tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71636790246193927332024-03-13T03:44:29.749+01:00Life Lessons of a Military Wife (overseas in Europe!)My goal here is to make your life easier, especially those who are in the unique situation of being a military spouse. Yes...I've been around...but in a good way...and hopefully can share those tips, tricks and shortcuts with you too. I've been on this military bus for over 40 years now. My goals in life are to have a well-run home, few money worries, well adjusted children, money socked away and whatever happiness I can scoop out of life.****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.comBlogger531125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-11648726839687176962011-08-20T20:03:00.000+02:002011-08-20T20:03:00.102+02:00Bye, Bye Blogger....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NYlFgRpN40M/Tk_2jZwdlDI/AAAAAAAACcA/HJSGHwmo3-8/s1600/IMG_0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NYlFgRpN40M/Tk_2jZwdlDI/AAAAAAAACcA/HJSGHwmo3-8/s320/IMG_0211.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Like an old boyfriend, I am discarding you, sorry! You couldn't give me what I needed, so I think it's best we part ways. I don't want to "try to be friends" nor do I want to "stay in touch"....clean break, okay? And to my readers, if things go wrong...you know where to find me <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Lessons-of-a-Military-Wife/113796448681344">on Facebook</a> to let me know the errors of my ways (cause you know that's how I learn)!<span class="fullpost"><br />
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I thought I would post a warning here first. I'm not smart enough to investigate how to transfer over any subscriptions or RSS feeds and am sorry to say that if you are still interested in hearing what I have to say (or do), please rejoin me at the new site which you should be redirected to in the next few days as I plod my way through this with a little apprehension and the wringing of the hands.<br />
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This is LLMW signing out for the last time on Blogger...it was wonderful while it lasted and thank you for all the good memories, because there really were some! Wordpress, looking forward to our first date and a hopefully lasting relationship where we can both learn and grow together...not necessarily in that order.</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-47391676538402179292011-08-14T23:07:00.001+02:002011-08-14T23:08:50.960+02:00Six travel mistakes I've made this summer<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Oslo's Vigeland Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I know. LLMW does not make mistakes...aghast...but she really does...and bad ones sometimes too. Just because you have a lot of knowledge does not mean you know everything...plus, you sometimes forget or are lazy or just don't know any better. I made this site not only to help others but to have others help me! So before you laugh and get a kick out of that, see what I did that was less than perfect as we all tend to do.<br />
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I planned and arranged a trip to Oslo. Because this city will make even the richest person feel poor and have an empty wallet before it's over, I thought I would save and get a hotel outside the city center. That part was just fine...we saved literally THOUSANDS of euro, and it was a luxury hotel to boot, mysteriously being upgraded to a business suite with two rooms, two bathrooms and a wonderful buffet breakfast (boy, did I score brownie points for that one).<br />
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Sure, I saw that it was on the main metro ring with connections every minute and only six stops from downtown, and certainly wasn't worried about us getting around. I planned how easily we would get there (no problems actually), but I got LAZY and just assumed I would do the same thing on the way back for our early Ryanair airport bus. Imagine that sinking feeling you get, when you get down to the metro platform at 0610 and see the first train comes only at 0649, only 11 minutes before you have to catch your paid-for bus back to the airport to catch that flight. Oops, it was a Saturday with less metro connections. Can you say "oh sh*t?!"<br />
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After a nanosecond, we raced back up to the hotel, had them call a taxi (which arrived in less than 5 minutes) and arrived in plenty of time for the bus.....but $40 poorer. <b>Lesson #1 learned, follow thru from beginning to end in trip planning, especially if you absolutely have to be somewhere at a certain time! Also watch time schedules on holidays (know what they are for that country) and on weekends!</b><br />
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This summer I also had an ambitious notion that we would relax in a wonderful country cottage in the peaceful countryside in Normandy. I had visions of us seeing the sites during the day and then viewing some wonderful countryside vistas driving back to our wonderful retreat. I carefully researched many, many cottages, B&Bs and even a few chateaus. Since my plan was VERY ambitious and it involved going in exactly two different directions (St Malo and the famous Mont St Michel vs. the Normandy Beaches), I thought I would split the difference and try to find something in between. I found the ideal place in the most idyllic setting...on paper. The first day was peaceful and relaxing after we finally arrived (that'll be my third mistake below). Once we started visiting the sites, I realized my mistake. Yes, it looked like only x amount of miles from this destination to that one on Google...but try to actually drive the winding and narrow country roads and you quickly realize it takes MUCH longer to drive them in person. After two days of it taking us two hours to get somewhere and then two hours to get back at the end of the day, with me in a nauseous stupor, I came to the conclusion that we needed to pick one area OR the other and leave our pastoral place.<br />
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I chose a wonderful historic hotel near my beloved sites in Normandy (our main goal to see) and was then happy for the rest of the trip. Even though the WWII battle sites and of course the many other sites along that part of the coast were spread out, we still spent no more than 45 minutes driving to any one site for the rest of the trip. Don't remind me that I forfeited the rest of the money we had paid for the country cottage (I try not to think about that) and then had to shell out another 70 euros a day for our nice hotel room with no cooking facilities...but you know what? I was happy and we all know what happens when momma isn't happy. What's the lesson here? <b>There's Lesson #2. Take the time to see what kinds of roads there are at your destination. Take the time to really see how long it'll take you to drive everyday to see what you want to see and prioritize which direction you want to travel in! </b>You can't see everything!<b><br />
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Of course, also on this trip, our home had a slight issue that needed immediate attention. Of course, it needed attention on the morning we were due to leave for our trip. Doesn't it always happen this way? After finally getting things taken care of, we hit the road at 0900. I know I have mentioned before to check the <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2011/07/ubiqutous-german-stau-and-what-to-do.html">German school holiday site and stau situation</a>. I also know the Belgian schedule from living here. Why oh why did I not check the French schedule? Can you say "bank holiday"? I don't know. I'm still wondering about that. All I know is that we waited anywhere from 20 minutes to ONE HOUR at EVERY SINGLE TOLL BOOTH going thru France along our route. It wouldn't have mattered if we had a "fast pass" either (<a href="https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/how-does-it-work">which many Brits rent or buy</a> to allow them to breeze thru the auto lanes). The traffic was well backed up before all the lanes even decided to split. This turned a four hour drive into an EIGHT HOUR drive!!! <b>Lesson #3, ALWAYS, ALWAYS...and then again...check the school holiday schedules for the countries you will be traveling through and to!</b><br />
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On one of our trips to a country with a different currency, a certain someone in my family suggested to use the rest of that currency to pay part of the hotel bill. I hesitated...well, what if there is an emergency and we need some quick change? Luckily, a last minute taxi ride that was NOT planned was payable by credit card. I even tried to tip the driver in Euro, our home currency in Belgium, but he would not take it and kept telling us not to worry and to catch our flight. He was such a nice man. The amount I used in that foreign currency to pay part of the hotel bill would have paid the taxi driver almost EXACTLY...with enough left over for coffee...which I desperately needed at the airport and couldn't buy because I didn't have a foreign coin to my name. <b>Lesson #4, I think the peace-of-mind is worth it to keep at least some bills in that foreign currency...at least enough to pay a taxi or some other quick emergency! </b>With so many military families traveling all over, you can sell your currency, especially if you have bills, at a later date.<b><br />
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This summer has been unusually cold and rainy, from start to finish. Yes, we packed plenty of shorts and swimsuits we didn't get to use, at least when we were outside for the most part. We brought rain and cold weather to each of the four countries we vacationed in this summer. We had more rain days than sun days. You think I would've learned by the third trip at least to bring more warm clothing. No, I was determined to pack pretty much the exact same things I had packed previously. I ended up recycling my fleece pretty much every day and found out that the combo of fleece and a rainjacket on top can be pretty toasty. Me and my fashion sense were non-existent. <b>Lesson #5, even in summer always have raingear AND something warm to wear</b>...doubled...unless you don't mind wearing the same thing over and over again. The good thing about fleece is that it rolls up very nicely in your suitcase and is very lightweight to boot!<br />
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In Amsterdam, we were in this wonderful little restaurant. Now, you know that Europeans don't do doggie bags like we do doggie bags. In fact, if it wasn't for the Americans running around in Europe, there would be NO doggie bags. Europeans don't do them! I always prepare myself for the errant look I get when asking if I can take my leftovers home. I've been given newspaper, waxpaper and butcher paper to wrap my stuff up. I've had stuff leak thru those flimsy wrappings, and it is not pretty. My solution....is to ALWAYS carry a few ziploc bags of a few sizes...of the freezer variety due to their sturdiness. I'm not going to tell you to do it, but if you want to make your kid...or you and the family a little sandwich from the breakfast buffet for later...I'm not going to tell you not to do it either. Well, in making my list for the trip, I thought I'd be slick and download an Iphone app specifically for packing....I missed a key item in the transfer from paper to app....ziploc bags. Not only did I not have it for my leftovers but I also didn't have it for the wet swimsuits or the opened bag of goldfish that wanted to jump out all inside my purse nor for the pile of receipts I like to keep in order til I get home. Crap. <b>Lesson #6, travel with a few ziploc bags of various sizes. You won't know what you will use them for ahead of time, but somewhere and somehow, you WILL end up needing them!</b><br />
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Of course I learned a few other lessons, but they are not worth the paper I would write them on, so I will end here. Do you have any lessons learned from this summer? Any summer?<br />
</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-3775107182984316812011-08-10T17:51:00.026+02:002011-08-10T17:51:00.483+02:00Video: A Visit to Bavaria, GermanyI was recently running around in Bavaria….Oberammergau and Garmisch area in Germany. As usual, I'm all over the place throwing out tips and advice….take it or leave it! <br />
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I love to hear from my readers, which means you gotta post below about your own adventures and advice! This blog is made possible by all the great tips and advice shared by you...yes YOU!<br />
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On this particular video, you’ll hear me talk about food….more food…hiking, things to see and do down here and tips for saving money of course like always!<br />
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I hope this has inspired you to get out and ENJOY your current duty station, wherever that may be! There is ALWAYS a hidden gem and fun is what you make of it!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-54570435411413385472011-08-07T09:11:00.001+02:002011-08-07T09:16:33.236+02:00Podcast #9 - Travel Tips in Germany (Oberammergau)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yjARVv1B1CU/Tj46Sbf0DEI/AAAAAAAACb4/Tv0_fP8zYcQ/s1600/DSC05980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yjARVv1B1CU/Tj46Sbf0DEI/AAAAAAAACb4/Tv0_fP8zYcQ/s320/DSC05980.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Join me as I walk down the mountain along a babbling brook. Rounding the bend in our two hour hike just outside of Oberammergau, Germany, I thought I needed something to keep me going those last few minutes...hence, the podcast! I share a few tips that are all over the map...literally!<span class="fullpost"><br />
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Some of the things I mention in this <a href="http://www.lifelessonsmilitarywife.com/Podcast__9_Life_Lessons_of_a_Military_Wife.m4a">latest audio podcast</a>:<br />
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<li>Shopping tips on vacation</li><br />
<li>Visiting the town tourist bureaus</li><br />
<li>What is a "Ferienwohnung" and why you should know this</li><br />
<li>Getting money from German bank ATMs (Sidenote: You can access many of these foyers by sliding your ATM card thru the card reader at the door after hours)</li><br />
<li>Money Tips Overseas</li><br />
<li>Pool Rules</li><br />
<li>What is FKK?</li><br />
<li>Eating Out Tips</li><br />
<li>How to pay our restaurant bill</li><br />
<li>Why is the butcher so important?</li><br />
<li>The Laberbergbhahn (gondola) in Oberammergau</li><br />
<li>What is a Kurkarte, and why do I need one?</li><br />
<li>The Edelweiss Lodge in Garmisch</li><br />
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Random musings I know, but hopefully you can take something out of it!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-87438628624788763802011-08-04T09:56:00.001+02:002011-08-04T10:02:06.183+02:00Space A Magic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AKltzjV6Eow/TjpMYu9wWJI/AAAAAAAACb0/_7cemsGUpiQ/s1600/space+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AKltzjV6Eow/TjpMYu9wWJI/AAAAAAAACb0/_7cemsGUpiQ/s1600/space+a.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visit http://www.baseops.net/spaceatravel/ for more Space A information!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table>I know for many of us, flying Space A is a big unknown. I've only flown twice myself, as a military dependent many years ago. We waited many days in Dover, Delaware trying to catch that perfect flight to Germany to visit my grandparents. It's clear in my mind that we went to the terminal every day, only to be told there was no flight that day or that a previously scheduled flight was cancelled. We made the best of it, enjoying the shore and some beach time and luckily, my parents had budgeted to stay in a hotel off post nearby. We waited just about a week. The flight we ended up taking was a military craft with the seats suspended inside. So this is what the guts of a plane looks like I remember thinking. But what sticks out the most in my mind was a mid-air refueling training mission (yes, they did warn us), and WOW, it was enough to make you think you were riding a roller coaster...up and down...up and down...enough to make you blow your lunch which the air crew handed out in little boxes a few hours before. One of our readers, Jo recently flew Space A and offers these tips for us below.<br />
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<li>The first and most important thing to remember is that Space-A is a privilege, not a right. If you aren't on an open schedule (meaning, come and go as you please) then it's VERY important to have a back-up plan).</li><br />
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<li>Where are you trying to go? What is your closest AF Base that can get you there or somewhere you can transfer from? Some bases have regularly scheduled flights (ex: On Monday, Wednesday and Saturday there is a flight departing XX base, and it stops at YY and ZZ).</li><br />
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<li>Visit <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110126-037.swf">this link</a> to get an idea of where some of the bases' frequent stops are located.</li><br />
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<li>Have all your valid and required paperwork to travel. Are you flying with or as a servicemember? They/You will need to be on leave before they can even 'register' for Space A. If you're flying and your spouse is currently deployed, you will need a letter from his CoC stating you are allowed to fly Space A while the servicemember is out in theater. This letter needs to include your information, along with any traveling dependents and your spouse's information as well. You will also need to bring proof that you are command sponsored, meaning that you were included on his orders to his current duty station. The S-1 or admin folks of your husband's unit can type that up for you.</li><br />
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<li>REGISTER - Once you have an idea of where you would like to go, register with the bases that you may be flying out of. You can register in person, by fax or via email. Sign-Up email addresses can be found <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/amctravel/amctravelcontacts.asp">here</a>.</li><br />
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<li>If a servicemember is traveling, they CANNOT register until they are ON leave. The email you send needs to include leave start and end date. If you are traveling sans SM, scan and email a copy of your CoC issued travel letter. Email any and every base you may be using. Better to be safe than sorry. Registering early is important because if there are three Active Duty (AD) Category 3 personnel on leave trying to fly, the person who registered FIRST gets priority. Once you register, it is active for 90 days (or 60 days, so double check) so you won't need to register every single time you fly so long as it's within that timeframe.</li><br />
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<li>You should receive a confirmation letting you know that you are registered. If you don't receive it in 24 hours, call the base. It's possible that they may have an incorrect email listed. Be proactive and don't make assumptions. Again, it's better to be safe than sorry.</li><br />
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<li>All that squared away? Great! Now you're probably wondering "well, how do I know when the flight is?". Most bases do not provide a flight schedule earlier than 72 hours out. Some have automated answering services that give you a destination and how many tentative seats there are and a "showtime". Showtime is when you need to be checked in by. Continue to call everyday within that 72 hour gap to make sure the flight info is accurate. They are subject to change (this happened to us) and you could get stranded somewhere you didn't intend on staying. </li><br />
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<li>Please pack a sweater or blanket in your carryon, especially if you are flying overnight. You won't know what type of aircraft you'll be on and a C-17 can get very cold. We shivered our entire trip to the east coast. Lesson learned for us.</li><br />
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<li>Show up! Make sure you have your proper IDs, Passport (if going overseas), and bring your CoC issued letter or Leave form. Although you may have submitted it, keep it on you. I'd also print out a copy of any confirmation messages or emails you may have received showing your 'registration' date. Once you arrive at the AMC Terminal you will mark yourself' present' so they know you would like to take a flight out. Afterward, you'll wait until they call your name. This is done by category. If you are flying with an Active Duty (AD) servicemember, then you'll be category 3 and for the most part, you're at the head of the line. The only categories flying ahead of you are Emergency Leave or those on PCS orders.</li><br />
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<li>Have a safe flight! flying Space-A may not be the most convenient in terms of time, secured seats or comfort but it's free! I'll deal with all of that vs paying an outwards of 1000K for a flight overseas.</li><br />
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Thanks so much Jo for your input. Stay tuned where Jo will talk about her family's personal experience in an upcoming blogpost. The only think I would add...and try to pound in your head, you absolutely have to be flexible and need to have the time to do this. If you want to try to use it during the summer, I would definitely re-think that. It is the heaviest PCS travel season, and you could be trying to get on a flight for days. If you have the time and patience, go for it....if not, find an alternate means of travel. I believe MAC flights also only take you to the first point of entry in the US. You need to keep that in mind when planning the rest of your transportation to your final destination. Will you grab a commercial flight the rest of the way? Rent a car? Have family come get you? Have it all planned out including alternate ideas. MAC flights may only get you so close, and the rest of the plan is yours to figure out.<br />
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Something interesting I have found when friends have traveled from Germany, is that every plane can be different. Do you know the G5s have space sometimes? Yes, I know it's a $50 million aircraft! Yes, I recently read about a military wife who rode a G5 plane from Korea to the US....plush leather seats and personal service usually reserved for generals. How she snagged that, I don't know. I owuld post the link with her happy smiling child...but I can't find it, sorry! Coming out of Ramstein, be prepared for flights loaded with wounded going back stateside...some in fairly grave condition. I had a friend who passed on one of those flights, because she was afraid to expose her children to so many injured soldiers. I am not saying that was right or wrong, just something to think about when accepting a flight or not. You may even have a flight with NO SEATS. Yes, I had a friend fly on a military craft that didn't have any, and there must have been many veteran Space Aers on the flight, as they rolled out their sleeping bags and hung out using their pillows as luggage! <br />
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One more resource to throw your way, be sure to check out the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Space-A-Travel/184539684893842">AMC's Space A Facebook page</a>. It's a great resource and what a great way to get your questions answered should you have any. If anyone has any other sites or stories to share, please do so below. I would love to hear them!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-51406081772087937632011-07-27T19:49:00.001+02:002011-07-27T19:52:32.709+02:00The Ubiquitous German Stau and what to do about it!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EtmMsjvdLB4/TjBPoGzRfyI/AAAAAAAACbw/ladyzXfC-JQ/s1600/stau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EtmMsjvdLB4/TjBPoGzRfyI/AAAAAAAACbw/ladyzXfC-JQ/s320/stau.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>After this past weekend, I realized I am spoiled. I am spoiled because I live in a semi-rural area in Belgium where the biggest gridlock I see is trying to get into the front gate of the base....or perhaps on the dumb occasion I decide to drive to Brussels on the ringroad during rush hour. Imagine my dismay when I saw the brake lights this past week on a German autobahn going South. Oh crap, how could I totally forget the life of a German autobahn driver? Ooops, I used to be so on top of this stuff when I lived here...out of sight out of mind I guess! I read in this month's <a href="http://www.adac.de/produkte/buecher_magazine/default.aspx">ADAC magazine</a> (ADAC runs something similar to the American AAA motorists' program) that in 2010 there were 185,000 staus with a total length of 400,000 kilometer. To put that in perspective, this length would get you to the moon at least! And why all this stau stuff and what can you do to help yourself?<span class="fullpost"><br />
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First of all, like many places in the world, we are building more cars than we have the capacity to handle. Go to any Chinese city these days and see hosts of shiny blue BMWs and sleek Mercedes not moving instead of the ubiquotous bicycles that fanned across the nation just a few years ago. The same is going on in Europe, in particular Germany that sits in the middle of everything. There just isn't enough autobahn capacity to handle all the car traffic, period. I also read that the German authorities are looking at widening the autobahn lanes, not by building yet another lane, but by using what's already there...the break down lanes. Believe it or not, there are cameras all up and down the autobahns, and those folks watching these cameras can immediately see if there is a breakdown or other hinderance in that lane, and if it's clear for a certain stretch, lights would flash, letting drivers know that this is now an open lane. Yes, that's the plan, and yes, they'd have to install that light system. I have no idea when and if it will be implemented, so don't ask me. I am just parroting what I just read the plan seems to be. Of course they gave it a good solid German name too these "new lanes", "Temporaraere Seitenstreifenfreigabe" or just TSF for short.<br />
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So here we are back to the problem. What can you do about these staus? Honestly, there are a few things you can do before you ever hit the road. <br />
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-Check <a href="http://www.schulferien.org/">Schulferien</a> before you travel! This site lists the various school holidays of German schoolkids by region. The German states try to stagger their vacation time, so that not all German kids are streaming South or wherever they are going, all at the same time. Nifty, huh? Now instead of millions, you may only have thousands...but still, it's too many. Please don't even think of traveling on a German autobahn at the front or back end of these holidays...just don't torture yourself like that or even your family.<br />
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-Try not to leave on a Friday or come back on a Sunday or vice versa. Try to stagger your own holiday if you can and leave during the week, the closer you can to Wednesday is best. I realize some vacation rentals are not set up for that, so find another one that is.<br />
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-Consider leaving in the middle of the night. Believe it or not, there really is less traffic at those times.<br />
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-Check <a href="http://www.verkehrsinformation.de/">Staumeldungen</a> with up-to-the minute traffic updates. Keep your German radio on. You will hear some God awful airhorn noise through the radio every hour on the hour, which actually will interrupt a CD or even cassette tape you are playing (at least in a German car) and give you the latest stau information via a person quickly running through all the German staus of note (for that radio station's region). Many times, this person will talk incredibly fast for English speakers, but listen to key cities and also the autobahn designations, such as A8, A81 or the like...they won't say North or South like I blogged about before, but they will tell you which direction by signifying a city direction. So they'll say "A8 Richtung Stuttgart" which means on the A8 Autobahn going North if you haven't hit Stuttgart yet, as the A8 comes from the direction of Munich....they'll even tell you how long the stau is and sometimes you'll hear the word "zwischen" which means between or "Kreuzung" which means a crossing of one autobahn over another...listen to what cities or towns they mention...those are the exits. It may take some practice, but you'll get the hang of it. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost">-If you have a smartphone, then download the <a href="http://stau-mobil.softonic.de/iphone">Stau Mobil App</a>, which is free. You'll see what's going on without having to wait for anyone to tell you. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost">-AFN radio also tries to mention the major ones when they hear about them, plus I think they encourage their listeners to call in. Of course if you have a GPS that handles gridlock for you, by all means use it and its bypass recommendations. ADAC Magazine also mentions that the majority of the time, you are better of staying on the autobahn rather than leaving it...unless it's a really bad one, such as after an accident that closes down all lanes...sometimes in both directions!<br />
<br />
If you are an ADAC member, you can look for ADAC yellow marked vehicles....the autobahn angels I call them. I've seen them pull all kinds of spare parts out of their hatches! Did you know they also have fun stuff for kids, food and water too for ADAC members? If you are really stuck, don't hesitate to call them if you have ADAC roadside asssistance, even if it is to request any of these routine-sounding items. You are paying for the service.<br />
<br />
Do you have any tips you'd like to share about avoiding staus and also how to deal with one when you're in it? Honestly, I have great memories of a pick-up frisbee game on a stau to Austria many years ago...I think we were at a standstill for about four hours, but I got to know my fellow stau companions and had a great time while we dealt with the delay. If that would happen today, with all the hurry up and wait we do these days, I don't know if I could handle that. It ended up being a rockslide, and thankfully no one was hurt. Let's hear your stories!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-55269434593533691852011-07-18T15:21:00.002+02:002011-07-18T15:25:12.125+02:00Flying your pet to Europe using a military rotator (MAC) flight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Feo5EkrQnGk/TiQzZ_RlohI/AAAAAAAACbs/VFNXQT6Ty4g/s1600/pug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Feo5EkrQnGk/TiQzZ_RlohI/AAAAAAAACbs/VFNXQT6Ty4g/s320/pug.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>You have <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2008/08/moving-and-flying-with-pets.html">heard me blog about flying pets overseas</a> and the prep involved. But earlier this year, I had a reader contact me about flying overseas on a military rotator flight with their doggie and what did I know about that. I didn't admit I was a total neophyte, nor did I give her any information she could use about pets and military flights.....honestly, I didn't think pets could even fly on MAC flights, PCS or no PCS. Glad I kept my mouth shut, because thanks to Lee, she got back to me as promised with how the experience went for her and her cute little pug. Here is Reggie's story and how you can use the military to fly your pet to Germany. <span class="fullpost"><br />
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<i>As promised, I wanted to get back to you about our experience flying our dog overseas to Germany via the Patriot Express (the AMC Rotator). We left BWI airport the night Sunday, 10 July, and arrived at Ramstein AB at noon on Monday, 11 July. We're now settled in at our new duty location and I'm relieved to say everything went well! However, there are a few things I would recommend to others preparing to PCS overseas with a pet:<br />
<br />
* <b>Plan ahead - way ahead.</b> As I wrote to you before, my husband scheduled our flight on the Patriot Express roughly 10 weeks prior to our PCS date, and we got the </i><i>very last pet slot on the plane. I believe there are ten pet slots per rotator flight (not counting pets that can travel in cabin under the seat), and during heavy PCS seasons (like summer), they book out quickly. So once you get orders, one of your first priorities should be working with TMO (or your branch's counterpart) to initiate your reservation and request a pet slot.<br />
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<b>*</b> If you are taking the Patriot Express during heat or cold with a snub-nosed dog (pug, boston terrier, etc.) <b>consider alternatives to connecting flights</b>. If time allows and the distance is not too great, consider driving or taking a train. We PCSed from the panhandle of Florida which is very hot and humid in July. Our dog, Reggie, is a nine year old pug, and we could not find any commercial carrier in our area that would be willing to transport him. Most have an embargo on snub-nosed breeds during summer months and extreme cold temperatures, and some carriers no longer take any dogs at all in the summer. The Patriot Express does not have these embargoes, as the pets are in a climate controlled area, but getting Reggie to BWI was becoming </i><i>very problematic. However, since we have family nearby, we opted to drive up and stay with family along the way, and then we shipped our car directly from the Port of Baltimore. It was a lot of time in the car, but it was much easier than the hassle of flying him in the summer.<br />
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* <b>Go through a military veterinary clinic</b> if at all possible for your International Health Certificate (the one you can get up to four months out) and your Health Certificate (the one you must get within 10 days of flight). If a military veterinarian signs off on the forms, you are exempt from getting the USDA stamps on your documentation, which saves a lot of time and hassle. However, when you make your appointment, be sure to <b>confirm there is an active duty veterinarian on site</b> who can sign the form. Because whenwe left our AFB in Florida greater than ten days before our flight out, we had to get Reggie seen by a military vet en route. Four weeks before we left, I called several military installations in the Baltimore/Washington area, thinking they could see him - but they couldn't. Most did not have an active duty veterinarian on site (they are frequently deployed during times of combat to serve as public health officers), and those that did had very limited clinic days/hours. Fortunately, I was able to get him in at the Shaw AFB vet clinic, and although it meant four hours round trip in the car, it was still faster and easier than taking him to a civilian vet and dealing with the USDA stamp process.<br />
<br />
<b>* Make sure all signatures are in a color other than black</b>. Military veterinarians generally know this, but civilian vets might not. After I obtained the International Health Certificate, I had to go back to my civilian vet and get a new rabies certificate and immunization record because they were signed in black ink. Had I known, I could have requested this from the start and saved myself a trip. (Note from LLMW, I did not know this....something I need to follow up on).<br />
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<b>* Make sure your pet's microchip number is on your rabies certificate and immunization record</b>. It does not have to be printed on the paperwork - you can hand-write it in if necessary (I did, without any problems).<br />
<br />
<b>* Check - and double check - your pet's documentation before you leave the clinic</b>. I cannot stress this enough - if there are any errors with the paperwork, your pet can be refused on the flight. When I obtained our health certificate, I noticed that the batch number of the rabies vaccine was incorrectly entered, and date of the certificate was in MM/DD/YY format but my dog's birthdate was in DD/MM/YY format. I pointed this out and requested that they reprint the certificate with the correct batch number and write out both dates (i.e., 5 July 2011 and 10 November 2001) in order to cut down on any confusion. I know the clerk thought I was being anal-retentive and wasn't too happy with me, but these are the kind of small errors that can cause a real problem later.<br />
<br />
* <b>Bring multiple copies of your pet's documentation</b> (health certificates, rabies certificate, immunization record, etc.). I had to give a copy to the agent at BWI as well as the German customs officer at Ramstein AB, and a copy was taped to Reggie's crate. Had we had connecting flights, I'm sure each carrier would have needed copies as well. By having multiple copies with me, it saved time (agents didn't have to make copies) and I was able to keep the originals with me at all times.<br />
<br />
<b>* Get your pet a properly-sized crate in advance and let your him/her use it</b>. There are strict rules about crates for international flights (size, ventilation, etc.), so measure your pet carefully to make sure you get the right size. (I used <a href="http://pettravelstore.com/categories/Pet-Crates-%26-Accessories/Pet-Crates">the following site</a> for information on measurements and crate requirements. I'm not endorsing them as a vendor, as I didn't buy my crate from them, but the info is helpful.) Consider having your pet sleep in the crate for a week or two prior to the flight, so s/he can get used to it. Flying is stressful for pets, so getting them used to their crate means they will at least have a familiar place to stay during the flight. You may also want to include something like an old shirt or blanket that you've used and that smells like you - this may also be comforting for them. We also bought a <a href="http://www.discount-pet-superstore.com/dog_crates/cage_crate_fan.htm">clip-on fan</a> to help with ventilation, since Reggie is a pug. I don't know if it helped him, but it reduced MY anxiety knowing he had it! :)<br />
<br />
There's a nice brochure about the Patriot Express <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/amctravel/travelprograms.asp">at this web site</a>: (click on "Patriot Express Brochure"), and one about shipping your pet <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110415-049.pdf">here</a>. I would definitely recommend reviewing these prior to the flight. <br />
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Throughout the process, I told my friends and family that getting Reggie to Germany was more complicated and time-consuming than it was for my children - and I wasn't really joking either. However, if you start early and are proactive and organized, it makes for smooth traveling later. I hope your readers find this information helpful, and as always, thanks for the service you provide us military spouses. Were it not for your blog, I would not have been </i><i>nearly as well prepared for our move, and I am so grateful I discovered it!</i><br />
<br />
Thank you Lee for taking the time to report back on your experience! If any of my other readers would like to share any experiences, pet or otherwise, just let me know! My goal is always to share information here, whether it comes from me or one of our fellow readers!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-41225035024455155932011-07-12T11:07:00.000+02:002011-07-12T11:07:14.804+02:00Have you joined me on Facebook yet?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lb4RRSrsOjk/ThwOppmPRkI/AAAAAAAACbo/Br_qdMURuDI/s1600/263996_230159403691015_100000908709908_702114_352057_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lb4RRSrsOjk/ThwOppmPRkI/AAAAAAAACbo/Br_qdMURuDI/s320/263996_230159403691015_100000908709908_702114_352057_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front of Linderhof Schloss yesterday.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hello all....well, I've discarded yet another new blog design. My father keeps telling me to take the time now to make sure it's exactly what I want...but of course I want things....NOW...or yesterday. You know how it goes. So, in the meantime, while I dicker around with something I don't know much about and drive myself more into some kind of newfound frustration when I should be on vacation...and now Oh Lord, I'm rhyming...never a good sign....I'll have to leave you with something in the interim! I wanted to ask if you are on Facebook?<span class="fullpost"><br />
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I know there may be a few of you (like I used to be) resistant to even be on Facebook. Others may not have ventured that way. In the interest of continuing what we talk about here...and discuss...we have some tips being bantered back and forth on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Lessons-of-a-Military-Wife/113796448681344">Life Lessons of a Military Wife Facebook page</a>. How much should you be tipping in Germany? Especially hairdressers? How about using those VAT forms to get huge discounts on your lodging, not just on your travels later but also after your fresh arrival in Germany. It's extra money in your pocket! A friend is also having trouble registering her car now that she's stateside...find out an easy way to avoid this on the Facebook page.<br />
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And the best part? Is in the bottom left, you should see all the other great military spouse, travel and other interesting Facebook Groups I have subscribed to. There are some really great support groups and groups that can help you with any question you may have under the sun. There are even pages supported by the different military support elements as well, so get an official answer without messing with email and putting your personal information out there. Even the military paycheck people, DFAS, have a Facebook page.<br />
<br />
Anyway, thought I would throw that out there! We are still "vacationing" down in Bavaria with an internet connection that is more fickle than I ever was when I was younger....yes, it's that bad...and frustrating! I'm working on a map of fun things to do in the Garmisch/Oberammergau area..not the typical stuff that the Edelweiss giftshop/tour people recommend but other stuff too...I'll let you know when that's online. The kids are determined to swim in every Alpine Lake in the area...me, typical mom holds her breath as they dive down and don't appear for awhile...some of these lakes are DEEP and murky. Many do have nice beaches and docks, along with cafes and restaurants....entry to the swimming area for nominal fees, so it's not like you are totally out there in the wilderness! There are also plenty of hiking and biking trails radiating out in all directions...something for everyone!<br />
<br />
I hope everyone is able to take some time off this summer and is enjoying family time as well! See you next week when I have a better connection online and look for me to hopefully say something useful next week over at <a href="http://militarymomtalkradio.wordpress.com/">Military Moms Talk Radio</a>!<br />
</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-19598473456505986932011-07-09T07:00:00.000+02:002011-07-09T07:00:06.252+02:00Bringing your iphone (or android) to Europe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-znoIKU4Tun0/ThLa0TK1mAI/AAAAAAAACbk/3OcLWT0Maws/s1600/iphone4_hero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-znoIKU4Tun0/ThLa0TK1mAI/AAAAAAAACbk/3OcLWT0Maws/s1600/iphone4_hero.jpg" /></a></div>It was inevitable. Either you are pegged to go on a business trip somewhere in Europe, moving overseas or will be taking a little vacation across the big pond. I've gotten a bit of mail from folks asking if they should bring their iphone or not and what pitfalls there might be. First, you might want <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2010/09/mobile-phone-choices-while-stationed-in.html">to read my general article on cell phones overseas in Europe</a>. There are quite a few differences from being stateside. The biggest being that we use SIM cards over here, so if your iphone is <a href="http://www.allinterview.com/showanswers/10973.html">CDMA technology</a>, you are hosed...partly....although you should still be able to use it in the wi-fi mode, along with any ipod touch you may bring along. Note to self, in today's global economy, don't bother getting a CDMA cell phone as the Americans are the only major players still using it! Here are some things on making the transition smooth with your iphone when coming over here.<span class="fullpost"><br />
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Check with your provider and find out what the roaming charges are. If you are only coming over for awhile, then you'll keep your cell phone plan at home....literally. Most providers have outrageous international roaming charges, but to do your due diligence, just find out what they are. We've all heard about <a href="http://mobilesyrup.com/2011/03/04/vancouver-woman-racks-up-37k-cellphone-bill-while-visiting-egypt/">the lady with the almost $40,000 roaming cell phone charge</a> and don't want to be in her shoes!<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="fullpost">Make sure you TURN OFF the roaming feature before you even begin your journey and get on that plane! Even if you don't use the phone, you may be still charged data fees (which are higher) when your apps decide to do their updating and background work.</span></li>
<span class="fullpost">
<li>The next step would be to put it in "Airplane Mode" and only switch that off when you plan to use it. It's an extra safety net. It will basically turn your iphone into an itouch and allow you to use any nearby wi-fi networks.</li>
<li>Turn "Fetch New Data" OFF in all your apps. You also don't want your email and contacts to constantly try to sync. To turn off the Auto-Check functionality tap on Settings, then Fetch New Data, change Push to “OFF” and Select to Fetch Manually.</li>
<li>You might want to reset your Usage Tracker to Zero tap on Settings. Then General, Usage and then Reset. This way, you'll be able to track your exact usage. </li>
</span></ul><span class="fullpost"><br />
If for some reason, let's say you are coming from the UK and your carrier has some kind of partnership or lower roaming fees with a certain provider on the mainland, turn off the automatic feature setting when searching for a Carrier, under your iphone Settings Menu. That way, if there are multiple carriers operating in an area, you can choose which one you want to connect to.<br />
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Make sure you have the <a href="http://www.jiwire.com/iphone">Free Wi-fi finder app</a> on your iphone and also have the offline database already uploaded on your iphone ahead of time, so you can check it out offline. It doesn't list all the free wi-fi hotspots in Europe but many of them are there. More keep getting added from folks like me who discover free wi-fi in our travels. Also know that many coffee shops, parks in Paris, hotel lobbies and other public places have free wi-fi. I don't know if it's standard Europe-wide but every McDonald's I've been in has free wi-fi. Don't discount hospitals and other public buildings either. I even went to a comedy show in Amsterdam, <a href="http://www.boomchicago.nl/">Boom Chicago</a>...granted, the free wi-fi was for us to use Facebook and Twitter as we were waiting for the show to start...and during the show to make fun of some guy's Facebook page they had singled out of the audience, but hey, I could still check my stuff while I was in there! I've even found free wi-fi in some stores, especially bookstores.<br />
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Most of the US bases or posts, even the NATO bases have wi-fi hotspots. All over Germany, in a pinch, I've paid the $5 for access at the onpost foodcourts, which is good for one week typically at that price (credit card needed). Many of the USOs will have free wi-fi. Be sure you note which communities have them (not all do unfortunately). Here in SHAPE, Belgium you'll find free wi-fi at the SHAPE Library, the Rendezvous Cafe next to the GB Shopping Center and also at the SHAPE Club. Be sure to also look online at locations you'll be visiting and see if you can locate any that way. As long as the wi-fi is free, you can use your iphone or itouch for free at those hotspots. Now what if you want more options when it comes to wi-fi?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">There is an alternative out there if you strictly want to use your iphone with wi-fi...ANYWHERE in Europe..anywhere with cell phone tower access that is. Even if your phone is still locked, you should be able to use it in wi-fi mode. There's a little device you can rent, and if you are over here for a longer period, it will pay for itself many times over! It's called <a href="http://www.tepwireless.com/">Tep Pocket Wifi</a> and provides wireless internet wherever you go. They can even deliver it to your hotel or wherever you'll be on the mainland. It works just like a wi-fi hotspot, but it's personal and fits in your pocket. Not only can you use it with your smartphone but also with your laptop and tablet PC. Up to five devices can share the hotspot and you get reliable 3G coverage where available. Who said Europe was backwards when it comes to technology? Hey, we've got the high speed Germans who like to be at or near the forefront, so you know we are going to have good options.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> <br />
Be sure to download the app <a href="http://www.textplus.com/">TextPlus</a>. This app will give you a free stateside phone number where you will be able to send and receive FREE text messages. With the free version, you can send up to 20 free texts a day. If you want to send more or would like to do group texts (oh that sounds dirty doesn't it?) where you can send one text out to multiple people, then upgrade for around a dollar or so to the Silver or Gold version. Please remember that many of the apps I'm mentioning are available in the android market too!<br />
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When I first bought my iphone, second-hand mind you...I used it for an entire week just via wi-fi while I waited for my SIM card to arrive. One great thing about being around soldiers...a lot of soldiers have been looking to upgrade to the iphone 4, so want to get rid of their 3s...I can see the same thing happening when the next version comes out....so, if you are near a barracks or some soldiers, get the word out that you have QUICK CASH for their used iphones!<br />
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Now, if you are coming over here for a longer time period and would like to use the cell phone part of your iphone or handy as it's called over here, you're going to need it to be unlocked. If you are under contract in the US with a carrier there, they are obligated by law to unlock your phone at the two year mark. It's funny, but most cell phones over here, to include the iphone are sold UNLOCKED. We don't have all these issues of AT&T and other carriers hogging all the prime cell phones and iphones. We are also a few years ahead of the US in general with cell phone technology. Why that is, I just don't know. Maybe one of you can explain it to me, cause I'd sure like to know...it's been that way ever since I can remember...the newest models always come to Europe first...then the US...hmmmmm.<br />
<br />
Anyway, SIM cards are sold like candy over here. You can find them at most electronic stores, bookstores and even convenience stores. Many of us over here don't have cell phone plans but buy minutes as we need them. Cell phone plans tend to be a lot more expensive over here and are hard to get out of. The average European will have whatever cell phone, which they bought unlocked and then buy the SIM card w/minutes separately. I have SIM cards for every European country I typically travel to (along with their in country cell phone numbers). Again, you can only exercise this option if your cell phone is UNLOCKED!<br />
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I've noticed in Germany, not all carriers reach all towns for some reason, so I always recommend people check their new area as well as what carrier their spouse might have for their military issued cell phone. Many military units have iphones and blackberries they give to their key leaders. If you use your own personal cell phone, most folks will then add minutes online through their carrier or buy the little tickets at the checkout. These tickets will give them a code on their store receipt, which they then punch into their cell phone to reflect the new purchased amount. You have a whole year to use up those purchased minutes. These minutes cover voice and text messaging. Many will even let you upload minutes thru Paypal or your local bank account too.<br />
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Now for those who want a bit more, then buy a SIM card through a carrier that offers it with data....usually 2 GB limit per month. Here in Belgium, I use <a href="http://mobilevikings.com/referral/LzquaVWcOSWEDltWRsQJoKFOSxUVWhOc/">Mobile Vikings</a>. How do you know you went over your data limit? Just by a gentle reminder. Like everything here in Belgium, things are slow and not taken too seriously. The only catch with this is that voice calls are more expensive than usual. In that case, I mostly end up text messaging and using the data portion. It offers roaming throughout the continent, but since those fees are a bit higher (even when receiving calls which are typically free with options, not data), I end up using my supercheap prepaid regular phone for use outside of Belgium for my voice calls. Now, I still access free wi-fi on my iphone where available and end up carrying both with me on my travels. Or, I'll just switch out the SIM card for an in-country one....I hope that makes sense!<br />
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If you will be in Germany at least 30 days and want a SIM card (and its respective German cell phone number) that will handle data and the use of your smartphone, check out <a href="http://www.fyve.de/">FYVE</a> and <a href="http://smartmobil.de/">Smartmobil </a>where you can get these services without a contract. You will need a German address for these choices though and will need an UNLOCKED device.</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">If you have extra money to throw away and the thought of purchasing a SIM card in a foreign country scares you....or maybe you are one of those people who likes to travel but have everything set in place before you go, then go with <a href="http://intouchsmartcards.com/Smart_Free.htm">Smart Free to purchase a European SIM card</a>. It's expensive, I'm not going to lie...more than I would pay, but again, it gives peace of mind BEFORE you leave. That's why I am mentioning it here! I've also known a few business people who were happy with <a href="http://www.telestial.com/view_product.php?ID=LSIM-DE01">Telestial</a>. </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
One more thing...there is one more option for you if you like to fly by the seat of your pants...okay, so the other end of the spectrum then! As long as you are tech savvy or know someone who is, then this is for you! I've found yet again, that there are many soldiers out there who have mastered the <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5627730/what_is_jailbreaking_an_iphone.html">art of jailbreaking iphones</a>, and just getting the word out that you have one that you want jailbroken, can really free up your choices in Europe if your phone is NOT unlocked. To indulge in all these goodies, your iphone has to be both UNLOCKED and JAILBROKEN. <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/how-to-take-you/">Read this article here for the how-to on using your iphone in Europe after the jailbreaking process.</a></span><br />
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So now what? Well, there are a whole lot of apps that can be a huge help in your travels throughout Europe. But, since I'm done for today, I will end here and blog more about those choices later!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-67399668503130691762011-07-07T07:00:00.002+02:002011-07-07T07:00:06.035+02:00Gifting a Word Collage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FP_z4vPzZi0/ThLPGB6h96I/AAAAAAAACbg/c37Zt7iP7iE/s1600/Picture-2-150x150.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FP_z4vPzZi0/ThLPGB6h96I/AAAAAAAACbg/c37Zt7iP7iE/s1600/Picture-2-150x150.png" /></a></div>Here's a great idea from Tiffany...something that I've never thought of. Read on...<br />
<span class="fullpost"><br />
<i>Recently, my husband celebrated a (rather) milestone birthday and I wanted to commemorate with family and friends - but with everyone around the world, I was stuck.<br />
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Then I stumbled upon word collages - what a great gift for a writer to give her husband. And a great way to incorporate love from everyone. I had family and friends send me a word (the total equaled his number of years) to describe him or their relationship with him. He was touched.<br />
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Word collages are great for our military spouse life because they are inexpensive, special and unique. Imagine you have a retirement to attend. What do you give the retiree, or the spouse, to commemorate such service - and not spend an arm and a leg? Or spouse club going away parties? Or little morale gifts?<br />
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Here are my tips for word collages in the military life:<br />
- Incorporate jargon. You know those silly acronyms and words that somehow become part of our vocabulary. Word collages are a great place to celebrate the weird language we have learned - and the intricacies of a field or specialty.<br />
- Don't forget to include some of the jokes, quotes, rules and overused phrases among the guys or girls in your community. I would avoid anything too offensive, but those slightly off-color jokes can bring back lots of memories.<br />
- If you are commemorating a whole career, make sure you think back to the early days. Were there special schools or trainings? Deployments? Include words from all his or experiences. (You might need a spouse to help with this one!)<br />
- Include a list of duty stations, zip codes or bases in the collage. (My friend made one of all the street names of their former addresses. Too cute.)<br />
- The best word collages have a whole mix of words. Use names of tools, uniforms or equipment. Use verbs regarding tactics or missions. Use commands and lyrics. Use places and addresses. Use adjectives or adverbs to describe certain experiences.<br />
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If you want more tips, <a href="http://tiffanysilverberg.com/2011/02/word-collages-writing-in-the-real-world">come on over to my website</a>. I have lots of ideas!<br />
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Have you ever created a word collage? How was it received?</i></span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">Thanks Tiffanie for the neat idea! <i><br />
</i></span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-47281043180352061672011-07-04T11:07:00.000+02:002011-07-04T11:07:56.656+02:00Settling in to our Bavarian Cottage this 4th of July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zfSrCVWRC4o/ThGA-haGxmI/AAAAAAAACbc/VZ-4i7wgxyQ/s1600/house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zfSrCVWRC4o/ThGA-haGxmI/AAAAAAAACbc/VZ-4i7wgxyQ/s1600/house.jpg" /></a></div>Finally made it...two hours after we intented due to numerous detours around mountains and also a lake to get to our destination in Bavaria. I think every Bavarian town in our direction was having a fest or parade as we tried to make our way down here. After a full night's rest, we are enjoying the brilliant sunshine and getting used to the slight slant in the floor of our cottage. It's funny how your brain tells you one thing, and your feet are acting like they are DRUNK! But it is also funny how your brain compensates or overcompensates and makes your brain think right side up again in spite of what you are seeing. I even stopped putting things on the window ledge in the kitchen, knowing that they will roll right off of there!<br />
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Coming back to Germany, the place of my birth...and the place we lived before moving to Belgium...I feel like I came home. After our big Bavarian meal of schnitzels, dumplings, Schweinehaxen (pigs' knuckles) and veal cutlets with mushrooms in a creamy sauce, we think we all died and went somewhere otherwordly last night! The food is that good! It's even cheaper than eating out in Belgium, with hefty portions...but alas, we obviously can't do this every day, cause for a family of four, you're still going to pay about 65 euros for a meal </span><span class="fullpost">(gulp, about $95) </span><span class="fullpost">and have to grow another stomach to accomodate the big loads going in!<br />
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Before we made it down here though, a wonderful friend of mine offered up her home to us in Stuttgart, to kind of break up the drive...it's about six hours driving comfortably and taking into account a few German staus (gridlock) on the autobahns, we made it the second day...boy, had I forgotten that little deal about driving in Germany...the staus!!! Big tip here, if you are driving for a longer distance on any of the autobahns, please <a href="http://www.schulferien.org/">check the German school calendar for your region of Germany</a>...it is almost impossible to get anywhere on the autobahn when those periods start and end, so be mindful of those dates...also the big German holidays too are listed on that site too (unfortunately, that's the only part in English right now).<br />
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Anyway, so we spent a day of being nostalgic and driving by and checking out all our old haunts in Stuttgart. As we walked into the building where I used to work, my younger son said, "yep, it smells the same". The commissary on Patch looks exactly the same...a bit rundown as always...the big talked about foodcourt on Patch is still non-existent, although they say it is planned to open in July (isn't that...now?) after many construction delays. Over on Panzer, we noticed that the foodcourt there has been spiffed up a bit, and in addition to Charley's Steakhouse, Popeye's, Anthony's Pizza and Sehne Bakery, they have added a Burger King. Most of the small mall shops (there are only a handful) are still the same, although it looks like there is some kind of t-shirt or clothing shop that wasn't there before at the PX entrance. The PX has revamped its image a bit, and I love that they expanded the electronics and book sections, although the clothes still look like the same tired old fashion they had before....we'll take the change in small bites though, right?<br />
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So, not much else on the agenda at the moment. We'll do a little sightseeing but mostly relaxing and enjoying the mountain air...maybe do some hiking...one of the two gorges in the area, we have not ever hiked. The kids are glad we brought the cat, and I can already see where he has picked out his spot, right by the window where he can see that bird's nest and the fountain out back. He seems to have no problems with the lean at all.<br />
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I just saw the new banner for my blog re-design and am so happy with it! I did tell the designer (okay, so she is my stepmom, but she does do this professionally) to flesh out my cartoon character a bit, cause right now, if I were to turn sideways, I would disappear. I am NOT that skinny, and I need to have some reality going on here! If any of you have ever migrated a blog from blogger to a wordpress platform and a new site, I would love to hear what your biggest trip up was..and NO, not to laugh at you but to LEARN from you! I am a bit worried when it will come to migrating the old posts...isn't it funny how attached we get to stuff that isn't even real?!! <br />
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As I sit here thinking about the 4th of July and what it means, I am a bit sad...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/reality-of-life-when-husbands-at-war/2011/06/30/AG6YGfsH_story.html">I read an article yesterday about this lady</a>. And it made me sad.....although she seems to have a great support network, no one knows the outright terror and worry that she goes through on a daily basis. Sometimes the fear of the unknown can be worse than any known fear. Haven't you noticed that before?...so she will sit...and wait....and keep herself busy, cause that is what you do so you don't dwell on things. If you are currently going through a deployment and need some encouragement, please <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2008/04/question-how-do-i-deal-with-no-sleep.html">make sure you read this</a>.<br />
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I know my military readers will think about their loved ones in harm's way this 4th of July, just because their communities are so deeply immersed in the thick of this deployment stuff. If you are civilian, I appreciate you coming by this blog and hopefully others and thinking of a deeper meaning of today too. I am thinking too of all the friends we currently have in harm's way and will pray for their safety today and also pray today that they get a good taste of Americana....whether it is an American flag gently flying in the breeze...a slew of sparklers being lit tonight and reminding them of their childhood back in the USA...or perhaps a hearty slice of American apple pie with ice cream. I don't know...I don't know what they will all do downrange today, but I will be thinking of them more than myself today...I'm going to make a point of it...and will send some positive email downrange to let them know I am thinking of them on this special day. If you've got the time, please do the same. Yes, it's great to celebrate with family and friends, and I personally have some awesome 4th of July BBQ and fun memories, but let's remember why we are even able to freely celebrate as we do.<br />
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Well, let me get going. I thought I'd run to the bakery down the street to give everyone a choice of fresh rolls and pastries this morning. Mind you, this will not happen every morning...although many German families do their bakery shopping EVERY morning...this family does not (again, thinking of the money and weight factors).....and then we'll see what else the day will bring. What will you be doing today?</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-51403175308350731222011-07-01T14:52:00.000+02:002011-07-01T14:52:42.133+02:00What's this jewelry swap business?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g9mF9zRYjD8/Tg3DCzHESCI/AAAAAAAACbY/-L1LgULuzC0/s1600/pearls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g9mF9zRYjD8/Tg3DCzHESCI/AAAAAAAACbY/-L1LgULuzC0/s320/pearls.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Hmmm...I received this interesting invite, and my first thought was WOWWWW, what a great idea! I get to go shopping for cool jewelry without any money...and have fun....and meet new people....and have fun.....oh, I said that already. Here's an idea for you and your friends, especially if you are tired of BUNCO or old chips &; dip nights or forays to the movie together. Check this out....<br />
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So I had this friend who sent me this invite:<br />
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"Are you like me…do you have a drawer full of costume or silver jewelry and accessories that seemed like a good idea at the time? Well, you know the saying…one woman’s clutter is another woman’s treasure!<br />
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Discover new favorites at our First Annual Jewelry and Accessory Swap and Get Together!!!<br />
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For each item you bring in you will receive one token allowing you to choose from among the treasures of the other guests. Any items remaining will be donated to a local thrift store.<br />
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Just to clarify, all remaining items will be donated. Dollar value of items will not be taken into consideration. It will be a one-for-one swap. It is possible you will leave with fewer items than you brought. This swap is for fun!"<br />
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I've seen this concept done for kids toys (all in great condition) but never for jewelry. Participants were also supposed to bring a dish to share. That is up my alley too...minimal prep and food-making for the host, everyone gets to be a part of it....sounds like a winner.<br />
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Here is the list of swappable items my friend listed:<br />
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*Reading glasses you’ve “outgrown”<br />
*scarves<br />
*belts<br />
*all kinds of sturdy jewelry<br />
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So did I go? Not this time around due to another commitment, but I had to agonize and hear about all the great things others picked up at this event...how's that for feeling left out? You can bet I'll be first at the door for the next one...you see, I am partial to scarves and necklaces and those two items are the first things I look for in my travels and when discovering a new shop around here.<br />
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Do you have any great ideas of similar ideas or things that can be fun for a group of ladies?<br />
</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-1597456678905936232011-06-25T07:00:00.000+02:002011-06-25T07:00:02.231+02:00Gonna be out of commission for about a week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-61j_ht-tSFw/Tf73h01DOCI/AAAAAAAACbU/M5iDrideiqE/s1600/p0304028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-61j_ht-tSFw/Tf73h01DOCI/AAAAAAAACbU/M5iDrideiqE/s320/p0304028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>No, just wanted to reassure you that I am not dead and that I did not forget how to use the internet or write. I have been exploring options on how to make this blog better....whole new design, location...everything under the sun. That takes time. I don't have time at the moment to do that AND write....so I have taken a short break from writing. Please forgive me....<span class="fullpost"><br />
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Be sure to check some of my favorite bloggers and what they are up to on the bottom left of this page. It seems like a lot of folks have been starting their summer travels, so I am excited to hear what everyone is up to!<br />
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I will see you soon with more content, more thoughts on living overseas....got some stuff in the works that I hope you will find interesting! Ciao for now (oh crap, it's a rhyme)!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-78464869577399569672011-06-21T07:00:00.008+02:002011-06-21T07:00:00.764+02:00Video: Vent day in EuropeWell, I finally went and did it...I vented. I vented about not being home, in the US of A. Sure, it's great being over here. But sometimes, things just get to you and with a slew of late night cookies to make, this is what I had to say.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yWu4XD335Dw" width="300"></iframe></span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-32409394010832802292011-06-19T07:00:00.013+02:002011-06-19T07:00:03.326+02:00Guest post: Stateside move with three little ones and a hyperactive dog<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jH3J11f2PKU/Tez9iUI7TZI/AAAAAAAACa0/zfz8ueafcZY/s1600/juggling_mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jH3J11f2PKU/Tez9iUI7TZI/AAAAAAAACa0/zfz8ueafcZY/s1600/juggling_mom.jpg" /></a>Lauren is an Army wife of seven years and mother to three kids (4 and under). Her website <a href="http://www.militarymoveit.com/" target="_blank">www.militarymoveit.com</a> and <a href="http://www.militarymoveit.com/blog">her blog</a> are her hobby and a sanity check from her three-ring circus. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="fullpost"> <br />
In about three weeks we will take off and move to Ft. Benning, GA. For my husband and me the location is very welcome, but like most people, getting from point A to point B will be a real pain. We have 3 kids 4 years old and under, 2 cars and 1 hyperactive dog. Just to complicate things a bit more we are buying a newly built house at Ft. Benning (closing long distance) and renting out the one we currently live in. To add to the fun our 2 year old is potty training – or more like potty protesting- and our 1 year old just went mobile while getting in about 10 teeth at once… no exaggeration. This is going to mean lots of juggling.<br />
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This is nothing in comparison to an OCONUS PCS, however there are still lots of moving parts. But because I am a woman, and a Mom, I am determined that I can multitask my way into a smooth sailing move.<br />
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Arrive with all three children happy and healthy (it would be a real bummer to lose one).<br />
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Have zero meltdowns (I might be -1 on this already, as I did have a mini-tantrum over the incompetence in getting our orders completed).<br />
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We really want to limit time spent in a hotel to 3 days or less. I used to think hotels were fun. Then we had kids. I have yet to meet a hotel room that really understands children. I would much rather be in our new empty house on air mattresses where everyone has THEIR OWN ROOM.<br />
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I also would like to eat out as little as possible. I actually love eating out, but see above reasons on why that is not all it is cracked up to be anymore :)<br />
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Here the number one biggest challenge. I want to unpack and organize our house in about 2 days. <br />
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The second biggest challenge is to stay out of a financial hole, maybe even make a little money off this move.<br />
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Here is what I am doing to make all of this happen:<br />
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Since I have the luxury of knowing our new floor plan I am already determining which rooms everything will go into. I have closets that won’t really match up so I plan on separating that stuff out into containers and labeling them for the “new closet”.<br />
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I am taking pictures of all my bookshelves so I can “recreate” them when we unpack.<br />
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I am packing up as much perishable food as possible since this is a fairly short move. Do you know how much condiments cost! <br />
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I am putting together an "essentials" container that includes air mattresses, blankets, towels, a shower curtain, and some other stuff. <a href="http://militarymoveit.com/blog/2011/06/a-quick-way-to-have-your-pcs-move-list-written-for-you/">Go here to access full lists on what to pack. </a><a href="http://militarymoveit.com/blog/2011/06/a-quick-way-to-have-your-pcs-move-list-written-for-you/" target="_blank"></a><br />
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I am packing a container with cups, a few plastic plates, a pot and a pan.<br />
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Lastly, I will have our movers unpack our house. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2087024631">Read more about the tricks of that here.</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="fullpost"> <a href="http://militarymoveit.com/blog/2011/05/to-unpack-or-not-to-unpack-should-your-movers-unpack-you/"></a><br />
Hopefully a lot of prep work at the starting line will translate into a successful move! I will check back in about a month to let you all know what did work, what didn’t work, and any extra tips I learned along the way.<br />
</span></div>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-4384166386498476692011-06-17T07:00:00.049+02:002011-06-18T09:42:55.139+02:00Last day to enter - GIVEAWAY: Only a few more days to WIN the Europa Park tickets!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-39ioRLVjvwI/TfYxkMsFPxI/AAAAAAAACbI/qSh48GfZUos/s1600/EuropaPark-Germany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-39ioRLVjvwI/TfYxkMsFPxI/AAAAAAAACbI/qSh48GfZUos/s320/EuropaPark-Germany.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>Thank-you everyone for entering the contest to win the FREE Europa Park tickets! The contest is now over, and the winner will be announced shortly:-) Again, thanks to all who entered!!!!</b><br />
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Okay, last day to enter! To make sure these tickets don't get buried on the blog, remember you only have a few more days for an opportunity to win them. The odds are very good you will win! Why? Because we only have two handfuls of entries....less exposure for me but more for you, right?<span class="fullpost"><br />
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Please be sure to<a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2011/06/giveaway-two-free-tickets-to-europa.html"> read this post and follow the directions</a>.<br />
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To enter,<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1804425990"> </a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=173171182743870&id=113796448681344">go to my Facebook page post</a> and and comment on my entry that asks "What is your current duty station and what has been your best experience so far?". If you have trouble, let me know so I can manually enter you!</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">Hurry before it's over!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-59780569806800297232011-06-17T07:00:00.047+02:002011-06-17T07:00:03.827+02:00Guest Post: Top Tips from another veteran military spouse<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yv0w88fl_Wo/TfelYriA-sI/AAAAAAAACbQ/aGK_1Jh7eyc/s1600/p0312314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yv0w88fl_Wo/TfelYriA-sI/AAAAAAAACbQ/aGK_1Jh7eyc/s320/p0312314.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Military spouses = stone wall (mutual support)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Many of you already know my good friend Susanna who runs <a href="http://militarydutystations.com/">Military Duty Stations</a>. It is a wonderful site that she has put together, detailing information on just about every military post you can think of, including some obscure ones you may have never heard of. How does she do it all? She doesn't....she gets her visitors to write in entries, and I think it's awesome that so many contribute...BUT she is always looking for new and fresh information, so please take the time to go help and leave your comment on your current duty station, no matter how small. We can't expect Susanna to do it all alone, and I think we can all benefit from her awesome work!<br />
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And without further delay, Susanna would like to share some of her veteran military spouse tips, as she has been on this bus herself while.<span class="fullpost"><br />
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<i>When you are a part of the military life there will be plenty of moments when you are alone or lonely. You will have to deal with the situation, hopefully without becoming bitter but finding new ways to live through it. Attitude is half the battle. Here are a few suggestions.<br />
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<b>Planning</b><br />
Forget planning anything. If you decide to plan then make sure that you realize your spouse might or might not be available for the event. Trying to find a date for our wedding was fairly challenging and one of the first lessons for me to learn.<br />
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<b>Become independent</b><br />
Yes, the military brings us spouses up to be Type A, go-getters. Sometimes this seems to backfire on them. Seriously, we are married but we have to know what to do and how to do it without having our spouse there. I remember that I have taken myself to surgery or childbirth before. Unfortunately, this tough exterior comes with a price as I have noticed to have little patience with some civilian wives. I am very sure that most of you know what I am talking about.<br />
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<b>Holidays, birthdays, important dates</b><br />
As mentioned before, planning is an issue when you live a military life. It is even more devastating when your loved one is missing an important event in your life. I believe that in my 18 years of marriage my husband missed...I guess half. However, I am not complaining, as I know that there are ladies out there who have a much lower percentage of their husbands being available. Holidays have taken on a different dimension. While birthdays and Christmas are still very important, things have changed. Christmas is when we can celebrate it as a family and not necessarily as a date. Birthdays...well, you do the best you can. It will be helpful to look at these dates differently.<br />
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<b>Don't buy into the drama</b><br />
Drama, there is a lot of it. Not sure why. Is it because most of us spouses are female and drama like that might be a female trait? Is it an outlet for spouses? I am not sure. Seems that sometimes the drama comes from hurt feelings. Sometimes it's a part of old baggage, when things only seemed right when there was a lot of upheaval in life. I do believe though that we, I , have to do the right thing. I want to grow, do it better. I want to accept others' opinion, even if I don't agree with it. I don't want to be hateful, but put good vibes and some love out in this world in hopes that this goodwill spreads. You try it, it will make a lot of things easier.<br />
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<b>Finding new ways of finding together</b><br />
After frequent or long-term separations it will become important to discover new ways to find your way back together. Don't be too hard on yourself.....but know that you are stronger than you think. If your gut tells you one thing there is a chance you are right and you need to go with your gut until the situation is resolved. Don't take NO for an answer until you are satisfied. Disclaimer: You might step on a few toes.<br />
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<b>Seek support, support others! </b><br />
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<b>Don't try and fight a situation by yourself</b>. Find and join a support network, help if you can.</i><br />
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Thanks Susanna for those inspiring words. It sure gives us something all to think about whether we've been in military life for 30 days or 30 years! Thanks for your words of wisdom!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-32183094527801639252011-06-15T17:34:00.000+02:002011-06-15T17:34:58.309+02:00People still calculate in non-Euro currency over here<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OVDkBRPIJFE/TfeiYQIs92I/AAAAAAAACbM/nZsKAObaDLQ/s1600/DSC05832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OVDkBRPIJFE/TfeiYQIs92I/AAAAAAAACbM/nZsKAObaDLQ/s320/DSC05832.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>This just cracks me up...but then again, I'm an American not schooled in such things (even though I sometimes say I am German if it benefits me...hey, I'm half right, cause I'm half German)....anyway...so I bought this book about Paris in our local Troc.com, an awesome second-hand store <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2011/02/closet-issue.html">which I blogged about before</a>. They sometimes have cool old books, but this was a new one. Okay so this is not about the book. It's about the receipt. Yes, the receipt. You see, everything looks nice and orderly, and in fact, just like an American receipt (except in French), until you get to the very bottom.<br />
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The entry I circled in the pic says "484,08 BEF". So what the heck is that? Well, if you can believe it or not...it is close to a decade that the Euro currency was brought to Belgium and people still calculate what the thing will cost in Belgian Francs, the previous currency. That's right. Especially the older generation. They absolutely want to know what that thing is worth in Belgian Francs before they buy it, whether it's a book, a piece of furniture or a sack of vegetables. Nevermind that we haven't had the Belgian Franc in nine years to value it against other world currencies. It is forever stuck in la-la land.<br />
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And before you laugh...the Germans do it too. In fact, right after the German Deutschmark changed over to Euros, you could still walk into stores and see two price signs and tags. The Deutschmark price and the Euro price. Of course you could only pay in Euros but people still wanted to know. My grandpa, rest his soul cause he had already lost one fortune when the Reichsmark went to the Deutschmark and thought it would happen again....even he continued to do it until his dying day about 12 years ago. I suspect my aunt still does it too although never out loud these days.<br />
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So next time you get your receipt in Europe, take a look at the bottom and see if you can find the old currency. You just might see it there and impress your friends with this fairly useless bit of knowledge!</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-87480266981263757712011-06-13T07:00:00.009+02:002011-06-13T07:36:38.449+02:00Score one for the Air Force at RAF Mildenhall in the UK (Great newcomer info)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XmzN6PX6fJo/TfEBrjZEH-I/AAAAAAAACbA/cUw4IM8h3BQ/s1600/usaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XmzN6PX6fJo/TfEBrjZEH-I/AAAAAAAACbA/cUw4IM8h3BQ/s320/usaf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Well isn't that something...once again I have to hand it to the Air Force. Yet again, they have put something together that I think the Army should have in Germany! I was surprised to stumble upon a seven part...yeah, you read it right...a SEVEN PART video series, of a few minutes each, geared towards newcomers PCSing to the UK and our Air Force bases there. You'll learn about inprocessing, the house hunt, on and off post living and just what you will be doing those first few precious and mind-blowing weeks.<span class="fullpost"><br />
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It's funny. It's kind of like childbirth. It can be painful and overwhelming moving overseas for the firs time...and next year, when someone asks you about it, you'll be like...ah, from what I remember, it wasn't that big of a deal...yeah right. Anyway, I want to remind my Germany folks are those coming to other European locations...the inprocessing dance is done almost the exact same way! Yes, I know I was shocked. I have never inprocessed to an AF base before. Imagine that.<br />
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Anyway, be sure to check it out here...some of the clips go on to the next one automatically....I think the first one doesn't', so just click on Part 2. Maybe I should send this to Army Public Affairs or USAREUR...or something.<br />
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</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-40180400394335081762011-06-11T06:54:00.004+02:002011-06-18T09:43:16.267+02:00GIVEAWAY: Two FREE tickets to Europa Park Amusement Park!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJiDFz99RYs/Te8UlNYhfaI/AAAAAAAACa8/JCa7ksRckXc/s1600/Header-Sommermotiv2010-static.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJiDFz99RYs/Te8UlNYhfaI/AAAAAAAACa8/JCa7ksRckXc/s320/Header-Sommermotiv2010-static.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Thank-you everyone for entering the contest to win the FREE Europa Park tickets! The contest is now over, and the winner will be announced shortly:-) Again, thanks to all who entered!!!!</b> <br />
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I guess I am going to jump on the giveaway bandwagon this summer! I'm excited that in partnership with the USO, I can offer two free tickets to Europa Park, an AWESOME American-style amusement park in Germany. People, this is the closest you are going to get to a "taste of apple pie" American experience...with of course some good German food available for good measure. Join me and my readers...tell your friends and win these two tickets!<span class="fullpost"><br />
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Here are the contest rules:<br />
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<li><span class="fullpost">Join my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Lessons-of-a-Military-Wife/113796448681344">Life Lessons of a Military Wife Facebook page</a> (or already have "liked" it) and answer my question posted on my Facebook page, "What is your current duty station and what has been your best experience so far?"</span></li><br />
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<li>One entry per person please. </li><br />
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<li>This contest is open to ALL my blog visitors and readers, regardless of where you are stationed but realize you can only use these tickets for the 2011 season in Europa Park in Germany. The park is located near Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, Germany. </li><br />
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<li><b>The contest will start on 11 June 2011 and end one week later on 18 June 2011. </b> </li><br />
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<li>I will use random.org to randomly select a winner. Please make sure I am able to message you on Facebook or leave me with some way to contact you via your answer!</li><br />
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<li>These two tickets have a value of 72 euros and have generously been donated by the USO Europe.</li><br />
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Looking forward to reading your answers, and I plan to use them in a future post on this blog (names and identifying information removed of course for privacy!).<br />
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Don't forget, if you have a local USO in your community in Europe, they sell discount tickets to many amusement parks, concerts and venues in Germany, so be sure to check them out!<br />
</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-76836924707836430422011-06-09T07:00:00.063+02:002011-06-09T07:00:07.389+02:00Guest post: Fresh off the plane to Germany!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qfOVaxqMKhY/Te8TRPQe_HI/AAAAAAAACa4/LKdBKtxNztw/s1600/love+germany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qfOVaxqMKhY/Te8TRPQe_HI/AAAAAAAACa4/LKdBKtxNztw/s320/love+germany.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So a few days ago, I asked if anyone would like to guestpost. Well, I asked, and I received!!! Thank-you so much. This post is actually fresh off the airplane. One of our readers packed up kit and kaboodle and flew overseas to Germany. After the first few weeks, she decided she had better write this stuff down. Without further delay, this is what she had to say.<br />
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<i>I’ve been having problems with finding current info on Stuttgart so I thought I would share my experiences so far, one week in. OK so here's how it went. <br />
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Dropping off the car was easy and took about an hour. You just have to have what they say on the website <a href="http://www.whereismypov.com/" target="_blank">www.whereismypov.com</a></i> <i> or on the automated phone system and you'll be good there (you can get the numbers from the website). If you have a loan on your car, make sure you go ahead and get a letter stating that it’s ok to take it out of the country. We had no problem with Pentagon Federal letting us take it out of the country. They took forever getting the letter out to me and I had to request it twice. </i>If you carry a note on your car, <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2011/02/ask-vmw-my-bank-said-i-cant-bring-my.html">please be sure to read this post</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><i>We rented a car for a week in DC and shipped our car on May 23<sup>rd,</sup> a few days before we shipped it out of Baltimore. It isn't due in Germany until July 5thish. It took us about an hour to get it shipped and it’s an hour drive to the Dulles airport. I would not suggest shipping your car the same day as you fly out. At least in Baltimore/DC. If you are flying out of Dulles then get there extra early. We waited in line for two hours and barely made our flight. We got to the car rental return at 4pm and our flight left at 6:54. If we had had another hour then it would have been perfect. We did fly out close to Memorial day weekend so that may have been the problem. Also, an hour layover once you get overseas is NOT long enough. You have to go through passport checks and security again...I got patted down! Fun. I would suggest at least a 2 hour layover, we ran to the airplane and were the last ones on...the plane was already boarded. Give enough time for food and drink and running around. </i></span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><i>Maybe you are used to foreign airports but I was so lost, the airport in Frankfurt did not flow like an American airport and everything was confusing. At least everyone I encountered spoke English. Once we were on the plane they served us drinks and dinner. We ended up not using the CARES systems but with the car rental, those <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KCV61U?tag=liflesofamilw-20&camp=213761&creative=393545&linkCode=bpl&creativeASIN=B000KCV61U&adid=0FZDBVAPJXSG23AHZCF0&">car seat vests</a> came in handy. <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=liflesofamilw-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000KCV61U&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></i></span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><i> We have 3 car seats and we shipped them with the car since we didn’t want to mess with them at the airport…and because 3 car seats just don’t fit in one backseat. The boys slept pretty well...until my 2 year old threw up all over everything within a 2 foot radius. It was horrid. BRING EXTRA CLOTHES FOR EVERYONE (and wipes)!! I actually packed some full sized kitchen garbage bags on a prompting thinking it was stupid to do. Now I'm glad I did. It holds vomitous clothing very well. Once that was all cleaned up we had about 3 hours and 45 minutes left. The flight didn't feel that long. Overall it was a good trip. </i></span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><i>I was stressed out and my husband probably didn't like me that much during our travels but we made it. Driving across the country was worth it, we drove from Fort Carson Colorado to Baltimore. Even though it took 3 weeks because we visited family all along the way, it was slow and relaxed and the boys did really well. Taking off a few hours of flying time was well worth the time in the car. <br />
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Make your temporary lodging arrangements as soon as you can. They are full here and I heard them at the front desk telling someone they could only stay a week since they are booked up. Staying in the Panzer hotel is cramped. We have a one bedroom and would have to have 7 people in our family to qualify for a 2 bedroom. You would be fine in here with just 2 or 3 people. I have heard that the hotel on Patch is better for families. All we have is a convection microwave oven that is very German and I had to borrow the owners manual from the front desk to try and figure out how to use it. I think I figured out the dishwasher. We bought a car for $3000 on the lemon lot on Panzer. It is in the PX parking lot in the very back close to the Panzer Hotel. Don’t let the name fool you, it has very nice cars. You can also look on <a href="http://www.bookoo.com/" target="_blank">www.bookoo.com</a> for cars AND houses. Along with everything else you might need. It’s like craigslist but this is more popular here.<br />
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The only thing I can think of that I am wishing I had sent in my fast shipment </i>(unaccompanied baggage)<i> is something to put the baby in (bouncy seat). I REALLY wish that we had sent our fast shipment a whole lot earlier. It takes the same amount of time to ship your unaccompanied baggage and your household goods (HHG) so they are only arriving one week apart. No one told us when to ship so we messed up there. We still have 2 weeks until our fast stuff gets here and another 3 weeks until our slow stuff gets here. We are trying to figure out how to get our iphones unlocked so we can use them. Take my advice, unlock them before you get here or wait to buy something once you get here. <br />
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No one will unlock it here and the German internet is really weird....so far....at least in the Panzer Hotel. All incoming calls and texts in Germany are free no matter what service you use. I bought a phone for 14 euros and am doing the prepaid thing here until I figure out my iphone. I am not going to do a contract, too much involved I hear and the prepaid thing has been great so far. If you go to <a href="http://www.tkscable.com/">TKS</a> </i>(a phone contractor located on most of our posts in Germany - they provide home phone/cable/tv service & cell phone service/prepaid....basically a middleman that provides this stuff in English with itemized bills)<i>. You can do prepaid or a contract. For unlimited data it is 10 euros a month. If you are just going to use the phones here then all you have to do is walk into a store and point out the phone you want and its active once you put in the number from the phone card. It ended up being about $115 after we bought 2 phones and 2 phone cards. </i>Please be sure <a href="http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com/2010/09/mobile-phone-choices-while-stationed-in.html">to read this article on the cell phone system and phone choices in Europe</a>.<i><br />
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We found a house by looking on the bulletin board at the commissary on Patch Barracks. It wasn’t listed with housing and no realtors are involved so it’s allowed. Housing seems to have a lot of drama so I’m glad that we found a house so quickly without using them. I have heard that once you find a house that you like you should jump on it. They don't last long. I would say the average size of a house here is about 1400 sq ft. We like everything about the house except that it is a little far from work. The Stuttgart housing website seems to be out of date but as of now they told us there is nothing available on post and didn’t give us an option of being on a waiting list…not sure if that’s because of my husbands rank or not (E8). </i>You can now find the Stuttgart Housing Office on <a href="http://ahrn.com/">ahrn.com</a>. Just sign in with a government or .mil email address to access overseas listings.<i><br />
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As far as home phones go…my observations so far are that Magic Jack is the least reliable with the crappiest reception but the cheapest and calls to and from the states are free. Vonage only works if your internet is working (along with Magic jack) and so that is why Skype is my next option because even if your computer is down, it will still forward calls to whatever phone number you input. Skype is costing me around $60 a year for a stateside number and then you have to have Skype credit or a calling plan for Germany in order to forward your Skype number to your German home or cell phone. The down side to Skype is when you call out you have to use your computer. </i>Although, you can buy a Skype phone. It looks just like a cordless phone and runs off your router, so you can use it even when the computer is off. <i> So my plan is that I'm going to get a home phone through TKS and they offer unlimited calls to the US. So people from the states will call you on your Skype number so its free for them and you will call them on your TKS home number so its free for you. Otherwise you would never get calls from the US.....maybe that’s not a bad thing though :) It's about 50 Euros a month for home phone and internet...another 20 Euros for Cable TV. </i></span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">Awesome and what a wealth of information! Thank-you again! As you can see...there are a lot of things to think about during the move, but you can make it work if you are well prepared.</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">My next post, I will cover something on iphones. I just recently bought a second-hand iphone over here...I paid under $200 for it...in fact, it was closer to $150...and used it a whole week on all the free wifi networks and my wifi at home....it is honestly the best thing since sliced bread over here...that's just me talking! There are some amazing apps you can use over here, and I have already made good use of the thing...more on this later!<i><br />
</i></span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-55893465366225395772011-06-07T07:00:00.001+02:002011-06-07T07:00:02.540+02:00Video: Being a military girlfriend (or even boyfriend)It seems that when I wrote about being a military girlfriend, it moved up towards the top of the reading list on this blog (see bottom right of the homepage). I must've hit a nerve...either that or there isn't a lot out there on being a military girlfriend. I'm going to go over some things you need to think about before dating that handsome man (or woman) in the uniform! <span class="fullpost"><br />
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Here's what I had to say. Go get a soda and see if any value can be squeezed out of it.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="200" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qwhxSrcbPME" width="200"></iframe></span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-24813142227095003742011-06-05T07:00:00.006+02:002011-06-05T08:54:30.125+02:00There is a reason for everything really...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yYEnWCM7Rvc/Td_NiiLe87I/AAAAAAAACak/NrXgkgPE9yw/s1600/DSC05692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yYEnWCM7Rvc/Td_NiiLe87I/AAAAAAAACak/NrXgkgPE9yw/s320/DSC05692.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting my mom on Mother's Day at Arlington National Cemetery</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Funny...someone messaged me the other day and asked how in the world do I get anything done with all the traveling (and writing)....another person said I must have too much time on my hands....honestly, I took a little of a beating on <a href="http://www.xpats.com/q-a/1.205908">xpats.com Q&A</a>. I'm still not sure why. I didn't let it bother me (okay, well not completely), whereas before, when I was younger, I might have been really hurt by some of the comments, I decided to take the time to ponder why things are the way they are.<br />
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So....I thought I would explain myself since I hadn't really thought about what I'm going to talk about today. I guess I had to sit and think about it and even pin it down for myself....why do I go to bed late, or get up two hours early to write on my blog? Why do I leave my computer on when I am home, knowing that electricity is more expensive over here, and make comments throughout the day on my Facebook page? Why do I feel the need to answer emails and questions? Why have I bothered doing videos and podcasts when I could be thoroughly enjoying myself for being me?<br />
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I'll tell you why. I know the answer....or at least I think I do. It's because I come from a family with a strong sense of service and honestly believe it is better to give than to receive. I also believe you should leave a place better than you found it...I used to do that as a Girl Scout, and you can bet the rental homes (and military housing) we lived in were in much better condition on our way out than in. You might even catch me picking up an errant piece of garbage or whatever as I walk from my car to wherever I'm going.<br />
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My first memories are of my mom, bless her heart and her soul as she is no longer with us. I think I was 5 years old, seeing her walk around in a volunteer Red Cross uniform. Back then, the volunteers wore neat and pressed uniforms before they went out about their business of helping others. I remember the little boy who lived across the street in our onpost stairwell in Germany......before our posts had fences around the housing areas, kids ran freely, maybe too much so. He got hit by a speeding German car and my mom dropped everything to go with them to the hospital and then spent DAYS at that mother and father's side. She spoke fluent German and never thought to do anything different. My brother and I spent those many days being shuttled back and forth between neighbors....my brother wasn't even a year old yet, but me...the five year old was tasked with his feeding, changing and watching over. Later, growing up, I remember my friends being absolutely terrified of my mom through the years. She could be very abrupt and honest...and it scared them...hey, it's the German way....but after they got to know her, it was my mother they called when they needed someone to help them or even to talk to, and she never told anyone the no-word.<br />
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I grew up with stories of my German grandmother hiding people and their things during the war. Even today, a grateful family, who were perfect strangers to our family at the time, stay in touch with me....two generations removed...their children STILL grateful for my grandmother's kindness. My American great-grandfather, the son of a slave, after the move to Chicago, used to make almost daily trips to the train station to see if anyone got off from his hometown in Mississippi. He was determined that no one coming from down South would be out on the streets, when they first arrived to the big city. It didn't matter that he worked long shifts and was bone tired by the time he got there. My dad remembers sharing a bed with two, three and four others, just so everyone would have a warm place to sleep at night. My husband can share similar stories of his own family, and we hope our kids will take note too. I think that is what drew me to him initially. This is just the kind of environment I grew up in and feel comfortable with.<br />
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I am not an expert in everything...in fact, I'm a dabbler in everything...knowing a little bit of this and that is a lot but not everything....yes, it can make me dangerous sometimes but usually, my common sense will stop me before I wreck anything or anyone. I take after my father on this one. He of course walks around with two or three books at a time and can be found almost always waiting in line everywhere he goes with a book open. Just because I like to give advice and get comfort and a sense of satisfaction in helping others, it does not mean that I don't appreciate the same. I would love someone to guestpost on a subject. I freely take advice as well. I am so grateful that many of you post your wonderful tips and stories here in the comments and my Facebook and Twitter pages....love that, and please don't stop doing it! All of our shared experiences can make us better people on the inside and the outside...<br />
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I don't travel every weekend with cameras and Flip in tow...honestly, no. And I don't even write about all of our travels, just some of them. I am also just as happy spending a lazy weekend at home. What do I do? We do things locally. I shop at the PX and eat at the food court. Many weekends I am on the couch watching a movie marathon, cuddled under a blanket with our cat. Or maybe we are taking a bike ride along the canal or taking a walk or local volksmarch...just like anyone else. I wish I was craftier...then I might be working on projects or photo albums or something interesting rather than cleaning the house...would LOVE to know how to make jewelry, as an example...but that gene has left me by the wayside. I am thankful I have two coworkers who are so creative, I get to tag along with their great ideas and help with the actual grunt work...so for now, that is good enough for me, to broaden my horizons. Cooking can be fun too, right? That is evidenced by all the recipes I have bookmarked, and do you know that if I find a really good recipe or someone gives me one...I will write it in an email, email it to MYSELF and then put it in a recipe folder in my email account. I guess that's kind of weird, and I should've probably left that bit of information out....too much over the top? Maybe.<br />
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And with that, before I get way too sappy or get myself worked up, I will end here. Feel free to comment as you see fit....or not. I just want to say thank-you to my blog readers and those who stop by for a visit. I know a few of you have been with me and grown with me since the very beginning....you know who you are! I have made some amazing friendships through this blog, rekindled some old ones....and just gotten to know a great group of folks....I think 'nuff said there. Oh, one more thing before you wonder......no, he did not make it, and I still sometimes think where that boy would be today.<br />
</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-60385439785696329362011-06-03T07:00:00.001+02:002011-06-03T07:00:00.948+02:00Video: Navigating a Volksmarch (what is it and how do I do one?)I think my husband holds the record for the most volksmarches in our family...he's done hundreds of events and well over 2,000 kilometers...and that's being conservative. So what is this volksmarch? And why can it be so important to you? <span class="fullpost"><br />
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Well let me tell you. I'll explain it all below. At the end, I've written some tips out in plain English. If the video moves a bit too fast at that point (I tried to slow it down), pausing it should allow you to read what I wrote at the very end. Lots of resources and websites to get you started in this great and relaxing sport too! Come join me as I walk through a forest and the streets and farmpaths of a small town in Belgium.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="200" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LRbRqxNT16A" width="200"></iframe></span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163679024619392733.post-49904314491802539122011-06-01T07:00:00.018+02:002011-06-01T07:00:04.315+02:00A very lofty mission of free home security alarms for deployed servicemembers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6bzh_HnRo0g/Td_tEPaqiSI/AAAAAAAACaw/KT2GwxqUfBY/s1600/any+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6bzh_HnRo0g/Td_tEPaqiSI/AAAAAAAACaw/KT2GwxqUfBY/s320/any+new.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I received a nice email from a Mr. Kandell and thought his project was so worthy, I would like him to tell us about it! As you can see, it is not easy raising money and trying to provide a valuable service. It's all yours.....<br />
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Hi, My name is Eric Kandell and I have worked in the private sector with military men and women for years. Whether I have been helping service members, deployed troops, or Veterans, my professional career has allowed me the opportunity to give back to a part of the population I have a lot of respect and admiration for. <br />
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Recently I had the chance to try and form a nonprofit organization that was intended to pay for all associated costs with putting home security alarms in the house of every deployed man and woman possible. I went as far as securing a law firm that specialized in 501C3 applications with the IRS. The thought was ideal, we would raise charitable funds and then take all the money raised and install security alarms in the homes of deployed or deploying troops so that the families that stayed behind could be protected and the state of mind of the men and women serving could be relaxed and focused knowing their family members back home were protected.<br />
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We were able to negotiate free home alarms with most of the Nation's leading alarm providers, but ran into lots of issues raising funds and getting donations so that we could pay for the ongoing price to monitor the alarm system each month. Eventually, with regret we gave up on the 501C3 or charitable organization and continued our efforts to educate and let families know they had a friend and advocate in the home security world.<br />
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Today <a href="http://www.protectourtroops.org/">Protect Our Troops</a> is a normal business, yes we make money, but we still pass on huge savings and lots of education and assistance to family members of deployed or deploying troops. There is nothing better than hearing from a spouse of a man or women overseas, serving this country, when they tell us how much better they are sleeping at night, thanks to the alarm <a href="http://www.protectourtroops.org/">Protect Our Troops</a> helped them secure.<br />
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Here is what Protect Our Troops currently does for this Nation's men and women of the Armed Forces:<br />
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1. We have negotiated FREE home security systems for both active military and Veterans alike.<br />
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2. We have advocated for rock bottom monthly monitoring expenses with companies like ADT for example.<br />
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3. We have removed equipment costs all together.<br />
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During deployment, if you got your alarm from working with <a href="http://www.protectourtroops.org/">Protect Our Troops</a>, we can reimburse <b>two months</b> of monthly monitoring expense while a loved one is deployed.<br />
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I truly think our original goal of 100% free alarms and monitoring, subsidized by charitable contributions was a great idea. I think that anyone in harm's way serving this great country should be given a free home alarm by our government. However, until then <a href="http://www.protectourtroops.org/">Protect Our Troops</a> looks forward to advocating and assisting in any way we can the brave men and women of the military.<br />
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Thank you to you all who are sacrificing for the rest of us. We do not forget the great sacrifices of those family members asked to stay behind and support their loved ones while they are serving. Thank you all!<br />
</span>****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife****http://www.blogger.com/profile/14858503892858989499noreply@blogger.com0