Thomas and I are heading back to GA tomorrow. It's been a fun trip and we're so glad we were able to see everyone. We won't have any of our stuff until the end of this month and probably won't have internet until January or February. So we'll wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years early!

Only a couple days

Ana arrived in Florida on Monday and I'm so lonely now. I miss her like crazy!!! I can't wait to see her in a couple weeks. Thomas and I have been working hard getting everything ready for the movers and trying to get all his papers signed so we can get out of here. Our stuff will be picked up tomorrow and we fly out Wednesday. We'll spend a couple days in GA and then we'll see YOU ALL on SUNDAY!!! One week from now! Have a great week and we'll see you next weekend.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!

We will see you guys in about three weeks.

P.S. For the past month all I've been craving is store bought pumpkin pie with Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream....so someone PLEASE have some for Thanksgiving :) Thanks.

Hard Rock

Thomas and I stumbled across Hard Rock in Rome! It was the most unique Hard Rock I have ever seen. The ceilings were painted (second picture down) in keeping with the "Rome theme." Thomas of course ordered the biggest burger on the menu ;)

We still have at least one more Rome post but I don't know if it will happen before our internet is shut off. We may have to wait until our stuff arrives in GA.

Vatican Museum

I have no idea what anything is or which rooms these pictures were taken in. Had I not been sick I probably would have kept a journal, but I was lucky I even made it through the museum. It took FOREVER. I was sitting every chance I got. This was the hardest day for me because I got really sick and we walked for miles. The museum entrance is on the back side of the Vatican (church part) and it consists of what seems like hundreds of rooms (chapels I think). They are all painted floor to ceiling and are beautiful.

finally!!!

We're coming to visit! Thomas finally got correct orders in hand and I just purchased tickets. We shipped our car yesterday, we're sending Ana to friends in Florida around the 14th, our stuff is being picked up on the 16th, we leave Germany for Savannah on the 18th, and we fly to Washington to visit for two weeks on the 22nd of November. For the next three weeks we are going to be very busy and things are going to happen very fast. Our phone/internet is being shut off this weekend, so updates will be made when we make it to the library.

We already have an apartment in Savannah. It's a really cute one bedroom about 30 miles from Ft. Stewart. We pick up the keys the morning after we arrive. Our car will arrive no later than December 11th and our household goods will arrive no later than December 31st.

We will be in Washington until December 8th.

Thomas and I have decided to do a dessert gathering at my mom's house the Sunday we fly in. I'll email specifics so that everything isn't plastered all over the internet, but this way we can meet at one location and see everyone at the same time. We also decided that the best way to see everyone as much as possible is to invite everyone to tag along anytime they want. Whether we're shopping or just hanging out everyone is welcome to join us! We are not going to schedule specific days with anyone because we want to see everyone everyday! We'll email our list of activities after we get a better idea of what we're doing.

OK, that was a lot of information. I will send out an email with the times we arrive and what time to meet at my mom's house after I call her and confirm our plans.

See everyone soon!

Vatican

The front of the Vatican.

Just inside the entrance. It was beautiful.


Everything was painted and so detailed. This was part of the ceiling.

This was my favorite "piece." It's a window with a dove "flying in." We weren't allowed to have the flash on but I think it makes the dove look even cooler in this picture.

We also went under the Vatican to see the tombs of the Popes.

Next post will include pictures from the Vatican Museum. We have so many I don't even want to go through them right now.

day 2 continued

Spanish Steps

Where's Waldo? Yes, Thomas really is in this picture. He's sitting on the stairs. Good luck finding him. Here I am. This is what I looked like the entire trip. He also got a very attractive sneezing picture too. He thought the whole thing was so funny.....until we got home and he was the one sick.

Italy Recap Day 2

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuel IIFontana di Trevi

Inside the Colosseo.

starting at the beginning

Upon arriving Tuesday afternoon Thomas and I hopped on a bus that took us downtown. The drivers. Wow. I actually don't think what Italians do can be labeled driving. It's more like a "mad dash to cut off the guy next to you." It was complete chaos.

After realizing that we had no clue how to get to our hotel and that it wasn't even on our map of Rome, we decided we better start walking. It turned out to be like a 13K walk to the hotel...with luggage....on cobble stones. Oh we have such fun memories. Did I mention I was sick? That's right. After being sick free for over two years I get sick the day we leave for Rome. It makes our memories of the trip that much more funny though.

For instance; I was the ONLY person in Rome wearing tennis shoes, two coats, gloves, AND a hat!!! People thought I was nuts. I felt like a three-headed monster at times. They don't even try to be discrete about their staring.

So the first day we didn't actually go in anything but we saw the Colosseum, ate some ice cream, and figured out what we were going to do the next day. Thomas' first dinner was pasta with clams. I hate seafood but it didn't matter much because at that point I couldn't smell anything anyways. He said it was pretty good. My first meal was vegetable soup. In fact, all but two of my meals the entire trip were vegetable soup. If you ever want a good vegetable soup in Rome I am the person to ask! I've tried them all.

I wish I would have been up for more ice cream. I only ate it twice I think :( That's my only regret about being sick on this trip. I was looking forward to ice cream at least twice a day.

Thomas was in charge of the camera and I can tell by looking at all our pictures that the Colosseum was his favorite ;) I think I have over a hundred pictures of it.

To come:

Wednesday
Inside the Colosseum, Spanish steps, Piazza Del Popolo, Fontana Di Trevi, and Piazza Venezia.

Thursday
Vatican and the Hard Rock Cafe.

Friday
Pantheon

so much more to come

There is so much to share it's overwhelming. This post is going to be short and sweet however because we're both sick, we got home late last night, and we just want to relax. All the exciting details will be blogged about over the next couple weeks. Taken our first afternoon in Rome. The Colosseum was one of our favorite parts.

This map was my best friend. It was so confusing there.

From inside the Colosseum. The "floor" no longer exists. What you're seeing now is what was once under the floor.

I'm going to miss her

Thomas and I are off to Italy at 0230 Tuesday. We drop Ana off tomorrow at 1500 :( I'm going to miss my big ball of cuteness, but it's OK because I get to go on that honeymoon with...........
The sexiest man EVER!!!

It feels so good

My diploma finally arrived! It's hard to get a close up with our camera and not have a blurry picture but it says something along the lines of Washington State Univerisy has admitted

(My full name)

to the degree of

Bachelor of Arts

in Criminal Justice

Cum Laude Ana must inspect everything we bring into the house. Her rule.

Oktober Fest

This is Freihung. If you blink you'll miss it. The buildings are empty and run down so you better come with a ticket in hand. After a very long and interesting train ride we made it. This picture was actually taken on our way out because we didn't enter this way. I have no idea how we got in because we were so turned around. I have a confession, I'm geographically challenged. I am great at reading maps but if I don't have a map I'm lost. Really lost. Thomas is great with directions...when he's not drunk! The entire walk back to the train station all I heard from Mr. Helpful was "I have to pee."

We did not actually sit in any of the beer tents because even at 14:00 they were PACKED! They literally just drink ALL day long. I've never seen anything like it. The entire Fest was so cool though. It's like a giant fair. There are rides, games, food, trinket booths, and then of course the beer tents.

1 liter.

2 liter.

3 liters he's done. Actually he was done after liter 2. Liter 3 is when I went from wife to babysitter ;)

There is so much more to share but I'm going to save some for later. We had so much fun and I'm really glad we got to finally go. It would have been sad if we left Germany without going to Oktober Fest at least once. 3 liters of beer makes Thomas say stuff like, "I can only do Oktober Fest once in a lifetime."

P.S. He's very proud of his hat :)

more to come

I just snapped this photo a couple minutes ago. I'm cleaning the house and baking cookies while my handsome love sleeps like a baby :) He's resting up for tomorrow....when we go to Oktober Fest! We're leaving Ana with his SSG and taking the train to Munich. I will be sure to take lots of photos of the festivities.
I love the fall. By far my favorite season. I love the colors, the smells, the holidays, and the decorations. I'm just beginning to decorate.

Isn't he just so handsome?!?!?! I probably won't be able to hang this sign again since he'll most likely be an E-6 (SSG) next deployment, which is why I left it up so long. It's been hanging outside for a month now.

The unfinished sign you saw in a previous post. This went on the outside of our front door.

It is so wonderful to have him home. His leave just started today and we have a lot of fun things lined up. Tomorrow is Oktober Fest and the 13th-18th is ITALY!!! We're staying in Rome, about 13 miles from the Vatican.

I'm just making a quick post since Thomas was busy napping, but he's up now. Enjoy your October and we'll be back on in a few weeks.

Happy October!

quick update

Thomas' unit walked in the gym right at midnight. I don't have pictures because it was too dark, but I didn't see him anyways. They of course put everyone over 6 feet tall in the front row :) Since they arrived so late they all got the "next" day off (I guess since it was midnight it wasn't really the next day). I fixed a huge breakfast, we took lots of naps (he had been traveling for over 24 hours straight), we went to dinner for his birthday, and ate homemade Oreo blizzards.

Thomas has classes and briefings for the next seven days, but after that his leave starts. We're going to be going to Munich for Oktober Fest and to Italy. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and write all about it.

I will not be getting on the computer until after his leave is over, which will be around the end of October.

I will say that he looks AMAZING!!!!!!!! It's so wonderful to have him home :) Things are already back to normal and I LOVE IT. There are military uniforms all over the couch, socks scattered about, dirty clothes flung everywhere just waiting for me to make the rounds, and of course, traces of tooth paste and whiskers in my bathroom sink :) All the things that remind me he's HOME!!!

I better scoot because I have clothes to wash, uniforms to hang, and floors to sweep. Be back in a few weeks.

coming home :)

Since Thomas is already on the bus headed home it's finally safe to post the project I've been working on for the past eight months. A huge cross stitch! I was SOOO glad to finish this.
I will have it framed after we get to GA, but for now it's just nailed to the wall. The frame shop here doesn't do "stretching" which this piece needs since I've been pulling and tugging on the cloth for the past eight months. It's a huge piece. You can't really tell how big it is in the picture since there's nothing next to it, but it's big.

Thank goodness he's coming home tonight because these poor roses wouldn't have lasted much longer.

just in case he's not home in time to eat them.

Proof that I did bake him yummy cookies. If he takes much longer to get home I'll have to throw them out though :( That would be a sad day. I made the dough Tuesday and baked them today, so they have a few more days left in them. As soon as I get word that they're on their way I'll post pictures of welcome home signs as well as his welcome home gift that took me 8 months to make.

I finished!

I decided to run the 10K this morning, even though Thomas isn't here. I'm glad I did because it gave me a chance to see just how much I need to work on my running. I finished though. As my dad always says, slow and steady wins the race. So true. OK, so I only got a trophy because there was only one other female in my age group (29 and under) that braved the 10K, but still. All the others stuck to the 5K.....which is what I was wishing I had done when I was on about mile 4.

Thomas' unit still hasn't even left. It's a HUGE disaster down there and at this point I'm just hoping he's home before October. The good news is that it's so bad that a General is now involved. I hope I have good news soon but I don't have much faith in the military right now.

still waiting

He's still not here. As you all know the Army is one of the most inefficient bureaucracies in America (possibly the world). Trying to get through a deployment continues to prove this. Just when I get my hopes up I get confirmation that he's still there. Thomas and I are supposed to run in a 10K race (the first one we've ran together) on the 19th. I'm beginning to think I'm going to be running it solo. I hope I have good news soon, but it's the Army, so don't get your hopes up.

lazy dog days of summer

I have the most spoiled/lazy dog on earth. I come home from the gym to find this in my spot...

Apparently she now needs a foot rest too. An entire couch isn't good enough. She doesn't even get up when I walk in the door anymore because she doesn't want me to take my spot back. The only thing that gets this lazy beast off the couch these days is the sound of a banana being peeled, the cheese drawer being opened, or the lid on the dog food coming off.

signs are being hung

It's finally September!!! Welcome home signs are going to be hung today, our last FRG meeting before the troops come home is tonight, and I can hardly sit still I'm so excited.

getting excited

I went to the company tonight and helped make welcome home signs. We painted for 3 1/2 hours! It was crazy (lots of little kids + paint = crazy) but so much fun. We are all getting so excited and the time just flew by. I won't post pictures of all the signs because I don't want Thomas to see them but here's one that I brought home. I'm not finished with it, but you can get the idea. It's going to go on our front door. I'll post the final product after Thomas comes home. Keep in mind all we had to work with was post office butcher paper and kids paint :)

almost there

Tonight is Thomas' last night in his chu (trailer). His unit is moving into tents to make room for the incoming unit. We're getting closer. It still feels like August is dragging on, but hopefully by this time next month I'll be counting down the days :) I love you handsome. Hurry up and come home already!!!

because she's cute

This picture was taken a few days before I graduated. Ana is clearly fed up with all my homework in this picture. She was always trying to shove it out of the way ;) Way to hang in there Ana.....we did it!