Holy cow

It's been a long time since I've messed around with my D70, but I am getting it in with the rest of my stuff on Monday. We've finally found a house in Virginia, and we are starting to settle in pretty nicely. I hope to get some fantastic photos out here. My job is better too, what with shooting stories instead of just videotaping some boring ass briefing that is in powerpoint already anyway.

New photos (okay, so they're old)

I took most of these photos last spring and summer, except for the pink wall and the yellow bushes (those are from this spring). The girl is my friend, Kristin, the tree is in the village where I live, and the bad ass clock is the central clock in the main train station in Paris.

New Things

We got a new dog last night. His name is already Scooby, which I am not particularly fond of, and I don't know how successful an attempt at changing it will be. Scooby would be fine if an 11 year-old girl picked the name, but we don't have a daughter, much less an 11 year-old. I have settled on calling him Scoobers for now. He's a black and silver miniature schnauzer, and he's totally cute. I'll post a photo of him soon. He's not fond of sitting still.
Our new house is pretty neat. Notice I say neat, and not nice. It is an old farmhouse in our village, and it's roomy and cool in the summer, but the floors are warped and the kitchen is a little old-fashioned. Did I mention how much room I have though? Because I seriously have a ton of room!
Jon and I filed our paperwork at the Speicher Rathaus on Wednesday. We just have to wait for the permission to come back and we can set up our date to get married. Man, people have to jump through hoops to get married in Germany! It's a little funny.

false spring

It snowed. It's sleeting. I ran 5k this morning in sleet. I think I am going to cough up a lung. They are predicting heavy snow for tomorrow. I better go grocery shopping tonight. I wouldn't want to have only ramen and oatmeal on hand in case I'm snowed in.

I can't wait to have this kind of weather again. I love the summer in Germany. I want it to be gorgeous and warm again. I can't wait for sunset at 2230.

spring fever

The weather has been fantastic all week. The weather shop is predicting snowfall for Monday, which would seem far-fetched, except that I have had to scrape the ice off my car windows every morning for around the last two weeks. But the weather is always gorgeous (for Germany) by mid-day. I am itching to get out and go shop, lie around in grass, drink margaritas while lounging in a hammock, and just be in the sunshine.

180

Yesterday I re-enlisted. Yeah, I did it. I enjoy my life. I love living in Europe and wherever the hell the Air Force sees fit to send me. I even love being deployed. I loved being in Baghdad when I was there because I felt like I was actually making a difference.
My career field is going through some changes as are a few closely related career fields. My plain old video documentation job is merging with broadcasting. I am very excited about that. I have always wanted to be a broadcaster. It's what I wanted to do from the get-go, but I was delayed for about 11 years. I always get what I want. Sometimes it just takes a while to come around.
I am trying to extend for an extra year here in Germany. I hope it gets approved. I want to move to Italy next, but I will take England as well. Now that I think about it, England would be pretty fun. I like the way it smells.

Decisions, decisions

A lot of options have been weighing on my mind lately. I've been forced to accept certain aspects of my personality, and while some of them aren't the prettiest, I know that I have to be who I am or else I am going to make some major mistakes. I am not reliable in romantic dealings, and I don't like making sacrifices on a grand scale. Little, everyday sacrifices, like letting a roommate have the master bedroom, cleaning the kitchen without being asked, or even forgoing a trip because someone else is sick are fine. Changing my life to suit someone else, stifling my outgoing personality, or giving up on my dreams are not okay.
I am re-enlisting, and I am saying good-bye to the S.O. I just can't belong to another person that way. I'd be kidding both of us if I said I could.