While he is home

The unit had a Squadron Run. Steve is the Havoc Troop Guidon Bearer so that's him up front. You can see the other troops and their Guidons behind. Very cool picture of the unit.

Last week, Steve was supposed to be gone for another two days when I got a call from him just casually saying he loved me and missed me and how he could not wait for the next two days to go by. I was still in my pajamas cleaning and just trying to stay busy. When we ended the call, I went back to what I was doing and then I got a knock at the door. I looked through the "peep hole" and I could tell someones finger was covering it. Kind of freaked me out and I wasn't sure if I should open it. But I decided I should and since I live on post, everyone is so close that they would hear me scream if I was getting murdered. Haha. But when I opened the door, it took me a few seconds to comprehend that my husband was standing in front of me. He surprised me!! It was such a great day! There was even a "honeymoon phase" for about a week after wards. But now we are back to our normal schedules.
  Since they are home for a few weeks between Field Trainings, they decided to go to a day long Airborne field exercise.. where they practice jumping out of planes. Steve is usually really good and never gets hurt. But there is ALWAYS someone that does break a leg. The way this day went in Steve's words go a little something like this-
  Everyone was in the plane lined up getting ready for their turn to jump, when a higher ranking soldier came up and started tightening up some of his leg gear (I can't remember what he said it was called) but when it was time to jump, Steve's legs were so tight that he could not move them like he should and the Parachute/risers became tangled and he was barreling down to Earth trying to untangle them in time, which he almost didn't. He didn't break anything but he came home bruised and limping. He really did think he was going to die and is planning on dropping his Airborne status so he can no longer jump.
  We are really worried about that because the next jump they are all doing is in about four days and the Brigade Commander considers it dangerous since there is poles and what not sticking up from the ground and gear from the last field training sprawled out everywhere. Steve wants to drop his Airborne status and have it approved by then but they could just tell him "no". Its up to the Army. Guess we will all have to wait and see if they make him jump.
Here is a couple photos of the jump they did a few days ago that I was talking about..

entering the aircraft

SGT Jackson jumping.. He is a good friend of Steve's. They were in C Troop together in Afghanistan.

Another event that has happened is that this last Friday (Sept 23), our unit had the yearly Organizational Day. This is the first one we have attended. When I first heard "Organizational Day", I though it was a day for the unit to get organized.. when really its a day full of fun for the soldiers and the families. Its one of the many events during the year that is mandatory for the soldiers to attend and the families usually come along since it is set up for them too. There was bouncy houses, games of Soccer and Football, a sound system playing good music, a huge buffet and a few other things going on. They even gave out beer.. Not sure how familiar you are with the Army but free beer to soldiers is not common at all. Everyone had a good time.

lining up for the buffet

Nathan Hannah being a tough guy

Steve and SGT Weeks playing soccer

  On Sunday, I have officially lived in Germany for a year. It has been such a culture shock. I miss everything about America but I am finally coming to terms with Germany also. I am not so scared to drive on the Autobahn anymore and can shop at local German stores confidentiality. Living here for the past year has been quite a ride. We have seen so much beautiful places that I have also shared with all of you. This blog has been such a great way to share our experiences.

Lastly, I wanted to share this new routine I have been doing with Tubbles. It all started one warm day a few weeks ago when she was sitting in the window seal looking out at all the birds, squirrels and what not and looking depressed. I got the great idea to take her outside on a leash and see how she likes it. I thought she would hate it and reject the leash but surprisingly, she didn't even notice the leash and was smelling all the different smells and watching the birds and just having a great time in general. 
  Since then, I take her out on all the warm days and Steve and I sometimes go have picnics out there on the weekends with her. I don't know why I haven't done this earlier. Hopefully it doesn't start feeling like Winter for at least a few more months so Tubbles can enjoy this while she still can, but Germany weather is so unpredictable.