We're Home!

It seems so weird to type that out. Moving has always been a part of my life, and home has always been where I was. It always took some adjustment (sometimes a lot more than others), but I usually worked into a groove pretty quick and was home. This time it seems so different because not only are we in a new place, but we are also in a new country. We haven’t been able to venture off post much (We did get our first taste of German food the other night though), so it hasn’t full sunk in that we are not in the US anymore.

Our place is small but cozy. We live in stairwell apartments. They really don’t offer anything else here. Even the higher ups are in them (except the post commanders). We were lucky and were given three sets of keys and told to go look at them and take our pick. All of them were pretty much the same lay out. One of them was totally renovated with 110 outlets, nice wood floors, new counter tops, and a new addition with a ¾ bath and washer and dryer. Another one was about half renovated. It had wood floors, 110 outlets, and the washer and dryer addition. It had old counter tops and the doors were the old metal one. The third unit was not renovated at all. There were fixtures from the 60s or 70s, very old and outdated cabinets, the floors were in bad shape, and there was no washer and dryer addition. We had already said before we went to look that if we were offered a renovated place we’d take it no matter what. We were lucky there were two to choose from.

Anyway, back to our place…

From the layouts I’ve seen and matching them up, our place is only about 1,000 sq feet. The bedrooms are about 114 sq feet, 150 sq feet, and 151 sq feet. We were worried about our king size bed fitting in the room, but after some calculations, we have enough room. There isn’t room for much else, but that’s fine. The only other things we have to go in our room are small enough to fit. The kid’s rooms are nice. We ended up putting Samuel in the bigger room so we can put the toy box, his changing table, and a few other things like that in there. I figured that Samuel would not be getting up in the middle of the night to play with them. Genevieve’s room is small but a good size for her. She was so excited to see her new room yesterday. I really didn’t tell her or put much in it that she’d know was hers until I was ready to show her. I got all her clothes put away and her bed made. All the critters were put on the bed, and she knew it was her room.

The rest of the house is coming together nicely. We don’t have much, and just a bunch of loaner furniture. We are able to use this until our stuff arrives. It isn’t the best stuff in the world, but it is better than the floor. I told my husband last night that I knew that with such a small place we (more like I) needed to be more organized. It is a flaw of mine. It is one that I really need to get under control. I don’t want my kids to be messy, so I have to set the example. So I’m giving it a really honest try. I know it will be hard at first, but I think know it will pay off in the end.

I know after a few weeks and putting the rest of the house together, it will feel more like home. I am going to redo the hall bathroom (something I’ve been wanting to do for about 2 years now). I haven’t decided on a theme or if I am even going to start just yet (there are some nicer stores off post, but we aren’t sure yet on the best way to get there) or wait for a bit to pick something out.

Yesterday my husband and I kept asking Genevieve did she know where she was going today. She would always answer “Jeremy.“ We reminded her she was already in Germany. She’d then say something like she needed to get on a big plane and go across the ocean. Finally we’d tell her we were going home. I know she didn’t know what we were talking about, and probably still doesn’t realized it. With time this will become her home. Needless to say, I’m glad to be home, and I’m glad to have a place to call home. Well, as much as a house with a bunch of furniture that’s not yours can feel home, it does.