We are settled. I cannot tell you how long I have waited to say those words, and to sit in this foreign country, finally feeling at HOME. I sit on my couch as I write this, Roo bear sitting next to me licking his privates like a good little pup will, and could not be more thankful! Michael left this morning on his first mission and while it is always strange to be without him for any extended period of time, for those that know me know, I like my alone time. Cue the Sex and the City marathon, a frozen pizza for dinner and a glass of wine!

Last week was a frenzy of unpacking, rearranging, trips up and down and up and down the stairs and cussing the fact that they refused to and failed to put back a decent amount of our furniture. Basically the company putting our stuff on a truck in AR felt the need to disassemble things that I didn’t even know came apart to maximize weight per square foot of crate. That is all fine and well if the moving company here will put it back together, which they are supposed to, but for a multitude of reasons I don’t feel like ranting about on this upbeat blog, they did not. SO- it may have taken a full 5 days to unpack every box, find a home for everything, hang every picture and put back together all the furniture, but luckily I had Michael’s help and as of Friday night, we were DONE! Honestly the timing could not have been any better. Michael had to basically be on alert all week which meant he could not go anywhere, including work. He has to do this once a year, and it could not have been more perfect that this fell on the week our stuff came! So I had him and his capable hands at my disposal all week, making those trips up and down the stairs much less frequent for me!

Friday night was spent relaxing at the house, relishing in our hard work and the fact that minus wifi (STILL), our house was now a home. We could stop complaining that our stuff had not come yet, I could stop losing sleep over where I was going to arrange everything and what would go where (I know, freak alert, but I love it) and we felt like we could finally get on with LIVING our life here in Germany! Which includes hosting of course!

Saturday we were off to another of my favorite fests we have been to yet- a PUMPKIN FESTIVAL! Now I understand why we don’t have wine fests back home with the ridiculous drinking age and rampant litigation system, but I have NO idea why we don’t have pumpkin fests like this stateside! It was pure fall joy… and we even brought Ryder Roo! He did wonderful considering it was his first German festival. Now to set the scene: vendors set up selling fresh bread, Italian olive oils, handmade kids toys, homemade soaps, jewelry etc. Then there is the FOOD- pumpkin soup, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin everything! Of course there is beer and wine, hay bales for kids to play on, and my favorite: a huge flower garden where you can go and snip your own fresh bouquet! To top it all off, we experienced the Dampfnudel. The best way I can explain it is a salty bread roll that has an airy like inside, crispy bottom and has been pumped full of vanilla pudding. I am still dreaming about this dessert. If anyone can find out how to make these heavenly treats, you will be my new best friend. It really is a shame that this was only a 2 day festival, because I would have been back again and again.

Sunday we enjoyed another get together- but this time we had our stuff!! We had CHAIRS for people to sit in, and tables for them to eat on! We all made our own pizzas and for dessert we decorated cupcakes! It it funny to think that none of our friends back in MS had kids, and now some of our very best friends do! But it is so fun to get them all together and watch them play, flight, play again. It is loud and crazy but so entertaining and we are blessed to have them as friends! My good friend Gwen will be having her baby girl next week so Michael and I have the honor of watching their precious William for a few days while her and her husband are at the hospital. It is moments like this I am truly grateful for our military community here. With no family around, far away from those we love and who typically help in these situations, we are able to serve each other in the same way our families serve us back home. It is truly a blessing and we are so excited for our toddler sleep overs next week! I told Gwen it was our “Parenting Bootcamp!”

But before the big baby day, Michael and I are headed to Stuttgart this Saturday for their version of Oktoberfest called Cannstatter Volksfest! Us and 8 other couples will be hopping on a train and zooming to the tent filled town to drink beer and dance on the tables in our traditional Bavarian garb! On Monday Michael and I bought his Leiderhosen and my Dirndle! They are quite the get up, and cost a pretty penny when you buy the real deal and not the cheap costume-style ones. I told Michael it is like shopping for a prom dress and tux, but we own these and get to wear them over and over again! We are really looking forward to it!

Last bit of exciting news- Michael and I went in with my parents to buy Emily a plane ticket to Germany for Christmas!!!!! We have been scheming for weeks now and are SO excited we finally got to book the ticket and tell her on Sunday! Of course she absolutely FREAKED OUT and is beyond excited. We were nervous she would be sad about not being home for Christmas, but I think she is excited to be somewhere super Christmas-y and of course get to still spend it with SOME of her family! So now we get to look forward to my mom coming in less than an MONTH!!!!!!! And then Emily will be in town for Christmas and then she leaves the same day James and Dianna get into town for new years! We feel SO blessed to have family coming into town so soon after we get here, it will spoil us and have to hold us over until spring when the next wave of people will hopefully be arriving! The only thing better than getting to live in and explore a foreign country, is to show it to those you love. So if you haven’t booked your ticket yet, please know if you are reading this, our doors are ALWAYS open to you, and we would love to have you and show you our new home!

Cheers to Pumpkin fest, friends that are your family, our first German Beer Festival and having visitors soon!