We're Moving Again

I mentioned in an earlier post that we will be moving soon. I have waited to say much until we had "orders in hand". As any of you military families would know nothing is sure until you have orders in hand, and even then it may change. Well it seems pretty sure now so I'll tell you. We are moving to Vilseck, Germany. My husband is taking command of one of the new Warrior Transition Units. A WTU is where wounded soldiers and other soldiers who have serious illnesses or injuries go. In this type of unit they can concentrate on getting better through physical therapy, treatments or whatever is necessary. Many of these soldiers will, after treatment, be able to resume their jobs in the Army. We are very excited about this new opportunity to serve. Vilseck is a more rural area than this is, but its a larger post and I'm looking forward to a change of pace. We'll be able to get a bigger place to live weather on post or off. I'm so excited about that because we want to be able to have a proper nursery for Alaina. Anyway, we don't know exactly when we move but I imagine perhaps the first of April. lol 5 moves in 5 years. About par for the course for a military family. I don't really mind moving so much. The Army pays for packers and movers to come. The hardest thing is that something always gets broken or lost.

Anyway, I thank you for your prayers and your continued prayers on my behalf for this back problem. We pray it will be healed by the time we move.



Does anyone know if Blogger is working on the spell check problem?

Belgium

I appologize that I'm so late with this posting. I kept forgetting to have hubby upload the pictures. I should learn to do it myself. Anyway, we spent 4 days and 3 nights in Bastogne, Belgium. It's the perfect place to go for a weeked, because you can do everything there is to do and not rush. We stayed at Hotel Melba which is run by Best Western. It was a good hotel and their breakfast buffet was very good. Bastogne is nicknamed "nuts city". It was near here during the battle of the bulge in WWII that General McAuliff responded to the German request for our surrender with, "Us surrender? Ah nuts!" To read the truly amazing story click here. Do go read it. It's short and is a first hand account of what happened on that day. In Bastogne there is a memorial to the Americans who fought and died saving the town. There are several museums and it really is worth the trip if you are near. The things I loved most about it are: that they have never forgotten what we did for them, the flag of the United States still flies in the town square right next to the Belgian flag and at the same height as far as I could tell. There is a very old church in the town that has a clock and bells that chime on each quarter of the hour and of course on the hour. The chime is the first bars of the Star Spangled Banner. I was so proud. Proud to be an American, proud of what our men did there, and amazed at and proud of the Belgians of that time. When we learn of history it is from the American point of view. There, I learned of the battle of the bulge from their point of view. Those people stayed and fought for their town (mostly women, children and old people as the able bodied men would have been off fighting) with no provisions or munitions. They worked hand in hand with our soldiers, fed them and tended their wounds, even burrying them. The allies would fly over and drop supplies by parachute. Whoever got the supplies got them to whomever needed it. They shared everything they had. The women would sew clothing, scarves and I imagine bandages out of the parachute material. What an amazing people! To this day they still love Americans and in Europe that's often not the case anymore.

We took our time as my mobility was better than it is now but wasn't good. Thankfully a friend loaned me a set of canes her husband had used in the past. They have been a Godsend. We went out on the Sunday night and had Belgian waffles. They are better than the kind we find in the states. Of course they call them waffles lol not Belgian wallfles. Mine was light as a cloud, with a bit of powdered sugar, lots of fresh fruit, a small scoop of vanilla icecream and a touch of whipped cream. Delish! We also each had a crepe. Mine was filled with ham, cheese, and egg, Alan's with egg and chese. It was all so good!

So here are some pics of our trip.

The first is of Alan standing by an old army jeep in what is called the Latin quarter of town.

2. St. Peter's church also in the Latin quarter. This is the church that chimes the first bars of the Star Spangled Banner.

3. Our Crepes.

4. My belgian waffle.

5. Our room at the hotel. It was painted pink and purple. I have never seen a hotel room painted in such a way.

6. Me standing in front of a Sherman Tank in the town square. If you look closely at the top of the pic, you can see the American flag flying.

7. Bust of General "ah nuts!" McAuliff in the town square aka McAuliff square.

8. La Porte de Treves (scroll down to the bottom of the page)

9. museMaison Mathelin um next to St. Peter's.

10. Le Mardasson - the American memorial.

11. From the top looking toward Bastogne.

12. From the top looking down to the inside.

13. Heading down to the crypt where there are 3 prayer rooms. One Jewish, one Catholic and one Protestant.

14. the Cady Monument, inaugurated on 4 September 1949 in the presence of Emile Cady's father and sister. The monument recalls the resistance and withdrawal of the Belgian troops on 10 May 1940. Caporal Cady was shot during the evacuation of his shelter and was able to come back to the Belgian lines with his machine gun.

I'm Shocked And Outraged

A word of caution. If there are teenaged girls or any child reading this blog please have your parent read this particular entry before you do. I rarely ask this of anyone but the subject matter is really quite disturbing.



FORCED STERILIZATION



What is this world coming to? I saw this online today. The headline that I saw that drew me to the page was, "Mom has teenaged daughter sterilized." I had to look thinking that perhaps she was in a vegetative state and the mother was afraid she'd be raped or something. What I found
disturbed me so much I had to blog about it. The very idea of sterilizing - even temporarily - young girls as a form of birth control is outrageous. Aside from the fact that it is not easy to reverse a tubal ligation -it's often unsuccessful- This could give girls the false assumption that they are protected from disease as well. Most, if not all, of my readers are very aware of STD's and their complications so I'll not go into it here. The use of long term implants to prevent conception not only gives a false sense of security but also poses some real threats to the girls health. I have seen cases of these implants being removed and the woman has been unable to concieve at all. My purpose in writing is that if this should become a serious issue in the USA we must do all we can to combat it. I'm not a big fan of sterilization for anyone though there are cases where it really is quite necessary and I also believe that such a decision belongs in the triangle of marriage and not for a parent to chose. What ever happened to waiting for marriage to have sex? I've heard so many times that that is obsolete or out dated, but it's not. The Bible is still relevant for today. Following the Lord's commandments will save you from the heartache that can come from non-marital sex. I can tell you another thing too. I have never met a girl who regretted being a virgin on her wedding night, and I have never met a girl who wasn't a virgin and didn't regret it.


I would very much like to hear from all of you about your opinions on this matter. Oh, by the way, the above article linked to this one too. This is a bit more interesting/informative.

We're Back!

Sorry it's been so long. We had a long weekend in Belgium which I will post about tomorrow after I get the pictures uploaded and ready to go. I'm hoping that in the coming days if you think about us you'd say a quick prayer. You all know how it goes. It never rains but it pours in the things going wrong department. You see my new grand nephew (is that right? he is the son of my nephew) is 2 months old and has been admitted to the hospital with RSV and pneumonia. His big sis is also sick with pink eye and strep throat. Then, I'm still trying to recover from my pinched nerve. Last night we finally heard from my mother-in-law and she had been diagnosed with liver cancer and sarcodosis. It's going to be hard on my husband. So, add all of this to the facts that we are going to be moving again (yes, that's right. 5 moves in 5 years) and Alaina is coming home soon and you see where we could use an extra prayer or two!

What is with the spell check anyway? When are they going to get it fixed? Anyway, thank you all for your kind comments on our home. I will have to post new pics once we get moved and settled.

Our Home

Have I ever taken you on a tour of our home? I've looked through the archives and not found one so here it is.

I couldn't get them on here in the order I wanted so I'll just tell you what you're seeing.

The first two are of our guest bedroom. Then you have 2 shots of our front door. On one you can see the stair way to the basement where the laundry is. No shots of the laundry. If you've seen one laundry, you've seen them all. After that is one of Alan and Alaina in Guatemala, It's not of our home but she is and it's such a cute shot I couldn't not put it in. Then there is one of our living room. You can see the desk where I blog. Then there are 2 shots of the playground and next is a shot of our building. We are the stairwell closest to you and if you look hard you can see my silver Golf the furthest car away. Then there is another one of the guest bedroom and 3 of the kitchen. Then there are two more of the living room, one is shot from the dining area. Our boy Smokey is next and then 3 pics of the master bedroom. We have such nice closet space. 2 rather boring shots of the bathroom one also shows the inner hallway, one of the dining room and one of the front hallway finish the lot. There. Now you know where I live.

Berlin

Ok. We went to Berlin for an extended weekend. We stayed at the Hollywood Media Hotel in a Junior Suite. It was really nice. We went to Checkpoint Charlie, the Jewish Museum, the Brandenburg Gate, and what is left of the Berlin Wall. We had wonderful time in spite of my hip limiting what we could do. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Pause

He pushed the pause button! Do you think he reads my blog? lol Well, I rather doubt that too, but I gotta say, Mitt pushing the pause button less than 24 hours later made my day. You guys ought to see the big ole smile on my face. Oh the glee!!!

Well, today was the last day of subbing for a while. I'm glad for it to be done and a little sad too. I'll send a detailed e-mail to the regular school nurse to update her on a few situations she'll need to know about. lol I had a girl today come in basically wanting to skip class. I gave her the once over and discovered she had a fever and an infected throat. There is that and some sort of stomach thing going around at the school. I must have sent 15 kids home which is a lot for a small school.

I've lost 15 pounds in the past month from lack of appetite. It must be that since I can't move enough to make it count as exercise. Anyway, it just goes to show you there is always a silver lining: even to the darkest clouds.

What else do I know? I know I need to pack my bag as we are going away for the weekend. Pictures and destination when we get back.

Have a great weekend all!

ps: Is anyone else having problems with their spell check on blogger?

Anyone But Romney

Though I'm not a Democrat, I find myself really excited to see the outcome of the primary elections on their side. This is the first time in America that we have a viable woman and a viable minority up for president. I have one other thing to say about the election. I am a Republican and I always have been. However, if they choose Romney as the Republican candidate I am going to turn Democrat and actively campaign against him. I can't stand him. He has no business being in a leadership position and I felt that way before I knew he was a mormon for anyone who may care. I normally try not to be so controversial on here but this is my blog, my outlet for expression and that is how I feel about it.

In other news I'm enjoying a nice bout with bronchitis and reacting unpleasantly to the antibiotics. I did hear today from one of the friends I made in Guatemala. They are eagerly awaiting their little one too. It's kind of nice to have others to email with that are in the same boat we are. Makes it feel like we're not all alone in this.

Ramblings

I had forgotten how tiring working full time can be. I haven't worked full time since we were married except for about 12 weeks and those were special circumstances. Anyway, that's why you haven't heard much from me lately. I have been substituting for the school nurse. This is the last week of it. My leg is not any better. It turns out I am right about there being a pinched nerve. They are sending me for an MRI next week. The doctor is guessing that my left hip has shifted somehow and is pressing on my nerves. I was born with left hip displasia. I wore a brace and all as a baby and they told my mom that it was good as new, but it has never been quite right. I've always had trouble with it. I hope when they do the MRI they see that there is something that can be done about the current problem. Any kind of movement at all is very painful, thus very tiring. Even laying in bed or sitting can be agonizing. On the plus side, I'm getting an outstanding education in what it feels like to have long term pain. Now I grant you I've only had this pain since mid December however it's exhausting.

In other news, we finally got the last paper work snafu taken care of relating to Alaina's adoption. So now it's just a matter of court dates and such. We are hoping to have her in April sometime. Please continue to keep her in prayer.

It's been good to have these 3 weeks of working to remind me that I don't really want to work full time. It's too tiring to do that and try to keep house decently and then when Alaina comes home it would be even worse. I can't imagine. I remember in nursing school, I was working a full time and a part time job and going to school full time. I had no car so I walked or rode the bus or subway everywhere I went. It was exhausting. I would leave the house at 5 am and be lucky to get home most days before midnight. I rarely had a whole day off where I didn't have either school or work or both. I just can't believe how the girls who were married and had kids and a full time job did it. lol It kind of made me feel like I'm slow or something or that they are super smart that they could do all of it. Well, I'm glad I didn't have to. I sure do support people getting their schooling done before they get married.

Well, I've rambled long enough. Make sure you all get out and vote tomorrow if you're in a super Tuesday state.