The Henrys (It will all make sense if you read below...that is, if Jenna makes sense to you...so then again, maybe not.....) 

Henrietta 1's close-up (she's trying to intimidate me, but I percevered)!! 

Henrietta 1, always the stoic example for her younger sister. 

Henrietta 2's close-up glamor shot (she loved the camera and was hamming it up for all her shots). 

Henrietta 2, on the attack!!! 

Birthday Surprise!

Well it’s about time for another update as things have changed a little bit around here. Number one, now that it’s supposed to be spring, we finally got a little snow! Number two, we’ve obtained two additional members to our little family. Number three, I am a year older which is ok since Sam made sure I had an awesome birthday. And oh yeah, number four, both Sam and I have new jobs which has definitely affected our day to day lives. Curious? Read on…

There’s not too much to say about the snow except that—despite years of damning it in North Dakota—I actually missed having snow around for the winter. Guess I am a northerner after all…It did snow twice before Christmas, but it was the kind that looked pretty in the air and then melted as soon as it hit the ground. I got a little fix when we were back in the good ol’ US of A for Christmas and then another when we were skiing in the Alps, but I was beginning to think we were in store for a long, rainy spring (which we still may be) when we finally got some snow that stuck. It hasn’t made for the best road conditions, but it’s been really pretty and made me happy and I have to say I like being able to have the snow (at least for a little bit) without the deathly cold temps and killer winds of North Dakota. Hopefully we get a little more next year.

For Christmas this year I asked Sam for “The Henrys”. Crazy girl that I am, I sometimes get these clever (weird?) ideas in my head and The Henrys were one of those ideas. Back when I was lonely and sitting at home all day twiddling my thumbs, Sam and I discussed the idea of pets that we might get to keep me company and we decided that birds were the best option since we aren’t allowed to have cats or dogs. It was then that I was thinking to myself about how great it would be to get two birds and name them Henry 1 and Henry 2. I don’t know why I thought it was so funny but I did, so I told Sam and thereafter our hypothetical pets were referred to as “The Henrys”. So we went bird browsing a couple times but didn’t really see any that looked like the Henrys we had in mind. Last time we were at the store, though, we walked back to the pet section and I immediately spotted some little creatures that definitely qualified as Henrys. They were cute and crazy and we had to get two and bring them home…only they aren’t birds, they’re baby guinea pigs! I have never had a guinea pig or even thought they were cute, but Sam and I love ours and we are slowly but surely bonding with them. Note: For future reference, both Henrys are females, therefore Sam thinks it’s politically correct to call them Henrietta 1 and 2, but most of the time we just refer to them as “the girls”.

I celebrated the big “2-4” this year on February 3rd, and Sam turned the birthday into quite an extravaganza. I was woken up at 530am to him singing “Happy Birthday” and carrying in a huge bouquet which he designed with a German florist. He also had some gifts and cards that had arrived from my family, and informed me that one of my gifts from him would be a trip to the nearby European spa that weekend. So it was a good start to my day. That day we both went to work and when I picked him up he had yet another surprise for me…a delicious birthday cake that he’d had made especially for me, along with all the information about one of my other gifts which was still on order—one of those new ipod shuffles, which I am totally exited about! That night we went to dinner at this nearby restaurant I’d been eying on my way to and from work everyday, which turned out to be an old castle from the 1500’s that had been renovated into a restaurant/hotel. Not only was the place itself full of charm and character, but the food was absolutely delicious, and definitely the best meal we’ve had in Europe (or maybe just the best meal we’ve ever had, period!). And to think—this amazing place is located only ten minutes from where we live! Anyway, last Saturday we headed to a spa located about 30 minutes from our town (damn we’re lucky!) to spend the day soaking and relaxing and steaming away all our stresses and negative energy. First off Sam had a full-body massage lined up for me, then after that he and I enjoyed several steam rooms, saunas, Jacuzzis, pools, sun beds, and more. We stayed for hours and left feeling like jelly; we will definitely be going again! One other thing I feel the need to mention is that we did enjoy a true European spa experience, which meant that everyone—men and women, young and old, Sam and Jenna—enjoyed the spa in the nude. Weird at first, but definitely refreshing and freeing in a way as well.

And yet there are bigger goings-on than spas, snowflakes, and guinea pigs: Sam started his new job at Executive Officer of the army health clinic in Butzbach a couple weeks ago, and I am finally employed as well. As far as Sam’s job goes, it is still a lot of work, but it is a different kind of work (and a lot better schedule) than his last job so it’s definitely a good change. Basically, he is responsible for overseeing all the daily operations at the clinic. It’s a tough job but he’s learning new things and doing well and gets a lot of respect from his soldiers and civilian staff. They realize that he’s been around the block a few times and has probably learned a few things that might be beneficial to them, so they listen to what he has to say. It’s a different world from the tough-love armor battalion he came from where—although he was appreciated—he was sort of a minority to all the combat arms officers. At the clinic, Sam is the seasoned combat veteran who tries to hold the soldiers up to a higher standard; he’s already had to make a few changes and be a hard-ass on a couple occasions, and I think he’s good both for the clinic and the people working there. Anyway, the clinic is open weekdays 730 to 430, which means Sam is there from 730am (or 500am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for P.T.) until about 600 or 700 at night. It may seem like a long day but it is much better than his old job where he had to be there by at least 600am every day and was there until 800, 900, or later most nights—not to mention the overnight staff duty and the hours he put in on weekends! So the schedule is definitely better, and all in all Sam is enjoying this new opportunity.

As for me, I (really/actually/amazingly/finally) did find a job and I also started training about two weeks ago now! I will be working for Central Texas College as their Local Program Manager at the army education center in Hanau, which is about 30 minutes from where we live. (Sam’s new job is 20 minutes in the other direction, which has made the car-sharing interesting...But after searching for a suitable car, we finally found a good ol’ Volvo for me that we’ll be buying this week!) I am training for the job and will actually take over the position when the current gentleman leaves for Afghanistan in about a month or so. Central Texas College has campuses basically everywhere soldiers are stationed—including Iraq, Afghanistan, etc—and employees can volunteer for six to twelve month deployments to those places. I will take this man’s position for six months while he is down range and then have to find new employment when he returns. Anyway, it is basically a managerial position and I will be responsible for the scheduling, pay, etc of about 20 employees. I will also be running the army learning center which means I am responsible for maintaining the library of army publications, getting soldiers set up with distance learning courses, helping them find online education resources, etc. It’s not too shabby and it keeps me busy, gets me out of the house, puts me in contact with people, and will eventually provide me with some income so I can’t complain. It’s also different from anything I’ve done before (and not just because it’s a “real” job) so it’s a great learning experience for me. Everyone I work with has been nice and helpful so far and I am just really excited to finally be working. Also, I finally got my orders from the National Guard and began drilling with my new Reserve unit this past weekend. It seems like a good unit with a lot of motivated people and it looks like they will also have some extra work for me as an operations/training officer in the coming weeks so that's pretty exciting for me. (I didn't realize how much I missed my part-time military career until I was back at it again!)

So what does all this mean? I am away from the house a lot more and Sam is home a little more; even with me working we still get to see each other more than we did when he was at his old job and I wasn’t working at all! It seems to be working out pretty well. Other than that, we have been steadily (or maybe sporadically) working on some home-improvement activities and are now really ready for visitors any time! And throughout it all, it never fails to astound and amaze us that we are, in fact, living in Germany. We are always busy but it’s never easy to forget how lucky we are or what a great opportunity this is—the beautiful landscape dotted with castles, the amazing food, early morning runs through the fresh snow, all the culture and history right under our feet and all around us, and of course getting to share it all with each other.

As always we miss you like crazy and would love to hear from you any time. We’re interested in what’s going on with everybody back home, so please stay in touch! Take care, and we hope to hear from you soon. Oh yeah, and if you are down in Mexico, I am very jealous so you had better drink some extra margaritas and get extra tan for me. I know you won’t let me down!

Love, Jenna and Sam
PS. Thanks so much to everybody who sent greetings in one form or another on my birthday. It was great to know you were thinking about me and it made the day even more special. You’re the best!