7 months later...
It's in quiet moments like this, with a cup of coffee on the nighstand and a sleepy pup beside me, that I have time to remember life before Florida. 7 months feels like 5 years these days. Germany might as well be a lifetime ago. I can walk around my home and see pieces of Europe around me...in photos on the walls, in bier steins on the bar, in knick-knacks resting on the shelves...but then I look outside my window and see palm trees and I'm brought right back to reality again.
I miss Germany, but not everyday. I thought I'd think of it constantly, but honestly, with a new job, new house, needy pup, and new life to carry on with, I think of it only in these quiet moments...or when I reach for a bottle of Riesling. If you had asked me 4 months ago how often I pined for Germany, I would have said EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Cut to the 7 month re-pat mark and life's very different. We've adjusted...almost completely, although I can say it was hard. Really hard. And for more reasons than I care to mull over. But even in those hard moments, we realize we're in such a sweet season of life. One we knew we wanted, just didn't know when or how it would come about. We finally own the home we've always wanted, I've finally found a job that I can truly say I love, and we're getting back in the swing of life before Germany. A sweet season, indeed. It's almost like we pushed pause on June 23rd, 2011 and didn't press play again until June 24th, 2014. So weird how that happens...picking up right where we left off (or close to it, at least). Because I'm sure you think you know where this is going, I'll stop the reading ahead and tell you no, we're not expecting (sorry to disappoint you baby crazy ladies!)...but the conversations about that are more frequent than not. Seems like the natural progression of things, but we're still not there yet.
In other news of life post-Germany, D's new job is good. Different, but good. He still feels like the new guy and thinks he gets lost in the shuffle of business there. The squadron is massive, so it makes sense to feel this way, but with each passing week he gets more confident in his role, so that's a blessing. He's on the last leg of his Master's and will finish in May! Praise the Lord! I'm so proud of him. There's literally nothing D can't do. In fact, his possibilities are endless. From time to time we have those mind-jarring discussions about possibly leaving this Air Force life, but then we wake up with new eyes and table the discussion for later. I'm sure other military families can relate...the grass seems greener, but is it really? Taking it one assignment at a time, our motto of late.
A new biz update--being a travel agent is so fun! But it's also tough navigating working from home. Like, really working from home. I always thought I kind of did that with the blog, but that was nothing compared to the kind of busy I am now. I'm so grateful for a booming inbox and flurry of traveling souls to help (it's a great feeling), but there's a learning curve that comes along with working from home, I'm finding. I often don't know when to cut my day off...not answer emails and close up shop. Setting boundaries has been a struggle. I'm literally drawn to my inbox...way too excited to open up my booking engines. While it's a practice good for daytime, it's bad for nightime when my eyes are slowly crossing and D is wondering if my laptop is somehow becoming an extension of my arm (truth: some days I think it might be). Finding a balance between home and work will come with time. I know I won't be afraid to set boundaires forever (I am a yes-girl...learning to be a yes, but tomorrow-girl instead). I'm a work in progress. This new biz is a work in progress. But I do look foward to waking up and sitting in my office chair each morning. It's fufilling in a way Germany wasn't. That in itself makes this new chapter so rewarding.
As far as traveling goes, I still miss it everyday. That's the one part of this whole new season of life that I've not been able to tame. It probably doesn't help having a career based solely on the world of travel (I'm often daydreaming of my own fabulous vacation amidst planning for others), but at least it's still a part of my day to day life...in some tangible way. Truth is, even though we want to travel, we also want to do other things. Silly grown-up things. Like upgrade our walk-in closets and buy new patio furniture. Plan for expanding our family (someday) and saving for the day we could possibly leave the Air Force (maybe?). So many variables, so many possibilies in our new life that we can't frivolously jaunt off to here and there anymore. I get bitter about that some days, but I'm a conscious player in the change of priorities. These new things are all things I want, too. Being a responsible adult is hard, isn't it? D and I loved being less responsible in Germany. America, the land of responsibility! We had it good those 3 years. But we also have it good now. 7 months in and I still compare our Germany life to our Florida life. Apples and oranges (no pun intended). I probably will keep those comparison bubbles around for the forseeable future...lamenting about this and that, reveling in the change still to come. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see how my perspective changes as we creep closer to the year mark of repatriation. YEAR...that's only 5 months away. I can hardly wrap my mind around this. I haven't seen a real castle in 8 months (Disney doesn't count, sorry). That's gotta be like 10 years in Germany time. Time is a rude jerk.
And with that, I give you my life update. We're good. We're happy. Florida weather is AMAZING. And I'm still super grateful for fo-yo...God's gift to America, I've decided. This is likely the only blog post I'll write this week. Did I mention keeping up with this space has been tough, too? I will get my ducks in a row. I will get my ducks in a row. For now, thanks for sticking around with me regardless of my inconsistent postings and lack of any Instagram content other than my dog and selling vacations. My life in a nutshell, folks. ;) Hope you all are well and I look forward to editing cruise photos for you to see...someday!
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