I have to admit that it does seem strange to be back... The new apartment is awesome, but I haven't quite gotten it into my head that this is where I currently live. I feel like we're just here on vacation, and sooner or later we'll have to go back to our old apartment... And that would definitely not be a good thing! :) I haven't had a chance to take any pictures of the new place yet, but I promise to get some posted as soon as possible... All I can say is that it is a definite upgrade from our first apartment. :)
For all of you who are probably wondering about the outcome of my "visa situation", here's a brief update... After the past couple of months of frustration, Germany officially approved the paperwork for my return visa last Monday. They then had the Chicago Embassy contact me... I mailed in my passport to Chicago so that they could put the return visa in it, and amazingly enough, I had my passport back by Thursday. The visa that they issued was for one trip into Germany, and it was good for 90 days. In the meantime, we were informed that, before I could return to Germany, I had to get an "apostille" stamp on our marriage certificate which would legalize it in Germany... So, I ran down to Detroit to get yet another copy of our marriage certificate (we had already sent them a copy of our certificate, as well as our original certificate) from Wayne County, and then I headed to the Secretary of State to get the "apostille" stamp. Now, what totally baffles me about this whole situation, is that it took Germany 2 1/2 months to figure out what Chicago's Embassy told me in 5 minutes... Craziness!
Once I had all of the paperwork taken care of on Thursday, I called Brian and told him that he would be able to schedule a flight back for me. I told him not to schedule anything for too soon (he originally wanted me to fly out on Friday evening), and to give me a few days to get my things organized and say my goodbyes before I left... Well, let's just say that Brian and I have differing opinions on what a "few days" is... I found out Friday afternoon, that he had scheduled my flight for Sunday evening... Yikes! For those of you who know me, you probably realize that I require a tad bit more time to get things done... for instance, more than a day and a half! :) Needless to say, things got a little hectic and I became extremely frazzled! To the point that I actually lost my passport on Saturday (and realized it while I was in Traverse City) which resulted in a complete panic attack for me! After spending all of Saturday frantically calling people, having my brother, Jason, search our house and Stacy's car, and having all the employees at Na-Tah-Ka search the entire restaurant, I finally found my passport... It was in my uncle's coat pocket, where he had placed it the night before... Lovely! :)
Things kind of fell into place after that, and I was able to get my things together, and say a few goodbyes at least, before I left... I mean I was still running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but after that, the only other major crisis I endured was when we arrived at the airport and, in order not to have to pay $150 extra to check in my third bag (yes, I did go a little overboard with shopping while I was home, and I purchased one too many items, which required an additional suitcase... oops!), I decided to take the smallest suitcase as my carry on... Along with the other carry-on I had packed, and my purse... Great! So, my mom, dad, and I spent about 15 minutes trying to unpack one bag and find room in the other two bags for the extra items... I'm sure we provided the entertainment for some travelers in the airport that night! :)
Well, after all was said and done, and I said all of my goodbyes, I then had an 12 hour journey back to Germany. And the "best" part of it all (and I use that term very loosely!)... After all of the trouble we went through to get the visa in my passport, when I walked up to Customs at the airport in Germany, the man didn't so much as look at my passport... Instead, he waved me right on through... Grrrrrr!!
Overall, it's been quite a ride these past few months. I have to say that I'm quite happy to be back with Brian, and I'm sure that I'll gradually readjust to life over here again... But, I have to say, that it was really difficult to say goodbye to everyone at home this time around. The past few months made me realize just how lucky I really am.... I have a wonderful, supportive, and loving family, who were more than happy to have me back home for a while. I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with them and I'm so very thankful for that! Thank you for everything!! I'll miss all the "chaos" of our family! :) I love you! I also have some pretty amazing friends who are there for me through thick and thin... Thank you for all of the offers to stay with you, for all of the shopping trips, coffee talks, phone calls, Girls' Nights Out, and the list goes on... It was great being able to spend time with everyone again... I'm taking with me some pretty great memories! :) The time really flew by, and unfortunately, there were some people that I didn't get to see and I'm truly sorry for that... I'll make up for that the next time I come home! :)
On that note, I'd better get going. I've got some unpacking to get done... ugh! :) Stay tuned for more of our German adventures! :) I miss you all!!
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