What is in a Update?

Brandon and I live in a 2 bedroom/1 bath government issued apartment. I have no complaints about free housing and a roof over our heads. We live on the second floor of a three story building on Texastrabbe St. Yes, you read that correctly and it is one word. The closes thing we have to Texas on our street are the POV's(privately owned vehicles). Shipped from the States, courtesy of the Army. I can say that a Cadillac Escalade, Jeep Liberty, Ford Mustang, Chevy Tahoe look a bit out of place in Germany, but find a home under the name Texastrabbe St.

Monday was my first day at home as a stay at home wife. This is the first time in my life that I have not worked and it ok. Brandon got up at 5:15 am for PT(physical training) which starts at 6:30 on post. I decided to get up with him and begin my day at home. I made Brandon baked bacon and a smoothie for breakfast. Afterwards, I quietly sat down to get my first fix of Facebook. My virtual best friend.

Ah, Facebook. The virtual friend that is always there. I was first introduced to Facebook by my friend Kayla in January 2007. Then it happened, with a quick sign-up I was immediately connected and sucked into the world of Facebook. My first days on Facebook were just for a few minutes a day. Now, it is a different story. I have come up with a classification system for FB users. The casual, compulsive and addictive FB user. The casual signs in here and there, the compulsive is on 4-10 times a day. I definitely fall into this category along with many of my friends that are stay-at-home moms. The addictive, is one I would have to say looks at repeatively(or stalks) profiles obsessively.

Status updates. What is the point? In Urban Dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com) updates are referred too as FB Brag.

Facebook Brag- to post something on Facebook - especially in the "status update" section - that one would not otherwise publicly flaunt in order to draw the attention of one's Facebook peers.

What classifies a FB Brag to you? Think about it. As the hamster spins the wheel in my head I take it as this. I began thinking about status updates and personal meaning behind them. At one point on my news feed, five people were telling the everyone else what they were making for dinner. It is not so much sharing, but bragging with excessive adjectives. So how do I share with the FB community about my move to Germany?

Jana is moving to Germany,

Jana is living in Europe her first year of marriage.

Jana is jet setting to Germany, to begin her life in government issued housing.

Jana is moving.

Jana is moving to be with her husband.

Jana is moving to be with her husband. Life can not get any better than that.

Goodbye America, Hello Deutschland

For the past 722 days, America has been my home and in 56.5 hours I get on a plane to Deutschland. According to the United States Army, Germany will be my home for the next year. I never planned on living in Germany, but now that I am married it is kind of important to b with your husband. Brandon asked to be stationed there two years of with hopes of traveling throughout Europe. As soon as he moved there he found out his unit was getting deployed to Iraq. Yay, Deployment #2 over and done with!

Exactly, 27 days after our wedding ceremony I will be leaving Fresno. Home of the Bulldogs, neighbor of Selma( raison capitol of the world) too officially begin my life together with Brandon. This will officially be the first time in our relationship that will not be a part of the virtual, cyber world.

I drove Brandon to the San Francisco International Airport last Friday. We had plans that I would leave the US within in a day or so following him. On his orders we had the understanding that the Army was going to pay for my airline ticket. Only hitch was that we would have to drive to the nearest Army base to get the ticket. Nearest Army base to Fresno, CA; Fort, Irwin. If you look on google maps Ft. Irwin is about 45 miles into the desert from good ole' Barstow, CA. So after the honeymoon we hopped in the Jetta to Ft. Irwin only to find that the ticketing office we needed to see was closed!!! CLOSED!!!! So, we got on the phone with Luthansa and made reservations for me to leave Thursday, July 9th @ 2pm from SFO.

Bailey. The real hold up that is keeping me from leaving when Brandon did. She is my four year old Shih-Tzu dog moving to Germany with me. I got Bailey when I lived in Thailand and she is one cool pup that wears a funnel 24/7. Sophisticated world traveler. Truthfully, I am waiting for the Fed-Ex guy to show up by Wednesday with her travel documents getting her an all access pass into the European Union.

After being in the friendly skies for ten hours of my adult life, I expect to land in a cooler, wet, green climate. The best thing about getting off plane will be being picked up by my fabulous husband and make my way to military issued housing. My life will officially start as the Yost's Living off Post.

The "Real" Story Behind Our Marriage

Brandon and I publicly tied the knot June 12th, 2009 in my hometown of Fresno, CA. We were married by my brother Loren in the front of our friends and family. Brandon flew in from Germany, where he is currently stationed, a week prior to the wedding. Most thought I was driving to SFO to pick up my fiancee, but actually I was going to the airport to pick up my husband. Lord and behold, Brandon and I were actually married February 6, 2009 by proxy.

Brandon proposed to me New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight. After the engagement we set the date to get married June 12th. In order to join Brandon in Germany, I would need to get command sponsorship. Meaning his original orders would add me as a dependent and give permission for me to join him in Germany. Command sponsorship can take anywhere from three to six months before I could join him.

Brandon began joking with me about doing a by proxy marriage. I giggled when he told me and acted as if I knew what it was. Did I? No. According to Wikipedia, a marriage by proxy is when the bride and groom are getting married separately, but are getting married to each other. How does that sound?

We began to do more research on it and weighed the pros and cons. In comparison, the pros far out weighed the cons. We found a website called www.marriagebyproxy.com and began our new virtual adventure. After filling out the paperwork and paying the proxy fees our marriage was going to take place in Montana. Today, in the United States by proxy marriages can take place in Montana, California, Colorado and Texas. Montana is the only state where both parties do not have to be present. We were told the process would take up to eight weeks or so.

I went to visit Brandon in Germany for ten days in February. After a few days there, I checked my email one evening. There was a message from our by proxy friends that read, "Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Yost...". We were officially married February 6, 2009! I got on his orders May 23, 2009 and will arrive in Germany July 10.