I'm sure, after reading my last post, you probably all thought both Jamie and I are crazy and out of our minds.  Don't worry, had I been reading that post from anyone else out there, I would have totally thought the same thing.  Here's a bit of background/explanation that I didn't include on yesterday's post (mainly because I feel bad when my blog posts are a million pages too long).

Where to begin...

Both Jamie and I come from military families.  My dad is/was USMC (United States Marine Corps...once a Marine, always a Marine), and Jamie's dad is career Army (though he did do a four year stint in the Navy once out of high school...took some time off, then went into the Army, and stayed through mandatory retirement...so 23 years or so).  Even though my dad was out of the Marines by the time I was born, we both grew up with a heavy military background.  Both my brothers are Army (much to my dad's dismay), and Jamie's family has a long line of military members.  Jamie definitely had more expose to military life than I did, since his dad was still active duty when he was a kid (through high school).  In addition, Jamie joined the Civil Air Patrol (which is the civilian auxiliary of the USAF) when he was in Jr. High.  Through that, he did Search and Rescue and First Responders, and really developed a love for helping others and military life (all of their meetings where held on the base near where Jamie lived and where his dad worked, plus they did weekends/summer activities there to strengthen their skills).

In high school, Jamie and I both contemplated joining the military.  Mine was more of a passing thought and the desire to make my father proud, but Jamie's was definitely more concrete.  He applied to West Point, but was not accepted.  He also contemplated doing ROTC during school, but that fell away once he started getting involved in his engineering degree.  He had intended to go into university as an engineering/pre-med degree, but after his first year, he starting interning at the company he works for now, so I think he just moved past the "pre-med" part of it, because engineering came so easy to him and he already had a job lined up for graduation. 

So...flash forward to graduation.  Jamie is settled into his job, and quite happy being an engineer.  We meet a few years later, and he loves his job and what he does.  Which is good...everyone wants to love their job.  But...looking back at it, I think he loved his job then because he was constantly learning and being challenged.  Now, not to say he isn't challenged, but he's in a management role, and he's not really doing anything that is keeping his interest.  Normally, I'd be worried that he was just pulling a "grass is always greener" type mid-life crisis, but this has been going on for nearly three years now.  He's been sucking it up, and trying new jobs within the company, but the love of engineering just isn't there anymore.  He told me yesterday that he just doesn't have a passion for it like he used to, and he regrets the fact that he didn't stay in school to do medicine, instead of taking the easy route with engineering.

As for the Army...Jamie wants to be in the Army.  Not just four years to pay back the time for the scholarship (the Army will pay up to $250k of med school, and you stay in for the equivalent number of years you took the scholarship...med school is four years, so you stay in the Army for four years), but career Army...so at least 20 years spent there.   

Luckily, we have some time before this contract is up.  Theoretically, he can go home now, but I think he is leaning towards staying for the rest of this year, just to give us some time to bank away more money, pay off my loans completely, and plan for the future.  During this time, he's also planning on shadowing some doctors at bases here in Europe (if they agree) and talking to recruitment personnel to see what his options are.  Obviously, no decisions are being made 100% until he is accepted into Med. School (or whatever degree program he chooses), but this is the course of action we're leaning towards.

I know it sounds crazy.  Heck, I thought it was crazy when he first brought it up.  But, if there's one thing I can be sure of, Jamie does not make decisions lightly.  If I know him, this has been stewing in his mind for over a year now, and he didn't want to bring it up until he knew for sure this was what he wanted to do.  It's going to be a change, but I think it'll be a welcome one.  We're both looking forward to the new direction our life will take once this expat assignment is over.  I'll be happy to be back in the US for a few years, and Jamie will be heading towards a career that he's been wanting since high school.  It'll definitely have it's scary moments, for sure...but I think it'll work out in the end.

If any of you have any experience with this, I'd love to hear from you!!!  Also, any questions are more than welcome.  I'll be blogging more about the process Jamie is going through with schools and such, once we get to that point.  I'm sure it'll give me lots to write about!

XOXOXO,
K.

I'm not sure if I've blogged about this before, but the winds of change have been blowing in our home for the past few years.  Jamie has been increasingly unhappy with his job, even before we moved here.  He has no problems with the company...we both agree that the company we work for is a great one.  They treat their employees well and we really can't complain about the opportunities we've both had there.  But, as far as Jamie's work in engineering, it's just no longer fulfilling.  Before we moved into this role, he was a Six Sigma Black Belt for two years, working on several special projects throughout the company.  About midway through that position, he became unsatisfied with his job, and was really looking for something different.  When the expat position came up, we jumped at the chance, thinking it was just the change that he needed.  Unfortunately, while we love living in Europe, and agree that it was the best decision for us to take this job (financially speaking), he's really no happier in this position than he was in the last.  In fact, he's less happy.  He has really been struggling with feeling like he is making a difference, like his job has meaning, and other things like that.  Plus - he's really not a fan of the Dutch company he's been working with, so that doesn't help.

Which brings me to the point of this post.  Change.  I'll admit, since meeting Jamie, my life has been a whirlwind.  We met and were engaged within 4 months, 6 months later Jamie stated traveling back and forth to Japan for work (and I went to live there for a month with him), we did three months in Europe during my law school summer break, and now we've moved to Europe for nearly two years.  Basically...from day one, it's been a tad crazy.  So, I can't really say I was surprised when something else popped up.

Jamie is going to make a career change.  He plans on going back to school, then applying either to Med School to become a doctor, PA school to be a Physician's Assistant, or Physical Therapy school, and then join the Army Medical Corps.  Yep...you heard me right.  Quite lucrative career, go back to school, join Army and be a doctor (or a PA/physical therapist...though he's leaning towards Med School right now).

At first, the idea of Jamie joining the Army freaked me out.  I was worried sick about deployments and Jamie coming back to me in a body bag.  (Yes, I tend to think worst case scenario, it's a bad trait of mine)  But, the more we talked about it, the more comfortable I became with the idea.  Jamie really needs to feel like he's helping people to feel fulfilled in his career, and who am I to say no?  So, I absolutely support this decision, 100%.  

But, logistically, this is proving to be a NIGHTMARE!  We are trying to figure out timelines for moving home, entrance requirements, prerequisite requirements, etc.  Plus, on top of that, I'm stressed out about finding a job!  I'm going to try for a lateral move with the same company I'm at now (the same company we both work at), which would be the best if I can make it happen.  Otherwise, I'll be back out on the market in a really shitty job economy.  If we can pay off my student loans before we move, I won't HAVE to work...we could make it fine on savings and such, but I'd prefer to be working so that I can have insurance through my job, rather than getting health insurance through Jamie's school with him as a student.  Plus, it would be nice to have my income still coming in, rather than rely on our savings and such to keep us going. 

So, yeah...things are a bit crazy right now.  We're both struggling to get life sorted and figure out what we're going to do with the whole process of moving, school, Army, etc.  At least, with his job, we won't have to give up the idea of living abroad again one day.  There are several bases all over the world with medical facilities that Jamie could be stationed at, so we definitely will have a chance to live abroad again (if we want it and if Jamie is sent there).  I'm really glad that he's going for something that will make him happy...I've been worried about him for the past few years, so hopefully this will help.  And, I'm so incredibly thankful that we have the means to be able to do this for him...I know that we're incredibly fortunate that this is even a possibility (for him to quit his job and make a complete career change).

Yep...that's the big news.  If we're friends on FB, please don't post anything there, as we are both friends with coworkers and we'd rather not let anyone know what is going on until things are more ironed out and finalized.  And...if you could spare any good luck wishes for us, we'd really appreciate it! 

Hope you all are doing well!

XOXOXO,
K. 

During one of my previous posts, someone asked me about my job and what I do.  Ever since I was 15, I've worked at some sort of job.  I worked a few jobs during undergrad, then a few more during law school.  My final year of law school, I was working four part time jobs all at the same time...it was a bit crazy.  Basically, I like to work and for some reason I feel the need to overpack my schedule.  Go figure.

One of my part-time jobs in law school led to the job that I work at today.  Between my 3rd and 4th year of law school (I was there for four years because I stayed an extra year to get a Master's in Library Science...law school is typically a three year program), Jamie's job wanted to send him to Europe to set up some test cells with a Dutch company (ironically, the same company he works with now).  We "moved" to the Netherlands for three months in the summer of 2008.  While we were there, his company needed someone to help out around the office...basically administrative tasks that needed completing.  So, because I was already there, his boss knew me, and I didn't have anything to do, they hired me for the summer.  That job was extended once we moved back home for me to go back to school, and I slowly took on more and more responsibilities.  By the time that year ended, and I was ready to graduate law school, I was a program manager of one of our programs, along with doing account management work on the Dutch program I started out with.  I stayed with the company the summer after I graduated from law school, because the economy was terrible, law jobs were hard to find, and I was really enjoying what I was doing.

Fast forward to Jamie getting an offer for his job here in the NL.  While we were super excited about living in Europe again, we knew that with the higher cost of living coupled with my law school loans, we'd be tight financially if I didn't work.  Jamie explained his reservations to his company, and they asked the European office if they needed anyone.  Luckily, my now boss was short an account manager, so it made sense for me to just transfer over to the England office to do account management work.  With that settled, we decided to take the expact opportunity, and moved to the NL in January 2010.

So...my job.  Basically, I'm an account manager for all our on-high products in Europe.  Our company makes engines and aftertreatment systems for semis, buses, trucks, ditching equipment, boats, etc.  I work on the aftertreatment side, which is basically a big filter that goes on the engine to keep the engine from polluting the air so much (layman's terms...explaining the ins and outs of it would be incredibly boring).  So, as an account manager, I work with all our customers and make sure their orders are taken into account and on schedule.  I do pricing for our product and communicate pricing to our customers.  I also work on monthly forecasts for our product, to try to anticipate the volume flow through our plant so that there are no surprises, which would create a huge backlog in our plant.  Overall, I manage our customer accounts.  I talk with customers, I price the product, and I forecast volume (my three largest duties).

On top of account management, I am also a marketing leader for our new product coming out in 2013.  I do a lot of the same things as I would with account management, such as pricing the product and anticipating volumes, but I also work on marketing plans to send out throughout Europe to sell our product.  I attend truck and bus shows and talk with potential customers about our upcoming and ongoing products, and I interact with the press to make sure they have the proper information.  The marketing aspect of my job probably takes up 15% of my work, while the account management side is by far the most time consuming.  The account management makes up my day-to-day work life, and I fill in the rest with spurts of marketing.

It's taken me a few years to feel comfortable with the product we sell.  There's a lot of engineering aspects that I don't understand, and probably never will, but luckily I have a great team that helps out with those things when I need it.  I enjoy my job a lot, but I feel bad that I spent so much money going to school for degrees that I'll never use.  I'm licensed in Indiana to practice law, but I doubt it'll ever happen.  My two undergrad degrees (one in Political Science and one in Arabic/Near Eastern Languages and Cultures) will never really come into play, other than talking politics with friends.  My Library Science degree will probably be the one I'm most likely to use, as I'd like to get back into a library system working there, at some point in life.

But, for now...I like my job.  It definitely has it's challenging days (like today...I hate the first week back after break), but overall, my coworkers are really awesome and I'm challenged in my job.  I'm appreciated for what I do and I'm good at it.  Plus, it gives me the opportunity to work while I'm here and pay off a substantial amount of my student debt. 

So...there you have it...a bit more insight to my job and what I do.  Honestly, I'm sure it sounds boring as shit to you all, and there are days when it's boring as shit to me too, so I totally understand.  But, I thought I'd give you a little more information on me, since that's a part of my life I really don't talk about much.  Any questions...feel free to ask!

XOXOXO,
K.

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I haven't had my computer really out since after Poland.  We got back from Poland on a Monday, then I worked Tuesday and Wednesday, and then was off the Thursday before Christmas through today.  That entire time, I pretty much stayed away from the computer (though I did have my iPhone), and just relaxed!  Let me tell you, it was definitely needed!  And now, I'm sitting on the bed in my hotel room, doing some work, and decided that I would pop on over here to write an update!

Christmas was fabulous.  I love that we spend the entire day, just us and the cat.  Our little family.  We both called our parents and chatted for a bit, but overall it was just us.  No arguments, no stress, just Jamie and me, relaxing and having a great holiday.  Definitely something that I want to continue once we move back to the States.  Christmas was good...we spoiled each other a bit...oh well.  Jamie definitely did a good job buying me things without having a list from me...he got me a lovely black pear earring and necklace set, a Martha Stewart cookbook (I love Martha), a violin book of Glee songs (I'm such a sucker for Glee), running gear, and a few other odds and ends.  But, where he really pulled through?  He imported a 24-pack of Diet Mountain Dew for me!  That man is amazing...I love him so much!  I bought him a button down and tie for work, some Purdue workout clothes, hiking poles, and a few other things.  We didn't go as overboard as we have in years prior, but that was mostly because our big gift to each other was a week in Switzerland.

We left for Switzerland the day after Christmas.  We packed the night before, then drug everything out to the car, and packed up the cat.  Lily came with us!  She was so good in the car (9 hour drive) and did great at the apartment we rented.  This was the first time we took her on vacation with us, but she did so well and I think she would have rather been with us than home alone for a week (we have a cat sitter pop in and feed her every day and scoop the litter, but Lily is so skittish around strangers that she wouldn't have played with the sitter or anything).  It was a hard decision on whether or not to bring her, but I think we made the right decision when we brought her along.

Switzerland was beautiful.  Gorgeous mountains covered in snow...picturesque little towns...overall fantastic.  We spent the week doing all sorts of outdoor activities...skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, hiking, etc.  Had some awesome times outside, and ate some amazing Swiss food.  Had fondue and my favorite dish, a Rostii (basically, a giant hashbrown covered in cheese, ham, and whatever else you want...bliss).  Above all that, we just relaxed and spent time together without work intruding.  It was SO nice!  I love those special times with Jamie, where it's just us and we're not bothered by work.  We talked a lot about the future after this assignment (which will be for another post), and watched some movies we'd downloaded.  We basically just slothed around in the evenings...which was the best thing for us.

We got home yesterday from Switzerland, and today I flew to England for work.  I'll be here through Thursday, and then on Saturday I'm meeting a group of expat women in Amsterdam for lunch!  We've hung out several times before, so it'll be nice to see everyone and have "girl time."  After that, it's back to the work grindstone, but luckily we have no weekend plans for this month.  We're starting to put together our travel plans for 2012, and have a few trips booked (the Olympics in August and Plitvice Lakes, Croatia in September) but we need to make arrangements for a few more coming up.  Not sure where we're going to go yet, so that's the first step.  I'll definitely keep you updated on where we decide to go and when. 

I have photos from Poland and Switzerland, but not on my work computer (which is what I'm currently using).  Once I'm home this weekend, I'll try to update with photos so that you can see some of what we saw while we were there.  Both trips were really good, though for different reasons.  I'm so thankful that we have the opportunity to travel like this while we live here...it has definitely been an experience of a lifetime!

Hope you all had a wonderful, happy and safe New Year's Eve!  I plan on doing a post on what I expect out of 2012, but that will need to wait for another day.  I'm currently working on forecasting for my job, so that needs to be finished up tonight.  I'll try to write more this week, including a post on my job, since a few of you asked what I do in one of my other posts. 

Sending you all lots of love!

XOXOXO,
K.

Back in the Netherlands!  Last weekend, Jamie and I went to Krakow, Poland for a short weekend trip.  First, let me say, next to Western European prices, Poland is CHEAP!  OMG...so cheap!!!  I wanted to cry, it was that cheap.  Like...American prices cheap.  Sigh...God Bless you, Poland...God bless you.

Krakow was amazing!  A mixture of beautiful architecture from Austria-Hungarian rule, combined with Soviet Communist regime architecture.  Definitely full of diachotamies, but absolutely gorgeous (especially the churches and synagogues).

We got in late Friday from our flight, and basically just checked into our apartment (we nearly always rent an appartment rather than a hotel, because we like to make some of our own meals, and it's usually cheaper).  After checking in and getting unpacked, we headed off to find some dinner.  Found a fabulous restaurant a few doors down from the apartment and had a great dinner of pierogis and goose.  To die for...absolutely amazing country, down-home food.  Bliss.

Saturday morning, we headed off to our city tour with a local guide.  This was the first time we've ever done a guided tour of a place we've visited, but I really enjoyed it!  It was only a half day, but VERY informative.  We saw Schindler's factory, Kazimierz (the Jewish section, pre-holocaust), and then the Jewish Ghetto where all the Jews were forced to live prior to being moved to the concentration camps.  We also saw the royal palace, and the local cathedral where Pope John Paul II would give sermons when he was the Bishop of Krakow.  Overall, it was a great way to see the city with a local, and our guide had a PhD in Polish history, so she was super informed and a great speaker/storyteller.  At the end, our guide took us to one of her favorite restaurants, and Jamie and I indulged in more fabulous Polish food...again, super cheap.

After the city tour, we headed back to the apartment, and I promptly took a nap.  This past week with work has been madness leading up to winter shutdown, so I was seriously tired.  After my nap, we went to the grocery store to get some munchies for dinner, since we had a huge lunch.  We went back to the apartment, ate a sandwich or so for dinner, and just hung out for the rest of the evening.  Very chilled and relaxed, which was a nice balance.

Sunday, we hopped on a local bus to go to Auschwitz and Birkenau (Auschwitz II).  I had built myself up for this, because I'm known to get weepy and highly emotional, and I knew this place would be depressing.  I was surprised that it was AS bad as I had anticipated.  It still depressed the hell out of me, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't as gut wrenching as I imagined.  I was completely fine, until we got to one of the barracks that had been converted into a permanent memorial with articles from the Holocaust victims.  Even that wasn't too horrible...hundreds of pairs of glasses in piles, hundreds of pieces of luggage tossed away.  And then...the shoes.  The damn shoes got me.  Piles, and piles of tiny baby shoes.  And...at that point, I nearly lost it.  Seeing all those little tiny shoes was just horrifying for me.  I can't even fathom how someone could do that to anyone, let alone a child.  And yet...right there in front of me, was proof.  Hundreds of pieces of proof.  So incredibly sad.  Birkenau wasn't much better...just hundreds of barracks where the Jews slept on straw because being gassed or worked to death.  Yeah...basically, Sunday was a big emotional suck. 

After the emotional suck, we went back to Krakow and feasted on more amazing Polish food.  Are you sensing a theme here?  Yeah...I ate some serious amounts of food in that city.  Each and every piece more delectable than the last.

Monday, we woke late, packed up, and checked out.  We strolled the city some more, went to a big mall to look around for an hour or so, ate some lunch (Italian this time...had to mix it up) and then headed to the airport to fly back to Eindhoven.  Overall, Krakow was a great city to visit!  I would highly recommend it for anyone wanting to see a bit of Eastern Europe...very affordable, easy to get around, beautiful and haunting.

So...that's my recap for Poland!  Hope you all enjoyed!  Feel free to ask any questions if you're interested!

XOXOXO,
K.

Ok, I wanted to get this out here before the end of the weekend, so here it is...part 2!

You guessed it.  I met Jamie online.  Match.com to be exact! He was living ina town about an hour away from my law school, and not even looking for anyonein my geographic location. I stumbled across him somehow (I think my geographiclocation was "Indiana" as opposed to somewhere reasonably close towhere I lived...whatever, I had questionable standards...sue me), and immediatelythought he had a nice smile, and that he was interested in a lot of the samethings I was interested in: hiking, being outside, family, etc.  He seemedstable, had a career that was interesting (engineering), and I was continuallydrawn to his smile and his beautiful blue eyes.  I "winked" athim...yes, I made the first move (at this point, I should note that I have madethe first move with EVERY single guy I've dated.  EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.).

So, I winked at Jamie, and the next day received and email from him.  Iresponded and forgot to tell him my name (oops).  He wanted to chat online, sowe chatted that evening (the day after I winked) for 5-6 hours.  We spent theevening talking about everything and anything under the sun.  He asked me for myphone number and I gave it to him.  He then called me just to tell me goodnight. That's it, nothing more, just "Goodnight" and that he couldn't wait to talk to me more.  Yeah, he was, and still is, acharmer.

We talked on the phone over the next week for hours each night.  Our freeminutes didn't start until 9pm, so we'd be on the phone until 3-4am, justgetting to know each other.  He asked if we could meet, and I agreed to, so longas it was in a public place.  I then promptly emailed my uncle, who is the chiefof police where I'm from, so that he could run Jamie's name through theirsystem to see if he was some scary guy that was going to sell me into white sexslavery.  Jamie was so clean he didn't even have a parking ticket.  Let me add, I told Jamie that I would be doing this, so there was no invasion of privacy involved. 

We first talked on the 5th of March and we met for the first time on the 10th of March. From thatpoint on, we started out taking it a little slow, but it really progressedquickly. We didn't jump right into bed with each other or anything (maybe amonth or so after meeting), but we hung out as much as possible. Just spendingtime together, sleeping in each other's arms, going on weekend trips toLouisville and other places.  Basically, courting...and lord, he was good atcourting.

Somewhere in there, I woke up one day and thought to myself, "I'm goingto marry him."  I didn't know when, didn't care how, but I just KNEW thatwe would end up together.  It wasn't even a moment of concern, like, "whatif this doesn't work out."  Nope, I just knew.  He started asking me where Isaw us going, and I just flat out told him.  Now, I will say, he dropped the big"I Love You" pretty early on, and I didn't say it back right then.  Iwasn't sure how I felt, especially with my giant mental upheaval so recent.  Ireally did some soul searching after he told me that, and realized that I lovedhim back...but it was probably a few weeks before I told him so.  Poor guy...soamazing he put up with me.

So...about three months into our relationship, Jamie suggested we go look atrings.  I had already had my "he's the one" epiphany, so I agreed.  I didn'twant to pick out my ring, but he wanted some ideas of what I liked, which was good because some of the rings he was picking out for me were huge and not my style at all.  I didn'treally think he would propose any time soon, but I went with it and we lookedaround a bit.  I found a ring I loved, along with some others that I reallyliked, and then we went on our merry way and didn't really discuss it again.

Time passed (not much) and I was starting to think about my new apartment Iwas moving into at school.   For the firsttime, I’d be living on my own with no roommate. I had told Jamie I wasn’t willing to live with him without some sort ofcommitment, and he was fine with it.  Onemorning, he suggested that we go to a garden in the town we lived, so that Icould take some photos to hang in my new apartment.  I thought it was a great idea, and so off wewent.  I spent an hour or sophotographing the garden…it was the size of a city block with big brick wallsblocking out the town traffic.  It waslike a little piece of paradise inside a city…absolutely gorgeous and sounexpected!  I was wrapping up my impromptuphoto shoot when I noticed that a bride in a wedding gown was coming in withher photographer and groom to get some photos before the wedding.  I suggested that Jamie and I should get outof there so they could have the place to themselves, but he wanted to sit downfor a bit, off to the side and out of the way. I didn’t really think anything of it, so we went and had a seat.  He pulled a note out of his pocket and handedit to me.  He had written me a lettertelling me how much he loved me, how he couldn’t imagine spending his life withanyone else, and how I was what he had dreamed of for so long.  I read the note and it was incrediblysweet…after I finished I looked up at him and he was like, “are you finished?!”  I said yes, and he made the comment that ittook me much less time to read the note than it did for him to write it.  I still wasn’t picking up just how nervous hewas!  He then told me to turn the noteover and read the bottom.  At the bottomhe had written out our engagement announcement for the newspaper!  I looked up to see him in front of me, on oneknee, holding out a ring and asking me to be his wife! 

So…timeline: We had our first conversation on March 5^th, we metin person (and started dating) on March 10^th, and were engaged on July22^nd…all 2006.  A little overfour months from having met, we were engaged. A lot of people were worried that it happened too fast and that weweren’t sure what we were doing…but I really think we just knew.  We had a longer engagement and didn’t getmarried until May 2008, but that was mainly so that I could finish law school(which didn’t end up happening until May 2009, but that’s another story).  So…this coming May, we’ll have been marriedfor four years, and they’ve truly been the best four years of my life! 

PennyLumpkins asked me to write about how I met Jamie...the "where it all began," so to speak.  I honestly can't remember if I've ever told this story on here before.  Plus, I've started reading a few new blogs...and would like to lie and tell myself they read me too, so this is a nice little introduction to my life.

I am what you might call a serial "long term relationship" dater (well...dating before I met Jamie).  Every relationship, except one, was at least two years long.  Therefore, you can probably guess, I haven't dated that many men.  I dated a boy in high school that I loved dearly.  We were together for over three years before our relationship outgrew itself and we moved apart. We still keep in touch, and he's now married and living in Canada.  Great guy, for sure...it just wasn't working for us any longer.

My first year of undergrad I was single, until the last week of the school year.  I had met a guy the first day of my freshman year in my French class, and we hit it off and became good friends that semester.  After that, we sort of lost touch, until we starting chatting again right at the end of the school year.  We started dating a week before classes ended, then he went back to Chicago and I went back to Indiana.  We dated throughout the summer, only seeing each other once.  Then, sophomore year began and we were inseparable.  He was my first sexual partner, and we had a good relationship.  He ended up moving back to Chicago to go to film school, and we tried the long distance relationship for nearly a year...but again, circumstances caused us to just end it.  It was hard...I really thought he was "the one" for me, and after that break-up, I was single for nearly three years while working through it all.

I dated a DJ for a few months...but it was long distance the entire time, and I don't really consider it much of a relationship, because it went absolutely nowhere.  But...I mention him here for the sake of full disclosure.

Finally, the summer between graduation from undergrad and when I started lawschool, I started dating a guy that I had met and befriended in my Arabic language class.  We fit, in the way that good friends do.  He was there for mewhen my boyfriend moved to Chicago, and I was there for him when his fiancée didn't want to be a fiancée any longer.  We were friends that somehow grew into more.  We started dating at the very beginning of my first semester of lawschool, and then broke up when he went to Officer Candidate School in Georgia (he was in the Army).  I mourned the loss of our friendship more than the lossof our sexual relationship (he was the second guy I ever slept with)...because we were very similar and were pretty good friends.  We don't really talk now...we move in different circles, and really have no reason to remain incontact.  Makes me sad...he's a great guy.

So...here's where it gets tricky.  Broke up with Army guy in December 2005and went home for Christmas.   I receivedfirst semester grades (not good), had a fantastic time at home (incredibly unusual because my family is so dysfunctional), and then came back to school where I lived with my roommate.  And then...I had a nervous breakdown.  Basically, the depression/anxiety part of my brain decided to switch on and my life went to shit for a few months.  Lost lots of weight (when I was already in the best shape of my life and lowest weight in years), threw up every day due to anxiety, cried so much my eyes swelled shut, and started to truly understand why people kill themselves.  Once I had that revelation, I immediately called my parents, got in to see a doctor, and went on medication/therapy.  I had finallystarted to turn it around, and then...Jamie.

So...I vowed I would never date someone in law school.  Face it...lawyers areall crazy (and because I am a lawyer, I can say this with absolute certainty).  Maybe not lawyers, per se, but those trying to be lawyers in themidst of law school?  Yeah...definitely crazy.  I wasn't interested, in the least.  But...I also didn't really drink, the bar scene wasn't my scene, and Idid little except hang out at the law school studying, or be at home trying to get my shit together from my recent meltdown.  Then...I decided to try online dating.

One of my favorite blog ladies, ShamrockLover, posted a really interesting blog, asking her reader's what they thought of her.  I thought I would follow suit.

Now...this is in no way my not so subtle hint for you to pat me on my back and tell me how much you love me.  I'm not interested in having sunshine blown up my ass, thank you very much.  I want honesty here.  If you think I'm a schmuck, please tell me.  I'll probably throw myself into a chocolate induced coma, but then I'll pop out of it and endeavor to pull my head out of my schmucky ass and try to be a better person/blog personality.

I'm also curious to know if there are other things you'd like to see me blog about.  I feel like all I blog about are our travels (which are nice, but sometimes I feel like I come off all "braggy mcbraggerson" about it...when in reality, we have no kid to take care of, no house or cars to upkeep, so what else do we do with our time/money), and other perils of being an expat, but I'm sure there's probably more you'd like to know about.  I'd like to post about other things, but to be honest, I'm a bit boring and have no creativity, so I could use some direction.  Help me help you!  What do you want to know?

So, if you all bother to actually post on this, you will get 3,000,000 gold stars from little old me, complete with all my love and holiday good will.  I'd send you cookies as well, but the postal people get all pissy about baked goods in the mail.  Whatever, they don't know what they're missing.

Anyways...enough of that.  Tell me what you think!

A few months ago, Jamie and I were pretty sure that after this contract was up, we would move back to the US. Our company is moving away from expats and more towards local hires (which usually involves a pay cut), and the work as an expat is typically more stressful than that back home with the main group (since you have more support when you're back home at the main office). We weren't determined to go home...in fact, a part of me would rather NOT go home, but it just seemed like the best decision based on what we knew at the time.

Fast forward to last week. Jamie had a meeting with senior management members who were here on a customer visit, and a few things were tossed his way. One big thing is senior management is really impressed with the work he's done here, and thinks he'd be a great asset to the emerging European offices. So, one of the upper management members was talking with Jamie about possibly staying here in Europe after this contract is up, only in another country. Jamie said that he really wasn't looking at that as an option because of the major increase in COL, combined with the decrease in pay as a local hire. Which, makes sense...why would we move somewhere more expensive while getting paid less? Money isn't everything, definitely, but I'm not keen on living somewhere amazing without the money to explore it. So, the guy listened to Jamie's concerns and then asked if his answer would change were the position an expat position (expat positions = amazing benefits, usually). Well, of course that changes our answer! So...apparently staying in Europe is still on the table, though we won't know more for a few more months. Jamie has made it clear that he'd like to know what is going on with his next assignment by mid-2012, so we have around six months or so to flesh out the options...whatever they might be.

Which leads me to my next bit. Jamie and I both come from military families...his family has fought in every major US conflict since the American Revolution, and I come from a long line of Marines (and a few Army) men. So, I knew that the military was always something that Jamie had been interested in, but not something that I thought would ever come up at this point in our lives. WRONG! A few weeks ago, Jamie expressed his interest in joining the Army National Guard if we were to move home.  Our company works well with it's National Guard members, so that's a plus.  During boot camp/officer training, Jamie keeps making his salary, and his two weeks a year training doesn't come from his vacation.  In addition, should Jamie be deployed, he will continue making his regular salary, even while not working.  So...there are some positives.  Unfortunately, I'm just not sure how I feel about it.  I know deployment is always possible, and it freaks me out (I'll be honest, I'm selfish.  I want him home and safe.).  We obviously have quite some time to discuss it, and I'm getting more used to the idea, but it's definitely something that we'll ned to discuss much more in-depth and at length. 

In other news...2012 we'll probably start TTC!  We won't start until we have a firm plan of what is going on after this contract is up, so it won't be until the second half of the year, but I'm excited about the idea of getting pregnant and starting our family expansion!  Obviously, that 2012 "date" is flexible, but within the next year or so, we'd like to start trying!

That's about it for now.  Life just sort of exploded in the past few weeks, but that's ok, we can handle it.  Our advent calendar has been a lot of fun...reading notes from each other every day has been so nice (and humorous!).  It's definitely a tradition that we'd like to keep going.

I think that's all for now...can't think of much more!  Hope everyone is doing well!!

XOXOXO,
K.

Ever since getting back from the States from my trip home, my workout schedule has been crap.  I got back from the States and immediately traveled to France for work, where I then proceeded to get sick and was sent home.  I was sick for a week there, so no working out, and then Jamie hurt his leg, so he was benched for a bit.  Now, I could have been woring out while Jamie was resting, but let's face it...I'm lazy.  I did a few days of "30 Day Shred" here and there, and have been walking, but not running.  Then, last week was Thanksgiving, and then I got sick...AGAIN!  So, I've been fighting off a chest cold that makes me continuously dizzy and a hacking cough that makes me feel like I've cracked a rib.  It's awesome, let me tell you.  Needless to say, I haven't been working out this past week either!

Next week will be different, I am making myself that promise.  However, today I decided to step on a scale, since it had been forever since I've weighed.  I figured with the lack of working out, plus Thanksgiving and all the eating out we've been doing, I'd probably be up a few pounds.  Nope!  For the first time in over a year, I am BELOW 160 pounds!!!  159 pounds officially!!!  I know it'll probably fluctuate up and down 1-2 pounds depending on the day,but I'm so happy the scale said that!  Holy crap...in the 150s!

So, I've made it a promise to myself that the minute I stop hacking up my lung, I'm going to get back into working out.  I really like the "30 Day Shred" because it incorporates abs, cardio, and strength training all into a 30 minute workout.  Plus, it'll keep me somewhat in shape for when Jamie is better and we start running again (though, I honestly think he might have tore his IT band and I'm pushing him to go to the orthopedic specialist to get it checked out).  Hopefully he's not out for months, but we'll see.

So, that's it for now!  Nothing major going on.  We leave for Poland in a few weeks, so I'm super excited about that!!!  Plus, I have a shopping trip planned for Antwerp a week from Saturday!  I love having girl time and shopping!

Hope all is well with everyone!

XOXOXO,
K.