While we were vacationing in Austria earlier this month, we spent some time going through the mountains. My ears kept "popping." Although I've never questioned how it worked before, I suddenly wanted answers. What is it that actaully pops? Nick's answer would have made sense, "The eardrum releases pressure through a tiny hole like steam," but I knew that one of my sisters had a bleeding eardrum from a pin sized hole when she was younger, so a hole in the eardrum couldn't be it. The scientist in me couldn't figure it out. I should have paid attention in biology, or taken an anatomy class. Good thing for the internet! It generally solves all my probelms and questions. At howstuffworks.com, I found this answer: "If you have ever stuck your finger into your ear, you know about the ear canal. The ear canal is a tube, and at the end of the tube is the ear drum -- a thin piece of skin stretched tight like a drum over the end of the ear canal. You've probably read on a box of cotton swabs (or heard from your mother) that you should never stick anything in your ear. What you want to avoid is sticking something in that could puncture the ear drum. On the other side of the ear drum is a hollow space filled with air, called the middle ear (see this page for a nice illustration). What you want is for the air in your ear canal and the air in the middle ear to have the same pressure. If they do, then the eardrum has equal pressure on both sides and it is smooth and happy. In order for the middle ear to equalize its pressure, there is a thin tube called the Eustachian tube that connects the middle ear's air chamber to the throat. Air can flow back and forth through the tube, and this keeps the air pressure in the middle air equal with the outside air pressure." Tada! Now that I know what's going on when my ears "pop," I don't think I'll get so worried anymore. So tell me this isn't just common knowledge so I don't feel so foolish!

Easy? Hardly. Easier? Surprisingly, yes! Justin's R&R was exactly what I, and I think he too, needed to get us through the last 2 months of this deployment. 10 months just about down! Who would have thought I could be so strong? I even impress myself. Who am I kidding? I couldn't have done this without Brandy! I'm talking as though it's already over, but it's not. 2 months feel like nothing though. I feel like I'm racing against time. Time is just kicking my butt. I see how quickly an engagment turns into a wedding, how a pregnancy turns into a baby, and how a number that counts your years on earth make you feel like you're missing out on something much bigger than what I once thought to be so important. This is my life! Not here in Germany, but in Illinois... my family. Okay, I got sidetracked. Justin left this morning. I didn't find it very difficult to say goodbye because the sooner he leaves, the sooner he returns for good! I love looking forward to things and his homecoming is just the first on my list of many things I can't wait to happen. I can't help but laugh at how scared, excited, anxious, nervous, and happy I am about moving back and "starting life." I like things to be all planned out and have a sense of security, but everything depends on everything else. I can't make it to the top of the pyramid (What if this pyramid in my mind is actaully just a bunch of stairs that never end? Oh gosh, don't get me started on the concept of space and the universe...) without taking each step. Patience. I just have to let it all happen with time... as soon as I put down my guard, time will beat me once again. Does that make sense? :) Oh well, it does to me!

As mentioned eariler, we headed down to Garmisch with the McDowells for a couple nights. I love Edelweiss! Since it's an R&R resort, we got huge discounts. Our rooms were cheaper and we got breakfast and dinner free a the hotel. The food was plentiful and pretty good. We spent a good deal of time in the outdoor hottub every night. Justin and I rented bikes one afternoon and niked along the mountains. It was a beautiful view and Justin kept saying how much fun he was having. We're going to get new bikes when we get back to the states. And Justin may get a motorcycle. I dunno, I still don't like the idea too much with his need for speed. But I'm not his mother. We talked to a Harley spokesperson at the hotel and he showed us some pretty bikes. I mean "really sweet kick-butt Harleys." Everything is just kinda up in the air right now. There's a lot that needs to happen when we get back. Like a job! Anyway, back to Garmisch... We extended our stay so we could go white water rafting in Austria. We had to get up really early to drive there. It turned out to be a cloudy, cold morning! The water might as well have been ice. I couldn't stop laughing when we all came out with our wetsuits on. At least we dressed the part, even if we didn't have any experience. I didn't get in the water, but you couldn't help but get wet with the big waves in the white water. My hand were numb by the end of the ride. Justin, Nick, and Brandy had all eihter fell in or had been pushed in the water. We had a great time though and I'd love to go again. One of my coworker came by the house and fed and walked the dogs daily. Finding someone to care for the dogs always seems to be such a problem! There isn't a vet in town that will house them for just a couple days. We spent another day at the Eibsee lake at the bottom of the Zugspitz. It was gorgeous! Justin and I rented a paddle boat and relaxed on the lake. This was one of my favorite times just enjoying the scenery of the mountains and water with Justin. At the shore Justin had fun with the ducks. We bought ice cream cones that he ended up feeding to the ducks. I still think he should be a Vet. He's now talking about Forensic Science though, which could be an interesting career too. When we made it home, we took Max to the lake. I think Max was getting used to the water when he ventured in up to his chest. He wouldn't go completely in though. Justin gave him a little help. The first time we thought we were gonna lose Max! He started swimming away from shore and Justin already had his shoes off, not his socks, and was headed after him. Luckily Max turned around and came back. He ran away and didn't come back to the water for a while. But Mikey was out there chasing a ball that was thrown in the water. So we decided to make Max get back in cause it was so cute seeing them doggy paddle. We found out pretty quick that Max is a sinker, not a swimmer! (This is Justin's dog-son for sure!) Max got out there pretty deep again and he looked like he was headed the right way until his back legs disappeared. Pretty soon the only thing above water was his nose and front paws flapping like crazy. Justin went out in his shorts and threw him back towards the shore. We felt pretty bad; I thought all dogs could swim! Good thing for lifeguard Justin.

Ok, so not completely boring, but enough. Justin and I haven't been doing anything really interesting. He needed some real rest and relaxation though, so it's been good for him. We've watched lots of movies and tv, ate his most missed foods (chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and Donors), and went shopping! Justin got some nice new clothes, including an under shirt for his suit which he enjoys very much. I think thats one of the reasons he agreed to go to church with me this morning. I've been listening to him play guitar pretty much nonstop. He just can't put it down. Luckily we enjoy most of the same music and it sounds a lot better than when he started out. I don't have to hear the same 3 chords over and over as he tries to perfect it. I gave him a new song last night and he looked up the tab and started playing right along. I know you wanna hear him, so you can hear him play and sing at http://www.myspace.com/jcl288503 He's grown fond of my Mac for this reason only. GarageBand is an awesome program that allows him to play his guitar and sing and it records it and converts it into an mp3 which plays right out of itunes. He's been playing with that a bit and recorded a 2 guitar part song by playing the rhythm first and then recording a second time playing the lead. We've been to the studio once already to get pictures. Here are some of them if ya'll want any copies, let me know. We're headed to Garmish tomorrow for a couple days. Hopefully it'll warm up a bit. It's been around 50 here and raining the whole time! I wanted the furnace to be turned on the last couple nights. Most of our plans involved being outside. The sun is trying to shine today, maybe I'll be able to leave the coat inside!

Ok, just wanted to let everyone know that Nick and Justin made it safely home! Just so everyone knows, he really has gotten good at playing the guitar! Type to ya'll later!

Yup. Still no Justin and Nick. I think they've secretly planned it this way to extend their leave because their clock doens't start ticking until the day after they come home. From there, it's 15 days of vacation! Okay, I started mine early. I went shopping all day with Brandy and had lunch downtown. Yummy! I love dining out European Style, as we call it, sitting outside under a canopy watching the people walk by. It kept our minds off the boys for most of the day. We got a call from them around 3:00 telling us they'd be here tomorrow at 10:30! Hooray! No more guessing, which I LOVE. I'd rather know they'll be here later than sitting on the edge of my seat hoping for the phone to ring saying they're at the airport. It's like waiting for your grade on a big test. You think you know what you'll get and you think you knew the right answers but you won't know until you get your test back the next class. Then when you meet the next class session, the papers still aren't graded and you still don't know. You just have to keep waiting! Hmm, my last two blogs have referenced school with anxiety. I'm sensing a pattern. Sure am glad I'm done with that college stuff. So besides shopping, we also went to see the Da Vinvi Code at the theater. It was a pretty good movie and followed the book pretty closely until the end, which I remember differently reading. Maybe I'm wrong though. It was a 2.5 hour long movie. No fear though, we had abig bag of popcorn which only gave me a headache and made me feel sick. I guess that's what you get for skipping dinner and replacing it with buttery popcorn and Junior Mints. So enough blabbing. The sooner tonight is over, the sooner I get to see Justin!

I don't know if any of you have ever played it before, but the Waiting Game sucks! Just knowing that we could get the call at any moment is driving me crazy! During church today I couldn't sit still. You know that annoying person that sits behind you at school with their feet on your book rack below your seat that nervously jiggles the crap out of you. Yeah. That was me today except I shook a whole pew. Nick and Justin are in transit somewhere. Not sure where or how long it will take. At first I thought a couple hours. Then looking at a map, it changed quickly to around 8 hours and that's without delays. Brandy and I are shooting for tonight, but it could be early tomorrow morning too. We are so bored waiting! We don't want to go too far so we can get to the airport right away after they call. We've cleaned our houses top to bottom. We've watched around 6 episodes of the O.C. We made 2 different types of cookies, homemade pizza for lunch, and an extrememly long chain made out of paper just to kill some time. Oh, we also made welcome home signs for our doors that resemble the work of a 4 year old. They're cute though and gave us something to do. So the wait continues... Can you believe it's been 9 months and one week since I've seen Justin? Did you also know that of the 2.5 years we've been married, we've only lived together for 5 months? How crazy is that? I'm kinda thinking we should remarry on our 3rd anniversary at a castle in Germany. Awe, how beautiful would that be!? I also just got done looking at a friends' wedding pictures. Anyway... this blog didn't occupy nearly enough time.