Snowed In??

Okay, no, we have not really been snowed in. I was going to use the excuse of "We've been snowed in since Monday, and it knocked our power out, and I've had to walk 12 miles in the snow uphill one-way to work every day this week, and the snow is all the way to our roof..." as the reason I have not updated again. But, obviously that's not true.

We did, however, have snow, glorious snow, Monday of this week. It snowed pretty much all day while we were both at work. Overall we probably only had a few inches total, but it was enough to coat everything with a nice thick layer of the nice powdery white stuff. It hasn't really melted yet. The roads are not too bad, as they do a good job here of plowing and salting. They even have special little plows for the bike paths, believe it or not! The doggies have definitely had some fun romping and playing in the backyard in all the snow. They love it! It is really cute too, to see their bright red fur against backdrop of white everywhere you can look.

Today as I was driving home from work around 5 p.m., I looked to my left and right and saw just the most beautiful sight -- it was the landscape, covered in snow, with the mountains on the left and the flat land on the right, pale blue sky above me on the left with the moon rising over it all, and on the right side the sky was still a very pale pink from the sunset. It was gorgeous. We don't normally get views like that because it's been so gray and overcast here all the time. But this was a sight to see. I was driving on the autobahn though, so I didn't get too much time to enjoy the view before needing to concentrate on the road again.

Happy (late) New Year's, everyone! I guess this is my first post of 2009. And I'm only 8 days into it. Eh, oh well. I didn't think anyone was sitting on the edges of their seats waiting for a new post, but, you never know!

For New Year's we went to Dan & Kelli's house. They had a couple friends visiting from the States, and Sonia and Bryce and Jen and Nate came also. We had a good time. They provided a taco bar, we brought cookies and brownies and they also had lots of wines for everyone (else) to try. We played Catch Phrase boys vs. girls (except I was on the boys team because a.I have to be on Carl's team so we don't fight and b. there was one extra girl). Our team won all three games! It was really fun and got pretty intense for a little while.

However, I have to say one of the coolest things ever happened at midnight. We watched the countdown from Berlin on the German cable, and at midnight went outside to see if we could see any of the fireworks. See, fireworks are banned year-round here except for NYE. Well, the Germans take advantage of that and make up for it! I'm not kidding, we stood outside in their front yard and watched a panorama view for 30 minutes of fireworks in every direction we could see. It was so cool!! These people don't just do sparklers and little puny fireworks either. No, these were normal people shooting off what looked like professional shows from their front yards! It was really neat.

After the fireworks we played some Wii and Wii Fit. We all tried ski jumping, slalom, snowboarding, etc. And then they pulled up the Yoga... ugh.... I did two moves and almost killed myself. Carl even tried a couple, and.. it wasn't pretty. We are not Yoga people!

We got home around 2 a.m. and called my parents to wish them a Happy New Year, and it was pretty weird because it was still 2008 for them. This time change thing is still really weird to me! I don't know if I'll ever get used to it.

Anyway, we've been back at work now all week and settling back into the swing of things. We are now looking for airfare for a visit from my parents in the Spring. Yay!! You know I can't wait for that!! This weekend might be the time to go buy some more extra bedroom furniture and get the extra rooms ready!

Here's some randomness about some of my recent activities: I've been doing a ton of reading lately. Let's see, I finished the Twilight series (eeek! I love Edward! But I also love Jacob!) Then I read a Barbara Delinsky book that someone at Fort Jackson gave me, and then I read the "Under the Sabers" book that Army Wives is based on that Santa gave me in my stocking. It was good (but not as good as the tv show)! I have now moved on to another Karen Kingsbury that I got from either mom or grandma, and it's really good. I am not sure what I'll read next. Always up for suggestions, though! I have been listening to the two cds of "Wow! 2009" top Christian music and I am completely addicted to them. That was also from Santa, and I highly recommend getting them.

And to everyone who is leaving comments, thanks! You don't know how much it means to me to hear from you guys back home and know that you are taking the time to check up on us. We are truly blessed.

Don't forget to check the Flickr page for all our DisneyWorld and family Christmas photos!! (click on the link to go directly there).