We are being repatriated!

Sadly, our European adventure has come to an end. It is time for us to move back to America and it has come sooner than we anticipated. We will be relocating to the Moline area as DH has accepted a new position starting September 1st. Our emotions are very mixed as we make this transition because our experience has been a once in a lifetime chance during our two years in Deutschland. We wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world!

There are so many aspects of this life that we've had over the past two years that we are truly going to miss. The people and amazing new friends we've made, the different cultures, the food, the beer, the wine, the quaint villages, fast cars and the autobahn....just to name a few! (Although we won't miss those speed cameras!) Every morning hearing the church bells, dining on the streets as we people watch, beautiful (and meticulous!) gardens and flowers around every corner. We will miss the opportunity to travel so easily and so cheaply to so many amazing places and the diversity and history that comes with each new place. We will and will not miss the weather! We are definitely happy for more sunshine in the states, but sure enjoyed the days when it surprised us in Germany. While we are excited to get a big, huge "American" christmas tree, we will definitely miss the Christmas Markets and the non commercialized portrayal of Christmas. And the language! I have found a new hobby and put forth a lot of effort to learn Deutsch during our time in Germany. I will look forward to finding a way to utilize my new skill back in the states!

There are more great memories than we can count that we will be taking back with us as well as 1000's of pictures and a few extra pounds each! We will be looking forward to getting back to a more normal eating pattern. It's not that it was hard to eat smart in Germany, we were always eating and drinking as if we were on vacation :). We will definitely be looking forward to having our own home again with closets and counter space but were glad that we were able to live in a traditional German house with beautiful landscaping. We can't say that that we will miss the unique poop shelf toilet, but it sure is something that we won't forget!

It will be nice to get back to bigger parking spots and wide streets without random cars parking anywhere they want. Germanys concept of stores being closed on Sunday is nice but sometimes we just really wanted to do grocery shopping on that day. We always looked forward to the once a month Sunday shopping days! While we will look forward to the convenience of obtaining the check when dining out in America we will miss the concept of having our "own" table for the evening. And Stella, we are certainly going to miss our Stella. She didn't take the news too well but told us that we can send postcards to each other and that we will always hold a special place in her heart. Awe!

We will be a lot closer to our family and friends in the Midwest which we are really excited about. It will be nice to "stay home" instead of planning a road trip to fill up every weekend and anytime there was a German Holiday! It sure has been fun though.

We are really thankful for the opportunity that we were given and hope that everyone who followed along with the blog posts enjoyed the adventure. Who knows what the future holds but we are quite certain that our adventure is not over. The blog address will remain the same but the title will continue to change with whatever different adventure we may be embarked on at the time. So be sure to subscribe by email! Plus I write this post as we are on possibly our last European trip in Norway so there are still a few more posts to come. We might squeeze in another short trip with what time we have left but will have to see what our moving schedule permits.

Stay tuned and until then, tschüs!

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