I have already been home for over a month and a half. I can't believe it. Sadly, I have only spoken German probably two or three times since being home. I have written a bit of German in emails to friends, but not much. Not enough. I miss Frankfurt, my kiddos there, the family, my German family, my friends, and being able to get everywhere I wanted to be by walking or by biking. I do not miss the cold which has again contaminated Frankfurt - it's freezing there! But I'm sad to be missing out on playing in the snow with Emily and Oscar. I have visited so many friends since being home, which has been really wonderful. It makes my next decision harder to make. I am working as a PA to family friends, which I love - organizing is right up my ally. I'm meeting with some people in the International Office at PSU next month. I'm interviewing with a school in Frankfurt in February. And yet I still want to go to Thailand, South America, Spain, Hungry, Turkey, and back to Greece and Australia. Thankfully I still have time.
I've been living with Bethany. That is a blessing and a curse as she is a bit... picky. I love the location because then I am closer to a lot of my friends, but further from others. We had a holiday party there last week and it was a lot of fun - especially watching Bethany belt out Christmas songs when we did Karaoke.
Took Amy to the doctor's today so they could remove the 4 screws in her feet. Yuck. Now I just want to bake some goodies.
Still have 5 Milka bars left... look at me go!
22.12.10
7.11.10
Pics!
Apfelwein in Frankfurt
Sunset while hiking down the mountain in Assisi
Eats in Florence
Mom driving on the Autobahn
Cinque Terre
3.11.10
Oida.
It has been a whirlwind of a month. I don't even know where I have been! So here is my quick update as I use a computer at Maria's school in Würzburg where only students are allowed to be and a class is be instructed... I drove up here yesterday with Waltraud, Klaus, and Esther yesterday and we set up Maria's room, went to Ikea and bought a bed and mattress and other good things. Then they left yesterday night and I stayed! Her room is really big and pretty and her room mates are a lot of fun. She is very happy and excited about it all!
The new Au pair is here! Her name is Brittany and she is quite fabulous. Her dog, Ringo, is already being smothered by Emily who absolutely adores him. Very cute. We did some driving lessons the first few days (she didn't know how to drive stick), rode the bikes around town, etc so that she could get familiarized with the city. We've gone out into the city as well for drinks and fun with Rachel. Both nights proved rather hilarious. Dancing, drinks, silly German men, new friends, and long walks-bikes home. She is great and I have full faith that she will fit in with the family and have a great year.
Oscar and I finished reading Harry Potter. Sad-Happy day. I bought him Holes for his birthday so we are going to start reading that. Brittany got him started on The Lightening Thief series which he is also gobbling up. Our little reader. :)
Mom and Bethany came and visited!!! It was a quick trip indeed but I loved having them here. They were a little jet lagged so we ended up staying two days in Frankfurt and I showed them all around so they could see a little bit of my life here. We went to two museums, a Jewish Museum and the Liebighaus - a Sculpture Museum (both I found were very disappointing and boring). Friday we set out to pick up our rented car, a little bit of drama there but it all worked out (sorry Mom for taking over but the guy wanted to speak German not English. lol) Bethany was a bit disappointed because we got a Kia and not some fabulous German car. Strange indeed. Mom then took the lead and drove us to Würzburg to have lunch with Maria (where I am now, where she is going to school). Mom was very much over driving after that since she had to drive in a construction zone where there was hardly any room between her and the wall on her left and the giant trucks on her right. After leaving Maria I took over the wheel and we drove to Walting to my lovely Schödel house where we had some dinner and then we went to the Streller's and stayed there for two nights. The next day we drove into Munich (FC Bayern!!) and did a little tour around the city. Bethany wanted to look at the cars, I wanted to wander, and Mom wanted to have a plan. We went to Schloß Nymphenburg where I had been 6 years before with the school and also in July with Stephanie. The ceilings are beautifully painted and I really like the famous 'beauties gallery.' Then we went back to the Streller's for dinner and to sleep. Next day we went to church with them and then went to lunch at the Eigner's (both the Streller's and Eigner's visited us last year in Portland so it was nice for my Momma to catch up with them - though they hardly speak any English). After the delicious lunch (knödel!! duck also for the others) in their beautiful newly built home we went to a little party in the village in an old barn. After that we headed out to drop the car off in Munich and then caught our night train to Rome. That proved interesting - loud boys partying next to our 6 bed bunk bed room. I didnn't sleep to well due to the wind blowing so loud but there was no way I was closing the window.
- Rome for three nights (b was over it after the first night). Wandered around, ate good food, drank great wine, saw the main sites (but didn't go in them besides the Vatican - loved St. Peter's Basilica), happened upon a flea market where momma and b bought cute Italian boots, and hopped on and off the bus after long hours of walking.
-Assisi for one night (my favorite city) - hiked up to Mt. Sebastian, ate scrumptious cannolis - chocolate rolled wafers with nutella something in the middle, window shopped at a lot of cute boutiques, walked around the cobblestone alleys.
-Florence for two nights (at a hostel where we got our own apartment where we had more room then we had with any of the spendy hotels. Take that hotels) with a train trip up to Cinque Terre where we hiked up into the cities and then back down. Wandered around Florence - lots of shopping available there and fun people.
-Venice for one day before catching our night train back to Frankfurt - walked all around the city, ate amazing food (pesto gnocchi for me, garlic pepper spaghetti for momma, and some meat for bethany) and gelato and got soaked by the rain.
-After breakfast in Munich we headed back to Frankfurt, had dinner at my favorite Thai Art, wandered and shopped in the city (H&M!), unpacked, repacked and then they both left me the next morning..
It was a quick trip but I appreciated having both of them here and I loved going through Italy with them (next time without a map though).
OIDA.
The new Au pair is here! Her name is Brittany and she is quite fabulous. Her dog, Ringo, is already being smothered by Emily who absolutely adores him. Very cute. We did some driving lessons the first few days (she didn't know how to drive stick), rode the bikes around town, etc so that she could get familiarized with the city. We've gone out into the city as well for drinks and fun with Rachel. Both nights proved rather hilarious. Dancing, drinks, silly German men, new friends, and long walks-bikes home. She is great and I have full faith that she will fit in with the family and have a great year.
Oscar and I finished reading Harry Potter. Sad-Happy day. I bought him Holes for his birthday so we are going to start reading that. Brittany got him started on The Lightening Thief series which he is also gobbling up. Our little reader. :)
Mom and Bethany came and visited!!! It was a quick trip indeed but I loved having them here. They were a little jet lagged so we ended up staying two days in Frankfurt and I showed them all around so they could see a little bit of my life here. We went to two museums, a Jewish Museum and the Liebighaus - a Sculpture Museum (both I found were very disappointing and boring). Friday we set out to pick up our rented car, a little bit of drama there but it all worked out (sorry Mom for taking over but the guy wanted to speak German not English. lol) Bethany was a bit disappointed because we got a Kia and not some fabulous German car. Strange indeed. Mom then took the lead and drove us to Würzburg to have lunch with Maria (where I am now, where she is going to school). Mom was very much over driving after that since she had to drive in a construction zone where there was hardly any room between her and the wall on her left and the giant trucks on her right. After leaving Maria I took over the wheel and we drove to Walting to my lovely Schödel house where we had some dinner and then we went to the Streller's and stayed there for two nights. The next day we drove into Munich (FC Bayern!!) and did a little tour around the city. Bethany wanted to look at the cars, I wanted to wander, and Mom wanted to have a plan. We went to Schloß Nymphenburg where I had been 6 years before with the school and also in July with Stephanie. The ceilings are beautifully painted and I really like the famous 'beauties gallery.' Then we went back to the Streller's for dinner and to sleep. Next day we went to church with them and then went to lunch at the Eigner's (both the Streller's and Eigner's visited us last year in Portland so it was nice for my Momma to catch up with them - though they hardly speak any English). After the delicious lunch (knödel!! duck also for the others) in their beautiful newly built home we went to a little party in the village in an old barn. After that we headed out to drop the car off in Munich and then caught our night train to Rome. That proved interesting - loud boys partying next to our 6 bed bunk bed room. I didnn't sleep to well due to the wind blowing so loud but there was no way I was closing the window.
- Rome for three nights (b was over it after the first night). Wandered around, ate good food, drank great wine, saw the main sites (but didn't go in them besides the Vatican - loved St. Peter's Basilica), happened upon a flea market where momma and b bought cute Italian boots, and hopped on and off the bus after long hours of walking.
-Assisi for one night (my favorite city) - hiked up to Mt. Sebastian, ate scrumptious cannolis - chocolate rolled wafers with nutella something in the middle, window shopped at a lot of cute boutiques, walked around the cobblestone alleys.
-Florence for two nights (at a hostel where we got our own apartment where we had more room then we had with any of the spendy hotels. Take that hotels) with a train trip up to Cinque Terre where we hiked up into the cities and then back down. Wandered around Florence - lots of shopping available there and fun people.
-Venice for one day before catching our night train back to Frankfurt - walked all around the city, ate amazing food (pesto gnocchi for me, garlic pepper spaghetti for momma, and some meat for bethany) and gelato and got soaked by the rain.
-After breakfast in Munich we headed back to Frankfurt, had dinner at my favorite Thai Art, wandered and shopped in the city (H&M!), unpacked, repacked and then they both left me the next morning..
It was a quick trip but I appreciated having both of them here and I loved going through Italy with them (next time without a map though).
OIDA.
27.9.10
4 days. . .
the next au pair will be here in 4 days. i can't believe how fast the time has flown by. this means that on wednesday i will be moving all my stuff upstairs to the guest room. oscar thinks that is too far away. :)
it has been a very busy last few weeks.
we went to a wedding for a second cousin last weekend. it was beautiful. we got there at 9:30pm when we were supposed to arrive at 7pm. damn traffic. it was fun catching up with the relatives again. they are all so sweet. i said goodbye to a few and it was sad. can't believe this chapter is coming to a close. we had some visitors here last week- chris and his daughter maddie. i took them on a bike tour of the city and on our way back we saw what happens when a bike and car come into contact. blood on the ground, lady on the ground, and a completely mangled bike. scary stuff. then phillipp picked up emily early from school and we went to a nearby medieval castle. it was pretty cool. oscar was gone the whole week at the school's country house so no harry potter reading. we have less than 300 pages to go! i'm thinking of getting him the 6th movie for his birthday. must ask his parentals. :) babysat for celina one day. then went to coffee and cake with therese (san fran), charlotte (france), adriana (mexico), ning (china) and her husband dirk (germany). i love how we can just sit for hours at a cafe. went and saw a really funny movie: groupies bleiben nicht zum fruehstuck (groupies don't stay for breakfast) w/ my friends lenka (czech republic) and cesi (bolivia) and laughed a lot. went to a bath house with a pretty view of castles with charlotte, her hubby, and baby leanne, ning, dirk, and his son moritz, and adriana. went out to italian (where i went wrong and got pizza). had drinks at charlotte's and stayed up too late. got up early to catch a train w/ lenka, cesi, and mari (venezuela) to nürnberg and würzburg. i didn't enjoy much of würzburg though because i got a fever and then was nauseous and then threw up on the train ride home (who does that?!). my jeans, scarf, and jacket were victims of that little mishap since someone would not get out of the bathroom as i banged on it.
i stayed in bed all day today since my body is still hating me a bit. i picked up the kids from school - nice to have some fresh air, but i am just exhausted. hopefully i will be able to sleep tonight. peace and love.
it has been a very busy last few weeks.
we went to a wedding for a second cousin last weekend. it was beautiful. we got there at 9:30pm when we were supposed to arrive at 7pm. damn traffic. it was fun catching up with the relatives again. they are all so sweet. i said goodbye to a few and it was sad. can't believe this chapter is coming to a close. we had some visitors here last week- chris and his daughter maddie. i took them on a bike tour of the city and on our way back we saw what happens when a bike and car come into contact. blood on the ground, lady on the ground, and a completely mangled bike. scary stuff. then phillipp picked up emily early from school and we went to a nearby medieval castle. it was pretty cool. oscar was gone the whole week at the school's country house so no harry potter reading. we have less than 300 pages to go! i'm thinking of getting him the 6th movie for his birthday. must ask his parentals. :) babysat for celina one day. then went to coffee and cake with therese (san fran), charlotte (france), adriana (mexico), ning (china) and her husband dirk (germany). i love how we can just sit for hours at a cafe. went and saw a really funny movie: groupies bleiben nicht zum fruehstuck (groupies don't stay for breakfast) w/ my friends lenka (czech republic) and cesi (bolivia) and laughed a lot. went to a bath house with a pretty view of castles with charlotte, her hubby, and baby leanne, ning, dirk, and his son moritz, and adriana. went out to italian (where i went wrong and got pizza). had drinks at charlotte's and stayed up too late. got up early to catch a train w/ lenka, cesi, and mari (venezuela) to nürnberg and würzburg. i didn't enjoy much of würzburg though because i got a fever and then was nauseous and then threw up on the train ride home (who does that?!). my jeans, scarf, and jacket were victims of that little mishap since someone would not get out of the bathroom as i banged on it.
8.9.10
It hurts.
Here is my blog Elder Russell Ballard:
I just watched 8: The Mormon Proposition and it just hurts how the Mormon church and the Catholic church fought so sneakily against the love that some people have that makes them uncomfortable and that they feel goes against the word of God that they read. What do these people do/think when they themselves or their own children are LGBTQ?
It just hurts my heart. Hurts my heart.
I just watched 8: The Mormon Proposition and it just hurts how the Mormon church and the Catholic church fought so sneakily against the love that some people have that makes them uncomfortable and that they feel goes against the word of God that they read. What do these people do/think when they themselves or their own children are LGBTQ?
It just hurts my heart. Hurts my heart.
30.8.10
Fall.
It isn't even September and it feels like Fall here. The weather is completely bi-polar. Have I already mentioned that? I went for a 65min run tonight in my favorite Grueneberg Park. It sprinkled, rained, and then was sunny again. It was a nice run though. I'm going to miss it. Then I came home and got to have my hair picked like a monkey by Phillipp because they found lice in Emily's hair. I'm lice free! And then I returned the monkey favor and checked Phillipp's and I'm pretty sure he didn't have any. It's kind of difficult to see them though apparently. I got to talk to my wonderful brother from another mother this morning (Tyler) and that definitely made my day!! I miss him and can't wait to see him at Xmas.
Still job searching. I'm loving the idea of being a Study Abroad Advisor so I'm definitely looking into that. And Americorps is also drawing my eyes because it would be a great way for me to give back to the community and not have to worry about where to live! I really like a couple of the programs and am being drawn to Colorado and Montana. And North Carolina after speaking to the lovely Kelly who is studying there. Oy decisions decisions. Hopefully the next four days pass REALLY slowly so I can stay 23 as long as possible. That would be great. Thanks.
Still job searching. I'm loving the idea of being a Study Abroad Advisor so I'm definitely looking into that. And Americorps is also drawing my eyes because it would be a great way for me to give back to the community and not have to worry about where to live! I really like a couple of the programs and am being drawn to Colorado and Montana. And North Carolina after speaking to the lovely Kelly who is studying there. Oy decisions decisions. Hopefully the next four days pass REALLY slowly so I can stay 23 as long as possible. That would be great. Thanks.
27.8.10
Breathe.
Don't like:
- When people never travel.
- Mushrooms.
- When people are obsessed with what they eat and how much they exercise and how many calories they consume.
- When it rains and I want to go outside in the warmth.
- When people are so close-minded and set in their ways AND don't even realize it. Vomit!
- Beer (except the kind that tastes like fruit juice)
- When people sit in their rooms all day instead of going out and experiencing life.
- Writing a lot (even though I'm going to write a book)
- When people try to push their beliefs on others.
- Scary movies aka movies with violence or suspense. Why would I want to watch that?
- When people are against the equality of all people aka people against (gasp) same-sex marriage.
- Having a lot of stuff. What happens when your house burns down? You are only your story.
- Saying goodbye.
- Facials.
- Wanting to be with "everyone" but "everyone" doesn't live near me.
- When people are arrogant and/or close-minded and ignorant about it.
- Lying. I prefer the truth thanks.
- Job searching. Endless options!
- Food allergies.
- Having a bad memory.
- The work it takes to have a garden.
- When I am bi-polar.
- That I care. Why do people's emotions have to affect me so much?
- Borders. Which is why I can't fly/work/live/watch where/what I want to.
- When people don't know how to communicate.
- How some people think that what they own makes them more important/better than others.
- When I cook something that doesn't taste good.
- When people play nintendo/computer games for hours.
- Death, even if it is part of life.
- How fast time flies by.
- When people never travel.
- Mushrooms.
- When people are obsessed with what they eat and how much they exercise and how many calories they consume.
- When it rains and I want to go outside in the warmth.
- When people are so close-minded and set in their ways AND don't even realize it. Vomit!
- Beer (except the kind that tastes like fruit juice)
- When people sit in their rooms all day instead of going out and experiencing life.
- Writing a lot (even though I'm going to write a book)
- When people try to push their beliefs on others.
- Scary movies aka movies with violence or suspense. Why would I want to watch that?
- When people are against the equality of all people aka people against (gasp) same-sex marriage.
- Having a lot of stuff. What happens when your house burns down? You are only your story.
- Saying goodbye.
- Facials.
- Wanting to be with "everyone" but "everyone" doesn't live near me.
- When people are arrogant and/or close-minded and ignorant about it.
- Lying. I prefer the truth thanks.
- Job searching. Endless options!
- Food allergies.
- Having a bad memory.
- The work it takes to have a garden.
- When I am bi-polar.
- That I care. Why do people's emotions have to affect me so much?
- Borders. Which is why I can't fly/work/live/watch where/what I want to.
- When people don't know how to communicate.
- How some people think that what they own makes them more important/better than others.
- When I cook something that doesn't taste good.
- When people play nintendo/computer games for hours.
- Death, even if it is part of life.
- How fast time flies by.
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