Our first week in Germany!!

We have been in Germany for a week now. It has been great! The weather has been cool, and foggy but this weekend it has been sunny and beautiful!! Megan started school on Tuesday and absolutely LOVES it! I started work on Wednesday, we found a house on Friday and went to our first Festival in Hoccheim and we drove up the Rhine valley to see the castles. I also had to pay ,50 euro to use the bathroom! LOL!!

This is a beautiful part of the country. I'm so excited to get to explore more of it!!

I'll post pictures soon!

Toodles,

Chelley

What a week!!

Last Monday, the girls and I were at the mall when we got the call that my step father passed away. This was such a devastating shock to our family. We had a home-going, celebration of his life on Friday then we flew to Germany on Saturday.

We are here! We've been here a full 24 hours. It is different, but we really like it! The trees have beautiful color leaves. We see the leaves falling. It is so cool to actually be somewhere where we actually have seasons!!!!!

Our home away from home is the Wiesbaden Army lodge. It is nice. We have a kitchenette. Tomorrow we will go to the commissary and get some groceries to actually cook a meal. It will be nice to have a home-cooked meal!

This is all for now!

Toodles!

Chelley

An Empty House

Yesterday two girls came and packed up the house. Everything we own is in a box! Today, they will come with the truck (semi, I think) and haul away our things. It is really weird sleeping in a hotel, getting up, taking Meg to school then driving home!! I think today will be the hard day for me. I'm already getting teary-eyed, thinking about it.

We are just 7 days away from leaving for Germany!!

Toodles,

Chelley

A new me!

I am officially 103 lbs lighter!!! On September 17, 2010 I had weight loss surgery. I have a Vertical Sleeve. Which means most of my stomach was removed. I have a tiny tummy! This was not a "quick fix" to my weight problem! it is only a tool that has helped me!

I spent 6 months working with a nutritionist to change my eating habits!! How fast I eat, how much I eat, when I drink (no drinking any liquid 30 minutes before, during or 30 minutes after a meal). Yes, the surgery has made is possible to consume less, but it is possible to eat the wrong things and lose, but not be healthy.

Today I am the healthiest I have ever been!! I eat better, I workout and I feel GREAT!!! I wish I had done this years ago!

Toodles,

Chelley

GO RANGERS!!!!

Last night the Rangers won the ALCS 15-5 over the Detroit Tigers!!!! We're going to the World Series (again)!!!!

GO RANGERS!!!!

Changes in life!

I'm back!! How life changes! This blog was started in 2007 to keep everyone up-to-date with the Johnsons! Matt was graduating, Lauren was a sophomore and Megan was 9 years old! Well, we are ALL 4-years older and lots of things have changed. First off, we're moving to Germany!!

Matt is now married! He has a baby girl on the way. Miss Macyn will be making her entrance in the world sometime around January 6, 2012. Matt and Caitie are currently living in Fort Worth.

Lauren is 20. She has spent the last year working for Ebby Halliday as their listing coordinator. She will soon be a full-time college student.

Megan is now 13!! My baby is a teenager! She is almost as tall as Lauren. She is still playing soccer and is now playing volleyball, too.

As for Mike and I, we are just older! I have been working for AAFES as a tabloid designer. I have recently accepted a new position that is taking us to Germany to live!!! We are all so excited about this move. I am reviving the blog so those who are not on Facebook can see what we are up to and keep up with us while we are away.

We have known about the move since September 2, the day I was offered the job. We couldn't do anything until I received my "official" orders which came 3 weeks later! We have been working hard to get passports, the house on the market and clean this house out! We have been in our house for 23 years. Needless to say, there is a lot of CRAP accumulated over 23 years! Lots of stuff went into the garage sale and lots of stuff donated and the rest was trashed!

Monday, Oct 17 starts the first phase of our move. The packers come to pack everything going into storage. We have been able to contain about 95% of storage in one room. Tonight we search the house to make sure we have it all identified.

Tuesday, Oct 18 the movers come and crate all of the storage items in their container and haul them off. These are the items that we will not have with us and unreachable until we return to the states. Tuesday is also the day we move out of our house into the hotel. I'm not sure how I feel about this!! We will be leaving the only home our girls have ever known! This means our move is CLOSE!!!

Wed, Oct 19 the packers come and pack up the rest of our household goods. These are all of the items we are having shipped to Germany.

Thursday, Oct 20 the movers will come and crate all of the boxes away and ship them to Wiesbaden Germany, where they should arrive no later than November 25.

Friday, Oct. 21 the packers will come and get the 1000 lbs that we have put aside to arrive first...the rest of our clothes the did not fit in the suit cases, dishes, bedding, a couple of bean-bag type chairs, coats, etc. These items will be air-freighted and should arrive no later than November 15. I've heard that these items sometimes show up after the household goods.

We aren't exactly sure where we will be living. We have an appointment with the housing office once we arrive to get registered and get a liaison to help us search for a house. Usually there is AAFES housing that we would move into, but for the first time in years, it is full! I must say I'm ok with this. I was kind of weirded out about the fact that I would be living with the people I worked with. This way, we get some sort of privacy from my co-workers! AAFES will pay us a very nice stipend for rent and utilities. We should not pay a dime out of pocket for those items.

So, check back often. Not only will we be seeing Europe as a family, I will be traveling with my job as well, so lots of new places to see and explore with the camera!

Toodles,

Chelley