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Alright well it has yet again been forever since I last posted.  The latest news is that I can now drive our car!  Micah has had a lot of training lately, and in August while he was gone I went up to visit my sister-in-law Bethany and her family.  While I was there she graciously took me out several times to practice driving because Germany actually has normal roads that aren't too crowded.  So by the time I got home I at least felt comfortable enough to try and drive to post when the roads were relatively empty!  Although it's only been a couple weeks I'm getting pretty comfortable driving the car simply because Micah is off training again so I've been driving around alot. The problem now is getting comfortable driving in Italy.  Italians are pretty much crazy drivers and they have crazy roads.  You have to make split second decisions because the roads split constantly and really quickly.  The problem is that our Garmin is delayed, and the streets aren't marked for the most part, so it's really hard to follow.  So I'm still really nervous about getting places where I haven't been before.
It's been tough to have Micah gone so much lately but God has been blessing me with people that are including me in their lives.  A couple weeks ago I became the Secretary for the FRG (Family Readiness Group).  Bascially these women are the contact between the unit and families and try to be a social coordinator for the unit.  It's a volunteer thing, and it won't take up tons of time, but it will be a great way to be connected with other people in the unit.  Lately I've been spending alot of time with the FRG leader, which has been so nice!  Honestly, just to have someone that calls me other than Micah is pretty cool.  There's also another woman that I've been spending more time with.  She's the wife of a guy that did ROTC with Micah.  They helped us out alot when we first got here, but he's training more than Micah and she works so we haven't really spent consistent time with each other. She is just a wonderfully sweet low-key person with a real heart for God.  I'm hoping that we can continue to get closer.
It's been a continuous challenge for me to make friends, but God is working in spite of me.  When I get to know people my instinct is to be quiet and when I make a conscious effort to be sociable I usually end up interrupting, babbling, or just being annoying! Or I put on my small talk pastor's daughter face and people don't get to know the real me.  So God has really been challenging me to be open with people and I've just been praying that as I commit to being real with people that He will bless me with social skills.  More than that, that he would continue to guide me in developing relationships with people that he wants.
I've been continuing to think and pray about what to do with my time here.  Being involved in FRG is great, and I got all the paperwork to start volunteering at the Red Cross. I'm still thinking about taking courses to get my medical coding and billing certification.
As for Micah, he's just been extremely busy with work.  He's still discovering what his job looks like, and really struggling with not being able to do everything perfectly and ahead of schedule.  Not to mention they are really busy with lots of training and so his superiors don't have much time to really teach.  My husband loves to help people and hates to let people down so every day is a challenge as he learns. 
We are really looking forward to the holidays coming up and spending some time together.  Being apart is definitely tough, but we are fortunate in that we will never take our time together for granted. In the meantime, I am trying to just focus on finding my worth and joy in Christ.
Psalm 86:11-12 "Teach me your way O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.  I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God, I will glorify your name forever."