Settling in for the long hall!

Hello to those who are reading our blog!


Well, we have been on quite the roller coaster here in England! But we have a "Praise The Lord"....we got a house!! YYIIIIIPPPPPEEEE!!!! Its not the one we were originally going to get. Right as we were about to give a deposit and sign papers, things went down hill for the original house. The Lord did not give me peace about that house even after things were coming back together. I couldn't explain it, but I just didn't have a peace. We decided to attend a previously made appointment to view another property just to see if I was just being overly cautious. We viewed this property and we both immediately knew that this was the one!!! Of course, its not an American home that we are more comfortable with, but it is a nice home that we can hopefully fit our furniture in. =) We are currently looking for a car for Carsten because the BMW deal fell through. (Sorry Kate, you won't know anyone with a BMW any more..hahah!)


This week, Carsten has been able to go to work for a few hours every day to get his in-processing done. I do not like waking up to an empty room. Its depressing when Im in another country and do not know where anything is. haha! But I'm trying to stay strong and take advantage of the time that the Lord has given us. Wednesday, Carsten participated in his squadrons annual "Bat-a-palooza"! Being the jock that he is, he has been getting stir crazy not being able to participate in any kind of sports since we have been here. So this was such a great experience for him. The day was filled with many different events. Carsten started the day with an "Amazing Race". It was a scavenger hunt/ sprint-a-thon!?! This took most of the morning. At 10am, I joined the other wives at the park and we watched as more events took place. The events included "bat-spin", "bat-a-war" (tug of war), "bat-walk", and many more! Carsten was able to meet almost his entire squadron and I was able to meet a bunch of the wives. Carsten was placed on a team last minute because someone didn't show up. That team was very grateful because Carsten ended up winning two events by himself (football throw and football kick) and then lead his team to win another event. Im so proud of my husband! Then for the "bat-a-war" the wives decided to go against the husbands...haha! We won the first round because they let us! Then they put their full strength into the next one and we had no shot! hah! I have video of those whole day, but I can't figure out how to get it on my computer. But..I have a few pics to share..

Carsten's team getting ready for the first event where they had to spin on a bat 12 times around and then run with an egg on a spoon then do jump rope then do the "bat walk" and then do 10 pushups and many more things.

Carsten throwing a water balloon with all his might!

He totally beamed that guy who you can only see his legs. haha!
















That was Bat-a-palooza!!!

Carsten figured out how to call people on skype the other day. He is paying 3 dollars a month to have unlimited phone calls through skype to any phone number. He was able to call MaryBeth, Grandma Em, and Grandad one day. Then we got to talk to Maureen last night! It is an encouragement to us just to hear our loved ones voices! It is hard to keep in touch with the time change. Im hoping to steal his computer to talk to my family tonight, if the internet allows us to! hehe! 

Today, we were able to sleep in, watch some movies, and get some stuff done! I washed some laundry...this in itself has been a frustrating adjustment for me. The washers and dryers are soooooooooooooooooo small here! And they eat your clothes alive! At least one item in every load has gotten destroyed. Today, my favorite new sweater...well...its now destroyed! I am trying to learn quickly with their machines, but I don't know if we have enough clothes to go through. haha! When we move into our house I will have to adjust all over again because the house has a washer/dryer combo...meaning  one machine does the washing and drying all together. Crazy! It is small as well so I think I will be doing  laundry ALL day long! haha! It is so funny the things that we have to adjust to between cultures. Simple things like doing laundry. Im learning though!

Well...thats all the excitement for this blog! We are hoping to get away this weekend. Its a three day weekend here! We have some appointments to look at cars, but we might be able to fit a trip to London in. =) 

God Bless you all and know that we miss you and love you all VERY MUCH!!!

Cheers!

God sustains us!

Hello all! We have been keeping pretty busy here in England. We have been going to newcomer meetings here on base. For me (Chary) because I am new to this base and the air force, the meetings have been very informative. In between meetings we are house and car searching. In our last newcomer meeting we took our drivers' tests, so we are now licensed drivers in the UK. After searching and searching, we found/bought a blue 2000 Honda Accord Hatchback Type V. Its a really nice car and we are enjoying having a car because Carsten is sick of the rental car that he doesn't fit in. We met with a guy who is selling a silver 2000 BMW 323. He is taking it in for some check ups and then we will buy it this coming week. House searching has its ups and downs. After looking at, I think 10 or more houses, it becomes quite discouraging when you cannot find anything you like or can fit your furniture in. We looked at a house down the street from our friends, Mark and Erin Watson. We loved the house, but the guy was not willing to lower the rent to fit our budget. We were a little bummed, but the search continued. We believe we have found a house that will do and we are going to meet with the owner this weekend to discuss and make agreements. This house is our second favorite that we have seen, but there are a few things we do not like. The living room is really small. When I say small...think about the average master bedroom in the US and think smaller than most of those. hahah! Everything is so small here, but we are adjusting. =) We just keep praying that the Lord would lead us to the house he wants us in, instead of what we selfishly want. The owner of the house we are interested in has been a joy to work with so we are praying for God's guidance in this. 
Well, we are taking advantage of this beautiful country. We like to get lost out in the country to just explore the land. One day we decided to just drive when we came to a town called Ely (eeeleeee!). From a distance we saw this huge tower coming from what we thought might be a church. We decided to try to find this church. We drove throughout Ely and found the church. This church was astounding! It is hard to describe the church in words because it was so ancient and beautiful! Here are a few pics of the church ---> 

Isn't that church amazing? I wish you all could have seen it! 

Other than house hunting, car hunting, and getting lost I have been able to spend time with some good godly girls. We had a tea party one day! I felt very English and I was trying to drink my tea with my pinky up. =) 

We ended up buying a TomTom GPS so that we will be able to find our way around better. Although, it is kind of exciting getting lost here because you never know what you will find. 

I am thoroughly enjoying this time that Carsten is not working yet. Im dreading the day that he goes to back work because Im not gonna know what to do with myself. He is so much fun to be around all the time! Im such a blessed woman! 

Thank you for reading our blog! I have enjoyed writing about our different experiences! Today, we are going back to church at C3 in Cambridge with our friends. Well, I think we are reaching the point of realization that this is no longer a vacation but our home. Weird, sad, exciting, intimidating! We miss our families and friends soooooo much, but may we not lose sight of the reason the Lord brought us here! May HE receive ALL Glory and Honor!!

Cheers!

The Stahrs

Cambridge

Hello! Wow, jetlag has sure set it! We are really struggling to adjust to this new time. The first two days were not as bad as these last few days. We have been waking up in the middle of the nights, hungry as can be and not able to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. We usually end up watching some FRIENDS episodes from 3:30am to about 5am because we just can't sleep through the nights. We have heard that it takes about a week to fully adjust, but we have to be self-controlled enough not to fall asleep before 8pm or  sleep in past 9am. Carsten does a great job at being self-controlled with it, but I just end up being cranky for a few hours. He does a great job putting up with me. =)

On Sunday, we were invited to go to Camridge to visit a church that some of our friends have gone to. We have met some good christian couples just in these past few days. Lauren and Matt Miller have been stationed at RAF Mildenhall for 1 year so they have been such a blessing to us. They have been very gracious to teach us and show us around. Carsten has a friend, Mark Watson (who also went to the AF Academy), who is stationed here also with his wife Erin. We have been hanging out with them a lot. Through the Millers and the Watsons we met another Christian couple, Shawn and Darla West. They are a sweet couple! God is so good in providing new friends for us for such a time as this! We are so thankful! It helps ease the pain of missing our friends and family back in the states! We miss you and love you all!!!

Any who, we went to a church called C3. The church meets in a school gymnasium, but they are trying to move into an old abandoned church if the government permits them. We enjoyed the worship and the speaking. We were blessed by the fact that the speaker actually spoke straight from the bible! We are praying about possibly attending this church every week even though it is quite a ways away.

After church, Lauren and Matt Miller took all of us to tour the city of Cambridge. We had lunch at a small cafe where they served hamburgers and chips (french fries). They even served milkshakes! The hamburgers were actually pretty good. Carsten found out that their version of BBQ sauce is quite different than ours.

Then we went to an area where we could shop. We went into a camping store to look at jackets to prepare for winter/all this rain. The prices were outrageous!!! We decided to order them offline from the states instead. =) We went to a cellphone store next. Carsten was originally stuck on buying us Iphones, but we have been told that we wont use our cellphones much here. Our friends said that they bought cheap cellphones and only use them to call each other, but they use their house phone for major calls because its cheaper. Here in the UK, the whole pay-as-you go type of cell phones are popular. Everyone has it unless you have an Iphone. So needless to say, we bought some pay-as-you go phones, but Carsten is pretty determined to get his Iphone unlocked. =)

Then we decided to venture out on our own, along with the Watsons, to tour Cambridge further. We decided to go "Punting". Words cannot describe this experience, so I will post pictures to help. Let me just say....funny, entertaining, frightening, peaceful, hilarious!

These are the boats that you use to go "Punting"

Thats Carsten, learning how to "Punt" with Erin and Mark Watson in front.

There were many bridges that the guys could barely duck under and almost fell off many times.

Carsten was attempting to turn us around after we ran into like 5 other boats. haha!

That was our first trip to Cambridge!! Hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure so far. Now it is time for us to head to bed! Good night!!

It's raining cats and dogs!!

Good Morning all!!!

Well we are slowly adjusting to this time difference. Friday morning we woke up at 6am and I was having a difficult time facing all the unknowns. We spent the morning in God's word and in prayer for the day! God hears and answers our prayers in great ways! Can I say that I have the most amazing husband?!?! He has so much strength and I love standing by his side as he faces the newness of every day! He is such an encouraging leader! Im truly thankful for such an amazing husband!

After breakfast, we went to Carsten's office, where we met a lot of welcoming and encouraging people. We began the in-processing process (hahaha) and Carsten was able to go to see his new office. He seemed to really enjoy meeting his co-workers and seeing his office. Then one of Carsten's troops became our tour guide for the day. He gave us all sorts of advice in regards to letting (renting) cars, buying cars, and finding houses to let (rent). He showed us where he lives, a place called Red Lodge. Then he showed us Mildenhall town, where we are thinking we might want to live. Then he took us to a car rental place. Carsten experienced driving on the left side of the road for the very first time. He did a great job, but we both laughed at how awkward it was. I felt awkward being the passenger on the left side and he kept trying to reach for the shifter on the right door. haha! The round-abouts are quite the challenge, but Carsten did a great job conquering them!

We returned to our Hotel for the evening and called our friends, Mark and Erin Watson. They invited us to go to a mexican restaurant in Bury St. Edmunds for dinner. After a quick nap, we met them to carpool to Bury St. Edmunds (about 25 minutes from RAF Mildenhall). Bury St. Edmunds is such a cute town. The streets are laid with brick and each building has so much character. We arrived at "California Kitchen" and ate dinner with the Watsons and some of their friends from base. It was so much fun to meet other christian couples from the base. The mexican food was quite interesting. We described it as mexican/italian food (that Carsten says, "It had very little taste). The enchiladas were covered with spagetty-like sauce. haha! It was a fun experience! As we ate, we watched the unpredictable weather, as it was sunny one minute and then raining cats and dogs the next minute. Here they say, if you don't like the weather wait a few minutes and it will change. I find it interesting to find something to wear when you have no clue what the weather will be like. haha! A sweet English lady at the post office told us to always carry an umbrella in my purse.

Any who, friday was still quite a blur, but we were able to keep ourselves awake till 2230, which in simple terms is 10:30pm. Im learning how to read the clocks here. haha!

Today, Saturday, we were able to sleep in till 9am. Later today, we are hoping to look for houses to rent, which we have been told is an interesting experience. I will take and post some more pictures sometime soon.

We deeply miss all of our family and friends back in the states! We are thankful for your prayers and encouragement as we venture out into this intimidating adventure. We love you all!!

Cheerio!!!

Arrived in England

Good Day! haha...trying to adopt the English way of talking. They sound so much more intelligent!

Any who, we arrived at Heathrow Airport in England at 7am (England time). We were blessed in more ways than one along our travels. When we were checking in at LAX, the clerk gave my parents and Zach a special pass to come through security with us. They were able to walk with us to our gate and we enjoyed a last lunch with them before we boarded our plane. Then we were surprised that we had been upgraded to Economy Plus. We sat in two seats that were all by themselves with extra leg room. We had our own individual tv screens, which we watched four movies that made the flight go by faster. I was able to sleep for about 2 hours, but Carsten has not slept in more than 24 hours.

Carsten's sponsor, Brian, picked us up from the Heathro Airport. He drove us to RAF Mildenhall. It was sooooooooo trippy to watch Brian drive us on the left side of the road. We would sometimes think that no one was in the driver's seat of passing cars and then we would realize "oh yeah, they are on the right side of the car". hahaha! I do not know if I will ever get used to people driving on the left side of the road. We were welcomed with tons and tons of RAIN! Welcome to England! hahaha!

Brian gave us a tour of the base so that we would be able to find our way around the next few days. Its all so overwhelming for me because I am not only new to this base, but I am new to the Air Force as well. Carsten is adjusting a lot faster than I am. He is a Pro!! =) After a few hours of touring the base, we went to the Commissary to buy a small amount of groceries for the next few days. It was nice to tour the base and to ask Brian questions because there are so many things to think about when moving to a foreign country.

Now we are sitting in our room at the Temporary Living Facility, trying very hard not to fall asleep. We are hoping to stay awake for a few more hours to help us adjust to the time change and jet lag. Tonight will be interesting because the bed in our room is quite small. Although, at this rate I think we will be so exhausted that it won't even matter.

Well, thanks for all your prayers and encouragement! We will do our best to keep you all posted! Thank you for reading our blog! If anyone would like to contact us our email is carsten.chary@gmail.com or we have skype accounts carsten.p.stahr and cjzegan. We would love to hear from you all!

To God be ALL Glory and Honor!!

God Bless and Bless God,
The Stahrs

So Long Fairwell!!!

Well, we are all set to go! The movers came wednesday and thursday, last week. They packed all of our belongings into boxes and then packed those boxes into huge crates. It was a strange experience for us. We watched as our belongings were packed away, knowning we wouldn't see them for two months. We stood as our apartment became completely empty. The empty apartment made this whole experience real. We were hit with the realization that we would be saying goodbye to our family, friends, and church for who knows how long. The realization hits us more and more, in different ways, a little every day.

This past weekend we drove up to Petaluma, CA for Sam Swenson's wedding. It was such a blessing to spend time with the whole Swenson family. We drove 6 hours back to Lancaster to make it to our going away party at the Montana home. We enjoyed an evening with friends and family. Saying goodbye has proven to be a difficult process, more than we ever imagined.

Today, we woke up filled with mixed emotions. We are excited for this new adventure ahead of us. We are excited to meet new people, explore the unknown, and experience a new culture. Yet, we find ourselves fighting the pain and sorrow of leaving this place we have come to know and love, the good ol' United States of America! You do not know/appreciate what you have until you no longer have it. The Lord has blessed us with such a wonderful home with amazing friends and family. We are so thankful! We love you all!!! We will miss you all!!!

Now, we look forward! We look toward the new and exciting blessings that the Lord has for us in England!

The next two days we will be finishing up last minute preparations! Then on wednesday, We will board our plane for Heathrow, England.

God Bless and Bless God!