When it rains it pours.

I have so many photos on my camera at the moment, but not really any way to upload them yet. I'd really like to share them, but soon!

We've been in temporary housing for about a week, two more days to go, and then we're on our way to Frankfurt...

The movers came two weeks ago to pack up our household and ship it to the US. While they were here I came down with food poisoning and Chris failed his PT test, resulting in loss of his line number for Tech Sergeant.
He then had a lot of difficulty trying to sell our truck due to the title being shipped with our household, but that didn't matter later because it died on the way to drop it off to the buyer. It's now in the scrap yard.
We then got news that it's unlikely that the house we've been trying to buy for the past two months will be sell-able to us any time soon, due to repairs that need to be made before we can acquire the loan. The house is bank-owned and being sold as-is, so repairs are not really in the deal.
We've had two rides to the airport cancel and have paid hundreds of dollars to ship packages to Arizona and New Hampshire, since our household was over the weight limit (usually the military will pay for some boxes to be mailed when moving, but not if you are overweight).

Chris had to pay divert our car mid-shipment to get it to L.A. instead of San Diego (even tho the latter is closer to Tucson, he has to fly into the same place the car is being shipped and they won't fly the him and the dogs together to San Diego, only to L.A... Yea, I don't know either. Sadly no one mentioned this to him to begin with, before he had to pay to change it.)
Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, we will get the dogs to the States successfully and without it costing us 1.000,00 euros. That all depends on the weather and the heat.

Also, I hope they don't change my and Johnny's flight information again, we already have connection tickets to western NY, but they keep screwing with our Frankfurt to JFK flights and I seriously hope there isn't an overlap!!

And hopefully Chris, Zak and Brenda can find a good place to live (quickly) in Tucson. Johnny and I will be out of their hair in New Hampshire for almost two months, so that may be helpful, although I'd love to be there to help with the dogs and the house hunting.

We are all so tired and worn out. I didn't even mention all that has gone wrong in the past two weeks, really just scratched the surface. It's so beyond time to get to Arizona and get settled.

Phew. Three more days.

Heartbreak.

I am flipping out a little. We're spending all this week getting the house ready for the packers. I am starting to feel really good about that part, although I still think we have too much stuff, but nothing a yardsale can't solve on the other side. 

The thing is, last night we went to eat at our favorite restaurant in Bernkastle. I told the owner that we would be leaving for the US in three weeks and he asked for how long? I said, "Forever." 

He looked like he was about to cry. He grabbed me and gave me a huge hug and said, "No! You all can't leave me here alone!"

Man, that was hard. I almost burst into tears. I said we would come visit, and I fully intend to, but who knows when. Every other week we share our time and smiles there. We have brought every visiting friend there, much of our family, new friends from the base... 

An Indian restaurant is going to break me. 

Today I can't catch my breath quite right. I feel like there is no way I'm going to survive leaving here, our home. In the past few months I've been pushing it away and have planned on going without looking back, but I have a feeling it's going to be much, much harder than that. 

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We were able to get out to Daun Wildpark once more before leaving. The baby boar are so cute (but not the mommas, haha!). And the deer were sure putting on a show for us!

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Just two other things,  a tattoo plan....

And new best friends:

Johnny sits on the couch and calls, "Luckie! Luckie!" until he comes and jumps on his lap. Then he pets the crap outta him. Super cute. Not bad for a dog we almost re-homed because he was so nasty to the baby, I'm so glad to see this!! It definitely unbreaks my heart. <3

Turtle suitcase.

 Oh, packing. I've been great at packing my whole life, like a tetras master ;D and I always, always do it last minute. I'm not a light packer, either and once I had Johnny I figured I'd always have to lug around a million pounds of extras. This time I decided to really cut it down and super pack for our 8 week 'trip'. We'll be in a hotel at first, starting the first of August, then at some friends' houses, my grandparents' house and then on our way to Arizona finally in October. The last thing I want to being doing is hauling a huge suitcase, a carseat, some carry-ons, and a kid.
Awhile back I saw an article about a stewardess who can pack for ten days in a carry-on. My smallest suitcase is a larger carry-on. It can be used as one if not extended but it's pretty roomy once the zipper extension is open. I did a test run today to see if I could fit it all in.
I made a very specific list then gathered all the ingredients and set to work.

Here's what I had to fit:

Me:

• toiletry bag (makeup, soap, tooth brushes, hair brushes, ect.)
• sewing kit (with hand sewing projects included) 
• 2 pairs of shoes, vans and maryjanes
• swimsuit
• 6 pairs of underwear
• 3 pairs of socks
• 2 pairs of leggings, one pair of tights
• 5 tanktops
• 1 long sleeved shirt
• 4 t-shirts
• 1 pair yoga pants, 1 pair yoga shorts
• 1 pair shorts
• 1 pair of jeans
• 2 dresses
• 3 sweaters

Johnny:

• 6 diapers for night time
• 2 pairs of shoes
• 6 pairs of underwear
• 6 pairs of socks
• swim trunks
• 3 pajamas
• 2 long sleeved shirts
• 4 t-shirts
• 1 button-up shirt
• 3 pairs of shorts
• 3 pairs of pants
• 1 sweatshirt

I almost can't believe it, but it all fit!! I had all the clothing piled up next to the suitcase while rolling everything and was SURE there was no way it was going to work, but then there was even room for Turtle! Amazing.

We will obviously be wearing one outfit each on the plane, which are not listed above.  

I will have a carry-on with a shawl for me, a change of clothes for J, my camera, a couple books, a handful of toys and some snacks. 

I am also sending a box to my gram's with some art stuff, some school stuff, a couple pairs of shoes, and some sweatshirts to hold us over into fall in New Hampshire. 

I bought an airplane seat strap for J (like this) to avoid carrying the carseat onto the plane. I'll be carrying him in his hiking backpack to make things much easier while not on the plane. I'm not sure yet what's going on on the other side of the pond once we get there, so I'm trying to make sure I have all our bases covered. If we have to do some walking I want to be prepared.

So anyway, hooray! I declare project packing a success!! We actually have our entire household shipped in about 2 weeks, so this is a huge relief. It seems like such a tiny amount to live on for 8 weeks, and especially in comparison to the rest of the house! We have a lot of stuff.

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As for the rest of this past week, I've got a new finished tattoo for ya....

And some yummy cupcakes for our friend's son's birthday!

the morning after.

Painting late at night can lead to some hurried and ridiculous mistakes. I'm always thankful when I wake up in the morning and see the finished product and it's in the safe zone... although I'm not quite sure what's going on with the elbow, haha!!

The main thing is I wish I had gotten my act together and created an original Captain America drawing, but that's what happens when you start planning a gift at 10:30 the night before a birthday party! It was fun, though as I haven't drawn a comic book character since about 9th grade I think.  

Anyway, here he is, all done (this photo is a bit darker than the painting): 

acrylic on canvas, 23"x31"

'Merica! Eff YEA! ;)

art and monster movies.

It's about 3 a.m. and I'm ready to head to bed. I've been up much of the night working on an art project, a painting for one of Johnny's friend's for his birthday tomorrow. Way to procrastinate again, although I did manage to get it done! This is such a comfortable spot for me, up late painting. It reminds me so much of high school and times pre-kiddo. 

Speaking of the kiddo, he's found a favorite spot in the house to hang out, on the living room window sill! 

And yesterday in the kitchen I spent most of the day walking over or around these toys. I imagined him planning a grand scale Mothra-type movie... Snake vs. Lobster anyone?

I've been working quickly to get all my long-term tattoo clients wrapped up, since our house gets packed in just two weeks now! There are several, but this is one I've gotten a good photo of so far, a bit of a retake on Little Red Riding Hood! 

:)

Pake. Fo serious.

A pake (we don't know what else to call it) is a delicious fruit pie baked into a delicious cake. No, really.  A pie-cake. Pake. Or, piecaken, like turducken, but oh, so much better. ;) 

Melissa said we should make one weeks ago, and Brenda and I laughed at her and then decided to make her one for her birthday! 

It was FUN. 

Seems sad though to mess up a perfectly good pie! 

They fell apart in the cake batter, but no biggie! It still tasted crazy good.

Raspberry pie on one side.

Blueberry on the other. Both in chocolate cake and topped with vanilla frosting. All hand-made, all vegan!

We decided it would make a really good Thanksgiving dessert. Maybe pumpkin pie with spice cake? Man, the possibilities are endless.

We ate a lot of that, then sat around a Fourth of July fire, finally soaking up a warm summer night!

 Woot! Summer is finally shaping up!!

Sun and cherries.

Johnny and I spent some time with the ladies yesterday, Brenda and Melissa. We went out for lunch, did some shopping, hit up a market, enjoyed the sun!! 

Afterwards we went to see the Gossip in Luxembourg for Melissa's birthday! Really, really amazing show. The singer had phenomenal stage presence and was incredibly fun to watch and interact with! In the same venue, next door, was Patti Smith! When we left the doors were open so we spent spent some time dancing around in the hall watching her over everyone's heads- pretty awesome!

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I've been painting some. I NEED to do it a lot more. I'm having fun with it, painting gifts for friends  :)

I should be blogging a lot more because I deactivated my facebook page. It's only temporary, but I think it'll be a nice change of pace :)
Now we're off to decide what to do this July Fourth!

photo evidence.

At the moment Johnny really loves to 'clean'...

... and take photos. It's pretty cool to see the things he thinks are important enough to photograph. ;)

 (lucky hiding from J, as per usual!)

Goal oriented.

As we move forward on getting or house cleaned out and ready to move (how did we get so much CRAP?!) I'm spending a lot of time thinking about getting to where we are going. I should be enjoying our last German summer, but the summery things we usually do are just not as fun in this dreary summer we've been having. Ironically, today it's beautiful out and we are in the house, cleaning.

Along with the lists of keep, sort, donate, sell, organize, ship, I have an on-going list in my head of things I want to do in Tucson. Not just the *extensive* list I've created on Pinterest of places to see, but also some changes I'd like to implement once we get there.

-I want to pause to give those of you who have known me for more than a few years a moment to laugh at my uncharacteristically obsessive list-making.-

Okay, here we go. This may be an evolving list as I think of more things in the future.

1. Never use my clothes dryer. Except during monsoon season. Hanging laundry here is always a gamble, and often it comes in wetter than when we put it out.

2. Get a good bike and ride it with Johnny on the back. It's flat there, and we will have a house near-ish everything. I've heard the side roads are extensive so we can stay off the main roads and still get to wherever we need to go. I'd also like a scooter, but I will try out biking first.

3. Walk the dogs a lot. Here we have a huge yard and tons of kids hanging around to play with them, but there we will have a tiny yard with NO room for Luckie to run. I also need to find a dog park so that he can chase his beloved ball! Maybe I could teach him to swim for the ball in the pool! Ha!

4. Live with one car. Easier since we'll be within biking distance of the base (for Chris in the winter) and many stores- and even within walking distance of a yoga studio!

5. Never use the dishwasher. Brenda already doesn't have one (I forgot to mention her and Zak will be co-habitating with us!) and I've been doing without for a few weeks. It feels good and kind of zen to just wash everything as I go instead of letting it pile up until the end of the day or the next morning. I'd like to take that zen-ness with me to our new home.

6. Volunteer! Grab J and go to the food bank, the co-op, the farmer's market, the local Waldorf school, the humane society, a political cause we believe in, the library... anything! Just get involved with the local community as much as possible. I have a very strong inclination lately to BE a part of our community, which feels hard here, for me, as I've never quite gotten to know anyone around us. I want to find people like us and get to know them and become a part of something larger than our household.

7. Vote. I MISS VOTING. I'm going to become an Arizona resident to do so.

8. Build a Tiny Free Library to erect at the end of our driveway.

9. Go to the park often. Parks make me tired, but they make J happy :) There is one a few blocks from our [prospective] house. It may be a great way to meet new people, as well. Hopefully it is well-utilized by the neighborhood.

10. Learn Spanish. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, moving to within an hour of Mexico has only motivated me more. (I'm on unit 2, lesson 4 of the Spanish Rosetta Stone!) Brenda is a native Spanish speaker, so that could be fun :) I want J to learn it as he grows up, too.

11. Shop farmer's markets. And the Co-op. And CSA's. We mostly do that here, so I think it'll be easy to continue there.

12. Garden. Our little bit of land does have some raised beds around the yard, and we can put some containers out. I also want to use grey water to keep everything growing, especially in a place as dry as that. The most we eat are greens, avocados (can I grow those?), potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, strawberries, and tomatoes, so I think that will be easy, especially the tomatoes - hooray for pizza night tomato sauce!

13. Buy everything from thrift stores and craigslist.com. I try hard to do that here, but it's a small community and you can't always find what you need, like a Vitamix blender!

14. Buy in bulk! I can't wait to do this, or to become part of a buying club.

15. Go to the mountains as much as possible. Learn about the local flora and fauna :)

16. Paint murals. Somewhere, anywhere. I just feel like I need more large-scale paintings in my life!


I guess that's it for now. I'm sure there will be more!!

Dreaming of the Southwest.

I swore I would never move to the Southwest (well, as much as I could while being attached to someone in the military). It's hot. There are scorpions, and rattle snakes, and lots and lots of sand.

But then I lived in Germany for seven years. Most of which was a dream. Winter two years ago put a bump in the road, and then summer last year... and now, yea, it's about 54 degrees and raining out, again... in June.

I need sun. I need warmth. Staying wrapped in blankets all day on the couch is not a viable life path, especially with a toddler.

Arizona has sun. Lots of it. And only small amounts of rain. And if I want to see snow, I have to get in my car and drive to it, it won't come to me (at least not in European winter proportions). There probably won't be blankets strewn all over the house for emergency warmth when our heaters are off and our winter clothes are packed up (for the third time this year. Yes, I've packed and unpacked and repacked our winter coats & scarves three times since April). 

They have spicy mexican food! 

Alas, we still have a few short months here, so for now there is hot oatmeal- which we eat tons of. 

If it were hot this morning I would have made this: Mexican chocolate breakfast shake.

Did I mention it's 54 degrees outside?

So I took the above recipe and mashed it with this: Kath's whipped banana oatmeal.

Here's the result:

Mexican HOT chocolate oatmeal! 

2/3 c. rolled oats
2/3 c. almond or soy milk
1 1/3 c. water
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 banana, sliced thin
1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional, but even with the pepper it wasn't too spicy for my son)
pinch of salt
2-4 tbsp. agave nectar or honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients in a pan on the stove, except the vanilla. Stir with a whisk or fork while cooking to get it fluffy, 5-7 minutes until it's the texture you desire. Taste for sweetness and add more agave if needed. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Ta-da!

I always add something crunch to my oatmeal, this morning it was some natural chocolate sprinkles and homemade granola. :)

Enjoy and stay warm!

doing art.

I like when this happens:

I've been getting reacquainted with colored pencils (and regular ones, too...)

Paaareeeee!!!

Mine and Chris's first official first date was to see Moulin Rouge. Then when we got married, our dance was to 'Come What May' from the movie. We used to drive around with the windows down singing to the soundtrack at the top of our lungs. we even had a french class together in highschool, but were both too busy sleeping or avoiding class and didn't meet until he was out of HS and I was almost done.

Once we moved here we vowed to go see the real Moulin Rouge. We tried to make plans for several years and the seventh year was THE YEAR. We were going to go on our anniversary in October. And then we had Johnny, a week before our anniversary date!

So this year, finally, after much fretting that it wouldn't happen, we made a huge plan to go! It was an early anniversary in May, our tenth :)

It was Chris's first time in Paris, so that was awesome. I made sure he saw as much as possible in two short days!  

To be honest, tho, I was mostly looking forward to getting dressed up and going out! I hadn't used a curling iron in years. I loved getting all fresh and clean and sharing the bathroom mirror to get ready to go on a real date.

                        

I planned my outfit for months and had a really pretty headband from an internet friend, Di, of RubyRuby. I was at first trying hard to be sleek and chic, but felt bland and not myself. So I decided, when all else fails, go over the top!!
Rainbow accessories, leopard sweater, pink silk dress, purple tights and teal shoes!!
 


Chris looked amazing in his European pin-stripe suit!!

I was too chicken to ask anyone to take a photo of us, so they are all self-shot.
We took a bus to the Eiffel tower and had dinner, then took a boat on the river for what I thought would be a beautiful way to see the city.

 It rained the entire time. Poured, even. No bueno. But it was a nice and fun night anyway!

Cold boat trip.



Broken windows on the boat added to the crappy view.

My camera was NOT having it. Here are some of the better shots:

Haha... But look at this handsome man!!

Then we headed to the Moulin Rouge where photos were not allowed. But here we are, on the way!

One more shot for the road...

The next day we hit up the Louvre, this was easily the highlight for me...

And for Chris...

We finished off in Montmartre, right where our relationship 'started'.

So glad we finally made it!!