So this is Ramstein

Cannot believe we are finally here. It seems so unreal. Everyone tells you so many wonderful things about living in Europe and all that you will do and see. Now we are actually in Germany and it seems weird. We landed and were all tired after some serious lack of sleep.

You get on the plane at 9 at night and land during the morning at 10am and it only took 7 hours. We had dinner and breakfast and watched 3 movies. Plus napping in between since you can't really get comfortable on the plane to get real sleep.

We are off the plane and ready to conquer Europe!!

Oh wait- we have no car or home. First we need to check into the hotel and get a drivers license so we can actually drive to see everything. Hubby took his driving test before we left the states so thankfully he was able to get a rental car the first day here.

We were taken to our room and hubby left to run errands. The hotel seems weird because the appliances are in German and I have no idea if I can use the plugs. I look for the trusty hotel book that is left in ALL hotel rooms to give you information about the base, hotel and local area. NO BOOK!!!  You have got to be kidding me-- I am in a foreign country and this is the hotel that chooses NOT to use those handy dandy books. WOW  of all the places this is the one place where I really need that book.

So I call the front desk and no they really do not have those books plus she is unsure if our room has any American outlets. Guess I will wait till hubby gets back so he can tell me. The last thing I need is to blow up my laptop or something with the wrong voltage.

First task.......
Begin taking notes for future spouses who will be arriving here.

 So- I need to do laundry. YIKES!!  Hubby starts the washer and hopes he picks the right buttons. Over 2 hours later our laundry is done.  Not going to push those buttons again.

Found appliance manuals in kitchen drawer-- THANK GOODNESS. At least they left that

off to Ramstein

Man- when you take a flight at night and arrive in the morning it is WeIrD!!!

I was hoping to be tired so I could sleep on the plane but I wasn't tired enough.

It was a long day but finally we were on the plane and headed to our Germany destination. So much excitement brewing inside and anxiousness to see the sights.

We checked in at 3pm and our flight didn't leave until 9pm. That was a long wait in between at the airport. Luckily we took advantage of using the USO room available to all military and their dependents at Baltimore Airport. They had free snack, wifi, tv and assorted other things. It was a nice break from the regular airport area. My children and I showed our ID's and had our hand stamped. We then checked out the snacks and ordered from the nice volunteer gentleman behind the counter.  I think he has been volunteering there too long because he didn't seemed thrilled that we were using the service. I got the feeling that he preferred the actual military member to use the service but HEY we are a part of the military too.  That's ok- the kids and I ordered some snack and proceeded to relax and eat them. Hubby was in the line still waiting for us to return. :-)


Once we checked in we were glad to see that we were assigned seats.  So many people have different experiences and so I had heard so many different ways we might get seats. Luckily, we were seated behind one of the dividers so we had plenty of leg room and our own personal screen in front of us for the movies.

After getting settled and getting up in the air they fed us a tasty dinner. The kind that you used to get every time you flew in a plane. There was plenty of food and I was glad we didn't purchase food before boarding the plane. Although it was a late dinner it was great to have a full stomach to help with the drowsiness. They even gave us hot towels to wipe our hands before our meal. Very nice! Then we had 3 movies to watch and breakfast before we landed. They treated us great and the flight only could have been better if I had a window seat to lay my head.

At one point during the flight an Airman got up to use the restroom that was near us. Unfortunately for him the door didn't close as he thought. LOL  He started taking his pee and my son said  "um sir"  and he turned and realized we were all looking at him. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!!!!  We didn't see anything because his back was to us but his face was so funny. The shock was obvious. As he tried to close the door and stop his pee at the same time we worked hard to keep our laugh in. Poor guy .

As we arrived at Ramstein we picked up our belongings and noticed the floor wet. YIKES- the bathroom area on the other side of the divider was leaking through the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  NASTY  Glad we didn't have anything on the floor.

Day one in Germany is off to an interesting start

Moving is tiresome

Well, we made it out before the storm hit big!

We have been wanting some serious snow all winter and the day it decides to come is the day we leave.  What a day that was. As we are driving to the airport the blizzard conditions were starting. We didn't even think our flight would get out but it did. Out of Wichita we were one of only a few flights that actually left. We landed in Chicago not knowing if we were going to get out.

We were set to fly from Chicago to Baltimore but only if we could beat the storms. Fortunately we left Wichita at 6 am and were due to leave Chicago at 10 am. The storms were not supposed to hit Chicago until that afternoon. We had a chance!! I was surprised and bummed that the airports don't have free wifi. Luckily someone near me did not have a lock on their wifi and I was able to use it.  Hey-- I'm not a hacker so no harm done.  :-)

The sky was so beautiful above the storms that were brewing below.

Some of the planes in line.

We were so lucky to get out of Chicago. As we were on the runway there was 12 planes behind us in line. The last of the planes that were going to get out. We landed in Baltimore with no issues and had plans to stay the night.

With leaving so early in the morning I am very glad we did not have to fly out that same night to Germany.  We went to our hotel and enjoyed our evening and got plenty of rest. We knew the next day would be a long one.

Ah- departure day.  It is a weird feeling knowing that you will be leaving the country that you love so much. Not knowing when the next time you will be on American soil is kind of weird. I am so ready for a new adventure and new places to see.

This is our plane-- the biggest one I had ever been on. It seems to big to be in the air.

The distance we will be traveling.

WOW-- that's a loooooooong way!

The funny and odd stuff with a PCS

Well, we are in full gear of the lengthy process to move overseas. A good friend told me this move would be so different then all our other moves and boy was she ever right! So far our mishaps, odd and funny things have been:

---On our passport application we gave the wrong official birth certificate. Apparently there are 2 types of birth certificates and they need the long version. We were not informed of this. Turned in our passport application the first week of December. We leave in 6 days and 2 of us do not have passports.

---Our official orders have an added child that is not ours on the back side. LOL  I actually know the mother and think it is funny but odd.

---We drove to Dallas to ship our vehicle and were told that we would be reimbursed upon our return. Upon our return we were then informed that we would be reimbursed in Germany---OK??

---Our unaccompanied baggage was picked up but is going to arrive the same date as our regular household goods. Apparently-- we should have shipped it a month before we left, not a week. Did anyone tell us--NO

---Our movers for our main HHG shipment were scheduled to be at our house Mon, Tues and Wed. They came Mon to pack us and said "We will be back on Wednesday". OK- so why the heck did you schedule Tuesday. What a wasted day in the hotel- but OK  :-)

---The packers can't ship "certain" liquids. I can understand that. He was packing my kitchen and left the dish soap on the counter. I assumed my sponge that has dish soap in it would then remain as well. Which is good because I need it for cleaning. NOPE- apparently you can ship the soap if it is in a handle sponge but not in its original bottle??  OK unfortunately I caught that too late and it was already packed not to be found.

---I had a bottle of wine that was 90% empty on top of the fridge. Surely he wont pack that since it is liquid and nearly empty and they have 20 bottles of liquid that they have set aside that they wont pack. NOPE- I caught him rolling it in packing paper getting ready to put it in the box- SERIOUSLY??  LOL I informed him he could leave it out because I will definitely be finishing that.

-- My husband emailed the MPF 3 weeks ago wondering what other out-processing he needed to do. Yesterday, they sent him a LONG sheet that he needs to complete. LOL  It is mostly online now but since the time is short and close it was recommended he walk to all the destinations-- sure thing.  :-)

I am sure all the funnies will continue. Take each moment as it is and don't worry or stress about too much. If I did I would need MORE wine bottles. LOL

The adventure continues...............

It's a lot of work to move overseas!!

Wow- life has been a whirlwind!!   Once we got our orders to Germany it has been simply chaotic.  So much to do and check and follow up on.

We finally received our official orders.  You really can't do all the super important stuff without those. Now we can finally schedule our household goods to be picked up and ship our vehicle. Plus add in the Holidays at the same time make for some serious chaos.

We took a trip home to see family and left our 2 dogs with them.  :-(   It will be a much easier move without them plus we can travel freely while overseas but I sure do miss them.  I fell like I lost 2 of my kids.  I am SOOOO thankful that our family was able to take them in. It is such a huge relief to know that good, caring people are giving them the love they need. It has made for a much easier transition then I expected for our daughter and me.

We still haven't sold our house but it IS the Holiday season. Not too many people looking to buy a house during Christmas. Luckily we have 2 prospect even though they want to wait until January.

I know that God has a plan and it all will work out.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Remember to say a prayer for all our troops and there families left behind.