"Houston, we have lift off"

Well - after much guessing and trying to figure out where we could possibly be going - we found out yesterday in front of the rest of Nathan's piers and their family and friends that we will be spending our first two year assignment in Bratislava, Slovakia. We had bid it high but honestly didn't give it much thought because it is such a crap shoot as to where you will be assigned and on the bid list there are some great places but a lot of places one might bid medium and a lot one would bid low.

When we met with our CDO (career development officer) a few weeks ago she told us that where would be assigned would essentially come down to luck. When she said this, my stomach just kinda dropped because Nathan and I haven't traditionally experienced a lot of luck. I'm not saying we are not blessed because we are - we have a lot and for that I am truly grateful. I am talking about pure luck such as winning a game when playing with friends, winning the car or the vacation for two when you purchased one raffle ticket for $1 or getting a promotion at work when you've only been there for a year - that kind of luck, we are not so good at attracting. So honestly, when we talked about where we would be going, I was prepare for some crazy, off the wall place where there would be an element of some danger and a warning to not, at any cost, drink the water.

Imagine my surprise when they said "Slovakia, Bratislava, ... Nathan Ringger"! I was excited but admittedly knew nothing about this post, not even where it was located. When I saw how happy Nathan was, I knew it was a good thing and then when this nice lady sitting next to me looked notably disappointed and said that's the one they wanted, I thought it was probably a very good thing. From what I have researched so far, it is an hour drive from Vienna and is four hours from Germany. We can fly for $50 to many countries in Europe. This is so surreal to me. I can't believe my kids will be raised at least for a little while in Eastern Europe. When I was in college, I thought it sounded so cool to backpack through Europe, who knew I would one day live there with my peeps. Unreal!!

I know there will be lots of growing pains and difficult moments a head, but for now I am just so excited. We will move to our post in September of 2011 which is fantastic because we are on a great rotation considering we have kids and they won't have to move during the school year as we move from post to post.

Nathan and I feel like we can breath a sigh of relief because we no longer need to worry about feeling like our life is so up in the air. We have a plan!! Yea. Life is stressful until Flag day because all you think about is the "What if" scenario. I feel bad for those that didn't get anything they wanted and especially for those who got Mexico. All I can hope for is that you will get your dream post after this one!! So I guess I will be going to language classes with Nathan beginning February and learning Slovak (I am sure to use this language the rest of my life). Heaven help my instructor.

These are images I snagged from Google. Apparently this is a picture of old town Bratislava.

Bratislava is located between two rivers and many people who have been there have said it is beautiful. From the looks of these pictures, I would have to agree. Oooo - it even looks like they have a river boat cruise, now you're talkin'!