Life on the Vine

I'm thinking of the electronic voice on our GPS machine that states "You have arrived" when we reach our final destination.  Well, Tom and I have in fact arrived in Germany.  At least I'm not hearing a voice in my head saying "Prepare to make a legal U-turn."  :-)  That would probably not be good sign. Things are going well my first few days.  Tom and I got in Sunday morning with our fuzzy kids.  It was certainly a long haul from Phoenix, Arizona (3.5 hour flight) to Atlanta, Georgia (4 hour layover) and then into Stuttgart (9.5 hour flight).  Tom and I were most worried about how Smokey (our youngest cat) would handle the trip but turns out he handled the trip beautifully.  The one that was stressing out was Bear (our old man).  He was not happy about being in his carrier at all.  In fact for about two hours during the flight over the Atlantic I took him out of his carrier and just held him.  He would not settle down nor would he sleep.  Smokey just hung

In less than 48 hours my husband Tom, our two fuzzy kids (Bear and Smokey) and I will be on an international flight heading to our new home - Stuttgart, Germany.  Embarking on what I expect will be the biggest adventure of our lives so far.  I have been offered and have accepted a public affairs job with U.S. Africa Command , an organization I have been interested in working for since I heard of its inception in 2007. For the last 6 and a half years I have been working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis, Missouri.  Periodically I would apply for jobs in Europe, having always desired to work overseas, but until this year, I had never reached the interview stage for any of the jobs I applied for.  What a blessing it is to have not only gotten a job overseas but to have gotten my dream job. As we'll be away from our family and friends for three, possibly five years, I thought a blog would be the best way to keep everyone up-to-date on what we are doing.  Tom and I p