The Bells in Review

Merry Christmas, Friends and Family!

This is the first letter we have sent out as husband and wife and I (Abby) want to continue to do this every year!

First off, let me send you blessings and prayers for a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let us always remember what Christmas is truly about: Jesus’ birthday which would lead towards us being able to be with Him in heaven if we just accept the great gift that was given us that day. This explains what Christmas is about.

Second, here’s a rundown of 2013 in our lives! Josh, in flight school at Fort Rucker, found out he would be flying Apaches in the U.S. Army and that him and his bride would be moving to Germany upon his graduation. Abby started work as an interpreter for American Sign Language at Freeport Middle School and still worked for J. Crew as the training manager, leaving that job in April. April turned out to be a busy month because Abby went to the LifeShotz Ignition in Orange County, California because she loves working with LS and the people of the company. LS Ignition Recap She also found out that LifeShotz was launching the best thing since sliced bread that helped her lose 15 pounds before her wedding day! Here's what helped me lose weight. Just take a look! We also started the paperwork for Abby to be able to go to Germany with Josh. As Josh continued studying hard in flight school, Abby worked hard at getting things together and ready for the move.

The summer was easy enough because public school was out, but that was the time to start preparing for the wedding in August! Abby made most of the decorations and had wonderful family and friends who volunteered to help decorate and bring food. On August 17^th, we had our ceremony at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. Even though it rained all day, the whole thing went off without a hitch. It was such a beautiful turnout and celebration of love and family.

Two days after the wedding, our things were shipped out to Germany. This began the crazy whirlwind of events that led to a long layover in Baltimore and a 9 hour plane ride to Ramstein, Germany. From there, we hopped the bus to Illesheim and began our indoctrination into the German way of life. We landed on September 10^th and couldn’t take in enough of the food, sights, people, etc. We could have done without a lot of the smells due to the fact this is a farming community and they fertilize their fields with pig poop…

Josh enjoyed a trip to Denmark on his birthday, November 6^th, for training with the Danish military. You won't understand this unless you know the Danish Language, but here's what Josh was up to in Denmark. They made the news a few times! Abby enjoyed(?) a trip to the Rothenberg krakenhaus (hospital) on November 7^th when her appendix decided to revolt. Thankfully, the women of Charlie Company and friends from our battalion came and helped Abby recover. Less than 2 weeks later, Abby was playing on the Powder Puff Football Team for 2nd Batt and we had a lot of beards for this event. Here's a link to watch the AFN special about our team: LumberJanes Gunslingers! For the whole appendix debacle, we’ll be going to Prague soon!

Here, we have eaten more Italian food than German food, moved into our first place and made it home, seen snow (like, real snow), shared the LifeShotz love in the Deutschland, and just enjoyed the little amount of local traveling we've been doing. We have made so many new friends and been reunited with some of Josh’s family’s friends who are still here in Germany. They have become a second (or third, depending on how you’re counting) set of parents to us and we couldn't be more grateful for their patience and help around Germany.

Here are some pictures from throughout the year! Enjoy!

So, as you have been caught up on the events of 2013 from the Germany Bell household, we, again, want to wish you a Frohe Weihnachten und ein gluckliches neues Jahr! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)

  

Yummy Potatoes

For my second recipe out of the Gooseberry book, we had Ham-stuffed baked potatoes. After this for dinner, I wondered why I hadn't cooked out of this book before! My husband asked for seconds and will have plenty for lunches. So, make it as a side or make it as an entrée. Either way, it's delicious.
Ingredients
4 baking potatoes
1 Tablespoon butter
3 cups chopped cooked ham
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
(I added half a green pepper)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
(I added 1/2 teaspoon of Tony's Creole seasoning because Josh loves that stuff)
3/4 cup shredded cheese (your choice)
Garnish: chopped fresh chives

How To
Bake potatoes at 450° for one hour or until tender. Allow to cool to touch. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and place in a bowl, leaving shell intact. Set aside pulp and shells.
Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; add chopped ham, diced onion and minced garlic and sauté until tender. 
Mash potato pulp; stir in ham mixture, sour cream, salt and pepper (and whatever other spices you choose). Stuff shells evenly with potato mixture, sprinkle cheese. Place on a baking pan. Bake uncovered at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Garnish if you'd like.

This turned out so tasty! I hope you enjoy it, too!

Aloooha! Chicken

For this month, I am making recipes from the Gooseberry Patch "Christmas all through the house" book. Last night, we had Aloha Chicken. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture, but I'll tell you... It was a hit! For your enjoyment, cook this up!
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup catsup (ketchup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup bread crumbs
4-6 chicken breasts
14 oz can pineapple chunks, drained and juice reserved
2 Tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon whole ginger, minced
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Hot pepper sauce to taste

How To
Place butter in a casserole style dish; heat in a 400° oven until melted. Stir catsup and garlic together. Brush over chicken. Coat with bread crumbs; arrange in pan, turning to coat both sides with melted butter.  Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. While baking, add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to equal 3/4 cup liquid. Pour into a small mixing bowl.  Whisk remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Continue baking for 20-30 more minutes. Place pineapple around chicken; bake until heated through.

Josh and I both loved this recipe. We had it with a side of steamed broccoli. Another recipe to add to our favorites list!

Happy Little Housewife

It's been a while since my last post. But, that's because we've been really busy!

Last Wednesday, the 10th of October, we received our Household Goods.

That means we have ALL OF OUR STUFF! Yay! I've been organizing, reorganizing, trying to find what other furniture we need, cleaning, riding my bike (and getting laughed at because of how old it is) and not getting run over!

It's been wonderful.

I've learned how to crochet things over the past week, too. I made Josh a beard. He loves that thing!

And it makes me laugh.

I've put my hand-made pieces in the thrift store on post, and, hopefully, they're selling. I've put in an application at the school to substitute for teachers. I also am making some dough with LifeShotz, all from home! (That's my favorite pastime because all I'm doing is sharing what I love and am passionate about.)

On the title of this blog:

I am happy being a housewife.

I LOVE making my house a home.
I love being able to keep it clean and homely.

I love that my husband is happy when he comes home to a clean house.

I love that he doesn't have to worry about the things here when he has to worry about so many things at work.

It's kind of my favorite. 

Before China, this might not have been my dream idea when I became married. I didn't grow up thinking I'd be an Army wife. I just knew that I'd have a full time job, pulling in big bucks and being able to buy and control my family because I made the most money. 

Then, I went to China.

I came back from that experience that being a stay-at-home wife/mother isn't so bad. 

And, actually, it's biblical. (From this point on, I'm NOT saying if you aren't a stay-at-home mom, you're not following the will of God or anything AT ALL like that.)

Being able to take care of my home and my family is my utmost priority. Helping my husband by cooking dinners, cleaning the floors, not spending awful amounts of money, making money by sharing my talents (crocheting, knitting, childcare, etc), it's all part of the Proverbs 31 woman. 

10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. (a precious woman) 11Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. (trustworthy because she acts in ways so as to be trusted) 12She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. (constantly seeks ways to bring good to her man) 13She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. (SHE KNITS/CROCHETS!) 14She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. 15She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. (Up early to provide food for her man and kids) 16She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. (finds ways to increase the profit of her household and is eager to help her husband provide for the family) 17She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. (She works out) 18She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. (She works hard to keep up with business) 19In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 20She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. (She is helpful)  21When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. (In the snow, bright colors were used to identify people from the snow. She thinks ahead) 22She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. (Purple was a color of royalty and status because the dye was hard to find and make. Purple was expensive) 23Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. (Because of her labor and hard work, her husband earns respect when he goes to work) 24She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. (She sews!) 25She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. (Even though she works hard, she finds joy in her life. Her light doesn't go out) 26She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. (She reads the word of God because that is the beginning of wisdom.) 27She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. (She doesn't sit and eat bonbons. "Ain't nobody got time for that.") 28Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” (Don't you love to hear this from your man?) 30Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

The word of the Lord, parentheses are my words.

I am not the perfect wife, woman, human being. I'm no where close. I struggle with letting my man make most of the decisions. Sometimes, he gets mad at me. Sometimes, I don't feel like doing anything. But, because I strive to be like the woman described above, I do.
I love being a house wife. 

I highly recommend reading Created to be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl. 

 

Fast Forward

So, we left off with my sharing about our first 2 days here. The Reader's Digest version from there is as such:
We lived in 3 guest houses in one week, fought with housing (not a great adventure), got a house, moved in , spent time around Bad Windsheim (sounds like Bad Vinds-hime), made new friends, Josh in-processed (a long, drawn out, paperwork filled process), received our unaccompanied baggage, um...I think that's where I'd like to pick up at.

I know you were all looking forward to reading about everything. Sorry.

Well, to rewind a little, I'd like to tell you about my first real culture shock experience. It hit me about a week and a half of being in Germany. Not too bad, right? 

It was my first trip to the grocery store. I felt so confident walking in. I had my iTranslate app on my phone, I knew how to say "hello" and "thank you". I was doing really well. I. spent. 2. hours. in. that. store. About the 1.5 hour mark, I had found most of the things I needed, but at least 2 German women started speaking to me, and not in English. Ok. Not so bad. But, a sense of overwhelm hit me all at once. I had to get out of that store. I didn't know what anything or anyone said. My head started to hurt. So, I got out, walked home in the rain, called Josh on my way back to find out he took the wrong train to work (his first culture shock experience, too) and sat in my living room for a few minutes. Culture shock seems like a panic attack when it hits you. You feel like curling in a ball and crying.

But, see? I get to live here for the next 3 years. I have to shop off post for most things. I had to get over this quickly. So, what do I do? I go back. Again and again.
One cannot let fear of the unknown control your actions. You have to do what you have to do. 

Also, we have met some really great people that have helped us out along the way. When Josh lived here back in the '90s, his family made friends with a great couple who has stayed here the past 20-something years. They have been our tour guides, language consultants, translators, and friends. I'm truly thankful for that couple. We have had Josh's 2 sponsors invite us places with them, to dine and shop with them, and they have graciously shown us around. Another couple lives in our complex. Becky and I walk her little man around Bad Windsheim and buy yarn. It feeds my obsession with knitting and crocheting. (Josh calls me an old lady, but I can make my own socks!) 

Here's a couple adventure pictures!

Nurnburg, a cathedral

You know,just eating at a castle

Rothenberg

Tschuss!

Departure and Arrival

When we first started our journey to Europe, I'll admit...I was a little nervous, scared, anxious, excited, ready and all the other adjectives one can come up with for moving from rural Florida to rural Germany. It's been 24 days since we've landed, so let me catch you up. (Note: this could be either a very long blog post or be broken up into multiple posts.)

We boarded our first flight in Atlanta, where we kissed and hugged our parents "see you later." I cried. Not gonna lie...but the separation wasn't as bad as I thought. I'd only lived with my parents up until this point in my life and this would be the first time I wasn't a 6 hour drive away. The plane trip from Atlanta to Baltimore wasn't bad. Actually, I don't remember it. I do remember being stuck in Baltimore for 10 hours with another hour delay once we boarded the huge patriot express flight. Baltimore was ok. We waited 2 hours in line to claim our baggage. Even that was alright because we were in line behind-and in front of-a group of soldiers deploying to Afghanistan. God Bless Our Troops. All I could think was "Abby, be patient. Your flight isn't as long as theirs. Your destination is not as dangerous as theirs. You get to bring your spouse. They may not see theirs again." It's all about perspective.

We loaded the huge passenger plane on time, just for them to tell us they had done some weight calculations wrong and had to redo the paperwork. Josh was sitting next to me, being the pilot he is, saying he and his buddies always had to do it right the first time and never had this problem. I love him. lol Thankfully, they let us begin our movies. I watched Epic. (If you liked Fern Gully, Thumbelina, Pocahontas, etc, you'll like Epic. It was cute.)

We slept most of the flight. I'm glad we did because it helped with jet lag once we landed in our final destination. When we landed, we unloaded the plane, filled out the respective paperwork, grabbed our luggage, and sat some more. They told us we'd be staying in Keiserslaughten. It's a scary name, but we stayed in a quaint little guest house (hotel). It felt so good to get a shower after our 19 hour journey (thanks to the 11 hour layover in Baltimore)!! After showers, we ate our first German meal together in the restaurant in the hotel. SO. GOOD. If that was any inclination to how our food experience was going to be, man, we were going to be fat and plump in no time, you know, if we didn't work out and eat right and all.

After dinner, we went on a nice little walk in the early fall weather. Here, they actually have fall. You can see the leaves change, the air change, the temperature change. Back home, we had pseudo-winter and summer. A lot of summer. lol. Winter is quickly approaching and I still haven't gone shopping. But, we came back after 20 minutes or so and hit the hay early because we had to be up early to catch our bus to our new post.

That was another 3 hour trip. I'm so thankful they have bathrooms (or WaterClosets) on buses and trains here because I have to pee a lot. :)

Finally, we arrived on post and met two of our sponsors. Before we left we barely had one sponsor. Now? We had at least 2. They helped us load our baggage (my two bags total weighed over 100 pounds and the airline ripped the handles and wheels, making it harder to transport), then took us to a sweet, little guest house. We, again, unpacked, showered, and got ready to explore. Then, Josh got a call from our THIRD sponsor! We went out to eat with him at, our now favorite Italian restaurant, the Stern. Here in Germany, you can sit at a table for HOURS and not be bothered. And that's what we did. We asked questions and Drew answered. Drew asked us questions, we answered, he shared more insight on Germany. Such a needed experience. After dinner, 3 hours later, we walked back to the guest house, and sacked out.

Our first days in Germany were great. But, things only get better from there!