So. It's been a while

Since nearly Christmas!  It's July!  Mid July! I have become a monumental slacker.  OR - I've just been dealing with life.

OK.  Both.

But I'm finding more energy, so hopefully the blog will be the recipient of some of that energy.  It's good therapy for me anyway.

To sum up the past few months:
I've gotten into the swing of my job.  I'm lucky to have found employment in Germany on post, even though I'm making a fraction of what I thought I would be at this point in life.  Of course, I also thought I would be using my advanced education where as you don't even need a BA for my current job.  Regardless, I have managed to pay off one of my many school loans.  So I can't bitch too much.  Plus, it's a nice laid back job with a flexible schedule.  The only downside is the occasional drama of dealing with other Army spouses.  Drama tends to be drummed up when personalities clash and situations are stressful (like say, when their soldiers are in the field training).  It happens.  Stress brings out the drama in everyone.

I've received a diagnosis for an autoimmune disease.  Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  I've since gone on a gluten free diet.  (bread, cake, and pizza.  oh how I miss you.  pasta - I have found pretty good gf pasta.  I have gf bread too - but it's not the same as the crusty loaves I use to make.)  And the fact that going out to eat has turned into a chore is no fun either.  I puffy <3 restaurants that denote which dishes are gluten free.  But they are few and far between.

This Dx also explains my lack of energy.  Before I was working, I would spend a lot of my day wondering what I was doing with my time.  I just didn't have much ambition to do much.  When I got really into a work schedule, I could barely make dinner at night.  I just had no motivation for anything.  It's coming back.

We've spoiled ourselves and sailed around the Mediterranean Sea for 12 nights for vacation.  We hit Barcelona, Split, Venice, Kotor, Naples/Sorrento/Pompeii, Rome, Florence, and Aix-en-Provence.
It. Was.  Amazing.
Truly the trip of a lifetime!  I can't believe all the things we saw - even when I look back on our photos!  And the food on the Celebrity Solstice was wonderful!  We also spent my birthday and our second year anniversary on the cruise.  It was really really great!

But what has prompted this entry was our current location:  Germany.

We've been here one whole year already.

Time has flown and crawled at the same time.

I like it here...but I also can't wait to get back to good ol US of A.

I miss: (in no particular order)
Chipotle
Wide highways
wide parking spaces
Target
shopping malls
receiving online orders in less than a week
signs/menus in English
standard phone number lengths
large ovens
large houses
large sinks
running my washer and dryer at the same time
large showers
bright overhead lighting
carpeting
closets
screened windows
air conditioning
being in comparable time zones as friends and fam
reasonable cell phone contracts
customer service
not caring what the exchange rate is
Melting Pot
PF Changs
Whole Foods
other chiropractors
speedy healthcare (not having to send my labs to Landstuhl and wait weeks for results.)
fast internet
living in my own space
grilling - they do grill here, we just don't have space to do it.
being able to cash a check with my home bank.
driving rules that make sense.  The right before left rule is dumb.
things being open on Sunday
walls you can hang things on with minimal effort


I appreciate: (in no particular order)
the view.  everywhere in Bavaria is just pretty.  rolling hills, farmland, trees, trees, trees.
travel opportunity - going to so many countries in such a short time.
character building experiences.  (although I will bitch about them while they are occuring)
antique shopping
bakeries  (at least, before I went gluten free!)
fireworks on new years eve
wine tasting
beer (again, before I went gf.  they have the best beer here.  all of the rumors are true.)
did I mention travel?
architecture - old world style is gorgeous
history - it's here man.

So obviously I seem very ungrateful when I bitch about the amazing opportunity of living overseas.  But I am a creature of comforts.  And sometimes I miss my comforts.

Two more years to go, including a lot of time on my own.  Should be interesting!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We have had a low key Christmas Eve.  Mostly because I am fighting a cold.  It's not too severe, just annoying and energy draining.

I nnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddddddd an adjustment!  This is one of the MAJOR drawbacks to living in Germany.  I have got to meet these other chiropractors I have heard about on post.

When we were baking cinnamon rolls this morning  (I just love Our Best Bites for their quick(er) cinnamon roll recipes), our landlord stopped by with a Christmas gift for us.  In return, we gave him chocolates that we picked up in Luxembourg.

Then we opened our present.

It was fish.

At least this time, the fish did not have it's head.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Here's hoping you and your have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Christmas Decor

Every year, my mom gives me a sleigh bell from Wallace Sterling Silversmiths.  This started in the 2004ish time frame.  I love them.  They are collectible (a quick google search showed that the first one back in 1971 is going for a cool $1400) and each carry a slightly different design.  This year I hung them by ribbons behind a slope of our ceiling.  You'll also notice our stocking are not hung by the fire, but by the only ledge I could find in the place.  Luckily, our stocking holders are heavy enough that Otis walks around them without pushing them off!

Otis

An update on what the silly cat has been up to.  He cracks me up!

Christmas Kitty!

I iz your present.

This is on top of the dresser in the guest room.  He has nudged Pandy out of the way to snuggle in between Doctor bear and Army bear.  The next time we went into the room, Pandy was on the floor.  Poor Pandy!  

Christmas market - Nuremburg!

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we had a new kind of Black Friday.  Even though the PX was having all kinds of Black Friday sales (including 20% off of Coach Purses from 5-7 pm ...and the PX already offers a discount on the retail price...), we opted to go to Nuremburg for arguably the most famous Christkindlmarkt.  (only rivaled by Rothenburg ob der Tauber - home of the Kathe Wohlfart super Christmas village/store.)  We didn't go at night, which is more spectacular, but it was still lovely.  We also want to make it to Amberg's market.  We set out a lofty goal of seeing markets every weekend in December - HOWEVER - with a new job, I'm finding less time for all of the things I had once had oodles of time for; cleaning house, grocery shopping, relaxing in general....  I have felt myself becoming more run down as I always do when my schedule abruptly changes.  I'll adapt, I always do, but there is a time to get acclimated.  Add in more social obligations with the holiday season and we've opted to stay in more than go out to the Christmas markets for our weekends in December.

So far.  We still have time before Christmas.  :)

We did stop by Ammerthal's market, which ran only December 3rd and 4th.  But it was cold and raining and it was tiny, consisting of what only looked like food and booze stands.  Don't get me wrong...I love food and booze, but I'm not going to stand in the cold and rain for them.

Zum Christkindlmarkt

I have no idea what Cathedral this is.  We didn't do touristy stuff, just the Christkindlmarkt.  Now we have to go back and see the city.  The previous times we have been there have been for the train station and IKEA.

This is a kiddos area.  It was so pretty!

The sign notating the kids' area.

John and I debated getting one of these pinwheels where the heat from candles make it spin.   Except maybe on a smaller scale.

An end of one of many rows of stands.

This was kind of weird.  There was a simple metal ring on the iron gate surrounding this gold tower.  It was small...maybe the size of an apple.  There was only one.  And people kept running up to it, and turning it so that it made one full revolution on the link of gate that it was attached to.  Either that, or they would take pictures of each other touching the ring.  It's things like that that make me wonder what the heck is going on.  I'm not quite sure what to google to look it up.  

This was sort of the center.  Behind the booth were two large trees and  a place to gather.  I'm told there was a formal lighting later that evening as that day was the official opening of the markt.  We didn't stick around.  I was toasty with my cuddlduds and down coat and new knit hat with fleece lining.  John thought he would be warm enough but kept making cold sounds EVERY 15 SECONDS.  (the kind where you suck in air between your teeth?  know what I mean?)

Another large pinwheel

Again...I am severely lacking in background information.  But this came trotting through and I thought I would take a pic. 

Ah....the goods.  There were just tons of booths selling wonderful things!

In addition to the shopping, we had bratwursts.  Three small sausages on a crusty roll with pub mustard.  Oh my goodness were they delicious!  We also tried Gluhwein (imagine an umlat over the u), which is a mulled wine.  It's good, but I don't understand the big hubbub over it unless it's just one of those holiday flavors that one comes to crave.  And if you had it everyday, it wouldn't be special anymore.  Kind of like eggnog.  We bought some Lebkuchen, which was good...if only to say that I've tried it.  I won't rush out and buy them by the dozen, anyway.  Lastly, I made sure we got some cinnamon roasted nuts as they smelled amazing.  We bought pistachios, almonds, and pecans.   Yummmmmmm!  I also had the bright idea of hitting a Starbucks for cocoa.  I wanted to see if they had city mugs there that say "Nurnberg".  But they didn't.  That was the only disappointing part of the day.

working on post

image from wikipedia

They are doing construction in the parking lot across from the squadron headquarters where I work, so there are always lots of cars lining the fairly narrow road.

I say this because tonight, as I was leaving work, I had to wait to go down the road.  I had navigate between 2 Strykers coming up the road, weaving between them and the parked cars.  

They drive kind of slowly in populated areas.

With good reason. They are humongous. The wheels of Strykers are higher than my car windows.

This is just one of many things that one would come to expect while working or living on post.  But it surprises me every time.  I just have not been exposed to the military lifestyle for long, and when I was young, I never expected to share the road with a Stryker.

Luxembourg

At long last, pictures from Luxembourg and our trip over Veteran's Day weekend.

Luxembourg was a good trip.  A good way to spend a 4 day weekend.  That said, I don't see any reason to go back.  The most notable part of Luxembourg is, in the words of our tour guide, "banks banks banks!!"  There is something like 150 banks in this teeny tiny country.  

The main languages of Luxembourg are French, German and Luxembourgish.  They mainly lean toward French.  So, I found myself taken aback by trying to rattle my brain of my absolute lack of knowledge of the French language.  I know only what my dad would say in odd moment and from my friend Joanna, who knows French fairly well, but from whom my knowledge is limited to our fruit French names that we gave ourselves.  (She was, and remain to this day, Banana Cosette. I am Grape Apenine.)  

Anyway, I kept trying to speak Spanish.  Or a Spanish/German mix.  (In case you were wondering, this combination benefits no one.)  Finally, I just started saying "merci" to everyone.  And I got by just fine.  Especially when they started speaking English to me in a fit of what can only be construed as pity.

On our first day, we visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery where five thousand some soldiers are buried from WWII.  Most of them lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge.  It was an amazing memorial for our fallen soldiers.  Visiting on Veteran's Day was extra special as they had a ceremony at 11 am on 11/11/11.

This is also where General Patton is buried.  He was not killed in action, but died  of complications after a being paralyzed in a motor vehicle accident.

After the Veteran's Day Ceremony, we checked into our hotel, had lunch, and then went on tour of the city.  the first portion of the tour was on the bus, which afforded a great opportunity for a nap,
which was very interesting because I could always understand through the thick accent of the tour guide,
which was very interesting when I could understand the tour guide.

And when I wasn't dozing.  What can I say?  I had a full belly and the bus was warm.

This is the "gold lady" near the old town.  I believe she is  a symbol of peace.

A very pretty cathedral

the altar of this very pretty cathedral.

Gorgeous

I'm a silly American...who is starting to think that every European alleyway  looks like  Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.

that's my baby.  And a statue of a guy on a horse way in the back ground.

The following day we had a boat tour on the Mosul River.  I anticipated sights along the river with a guided tour telling us what it was.  However, it was basically an hour long boat ride.

Swans, posing prettily.  

They are lining up for bread crumbs!  I think they are used to people giving hand outs!

cocoa on the boat!

Like I said, we didn't get any information about the sights along the river.  But we did see plenty of vineyards.

....which was next.

Wine tasting!

I think these pictures would be prettier if not taken in November...but the acres of vineyards along the hillside are still very pretty.

After the boat tour and the wine tasting, we went back to the old town and went shopping.  This is also where I was nearly run over by a marching band.

I didn't know they were going to turn right.

They turned right.  I had to back up....or  I would have been run down.  Again, by a marching band.  It was cool to see though.  :)

This is a theater on the town center.

And well, I just thought the was a cool.   This was on the front of the building pictured above, facing the town square.

And these!  Well these were adorable.  We had them in the hotel, and I loved them so much, I stole 3.  Mixed berry, strawberry, and honey.

And then I found these too!  So cute.  :)

Like I said, all in all, it was a good trip.  I'm glad I got to go.  I bet it's beautiful in the Spring time.