Birthday week!

Two of my very best friends are celebrating birthdays this week. What a special friendship we have shared for over 21 years!!! I love these girls like crazy. We have gone to school together since kindergarten and have been with each other through the ups and downs of middle school, prom, graduations, bad roommates, weddings, and now a baby. I feel like this should be throwback year.

So Miriam and Rachel, I propose we put on our pj's, grab some popcorn and M&M's, rent "Pillowtalk", and play spoons all night long (or until we quit, because those two get pretty violent!!!)

Of all the gifts life may bestow, none is as constant, steady, and sure as the tender heart of a friend.

The simple things

A few days ago, my facebook status read:

"I'm enjoying the simple things. This world and it's craziness do not have to control me."

Sometimes "stuff" just gets in the way, and I let it weasel its way in without a fight. My mom always tells Caroline and me that the only thing we can control in every situation is our attitude (I'm sure someone famous said this, but mom's pretty wise so we'll attribute it to her today). If I can control my attitude, then I should also be able to control what I let affect me. I have a choice in every situation. I can get mad that the train is late or enjoy the fact that I have an extra five minutes to read my book. I can honk at the guy trying to wedge his ginormous SUV into my lane, or I can let him and the next car over. I don't have to let myself get worked up about things that are really not that big of a deal. This allows me to really enjoy the simple things. It helps me to remain optimistic. It brings joy. So I thought I would list a few of the simple things in my life...and maybe you can add some of yours!

Simple Things I Enjoy

• My cuckoo clock playing Edelweiss
• The five minutes after our alarm goes off when the dogs jump on the bed to cuddle
• Baking cookies and giving them away
• The way Leo dances when he hears Charlie's keys in the door
• Calling my sister just to chat
• Reading my Real Simple magazine cover to cover the same day it comes in the mail
• My morning good-bye hug with Charlie
• Sitting on the train instead of sitting in traffic
• Hanging on to all my coupons until the very end of checking out and then watching my bill go doooooowwwwwnn
• Knowing the answer to the final Jeopardy question

What would you add to this list???

Epiphany

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

To-Do Lists

Normally I LOVE marking things off my list. I will even go as far as putting things on there that I've already done just so I can mark them off. I'm not very organized (as the recipes strewn across the table testify) but lists make me happy.

Since I have a few more days until school starts, I decided to make a rather ambitious to-do list while I'm at home. Today's list read like this:

• Go to dentist and pray my broken crown is not a big deal
• Pick up package from post office
• Get book from library
• Deposit check
• Organize recipes

I knew the last item on my list would take a long time, so I was really proud of myself when I had completed 1-4 and it was only 10:30 a.m. If I were to write down what I've actually done today, it would look a little more like this:

• Play with the dogs
• Eat cheeze-its
• Look at recipes
• Watch "Let's Make a Deal" and "The Price Is Right" (because we all know that I love a good game show!)
  
• Make a New Year's card, order it online, and pick it up at Wal-Green's less than an hour later
• Watch "The Great Muppet Caper" (I really have no idea what happened here)
• Move recipes around
• Wash sheets and comforter in guest room
• Check facebook
• Read blogs
• Sit down to work on recipes for about an hour
• Resort to blogging about procrastination and lists

There you have it, folks. I'm definitely not cut out to work at home.

Returning home and travel reflections

We've been home a few days now, and I've had some time to reflect on our amazing journey. First of all, I have finally uploaded pictures. You can view them by clicking here.

We ended our last day in Germany with Jenny and Felix. They were so gracious to host us again. We arrived at the beginning of the trip as strangers and left as family. I know this is especially true because Jenny got up at 6 a.m. to take us to the airport! We were met with heightened security and a pat down because of the recent threats, but travel was incredibly smooth. The jet lag however has been killer on this end of the trip. I've had a really hard time adjusting to my normal time!

We spent the weekend with my family catching up and playing games. We were so happy to see the pups again. It's incredible what an important part of our family they have become.

Everything about Christmas and New Year's was unconventional for us this year (we were asleep by 10:30 on NYE). In light of that, I've decided that instead of a New Year's resolution list I will post some travel tips that I've learned from our experience.

1. Travel with someone you love. It makes every experience richer and more fun. This was a dream for Charlie and me, and I am so thankful that we experienced it together.

2. Take two pairs of comfortable shoes and a pair of slippers. Don't scrimp here.

3. Travel by train. It's economic, safe, and so unlike anything you will do in the states. It allows you to meet others and share stories.

4. Stay in a good hostel. The only time we spend in our rooms was to sleep. We found good safe hostels that served breakfast. Load up on breakfast and grab a roll for the road. You can spend that money somewhere else!

5. Tear out the sections that you need from your guidebooks to make "mini" books. They fit better in your pocket and take up less space. This is a Rick Steve's trick.

6. Speaking of Rick Steve's, read "Europe Through the Back Door" before you go. (Thanks, Oma and Opa!) And buy his travel guides. They are fantastic.

7. Have a backup plan in case you drop your digital camera on centuries-old cobblestone and it breaks.

8. Don't eat at any restaurant that you can eat at here. Unless you're desperate and nothing else is open. But there will always be something else open. That's when you might have your most exciting meal!

9. Live like a local. Buy fresh bread at the bakery. Shop at Aldi. Walk everywhere. Go to sporting events and the baths.

10. Don't be embarrassed to take pictures, but remember that the best pictures are the ones in your mind. (That's a mom-ism!)

11. If you are going somewhere in the winter that is likely to get snow, you should probably take ski pants.

12. Pay for everything in cash. It's a great feeling to come home and know that you're not getting an enormous credit card bill. But if you must purchase something big, like a cuckoo clock, use your Capitol One card that doesn't charge a conversion or foreign transaction fee.

13. Even if you don't journal (I hate it), jot down what you do everyday. That way you won't leave anything out later when you are retelling your travel stories. Make note of fun, interesting, humorous, and challenging events.

14. Be flexible. Things will go wrong. If you expect it, you won't be surprised or grumpy and can make a quick adjustment. Remember that the only thing you can control in every situation is your attitude!

15. When in a bind, Gummi Bears are a perfectly acceptable substitution for a well-balanced meal.

Wherever you wander, there's no place like home. Love!

Schwarzwald

We spent the last few days of our trip in the Black Forest. I briefly mentioned in the last post that we hiked up the mountain to our hostel, but I don't feel like that explanation did it justice. Let's be clear here...it is 5 km from the train station (in the valley) to the hostel (at the tippity top of the ice covered mountain). And we both had two bags at this point because of all the Christmas goodies we had purchased. By the time we reached the hostel, my quads were screaming for mercy! But that's enough of that...

We set out on Tuesday to see the sights in the Black Forest. It had snowed overnight, so now we had snow/ice/snow layers which makes walking fun. :-) Triberg has a little bit of a Gatlinburg feel, which is unfortunate, because Gatlinburg is home to lots of mullets and tacky stores. It was a little more touristy than we thought it would be, but we had lots of laughs! You get this great Konas card when you stay at a hostel in the Schwarzwald which allows you to use all local transportation for free AND get free tickets to two different ski lifts. This sounded like a great idea, since it costs an arm and a leg to get lift tickets in the states (and you can't ski very well with one arm and one leg!). So we hopped on the bus and headed to Schonwald.

I have never been skiing. I water ski and wakeboard, but I've never snow skiied. My dad grew up skiing, Charlie skis, Kevin is a ski patrol, Adam and Sarah ski...of course, I'm thinking, "How hard can this be?" Oh boy. First, in the Schwarzwald, kids learn to ski before they walk. We go into the ski store to rent skis, and the girl helping us is about 9 years old. The look on her face when Charlie told her I had never skied before was PRICELESS!!! I was the laughing stock of the store as I tried to figure out how to put the boots on and then how to walk in them! I really wanted to snowboard because I knew that trying to make two skis operate together was going to be a little much for my coordination. But I was stuck with skis.

Skis - check. Poles - check. Boots - check. Confidence - check. Time to hit the slopes! The lift is little and takes you to the top of the hill, then you ski down either side. Not too high or complicated or difficult. Plus there's tons of little kids skiing and snowboarding. Piece of cake. Charlie gives me a brief lesson on balancing and stopping, and then I suggest that we ride the lift to the top and I will learn as I go. I mean, all I have to do is point my skis towards the bottom of the hill, swivel by hips back and forth, not run into anything, and look totally awesome doing it. The picture of me skiing in my mind looked great!

The lift is a t-bar, or so they tell me, and it zipped us right to the top. This is the point when I wished most that we still had the digital camera. The view was so pretty! And have I mentioned that it was raining? Because it was. So the snow was a little melty and the rain was slushy and the slopes were, um, icy? Whatever. I can do this.

Charlie starts by teaching me how to turn so that I don't run into trees, small children, and the poles supporting the lift. But I can only kinda sorta turn to the left, and stopping is a disaster, so I feel like Zoolander. And then the drama. I'll go right, back towards the middle of the slope. Except I start speeding down the slope towards all the people coming up on the lift. And I can't turn. Or stop. Oops. So I'm desperately trying to fall so that at least I can tumble slowly into the poor people. Next thing I know, I'm face down in the snow with my skis spread out behind me. I'm laughing because A) I didn't die, B) I didn't hurt anyone, and C) I know I look absolutely ridiculous!!!



I don't care about falling, or about people laughing at me, but I tremendously cared about blowing out my knees in a foreign country. Bless my heart. Charlie rescued me, and I picked up my skis and walked down the rest of the way, laughing at the irony of the situation. I'm incredibly sad I was not able to document with pictures because I'm pretty sure I could have won some money from America's Funniest Home Videos. Or at least become a YouTube star.

Lessons learned from skiing:

1. Take lessons.
2. Start on the bunny hill.
3. Snowboard.

The journey continues...

I realize that it's been several days since we posted, but internet is hard to come by in small Bavarian towns! And, have I mentioned yet, that the keyboards are different over here? Some of the letters and symbols are switched around, so I end up writing "love zou" or searching for the quotation marks (which I just did, bz the waz, and thez are over the number 2!)

We left Munich early Saturday morning after we started eating breakfast before it was open. I mean, how were we supposed to know that it was bank holiday? The guy was a little peeved and made us feel really bad, so we ate super fast and left!!! We traveled with all of Munich on a tiny little train into a fairy tale land. As we went further south, the mountains seem to rise up out of nowhere. Mind you, these are not the rolling hills of Appalchia, but the mighty Alps with their jagged and snowcovered crags. (Speaking of crags, anyone remember the name of that TV show where the kids climbed Crag Mountain at the end?? We racked our brains and for the life of us cannot remember the name!!!)

Ok, back to the mountains. (Becca, I feel a little like you sometimes! We must think alike!) The mountains people. These things are for real. Not even the Rockies compare. They were glowing in the morning sunlight. It was stunning! We arrived in Fussen, dropped off our bags at the hostel, and headed on the bus towards Tegelberg. We were hoping to ride the sommerrodelbahn (luge) on the side of the mountain. Except in this case, "sommer" really means that it is only open in the summer. We opted for the gondola to the top instead, and we definitely got the better in the deal. I might have taken an entire roll of film at the top. Maybe. :-) We hiked a little into the Alps and saw the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. And let's talk just for a second about the skiers. They climbed the mountain on their little skies and zigzagged their way back down. I would have died, considering it was probably a 70 degree slope near the top.

Sunday was castle day. I have been looking forward to seeing Neuschwanstein since I was little, and it was just as exciting as walking down Main Street and seeing Cinderalla's castle. Except that you can actually go inside Neuschwanstein. And it's bigger. And there's snow. Disclaimer: I'm not into princesses and all that mushy stuff. Bring on the knights and castles and storming the gates!!! We toured Hohenschwangau and then hiked up the hill to the big money. Crazy Ludwig tore down a 700 year old castle to build his and then outfitted it with all the modern conveniences. The castle is barely 160-something years old, but the interior is decorated in the middle-age style. I wish that we knew more about Wagner's operas because the entire castle is dedicated to his works.

The path to Mary's Bridge was closed, but we pretended like we didn't know what the signs said (Caution, Achtung, Death Is Imminent!) and marched right along. The path was covered in snow and ice, but the view was worth it!

Then we hiked from the castle to the town at the foot of the mountain. Rick Steve's had mentioned this place called Kristall-Therme. Since we weren't visiting the baths in Baden-Baden, we decided to give this place a try. We had a blast! I thought of Caroline the whole time because she always says to do stuff with the locals. You couldn't get more local than this! We spent 2 hours relaxing in the mineral baths. My favorite was the outdoor pool where you could sit in the pool in a bubbly lounge chair thingy and gaze up at the castles all lit up for the evening!!

We had dinner that night at a tiny little Italian place. There were no tables available, and a couple that had just sat down offered to share their's with us. We had a wonderful evening sharing travel stories and getting to know each other. To me, that it the best way to eat a meal!

We're now deep in the Scharzwald in Triberg. We hiked up the mountain to get to our hostel, and when we told the guy at the front desk, he got a really good laugh!!! So I rewarded myself with a big piece of Black Forest cake at dinner and then a taxi back up the hill.

Thanks for hanging in for the long update! You might not hear from us til we get back since the internet is sketchy and expensive here, so until then, tschüs!!!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas from Munich! We had the most wonderful day yesterday meeting our German family members! Eva has been so welcoming, and we seem to fit right in. It makes being away from home so much easier when you are celebrating with new family! We enjoyed a yummy Raclette dinner (google it...super fun!) and then opened presents around the tree. Charlie and I went to midnight mass with Eva and Werner. It was the most beautiful church we've seen in Germany...and also the coldest!!! No heat last night, but it was a lovely service. It's amazing to celebrate the birth of our Savior in so many different ways. I have loved learning the differences in American and German celebrations of Christmas. And Mom, I found someone who knows about the pickle present!!!

This is our last day in Munich. We are headed back to Eva's this afternoon for Christmas dinner and to meet more family. Tomorrow we will take the train deep into Bavaria to see my childhood "dream castle," Neuschwanstein.

We wish you all a very Frohe Weihnachten and send our love. We'll be home for Christmas if only in our dreams!!!

Changing shoes...

If you ever travel to Europe for longer than three days (which you definitely should) I highly recommend bringing TWO pairs of shoes, no matter what the travel guides say!!! After four days of walking, on average 9.2 miles in the same pair of shoes, your poor feetsies will cry for mercy! Which is why, my friends, I toured Munich in slippers today. Ok, they are technically down bootie camp shoes (huge thanks to Mark and Lolli for fulfilling my Christmas wish last year!), but any lay person might have confused them for slippers. But quitely frankly, I didn't care, because my feet were happy. Plus, these Munich girls walk around in crazy boots, tights, and short skirts. I just don't know how they stay warm!

An update from yesterday...we toured Dachau concentration camp on our way in from Munich. It's really difficult to describe the bleakness of such a place. It was cold, and the ground was covered in snow, and I thought of how many times the prisoners had to stand in their threadbare clothes for roll call. Walking on the grounds and seeing where so many innocent people died is quite shocking, even though there's nothing left but buildings. It's a hollow and empty place.

We spent today being tourists in Munich. I loved every minute of it. The city is so old, and beuatiful, and did I mention old?!? Darn you, Sherman, for burning down Atlanta! We started off at the Residenz and Treasury, and then headed over to the Marienplatz to see the Glockenspeil do its thing at noon. Worth seeing once, but the coolest part was how quiet everyone was when the bells began to chime. The whole square was quiet and then erupted into cheers when the jousting began!

We climbed to the top of the New Town Hall and then the more impressive St. Peter's Church. It's 306 old rickety wooden stairs to the top. There are signs everywhere for "no smoking"...as if anyone could climb 306 stairs while smoking. Seriously?! Their lungs would have given out about 115. Whew! But the views of the city from the top...simply breathtaking!

We made three different trips into Saturn (like a Best Buy) and one trip to Conrad to try and find what we needed for our converter to work. Not an incredibly big deal to not dry my hair, except when it's f-f-f-freezing outside!! I haven't tried this new part we bought, so I'll let you know how it goes.

We walked around the city this afternoon visiting the farmer's market area and discovering the Christmas carousel. We also finished up our Christmas shopping in the market. So far, my favorite, and cheapest, souviners have been the gluhwein mugs from the Christmas markets in Rothenburg and Munich.

Tonight, we had dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. It's the oldest/biggest/loudest beerhall in Germany. (I think I got all those facts correct!) The had a real live oompa band complete with lederhosen and the little feather hats. I had white sausage with a pretzel and sweet mustard. Yum!! Charlie had the brat with saurkraut and a ginormo beer. We called this our "Varsity" meal for Germany!

We are so excited about meeting new family tomorrow! We will be spending Christmas Eve with Eva and two of her daughters and a hodgepodge of other people. It has been great meeting new folks! We have run into more Australians by far! I mentioned something about Jim Craig and the Man From Snowy River to one of the girls, and she had never seen it!!! The horrors!

So in other news, Britney Spears is currently blasting over the speakers in the hostel internet room/bar. I just can't seem to get away from her when I travel!! Our Ireland gang will remember that we heard one of her songs in every pub we went to!

I can now technically wish you a Merry Christmas Eve! Frohe Weihnachten! Love to you all.

A little misadventure in every journey...

Hi all!

Charlie and I are learning first hand that indeed the only thing you can control in every situation is your attitude! We have had a wonderful trip thus far, but we have had a few incidents that could have easily dampened, ney, crushed our spirits! Shortly after our last update, we hiked up to the center of Rothenburg to do the Nightwatchman's Tour. Long story short, gloves and snow made for a slippery camera handoff. The digital camera took a tumble onto centuries-old cobblestone...and the cobblestone had the upper hand. So camera 1 is not working at the moment. We're hoping to find a place in Munich that can work camera miracles. In the meantime, we've been snapping away with Caroline's camera, that she so graciously let us take. And by snapping away, I mean we're on our 8th roll of film!!! Definitely not what we planned, but we're taking it in stride. So don't plan on seeing any pictures before we get home, unfortunately.

I woke up early Monday morning and decided to plug in my hair dryer...and the converter doesn't work. Good thing I checked it BEFORE I showered!!! Hoping to fix this as well.

Left Rothenburg this morning in the rain. Can't wait to tell you all about Britta and her wonderfulness. Ran into a couple at the train station from Australia. They are in month 1 of their 3 month European escapade. Toured Dachau this afternoon. Now we are in Munich! Lots to do here. We are going to find something to eat and then go ice skating tonight, then tour the Marianplatz and Christmas market tomorrow.

P.S. Mom, our hostel does have webcams, but I don't know if I'll be able to use skype. I'll have to ask at the front desk. For now, send facebook msgs and we'll try to work out a chat.

Love to all!!!