A Year 'In the Pond'

It’s hard to believe, but one year ago today we arrived at Lajes. Here’s a quick summary of our first year ‘In the Pond’.

September:
We packed up the car, our luggage, and the dogs, and drove for 4 days (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4) to get to Baltimore and the rotator that would take us to Lajes. After relatively short flight, we arrived on the island and were greeted by a huge welcoming party. We spent the rest of September looking for a house and getting to know our island home.

October:

We went to our first street bull fight and helped with the CE Haunted House.

November:
We finally got all of our belongings unpacked just in time to host Thanksgiving dinner for all of our friends.

December:

We celebrated Christmas with our families via Skype and did our best to pretend it was winter without any snow.

January:
We went on our first vacation, a cruise to Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Izmir, Istanbul, and Malta! We were supposed to go Egypt but some pesky protesters had other ideas.

February:
We spent our time enjoying the island and attended the LSC Sock Hop.

March:
Chris ALMOST deployed, but his tasking was cancelled at the last second (thank goodness). In celebration, we did some more exploring around the island, including a few hiking trips.

April:

We took a C-130 from Lajes to Ramstein, Germany for the start of our second vacation. We made stops along the Rhine river in Germany, then continued on to Amsterdam, Brussles and Brugge, the Lorie Valley in France, and the beaches of Normandy before ending our two weeks in Paris!

May:
We were home for three weeks before we went on our third vacation, a tour of Spain (Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and Madrid) followed by a week at surf camp in Peniche, Protugal.

June:
Chris deployed for real this time. *Sad face* He’s hanging out in the desert, making life better for the Army.

July:
I celebrated the 4th of July with all of the families on base. I enjoyed a picnic supper followed by a wonderful fireworks show. I spent the rest of the month soaking in as much Lindsey time as possible before she moved with her husband to Germany. Lucky duck! Chris made some sand castles.

August:
I started off the month with several very late nights at Praia Fest and wrapped up the month with a trip to Sao Miguel (I’ll post about the trip soon – I promise).  Chris made more sand castles.

So, here we are: 11 countries (~13 for Chris), 12 months, 59 posts, and 5,145 page views later!! Thanks to all of my loyal readers for sticking with me through my first year. You are the best.