Family

Well, James and I only have about 3 weeks left here in the wonderful United States of America. In some ways I'm incredibly sad to have to leave (hehe I make it sound like we're leaving forever!) and in other ways I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity we've been given. We have movers coming to pick up the last little bit of our stuff here on Wednesday. So after Wednesday we'll only have ourselves, our clothes and the random stuff we are taking in our carry on bags with us until we get to Germany, craziness! But enough of that, on to the title of this post...

I love my immediate family. For me that consists of my parents, my two brothers and their sweeties and James parents, his two sisters and one of his sisters' families. I don't know anyone aside from these people that I love more or could count on for anything I would ever need. Now don't get me wrong none of them could ever replace God and what He does for me in my life and I believe they all know that, I'm merely speaking on human being terms...

Anyways, my brothers and I didn't always agree on stuff growing up. We had our share of verbal and sometimes physical spats but we have such awesome relationships now that I'm glad, though it was tough sometimes, they are my brothers and I want nothing but the best for the both of them. They have both found truly amazing women to be their other halves, I'm so happy for them, I mean somebody's got to keep those two in line! ;-) I'm excited for the future they have to look forward to and I'm glad I have a part in it even if it is just for the simple fact that I am their sister, no matter how hard they try to deny it! ;-D

I also have two sisters on James side that I love very much. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with either of them but the time I have spent has been awesome! I enjoy their company and getting to know them better and both of them are hilarious! I know I can always expect to be laughing when around either of them, they are like the sisters I always wanted and now have! It's great, I couldn't ask for better! Come to think of it, as soon as my bros get married I'll have FOUR sisters, all of which are cool chics!

As far as parents are concerned, mine are the best! At least they are the best for me. Of course as most parent/child relationships go we too have had our share of spats over the years but now that I've grown up some I can see that most of the time they were right. ;-) They've always been there to help me out when I needed it, offered advice when I wanted it and sometimes when I didn't, and have always prayed for me even when I never asked for them to. I don't know where I'd be now if they hadn't loved and prayed me through the hard times (and the easy times too), all I can say is I'm sure it wouldn't be as happy a place as it is. They are two of the most important people in my life and I am proud to call them Mama & Daddy. Yes I am 23 years old and still call my father daddy but I wouldn't have it any other way!

My second set of parents are wonderful people. You always hear those nightmare stories of the in-laws but mine don't even come close to being anything like that. They are kind of like the Cleavers and I don't mean that in a bad way. They are incredibly nice and have always treated me as one of the family and just like my own parents, I know I could count on them for anything should the need arise. Like the need to have a sip of good scotch! ;-) Roy always seems to have some scotch in the house. I enjoy their company as well, they are always fun to be around, God has certainly blessed me with good in-laws!

And on that note, our visit with Seth, Amber and the kids was great, way to short but great. Now they have some wheels and can stop paying for cabs to go places. While we were there Amber got me hooked on this thing called a tart burner. They're these things that you put scented wax on the top part and either burn a tea light candle underneath it or it's electrical and heats up when you turn it on. You can get all kinds of yummy scents for them and they last forever or so it seems, anyways it's a neat little contraption. I'm glad we got to spend some time with them before we have to leave the country. Likewise we'll get to spend some time with both sets of parents before we leave. We'll be heading to Atlanta probably on the 1st of Feb. after James graduates to visit my folks. Then we'll shoot down to Warner Robins on the 5th to visit with James folks and then head back to hotlanta on the 8th so we can fly out on the 9th. By the 10th of Feb. (also my mama's birthday) we'll be in Germany, hopefully looking for a house to live in! Wow, it's coming up so fast, I can't believe it! Aight, well, loves to all and to some, we'll see you soon!! YAY!!!

Ah Neighbors

Don't you just love having neighbors? Well normally I would too. However when they blast their stupid music at 6am most mornings even though your sweet husband has asked them nicely not to, I don't like them so much. This morning our lovely neighbor downstairs and across the hall decided he'd play his music loud again. Now you see, I don't sleep well anyways and most noise unless it's constant soothing noise keeps me awake or in this case wakes me up and keeps me from falling back asleep. James is able to sleep fine through most noise too which is something I'm very envious of so of course the music this morning didn't bother him, except that he knew it bothered me. So he called the front desk here and explained to them that he'd asked our neighbor nicely on at least 2 separate occasions to turn his music down and now here he was playing it loudly again. From what I understand the front desk said they'd take care of it.

I didn't know any of that had happened (the calling of the front desk and such) until just a few minutes ago when James came back from class. James also told me that our lovely neighbor confronted him and all but threatened him. Saying stuff like your wife should just deal with it, and what does she do all day and how dare you call the front desk on me for making noise. My friends and I can here you guys prancing around upstairs but we don't say anything to you but the next time we hear you we're gonna come talk to you about it. That's all BS 'cause the guy's room is downstairs and across the hall from our room at most he can hear us walking up and down the stairs which is nothing 'cause you can hear everyone that goes up and down the stairs! This guy is just a jerk that is mad 'cause last Friday night he was blasting his music from about 8 or 9pm until James informed him (around 1am) that we were trying to sleep and could he please turn his music down. He apparently said something to James along the lines of, it's a freaking (probably not the word he used) Friday night, it's the weekend you guys just need to deal with it. How nice huh, don't we have a great neighbor? :-P

I swear if he comes to "talk" to me about the "noise" I'm making and James isn't here and he starts threatening me, I'll call the cops on his high and mighty butt!! I'll warn him first of course but if he keeps it up, screw him, I'll let the police handle it! He thought that just 'cause he's bigger than James he could bully him around and James was like OH HELL NO! This guy is a jerk and so many other words that I want to write but won't 'cause I'm sure you get the idea! Anyways, if you think about it pray that this guy leaves us alone for the rest of our time here, we only have like 3 weeks left and we'd rather not be dealing with this kinda crap, because up till now it wasn't so bad.

In other news, James and I will be heading up to see Seth, Amber, Taylor and Aiden this weekend and to drop off my car for them. We are looking forward to spending some time (I wish it were more) with them before we head off to Germany! Which by the way our plane leaves on Feb 9th!! YAY!!! I know we will enjoy our time with them while we are there, I love my family! Peace out y'all!

Changes

We've recently found out that we will no longer be going to Miesau Army Depot in Germany and James will no longer (at least as of now) be an Ammo Officer in the Ordinance branch. We are however still going to Germany, now it's to a place called Vogelweh. I'm not sure that's spelled right, anyways we think it's an Air Base instead of and Army Post (post is what the army calls their bases). James is now going to be a Maintenance Officer when we get there, so his job changed on him and he was told that it could change again before he actually gets there and is actually doing it. Figures. He wasn't really surprised when he got the news, just a little disappointed but then he thought about it and figured it's where God wants him and he's also never done either job real time before so it may be a blessing in disguise.

Now let's see, Vogelweh is I think just more west than Miesau was, it's still in the southern part of Germany and still in the K-Town community. K-town is what all the Americans call that part of Germany (basically its German/America from what we've been told), it has an actual name but I don't know how to spell it so yea. Also James sent me this great site made by one of the spouses that lives over there. It has all kinds of information on it and pictures and such, I'm going to add a link to it so you guys, if nothing else, can check out some of the pictures and see some of the stuff we'll be living near! Cool stuff! http://www.germanyinfosite.com/ that's the link definitely check out the area photos and the off base housing photos! Well that's all she wrote for now!

Christmas & New Years

Man, I'm such a slacker! It takes me over a week to finally give a report of our Christmas & New Years fun. Oh well. Right so as I said before we went to James parents house to spend time with them and Seana (James other older sister, she's a Captain in the Army and a cool chic! I really enjoyed my time with her.). We left Maryland at 1:00am on the 20th and at around 2:55am or so got run off the road by a semi truck, literally run off the road! Had there not been a shoulder for us to pull into we would probably be dead or close to it, I'm glad my hubby is a good driver! The rest of the drive was fine, but long and we got in to Warner Robins, GA at 2 or 3pm, I can't remember which. Seana didn't get in until the next day, then on Thursday, James, Seana, Bronwyn (my second mom), my Dad and bro Jared, and myself all went to the new Georgia aquarium. A very cool place, supposedly the biggest aquarium in the world! Anyways, my Dad and Jared met us there and we had a grand ole time. They have two whale sharks and there is a part you can go through where it's like you are inside the tank with them only you're not. I'm not really sure how else to explain that, but it was cool getting to see these massive animals swim above us! These things are HUGE and not even full grown! Really cool, I very much recommend going if you are ever in the Atlanta area for any length of time. I should warn you, at least right now 'cause it's so new, go early in the morning 'cause the wait line gets really really long if you wait till later in the day to go, plus if you wait you may never get in!

So on Friday the 23rd we headed for Columbia, SC to spend Christmas with Grandpa Jardin and Roy's (my second dad) brothers family. It was really great to get to see them again and to spend Christmas with everyone. It was cool to watch Grandpa, Roy, Seana and James all play music together. Grandpa plays the ukelele or ukulele ( not sure which is correct) as does Roy (among other instruments) and James and Seana both play guitar and they all sing. We sung Christmas carols and praise songs, it was a good time and Grandpa was impressed at how well Seana and James played and sounded together, which they do sound good together! I wish our visit with everyone could have been longer but we had to drive back here on the 26th.

As for New Years Eve, we didn't do anything but vegg in front of the TV most of the day playing video games and watching movies like Just Married (a must see for those of you that enjoy a good laugh). Then we of course watched the ball drop in New York on TV and had sparkling grape juice (we don't really care for champagne) and a kiss to bring in the new year! Over all I would say 2005 has been a CRAZY year for us. James went from being in the Air Force to not being sure what was going to happen to being in the Army. We lived in Montgomery, AL for a couple of months, went back to Columbus, MS, had our first anniversary, then headed here to Aberdeen, MD and after here we are off to Germany for a few years! And 2006 is looking just as crazy but at least we know the Army will keep him and we will soon have a place to call our own and in Europe no less, how cool is that! So as my family says, if you ever get a wild hair up your butt while we are in Germany, please come and visit, we'd love to have you! I esp. would if James gets deployed while we are there!! :-) Oh and here's kind of a neat little thing. Remember that 2 star General I met a while back...well he's invited James class (and I'm sure the other classes as well) to his house for a new year celebration this coming Sunday! It proves to be interesting and if nothing else I can always brag to people about meeting the Ordinance Corp General and say that I got to go to his house and such! It should be fun though. Aight, well Happy New Year to you all and I hope this year is a good one for you! And Happy Anniversary to Mary & Jason and soon to Adria & Ryan! I love you guys!