that we have traveled down has been an amazing one and I would not change one single thing about it! We have met some of the best people and we have seen some of the places that people only dream of being able to see in their lifetime. I mean when you think about it, some people save up their whole life just to go to one of these places that we have been so blessed to go and see.

             So with leaving the military in mind, I have been thinking about different things I could do to help out on saving and making money. After alot of thought and searching I have come up with a pretty good list of different things that I could look into doing while still being a stay at home mom.