As most of ya'll have noticed everything I have posted so far has been about places we have visited and experiences we have had in Germany, what I have not really talked about is my adjustment to army life. So here is a little preview into what I have been going through.
I took the year Justin and I were apart (him stationed in Germany and me working in Austin) to thoroughly research what life was like married to a soldier. I watched every single episode of Army Wives, cried in almost all of them. It actually got to the point where Justin banned me from watching the show since every time he called I would be crying because someone else died, was deployed or had some other tragic army related experience. It didn't help that prior to watching them he told me that the show was pretty realistic... I read all of the army spouse blogs and let me tell you there is a LOT of those and I read through every Army related website. I knew that the army's infamous motto is "hurry up and wait" (which I would soon learn) and I understood that no matter what the Army comes first, family comes second. So by the time Justin came home on leave and proposed I was ready!
We were married the last Sunday that Justin was in town by a judge who was a former marine. He was very supportive and told us that life with a soldier isn't easy but if we were open with each other, communicated well and stayed supportive we would have a great marriage and would benefit from life in the army. The next day I put Justin on a plane to Germany.
The next two months were the most stressful months of my life. We were both working full time and with the seven hour time difference it was hard to find time to talk. Justin was frustrated because his commanding officers who were supposed to help him with the paperwork required for me to join him in Germany were not helping at all and I was frustrated because there was nothing I could do help. He was able to enroll me in DEERS and get my insurance set up within a week but after that things went down hill quickly. We had no idea what we needed to do and no one would help us. Eventually between the two of us and one awesome blog I found we were able to get the packet together. We turned the packet in and waited. A month later we still hadn't heard anything. After a serious discussion Justin and I decided to go ahead and ship my stuff, buy my plane ticket and hope that everything would be done by the time I arrived in Germany. So I arrive in Germany with my dog, no paperwork and head to the post. Since we still don't have paperwork (two months later) we can't get housing. Luckily Justin's buddy who he went through basic with let us stay in his extra room. The day after I arrive, Justin's idiot sergeant calls to tell us he lost the paperwork. At about this point I am about to flip out on someone so Justin doesn't let me go with him to the office to get everything figured out. They eventually find it a couple of days later, say we need to change one of the forms before it can get approved and then send it back to the battalion commander. It has now been 3 months and I just found out last night that our command sponsorship was FINALLY approved but they still haven't added me to his orders... So back to waiting...
We have no housing, I can't apply for a job, I'm still paying for my apartment and utilities back in Austin (can't get out of my lease until I have the orders) and for the first time in my life I am completely dependent on someone else. To say that I am out of comfort zone would be an understatement. Luckily I have the most amazing husband, who has been my rock through all of this nonsense. He is still the only one I know of that can calm me down and knows how to handle me when I am upset. The hardest part for me is understanding that I can't just go to the boss and handle everything myself. I am used to taking charge and getting things done. As most of you know I am not used to hearing "no" or encountering a situation I can't fix myself, not to mention I hate waiting. Ya'll will all be glad to know that I am respecting Justin and his job and not interfering with the paperwork no matter how bad I want to yell at someone...
Life on "post" is a whole other world. It is like a little tiny town that I can walk across in 20 minutes. There is a little grocery store, movie theater, electronic shop, craft store, fast food eateries and a couple of bars. You have to have your ID to do anything, surprisingly I haven't lost mine yet and I haven't gotten used to everyone being in army uniforms (ACUs). I still can't function in military time and I got in trouble one time for not stopping when the bugle played at 6pm (I didn't know I had to stop). There are also all sorts of rules on proper behavior while in uniform. For example I have walk on his left side so when he needs to salute he won't knock me in the head, you can not have any public displays of affection and you are not even allowed to hold hands. The have abbreviations and acronyms for EVERYTHING so I constantly have to interrupt Justin to ask what the heck he is talking about. I have made a few friends although my conversations with other army wives are about deployments, what base we will be moving to next and how frustrating the regulations can be sometimes.
Germany has a high deployment rate and Military Police is the third most deployed MOS so that is constantly at the back of my mind and despite what most Americans believe the US is still deploying many troops to Afghanistan and now with tensions between Israel and Palestine rising there is always a chance of deploying to those areas. There is a lot of gossip that goes around the post about deployments and its impossible to know what is actually true until some formal announcement is made.
My first experience with an Army base was right after Justin left and I had to go to Fort Maybry to get my military ID made. The first thing the sergeant making my ID says to me is that the Army wives are full of drama and are constantly cheating on their husbands while they are deployed. Awesome. Thank you random stranger for the positive generalizations. Well then I came to Baumholder and while not all of the wives are cheating, it definitely is happing a lot more than I would have thought. The wives that I have spent time with have all been really nice and drama free so I am lucky so far but I've only been here a couple of weeks.
I am constantly learning and I really am starting to feel more comfortable with the completely different army lifestyle although I don't think I will ever get used to how good my husband looks in his uniform (total stud muffin!) And living is Germany is a blast! I welcome any tips you guys have about army life or living over seas and wish us luck in getting this paperwork figured out! I am off to study for my driving test, the german driving laws are ridiculous... Love you guys and I miss all of ya'll tons.
* If you ever find yourself having to PCS ONCUS (move over seas with the army) this is a must read blog. It helped me out tremendously: http://livingthearmylife.com/preparing-to-move-overseas/
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