First official trip blog!!!

I know, I know, you all (all 7 of you!) have been waiting with bated breath to read our first official trip blog! Hi to the new folks who may or may not be following along on our journey. I would give Oma and Petra a German greeting, but seeing as how Lauren spricht kein Deutsch and Charlie is at work, that will have to wait. (And if you are wondering how some German spontaneously appeared, its cause I copied it off the card Charlie put in my wallet in case he loses me. As if I, with the superior sense of direction, could get lost. How sweet.)

The weather is rainy in Atlanta, and they have already announced that Hartsfield is "experiencing some delays." In addition, our flight is "oversold" and they are looking for "volunteers who would receive compensation in exchange for their seats." You could not offer me enough money in the world to give up my seat on this plane, so they better look elsewhere. Hopefully this is not a foreshadowing of a dreary day!

Our bags are all packed, and I am extremely proud of myself. Caroline told me no less than 18 times to PACK LIGHTLY, LAUREN!!! For those of you that know me, and my mother, those two words simply do not exist in my vocabulary. But I was determined to turn over a new leaf. Lo and behold, I am all packed with room to spare! I firmly adhered to Rick Steve's packing list, and even resisted Charlie's adament request that I take a sleeping bag "because I had the space." But I stood firm and resisted the evils of overpacking, and I think both my feet and my back with thank me later.


I did remember our essential paperwork....


And necessary goodies for the plane. I simply cannot go to Germany without Gummi Bears!


Finally, I took Rick Steve's advice and tore apart his travel guide to make our own little mini personalized guides to the areas we will be visiting...


To all of our family and friends, we love you dearly and will miss being with you at Christmas. Thank you for sharing in our journey! We are excited to be exploring our great world, but we know there's no place like home. Love.