Confessions of an Army Wife - Weaknesses

You've discovered my weakness. Not only are they delicious but the money goes to a good cause! How can you resist those cute little girls that are lurking at the CMR, the commissary, the power zone? It's a good thing I have any willpower at all or I'd be buying 3 boxes a day. So far this year I've resisted as much as I could. I've only purchased 5 boxes. 3 of them have been demolished and the last 2 will be joining those empty boxes in the trash very soon. The samoas are my favorite. Apparently those are the only flavor I should buy from now. I found half a box of thin mints in the cupboard...from last year. We won't get into last year. Lets just say we ordered a whole case from our niece in the states, and we still bought from our local troops!

You know how I said I hated doing dishes? (that post probably should have been a confession post) The one thing I hate doing more than dishes is cleaning the deep fryer. The last time I had to clean it was when we were preparing to PCS here to Germany. It was so horrible I swore I would never put oil in it or use it again. I kept that vow for 2 years but I broke down a little while back and used it to fry donuts and mini corn dogs. The oil needed changing so I took the monster apart and cleaned it. I'm thinking about throwing it away the next time I need to clean it. It's evil I tell you!!!

Just looking at it gives me shivers. So now you know... come at me with cleaning supplies and dirty dishes and I cower in the corner. Throw a box of Girl Scout cookies at me and I melt into a drooling puddle. We Army wives are pretty strong most the time but we do have some weaknesses :)

What are your weaknesses?

The future of Baumholder

With the recent speculation in the Stars and Stripes that 2 major units are slated to be leaving Europe the Baumholder community has been questioning what is going to happen. 


To see the article click here


This comes after a mayor's luncheon December 12th where Lt. Col. McAdoo reassured local mayors and German military officials that "Baumholder is going to be a thriving community." He named an array of construction projects and quality of life projects in the works for Baumholder that come to an investment of half a billion dollars. (See the Army.mil write up for more details on the projects)

USAREUR spokesman Bruce Anderson said Friday that no official announcements have been made “about which units are leaving” or about “which units may be coming to Baumholder.” But, he noted, Baumholder is also one of the Army’s “enduring” installations in Europe. 


This contradicts information given at the mayor's luncheon by Lt. Col. McAdoo that "Baumholder is also planning on receiving three additional units that will boost the garrison civilian and military population slightly. The 720th Explosives Detachment, the 51st Transportation Company and the 421st Medical Battalion Headquarters are expected to arrive this summer. "I think that's a total of maybe 175 Soldiers and their family members."


Despite the speculation, “nothing has been announced,” said Command Sgt. Major Augustus Wah, the command sergeant major for U.S. Army Garrison Baumholder.

“At the end of the day, we’re here to support and execute any decision that our senior leaders at the Department of Defense and Department of the Army make.”

So where is this rumor coming from that the 170th will be leaving Baumholder? Why can no one say for certain that it isn't true? 

To quote from the Stars and Stripes article, "The military community in Baumholder numbers roughly 14,000, including families and civilians, according to base officials. Of the 4,500 soldier authorizations for the garrison, 3,800 belong to the brigade, according to USAREUR. It’s possible Baumholder could host rotational units in the future, or be home to Army logistics units from elsewhere in Europe, since USAEUR’s logistics hub is right down the road from Baumholder in Kaiserslautern, Anderson said." 


So what does this mean for the town if the majority of soldiers and families are sent back to the United States? The local community's economy  depends heavily on traffic from the base. In a report published in 1995 it was estimated that the economic dependence was somewhere between 16.1-20.3 % but Sigrid “Ziggy” Zimmer, 52, manager of the base’s Rheinlander club estimates many of the 4,000 or so Germans living in Baumholder that rely heavily on Americans for their livelihood, from renting Americans apartments to shuttling them around in taxis would lose about 70 percent of their business. Some are worried that if the families all leave and Baumholder is left only to rotational units that it may fall way to bars and strip joints. People are left wondering why is the government investing this money in a base that will be reduced to a training facility? Why are the people affected by these changes the last to be notified? 

I'd like to point out that this isn't the first time this scenario has played out in our small town. Take note of these articles from 2004 and 2007 which question the fate of  Baumholder, and yet here we are again 8 years later....


2004
2007
2008


Perhaps the media should stop the rumor mill until official announcements have been made. 


I'm pretty sure that my family will be able to finish our full tour here and we would be unaffected by these changes but I do feel bad for anyone who just arrived and are frantically trying to enjoy what they can of  Europe while the have the chance. There isn't anything any of us can do about the situation but "hurry up and wait." To quote a fellow Army wife stationed here with us, "Que sera sera. What Army wants will be..."

Army wives, give thanks

Today's Army wives go through a lot and have a lot to complain about, but we also have a lot to be thankful for. We complain during deployments that we haven't heard from our husbands for a week or for a few days. It wasn't that long ago that wives had to wait for letters from their soldiers. They might go months or years without hearing from them. We complain when the internet is out and we can't Skype or our phone bills are high. I think we just need to stop and think about how lucky we are.

Those of you that know me, know my husband hasn't been deployed during the last 2 1/2 years. We got very lucky when we PCS'd to Germany that he got assigned to the unit he did. However, prior to us moving here we did our fair share of time apart. We were married before he went through basic training and AIT. That was the hardest 5 months of all for me. I wrote to him every single day and he wrote back as often as he could. (Somewhere in storage he has a box full of letters that is much bigger than the box I have from him, but my box is prettier! :) Then we moved to Texas where we spent a year together before his first 12 month deployment to Iraq. When he returned home we had almost a year and a half before he deployed to Iraq the second time.  I felt terrible for him having to leave not only his wife but his baby. He missed our daughter's first birthday. He was home a few short months and then he went back to AIT to reclass to a different MOS. (That took 5 more months.) As soon as he was done with his schooling we moved to Germany. At that point we had been married 5 1/2 years and we had lived together for 2 1/2 of them. This time in Germany has been such a blessing. It is the longest we have been together without a training mission, or a deployment, or TDY coming between us. It is even more important to us now that we have a daughter. I know how lucky we are right now. 

I sometimes wonder if spouses are as strong as they were in the past. I can't tell you how often I hear someone complain that their husband isn't home for lunch, or that they are going to miss valentine's day, or some holiday that most people don't even get the day off for. No, they are not going to let your husband come home for your birthday, or anniversary (unless you manage some awesome planning for R&R) You're lucky if you can schedule R&R for when you're giving birth. One of my best friends had their first baby while her husband was deployed. I can't imagine what that must be like. Her husband also came home wounded. I can't imagine how that feels either. She's got to be one of the strongest wives I know. I think instead of complaining about every trivial thing maybe we should just be thankful. Some families heroes don't come home.

Tax time...

My facebook status the other night was that I kinda secretly like doing taxes. It got me thinking that since I'm secretly kind of a mean person (there goes the rest of my secrets!) that maybe I should have become a tax adviser or an IRS agent. That probably wouldn't work out though. I don't know if I could deal with all of the really dumb questions that people ask. 
I don't do my taxes long hand anymore. It's been a long time since I have done that! Anyone that sits and does the paperwork version I have to give you a high five. The new tax programs that are available make it so easy I don't understand why anyone puts it off? They ask you about every question out there and then do all the work for you. All you have to do is gather all your paperwork, input it correctly and answer the questions that pop up. Bing, Bang, Boom. Taxes filed, refund in 11 days. 

© Jcpjr | Dreamstime.com

I've seen a lot of questions popping up since our W-2's have become available. I have gathered a few links to help those of you with questions.The two biggest issues I have seen so far I'll save you some time and just give you the answers:

• Your spouse is NEVER your dependent (IRS link to this answer)
• You cannot file "head of household" if you are married on the last day of the year. You must either file Married-filing Joint, or Married-filing separate. (IRS link to this answer)

If you our your spouse is in the military you can file for free through H&R Block. Log into https://www.militaryonesourceeap.org/achievesolutions/en/mos/Home.do and then click on the link H&R Block at Home. You can always decide not to submit the return if you don't like the results. You also have free tax preparation available to you on base but you may have to make an appointment or wait in line. 

Did you know if you're deployed to a combat zone you automatically receive a 180-day extension for filing tax returns, paying taxes, filing claims for refunds, and taking other actions with the IRS?

You may also qualify for additional benefits like excluding certain pays from your income, deducting non reimbursed expenses like moving expenses, travel expenses, or uniform expenses. 

Did you know if you move overseas and pay to move your family pet that you can deduct those expenses on your tax return? Make sure to keep all of your receipts. 

Here are some more tips for military members at tax time.

Once you have filed you can check the status of your refund here. 

Below is a chart showing when you can expect your refund based on filing date.

(for full list of dates click here)

**update...I've been getting reports that you can expect a 1 week delay from the posted dates but have not found info online to confirm this or not. 

Franz Jansen

I've been wanting to take pictures of Franz Jansen's house since I first saw it. Today I was picking up a friend up from the train station and it was on the way and I had extra time.  Franz Jansen will be 77 in a couple of months. He often stands by the side of the road in Baumholder dressed in military clothing holding signs supporting the U.S. Military. If you see him, stop and talk to him. He will probably make you cry telling you how grateful he is for his life and his freedom. He was born in Slovenia where he lived through WWII and the political repression that followed. He immigrated to Germany in 1964.  In 1986 he started putting up supportive signs around his home. These signs have grown over the years to include the house itself and even the helmet he wears. This man is so thankful to the United States he brings tears to my eyes. When people tell you that the people we fight for aren't thankful, that they don't want us there, Franz is proof that it's not always true. 

Click here to like his facebook page

Read more about Franz Jansen in a 2009 article from the Starts & Stripes

I'd like to say Thank you Franz for reminding us how important freedom is!

Couponing in Germany

We just recently got an upgraded cable package and we now get TLC (yay!). I've seen a few episodes of "Extreme Couponing" which I had never watched before. I had only heard of it. I've seen questions on our local Facebook community page (The Real Housewives of Baumholder, Germany)  asking coupon policies and why the commissary and PX won't let you "stack" coupons. I don't know if it's this show inspiring other wives? It drives me nuts to see people have stockpiles of products they don't need. I thought I'd share my feelings on the subject and point you to where you can get answers to your own questions. 

My personal philosophy about coupons is to only use them on something I have on my list. If I have toilet paper on my list and I have a coupon for $1 off, SUPER! If I have a $1 off coupon for air freshener that costs $3.00 but it's not on my list - I'm not really saving anything. It's costing me an extra $2 that wasn't on my list. I don't save a lot with coupons but we usually save $4.00-5.00 per trip. It's nothing compared to the couponing shows but it adds up over the course of the year. You die hard couponers can probably do better than me, but it you're hoping to get $1000 worth of stuff for a few dollars, that's NOT going to happen here in Germany. 

Now on "Extreme Couponing" they are using store coupons in conjunction with a manufacturer's coupon and sometimes the store is even doubling and tripling the coupons. Your local commissary isn't going to do that because by law they sell items at cost and cannot make a profit so they do not issue store coupons. They also do not double or triple coupons for the same reason. When a store does that they are paying for the double or triple part of the coupon from their own profits. The overseas commissaries WILL allow you to use coupons that are up to 6 months past the expiration date though. You don't get those savings on the show! 

For more questions about DECA's coupon policy click here.


Here on Baumholder we have a coupon group that meets called "Overseas coupons and coffee" started by our own Household 6 Diva, Ann Marie. She has some excellent information about couponing, budgeting, and saving money on her blog. Please click on the link and check it out.




If you have expired coupons you'd like to donate check out these facebook pages:


Coupons for Miltary Overseas


Operation Expired Coupons to Overseas Soldiers


Expired Coupons for Overseas Military

Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery & Memorial, France

Yesterday we drove to Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial  in France. It was about a three hour drive from Baumholder. Most of our trips to France have been to towns just off the autobahn but on this trip we got to drive through quite a bit of countryside. The roads were winding and narrow and the buildings were very old. It was interesting to see real towns and not just tourist attractions.

This stretch reminded me of our home state of South Dakota

I love how there are trees planted on both sides of the road.

One of these days I intend to look up what those balls are in the trees.

We drove by too many French cemeteries to stop at so I took pictures out the car window as we went by. 

We went by just as many churches

...and more cemeteries

This entire road was about the size of a normal lane in the U.S. Good thing we didn't meet very many vehicles!

This is the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in France.

There are 14,246 military dead buried here, the largest number in Europe.

Top of the chapel

The frost made interesting patterns on the stone steps.

There was still a little frost on the bushes that were in the shade.

The cemetery covers 130.5 acres! It's huge!

My husband and fellow soldier climbing the steps to the chapel

Each arch has the names of the missing inscribed in the wall. There are a total of 954 names.

Inside the chapel

This is on the right wall when entering the chapel (in English)

On the left side (in French)

The guest book

The sheer number of headstones was overwhelming

The visitor's center

Looking from the visitor's center toward the chapel.

My soldier