One Month

Well after one month of living here I'm ready to go home, JUST KIDDING!!! :) However, I am ready to move into our house. We (I should say Rocky) have the lease fully negotiated with our new landlord and now the paperwork is in the approval process at Rocky's company. Our new landlord has been fantastic. He has been very understanding with everything. Renting a home in Germany is very different than renting a home in the U.S. For example, when you move out of a home here, you are required to pay a renovation fee which can run over $10,000! And leases here are generally a lot longer than American leases. Most landlords will not rent to anyone for less than a 3 year lease. Sometimes not even 3 years, they want like 5-10 year leases. Also, there are no closets in any rooms. You have to purchase closets from Ikea. We've also heard German washers and dryers take an extremely long time to work. Rocky's co-works recommend we take our laundry to the base on the weekend because we can do six loads at once! But since I'm home all day I can monitor the laundry so it shouldn't be a problem...hopefully. On the up side, homes here are very well kept and maintained. They are just beautiful from the inside out!

Savannah is doing really well. She is super fast these days and is very curious about everything. She does this little thing, when she see something or someone interesting she tilts her head and pokes her head out as if she is saying, "Really, tell me more!" It's adorable. She is pulling herself up and making her way around the furniture, and she'll even stand without holding onto anything for about 15 seconds at a time!

We will hopefully be moving into our home in the next two weeks. We are waiting for our household goods which are supposed to be here Monday. Once they get here, they have to be cleared through customs so we might not move in until April 1st. Total bummer! If this is the case....we are thinking about spending my 30th birthday in Paris. Which would be incredible! The only thing holding us back is our little Lilly. We have to make sure she is in good hands and since I'm very protective of sweet Lilly, I want to be 100% sure I trust the person watching her. Rocky has a co-worker who loves dogs and has three so we are checking with him. If not we'll postpone Paris. In the future we are hoping our landlord will be kind and watch her. He has a 15 year old son that wants a dog very badly so we're hoping Lilly will turn up her charm and they will extend an offer when we get to know them better.

Our next trip will be to Prague to visit the Easter Markets. We've heard they are a lot of fun!

Rocky's job is starting to pick up and has been put on several projects. I'm so proud of him and everything he has accomplished to bring us here. He is enjoying everything so far and his company has been very understanding and supportive in getting us settled as soon as possible. We just got invited to join their Sunday dinner club. This Sunday is our first one, I'm excited to meet all the wives and children.

I have a few videos and pics from last weekend's excursions that I'll post this weekend!
XO
Elizabeth