Hotel Living

In just a few short days, we will be hitting five weeks since we moved out of our quaint little house in North Carolina and moved into a hotel. As I type this, I am sitting in the third hotel during that time frame -- one in NC and our second one here in Germany. You guys, I'm done.

The good new is that we were finally offered housing. We will go check out the two units today and make our decision, and then it's just a matter of getting IN to the unit as well as getting rental furniture from housing until our stuff arrives at the end of August. The hotel we are in now is significantly better, since I now have a small kitchen and have been able to prepare meals. Prior to that, we were in a hotel out on the economy (versus being on-post like we are now) due to no availability at the on-post hotel, and we were crammed into two small normal hotel rooms that opened up into each other. I am incredibly grateful that my mom brought a toaster and a crockpot when she met us there, as it allowed some flexibility in making food in the room. I had to get creative at time, but I will let you know you CAN make a cheese quesadilla for your toddler with nothing but a hair dryer. Just saying.

This has been particularly challenging for the boys as well. Although we are getting closer and closer to Lucas's normal schedule, it was a bit hairy there in the beginning, with bedtime often being "whenever he passes the hell out." Having a bedroom that we can actually shut the door to helps, and he is adjusting a little more back to normal every day. I make an effort to be back from errands or being out and about exploring by naptime, which also helps in the transition.

Max, on the other hand, is a whole different story. He refuses -- REFUSES -- the pack & play, which leaves only one other option for us -- bed sharing. These beds are small, so unfortunately M & I have split parental sleeping duties. I'm with Max on the pull-out couch & he's in with Lucas in the normal bed. Bed sharing makes us both incredibly nervous, especially with two of us in there (my husband is a HEAVY sleeper, too) so it's easier with just one. But I will admit -- our unaccompanied goods show up early next week, and the crib is in there. I CANNOT WAIT to get him adjusted to sleeping there. It's so long over due for our family, but we have done what we can to make the best of the situation. Everyone is at least sleeping, even if it's not the most ideal of locations for us.

We are also limited on places to play, although it's a much better situation here than it was at the previous location. There is a small playground here at the hotel, and as always, plenty of walking to do. I am looking forward to getting into our new home and meeting some other individuals, preferably ones with kids Lucas's age. He thrives when he has play buddies, and I know he is missing having friends around. We are all taking hits being in the hotel, but I worry that he is taking the biggest one.

Regardless, though, there is an end in sight. I can't wait to get settled, and to have this feel a little more like HOME and a little less like a totally chaotic vacation.

Tomorrow

Well, my friends. That's a wrap.

At least for our time here in the United States.

I don't know how this time came upon us so quickly. And this week, as a whole, was just such a massive whirlwind. It's 11:30 pm, and I should be sleeping (I am EXHAUSTED) but I just can't get there yet.

The bags are packed and ready to go. We jacked a cart from the hotel for the night so we could load everything up and have it ready to take down tomorrow morning. Our flight doesn't leave here until 2pm which means breakfast with our friends in the morning and then a few hours of anticipation for what's to come.

It's scary and exciting all at once.

I don't know when I will get a chance to blog again, but hopefully soon. I cannot wait to share our new adventure and oh man, the photography that I will be able to take!

I have SO MANY THINGS to write about, particularly about these last couple of weeks here, and so many things to say about so many people, but I just can't do it tonight.

Until then ... see you on the flip side! Germany or bust!

Boxing It All Up

Something happened.

Once again, time slipped away from me.

I am currently sitting on our sheet-less mattress set, surrounded by boxes. The last glass of wine in the house rests on a shroud of beige packing paper that encases my nightstand. The toddler sits next to me, watching Despicable Me 2 on the iPad for the 100th time, and the baby tosses & turns in the pack and play.

I don't know how we got here.

Not that I'm complaining. At all. I've written about our upcoming move to Germany before, and I truly cannot express how excited we are for what is to come. But somewhere along the line, a bit of fear was interjected into our lives. The reality set in that this won't be "some vacation" but instead this will be our new livelihoods. We knew this, of course, but the closer we got, the more we realized that we wouldn't just be guests in a new country (although we still are, if you want to look at it that way) but instead actual residents. I cannot wait to immerse ourselves in the culture, but at the same time, I'm a bit nostalgic in leaving our  home for the past seven years.

Marriage. Loss -- human and fur. Two babies. A first Christmas together. Many, many ups & downs. This house, while not the fanciest, or the biggest, or the nicest, holds so many memories of our relationship. It's weird to be leaving.

These past few weeks have been a giant whirlwind. As always, I had so many intentions to write, but the time just never presented itself. I'm only writing now because both babies are occupied and husband is off running errands. It's starting to set in how insane our lives are about to become,and while I couldn't be more excited, I also couldn't be more terrified. The packers came today, and 90% of our stuff is in boxes, aside from one bedroom that is a giant cluster of stuff that we will be taking with us. Tomorrow it all goes on the truck. The rest of the week is packed with storage pickups, preschool drop offs, rental cars, hotel stays, new carpet and new paint, goodbye's and just a general rush of trying to get it all done. In one week -- ONE WEEK -- we hop on a plane and head to our new destination.

Insane. Purely.

Starting tomorrow, we will be in a hotel. I'm leaving most of the household stuff to the husband while I deal with the kiddos. So maybe I will have more time to share what these last few months have been like. But all I can say is wow. I really have no idea how the time went by so quick.

PCSing to Germany: Part One

Today is April 1st! Which means in THREE VERY SHORT MONTHS we will be on a flight for Germany. SO CRAZY.

Ok. So where are we in the whole international move process? Let's talk about this. Last August, when we decided on Germany & put in for these orders, July of 2014 seemed insanely far away. But here we are, three months away from hopping on a plane and all of a sudden, shit is getting very real, very quick. It is officially crunch time, and while three months might seem like a lot of time, when you are planning for an international move, I can promise you -- it is not.

So here is where we are at so far. Passports? Check. Sort of. We took the three boys in for their civilian passport applications a few weeks ago, and those were received in the mail to us this past week. I renewed mine a few years ago, so am good to go for a little while, however will probably have to renew while we are over there, if we stay longer than three years. No big deal. We received the birth certificates back in the mail just yesterday so next week, we will ALL go in and take care of our military passports. Why two sets of passports you ask? The military ones allow us to travel internationally on military orders. We will need these ones specifically to get to Germany/come home. This is really the only things they are good for. Marshall will most likely use his government passport much more than we ever will, but they are good to have regardless. The civilian ones are the ones that will let us have fun & travel travel travel!

The next HUGE thing we have to worry about (well, I have to worry about) is the purging of all of our crap. The first thing we tackled were clothes. Our space will be limited wherever we end up staying, and honestly, I don't want to transport a bunch of shit we don't need. My goal in the next month is to go through our house from top to bottom and essentially get rid of everything that we don't need. Or don't want. Or have never used. We have been in this house for almost eight years, which means there is a lot of accumulation. Needless to say, Goodwill is going to love us by the end of it all.

Next up - figuring out what we will take with us, and what gets left behind. The Army pays for us to have a storage facility, somewhere (I have no clue where just yet) to keep things here that we don't want to take with us, or aren't allowed to take with us. For instance, most of Marshall's tools will stay here. A) We really won't need them and B) most likely the Army won't transport them. We also own a lot of books, most of which have been read and are kept for sentimental value. Some will be brought with us, but most will be left behind. Everything else gets put into two categories -- household goods & unaccompanied baggage. 

What's the difference? Household goods is the shipment that we won't receive for about six weeks after we get to Germany (two months after it's picked up). This is things like all of our furniture. Photos. Whatever clothing we don't take in our suitcases. Large toys. Books. Things that, essentially, we won't need right away. Our unaccompanied baggage should arrive about two weeks after we do, if all goes well. This will be the stuff that we will need right away. Sheets. Pillows. Bath towels. Pots & pans. Games. A small television. Toys for the kids and other things to keep them busy. Essentially, things we can't live without once we are in our home.

It's a daunting task, one that I am mentally thinking about every day. I need to sit down and start making a list, and eventually, start the sorting process. Marshall is in charge of tackling the garage, deciding which of his stuff stays in storage and what goes, and with him being gone most of May because of a necessary class, our time is limited. Three months seems like a long time away, but our packers have already been scheduled and they come the first week of June. May is a wash because of Marshall being gone, leaving us just four short weeks to do a majority of the work necessary. In this time frame we also need to take care of any major checklist items for our house, ensuring that it is rental ready when we leave here. Our plan, once the movers come and ship out our stuff, is to head to Seattle for a while to say goodbye to friends & family before making the flight to Germany. So time is of the essence, and it feels a little overwhelming to manage, especially with two small kids constantly under foot.

So that's that. That is where we are at right now. My head is spinning just thinking of all we have to do but I know it will happen, because what choice do we have? None! Right now, this far out is all about organization. I am failing miserably at it right now, but in the coming weeks should have a good grasp on what is going, when it's going, and what's staying behind. And hopefully, a lot less crap in the process!