A Change of Plans

You might have seen me mention a few times on the blog that this past Halloween, Christmas, etc. would be our last here in Tucson, where we have spent the last three and a half years. We have known for the past three years that this was the summer we would be moving to Colorado Springs, where Brian was to be an instructor at the Air Force Academy. It's somewhat rare in the military to know your next assignment so far in advance but, in this circumstance, the Air Force Academy had funded Brian's Masters Degree out of college with the agreement that he would come back for a teaching tour later in his career. So, for the past few months (probably more), Brian and I have been looking at houses, receiving guide books in the mail, researching activities in the area and overall getting very excited about the prospect of moving. Colorado Springs is a fantastic area with lots to do and I even have an aunt, uncle and cousins who live there as well as a few military friends! Truthfully, we get the itch to move at the two-year mark anyway so needless to say, we're ready to go!

However, I found out the Air Force has different plans for us right now. Brian told me at the end of January that we would no longer be moving to Colorado. He had the incredible foresight to capture a video of my reaction to this news because he knew it would be a good one -- and also because he promised it to the guy (a friend of ours when we were stationed in San Antonio) who worked the assignment with him. We only just got the official word on Thursday or we would have shared the news sooner.

Let me preface this video by saying I was 24 hours into a minor case of the flu so I definitely wasn't at my best, but sure perked up with the news! The video quality is a little shoddy but the assignment location comes through clearly.

That's right my friends, we're moving to Stuttgart, GERMANY!

It should hopefully be apparent enough from my reaction that we are absolutely thrilled about this opportunity. We've been incredibly lucky with our assignments so far and Germany has always been at the top of our wish list -- it was just a wish that we thought had such a slim chance of coming true.

Although the assignment is official we're still not much closer to knowing when exactly we'll get on that plane (most likely mid to late summer) or where we will live when we get there, although we have decided to find a home off base in one of the many small towns that surround Stuttgart. I have relatives on my dad's side who live about two and a half hours from where we will live whom I visited on a family trip to Germany in 1998 and when we told them the news over Skype yesterday morning, their excitement was all too obvious. I have a feeling we're going to be visiting them quite a bit.

Ultimately, I can't get over what a great experience the next two to three years will be for Ellie and our family as a whole. If you ask Ellie where we're moving she'll answer, "Germany" right away and will even say "Stuttgart" if you ask what part of Germany. Of course this doesn't really have much meaning for her right now but it's fun to hear her say it all the same. I have been teaching Brian and Ellie some of the language and their German skills are probably about the same level right now! :) I'm sure by the end of our time there Ellie will be speaking almost fluent German -- better than either Brian or me.

What an exciting adventure that we're about to begin!