Washington - The Evergreen State

I am very sorry for the delayed update but things have been quite hectic around here! We did make it to Washington State after a very LONG and stressful full day of flying but we are safe, all of our bags made it and our dogs did great.

United Airlines PetSafe program did a wonderful job with our dogs, they were given water before and after flights, were transported between planes in a climate controlled van (I actually saw them being loaded and unloaded) and on every flight the stewardess personally came over to us to let us know our dogs were confirmed to be on the plane, not that it mattered since I could hear Riley barking from cargo! A few hiccups at the BWI airport made us almost miss our flight but thanks to my smooth talking husband, and the fact that he is a soldier and we were flying on orders on veterans day, we were able to bypass the security line and run to make our plane. We had another slight hiccup at the Seattle airport when Justin's company FORGOT to pick us up but they sent over someone and we finally checked into the hotel at midnight. I was so tired I passed out with both dogs in the bed with me and slept for about 11 hours.

Layla was very tired after flying 

Riley loving the hotel bed 

The next couple of days Justin and I spent looking every where for housing. The cost of living is much higher in Washington than Texas so we settled on a 10 month lease at a nice apartment complex. We have a two bedroom apartment on the second floor overlooking a small forested area. The dogs are loving hanging out on the balcony staring at the squirrels and barking at everyone who dares walk behind our building. Unfortunately, we have absolutely no furniture except a bed until sometime before Christmas, when the rest of our belongings will arrive from Germany.

After the housing was all situated and we had moved out of the hotel the next disaster came when we tried to buy a car. Apparently you are penalized for being a fiscally responsible person! My lack of credit (I live within my means, only use my debit card so I don't have any debt, etc... ) meant that I was denied financing. Seriously?? Apparently a person with 20 credit cards and 8 car loans can get approved but I can't?! Ridiculous. Well after a lengthy talk with the branch manager at the local credit union we got all squared away and actually walked away with an AWESOME deal plus I got a cute little sporty car!

The new to me but still used Mazda

Once we got the housing/car/cell phone/utilities/bed buying all figured out we actually had a couple of days to sit back and explore this beautiful state! We are living south of the base in Lacey, which is a great area. Lots of parks within walking distance and the off leash dog park is just a short drive away. About 10 miles away we also have a state park that backs up to Puget Sound, we took the dogs there one evening and they had a blast running on the beach and playing in the water. On really clear days when it isn't raining we can see Mt. Ranier! We also found the large farmer's market in Olympia, with amazing local produce, meat, honey and jams. It takes place every weekend right by the bay.

Mt. Ranier 

The goofballs playing on the beach 

Mt Ranier from the park next to our apartment

The port in downtown Olympia right across from the Farmer's Market 

Thanksgiving was another experience. Since we are brand new and don't know anybody yet we just planned on going to a restaurant for dinner but when we started calling around we quickly found out that nobody was open (duh) so a quick google search pulled up the only restaurant around that was serving a traditional thanksgiving meal… The local casino. The area we are in is super close to a Native American reservation, so we drove about 7 minutes down the road to the Casino and ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal. I did however lose $10 on the slot machines. It was a very unique Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the casino

I'm still on the hunt for a full time job, I've sent out at least 15 applications so far. I do have a pretty awesome part time job starting up this month that I am super excited about but more on that later… In the mean time we got ourselves a real live christmas tree and I'm off to finish decorating it!

XOXO

Farewell Germany! I will miss the bratwurst and beer.

Our time in Europe is over for now, today is our last day living in Germany. All of our stuff shipped over a week ago and we have spent the last four days hanging out in the Hotel relaxing and drinking mimosas! The dogs are happy in their crates and I am finally starting to feel a little less stressed about another overseas move but then again that is probably in part to the many mimosas being consumed... It's been an interesting year, lots of new experiences (not all good *cough* oktoberfest *cough*) but overall we have learned a lot and I would not have traded this past year for anything!

Please don't forget me Mom

And because my life would not be complete without one total disaster occurring on moving day here's a recap:

Thursday, November 7th snuck up on us. It was the day we had to clear housing and move to the hotel. I woke up EARLY so I could attempt to clean everything and finish up a last minute load of laundry. In the midst of my furious scrubbing of the oven I noticed a running water sound, assuming it was just running through the wash cycles of the washing machine I blew it off and continued to clean. An hour later, after the washing machine was obviously done, I kept hearing the running water. So, I went into our laundry room to move the clothes into the dryer and was greeted by a completely FLOODED laundry room! Apparently the overflow valve wasn't working and I was standing in a good inch of water an hour before the housing inspector was scheduled to arrive. I soaked up as much water as I could and hoped for the best. The inspector arrived early, immediately called the German maintenance crew and within 45 minutes they had fixed our leak and there was no damage! Luckily everything else went smooth.

Now I'm off to run the heck of the dogs in hopes of wearing them out so they sleep the whole plane trip, I will try and update y'all during transit! First stop BWI, then Denver and finally Seattle. It is going to be a LONG day and I am praying that everything runs smoothly.

Trail run with the pups

The trees have changed colors

Less than a month to go now!!

Three weeks, three weeks, three weeks... I kept repeating that to myself after my husband came back from an emergency building meeting where they informed the building tenants that we have had a homeless squatter man living in our basement for who know how long!!! We are now literally living in the "projects". Justin's gone back to working the night shift and I don't feel safe knowing anyone can get access to our building, what if I forgot to lock the door one night?! Hopefully my two beasts will protect me and luckily we fly out in three weeks!

Flights have been booked, the pre housing inspection has been done, our household good pick up has been scheduled, custom inspection takes place tomorrow and on November 7th we move to a hotel for a few days before flying out on the 11th. The puppies are loving their new crates and they will be flying on the same flights as us! As fun as all the traveling has been, I am definitely ready to be back in the States. We did hit our first little hiccup, the housing wait at our next base is 9-12 months... I had been banking on living on base until we got a feel for the area but it looks like it's going to be off base living for us and I have NO idea where to start since I have never even been near the north west.

Almost ready for the next adventure and because no one likes reading a blog without pictures, here are some of the pups. Layla has gotten so big!

She's catching up to Riley in size and she is much faster

She LOVES playing fetch

My little family! 

London, Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge - The finale of our honeymoon!

We just arrived home after an amazing four days in the most incredible city, London.

Day one was arrived on a super early flight and caught the bus into the middle of the city, the weather was perfect so we strolled along slowly making our way to our hotel. We stayed at the Riverbank Park Plaza, right on the Thames river and only a couple of blocks away from the London Eye, Parliament/Big Ben and the Aquarium. It was the perfect location. After dropping off our bags we headed down the banks of the river to catch the hop on hop off bus at Trafalgar Square. The bus was the perfect way to get oriented with the city and it took us around all of the major London sights, including the famous London Tower Bridge. We got off at the London Tower and quickly headed in to meet up with the tour guide, a real live Beefeater. He was hilarious and kept us thoroughly entertained with the gory history of beheading, hanging and torture surrounding the castle. The tour ended with me drooling all over the display cases containing the real crown jewels, which of course you can't take photos of, too bad!

Our Beefeater Tour Guide 

Tower of London - Traitor's Gate 

The London Tower Bridge 

We then jumped onto a riverboat and headed back towards Parliament. After checking into the hotel and changing for the evening we headed over to Piccadilly St. and ate dinner at the first ever Hard Rock Cafe, cheesy/touristy we know but it was the first one. Afterwards we strolled back to the hotel, passing  by Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Parliament house all lit up. It was beautiful!

Westminster Abbey at Night  

Day two started out bright and early by heading out for another day of sightseeing and most importantly to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. After grabbing coffee from a local stand we pushed our way through the crowds and made it just in time. However it ended up being a special ceremony, it was the Queen's Baton Relay, a baton very similar to the Olympic torch was being passed to symbolize the Queen's Commonwealth Games. The Queen was actually in attendance and we even saw her (from a huge distance), how cool is that?!

Afterwards we headed down to Westminster Abbey and then across the bridge to the London Dungeon. The Dungeon was a super cheesy, Halloween show showcasing the major gory history of the city such as Gay Fawkes, traitors, Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd. It was interesting and not at all scary but a fun little Halloween special. St. Paul's Cathedral was our next stop and it was absolutely incredible. The most gorgeous Cathedral we have stepped into. We didn't have much time but we were able to climb the stairs to the whispering dome, where a whisper from across the dome can be heard clear as day.

London Dungeon 

St. Paul's Cathedral 

The View from the Whispering Gallery 

The Altar at St. Paul's

We ended the evening with a pub crawl down Fleet Street. Our first pub was Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese built in 1538 and rebuilt in 1666 after the great fire burned it down. The pub where the first dictionary was written and authors such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, etc have all found inspiration for the works in the pub. Across the Street is the Tipperary, the first Irish pub in London as well as the first place to get a Guinness also dates back to before 1666. The skinniest pub known as Ye Olde Cock Tavern was also frequented by Charles Dickens. Across the street on the corner the old London Bank has also been turned into a swanky pub. We hit a few other pubs and of course had a traditional meal of Bangers and Mash AND Fish and Chips before grabbing a cab back to our hotel.

Fleet Street

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Ye Olde Cock Tavern - Skinniest pub in London 

The next morning we woke up even earlier and met up with our tour group Evans and Evan Tour Company for a trip to Windsor Castle, Roman Baths and Stonehenge. Windsor Castle was incredible, as it should be since it is preferred over Buckingham as the Queen's place of residence. We saw Queen Mary's Dollhouse and State Apartments. It was definitely a Palace I could feel at home in! We made it just in time to see the changing of the guards and it was AWESOME. We had to run back to the bus though to make it in time for our next destination the Roman Baths. The city of Bath is a UNESCO world heritage site and was incredible, I wish we had spent way more time exploring. The Baths date back to the Roman times. We ended the tour with a trip up to Stonehenge where even though it was cold and windy the site was still a wonder to see.

Changing of the Guards

Windsor Castle 

Roman Baths 

Traditional Meat Pasty

Fresh Toffee Fudge 

Stonehenge - It was very windy! 

The next day was grey and raining. London must have known we were sad to leave. It was the best trip ever and both of us can not wait to go back!