Taxes, Office 2013 and the Alps

It's usually not hard to find thing to complain about in the Army, but once in a while we come across perks of being in the military that keep me quiet about all the other things.  I'll spare you a list of negatives, but here are a few of the positives as of late:

1) Microsoft Office 2013!  The last time I purchased Office was Freshman year of college (8 years ago!) with a student discount (still around $80 I think!).  So that ancient-looking 2003 program was installed on our current home computer.  (Remember the the good ol' days of a "file" menu??)  Well, last week we purchased the 2013 version of Office for $13!  Thanks to some military code.  I honestly didn't ask too many questions.  I just saw an email, the legal department verified that it was legit, and I signed up before it disappeared.  I was so happy I spent a few hours in Excel, just for fun!

2) H&R tax services!  We discovered this last year, and I plan to take full advantage this year.  We were able to file federal and state taxes using H&R Blocks online service, and didn't have to pay anything.  It makes tax season that much easier.

3) The last perk I'll mention was an all expense paid trip to the Alps a few weekends ago.  Occasionally, different units sponsor "Marriage Retreats" run by the chaplains.  We sat through 5 hours of classes over 3 days, and we had the rest of the weekend to ourselves.  :)  And at the end of the day, we only paid $4.50.  

Because of our location here in Germany, they hold the retreats at the military-owned Edelweiss Resort and Lodge in Garmisch.  It's about 3-4 hours away, located in the middle of the Alps.  (I saw a flier that said its only 30 minutes to Innsbruck, which Amie has planned into the Switzerland adventure in May).  The hotel is huge, and has nice lodge-feeling rooms.  There are a few different dining rooms where we essentially got free meals.  (The few dollars we did end up paying was a tip).  Hyrum loves a buffet breakfast... so we spent about an hour each morning at breakfast.  It's kind of disgusting to see everything he can eat in the morning, but it kept him happy all day!

Since we'd done the whole skiing thing the previous weekend, we decided instead to just hang out and go for a walk up one of the mountains.  By the time we got home, we were frozen, but the views were pretty.

You can tell how cold we I am from the pale white skin and bright red nose.  Ignore the fact that I'm starting to look old in this picture.  I don't look like that in real life.

Our only complaint about the hotel is that it was packed.  I'm pretty sure during any weekend you'll find it full of military families, which translates to a lot of kids running around.  (It's also a little weird to run into people you know.. from work.. while trying to relax for the weekend).  I looked past it since it was free, but if we'd spent $120 per night to stay there I might have been disappointed.

But even still: best free vacation ever! Thanks Army.

A creative drive-way gate that we passed.