Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Wir sind zu Hause



nutella ftw 
date night lights

parks here are cool

train table at Osiander

this guy is in it for the thrill

my animal lover dominated by the blur. it was short-lived, if you're wondering. bruno is a hoss and pinned seb later. 

I have found it so hard to write about what it’s like living here in Germany, that I’ve largely been avoiding this blank screen before me. It feels strangely normal to be here. I don’t know why, or how, but the only answer that makes sense when I think about it, is that God has given me peace. This is where we’re supposed to be, despite all the hard things, and man are there hard things. If it’s not difficult enough to move across the globe, it’s one million times harder when you have a 3 yo who understands just enough to break your heart a little bit more every day. Sebastian misses his grandparents and aunts and uncles so much, and not a day has gone by when he hasn’t talked about them, and the things he used to do with them. It’s adorable how little flashes of memory come to him, or how he randomly mention’s someone, even though that person is seemingly unrelated to the event at hand. Today we were coming inside after playing and Seb wanted to buzz our apartment. I told him that no one was there to let us in, and he got really upset saying, “Why is no one there?” I then asked, “Who do you think should be in there?” He thought for a moment, and then his face brightened, “NOAH!”. Well, Noah, in case you wondered, you’re missed. 

Most recently counted among our missing persons are Mamaw and Pawpaw, Cody’s parents. They did this amazing thing and flew to Germany the same day as us, got to our apartment before our flight had even landed, bought food for our supper, got our keys, made sure we had everything we needed, and then went straight back to the airport to pick us up. They had the bus figured out and everything. And that was only the beginning. They stayed an entire two weeks with us, and I seriously wonder if we could have done it without them. We got so much settled and figured out in those two weeks, thanks to them. They tirelessly served us by watching and playing with our kids, cooking food, grocery shopping, and exploring bits of the city and reporting back on what they’d found. I am still in disbelief. And am missing them so much. I learned a lot from Cody’s mom about what kinds of things to do with the kids here, and patterns that I might follow for our days. She boldly explored new places, where I would have likely been too timid, and because of her, I have courage when taking the boys out. They are familiar with so many places, know new games to play, and understand the rules of different spaces. Cody’s dad took charge of getting us set up with internet, phones, and all the technical aspects of settling in here. We were hooked up on the second day here! And, he gave me one of his old iPhones to use so I would be connected while I’m out and about in the city, and able to use maps, or get to my e-mail if needed. And let’s not forget Instagram, people... follower be warned, I have a hard time holding back.

So a giant cyber hug to meine Schwiegereltern. You are a gift that we treasure.

I can’t wait to write more about the nitty gritty of life here, but I definitely need to go to bed. So for now I’ll leave you with a few possible future post titles:

No one speaks English here, and everything you’ve ever heard to the contrary is a total lie

Moving to Europe makes you so poor you can only justify buying the 2.99 IKEA bedding (at least it’s cute!)

Learning a Language: Will I wake up one day and suddenly realize I can speak German?

I know you can hardly wait. Bis dann.

8 comments:

  1. Mary, we miss you so!! But what a gift to have Cody's parents there for two weeks. I'm so happy that you all are not just surviving, but seemingly thriving! Keep posting pictures (esp on Instagram)!!

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    1. great to hear from you, alissa! we miss you, too, but hope all is well for you guys in durham! katie told me about your new job this summer and i was so thrilled to hear about it! sounds like the perfect thing for you. i hope it has proved to be such!

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  2. When I read about Cody's parents helping you all, I just put my head on my computer and cried. Not really sure why, but maybe it is because I know how hard those first weeks can be (admittedly, without the kids in tow) and I even did speak the language pretty well already. But there are still so. many. things. So many stairs to climb with too much to carry, so many things that we just find at Walmart stateside that take forever to hunt down, so many questions that -- even if you can figure out WHAT you want to ask -- you can't ever figure out who to ask it to. I would have given so much to have some people there to help out, or just be confused with me.

    Praying for your sweet family and loving seeing all the adventures here and on Instagram!!!

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    1. hannah your comment was so incredibly sweet i couldn't believe it. i've thought of you many times, living in france as you did, since we've been here. how amazing to have figured out all the things i know you must have had to deal with! thanks for your prayers, and i love your instagram, too. fall is definitely here, so i very much appreciate your fall inspired pics. : )

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  3. I've been wondering how things have been for you! Celebrating the good with you, and keeping you in our prayers for the difficulties. Elise is barely 1, yet I wonder if she will notice the sudden lack of familiar people in a few weeks. She's becoming quite attached to my family which is neat to see as this is the first decent chunk of time she has spent with them in her 1 year of life. She's especially attached to my mom and youngest sister, Sarah. I'm so happy to hear life is feeling normal-ish for you guys. That's my hope, and it's so encouraging to hear your thoughts. :)

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    1. kaite! i've been thinking about you a lot in the last couple days. your trip to germany is almost here, right? or maybe i'm just trying to speed up the time because cody, too, is in a language program which takes him away all day. can't wait to share in all the details of this german adventure with you! in the meantime, i hope you're able to soak up all the joy in these last days with your family!

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    2. It is close! We fly over in less than 2 weeks! So much to do between now and then, and I'm sure it will fly by. But as you guys well know, being away from daddy is hard, and at this point (so long as I can get everything done) these last few days can't go fast enough. :) Though, as soon as we're gone we'll be missing everyone here terribly, so I'm trying to enjoy where we are right now instead of just wanting what is next. Of course, patience and contentment in this moment is always my struggle no matter where we are in life. :)

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    3. oh my goodness i hear ya about patience and contentment! i keep reminding myself when i lament something about my day or situation that so so many people dream about being in my situation, living in europe, staying at home with their kids, etc. etc. so to look at the blessings i have an cherish them. but it's hard no matter where you are in life. can't wait to get together with you guys over here! p.s. if you haven't already, you should set up google voice on your computer! it costs something like 1 or 2 cents per minute to talk to anyone in the u.s.! if you have wireless in your apartment, it's definitely worth having. many blessings as you prepare to head this way!

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