We are indeed getting settled here in Germany! We arrived back in June and I am finally getting around to blogging about it all!! First, I must say that this PCS could not have gone well without the support of fellow Chaplain friends! We were blessed to have folks loan us their vehicles after we had shipped both of ours overseas. They also encouraged me, over and over again, when I wondered if all the stress of moving to Germany was going to be worth it.
My family showed again that “family comes first”! My parents and both my sisters came down the week before we were sent off. We, of course, had a blast, running around in the borrowed truck (LOVE me a truck, folks, seriously!!) and laughing as much as possible. Oh, we also did clean the house 😉
We left South Carolina around 3pm with an amazing send off. With all our luggage and troops to move, it took a small company sized element to get that done. I enlisted the help of our very good friends, and fellow church haunts (with one packed out pickup truck)….we actually made it with plenty of time to spare!!
[wc_row][wc_column size=”one-half” position=”first”]
[/wc_column][wc_column size=”one-half” position=”last”]
[/wc_column][/wc_row]
I must also give a huge ‘shout out’ to the USO at the Columbia airport! They had wonderful facilities, wonderful and helpful staff, and they allowed us to sign in our family who had come down to send us off.
I had done enough research to determine that a short-term apartment was going to be the best option for our large family. We had a bakery just down the street, across from a little local grocery, so we were set and jumped right in to living on the German economy! The ladies at the bakery were very patient with our limited German and the landlord of the flat was wonderful!!! If you ever need to stay long-term in the Stuttgart area, please contact Brigitte. Her properties are listed on her website.
The jet lag did hit me pretty hard! So much harder than when I came over alone to do the house hunting trip, but I am guessing that traveling with children and not getting any sleep on the plane played a huge role in that. We ended up living in the apartment for a week, then moving over to the Marriott for another few. Our original house fell through and we had to begin searching for a house from scratch. We landed in a lovely home complete with a large open field next door (almost unheard of here in Germany). We love it and can’t wait to share this home with family and friends. Our German home is quite unique because our landlord spent time working in California, so he came home to build a home complete with a 5 gas burner American style stove and large side-by-side American fridge. We also have built-in closets and dressers in the master bedroom. I am truly spoiled here!
Kay's Little Korner 
Sweet days from the past, all of us homeless in Columbia, SC. Looking forward to seeing the new area.
I look forward to sharing this all with you, mom!! I can’t wait!
I love your German Landlord for your sake!!! What a beautiful home! Our daughter’s is also beautiful. Love the wood floors and the rounded stairs, and the clean lines. You have room like they do, and not all German homes have that, as you well know! I love the rue laden, wish we had that in the states! Our daughter enjoys the Stuttgart area. She says she wants to take us there sometime. They first lived in Gross Gerau, but have since moved to Trebur. It is a gorgeous area of the world. They have been there 5 years and will be there another 18 months at least. They were able to combine their first landlord to install ceiling fans with lights for their apartment and it worked beautifully with the windows open or closed. I love German windows!!! What a great opportunity for your family to be there and see so much American history in a foreign country. I have loved learning from our Soninlaw about so much that happened there during WWII . I am grateful for our free country, but love getting to know Germany.
Hugs,
Betsy