So ideally we wanted to go 'home' to Maryland to visit family this summer. August will mark 2 years since we've been 'home' or seen our family (except my brother who flew over for Thanksgiving). With little girls growing fast that's a long time.
To add to that disappointment upon further investigating our finances, traveling really isn't a possibility for us either. Even though we are in Europe and close to many things, it is more expensive to find hotels and to eat out here (even McD's costs more) and the exchange rate isn't helping too much.
However leave was submitted and approved and with a deployment looming in the future it doesn't seem wise to not take time with our soldier when it's being given to us.
So staycation it is!
Now luckily though......we are in Germany and within an hour or 2 are so many things to simply see on a scenic drive that most people will never see in their lifetime.......so not doing any real traveling can't be that disappointing can it?
I am doing a decent amount of planning for this, since Jazlyn is old enough to read (and then shares with her little sister) I'm making up a full blown itinerary for us. Since we have 2 weeks, one week is going to be spent painting (or at least a few days) since we've been wanting to do it for a long time now but haven't had the opportunity. The girls are quite excited for this lol.
Among some of my ideas are:
Visiting Cologne, Trier and the Rhine Valley (all can be done within a day)
Going to a barefoot park
Video-Game Day (complete with family Wii night)
Kids make dinner night
PJ Day
Photo Shoot on location (done with a friend)
Board Game Day
Exploring our town on foot
Watching a sunrise together
Family Movie 'afternoons'
TV show marathon (watching an entire season of a tv show)
Bike Riding (the girls are still learning)
Dance Lessons (going to get a video tutorial)
Swimming at local lakes/pools
Candle light dinner
Picnicking
Local Festivals
Family Discussion/Investigation on where we'd like to live next
Visit a Japanese Garden
Squirt Gun Fight
Craft Day (to make our souvenirs)
Prior to the on-set of our staycation I have rallied the girls to help me make the house 'hotel pretty' complete with new air fresheners for every room. We are going to dole out specific 'running' responsibilities for 'maid service' so the house keeps that hotel feeling with minimal work. (Things like picking up toys, tossing dirty laundry, making beds). I'm hoping to use as little dishes as possible and make some meals ahead for freezing and buying ready made meals.
Prior to the Rhine Valley trip I plan on sharing some of the legends/stories/fairy tales of the regions with the girls, and serving as a tour guide while we are driving and seeing the sites.
I am still in the planning process, so any thoughts/advice/recommendations are more than welcome.
I remember R&R during Jason's deployment when we had hardly any time together in Germany before he left so when he got R&R it was all new, and we just spent the 18 days hanging out at home and seeing stuff around us. It was wonderful. He's been working so much in the past few months and had a few stints of being gone and it coming up on increasingly longer absences until he deploys. So while traveling would be nice, I think just having time together doing things we wouldn't 'normally' do is just as good.
The girls are excited, so it's hard to not be excited myself.......8 days to go till we get to start!
Reality
Posted in on 2:44 AM by Jessi
It's getting to be that time again.........slowly but surely. We were very blessed to have such a long dwell time between the last deployment (our first one) and the upcoming deployment, well over a year.
But pre-deployment mode is starting to kick in and soon it will be in full force, and I have to start programming myself to think of life without my soldier in it as a physical presence. Mailing packages, glued to the computer, early morning IM chats, worrying about car maintenance, single parenting.....
But today I'm looking forward to something about deployment...writing to my husband again.
Jason and I are different in some ways, one of those ways is that I am into reading and writing....I'd rather read the book than see the movie, he's the opposite (he does read just not the way I do). I like to think myself a decent writer, and that's a talent Jason never got to really see before the Army. We lived together I had no reason to really write to him. But when he went to basic training I had to write to him. I remember him telling me he wanted my letters hand written and not typed, despite how sloppy he says my handwriting is lol. He did push ups to get those letters, and upon learning that (in one of those rare 2 minute phone calls) I offered to only write every other day instead of every day and he adamantly told me to keep writing everyday and that he didn't care how many push ups he had to do, few guys got as many letters as he did and he loved getting them.
After training was over, I didn't write to him again until he went to Iraq. Then it was emails but it gave me a chance to express myself to him with the clarity that only writing gives me. He often didn't respond to my emails and if he did it was short. So once when he was home I asked him if I was too over the top in my emails and if he didn't like me writing so often, and again he told me he loved getting them, and often he just didn't know how to respond but he loved reading what I wrote him.
When he came home from Iraq there were a few times when I had emotions bottled up that I would sit down and email him what I was feeling/thinking, I really missed writing to him.
So as I sit here realizing that d day take 2 is indeed approaching I am looking forward to supporting my soldier with my writing......witty comments to make him smile, stories to keep him up to date with our lives and touching confessions of love to comfort him and remind him of the home and marriage he has waiting for him when he gets done.
But pre-deployment mode is starting to kick in and soon it will be in full force, and I have to start programming myself to think of life without my soldier in it as a physical presence. Mailing packages, glued to the computer, early morning IM chats, worrying about car maintenance, single parenting.....
But today I'm looking forward to something about deployment...writing to my husband again.
Jason and I are different in some ways, one of those ways is that I am into reading and writing....I'd rather read the book than see the movie, he's the opposite (he does read just not the way I do). I like to think myself a decent writer, and that's a talent Jason never got to really see before the Army. We lived together I had no reason to really write to him. But when he went to basic training I had to write to him. I remember him telling me he wanted my letters hand written and not typed, despite how sloppy he says my handwriting is lol. He did push ups to get those letters, and upon learning that (in one of those rare 2 minute phone calls) I offered to only write every other day instead of every day and he adamantly told me to keep writing everyday and that he didn't care how many push ups he had to do, few guys got as many letters as he did and he loved getting them.
After training was over, I didn't write to him again until he went to Iraq. Then it was emails but it gave me a chance to express myself to him with the clarity that only writing gives me. He often didn't respond to my emails and if he did it was short. So once when he was home I asked him if I was too over the top in my emails and if he didn't like me writing so often, and again he told me he loved getting them, and often he just didn't know how to respond but he loved reading what I wrote him.
When he came home from Iraq there were a few times when I had emotions bottled up that I would sit down and email him what I was feeling/thinking, I really missed writing to him.
So as I sit here realizing that d day take 2 is indeed approaching I am looking forward to supporting my soldier with my writing......witty comments to make him smile, stories to keep him up to date with our lives and touching confessions of love to comfort him and remind him of the home and marriage he has waiting for him when he gets done.
Goals.......and goals
Posted in on 3:28 PM by Jessi
So this week goals have been a dominate thought.
Literally with the world cup going on.......it's SO HUGE here in Germany! I mean wow! It's like every game is the superbowl! Amazing......I'm kinda glad Germany didn't win because I'm not sure what kind of mayhem wouldn't taken to the streets in 'celebrating' lol.
And then the other kind of goals.
I'm a planner, mostly because deep down I'm a shameless control freak. I can cover it up but I can't hide it, it's part of who I am. Yet in some kind of cruel twist of fate, my core personal philosophies often fight against this part of me. I believe in making lemonade out of *what's given to you* not out of what you take or make sure you get. I think there is a kind of bliss in acceptance of what is and being completely ok with everything no matter what happens........a kind of serene knowledge that in the end everything will work out. And that stressing really is ineffective and pointless. I've really been working on lowering my daily stress levels.
But I can't help but argue with myself (what? who me? argue? I know--shocking isn't it!?) that things can't possibly work out by simply doing nothing, you need to be motivated, work hard and be passionate in what you do. If WW3 broke out everyone couldn't just sit back and say "well....it'll all work out" right? Someone would have to step in and bring it to an end.
I think the bridge here (I love building bridges between 2 opposing views, probably the most fun I have in life honestly) is confidence. Inaction is sometimes more deadly than action.......but stressing over uncontrollable factors is just a negative state of being as well. I think the secret is doing what your instincts tell you and trusting that you're right.......so that when you need to sit back.....it'll be ok and work out and when you need to take action that action is the right course to pursue. Which I suppose taps into trusting yourself......and trust isn't something that comes easily to me, a person who is always questioning everything.
How does this relate to goals? My ultimate life goal of attaining peace within myself that someday I will be able to slow down my thoughts and just be with no stress.
Someday......someday--that is my goal.
P.S. I'm really digging on Bruno Mars today---incredible voice! (Random I know)
Peace and Love =)
Literally with the world cup going on.......it's SO HUGE here in Germany! I mean wow! It's like every game is the superbowl! Amazing......I'm kinda glad Germany didn't win because I'm not sure what kind of mayhem wouldn't taken to the streets in 'celebrating' lol.
And then the other kind of goals.
I'm a planner, mostly because deep down I'm a shameless control freak. I can cover it up but I can't hide it, it's part of who I am. Yet in some kind of cruel twist of fate, my core personal philosophies often fight against this part of me. I believe in making lemonade out of *what's given to you* not out of what you take or make sure you get. I think there is a kind of bliss in acceptance of what is and being completely ok with everything no matter what happens........a kind of serene knowledge that in the end everything will work out. And that stressing really is ineffective and pointless. I've really been working on lowering my daily stress levels.
But I can't help but argue with myself (what? who me? argue? I know--shocking isn't it!?) that things can't possibly work out by simply doing nothing, you need to be motivated, work hard and be passionate in what you do. If WW3 broke out everyone couldn't just sit back and say "well....it'll all work out" right? Someone would have to step in and bring it to an end.
I think the bridge here (I love building bridges between 2 opposing views, probably the most fun I have in life honestly) is confidence. Inaction is sometimes more deadly than action.......but stressing over uncontrollable factors is just a negative state of being as well. I think the secret is doing what your instincts tell you and trusting that you're right.......so that when you need to sit back.....it'll be ok and work out and when you need to take action that action is the right course to pursue. Which I suppose taps into trusting yourself......and trust isn't something that comes easily to me, a person who is always questioning everything.
How does this relate to goals? My ultimate life goal of attaining peace within myself that someday I will be able to slow down my thoughts and just be with no stress.
Someday......someday--that is my goal.
P.S. I'm really digging on Bruno Mars today---incredible voice! (Random I know)
Peace and Love =)
Busy People Get Things Done
Posted in on 1:24 AM by Jessi
So I guess I'm testing this theory out on myself haha.
No really I think this is true, taking time for yourself and having down time is very important but too much down time isn't good for anyone I don't think.....reminds me of "idle hands are the devil's playground". Being productive adds a quality to life like nothing else. Although being 'busy' doesn't always make you feel 'productive' and I think that's the secret. Find something that makes you feel good and you'll like being busy. People have been saying that forever though 'find work that doesn't feel like work'.
I think I have done that. I really enjoy my volunteer positions and club participation. I feel productive in a good way for the first time in a very long time. "Mothering isn't 'showy' work" meaning that you could work hard all day long and having zip to show for it other than a smiling kid (and sometimes despite the hard work a screaming kid) this was very hard for me to deal with. It wasn't that I didn't like what I was doing, I was having trouble not having anything to show how hard I was working. I don't have much more evidence of my hard work as a mother today but I have found another arena to get that kind of satisfaction and I think it has not only made me more productive and given me a better quality of life but it has also made me a better mother.
Surprisingly sometimes your 'me time' doesn't have to be about pampering or relaxing, sometimes doing something completely for yourself, like my volunteering can do a better job than any amount of pedicures (well at least for me anyway).
Of course everyone is different but I think important to remember that it's ok to be 'out of the box' and what's most important is to be yourself.
No really I think this is true, taking time for yourself and having down time is very important but too much down time isn't good for anyone I don't think.....reminds me of "idle hands are the devil's playground". Being productive adds a quality to life like nothing else. Although being 'busy' doesn't always make you feel 'productive' and I think that's the secret. Find something that makes you feel good and you'll like being busy. People have been saying that forever though 'find work that doesn't feel like work'.
I think I have done that. I really enjoy my volunteer positions and club participation. I feel productive in a good way for the first time in a very long time. "Mothering isn't 'showy' work" meaning that you could work hard all day long and having zip to show for it other than a smiling kid (and sometimes despite the hard work a screaming kid) this was very hard for me to deal with. It wasn't that I didn't like what I was doing, I was having trouble not having anything to show how hard I was working. I don't have much more evidence of my hard work as a mother today but I have found another arena to get that kind of satisfaction and I think it has not only made me more productive and given me a better quality of life but it has also made me a better mother.
Surprisingly sometimes your 'me time' doesn't have to be about pampering or relaxing, sometimes doing something completely for yourself, like my volunteering can do a better job than any amount of pedicures (well at least for me anyway).
Of course everyone is different but I think important to remember that it's ok to be 'out of the box' and what's most important is to be yourself.
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