Pretty in Pink

 I love being a volunteer combine that with the opportunity to raise money for one of my favorite causes Breast Cancer Research well sounds like the perfect reason to throw a " Turn your city pink" event here are my girls all dressed out in their pink tops for the cause



Below is a group photo of some friends who joined me for the cause...

Communication style letters to the sand box

Oldest left to get married see previous blog named "Oh how fast they grow", Husband deployed see previous blog named  "The Beginning of a Deployment 2012" 

I think about our grandparent, I think about our mothers, I think about the generations of military wives who walked this path before us. I am sure they are looking on our generation thinking we have some things a little easier then them they had. They lived with snail mail while we have email me, there were no good phone calls then now we have instant messages, text messaging, skype ...Are we blessed or does today's technology make it more difficult? 

See to me I don't like skype the connection is horrible, the time delay frustrates me and our daughters don't understand why it takes daddy 5 mins to answer a question and why his face freezes and jerks around..

To keep myself from being worried about him I don't want to get into a routine of expecting phone calls at a certain time to me that just sets you up for worry.."Something horrible has happened it is 10:05AM and I haven't heard from my husband today he calls everyday at 10:05AM !!!" instead of being joyous when you get that surprise phone call you are left worrying about why you haven't gotten a expected call. When it comes to Deployments you should be prepared for the unexpected things happen, things change, communication is not guaranteed to always work power lines, phone lines can be out of service. Maybe I am old school or Retro give me snail mail any day I love old air mail envelopes could be the red, white and blue..patriotic envelopes how can you go wrong? So my question is what way do you like to stay in touch with your loved one? 

Need to step up my game

acknowledging I am so far behind in blogging life has been so busy that in my down time I have been to busy to blog...with that being said on Monday I will play catch up as much as I can blogs n photos to come

All a girl needs to be a Princess is a castle....

Once Upon a time in a land not so very far away on top of a beautiful mountain stood a magnificent castle fit for a Princess or for a passel of princesses....With sweeping views of mountains and towns below for miles and miles around you could not ask for a more beautiful spot for a princesses castle to be.

  Neuschwanstein Castle I took this photo from Saint Mary's bridge it is a breath taking ~ awe inspiring feeling to walk out on to this rickety old bridge and see this majestic sight....if you have little kids you might want to skip the bridge it is old and didn't seem very sturdy or safe in all honesty the girls were a little scared on the bridge...this is one of the many Castles you can visit in Germany and is an hour away from Edelweiss lodge & Resort...

Where girls of all ages feel like a princess

This photo was taken on the way back from the castle ...my advice take pics on the way to the castle instead once you get closer to the castle it is impossible to get a photo with the castle in the back ground with people..lol also this is a huge castle tour with over 300 steps just inside the castle alone 3 or 4 floors up and down spiral staircases not including the trek to get to the castle ...it is not an easy jot so wear good walking shoes and allow yourself some meandering time to stroll up there before your castle tour..we rode the bus to the stop but it is still an excursion especially when you are bringing little ones with you...

The girls were amazed of the miniature replica of the castle in the glass case...it is absolutely beautiful and so detailed...

like I have said in other blogs it is so amazing this experience our children are getting to have...to be able to say they have toured real castles...castles of King Ludwig to know some history that there is so much more in the world then computers, cell phones, movies, malls, dating lol there is a big world out there full of interesting things to see and do....teenage princess....

How romantic it is to stroll like royalty through castles...to see how royalty lived...throne rooms, ballrooms, living areas and bedrooms that are fit for a king lol.....

sneaky pic of throne room...no comment lol

 A little princess who stopped to take one last look at her castle as we were walking away ....it's not just a fairytale .......

I might sound preachy at times when I say GET OUT & Explore but take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to learn, to see, to travel, to taste, to experience things that you might not of been able to do before getting Posted in Germany or any other country for that matter...

Edelweiss Lodge & Resort another Army perk for living in Germany

When we first got here I heard the words "marriage retreat" and thought pish posh we don't need to go on a marriage retreat there is nothing wrong with our marriage....however as always my opinions on some things change with time so we decided to take the girls and go on a marriage retreat...

Living in Germany is wonderful there are so many opportunities that are available to families being Posted here. 1 travel travel travel I don't think I could possibly say it enough ...being posted in Germany is amazing due to it's centralized location to every where...you are in driving distance to pretty much any country that you might be interested in visiting or a quick flight if you aren't into road trips. 

So being stationed here in Germany our marriage retreats are at Edelweiss Lodge & Resort in Germany..

 Now let me tell you a little about the location it is on the Germany/Austria border in the Alps it has majestic views and adventures galore....

YES you seriously can brag that you hiked the Alps or went to the Alps to all those family & friends who are vicariously living through your adventures over here but even more awesome is you yourself or if you are blessed with children are having a once in a lifetime experience years from now when we no longer live here my girls will be able to say I have lived in Europe, I have been to x,x & x countries and I have hiked the Alps :D to me the sacrifices we make are worth the amazing adventures that we are having over here...

    Now as for the marriage retreat part we had a huge group class it was more like a mixer with couples and group table projects it was a lot of fun...I will say it was lot more fun then I thought it would be..I was thinking it would be more like being preached to, or therapy like or having all our marital details picked over and scrutinized lol but it wasn't any of those things in fact we watched Mark Grungor 's laugh your way to a better marriage seminar it was funny ...The retreat was wonderful and I could ramble on for hours with every little detail about our stay there and I will toss some key highlights ups on the bottom about the lodge...a little plug for things we loved or could of passed on lol
We ended our marriage retreat part of our stay by joining together with some friends and renewing our vows at the resort with the Alps as a back ground....a wonderful way to end out the retreat...

This is a photo of some of the family when we first arrived looking a little rugged from the long drive to the lodge...listening to the kids say " Are we there yet?" lol

We however chose to stay an additional day since we had made plans to go on another adventure...which I will detail in another blog :D

REASONS TO SIGN UP FOR A RETREAT:
FREE ROOM
FREE VACATION ONLY MEALS YOU PAY FOR IS YOUR LUNCH
PLAN IT RIGHT YOU CAN HANG OUT WITH FRIENDS LOL
MAKE NEW FRIENDS
SPEND SOME QUIET QUALITY TIME WITH YOUR SPOUSE
FREE CHILD CARE
CHANCE TO SEE A NEW PLACE

LODGE & RESORT POSITIVES
ROOMS ARE NICE
VIEW IS AMAZING
THE JAZZ BRUNCH ON SUNDAY AT PULLMANS IS AMAZING AND WORTH THE MONEY
THE BUFFET RESTAURANT THERE MAKES KIDS HAPPY SINCE THEY HAVE A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING
INDOOR SWIMMING POOL ADULTS N CHILDREN
HUGE HOT TUB OUTSIDE IS AMAZING
STARBUCKS BY THE POOL LOL
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BUYING A GARMISCH TSHIRT OR HOODIE BUY THEM ACROSS THE ROAS AT THE PX THEY ARE SOOO MUCH CHEAPER