Since nearly Christmas! It's July! Mid July! I have become a monumental slacker. OR - I've just been dealing with life.
OK. Both.
But I'm finding more energy, so hopefully the blog will be the recipient of some of that energy. It's good therapy for me anyway.
To sum up the past few months:
I've gotten into the swing of my job. I'm lucky to have found employment in Germany on post, even though I'm making a fraction of what I thought I would be at this point in life. Of course, I also thought I would be using my advanced education where as you don't even need a BA for my current job. Regardless, I have managed to pay off one of my many school loans. So I can't bitch too much. Plus, it's a nice laid back job with a flexible schedule. The only downside is the occasional drama of dealing with other Army spouses. Drama tends to be drummed up when personalities clash and situations are stressful (like say, when their soldiers are in the field training). It happens. Stress brings out the drama in everyone.
I've received a diagnosis for an autoimmune disease. Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I've since gone on a gluten free diet. (bread, cake, and pizza. oh how I miss you. pasta - I have found pretty good gf pasta. I have gf bread too - but it's not the same as the crusty loaves I use to make.) And the fact that going out to eat has turned into a chore is no fun either. I puffy <3 restaurants that denote which dishes are gluten free. But they are few and far between.
This Dx also explains my lack of energy. Before I was working, I would spend a lot of my day wondering what I was doing with my time. I just didn't have much ambition to do much. When I got really into a work schedule, I could barely make dinner at night. I just had no motivation for anything. It's coming back.
We've spoiled ourselves and sailed around the Mediterranean Sea for 12 nights for vacation. We hit Barcelona, Split, Venice, Kotor, Naples/Sorrento/Pompeii, Rome, Florence, and Aix-en-Provence.
It. Was. Amazing.
Truly the trip of a lifetime! I can't believe all the things we saw - even when I look back on our photos! And the food on the Celebrity Solstice was wonderful! We also spent my birthday and our second year anniversary on the cruise. It was really really great!
But what has prompted this entry was our current location: Germany.
We've been here one whole year already.
Time has flown and crawled at the same time.
I like it here...but I also can't wait to get back to good ol US of A.
I miss: (in no particular order)
Chipotle
Wide highways
wide parking spaces
Target
shopping malls
receiving online orders in less than a week
signs/menus in English
standard phone number lengths
large ovens
large houses
large sinks
running my washer and dryer at the same time
large showers
bright overhead lighting
carpeting
closets
screened windows
air conditioning
being in comparable time zones as friends and fam
reasonable cell phone contracts
customer service
not caring what the exchange rate is
Melting Pot
PF Changs
Whole Foods
other chiropractors
speedy healthcare (not having to send my labs to Landstuhl and wait weeks for results.)
fast internet
living in my own space
grilling - they do grill here, we just don't have space to do it.
being able to cash a check with my home bank.
driving rules that make sense. The right before left rule is dumb.
things being open on Sunday
walls you can hang things on with minimal effort
I appreciate: (in no particular order)
the view. everywhere in Bavaria is just pretty. rolling hills, farmland, trees, trees, trees.
travel opportunity - going to so many countries in such a short time.
character building experiences. (although I will bitch about them while they are occuring)
antique shopping
bakeries (at least, before I went gluten free!)
fireworks on new years eve
wine tasting
beer (again, before I went gf. they have the best beer here. all of the rumors are true.)
did I mention travel?
architecture - old world style is gorgeous
history - it's here man.
So obviously I seem very ungrateful when I bitch about the amazing opportunity of living overseas. But I am a creature of comforts. And sometimes I miss my comforts.
Two more years to go, including a lot of time on my own. Should be interesting!
