Things I love about Germany

I've been meaning to document my most favorite things about Germany. Well, we've been here two years so I guess it's about time!

Favorite number one: The food. Surprised? I didn't think so. When we first got here, the first week or two the food tasted funny to me. Dare I say it tasted... foreign? Oh how I crack myself up.

Ahem.

Favorite number two: We recycle here! Ok ok, I admit, the first year here of having to sort our trash into paper, plastic, organic (food), and glass I was deeply annoyed. In the good US of A we have two bins. One is for everything recyclable, the other for everything else. But I've really come to love how important recycling is here. Everyone recycles even though it is a pain to own three to four trashcans taking up space in your kitchen. Not to mention the plastic is only picked up twice a month so you have to put your bags of plastic in storage until it's time to put it out on the street.

Favorite number three: soda isn't served to you by the bucketful. I've never been much of a soda drinker anyways, but soda refills here are NOT free and soda doesn't come cheap here. We pay about 2 euro for a glass the size of about 8 oz. Easy not to go overboard with something so bad for you.

Favorite number four: It's beautiful here. No explanation needed.

Favorite number five: CLOTHES. I love European fashion. Catch up, America!

Favorite number six: The autobahn. We can go as fast as we want and get anywhere REALLY fast so long as Justin is driving. I'm much slower and stay in the slow lane because I'm afraid.

Favorite number seven: We can visit an abundance of other countries without having to jump on a plane. They're all just a few hours away!

That's it for loves. Now lets go to the hates.

Hate number one: Smokers. They're EVERYWHERE. Kids even. They sell cigarettes in vending machines all over the place. I see jr. high kids smoking on their lunch break. Sad!

Hate number two: Sticky summers. I'm an Arizona girl all the way. Dry heat trumps sticky slightly cooler heat.

Hate number three: The language barrier. Ok, German sounds pretty cool, but after awhile it's really frustrating not understanding the radio, tv, cashiers, waiters, etc. With a little more motivation I would learn more German. Promise.

Hate number four: The US dollar to Euro exchange rate. The cost of living here is much higher because the Euro is worth more than the dollar. Justin is paid in US dollars so that gets a bit annoying.

Hate number five: No air conditioning. Germans are very eco-friendly. They don't believe in wasting energy on air conditioning. Unfortunately, I do. Gimme some air, stat!

Hate number six: the bugs. Lots of them. In a country that doesn't use air conditioning, you'd think they would put screens on their windows to let fresh air into their houses. Nope! You either sweat in your house and let mold grow from lack of air flow, or you open your windows and brave the spiders and abundance of flies and mosquitos.

Hate number seven: okay, there is no hate number seven, but since there were seven favorites I felt the need to even things out. Blame the perfectionist in me.

So there you have it. Would I want to live here forever? No. But right now we love it and I'm very fortunate enough to be able to live here and experience it.

Family of Four

Tristan is finally here!! We're all home and doing well. Justin has maternity leave for the next 10 days to help out, but it already feels like we're on a schedule. Tristan is a really good sleeper, we have to wake him up to feed him sometimes. Tommy loves him, I have to put Tristan in his crib every time he sleeps because if he's anywhere in Tommy's line of view then Tommy is going to want to play with him. We let Tristan finish his nap in his carseat when we got home, and I caught Tommy bent over him asking "you want out?" and then proceeding to tickle him.

Friday afternoon we went shopping for flowers that we're planting on our balcony. Later we were going to take a boat ride across the river going through our little town, but my water broke at the store. Kind of embarrassing, but it'll make for some good jokes later I'm sure. So we went home to pack my hospital bag really quick and then headed to the hospital. The labor was pretty quick, no complications. It was wonderful. Having Justin there meant so much to me. When I had Tommy Justin was in basic training. We spent three days in the hospital and got to come home yesterday morning. The hospital was awesome, I loved it.

Tristan Caleb Brooke was born June 12th at 1:16am, 8 lbs 21.5 inches. Big healthy boy. He looks so much like Tommy when he was a newborn, but their personalities are definitely different.

Add some cuteness to your day!

Decisions, decisions...

So much going on this summer! Not only are we adding another little person to our family, but Justin and I need to decide on where we want to be stationed next and if he's going to re-enlist for another 3-5 years.

This August marks Justin's 3 year anniversary in the military. So far it's been hard, but wonderful. We love Germany and all the benefits that come with being in the military. The health insurance is incredible. On the other hand, it would be nice to live near family and Justin will have a few career opportunities thanks to the training he's gotten in the military. He's up for a promotion this August and is doing really well in his field. There are a lot of pros and cons to both decisions and so we're working on figuring things out. We'll need to make a decision within the next couple of months. We'll let you know how it goes and what we decide.

Also to consider, where we want to be stationed next. We can stay in Germany for an extra year (then he will have finished his enlistment) or we can choose to move back to the states for the last 12 months of his enlistment. I think I would prefer to be stationed in Texas or California for that last year so we can be closer to family (much closer!) because I want Tristan and Tommy to have their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles nearby. We do have an opportunity to go to Hawaii, but he would have to re-enlist because you can't stay in Hawaii for less than 2 years, and he will only have a year left. Tempting!

Justin and I are still in awe how fast the last 3 years have went by. We still feel "new" to the military and it's hard to believe we're well over 1/2 of his 5 year enlistment. He will have 3 years inactive duty after his 5 year active duty is over, but we will be able to live wherever we want and it won't disrupt his new job. Most soldiers in Justin's field have a job lined up 6 months before their enlistment is over, so we're counting on a few options to choose from if we decide not to re-enlist. We're hoping to get interviews in Arizona, but most positions for Justin's field open up in Alabama where the main calibration team is located, which is what Justin does in the military, calibration. You'll have to ask Justin to explain what exactly that is because I will for sure just confuse you. :)

So we have a lot on our plate this summer. Stay in the military, get promoted and live closer to family (or in HAWAII!)? Or get out of the military, live where we want and have a regular career and get paid more?

Decisions, decisions!

I leave you with a cute picture of my new niece Kristabelle Victoria, isn't she cute!

In Your Face, Justin.

Observe --> Justin and I like to debate who Tommy is most like. I say he is more like me, Justin thinks Tommy is his little clone. I now have documented proof that Tommy's apple didn't fall far from his mommy's tree.

For those who don't know this about me (in which case you don't pay enough attention to me, so shame on you) I am an extreme perfectionist. This both frustrates yet pleases Justin. He's happy his wife keeps the house sparkling clean even when she feels like she's dying from the flu, yet he hates watching me, giving him a disapproving look, fix the remote he just turned out of line with the others. Yep, it's that bad.

Tommy is the same way. I don't know if it's because he watches me and notices me lining things up, but he has been lining up his cars from biggest to smallest for the past 6 months. If I come by and move one, he fixes it. The picture up there is just one example. As an experiment I turned one car away from the others, and sure enough, he fixed it.

I consider us pretty lucky that Tommy is so tidy. Now Justin is the odd one out and I don't have to feel like a weirdo. Tommy may look more like Justin, but he has my personality! Attaboy Tommy!

The Best Pasta Salad. Ever.

Pay attention, folks. I'm about to give you the best pasta salad recipe you have ever tasted. Tommy gobbles it up and he doesn't even like food.

Exhibit A.

So, let me get right down to it. Here is the recipe. I don't have exact measurements but trust me, you don't need them. This recipe is fool proof.

Ingredients:

1. One box penne pasta

2. About a cup of pesto (best if homemade, but I get mine from the German deli)

3. Two handfuls of baby spinach

4. About a half cup of feta cheese.

5. About a cup of lite ranch dressing. (Come on now, don't use anything but Hidden Valley)

6. Cup and a half of cherry tomatoes.

Directions:

Cook penne per box instructions. Al dente is best. Drain and cool with cold water. Pour into a bowl. Stir in pesto, ranch and feta. Mix well. Add baby spinach and cherry tomatoes.

It's super easy and delicious. I hardly ever make it because I've been known to eat too much of it if left alone with the bowl. It's good in the fridge for about 3 days, but definitely better fresh.

You're welcome!

As you can see, I leave out the tomatoes. Yuck. I add them only if I'm making it for a party because it adds a pretty color.

Olive Fingers!

I had to share this picture of Tommy. He discovered olives have perfect holes for his little fingers. I couldn't get him to eat them, but at least he found some sort of use for them!