Yes, I finally have something real to write about again - albeit a week late - but last Saturday we packed up the red babies and headed to Rothenberg ob der Tauber, about an hour and a half form where we live. This little city is from mideival times and it is enclosed by a city wall that you can walk along and have great views (we didn't do that though of course since we had the doggies.) However, we were able to walk for 3 hours just exploring the streets of the city! It was so fun!
Rothenberg is actually one of the most popular tourist cities in Germany, and it's easy to see why. It is picture-perfect for what you think of in a cute little Germany community from days of old (when knights were bold.... haha!! in memory of Grandpa Don...). It is also the home of the indoor Christmas village, something I'll have to blog about once we go inside (again, we didn't do that either because of the doggies).
Now, before you think we missed out on everything because of the reds, let me just say the weather was gorgeous and we were able to just wear light jackets for our strolls. The people of this city completely epitomized the German's love for dogs - I can't even count how many people smiled at Noel and Scout, or pet them, or talked to them, and even a few who got down on the ground and hugged all over them. They loved it, and I was so proud of them for being so well-behaved, too! We had no problems whatsoever; there were even a couple dogs who decided to bark at Scout and he ignored them.
We also discovered the famous schneeballen -- a Rothenberg specialty pastry. It's basically like pie crusts cut into strips and rolled up into balls, and then covered with topping such as sugar, cinnamon, chocolate or nougat. Some even had fillings throughout. I have since learned from Alia too that schneballen means snowballs, which is fitting if you saw them. They were very good and we of course bought several varieties to try. The lady in the schneeball shop was in love with the dogs and came out side to sit and cuddle with them. She kept talking to them in German and every once in a while would say 'ohhh, I love you! I love you!" and kiss them and hug them. It was cute, and the best part is she gave us an extra schneeballen for free! haha!
I also forgot to blog I think that about a month ago we took a really fun day trip to Sinsheim with Lira and the kids to the Technik Museum there. It was fun; cold that day, but fun. So no, we haven't been completely holed up in the house here but now that the weather is getting warmer we are feeling the itch to do some more exploring!!
Today is clean the house day since we have less than a week before my parents arrive! I CAN'T WAIT!!! Also, in a couple hours the doggies have an appointment at a German vet to get their doggy passports. That way they can travel more with us.
Check out the pictures from our trip to Rothenberg on our Flickr page! http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristenandcarl
21 March 2009
25 February 2009
Short update
I know that I haven't updated in a while, but that's mostly because we just haven't had lots of really exciting things going on. We've been doing fine still, day in and day out -- just working, hanging out with our friends, etc. -- basically, the same old stuff.
We did host game nights a few weeks ago which turned out great. At the last minute we decided to have a potato bar and lots of snacky items and we played Cranium first, then we tried Don't Forget the Lyrics which turned out to just be a giant sing-fest where everyone sang what little words they knew at the top of their lungs. We also played some Uno that Lira's kids brought.
Last weekend Carl actually had the full weekend off, so we went back to Speyer to do some shopping. I felt like I needed some new warm work clothes and he wanted some too. Well a few hours later we were leaving with bags full of new stuff for me and nothing for him! Typical, huh? It was really fun because in one store we walked in and I think this lady must have seen me coming and thought, 'wow, this girl needs help!' She turned out to be like my own personal shopper lady! She helped me figure out my sizes for pants, jeans and sweaters (all different). She spoke no English, and I spoke no German. She followed me around and when I would pick up a sweater, she'd grab it out of my hands, put it down and pick up a different one. She also pulled some pants away from me because somehow she knew they'd be too short and she found me a pair of longs. Believe it or not, everything she picked not only fit perfectly but looked great, too! It was awesome! So anyone who is planning to come and visit and would like to do some shopping, I definitely know where we are going!
We are getting closer and closer to my parents' visit which is just so exciting I can hardly stand it! We have booked airline tickets to go see Gabriella in Sweden while they're here, too! Gabriella was an exchange student who lived with us in high school and we are so excited to go see where she lives and experience Stockholm! She's been very helpful too in making plans for things to see and do as well as finding an awesome deal on a very nice hotel in downtown.
The doggies are doing pretty well as always. We've had a few more big snow days and they just love the snow! Scouty keeps murdering rolls of toilet paper during the day, though. Guess he's trying to make it snow in the house too?
Well that's about all I can think of for right now. We've really not been living the glam Euro lifestyle lately with work getting in the way, not to mention we were saving money and fun things to do for when my parents get here.
I'll try to update more often again though as things happen.
We did host game nights a few weeks ago which turned out great. At the last minute we decided to have a potato bar and lots of snacky items and we played Cranium first, then we tried Don't Forget the Lyrics which turned out to just be a giant sing-fest where everyone sang what little words they knew at the top of their lungs. We also played some Uno that Lira's kids brought.
Last weekend Carl actually had the full weekend off, so we went back to Speyer to do some shopping. I felt like I needed some new warm work clothes and he wanted some too. Well a few hours later we were leaving with bags full of new stuff for me and nothing for him! Typical, huh? It was really fun because in one store we walked in and I think this lady must have seen me coming and thought, 'wow, this girl needs help!' She turned out to be like my own personal shopper lady! She helped me figure out my sizes for pants, jeans and sweaters (all different). She spoke no English, and I spoke no German. She followed me around and when I would pick up a sweater, she'd grab it out of my hands, put it down and pick up a different one. She also pulled some pants away from me because somehow she knew they'd be too short and she found me a pair of longs. Believe it or not, everything she picked not only fit perfectly but looked great, too! It was awesome! So anyone who is planning to come and visit and would like to do some shopping, I definitely know where we are going!
We are getting closer and closer to my parents' visit which is just so exciting I can hardly stand it! We have booked airline tickets to go see Gabriella in Sweden while they're here, too! Gabriella was an exchange student who lived with us in high school and we are so excited to go see where she lives and experience Stockholm! She's been very helpful too in making plans for things to see and do as well as finding an awesome deal on a very nice hotel in downtown.
The doggies are doing pretty well as always. We've had a few more big snow days and they just love the snow! Scouty keeps murdering rolls of toilet paper during the day, though. Guess he's trying to make it snow in the house too?
Well that's about all I can think of for right now. We've really not been living the glam Euro lifestyle lately with work getting in the way, not to mention we were saving money and fun things to do for when my parents get here.
I'll try to update more often again though as things happen.
06 February 2009
Movie night make-up and Games, games, games
Well, it's been a quiet past few weeks in Germany, my new homecountry.
:)
Let's see, a week ago Tuesday we had a 'make-up movie night' where Lira and the kids and I all skipped out on bowling night and met up with Jen and Kelli to drool over Edward.. umm.. I mean to see Twilight at the movie theater on post. It was much better the second time! I think because this time I wasn't concentrating as much on what was different from the book, but more just on ... well, Edward. Haha! The movie itself is definitely kinda bad, just poorly made, but I still loved it and will see it again whenever I can!
One thing I have to say that I absolutely love about this community is that on a random Tuesday night like that, Carl can go bowling and I can be at the movie theater a block away, and when it's done we can safely walk around at night and there are people everywhere doing the same thing. It's a very nice sense of community. Even though we don't live on post right there, it's still a nice feeling.
I had several work events to cover over the past couple weeks as well that were kind of fun. One was Friday night, a carnival at one of the elementary schools on post. Carl got home in time to go with me, and Lira and the kids were there too. It was a nice event, to be honest. As I wandered around and took photos and talked to people, Carl wandered around and found the silent auction area... and proceeded to win the "family game night basket." It was this giant basket full of, what else, games! There are some fun-looking ones in there and we've already tried several of them, including Cranium, Jenga, Yahtzee, Mancala, Don't Forget the Lyrics, ESPN Trivia, Candyland, and I can't remember what else.
Saturday evening last weekend we were invited to Dan & Kelli's for a taco bar and to play some board games (they invited us before they knew Carl had won the games basket, how ironic huh?). Their dog, Bailey, even invited the red babies to come over too, so we headed over there. It was fun! Just the seven of us (four humans, three dogs). We played Clue, Hoopla and Cranium. (I stink at Hoopla and really have no desire to try that one ever again...) Then, of course we busted out the Rock Band and gave it a try. We rotated a little but found out that Dan needs to be the singer, Carl on drums and Kelli & I can switch out on guitar.
Sunday night was Super Bowl night. Carl stayed up to watch it, of course, since his beloved Steelers were playing. The game didn't even start till midnight our time, so I went to bed at my normal time since I had to work the next day! Yes, Carl took Monday off to recover from the game. It wasn't over till around 4:30 a.m. our time, so I can't blame him. I did, however, get him to agree to take care of some errands during the day. He took Noel to the vet to get her shots updated, went to the bank and even took my two-page grocery list and trekked to the commissary. I don't think he really caught up on his sleep like he was hoping to, but hey, his Steelers won the Super Bowl, so I doubt he'd have slept much anyway.
This week has mostly been just a typical work week for both of us.
Tomorrow night, we are hosting Game Night here at our house. Lira and the kids and Dan and Kelli are coming over. It should be fun! I am a little nervous about everyone coming here, because I still don't feel like this house is ready for visitors. (and of course I am blogging instead of cleaning...) But I know everyone's anxious to finally see where we live and I think we're due to be hosts this time.
That's about it for now!
:)
Let's see, a week ago Tuesday we had a 'make-up movie night' where Lira and the kids and I all skipped out on bowling night and met up with Jen and Kelli to drool over Edward.. umm.. I mean to see Twilight at the movie theater on post. It was much better the second time! I think because this time I wasn't concentrating as much on what was different from the book, but more just on ... well, Edward. Haha! The movie itself is definitely kinda bad, just poorly made, but I still loved it and will see it again whenever I can!
One thing I have to say that I absolutely love about this community is that on a random Tuesday night like that, Carl can go bowling and I can be at the movie theater a block away, and when it's done we can safely walk around at night and there are people everywhere doing the same thing. It's a very nice sense of community. Even though we don't live on post right there, it's still a nice feeling.
I had several work events to cover over the past couple weeks as well that were kind of fun. One was Friday night, a carnival at one of the elementary schools on post. Carl got home in time to go with me, and Lira and the kids were there too. It was a nice event, to be honest. As I wandered around and took photos and talked to people, Carl wandered around and found the silent auction area... and proceeded to win the "family game night basket." It was this giant basket full of, what else, games! There are some fun-looking ones in there and we've already tried several of them, including Cranium, Jenga, Yahtzee, Mancala, Don't Forget the Lyrics, ESPN Trivia, Candyland, and I can't remember what else.
Saturday evening last weekend we were invited to Dan & Kelli's for a taco bar and to play some board games (they invited us before they knew Carl had won the games basket, how ironic huh?). Their dog, Bailey, even invited the red babies to come over too, so we headed over there. It was fun! Just the seven of us (four humans, three dogs). We played Clue, Hoopla and Cranium. (I stink at Hoopla and really have no desire to try that one ever again...) Then, of course we busted out the Rock Band and gave it a try. We rotated a little but found out that Dan needs to be the singer, Carl on drums and Kelli & I can switch out on guitar.
Sunday night was Super Bowl night. Carl stayed up to watch it, of course, since his beloved Steelers were playing. The game didn't even start till midnight our time, so I went to bed at my normal time since I had to work the next day! Yes, Carl took Monday off to recover from the game. It wasn't over till around 4:30 a.m. our time, so I can't blame him. I did, however, get him to agree to take care of some errands during the day. He took Noel to the vet to get her shots updated, went to the bank and even took my two-page grocery list and trekked to the commissary. I don't think he really caught up on his sleep like he was hoping to, but hey, his Steelers won the Super Bowl, so I doubt he'd have slept much anyway.
This week has mostly been just a typical work week for both of us.
Tomorrow night, we are hosting Game Night here at our house. Lira and the kids and Dan and Kelli are coming over. It should be fun! I am a little nervous about everyone coming here, because I still don't feel like this house is ready for visitors. (and of course I am blogging instead of cleaning...) But I know everyone's anxious to finally see where we live and I think we're due to be hosts this time.
That's about it for now!
27 January 2009
Movie weekend
We had a good weekend this past weekend. Saturday morning we got up and headed over to the furniture store to pick up our new guestroom bedset. It was very nice because this store had a vehicle we could rent from them and we live close enough that we had it back within 30 minutes, so it was cheap, too! That's one bad thing about giving up our big vehicles -- it's hard to get stuff home!
After that, we flipped through cookbooks and some of my old vegetarian magazines to find suitable recipes to bring to the Twilight potluck later that night. We found some yummy-sounding recipes (vegetable caviar and lemon-mint vinaigrette sugar snap peas) and headed to the commissary to buy some ingredients. While at the commissary we stocked up on none other than.. Girl Scout Cookies! Yayyy!! I was thrilled. :)
When we got home, I worked on the cooking while Carl went upstairs to put the new bed set together. It looks nice, but it is still lacking bedding as it's a German bed and we need to go buy some nice German bedding for it.
The potluck was at Dan&Kelli's and it was fun. Our vegetarian caviar turned out delicious! For the other recipe, well, the commissary did not have sugar snap peas so we substituted snow peas.... and, it didn't work too well for this particular recipe. Anyway, there were 8 of us at the potluck and we had a nice time sitting around chatting while waiting for time to pass so we could head to the movie!
Twilight. Ahhh Twilight. My favorite vampire boyfriend Edward. :) It was scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m., and this was 'opening night' here at our post theater. So, we decided to get there around 9 p.m. since you can't buy tickets earlier than 30 minutes prior to a show starting here. We got in the line that was formed outside the building at about 9:05 p.m. Not even five minutes later, the theater workers come outside and tell everyone they were sold out already! What?!?! Unbelievable. Apparently, for this movie, they had opened at 8 p.m. to sell tickets. Are you kidding me? Nice. So, no Twilight for us. The stupid thing is they are only showing it maybe two more times at our theater. Dumb. Luckily I got to see it back home in the States. I still wanted to see it again though!! So, we rented Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and headed back to Dan& Kelli's to watch together. It was fun, even though I fell asleep for parts of it.
Sunday we went to church and then went to lunch with Dan&Kelli and Lira and the kids. It was fun. The restaurant has slow service, so we were there for a while, but it was okay because we all get along and had nice conversation. After that, we headed home and did some housecleaning and laundry, etc. before going to bed.
Tonight is bowling night again, but it's also the one other showing of Twilight at our theater. So, I will probably be going to that! Lira said she'll probably get a sub for bowling so she can go and bring the kids, and I think Jen and Kelli may show up as well. So, it may turn out to be a sort of girl's night after all.
After that, we flipped through cookbooks and some of my old vegetarian magazines to find suitable recipes to bring to the Twilight potluck later that night. We found some yummy-sounding recipes (vegetable caviar and lemon-mint vinaigrette sugar snap peas) and headed to the commissary to buy some ingredients. While at the commissary we stocked up on none other than.. Girl Scout Cookies! Yayyy!! I was thrilled. :)
When we got home, I worked on the cooking while Carl went upstairs to put the new bed set together. It looks nice, but it is still lacking bedding as it's a German bed and we need to go buy some nice German bedding for it.
The potluck was at Dan&Kelli's and it was fun. Our vegetarian caviar turned out delicious! For the other recipe, well, the commissary did not have sugar snap peas so we substituted snow peas.... and, it didn't work too well for this particular recipe. Anyway, there were 8 of us at the potluck and we had a nice time sitting around chatting while waiting for time to pass so we could head to the movie!
Twilight. Ahhh Twilight. My favorite vampire boyfriend Edward. :) It was scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m., and this was 'opening night' here at our post theater. So, we decided to get there around 9 p.m. since you can't buy tickets earlier than 30 minutes prior to a show starting here. We got in the line that was formed outside the building at about 9:05 p.m. Not even five minutes later, the theater workers come outside and tell everyone they were sold out already! What?!?! Unbelievable. Apparently, for this movie, they had opened at 8 p.m. to sell tickets. Are you kidding me? Nice. So, no Twilight for us. The stupid thing is they are only showing it maybe two more times at our theater. Dumb. Luckily I got to see it back home in the States. I still wanted to see it again though!! So, we rented Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and headed back to Dan& Kelli's to watch together. It was fun, even though I fell asleep for parts of it.
Sunday we went to church and then went to lunch with Dan&Kelli and Lira and the kids. It was fun. The restaurant has slow service, so we were there for a while, but it was okay because we all get along and had nice conversation. After that, we headed home and did some housecleaning and laundry, etc. before going to bed.
Tonight is bowling night again, but it's also the one other showing of Twilight at our theater. So, I will probably be going to that! Lira said she'll probably get a sub for bowling so she can go and bring the kids, and I think Jen and Kelli may show up as well. So, it may turn out to be a sort of girl's night after all.
22 January 2009
Shopping, snow, American Idol
Oops, it's been a little while since I have updated again. We have had some pretty uneventful times overall lately, just being busy with work and the daily grind.
Last week, I think it was Wednesday, it snowed again and it was absolutely beautiful! Big huge fluffy flakes that covered the entire countryside with white. The dogs again had so much fun playing in it. The snow had not actually melted yet from the last time, so this piled on top and made for a fairly nice little base. Sunday, however, it warmed up enough to rain so it was all washed away.
Saturday we found a nice furniture store around the corner from the house, and bought a new bedroom set for one of our extra bedrooms! We sold a lot of our extra furniture before we moved, and figured it was time to start getting ready for guests... drumroll please.... since my parents have officially booked their tickets and will be coming in the spring! Yayyyy!!!!! Obviously, I'm not going to post dates or anything for simple security precautions, but, it's a little ways away yet. I have been busy trying to plan an itinerary for their visit. 'So much Europe, so little time' is my new phrase!! There are so many places we want to go while they're here; some we've been to, some not.
Anyway, back to the bedroom set. It's very German, so that should be interesting for all you future guests! We pick it up this weekend and I'll have to find some nice bedding and get it all decorated so I can eventually post some pictures.
Saturday we also stopped by the library and got some new books to read. I got an awesome cookbook and have been a cooking machine this week!! I'm serious when I say that the kitchen and I have never really gotten along, until this week! I should have been taking pictures of the meals just for proof! haha! I got another Karen Kingsbury novel to read (already a good halfway through) but that's the only one they have, so pretty soon I'll either have to find a new author again or will have to find some bargain books online to order.
Monday was a holiday so we spent part of the afternoon and evening in Speyer, our favorite little town nearby, doing some shopping. I needed new work shoes (20Euro for nice black boots) and some of the stores were having some mega clearance sales so I got some new work pants (9Euro!) and a sweater (9Euro!). The only bad thing is that I am still getting used to the sizing over here. My shoes? Size 41! Sweater? Extra Large! Pants? Welllll... let's just say Carl was making fun of me because my European size is near the number for his American size... and also near my European shoe size now that I think about it. The truth is, I'm not really any bigger (okay maybe a little bit -- but the bretzels, berliners and strudels are too good here!!) it just feels so funny to buy sizes like 41! I'll get used to it. Or, get better at online shopping in American sizes again. haha!
This weekend was supposed to be a girl's night on Saturday, when we were headed to the premiere (over here anyway) of Twilight! Well, then Lira's son kind of wanted to come, so Carl said he'd come, and Dan said he'd go if Carl was going, and now Bryce said he'd go if the other guys were going... so, it's just going to be a whole big group thing. We're going to do a potluck dinner together at Dan & Kelli's and then head to the movie. There will probably be 8 or maybe 10, depending on whether Jen & Nate can make it.
Some sad news to report, and the only reason I put it down here is Not because it's not important, but because I know the only people who read this far down are the people who actually care about us, and the only ones who should read this, but we did have a loss in the family last week as Matt & Jennie lost the baby. :( We've all been keeping them in our prayers and are very sad for them, but happy that Jennie is okay. I won't post details because it's not my place to do so, but, we are thinking about them and praying for them.
That's about all for now. It's time for American Idol! :) Yes, we get it over here, just a day later. Better than nothing!
Last week, I think it was Wednesday, it snowed again and it was absolutely beautiful! Big huge fluffy flakes that covered the entire countryside with white. The dogs again had so much fun playing in it. The snow had not actually melted yet from the last time, so this piled on top and made for a fairly nice little base. Sunday, however, it warmed up enough to rain so it was all washed away.
Saturday we found a nice furniture store around the corner from the house, and bought a new bedroom set for one of our extra bedrooms! We sold a lot of our extra furniture before we moved, and figured it was time to start getting ready for guests... drumroll please.... since my parents have officially booked their tickets and will be coming in the spring! Yayyyy!!!!! Obviously, I'm not going to post dates or anything for simple security precautions, but, it's a little ways away yet. I have been busy trying to plan an itinerary for their visit. 'So much Europe, so little time' is my new phrase!! There are so many places we want to go while they're here; some we've been to, some not.
Anyway, back to the bedroom set. It's very German, so that should be interesting for all you future guests! We pick it up this weekend and I'll have to find some nice bedding and get it all decorated so I can eventually post some pictures.
Saturday we also stopped by the library and got some new books to read. I got an awesome cookbook and have been a cooking machine this week!! I'm serious when I say that the kitchen and I have never really gotten along, until this week! I should have been taking pictures of the meals just for proof! haha! I got another Karen Kingsbury novel to read (already a good halfway through) but that's the only one they have, so pretty soon I'll either have to find a new author again or will have to find some bargain books online to order.
Monday was a holiday so we spent part of the afternoon and evening in Speyer, our favorite little town nearby, doing some shopping. I needed new work shoes (20Euro for nice black boots) and some of the stores were having some mega clearance sales so I got some new work pants (9Euro!) and a sweater (9Euro!). The only bad thing is that I am still getting used to the sizing over here. My shoes? Size 41! Sweater? Extra Large! Pants? Welllll... let's just say Carl was making fun of me because my European size is near the number for his American size... and also near my European shoe size now that I think about it. The truth is, I'm not really any bigger (okay maybe a little bit -- but the bretzels, berliners and strudels are too good here!!) it just feels so funny to buy sizes like 41! I'll get used to it. Or, get better at online shopping in American sizes again. haha!
This weekend was supposed to be a girl's night on Saturday, when we were headed to the premiere (over here anyway) of Twilight! Well, then Lira's son kind of wanted to come, so Carl said he'd come, and Dan said he'd go if Carl was going, and now Bryce said he'd go if the other guys were going... so, it's just going to be a whole big group thing. We're going to do a potluck dinner together at Dan & Kelli's and then head to the movie. There will probably be 8 or maybe 10, depending on whether Jen & Nate can make it.
Some sad news to report, and the only reason I put it down here is Not because it's not important, but because I know the only people who read this far down are the people who actually care about us, and the only ones who should read this, but we did have a loss in the family last week as Matt & Jennie lost the baby. :( We've all been keeping them in our prayers and are very sad for them, but happy that Jennie is okay. I won't post details because it's not my place to do so, but, we are thinking about them and praying for them.
That's about all for now. It's time for American Idol! :) Yes, we get it over here, just a day later. Better than nothing!
12 January 2009
Weekend Update
Over the weekend we had a lot to accomplish. Saturday was one of those days that we knew we just needed to get things done. Most importantly, we had to figure out how to buy oil and have it delivered to the house. We use oil to heat our home, and we have four huge tanks in the basement... and they were pretty much at the last drops. I got the name of a local oil company from a co-worker but of course that wasn't going to get the oil delivered.
So, Saturday we drove to where we thought their building was, and through broken English and German we found our way to the office, where the very nice lady at the counter basically only spoke one word of English -"No."
Luckily, Carl's been brushing up on his German, and hand gestures and acting out things are universal languages. The lady was very friendly and willing to help us figure out what to do. As it turned out, there was a driver near our house already who did speak English, so she called him and Carl spoke with him on the phone. About 20 minutes later we were driving up to the house and the oil truck was already there waiting for us! Hallelujah!! We can now turn our heaters up to high and try to keep from catching another cold! It has been unbelievably cold here in our house lately... radiator heaters just don't heat up a giant house all that well. We have figured out which doors to close to keep the heat in certain rooms, and we don't heat the whole upstairs or downstairs just yet, only the side of the house that we are living on. It's worked fine so far, and so it should continue to work well now that we've refilled the oil and know how to get more in the future!
Saturday evening we attened at play at our local theater since we bought season tickets at the beginning of the year. We saw "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and it was hysterical! We were laughing out loud and there were parts where I think the entire audience was laughing as loud as they could at how hilarious it was. It was a good evening. I am really looking forward to the last play of the season, my personal favorite, "The Sound of Music!" but that doesn't start up till May I think. There are a couple more in between we'll go to as well.
Sunday was wonderful for me because I got to stay home. Carl had to work again so I did something I haven't done in forever -- I stayed in my pj's and bathrobe all day! And it felt awesome!! I was a heathen by skipping church, yes I know, and I do feel bad, but sometimes the need to do absolutely nothing and stay in the pajamas is just too great to overcome. I did do a bunch of laundry though so the day wasn't a total waste of time (although I personally think there would have been nothing wrong with a total wasted day...)
I finished another Karen Kingsbury book last night too, this one was "Like Dandelion Dust." I highly recommend it. I am hoping to go by the library to see if they have any more by her but if not then I might move on to another Rosamunde Pilcher or maybe a Maeve Binchy; I really like both of those authors and found some old paperbacks in our stuff that I haven't read yet.
We're hard at work trying to nail down dates for my parents' visit! Lots of work things on both ends have prevented any ticket purchase yet unfortunately, but, we're getting closer! I can't wait!!
One more random thing about me: I have become totally addicted to Burt's Bee's Hand Salve. I got a little kit in my stocking from Santa of Burt's Bee's samplers. (Thanks Santa Dude!!!!) I already knew I loved the lip gloss tin and the lemon butter cuticle cream. I actually gave Carl a huge tin of this Hand Salve stuff last year at Christmas because I thought it would be good for him with work and all. Well, when I felt how dry my skin got here and just one night of putting that stuff on my hands, I am hooked! And I can't get it here! Ugh! So... anytime someone would like to send me a little something, Burt's Bee's Hand Salve would be a real treat! (actually, anything Burt's Bee's is fine with me; I haven't found anything yet I don't like from that company!) Just a thought! :)
So, Saturday we drove to where we thought their building was, and through broken English and German we found our way to the office, where the very nice lady at the counter basically only spoke one word of English -"No."
Luckily, Carl's been brushing up on his German, and hand gestures and acting out things are universal languages. The lady was very friendly and willing to help us figure out what to do. As it turned out, there was a driver near our house already who did speak English, so she called him and Carl spoke with him on the phone. About 20 minutes later we were driving up to the house and the oil truck was already there waiting for us! Hallelujah!! We can now turn our heaters up to high and try to keep from catching another cold! It has been unbelievably cold here in our house lately... radiator heaters just don't heat up a giant house all that well. We have figured out which doors to close to keep the heat in certain rooms, and we don't heat the whole upstairs or downstairs just yet, only the side of the house that we are living on. It's worked fine so far, and so it should continue to work well now that we've refilled the oil and know how to get more in the future!
Saturday evening we attened at play at our local theater since we bought season tickets at the beginning of the year. We saw "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and it was hysterical! We were laughing out loud and there were parts where I think the entire audience was laughing as loud as they could at how hilarious it was. It was a good evening. I am really looking forward to the last play of the season, my personal favorite, "The Sound of Music!" but that doesn't start up till May I think. There are a couple more in between we'll go to as well.
Sunday was wonderful for me because I got to stay home. Carl had to work again so I did something I haven't done in forever -- I stayed in my pj's and bathrobe all day! And it felt awesome!! I was a heathen by skipping church, yes I know, and I do feel bad, but sometimes the need to do absolutely nothing and stay in the pajamas is just too great to overcome. I did do a bunch of laundry though so the day wasn't a total waste of time (although I personally think there would have been nothing wrong with a total wasted day...)
I finished another Karen Kingsbury book last night too, this one was "Like Dandelion Dust." I highly recommend it. I am hoping to go by the library to see if they have any more by her but if not then I might move on to another Rosamunde Pilcher or maybe a Maeve Binchy; I really like both of those authors and found some old paperbacks in our stuff that I haven't read yet.
We're hard at work trying to nail down dates for my parents' visit! Lots of work things on both ends have prevented any ticket purchase yet unfortunately, but, we're getting closer! I can't wait!!
One more random thing about me: I have become totally addicted to Burt's Bee's Hand Salve. I got a little kit in my stocking from Santa of Burt's Bee's samplers. (Thanks Santa Dude!!!!) I already knew I loved the lip gloss tin and the lemon butter cuticle cream. I actually gave Carl a huge tin of this Hand Salve stuff last year at Christmas because I thought it would be good for him with work and all. Well, when I felt how dry my skin got here and just one night of putting that stuff on my hands, I am hooked! And I can't get it here! Ugh! So... anytime someone would like to send me a little something, Burt's Bee's Hand Salve would be a real treat! (actually, anything Burt's Bee's is fine with me; I haven't found anything yet I don't like from that company!) Just a thought! :)
08 January 2009
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).
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).
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