The Last Few Months

Ok, so clearly I'm the best blogger ever. It's only been a little over 3 months since my last post! Sorry about that.....but that means this post is going to be a really random compilation of events and musings. Bear with me!

To begin, we are all settled into our home and some sort of routine. Actually, the routine didn't last too long because AJ is now 2 weeks into a 9 week training in the states, so things are a little "off" now. But here's the basic run-down on what we do around here:

AJ: Goes to work at the JAG office Mon-Fri. 3 days a week he as PT (physical training) in the mornings, so he leaves pretty early (don't ask me exactly when....I'M still sleeping....). He works in the General Law section (basically civil law as opposed to criminal law), and helps out the active and retired military folk in the area with their legal troubles. He gets home around 6:30 because it's a really busy base for JAGs (or so we've been told), Then he eats a delicious meal that his totally awesome wife cooked with fantastic German ingredients. Nice!

Stephanie: My days are way more interesting than AJ's--mostly because they're different every day, and they're dictated by what I want to do :) Since i'm in kind of an awkward position of not really being able to practice law out here, and it takes months to get a job situated on base (because of bureaucracy and competition), AND because we're having a baby in t-minus 13-ish weeks (ah!), I don't have a real job. And i'm totally OK with that. I do, however, keep busy. My pseudo-job status is volunteering at the legal office's tax center helping people with their taxes (for free) and teaching violin lessons (not for free). The rest of my days are spent starting and finishing projects and spending time with new friends. Here are some of the "projects" that are going on:

Painting furniture!

BEFORE

AFTER

Now that we live in a house and not a 2 bedroom apartment, we have room for things.....which means I get to pick up old, nasty furniture and clean it up! Now tell me this isn't a lovely set-up:

Don't mind the cat--she's in an embarrassing amount of our photos....I have a theory that she would be a selfie addict if she could use a camera.

Another project is the garden! I've got a bunch of trays going right now that started as seeds and are doing really well! As soon as the frost is over, i'll transplant them outside. I also just bought a bunch of flower bulbs and seeds that will need to be planted soon. I don't think i've ever been so excited to dig in the dirt with various bugs and spiders as I am now that we have a yard! I imagine it will be a very Romantic thing to do--planting a garden in Germany--but i'm sure the reality of it will be that I'll be huffing and puffing the whole time, because my ever-growing belly is getting in the way. Oh well! Here's to self-sufficiency! 

There's also the on-going project of the baby room. (And there's that dang CAT again!) The baby room has a great little set-up architecturally--it's connected to AJ and my room, and has a little balcony outside this door that you see. It's pretty perfect! I will definitely do a whole post about this room when everything is done, because it's taking A LOT of my energy, and I know I'll want to brag about it :)

Another thing AJ and I do here is TRAVEL! We live in a great location that allows us to drive to a lot of great places! So far, we've done:

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

BRUGES, BELGIUM

TRIER, GERMANY

PARIS, FRANCE

COLMAR, FRANCE (also visited Riquewihr and Eguisheim)

Where next, you ask? Spain! As soon as AJ gets back.....

A few little tid-bits about living in Germany:

• We have to air out our house every couple of days (by opening various windows) because mold grows on the the walls! There's so much moisture in the air here, so it grows WAY faster than seems normal.....we may or may not know from experience......
• We LOVE our little village! The neighbors are so friendly! Even if they don't speak English, they still stop and say hi. 

View of our village from a hill--not the best quality pic....

• There are very few police cars patrolling the streets. Crime is very low here! But don't go thinking that it's easy to get away with speeding.....NOPE. Just got my first ticket via a SPEED CAMERA. You're just driving along, then all of a sudden, you see a flash of light! And you know....you're busted. I'm expecting my actual ticket in the mail in a couple of months.

Alright, that's all I can really put together right now. Hope that gives you all a better picture of what we're up to! We sure miss our family and friends back in the States, BUT, if you've read this far, that probably means you care about us, so here's an invitation to visit! We have an awesome guest bedroom that's calling your name! :D