So here is to a fresh start for the new year. Dylan and I have tried this blog thing before and we lasted maybe a month. Things got busy and we both just let it slide. We are now settled in Germany and have a better grip on our lives. I have a new toy... My Silhouette Cameo! Dylan is downrange... YES, Again!!! Here's to a great year in Europe and to conquering life together. Keep on the lookout for posts about each of us... we are 6 now (Grandma J is now retired!). Our goal as a family this year is to enjoy the life that God has given us and to never take it for granted.
BUCKLE UP... HERE WE GO!!
18.9.12
A JEEP FOR DYL!!!
We had professional pics made of Dylan's Jeep... I put one of those shots as his background... so when he looked at his new phone... SURPRISE he got his Jeep!
4.9.12
A Jumble of Thoughts!!!
So the past few days have been rather interesting around here. My mom was in for the holiday weekend and she allowed me some much needed rest time for myself! Yesterday I spent about 6 hours outside washing both SUV'S... vacuuming them out... cleaning the windows... washing the floor mats... and cleaning every other surface in between! Today mom left super early and I woke up completely sore! Stella still has her staples in her noggin, Sky is still in her splint, and Stuart is still cutting those first two STUBBORN teeth! Not one of us is quite right and we are not working as a team right now. I think we are all tired of this craziness.
I spent most of my "rest" time searching the internet for information on this move that is lurking before us. In the beginning I told Dylan that we were going to be to broke to travel... now that I know even more details... I am sure we will be to broke to travel! NORMAL power here in the US is 110/120 V and 60Hz.... in Europe the power is generally 220 V and 50Hz. You may say... "No worries just get those little plug adapters"... that was my thought too until I really looked into it! If the item is not marked that it can handle the difference in the V and Hz chances are high that it will run hot and burn the motor, not work, work and die slowly, OR best case is that it will work while there but when plugged in back here it will no longer run b/c of the difference. Sounds like fun... right?! They will give us two "dinosaur boxes" that we can plug into the wall and then plug our appliance into it but two isn't nearly enough for the whole house and a family of 5 or 6 if mom can get her visa. This means we will have to purchase a microwave, coffee maker, vacuum, TV(or buy a couple hundred dollar unit to plug into the wall first that can handle the wattage that the TV pulls), hair dryer, straightener, curling iron, clothing iron, crock-pot... and anything else that you can think of that runs on power! :) The one positive I guess is that our lamps will be fine with the little plug adapter and european bulbs. Most German homes do not have freezers and the size of their refrigerator is just slightly larger than our mini fridges! The army will lend us a full size refrigerator/freezer that can be put in a basement or garage if we have one... they will also lend us a washer and dryer for our whole assignment if the house doesn't already have one.
The pilot will need some work before it is "boat worthy". There are certain requirements that it must meet for the shipping company to be able to insure it during transport. Apparently it can have no chips in the paint or chips/cracks in the windshield. We have the normal rock chips in the paint that I can fix with a simple tube of touchup paint but there is a chip in the front windshield that was filled and it didn't stay so the windshield will need to be replaced $$$$ and there is a huge spot on the rear bumper where someone hit it in a parking lot at Fort Bragg before Dylan deployed. We also need to have all foreseeable routine maintenance done before shipping it b/c it is hard to get repair appointments and the parts are very expensive to import and it can take a while to get parts too. So while purchasing a new battery ( I bought the top of the line guaranteed for 3 years) for it last week ( it has been sitting for two weeks b/c the battery was dead) I purchased new brake pads ( ceramic with life-time warranty) for the front and rear that my dad will install for us to save a couple bucks. My grandpa gets a great discount at all of the auto suppliers bc he has a business account with them. We got new tires about 7 months ago and those should last us the entire time we are in Europe. The transmission fluid and differential fluids both also need to be changed in the near future. I bought a couple packs of different bulbs for the exterior lights and my dad showed me how to change them out myself! He is also going to change the engine air filter and cabin air filter and show me how to do both of those! I am going to also change the wipers but I am going to wait until spring for that! We should be smooth sailing in Germany after all of the repairs!
Now for readying the family. From my current understanding the family is not placed on Dylan's orders for concurrent travel / Command sponsored travel until we pass the EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program) medical exams. I have printed off all of the forms for the kids to take to Dr. G tomorrow when he takes out Stella's staples! I will need to pick up exam information for the girls and I from our dentist too. I have applied for a referral to my OB/GYN through my PCM and I have an appointment with Dr. Wheeler on Friday for a full physical... I will give him my medical paperwork to fill out at that time. Hopefully with all of this done we can move through the whole process rather quickly when Dylan returns and is clearing Fort Bragg. My goal is for it to be as uneventful as possible! As much as I don't want to go to Germany I don't want to see him put on 2 year unaccompanied orders for two years without us... this is what I have read can be one of the options if one of the family members doesn't pass the EFMP process.
I am full of fear and probably will be until everything is completed. Once Dylan is home we can start the briefings and the process will begin. We will have to get no-fee government passports to use for official government travel purposes and it will also be where they place our SOFA( status of forces agreement ) stamps. If we plan to travel outside of Germany not on official orders we will also all need blue tourist passports. I do not look forward to paying for 5 at one time!! $$$$$$
Well now that my head is clear of these spinning thoughts I am going to call it a night! The kids are all asleep and it is my turn to get some sleep! I have to be up super early to get a new ID card made so I can get into Bragg next week to welcome Dylan home! We are so close I can almost smell him... he says that he really smells! :)
2.9.12
Jumpers Stand By
I have never liked the idea of blogs. Who would have a running narrative about themselves on the internet, and who would be dumb enough to read it? But I still don’t know what Tumblr is and whenever someone says “blog-o-sphere” I want to punch them in the face, so what do I know right?
When Jamie told me she was making a blog she approached it from a therapeutic standpoint as a journal. I am all for journals, but it took a lot of reflection on my part to figure out what to write. I attempt to be a man of few words, and I am deliberate in their choosing. So with that being said, I am jumping in on this experiment and I will contribute to our metaphorical family diary, left open on the night stand with a web cam pointed at it.
“Life as we live it”
Life, like all the things contained within it, can be viewed through many different lenses, from many different angles. Jamie is my other half, bound by law in front of God. She is the love of my life and one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. Even though this life is shared by us and our wonderful children, we perceive things differently. Even when we agree, we will see it differently to some degree. Through this Blog I hope to be the Yang to her Yin.
To steal a line from Christian author Stu Weber, “equality does not mean sameness”. In other words, while Jamie is my equal partner in this voyage of life, we have different roles. Oh yes, I believe in God, morals, and <gasp> gender roles too! Jamie is the nurturer, the teacher, and the wisdom at home. I on the other hand am the harbinger, the defender, the laborer away.
Psalms 144: 1 Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
Jamie and I have been apart for almost 7 months, I write my first blog post from Bagram, Afghanistan. I am hunched over on my bunk, one of about 200 bunk beds crammed into a circus tent, with no air conditioning. I will be home very soon, but the respite will be short before I head off again. For the next year this blog will be one life lived mostly in two different places, until we can be together again next summer, living an entirely new experience in Europe.
On Jamie’s plane the seatbelt light is on, but on my plane jumpers are in the door, waiting on the green light to jump…
1.9.12
Really!?! YES
So right now as I type this I am asking myself... REALLY?1?!
9 days ago went to visit my grandmother and ended up taking her to the hospital. Long story short... she was having trouble breathing and was diagnosed with a pneumothorax. They operated in the ER to insert a chest tube and we were all relieved that she was getting some much needed rest and relief. 4 days later she was still in the hospital and I was headed to the ER with Stella. She is my special child and completely full of energy... she had a dramatic run in with a counter at Lilly Pulitzer South Park. They have a ceramic frog hidden around the store and she was trying to find it! After leaving the ER with 2 staples in her noggin I rolled her upstairs in her wheelchair to visit my grandmother! With all that has been going on I thought my bad luck streak HAD to be over! Tonight I was sitting quietly in the kitchen eating my dinner when Sky started screaming and crying. At first she wouldn't tell me how she got hurt, she would only say that her hand hurt very badly. She is my child that is the master of whining... however this time there were tears streaming down her face. After probing her for more details here is the story... She was doing cartwheels in the living room and when she put her hand down it made a funny sound and hurt really bad. The hand is slightly blue and it is red around the knuckles. It is swollen up the fingers and she cant squeeze my fingers. The nurse wants us to use advil and see the doctor in the morning.
So to answer my question... REALLY!?!
YESSSS!
I don't know why or how things are going so wrong but I really could use some major relief. On a side note my mom got braces today (invisalign) and she now knows the pain I went through with mine! :) Here's to a better day tomorrow!!
9 days ago went to visit my grandmother and ended up taking her to the hospital. Long story short... she was having trouble breathing and was diagnosed with a pneumothorax. They operated in the ER to insert a chest tube and we were all relieved that she was getting some much needed rest and relief. 4 days later she was still in the hospital and I was headed to the ER with Stella. She is my special child and completely full of energy... she had a dramatic run in with a counter at Lilly Pulitzer South Park. They have a ceramic frog hidden around the store and she was trying to find it! After leaving the ER with 2 staples in her noggin I rolled her upstairs in her wheelchair to visit my grandmother! With all that has been going on I thought my bad luck streak HAD to be over! Tonight I was sitting quietly in the kitchen eating my dinner when Sky started screaming and crying. At first she wouldn't tell me how she got hurt, she would only say that her hand hurt very badly. She is my child that is the master of whining... however this time there were tears streaming down her face. After probing her for more details here is the story... She was doing cartwheels in the living room and when she put her hand down it made a funny sound and hurt really bad. The hand is slightly blue and it is red around the knuckles. It is swollen up the fingers and she cant squeeze my fingers. The nurse wants us to use advil and see the doctor in the morning.
So to answer my question... REALLY!?!
YESSSS!
I don't know why or how things are going so wrong but I really could use some major relief. On a side note my mom got braces today (invisalign) and she now knows the pain I went through with mine! :) Here's to a better day tomorrow!!
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