Fake Beer Drinking and a Christmas Surprise

I discovered I was pregnant on the morning of Saturday, December 17th.  Brian and I were headed up to the Belgian/Netherlands border later that day to join some squadron friends for a Christmas Belgian Beer festival.  After getting a negative result on a home pregnancy test earlier that week, I wasn't expecting much when I took another one that morning... I just wanted to go to the festival with the confidence that a couple of tasty potent brews were safe for me to drink!  Lo and behold, a few minutes later I was looking at two little pink lines!  I was shocked, smiling from ear to ear, and quietly jumping up and down (Brian was still asleep).  I remember going and grabbing the camera and taking a picture of my belly, thinking two things:

1. I may want to remember this day forever.
2. If this all works out, this is the flattest my stomach is going to be for a long time!

Here's the picture I took that crazy morning:

I also decided that I was not going to tell my husband that day.  It was only a week until Christmas, and I figured I could come up with a creative way to surprise him at the holidays as opposed to waving a newly peed-on test in this face.  This proved harder to accomplish than I imagined.  Being at the festival all day and pretending to sample several beers was comical.  The number of times I almost started laughing and almost admitted to Brian that I hadn't drank a drop were numerous.  Thankfully, the guys we were there with were so consumed with trying as many beers as possible (there were over 150 - all Belgian), that they didn't notice that my sample glass was habitually being emptied onto the floor!  Several hours later, Brian had no objection to my wanting to leave and find somewhere with 'real' food (the festival served meat and cheese cubes and little else), so we took the train back to the town we were staying in and got a great dinner at our hotel.

At the beer festival:

 

My plan to surprise Brian was nearly ruined a few days later as well.   While he was at work that Monday, I went to the women's clinic on base and had a blood test done which confirmed that, as suspected, I was pregnant.  The clinic called back late that afternoon (while he was home) to confirm the results and ask me a few health background questions.  I took the phone, ran out of the house, and proceeded to talk with the nurse from the car.  When I came back in, I told him that I was confirming the delivery of one of his Christmas gifts and didnt want him to overhear.  Crisis averted.

Brian's parents and brother were coming to town just before Christmas eve, and I didn't want to surprise him with the news with the family right there, so they day before they arrived was when I finally told him.  

I had some help from our favorite feline, Nellie, who was sporting a christmas scarf when she 'gave' Brian a card that essentially said he was going to become a dad in August, and that, unlike Nellie,  this child would not have fur and meow.  :)  He was definitely surprised and so incredibly happy!  We celebrated with a yummy dinner at home, and lots of conversation about the months to come.  It was such a wonderfully memorable night!


Oh, for our friends here in Germany- here's the link to next year's Christmas Beer festival in case you want to check it out:  http://www.kerstbierfestival.be/ENG/index.htm

What we've been up to... and what comes next (sts)

The idea of picking up where our last blog left off, 2-3 years ago, is a feat I have no desire to undertake.  So, here's the incredibly abbreviated bullet-point version of the highlights:

• We're still living in the quiet and wonderful village of Herforst, in the Rhineland region of Germany.

• Over the past 15 months, Brian has been deployed or temporary duty (TDY) more than twice the amount of time that he's been home.  As I write this, he's back in the states for two months.

• Despite that, while stationed at Spangdahlem, we have managed to travel to 23 countries in Europe together!  (That's Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and Vatican City!)

• Separately we've also seen Turkey, Kuwait, and Iraq (Bri) and Croatia and Greece (me) since moving to Europe.

• All of our parents, and a few close friends,  have come to visit us out here.  For this, we are so incredibly grateful!  Those visits were some of the absolute highlights of our last few years.

• Tough not completely fluent, we've mastered enough German to converse with our landlord (who speaks no English at all),  give and take directions, understand newspaper, radio and television broadcasts, shop at local stores, and get by in areas where English is seldom spoken.

• Even though we're travel-addicts, we absolutely adore our German neighbors, and love spending time with them when we're home.  They have made our experience here so wonderful! 

• Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our squadron here.  The Warhawks and their families are some of the most fun, supportive, and awesome people we know.  There's no doubt that the friendships that we've cultivated during our time here will last wherever we all go.

So... where are we going next?   

Yup... we're headed back to South Korea!!!  

 We will be moving back to the 'land of not quite right' in mid-June.   The decision to go back to Korea (or to put it near the very top our "wish-list") was not a difficult one for us.  We had a great time there in 2008-09, we want to see more of that part of the world, Brian would like to stay in the jet for as long as possible, and, also, while we're there (for 2-3 years) he will NOT have to deploy to the desert!   This is a huge plus for us, because as most of you know:

That pretty much catches you up to what's happening here! Just a disclaimer: this will likely become more of a pregnancy/baby blog... it's definitely the highlight of our lives right now, and we want to share our excitement with the people we care most about!

3rd Time's a Charm

Hi friends, family and random internet searchers!

As many of you know, this isn't my first attempt at a blog.  Rather, it's my 3rd... in as many years.  I'm hoping with all my might, that I find the motivation to stick with it this time around, and perhaps even convince Bri to chime in every so often.  As we travel the world and move around the globe, it's never easy to keep in contact with everyone. Hopefully this will give all of you a glimpse into our crazy life and tell you a bit more than a sporadic facebook update can.  If the upcoming awesome changes in our life are any indication, we'll certainly have plenty to share with everyone in the weeks and months ahead!