Coupons and Elderly Veterans

So it turns out that the commissaries over here allow soldiers and their families to use coupons a whole six months after their expiration date. Who knew?! I have never been really in to couponing and I won't be showing up on Extreme Couponing anytime soon, but it is fun to save a little money here and there.

Recently, some women on post wanted to start a group where we can sort through boxes of coupons together and share tips and what not, so I decided to check it out.  I didn't realize how many coupons we get sent! People stateside, mostly elderly people and/or veterans, send us boxes and boxes of expired coupons.  Some of these boxes even have them organized into groups based on whether the coupons are for food or non - food items, etc.

Well, we were opening up these boxes the other day and realized that some of them even have little notes or letters from the people who have sent them. We found one that was very humbling from a man named Herb who I believe was a veteran. It was short and sweet and if I had it I would copy it on here for you but a volunteer kept it so she could send him a thank you note.  It was really moving what he wrote about sending these to us because it is important for everyone to remember that we are here for them.  (it was really way better however he worded it,  I'm definitely butchering it, sorry Herb). But I was really moved by it even if for no reason other than after going to two of these couponing events now I realize how time consuming it is to cut out all of those stupid things. Haha.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... it makes everything seem worth it when you read words of appreciation from someone back home. I am very proud of my husband for serving our country and we are super grateful for the opportunity to be living in Europe. But it is easy to get caught up in little things of everyday life and it was definitely nice to read this note and suddenly have everything put back into perspective. Thank you to everyone who supports our soldiers and their families! 

Time Flies

I can't believe it is already June! We have been in Germany for over two whole months already and it feels like we just got here. It's just crazy how fast time flies.

This past weekend we went to our first military ball. We had a lot of fun and it was very humbling to attend an event where our soldiers get recognized for all the hard work that they do. My husband was recognized by name by the Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe! (and this was not something where he read off a list of names or anything either haha)  I am very proud of him to say the least.

The rest of the time we ate food and drank a lot of wine and beer all while getting to mingle with other soldiers and wives. There was also some dancing after the formal portion of the night was over. We had a ton of fun and will hopefully attend another military ball in the future.

PCSing: Household Goods

Haven't posted in a few days because.... our household goods are here! It's pretty exciting! We spent all weekend finishing unpacking and putting everything in it's proper spot and our apartment still isn't completely put together. Here are some tips for shipping and receiving your HHG.

• Ship your HHG as early as you can. It is really hard waiting for your stuff to arrive once you get to your new location. you'll end up buying stuff just because you need it. It'll be a lot easier to go without for a little bit before you leave rather than keeping everything until the last minute and suffering for over a month after you arrive.  
• If you have room in your weight limit for it, bring it! Since we PCSed overseas we thought we wouldn't be able to use a lot of stuff such as some small kitchen appliances, yard equipment, some tools, etc. We ended up having to buy a lot of this stuff. Don't leave it behind if you can bring it with you, chances are you'll have plenty of storage for it if you end up not being able to use it. We have two whole storage rooms here.
• If they took it apart, make them put it back together! The movers are supposed to assemble anything they took apart to ship such as desks, bed frames, etc. However, they won't do it. They typically have more than one delivery a day and they do as little as possible at each one to save time. At least that's how I see it, it could be that they are lazy but I'm being nice. You can bribe them with food and soda. Especially here, the Germans love coca-cola from the states since it's a little bit different.
• Make them take the boxes! Just as they are supposed to put everything back together, they are supposed to unpack the boxes and take them away. They won't. My husband was inside directing them on where to put the boxes. While he was doing this, he also unpacked them. Just put all of our stuff in a pile and stacked the boxes separate so they would take them away. He didn't have time to get them all unpacked but now instead of having 50 boxes to recycle, we have about 10. The movers also say they will come back to pick them up if you call them. However, my friend did this and they stood her up at least 3 times. 
• Keep calm! If you're like me and hate clutter, try your best to stay calm, it doesn't all need to get put away on the same day that it arrives. Relax and be happy that you finally have your stuff!

Happy shipping!

PCSing: Shipping a Car Overseas

Shipping a car overseas is kind of annoying but totally worth it in the end. We shipped our car from Baltimore to Germany. We dropped it off at the dock on the 26th of March and it arrived here on the 6th of May.

All you need to ship the car through the military is your orders, registration, title, and your passport. If you don't have a title you need a letter from the lien holder stating that you are allowed to take your car overseas. It also has to be cleaned thoroughly inside and out, with nothing in any of the compartments.

Picking up the car seemed to be more of a hassle. The website for our military installation does not give good instructions on what to bring with you to get the car registered or pick it up. You need proof of insurance (unless you have USAA which can be looked up), drivers license, stateside registration, and all the paperwork that they give to you when you drop it off. Looking back I don't know why I didn't just bring absolutely everything with me the first time, but you live and you learn. 

I am so excited to finally have our car. I wish we had been able to ship it earlier so that we would have had it earlier. I'll definitely try to do that next time.

PCSing Overseas: What to Pack

Even though we have already been in Germany for about a month, we still do not have our household goods or our car. So we have been living with what we brought in our suitcases and what we have bought since we got here. Needless to say, there are some items that we wish we had brought with us. This was our first time PCSing so it was sort of a free for all when it came to packing. Next time around I  plan on bringing only one suitcase with personal items and clothes for myself and making one suitcase specifically for household items that we will need.

Things I wish I had brought in our suitcases:

• A nice, non-stick, frying pan- Once we got housing we were able to borrow kitchen items from ACS while we wait for our stuff but they are very basic items and the pans are not non-stick which is horrible for cooking pretty much anything. 
• Sheets- We brought our own blanket but not sheets. We ended up having to buy a cheap set of sheets while we wait for our HHG. This isn't that big of a deal because we can still use them once our stuff gets here but it would have been some money saved. 
• More shoes- I really tried to limit myself with what shoes I brought which is kind of funny since I brought pretty much all of my clothes. I would have brought my extra pairs of tennis shoes and some more flip flops. The shoes would have been nice for walking into town. I only brought one pair of tennis shoes for walking/running and they don't really match very many outfits. Also, I didn't bring any flip flops because I didn't think about it being warm enough to wear them yet, and it is. So I had to buy a pair. 
• Towels, washcloths, and hand towels- We had to buy new towels and washcloths when we got our housing. It would have been a lot easier to just pack some, especially since we have so many on the way. 

Things I wish I had left in HHG:

• Clothes- I brought a lot of clothes (in my opinion). I should have looked more at what the weather would be like here. I could have left out all of the long sleeve shirts that I packed and added in some shorts and summer items. It isn't too hot here yet but there have been several days that I wish I had brought my shorts. So I had to go buy some, which isn't that big of a deal since I love shopping but it would have just been nice to have options. 
• Wii- We brought it mostly because when they took our HHG we wanted to keep it to watch until we left the states but didn't want to leave it behind. It is pretty much useless here without a TV and would have saved some luggage space. 

Things I wish I had packed in HHG:

• All of our 110v small kitchen appliances- We left quite a few things behind because we did not know for sure that housing on post would have both types of outlets or how many of each there would be. We should have packed our microwave and toaster oven and what not. Instead we had to buy a microwave here. 

I'm sure there are things I am forgetting. Pretty much everything that we didn't bring in our luggage we were able to buy right away. Had we packed them though, we could have saved at least $100 when we arrived. 

PCSING Overseas with a Dog

Moving overseas in itself is a lot of work but moving a pet makes it so much more stressful. I can only give advice on the steps to take for moving to Germany because every country has different requirements.

1.  Your pet needs to have an internationally recgnized microchip.  These are the 15 digit microchips.  Most vets will know if the microchip they use is the right kind.

2. Then they have to be up to date on their shots and specifically need a rabies shot. They have to get the microchip put in BEFORE they get a rabies shot.  Then the rabies shot paperwork has to have the microchip number on it.

You will need paperwork for both the microchip and the rabies shot with you at customs. 

3. Your pet will also have to have a 10 day health certificate stamped by the USDA. If you live on a military base the vet will know this but if not you will have to ask if they have done one.  You can contact your local USDA office to get the dual language German and English one, which is preferred.  You have to get this done about 7 or 8 days before you leave so that you make sure it gets back to you in time in case something isn't filled out right and you have to do it again. But also is still valid a day or two after your flight in case it gets delayed. The USDA will let you overnight it and if you pay for it will overnight it back to you. 

4. You have to look up what type of crate your pet must ride in because it varies by airline,  which you will have to buy.  Most require them to be bolted on the sides not just have the plastic clips.  These can always be added yourself because most crates won't come with bolts.  You also have to have food and water bowls attached to the door for most airlines, which are sold at most pet stores.  

5. I recommend you bring three copies of all your pets paperwork to the airport; one for yourself,  one to tape to the top of the pet cage,  and an extra just in case. You will need it when you board and when you land and then the vet will need some of it when you register your pet on base.  

6. Our travel office set up our pets reservation along with our flight but if they don't you have to book that yourself and not all airlines are pet friendly.  You also have to pay out of pocket for your pets travel because the army will not pay for it. Our dog plus his cage weighed 90lbs and it cost about $150. 

7. Our dog isn't that people friendly so we had our vet give us some pills to relax him. I would recommend this,  it really helps. Especially if your dog is nervous in general or not used to being caged.  

Well I think that's about it.  Hope I covered everything 

PCSing

So last week we officially PCSed to Germany!  It was definitely one of the craziest things I've ever done.

Here's the rundown on the move.

We had to drive 6 hours from Ohio to Baltimore to drop off our car at the port so that it could be shipped to Germany.  So we left at 0430, got to Baltimore around 1030 and had to get a rental car.  I drove our car and Jay followed with the rental so that we could drive ourselves places after dropping off our car. After at least an hour of trying to find the port (with no gps thanks to at&t)  we finally made it. 

After we finished the paperwork for shipping the car it was about 1400. We couldn't go to the airport and checkin until about 2015. So we drove around Baltimore to waste time.  We could have found a park and walked Cooper if it hadn't been raining/snowing all day.  So we were forced to sit on the car or find stores to go to.  At this point we are both exhausted.  It's surprisingly hard to sleep the night before you move out of the country.  I only got about two hours of sleep and Jay got about four.  So we pulled into a shopping center parking lot and tried to nap.  We also took Cooper to a pet store to get some exercise before the big plane ride. 

After a very long boring day that seemed to never end,  we were finally able to go to the airport. We pulled up to the drop off area where I was able to get a cart for all of our luggage and dog cage.  Then jay went to return our rental car while I waited. 

We thought that there wouldn't be many people on our flight because it was a military airline and going straight to Germany.  Really,  how many people are flying to Germany at 0230 that also are able to fly on the military airline? The answer is. ..About 200. Seriously the 777 was almost full.  There were a ton of people PCSing and at least one unit going to Kuwait.  Lucky for us we had Cooper,  so instead of waiting in line behind 200 people for check in we got to go to the very short (non existent) line for families with kids and/or pets. 

The dog travel process is complicated and I'll write about it in another post.  But we did finally get to board the plane almost on time and we slept almost all the way to Germany. 

No Fee Passport: Story and Guide

So a large chunk of my day was spent trying to apply for my no fee passport. Never heard of it? Don't worry, apparently few people have. Honestly, I had never heard of it until I found out I needed one a few weeks ago. It is essentially the exact same as a tourist passport but has a stamp on the inside that acts as a visa for military spouses living overseas. The process of getting one can be rather complicated though unless you already live on a military base, which I do not.

What you need:
passport application
birth certificate
photo id
form DD 1056 (filled out by travel office on post)

Simple right? No.

Since I do not live on post I had to go to an Authorized Passport Acceptance Facility (aka:your local library or post office that accept passport applications). You would think since they are "trained" in how to process passport applications that they would be informed about the no fee passport process but that's also not true. The travel office on my husband post had kindly already made me aware that this would probably be the case and told me to have the passport agent call them if they have any questions. Not only did the lady have questions, she had no idea whatsoever where to even begin. When I tried to explain it to her she acted like I was making it up. And instead of calling the number I told her to call she decided to call the tourist passport agency.

Now, the tourist passport agency has nothing to do with the no fee passport. It does not get mailed to them. Therefore, though they might have heard of it, they did not provide the correct information about what was needed. Essentially, the person who was trying to process my passport application only needed to get the DD form 1056 but the person she talked to on the phone told her she needed a letter from my husbands base. Now, that might work, but in all actuality you just need the DD form 1056.

Figuring all this out took many phone calls and a lot of frustration. At one point the passport agent was practically yelling at me about it. It all worked out in the end though, and my guess is she feels awkward about getting so upset with me over it, since obviously I am not making it up just to ruin her day.

I hope this helps someone. I wish I had known a little more about what I was getting into beforehand.