Where have I been?

Oh you know... doing the usual. Raising a now nearly 15 month old bucket of sunshine and toddler sass, exploring life as a stay at home mom, and waiting. Always waiting. C should be getting his next set of orders soon, so I am hopeful for great adventures in a new city/state, but hopefully back in the US.

Did I mention that I'm pregnant again? That was a shock. After years of treatment and negative tests, imagine my surprise that at an appointment to place an IUD the doctor tells me that won't be possible, as there's a little person in there. Imagine my shock to find out that it's another little boy who will be joining us in September (Oh, and we move in August. O.O I have lost my mind)

With Boy #1, the pregnancy I wrote of last time I wrote in here (nearly 2 years ago. Oy), we had a rough road. My OB couldn't believe my ridiculous (read: Absurdly normal, but poorly timed) weight gain, and so I was tested for Gestational Diabetes 4 times. and then had the shock of my life... and not in the pleasant way. After all that monitoring , all those blood tests, about 8 million ultrasounds.... My doctor missed a very crucial thing- my Son's intestines weren't inside his body.

I have a lot of writing to do, a lot of things to catch you up on. Know that my first son is fine now-you wouldn't even know what he had been through if you saw him now. I am varying levels of fine, depending on the day. My marriage is still one of the greatest blessings to my life. For all that has changed, for all that will change, there are still some constants like Family, Faith, and Food.

Deep thoughts with Jessica...

As of Today, we have been in Germany for about 5 months.

What I expected when we got here was almost an instant community. I thought that since pretty much everyone was far from family, people would get the homesickness. The fear, the everything. As I've said before, being OCONUS is an amazing opportunity, but also one that is scary as all get out.  I figured that people would be so welcoming, that we would be able to make friends, etc.

To a degree, we experienced that. Our sponsors were gracious and amazing. They introduced us to our city, offered their apartment, phone, car, whatever we needed to get settled. Unfortunately for us, they also ETS'd soon after our arrival. 

 

 It's been a little more tough, but we've been surprised by every turn by people coming out of the woodwork. We're slowly making our little family here again. I forgot that it took me well over a year at Bragg to forge a community...and that it took 2 to make our family there. 

 

Here, I've relied more on social networking. It has definitely helped me keep in touch with friends and family. It also came with a downside for me.

Pregnancy/Birth Announcements.

They can be SO hard to read. It feels as though each announcement says to me "What's wrong with you? Person X already has 2 kids and they're just a year older than you.". Even though I know it's completely bonkers, I feel like somewhere out there is a pool of available babies, and that I am continually missing my chance. That these people are taking MY potential babies. 

Like I said, I know this is not the case. It has gotten much better with time and prayer and so much else. This truly has been a year of growth.  More on that later. 

For the more practical update: We have completed our first rounds of testing with Dr.W. C is fine, but it looks as though I have symptoms resembling PCOS(Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), but no official diagnosis for it just yet. Dr. W recommended we start Clomid to help me ovulate earlier and hopefully produce better quality eggs. We were all set to start this month, but found at the baseline ultrasound that I had a 1.25" cyst on the right ovary. Since Clomid stimulates your hormones/ovaries, it is highly recommended to not take it if you have a cyst as it will encourage it to grow larger and potentially do some major damage. 

So the first medicated cycle was a bust. We will try again next month, with hopefully better results.

Now that all that's out-Bologna was amazing! Recap to come hopefully this week. Though, classes have started now as well so it may be a bit.  Here's to being more intentional with the time I have!

Paris, Part 3

In which I recap day 3 and my angry feet. 

We didn't "do" much on Sunday. We were exhausted, my feet were starting to cry, and we didn't want to burn ourselves out. 
So after breakfast, we headed out for two stops: The Pantheon and the Louvre.
The Pantheon was important for me as two beloved authors are buried there (Voltaire and Hugo), and I was not disappointed. the history in that building is insane. This is also where the Curies, Monsieur Braille, and many others are laid to rest. To be surrounded by it is unexplainable. 
From there, we went to the Louvre. Travel tip: have a plan for the Louvre. It is MASSIVE. We were in there for hours and probably only saw like 5% of the art. Our plan of attack was to see the Mona Lisa first and get it out of the way. I know that sounds really calloused, but we had been told it was a let down (it is), and that portion of the museum is CROWDED and I don't do crowds. 
From there, we went and saw the Islamic art exhibit, and then Napoleon's apartments...chock full of lyre chairs, making my Alpha Chi heart oh-so-happy. 
At that point, ye olde dogs were barking and we went back to the hotel to rest before dinner.
Dinner was at Brasserie Julien, recommended by a friend of mine. It was absolutely amazing! Delicious food, great service...I was highly impressed. I got the Onion Soup (no need to say French ;) ), Lamb, and then brioche french toast. Mr. Got poached eggs/chestnuts, whole sea bass, and lime cheesecake (And scolded by the waiter for choosing a non-french dessert). 

After that, we explored. We wanted to say that we had seen the Moulin Rogue, so we popped up in that part of the city to take a picture, and immediately left. Mr was also in a play in college called Picasso at the Lapin Agile, so that was a must find as well.   

 
Then it was a quick stroll back to the hotel to get ready to leave. We left the next afternoon, after a morning shopping at Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Of course, I left Paris with more macarons... *insert dreamy sigh here*. Can't get enough of them!

It was an amazing birthday trip that can not be replicated! I felt so blessed to have that time with Mr and to get to see more of the world. I'm looking forward to our next trip- this weekend (!!) we are headed to Bologna, Italy for Mr. to nerd out over Kappa Sigma history for his birthday!

Paris, Part 2

In which, I valiantly attempt to recount a whirlwind day of sightseeing.      SO! Day 2: we start out with breakfast at the hotel. I had signed up for their frequent stays club (Only requires your email address) and that got us in for free breakfast for our stay, as well as a coupon for dinner at the hotel restaurant. Of the two, I think breakfast was the better deal. ;)    After breakfast, we went back up to our room to wait. My mom had booked a tour guide for us as a birthday present, but we were unsure of where/how to meet him. We figured that waiting in the room was the right choice, and were rewarded with a phone call from the concierge shortly thereafter letting us know the guide had arrived!   Scott was great, he was recommended by the guy my mom had originally wanted (Michael Osman), and I think he was perfect for me and the Mr, especially seeing as he's an actor and all!   After a quick brainstorm-we were off! By the end of the day, we had seen: St. Chapelle, the Conciergerie, Notre Dame, Pont des Arts(Lover's lock bridge),  Les Invalides/Napoleon's Tomb, Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel tower. PHEW!  

St. Chapelle

Notre Dame

Altar of Notre Dame

Winning Nativity Scene in Notre Dame

Back of Notre Dame

Napoleon's Tomb

View from the Top of the Arc de Triomphe

View of Paris from the Eiffel Tower

    We crisscrossed Paris easily thanks to the visite passes, and made it in plenty of time for our 5:00 PM Eiffel Tower ride! There was so much history and so many things learned from our trip that to begin to write it all would be to begin the blog post that never ends...so enjoy the pictures instead. ;)  My two tips for sight seeing in Paris: Vistie Passes and Musee' Passes. The former lets you get around easily, the latter pays for itself. Many sights and museums participate, and just by going to the Louvre and Notre Dame it pretty much is cost efficient...except with the pass you get to keep going places without spending more money!   After that, it was a quick jaunt back to the hotel for dinner in the hotel restaurant. We were pretty unimpressed by everything but dessert. The service was pretty poor (We deduced it was because we didn't speak French, as we watched those who spoke it around us get excellent service), and the food just felt like it was trying too hard. I did try foie gras, and it wasn't bad!   

After-dinner lemon Madelines

Mr.'s Chestnut flavored dessert (Complete with edible gold...because Paris)

My apple dessert with the best sorbet EVER in the foreground.

  After all that, we collapsed in bed and tried to prepare ourselves as much as possible for day 3: The Louvre and the Pantheon.       

Paris, part 1

Phew, what a weekend! I hate that it's taking so long to post these, but Mr. also took about 900 pictures.... and I'm not exaggerating.     We left early Friday for Paris. Luckily, we live just uphill from the train station, so we walked down and got on our first train. This one just took us from Wiesbaden to Frankfurt. Then, we had about 10 minutes to hop on our next train- from Frankfurt to Paris (Est).    We sprang for first class, and I feel it was worth it. We had extra leg room, we had a light meal delivered to our seats, and it was generally quiet. 2nd class was more crowded...think typical coach on an airplane, and no meal. There was an on board restaurant, but the Mister says it wasn't very good.   We arrived in Paris around 1, and had a little issue with figuring out the train system. After walking to Paris (Nord), We eventually figured it out and bought Paris Visite passes, which are definitely worth it! We were able to travel by metro anywhere within Paris as frequently as we wanted for 3 days. It definitely made a difference in our ease of sight seeing that's for sure!   We eventually made it to our hotel, and set our bags down and headed right back out. We wandered around the area our hotel is in, enjoying just seeing sights. I did make sure to stop for a birthday treat- macarons from Fauchon!  

After all this, we had a dinner at Cafe Marco Polo, which was just okay. It won major points for convenience... it's right across the street from our hotel (Concorde Opera Paris) I got steak frites- delish! Mr got scallops, which he claims were delicious.

We got crepes for desert, but I forgot to grab a picture. ;) We went to bed early, which was perfect for our insanely busy day two... Coming tomorrow! Au revoir! 

OCONUS Jealousy

 By the time y'all are reading this, the Mr. and I are on our way to Paris for my birthday! I just wanted to share some thoughts about living overseas for the weekend.   If you live overseas for any amount of time, two things will happen.  1. People will make you feel like you're not doing "enough" traveling at any given point. Maybe this is just a me thing, but we hear (often) about how everyone has all these plans for every. single. four day. See, if you were in the states,  your plans for a four day would probably be to relax, maybe see or do something in your town or just nearby, but that's about it.  Here, people go NUTS. The Mister is taking a four day for my birthday, and we're going to Paris. We're not traveling for Christmas or New Year's. When we say that...we get the wide, unblinking stare of disbelief. How DARE you have time off and not use it to see more of this country!
Look, we love it here, and we love travel. We just also have some debts to take care of, work to do, Pets that need us, and Doc appointments. We can't take off every month-and that's okay. We're still seeing as much as we can.
2. Related to number 1, your friends and family romanticize your time here. People say things like "I have no tips for you, not all of us can go to Paris for a weekend!". Or, "Gosh, I'm so jealous it must just be awesome to be there and get to Travel all the time".  Yes, it's awesome to be here. Yes, we feel very blessed to have these opportunities...however...
I get to go on a 4 day birthday trip to Paris, because I gave up having holidays with my family.  I get to experience this wonderful culture, because I am willing to deal with the 6/7/8 hour time difference from people I love. 
Not everything here is rosy, and it's not wonderful all the time (But it is pretty close!). Just remember that being in Germany isn't all beer, schnitzel, and traveling throughout Europe. It's also missing home, missing family, and a language/culture barrier that is insurmountable at times.

On my birthday Eve..

Tomorrow is a pretty awesome day.... I'm turning 26!
There's a lot of things I could say about it. I could say that I'm not where I thought I would be, that things are hard, that even though things are hard-they are also great, that I'm SO excited about Paris and traveling by train, give a recap of the major events from this year, and on and on.. and none of these things would be wrong... but they aren't what I want to write about.
Today, I'm writing about what I am going to work on for year 26...And intersperse some photos from 25 throughout.

My best girlfriends got in my house and decorated it for my birthday last year :)

Love.
I want to look back at 26 and see that this was the year that I let it become my guiding principle, that I let that be how I approach people and situations.  

The girl who made it SO hard to move from Fayetteville!

  To take this to a religious side of things-Jesus gave us two commandments- To love our God and our Neighbor.  This year, I'm going to focus on those two things, and let the rest fall where it may.   

The best meal of my life, while celebrating 25 (belatedly) in Vegas!

  This means trying to let judgement go. This means letting things that hurt or annoy me roll off my back.

Seeing these two tie the knot is definitely a highlight of the year. And I still cry. Cause I'm a little pathetic.

Like I could leave my favorite munchkin out of this...

Most importantly, it means Grace. And not just for other people-It means for myself...maybe even most of all!    

Waiting for our plane to Germany!

Like most people, I am my own worst critic. This year, I'm going to learn to extend grace to myself, and love myself-flaws and all. Who am I to say that I'm not smart enough? Maybe I'm just the right kind of smart to accomplish what I need to. Who am I to say that I'm not pretty? My 'haters' will be quick enough to tell me that-do they really need my help?! This also means less hiding when someone breaks out a camera-I'm resolving to take more pictures with me in them this year!

I hate the shadows in this...but this was our 2nd Market!

So, here's to a year of Love and Grace...  

 

Selfie...no makeup. I can say a lot of things about this picture-but it's me. This is me on a daily basis-mascara and hair messy. Feeling heavier than I'd like, but loving that I'm still healthy and alive and able to enjoy all that I have.

A TTC Update

I realized the other day that I hadn't posted a TTC update for awhile, so here goes. 
The Mr. and I were on a break for a few months. I wanted to make sure (as much as I could, anyways) that I would be able to make it to my friend Staci's wedding, and hopefully to Alpha Chi convention.  We have since started "actively" trying again, which means taking temperatures, OPK's, etc. 
I was due for a well woman exam, so I spoke with my PCM(Primary Care Manager) here about how we have been trying for awhile. She said that since we were so close to a year of trying, and it's hard to get in with the doctor here, that she'd go ahead and write me a referral to a doctor here for a female infertility workup.
We've seen him once so far, and I just had some blood work done today. He's thinking that it's a hormonal issue, which should be reflected in today's testing.  I've had an ultrasound (Me and Wandy...we're not friends) and he's taken all our history and information. We go back to see him again in just over a week to get our results, and the Mister goes in for testing the following day. From there, we just work with everyone to hopefully formulate a plan and get pregnant!
Because I have TriCare, it is unfortunately not the easiest process. After this next appointment, my German doctor will write up a report. This gets returned to TriCare/my PCM who then decide what their course of action is. They could decide to handle it themselves, send us a Military Treatment facility, or just hand us back off to our German Doc. We are hoping that the plan will be to allow us to continue seeing the German doctor. His office is convenient to our apartment, and he is just a really kind, reassuring man.  If you know me, you know I tend to be a worry wart and jump to the worst possible conclusions at all times. The fact that this guy calms me down is pretty big. ;)
So, we're starting the process. We're not sure infertility is even something we're dealing with just yet. Right now is the information gathering phase.. hopefully things get to working soon!

I remember....

I remember when the Mr. first told me he wanted to join the Army. I was 19, and after he told me I cried. You see, I was dating a goofy theatre kid and I never thought the military would be a plan (I should've...serving in the military goes way back on both sides of his family). I cried because I didn't know what that meant. I cried because I knew at the least we were a country at war and that meant he was going to be deployed.

He had just busted out of his cocoon and is now a beautiful butterfly.

I cried because I was a drama queen. (Seriously. Pulled my Gbig aside to ask her advice and cried at meeting. Drama queen).
Then that Summer he dumped me. I remember sitting in my sorority sister's apartment and watching chick flicks and talking about how he'd be back and he's just a dumb boy.
Then that fall he realized he's really dumb sometimes, and we got back together.
I remember doing pretty horribly on an assignment right after he left for OSUT (basic Training). I remember that professor pulling me aside. He'd never had me in class, but said that it didn't seem like me. I cried to him and told him my boyfriend had just left. He patted me on the shoulder and said his son had left too, but it gets better.  I remember that extension of grace. (And I remember that I was yet again, a drama queen)

Photo from Ciulla Photography

I remember after we got married, that I was so excited in April because he was done with school, I was about to be done with school, and we were going to be able to be done with long distance! (I can hear my veteran spouse friends laughing...). I remember him holding me when he told me that he'd be deploying the following month. 
I remember the joy of buying our house, and getting a puppy.

She's grown just a tiny bit...

I remember crying when the rumors of the next deployment came up.   I remember crying the nights before he left, but not at the parade field...which garnered me criticism. (Seriously).
I remember crying with relief to hold him in my arms again both times.   I remember the blast we've had on marriage retreats, at balls, and at Hail/Farewells. 

I remember falling apart on the drive away from our first base, our first home.   I remember crying on the plane to Germany. 
Why post this? (Other than to illustrate that I'm a pro-level crier/drama queen)
So often as military spouses we tear our fellow spouses down... whether it's that she's crying over him being in the field, or NOT crying during the deployment. That our civilian friends couldn't possibly understand what it's like to live through a deployment, and how stupid they are for thinking that a business trip is in any way equal to one. (For the record, most know it's nothing alike. They're just trying to connect on the premise of missing their person). What if we remembered how it was when we first started out? When that first week of him gone felt like walking through hell? The time we learned to turn off the news when he's gone? 
I have a feeling we'd be much kinder to each other. And in a life like this-where we are often uprooted away from family and friends, and expected to do it all with minimal resources- shouldn't we be more focused on helping one another, instead of laughing at or criticising someone who is just starting out, sad and scared? When will we, as a community, realize that our war stories are very rarely helpful?
I remember...the day I decided to start living in and extending the grace and understanding afforded to me many times over by many people.

Random Thoughts...

I can't seem to get much of a consistent train of thought going today, so we're going for the bulleted list with some pictures.

 - I've been in a seminar called "Culture College" for the past few days learning about Wiesbadern and Germany-traditions, customs, language, orientation to the city and the post, etc. It has been great, but also exhausting.

 -Seriously....is EVERYONE pregnant right now? Cause that's kind of how it feels. I'm just sitting over here...on a break till the end of the year.

 - I'm now in the time of year where I don't buy things for myself. My birthday, Christmas, and my anniversary are all very close to each other (like... 13th, 25th, and 31st....) so I try not to buy much for myself, so that I can give more gift ideas and thus be surprised and happy with them.

 -blog is about to get a facelift thanks to Jane! She is all things fabulous and isn't even mad that it took me almost two weeks to finally look at the mockup for long enough to tell her what I thought. Seriously, she's an angel.

 -I'm excited to hopefully explore Frankfurt and Ludwigsburg this weekend!C is on a four day so we're going to explore some of the local area. (and hopefully get some castles in before the end of castle season. Yep...there's a season for castles. Who knew?!)

 -I really need to start carrying around a notebook for blog post ideas.. and reminding myself of what I wanted to tell/ask people and things I need to do.

 -Still no HHG. I just want my bed people!!

 -I'm excited for the next few years for us. But I'm also already planning the next move, even though I barely know when and where that will come along. I know this time next year, C will take command and do that for a year, and then we'll have a few months before our DEROS date (earliest we can go back to the states). but otherwise everything is up to what his next move is...and that changes daily. Gotta love it, right?

 And now, I leave you with two photos from our Farmer's Market adventure! More to come once I upload them to my computer. :) xo, Jess

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

The post that isn't really cohesive at all.

So.

I'm still not pregnant. I actually started AF this morning. I want to say I'm shocked, but I'm not. I'm tired of trying, but not losing hope. There is nothing sweet/romantic/sexy about trying to have a baby.  It's stressful, it's upsetting. Upsetting to get your hopes up each month, to have it dashed. To not know what you did wrong- if anything! Some websites say you have a 20% chance each month... That's low. That means that most people will not succeed. But what does it say that We've been trying for 6? Nothing. It says nothing.

This also means we are now taking a break from all of it. It's sad for me, but good in the long run... I need some time to lose some of the weight I piled on, use our wine tasting groupons, and move.

My brother had a beautiful wonderful wedding and I'm so glad I was here for it. I'll do a picture post once we get those back from the photographer.

The move is really becoming real. I have less than 20 days left with my car, I'm under 60 days till our flight. Lots of organizing to happen. Lots of selling crap to happen.

I read the divergent books and loved them and need the third one to be out already.

C and I are taking some time to work on us and that is needed and lovely.

We've received sponsors and they're pretty helpful.

I'm trying to remember to praise in the middle of this storm. What is for me will not pass me by.

Armyed, part 2.

Answer to the situation below was actually D, none of the above.

Our flight was moved to 2 September, which is C's report date. They are amending his orders to allow us to arrive a day later. We will be flying out of Baltimore, so we are driving over there. We could still fly commercially to Baltimore, but the Army will not cover costs for the Girls so we are taking it upon ourselves to cut costs a bit. We will hopefully be shipping the car earlier, so we will rent a car and do that drive, potentially stopping in with family along the way.

On the bright side- I am no longer worried about my passport not getting here in time, or not having enough time to pack and declutter and sell stuff.  I have more time to study German and the German driving laws too.

I'm a little sad to have to push everything back, because now we are using up Cody's leave, and he doesn't have that much to begin with. Plus I was actually looking forward to getting there and getting things figured out. Oh well!

Cody's class social got cancelled, I guess the commander didn't like them having it at a winery. So the plan for the weekend is to hang out and relax Friday night, then drive up Saturday and spend some time with my Grandpa and his companion.

The only constant in life is change. :)
Jess

Hurry up and Wait

So quick updates first:
-Still no paper orders or welcome packet
-AF ended up arriving, the whore.

Ugh. I was so hoping for this cycle for a number of reasons, one of which was to be able to tell my family in person. But now, that's not so much the case. So we're waiting now for go time. I've been taking a break from temping, since I usually ovulate pretty late, and its been very nice. I'll start back on Monday. That will be cd6 so that's more than enough time for Fertility Friend to catch a pattern. Never thought we'd still be trying at 6 months...but that's life. After this cycle, I'm taking a break for a little bit. My friend (more like a sister) is getting married next May and I want to be able to be there...especially since I'm the MOH. so I'll avoid a little for that and potentially for convention. We'll see. This cycle... I should be getting AF right after my brothers wedding, while I'm still home. So I'm not sure what I'll do about testing.

I'm getting really frustrated with the move. I NEED to apply for my no fee passport, and soon. It has similar processing times to a regular passport, and if we are expected to be there by September, I need to have it by August. I can't apply, however, until  we have orders. C went to his levy brief yesterday and gave them all the paperwork they needed, so we should have orders this coming week. If that whole situation wasn't enough, we have no idea what we will be getting into as far as housing. There's a lot of rumors but not a lot of straight answers. Since we do not have children (and apparently only one child would not change things), it looks like they would be putting us in a 2 bedroom apartment...not a fan. I've heard rumors that C should get an extra room authorization for his Army crap, but nothing concrete. I have an email into our post's housing office to see what they can tell us. I can't decide which scares me more...the idea of living in a 2 bedroom apartment or living off post and having a landlord that doesn't necessarily speak English.

Hopefully next week will bring more answers and better news!
Jess

Storm before the Calm

Most people talk about the calm before the storm...that moment where you know everything is about to hit, all at once.

I don't know that feeling. I know storm before the calm. I used to live in Oklahoma, where storms can appear suddenly, with no warning. That's what Army Life feels like, at least for me.

Right now, I'm in the middle of frenzied activity that will eventually calm as we move to Germany. I'm not worried about the actual travel, getting housing, even finding my way around. I'm worried about the first storm of getting all the paperwork in order. We're still waiting on H's RFO(Request for Orders), so we're on hold for most everything else. I have gotten my physical (and cleared!), gotten the rabies certificates (correctly done),for the animals... but that's as far as I can get right now. It's a storm that is coming and going...constantly keeping me on my toes. Once that RFO hits, BAM! we're off again, in another flurry of paperwork, cleaning, and organizing.

I'm waiting in the storm right now in the 2ww, 9 DPO and crossing everything I have that Vegas last weekend brought us the luck that this will be the month... A Valentine's baby would be nice, but I'll take any baby right now. :) 

Here's to waiting for another storm to hit.
-Jess

Wilkkomen

It's been a crazy few weeks, but I'll start with introductions.


I'm Jessica(Jess). I'm starting this blog to keep family and friends up to date with my H and I's move to Germany, to vent, and to give myself something to do. I'm 25. I love food, cooking, crafting, the whole nine. I'm a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, and I'm trying to start the process (a long one for me, most likely) of becoming an Registered Dietitian.

H is in the Army, got promoted to Captain recently, and just a soon after found out he would be going to Germany-Wiesbaden, to be exact. He will be going to MI brigade there, hopefully to take Company Command.  He's 27. He's all things wonderful, 98% of the time. ;)

We're also trying to start our family. We've been TTC for 4.5 months now, and are crossing our fingers for a BFP sometime soon. We've been pretty quiet about the fact that we're trying, because we didn't want to get people too excited, or get the unsolicited conception advice. However, as the months drag on...I find that I want people to know. I don't want to have a huge coming out when it's been over a year. I think so many people (myself included) that thought this would be a quick process. It's not easy for everyone, and that story needs to be told just as much as "I didn't know I was pregnant" and the much longer infertility struggles. I never thought it would take half a year, or maybe even longer for us to conceive a child. I didn't think that taking my temperature every morning would become old hat.

 I do think and know I want support from my family. I promise, if there is something worth updating about, that I will tell you, but please don't ask otherwise.  If you are pregnant-I want to hear your updates and support you! It gives me some ideas of what to expect, what I want to do or avoid... And I love you, so there's that too. ;)

Note to self...start acronyms glossary..

I think that's all for today. Updates to come!
Jess