New blog, New weightloss, New life after retirement from Army

It's been a long time since I have blogged and a lot of it was due to the fact that when your spouse decides to retire from the military you lose a sense of who you are at first and there's not really much to blog about. Well, that is if you don't want to be whining and complaining the whole time. I personally would not want to read somebody's rants all day every day so I didn't blog really.

We are now settled and happy and have been going strong for over a year. My husband is happy with this job and even through all the downsizing and layoffs his company has gone through lately he still loves his job. All I ever wanted was for him to be happy with his job so for me this is the best thing that could have happened once he retired from the Army!

Our kids are doing great and love being settled and having a forever home. Of course, the first things they wanted to do was paint their rooms and put their own stamp on their space. We allowed them to pick out their own colors and even after doubting them a few times their rooms looks great. They both made wise choices and we loved it in the end. They are doing great in school and have made some really good friends. We all know that's the biggest thing people worry about with military kids. We always want them to made new friends when they have to pick up and move to a new place. Again, happy!!!

After dealing with a few health issues and a few years of gaining weight due to them I have finally found my passion. I started clean eating and using Beachbody programs to work out and have lost 20 pounds since December 2014. I am happy and feel great! Since losing the weight and finding a great team that helped me along the way I decided to become an Independent Beachbody Coach. I absolutely love my job!!! Not only do I love and believe in this company because their products worked for me but I absolutely love the fact that they have coaches. What is a coach?

A coach is someone who is there for you no matter what!!  As a coach I am there for my customers to guide them, share their successes with them, deal with bad days with them, encourage them, motivate them and make sure that they feel like they are not alone in their process.  We all know that losing weight is hard and eating right is learned so we all need help getting started with that and working out is not easy to maintain until you create a habit so we need encouragement, accountability and motivation. That is what I get to do!!  How fun is that?  I love helping others and I love it even more that there is no gimmick or fast results that do not last. This is the real deal! Hard work and effort is the only way to truly lose weight and keep it off and we all know it.

I can be a coach to anyone who signs up for a free membership on my website. That means that you can have me as a coach for absolutely no cost!! YUPP FREE!!!   I love that too!  I don't want restrictions on who I can and can't help so this company doesn't give me any. I can coach you and help you get started on losing weight today and it won't cost you anything. I can offer you different products and try to help you find the one that works for you. I have a team of coaches, certified personal trainers and nutritionists that work with me to help give you the best results you've ever had. I can show you at home workout programs that you can even take to the gym with you if you prefer a gym. There is literally something for everyone and every fitness level available.

As I said before I had some health issues that left me overweight, extremely weak due to muscle loss and taking medication that actually works against me being able to lose weight. So I had everything in the world going against me and yet I have pushed through every day and found the programs that work for me. I started using the meal replacement shakes because it gives me this incredible energy and has everything I could possibly want from a health shake in it. My kids even love it and I love them drinking it because I know it's so good for them. I would never let my kids drink or eat anything that I thought could harm them!!

So if you'd like to find out more about me and my new life and how I am doing on my weight loss journey and more about my coaching then please visit my new blog at www.susandrexel.com  or my coaching website at www.beachbodycoach.com/susandrexel

If I can help you then I would love to. What do you have to lose anyway right?!

Left: November 2014, Right: March 2015

Randomisms and the green pool!

Ok first off all yes randomisms is a word...to me! LOL!  So far Mr. M has been on transition leave from the Army for almost 2 months and he now has applied for a bajillion jobs, been on bajillion interviews and even attended a 3 week school to get a class A drivers license. He decided to not take some jobs just because he didn't feel he was right for the jobs or else he did not agree with company policies. I have to say that I have never loved him more right now. He spent the last 20 years doing what the Army told him, following their policies whether or not he believed or agreed with them and most of all enforcing them either way. He has now taken a stand in his life and is able to choose his path and I couldn't be more proud of him for saying no to anything he doesn't believe in whole heartily. He has a very busy week and several job offers to think about before he needs to make a decision and start to get back to work by beginning of August.
At the same time he has been doing that I have been house selecting. Now you would normally think I would say house hunting however it is more like an art and very difficult one at that. I swear I am going to invent a way to look up house by the school zone you want. Not the school district! That can be done but within each school district there is the school zone for which school your child will attend. So what are we to do when we like a district but not all the schools in it?!?!??!?!?  Yes I should invent this and yes I should go on shark tank and manipulate my little heart out and get to be a millionaire. Just saying!! :)
So ok I have been house selecting and with the help of a real estate agent that I swear was sent to me by the angels we are narrowing the choices to make sure we get what we really want.  I believe we are down to about 24 houses after 2 months so wish me luck. What is that you say? Will I share pictures? Well of course I will!!! Who doesn't want to see my dream house online right?!?!  Haha I know I'm so entertaining!!
In the mean time the kids are enjoying more family time and getting to know everyone. The bad part is they are getting to know everyone and their quirks. No one has a perfect family and mine certainly has it's quirks but they are family and yet my kids have never lived close enough to see them all or be around them lock enough to care about so now it has begun. Yes, yes I mean the whole explaining why people do some of the things they do. *sigh* It is a grueling process for sure and one I am not enjoying but hopefully when it is all said and done we will be one big happy family once again.
So upcoming blogs will be all about buying a house, Mr. M picking a job, the kids getting back to school, dealing with movers, family and just normal civilian life and how we are handling it.
Oh wait, how could I ever forget to tell you about the green pool!!!  We decided to buy one of the cheap pop up pools for the girls just for the summer until we got a house. The pool was around $200 so we thought it would be cheaper then paying for White Water all the time and easier as well. After many many days of rain our pool turned green. We fussed and asked questions and finally got the pool to turn back to blue. We rejoiced for about 2 hours until the filter pump quit working!!!!! Ok for real?!?!?! I couldn't write better stuff to happen to us people. So after days upon days of cleaning and trying to get chemicals right and spending more hundreds of dollars on the pool we had to come to a decision of put more money into the temporary, supposed to be cheap, just for summer plastic piece of junk or let it die and do without until we get our house and our real pool. The decision was not easy, there was some crying(including my wallet) and in the end we said goodbye to the stupid nice pool we had hoped we would have for the summer.  That's ok it's just a push to hurry up and get the house with the in ground, beautiful, to die for and much needed in this heat pool!

How to find a job and buying a house.

So obviously with Mr. M retiring from the Army the most important thing to do is to get a job. It is so funny how much goes into finding a job and how many outlets are out there to help you find a job. I have heard for years from people that the economy is so bad and therefor they are not retiring. Well let me share with you that we have been sharing Mr. M's resume online for about 2 months now and he has already had several offers as well as emails from potential employers wanting to hire him. I honestly think that most people just don't know where to go to start looking for a job. All I can say is use every resource you have available to you. If you have a computer and Internet you have your own job finding equipment already. I searched for all job sites and uploaded Mr. M's resume to all of them. Of course, make it public so that potential employers may contact you even if you haven't contacted them yet. The biggest problem we have had is people wanting him to start now and he can not start until he starts his transitional leave.
With his job decision becoming a reality now we can start concentrating on buying a home. We already have a realtor and have been looking at houses for a while now. I am so overwhelmed with this whole process though. First we have to find a house we both love, then we have to find the best lender and then begins the seemingly never ending process of paperwork and bidding and holding our breathe. As excited as I am to finally have a forever home where we never have to move unless we want to its a lot of work.
Honestly I think I just am more picky than Mr. M but still it's a giant process! The only things I know for sure is that I need plenty of room in my house for my family and of course room for our friends to come and visit. We have made some really wonderful friends in the military and I am really hoping that they will want to come and visit or even see us as a nice place to stay in the middle of a pcs. Our door will always be open to our friends in the military! Free room, free food and of course amazing environment because do you really think I don't know how to entertain after 19 years as a military spouse?!
As soon as Mr. M makes a decision on the job he wants to take and we find the perfect house I will definitely update everyone along with pics. Who doesn't love pics right?!

Have a blessed day and as always please feel free to ask me any questions you might have about being a military spouse, retiring from the military, buying a house or anything else.

Retirement and the Montgomery GI Bill

With Mr. M's retirement getting closer we began to look into all the benefits and entitlements he will need to apply for, ask about, qualify for. Let me just begin by saying this. You better ask questions people because no one is going to just tell you what to do nor what you have to complete to make it happen for you.
So the first priority for us was to find out about Mr. M using his GI Bill after retirement. First, you have to send in for your eligibility status. You have the choice of using Montgomery GI Bill or Post 9/11 GI Bill. Make your choice wisely because once you make your choice that's it and you can never go back.
If you choose to use Montgomery than you also need to know when you have used all 36 months you can then apply for another 12 months through the post 9/11 GI Bill. We had to probe deep for that one folks! You can look up the benefits of both and decide which works out best for you.
Another little hidden fact is that if you choose to not use your Montgomery and go with post 9/11 then you may ask for your $1200 back that you paid for the Montgomery bill.
We were told it takes about 4-6 weeks to get your eligibility paper so be sure to apply for it as soon as you know what you want to do. You can ask the start date to be after retirement date if that is what you are planning to do.
Bottom line is ask questions, don't skip anything, and always take your time in making any decision. As is with most military decisions you do not get a second chance. I know I have said this before but you truly do need to be on top of your own stuff and do not just take someone's word for anything!

4 months left in Kansas and the fun has begun!

Ok so Mr. M is 4 months from beginning his transition leave and the job hunts, house hunts and school hunts have begun. Of course it is our luck that there is now a federal hiring freeze in effect but that's ok  because we have a backup plan. For all you military spouses that are unaware of where to even begin looking for jobs for your spouse when they decide to retire or ets let me give you a little help. Always look for federal jobs available because your spouse's experience and training will work best with these jobs. If you ever have any questions about how his/her training will turn into civilian experience there are a ton of tools available with military.com.

As the months have seemed to fly by for us and our girls are moving along with their schools and extra curricular activities we have learned so much about benefits, retirement, entitlements and most of all learning how to manage it all on our own. Of course their is ACAP to help the soldiers out but the limited information that they will give you is not going to cut it. You need to become your own advocate and the old saying "it's not what you know it's who you know" is going to make a huge  difference in the way you end up working your retirement program. If you depend on your resume to find you a job you will more than likely retire from the military without one. Enlist as many friends and contacts as you have made in the service to help you out. Start asking friends, family and anyone who will listen just what you are looking for. The biggest thing to realize is when you switch to the civilian world you need to understand what you are making now and how that will translate into a civilian pay system. Don't forget to add in BAH, BAS and medical into the salary you are looking for.

When you retire you will choose so many options and all of them will cost you money. Your retirement check will go down as you add on Tricare, Dental, SBP and if you choose VGLI.  Thankfully I had already done my homework on all of these and all I had to do was update the rates and fees as they updated at end of fiscal year this year. Now I have a more accurate idea of how much we will need to continue making what we are now.

If your husband has the GI bill he will need to check with them in advance to find out his options. We were going to transfer the benefit to your girls but have since found out we would have had to make that choice 4 years ago or give the Army 3 more years of service to do it. Well with Mr. M determined to get out as soon as possible we let it go. It hurt don't get me wrong and I was so furious that noone had told us about the whole option but in the end it is working to our advantage. Mr. M is going to use his GI bill and finish his education so that he can eventually move up in his next job and reap the benefits. Don't be scared to ask questions!  As I said before YOU are your best advocate in your life.

So with the applications being sent out, Mr. M completing a much put off surgery and myself looking forward to a biopsy and upcoming surgery we are well on our way to being civilians soon. As scarey as it seemed a few months ago right now I am more excited than I have ever been.

Next blog I will tell you all about starting travel agent courses, thyroid issues and the search for the perfect retirement gift for a man who has made my life amazing.

The beginning of the end...oh yeah I'm back!

Ok so I have been a bad bad blogger and taken a slight hiatus from blogging. Honestly, life has been hectic and so much has been going on that blogging seemed to be in the past. Lately though I have found myself wanting to share things and write out my thoughts without putting it all out there on Facebook. I have always loved keeping up with friends on Facebook but do not think my entire life needs to be an open book at the same time.

So much has happened in the past year and so much more is coming up. Mr. M has put in his retirement paperwork and I am learning so much about how this whole thing works. We did move to Kansas and I really like it here. I haven't met too many new people but I do have a few very good friends from previous  duty stations here as well as one on the way. DD1 started high school which scares the tarantino out of me and DD2 is just as wild and fabulous as always. Bith doing very well in school and making life worth living.  Mr. M and I have been looking at houses and I have to admit that is extremely fun.  Although I am finding out that houses today are so Rey different than years before. It's definitely an adventure and a fun one at that.
I'm not sure where exactly I left off with blogging but I will go over my account and see if I left out anything fun. Did I blog about Spain? The canary islands? If not no fear because I will. Of course including pictures.
To all my followers I am truly sorry for being gone so long and will hopefully be able to make it up to you. Please give me a chance to wow you all again with my fabulous family and our fabulous adventures.

Christmas in London....Cheers!

So our trip to London was fabuloso!!!  We spent 4 days taking in all that London had to offer. I have to say the biggest thing I learned from being there at Christmas time is that we as Americans expect a lot more from retailers then any European country gives. All the stores closed on us early Christmas Eve and almost nothing was open Christmas day.  I guess they think we are nuts with our store hours. It was hard to get kicked out of the Hamleys toy store Christmas Eve before our girls were able to pick what they wanted but we ended up having a really great time in spite of all the closings.

 Across from St. Paul's Cathedral. On the back side was a button that the girls were dying to push. What they thought it did I had no idea but they pushed it and DD2 was covered in water and we had to find a close by restroom to dry her off before continuing for the day. Kids!! lol

 View of St. Paul's Cathedral from the Milennium bridge.

 The London Eye. Very cool to ride on and the views were fantastic from the top.

 Parliment and Big Ben.

 Buckingham Palace...we arrived there just in time to watch the changing of the guard. Really cool to see!

 Of course we had to go to Harrods on Christmas Eve...busy and fabulous!!

 Don't all tourists take pics of the red phone booths?!?!

 Westminster Abbey..simply gorgeous!!

Mr. M and the girls couldn't stop laughing as the horse would not stop biting Mr. M's arm so we could get a pic!! Awww memories from London!!











If any of you have the chance to go to London I highly reccomend going to Hard Rock cafe for a meal, Hamleys toy store on Regent if you have kids and you must go to Harrods to look around, shop and grab some yummy goodies from their food court.

Christmas miracles through the eyes of a child (you will need tissues for this one)

So lately I keep having these mom moments with my kids that make me laugh or cry or smile or even question where they go that from.  I love those moments where your kids do stuff that amaze you or make you so proud it brings you to tears. It seems lately though my kids have been on this roll with the mom moments and I have come to the realization that my kids rule!  Yeah yeah I know I am totally prejudice but I do have proof and here it goes.

Moment number 1: child: Mom can I have some money to play video games?
Me: yes here (handing her $20)
child: That's too much! (gets change and bring me back $15)
Me: (open mouthed) Thanks!

Moment number 2: child: Mom I would like to buy some presents for people but I don't have enough money.
Me: How much do you need?
child: I think $20 is a lot for someone with nothing.
Me: what do you mean?
child: I saw a girl on the other aisle who told her mom she wanted something and her mom said "sorry I can't get you that" So I thought maybe since I have a lot of money and I don't need that toy I can give her what she wants instead.
Me: show me the toy (it was a littlest pet shop house for $39) now where is the girl (she is sitting on the floor looking at more toys and her mom is frantically going through her wallet trying to see how much money she has)
child: excuse me but here (handing the mom the toy and the money to pay for it) I would like to get this for her (pointing at the little girl).
Me: please this was all her idea and she really wants to do this for you and your daughter
The mom: Starts tearing up and hugs my child and runs off to pay for the gift.
child:mom that was the best christmas present ever! (hugs me)
Me: sweety you are the kindest person I know and I am so glad you asked me for the money.


Now if that didn't make you tear up just now then maybe this will...
As we are walking out of the store we see the mom and child waiting at the bus stop to catch the bus. We stop and ask where they are going and if we can offer them a ride. The mom says "yes that would be wonderful thank you" and they both get in. The little girl spends the whole ride telling my child how her mommy said they are going to have the best christmas ever thanks to an angel she ran into at the store.  I about lost it right there but held it together and just smiled at the woman. When we dropped them off we both wished each other a Merry Christmas and the mom once again said to me "I can't thank you enough and I hope you know that you are our angel"
Yes I pulled over at the next street just to cry and to tell my child that she was special.

So have you had any mommy moments lately that not only made you proud of your kid but let you know just how much they actually listen to you when you talk?!

I will never forget this Christmas and the special moment my daughter gave me and that other little girl!

Does Santa come to hotels?!?!

So later in the Summer we decided we wanted to go away this year for Christmas. Honestly, since we have been here in Europe we have lost so many family members and they all seem to be right around the holidays that we have started talking about making other plans to get away from the whole family Christmas thing. Ok I know that probably sounds like a bah humbug moment but really we have lived away from family for so long that it has really never been a part of our lives. However, it was always in the cards that one day we would be close to family and be able to have a big family Christmas again.
 This is just not looking like an option seeing as Mr. M is so close to retirement and yet our family seems to be dwindling smaller and smaller every year.  Yes it's sad and yes we are crushed but more then anything we are really trying to figure out a way to make the holidays really special for the girls despite all the their family being gone by the time they are able to enjoy it.
So the plans to go away began and the plane tickets were purchased and the hotel reserved. The questions to anyone who has been there began to find out the best things to do while there.  We were actually doing this and we were so excited.  The closer it gets to us leaving the more I think how this is the best thing we have done in years.  I was always one of those people who said "I want my kids to wake up in their own home on Christmas morning and be able to play all day with their toys and be left alone" and yet I am not the person that says "where can we go so we don't have to have another day filled with cooking and cleaning and picking up trash all day".  Nice right?!?!
Ok so everything planned out and reserved and mapped and then it hit me......Does Santa go to hotels?!?!  O.M.G.!!!!   How are we going to explain this to our youngest and how in the world will we fit all these presents into our bags without her seeing.  Oh well this is just great on my part!! Duhhh!!
So anywho, I began talking with friends and actually had a very dear friend offer to play Santa while were gone and so the plans began.  She would "watch the cats" for us and we would leave a note for Santa telling him that we were on vacation and sorry we missed him. 
My only worry right now is that something will go wrong and we will come home to an empty house because maybe the weather was too bad for my friend to come and put all the presents out. Maybe the cookies and milk will be accidentally left on the table.  I'm really really dying here and fear that Christmas secrets may have to be broken if this doesn't work out.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo  what I really am saying folks is......any ideas on how to make sure that we don't burst the bubble for our little one?!?! 
Also, I am thinking about maybe letting the girls have one present each from us while we are gone. It wouldn't be too hard to pack just one present each.
Why is it that I always freak out right before a trip like I haven't spent hours figuring it out and thinking and planning and mapping.  Oyyyy I am not sure why I do but I need some help ya'll so please any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!
If I don't speak to you before Christmas then I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and I will update with pics of London when we get back. Ohhh yeahhh duhhh I forgot to tell you where we were going.  We are headed to London and super psyched about it.

Cheers!

Window shopping and European living

Believe it or not I actually had some time to myself today. By that I mean all emails were answered and returned early this morning, the house was picked up and dishes done early this morning and my errands were super fast since I wasn't able to find a dang thing I was looking for anyway.

So by 11am today I was home and bored.  What to do...what to do....OMG I am going to window shop. It's a bit chilly here so going outside or downtown is not going to happen so I go online to window shop. How do you window shop online you say?!  Well let me tell you. It is much more fun then window shopping in real life with the one exception of there is no coffee stop on the way..bummer!!  Oh well, so you go to random shopping sites and check out what they have and add anything you want to the cart...don't hold back ladies add it ALL!!  Then when you are done you go check out your cart, marvel at the insane total of everything you really want and then you start deciding what you really want and what you can do without.  Once you have deleted enough that you actually think you could buy it without feeling too guilty then comes my favorite part....close the browser!!  Yupp you heard me right!  Close. That. Browser!   That is how you window shop online. It's not as much fun as real life but I have found the older I get and the busier I get window shopping just haven't have the same luster as it used to.  Sighhhhh  that means I am losing some of my shopping gene.....EEEEEKSSS!!!

The one thing I absolutely hate about living overseas is having a great big American suv....ohhh the things I have to deal with because of it.  Aside from Mr. M making several dents and dings in my baby so that I have to wait to get back to the States to get those fixed because here they woud charge me an arm and a leg just because for some reason they see big American suv and think big money..haha they are NOT funny!!  I recently found out that my old rims had ruined my front suspension and I needed 2 new wheel bearings...oh joy to the world for me..NOT!!  So as I go online to try to order the parts...have you ever gone into a German parts store and tried to ask if they happen to carry a part for your big American suv?!?!  Not fun ladies..not fun at ALL!!!  So yes I had to go online and of course I have no idea what I am doing so I am finding stuff and emailing the site to my mechanic who probably thinks I am nuts but that's a whole other story to find out yes I finally found the right part. Yay me!!  Then the wait begins.  Wait for the email saying they got your order. Wait for the email saying they shipped your order. Then wait for the post office to email you and say you have a package only to go and realize it is something from someone else and then keep waiting for yet another email.  If I don't get my truck fixed by this weekend I am not going to be happy.  Not happy at all!!

Did I mention my mom is coming next Monday for a few weeks visit?!?!  I need my truck!!!!!  Pray for me people...seriously pray for me!!!!

Final orders, busy, planning, excited and terrified at the same time!

Well it actually happened the other day.....Mr. M got orders!!  We are so excited and yet at the same time as we realized this will be our last set of orders it's a little scarey as well.  Once we leave Europe then we will have one last duty station before he takes the plunge and slams those papers down on someone's desk saying " I want to retire!"  Ohhhhhh lord I am so nervous, excited, terrified and at the same time I am so far ahead of myself it's not even funny.

Before we even get to the whole getting out, retiring stuff we have to first plan our move and get set up at the next, last, final duty station!! OMG I am terrified I tell ya!!!  Excited as heck to be going to some place we wanted to go and have been before and especially since our first born was born there and hasn't been there since she was 3 months old it's really super exciting.  However, as I have been planning and googling and trying to find anything I need it is very hard.  Why is it so hard to get the info I need online or to get someone to help me.  Facebook is my best friend right now!  I found tons of groups and people who will tell me just about anything including where not to live because it's a dump.  You can't get that from a booklet folks!!
Now we just have to get ourselves set up with where we are going to live and we should be good.  We have so much going on right now and the thought of packing everything is just not in the cards right now. I have holidays to plan, organizations to run and people and places to see way before we go anywhere.  I only hope that when the day comes to start packing that I have done it all and seen it all and nothing will stand in our way.
Oh and btw in case any of you were wondering we are headed to Ft. Riley!!  So anyone with any great info please send it my way. :)

 Man I do remember that sign!!

Our new....temporary home when we arrive!!

Post it note Tuesday...fractures, crutches, broken elevators and pumpkins!

 Ok so she doesn't look so thrilled here but she had a blast!

 My favorite!! Isn't that just the cutest thing you have ever seen?!?!

The girls favorite one!

Facebook: Fabulous or Evil?!?!

Since I got into using Facebook I have always thought that it was a great way to keep up with good friends, find old friends and especially being military keep up with friends after you or they move away.

Sometimes though I really think it is used for pure evil and I can not stand it when others choose to use it as a pawn as a way of them getting to someone.  I have no idea why some people just can't seem to grow up after high school or college even but I am so disappointed in so many people it's just ridiculous!

If you have Facebook would you ever allow someone to bash someone else on your page? In my opinion it's highschool and I have no room for it in my life.

Would you ever use the unfriend button just to try and make someone feel bad?  Again, highschool and I could care less. Go ahead and unfriend me to your hearts content and no matter what you think you are getting at by keeping my hubby on your page again I DON'T CARE!!



I am over 18, out of highschool and college for that matter, married with kids and way too old to play drama queen y'all!!  So what do you do if someone decides to use facebook as a weapon on you?  Do you ignore them and laugh it off as I do or do you take it to heart?  Is facebook that big of a deal in your life that it would crush you to be unfriended by someone?  How old do you think is old enough to have facebook?

I used to just think of it as a great way to keep in touch but lately I have begun to think of it as another way for the bullies in our lives to feel they have control over us whether they are dimeaning us or unfriending us. So what do you think?

Pumkins and corn and flea markets oh my....

This past weekend we went to an amazing festival with tons of pumpkins,some you could sit your family on and still have room for more, and an incredible corn maze. I have heard so many people talk about how they have seen bigger or better mazes but I had no problem whatsoever getting lost in this one thank you very much!!  Along with great food and some fabulous booths they also had a flea market with tons of different foods and trinkets to buy. We left with a new wine rack, full stomachs, aching feet and a large bag of the most delicous cookies I have ever tasted.

 This one I wanted to take home but they wouldn't sell it..party poopers!!

 flea market

 more of the flea market

 there were pumpkins everywhere..no really...EVERYWHERE!!

 this was the biggest we saw and again they would not sell it..dang it!!

 inside the corn maze....before I got lost

 the pumpkin patch across the street...

DD2 wanted to pick some flowers so we let her. I think she did a very good job with her selections and I loved them!!

Autothechnik museum, Guttenberg castle and an award....

Wow so much has gone on the past few weeks and I know, I know I am the worstest blogger ever!! Yes I know worstest is not  a word but it seems quite fitting right now so go with it, k?!

We have been doing a few outings but mostly we have been busy busy busy. I think once school started someone opened up the busy gate and apparently it is not closing anytime soon. There is a bazaar this weekend in Ramstein and yet it seems that we will not be going due to Mr. M having to work the weekend and getting prepared for our bazaar at the same time.  I love the bazaars and think that they are fantastic for the community as well as giving some people who do not travel an opportunity to pick up a few things from other places around Europe.

Being on the bazaar committee this year has been a whole other job in itself and one that I have to say has opened up my eyes to just how much work goes into these things. So let's get to what I have been doing. The few things I have done were fantastic and things that I am glad we had the opportunity to do while we were here.

We went to the Autotechnik museum in Sinsheim, Germany and it was a blast!! There is also one in Speyer but not as big as this one. To say that I climbed into a French concorde plane that was bolted to the ceiling and hanging over the side of the building would be an example of all the fabulous things we were able to do and see.  Scarey yes but fabulous!!!!

A few pics from our trip....

 the concorde we climbed into on the roof..

 ain't she a beauty?!?!

 one of the many organs they have. You put a coin in and it plays music. Soo neat!!

 the slide that comes out of an airplane. DD2 went up and down it atleast 20 times!

 DD1 prefered laying around in the spinning disc.

 my poor attempt to take a picture from inside the plane to show how high we were.

this was a polizei bike hung from the ceiling. It was so funny looking with 10 seats and lights and sirens on the front. Can you imagine being chased down by this?!?!










The next trip we took was to Guttenberg castle to see the flight show. It was amazing to see these giant birds they have and to have them fly directly over your head almost touching you. The wind from their wings was incredible...

 the view from the flight show area

 the birds waiting their turn for the show..

 See what I mean by right over your head!?!

 all the birds were just gorgeous..

 I will admit I ducked quite a few times when they flew over..

 these birds were so funny..they waddle when they walk and the man kept throwing them off the edge so they would fly around and come waddling back..

 beautiful door to the castle..

what Guttenberg castle used to look like...












So that would just about take us up to today where hopefully we will get to go to the Ramstein bazaar and I can show you a lot more pictures.  One thing I would like to tell you though is that I was given an award and had my blog listed as one of the top 100 military blogs by Veterans benefits page. I was really surprised to get the email but apparently they haven't noticed how much of a slacker I have been lately....whoopsie!!!!

So thanks to them you can click on the award on my page and check out some of the other great blogs who also received the award along with all the info that the page gives out. Interested in the GI bill then click that button and go check it out!!

5 Question Friday!!!

1. What ringtone do you have on your cell phone?

I keep changing it because I never seem to hear it when it rings. I finally found the one that not only do I hear every time it rings but it is annoying enough that everyone else lets me know it's ringing as well. The only bad part is that Mr. M has the exact same ring..ughhhh!!  So when one of our phones ring neither of us get up to answer it because we assume it is the other's phone! So basically I am back to not answering my phone...whhooops!! The ringtone is the infamous old school rotary phone ring.

2. What is your favorite memory from this summer?

I would have to say our cruise to Greece!!  Greece was gorgeous and something I will never forget and the cruising part was just as fabulous as I thought it would be.

3. Paper books or ebooks?

I am all about digital stuff now adays and don't know what I would do without my ipad(btw I am so used to my ipad correcting my spelling and punctuation mistakes you may have to overlook huge errors from now on) but I have to say an actual book just feels better to me.

4. If you could have one home upgrade what would it be and why?

Well considering that I live in a government apartment that is about 1000 sq ft and we have one bathroom I would say my one upgrade would be an actual house with all the normal amenities!!

5. When was your first serious boyfriend/girlfriend?

My first serious boyfriend was sophmore year of highschool. He was a Senior and boy I had no idea what I was getting myself into with him. He was trouble with a capital T!  I had fun and then pushed him aside and moved on to bigger and better though so don't worry about me!!

Ok now go on over to Mama M's page and get your questions on! You know you want to and stop saying to yourself "I don't want to be like the crowd" because you know you do!!

Now GO!!!!

Post it note Tuesday!!

Tomorrow I will give a review of our trip to the auto technik museum with pics!!  Hey so it seems when I have more mommy time I have more time to blog...how awesome is that?!?! 

Woohooooo!!!!  You all are SOOO lucky!!! :)