Combat Readiness Training

As many of you already know, Cody recently underwent a Combat Readiness Course. This entailed a week of classroom training and parking lot exercises followed by seven days out in a muddy field being confronted with every type of combat and non-combat situation they could possibly encounter while "down-range." During their seven days of muddiness, the group could not go home, have any contact with the outside world or shower. They were also constantly inundated with random noises and Russian rap music day and night to aid in sleep deprivation. You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.



































Unfortunately, I can't upload the random noises that were played both day and night for seven consecutive days. One of them was simply a high-pitched voice screeching:

"ring...... ring, ring, ring...... ring, ring.... ring, ring, ring! RIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG!!!!"

That particular noise played for 12 hours straight. If that wasn't enough to mess with anyone's sanity, they also tried other ways of messing with their heads. Check out the pictures below:

These are supposed to be "deer." They did this just to see how the guys would react.

And of course, someone dressed up as the sasquatch and tromped around the far perimeter of the camp - again, just to see how they would respond.

We're Having a Baby

I'm pregnant! It certainly was a big surprise - we were not planning for a baby, but God was. The tentative due date is December 11, 2009, so we might be having a Christmas baby. My first ultrasound is on May 5th so I'll get the "picture" of our little one up as soon as I have it!

As of today, I am 8 weeks (or 2 months) pregnant. Only 7 months to go - hahaha. :) Thank you to everyone who has sent their congratulations!

Berg Nanstein

Hello everyone! Here are some much-needed photo updates! I recently walked the mile-and-a-half from my backyard to the castle on the hill in the next town. I definitely wasn't disappointed! Here are a few pictures of Berg Nanstein:

Live From Germany

We're Here
Hello to Everyone, and I'm sorry we've been out of touch for so long! Cody and I are doing well here in Germany - we are settling in and getting acclimated to the weather, the food and the people here. This update will mostly contain pictures, but they say those are worth a thousand words anyhow, right?

Landstuhl, Germany
The first pictures are of Landstuhl, the town we stayed in when we first got here. We stayed in a little hotel called the Green Lantern for the first 16 days and found that a situation comprising of no stove, no microwave, no laundry, no English television channels, no free phone calls and internet at 18 cents/minute makes for an unhappy Megan. At least Landstuhl is a very pretty little town and offered me plenty of sightseeing.

The picture above wasn't our hotel - we just liked the staircase in front.

There are a ton of churches and chapels everywhere you look - above is the chapel that was closest to our hotel. It had a little graveyard in the back and was in between two larger churches.

Home Sweet Home

During our search for houses off base, we encountered several very strange layouts (including a kitchen you could only access through the guest bedroom), and several really awful ideas - you know the Wal-Mart smiley face? Imagine a HOUSE - an entire house - painted that color.

In the end (in my opinion), we found the most perfect little house in all of Germany. We ended up in the quaint, but close-to-everything little town of Kindsbach.

Above is our front door - to the right is the Master bedroom.

Here you see the living room, the dining room and the balcony.

I love my kitchen - the pictures don't do it justice - it's so bright and cheery!

Above is the Master Bedroom - below is the view from our window.

Above is the Guest Bedroom (With a closet!! Very Rare!) and below is the view, including the town's church in the background.

I think the bathroom is my favorite room in the house. Again, the photos do not do justice to the amount of sunshine that pours into this room - and just look at that marvelous bath! P.S. The floors are heated and there is a towel warmer so you'll be nice and toasty at all times!

And now to the room that is completely open to suggestions - below is a picture of the attic/loft - this is what the stairs lead to in the second picture. All I know so far is that this is where we plan to put all the musical instruments. Any other ideas are welcome.

Of course it wouldn't be a full tour without showing everyone my German Washer and Dryer. The washer is a small version of an American front loader, except of course that all the options are in German. The dryers here are very weird - instead of using heat to dry, they literally "suck" all the water out of the clothes! We have to empty a little compartment of the dryer where the water is drained at the end of each cycle!

And last, but not least, our super fantastic view from the kitchen and balcony!

Even though we're still adjusting to Germany in so many ways, we are happy here. Hopefully within the next week or two, I'll have some more detailed pictures up of the town, Cody's work, etc. so stay tuned.

Much love to everyone at home - we miss you all more than you can imagine!