It's finally official! After two hours of sitting in the housing office on base while the German equivalent to Milton from Office Space worried and fretted over aspects of our contract that were a HUGE DEAL TO HIM and no one else... the contract was approved! We will be officially under contract on June 1st, but we'll stay in the temporary housing until June 8th when the Air Force can get us our loaner furniture.
As much as we complain about how painfully difficult the bureacracy of the Air Force has made it to lock in this contract, I will say they try to make the living process as easy as possible while we're waiting for our household goods to arrive. We did have a shipment of goods that we're hoping can be delivered as close to our move in date as possible, but the Air Force will lend us a bed, night stands, living room set with sofa, chairs, end tables and a coffee table, and a six chair dining set. On a more "permanent" basis (we'll return them when we leave Germany), we'll get three large wardrobes to hang clothes in (due to the lack of closets), a chest of drawers, American style washer and dryer, refrigerator, microwave and two transformers for our electronics. Plus we can check out smaller items like dish packs, lamps and such from the Airman & Family Readiness Center.
So, we'll get the keys on June 1st, and maybe be able to do some painting before we move in since we'll have a week between those dates. We're so excited about our little German village, though pretty apprehensive about how long it can take to get utilities established. We're going to try to get the ball rolling on internet next week since that seems to be the longest wait of all. Maybe we'll be online before the end of the year...
But let's get to the fun part. Pictures!!
Somehow, we managed to visit the house twice without getting a picture of the front--to be honest, it's not all that impressive from the street. But the interior and backyard is what sold us. On the top left is our view directly across the street--those white specks in the grass are our bovine neighbors--and top right is the view down the street toward the bigger village about 2 kilometers away where we'll do our shopping, go to restaurants, catch the train, etc. Also right by our house is a bus stop should we decide to make full use of German public transportation. The bottom patio has the two doors which each lead to a separate room--one of which we'll make a bedroom and the other a sun room/storage area if necessary. The balcony leads into a large open floor plan main floor, and there are three bedrooms and a master bath on the third floor. Plus it's a fenced back yard, which was pretty high on our priority list due to the pups.
On the left is the open floor plan living area with the two doors leading out onto the balcony. The third set of doors open onto stairs that lead down to the back yard, but we'll have to find some way to fence them in so that we can just let the dogs out that way rather than having to go up and down stairs eighteen million times each day to the downstairs exit. Where the gentleman is standing in the left picture is the entry to the kitchen which you can see in the photo on the right. Believe it or not, that is actually a pretty decent amount of counterspace and kitchen storage in Germany--plus there's a small pantry off to the left that I am thrilled about. I'm peeking into a tiny built in refrigerator the size of a cabinet, and we'll probably put our Air Force issue refrigerator on that wall to the right.
The photo on the left doesn't show much, but it's the layout of the third floor bedrooms as taken from the upstairs full bathroom. We'll do the master bedroom and nursery in one of the two doors in the far corner, and the nearest bedroom will be devoted to clothing and storage--sort of a giant closet since there are absolutely none in the house aside from the pantry. The master bath is pretty fantastic. There's a separate bathtub and standup shower, a toilet separated by a half-wall and of course, the coveted double sinks with storage underneath. Plus it's bright and clean and spacious. The bathroom trifecta. There are additional 3/4 baths on each of the other floors with toilet, sink and stand up shower, so it'll be great for guests. And there's a large utility room on the bottom floor where we'll put our washer and dryer and--everyone together this time--more storage!
All in all, we're really thrilled, and we feel like it'll be the perfect fit for us as our family expands. We're still very much in the thick of the moving process, and it's extremely stressful and frustrating at times, but give us a month and I think we'll be very happy with our new life. We're headed down to the Black Forest on Friday and we'll be staying there for the long weekend, so we're already getting cracking on that travel list that I'm determined to make a dent in by the end of August! Schönes Wochenende! (I hope I just said "Have a good weekend" and not "Your mother is a monkey".)
Wie aufregend, dass Sie bald ein Zuhause haben. Aber manchmal Ihre Mutter ist ein Affe.
or:
How exciting that you will soon have a home. However, sometimes your Mother is a monkey.
Posted by: Old Warrior | May 24, 2012 at 06:58 PM
Your dad is funny!! Hi Old Warrior!
I want to know what the washer/dryer situation is like there. If it's anything like Italy, you're in for a real treat after the bebes get here. /sarcasm
Your place looks fab and so peaceful!
Posted by: Risiblegirl | May 24, 2012 at 08:06 PM
This all sounds terrific! What a great find :) Have a great time in the Black Forest. Can't wait to see more pics!!!
Posted by: Solange | May 24, 2012 at 09:27 PM
aw it's so cute, congrats! so excited for you guys.
Posted by: katelin | May 25, 2012 at 12:36 AM
that is such a cute house! and that is awesome you can get an american style washer & dryer! and all of the loaner items from the air force!
enjoy your adventure this weekend!
Posted by: erin - heart in ireland | May 25, 2012 at 03:24 AM
It is adorable! I hope you have a great weekend!
Posted by: margaret | May 25, 2012 at 01:24 PM
No closets? How is that possible?
It's cute!
Posted by: thoughtsappear | May 25, 2012 at 04:03 PM
Your house is so picturesque! What an adventure you two (soon four!) are having!
Posted by: Melissa | May 25, 2012 at 04:49 PM
Imagining a German Milton had me laughing pretty hard. Congrats on the house, not to mention the happy orange curtains!
Posted by: Kate P | May 28, 2012 at 10:26 PM
The house is adorable! I love the view and the kitchen, that's really great for a German house. So excited to see more pictures
Posted by: Jessica | May 29, 2012 at 02:49 AM
What a great space for you guys! You really did find a steal of a place in Germany, and I'm so jealous of your proximity to livestock. (Seriously.)
It's this, and so many other reasons, that I'm passing the Versatile Blogger award on to you. Natuerlich.
http://rhymeswithtao.blogspot.com/2012/05/revolution-of-blog.html#.T8UtcrRYu0w
Posted by: Lynn Daue | May 29, 2012 at 10:17 PM
How lovely! You're making me want to go visit our Mainz friends just so we can stop off and stalk you in your new house (in a totally noncreepy way, naturally!). It seriously looks amazing.
Posted by: Elizabeth | June 08, 2012 at 08:00 PM