Welcome to Germany!

Oh boy, has it been an exhausting couple of weeks! From long drives home to see family, to tear-filled going away parties, to moving boxes, to scrubbing toilets, to living out of suitcases, etc, etc. It was all to be expected, but somehow it was still very overwhelming. We said farewell to New Jersey, which was a very bittersweet occasion. The hardest part was leaving behind great friends and great memories. Mcguire was Sean's first duty station. We had our first home together in Delran, New Jersey. I met my first Air Force friends there (Jenny D, Sheena, Jenny F, Tiffany, and Laura :) ). I also came to know one of my very best friends, Heather, in New Jersey. I had a job as a nanny for a family that made me part of theirs. I will miss long, lazy days at the shore, and colorful trips to NYC. Without a doubt, New Jersey will always hold of very special place in my heart.
But now our house on base is home to someone else, and our belongings are on a carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. And here we are.... living in Germany! I must say, it is a dream come true. I used to daydream when I was younger what Europe was like... the gorgeous buildings of Paris and Rome, the beautiful langues, the mountains, the castles, the history! Now it's all at our finger tips! I laugh to think that a crazy, sheep-raising girl from Ohio somehow ended up here.
We arrived on Wednesday, and let me tell you I learned a whole new understanding of "jet lag". I felt like a zombie until about Friday afternoon! To our happy surprise, our friend Jenny was there to greet us at the airport! She has welcomed us into her home to stay until we get on our own feet. We caught up on our sleep wednesday night and a lot of the day Thursday. Thursday night, she took us into Kaiserslautern (K-town) to check out our potential house. We got to meet the friendly landlord Gerd. The house was everything I imagined a German house should look like. Pitched roof, bright blue, on a quiet brick, one-way street. The inside, well that's another story. You would walk in to notice beautiful hardwood floors, if it wasn't for the disgusting person who currently "resides" there. I never imagined someone could honestly live in their own filth willingly. Boy, was I wrong. But we decided to look beyond the piles of dirty clothes on the living room floor, the raw bacon that had been rotting on the counter for who knows how long, the piles of garbage, and other things which I really don't want to ruin your appetite with. But the house itself was perfect! So now all we have to do is wait for the German holiday to end, the housing office on  base to open up, and voila! we will have our very own German home! And don't worry I plan to soak it with several gallons of bleach before we move in!
On Saturday we headed out to Landstuhl to check out a castle. Just a taste of the many we are sure to see here! The views from up on the hill were breathtaking. Sean and I had to pinch ourselves to believe we are actually here.
This was the first Easter I've spent without my family. It went surprisingly well. We attended a great church service, and Sean cooked up some delicious steaks :) it wasn't exactly traditional, but it wasn't anything depressing either. Its good to know that no matter where we are our God is the same and He is alive :)
So that sums up our first few days in Germany for the most part.
Can't remember how to say bye in German yet, sooo
bye for now :)
Heidi