Happy Updates

Since we know we only have a little while left here, it's been a lot easier to make some plans.  So we bought plane tickets for our last adventure.  Where, you might ask?

To Kos Island in Southern Greece!!!!!  Omigosh we are both super excited!  We will be there for 3 nights and 4 days, on a small island close to Turkey.  Although it's not going to be hot this time of year, it's still significantly warmer than it's been in Eschenbach lately, and since it's not top-tourist time, we've found good deals on everything we'll want to see/do.  We're both super excited for all that Greek food too!  So yup, we leave on the 18th and couldn't be happier about it!

Eric's job is pretty much nonexistent now.  The 2 replacements for him are there already and he's practically considered a civilian at work.  We took his newest soldier, and his wife & daughter, to Nurnburg with us last weekend which was a lot of fun.  It's hard making new friends when we know we are leaving soon, but we still had a great time together.  I gave my 2-week notice at work on Monday, which was bittersweet.  I seriously love those little guys and it's going to be sad leaving them.  The school had a parade a week ago for Fasching (German Mardi Gras), and our class made costumes to dress likes the Elves & the Shoemaker.  They were so dang cute!  Eric came as a volunteer during the parade--and the kids love him--so he pretty much just ended up having to hold hands with 5-year-olds all afternoon.  So cute!  I think on my last day we will have Eric bring in some cupcakes for all of them.

One of the main reasons we're excited to be home is that we know we won't be missing out so many more BIG things.  We couldn't go to Brett (Eric's best friend) & Kayla's wedding this last summer, and that was really a bummer.  Speaking of weddings...my dear friend Char just got engaged to her boyfriend Jordan--one of Eric's best friends--and they're planning their wedding soon.  They were both in our wedding and so it will be so special to be home for theirs too.  And BY FAR the MOST exciting update is that Eric's brother Chris and his wife Jaime are expecting a baby this summer!  We set our alarm for 130am so we could wake up and call them right after their appointment yesterday.  And we found out they are having a little boy.  Eric could not be more excited--he's been counting on having a little nephew for quite some time.  Congrats Chris & Jaime, we are so happy for you!  And we are so anxious to become an aunt & uncle!

Yesterday, as some of you may know, was Eric's 24th birthday!  His 2nd birthday in Germany!  We had a good night: great food at his favorite restaurant, Tortugas, and a few gifts from me!  Today we might go on a day trip somewhere, but it just depends on the weather and our motivation.  We both kind of have a cold right now so we might just spend the day here.  

Whew, ok, is that all the updates?!  I hope so.  I'm sure lots of photos will be coming soon from our trip, but until then...

Remember Me?

Welcome Back!  I haven't written in way too long!  At first it was for lack of anything interesting to talk about, and then life became so hectic that I didn't have time to give updates.  So let me try now...

January went by without much of a hitch.  We were still just waiting for Eric's paperwork to come back, still both working a lot, etc etc.  

Eric started feeling sick in about early February, and sadly had to spend another 7-days in the German hospital.  He lost a lot of weight, was covered in spots, was too weak to walk anywhere further than across a room, couldn't eat...he was miserable to say the least.  It was another really frustrating experience at that hospital, especially when we showed up at the emergency room and had to wait an hour before an English-speaking person arrived.  It made us all the more ready to be back in the States where we belong.  It wasn't until after he got out of the hospital, and met with an American doctor, that we found out he had had Scarlet Fever!  This of course drastically affected his Diabetes, and then everything snowballed into him being very ill.  He is healthier than ever now, and gained back a lot of the weight he lost.  I bought him Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Body-building for Valentine's Day (a day we celebrated in the hospital lobby) and he's been using it to work out twice day.  I've been so impressed at how quickly he's bounced back.  He has a better grip on his blood-sugar too, even though he eats a grotesque amount of food every day, haha.

After all that craziness was over, we were more than ready to get out of Germany and get back to the "real world".  Eric's paperwork came back this past Monday and we were thrilled.  The decision made by the board in DC far exceeded our expectations.  Eric's being medically retired from the Army, and this only means good things for us and our future.  We don't have our exact date we leave yet, but it shouldn't be further than a month out.  We were ecstatic to get, and share, the news...and let the countdown begin!

MLK Day

Just a quick anecdote from a day in Kindergarten...this is copied/pasted from an email I sent my mom.  Enjoy!

Since we had Monday off for MLK Jr Day, Mrs. Dailo (the teacher I work with) had a bunch of art projects created for the kids to work on in honor of the holiday. She started with sitting them all on the carpet and telling them the 2-minute version of MLK's life and why he's famous.  She told them about how good and peaceful he was, how he stood up for what was right and wanted people treated equally.  But then this happens...

(Keep in mind that she was trying to remind the kids that this was a TRUE story of a REAL man)

Mrs Dailo:  There was this man--who didn't like what MLK liked and didn't want people to be equal--and he came to where MLK was....and he had a gun.

The Kids: Gasps and screams!!--One kid literally threw his hands over his face.

Mrs Dailo: And he shot Martin Luther King Junior!

The Kids: NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHHH MYYYGOSHHHH!!!!!  More screams...one little boy jumps to his feet!

Mrs Dailo: And Martin Luther King Jr died.

The Kids: NOOO!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Screaming, gasping, they all exchanged horrified looks!  HES DEAD?!!! NOO!!!! Two girls fall over completely.

So then Mrs Dailo tells them that that is why we honor him, because he died for something good.  And meanwhile their whole world has been rocked, they all look totally heartbroken.  So she's asking them what happens after he dies---like what good thing happens after his death.  And one little boy raises his hand and says..

"Then 3 days later he rose from the dead!!!"

Hahhaha, it was soooo cute!  Mrs Dailo and I were trying not to laugh, she was all "No, MLK was not resurrected".  It was just too great.  Then the rest of the day I kept overhearing conversations they were having about MLK Jr during their activities.

"Mrs Clark...isnt it so sad that somebody shot him and he died?"

A little girl: "I really wish MLK Jr was still alive, don't you?"  

Me: "Yah, me too"

It was just really cool to be there the first time 24 little 5-year-olds ever heard about such a famous person...who honestly something I wish I could have such an emotional reaction about.  

A Year Abroad

Today is the 1-year mark from our arrival in Germany.  Seems so long ago, but has gone by so fast.  I remember that long bus-ride from the airport through the snow--both of us too exhausted to comprehend where we were.  We lived in a hotel for over a month, trudging back and forth from the grocery store to stock our mini-fridge.  Life wasn't too glamorous at first.  But my-oh-my has that changed.

How weird that we didn't know we wouldn't be here as long as originally planned.  Moving into this house, we realized that we were going to spend the majority of our marriage living in Europe--which seemed both exhilarating and scary.  And now we are months, or even weeks, from leaving here...for what quite possibly could be forever.

What a difference a year makes.

Happy New Year!

Just a few quick shots of us celebrating Sylvester (what "us Germans" call New Year's Eve).

We decided to go out dancing in Weiden to celebrate 2011, but had no idea what a big holiday 12/31 is here in Germany.  So big in fact, that EVERYTHING is closed (everything including McDonalds, gas-stations, you name it!).  We literally had to grab dinner at the train station before calling a cab to literally the only open bar in town.  There were hundreds of people there by midnight, but when the clock struck 12, Eric and I were the only ones counting down.  Seriously so anticlimactic.  I guess the tradition around here is a lot more like 4th of July--parties at home with lots and loottttss of fireworks and a lot less fancy celebrations.  We had a lot of fun, and danced for hours, but it was definitely the strangest New Years we had ever experienced.  One fun thing was waking up with plenty of time to call home and wish all a "Happy New Year!" just in time!

Also our Resolutions are slightly less inspiring than we had hoped:
Mine--Continue with my 5 days/week gym trip (I've been at it for months already...is that cheating?)
Eric--Check blood glucose consistently before meals

....Man do we sound boring this year!

Merry Christmas!!

We had a really wonderful Christmas this year...although a little surreal since we were way over here.  But we made the best of it!

Eric graciously woke up at 6am with me so we could Skype with my family on their Christmas Eve while opening presents.  It was unconventional but actually really fun to "be" there with everyone.  After an hour of that, we went back to sleep on the couch--with both pups--until about 9am.  We opened our presents from each other--which went quickly but was fun!  (Eric got me a leopard-print pea-coat and some boots and I got him a vest and a pull-up bar.)  From there, our morning was full of cooking and baking until the early afternoon.  I baked my Grandma's Corn Souffle and my Kentucky Derby Pie, and Eric cooked up some bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeños...which by the way were delicious!  My friend's husband picked us up at about 1pm, since the roads were sooo terrible and it was snowing like crazy, for festivities at their house.  It was us, them & their 2 little girls, and another coworker friend of mine who's husband is in Afghanistan this year.  We played lots of games, ate loottttssss of food, and had a really fun time.  Their daughters are 3 and 5, so we brought them a bag full of gifts and they went totally crazy!  We ended up staying there until 9pm...so pretty much all day.  It was just really good to do something "Christmasey"  instead of sitting in our house all day.  I was so flattered that their shared their home with us and a great time was had by all.

We were back in time for making calls back home before settling in for a movie and another night with the dogs.

A very Merry Christmas.

More Christmas Festivities

I know, I know, I haven't updated this at all lately...but honestly there hasn't been too much to say.  But I'll start with some photos of us enjoying the holiday season here.

The Christmas Party for Eric's work was actually really fun.  It was held at this place called MegaPlay, which was pretty much a glorified ChuckECheese's (since there were about 75 children), but we had delicious catered food, Gluhwein, and great conversation with his coworkers and their families.

We've received a couple Christmas presents in the mail!  Just FYI, we aren't sending any out to family this year-just plan on bringing gifts home when we move back-but it's been nice to place a couple packages under the tree.  I even got a couple cute little gifts from kids I teach which was so fun!  Below is Peach sporting his new holiday sweater that my brother Brent sent him (he sent one for Rambo too).  They say "Merry Woof Woof"...totally hilarious!

We've been cooking a lot better-and more regularly.  I found some delicious lowcarb recipes that Eric really loves too!

We've put up some more holiday decor around the house.  It really has helped us feel in the Christmasy-mood...even if it does look slightly pathetic.

We took the train down to Nuremburg for their famous ChristmasMarkt...and wow was it beautiful.  There were dozens upon dozens of booths selling anything from eggnog to ornaments.  It was such a fun experience.

Other than that, it's just been nice to have some time off of work.  I had this whole week, plus next week off, and Eric just worked a couple hours Monday through Wednesday of this week and next...so he's pretty much off too.  We've spent a lot of time at the gym, and with the puppies, and enjoying getting extra sleep!

We've been invited to my coworkers house tomorrow for Christmas dinner, along with a few other people I work with, so that should be fun.  It will be nice to do something for the Holiday even though we are far from family.  I'm baking a corn souffle and my special Kentucky Derby pie, and Eric has even decided to make an appetizer!  Very impressive!   So today and tomorrow should be full of baking, but really nice.  I'm also baking a couple loaves of my mom's "Gift of the Magi Bread" to give as gifts to some of our neighbors.

So all-in-all, not our typical Christmas weekend, but it should be a good one.  It's still slightly surreal that it's actually Christmas and we are actually across the globe from our families...but this was the best choice for us this year.  I'm sure we'll have a celebration when we come back to the states that will feel pretty Christmasy...but being together here in Bavaria for the holidays isn't the worst place to be.

Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas Eve.  I know we are.