We're still here!!!

Wow! What a month this has been! It feels like it's been so much longer than just one month since we moved into our new place. So much has happened and we've gone through so many changes during that time. I've felt out of touch with the world and my family since we've been without phone or Internet until just recently.

Don't even get my started on why it took a month to get phone and Internet up and working. I'm convinced that "German Customer Service" is an oxymoron. It's so different than America where in just a day or two you could have everything working in your new home. The phone company came three times before we were set up. We finally got our Internet back yesterday. I'm so happy to have that connection to the world again. Going through so much frustration with getting everything working in this house has really made me miss the States. It's difficult to get anything done here. Nothing is done quickly or easily. Oh well - enough about that.

My last post was right before we made the big move, which seems like ages ago. That Saturday, Julie, Michelle, James and Larry (who all work with Sam) came out to help get us moved to the new house. We were so thankful for their help. Even with everyone helping we were at it until late into the evening. We didn't get everything moved, but most of it. That was our first night sleeping in the new place because we no longer had a bed at the Plattenhardt house.

The guys working hard to get us moved

Julie, Larry and Michelle after a long day of work

That next week I spent every day moving the rest of our things and cleaning the house. It was a long and tiresome process, but we successfully cleared with our landlord on Thursday, January 31.

Of course the job was just beginning at the new house. We had paths in between all the boxes. We cleared off the couch and Sam's chair, so we at least had a place to sit. We were without phone, Internet or TV for quite awhile. All of my time was spent emptying what boxes I could and putting things away. Which ended up not being very much since we had no storage other than our closets at the beginning. It's going to take awhile to get completely settled. We're slowly getting closets and storage.

The mess of moving

The following Monday, February 4th, I started my job at Panzer. All the house work came to a screeching halt. I'm so tired at the end of the day that it's been hard to put a lot of energy into the house. We still have a mess, but it's a slow process and we'll get everything put away eventually. We're doing all we can on the weekend, but I would love to just have a month free to get everything in its place.

About the job - I can't say that I love where I work, but I am thankful to have it while I look for something else. That's all I have to say about that :)

Last Thursday and Friday our kitchen was delivered and installed. Whoo-Hoo!!! I am so thrilled to have a kitchen again and one with so much storage is a huge blessing. I'm very happy with our decision. My project this weekend has been cleaning out the cabinets and putting my kitchen things away. One thing the German's do absolutely right is kitchen cabinetry. I'm so impressed with it. I'm also very happy with my HUGE oven and stove top. Finally, I can use some of the baking dishes I brought with me from the states. I still have a lot to do because I'm washing all the dishes that have been packed away and trying to figure out where I want everything.

A look at our kitchen. There are still a few things that need finished, but we're on our way to a complete house.

Sam's been putting up a fence around our yard. He has just a small area left, but I think it looks really good and Gabby will be happy when she's able to run around outside again. We'll still have to watch her, but the fence will deter her from getting away too quickly.

Sam and James working on the fence out back

Update: Ok, so I started typing this on Saturday and it's now Tuesday. I'm just getting around to posting. We've been so busy with the house that any free time I had was spent emptying boxes or putting things away. I'll be so happy when we have a clean, comfortable home again. We are so blessed though and love our new home. Pictures will follow, but it may be awhile. I don't think they would do it justice at this point. Until next time...