Finnegan: Seven Months

Guys, we made it. This past month was a rough one for poor Finny health wise, but he also had some huge milestones, so we had fun in between being sick.  A chest cold turned into a fever and a cough that refused to leave which then turned into an ear infection plagued the majority of the month.  Despite all of these issues, Finn spent the majority of the month with a smile on his face as he started daycare and even managed to learned how to Army crawl!  Way to go, bud!

Eating: I would say he spent most of the month ambivalent to solid foods, but just in the past few days has turned a corner and seems to be enjoying the majority of what is given him.  His favorites are definitely the more bland foods, such as peas and green beans.  Currently, he's working on finishing a combination of spinach, peas and carrots, which he seems to enjoy. Mike and I, on the other hand look the other way because of the way they look and smell, but at least he's eating them, right?




Sleeping: Let's just sum up this whole section by saying I'm exhausted. When he was sick, he was waking up every two to three hours, so it was like being back to the newborn stage of life.  I think we've finally recovered from that, but we're still waking up at least twice at night, if not three times depending on what time he ate before going to bed.  I really thought by Christmas we would be sleeping through the night, but it doesn't seem like that is anywhere close to happening. Maybe I should start drinking coffee?

Bedtime stories with Dad

Sometimes you just need to suck your thumb in the tub, right?

Noises: If there is one thing Finn loves to do  in life, it's blow raspberries.  He has no problem blowing when everyone else is quiet or when you are trying to feed him, even if he likes the food. He will talk when he feels like it and usually talks a lot when he's talking.   Laughing is still a rarity, but he was cracking up at Mike making animal noises the other day which was maybe the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. 

Milestones: The biggest milestone is definitely learning to Army crawl.  He can pull himself forward to anything he wants, so nothing is safe anymore. He can also turn his body when he's on his stomach so he can literally go anywhere.  We quickly baby proofed the house once he figured out how to do all of this because he's quick and determined. That being said, it's so fun to watch him go.  You can see him become focused on something and then it's go time!  The other big milestone is that Finn started daycare!! Hooray!!! He seems to enjoy going and the transition has gone extremely smooth, despite being sick. We couldn't have asked for a better scenario!

First day of school 2017

Likes and Dislikes: He loves to be in the middle of whatever is going on.  He loves to sit in the kitchen with me when I'm making dinner and will sit in his high chair while we eat dinner, even if he's not eating anything.  Like I said before, he likes vegetables, but usually will eat fruit after eating vegetables.  He did NOT like amoxiccilin at first, but has grown to tolerate it.  Riding in the car is acceptable now, thank goodness.  Bath time is still a favorite and necessary every day after solid foods.

Hanging out in high chair

Just make yourself comfortable Finn. :)

Hey guys! I'm ready for mug night at Whitlow's!

Nicknames: Finn, Finny, Bud, Buddy, Big Guy, Buddy Bear

Clothing size: 6-9 month/9 month

Diaper size: three

Weight: 17.6 lbs (I think he lost a little bit of weight when he was sick because when we went to the doctor, it was the same weight as when he went for his six month checkup)

Height: 27 inches as of a week ago

Travel: Boston!

Oh Finny, we love you big guy!! Watching you grow and discover the world around you is the highlight of our day.  Your smile lights up the room and you have us all wrapped around your finger. As they say in Where the Wild Things Are, "I'll eat you up, I love you so!"





"Finn why'd you poop on the Naval Academy sheets? We only do that on West Point sheets!" -Mike instilling some early morning wisdom on Finn

Overheard at Home

Between the lack of sleep and the adjustment of having a newborn, there have been some pretty funny quotes stated around our house.  

"Maybe I should start drinking coffee." - Me seriously contemplating drinking coffee for the first time ever

"So Finn and Baby #2 are going to be 18 years apart, right?" - Mike

"Mommy loves you/Mommy loves you/Yes she does/Yes she does/Even when you're crying/ Even when you're crying/Yes she does." -Me singing to Finn to the tune of Frere Jacques when he's crying.  It has served as a reminder to me too during especially long crying sessions...

"I didn't realize so much gas could be released from something so small." -Me after a very loud fart from the littlest Hogan

"I've perfected the skill of doing things with my feet.  You should really try. It's very useful." -Mike after he grabbed his computer charger with his feet as he held a cup of coffee in one hand and Finn in the other.  #priorities

"It's amazing what a good poop can do for a one month old's mood." -Me

"I don't know how it's possible to love something that doesn't do anything more than cry, eat, sleep and poop, but I do." - Mike (and me) as we stare at Finn doing absolutely nothing

What a guy!

The Second Trimester

Between our visitors and travel, the second trimester flew by! I felt great throughout, which was appreciated as we were busy.  We've started researching hospitals and birthing classes and are now overwhelmed by all of the things we have to do before Baby Maximus comes, but we're excited and anxious to meet our little guy.  I'm 27 weeks today, which, depending on who you ask, is the start of the third trimester, so here's a little recap of how the second trimester went.

Began the second trimester looking like this.  I miss those pants....

Week Fifteen: Other than my emotions and hormones being out of control and having a few nights of not so great sleep, I've felt great.  I can definitely tell a difference between the first and second trimester.

Week Sixteen:  Sleep has seemed to returned to it's normal state (hallelujah!), even though I'm still waking up to go to the bathroom at least twice a night.  I'm sure this is short lived, so I'm trying to embrace it and rest up. This was the week we found out we were having a boy!  Cue adding all the baby boys clothes to my Amazon registry and making a few purchases around the interwebs! We are so excited!  We also traveled this week and for the first time, I had to ask Mike to help carry my bag.  Running through an airport and carrying a bag left me a little dizzy and winded, so Mike gladly offered to carry my bags from here on out. I'm not the most fit person, but I like to think I can run through an airport while lugging a suitcase with the best of them, so this is just another sign of all of the changes going on.

Week Seventeen: Nothing too exciting or eventful.  I've been able to feel him move a little more regularly, which is exciting!



Week Eighteen: Uncle Mike and Aunt Anna came to visit!! Along with their visit came some serious back pain, but luckily it didn't prevent me from sight seeing.  It just made sleeping and sitting a little more difficult. It seemed to get better as the week progressed and by the end of the week, it was pretty much gone.



Week Nineteen: I've determined that Baby Maximus is taking after his cousin J.P. and is going to be a soccer player due to all of his moving and shaking!! I went to the doctor and everything looked good.  He was so much bigger than the last time we were there! His arms and legs are proportionate to the rest of his body, so he looks so much bigger! It would also explain why I no longer fit into any of my normal pants and maternity clothes are generally feeling so much more comfortable than my regular ones.  I had some serious pregnancy brain going on, which resulted in Mike getting hit on the head with the trunk of the car and me almost losing my wallet.  Luckily, Mike is a forgiving guy and we're both hoping that this pregnancy brain disappears with the arrival of Baby Maximus.

Look at those legs!

As our future president would say, he's yuuuuge!! Such a big boy!

Week Twenty:  Halfway!! Wow! I can't believe it! I feel like the first half flew by and the second half is super busy, so hopefully it will go by just as quickly.  I'm still feeling great and my baby bump is definitely making an appearance.  I found out that there is another Olmsted baby coming shortly after Baby Maximus, so it was fun to get to do some baby talk with a fellow mom-to-be this week.

Week Twenty One: Another week, another doctors appointment.  Luckily, Baby Maximus is growing right on schedule and there aren't any issues.  My doctor is a little worried since my sugar levels in my urine tests have been a little high a few times, but I'll do the Gestational Diabetes test the next time I go to the doctor.



Week Twenty Two: The week started out on a very exciting note because Mike was FINALLY able to feel Baby Maximus kick!  He said it just felt like I was flexing my (non-existent) abs, but a huge smile spread across his face and I was so happy that he could finally feel what I have been experiencing All. The. Time. for the past few weeks.  We headed to Sweden where we went dog sledding, played with reindeer and slept in bunk beds. I'm still feeling great, which Mike and I have both agreed is a huge blessing.  We've been able to do almost everything we did travel-wise pre-pregnancy.  Thanks Baby Maximus!   My pregnancy hormones mixed with missing the holidays have led to quite a few tears on my part, but I think that was to be expected.  Here's to being a grinch and just kind of wishing Christmas would come and go so hopefully the tears will stop and I can resume being my normal, overly emotional pregnant self.



Week Twenty Three: We spent Christmas weekend exploring the Baltics, which was a good way to "skip Christmas."  We also had our second big ultrasound, which showed a healthy baby boy to much of our relief.  He's growing on schedule and everything seems to be developing as it should.  We were able to see some 4D scans which led us to believe he may have a big nose, but we think he's the cutest baby in Berlin.  We may or may not be a little biased.  I woke up one night with a Charley Horse in both of my legs, which was not fun, but other than that, I've felt pretty good. I've slept great and been able to work out, although it's not quite as easy as it used to be.



Week Twenty Four: Happy New Year little guy! All three of us rung in the new year in Berlin! We had lots of fun experiencing a true Berlin New Years. I've felt pretty good besides one dizzy spell late on New Years where I think I was just tired.  I went to my doctor for my monthly checkup and for the gestational diabetes test.  Whoever said that stuff didn't taste good was wrong! I thought it tasted delicious!  Baby Maximus is looking great and we're still waiting on the results of the diabetes test.

Look who popped overnight! I feel like just this week I've gotten so much bigger! I'm definitely not complaining though.  I'm enjoying this stage of being pregnant for sure.

Week Twenty Five: No news is good news when it comes to the diabetes test and we've made it over a week with no phone call! Hooray! I'm celebrating by continuing to eat anything and everything remotely sweet.   It also became quite apparent that my ability to travel and keep up like I used to be able to is no longer possible.  I found myself huffing and puffing up the hills of Lisbon and needing a siesta around 4:00 every day.  I definitely have "popped" and Mike just keeps saying "You're so pregnant! I love it!" 

Week Twenty Six: The week started off with a cancelled trip and a very sick Mike. While Mike was sleeping, I was googling "mono while pregnant" and "tonsillitis while pregnant," neither of which resulted in me being very happy, all while eating clementines and drinking orange juice (which proceeded to give me minor heart burn).  Luckily, I've managed to fend off any major illness and only ever developed a common cold.  We've spent a lot of time hanging around on the couch, which Baby Maximus has taken advantage of and has been kicking up a storm.

LuLaRoe Tall and Curvy leggings make the best maternity leggings! So soft!

Weight Gain: 12 pounds total.  A true miracle considering how much (sweets) I eat!


Food aversions and cravings: Sweets. I want them all.  Hahaha.  It's more just that I have a sweet tooth already and have let myself indulge a little bit more than usual.  Peanut butter by the spoonful has also been added to my almost daily diet.  I just opened my last jar of peanut butter and had a minor panic attack realizing this had to last me 14 weeks through this pregnancy. I haven't had any of those "run out to the store in the middle of the night" cravings, though.  And no food aversions! Hooray!

Gender guesses:  Our guess was right! It's a boy!

Baby Related Purchases: Black Friday was all about Baby Maximus! We bought clothes, bibs, and hats galore.  The biggest purchase from myself is the Wildbird Sling, which I am so excited to use.  Next trimester, I'm having my baby shower and then we'll make a few purchases of anything not purchased off our Amazon registry.  We've already been showered with lots of gifts for the little guy from grandparents and friends, so there's really no reason to do a lot of buying yet, but it's just so fun!


Overall, I feel great. I definitely get tired more easily, which is to be expected.  When we're traveling, I can pretty much count on being done by around 4:00pm. I've definitely also had some emotional moments where I've let out the exclamation of "I don't even know why I'm crying!" but nothing was as extreme or as terrible as the horror stories I've read online.   While I never felt terrible during my first trimester, the second has definitely been much more enjoyable.

"I'm not going to lie, you being pregnant is pretty cool." -Mike one night after feeling Baby Maximus give a nice big double kick.  What a guy!

The First Trimester

Now that I've caught up on our Eastern Europe trip, here's a little week by week play by play of how the first trimester went.  It was so hard not to post updates along the way, but I knew that I wanted to document it, even if it was behind the scenes temporarily.

When I found out I was pregnant, I began scouring all of the mom blogs I was already reading in hopes of finding some sort of pregnancy update.  Shoutout to Julie at PBFingers for doing an extensive weekly update.  I lived for those.   I actually enjoyed keeping a little week by week log of how I was feeling and all of the big pregnancy milestones.While I don't plan on doing weekly updates, I'm hoping to do some more pregnancy updates until baby Hogan comes. I'll probably stick to doing one or two a trimester in the form of a log just like this one.  This is all still so unbelievable and I still get giddy over words like trimester and baby Hogan.  Anyways, here's a little update on how the first trimester went.


Week Four: We found out we were pregnant!  After being out all day exploring Berlin, I told Mike on the way hotel (yup! We were still in the hotel) that I was going to take a pregnancy test, even though it was still a little early.  We both got really excited and power walked home.   After seeing two very solid lines, I started crying and Mike had a huge grin on his face.  We celebrated with ice cream that night and a steak dinner the following evening.

Week Six: We headed to London for Kelly and Sean's wedding and made it a whole week of pub celebrations and champagne toasts without spilling the beans.  We should have earned some sort of award for that one.  I learned ALL the tricks for hiding your pregnancy that week.

Week Seven: I experienced my first (and really only) bouts of morning sickness.  I don't even know if you can call it true morning sickness. Both times were after being on a boat or in a car, so I chalk it up to my already sensitive stomach that is prone to motion sickness.  I did notice that I felt nauseous when I was hungry and I seemed to be hungry ALL THE TIME, so I began making sure to bring lots and lots of snacks wherever we went.

Week Eight: We met my doctor and the pregnancy was confirmed.  I was happy to meet my doctor and felt comfortable with him and the entire staff.  Since the baby will be born here in Berlin, it was important that the doctor spoke English well and that we felt comfortable with him.We  got to see our little kidney bean sized baby on an ultrasound and were happy to hear that it was looking healthy.

Week Ten:  I went back to the doctor to learn the results of my blood work they took the last time and got to see the raspberry sized baby moving and shaking on the ultrasound again.  The doctor said it had a large head, which comes as no surprise since it's got Russo genes!

Week Twelve: Mild heartburn made it's appearance which was less than desirable.  I've never had heartburn before, so to all of you regulars, I commend you.  It sucks.  I'm still not really showing, but I've noticed that my hip bones are buried under a little layer of something.

Week Thirteen: We had our first big scan and everything turned out great! The ultrasound tech reassured us that baby Hogan was growing as it should be and the likelihood of any sort of chromosomal abnormality was pretty small.  Mike was able to see our little jumping bean move around and we both enjoyed the extra time spent on the ultrasound.  The ultrasound tech did a few 4D scans, which are cool, but they definitely make little Hogan look like an alien.  Besides the ultrasound, things have been somewhat normal. I've noticed I don't sleep as well anymore and have had a few nights awake.  Heartburn is still making an occasional appearance, but it's pretty mild.  I still don't feel like I'm showing, although there is definitely something there.  I think I just look like I've gained a few pounds.

Week Fourteen: We FINALLY got to tell my parents and the rest of my family, as well as Mike's sister! My family was visiting and we got to break the news to them in person, which was really special since we've told everyone else over video chat/text/email.  We also "went public" with the news, posting on social media. Baby Maximus sure is loved!  I experienced a lot of pregnancy emotions this week, partially due to being exhausted from playing tour guide, but also just from all of the (happy) emotions that come with having my family around.  Sleep also was an issue, with multiple nights of me just lying awake for a couple of hours before falling back asleep.

Overall, I've felt great.  I was prepared for lots of morning sickness and just being out of commission for a while, but luckily that wasn't the case.  I have been pretty tired and slept a lot of the time we were in the car (those audiobooks I raved about? I missed at least an hour of each one due to car naps!). I've also been super emotional at times.  I found myself crying because I couldn't get the key to our front door to work and randomly one night at dinner with my family, but I'm also super excited to welcome baby Hogan into the world.  We're so happy that we can guarantee Mike will be here for the birth and afterwards, which wouldn't be the case if we were in the states.   I'm sure there will be a few challenges to giving birth in Germany, but we've been so impressed so far with our doctor and, luckily, we have no expectations as far as childbirth goes, so it's really a clean slate!

Weight gain:  2 pounds, but I'm not even sure if that really counts. That could be due to all of the eating out we've been doing with our travels and my parents.

Food aversions and cravings: None really.  Sweet things sound really good, but nothing extreme.  My worst fear is that I'll crave something super American, like Cheez-It's or Peanut Butter that we can't get here, but luckily, I haven't had anything extreme yet!

Gender guesses: Both Mike and I think it's a boy.  I've been referring to it as "he" throughout this whole thing, although there was a week around week 14 where I thought girl.  My aunt says boy and my mom said she has no idea.  So, we're all guessing boy, but obviously would be just as happy with a little girl.

Baby related purchases: When my mom and aunts were here, they insisted that we add some baby shopping to the itinerary.  Luckily, there is a small Babies R Us here in the mall, so we hit that up for some onesies and then made a stop at H&M for some maternity clothes! The little baby clothes are so cute and have adorable things like miniature sized pockets that make my heart melt.  I started my registry and had fun with my mom adding things.  It's nowhere near being done, but it's a great way to pass the time!


I think Mike summed up the first trimester best when he said, "You are eating an incredible amount."  The same could be said for sleeping and peeing.  Thankfully, not puking.  I'm already able to tell the difference between the first and second trimester, both in my energy and in that little bulge around my stomach.  We're hoping to find out the gender next week, which will be SO exciting!  Here's to a happy, healthy and less exhausting second trimester!

The start of a new semester!

When we planned our big trip, we debated our return date.  Mike's classes were supposed to start the week after our reunion in Rome, but his first week of classes last semester left a lot to be desired.  He had professors who didn't show up, classes that lasted 10 minutes and others that started a half an hour late.  One of his friend's professors asked why they even came the first week.  After this experience, we realized that coming to class the first week of school is more of a suggestion and less of a rule (kind of like everything in Turkey).  Knowing all of this, we decided it wouldn't be terrible if Mike missed the first few days of the semester.  We would be learning a lot as we traveled, right? ;)

Mike texted his friends from school to find out how the first week went and, to no surprise, found out that one of his classes he missed had been cancelled.  The other two lasted a half an hour to go over the syllabus.

We arrived back in Izmir on Thursday and Mike had class on Friday.  I got a text about a half an hour after Mike was supposed to start class that his professor didn't show up.   We definitely made the right decision.  Our only regret is that we didn't extend our trip even longer!

As the next few weeks of classes progressed. seven out of his fifteen classes were either cancelled or the professor didn't show up.  So, it's been a slow start to the semester, but his courses sound really interesting and I wish I could participate in some of them.

Tuesday:  EU/Turkey Relations and Small Wars & Insurgencies
Wednesday: Seminar
Thursday: Current Issues in International Relations
Friday: Migration in the EU

He seems to really like most of his classes and the professors, but it's definitely been frustrating to have so many classes cancel and even more frustrating to have professors not show up without warning.

As for me, I started back with Turkish the Monday after we returned.  I was not looking forward to it, especially since I would be with a whole new class and teacher.  My old class moved ahead of me when they were in class the month that I was gone and are now on Month Five, while I'm only on Month Four.  I really enjoyed my old teacher and felt like I learned a lot with him, so I was disappointed to have to join a  new class.  That being said, my new classmates are great.  My new teacher isn't as good as the old one, but not terrible. I'm definitely one of the lower level students in the class and I've found myself really frustrated with Turkish, but I'm learning.

Overall, we're transitioning back to the real world (or at least Turkey) and trying to do our best to stay focused on school while still reminiscing on our travels.




It's been a while since I did a Michael's Musing, but this is a good one that had me LOLing

As Mike put it the other day "I've had more professors cancel due to a family illness in Turkey than I've had in the rest of my academic career. I don't know if that says something about the Turks inability to develop good health care or a good excuse."

Thinking Out Loud

A lot of little things have happened in the past few days/weeks that I definitely wanted to document, so here's a run down of a lot of little things!  I'm linking up with Running With Spoons today, too, so that's just an extra bonus!

1.  We were talking about guilty pleasures.  People seemed to understand what the meaning of a guilty pleasure was and were naming all sorts of things from Candy Crush to different TV shows.  All of a sudden, one of the students was like "Hanukkah!"  I was SO confused, but figured it could be some weird obsession with Hanukkah.  As he kept talking, I realized that he didn't mean Hanukkah, he meant hookah, which is extremely popular in Turkey.  Maybe he's planning on celebrating eight nights of hookah?

2. We were talking about Turkish culture, which I think is interesting to hear from them.  They were coming up with great stuff and I was soaking it all up.  Finally, they ran out of ideas, but one girl decided to search "Turkish culture" on Google.  She starts sounding out the word with a confused look on her face...

"Cir-"

"Circum-"

"Circumcision?"

Nope. Not talking about that here! Sorry!


3.  Izmir has decorated for Christmas.  At first, we just noticed a few lights shaped like snowflakes, which gave it a winter-y feel.  Then, we started noticing lights shaped like angels and things just got weird. A few days after the angels appeared, I was walking to work and I noticed two guys setting up a light display at the end of a no drive street.  When I was walking back home at the end of the night when it was dark out, I realized that it was a straight up nativity scene.  Turkey is 90% Muslim.  Why is there a nativity?  They didn't get it quite right because, even though there was a baby, there were four angels looking at him.   So so weird.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas decorations, but I think it's kind of strange how obsessed they are with Christmas decorations, despite the fact that they don't celebrate Christmas.  Maybe that's just me...

4.  I finally got my haircut.  I got my haircut before we moved here.  Yup, in June.  I've needed a haircut for months, but between traveling and the language barrier, I just haven't done it.  There is a small barber on base, but Mike and I had been talking about going to get my haircut out in the real world, so I hadn't done it.  Finally, it got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore and I broke down and went to the guy on base.  I am definitely not ready to try to speak Turkish to get my haircut, but maybe by the time I'm due again, I'll be ready.

5.  Mike's friend (and groomsman) Ben came to visit this weekend on his way to Israel for work.  While I was getting my haircut/manicure and pedicure, they were out exploring Ephesus and Izmir and seeing Star Wars.  I told them if they took a picture, they'd make the blog, so this is what I got.  Love it!

6. Our Goddaughter, Emma, was baptized on Sunday and, while we weren't able to be there physically, we were able to participate through FaceTime.  Thanks to Emma's parents for arranging it for us and to our lovely videographer Karen! Emma was a gem and was wide awake and quiet throughout the entire baptism and then promptly fell asleep for the entire church service.  She woke up just in time for the last hymn and then pictures with anyone and everyone. What a smart little lady!

I promise I'm not crying in this screen shot, but I mean, she's just so cute, I could understand if I was!

Emma's baptism gown was made from Anna's wedding dress which makes it extra beautiful!

The camera really makes us look great, don't you think? I also love how excited Emma is in this picture! Can't you just see all of the joy and excitement? Ha!

We are so honored to be Emma's Godparents and we were so happy to watch from afar.

As Mike and I were discussing the baptism that morning beforehand, he decided he should practice his lines and just goes "I pledge allegiance, to the Emma..."   He had me laughing at that one.

7.  I made Christmas cookies the other day, thanks to the package from my mom, and brought them to my Turkish class and then to my students.  Y'all, they went nuts and thought they were the greatest thing! It was so fun! The students in my Turkish class were taking pictures of all of the different shapes (Santa, snowflake, Christmas Tree, etc) and then in my other class later that night, they just kept talking about how delicious they were.  I didn't have the heart to tell them they were just a mix with store bought icing.  I loved it!

Holidays on holidays on holidays (and a little gym drama)

Let me just start out by saying how thankful I am for all of our veteran's, both those who are here with us and those who are not.  I am especially thankful for people like my grandfather, his brothers and my great-uncle who fought in World War II, as well as those who are serving right now, like Mike and so many of his friends and classmates.  Being married to Mike has definitely given me a deeper appreciation for all of those who have served or are serving in the military.  It is a huge sacrifice to make and it definitely doesn't go unnoticed by me.  I hope that we remember to celebrate these incredible people throughout the year and not just today because they definitely deserve it.

Turkey also had a holiday this week!  It was the remembrance of Attaturk's death.  He died at 9:05 on November 10th, so every year on November 10th at 9:05, everyone stops what they are doing and stands still.  If you are in your car, you honk your horn.  It was quite the show!

Speaking of holidays, let's talk about the Starbucks cup debate. I can't believe this is actually a debate, but anyways, Mike wants everyone to know that he bought a cup of Christmas flavored coffee in his red holiday cup on November 11th (not even Christmas season!) in a predominantly Muslim country.  Take that Starbucks haters.  Haters gunna hate.

This isn't holiday related, but I figured I'd put it in here anyways.   The first time I went to the gym here was a bit of a disaster.  Well, I managed to successfully avoid speaking to anyone for the next few months when I went to the gym, which was a great setup for me.  I knew deep down this setup couldn't last forever, but tried to put that thought out of my mind.  Finally, it came time to renew my membership, which meant human interaction.  I explained that I needed to renew my membership to the man at the front desk.  When he looked up my name in the database, nothing came up.  Basically, there was no record of my membership.  Weird, but...Turkey.  So, I filled out the form again and before I could say "treadmill," guess who was waiting for me?  Trainer number 1! He takes me downstairs, just like last time, and has me stand on the scale.  After recording my weight, he repeats "you are a little fat," just like last time.  Ummmm, actually I've lost about 8lbs thankyouverymuch.  Don't burst my fat American bubble.  He then gets up and before I know it, I'm on the treadmill doing some test for him.  Once this is over, he tries to explain that we must go upstairs to the weight room.  Oh no, sir, we don't.  I know how this game goes.  I quickly explain to him that I must go home, which is actually true because I have to go to work,  Luckily, I paid for four months of membership fees, so it'll be another four months before I have to interact with anyone at the gym.

That's pretty much been our week here.  We're busy getting ready for the big feast on Saturday.  I think we're going to have a big group.  The major cooking starts tomorrow with pie making and will continue until Saturday around 4:30.  Our European sized refrigerator is already kind of full and there is a lot more food that needs to go into it before Saturday, so we're going to have to get creative.  Say some prayers and send some good thoughts our way!

Before I forget, here's what I've been so thankful for the past few days....
November 9th: I'm thankful that I am from a country where one of the debates is a cup that holds coffee.  If that is one of our bigger issues, then we're doing alright.  That being said, there are lots of other issues that need to be dealt with, but I think we're definitely doing alright in the good old US of A.

November 10th: I'm thankful for Pinterest.  Yup, you read it right.  It is getting me through this Thanksgiving prep.  It's been my organizational lifesaver and my go-to for any Thanksgiving questions I've got.

November 11th: I already said this at the beginning, but I'll say it again because our veterans deserve to know how much they are appreciated.  They've sacrificed a lot so we can enjoy so much. They're basically the bomb.com.

And, in honor of veteran's day, I'll leave you with these little military themed tidbits from Mike.

"Time flies when you're not on a submarine."

"Taylor Swift's friend possy is relatively the same size as a submarine wardroom.  Coincidence? I think not."

And, at risk of being a little too cheesy on this day, here's an oldie but goodie.  This was taken when Mike returned from deployment.  Little did we know where this crazy life would take us. Happy Veteran's Day!

My Cell Phone

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I arrived in Izmir on June 25th.  It's October 6th and I still don't have a cell phone plan.  Yup.  It's been three months since I had a working cell phone. If you had told me this would be the case six months ago, my eyes would have been the size of saucers and I probably would have just died.

When we got here, I put my phone on airplane mode and just accepted that it might be a little while before I got a cell phone plan.  As weeks passed, I grew more and more accustomed to only being able to use my cell phone when I was in a wifi zone.  It really wasn't a big deal because the only person I knew in Turkey was usually sitting next to me.  In fact, it was almost refreshing.  Instead of spending my time at a restaurant on my phone, I actually had to look up and enjoy my surroundings. Fast forward three months and I still don't have a plan. I haven't really pushed it since, as I've said before, I really don't have a need for it.  I can use it when I'm in a wifi zone (which is basically any restaurant in Izmir, as well as my apartment) and if I really need to give someone a phone number, I can give them Mike's.

Mike got a cell phone plan a few weeks after we got here because he needed to be able to be contacted by the military.  Someone from base took him one day while I was in Turkish lessons and was able to really help him.  In Turkey, it's a lot more complicated than in the United States (like everything else here).  You have to register your phone within 30 days of coming into the country.  To do this, you have to bring your passport to the tax office and pay a fee.  After doing so, you receive a document that says you've paid, which you bring to a cell phone provider who then give you a Turkish sim card.  That doesn't sound complicated, but just remember, this is Turkey.

We finally decided that it was time to get me a cell phone plan on Monday, since Mike has the afternoons off. When Mike had gone to get his phone plan, he went to a tax office a couple of miles away that is closer to the base. We decided to go to another one, which is closer to our house. When we got there, we asked the police officer at the front desk where to go and he was very helpful and told us to go upstairs to the second floor.  We found a line on the second floor and joined in, even though we weren't sure what the line was for.  When we made to the front of the line, the woman behind the desk was not as friendly.  Mike explained what we were here for, but she said that since I didn't have a residence permit (a whole other story), I would just have to go to the cell phone provider and pay the fee to register my phone there.  That made no sense since you have to register the phones with the government, but we obliged and off to Avea (Mike's cell phone provider) we went!

When we got there, they told us that we couldn't register phones.  Of course not. Neither of us were surprised, but I could feel Mike's frustration level really rising. The man at Avea said that the Turkcell store around the corner could do it.  At this point, Mike was so frustrated that he didn't even care that it was a different provider than his.  We both just wanted this whole process to be over.

Once we got to Turkcell, we spoke to a man who quickly told us that we had to go to the bank to pay the fee and then bring the receipt back.  I just sighed and followed a very frustrated Mike to the bank around the corner. In banks in Turkey, you walk in and get a ticket with a number on it. When your number is called, you go to the desk with your number (there are usually five or six desks that are open) and complete your business.   We grabbed our number and waited.  and waited.  and waited. After 45 minutes, our number was finally called.  Hooray!!!

Don't get too excited.  We went to the desk and Mike explained what we we needed to do.  We were quickly told that bank couldn't do this type of transaction.  Of course not. That would be too simple and convenient. Instead, we would have to go to another bank which was a block over.  I honestly thought Mike was going to explode.

So, around the block we walked. Luckily, this bank was much smaller and our number was called almost immediately. When we went to the desk, Mike again explained what we were there for.  We handed him my passport so that he could see that I had been out of the country within the last 30 days.  He pulled up the form online, but we could see that something was wrong.   He told us that we would have to go to the tax office to register the phone.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?

When we asked why, he said that the computer was asking for my Turkish citizenship number which I obviously don't have (proud to be an American!).  Since he couldn't input this number, he couldn't proceed to the next part. He was very nice about it and realized that we were pretty flustered.  He explained (and I quote)...

"Not many people know how to do [register phones] and if they don't know how to, they just send you somewhere else."

We left the bank completely deflated and so frustrated with the entire process. I still don't have a cell phone plan and I think that we're going back later this week, but who knows.  This whole process has been the epitome of bureaucracy.

I've been working on this puzzle for almost a month.  It's been so hard.  Not only does the picture make it a difficult puzzle, it's not very well made.  A lot of the pieces fit with more than one other piece and since there are parts of the puzzle (like the sky) that all look the same, I've ended up putting the wrong pieces together.  I put the entire puzzle together and discovered that there was one piece missing and two pieces that don't fit in the remaining spots.

This puzzle is kind of like Turkey. For the most part, all of the pieces fit together, but it takes a lot of extra work.  I had to redo entire sections of the puzzle multiple times to make sure it was right.  Not only that, but there are pieces that don't actually fit, which means somewhere in the completed part of the puzzle, a wrong piece is stuck in there. There are so many things in Turkey that we've done and had to redo, as well as things (like this cell phone) that haven't worked out, despite our efforts.

I'm sure that, if I try, I can figure out where the mistake in the puzzle pieces is, just like how, if we try, we can eventually get my cell phone plan.  It's just a matter of how much patience we have....

"I think I'd rather watch the eagles lose to the skins repeatedly rather than deal with this" -Mike trying to set up my cell phone

Little Things

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I try to keep track of random little things that happen in my phone, so that eventually they can fit into a blogpost and won't get forgotten.  I've got a few things that either don't fit into a post or have been forgotten (whoops!) when I was writing. I don't want to forget them, so here's a list of random little things.

1. When we go to restaurants, we've learned to take what is listed on the menu with a grain of salt.  We almost always have a back up order, especially when it comes to beer.  Mike is almost always told they don't have his first (and most of the time second!) choice in beer.  Apparently, they make the menu at the beginning of the season and then when they run out of a certain beer or food, they just don't order it again unless it's really popular, so we've learned to just have a few menu items in mind.
2. The temperature has dropped enough that most days we don't turn on the air conditioning, except at night when we're sleeping. There is a good enough breeze that we can usually make it through the day with just the windows and doors open.  I love it. Plus, we can usually hear if someone is playing music on the street, which is just a really cool random benefit to living right downtown.
3. Mike is playing American football for his school.  Yup, you read that right.  American football.  They had sign ups during the first week and, although he can't play in official games because he's a grad student, he can still practice and play in exhibition games.  He said there are two other Americans who are undergrads doing a semester abroad and all three of them are excited to play.  Hopefully, this will be a great way for Mike to practice Turkish and make some friends!
4. We watched the Sound of Music when it was on AFN after our Germany trip.  It led us to doing a little research on the Von Trapp family.  Did you know that Georg Von Trapp's (the father) first marriage was to the granddaughter of the inventor of the torpedo?  Mike the submariner loved that one!
5. Movie theaters have intermissions here.  For those of us with extremely small bladders, we appreciate that.
6. Gas stations are full service.  They even wash your windows!  I think it's kind of awkward sitting in the car while they do all of this, but I guess it's nice. 
7. On one of our driving trips, we stopped at a restaurant on the side of the road.  As we were eating, we looked out and there was a man washing our car.  Not just like the guys on the street who wash your windows, but really washing our car.  He had a hose and everything!  Luckily, we weren't upset.  Our car was actually pretty dirty, so it worked out well, but we were pretty shocked to look over and see our car getting a full washing!
8. Mike's friend sent us an Amazon Echo as a wedding gift and we just picked it up from our mailbox on Friday.  Neither of us really knew what it was, but it's pretty cool.  It's like Siri on the iPhone, it just has it's own console.  It can tell you what's on your calendar, what the weather is, or add something to your shopping list on it's app.  In order to get it's attention, you must address it as Alexa.  So, for example, if you want it to play music, you just say "Alexa, play music."  We've been having a lot of fun with it and Mike has developed quite the affection for Alexa.  I often hear "I love you Alexa" after she does what he says. :)
9. Alexa also makes us laugh.  The first type of music we asked her to play was Taylor Swift (Mike loves his girl!).  Later on, we just asked her to "play music" without specifying any type.  Since she knew we liked Taylor Swift, she started playing all female pop singers.  Mike was less than amused, but I thought it was funny!

We've heard that it takes three to six months to adjust to life abroad.   We still are pretty homesick for our friends and family (I was doing so well, but have definitely regressed a little...), but I guess we're slowly getting used to the quirks that make Turkey....Turkey.

Germany: A Summary

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After eleven days of traveling, we made our way back to Izmir happy, tired, and a little hungover.  Words cannot explain how much fun we had in Germany or how much we adored the German culture (and food and beverages!).

After three months of life in Turkey, a little bit of German order and structure was refreshing.  For example, in Turkey, there are crosswalks, but no one uses them.  People just cross when they think it's safe. In Germany, a man glared at us for jaywalking even when there weren't any cars coming.   I think we were both happy to be in our apartment and to be able to relax, but coming back to Izmir wasn't as easy as I would have liked.  I'm always secretly kind of excited to get home after a vacation.  I am a person who thrives on routines and normalcy, so going home is always comforting after a vacation.  This part remained true, but the dark clouds of Turkey that loomed over us when we left were still there.  We still don't know anyone here and haven't had much luck meeting people.  The language barrier is still a thing and even though I'll be starting language school again soon, it's a tough language.  Mike is still trying to figure out the school thing (more coming on that soon) and it's proving to be more challenging than we though.  All that being said, I was happy to get back and in a routine.  Plus, I was getting a little tired of sausages and beer ;)

Now that it's all done and we've had a little bit of time to soak in everything on our trip, we're still in love with Germany.  We're already planning our next Oktoberfest trip for next year.  We're thinking Stuttgart and a western Germany trip.  Anyone want to join us?  We've heard Stuttgart actually hosts the best Oktoberfest.

I didn't know anything about German geography before this trip, so I had to look at the map a ton to visualize where we were going and how far things were.  For the most part, we didn't drive more than a couple of hours each day, but here's the breakdown of how we planned the trip (each of the cities should link to the blog posts).

We first flew from Izmir to Cologne where we spent a full day and a night before leaving early.
We then flew to Munich and drove to Dachau (an hour and a half) where we spent the afternoon before driving an hour or two to Garmisch.
After two nights in Garmisch, we drove two hours to Neuschweinstein, then to Regensberg with a stop at the Church of Weis in between.
After a night in Regensburg, we drove about an hour and half to Bamberg where we spent the day.  After a day there, we drove another hour to Weimar, which we found kind of disappointing, but stayed the night.
The next day, we had a three hour drive to Berlin, but we stopped in Wittenberg on the way.
After two days in Berlin, we drove an  hour to Dresden to see another scholar, Claire, where we spent a day and night.
Our last stop was Munich for Oktoberfest,  which was a five hour drive from Berlin.
After two days at Oktoberfest, we flew directly back to Izmir and slept for days.

I'm not sure if you can actually see the cities and stopping points, but here's a little map of our driving tour

And last but not least, I wanted to let Mike put all of his hard work to use.  After drinking over 90 beers in 11 days and refusing to order anything but coffee or beer at a restaurant ("water is for the weak" was his unspoken motto), here are Mike's top beer recommendations from his eleven day drinking tour.  He picked his favorite type of each style beer (after consulting his trusty Untappd app where he logged all 90 beers over the week.  If you have the app, friend him. He'll love it!) and this is the list he came up with 

Mike's German Beer Recommendations

• Ayinger Brauweisse
• Kloster Scheyern Dopplebock Dunkle 
• Koenig Ludwig Dunkle (dark lager)
• Peter's Kolsch
• Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (found in Bamberg)
• Hacker-Pschorr's Oktoberfest

We loved Germany and are definitely feeling the post-vacation blues.  We can't wait to go back, but I think our bodies and our bank accounts are glad for a little break :)

Kells Visit: Istanbul

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We're currently enjoying a lot of nothing after a road trip to Istanbul and Bozcaada with Mike's sister, Kelly.  After our last visit to Istanbul with Jason (here and here), we were much better prepared and organized when it came to planning out the sight seeing and knew where to stay in order to maximize the city.

Our first day was mainly driving since it's about 7 hours from our house in Izmir to the outskirts of Izmir.  Factor in another HOUR AND A HALF to get into the city and you've got yourself a full day of driving and a somewhat grumpy Mike.  We wanted to drive so that we could stop and see some of the sights along the way, as well as stop on the way home.

Driving in Turkey is tough.  First, there are random road blocks (read: goats crossing) that you have to stop for suddenly on the highway after going 60+ mph.  Then, Google Maps will decide to cut 5 minutes off of your driving time by taking you down a winding road, which actually adds 25 minutes to your driving time.  And finally, there are not a lot of places to stop along the way for necessities like the bathroom or lunch.  The luxuries of having fast food or even gas stations every couple of miles were left in the United States.

When we were driving, we saw a Burger King about an hour into our trip.  Even though it was too early to stop for lunch, we were set on having it for lunch that day because the thought of having Kofte (Turkish lunch) for another meal was nauseating. Burger Kings aren't that rare and we usually see them every couple of hours when we're driving.  Well four hours later and well into my Hangry (hunger induced anger) state, there was no Burger King to be found.  We boarded the ferry with hopes that there would be food.  Sure enough, there was. Lots and lots of Kofte.

Driving did have some perks though.  We got to take the ferry....

and drive over a bridge that connects Asia and Europe.

After eight and a half hours of driving and a few stress-induced arguments over navigation, we finally arrived at our Air BnB.  I thought Mike might kiss the ground he was so happy to get there. We had never stayed at an Air BnB before, but since we had Kelly, we figured it might be more economical than renting two hotel rooms.  So, when we pulled up, the little old man who was the building super greeted us and gave us the keys to the apartment. From the way he talked, it sounded like this apartment was solely rented out for people like us.  He knew the routine. He also thought Mike's name was Robert (Mike's middle name), so he proceeded to call Mike Robert for the entirety of our stay. I told Mike I'm going to start calling him Robbie.  He didn't seem too thrilled. 

Kelly was flying in around six, but she was flying in to the airport on the completely other side of town.  We knew there was no way we'd be able to pick her up (even the thought of getting back in the car put a look of rage on Mike's face), but there were easy directions from the airport to the Air BnB, so she texted us when she landed and let us know she was on her way.  What we didn't realize was that it would take her three hours in rush hour to cross the city.   By the time she got to us, she was pretty exhausted and I don't blame her. 

While we were waiting for Kelly, Mike (or should I say Robbie) and I grabbed dinner at the restaurant that is rated #1 on TripAdvisor in Istanbul.  It was pretty good, although I don't know if it deserved to be number one.   Kelly finally arrived and we dropped off her stuff before going out for a drink and late dinner. 

I think all of us slept very well that night after a long day of travelling. 

"If I ever suggest driving to Istanbul again, please slap me." -Mike as we're sitting in traffic trying to get into Istanbul

Kas: Day Three

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Mike had to do five dives as part of his Advanced Diver Certification, so it takes two full days of diving. This meant another day of sun bathing on the top of the boat with the occasional dip in the Med for me.  Tough life. I know.

While I had recovered from the previous night's food poisoning, I still was feeling pretty weak and tired, so a day of napping and resting on the boat was completely fine with me. I did get in the water both times the boat stopped for dives, but I didn't swim nearly as much as the previous days and I didn't even put on a snorkel or a mask. Instead, I read. A. Lot. I finished Wild and started Defending Jacob, which I didn't think was as good as everyone said, but it kept me occupied.

After a day of diving, Mike was officially certified advanced, which was exciting! When the boat pulled into the harbor, we had to pay the owner of the boat who reassured us the day before that we could pay with a credit card.  He also mentioned something about a paint shop, but we didn't really understand.  So, when we pulled up to the harbor and went to pay, he told us that he didn't have a credit card machine, but that was okay.  We'd just go with him to a paint shop where he owed some money for work on the boat and that we'd just pay them. Mike and I just laughed and obliged because....Turkey.

(side note: The fees for credit cards are ridiculous here.  They're around 8%, so store owners lose a lot of money when they accept credit cards.  A lot of the smaller places won't accept them.  Add in who-knows-what kind of tax laws and you've got people paying paint shops for scuba diving)

Both Mike and I were starving by the time we finished with that whole ordeal.  We also had been craving good Mexican food, which is impossible to find. When we were going to dinner the night before, we saw a sign for Mexican and decided to try it out after researching on Trip Advisor.  When we got there, we noticed that the entire restaurant was cat themed and that there were cats/kittens all over.  The menu wasn't an extensive Mexican menu, in fact it really only had tacos on it.  And by tacos, I mean, taco shells with fajita fillings.  The best/worst part was when we went to go order an appetizer of chips and salsa and found out they didn't have tortilla chips. I didn't know you could remain open as a Mexican restaurant if you didn't have tortilla chips. Despite it's shortcomings, the food was actually pretty good and, while it wasn't quite the Mexican food we had been hoping for, it definitely hit the spot.

That night, we hung around the campsite, listened to live music and drank some wine.  It was a great end to our last day in Kas.

"I can't wait to read the blogpost about this." -Mike as we're walking out of the paint shop

Happy Birthday Anna!

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Almost eight years ago to the day, a special person came in my life.  It started with an email, a FaceBook friend request, and a long conversation with my dad and ended with a phone call to me at summer camp as I was finishing up my summer as a counselor.  While I was a little overwhelmed at first by the multiple contact attempts, I quickly realized the reason for the excitement. Almost eight years ago to the day, I was on the phone having my first (of many) conversations with soon-to-be room mate Anna. 

Fast forward a few weeks to move in day and after a long day of moving and rearranging furniture, it was time to say goodbye to my parents.  I walked them to the elevator and said a tearful goodbye. I knew once the elevator came, that I'd have to turn around and go back into my room, where my new room mate was, despite the fact that I was crying. I had just spent all day trying to be cool and make a good first impression and now I was going to have to walk back into the room crying.  I took a deep breath and wiped my tears and headed into my new room. I tried to look away from Anna, but there was no hiding the fact that I had been crying. Before I could even make up some lame excuse, she looks at me and matter-of-factly says

"It's okay. I just did that."

Anna and I on move in day freshman year

It was right then that I knew we would be friends. I love that story because I think it sums up Anna and my friendship perfectly.  Anna has been the rational one while I have been the emotional? (sure, we'll go with that) one. 

Anna and I would go on to be room mates all four years of college.  She was the first person I'd celebrate accomplishments with and the shoulder I'd cry on when I was struggling.  She was the perfect room mate. 

After college, the fun didn't end.  Anna got engaged the summer after college and we spent the next year discussing wedding details between visits to Annapolis and Boston. That spring, we galavanted around Annapolis for her bachelorette party and that June, I proudly stood beside her as she married the man of her dreams. 

Anna and I at her bridal shower

and on the big day!

Little did I know, she'd be helping me meet mine.  That's right...across the aisle was Mike!  Not only was it a great day celebrating Anna becoming a Fick, it'd be the day that I'd meet my future mister.  What. A. Day.

Over the next two years, Anna would celebrate the excitements of Mike and my relationships, as well as help me through the struggles of deployment and long distance.  I couldn't have picked a better person to stand beside me on my big day as my matron of honor.

Anna and I on my wedding day!

So, here's to Anna on her birthday. I am so thankful to have been assigned Anna as my room mate. She became more than a room mate and more than just another friend.  I never had a sister, but I imagine this is kind of what it's like. 

Now, pop out that baby so I can meet little miss Emma!

I'd say she's going to have a baby pretty soon, dontcha think?

Mike is also thankful that Anna was born.  As we're eating dinner last night, he goes "I don't know what I should thank Anna Fick for more, you or this enchiladas recipe."