The Big Secret Reveal!!!

For those of you who have been following along on the Facebook blog page you have seen the “hints” I’ve given about the big secret I’ve been keeping from you all!

I was waiting until I was able to tell my work which I have as of yesterday so I am free to announce it to the world!
But just to clear up the rumors…

No…we are not having a baby…..

Nope….not getting a second dog either…

Moving to France??….God no.

Win the peanut butter lottery? Not exactly but close!

It’s even better than that….WAYYYY better!!!

Wanna know now?

Am I annoying you yet?

Can’t keep your pants on you’re so excited?!!?

Ok…well…here it goes!!!

Toblerone and I are MOVING!!!!! Where, you ask?…..BACK TO THE USA!!! 🙂 He got a great job transfer opportunity and we are taking the 3 year contract to travel to Michigan! We are just so excited about this next step in our lives. We have so many new memories to make! This “East Coast” girl is about to be a “Mid-West” girl! 🙂

I was saying all along that this year is without a doubt our year. Everything is coming together perfectly. We are really really blessed! We have our massive week long celebration of our wedding in Cape Cod, MA in August and then we fly back to Germany quickly to oversee the packing of our house and ship out our container. We will fly back to the states, to Michigan sometime towards the end of September.

Tell me we are crazy! I just know we are but we both feel like this is the next chapter to our story. Our super incredible amazing story.

As for the blog, I will try my best to keep it up because being an expat is just as important as re-expatriating. I’m not sure I fit in anymore to be totally honest. I’m changed now. I speak two languages, I understand a second culture completely and half of my heart will truly be left here in Germany. It’s a hard transition no matter what we do. The hardest part of falling in love with someone from a different country is knowing that somewhere down the line someone will have to make a sacrifice as far as where you will live goes.

I’ve been here a little over 3 years now and I feel so incredibly grateful that I got to have this opportunity. It is possible that maybe one day we find ourselves back in Germany but we kind of like to fly by the seat of our pants. And so the story goes…

So there you have it. I no longer have to keep this secret in because it was truthfully eating away at me! I’m not good at keeping my own secrets!

Thoughts? Comments? Know of any “Must-See/Do” things in Michigan??? We are looking forward to hearing what you think!

Until next time, Readers!!!!!xoxoxoxoxo

Wouldn’t You Like To Know – My Life Lately

Oh my dear lovelies! I have been SO SO SO behind on blogging and every day I put it off the more I avoided it! I’m forcing myself to give you all an update on my life! Lots going on and its only fair I let you all in on the deets!

Back when I came to Germany in 2011. A brunette!!

First and foremost…I celebrated a BIG anniversary. March 1st hit the 3 years in Germany mark. Can you believe that nonsense?! THREE WHOLE YEARS! IN GERMANY! Like wait….what? I’m not exactly sure how that happened. If you think about what you yourself have accomplished or done in the past three years you’ll realize…its a good chunk of time. It’s also enough time for life to go on without you back home and you start to notice it. People have asked me if being an expat gets easier but I think that depends on the person. Some people really have that travel bug and “want” or “need” to explore. I, however, just want to be around my family and things that are familiar. For me, in three years, I still want nothing more than to be in the US. This also has a lot to do with where we are located (far from cities, bars, bowling, clubs, great lounges, good restaurants, festivals etc.) We rely a lot on the company of each other and the family get-togethers. But even that, as special as it is, gets dull over time. I just keep trucking along though and try to soak in the experience and be thankful that I get this opportunity. Most people I know will NEVER get this chance in their life. Love makes us do crazy things and I would move around the world 100 times just to be with Toblerone. Harley Jones Noodle Butt Butt wouldn’t like that so much though…he’s not a fan of flying. 🙂

Harley Jones is NOT a fan of airplanes and he’s here to tell you all about it!

Secondly…we have 5 months until our wedding! 161 days from this post! WHOA! I feel like I have nothing together and I probably don’t actually but thats ok. We have SO many Germans flying to the US for this, in fact I think the airlines should give us free tickets for 5 years considering how much money people are spending for this. But how cool is that? People are coming all the way to America just to see our wedding (and of course travel) but this fills my heart to the brim. And as if things couldn’t get better, so many unexpected people from the US are coming too! I thought for sure people wouldn’t come because it’s a destination wedding on Cape Cod. I’m just incredibly stunned and so overjoyed there are no words for how complete this makes me feel. On top of it all, most of these people are taking time out of their lives and staying several days or even the whole week on the Cape with us. I…I just….I’m speechless. Speechless from the outpouring of love. I get to spend a whole week surrounded by incredible people. How did I get so lucky? How do you thank people? How do you return the love you’re being given? Just such a beautiful time ahead of us and I can not WAIT. Mattespalooza here we come! Plus we are having a real deal Cape Cod Clam Bake and I can’t wait to watch people get down and dirty crackin lobsters! My dress will be a giant mess! A ceremony followed immediately by a rock the dress session! LOVE!

Mmm….clambakes!!

I’ve been bad with blogging due to work and just being utterly exhausted. However, Toblerone and I gave up drinking alcohol for lent and it seems to be a lot better. Plus we are working out together and such which makes the nights nicer. Strange how it does make a slight difference in our lives! Have any of you done that as well? I mean, some days I would just LOVE to have a glass of wine but its worth it in the end! Plus I better be 10 pounds lighter!

There is big news on the horizon but I have to wait to tell you in the middle of April or so. I hate to hold out on you BUT its important that I do for many reasons. And no, I’m not pregnant, sadly. This may/may not be equally as good though! Stay posted and in the meantime try to guess what it is! Thank you all for hanging by me while I pull my head out of the ground and get back to what I love – writing!

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxo

My Life Lately: When It Rains, It Pours

So much has been going on since I returned back to Germany from my short visit in the US. I haven’t had a second to sit and think and actually as I write this, I have exactly 40 minutes to myself to get this blog post done! How sad is that?!

Anywho, I promise things will start to mellow down and eventually I will have a normal schedule back. But to clue you in one whats been going on, here is my run down of my life lately!

Work – So I’ve been working for a company two mornings out of the week. Which is good. It gets me out of the house, I get to feel like I’m worth something again. AND, the bigger bonus, I can make my own money! Starting in November I will be working Monday through Friday in the mornings for 4 hours or so. This changes things completely for me! Poor Harley Jones isn’t sure whats going on! He’s used to his mommy being around all the time. Eventually this job will turn into a full time job after Christmas so these transitions are good for me. Afterall, I do have a wedding to pay for!

View from my desk at work

Aside from the real office girl job, I’m still giving English lessons. I’ve added on two more classes plus another private student. Thats a total of 4 private students and 2 classes. So, I’m feeling a bit overloaded at the moment. My mornings are gone, my evenings are gone, and the rest of the time is taking care of the house and Harley. It’s a lot. So this is a HUGE reason why I haven’t found any time to blog!!! It’s killing me!!

Husband – I missed Toblerone’s birthday because I was in the US at my grandmothers funeral to be exact. So his day was spent quietly as was mine. When I arrived home, we gathered together his grandmothers, parents, and aunt and uncle to have a small little get together and celebrate a little. I slaved all day and made pumpkin soup, German flammkuchen, banana cake, and a peach pie from my grandmother’s recipe. All in all it was a nice little gathering but only minutes after the family left…the husband really fell ill to the flu! So I had him home during the week. Poor guy! What a rough week it’s been!!

Plans – Next weekend is our annual Halloween party and we are getting pretty excited! Our costumes this year are pretty easy only because the costume we wanted to be was just too complicated to organize when all this stuff was going on! I can’t tell you the costumes because we will be this next year! You’ll just have to wait!! We are getting really excited to teach the Germans how to play beer pong and flip cup! And I’m not so excited about cleaning the beer off the floor the next morning…blah! But with no kids in our lives, this is the time to live it up!

I’ll be having Thanksgiving again this year here in Germany. However, I think I want to invite only Americans lol. The Germans just didn’t get it last year. To them, it was just another dinner at someones house. Which, to be honest, really made my skin crawl. I worked so hard to show them my tradition, my culture, and it was almost dismissed.

Random Thoughts – I saw this picture on Pinterest yesterday and it actually made my heart hurt. I remember being in 7th grade and completely awkward. These days, the girls always have their hair done up, dressing like college girls, and know more about make up then I ever will. This kind of thing scares me. When the day comes that I have my own little girl..I hope she stays wholesome and allows herself to be a child as long as she can.

That’s it for my life lately! Wishing you all cozy fall days!!! I’m off to get my visa renewed for another year! Yikes! 🙂

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Ask and you Shall Receive

The funny thing about it is, a big part of me didn’t even want this to happen but here it is….right in my face….happening.

The big dogs in my corporate office in Germany have asked to set up an interview with me as soon as I arrive in good old Deutschland for a project purchasing position. Whatever that means. I agreed to the interview and first thing this morning I get an email from my potential boss and he said the Director of Purchasing happens to be traveling to our offices today in NY so he will meet with me today. Umm, whoa!

I’m not prepared and definitely haven’t had time to brush up on my German. GAH!!! The reason I say I didn’t want it to happen is because I was kinda – sorta hoping that I would atleast have several months off to get everything together at the house. The container shows up in two days and although Tobi is fully capable, I know that he will feel overwhelmed with getting things unpacked. Of course, I don’t want his parents doing the unpacking. I mean, it’s my house. I need to put things where I know they are! It’s just craziness.

I may not even get the job so I’m not sure why I’m blubbering about it to begin with! Get a grip, woman!!

I’m thankful that I didn’t do laundry this weekend so I had nothing left to wear than a suit jacket, pants, and cute top. I look somewhat professional today! Mamma Mia!!!

Time Goes By So Slowly…

Kill me.

The days are DRAGGING here at work. I have officially told my boss that I plan to move and they have been searching for my replacement, hard to find! 🙂 I’m slowly telling everyone my plans little by little. It will spread like wildfire within a few days anyways – typical office gossip.

It’s strange because prior to this, it’s like the universe was working with me. I was bombarded with work, upwards of 100 emails a day, a million fires to put out, and copious amounts of meetings per day. Now, ever since I said anything…I get maybe 30 emails a day at most, no meetings, no fires that can’t be dealt with in a few minutes. It’s so strange!

Due to the lack of work being dropped in my plate…I’m bored out of my skull! I can’t possibly sit here for 4 more weeks and wait it out. I want out in a BAD way. I’m so looking forward to hopping on that plane to go to my new home!

I’ve been able to keep my impending sadness about leaving my friends and family at bay. It’s going to be difficult but for now it still feels like it’s a vacation. I’m sure once I start missing my baby sister’s plays and visits with my family that I will start to feel the ting of homesickness.

I just really hope I can find a happy medium and I don’t lose sight of why I’m making this decision. I’m beginning my own little family and need to keep my eyes focused on the goal. I’m with someone who treats me like gold (even though it wasn’t that way at first) and I deserve to be happy….after many moons of jerks.

I just wish the clock would speed up just during work hours. Is that too much to ask!?

Just a Number

I’ve been trying to set up options for myself as far as work goes. I do have the option not to work, but without that, I have 3 months to stay in the country unless we get married. Through work I could get a work visa and we would obviously have more money to do the things we want. Sounds grand and all but harder than I thought. Our corporate is based out of Germany and it would be great if I could just get in there seeing that we live 1/4 mile from the place!

El Presidente of the company and I had a little chit-chat this morning to discuss what I’m doing. Obviously, Tobi left the company and everyone has nothing better to do than to follow our love life so he assumes I will be leaving. Up until this point, at work, I’ve kept “mum” about my situation and what I’m doing for a few reasons. One, I didn’t want people to know what I’m doing and Two, I’m eligible for a raise/promotion this year so I do not want them to keep me from that if I choose to stay. So I’ve been asked to give them a 3-4 month advance notice of my resignation and that 2 weeks just won’t do. Bite me.

I proposed the idea of transferring me to corporate in Deutschland but he had not one word to say about that. Just kept reiterating that I need to cover his ass and make sure there were no bumps in the road for our team. Ridiculous. So the light at the end of the tunnel just got brighter or dimmer depending on how I look at the situation. My direct boss is trying to do everything to keep me here and will propose a better position for me in hopes that I stay for another year. Again, Bite me. If the big boy at the top isn’t going to help me, then I will assume that it’s best if I just walk away from this and learn to live with what we got over there. Hopefully, Tobi will be eligible for a promotion/raise once he gets going in the new place and shows off his talents and insanely high work ethic.

It’s hard to succeed in a world that still has chauvinistic tendencies. As I mentioned to my supervisor, everyone can be bought. Give me the carrot and see what happens. But, can you keep a secret?…..I’m quitting anyways!