Life on the Vine

After a week of in-processing, yesterday (Saturday) was the first full day Tom and I had to venture around Stuttgart.  We decided to try out the bus and train system and go downtown.  There was a market we were particularly interested in finding.  The Markethalle is an indoor market that features goods from 38 international vendors.  We found this historic landmark but unfortunately it and all the other shops downtown were closed due to a national holiday.  So Tom and I just walked around exploring some of the parks and pedestrian streets. After arriving at the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) we started walking and soon came to the Palace Square and the New Palace.  It's known as Palace Square because it was once part of the ducal garden.  Duke Carl Eugen commissioned the building of the New Palace starting in 1746. The Palace Square was redesigned as a public park in the 19th century.  The Jubilee Column that you see in the pic...

Unless you have lived or worked in the Washington D.C. area you most likely are unfamiliar with the commuting phenomenon known as 'slugging.'  I was first introduced to slugging the Summer of 1998 when I was in the D.C. area working as a summer intern for the Air Force Audit Agency.  I was living with my dad and stepmom in Springfield, Va.  We caught our bus to the Pentagon at a stop just up the road from their townhouse.  Several times during that summer a gentleman from the neighborhood would be on his way to work and he would stop and pick us up, giving him enough passengers to ride in the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane.  He'd deposit us at the Pentagon and then continue on to his office.   There is a formal process for those choosing to slug daily.  There are assigned parking lots all over the commuting area where people gather and stand in specific lines, depending on where they are going.  Drivers come up and pick up passengers, whoever...

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...

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 doin...

Well, the deployment to Iraq has come to an end.  I successfully redeployed through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Deployment Center in Winchester, Va., yesterday and caught a 5 p.m. flight home.  I am back in St. Louis now. Tom works a compressed work schedule, 10 hour days, Monday - Thursday so he is off today. We plan to go do some shopping later this morning.  The weather here is beautiful but I did have to close one of the windows in the bedroom last night because I got a bit chilled.  I had started to adjust a bit to temperatures in the 90s and low 100s.   I will be taking two weeks off before returning to work at the St. Louis District, June 22. Maxwell, my stepson, is graduating from high school the 16th of June and Tom, my father-in-law Jack and I are traveling out to Pennsylvania for his graduation.  Not sure if Maxwell has decided what he'll do post-high school.  He seems to be considering a lot of different options. I halfway unpacked last night when we got home ...

Greetings from sunny Winchester, Va.  This morning I arrived at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington D.C. after a 13+ hour flight from Kuwait City.  I couldn't have asked for things to go smoother with my travel and flights back.  The C-130 flight from Baghdad to Kuwait was a might bit uncomfortable with the 100+ degree weather but I just focused on other things... Like saying prayers for all my battle buddies and friends I'm leaving in Baghdad, and for my family and friends back in the States.   I'm sure there are those of you out there who would think it strange to say that going to Iraq was a "blessing" but it truly has been.  I am in awe of the experiences and the opportunities the Lord has given me since I started working Army Public Affairs in August 2001.  I couldn't have asked to work with more wonderful people (military, civilian, contractor and Iraqi) as I did at Gulf Region Division.  My life has been enriched by this experience and th...

If all goes according to plan I will be heading home next week.  On the same flight as me will be our G3 (Operations) Movements NCO, SSG Lovato.  Who is redeploying after a year+ deployment.  We (the Public Affairs Office) wanted to give him a special farewell gift...something for him to remember us by.  So we got creative.  Below is one of the pictures we took.  It's not actually the one we gave him but it's the one I happen to have in my personal e-mail account.  We titled it "What do you mean our movement request was denied?"  We made signs with destinations like Thailand, Margaritaville, EuroDisney, Hollywood, and New York City. We had Sunday off here for Memorial Day.  Regarding our work week...Fridays and Saturdays are our weekends and Sundays are our Mondays.  Thus our holiday being on Sunday.  Well, on Sunday we had a really nice BBQ with steak, chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans, a veggie and fruit tray,...