The Beginning of Something Great

Do you ever have those moments where you see something amazing and think, "Man, I wish I had my camera!" and you get this feeling of regret in your stomach for having forgotten it? Like you're forever leaving something behind that you'll never get to see or experience again and you're scared you'll forget it? No? Lucky.

Yesterday, after going to check on Amanda's cat (because they decided to venture off to Italy, whatever), we drove around their town. We passed by one of the prettiest churches I have ever seen. I had one of those moments I mentioned above. I wanted to take a picture of this church so badly. I told my mom that I could not forget my camera the next time we went to Amanda's village. Well, guess what. Today, I did not forget my camera and I was able to get the picture! I think I might make it a point to bring my camera with me even on my little trips around town. Hey, this could be the beginning of something great.

The Post that Took a Week to Write

We have gone to quite a few Easter Egg Markets (well, my mom has...I've gone to one) and I am so amazed by all of the different ways there are to decorate eggs. So amazed. I'll have to post pictures of some soon! We bought really pretty ones. One is all carved out and another is decorated with little lady bugs. So cuuute!


Evening walks are now enjoyable! It's been months since Germany has seen the sun and it's finally making an appearance again! I don't think anybody understands how much I've missed this ball of fire. With the days getting longer and warmer, we have been able to go to different places for our walks. Last weekend we went to the Landstuhl castle. We had fun. Minus the mud.

My dad went through a lot of his things before heading off to Florida. Underneath a bunch of old papers, he found two letters that I wrote at different times. Both were to the tooth fairy and both showed my complete determination to figure out whether the tooth fairy really existed or not. These two letters go with a third that my mom had in her drawer.

The first says:

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I'm sorry I lost my tooth this morning. Do I still get anything?
Like crayons?

The second says:

Tooth Fairy-

I lost my tooth again. Can you bring me notebooks, crayons, pencils and pencil sharpeners?
And write on the back of this note otherwise I don't believe in you.

The third says:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Leave fifty dollars under my pillow tonight or I won't believe in you anymore.

I know my parents don't have fifty dollars to fork over to me so if I get it, I'll know it's you.

Obviously I had the concept of ultimatums down. I believe I got five dollars with that third note. I was happy with that. Five dollars is like fifty when you're seven.

I am officially registered for Spring semester classes! I'm pretty proud over how my schedule turned out. First of all, I was able to get into a few psych classes before they filled up. And, secondly, look at the shape! I thought that was pretty cool. It wasn't on purpose, I promise.

My mom and I started decorating the tree outside for Easter. This is a normal thing in Germany. We're not weird, kay? My mom and I are planning on buying more eggs later this week. Colorful ones, of course. This is actually my favorite tree in the backyard. I had never seen any like it until moving here. It looks like it was planted upside down!

I feel like I should just live at the Landstuhl Hospital for the next week. I've had so many appointments there already over the past week and I only have more to come this following week. I am thankful that I am not having more serious work done though. I pass the signs on my way through the hospital that say "Neurosurgery" "MRI" "Nuclear Medicine" "Labor & Delivery." So really, I should be thankful that I am just returning over and over again for minor things but it's still a pain. One that they aren't helping.


My dad's cat, George, is a freaking psycho. I'm supposed to keep him in line while Papa Bear is away but it's close to impossible! H&M is now using bags with David Beckham on the front and it's beautiful, but that's not the point. The point is that I heard a crinkling noise in my room and I walk in to find George carrying around David. It's like they were just taking a lovely passeggiata through my room. George has also learned how to open my drawers. He now finds my hidden chocolate and drops it on the floor. Then the dogs get it and I'm pretty sure that's not okay. Most recently, George destroyed the bathroom. We woke up to a huge mess. We cleaned it up and he did it again. You can't win.

This post took a week to complete. I don't even know why, either. It's just been pulled up in a tab and I've been writing on it whenever I get bored. A lot is different now from the beginning of the post though. I feel you should all be aware that there are now six inches of snow on the ground, schools had early release and stores shut down. Also, my class schedule is a bit different now but it's still in the shape of a pyramid/temple/taylor building so no worries there. And, Papa Bear, if you're reading this, come home now. Pleaaaaase :).

Back to Spesbach!

Today we woke up to a little surprise...SNOW! My dad hates the snow but my mom and I love it. We decided to go for a walk through the paths in Spesbach and take pictures. We lived in Spesbach for most of our time in Germany. We like the trails there better than the ones we have here in Hutschenhausen. It was so fun going back to this place after so long. These are the fields I grew up running around in with friends all summer and the lake were we used to catch tadpoles and frogs. I miss those days times a million...but at the same time, I'm kind of glad they're over : )

A City Confession

I love venturing into big cities. They're full of so much excitement and energy. It's amazing! I love the foods, the sites, the lights...everything! I even like the crazy amounts of people everywhere. I secretly like to pretend that I, too, am on some crazy work agenda and rush from subway station to subway station all hurriedly. It gives you the opportunity to be pushy on the escalators and, also, you get to look like you know what you're doing rather than looking like some lost tourist. So fun.

Okay, so here's the point of my post: I'm not a fan of the homeless/poor population that seems to make an appearance on every street corner. It's not because I don't have a heart or that I'm annoyed by them and wish they'd stop asking for help. It's more for the fact that my heart is a little bit sad at the sight of these poor peeps. I mean, come on now. They're freezing and then they have the dogs with them and ahh! So sad. I always look at my mom when I see these people thinking, "Just a euro, Mom!" But she always tells me, "It's just a game. This is what they do. Some of these people are very well off without your money." I still can't help but to feel bad passing them.

One time, when I was seven years old, my dad took me to breakfast in Newburgh. For those of you that don't know, Newburgh is filled with people that could use a little extra help to say the least. Well, we were waiting for a store to open on Broadway (yeah, Broadway!) and a guy passed that was asking for spare change. My dad told me not to make eye contact...but I did. I told my dad that he looked really sad and we should give him some money. I think the guy heard me because he then came to my dad and asked if he had spare change. Of course my dad gave him some. I mean he had a poor person on his one side and his seven year old daughter with a sad face because of this guy on his other side. The guy thanked my dad, and, if it was all for show, he deserves and award because his thank you sounded very sincere.

Another time, I was in London with my mother. My mother, unlike my father, has no problem saying no to anyone. As we were walking around near Westminster Abbey, my mom got ahead of me. An old lady came up to me and asked if I had any spare money for some sort of charity for children. I said that I didn't have money but that my mom probably did. My mom, seeing that I'm talking to some strange lady, comes back to me. I tell her that she has to give this lady some money for children. My mom flashes me the look of death and then tells the lady that she has no money for her and pulls me away. I was upset to put it lightly.

Yesterday (mhm, yesterday), I went to Cologne with my mother and one of her friends. The train ride was soooo long so, naturally, everyone had to pee as soon as we got of the train. On the way to the bathroom, there was a man sitting on a blanket. In his arms, bundled up, was his yellow lab. Oh, the pitifulness of this sight! I looked at my mom and even she said "aww." But then said, "Oh, please!" when she saw my face. As we passed, I snapped a picture. Why? Well, mainly because I've never seen such a sad sight and I wanted people to believe me. I did do it subtly, though. No worries. Anyway, the bathroom was really close where this man was. My mom asked if I was coming to the bathroom but I said I didn't have to go. Lies, I know. As they walked down the stairs to the bathroom, I walked over to the man and put a five euro bill in his bucket. If my mom finds out, chances are I will be either mocked or scolded. I know she reads this blog so I'm already preparing for it. But, seriously, who could just pass this man without feeling a bit sad?

At Baggage Claim, Ya Gotta Take the Luggage in Your Name

Hello. I'm now back in my cozy bed in Deutschland. I've missed this bed so much! I've missed my whole room! And my dad and the countless number of pets, too. I'm just happy to be home!

Winston missed me. He's been following me around all day.

We had a pretty easy trip back. It was long but at least there wasn't any turbulence or medical emergencies. I don't know why but "if there is a doctor on board please indicate so with your flight attendant call button" tends to be said on most of my flights. We did, however, have a bit of a delay leaving JFK. We taxied out to the runway but it turns out our plane engine was broken so we had to go back to the gate and wait while the maintenance men fixed it. I watched all of Jurassic Park while this was going down. Yes, Jurassic Park. I'm already aware of how cool I am so there's no need to mention it. I also watched The Princess Diaries, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, and Pretty Little Liars while in flight in case you were wondering. Delta has added so many movies to their system. They had everything from Charade to The Lorax to Jane Eyre to The Hangover. It was ridiculous but very much appreciated. What was not appreciated was the seat. It was so uncomfortable for whatever reason. I felt bad reclining it because of the man behind me and, therefore, I was sitting straight up the whole time. It was probably good for my posture. Just go with it.

Baggage claim. This was slightly embarrassing. You know how when you're standing in baggage claim, you watch the bags coming up and before they drop on the conveyor belt, you try to see if it's yours? Well, I do that. I saw my purple suitcase come up and as it dropped, I and everyone else saw two tampons hanging on for dear life out of the newly formed hole in my suitcase. Before it made its way to where I was standing, I made it through the entire five stages of grief. First, I was in denial. It just couldn't be my bag and I was not picking it up. Second, I was pretty upset. Who put that hole there allowing this to happen?! Then, I hit the bargaining stage. I asked God if He would be willing to make the tampons disappear if I gave Delta it's Sky Mall magazine back. It was a no go so then I hit the stage of depression because, honestly, this was pretty tragic. By the time the suitcase made it's journey to me, I was already accepting the fact that I was going to have to pick up this sad looking suitcase. So I did. One tampon managed to fall back into the suitcase while the other fell completely out and made a few trips around the carousel until who knows finally ended it's ride.

If you're wondering how this could even happen, I'll tell you. I just throw things into my suitcase because who the heck cares?! Well, now somebody the heck cares. Me. I always thought I'd be the only one to see the mess I make out of a suitcase. Oh, me and the security people but I'm sure they see worse things. Thanks to my cheaply made suitcase, I'm now investing in a cosmetic bag, you know, in addition to new luggage.

Awks & Awes

Awkward:

- Amanda & I were playing with our Happy Meal toys. We look up at the guy sitting at the table next to us and he is cracking up watching us. Glad we can provide entertainment.
- I get out of the house this morning and Amanda is laughing in the passenger seat. I get in the car and ask what's funny. Apparently I wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather. I didn't have a coat yet! (I bought a cute navy blue peacoat later on.)
- While Amanda and I were waiting outside for her mom, one of those people that stand still painted like a statue starts squeezing a dog toy at us. I seriously thought he was a statue before this point. We kind of scooted away.
- Dallin yelled at me saying I act like a mother. This happened about ten minutes after I snapped at Amanda for doing the same thing.
- I was told I was a money spender and should probably get a job. I said I had a job. I was then told I need to actually start working. Touche.  :)

Awesome:
- We went shopping in Saarbrucken today. Our first stop was Primark. It was awesome. It was definitely a shopper's paradise. I found a few shirts, cozy socks and a coat!
- There was a trunk-or-treat at the church tonight. Papa Cherrington drives up in a hearse and decorates all around it. I'm pretty sure he wins the award for best set-up.
- I've been looking everywhere online for some cute pullover sweaters. I finally found some at H&M today. Speaking of H&M, the autocorrect changes 'hm' to H&M automatically. I trained my iPod well.
- We heard from my family and friends back in New York today! Besides some damage done to the houses, everyone is well! Hurricane Sandy definitely left her mark though!
- After spending all day with Amanda, I get home, make food and go upstairs...only to get on Skype with her. We spend two more hours talking and laughing. Definition of best friends right here, folks!

Sunshine, Blessed Sunshine.

Amanda, my mom & I in the car on the way to Frankfurt. Yes, Amanda and I are wearing the same outfit. No, it wasn't planned. She was pretty upset about it since, ya know, she had the sweater first. I just thought it was funny :)

This Sunday was pretty much amazing. We all got up super early and headed off to Frankfurt to see President Monson speak! The car ride was pretty uneventful. There were some threats thrown around here and there by my mother of course, but nothing too exciting. One of her threats occurred when I was taking a sip of water and she said she could slam on the brakes and make me spit it out all over myself if she wanted. Wouldn't that be pleasant? The main entertainment though was music since talking about your dream wedding is apparently frowned upon. A girl should be able to dream.

We got to Frankfurt an hour and a half early. This meant we had the opportunity to get good seats, which we did! As we waited for the talk to begin, Amanda and I entertained ourselves with a few games of hangman. We are all now very aware that I am incapable of spelling out the word "missionaries" with dashes. Is that not sad? Also, as people were being seated, the choir practiced their songs. I ended up singing, "suuuunshine, blessed suuuunshinee..." throughout the rest of the day. 

It felt like forever until everything started. We were so excited! Some of the talks were in German but, luckily, both Amanda and I could understand mostly everything. President Monson's talk was so good. I loved it. He talked about how "love is the catalyst for change." 

After the talk, we went back to the car and ate lunch before heading off to the Frankfurt temple to take pictures. We weren't expecting anyone to be there since everything is closed on Sundays. We get there and we start walking around and taking pictures. We notice a black car by the entrance of the temple but we don't think anything of it. After I think about it though, we really should have thought something of it with all the guys standing around the car like they were. Oh well. We continue taking pictures and we are kind of far from the front entrance of the temple by now. Then my mom says, "It's him!" And Amanda says, "Hey! It is him!" And then I say, "Who? I can't see anything. I don't have my glasses!" And Amanda says, "It's HIM!" It wasn't until we started walking back towards the temple that I figured out it was President Monson! Oh, so exciting! It was awesome. I just love President Monson. 

Confession Session: Amanda and I did not shake President Monson's hand or go talk to him. Why? Because we are too timid for such pressure. No joke. I was shakin' in muh boots. Literally.

After President Monson left, we went back to the car and headed home. We told Amanda's mom what had happened. Nobody can believe that we didn't talk to him. It is pretty sad actually. How many times do these types of opportunities come around?!

Pictures:

You thought I was kidding about the outfit? Nope. Hahaha

President Monson! 

Frankfurt Temple!

A Week of Shopping

I've been on so many shopping trips since I've been back in Germany. The shopping is just better over here in Europe. I can guarantee all of you that if you were to come to Germany for a week, you would leave with a whole suitcase filled with new clothes. It's not expensive here and the stores are amazing. So hop on that plane and come visit me! I'll take any excuse for a good shopping spree.

Last weekend, my mom and I woke up early and headed off to downtown Kaiserslautern. We got there and went to the farmer's market first. We got our veggies and fruit for the week along with some fresh fish and treats from the Greek stand. I love walking around this farmer's market. It's beautiful and I was so upset that I forgot to bring my dad's camera. I wish I could post a picture here for you all to see! It's gorgeous. Anyway, after buying our food, we put it in the car and went back and sat at a little cafe outdoors. As we ate, we could hear the church bells ringing and people playing music on the street. It was great!

After eating we went straight to H&M. American H&Ms have nothing on European H&Ms. That's for sure! I walked inside and smiled. It's sad that a store made me smile but it did. My mom and I bought so many things. I love that we wear the same size shirts & sweaters. It makes shopping so much easier. After H&M we went to our favorite accessory stores on the same street. We bought so many scarves and I went a tad crazy on earrings. You can never have too many scarves or earrings, right?

Seeing as we were running low on cash, we started heading back to the car. On our way we picked up some fresh bakery goodies. Oh, it was a good feeling being home.

That was shopping trip numba uno.

Many mini shopping trips occurred throughout the week but I only write about the ones that count. The next worthy one happened last night. My mom and I went to the Neunkirchen mall.

This time our first trip was to C&A. They have the cheapest scarves and they are cuuute! Oh, and I've been wanting one of those sweater ponchos. I found one for 10 euro! You're probably thinking, "That's going to fall apart real fast." Maybe it will but for the moment, I look amazing in it and I'm satisfied. From C&A we went to a bunch of little stores and stopped for dinner at Nordsee. Love me some fish & chips! Our last big stop was, again, H&M. I have no idea how we find something new every time we walk into that place but we manage to. Every. Time. I mean, we were just there a week ago and I think we found more in the second trip than we did the first.

My mom made me promise to stop shopping after we checked out there. It was a sad moment. It felt like a break up but I'm surviving. On the way back to the parking garage we got distracted by the Eis Cafe sign. So we stopped and had the most amazing eis ever. I had an erdbeer becher and my mom had a hiesse schokolade becher. Hot chocolate and gelato combined? That's Heaven in a cup right thur. Mine was SO big. It had strawberries everywhere. And, yes, I ate them all. We both finished our desserts and we both felt like rolling back to the car. Walking just wasn't coming easy for us. We made it though.

I don't know when my next shopping trip will be but I hope it's sooner than later. I also hope I remember to bring the camera next time we go downtown. It really is a beautiful sight! Tomorrow we are off the Hitscherhof Farm Festival. I'll try to remember the camera this time. I'm sure it will be just as great.

I'm off to bed now. I'm to the point where I'm too tired to even think about getting ready for bed. Sad, I know. Goodnight all!

A Walk in the Snow

It started snowing yesterday afternoon and I hoped that it would stick around until this morning. I wanted to get some pictures of it before it all melted! It never snows enough here and the snow we do get melts way too fast. It's funny to see the children trying to make snowmen out of a half inch of powdered snow.

I woke up early and bundled up. My dog and I made our way up to the farm fields. He had a tennis ball and I had my dad's camera. We were prepared :)

Early Morning Sun

Farm Fields

The Road Home

Always with a Tennis Ball

Skype. My New Bestfriend.

Since I've been back in Germany, nothing exciting has really happened. There has been the occassional daytrip somewhere but that all came to an end when my mom left for her business trip. She was gone for two weeks and, during those two weeks, it was my job to stay home and keep things in order. Simple stuff. I took advantage of my time spent at home. My room is now spotless with all of my drawers cleaned out. My closet is now organized. Even my scarves are hung up nicely! I learned how to grocery shop effectively and plan *actual* meals out for the week. But, despite all of my accomplishments, there were some rough moments. Here are a few that you might enjoy:

My dad comes home one Saturday with a new movie. He says it's supposed to be really good such & such. He pops it in and guess what. It's all in Chinese. He bought a movie in Chinese. It had English subtitles but who really wants to read a movie? I don't even read books. He made it half way through it and then we shut it off. He looks at me and says, "Still, the only Chinese I know is '10 minute'."

My dad goes grocery shopping without me one day and comes home with milk, cheese, bread, a cake mix and tampons. "Did I get the right kind?!" Yes, dad. You done good.

After that awesome shopping trip where he obviously bought enough food for the whole week (sense the sarcasm) I went to the kitchen to make dinner. An obvious choice that stood out to me was grilled cheese. So I'm making the grilled cheese and I'm showing my dad how I make it and, when I finish, I say, "And that's how I make my grilled cheeses." My dad looks at me and says, "Cool. Now show me how to make this cake." That was code for, 'I don't want that, make this.'

For our next grocery shopping trip we decided to make a list of things we needed. A good idea considering how the last trip went. I tell my dad that we need lettuce and that I prefer iceberg lettuce. He looks at me and says, "Em, lettuce is lettuce whether it's made from ice or not." Good point? We did end up getting iceberg lettuce but it cost $3.57. Oops.

Then there were the nights. My dad works nights so I'm home aloooone. I was okay with this. I love being home alone. I'm so productive when people aren't around to tell me what to do. But then I was dumb and started watching Criminal Minds. And, after watching a disc of Criminal Minds, I was pretty much convinced that somebody was plotting my death. Every. Night. It doesn't help that our cat weighs a gazillion pounds and sounds like a man running up and down the stairs. But, luckily for me, when it's night time over here, it's day time in the States. And where do a majority of my friends live? The States! So I began skyping. A lot. Bedtime is now at 5am and I don't usually wake up until 11am.  

Now that my mother has come back (and with presents!) I'm going to have to change this little sleeping pattern. Why? Because we're about to take advantage of this long break! I'm so excited. So far, the plan for the next few weeks is looking like this:

Ireland/London

Florida

Italy

New York

:)

A Break from the West

Last Saturday, I flew home for Christmas break. It's so great to be home. There's a lot that I'm liking about being here. Especially the fact that I get to eat real food! So far it has been pretty relaxing. I've just been hanging out with my parents and baking TONS of Christmas cookies. I did get to have my first doner, which, for all of you that have lived over here know, was a pretty big deal. I was so excited for that first bite that I got a bit of paper in my mouth. I'm going to be honest. I was too happy to be eating that first bite that I didn't even bother to get that bit of paper out. So. I ate paper. Yum. I also made my first trip to base today. I got stuck in the "baggers only" doors at the commissary. It was so embarrassing! Ohwell. I can laugh about it now.
The only downside about flying from Idaho to here is the jetlag that comes along with it. Hopefully I get over it soon. Until then, I'll continue to watch movies and eat brownies until 4AM. Yay! Actually, I've been watching quite a few home videos. They make me smile. And how could they not? Just look at how cute I was!

My First Birthday : )