Leaving Groton

Well, we made it to Washington!! It's been a whirlwind of a move, but we are here.   I'm going to recap the entire move, but let's just start with our departure from Connecticut.

The week before we left was busy.  We had all of the stuff that comes with moving out of a house, such as movers coming, move out inspections, and Mike's graduation.  On top of that, Finn decided that it was the perfect time to get sick with a fever and nasty cough.  Poor guy.

We booked the movers to come on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Monday and Tuesday were designated as packing days and then the guys would come and load the truck on Wednesday. They ended up packing everything on Monday, so Tuesday we just sat amongst the boxes. #thatmovinglife

Finn was a HUGE help packing

Wednesday, Finn woke up with a fever, so he got to hang out with us and watch the movers load the truck.  I think it was his plan all along to stay home because his fever disappeared and he was in heaven watching all of the moving fun. The movers came and it ended up taking all day for them to load the truck.  We thought this would be the easy day, but we were wrong!

We moved into the Navy Lodge Wednesday night.  Finn seemed to be feeling better so we decided to send him to daycare for his last day on Thursday, especially since we had errands to run and things to do.  I dropped him off, ran some errands and met Mike at our house for our walk through with the rental agent.  Everything went well so Mike and I headed to the gym. We were only there for about 30 minutes before I got the call that Finn had puked and we needed to come get him.  Not quite the way I envisioned his last day of daycare, but what can ya do?  We brought him back to the hotel, gave him a quick bath and put him down for a nap.  I spent most of naptime freaking out about how we were going to move across country in 48 hours with a sick child, 

Friday was Mike's final day of SOAC (Submarine Officer Advanced Course) which was really just graduation.  Mike had to be there early, so Finn and I dropped him off and headed back to the hotel to hang, nap and pack a little before we headed back to the base for the ceremony.  Finn seemed to have rallied and really enjoyed singing the National Anthem and contributing to the Pledge of Allegiance. 

I love seeing Mike do his job.  So much of it is top secret that I get excited for any glimpse of his Navy life. The ceremony was small, but nice. The entire class did extremely well and worked hard, so they have lots to be proud of.  Finn and I are so proud of Mike and the rest of his class.  Way to go guys!

We all headed down to Mystic for lunch to celebrate and had a lot of fun.  It was the last time everyone got to hang out before people headed to their next duty station, so it was bittersweet. We really enjoyed our time in Groton and Mike's classmates were a great group.  We were sad to end this chapter, but were anxious to get on the road and get started on our chapter in Washington.  Thanks for a great six months Groton!

Army/Navy 2017

Finn started the week leading up to Army/Navy with a terrible case of bronchitis. Combine that with the weather reports that it was supposed to snow during the game and Anna and I were questioning our decision to bring the kids to Philadelphia, let alone the actual game.  Luckily, Finn's health improved enough that I didn't think we should stay in Connecticut, but I knew bringing him to the game was not a smart move. Anna agreed that the thought of standing out in the snow with three kids two and under didn't sound appealing, so we camped out in the hotel for the day. Our rooms shared a wall and I packed the baby monitor, so we just bopped back in forth between the rooms.

Mike's entire family came for the game, including his sister and brother-in-law from London, so we had a pretty big crowd.  Originally, we were going to drive to the game and tailgate with everyone before they went to the game.  When we looked at the weather report, though, we quickly changed our plan and decided to tailgate in the hotel parking lot.  Thank goodness we did this because Finn didn't even make it from the hotel door to the tailgate before deciding he was over the cold. He spent his five minutes at the tailgate screaming before I brought him (and a stiff drink) back inside. Emma, on the other hand, loved spending a few minutes out in the snow and even built a snowman!

The cutest little snowman with the cutest little girl!

Please note how everyone, even Emma, is smiling and Finn is having a meltdown.



Once the guys left, Anna and I spent the rest of the day in the hotel with the kids.  I think we were all going a little stir crazy by the end of the day, but we had fun!  Finn and Hudson just kind of stared at each other and Emma stared at all of us, but it was so entertaining to have all of them together.  I can't wait for more weekends like this as they get older and become best friends (they don't really have a choice).

Unfortunately, the game came down to a missed field goal and the second Navy loss in a row. The guys were not happy, especially since they were cold and wet.  Maybe next year?  We said goodbye to the Ficks the next morning before heading out with Mike's dad, sister and brother-in-law for Philly Cheesesteaks.  It wouldn't be a complete trip to Philadelphia without one!

Navy vs. Notre Dame

"I root for (insert opposite team) 364 days of the year. Today is not that day." -My dad and Mike on Navy Notre Dame game day

We have really been trying to take advantage of being on the East Coast for the short amount of time that we have and we knew that the Navy Notre Dame game was a must on our East Coast Bucket List.  Since we didn't know Mike's schedule when we booked the tickets, we had to book the late flight which got us in at 10:00pm Chicago time.

My mom and aunt volunteered to stay home with Finn while my dad, Mike, my aunt and I went to the game. I think they were as happy to stay with Finn as we were to go to the game, so it worked well for everyone.   The weather forecast was less than stellar for Saturday in South Bend, but we just said a little prayer and put on our rain gear in preparation.  The whole drive to South Bend was pretty rainy, but by the time we parked and got situated, the rain had let up.  

My dad's first stop before every game is to the Grotto, so we walked over while getting a tour of the campus from my dad and aunt. It's fun going to Notre Dame with my family, even if you aren't rooting for ND, because he gives a great tour. After walking around for a bit, Mike and I grabbed an Uber to meet up with a few of his Navy friends who are at the University of Chicago. 

Before we knew it, it was game time!  We headed to our seats in the warm suite (thanks Duke!) and enjoyed watching what looked like a very cold and wet game from inside. I wouldn't say either team played their best game and it was a lot closer than I think any ND fan would like to admit, but the Irish ultimately pulled off the win! Go Irish!

We returned home to a sleeping Finny and a very happy aunt, uncle and grandma.  

We purposefully booked our flight for later in the day so that Mike could see Chicago since he had never been.  There is a reason that most people don't go to Chicago in November, though.  It is cold.  Very cold.  We all headed to a German Christmas Market for lunch, which was the most authentic I've seen in the United States. We got bratwursts for lunch before Finn let us know that it was time to go inside out of the cold.   We went into the mall and saw a massive Christmas tree and walked over to see the Bean before it was time to say goodbye to my aunt and my parents who had an earlier flight.

Mike, Finn and my flight actually ended up being delayed, so we went for deep dish pizza with my aunt before heading to the airport and bidding her farewell.  We didn't get home until 2:00am, but the Monday exhaustion was well worth it for such a great weekend. 

Moving Update and 4th of July

I realized I've been kind of quiet about the big move back to the United States so here's the big moving update. We've been so busy adjusting to life with Finn and then traveling that the move has been on the back burner (kind of).

We've known all along that we will be heading to Groton, CT after Mike is done with the Olmsted because he must attend department head school (SOAC) for six months, which is located in Groton.  Once he is done with SOAC, he will be attached to a submarine at one of the seven submarine bases (Groton, Norfolk, Kings Bay, GA, San Diego, Bangor, WA, Pearl Harbor, and Guam).   A few months ago, we submitted our location preferences, as well as preferences for what job Mike would do and what type of submarine would be on.  Unfortunately, Mike got an email while we were on our road trip saying that they didn't have the job Mike wanted on the type of submarine he wanted and the detailer (person who chooses where we go) wanted to know if we cared more about where we were located or the job that Mike did.  We had preferenced Groton as our number one location because it meant that we wouldn't have to move again after SOAC (very appealing considering we've both moved every year since graduating college).  As much as we don't want to have to move again after SOAC, ultimately, Mike said he'd rather be doing a job he enjoys than to avoid another move, which makes sense to me.  For me, while another move would be a pain, I understand Mike's reasoning and I can find a job wherever we go. So, now we wait another month or so until we find out where we are going.  Groton isn't out of the picture completely, but we're mentally preparing for the possibility that we'll be moving again in March.

Did you get all of that?  If you did, props to you.  If you didn't, don't worry. Just know we're moving in August and we might have to move again in March.

While moving is not fun, we're really lucky because the Navy sends movers in, they pack us up and load everything into the truck(s) and we just have to supervise.  As one of Mike's classmates said, it's kind of like we're celebrities.  Ha! Even though we don't have to do a lot of physical labor during a move, there is A LOT of organization and preparation that gets done beforehand, especially since we're moving overseas.

We returned from our Balkan road trip and went right into moving mode. We came back on Sunday and had one week until we left for the UK for Mike's sister's wedding and some travel.  We get back on a Saturday and the movers come that Monday, so we basically have to be ready for the movers when we leave for the UK.  Stressful? Yup.  Impossible? Nahhhh.

The main thing to do was to figure out what is going in each shipment.  We will check bags with us when we fly back that will be filled with stuff we need in August.  We're going to be traveling around Virginia visiting friends and family, so we'll need things like clothes, diapers and laptops in this "shipment," but nothing we don't normally pack when we travel.

The next group of stuff that needed to be sorted was the express shipment.  Since we are moving overseas, we get an express shipment of stuff that we will want immediately when we move in to our house.  This shipment can include up to 1000lbs of stuff, but can't include furniture since it is being sent by air. We've kind of decided that we're going to live in a furnished apartment for the six months while Mike is at SOAC since our final shipment of stuff isn't going to arrive until at least November and there is the possibility that we'll be moving again at the end of the six months.  Therefore, we're sending things like our printer, Christmas decorations and a few kitchen appliances such as our KitchenAid Mixer and Keurig. Oh, and all of the baby stuff! I doubt we'll reach 1000 lbs, but we want to make sure we have everything we want in our temporary house.

The last shipment is everything else, including our furniture. Because we aren't planning on seeing this stuff until March, we are really trying to make sure nothing is going in it that we don't need.  It makes me wonder how much of that stuff we could get rid of...

Anyways, we had lots of stuff to do and not that much time to do it.  Finn also got his first round of vaccines on Wednesday morning which took a toll on him and meant we basically lost an afternoon to a (understandably) fussy guy.  Luckily, a little medicine helped bring back our happy baby and had him feeling back to normal by evening.

All of the things we had to do.  If you look closely, you'll see Mike had to get an HIV test.  Apparently the Navy requires them every 2 years and wouldn't buy our tickets home until he got the test done. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because he would just go to the clinic on base, but there isn't a base here.  On top of that, the only HIV testing locations we could find were for gay men, so we had lots of fun trying to get that one checked off.  Luckily, we figured it out.

So many lists, so little time. 

One of the things on our list of things to do was ship the car and that we did.  Friday afternoon, the tow truck came to pick up the car around 4:30 and by 4:45, the car was gone.  By far the easiest car shipment we've done thus far!  

Amid all of the moving chaos, we took some time to celebrate the 4th of July! We hosted a little cookout in our backyard and hosted about 15 people.  Mike grilled burgers and bratwursts and I made red, white and blue sangria and cupcakes.  We couldn't pass up an opportunity to share our patriotism with our neighbors and Mike's classmates. It was  a lot of fun and we had fun celebrating, even if we weren't in the United States. 

So many burgers!

Needless to say, it was a busy week in the Hogan household. When we return from the UK, it'll be even crazier, but we'll just cross our fingers and say a little prayer that everything makes it to the US in time!  Happy moving season!

Buying a Chicco Stroller and Car Seat Abroad

We are in the home stretch! With less than a month until Baby Maximus' due date, we are assembling all sorts of baby things, washing ALL the baby clothes and anxiously waiting for our little guy to make his appearance.  Shortly after we broke the news to my parents about their upgrade to grandparent status, they graciously offered to buy us our stroller and car seat combination (aka travel system).

We began researching our different options for travel systems, as well as car seat requirements in both Germany and the United States. I knew that our car seat would have to meet American standards since the majority of our driving would be done in the United States.  The last thing I wanted was to get pulled over shortly after our return to the States and get a ticket for a car seat that didn't comply with American requirements.  That would be quite the welcome back!  We decided to go with the Chicco Bravo Travel System.

Because of this, we had to order our car seat, and therefore the entire travel system from the United States. I didn't really think this would be an issue since we have a DPO box and have things shipped to it whenever we need something from the United States without any issues.  What I didn't think about was the size of the box the travel system would come in.   There is a limit of a combined 108 inches in length, width and height on any package shipped to an APO/FPO/DPO address.

Whenever I tried to put the travel system in my online shopping cart on Amazon or Babies R Us, it quickly notified me that the travel system couldn't be shipped to our mailbox.   Buy Buy Baby would let me place the order, but I got an email the next day saying that my order had been cancelled because it couldn't be shipped to my address. My mom called Buy Buy Baby and spoke to someone who assured her that it could be shipped and placed the order, only to have it cancelled the next day.

She called back and after lots of troubleshooting, my mom and the representative decided the best way to have them shipped was to order a car seat and a stroller separately.  I guess when you order the travel system, both items are shipped in the same box, which exceeds the shipping dimensions.  If you order them separately, they are shipped in two smaller (although still pretty big) boxes.   Two weeks later, they arrived at our DPO box and we are now the proud owners of a car seat and stroller!

Thanks to my mom for spending lots of time figuring this all out and to both of my parents for their generous gift!

Bustin' Outta This Joint

Mike and I joke that we're never actually going to move somewhere together. Last year, Mike left for Izmir about two weeks before I got there.   This time around, we didn't end up leaving at the same time either, but that was more by choice....kind of.

Let's back up though.  Thursday was crazy although not quite as stressful.  We packed everything up and tried to breath after holding our breath for a week, but the most exciting part of the day was when the Navy sent Mike a ticket for a flight out of Turkey for the next day!! I wanted to cry I was so happy.  We broke out of the hotel for one last stroll along the kordon and one last glass of tea to celebrate

Alright Izmir, you aren't terrible....

 Normally, the Navy would buy both of our flights for a move, but since I had already been evacuated and moved out by the Navy, they only purchased a flight for Mike.  That was one risk we knew we were taking when I decided to come back for the move.  We began looking for flights for me around the same time as Mike's, but they all had a layover in Istanbul.  I really wanted to avoid that, just in case something happened, especially since I wasn't going to be with Mike.  I didn't think anything would happen, but it was a risk I wasn't willing to take.

Instead, I opted for a flight a few hours later than Mike.  I wasn't pleased to be leaving without Mike and I definitely didn't like to be the last one out of the country, but it was the best option.  I headed to the airport with a duffel bag and another carry on, a suitcase to check and two beach chairs.  In Europe, they have these stands in the airports where you can get your luggage wrapped with plastic.  I never understood why anyone would do that, but we needed to package the beach chairs together and we couldn't find a box big enough.  This plastic wrap was the perfect solution! The guy kind of laughed at me when I asked him to wrap the chairs, but he did and I was happy as a clam.

Those green things? They're beach chairs!

I've never been afraid of flying or being in an airport, but that morning, I definitely had a heightened sense of awareness that morning.  Like I said, I didn't think anything was going to happen, but I also didn't think a coup was going to happen.  Add in a language barrier and I was a nervous nelly. I got a text from Mike while I was waiting to check in (of course, there was no organization to the check in line because...Turkey) to say that he had landed in Berlin and I let out a sigh of relief.  One Hogan down, one to go.  After finally checking in, making it past customs and grabbing something to eat, I boarded the plane and said Gorusuruz to Izmir one final time.

 Needless to say, for so many reasons, I was happy to have wheels on the ground when my flight landed in Berlin.

We made it!

The Moving Saga Continues....

Wednesday was supposed to be a big day.  We had to load all of our stuff we were planning to drive with into the car, have the Air Force guys come and pick up some furniture, check out of our apartment with the land lord, get the temporary plates to drive with, catch the car ferry to Athens, and be on our way to Berlin.  It was going to be a big day.

We woke up early and loaded the car full of our stuff.  Surprisingly, all of it fit and there was room to spare!  Things were looking up.  Around eight, the guys came to get the furniture and were gone by nine.  Mike had to go meet with some people on base about the car so he left and I hung out at the apartment. All along, we knew we would have to deregister the car in Turkey and get temporary plates to drive out.  When Mike got to the base, the guy asked for his Turkish ID number that he had used to register the car. It was soon discovered that he didn't have an ID number and had somehow managed to register the car (and get a cell phone) without one.  Welcome to the bureaucratic mess that is Turkey!

The only way to get temporary plates for the car was to go down to the social security office and get an ID number. We did this for me and it took 4-5 weeks and was a huge head ache! Add in the fact that, earlier that week, thousands of government employees had been arrested and fired because of the coup.  Plus, Mike is an American and Erdogan isn't thinking too highly of America because we're housing the guy he feels responsible for the coup. All of that being said, going to the social security office sounded like maybe the worst idea possible.  So, we were stuck.

Mike called me and we quickly decided that it wasn't worth the head ache of trying to get temporary plates.  Instead, we would just fly out. We could still deregister the car and ship it, so we'd still be able to get it to Germany, but it would take longer.  At this point, though, anything that would get our car and us out of Turkey was worth it.  The only issue with this plan was that the movers had already come and shipped all of our household goods, so all of the stuff that we had planned to take in the car had to somehow make it on the plane with us.   We tabled that issue for a few hours and focused on the other issue at hand....

We weren't allowed to leave Turkey.  Yup, that's right.  We were stuck.  Because we were still on FPCON Delta (aka house arrest), nobody was allowed to fly or drive out of Turkey, including people who were trying to move out.   Even if we had still planned on driving, we wouldn't have been able to do so until after Delta was lifted. So, once the landlord came and checked us out, we drove our car full of stuff over to a hotel that the Navy booked for us and tried to consolidate all of our stuff, hoping that we wouldn't be in a hotel for too long, but knowing that it could be a while.

We figured that if we could get our stuff into four checked bags and four carry-ons, we'd be good and wouldn't have to pay anything extra.  Our biggest issue was the two beach chairs that we had.  We also had a lot of cooking supplies, such as flour and spices, that we wanted to bring with us. We were kicking ourselves as we were packing because 1. If we had known we were going to fly, we could have sent all of this stuff in an express shipment via the movers to have waiting for us when we got there and 2.  The movers would have given us boxes that would have been useful to put things like beach chairs in.  Apparently, Turks never move and therefore there is no such thing as a moving or shipping supply store in Izmir.

After lots of consolidation and sitting on suitcases, we managed to get almost everything except for the food into suitcases.  The two beach chairs would get wrapped in plastic at the airport the next morning (Europeans are big on getting their suitcases wrapped in plastic. I don't get it, but it was perfect for this!).  We did manage to get a box from the commissary to put things like Mike's scuba gear and some other random stuff in.  We had to sacrifice a lot of our food, although I managed to stick a lot of the spices and stuff in random pockets, but that was the least of our worries at this point.

Once that crisis was managed, Mike called the car shipment place and made an appointment to meet with them later that day.  When they were going over the documents they needed to ship the car, we realized that somehow, the title to the car had been packed and shipped with all of our furniture.  In Turkey, they tell you not to keep your title in your car so that if your car gets stolen, you have proof that it's yours.  So, when they were packing up Mike's desk, off went the title.  At this point, I thought Mike was going to lose it.  Luckily, about a half hour later, they called back and said that they had our title in the system since we had used them to ship our car in to Turkey.  HALLELUJAH!!

Mike left quickly to ship the car before some other crisis arose.  At this point, it was around 4:00 and Delta still hadn't been lifted, so we knew that we would be hanging out in Turkey at least one more day (probably two).  So, we made our way down to the free happy hour of our hotel and settled in for the night because if anyone deserved a happy hour, it was Mike.

To sum up, we (mainly Mike) dealt with the following all in one day...
1. Realized that we couldn't drive our car out because we couldn't get temporary plates.
2. Because of this, we had to consolidate a car full of stuff into four checked bags and four carry ons.
3. Checked into a hotel indefinitely because we weren't allowed to leave Turkey
4.  Shipped our car after thinking we might not be able to.

A Coup and House Arrest

We landed in Izmir around 7:00 on Friday night, got home, and a few hours later, a coup happened. How's that for a wild Friday night?

Actually, things were pretty calm in Izmir the entire time. Around 11:00pm, we got a Facebook message from a friend saying there was a possible coup in Turkey.  We ran out to our balcony to see what was going on and all we saw were people drinking tea.  A normal Friday night. When we turned on the news, they were reporting about Trump's VP pick (side note: we get American news, not Turkish news).  In a matter of minutes, though, things changed.  Trump was cut off mid-sentence to show images of Istanbul in chaos and Facebook and Reddit started exploding with reports of the coup.  We were told by the US military that we were to stay inside and not leave.

Still, the people of Izmir drank tea.

We quickly packed a bag in case we had to leave and sat and waited.  We watched things unfold on the news and finally people here started to get wind of what was happening up north and in their capital. Around 1:00am, cars started honking and flags waving in what we think was in support of the coup.  At some point, we watched Erdogan address the nation via FaceTime and ask his supporters to take to the streets in unity.  Around 3:00am, we decided to go to bed.  Things didn't seem to be changing in Istanbul, Ankara or in Izmir.

Still, the people of Izmir drank tea.

When we woke up on Saturday, we saw that the coup had failed.  We were still supposed to stay inside, but things in Izmir were calm.  The only people outside on Saturday morning was one guy wandering around playing Pokemon Go.  Even that night, things were quiet. We heard some more cars honking, but there weren't any protests that we saw.  Actually, it was probably one of the calmer weekends we've experienced here.

Still, the people of Izmir drank tea.

By Sunday, we received word that the commissary would be open for two hours and that we would be allowed to leave our house for food.  Mike went and stocked up on stuff to get us through the next few days, while I stayed at home and prepared for the movers that were coming the next day.  Things outside stayed calm, but more and more people were out and about.  We heard about ongoing protests in Istanbul and Ankara and some of unrest within the government, but things in Izmir resumed as normal.

Still, the people of Izmir drank tea.

We went to bed on Sunday ready for the movers to come, but unsure of when we'd be allowed to leave the house...or the country.

Ramstein and the Evacuation

I'm  currently sitting in the basement of a hotel by the Cologne airport on the eve of the 2016 Olmsted Ladies Trip.  Apparently, the hotel I booked a room with overbooked and this was what they offered me.  For $25 instead of the original $70, it's not too shabby.  And since I have to leave at 4am, it really didn't matter where I slept, as long as I had a bed.  So, as I sit in this basement hotel room, I have time to do a little reflecting.

basement living.  Not too shabby for $25

After Karen left, I had about ten days to wrap things up in Ramstein before heading out for good.  After a month of non stop travel and entertaining, a few days of nothing sounded pretty nice.  I ended up moving to a new room (definite downgrade) where there was no kitchen and it was essentially a bedroom, living room and bathroom, but I spent a couple of days unpacking.  I also watched A LOT of Netflix.  If you haven't watched Making a Murderer or Grace and Frankie, do so right now.  Making a Murderer will have you on the edge of your seat with your blood boiling and Grace and Frankie will have you literally laughing out loud.

Between episodes, I ventured out to the gym and to get things to eat, but other than that, I pretty much hung by myself.  That meant a lot of thinking time.  It's crazy to think that six weeks has passed since I arrived in Germany.  When we first got the word that I would be leaving, it was surreal.  My adrenaline kicked in and all I could think about was doing laundry, packing and planning for the evacuation.  Oh and recovering from the LASIK procedure that I thought was a good idea on the day of an evacuation notice.  Once I arrived at Ramstein, I went through MAJOR culture shock.  Hearing so much English was surprising and, after living in a country where rules are merely suggestions for 10 months, living on a military base with so much order and regulations left me feeling overwhelmed.  I spent the first week just trying to adjust back to the lifestyle that I missed so much in Turkey and found myself only venturing out for short trips before scurrying back to my apartment where things were quiet and calm.  If there is one word to sum up that first week at Ramstein, it would be overwhelmed.

Karen arrived the next week and was the perfect distraction.  I spent my time at Ramstein planning our next adventure.  We spent a week in Italy and a weekend in Munich, as well as day trips around Germany, Luxembourg and France.  I slowly came out of my shell on base and felt much more adjusted to life back in America. I didn't turn my head every time someone spoke English or check to make sure I wasn't breaking a rule as I crossed the street. If there is one word to describe that month, it would be adjusting.

After Karen left, I had ten days left at Ramstein and I think that is when I truly grasped what was going on.  It hit me that I'm not going to go back to Turkey. I'll never hear "Inshallah" or "Hamdullah" from a Turk (although I'll never stop saying them!) again and I'll never get those fresh strawberries from the market that I waited ten months for.  I won't get to say goodbye to my students and to my classmates. I won't be hearing the call to prayer any time soon and I won't be offered tea the next time I walk into a shop.  My life that had become very Turkish has changed. If there was one word to describe those ten days, it would be realization.

While I struggled a lot with adapting to life in Izmir, I now realize how much I love about Turkey.  I don't think I'll ever LOVE Izmir, but I can definitely say that I love Turkey.  Izmir felt very business like, with very little to do outside of summer. There weren't a lot of weekend activities (museums, concerts, etc) and it was hard to meet people, which made living there as an expat difficult.  That being said, the Turkish culture really grew on me. I love their dedication to their family and to their religion (Hamdullah = thanks be to God/Inshallah= God willing).  Their ability to take time to slow things down and really appreciate life drove me crazy at times because punctuality was not a strong point of theirs, but I love that they encourage you to slow down, drink a cup of tea and be in the moment.   Even though Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey and is bigger than Los Angeles, it still had that old time feel.  There were markets every Sunday and everyone had a "guy."  If you needed a new carpet, you just had to run downstairs and ask the person on the street to take you to their brother/cousin/uncle's carpet shop.  It was almost guaranteed they knew someone.  Oh and the Turks' love for children? HUGE! It wasn't uncommon for a family with a baby to walk into a restaurant and get preferential seating.  Then, the baby would be passed around for all of the wait staff to hold and play with. Children are so valued and it's so refreshing.  There is also a great sense of community in Turkey.  Parents have no problem with their child being passed around a restaurant and, as the child grows older, they have no problem letting them roam around the neighborhood with a gang of friends. There is a trust in Turkey that everyone is looking out for everyone and it is what holds the Turkish culture together.  My eyes were opened, my horizons were broadened and my appreciation for other cultures deepened during my time in Turkey.  I became a more loving, accepting and a better person.

Leaving Turkey came before I planned, which made it shocking.   While the transition out of Turkey and the evacuation wasn't easy, it would have been a million times harder without the people at Ramstein.  Talk about community! Considering this was only my second real military move (the first being to Turkey, which I don't even really count because it was not a normal military move), I was pretty clueless. From the minute we met them at the airport, I felt welcome and taken care of.  They made sure we didn't have to think about anything, from transferring our health insurance to finding lodging.  I don't know how they did it for 700 families, but they did and they never once made us seem like a burden.  All I had to do was say "Sorry, I'm in the group from Turkey and need help with...." and before I could even finish, someone had jumped in ready to assist me.  For that, I'll be forever grateful.

So, as my time as an evacuee comes to a close, I can't help but think about how grateful I am for my time in Turkey and for the people who made the abrupt transition out so much easier.  I am thankful that I had a group of people helping me each step of the way.  There are so many people around the world who must leave their country out of fear of safety who don't have an entire military base to help and support them.  I only made it through this as smoothly as I did because of the hundreds of people who stepped in to help me and check on me throughout the entire process. So, if you're one of those people (in Turkey, Ramstein or back home....looking at you Russo fam!), thank you.  You have not gone unnoticed and us Turkey evacuees appreciate everything you've done.

As for what's next, you ask?  I'm leaving tomorrow for a weekend with the Olmsted ladies in Croatia. Then, I'm meeting up with Mike and friends who are on their honeymoon and so kindly let us crash the tail end of it.  Thanks Heberts!  After Croatia, I'll head home to the UNITED STATES for a few weeks.  My brother is graduating high school (!!!) and I have a god daughter to meet!  Plus, I know I've basically been living in the United States for the last six weeks, but there wasn't Chick fil a or Target, so I need to get my fix.  I'm well overdue.  The big question is what happens after that.  We've got something in the works and hopefully it will be solidified in the next week or two.  You know I'll keep you posted!

Naples Submarine Ball 2016

I started going to submarine balls with Mike before we were married.  The year that we were engaged, we went to sub ball in Hawaii and then the next year, when we were married and in Arlington, we went to the ball in Washington, D.C.  While they were very different experiences, both were fun in their own way and we knew that we wanted to make an effort to attend the European one this year in Naples, Italy.  Coincidentally, it happened to be while Karen was visiting, which made it even easier to justify!  Thanks Kare Bear!

So, after two days in Rome, Karen and I boarded a train from Rome to Naples.  It's about an hour ride and it's extremely easy. Mike usually does most of the travel planning, so I was super proud of myself for navigating us around Rome and getting us from Rome to Naples. It wasn't that hard, but definitely required some planning.  Anyways, we made it to Naples without a hitch and I was glad to hand off the tour guide reigns to Mike for a few days.  

The train ride through Italy

Views like this make the train ride go faster.

Speaking of Mike, did I mention how happy I was to see him?  Because I was.  I know it had only been two weeks, but man did I miss him.  We spent all of our dating relationship and engagement apart, but spending the past year and half with him by my side every day made those two weeks so much harder.  My heart hurt for him and I was so glad to see him walking through the doors at the train station Saturday morning.  

He's my fave

Even though he's the worst :)

After a long-awaited reunion, Karen, Mike, Mike's friend Scott who is stationed at Naples, and I headed out to drop our stuff off at the AirBnB we were staying at and do a little sight seeing before getting all dazzled up for the ball that night. I hadn't heard great things about Naples, so my expectations were pretty low. People had told me that it was a pretty dirty city and nothing that spectacular to see.  While it did seem like there was a lot of trash around, we all walked away realizing that there are a few pretty cool things about Naples.

Including the world's best pizza!! Apparently, Naples is the place of origin of pizza! WHAT?!?!?! That's awesome! It only took about 30 minutes from the time we dropped off our bags to the time we had pizza in our mouth.  Scott took us to L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele which is one of the oldest pizzerias in Naples.  They only have two kinds of pizza, the Marinara and the Margherita, but the line was out the door when we arrived.  Luckily, that was to get a table to sit at.  Scott barged in and was able to get carry out pizza for all of us within 15 minutes and we were all thankful that we didn't have to wait long.  We found a piazza to eat our pizza (hahahah piazza...pizza...get it?) in and DEVOURED all of the pizza. I wouldn't have been surprised if people had been watching in amazement as the four of us sat on a curb shoveling pizza in our mouths.  The fact that we remembered to breathe is actually a miracle.  I was starving, so almost anything would have tasted great, but that pizza was delicious.   While I did miss having toppings, it was one of the best Margherita pizzas I've ever had. 

We needed to walk off our pizza, so we did some sight seeing. 

Inside of the shopping mall...

Man, did I miss this guy.

Getting to travel with one of your best friends is truly an amazing experience.

We went inside the local duomo, not to be confused with THE Duomo in Florence.

And then walked through town a little bit more

After we had walked off our pizza and seen the basics of the city, it was time to head to the AirBnB to shower and get ready for the ball.  Karen and I quickly showered, did our hair and makeup and got dressed in time to head to Scott's so the boys could get ready.  While the boys gave us a hard time about how long it took for us to get ready, I was quite impressed with our speediness.  45 minutes is not a long time!

Our brave driver navigating the Italian highways!

Limoncello before the ball!

We clean up nice

Sadly, I think I'm standing on my tip toes in this picture. 

Two of Scott's friends have this AMAZING house in Pozzouli, which is outside of the city.  The house is huge and overlooks the water.  Karen and I were in awe and probably would have spent the night just hanging out on the balcony because the view was THAT good.  Give us a glass of Italian wine and we're all set. 

Is this real life? When can I move in?  I'm currently homeless...

After our little photo shoot, it was time to head to the ball.  While we didn't know a ton of people, there were plenty of people who had heard about us thanks to the evacuation and were curious to hear about how everything was going.  Admiral Foggo, who is the Commander of the 6th Fleet at Naples, is a former Olmsted Scholar.  We met him last fall when we went to the reunion in Germany and he helped Mike navigate the Navy aspects of an evacuation, so we were eager to thank him for all of his support.  We also were looking forward to dancing and eating good food and celebrating the Submarine Force's birthday.

Birthday cake!

By the end of the night, we were happy and tired and ready to sleep.  Our AirBnB had interesting decorations, but was the perfect set up for Mike, Karen and myself.  

We didn't get a picture of Mike and my room, but imagine Minnie and Mickey and possibly Daffy Duck. 

Sub Ball is always a good time and being able to enjoy it with friends such as Karen and Scott, as well as some of Mike's fellow officers from the Jacksonville was a ton of fun.  Happy birthday Submarine Force!  Fair Winds and Following Seas!