Life Lately

--After returning from Portugal, we found out we will be moving sometime before or during next summer to Wiesbaden, about an hour North of here. We aren't thrilled about squeezing in another move while here, or about leaving our apartment we have grown to love so much, but what must be done, must be done. So we will have been here 1.5 years and then we will have 1.5 years in Wiesbaden before we move back to the States. (Well, hopefully we will be moving back to the States...)

--The school year ended, so I won't be subbing again until we return from our visit to the States in mid-September. I have loved subbing in Mannheim. My favorite placement was 3 weeks in a Sure Start class. Working with the aid was great and the kids are just precious. Give me 4 and 5 year olds all day long. Love. them. to. pieces. Subbing has been the perfect job for me while we are here. I can make great money, doing what I love, and yet choose to not work any day for any number of days whenever we want to travel. It's especially a blessing because it allows me to go back to the States for a total of 6 weeks while Nathan has a military class in Florida and while we visit family/friends once he is done. That would be an absolute no-go if I was working anywhere else. God has really been so good to us.

--Nathan started working on his MBA through University of Phoenix online. He will probably finish it sometime next Winter. He has his heart set on getting his Master's in Meteorology through the military in Monterey, CA. (That is what we are hoping our next assignment will be.) He is only getting his MBA because the military is paying for it and because he has (or at least was having) a lot of free time on his hands at work. It will be interesting to be married to Nathan: The Student. I have not known that side of him : )

--Nathan's knee is still bothering him, so his physical therapist set up an appointment with an orthopedic doctor in Landstuhl (a big medical base here in Germany.) The guy said from what he can tell, Nathan stretched his ligament back when he first hurt it and it hasn't stretched back, which is why it still feels unstable. And that since it's stretched, it's causing another ligament to work harder and become irritated, which explains the sharp pain he feels at times. We both feel like this diagnosis makes much more sense than what he was previously told. Nathan will be meeting with the surgeon next week to discuss options in more detail. He is leaning towards getting a procedure done where they inject "platelet rich plasma" into the injured part of your knee. It helps your knee heal in a more natural way and is less invasive than surgery. We are hoping this procedure will put Nathan's knee back into perfect shape. He really doesn't want to have a permanent ailment, especially one that limits him in sports.

--I finally started learning Aperture, the photo editing software my parents got us this past Christmas. It's a little overwhelming, but I have plenty of free time on my hands while Nathan is at work. I would like to get really good at editing our pictures since we like to frame our favorites around the house.