Good news & bad news :)

Hi Everyone! Good news and bad news to start the day. Good news first. I got my J.Crew shipment within one week of placing the order, which is fantastic! More importantly is that I fit perfectly into their size 29 pants again!!!! This is very exciting. Still more work to be done but I'm happy I'm a 29 again!

Bad news is that failed my drivers test. The course before the test was four hours long and it started at 7:30am. German and international driving laws are VERY CONFUSING! The most confusing one I think is that in most cases you always yield right before left. So you could be driving along a road and car could pull out in front of you and it would be your fault because you did not stop and yield for the car on your right pulling out. Centered around this "right before left" rule there are so many different cases you must remember. There are about 300 signs you have to remember too. On the test I got all the sign questions right (then only ask 25 sign questions) but missed most of the situation questions. My job tonight is to study and then I'll take the test again tomorrow morning at 10:30am and will hopefully pass this time! On the bright side of being in this class I met one of Rocky's coworkers and his fiance who just got here from England on Friday. They are from our hometown in Annapolis and have been on this contract in England for the past two years. He is now joining the project on this location. They seem nice and they are staying in our same hotel as they look for a home. We plan on having dinner in the next few days.

Savannah is well! Last night before bed she savored every bit of her banana yobaby yogurt, we were so proud! Every morning we see her top right tooth emerge further, so we can now see both top teeth. It's amazing how overnight her top two teeth have come in. I almost feel like I have literally watched them come in because she has been up every two hours every night since these top teeth have started!!! For some reason I'm not as tired as I was when she was just a newborn waking up that often. I guess it's true that you just begin to learn how to survive on less sleep.

Update on House Hunting
We've found the general area we like, it's called Niedernhausen about 10 minutes from Wiesbaden and 20 minutes from Rocky's job. There are several other towns around Niesderhausen that we are looking at as well. Now that we have the area narrowed down we can narrow the houses down better.

Right now we have two houses we really like....but only one is possible and that is the one with the great landlord. The other large renovated stand alone house is beautiful but it's a tad to big and expensive.

Today our realtor Ingeborg is showing us two more houses at 3pm. Fingers crossed! :) Also at 3pm today is the Official Grand Opening event at our hotel. Wish we were going to be here for the festivities.

House #2 - Great Landlord Geräumige Doppelhaushälfte mit Blick in ruhiger Lage

Located in Kelkiem, about 25 minutes form Wiesbaden and 25 minutes from Rocky's job. This house is a good size but sits on a slope. The owner lives next door in the other half of the double house. He speaks perfect English and seems really nice and he said the neighbors are great too. There is small yard with a deck that is going to be rebuilt by the owner. The basement is completely finished with a full bath, perfect for when guests visit. It's ready to move in tomorrow. The stairs are closed and it seems to bet he perfect size for us right now. The town is tucked away a little further than Neiderhausen but there are shops within walking distance.

House #3 - Large renovated stand alone Freistehendes 8 Zimmer-Haus in Niedernhausen 

Located in Niedernhausen, this town seems more open and spacious. From this house there are several shops within walking distance. The house is very large with four levels...all completely renovated beautifully. The backyard is adorable, with a patio and cover. There is no deck which I like because then I don't have to constantly worried about Savannah. We'd have to buy furniture to fill the other rooms but the other rooms are smaller so we would have to purchase too much. When anyone comes to visit there would be PLENTY of room. The price is at the very top of our budget. The house isn't ready until April 1st. There is a balcony from our master bathroom and Savannah's bedroom. I quickly confirmed that this will be child proofed and the door would be locked in her room. Her room would have a large room with another small room attached. I was thinking the small part would be her sleeping area and the larger part is her play area. As I write this, I realize I'm in love with this house. I wonder if we could take this house back to the U.S. after two years?!

More to come with the house hunt....

Happy Wednesday everyone!
xo
Elizabeth