Saturday, November 19, 2016

Tschüss, Germany! Hello, Virginia!

We have internet!  Thank you sweet baby Jesus, we have internet!  

The Schnells are BACK!  We landed safely in America almost 2 weeks ago and have been running ourselves ragged ever since trying to settle in to our new home in a new State in a different country.  

But we are here, and we are safe, and we have internet!

I had hoped to blog about Germany and how amazing it was to live there and about all of the things we are going to miss, but things got so insanely busy and overwhelming the last week before we left that I never got a chance to actually do that.  So then I started to think that well, maybe I could just write that blog post once I landed in America, but we have been going in all sorts of directions trying to get things settled and situated that it sort of just flew out the window, and now here we are.... two weeks later.  

I am feeling a mix of a lot of things these past two weeks, but I will start with how much we will miss Germany.  I will miss my friends.  I will miss how there is no need for small-talk.  I'm going to miss how I could have a glass of wine at any time on any day and no one paid any mind to it whatsoever.  I'll miss the food and the fests and the laughing and "Prost!" every few words or so.  I'll miss driving down the autobahn only a half hour from where we lived and seeing vineyards as far as you can see in every direction.  I'll miss saying my most favorite word ever.... Tschüss!.... in a sing-songy tone whenever leaving a conversation.  I'll miss German grocery stores and how their groceries are so much cheaper and healthier than any American equivalent.  I'll miss how all stores, except for a few restaurants, are closed on Sunday's forcing you to spend quality time with your family, and after you get over the panic of everything being closed when you might need something important like hairspray, you actually start to appreciate the entire concept.  And traveling.  I'll miss traveling Europe the most.... but I'm sure that goes without saying. 

I am sad that we are not in Germany anymore but happy to be back and SO excited for our future.  But sad again that the entire reason I started my blog a little more than 4 years ago has come to an end.  And that ending deserved a better blog post than the one I'm writing right now.  

I have been feeling sad for a long while about the things I see on Facebook and social media in regards to the political dynamics of our country, and overall in the way that we are treating each other through our computers.  It seems as though that facts don't matter, or that they can be twisted to fit our own political ideals, rendering those facts pointless, and the argument that they were used in, volatile.  Or that it's absolutely appropriate to argue one disgusting quality of one candidate by pointing out an equally disgusting quality of the other candidate... as if those disgusting qualities somehow cancel each other out and make for productive conversation.  I am sick about the outcome of the election, and heartbroken about how I apparently am not allowed to feel any sort of emotion because of it.  
I am trying to stay hopeful, because I can't help myself, but I'll be honest... I have prayed every day since the election that a Trump presidency in my brain turns out to be the exact opposite of what happens in reality.  Because the articles and information that I painstakingly researched throughout a brutal election process tells my brain that we are in for one helluva ride.  But only time will tell, and a good chunk of people on Facebook would have you believe that I'm a f*^king idiot and my research is somehow invalid.

I'll eventually figure out how to interact with all of the ugliness in a loving way.... because that's how I operate.  

But most of all, I am feeling happy to be home!  I am feeling relieved to be on familiar soil and to not be a foreigner anymore.  I am feeling thankful to be on the same continent and close to the same time zone as most of our friends and family.  I am giddy at the thought of decorating my home with all of the gloriousness that is Target and HomeGoods to help a girl out! 
And brand new living room furniture!  I am feeling so excited to get new living room furniture (but not until after we leave Virginia because we're only here for 6 months and Eric said waiting until we get to wherever we're going next would save our furniture from one less move and then they'll last a little longer.  He sure knows how to rain on a girl's Pinterest inspired parade)!  I think I've decided on the Ektorp couches from IKEA, but I'm still researching and Pinteresting what I like. 


I'm feeling "meh..." about the house we now live in.  I don't like it.  It's sort of cute, I guess.  It has plenty of room for my little family, and we'll only be living in it for 6 months, and since it's quite a bit under Eric's rank band we get 1 month free, so there are definitely positives that I'm trying my darnedest to concentrate on.  But I still don't like it.  It was dirty and smelled funny and there were dead bugs everywhere when we first moved in, and I might be holding a grudge because of it, but still, I don't like it.  {Pictures will be coming just as soon as our stuff arrives from Germany.}

That's okay though, because we are HOME!  And Virginia has the best slogan ever for someone like me!  It's as if living here was meant to be!  And that makes me happy too! 
















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