Well, in less than a week, we leave AZ! I am truly glad to be leaving this post behind. It is pretty, but there isn't much here, the weather is crazy, and I didn't really have the opportunity to make friends. We were here for 6 months, and I was the only person without kids in Cody's class soo that doesn't really help.
It's crazy to think we're leaving this chapter behind. I've left a few other things here... 4 to be exact. I had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday. Mine were uncomplicated-they had already broken through the gums. They took all four out, and I feel fine. I was so scared to have them done-so many people tell you their horror stories about how they took weeks to feel better. I felt fine yesterday, i feel fine today. It hurts, of course, but not that bad. It's not the worst pain I've ever felt, that's for sure. It's annoying, but not life ending.
Because of the above, Cody has confined me to bed, and set two bed guards on me... JB and Adi hardly let me up. I'm taking it easy, taking antibiotics and using my mouthwash. Of course I'm me and bored so I'm doing homework, blogging, and watching lots of Grey's Anatomy.
I got as much done as I could prior to Yesterday for the move, and I have put Cody to doing the rest. I have most of my clothes together, even in a bag! I need to get a backpack and travel bag together...I am taking all my schoolbooks with me, since I don't know how long it'll be till I have all of our household things. I really don't want to be packing it all in the backpack...the Computer Science book alone would kill me!
In amazing news- We are closing on the house next Wednesday. After changing realtors, our former buyers got their confirmation letter. So, our new realtor being the amazing person he is, was able to make everything come together! So the house will be off our hands on Wednesday, the day we drive out of Arizona. Poetic Justice, no?
That's about all I can handle for now-more Anatomy & Physiology await me. :)
Jess
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Taking your pets to Germany, pt.1
Receiving orders to Germany was followed by a ton of "oh gosh,.. What now?" Moments for my husband and me. What do you do with the car, the stuff, everything. One thing was a non-negotiable for us, and that was taking our pets.
Now, we knew at the outset that this would be expensive and time consuming. See, we have a giant breed dog. Our JB is a Great Dane. She is small for a Dane, weighing in at right around 95 lbs. This limits any travel/pcs plans we ever have. She can't fly on most commercial aircraft- her plus a crate is easily over 100 lbs. Luckily, as a military family we can take (and are urged to take) the Patriot Express, which is a military operated flight. Their weight limit is 150 lbs, which we will be skirting awfully close to. As I've done my research, I've found there aren't many options for those of us with big babies. :) there's not much out there, so I'm compilining all I know into this post, in hopes to help someone in the future!
First- you have options. Know that no matter what, it will be expensive. There is no such thing as shipping a pet OCONUS for cheap.
Option 1- using a service like pet flight. We got a quote from them. For both of our pets (we also have a cat), they wanted over $3,000. This took care of a lot of the things for us- they'd handle the crates, make sure we have the right paperwork, etc. They'd fly the pets into Frankfurt, and we could pick them up there. You are definitely paying for convenience. If you have kids to wrangle or you just don't want to deal with the red tape, this is definitely a good way to go.
Option 2- travel with them. This is the option we chose. In the long run, it is cheaper, plus they'll be on the plane with us. We chose to fly them both in cargo. Our cat could technically fly in the cabin with us, but she is typically not a good traveler. (Read: she mews every 5 seconds in the car) I didn't want to find out in the midst of a 9 hr flight that she wasn't good in planes either. Our crate costs are probably right around $300. $260 of that is the dogs crate. We got them both petmate sky kennels. They come with all the stickers and bowls they need to fly. It is costing us to rent a car, though we got a great deal from USAA on that! The post vet does the required checks and paperwork for free, so we save there. There will be "excess baggage" fees for both of them, and a mandatory veterinary examination upon landing in Germany. We don't know what that bottom line looks like yet, but I am keeping a running total. I will share that information once we have it!
There is a third option. You could rehome your pets for the duration of your overseas tour. Some send their pets to live with their grandparents or trusted friends. If they are up for that, it's a great option! I imagine it would be tough to be without your pet for so long, but you know that they are being taken care of and that they are very loved. Plus, you can get them when you go back to the states.The other option is to rehome them in other ways- Craigslist, rescues, local shelters, etc. if this is the route you take, you are giving up what I believe to be a family member. I recommend this only as an absolute last resort.
I'll keep you all apprised of what happens from here on out! Our next step is the girls' appointment for our pre-screen and health certificates for the flight!
Now, we knew at the outset that this would be expensive and time consuming. See, we have a giant breed dog. Our JB is a Great Dane. She is small for a Dane, weighing in at right around 95 lbs. This limits any travel/pcs plans we ever have. She can't fly on most commercial aircraft- her plus a crate is easily over 100 lbs. Luckily, as a military family we can take (and are urged to take) the Patriot Express, which is a military operated flight. Their weight limit is 150 lbs, which we will be skirting awfully close to. As I've done my research, I've found there aren't many options for those of us with big babies. :) there's not much out there, so I'm compilining all I know into this post, in hopes to help someone in the future!
First- you have options. Know that no matter what, it will be expensive. There is no such thing as shipping a pet OCONUS for cheap.
Option 1- using a service like pet flight. We got a quote from them. For both of our pets (we also have a cat), they wanted over $3,000. This took care of a lot of the things for us- they'd handle the crates, make sure we have the right paperwork, etc. They'd fly the pets into Frankfurt, and we could pick them up there. You are definitely paying for convenience. If you have kids to wrangle or you just don't want to deal with the red tape, this is definitely a good way to go.
Option 2- travel with them. This is the option we chose. In the long run, it is cheaper, plus they'll be on the plane with us. We chose to fly them both in cargo. Our cat could technically fly in the cabin with us, but she is typically not a good traveler. (Read: she mews every 5 seconds in the car) I didn't want to find out in the midst of a 9 hr flight that she wasn't good in planes either. Our crate costs are probably right around $300. $260 of that is the dogs crate. We got them both petmate sky kennels. They come with all the stickers and bowls they need to fly. It is costing us to rent a car, though we got a great deal from USAA on that! The post vet does the required checks and paperwork for free, so we save there. There will be "excess baggage" fees for both of them, and a mandatory veterinary examination upon landing in Germany. We don't know what that bottom line looks like yet, but I am keeping a running total. I will share that information once we have it!
There is a third option. You could rehome your pets for the duration of your overseas tour. Some send their pets to live with their grandparents or trusted friends. If they are up for that, it's a great option! I imagine it would be tough to be without your pet for so long, but you know that they are being taken care of and that they are very loved. Plus, you can get them when you go back to the states.The other option is to rehome them in other ways- Craigslist, rescues, local shelters, etc. if this is the route you take, you are giving up what I believe to be a family member. I recommend this only as an absolute last resort.
I'll keep you all apprised of what happens from here on out! Our next step is the girls' appointment for our pre-screen and health certificates for the flight!
Monday, August 12, 2013
The Suck List and Moving On
So.... I had written this great little whiny piece about how life is hard. And that things are crazy right now. And then I realized that at this point...that's just par for the course. So- A quick "Suck" list and then we'll move forward. Yes? Yes.
THE SUCK LIST:
1. The Army is dumb. Who's surprised? No one? Okay.
2. Moving is difficult. Moving is exponentially more difficult what you're moving to a different country.
3. I want to be pregnant. I'm not pregnant. People I love are pregnant, and that makes me happy, and also intensely jealous. Taking a break from trying sucks. Stupid Uterus....get it together! (in a few months...I'd really like to make it to Staci's wedding. Kinda Important.)
So. Now that we're done with that... I'm getting excited about Germany. It's a tenative, Type-A I need to plan things kind of excited, but that counts, right? I know we will probably be living on post, but I've been looking at AHRN (Army Housing Referral Network) just to get an idea of the area, and to have back up plan. I mentioned I'm a planner, right? There's so much beautiful architecture there! I am so excited to explore it, even if we're living on post.
We'll be there in time to experience an Oktoberfest, just not the main one.
We'll get to try Gluhwein (spiced wine) at a Christmas Market... Wiesbaden's is star themed, I
believe.
We're going to be living in the heart of Riesling country. I'm not a huge sweet wine person, but it's gotta be good when you're living there!
We will have a whole new set of experiences and memories to share. I'm going to buy my niece a Dirndl.
Life is good, ja?
-Jess
THE SUCK LIST:
1. The Army is dumb. Who's surprised? No one? Okay.
2. Moving is difficult. Moving is exponentially more difficult what you're moving to a different country.
3. I want to be pregnant. I'm not pregnant. People I love are pregnant, and that makes me happy, and also intensely jealous. Taking a break from trying sucks. Stupid Uterus....get it together! (in a few months...I'd really like to make it to Staci's wedding. Kinda Important.)
So. Now that we're done with that... I'm getting excited about Germany. It's a tenative, Type-A I need to plan things kind of excited, but that counts, right? I know we will probably be living on post, but I've been looking at AHRN (Army Housing Referral Network) just to get an idea of the area, and to have back up plan. I mentioned I'm a planner, right? There's so much beautiful architecture there! I am so excited to explore it, even if we're living on post.
We'll be there in time to experience an Oktoberfest, just not the main one.
We'll get to try Gluhwein (spiced wine) at a Christmas Market... Wiesbaden's is star themed, I
believe.
We're going to be living in the heart of Riesling country. I'm not a huge sweet wine person, but it's gotta be good when you're living there!
We will have a whole new set of experiences and memories to share. I'm going to buy my niece a Dirndl.
Life is good, ja?
-Jess
Friday, August 9, 2013
On TTC
I've touched on it before here, but I guess I should explain further.
C and I have known from day 1 that we want kids. We both have siblings that we love (most of the time), we both love kids, and it's something we both feel called to. We have considered starting to try a number of times-but we always had a reason to reconsider. Between deployments, family events, finances...there's always a reason. Finally, after deployment 2 and our post deployment vacation, we thought it was perfect timing. So on our anniversary, we started actually trying. I had gotten off of birth control when he left for Afghanistan, so for us it really meant me learning about my body and timing things.
I have done everything I know how to. I have taken my temperature daily, I have checked my cervix, I take ovulation tests, I take itamins and read up on what's best. I have tried just about everything short of doing eating pineapple core and 45 minute handstands after sex (UTI much?) to try. At what point do I assume that it's just not God's plan for me? At what point do you start seriously looking into adoption/fostering/just giving up? How far is too far into assisted reproduction?Or is there a too far when you're looking at being parents? There's a lot of questions for us....
Right now, like I've said, we are on a break from trying. I still take my temperature, since that lets me know where I am in my cycle and how to time everything else. This is month 7, for us. When we resume actively trying again (once we're settled in Germany, whatever that may mean for us.), we'll probably weight another 7+ months before seeking additional medical help. The traditional recommendation is that after a year of trying, you should see a doctor (if you're under age 35). We'll see if we make it that far. I certainly hope not, but you never know.
It's not about "Just relax" it's not about "Well, have you thought about/tried/whatever?". It's hard. It's deeply emotional because as a woman this is what your body is supposed to be able to do! You spend years avoiding pregnancy. You think that it's SO easy to get knocked up so you are double/triple stracking birth control methods, only to find out that when it's time...it's actually pretty tough to get pregnant. It's not just one drunk night, it's lots of nights of trying, praying, crying, and finding the bottom of that "half full" glass.
So now, we wait. We wait on us, on God, and on future Baby M. <3
Jessica
C and I have known from day 1 that we want kids. We both have siblings that we love (most of the time), we both love kids, and it's something we both feel called to. We have considered starting to try a number of times-but we always had a reason to reconsider. Between deployments, family events, finances...there's always a reason. Finally, after deployment 2 and our post deployment vacation, we thought it was perfect timing. So on our anniversary, we started actually trying. I had gotten off of birth control when he left for Afghanistan, so for us it really meant me learning about my body and timing things.
I have done everything I know how to. I have taken my temperature daily, I have checked my cervix, I take ovulation tests, I take itamins and read up on what's best. I have tried just about everything short of doing eating pineapple core and 45 minute handstands after sex (UTI much?) to try. At what point do I assume that it's just not God's plan for me? At what point do you start seriously looking into adoption/fostering/just giving up? How far is too far into assisted reproduction?Or is there a too far when you're looking at being parents? There's a lot of questions for us....
Right now, like I've said, we are on a break from trying. I still take my temperature, since that lets me know where I am in my cycle and how to time everything else. This is month 7, for us. When we resume actively trying again (once we're settled in Germany, whatever that may mean for us.), we'll probably weight another 7+ months before seeking additional medical help. The traditional recommendation is that after a year of trying, you should see a doctor (if you're under age 35). We'll see if we make it that far. I certainly hope not, but you never know.
It's not about "Just relax" it's not about "Well, have you thought about/tried/whatever?". It's hard. It's deeply emotional because as a woman this is what your body is supposed to be able to do! You spend years avoiding pregnancy. You think that it's SO easy to get knocked up so you are double/triple stracking birth control methods, only to find out that when it's time...it's actually pretty tough to get pregnant. It's not just one drunk night, it's lots of nights of trying, praying, crying, and finding the bottom of that "half full" glass.
So now, we wait. We wait on us, on God, and on future Baby M. <3
Jessica
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