We Made It! #2

We still do not have internet. I have no idea why it is taking so long and I am at my wits end with the entire ordeal!  I guess we aren't the only military family that this has happened to.  Isabelle's summer camp teacher said it took 2 months for him to get Internet, for a co-worker it took 3 months, and for everyone else we've talked to it took somewhere between 2-4 weeks.  We have a technician scheduled to come to our house on Wednesday which will make 6 weeks for us to get the problem fixed (assuming he fixes the problem).  And it sounds like we can expect the same frustration when we PCS back to the States in a few years.  UGH!  I couldn't take it anymore, so for now I am at the Ramstein library and it feels so great to be able to blog again {and check my email, bank accounts, Facebook, and make travel plans}.    Missed me?! ;o)

It feels like it has been forever since I left the States and so much has happened.  I don't know where to start...So... I guess I'll just start from the beginning....

Our trip from Nebraska to Ramstein Air Base was long {not counting the months of preparation}.  We knew that the 35 hours it would take to get to Germany was going to be brutal.  We knew that we would be in four different airports, on three different airplanes, and waiting in lots of different lines.  We knew that we would have to haul a million different bags, tons of paperwork, and a cat, between all of these airports.  We knew that by the time we got on the last airplane, in the middle of the night, we would be exhausted.  But we knew that Eric would be waiting for us, and that it would be worth it.... and that Eric would be waiting for us.

Isabelle's cat, Carley.

Surprisingly, the flights were fine and the hours went quickly.  Carley traveled well and quit whining soon after we landed in Baltimore (airport #3). Because I was organized, the checkpoints and paperwork went smoothly, and the worst part of the trip was just the waiting, which we had anticipated and really wasn't that bad.

Isabelle and I arriving in Chicago- no make-up and all....

What Isabelle and I hadn't anticipated though, was jet lag.  Insane jet lag.  I had never experienced anything like it (but then I guess I've never traveled so far either).  It was debilitating for a little more than 3 days.  Isabelle and I slept at weird times that didn't make sense even for the Midwest time zone.  Not only did we sleep at weird times, but I slept constantly!  I seriously considered whether I had caught some hasn't-been-discovered-yet-will-kill-you-in-your-sleep virus when after 3 days I woke up hungry in the middle of the night; I thought mmaaaybe it was just jet lag.  It took a full week before Eric trusted my ability to leave the house and not be diagnosed a narcoleptic in public.

I think that my exhaustion was a little because of jet lag, but mostly because I was finally with my guy and all of the stress from the last 9 months was gone!