Is Spring Here to Stay?

Wow!! The weather was outstanding yesterday! We had clear blue sky (which is very rare in Germany) and it reached 60 degrees. And to top it off, it was Saturday, so I could actually enjoy the warmth. Yes, a long walk around base was calling my name.  During my walk, I was thinking about the weather has such a big affect on my mood.  The warmth just does something for my soul.  I can hardly wait for Spring, Summer, and Fall to get here.
Later that afternoon, I attended the baptisms ofTaylor Dalke and Sarah Peterson, both children in our ward. These children have been anxiously awaiting their daddy's to come from Afghanistan for a two week break so they could get baptized.

The Petersen and Dalke family

Afterwards, I ran to Schwandorf to a flea market with a good friend, Janeen Nance. It had been going on for 3 hours before we got there. So by the time we arrived, they were starting to put things away for the day. I've never been a person to shop at yard sales because I never find anything, and today was no different. But maybe it was because things were very picked over by the time we got there. However, I had a great time learning some of the tricks of the trade from Janeen.  I also learned that if I want to buy some real crystal or hand blown glass, this is the place to find them for a very good deal. 

Tammy

How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner

Yesterday I attended my first "How to Host a Murder Mystery" Dinner party.  One of my good friends, Lydia Beck, was the was host and did a fabulous job!  Our murders mystery had a Western theme.  As such, the purpose of our gathering was to determine who killed the Judge of the town.  I was given my character a few days beforehand so I could get my costume ready.  Having been picked to be one of the cowboys, I didn't worry too much about my costume.  I "thought" I had most everything I needed.  As it turned out, I had nothing but a pair of jeans, a button down shirt, and a pair of boots. Apparently, in our move to Germany I threw away my cowboy hat, bandana, etc.  So off I went Saturday afternoon to The PX to buy a cowboy hat, banadana, and pistol.  I was blown away when I got there and only found a bandana.  I began to panic as I only had a couple of hours before I had to be at the party.  Off I rushed to the only other place I could think of--Tedi.  Tedi is the equivalent of our Dollar Stores in the States, and YES, they saved my booty.  Oh how I MISS Wal-Mart and Targets (my one stop shops)!!

Back to the party--In between each round of the game, we'd stop and have one course of dinner.  We started with chips and salsa, moved on to the lettuce salad, onward with the savory pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, and fruit salad, and ended with apple and lemon merangue pie. 

The town folk present for the gathering were Cowboy P'Elvis Swagarin (Becky), the Mexican widow Dee Edela Muerte (Kelly Fees), Cowboy Elias Truist-Heath (me), Prostitute Elvira Lynn Fekshin (Ryan), Cowboy Wyatt Hertz (Lydia Beck), Butch Chastity (Amy), Helena Handcart (Kristina), and the dentist Chief Breaking Wind (Jena).

The food was great, the game was entertaining, and the company was fantastic! Everyone did a great job acting their parts.   And as horrible as I am at these type of mystery games, I even guessed who killed the Judge!

Chief Breaking Wind (Jena), Elvira Lynn Fekshin (Ryan), and Butch Chastity (Amy)

Dee Edela Muerte (Kelly Fees)

 P'Elvis Swagarin (Becky) and Elias Truist-Heath (me)

Butch Chastity (female outlaw extraordinaire and Helena Handcart ((mother of 13 boys, all deceased).

Chief Breaking Wind (chief of the "Cowpai" tribe)

Elias Truist-Heath (me), P'Elvis Swagarin (Becky), Wyatt Hertz (Lydia), and Helena Handcart (Kristina)

Tammy

The Coke Jar - 7 Months Down

Jared is worried that I'm not keeping up with his Coke Jar challenge.  So I figured I better post how the bottle is looking 7 months after my soldier left home.  The jar is now to the point that I can no longer lift it.  Personally, I was hoping for a "fuller" look by now, but I'm not sure that I'm willing to start getting nickels to make it happen as I will probably have to help roll it all up...On second thought, I think it will be a great job for Jared to do once he gets home!  lol

Month 1 and 2

Month 3 and 4

Month 5 and 6

Month 7 and 8

Tammy

Jared's New Hair Doo

There is a constant argument in our house about Jared shaving his head BALD.  While I have always been against it, he's always told me that it would happen downrange and that there was nothing that I could do to stop him.  Don't get me wrong, I do think he looks sharp with his sides "tight" and a little hair on top.  But not BALD!

Every once in a while, he will joke around on the phone and tell me he's going to get his head shaved.  But since deployment is 8+ months over and nothing has ever happened, I figured that he had backed down.  However, a few nights ago, I logged onto Facebook before going to bed and found these pictures of Jared:
 

Trying the bald look for the first time. Luckily i did not cut my head shaving it the first time. I didn't have to pay a barber for this look either.



Side view. My wife said i could never do this, but I'm in Afghanistan so you can see how well I listened this time.  How many shocked reactions will i get?

While it was still a surprise, I should have known he'd eventually get around to it.  My question is, "Where is the smile to go with the new doo? "  He replied, "What is there to smile about around here?  It's dirty, it stinks, etc."   All I have to say is that it WILL be grown back out by the time he comes back home!

Now that he's done it, he says that he doesn't think he will keep it.  He likes having a little bit of hair on his head.  See, he should have listened to his wife in the first place!  lol

Tammy

Mauritius - R&R 2011

I know, it happeneed almost a month ago, but for those of you STILL interested, here is how our R&R went.  My postings may be longer than many of you want to read, but I decided I was only going to write about this once.  I back posted everything to the day it happened.  So it will be lots easier to read if you start with January 10th posting and work your way to forward.  Here it goes.

For those of you that don't have time to read all of the postings, I've also created a music video.  Take a look!

Day 17 - Vacation Over

Today I went back to work while Jared enjoyed one more day at the beach with some of the friends that we met there. I was glad he had some people to be around to help pass the time. Later that night, he caught the plane back to Kuwait and then Afghanistan.

GOOD BYE MAURITIUS!! You will FOREVER be in our hearts!!

Day 16 - Goodbye Jared and Mauritius

Today was a rough day. My wake-up call was for 4:20 a.m. so I could be ready and picked up by the shuttle bus to take me back to the airport at 5 a.m. I quickly got ready, cuddled and cried next to Jared for a few minutes, and then had Jared walk me to the shuttle bus for a final good-bye hug and kiss (geez just writing about this a month later still brings me to tears).

I will spare you the tears and share a happy kiss with you instead!

I got in the van and waved out the window until he was out of sight. From then on, it was a very long day. I had a 12 hour direct flight to the Munich airport ending with several train stops to Vilseck. On the final stretch, I had literally 3 minutes to run (with a backpack, and two suitcases) from platform 20 down the stairs, through the corridor, and back up different stairs to platform 2. Just as I walked onto the train, they closed the doors and left. Whew!! That was too close for comfort. But I got home safe and sound.
Jared
Today was one the worst days ever. Vacation in Mauritius was spectacular and I will never forget it. Today I had to send Tammy off to the Airport and deployment leave is soon coming to an end. I will very shortly be on route back to Afghanistan. This was tougher than leaving for deployment in the beginning.

After reading this posting from Jared on Facebook, I just cried because I left so bad for leaving him heartbroken. He is usually the strong one in the family. At the same time, I noticed a connection. For me, it was harder letting Jared initially leave for deployment in June. For him, it was harder during R&R. It has made me wonder if the one being left behind always struggles more. In June, I dropped him off and came home empty handed. This time, Jared dropped me off and went back to the hotel room empty handed. Interesting???