Ten Essential Steps to Make Your OCONUS PCS Less Stressful

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In case you couldn't tell by the title full of acronyms, this one if for my dear sweet military peeps.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people Uncle Sam moves around during the holiday season. As if PCSing isn't stressful enough, now you have to do it right before or right after the holidays? What the heckity-heck!

But anyways, I was buzzing around Kirsten's while the movers were there packing up their HHG and I was trying to be helpful or at least stay out of the way.

And I realized that I had not given her nearly enough information from what I've learned or heard from others to make the move as easy as possible for her. Oops.

While it's too late for her, it's not too late for you! ;-)

Here's the advice I usually offer to friends who are moving:

1. Schedule a babysitter for your kids. For the whole day. I feel like this goes without explaining, but seriously simplify everyone's life and keep the kids out of the house.

2. A few days in advance of the moving day, clear out an entire room of your house, if possible. (If not, then just do your best to have a whole corner of a room for this purpose) This is where you're going to put absolutely EVERYTHING you don't want packed in your HHG. i.e. everything you're taking with you on your trip to the next base, or everything you're giving away or selling. Put a huge sign near the pile or on the door that says PLEASE DO NOT PACK. For extra comic relief, use caution tape. But seriously, this part is a big deal. Because if it's not clearly marked it doesn't matter how many times you tell them what does and does not go... some stuff will get packed that's supposed to stay and visa versa. Think very carefully about what you will need with you when you're without your HHG and make sure you keep it separate from what you want shipped.

3. Since we're talking about piles, you need to get a huge box (or maybe two) in your kitchen and the week before they come, start putting things in the box that they won't ship. You will be either a) throwing this all away or b) giving it away to a friend. (cue PCS generosity... you can't take it but why toss it?) They will not pack most of your open pantry items. So all oils, vinegar, open spices, flour, sugar, etc. go in the box. They also won't ship alcohol, cleaning supplies, or candles. But check with your moving company, because sometimes if you let them know ahead of time you CAN make an alcohol shipment. (Kirsten and Dana did but there was paperwork involved.)

4. Speaking of cleaning supplies, you need to make a pile of those, too. In fact scratch that, put the cleaning supplies in your special "do not pack" room. Because if you'll be cleaning the house yourself, you want to have what you need. So keep a broom behind (they're cheap to replace) and also a vacuum. Now that's not always cheap to replace, but many people living OCONUS are getting rid of their non-110v appliances anyways. Or you can always plan ahead to borrow one. You'll also be wanting some rags or paper towels for the cleaning spree. And a bunch of huge trash bags.

5. Put a few rolls of toilet paper in your "do not pack" room. This was Dana's idea and it was brilliant. Because they knew they'd be in the empty house all weekend cleaning. Way to think ahead D!

6. Make a separate pile somewhere for your high value items. We don't have many, but our examples would include Jesse's guitars, any of my camera gear that I wasn't taking on the plane, and our Steuben decanter set. I believe the general idea is anything over $200 value or anything of irreplaceable sentimental value. You sometimes have to actually sign for these and list out what they are worth, but in the very least you'll want to look the movers in the eye, flash them your best smile, and tell them to please for the love of pretty things be careful with this pile!

7. If possible, find a friend who adds nothing but zen to your life and ask her to come over for at least a few hours the day the movers will be there. She will keep you sane, remind you to sit down and breathe, keep your coffee cup filled, and make sure you eat something. Bonus points if she's the kind of friend who will bring you a bottle of wine for the end of the day ;-)

8. Get a good night’s sleep the day before the movers come. You will be on your feet most of the day as they are going to be packing up your whole house and eventually, all your chairs. Also it’s kind of nerve-wracking to have strangers touching all your stuff. You’re gonna need all your wits about you to battle that inner control-freak.

9. On the day the movers will come to start packing, have a breakfast treat set out for them and be prepared to provide a bottomless pot of coffee. Set out the cream and sugar and mugs (or styrofoam cups) and let them know right away that the refreshments are for them. I like to make muffins ahead of time. You can freeze them and just pull them out to thaw the day before. People who have full tummies and plenty of caffeine will appreciate your generosity and *hopefully* take extra good care when packing your stuff.

10. As the movers are wrapping up, wander through the rooms and check things out. When we moved from Mississippi to Germany, I found a couple of drawers in the bathroom that hadn't been packed. And there is usually a lot of moving debris (empty rolls of tape, papers, etc.) that are technically not your responsibility to clean up. You have enough to do. Just politely ask if they can please grab all the trash before they leave. The movers aren't evil, they're just human. And they're going to cut corners at times. Just make sure they aren't leaving you with too much extra work to do.

*** Bonus Tip *** Try to remember that your stuff is going to be loaded into crates and shipped across the OCEAN. When you get it all back finally, there will be broken things and there will be some damages to furniture. Be realistic and don't get your undies in an uproar about it! Uncle Sam will pay you some damages, especially if it is obvious that it was definitely the movers' fault. But keep in mind that there's only so much you can do when moving things at that distance and over that kind of environment!

Be patient and remember, they're just things. 

Besides that, I hope if you have a good tip I missed you will share it in the comments so future readers can benefit from your experiences!

And if you found this post informative, please share it with a friend who has an upcoming PCS.

Or pin it for yourself, for your next move!

I wish you peace this holiday season, and extra peace if you're PCSing at this time! 

Eight Awesome Links for You this Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day! 

I wanted to give you a little sampling of some of the great stuff I've been reading and watching about our service members lately. 

Want to see some amazing photography of US Marines in action? 

These pictures really had me floored. Not just as a photographer and as a military spouse, but as an American. I look through them and I can't even imagine the experiences represented. 

Here are four things civilians should know about Veterans 

Respect requires knowledge. I was most struck by the concept that the average American youth doesn't know where Iraq and Afghanistan are on a map. 

What does the Starbuck's CEO have to say about Veterans? 

This is a short video introducing Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book about trying to change the disconnect between post 9/11 Veterans and civilian society.

Here's an adorable video to help your kids understand Veteran's Day

Apparently Michelle Obama enlisted the help of the Penguins of Madagascar to spread the word about "Operation Got Your 6." It's quite funny and we watched it a few times today. 

This is a touching story of a woman helping Veterans heal at their own pace

Melony Butler founded this retreat where Vets can recover, connect, and move on in a safe and non-threatening environment. The stories of these men and how this place is helping them brought tears to my eyes. 

Great infographic on the declining tradition of Veteran entrepreneurship

Did you know that there is a huge decline in Vets who own and operate their own businesses after returning to civilian life? This is a great presentation about it. 

Speaking of entrepreneurship, here's one woman's tale of transition

From active duty Air Force, to Mommy, to Business Owner.  I love her story, and her encouragement to familiarize yourself with the local Veteran-owned businesses near you. There's even a link to help hunt them down! 

And finally, a love letter to Veterans from Military Families

For those of us who see Veterans from the beginning to the end of their career, these words could be ours. We see it all and we stand by (and pack and move and adjust and pray and wait and hope) through it all. And we love you and thank you for every day of that service. We see what it costs you. We don't know how you do it, and we are so proud of you! 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy some movie time and snuggles with my favorite Veteran ;o) 

We Survived ALS!

He did it! He graduated from Airman Leadership School (ALS.)

Jesse finished five grueling weeks of class, mountains of homework, papers to write, group projects to work on, volunteering, and studying for tests... all the while surviving (barely) on about 5 hours of sleep a night!

I'm pretty proud of him. And us as a family. We somehow made it through without too much drama! (Lily and Sam called it "Daddy's work school" haha) Now it's time to get back to our regularly scheduled broadcast of panama night shifts. Which ironically sound way less intense than the last five weeks!

The graduation ceremony was really fun for me. I love seeing everyone all snazzed up in their Air Force best. I'm still a sucker for getting chill-bumps when everyone chants the Airman's Creed.

Plus do I really have to mention how nice it was to get dressed up, wear high heels, and get out of the house for the night? (HUGE thanks to Kirsten and Dana for watching Double Trouble for us!)

So CONGRATS Babe! And to everyone in his graduating class. Job well done! I tip my milspouse hat to you all... I don't know how you do it and I greatly respect you for the sacrifices you make!

Air Force Wife Lesson #11... Being Thankful

Jesse had his first TDY recently. I can't remember exactly what that stands for, but just think of it as a short deployment and you'll be good to go. Sometimes, they can be 3-6 months long (which is basically a deployment in my opinion.) And sometimes they can be only a few weeks.

J's was only three days. 

It was more like a business trip ;o) Not anywhere dangerous... and actually a really cool experience for him, both professionally and personally. He got to visit some weather flights that he forecasts for. They were able to see the other side of the equation of their job. He seemed pretty excited about it. 

Since it was such a short TDY, it's not like I was inconvenienced or even really had time to get lonely. But I did think about the fact that I was alone. And I thought about what it must be like for pretty much every other military family I know, facing last-minute TDYs and loooooong deployments. And I wanted to be more thankful. 

I want to be thankful for the fact that we haven't had to go through a deployment, yet. It might seem selfish or strange to be like "I'm thankful because I compare my military experience with other wives and mine has been CAKE!" but it's true! I can't help it!

When he joined, I remember that deployments were a four-letter word in my mind. I was terrified of the fact that we were volunteering for a life where Uncle Sam was going to tell us where to live and when to move and would eventually separate us for times. So yes, I'm thankful that it just hasn't been that bad for us, yet. 

The D-word will eventually visit the Aiduk family. And I'm sure it will suck. But it's part of military life. And we'll be just fine when it happens. Until then...

...I, for one, am glad it hasn't happened, yet!

A Big Thank You to My Love for the Last Four Years...

Happy 4th Air Force Anniversary to us! 

I know it's been said a billion times, but I really am proud of this guy for his service in the AF. This weekend marks four years in... and as his first enlistment comes to a close I am shaking my head at how crazy this journey has been for our family.

When Jesse joined, we had 1.5 kids. When he graduated from tech school we had two babies.

And now here we are, two big girls and a fantastic European adventure!

All because he works long hours at a job that isn't easy. Serving a country that is great. And it means a lot that he serves our country... but so much more to me that he serves our family. The benefits don't come without cost, and I am eternally grateful. 

We've got a great big 4th anniversary celebration planned! The cheesecake just came out of the oven and the champagne is chilled! 

Prost! Cheers! To the next leg of our adventure. May it be even better than the last!

Breaking News | We Know Our Next Base!

Okay so in all the excitement of my parents coming to visit I decided to wait to tell YOU where our next base is going to be so that I could tell them in person.  

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But we've known for awhile now...


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WE'RE STAYING IN GERMANY!!!!!!!  I know, crazy, right?  That's probably not what anyone was expecting haha.  Or maybe you were, I don't know.  That's definitely not what WE were expecting.  Remember all that talk about how excited I was to be back in that States and how much I was itching to get closer to family and how many things about Germany drive me crazy?

Well.  When push came to shove we just couldn't bear the thought of leaving this amazing village... this amazing house... and this amazing community.  Our Air Force family here is too good to be true.  Too good to voluntarily leave.  So what did we do?  We volunteered to stay!  

The more we talked about it and thought about it the more we realized we weren't quite ready to head back to the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.  We'll be back someday.  And once we're there, we'll probably never leave again!  So why not stay here a little while longer?  More travel and more German culture to love, more friends to grow with and love.

The other tidbit of family news is that Jesse re-enlisted for four more years in the good old AF (which is how it was possible for us to choose to stay here longer.)  So for the first time in our marriage, we are NOT moving any time soon!  How crazy is that?

We're planning on really jumping into Germany (again)... I went through that "oh well I guess I don't have time to learn German before we leave so I'll just give up" phase, but NO MORE!

We decided to send the girls to German kindergarten, which is like pre-k in the States... so really it's just organized play time, but an awesome chance for the girls to learn German (for free!) and while they're at school in the mornings this Momma's going to learn German, too.  Classes, cds, and more Rosetta Stone!

I'm pretty excited for Lily and Sam.  Their first memories will be of Germany.  By the time we leave here, they'll be 6 and 7... and probably fluent in German!  They will have culture shock when we get back to the States finally because they won't understand that there are no hard boiled "Easter Eggs" for sale at the grocery store.  Or that we can't walk everywhere.  OR that the good bakeries aren't cheap!

So that's our big news:  Germany until 2017!  Kind of crazy to think about.  And I'm probably going to be punching myself in the face in about 4 months when it's cold and dark for most of the day and I'm like "tell me why we CHOSE this?" and when I'm homesick and extended family is still a loooong plane flight away.

But all in all, I'm excited.  Very excited.  Looks like "There and Back Again" isn't going to be back again just yet!  Bring on the pretzels!

Home Sweet Home

Speaking of Air Force life, I recently got to shoot a homecoming for a gal from Jesse's squadron.  Her boyfriend was coming back from a six month deployment and I got to be there to capture their first precious moments back together again!  Jasmine had some seriously adorable goodies waiting for him at home.  Super pinteresting ideas - what guy wouldn't love a beer-can-cake?

Random side note: high five Kenneth for your choice in baseball teams!  GO SOX!

Anyways, it was really sweet being there for a homecoming.  The nervousness was contagious and it kind of got me thinking about the D-word.  I've not had to deal with the pain of losing my man to a deployment yet and I'm still crossing my fingers that I won't have to.  *denial*  It was fun to enjoy the reunion through my camera lens and not have to worry about the separation that precedes it.

So welcome home and congrats on being together again you guys!  Thanks both of you for your service and sacrifice for our country.  And thanks again for letting me play paparazzi on that rainy-but-special day in Germany!

Oh Yeah, We're in the Air Force

Sometimes I forget that Jesse's in the Air Force.  I know that sounds weird, even impossible.  But bear with me...

I was thinking about it the other day.  Mostly how funny it is that for a blog titled "an Air Force tale" I sure don't post much about our Air Force life.  I think the fun posts about living in Europe kind of eclipse the fun of being in the military.  Or maybe it's that being in the military isn't all that fun?

Or maybe it's just that being in the military became normal.  And now we hardly think about it.  At least I don't.  I'm not the one who has to lace up my combat boots to go to work.

So I forget sometimes that one of the reasons I'm blogging is to share with my civilian friends and family what it's like to be an Air Force family.  

So how's life in the Air Force been lately?  Well, Jesse just took a promotion test this week.  Up until this point in his career, promotions came from time in.  But now he has to study this really boring book called the PDG (professional development guide) and then test on that, the specifics of his job, and show that he's an all around great Airman.  (They keep track of all the good stuff they do like volunteering or going above and beyond at work... the "bullets" add up to a package that gets reviewed for your promotion)

He's not counting on getting this promotion, though.  It's not a guarantee that everyone get's staff sergeant on the first try.  They test every year until the rank up.

We have a little less than a year before our first enlistment is up.  Enter the millions of back-and-forth questions. Should we re-enlist for four years and get the re-enlistment bonus?  Does he like weather enough to keep forecasting for another four years?  Do we like the military enough to do another four? Six? Ten? Fifteen years?  Do we want to just do one more year and see how we like the next base?  Should he stay in and slowly work on a degree?  Or get out and use the GI bill to go to school full time for a couple years?  Would we rather deal with the negatives of military life?  Or the negatives of civilian life?

So many things to consider!  And all we really know at this point is that we're going to do at least another year. They joke in the military that "happiness is just a PCS away" and it's kind of hard not to think that way.  Sure, there are things about this particular job or base that you might not like... but you always have that "what if" chance that it'll be better at the next base.  And even if it's not, you'll move again two years (or so) after that, so don't sweat it ;o)

Most of the time we like being in the Air Force.  But it's not an easy job.  (Are any jobs easy?)  And working at this particular base is hard on us because of the scheduling, work load, and the overall work-related-stress.  The girls are regularly confused about where Daddy is when he's absent... wait, is he sleeping during the day now or working?  Explaining night shifts to 2 and 3yo's isn't easy.

But we can't really complain, right?  We've traveled all over Europe AND still been able to save money.  We've met so many amazing friends and interesting people.  Experienced so many cool things.  And grown a lot as a couple.  We've dealt with some of the hardest years of our marriage while simultaneously dealing with military life, living abroad, having small children, and living far from family.  I would be lying if I said I have enjoyed all of that at once, but I'd also be lying to say I don't think it's made us stronger.

Sometimes I can totally see us being a career AF family... 20 years bee-bopping around the country.  And then sometimes I long to be civilian again.  I daydream about being able to actually choose for ourselves where we live next... what job Jesse works... when we take vacations... you know.

So basically, regardless of what the next 2-5 years brings us, I'm glad Jesse joined the Air Force. I'm proud of him for serving.  And I'm thankful he has sacrificed by working a tough job so I can brag about all the adventure that is our life.

There and back again...  even if it's not the "there" or "back again" we expected!

Don't Blink!

One winter down, one more to go.

The start of this Spring season marks the beginning of our last year in Germany!  And I can already tell that this year is going to whiz by... so I'm taking a deep breath and already starting to chant this year's motto:  Don't blink or you might miss it!

As our time in Germany winds down and "the next step" looms on the horizon, I'm going to start to get really annoying. I'll try my best not to be too obnoxious.  But I'm sure that half my blog posts will be gushing with the things I love and will miss about Germany.  The other half I'll be whining/counting down till we're back in the good old USA.

Oh, and I'll probably have a sprinkling of whining about the stress and fears associated with another PCS.  Uprooting and starting again who-knows-where is scary.  It's a big part of our life and totally normal/fun/exciting... but still scary.

When Julia Child and her husband were moving from Paris to Marseilles, he told her, "Honestly, I groan when I think of starting over in a new place... no wonder newborn babies cry so much.  If variety is the spice of life, then my life must be one of the spiciest you ever heard of.  A curry of a life."  

Amen Paul, I feel the same way!

Our first trip to the Japanese Garden last week was just gorgeous.

But I stopped short as I watched my girls run and play together... I remember a conversation Jesse and I had on the first plane ride over here, with both our babies (3 and 16 months old at the time) sleeping in the car seats next to us. We talked about how funny it was to think of them being 3 and 4 years old when we moved back.

THEY WILL BE 3 and 4 THIS WINTER!!!  

When we moved into this house Lily could barely walk and Lilo would scold me for walking down the stairs to the car with a baby on each hip.  Life is so different now!

We have a lot of friends and family visiting us this year.  I'm excited for that in many ways, but specifically because I know it will help prevent the extreme homesickness from setting in!

And it will keep the excitement level high!  It's hard to whine about the "hard parts" about life in another country when you're busy whisking your sister around to all your favorite local spots... bakeries, stores, gardens and parks, restaurants... there's just so much fun to be had!

We have a lot of trips to check off of our bucket list, too.  To say we'll be busy this Spring/Summer/Fall is a crazy understatement!

So I'm trying to pump myself up to stay fully present in each moment... each drive in this beautiful area (even to the grocery store!), each trip we take, each moment shared with friends, each visitor that comes to enjoy our little corner of Germany with us.

I love our life here.  And having a countdown clock running in the back of your mind really helps keep you aware that, despite the difficulties of being half a world away from your family and not speaking the language of your host nation... it really is amazing to live in Germany!  

One more year...

Imaginative Play According to My Resident Air Force Brats

This is Jesse's rucksack.  This is Sammy and Lily's "baby car-see-seat"  (car seat).  It accompanies Jesse on long hikes with Pedro and Chase and it weighs about 75lbs.  It gets left in our living room periodically and leads to many funny sights involving dollies, bears, and other toys.  

And also little girls.  Apparently they like to be buckled up, nice and safe.  Hey, those tile floors can be a dangerous place!  Gotta use your protective gear.

Jesse thinks it's funny when he leaves it out because I can't lift it to put it away.  He knows how much I love things to be put away.  I think it's funny when he leaves it out because it gets played with like some sort of dollhouse.  We're talking hours of fun... who knew?

So is it Jesse's or the girls'?  I'm not really sure who uses it more at this point ;o)

Three Things I've Been Thinking About Lately

Just some thoughts that are wandering around in my head these days...

1.  Being part of the Air Force means we have to be ready for anything.  You would think this would be obvious to me by now, but it's not.  I was reminded of it last week when Jesse was "recalled" to the squadron during his time off.  It was only a drill, but the reality of it kind of stuck with me the rest of that day and into the next... my husband could be called up at any moment to go do whatever Uncle Sam requires of him.  Last minute deployment or TDY?  Working round the clock in a crisis situation?  I don't know... stuff like that never really enters my mind because we live in the reality of a pretty normal daily rhythm.  One where, besides putting on a uniform, my husband just goes to work and comes home like he always did.  I'm not saying I want to freak myself out by trying to mentally prepare myself for every bad situation that could come my way... I'm mostly just saying I had a moment where I thought "Oh yeah, my husband works for the Air Force and he's technically on call at all times.  Huh."

2.  Traveling all over the place is way harder for us than we thought.  Dudes we've seen so much already and have totally had awesome travel experiences.  But we definitely thought we'd travel more. Apparently we also thought that living in the middle of Europe would automatically make travel easy and cheap.  But, we live here.  And traveling still costs money.  This isn't a three year vacation.  Oh yeah and we have two kids who I DO NOT like to travel with.  So the reality of "Oh you have a three day weekend?  Cool let's go to the BX and run errands, order a pizza, and watch a movie on the couch" happens far more frequently than our imagined "Oh you have a three day weekend?  Cool let's hop the train to Paris! Or Berlin! Or London!"

And along the same lines...

3.  Being half a world away from your country and family can leave you feeling really disconnected from "it all."  I hate to say it, but in the back of my mind I'm already counting down till our PCS... which I hope will be back to the States.  But "449 days left" would make a mighty long paper chain and would also make me look like a loser who's wishing away her time in GERMANY for cryin out loud!  So I'm still sticking to enjoying what time I have left here!  I'm just being honest with you that I've hit "the wall" and I want to go home.  Home to where I have a phone and can text my family when I'm feeling lonely cause my husband works weird shifts and my kids are driving me nuts.  Home to where there's a drive-through EVERYTHING.  Home to where I understand the language and can watch the Superbowl at not-the-middle-of-the-night.  One more winter here is almost over (I know, wishful thinking haha) and then we're really down to one year left... with many adventures to be had, I'm sure!  And for anyone stuck in what they think is "the middle of Nowhere, USA" and "Man that Jessica girl is so crazy I would totally love to live in Germany for three years" just remember what I'm trying to remember... the grass is always greener.

Beautiful Weather for a Weather Picnic!

Saturday was the 21st Operational Weather Squadron's annual picnic.  And happily, the weather guys were able to plan a successful picnic that included really nice weather.  (You'd be surprised!)

I volunteered to lend a hand with face-painting, which was really fun!  I hadn't done it in awhile and the night before I was totally freaking out... specifically that some little boy would ask me to paint his whole face as Spiderman and I'd have no other options for him.  "How bout a flower?  A manly colored butterfly?  Eh...?"

Thankfully, I had help brainstorming some great little boy options (planes, snakes, spiders, fish, basketballs, etc.).  And I only really ended up painting little girls' faces anyways so my freak out was completely unnecessary.  This is Say's daughter Audrey in the picture... isn't she so sweet?

The girls were rockin' red, white, and blue.  And I rocked gray, black, and salmon.  (I was seriously tempted to throw together a patriotic outfit but... too much matchy-matchy for me!)

So what did Double Trouble do while I was face painting and Jesse was at work?  Played with Jen of course!  (Thanks Jen!)  And boy did they play hard!  The picnic was right at this great play ground, so they were climbing all over that.  And then there was a PIRATE SHIP BOUNCY HOUSE!  Oh, and tons of food to gobble...

I was helping Lily eat some baked beans and she literally asked me to give her the "pink beans" (aka kidney beans) first.  What a funny little girl!  When I asked her later to tell me all about the fun she had at the picnic her highlights were: playing, eating BEANS (which she yelled excitedly) and hot dogs, getting her face painted, and jumping on the slide (pirate ship had a slide).

It's so fun now that Lily's so vocal... I love hearing her actually tell me what's going on in her sweet little brain!

True test of a successful day at the picnic:  Are your kids sweaty, full of sugar, slightly sun burned, totally nap deprived, face painted, and completely wiped out?  CHECK.

Big thanks to the OWS for a fun filled summer day!   

Staying? Going? Staying? Going. At the normal time.

It's official: our DEROS is back to April 2014.  The extension that we thought would give us an extra year here in Germany actually didn't go through :o(  Well, maybe it's a good thing, I don't know :o)

I'm sure the Grandmas will definitely not be complaining about this news.  

Basically, what happened is pretty typical of Air Force stuff: so-and-so said thus-and-such but then so-and-so changed their mind and oops we forgot about thus-and-such so no, you can't extend.  Oops.

What I guess happened is that they didn't approve any of the guys who have yet to complete their WIFTO course.  WIFTO (I can't tell you what it stands for because I don't know... in fact I'm not even sure that I have the correct letters in there ha!) is one last "weather training" that Jesse (and the rest of the guys) have to complete at the end of their first tour.

It's actually back at Keesler, which is kind of neat.  But it really stinks for us because it's a three month "TDY" which is basically a short deployment.  Which means technically the girls and I don't get to go with him.  I'm not really sure how it will work out practically speaking, because we don't know if it will be in the middle of our tour or at the end.

Either way, there might be an "Aiduk girls visit to the States" in the mix when he goes to that.

Speaking of the Aiduk girls going to the States, we get to come this summer!  The girls third international plane flight across the ocean is scheduled for August 1st!  

(Time out, do you count each flight - over and back - as a "plane flight"... or is it the round trip?  I'm going with round trip.  Anyways.)

What's really exciting about this is that it's a commercial flight!  No Space-A for us this time - we're riding in style!  My poor family was trying so hard to come see us this summer and it was just not working out for them timing-wise.  Two of them only had a week available.  And it's sooooo not worth it to fly across the ocean (at peak travel prices) for a week.  Too much to see in Germany for that short a time!

So my parents decided they'd rather pay for me to come see them this summer and then they'll all have more time next summer to see Germany.  (PS to my family, now you HAVE to come next summer since it's your last chance!)  So from August 1st to September 12th I'll be based in Corning, NY!  I'm really excited for that time period because I'll get to see my baby sis graduate as a camp counselor and I'll get to squeeze my squishy brand new baby niece who is expected to come during that time!

Other than that, it'll be oodles of time with the family enjoying a summer in NY... with some time enjoying summer in MA and PA.  Hurray for unexpected vacations!  

Happy "One Year in Germany" to Us

We've lived in Germany a year!  Which I feel is a perfect time to announce some great news...

...Our squadron is PCSing to Kapaun so we got the option to extend our DEROS by a year when we signed up for a COT! 

Aren't you so happy for us? ;o)

Sorry... I couldn't help but be annoyingly cryptic since there are SO many military terms involved!  Let's unravel that very Air Force-y sentence, shall we?  Time to brush y'all up on some AF definitions!

PCSing:  I've explained this one before.  Permanent Change of Station-ing.  AKA moving.  Since our squadron's new building is complete, they're moving bases.  Which, even though the bases are only 15 minutes apart, still means that we're (even us dependents who are not moving at all!) "moving."

Kapaun:  Our "technical" new base.  But you will here me forever after this point referring to it as Vogelweh.  Because when I go to get my mail or go to the Commissary or get gas, I tell J "I'm going to Vogelweh" because... well, I'm not sure why.  I think that it's actually a joint base of Kapaun, Vogelweh, and Pulaski.  But all of us here in the KMC (remember that one?  Kaiserslautern Military Community) just call the whole thing Vogelweh.

DEROS:  There are a couple various definitions for this one so I get to pick my favorite.  Date of Estimated Return from Overseas.  AKA how long is your tour and when are you going to to back to the States?  Our DEROS is three years from when we got here in April 2011.

COT:  Consecutive Overseas Tour.  It's pretty much self-explanatory... instead of going back to the States after our DEROS we go somewhere else in the great wide world.

So basically what I'm saying is that the Aiduk family gets an unexpected extra year in Germany! Our DEROS is now April 2015 because we opted to take that "COT" (even though it's only a PCS to Vogelweh) so we could get the extra year... and, rumor has it, some extra leave.  We're pretty excited about one more year to enjoy this house, this village, these great neighbors, these awesome friends, and this amazing country.

 Oh yeah, and squeeze in as much travel around the rest of Europe as we can!

Shift Work is So Discombobulating

Bye bye Swing Shift, hello Mid Shift!

Jesse's last Swing (from 3pm-11pm) was this week and now for the next ten weeks or so he'll be on Mids (11pm-7am).  We think we're going to like it... so far ;o)

One thing that I've already whined about with Swings is that I hate being alone at night.  Another thing I didn't like about that shift was that there were some days when I was out and about with the girls that we hardly saw him at all, even though technically he was home most of the morning.  And also, for some strange reason, I am less productive when J's home during the day.  I'm more likely to plop down on the couch next to him and convince him to watch LOST than I am to do chores.  Read: our house has gotten really dirty the past two months!

For example, today the girls and I went grocery shopping while Jesse slept.  In that morning time period, I was able to clean all three bathrooms, bathe Double Trouble, feed breakfast and lunch, stop at two grocery stores and one post office, mop the floor, and put the groceries away.  Then Jesse woke up.  Now he's out working in the garden (and calling for me to hurry up and join in!) and he'll be home with us the rest of the day.  If he was on Swings today, we would have been saying goodbye to him shortly after lunch cause he would have to go work out before his shift.  Boo.

So the moral of the story is, though I don't like the idea of sleeping alone in our great big bed every night... I'm so happy to have my husband home for the sunniest part of the day.  Not only do we both think we'll be more productive, but Mids just seem to fit better into my schedule... and it's all about me and my schedule, right?   Thought so. 

Once we get into the "swing" of Mids I'll let you know if my opinion stays the same.  Off to go dig in the garden now!

A Few Things I've Learned This Week

1.  I get easily bored of children's movies.  With a few exceptions, I can only stand to watch a movie once and then I have to wait a long time before watching it again.  And given the fact that there's been sickness in this house on and off for about a month now, I'm getting kind of tired of our selection!  But today we watched the Lion King and it brought back so many childhood memories!  And yes, I cried when Mufasa died.  Now I just have to get a few more movies to amp up our "sickness storehouse"... it's so nice to snuggle up with Lily during Sam's morning nap.  She even lets me snooze a bit on mornings when I'm really tired.  I only get woken up to her whispering "potty potty" when she has to go ;o)

2.  It's wise to stock up on children's medicines BEFORE you need them.  Take, for example, when you're in Germany on a Thursday night and your baby's fever won't go down.  And when you finally take her temp, you realize that it's high enough for a 1yo that you have to go to the ER (the US hospital is a half hour from us).  On Jesse's only night off.  Which could have been prevented if I'd been prepared.  *sigh*  Oh well, lesson learned.  And they gave us a bottle of Motrin AND Tylenol so we are all set now.  (And PS she was totally fine after she got some meds.  And has been improving after a few good night's rest thanks to a dose before bed.  I'm a hippie but I know when medicine makes a difference!)

3.  I don't like swing shifts.  I thought I would, I really did!  And some people may like them.  But I just hate not having daily time alone with Jesse.  I didn't realize how much I loved our quiet, kid-free evenings together.  The only time he's home and awake the girls are usually awake... which means my attention is divided and by the time he gets around and heads out to work I feel like we haven't connected at all!  He comes home around 11:30pm and hasn't been able to fall asleep right away... so he stays up for a few hours.  And on the rare night that I miss him bad enough to stay up and watch a movie with him, I'm POOPED in the morning.  So no, I don't really like this shift.  But I don't think I'm going to like mid shifts (starting next month, 11p-7a) any better ;o)  Guess we'll just enjoy the good and accept the bad of each shift as they come!  Can't do much about it anyways, right?

4.  I should have known it was too good to be true.  Remember how I explained that even though Jesse's schedule changed every month and was a different shift every two months, it was awesome because he only usually worked 3-4 days at a time?  And always got at least one 4 day weekend a month plus a few three days?  Not any more.  Apparently some of the senior members of the squadron felt that this was a bit too lenient of a schedule.  Which I can understand... but it's still a bummer to go back to my husband working the normal five days when I was getting really used to him only working 3 days!  Welcome to the Air Force... just when you get used to something, it changes! 

5.  I'm a homebody but I need to get out.  It's a complicated feeling.  I really like being home and I get overwhelmed easily when I keep too fast a pace with out-of-the-house activities.  BUT on the other hand, I am getting antsy being "stuck" at home with sick kids.  The last time I left the house was to go to a ladies' bible study on Tuesday... and boy has the week since just seemed to drag!  I'm seriously looking forward to my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning... mostly because we have a date-lunch planned for after.  Thanks Tiffany for watching the girls!

And that concludes most of what I've learned this week ;o)  I am taking time to work through a great book, The Happiness Project.  And I've exercised three times AND worked in my sketch book a little bit.  I kept up on laundry and dishes, made some yummy food, snuggled with my family, and even had a skype date with an Air Force wifey friend in Alaska!  So it wasn't a bad week at all! 

Free Bowling? Count Us In!

Our squadron put together a free bowling event up at Sembach, where Jesse works.  We had two whole hours up there all to ourselves!  And apparently it's really cheap and almost always half-empty.  Hm... family date day coming up?  I think so!  It was really nice... first time I've been bowling in forever.

Except I didn't really bowl... but this kid did!  Kind of ;o)  They didn't have any shoes small enough for her.  Which is such a shame cause bowling shoes are so cool!

See?  Aren't mine cool?   I think they look especially hot with the white socks.  Just sayin.  Sammy had a fun time crawling around on the dirty floor and hanging out in various people's arms for some snuggles.  She even got cozy with the Commander's wife.  What a suck-up ;o)

I was a little nervous to go without Jesse (who had to work) but it turned out great!  Just another one of those times that I'm thankful for my new military family...

 ...they're really great for holding your kid so you can take pictures, providing a fun and free outing for your family, sharing their french fries with your "starving" 2yo (who had just ate a huge lunch but was being a pesky beggar anyways), and holding your kid some more so you can take your other kid to the potty. 

Thank you 21st OWS... especially to our Key Spouses and others who worked to put it together.