Dyson- How I love you!

Pictured above is my new love and my lifesaver, it may even have soulmate status. I love my Dyson!

Allison always raved about her Dyson, so I was on a search for a used 220V Dyson. Back in November, I finally found one. If you have never used one, I highly recommend it! I always thought that my old vacuum did a pretty good job. Not now, I can't believe how much dog hair the Dyson can "find".

I have a huge fear that when you walk into my house it will smell like dog. I ask everyone if it does, thanks to my trusty Dyson, the answer is always no.

If you have the money, buy one, you will not regret it!!

Thanks, Allison for the tip!

"I didn't fight to get women out from behind vacuum cleaners to get them onto the board of Hoover."Germaine Greer

Room for two (2)!

When I bought my living room set a few years back, I wanted to make sure there was room for 2 "people" to lay on it together. There is nothing worse than a numb arm, totally ruins the moment. This is the main reason why I ended up with a living room set that may not work when I PCS somewhere smaller. You can take the back cushions off and it is the same size as a twin size bed. While I was recovering from my "dirty thirty" I took a quick nap.

Not exactly the prince charming I envisioned sharing my large couch with. I love her anyway...

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." ~ Roger Caras

Resolutions...

So, yes, it is that time of year again... New Years Resolution time. The gym is full, Facebook is full of high hopes to loose any where from 15-110 + lbs, well really more like 15-49+, but still I think, that's a bit overboard. Come on people start with the basics. Take care of yourself everyday regardless of what the scale says.

When my mom and sister were here they couldn't believe I didn't own a scale. I guess it is because I am not a skinny mini and I can tell my weight by the pants I can fit into. :)

I found this Nike ad on pinterst.com I loved it an felt it was appropriate to post when talking about health.

So here is to another year of good health and feeling good in the bodies we were given.

I always end blogs with a quote. This one is from my mom when she was here visiting. A little background; one morning while I was walking around my house in leggings, before putting on my long sweater. She said...

"Where did you get that booty?... You know I smelled some Beyonce perfume yesterday, it was pretty good." :) We both laughed. I love my mom.

Here we go again....

My old Macbook finally died. We had a good ride and I can honestly say that I doubt a PC would have made it through as much as my macbook did.

I hardest part about the "Death" was I lost all my pictures and music. I know, I know, I should have backed it up. I did of course BEFORE my trip to Iraq. So, alas those pictures are gone, just for now hopefully. My co-workers husband is a Mac geek and thinks he can recover everything. Tomorrow will be the telling day, he was going to work on it this weekend.

I hope to recover my pictures a lot of them I would like to blog about. Time will tell.

Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding.
Louis Gerstner

Blindbooking-Switzerland!

I am all about blindbooking, it is a cheap fun way to see places you may not otherwise travel too.

Over Columbus Day weekend, my co-worker Carol and I decided to do a blindbooking and got Zurich, Switzerland. We had a wonderful time. We left on Saturday morning, due to our early flight we left home at 0430, so early... We got to the airport without any issues, by 0800, we were in Zurich. It was POURING down rain, we were pretty bummed, but we decided to make the best of it.



We got to the main train station and set out to find our hotel. On the way we got off the tram and went into a Starbucks, so American, but it was perfect in the rain. I had booked a hotel at hotels.com, and got the Crowne Plaza, it was a nice hotel, but they wouldn't let us check in early, so at noon, we were finally in our room.

We slept for a few hours, then went out to walk the city. Zurich is a beautiful city, even on a rainy day it was enjoyable. We wandered, had a traditional Swiss dinner and ended up at a little hole in the wall bar, Aelpli Bar. We met a nice Swiss couple, drank some special swiss milk with alcohol, we are still not sure what was in it. All they could tell us through their broken english was it was "this house only", so it was a special drink in that bar. It was not my favorite. Later, a group of younger guys came in, when one heard us talking he came over and told us he was raised in Texas, it was random, but fun.


The next day, from a suggestion of my cousin Johnny, we set out for the town on Einsiedeln, which is a beautiful town in the Alps with a very special Abbey with a Black Madonna. The Madonna was beautiful, you could not take pictures, it was amazing.

It was a great trip, Zurich was a beautiful, I would go back in a minute.


"Travel teaches toleration." ~Benjamin Disraeli

Old Friends and Good Times

The first weekend of October, I got a wild hair and wanted to travel somewhere. Aimee "Pang" a good friend of mine from Kwaj, just moved to Europe and is now a CDC Director in Stuttgart, Germany. On a Thursday night I was Skyping with her and told her I night come visit. I hadn't asked my boss yet, so I told Pang I would email her if I was heading that way. I asked my boss at about 12 pm, at 2 pm I bought train tickets, and by 4 pm, I was in Aachen Germany waiting for an ICE train for Stuttgart.


We had a wonderful time, drank good wine, saw the sights and just hung out. I really like Stuttgart and it was fun to hang out with Pang.


"I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar. " ~Robert Brault

An Evening in Narnia

My backyard is commonly called Narnia. It is a very long, narrow, large, and somewhat overgrown. My landlords are suppose to care for it, but only do occasionally. What I love more is how is feels like nature just out my backdoor. One morning I just stopped on the way to the garage and listened to the birds in the trees.

The other night I had dinner and wine out on the patio, after rocking an awesome purple dress at work.

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
Lou Holtz

Happy Chaos

This past weekend I watched Cameron and Alanna, while their parents enjoyed Sheryl's birthday weekend. We had a great action packed weekend.

We went to the Commissary and bought junk food, then went to the library to get movies. We changed into pajamas at 6 pm and watched movies all night long. We also ate ice cream in the middle of the day and pizza at night.

Cameron was asleep on the couch by 9 pm, but Alanna the night owl was up until 11pm when I made her go to sleep. They slept in my bed and I was on the floor. Last time they stayed with me, we all slept in my bed. They are like sleeping with a pack of wolves, so I opted for the floor. At 5 am they were up again...

We got up, and made a pineapple upside down cake or as Alanna would say an upside down pineapple cake. She also made a throne for her mom and decorated my eliptical. My workout was interesting with all the lacing cards hanging there. I love the happy chaos they make. (mess).

"Chaos in the world brings uneasiness, but it also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth."
Tom Barrett

What I want...

In life we all have a list of things we want, I think this list gets longer as all our "needs" are met. In human nature people tend to want more as the have more. The "better" or more a person has the more "things" become tangible and within their reach, the more they believe they "want/need" it. This of course is not true to all, yet in our materialistic society there is a lot of truth to it.

I am a very fortunate person, I am healthy, happy, have a good job, live in a nice house, have a wonderful family, supportive friends, I travel the world and do not go without.

I am changed from my time in Iraq. The biggest change is the way I live my life from day to day. I am forever thankful for those who fight for our country and am grateful for the opportunity to wake up everyday and follow my dreams. I have always been thankful, but now it runs even deeper in my being.

When I think about these things, there is one big thing missing. What I really want in this life is a family. I come from a wonderful, mom and dad, who although are not perfect, they have showed me that perfection has nothing to do with unconditional love. I am the person I am because of them and of course my sister too.

This weekend, I had a lingering fever, so, I just stayed home. I made crockpot chicken and rice soup and angel food cake with cherry compote topping. Weekends, like this I wish my house was bustling with noise and faces to feed. After all, you show love by feeding people, right? I learned that from my mom. :)

For now, I will just cook and freeze, take good care of myself and embrace what each new day gives me. I am blessed, thankful, and loved, which is wonderful!

"Intense love does not measure, it just gives."

~ Mother Theresa

Spa Day

This title is deceiving. When you think of Spa Day, you think of a nice day in a low lit room, with soft music, wine, and treatments.

Well my idea of a Spa Day did not have all the glitz, but I enjoyed myself. Last Monday was Labor Day, I got back from Munich late the night before, so, I slept in and created a Spa in my backyard.

Brows, pedicure and a cold beer were on the menu and the price was FREE. PERFECT.

“Humor is a whisper from the soul, imploring mind and body to relax, let go and be at peace again.” ~ UKN

Emotions

This picture to me, is one of the most powerful pictures from my deployment. I like to call this picture Emotions.

Pure raw emotions are powerful, smoothing, and unsettling all at the same time.

Look close, you will see a tear in my eye, which is a tear that carries both joy and pain. In the reflection of my glasses, you can see the window of the Humvee, I was riding in. The chicken pox scar on my right cheek has been there since I was little. The brim of my helmet. My button nose. The powerful orange of my glasses. The blue in my eyes. The layer of grease and sweat that was always present.

Like many emotions, hard to see, hidden inside this picture, lies feelings of; thankfulness, happiness, fulfillment, togetherness, belonging, pride, and hope.

Emotions are not always easy to deal with, but they make us who we are.

"Feelings are much like waves, we can't stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf." ~Jonatan Mårtensson

De La Hoya

One of the people I worked with was Oscar De La Hoya, the world champion boxer.

It was an amazing journey with De La Hoya and crew. We got stuck out at a small Forward Operating Base (FOB) Justice which is near the Kadhimiya Shrine in downtown Baghdad. Justice is Joint Base with the Iraqis, so it is relatively safe. Kadihimiya is a site with loads of history, look it up if you are interested. JSS Justice is a FOB with lots of great guys (and less than 5 gals) and one of my favorite places to visit. I miss the Just-Us Crew!

I did not sleep that night, because I was on the phone trying to figure out what time a helicopter could come and pick us up.

The pictures on this post were taken while waiting for the helo the next morning.

While waiting, Oscar turned to me and said something in spanish. He asked if I knew what he said. I said no?! He said "You have a beautiful heart." Exhausted, moved, and knowing my day was just starting huge tears came to my eyes. Oscar gave me a big hug and there was a true understanding of why we both were standing in Baghdad waiting on a helo. It was a moment I will never forget.

“For those with a big heart, even impossible tasks become possible.”

~UNK

Forever Changed

Okay, so it has been forever since I posted on my blog. I know many of you enjoy the updates even when they are sporadic.

I have been home from Iraq for about a month now. I will never be the same for the experiences I had and the friends I made while I was down there. I am so blessed to have been with such wonderful people everyday.

My Iraq Besties, CPT Morgan and SSG Foster

Sherwood, Nemo and the Beav (me) we all have aliases and fake beers

Toe pop, with Fetrow

Many people fixate on the fact my job was to escort entertainers and the other "famous" people I met.

For me the most "famous" people I met hail from small towns and cities throughout the USA, they are soldiers, selfless servants carrying out a mission only few are brave enough to do.

The boys of Loyalty

G1 Family

“Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives”

~Siegfried Sassoon

Running with Ralphie

Okay, there is no one named Ralphie my life. You all have seen The Christmas Story, right? I felt like the kid who got his tongue stuck to the frozen pole. I was so bundled up when I went on my first outside run since all the ice and snow, I could hardly more. Luckily, I only bundled my top half, I felt like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. I had 4 layers on to include my new Under Armor Tactical long sleeve undershirt. That baby was toasty, next time I will not need to bundle up as tight. Here is too good health and cold weather.

"Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success."

- Juha "the Curel Vaatainen

Bittersweet but Thankful

Bittersweet, and thankful rarely find themselves in the same sentence, but those two words sum up my feeling about Thanksgiving this year. I went to two meals one at my friends Julie and Marty's and then to Lisa and Jay's house. I am so thankful and blessed to have such wonderful caring friends, that take such good care of me. The night was packed with good food, good conversation, and loads of wine. :) Have I mentioned I have wonderful friends.

Now for the bittersweet feelings. The day after Thanksgiving, I felt blah. I missed my friends, I missed Thanksgiving's past, most of all I missed the wonderful memories. Last year, I spent Thanksgiving in the airport in Okinawa, pondering life, and preparing to start a new chapter in my life. When I got home to Zama, I went to Quail and Sal, reheated Thanksgiving dinner, talked, drank car bombs, sat on the balcony smoked cigars, and shed a few tears. The 2 years prior to that I spent with Scott and Allison. In 2007, I had just arrived in Japan and they were gracious to have a perfect stranger over. By 2008, we were family, and my sister was even there. Man, this is when I miss them the most. Someday, I will be back.

When I was at Julie and Marty's we were talking about family holiday traditions. When I started to talk about Thanksgiving at my Grandma Nanny's and the pinata, one of the people in the room asked if my family had hispanic origin. I laughed, the answer is no, I am not sure how the pinata became a tradition. Oh how I miss those, loud, crazy Turkey Days with my big family.

I have come to the realization that the path I have chosen will rarely take me to a time and place where family gathers and old friends are near, so now I look at Thanksgiving in a different way. I like to see what people prepare, what their traditions are, do they make cornbread stuffing, or sage stuffing? What is the dessert? Is it a dinner or an all day event. All these things are interesting and make me thankful for all the diverse, wonderful, people in my life.

"I feel extremely lucky, extremely grateful, and a little bittersweet, too."

Wentworth Miller

Surprise! Your Basement is flooded.

I has been raining hard for the last week and when I say hard, I mean hard. I grew up in Oregon, so I know about rain, but boy this past week has been wet. Yesterday, I went down in my "dry" basement to switch out a load of laundry. There was a bit of standing water against one wall. I thought it might have come from the dryer. European dryers are condensers. Which means after each load you have to empty out a small bucket of water. You don't want to get me started on that. I would LOVE an American dryer. I cleaned up the little bit of water and blamed it on the dryer.

This morning I woke up and went downstairs to transfer laundry and there was about 3 inches of standing water against the same wall. To say the least I was bummed. I bailed to water into a bucket, all the while thinking this is a guys job. There are just times when it would be nice to hand the honey do list over to someone else.

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow."

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Poland Trip

Recently, I joined the American Spouses Club (ASC). I thought it would be a great way to meet new people in the area, so even though I am not a spouse I joined. My friend Lisa would say it's about time, she had been asking me to join for the past year.

One of the trips the ASC goes on every year is a Polish Pottery trip. Polish Pottery is beautiful high quality pottery, and is also a rite of passage for military families in Europe. You can walk into most homes and know if the family has spent time in Europe, by the pottery around. Of course this doesn't mean everyone, but a majority, not all people like the design of the pottery. I personally like it, so I had no problems spending money.

Before it was cleaned and put away

Probably some Christmas presents in the mix

It was quite the weekend. We left at about 1145 pm on Thursday night. 24 of us made the 10 hour (one way) trip in a tour bus. We arrived Friday morning and started to shop. We visited the factories on day one. Each factory has an on-site store. We shopped all day until our feet hurt. Then had a wonderful dinner and stayed in a beautiful little hotel, called the Blue Beetroot www.bluebeetroot.com/rates.html. We all drank good wine and got pampered, I had a wonderful foot massage.

Poland is a very poor country. I felt thankful for all I have when we walked the street and drove around the countryside. There is so much history there, I hope to go back.

In the morning we woke up loaded the bus and were off to shop at the little shops that dot the streets of Boleslawiec the town where all the factories and shops are located. We headed back to the bus late in the day to head home. We had intended to stop for dinner about 9 pm, to our dismay the restaurant we had planned to eat at was closed. We all reloaded the bus and drove on. At about 10pm, we stopped at a McDonalds. As many of you know, I do not like Mickey D's. I had a large water and a little kids meal thing of apples. It was just enough to fill my stomach enough to sleep the rest of the way home.

Cleaned and put away

After unloading the bus, I made it home about 4 am this morning (Sunday). It was a wonderful weekend. Not only do I have beautiful new pottery to show for it, I also made new friends.

Tonight's Dinner

" A moment last all of a second, but the memory lives on forever" ~ Unknown

Is the grass really greener?

Today, I updated my blog with places I have been over the past few months since my keyboard has been out of commission. Ok, Allison, my math orientated friend, it has been more than a couple months, try 7. ;)

As many of you many know I have a big adventure coming up that I will post more about when it is final. If you don't know what I am talking about and you would like to know just email me. I will let you know what is up.

With this next new adventure and at that, any new adventure, I believe we naturally take some time to be introspective and look at our life. Which brings me to the title of this entry. Is the grass really greener? Do you know what the other side looks like? I would say it is tempting to look for answers on the unknown other side, but it is better to find them right where you are.

A few weeks back I was chatting (online) with an old college friend and he was a bit shocked to find out I still live overseas. The last time we talked I was in Japan (where he still thought I was) and now I am in the Netherlands. He typed something that I have thought about since that day. He typed, "I bet the people at home think you are crazy. I bet they wonder why you don't have 2.5 kids, a husband, a dog and a house." I chatted back and said yeah, you're right, people probably wonder what I am doing, moving to a new country every few years, no husband, no kids, no house. Then I wrote maybe in time, right now I am happy with what I am doing. We chatted on and said our goodbyes to the tune of catch up with you in two more years on here and both signed off.

So, what does this all mean? The grass is green, on my side of the fence, and it is a great place to be. I love what I do, I love working with military families, living in Europe is awesome, having wonderful supportive friends all over the globe is grand, having a family that supports my dreams is admirable, and having the confidence to follow my dreams to make the best life I could ever dream of is the best feeling.

When I look over the fence and see wonderful Families with the 2.5 kids, husband, dog, and house, I think some year. When it is meant to be it will be. Until then I will live in the moment, continue to grow and most of all do it with a smile, at least most of the time.

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

Harriet Tubman

Roots-Reek, The Netherlands

Ironically, my blog is called Roots and Wings and the two values conflicted about a month ago.

Traveling the world and living aboard is most definitely a Wings period of my life, but you never know how close your wings will bring you to your roots.

I moved here to the Netherlands last winter after being here for a while I noticed little things that came from my mom's Dutch roots. Putting your shoes by the door for St. Nick, eating gravy on a piece of bread with lettuce and being cheap are a few. :)

I found out the village my ancestors lived in is only about an hour and a half from my house, so when my cousins Johnny and Ross where here visiting we set out to have a look.

Reek, The Netherlands is still a sleepy town 130 years later. There was really nothing there. We went in a community center full of old men, in a church and a cemetery to find evidence of our heritage. We struck out, no names on graves or any signs of what use to be the home of our family.

It was fun though. We were on a weird wild goose chase. It was a great day with Ross and Johnny.

Off to Norway next... Hopefully.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. ~Marcus Garvey

Blind Booking

Blind Booking is an interesting system used by cheap airlines here in Europe. As you all know there is so much to see here, so many sights and history. For 19.95 Euro one way you can do a blind booking. It is a good way for the cheap airlines to fill seats.

How is works: you go online and select party, beach, shopping, eastern Europe or western Europe. Each of the categories has 5 cities listed under as destinations. You enter your travel days and they give you flights to one of the 5 place.

Casey and I did this. It was a wild feeling we were hovering around my computer as it selected our destination.

We got Berlin. Neither of us are history buffs, so were were like cool Berlin, but what to do there for 2 days.

We got online and the top rated attraction was Segway tours of the city. So, we booked a tour. Segways are the little scooter things mail cops drive. They are totally controlled by balance,which was weird at first. We had training then we were off. Below is our tour guide Waid and the remaining section of the Berlin wall.

Below is me rocking my Segway in front of the Berlin Dome. The Segways were a blast and we were still laughing about them the following day. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me crashed HARD. I barely avoided him. I got lucky. Casey witnessed it all and we laugh about it to this day.

I am standing in front of the Check Point Charlie replica, which divided communist East Berlin from democratic West Berlin. Note, that I am wearing my back pack on the front. Berlin is known pickpockets and gypsies. Not Cool.

Our last night we decided on Kebabs from a street food stand and large beers. We ate in front of fountain in East Berlin right under the famous TV tower.

"The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely." ~William Osler