Vacation of a Lifetime!

It's hard to believe we've been in Europe since April 3rd! We have had a wonderful, relaxing, exciting time, and the trip is only half way over! I've attempted to write a few blogs along the way, but haven't had a chance to post anything since we rarely have internet access. But here is a quick update from the past 2 weeks!

The movers came and went and were finally able to load everything up and carry it away. Hopefully, everything makes it to Hawaii in one piece, but we aren't really holding our breath! We spent our last night at our good friend's house, Andy and Alyssa, so we didn't have to sleep on the floor. We hadn't really thought ahead to the fact that we would be pillow-less and bed-less for that night!

The next morning, after saying all of our good-byes, we drove 12hrs to Mississippi to catch the military hop to Germany, which is FREE for all active military families. Amazing!! We spent some much needed time visiting with my wonderful grandparents, about two days, and then headed to Jackson, MS to catch our flight.

The military flight… well, truly there are no words that can adequately describe this experience. Just imagine a plane with no windows, no rows of seats, no heating, no sound control, and no proper bathrooms, and you will have a small glimpse of the nine hours of enjoyment we had to endure! BUT it was free, and for Tim, that’s all that matters. In all honesty though, it really wasn’t that bad. They gave everyone a pair of earplugs, which came in very handy, and we were actually able to lay down on the ground underneath our seats and sleep for most of the trip. Although, we definitely didn’t dress warm enough, the cold was almost unbearable, but had we worn our long johns, toboggans, and gloves, we would have been happy as pie!!

So yes, we made it to Germany on Saturday evening, and were able to relax, enjoy a nice dinner, and head straight to bed. This is so much better than arriving in the morning and fighting to stay awake all day long to ward off jetlag. We spent the first few days just traveling around the little German towns close to where Tim’s parents live. We went to the Mannheim Easter market, the beautiful park, and the TV tower to eat lunch the first day. We spent the next day in Heidelberg, the city where we had our first date! We took pictures of the Starbucks we met up at (yes, even back then I loved starbucks!) Found the restaurant we ate at, climb up the poetry path where Hemmingway wrote one of his books, and walked up the steep stairs to the castle gates. It was a full day, but we had blast reminiscing.

Here are a few pics from the first couple of days!
beautiful Germany:


our first day:


Tim and his mom:


our first date:




poetry path:


Heidelberg