A Few Changes

Well not much has been going on in the way of getting things done because we are mostly in just a waiting period but a few things have happened. I turned in my EFMP papers and have been approved for travel. I was originally set to deferred because we were going to Schwienfurt but now we are going to Grafenwoehr so I have been changed to concurrent so that makes me pretty happy.

I am getting so excited about this move. The more research I do the more excited I get. On Monday Daniel is getting his HIV test and we figure out if I need one too then more waiting. Once we get orders we will decide when we want to outprocess here (we are thinking about going early) and then set up travel plans and shipping our house hold goods :)

EFMP screening & Pre-move Brief

Welp, we are few steps closer to the big move! I had my EFMP screening on Monday and I thought it was going to be a big long meeting with the nurses but all you do is turn in a copy of your records, fill out a paper stating if any of the dependents have any type of condition and you are on your way. The nurse reviews it over 7-10 business days and then you pick up your completed form. See easy peasy!

Yesterday we went to the OCONUS pre-move brief put on by ACS. I am pretty sure this only happens once a month. It isn't mandatory but it is pretty helpful, especially if you have school aged children. They give you a lot of really good information about the move and point you to a lot of good resources. Also they gave us a German survival guide and other helpful things so I am glad we went and I would definitely suggest it.

Also, on a personal note we have gotten confirmed location on Daniel's EASIGATE so we know where we are going. However, I am a bit confused because the unit Daniel is being sent to is moving to another base in in August so I guess we will be PCSing to somewhere different than we thought. I am not really sure about how it will work but we shall see. :)

No Fee Passports

Yesterday Daniel and I went to get my no fee passport. This is a free passport that you have to have to move out of the country with your soldier (a normal passport won't work- I have one). Its a super quick and easy process if you have all of your documents, which I did. We got there, signed in, they took my documents, I signed my application, they took my picture and we were done. In and out in less than ten minutes. Our friend whose family is moving to Germany at the same time as us also went to try to get his family passports. He didn't have the majority of the things that he needed so he wasted time going up there and then he has to come back once he gets his ducks in a row. (Although most of the guys like to get out of work so in his mind this might not have been a waste of time!) Anyways just a tip on the things that you will need to bring with you. There is a sheet your soldier will have to get signed at the levy briefing that I already talked about. It will come with a second sheet that gives you all of the instructions that you will need to get your passport, including how to fill out the application correctly. Also make sure that if you have children that the right sheet gets signed by both parents otherwise you will be making multiple trips to get your passport. Just as a guide you will need: the sheet signed at the brief, the application that you fill out online (be sure to follow the instructions carefully!), proof of citizenship- I used my passport that I already had but you could use a birth certificate or social security card (children need both), your marriage license, and your military ID. Overall, a pretty easy list as long as you compile it all ahead of time! I have my Exceptional Family Member Program overseas screening on Monday so I will be sure to update with how easy or tedious it is :)

Armee Frau trifft Deutsch Lebens

Or in English: Army wife meets German life. Four weeks and three days ago I got news from my husband that rocked my world: We have orders to Germany. After about five minutes of asking him if he was serious I finally started to believe him, even if I was still in shock. I went though so many emotion in a matter of seconds: scared, confused, shocked, nervous, sad and yet also excited and grateful for such an incredible opportunity. Now that I knew it was real, I was in too much shock and excitement to keep it to myself long enough to tell my family in person so it was time to make phone calls. I was expecting my mom to cry and my dad to take it in stride, however, my dad seemed the most shocked, my brother was the most upset, and my mom was so excited for us that she couldn't even be a little sad, which makes me glad I told her last. Also my best friend, Sarah, was rather upset at first but we are now too busy planning our European adventures to be upset. Once the phone calls were done I immediately sent emails to other Army wives that I knew were living in Germany. I could tell from the responses that the moving process was going to be very involved so I decided to blog about it so that there would be information out there about the moving process and then things to do over in Germany.

I wanted to write a blog as soon as I found out so that I would be more in tune with my original emotions but my computer hates me and was broken until today so that was not an option. On the plus side things have already started to happen with our moving processes so I have more than just emotions to talk about. Daniel got an email about two or three weeks ago with about 15 attachments and an email that said he had a levy briefing that he would have to attended in a week in a half and he would have to fill all of the forms attached out and bring them with him. This is where I will take a moment to insert my first tip: most of these documents will not open on your computer. I had to go on post because I didn't have the right program to open them with and also because my computer was broken so I couldn't even download the program if I wanted to. Now you might have a husband who takes care of all of his own paper work and you will never have to worry about this or many other pieces of the moving process; I don't. So after I printed and fill out the paper work(and put post- it notes on all of them so Daniel would know what to do with them) and arranged my day to go the briefing with him someone told him that spouses weren't allowed to go; he was wrong, there were lots of wives there. Not only did it piss me off that this guy was wrong I now only had what Daniel thought was important enough to write down, and believe me most of it doesn't even make sense; there is a phone number on there that he doesn't even know what it was for other than it must have been important. So if you plan to be in the know about the move I suggest you attend.

The last tip that I want to add is that when you find out you moving to Germany (or anywhere OCONUS) I highly recommend that all dependents that haven't had a physical in less than a year get an appointment for one ASAP and an appointment will need to be made with EFMP within 30 days of the levy briefing or dependents will not be permitted to travel. You will also need to bring all medical records with you for anyone not seen on post, like me. DO NOT wait until you arrive for your physical and ask for them right then and there; I did this and the receptionist was very snippy with me and only obliged because my records were so short. We have another briefing in 10 days (that I will be going to no matter who says) and I will update after that, or before if anything new comes to light.