Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday

All the wonderful deals going on today and all I have to go to is the PX (Post Exchange). Bummer. Next year, Black Friday, next year.. you are all mine. But we did go to Black Friday and we got some alright decent deals on a few things.

After a morning of shopping, we went out to lunch at Tokyo at the Stadtgallerie Schweinfurt (the local German mall). They have all their decorations put up. So festive, I love it.
Tokyo Asian and Sushi bar
nudity is everywhere in Germany.. you see it on billboards, magazines, and even here on bubblebath..

View from the Mall parking areas

Germany loves their animals. You will always see a dog under a table or in a store no matter where you are.. even at the fanciest of restaurants. I wish America would adopt this.
Then came my favorite part of the day, the big Black Friday Coach sale. Coach is my favorite designer. They had 25% off all Coach bags for two hours. I knew I wasn't going to buy anything but I wanted to see what bags they were putting out and just admire, I guess. Sounds lame but I love love love Coach.
The crowd was huge, I couldn't get them all in to the photo
I was looking forward to the Coach sale but my wonderful husband beat the sale and bought me my first Coach bag a few weeks ago. It is pretty special to me. It wasn't for any apparent Holiday or reason, only just because he loved me and appreciates everything I do.. How sweet is that, right?
My new handbag from the Carly collection with matching wallet

Purple/Burgundy lining- My favorite color

So in love.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving feast
 Another successful Thanksgiving with our Army family. I'm pretty sure it was the biggest meal I have ever cooked by myself... okay, maybe Steve helped a little. Just like last year, we invited over some single soldiers that really didn't have any where else to go. The food was good and the company was great. Everything was a lot more mellow then last year, no one spent the night and I didn't wake up to puke all over my bathroom.. yes that really happened, although I don't think I shared that wonderful memory in last year's Thanksgiving blog post. Its a good thing we love Josh, he spent this Thanksgiving with us this year also.


Steve and Juan

Roman, Steve, Juan, and Josh

Roman and Juan

Josh, Adam, and Linda

Juan being silly

playing video games

from left: Linda and Adam Zach, Juan Flores, Roman Shine, Joshua Tweet, Steve and I

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Airborne Operation

Steve is an Paratrooper, he is always going hours and hours away to do Airborne Operations (jumping out of planes). Last week the Unit decided to do a "Hollywood Jump" which is where all the wives can come watch. We were literally on the Drop Zone. It was so neat.
Entering the aircraft


all the wives waiting for our Paratroopers. (I am near the bottom right with the gray sweater and sunglasses on)

exiting the aircraft

so amazing



Steve after his jump (he was limping because he fell on a boulder)

Steve and Juan Flores

Medics to help the wounded

Steve and I. I am so proud of my Paratrooper.
 To watch the video I took of the Airborne jump, click here

After the Airborne Operation, we had our monthly FRG meeting and did a fun little Thanksgiving Potluck. Instead of doing it at Squadron, we did it at Ramons, a restaurant on post.
the buffet line starting to form

A Taste of Germany

We have lived in Germany for a year now and we have never done any wine, cheese, honey (ect) tasting. How weird, right? The food is one of the big things about experiencing Germany and Europe along with the sights and the fashion.

The Christmas Market is here again. It is much larger then last year.




Homemade candles

German homemade Honey tasting

Gluwein (wine)


In the States, they call them Euros.. which is weird since Euro is European currency. A Doner consists of lettuce, onion, cabbage, ranch sauce, meat or veggie, and goat cheese. its so good!
 The next day, the Bazaar came to Schweinfurt. There we got to go wein (wine) tasting, bier (beer) and cheese tasting. I wish I discovered this amazing stuff sooner. 
wines

all the yummy cheeses

spreads and crackers to be tasted.

German teas

Steve trying on some hats

trying some beer
It was all kind of expensive but we could not just leave empty handed. I am enjoying some cheese slices as I type this. Wish there was a way to buy this in the States.. the food is what I will miss the most.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Feeling held back

Since I am going to school online, there are some things that are different with college life then a traditional college setting. For example, Penn Foster College (PFC) doesn't have its students active in all classes in a semester at one time. You do one class at a time, complete it then move on to the next class. Such as focus completely on Biology and then move on to A&P and so on. Its nice having one class at a time so I don't feel so overwhelmed but the down side is that the next class's books is not sent in the mail until the class you are currently in is complete 100% and class participation is also graded then you have to wait for USPS to get your mail to you and since we are in Germany, it takes forever! I have been waiting for my Biology books for a month because the books were returned to the school for some reason, so I have not been working on my classes for a month.. its really holding me back. I should be finishing my first semester in March which happens to be the same month we move back to the states. I had this plan set in my mind where we would move to a new place, start a new chapter in our lives, and I would start fresh on my second semester. I just don't know if I still see that happening and its very frustrating.
  Another thing I have been struggling with is the Webinars. Webinars are live classroom lectures where you interact with your professor and fellow students. They are in Eastern time. The Webinars are great and I love them, I learn so much more. The only downfall is that I have to wake up at all hours of the night to attend them. Thank goodness its only once a week but sometimes I am so tired that I don't focus like I should. Most of the time is just focusing on finishing it and going back to bed. I am really looking forward to living in America and being able to attend the Webinars during the day.
  Well I had to just get some frustrations out there. I love PFC and wouldn't transfer to any other school. College life will be much easier once we get back to America.
 On a happier note.. Check out my new book bag! I hate all my books and school work being sprawled out across the house. Nice having a tote bag to keep it all in, while supporting my school.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Bavarian Alps PART 2

Day 2 of our stay in the beautiful Alps was even more exciting. We got to walk in History, so to speak.
On the beginning of our day, we started off very early in the day with a buffet breakfast at one of the restaurants in the Hotel. They had chefs with the full chef attire and cooking everything made to order. Everything was so good.

First stop was the Neuschwanstein Castle where King Ludwig II ruled during 1869-1886.
 Neuschwanstein is a beautiful castle set in one of the most scenic locations on Earth. If it looks a bit familiar, that may be because Walt Disney used it as inspiration for Cinderella’s Castle at the Disney theme parks. It really does evoke images of fairy tales, in more ways than one. But the story of its origin is one of tragedy, despair, and outright weirdness. To read more about King Ludwig II, click King Ludwig II.
Panoramic of Nueschwanstein.


Bedroom

Singers Hall

Throne Hall

The cave

Right next to Neuschwanstein is the Hohenschwangau Castle which is where King Ludwig II grew up.
Hohenschwangau Castle
Remember my new Fujifilm camera that I got a few months ago? .. I dropped it at the Neuschwanstein castle. It fell hard and cracked the encasement. It still worked fine but since its no longer water proof, I sent it in to the Fujifilm repair center. Until I get it back, I will have no choice but use my old Cannon camera again.. so I'm sorry if the photos for the next two or so months arn't so great anymore. Hope they send me a new one soon.

Next we traveled to Dachau Concentration Camp which was the first concentration camp opened in Germany in March 1933, just 51 days after Hitler took power. Wikipedia has a nice segment on it if your interested in learning more.. Click Dachau.
Main entrance

Gate that says "work will set you free"

Memorial

Panoramic shot. Workshop building on the right (which is now the museum) and barracks start on the left

surrounded by barbwire

inside the barracks (living area)

The crematorium

Where the prisoners were told they could get clean then was killed by toxic gas

Ovens where the bodies were burned

Statue you see when you first enter the camp. Its of a bunch of bodies tangled. Not sure what it represents.