For Presidents Day Weekend I was flown to Charlotte, NC and spent the weekend in Columbia, SC & Gatlinburg, TN. I enjoyed a beautiful hike on the Appalachian Trail and delicious beer samples at the Smokey Mtn Brewery (seasonal one was the best)! I would say the person I was with was, by far, the best part.

I’ll post pictures soon.

Back to work. Now I’m a certified SHARP rep for the Brigade, which will be an additional duty. However, this new duty is slotted for a Captain. Where as the one I’m in now, I’m technically excess (I’m filling a Senior NCO’s spot–but any LT will work). This extra duty may work to my advantage on filling a higher ranking role. We will see. Best part, next week I get to attend a two-day training session in Western Germany and the week after that I’ll be exploring Garmisch, Germany for a week. Garmisch is one of the most beautiful spots in Germany. Wait for it…Uniform is business casual. Long hair don’t care! So I’m really looking forward to March, job-wise. And hopefully by then I’ll have an idea of whether or not I’m attending the CST Assessment & Selection. Which will mean a better idea of where my life/job can take me this upcoming year. Keep your fingers crossed…

Okay, back to watching “The Good Wife”…pretty good. Did I mention how much I loved “Homeland”, sooooo gooood!!!!!

Night,

K

Oh the Places You’ll Go…

London

Most of the pictures from my last 8 months of travel have been consolidated in my Facebook album, Got Me in a Trance (I and II), however, I’ve recently added pictures on my Google Picasa Web Albums so those who aren’t friends of mine on Facebook or don’t have an account can still see them. The web album is still missing London, Normandy, Paris, and Solden, Austria pictures.

It’s amazing the places we’ll go in our lifetime and I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit such amazing places as well as live in Germany. It’s a hard job.  In November, Josh and I took a trip to Normandy, France. We hired a tour guide to give us a personalized Band of Brothers tour and explored most of the sites walked upon American soldiers. The trip was definitely a highlight of fall. The following weekend, during the Veterans Day four-day, we flew to London. London was also honoring Veterans with their Remembrance Day, everyone wore red poppy flowers on their coats and jackets. We packed a lot into that trip; Broadway show, London Eye ride, and my favorite event–England vs. Spain Futbol Game! The last time they played each other we were in Barcelona and Spain won, this time around, the same teams were playing outside the city in Wembley stadium, and lo and behold England won this match! It was a very exciting match, the game was sold-out and while we tried to sneak out minutes before the end of the game, stadium attendees had the same thought and were stampeding out of the stadium, bee-lining for the metro.  We got on and actually got a seat on the tram but it was packed by the time we departed from the station.

My next venture is up in the air right now. The group I normally travel with on 4-day weekends will be headed to Greece in February, but due to my big move at the end of that month I will be opting out. Instead, I’ll be visiting S.C. for the weekend! One of my good friends will be moving back to the states in the middle of Feb and I will be taking over her apartment. I live in an apt. right outside the Bamberg centre and this apt. is right on the main street. I’ll look outside my window and see the biggest intersection in Bamberg. I CAN’T WAIT! I love downtown Bamberg, and when I live downtown I’ll be able to walk 100yards and go to the farmers market, walk down to the river, go to restaurants and cafes, and so on. The best part will be going out at night and not having to walk 2-3 miles, or take a taxi, home. The apartment is very cozy, it has high ceilings, a big bathroom and decent size kitchen, and will be open to any guests that want to come visit me!!

So this next month I’ll be busy packing and getting ready for the move. The apartment is 4 flights up so it will not happen all in one day. I’ve asked for movers to come but the quote they gave me was way out of my budget. So my plan is to pack a day at a time and by the end of the week I should have two trips full of boxes and little odds and ends. So in three weeks (before I leave for the U.S.) I should have a majority of my household goods out and will finish when I get back with the big end items like my couches, rug, and bed.  I’m really looking forward to this move, ecstatic about the chance to live downtown in the city, something every young person should experience, at least once!

I’ll keep you posted…bet you didn’t think you’d get a post from me for another 3 months…; )

Hope all is well!

-K

p.s. I rushed this post and I’ve only looked over it once, as per usual, sorry for the hasty writing and rushed grammar.

Well Helllooo There…

Bernkastel-Kues: Mosel River Cruise w/ Josh

Morning, Afternoon, Evening,

I realize I haven’t written a post, in what seems like forever, and I’m sorry for my absence.  A little bit has changed; I have a new job, I’ve been promoted, friends have PCS (permanent change of duty station=on to their next job)…yet there is a lot that’s still the same. I am still traveling whenever I can, I’m very happy (maybe more so than before), I have great friends and family that are fun and supportive. All in all I’ve had a great year and the New Year, though early, is off to a great start.

I saw most of you (most readers) over the holiday and enjoyed seeing you all! It was a nice long break and I got to see most of my family, sans a sibling and Aunt or two, and most of my good friends.

I came back on the weekend of the MLKJ holiday and took a trip to the French Riviera with a couple of friends. We stayed in Nice, took a day trip to Ezé, Monaco, and Cannes. It was absolutely beautiful, weather was low 60’s, and sunny! But enough bragging…

I’m not writing a long post. It’s one of my resolutions and goals to write a post bi-weekly, at minimum, and more and likely I’ll get side-tracked on a future post and fill you in then.

Quick update:

• Promoted to 1LT, 06Jan2012
• Moved to Brigade Headquarters (same higher command I was under in the company) to be the Public Affairs Officer. The Deputy Commander of Brigade, who was the Battalion Commander when I was in the Company, pulled me over in November. It’s a great opportunity and it will be quite a learning experience. For one I’ll be able to work on my writing skills…much needed! I know!
• Tried out for the CST in September but was medically dropped for mononucleosis (couldn’t I have gotten that in high school geesh!), and recently I broke my big toe in a little wrestling accident…I immediately heard my Mom in my head “stop horsing around or someone’s going to get hurt”. But I’m determined for this gig, I’ve put in my application to try out for CST, again, last week. When I hear news I’ll relay it here.

Actually those are really work-related updates…I don’t like delving too deep into my personal business but most of you that are reading this know from recent talks and pictures that I am very happy in my personal life. : )

I’ll write soon, my main goal for this post was to shoot out a quick update and hello.

*I’ve really enjoyed some of the Shit ____ Says videos

Take Care,

K

Madre Visit!

My Mom visited last week!!! We went to Salzburg and Prague and of course I showed her around Bamberg. My Dad surprised her for her big birthday and up until the ticket counter she thought they were headed to Canada for a bike tour. She was only upset that my Dad wasn’t joining her but I think she’ll get over it. I posted the pics and I must warn you that there are 488. Including the oohhh so many unflattering pics of yours truly. My Mom did not want any pics deleted and therefore you have all original untouched pics, not just the select few I usually post. Enjoy and I hope everyone had a GREAT Friday and weekend!

Back to work this week and I’m three coffees deep and I still feel restless and tired. Lots of catching up to do and I still have to get ready for school next week. Two weeks in Vilseck for the Communication Security class. Should be fun, and by fun I mean relaxing 9-5 work days with no outside obligation. We will see…maybe I’ll have time to finish The Wire. I’m hooked. Okay done for the day, off to go clean my house and run errands.

Spring Cleaning

Hallo!!

Here are pictures from my Munich, Dresden, Rothenburg, and most recently Krakow trip. All of the cities were great, some had better highlights than others but they were all unique in their own way. I saw Katy Perry in Munich not necessarily the city; Dresden had a gorgeous Markplatz; Rothenburg was small and quaint yet bustled with energy; Krakow was a pleasant surprise. I went to Krakow with the thought, “who the f chose Krakow?” Not only was it going to be twenty degrees cooler than our hometown of Bamberg as well as my alternative weekend spot Paris, but it’s Eastern Europe so I was assuming a dreary idle city. Not only was it the complete opposite but as of right now it’s easily in my top five. I believe a lot of this had to do with the company I went with: fun, outgoing, loose with their schedule, smart, and most importantly funny. I had an absolute blast and I hope to go on another trip with them soon.

The most moving experience had to be going to Auschwitz. I’ve read and heard of this horrific place but to go there in person is something completely different. We were lucky enough to get included into a tour which took about 4-5 hours. First they take you through the Auschwitz Camp then they take you to the Crematorium in Birkenau. The reality hits when you walk into the buildings and see the display of all the personal belongings the victims traveled with and when you see the pictures. It’s beyond disturbing but it’s a necessary reminder to our world of the atrocities that occurred. Jaw dropping really. I’ll think I’ll go watch The Pianist again.

Switching topics…This past month I was prepping and running a “mission” in the field. We got back earlier than expected which pleased everyone, especially me, and we were all able to enjoy and take advantage of the 4 day weekend. The field experience was great, learned a ton. The week I got back my commander was out for school so I kept staying busy with extra cmdr duties but it wasn’t bad. Now I’m back with my platoon focusing more on this role as opposed to my executive officer role. This is the only opportunity to be a platoon leader and my peers and mentors say I should take full advantage of this time, not try to rush being a captain or working with battalion. Today’s been really slow though…still recovering from the field and 4 day.
Pretty beat…actually this whole day I’ve been straining to keep my eyes open. So I’m going to cut this post short on story time and head to bed. I’ll write soon.

Next adventure…maybe Amsterdam’s Queen Day aka one of the largest street parties in the world! we’ll see…