Hello Again and happy Sunday!
Josh and I have moved into our new place. We got in here Thursday so we decided to take the weekend to get settled in. We are borrowing government furniture which turned out to not be too bad....well minus the bed and sofa's. So on Friday Josh made the mistake and asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I would like to go by a new bed. (The bed we are sleeping on is very small and feels like cardboard-Josh agrees).
Friday afternoon Josh told me to go into the Home Furnishing store on base while he ran into the PX to fill his gas card and he would meet me in there. When he walked in I already had the perfect mattress picked out and a few nice rugs. I showed Josh and he said "okay" well at least to the mattress and ONE of the rugs (he found rugs for half the price- we both agreed they were ugly). So we agreed to only get one rug in our purchase. While walking to the car he said “Oh if Jim could see me now... Friday night and I’m 24 and I am furnishing my home for my wife…what has my life come to” I laughed and said “Thank you.” (Smiley).
Friday night we decided to drive outside of base (Josh rented a car right after he passed his licensing exam) to see the other towns. We didn’t go too far but Josh made it a point to get on the autobahn. We realized that Baumholder is much larger than we thought compared to the other cities around here. The towns were very cute and quaint but since it was dark we couldn’t see the scenery as much. We ended up driving back to downtown Baumholder and found this small Pizzeria (where 3 of the other new 2nd lieutenants were eating at). Josh and I got this crazy pizza that had broiled egg, mushrooms , ham and peach on it. It was surprisingly amazing! After, we joined the other people at a bar down the street. It was definitely a very fun night, I always like talking to other people because I get different perspectives and opinions on the Army. One of the lieutenants actually is not telling his Mom he is deploying to Iraq because he doesn’t think she can handle it. Apparently his dad agrees with him so he isn’t that far off the wall. I told him that was wrong and he told me that the more naïve the better. I told Josh that I was very glad I wasn’t dating him (smiley). We stayed out till about 1:30 or so and walked home with the rest of the guys.
They definitely don’t make things very easy in Germany. In order to even get gas around here you have to obtain a gas card at one place, activate it at another and each time you use gas need to have the card. It saves money in the end but I already miss pulling up and just swiping my credit card. Also, in order to buy coffee, alcohol or cigarettes you have to have a 'ration card'. They have the card so that you can’t buy an insane amount of those items and sell them on the economy. There is a 19% tax when buying things on the economy, so for military personal they have this VAT card that you purchase in order to wave all tax. Like I said, things aren’t made easy here.
The head wife of the FRG (Family Readiness Group) stopped by on Friday to introduce herself. She let me know that there was a girl my age one floor above me! The girl is currently in Texas where she is meeting her deployed husband for R & R (rest and relaxation) and will be back in early February. She said there are 5-6 girls my age who travel a lot (because they don’t have children). I will say that the coolest thing I saw was at the gym most of the wives brought their children and parked the stroller right next to the treadmill. Once their child started crying they had a separate room they could go to for their children to play. I guess I had never seen that. It was just a neat thing, don’t worry I won’t be having a baby for a REALLY long time. (smiley).
Last night Josh and I drove to Idar-Oberstein (a larger city 20 mins away). It was absolutely beautiful even seeing very little with the dark. Many cities are all layered on hills and is an incredible site to see when driving. We stopped and walked for a very short perid but the city was pretty dead. We are trying to figure out why we haven’t seen very many people out. We drove back and played a game a cribbage (which I won!) and went to bed around 10:30. We are finally switched over after the weekend and for the first time I witnessed Josh sleeping into 10 Am two mornings in a row.
This week I am taking my drivers exam and attending a “R.O.C.K” class. I will learn about the culture, a little German and how to shop on the economy. It is a 3 day course and on the 3rd day they take you to a city where you shop and eat. It should be fun but I will let you know how it goes. We will keep you posted on everything with Josh but there are no further date specifics, just ranges of time.
I am waiting to post pictures because I want our new bed to be part of the picture, so they should be up mid this week.
Josh and I don’t have internet in our house until the 24th of January so we are coming to this café on base to access it.
We still are missing you all lots and will write again very soon! Hope you all had a great weekend.
Truly,
Gretchen and Josh
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