Shea's Attempt at Blogging

Shocking Remembrance

2011-03-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today, Anthony found a document which I forgot existed that declared my acceptance to UT in the German college. I was completely floored that I had the chance to go to UT, and deliberately chose to go to St. Edwards instead. True, St. Eds was a shorter duration, and was more useful as a career, but UT, and German! I vaguely remember this decision, but I imagine that it was a very hard one to make. I had been trying to get into UT since before Anthony and I were married, in the summer of 2004, and I was finally accepted only to have to turn it down! I started tearing up, for heaven's sake, when I saw it tonight! I can't help but wonder, if I had the choice to make all over again, with the knowledge that I have now, would I make the same decision?

On a separate note, I have decided to make this my personal blog, with my thoughts, and comments, while any update on my daughter Lily or our family will be posted on familyamaro.blogspot.com. Of course, I have been bad about posting on that blog, too.

2010-08-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

Upcoming post...

2010-07-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

So Anthony has not set up the desktop computer after the LAN party last weekend, which has all of the pictures. So I will give you a little teaser until you get the full story next post, which will hopefully happen before the baby is born.

1. We have painted the nursery, pics to come. Perhaps we will be able to decorate it a little bit before I post next.

2. I have a new car. Well, not new exactly, it is actually older than Anthony's older car, but that is ok. Details and pics to come.

3. My body is preparing to give birth. There is a possibility that I will be induced next week. More details to come.

4. I had a baby shower last weekend! It was a lot of fun! I will be making a trip to Target to spend the gift cards I received later today. I will post what I buy later.

5. Cradle issues. The cradle I originally picked out was majorly backordered, so I would not have gotten it on time, so I changed my mind to another, more versatile cradle, which can convert to a loveseat, and which can holdup to 100 lbs. The other one only held 25 lbs.

6. I think that is all, but if I think of anything else, I will include it in my next post.

Love you guys!

Our Baby...

2010-03-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I have been pretty lax about updating my blog, but I have decided that this news is blog-worthy.

First of all, yes, I am pregnant.

I am in my 20^th week, and we went to our ultrasound appointment Friday to find out if it is a boy or a girl. I am proud to say that our baby, Olivia Lauren/Emma Elaine Amaro is due to enter this world on August 9, 2010! I will post the ultrasound pics later...

I was 14 weeks along when this was taken.

17 weeks.

20 weeks.

I haven’t told Anthony this yet, ;) but I have an idea of what I want the nursery to look like. I am thinking white or cream walls with delicate pink and blue (maybe yellow, too, haven’t decided) flowers. I am not sure if that will be feasible, though. We will see how many stores have that theme available in crib sheets and stuff.

I am also planning on being a full-time, stay at home mom. I will be quitting my current job sometime in July.

On a completely different topic, we still have cats.

Sylvester likes to burrow. I found him here one day when he was trying to hide from my friend Sarah B.

This is a Max.

This is a Max on pot.

Any questions?

We have also recently bought new living room furniture. Now or living room looks like a comfy cozy room instead of the mess it was.

Isn't it lovely? The decor still needs to be changed, but one thing at a time...

...HAS NOT FAILED!!!!!

2009-10-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

I would like to announce that I am officially not looking for a job anymore, since my company has moved me back to 30 hours. This is very good, since I wasn't getting very many bites in the job market.

I also wanted to reflect on imaginary friends. Anthony and I just finished watching a Star Trek TNG episode that hit on that topic. Synopsis: An ensign has been moved from place to place in the federation, dragging his daughter along with him. She has not been able to stay in one place long enough to make friends, so has created an imaginary friend to take along with her. An alien energy life-form takes the shape of this friend, and causes a lot of mischief.

Now, in the hope of not making this too serious, I would like to describe my own experience with imaginary friends. I was somewhat ... strange growing up, and sought out ways to be "wierd." One of these ways was to create a decision-making entity which I named "The Critics." Don't ask me where I go the name, or when I created them, I can't remember. I do remember interacting with them.

Basically, when confronted with any decision, I would announce that, "I must consult the critics" in a somewhat manic manner, then throw myself face first into whatever crevice I could find, whether between the cushions of the couch, or my own elbow, wait there a few moments, and then emerge with whatever decision "The Critics" would come up with. Isn't it silly what some kids come up with? Do you have any stories about imaginary friends growing up?

It's been a while...

2008-04-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

Due to the popular request of my adoring public (:P) I have decided to take time out of my busy schedule to let you know what is going on.

First, my job. It is going really well. I have been working there for 2 months now, and while I am still a probationary employee,I have a feeling that in one month's time I will be a full time regular employee for Spencer Godfrey Architects, Inc. I was told today that a lot of the reason they hired me was because of my 3d modeling experience, which has become apparent as they asked me to do a perspective model of one of the jobs I have been working on. This is in addition to the 40 hours a week I normally work, which means that lately I have been working so much! Luckily this is a short term assignment, so by the end of next week, I should have this done, along with a nice bonus! I was also told that this would likely be something I do a few times a year, however, not all of them would be in addition to my normal workload. All in all, I am very happy with what I do. It has been hard to come home and make dinner and clean our apartment, but slowly I have improved in that arena.

Next: Sylvester. This is our new cat. He is so adorable! He is always wearing his tux, and gets along with Max (our other cat) famously. He also always sleeps with us, right next to me, either around my head, curled at my tummy or back, and even under the covers! I have never seen a cat do that!

I have also changed my appearance a bit. To be precise, I have gotten a perm! Since my hair is pretty short, it took really well, since my hair isn't weighing down the curls., also it is long enough to not be a 'fro. I have also noticed a slight change in my hair color because of it. It now has a reddish tint to it. Yeah, It is not the best picture ever, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Job Status

2008-01-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

I finally have something to write about! I have a job with an Architecture firm in Round Rock, starting Monday! I have been looking for a job for over a month now, and had set a goal to obtain a position as a CAD technician by the end of January. I am very happy to say that I have met that goal, even though I don't start my new job until the 4th of February. Conversely, I am sad to say that I won't be able to enjoy eating lunch with my friends who are lucky enough to stay at home with their children, at least most of the time.

During the last days of my freedom before full-time employment, I have been playing computer games, and just chilling out in general while caring for my sick husband. Anthony has had a cold since Friday and is now at the tail end of it (hopefully).

This evening, we watched the Republican debate on CNN.com, and I was really annoyed that the debate and questions centered mostly on McCain and Romney. I have decided that I don't like McCain, because he tends to make jabbing comments directed at his opponents. I think I am leaning towards Huckabee at this point, and I also like a lot of what Ron Paul has to say.

Not much new...

2007-11-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

I don't really have anything to say, except that my allergies are going crazy. I have been sneezing and blowing my nose all evening. I think it is the change in weather.

Anthony and I have decided to stay home this year for Thanksgiving. My mom wasn't too happy about that, since this holiday is a very big deal in our family, but we decided to try it on our own this year. Every year we go to Houston, or some other place to celebrate and this time we want time to spend with ourselves.

Our friends, Shawn and Sarah, came over last night, and they brought their dog, Serisse, over to meet Max. I had them meet with our glass porch door between them at first, with Max outside. That way they were able to see each other without doing much by way of scaring each other. My plan worked! After a couple of minutes of them staring at each other through the glass, I opened the door, while Shawn was holding Serisse and I caught Max and held him as well. They started sniffing each other, and after a few minutes of that, I let Max go. After that, Max sort of kept his distance, except the time when he sniffed Serisse's butt. Nothing crazy happened, and I am thankful for that! All in all it was a lovely night.

Anthony has become a pretty good cook. He has somewhat taken over the role of cooking for reason's unknown to me, and for them most part, he has done really well. For when Shawn and Sarah came over, he made beef Stroganoff, and even though he pureed the onion and bell pepper in our Kitchen Aid food processor, it turned out delicious!

I'm ba-ack!

2007-11-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

So much for keeping up with my blogging...

I was threatened a few days ago that someone (I won't mention any names, but you know who you are) would unsubscribe to my blog, since I haven't been writing anything. Well that changes now!

So, here goes...I am finally in my last month of school! My last class will be on December 4th, and then I will be walking across the stage on the 15th. The two classes that I am taking are Moral Issues in Society, in which I will complete a 20-30 page essay describing a moral issue, and coming up with a definitive proposal of what should be done about said issue. My chosen topic is human cloning. I don't know what should be done about it yet. I will however post my essay once I am done with it, and by then I will have figured something out. Speaking of which you should all vote on my brand new poll! It is just to the left of this entry. Go ahead! I'll wait.

The second class I am taking is History of Mexican Americans. This class is ok, but it wasn't my first choice. Since they weren't offering my first choice this semester, and this was the only class that would have fulfilled my requirements, I decided to go ahead and take it.

Some of you may already know this, but I am getting over being sick with food poisoning. I made a burrito Friday for lunch with faulty beans (meaning I kept them in the fridge too long). Late Friday night I had to take a trip the the bathroom, and kept going back until 8 the next morning. after that I was finally able to keep water down, so I progressed to sprite. a little after lunch-time, I ate most of a saltine cracker, followed by maybe half a cup of Campbell's soup later that evening. This morning I surprised myself by eating 3 saltine crackers. For lunch I ate a few bites of rice. So I have decided that I should continue to be on the "sick-diet." It might compete with the Southbeach and Atkins!

(I am, of course, kidding.)

For those of you who are interested, Max, our feline friend has been very cute lately!

Recently I also gave Max a bath, and he wouldn't speak to me for days! But he is now nice and sparkling clean!

New Old Car

2007-08-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

Anthony and I just bought a new car today. Well, new to us. It is a 2003 charcoal gray Mazda Tribute. It has a manual transmission, gets 23 miles to the gallon in the city and 28 on the highway (pretty darn good for an SUV) and even comes with a keyless entry! Surprisingly it wasn't hard going through the process of buying it. Both of our credit scores are really high (I am still beating Anthony by 3 points!) so we got a good deal on the interest rate, then our credit union was really easy to work with, as well as (surprise, surprise) our insurance company. We test drove the car at noon, and by 2 we drove it off the lot! We had done our homework on the internet before, and decided that this was the best choice that we saw. Then we actually test drove it, and found it suited us well. We both agreed that this was the car we should buy. Anyway, we hadn't had a chance to eat lunch beforehand, so I was ravenous by the time I left! I stopped at Dairy Queen on the way to go shopping with a few of my friends from the young marrieds group at my church. We went to a thrift store that was having a 75% off sale, at which I found a dress that actually fit me for only three dollars! I was absolutely amazed! Anyway, I think I will wear it to church on Sunday.

On a different note, I am a bit disappointed that I have not been able to practice my German much since I got back, but I have also been amazed at the number of people I meet who speak even a little Deutsch. For instance, the lady who helped Anthony and me with our car loan yesterday asked me what I was studying, and I told her "German" and she just started speaking to me in German! She even complimented my pronunciation. anyway, even with those pleasant surprises, I find it is very hard to hold a good, adult conversation in German. I guess I just need to work harder on my vocabulary. Once I get a picture of our new car, I will post it. Have a blessed day!

Switzerland

2007-07-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of July the 14th, I spent time with a family in Zurich, who know my great uncle. They were so kind to me, and allowed me to sleep in their guest bedroom, while I explored the city. I left Mannheim early Saturday morning, and arrived in Zurich and was greeted warmly by the Martens. Uwe, (pronounced "Oovay") took me around the city, showing me a couple of churches, one that had stained glass windows designed by a famous Jewish artist, depicting the story of the Bible. He also took me to a place called "Lindonhof" translated roughly "lime tree yard." Apparently the lime tree symbolizes young love and the center of a township, namely where legislation was made and punishments were carried out.

After seeing a few of the sights Zurich had to offer, Uwe and I went back to their house, where his wife Uschi (pronounced "Ooshee") had coffee and cake ready. "Kaffee und Kuchen" is a very popular meal in the afternoon, usually around 4, so the Martens had set this up, and we had "Eiskaffee" which is coffee with ice cream in it, and pastries. Their youngest son, Fabian, was also there. Shortly after coffee and cake, the older of their two sons, Florian, arrived for the weekend. We had dinner a couple of hours later, which consisted of barbecued meat and potato salad. The meat was mostly German sausage and veal, without our traditional Texas barbecue sauce, however, it was a very good meal. After dinner, we sat around and talked for a while, then I went with the two sons to walk the family's two dogs, Fiona and Duke. I have never really been a dog person, but these dogs were very sweet and quiet, too. Anyway, that ended my day.

The next morning I woke up a bit late, around 10:00, and found that breakfast was ready. I ate a typical German breakfast with the family, consisting of bread with cheese and coldcuts and jams, then we decided what we would do for the day. Florian said he would take me around Zurich again, showing me what I hadn't seen the day before, and along the way, we would basically take Fabian to his flat which was in the city (The Martens lived in a very small town just outside of Zurich) so that he could study. Florian took me to see a few things around the city, including a church where I went up into one of the towers overlooking the city. Florian told me that a couple of men were martyred, and after they were beheaded, they took their heads and walked back up to the church where they finally died. It was a very interesting story. The climb into the tower was quite a workout, as well. Then we met everyone else, excluding Uschi, who hadn't been feeling well, for dinner. That was where I had a Swiss meal which consisted of fried potato shreds very similar to, yet better tasting than, Ihop hashbrowns, called Röschti. Along with it came veal, I think and Rattatouilles (did I spell that right?). Anyway, the meal was very good, and filling. After dinner, we headed back to their beautiful home, and I lounged in their upper garden with Uschi, watching the sunset, and the stars pop out. It was amazingly serene and peaceful. I started getting tired, and decided to go to bed, and so ended the second day.

When I woke up the next day, I had breakfast with Uwe (Uschi was at a hair appointment, and their two sons had gone back to where they lived, as it was Monday and they had to go back to work and school), then he took me to the train station, where I caught a train to Lucerne. Once there, I got onto a boat which took me to the Rigi Mountain (I don't think it is actually a mountain, however, it is one of the bigger hills I have seen). I took the next train to the top of the mountain, and was rewarded with a spectacular view on the Swiss Alps, and the clear, blue water Switzerland is known for. It was absolutely breathtaking. The only the thing I would have changed was the cows. There was a herd of bovine at the top of the mountain, and I had to step carefully so as not to step in fermented cow poo. I take that back. That would not be the only thing I would have changed; I wish Anthony, or really anybody could have been there with me. Towards the end of my trip, I was very tired of traveling alone. I suppose the travel plans could have been talked about much more, since when we got there, everyone had different plans. Anyway, it was still a lot of fun, and I would trade those experiences for anything!

After I took a walk around the mountain peak, I went back down the mountain, only to find out I had a sunburn! I took another boat back to Lucerne, and visited the one thing I knew was in Lucerne: die Kapellbrücke (the chapel bridge) and the water tower attached to it. I saw a few other pretty buildings but I didn't want to stray far from the train station, so I wasn't really able to go sightseeing much in Lucerne. After a bit, I went back to the station, and traveled back to Mannheim.

Heads up

2007-07-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have been on two more trips since Weinheim, but as I am leaving tomorrow for Frankfurt to fly out on Saturday, I will not be able to update my blog like I intended. I will however catch up after I get home. For those of you who don't like suspense, I went to Switzerland (Zurich and Luzern) and Bremen, Germany. More about those later. See you in a couple of days. (Hopefully!)

Weinheim

2007-07-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

My class at the Goethe institute decided to take a day trip to a little city near Mannheim called Wienheim yesterday. It was so cute! Very German, like Cochem. We got there at about10 in the morning, and then had a tour guide take us around the town giving us background information on the history of Weinheim. It is very old, and has walls around the old city, with watch towers, and a castle on the hill, and lots of German stuff. I think I will format this entry a little differently from the others.

I am assuming for some reason the building that was originally in the vacant lot next to this building was torn down, as you can see the outline of where it used to be.

I was told that this cafe marks the location of public punishments in the history of Weinheim. Too bad they don't have something a little more memorable for it, huh?

I really like this picture. It has a lot of information, but it isn't too busy. In the background, you can see one of the towers that used to be connected to the fortress walls surrounding the old city.

This is supposed to be the oldest cedar in Germany. The trunk is HUGE!! I felt so small next to it.

This building was so thin, I doubt much could have fit on the inside wall there. I think it is barely wider than the average human height.

Liege, Belgium

2007-07-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't do much traveling this weekend, but I took a day trip to Liege in Belgium. I had read somewhere that German is one of Belgium's official languages, but it seemed that the spoken language was French, and the only French phrase I know is "I am dead" (I don't know how to spell the French words). I only know that because Sarah C. taught it to me. Anyway, I was unable to communicate properly, so it was really good that I decided to stay for only Saturday. I think I should still start at the beginning, though.

So I woke up around 7:30, in order to get to the 8:30 train. I had seen a Cuckoo Clock in Cologne which I wanted to buy, since it was priced very reasonable, considering the prices I saw in Heidelberg and Salzburg. So I took a detour to Cologne, and found the shop I had seen the clock in, and bought it. It is a really nice looking clock, and they sent it to the states for me, too. On my way back to the station, I saw one of those Silver people, and decided to put some spare change in the cup placed in front, and as soon as I did, the person started squeaking at me! It was hilarious. I am glad I did that. So after that, I caught a train to Aachen, a city on the border of Belgium and Germany, and then to Liege. I got off the train, but since the train station was under construction, it took me probably 30 minutes figuring out how to leave it. I finally had to follow a man who I was fairly sure was leaving, too. As soon as I rounded the corner, I realized that I wasn't in a very good part of town. I didn't feel that I could take my camera out in that area, so unfortunately, I don't have very many pictures of Belgium. Most of them I just thought were pretty buildings. Anyway, I started getting really hungry, but the first restaurants I saw were pretty highly priced, so I waited, but after walking around for an hour, I still hadn't seen anything else, so I just went back to the train station area and got a pasta plate.

That was a very interesting experience. I walked by the restaurant and saw they had a menu in the doorway, so I took a look, and decided what I wanted, but I don't speak French. I had forgotten what I wanted, so I asked the waiter for a menu, but he only spoke French. I asked if anyone spoke German or English, and he motioned a bit annoyedly, and got one of his colleagues. He realized I needed a menu, so he got one for me, and after that it was mostly pointing at the menu showing the first guy what I wanted. It was a very rich pasta, and it kept me from having to eat for the rest of the day. of course, I ate a 3 in the afternoon, which was a very late lunch.

Other than lunch, all I did really was walk around, taking pictures. I saw something really strange walking back to the train station, though. There was a naked lady in a storefront window. At first I thought she might have been a nude model, posing for an artist, but later down the same street, I saw another lady in a shop window in very skimpy and risqué lingerie. I came to the conclusion that prostitution must be legal there in Belgium, and that the ladies were selling their wares, so to speak. I told you I wasn't in a good part of town.

I got back on the train to Aachen, and then on the train back to Cologne, I started talking to to guys who spoke fluent German (they were from Africa, which is why I didn't refer to them as Germans) and understood about 90% of the conversation! I have been making tons of improvements.

That was my weekend. It wasn't as packed this time, but I think I needed that, after traveling so much lately. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

Munich and Salzburg

2007-07-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was fantastic. Friday morning (I had permission from my Goethe teacher to skip class that day) I went to Munich along with the rest of the students in my program from St. Eds. We got there around eleven, and after exploring for about an hour, we went on a city bus tour, which our teacher, Kerstin Somerholter, paid for! It was so nice not to have to spend money on that. It was really nice, because we could get on and off at various stops, and get back on later. We got of at the Marionplatz (I am not sure of that is the correct spelling) which is where the famous Glockenspiel is, that every hour, figures come out and dance and cuckoo, and all that. Also very close by was the Hofbräuhaus, a famous brewery and Biergarten. We ate our lunch there, and had a regional beer. I got a Spätzle plate, which one of my friends, Tanya had made for me and Anthony once, but I quickly found out that Tanya's was better. This plate tasted more like macaroni and cheese. It was good, but not as good as Tanya's.

After that, we got back on the bus and headed back to the train station, where we started out, so that six of us could get on a train to Salzburg. I was very much looking forward to going there, since that was one of the cities Anthony and I visited on our honeymoon. I also wanted to go on the Sound of Music Tour, and was very much looking forward to it, but I found out that it would have cost me 35 euros for the tour, and no one else wanted to spend that money on it, so I decided to wait until I could go see it with Anthony. This fountain is in that movie, by the way.

We did go see Mozart's Birthhouse, and walked down the street with stores that have to abide by certain regulations about the signs on the store fronts. They have to have these iron brackets, and look antiquie. Does that make sense? Anyway, I found a number of stores carrying Dirndl dresses, which are the traditional dresses of Austrian and Bavarian women. I really wanted to buy one, but decided against it at the moment, since I really don't have anywhere to where it, and it cost around 300 euros for a simple one. I saw some very extravagant ones, that people where to their weddings, and such.

We also went into some very beautiful churches, and a cathedral. That cathedral was the second prettiest I have seen so far, the first being the one I saw in Trier. After that, we headed up to the fortress overlooking Salzburg. Six of us went up there together, but we got split up somewhere in there, so I along with three others decided to leave after a bit, and go get something to eat. After that, we walked along the street, window shopping, and then went back to the hotel, which is actually an interesting story in and of itself.

When we got there Friday evening, the lady running the bed and breakfast we had made reservations at told us our rooms weren't ready, and it was fairly obvious that the house was under construction. She had already called a lady friend of hers who also runs a bed and breakfast, and she had rooms that we could stay in for the same price. So for the first time this trip I rode in not one, but two German cars, both Mercedes to be precise, along with the four other girls who were renting rooms for the weekend there. The lady at the first place took us to a middle point where the lady of the second place was waiting to take us back to her establishment. The halls there smelled like stinky cats. It was really bad, and there was cat hair in some of the food in the breakfast room. However, I decided to not eat that food, and still was able to make myself quite satisfied with what was available.

In any case, we were split up, and the two girls that weren't with us still had the keys to my room, which was of course locked. So I spent most of my evening with the other two, who fell asleep on their beds, leaving me very bored, and nowhere to sleep. I finally got really tired of that, and since I didn't know where the proprietor was, except that she lived in the house, I went to the front door, and rang the doorbell, since that was the only way I knew to get a hold of her. She seemed a little put out when I asked her to open my door; I think she was ready for bed. In any case, shortly after that, I went to bed, and shortly after that, the other two finally came back.

The next morning, Kasi and I decided we wanted to go to the Salt mines, which were an hour away by train. The rest of our group went back to Mannheim, via Munich. Let me tell you, the salt mines were so much fun! At the beginning, everyone changed into a suit that was supposedly what saltminers wear, however, I don't think they were very authentic. After that, we got on this tram which took us to the first point of interest. A slide. Apparently they used the slide for transporting both people and supplies further into the mine. We were able to slide down and it was exhilarating! It makes me want to go to an amusement park again! Well, we slid down, and a picture was taken of us on the way down, and I sortof cheated, since I didn't want to pay the huge price to get the picture, so I took a picture of the picture. Anyway, the next parts of the mine were explaining the process of mining salt. I don't remember all of it, but basically what they did was fill parts of the mine with water, let the salt dissolve, then pump put the brine. That process took a few years, and then they were able to test the area for the content, and finally start mining out the salt they found there. After that, we were taken into one of those areas, which still had much of the water in it, and it was breathtakingly beautiful! I could hardly tell there was water in there, it was so clear. The pictures that I took didn't come out very well, but in the picture here you can't even tell there is water! We took a short boat trip to the other side, all the while they were playing laser shows for us. It was pretty cool, if a little bit cheesy. But I still think it was well done. Shortly after that, we got back onto a tram which took us back to our starting point, but before we got off, each of us received a tiny container of salt that was taken out of that mine. That was a bit cheesy, however, I didn't have to buy any!

After the salt mine tour was over, Kasi and I headed back to Salzburg, and from there we took a train to Munich, and caught another one from there to Mannheim. That day was just packed full of different modes of transportation for the two of us. We took two different buses to get to the train station, then a train to the town where the mines were, and since it was Sunday, the buses aren't as regular, so we decided to take a taxi to them, and then in the mines themselves, we took a tram, a boat, a slide (I am not sure if that counts, but it was a way to get from point A to B), another tram, then three more trains to get to Mannheim and once we were in Mannheim, we took a tram back to our dorms! All in all, I enjoyed the trip very much, and look forward to going to Salzburg again, this time with Anthony.

Getting home

2007-06-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

I had decided to leave Trier Sunday evening, and I planned it so that I could be in my bed falling asleep by midnight. So I left Trier to go back to Koblenz, then from there, I was supposed to catch a train to Mainz, then get on a different train back to Mannheim. I misunderstood the man who was telling me this at the train station, so I did not get off the train at Mainz, and got all the way to Würzburg, before I realized that train wasn't going to Mannheim. So I got off that train at midnight, and then I had to go back to Frankfurt, then from there go to Mannheim. The train to Frankfurt didn't arrive until a few minutes after 1, and I didn't get there until 2:20 am. I then caught the train to Mannheim, which didn't arrive until 3:30.

Unfortunately, the trams don't run that early in the morning, and I didn't have enough money on me to hire a taxi, so I had to wait an hour and a half for a tram to come by so I could take it to my dorm room. During that time, I witnessed and experienced some pretty weird stuff. This creepy looking guy sat down right next to me at the tram stop, even though there were other seats to sit in, and then placed his hand on the seat and kept inching it over until he touched my thigh. I got up and moved to a different seat, then he got up and meandered over to where I was sitting and then sat right next to me again! As soon as he sat down, I stood up and immediately moved to another seat. He didn't try to sit next to me the rest of the time, but he kept looking at me, and he did the same thing to another girl later on!

Later on, a couple of college age girls came to the tram. I didn't know if they were a couple, or if they were just friends, but something went wrong between them and they started fighting! They were cussing, slapping, pushing and screaming at each other, so much so that a police officer had to come and physically separate them. One of them walked of saying something like, "She ruined our friendship!" It was pretty intense.

The last noteworthy happening was what I think was an attempted robbery. This guy came up to me and asked me in German, "Are you tired? We could go to my apartment and have a lot of fun. I am from Iraq and I really like you." He went along those lines for about 2 to 5 minutes, all during which I looked around for the same police officer that separated those two girls, to no avail. Well, the guy finally left, and I got on the tram a short while later, took off my backpack, in which all of my things for the weekend were, and I noticed that one of the pockets was open! Luckily, I had taken everything of an importance or value, like my camera, PDA, cellphone and eurail pass, in my purse earlier that evening, so nothing was taken. I finally got to my own bed shortly after 5 am, and slept very well afterwards.

On a lighter note, I think my husband is a fish whisperer!

He went to Lake Brownwood with some friends from the Young Marrieds group at our church in the states, and apparently caught this really big Striped Bass. I heard it tasted good too!

Cologne, Koblenz, Cochem and Trier

2007-06-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend was amazing. I started out by going to Cologne, which is right on the Rhein, and I walked around, looked at the Dom (cathedral) in Cologne, which was absolutely breathtaking! The outside structure was very Gothic, and it was enormous. I couldn't get far enough away from it to fit it all in my camera. I did get the most memorable part of it, though. Anyway, so I met up with Vicki, Mary, Sarah G. and Kasi there, and we went to a very German restaurant called Brauhaus Früh, which also specializes in a beer called Kölsch, which basically means it comes from Köln, the German spelling of Cologne. I normally do not like beer, but I figure I couldn't go to Germany and not try the beer. Well, I have found a beer that I actually like! This stuff was good. For dinner I had what they called a Bockwurst, which tasted like it was a step up from hotdogs, with Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes which they called Püree. After dinner, I went back to my hotel, but I meandered, and by the time I got there, it was 11:00. I had intended to go to bed early, then wake up early enough to sit by the Rhein before I took a train to Koblenz. That plan fell through, since I didn't wake up until 8:30, and then I was rushing to get to the train station in time. I caught my train, and just before noon, I made it to Koblenz, where I met up with a girl I met at the Goethe Institute, named Kendra and her fiance, Michael, who is German. Kendra and I wandered around Koblenz for a while, and saw the Deutsche Ecke (German Corner) where the rivers Rhein and Mosel meet. There is a really cool monument there, which Kendra and I went into to take this picture. We took pictures of a lot of things, including more pieces of the Berlin Wall. There was another really pretty church there, actually about 3 or 4, two of which I went into. The first one was hosting a concert of Handel's Messiah, of which I only caught the latter half, but it was still pretty amazing. The second one I went into Sunday morning, when they were about to have Mass, and since I had never been to a Catholic Mass before, I decided to stay for it. It was very interesting. I wasn't able to interact with it very much, since I am not very familiar with German words associated with worship. It was still a very interesting experience. On the same day I went to Koblenz, Kendra took me to see Cochem, a very quaint, purely German city. It was really cool. The architecture was exactly what you would expect from a German town. I was amazed to see the first thing off the train was this sign. (Gleis translates to track or platform) I couldn't believe my eyes! They must be Harry Potter fans. This was this common type of architecture in this little town. There were also a lot of vineyards and wineries in that area, so I went to one and tasted some of their wine. I have mentioned before that Germans love ice cream, but until I visited this town, I had no clue to what extent. They have what is called Spaghetti Eis (ice cream). Doesn't that sound disgusting? However, they only make it look like spaghetti. They push it through a machine that makes it look like the noodles, and then the "sauce" is berry juice or glaze, and the "cheese" was white chocolate shavings. It was very tasty. The next day, Sunday, after I went to the mass, I headed for Trier, which was originally a Roman town, so it has many Roman ruins. I was touring this town alone, so I didn't have much of an idea of where to look, so I decided to try my luck, and headed down what I assumed was the main street of the town. Once again, I got lucky and only after a few minutes of walking I found Port Nigra, a Roman ruin. There was a souvenir shop, so I went in to look at postcards. I found some that basically served as my tour guide, since it had all sorts of pictures of what to see in Trier. So once I had those, I almost continually asked strangers questions like, where is the Dom, and where is the location of this? I asked in German, and they answered in German, and I understood them! That was very good for boosting my ego. I went into the Dom here, and surprisingly enough, I think it was the prettiest of all the others inside, including the famous one in Cologne. I also saw another ruin called

Kaisertherme,

the amphitheater,

a Basilika

and a palace.

Schwetzingen

2007-06-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went with my group of St. Eds students led by our professor to Schwetzingen and Heidelberg, two very quaint towns. We originally went to Schwetzingen to go to a waterpark they had there, but it was very cool outside that day, so we wanted to stay in the indoor pool, but they had it closed because they were painting it. So that was foiled, but we did get to see the grounds of the Schwetzingen castle, which were very extensive. The gardens started out very clean and neat, with flower beds lining the walkways. if you go straight, you encounter a big fountain, then past that are arcades of trees. Scattered along the way are many statues, some of mythological characters, others of mythological animals. Past the trees is a pond/lake with swans and ducks. You can't really see it in this picture, but behind us, the swans are nipping at our backsides, apparently looking for food. Then the swans would get mad at each other then attack and chase each other. It was absolutely hilarious!

Hidden along one of the many paths is a grotto, which is so pleasant, it is breathtaking. Further along that path was a little house that was absolutely gorgeous! However, I wasn't allowed to take pictures, so I can only describe it to you. First of all, you have to wear these special slippers that go over your shoes, and they are hard to walk in, because they are one size fits all, so my tennis shoes were flopping all over the place in the slippers. The purpose of the slippers is to not scuff the floor. Well, when you walk into the little (compared to the castle) house, there are beautiful statues facing the center of the oval room. To each side is an entrance to a wing. In each wing there are three rooms. The center room was the one we were allowed to enter on each side. The house was furnished with beautiful matching antique chairs, cabinets, and other various items of furniture. On one side of the house was a bathing area. The tub was bigger than queen size bed. You could almost swim in it. It was amazing. I had to wonder if the people who used this little house appreciated it or took it for granted. It was amazingly detailed.

In some parts of this garden, it looked like the part in "The Sound of Music" where Maria was on her way to meet the Trapp family, and sang the "Confidence" song. The two girls I was walking with and I all burst out into song! It was great! We decided that before we go to Salzburg, we will rent "The Sound of Music" and then go on the extremely touristy Sound of Music Tour, which I unfortunately missed the last time I was there. There is almost nothing that will stop me from making that tour this time!

More Berlin

2007-06-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so are you tired of hearing about Berlin? Well, the best part is coming up...

So the picture that I wanted to show you in the "Germany" blog was one of the Parliament building which is very close to the Brandenburg gate. Right outside the parliament building, the sidewalk marked where the Berlin Wall used to be.

We also went to Checkpoint Charlie, where we also saw one of the last pieces of the Berlin Wall for the first time. After that we enjoyed a German pastime: eating ice cream in a park.

The evening before we went back to Mannheim, we hung around in our hostel room. It was a little small, had 3 sets of bunkbeds, each of which was very uncomfortable, and since there was no AC, we were even more uncomfortable because of the heat. We also had to PAY for a set of sheets AND a towel. I was not a happy camper, and they charged a very high amount of money to use the internet, and half of the few computers they had didn't work. I guess that is just the hostel experience, though.

Now for the fun part. I mentioned earlier in another post that I had forgotten my eurail pass and decided to use a Schoenes Wochenende ticket to get back to Mannheim. Well, that turned out to be a bad idea. That ticket only allows a person to use the slow trains, and if think about the fact that the fast train took 5 hours, you can imagine how long it took to get back to Mannheim. Unfortunately for me, my friends decided to take the fast train back to Mannheim (not that I blame them; I wouldn't wish my trip on anybody!) so I had to go by myself. The first train left the Berlin station at 8:00 that saturday morning, and I was supposed to arrive in Mannheimat a liitle after 6 that evening. Now the slower trains do not travel very long distances, so I had to change trains 4 times. Catching the first train was no problem, but when I got off of that one to catch the next one, there was already a train there, and my train wasn't supposed to depart for another 15 minutes or so. I didn't realize until after that train left at the time my train was supposed to, that I should have gotten on that one. at that point I was calmly hysterical. On the outside, I was fairly composed, but on the inside, I was screaming and kicking myself for not asking if it was my train, wondering what I should do next, etc. I decided to go to the Reisezentrum, where people buy their tickets, all the while trying to figure out how to explain my problem in German. I decided that I would ask the person behind the counter if they spoke English, and then go from there. I still didn't know what I would do if they didn't speak English. Unfortunately she didn't, and through my tears (I wasn't calm on the outside anymore) I showed her my schedule, and she realized I missed my train, and she printed out a new schedule for me. The next train was in two hours from then, which pushed back my arrival in Mannheim to after 8 that evening. Long story short (too late, I know) I was on a train for 12 hours that day. By the end of it, I was exhausted, miserable, and had a splitting headache. Almost immediately when I got home, which was around 9 o'clock, I went to sleep and didn't wake up again until almost 9 the next morning. So that was my trip to Berlin! since then I have gone to Schweztingen and Heidelberg, and will probably be going to Cologne this weekend. Tschues!

New Old Post

2007-06-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

I think my big post was hidden by the Berliner Dom post. I have a post under that one that tells a lot more of my trip to Berlin. I mostly posted the Berliner Dom one because I was playing with Piccasa and uploading pictures. I hope you enjoy it. There is another post coming soon.

2007-06-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is the Berliner Dom or cathedral. It is very beautiful and ornate, and in the basement, many of the deceased royalty of Germany are buried there in above ground tombs. Some of them are very ornate, and many of them have crowns on them. Frederick the great was even buried there!

Germany

2007-06-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a crazy week and a half. And now I have time to tell you about it.

Once we got to Mannheim, we met a girl in our dorms, named Kookie, who was very sympathetic to our situation, who had already been in Mannheim for a while, at least long enough to know a few tricks to the trade. She took us to a place where we could get a quick, cheap, tasty and filling meal for only 2,25 euros. (They use commas instead of periods in numbers) Anyway this meal was called a doener. After our meal, which was at aroud 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I took a 5 hour long nap to help me get over jet lag, since we lost a day and a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, I woke up at 9, instead of sleeping through the night, so I went ahead and set up my computer and rearranged my room [=>], so that the desk was next to the plugs. I messed with the computer a while, and realized that the sun went down at around 10 in the evening. Around midnight, after taking a benedril to help me sleep, I went back to bed, and slept until 5 when the sunlight woke me up. I then ignored it and went back to sleep, only to wake up for good around 7 or so. I guess, I really said all that to say, the sun sets late and rises early here, so that sleeping in the night hours is more difficult here.

On Wednesday, nothing special happened, since we were all very tired, and were still trying to get over jetlag. We decided to go to Berlin the next day though. Very early on Thursday morning, we set out for the Hauptbahnhof [<=] (main train station) of Mannheim, to catch a train to the capitol of Germany. once we were there, I realized that I left my eurail pass in the desk drawer in my dormroom, so I had to pay 109 euros for a train ticket. I decided to purchase a oneway ticket, since I heard about a deal called "Schoenes Wochenende" or "lovely weekend" that costs 35 euros, and will take you anywhere in Germany on Saturday and Sunday. Since we were traveling back to Mannheim on Saturday, that seemed to be a good deal. So we caught a fast train to Berlin, and 5 hours later, we arrived in Berlin. The first thing we did is check in at the youth hostel where we wanted to stay, and left our things there, so that we did not have to carry everything around with us, since our backpacks were very heavy. After that, we went to a church that was destroyed in World War II. [=>] I think it was beautiful, even in its destroyed state. After that, we took the 100 bus, which was kind of like a self-guided tour, that went by the most important sites of Berlin. The really great thing about it was that is was a part of the bus system there, so it only cost about 2 euros, so we didn't have to pay for an actual tour.

I can't remember what we did each day, but I do remember all of the important sites we saw. I already posted something on the Berliner Dom, and we also saw the Brandenburg Tor (gate) [<=], which I think is the same place that Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech (which is actually grammatically incorrect in German, but I will spare you the reasoning behind that). Whether or not he made that speech there, the Brandenburg gate is very symbolic of Berlin, kind of like the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Germans call those "Wahrzeichen." We also went to the Pergamon museum [=>], which is an awesome museum of Ancient Greek architectural art, Egyptian art, and Islamic art. I took so many pictures, it will be impossible to load them all into my blog, so I will set up some Internet slide show for you to see. Another place we went to was the old German historical museum [<=], which was comprised of German artwork. I didn't get to see the whole thing, since we were on a schedule, and after we left I found out that the floor I didn't visit was comprised of architectural plans. I was very disappointed to have missed it. Another place we visited was the parliament building. We had intended to go inside up to the dome at the top, because that is a really excellent view of Berlin, but we decided we were too wiped out, and went back to Mannheim earlier that anticipated. Also while we were in that area, we saw a police escort of slick black limos, and came to the conclusion that the people in those cars were important leaders, either throughout the world, or for Germany. We also remembered that the G8 summit was being held in Germany at the time and thought maybe some of those leaders had something to do in Berlin. This has been a very long post, and even though I am not done telling you about my trip to Berlin, I will complete this post, mostly since I don't think I can put any more pictures in here. Hope you are enjoying my journey.

Berlin

2007-06-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

Berlin is so nice! I have been doing the whole museum thing, and historical and cultural things as well, and I have been learning a lot! I am really tired, because my friends and I have been constantly on the move. This afternoon, we will be going to Checkpoint Charlie, and seeing that area. It should be interesting, and very educational. I have been taking a lot of pictures, I promise, but since this is still not my regular computer, I am not able to upload them, yet. Once I get back to Mannheim, I will be able to figure out how to put pictures into my blog. Until then, use your imagination!!!

We have been staying in a hostel, and that has been very interesting. We had some really interesting roommates, who slept during the day so they would be refreshed enough to party throughout the night. It is a very different atmosphere than I am used to.

I have to admit, I am having a blast, but I miss Anthony so much. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers during this time away from my husband. It has been harder than I anticipated.

Busy Days

2007-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I put up a post, but I have yet to get internet in my room, so it has been a bit inconvenient to find a computer. Luckily there are these things in Europe called Internet cafes, where you can buy internet time. So that is what I am doing right now. I have 5 minutes left, so I will be quick. I got to Germany Tuesday morning, and with very minor setbacks, like not understanding how to work the street car ticket machine, we arrived in Mannheim, found the Goethe institute, and were shown to our dorm rooms. I am traveling with three other girls, named Mary, Vicki, and Sarah G. Anyway, we have been trying our hardest to get over jetlag, while seeing as much Germany as we can. Right now we are in Berlin, and we will be staying in a youth hostel tonight and tomorrow night. I don't have any pictures to show right now, but stay tuned, and I will show them later!

Ok, so this is the second installment of my previous blog that accidently made it onto Kitchen Karma instead of my own blog. Sorry, Myra. Well, I now have 5 minutes left on the internet without having to again, so this is going to have to be a work in progress until I have my own internet modem. Anyway, I am having trouble typing because the keyboards in Deutschland are different from American keyboards. The z and y keys are switched, and many of the punctuation keys are moved around, plus, there are more characters like ö, ü, and ä, and various other things. So if you do find typos, please be patient. Ok, once again no time left. Enjoy!

What a Surprise!

2007-05-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

Last night, Anthony and I went to our friends' apartment to have dinner before I head out to Houston and then Europe. Well, they had me. I got there and more of our friends jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!" It was awesome! I have never had a surprise party before. In fact, I had kind of hoped someone would give me a going away party, but I put it out of my mind in order to not be disapointed if it didn't happen, but it did, and it was a surprise!!! They are absolutely amazing people, and I am so blessed to be able to call them friends. Anyway last night was absolutely fantastic!

Speaking of last nights, last night was my last night in Austin for quite a while. We drive to Houston tonight to stay there with my family until Monday when I fly out. I have not started packing yet. I really need to get on the ball on that one. I hope it won't be too bad and hectic. I am also a little apprehensive as this will be the longest time I have spent away from my husband. Well, God will be with us both, so I am not worried. God has provided us with many friends, who will pray for us, and take care of us when it is needed, and he has shown us that many times.

For example, our friend Kevin just helped us get our new Washer and dryer over to our new apartment. It was really great seeing Anthony and Kevin working on the appliances, and I also noticed that when Anthony would normally have been very frustrated, he wasn't because of our friend's presense. It was very nice and refreshing to have that kind of help. Thanks so much Kevin!

German stuff

2007-05-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

I bought my eurail pass today. They are so expensive, but not as expensive as buying each train ticket individually. I got a pass that will allow me to travel between Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, and Benelux, which is Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg all rolled into one. I also got 100 Euros. The exchange rate is high too. I paid $145.59 for 100 euros, including the $1 service fee. The cash will hopefully get me through the first couple of days, and then I can go to a Deutsche Bank ATM and get money out with no extra fees. My bank has a deal with them that their customers can use Deutsche Bank atms just like their own atms, except that I would have to pay for the exchange rate. So if I spend 1 Euro, that is approximately $1.45 that I am spending here. That really stinks.

Anyway, I am going to Germany and will be studying the German language there. It is really very interesting, since there is a common German language, but an incredible amount of dialects. There are even many dialects within dialects. I have been learning the standard German, so I really hope I understand people when they talk to me. Another possible problem is that people from all over the world are coming to the Goethe Institute in order to learn German. That means that German is the common language, and that most, if not all of the classes will be conducted in German. So in order to communicate to people of other nationalities, we will have to speak to each other in our broken German. It will probably be a point of amusement; you know, it is always good to laugh at yourself.

New Apartment

2007-05-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

So Anthony and I have officially moved in to our new apartment in Austin, thanks to our friends from the Young Marrieds group at our church. We still have a lot of unpacking to do, but it is looking so much better than it did two days ago. The only problem is I have to do most of it myself, since Anthony is at work most of the day, and when he gets home he is exhausted.

We have just switched our internet from our old apartment to the new one, and this is one of the first items that I have accomplished after checking my email, of course. I am hoping to continue this blog through my trip to Germany. For those of you who don't know, I am flying to Germany this summer for seven weeks, leaving my husband in the capable hands of the YM group. Anthony has arrived at home now, so I need to attend to him. More about Germany later.