Stagnant

I'm pretty sure time moves differently for me than others.  It's either that, or I'm half as patient as everyone else.  Whatever, not important.

We are waiting to hear back on whether or not we got the apartment we want in Germany.  A part of me really hopes we do, but a part of me also wants to keep looking.  There are some really amazing places in our Target Area, and it's hard to decide on one.  Especially because we kept looking after we put in our application...  That's a recipe for regret.

Yesterday, R told me that if I have any reservations about moving to Germany, it's not too late.  He has a job, we have a bank account; those are the 2 main things you need to facilitate the rest of life.  And it's that rest of life he wants to make sure are the best for both of us they can be.  And it's because he's so careful to make sure I'm an equal partner in this decision, that he's not dragging me off to his country in pursuit of only his dreams, that I can be as committed as he is to this move.  I feel like I'm getting at least as much out of it as he, long term.  Short term will be difficult as I struggle to adapt, but I'm hoping the long term benefits won't take too long to kick in.

Home, Sweet Home

We are in the process of finding somewhere to live on the Other Side.  We've been looking at apartments online for months, narrowing down which city we want to live in.  We started wanting Warendorf, a suburb-like town slightly west of where we assumed R would work.  As usual, life took a different turn that what looked like the obvious course for the last 4 years.  Rather than working directly for the Mothership, he took a position on one of the Supply Ships.  As a result, we got to start a new apartment search, and were pleasantly surprised by what we found.  We submitted an application for an apartment last week, and should hear back on it early this week. 

We had planned to spend the first week of May apartment hunting, never dreaming it could be this easy.  So now we don't know what to do for that week in May, maybe shop for furniture?  Get to know our new town?  Drink a lot of lattes?  Take naps?  Get pregnant? 

It is getting harder and harder to keep taking that silly little pill every day, but I know if I stop before the wedding it'll pretty much guarantee a bright and shining moment of fertility that will make everything more complicated than it needs to be.  I'm already anxious about everything falling into place (as it seems to be doing), no sense adding a bunch of hormones into the mix, right?  Right?

Amy nach Deutschland : Amy to Germany

I have decided to chronicle my move to Germany, both physical and mental.  I proposed the idea of this blog to my fiancé (henceforth known as R), and asked for suggestions for what to call it.  His first suggestion was, "Gone, baby, gone." 

Um, no.

I have spent the first 34 years of my life living in the American Midwest.  I grew up in Missouri, thanking my lucky stars I didn't live in Kansas.  Then I moved to Kansas.  I realized Kansas isn't all that different than Missouri, and after all, it wasn't Iowa, right?  Of course my next move was to teach at a small university in southern Iowa. I really should have learned from previous experience, but I didn't.  I really, truly thought to myself, "Well, all these moves to someplace I thought was the worst, at least I'll never wind up in Nebraska."  So mere months after moving to Iowa, I met a guy living in Omaha, where we now live.  R works in the agricultural industry, and refers to my moves as a Tour of Corn Belt.  Sigh.

In a few short months, I'll be moving to Westfalia, located in the upper-left-ish part of Germany.  (In case you're curious, they also grow corn there, though a little differently.)  R is originally from there, and soon we will both call it home.  Weather-wise, it's a lot more like Seattle than Kansas City.  It's often rainy, and lacks the extreme temperatures one never really gets used to.  R jokes that you can tell when summer arrives because the rain turns warm.  At least I think he's joking...

Moving on.  After a few not-so-good name ideas, we settled on "Amy nach Deutschland," meaning Amy to Germany.  It's simple, which is not representative of this transition at all. 

Oh, and just to add to the fun, we're getting married in Germany 2 months before we move.  So in May we head over, tie the knot, fly home for the month of June, and then fly back in July for good. 

It's a good thing I didn't resolve to have a stress-free 2015.