PCS Time (Abilene to Germany)

Leaving the "Big Country"

We are getting ready to leave Abilene, so I am beginning to become a little reminiscent of our time here. According to this chart, Nate and I are definitely going through the "Pre-departure ups and downs." We have so much to do and so little time. The movers come in two weeks, so we are trying to figure out what we are taking and what stays. For us, it still does not feel real that we are moving to Germany. 


Top Eight Best Things About Living in Abilene: 

1. Nate and I got to know each other and fall in love with each other in Abilene and College Station. 

2. Our friends here are wonderful. It seems like just as we found a good "group," we are leaving. Fingers crossed that we will find a good group in Germany!

3. I was able to find a great job with my relative lack of experience, and Nate was able to get great job satisfaction, flying a lot and deploying twice. 

4. The community is incredibly supportive of the military. 

5. The "big sky," the sunsets, and the Texas stars  

6. Everything is CHEAP! The gas was inexpensive, living was inexpensive, etc. Abilene put us in a great financial position to move to Germany. 

7. The food here is amazing. We have had the best steaks of our lives at Perini Ranch and the Beehive. We definitely did not miss out on good food while in Abilene. 

8. Nate and I were "legally" married here. 
Elevator 'selfie' before the ceremony


                             Mr. and Mrs.  
Top Five Worst Things About Living in Abilene: 

1. Though the community is supportive of the military, employers here do discriminate. I applied for over 70 jobs before getting my job at the Civic Center. 

2. Summers are long, and they are HOT. 
You're reading that right! My car registered 122 degrees that day. 
3. There aren't any sidewalks in town, and the streets are falling apart. There are actually many issues with the planning of the city. There aren't any gutters, so the whole city floods during a big rain. Finally, we don't have curb-side recycling (but I can deal with this).

4. Shopping options are limited, but not non-existent. This is a completely first-world complaint, but it would be nice to have the favorites: Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Nordstrom, etc. However, we do have: Sams, Market Street, Natural Foods Center, Dillard's. I almost deleted this comment after writing this out of embarrassment, but this is where I'm at right now, so it stays. 

5. Abilene is geographically separated from the rest of Texas. Fort Worth is closest large city, as 2 hours away. Dallas is 3 hours away. College Station is 4 hours away. In Germany, we can be in different *countries* in that amount of time.


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