Now I say goodbye to you

I'm flying out to the Missionary Training Center in England in less than two days.

Am I nervous? No.
Stressed is much more accurate.

It doesn't help that much of today was spent buying last minute items. I realized it's kinda chilly over in England right now, so I had to get some tights. And then, when I went to put some things in my backpack for the flight, I discovered there was mold on it. Thank you, humidity, for killing my backpack. We've been through a lot together. I got it in tenth grade, and it's hauled not only high school binders and college textbooks, but it's helped me across the continent and the Atlantic several times.
Did you know it's really hard to find a decent backpack this time of year? I don't even want to talk about the several stores we had to go to in order to find one.

Guys, I have so much to do. I should not even be blogging. But somehow venting is calming me down. Yes, it is 2:00 AM. But it kinda just hit me how much I have to do TOMORROW.

At least my suitcase is packed.

I had planned to do much more last week, but then a man at church gave me a job for the week helping him organize and clean his home office/man cave.

Where did this month go? I had so many good intentions...

And my Darth Vader flash drive is still MIA. As are some other things. Bad things happen when I thoroughly clean my room.

I better get back to important things. Maybe even sleep. Hopefully some family member of mine will keep this blog up for me while I'm gone. Well, since missionaries are gradually gaining permission to blog and use Facebook, mission by mission, I might be on here sooner than later. Whatever. Until we meet again!

P.S. Here's the song for the title:

Nothing is real

Yesterday the strangest thing happened.
Not only did I go jogging, but my dad came with me. Both of us hate running with a fiery burning passion. We decided, though, last week that we should jog every other day. He's diabetic and so he should exercise, and I just want to lose weight. Like every other girl ever.

You may be thinking that this isn't so strange, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

As we were getting ready to go, Kelsey, my littlest sister, asks if she can come along. I'm still in shock. She's in sixth grade and has to run a half a mile in PE almost every day. Every day she comes home all gross and sweaty and we ask her if she had to run. And every day she wrinkles up her nose and says yes. And now she wants to go running with us every night. I'm supremely weirded out. I tried to get her to run with me earlier this summer, since I knew she'd be in PE, but she backed out on me. Pansy.

I may be the world's worst at jogging, but I try. And now somehow this idea has caught a hold of the two other people in my family least likely to run. We're all horridly out of shape. Not fat, just not, well, trim. Just imagine the three of us stumbling down the road, gasping for air as if we had just been saved from drowning. If I had been a spectator, I would have just smiled at the pathetic effort.

Today, Kelsey and I were cleaning out the cabinet under the sink in our bathroom. You wouldn't believe the stuff we found down there... I digress. Anyways. She started asking me if we could go running. My mind is blown.
We'll see how long this trend lasts. I'll only be around for another 16 days, after all...

I also think it's ironic that earlier this summer, my headphones were broken and so jogging was even less fun. That was when I asked my sister to go jogging with me. Now that the headphones been replaced (thank goodness for warranties), I have jogging buddies.
That's life for ya.

It's all I can do to keep waiting for you

So ever since my date to report to the MTC was verschoben, I mean postponed, I've had to find stuff to fill my time. You're probably thinking I'm a pro at this by now, seeing as I've blogged about a couple of boring summers and managed to not go completely insane. There is a profound difference in my situation this time. I have no transportation. Ok, I have a bike, but to bike here is to risk being ran over by cars going about 50 mph (80 kph). Nope, we don't do sidewalks or bike paths. Super lame. Not that I'd have anywhere to go. All my friends now live at least 100 miles (160 km) away. Most of them live a couple thousand miles away.

Mondays or Tuesdays I take my dad to work so I can use his truck to buy groceries for the week.
I make dinner for the family several times a week, depending on mom's school schedule.
I help my sister with her math homework.
Once I even swept the garage.

I feel like I'm in Freaky Friday or something. I've turned into a stay-at-home mom without having kids.
I still wonder what stay-at-home moms do all day. I've wondered for years... Let's not get off on that tangent.

When the sister missionaries need me, I go out with them. I've gone finding/tracting, helped with lessons... I even went to a baptism last week. Maybe I'll blog about that later.

I try to prepare for my mission. I'm supposed to read the lessons in the Preach My Gospel missionary manual. It's slow work though, because once you read a section, there are a billion Bible and Book of Mormon verses to read, sometimes even whole chapters. I'm almost done with the first lesson.

I tried to do some genealogy. Those ancestors are trying very hard to stay in their hiding places deep within old record books.

My mom had me borrow dad's truck one day and go job hunting. That was pretty fruitless and frustrating. I almost had an interview at Kroger last week. It was a group interview, and as I was introducing myself to everybody, I mentioned that I would be serving a mission soon. The hiring guy then asked how soon and how long etc. and then said I should just leave. There would be no point in hiring me because by the time they trained me, I'd be gone. I'm just wondering how much training it takes to put groceries in a bag.

Too bad there's nothing more interesting to say. 22 days! AGAIN.

London Calling

Ok, so technically the call came from Preston, England, and not London. But hey, when else could I use that line?
I got my travel information in the mail yesterday. I should be going to the Missionary Training Center next week. I looked at the envelope, and noticed I'd be there for six weeks. Apparently they now have a six week course for people learning German. Um, guys, I'm not exactly a beginner when it comes to Deutsch. In my opinion, the class for natives would suit me better. I've had three years in high school, two in college, and a year in Germany.
So I sent the MTC people an email about that. They got back to me rather promptly, given the five-hour time difference. They sent me an email last night asking for my phone number so we could have a little German Exam. I replied about half an hour ago, saying that my mornings are free, and hopped in the shower. What I didn't know is that they were going to call me right after getting that email. I tried calling back, but my phone plan isn't good enough to call the UK.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ten minutes later
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just got off the phone with the German teacher at the MTC and the coordinator. They got my explanatory email and called me right away.
They've decided I definitely don't need the language course. The teacher even said I sound like a German! *major confidence booster* The thing is, the native course doesn't start for another month. And there's one other sister missionary who will have to be by herself. They've had that before though, so it's not to be a major factor in my decision. I would like to have the extra month to get ready, study, and *hopefully* get some sort of employment. I think it's time to pray a lot. Thank goodness God answers prayers.

And bein' apart ain't easy

Sorry to get out of chronological order here, but I need to.
Yesterday we dropped my sister off at college.

I cried like a baby.

Ok, maybe not as loudly. Maybe as often as one, though. I cried more than our momma.
We've been nigh inseparable lately. Best buds.
My Grandpa also decided to come down Tuesday from Colorado. He'll be here until just before my mission. I'm the only one who doesn't have school or work in the day, so it falls to me to hang out with him. I also have a whole lot of stuff to do. Speaking of which... I ought to call about getting police clearance for my visa.

Yesterday she told us, "Hey, you're just losing one person, and I'm losing my whole family!" Excuse me! You will still be able to call and text and skype. In less than two weeks, my only contact will be email and snail mail.

I want my sister back.

Took my chances on a big jet plane

My next big adventure was not even a week after my Frankfurt trip.
The name of the game is Flying into Atlanta on Stand-By in Summer.
Anyone who's tried to fly with a Delta Buddy Pass knows what a joy it can be. On one hand, I saved a ton of money. On the other hand, well, you're about to hear about that.
It just so happens that the two closest Buddy Pass approved airports are about four hours away. And so instead of making me take the train, my host family decided it would just be easier for me to go with them to Frankfurt on a little church trip so that if I didn't get on a flight, I could still have some place to stay.

Day 1.
My sweet host family drove me to the Frankfurt Flughafen, about half an hour away from where we were. I got checked in, sent my two ever-so-slightly overweight suitcases to wherever they send them and went up to security. Nobody was optimistic about me making the flight. And when I got to the terminal, I saw why. When it was time to rebook for the next attempt at getting home, the lady at the desk was beyond pessimistic. I didn't stand a chance of getting home until mid-August. I could try for New York, but as I know nobody there whom I could call upon for shelter, I decided against it. So I called up my family and they came to my rescue (after a couple hours when they were done with whatever they were doing). Poor Dana had cried bitterly and inconsolably when they dropped me off. And so I got another day in Germany.

Day 2.
My host family did not have the time to drive me to the airport, so they stuck me on a train with my two HUGE suitcases, each weighing 52 pounds, my carry on, which probably weighed too much, and a backpack packed to nearly overflowing. So many people helped me! When I got to the train station at the airport, I found that all of the escalators were either off or not working. Great. So I lugged the suitcases one-by-one up half the stairs until some nice people helped. The situation at the gate wasn't any different. As I was waiting for my baggage, one of the workers gave me a hint: try Detroit.
So I left my baggage at the airport baggage place for a few Euros. I was already getting callouses and there was NO WAY I was going to lug those things across Frankfurt two more times.

Day 3.
Things were getting desperate. If I didn't get a flight by the end of the week, I'd have a whole new set of problems, like where to sleep for starts, and maybe even visa problems if it lasted too much longer.
I did try for Detroit, which looked as bad as the Atlanta flights, and did not get on. Then I counseled with the gate agent again. There was the New York flight, but it would be delayed. Well, when flights are delayed four hours, people tend to get angry and fly on other airlines. Hello empty seats! When they finally called my name to get on, I really did start crying tears of pure joy. All thirty-something of us buddy pass people got on, which is a miracle.
The delay meant that there would be no more connecting flights to Atlanta or anywhere else, though. I had to get from JFK to La Guardia for my morning connecting flight to DC. This is where I "slept" for a few hours. Turns out the luggage carts are more comfortable than the chairs behind said cart, where I first tried to sleep. Add jet lag, and BINGO. A nap. Sorta. Every time I finally fell asleep, some employee pushed a huge floor cleaner across the floor. The floor didn't look a bit better for it either.
I still wasn't home, but hey, at least I was finally in the proper country. That's the hardest part- getting across the pond.

Day 4: So I woke up waaay too early. We're talking hours before the place even opens. But I did make the wide-open flight to DC, where there are hourly flights to Atlanta. I didn't get on the first three or four flights. But then, lo and behold, there was a plane with an hour delay. I love delays. Delays get you where you need to go. At least on buddy passes, that is.

And so I arrived home, feeling as if I had accompanied Frodo to Mount Doom. Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure felt like it took that long.

Happened just the other day...

Hello friends! Good news! My computer is finally working again! The bad news is that it totally and completely died along with everything on it, including my list of potential blog titles. I mean lyrics... And I have more than a month to catch up on- a month full of adventures. Oh man. This is going to be fun...
Not to mention I have a bunch of stuff to do right now that's way more important than blogging.
Frankfurt. I'm thinking this will be easier if I just post photos. Aight. Here goes Frankfurt.
So I carpooled to Frankfurt. The other people in the car were actually very nice- no creepers, crooks, criminals or anything of the sort. They were just some nice, normal people. I got to the Hauptbahnhof where I was greeted by four friends plus two I hadn't met yet. My four friends were now... officially two couples. Ary introduced me to her friend, Anna, who was visiting from Alaska, and Jeanette introduced me to her sister. And I said "Hi! I'm still Shelby and I'm... still single." They all just kinda laughed. Let's just say that Anna and I were very grateful for each other's presence, or else there would have been a whole lot of third-wheeling and occasional fifth-wheeling.
I'll spare you the minutia and cut straight to the exciting things- otherwise known as a choice selection of pictures from the trip.

The Main

Altstadt

This escalator went up about five floors. 

A skyline! Basically the only one in Germany.

This was outside. Beats me why balloons aren't allowed.

Inside the Dom (cathedral)

Some couples fun... I shall refrain from further comments.

Burg Münzenberg. It's been deserted for about 400 years. 

I've been waiting since childhood to see something like this.

A rebuilt Roman Fortress! How cool is that?!?

Standing on the Limes- the German version of Hadrian's Wall.

Currywurst. One of my favorite things.

Botanical Gardens

Kaiser Wilhelm 'stache

The craziest fishies ever. Just look at their mouths!

Goin' Home

Friday I've got travelin' on my mind

Well, my friends, I'm setting out on one last adventure in Germany. I'll be in Frankfurt tonight. It'll be an interesting trip, that's for sure. I'm meeting up with a couple friends from BYU, and honestly, I'm not even sure what all we're doing. No big deal. Most important is to see people I won't get to see for at least 20 months. Actually, it could be much longer than that. I don't know if I'm going back to the Y, and besides, they'll all be done there when I get back off my mission anyways.
I also starting packing for America today. It's a week and a half away, but since I'll be traveling until Tuesday night, I thought it best to get a head start. And another friend, a former exchange student of ours, wants to come visit me on my last weekend. I do need to give her her Harry Potters back... And I really want to see her one more time. I'm pretty sure all my junk is going to fit in my luggage. All my clothes that I brought (minus some that I gave away), my shoes, plus some books that I bought, and the various blu-rays, oh and the really big fluffy coat my mom brought me. I'm using that for insulation for all the chocolate I'm bringing my family. My brother works for Delta and he says it gets pretty warm down there wherever they keep the luggage on the plane. Anyways, my clothes are packed. I'll just wash and rewear the clothes I'm bringing to Frankfurt.
Thank goodness I'm coming back soon or I'd be a weeping mess of emotion.
For real.
I don't even want to think what state I'd be in if I had to leave for the foreseeable future. It was bad enough last time when I had to leave after three weeks. This time, I'm also bringing home different stuff. Not just dessert. And I'm armed with a huge photo album. I'll be fine... I hope.

Tuesday Afternoon

It's Tuesday afternoon, and I'm done with work. I have one last choir rehearsal for the Uni Chor. I'm not even a student... which is why I don't feel too bad about skipping out on one of our concerts. And the Friday rehearsal this weekend. I'm going to Frankfurt, baby! My friend Ary has planned a get-together for us and all the other Americans we know that have made it over here this summer. Sadly, due to unforseen circumstances, several of our friends won't be coming, but it'll be fun anyways. And I can't promise I'll get to blog about it until I'm home. Which will be on a Tuesday afternoon in two weeks, if all goes well with the buddy pass. Oh man. Two weeks. I also want to write a post about the questions these kids have asked me.  I won't spoil the fun by giving a preview. You'll just have to be patient until, well, I get home home. Next Tuesday I should be getting back from Frankfurt and possibly singing in the Uni Chor concert if I gete back in time and I feel like it. But on this Tuesday Afternoon, I'm going to try to find birthday presents for my two sisters. They both have their birthday in the next couple weeks, and since they're still young, I feel obligated to give them more than just some excellent chocolate. Did I tell y'all I'm bringing my family 24 bars of chocolate? Anyways, I'd better skidaddle so I can find something for my sisters. Time's rather short you know...

The earth is turning...

Sorry for my absence from the blogging world. I actually have some adventures to blog about. I just got caught up in a good book... And Wednesday my laptop decided to quit turning on. So I'm on the family dinosaur, and I have no idea how much time I'll actually have to write. Everybody's out, but I have other things I need to do while it's quiet. I found out Wednesday that I'm speaking in church on Sunday. Seven minutes about why I want to serve a mission. They said I could take longer, but I really don't even need seven minutes to explain that one. I just want to share the love and happiness I've found in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And everybody should know about the blessings that can be ours if we follow Christ. K, Done.
So, I get to give two farewells. The other one will be back home in Georgia, closer to when I actually go on my mission.
Guys. I'm going home in 2.5 weeks.
By the way, if anyone ever complains about the price of fabric in America, just know that it's waaaay more expensive over here. My host family decided to ask a lady from church to sew something for me as a farewell gift. This lady used to sew women's clothes for a living, so the skirt I picked out will be pretty awesome when it's done. And the fabric, a lovely gray flannel, matches practically every shirt in my closet and will keep me warm in the Alps. I hope.
Really I have a lot more to say, but I should probably go do something productive. Like prepare my talk for Sunday. Or figure out how I'm going to teach a song to the children at church. *sigh* I just didn't want y'all to think I fell off the planet.
Confession: I'm really aweful at thinking up titles for things. Hence the lyrics. And since my list of lyrics is on my laptop... Hence the not-so-splendid title. There ya have it.

We'll find a place where the sun still shines

After more than a week of nasty, rainy, cold weather, the sun finally came out. I don't know what season to call it, though. It's pretty much summer for here, but more like April for me. And I apparently have allergies. Strangely enough, they don't bother me too much while outside. It's only after I've gone back inside that I start sneezing like crazy. Maybe I'm allergic to being inside when the weather is nice. Huh. 

My dreams the other night involved Iron Man and Thor, and maybe a little bit of Pearl Harbor. It was all rather strange. And last night I dreamed I was already on my mission and people were giving me money to get somewhere. That somewhere, Celle, is not in my mission, but where I went on my mini-mission. And you don't have to pay out of pocket to get to places in your mission- it's all rolled into the monthly amount you pay, as far as I know.

We put up the trampoline in the backyard today... woohoo? 

Tuesday marked the third anniversary of the first time I set foot on German land. And, for once, I'm not scheming how to get back. I have plans. Concrete plans. Ain't nobody gonna stop me plans. These mission plans are making it so much easier to leave next month. I've got just over a month left here, but that's alright. I've got that final Schluss feeling. The end of this adventure is drawing nigh. I don't have to mourn my departure, though, since I'll be back in the blink of an eye. Well, if that America blink were to last two months. Whatever. I'm going to enjoy my two-month blink, whatever I end up doing. Hopefully I'll find some sort of income. If nobody wants a babysitter/house cleaner/meal preparer/whatever, well, I'll just hang out with my family. Hopefully Dad will get a lot of work these next 21 months.

I think it worth mentioning that someone I never expected to see again showed up in church Sunday. I know him from the German House at BYU. It quite threw me off. His brother lives here with his family, so it wasn't completely random, but still very unexpected. Too bad we didn't get to talk longer... Naja. 

I'm now halfway done with Les Miserables auf Deutsch. I'm really glad I'm reading the book after seeing the movie, 'cause the musical leaves out a lot of detail and some interesting parts. I won't bore you here. Or I just don't want to sound like a fool in case I read something incorrectly. 

I met my sister's boyfriend via Skype this past Sunday. I approve? I mean, I'd like to meet him for real. He seems like a nice guy.

My sister and I also watched Pride & Prejudice simultaneously and Skype-chatted all the best lines. We kept track of the "ohhh burn" quips and the awkward moments. Good stuff. That movie never gets old.

Oh, and just because it's warm outside doesn't mean it's warm in the basement. They told me I'd get the room that stays the coolest in the summer. What they meant is: "You will want a jacket and the heater on in June." And no matter how long I leave the window open, only the cool air comes in. No sunshine. My tiny window is in a corner that gets very little sun quite early in the day. I love being cold. Not.

You're just, just, just wasting time

It's a very good thing I can't find my scissors right now. If I had any idea where they are, my hair would most likely be the victim of my boredom. I should either get some real hair scissors or... just pay someone to do it.
Stupid triangle hair.
Meh.

If you're looking to kill time as well, you should watch the Eurovision contest. Especially Romania's contestant. You know what, it was so... interesting... that I'll put it right here.

Because we all need countertenor vampires.

Today I spent my free time moping around in an annoyed boredom. Nothing to do... No reason to go out, since that would only lead to spending of money. And I need all the money for my mission. I had not the faintest desire to inconvenience Maria by asking her to move her car so I could ride my bike. I'll refrain from complaining about working for and living with a pregnant lady. Let's just say I'm looking forward to moving on with life.

Yesterday I watched Studio C on YouTube. It's completely clean humor. I would post some favorites, but I think I would run out of room and I'd most likely get sucked into watching them all again. On the bright side, watching those clips got me out of a bad mood.

I even made a catalog of all the clothes I have for my mission so far. I'm pretty sure they could all fit in a carry-on suitcase. Maybe if I get bored enough, I'll try... And I thought I had a lot already. 

I've also wasted  spent a lot of time looking at potential mission clothes and shoes on the internet. Nothing better to do... I've decided that if I had any money, I'd have the coolest clothes and shoes ever. For now, I'll stick to sales racks and thrift stores. Oh wait, thrift stores and Germany don't mix... Sales racks it is. 

I ought to move on to something more productive or at least useful. Mission Prep, reading Les Mis to work on my Deutsch skills, finish composing that one song... 

The less we say about it the better

I can't say this post has any set topic or adventure. It's just the leftover snippets that are running around in my head but haven't made it onto a post lately.

Song of the day: 

I really like the Talking Heads.

My sister got her first boyfriend a couple weeks ago. Captain Norrington aptly summed up my feelings on the matter in the first Pirates movie:

"I apologize if I seem forward, but I must speak my mind. This promotion throws into sharp relief that which I have not yet achieved."
Of course, I'm happy for her. And I can't wait to meet the guy when I get home in July.

I'm not the only one who has a friend that as good as ignores my presence when other people are around, right?

I really want to buy all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. There's a box set  on Blu-ray for thirty euros and I'm just dying to get it, but... I should save my money for my mission. Meh. This mission thing is turning out to be more expensive that planned. Or maybe the problem is that I wasn't planning on going until last October and just focused on getting through college without debt and then to Germany and therefore have practically no money. No debt, but not much else either.

On the note of mission funding, I'm going to have to sell my beloved bike that I left in the care of one of my best friends in Utah. I love my bike. My lovely fixie from the seventies, my Made-in-Austria jewel. We had such lovely times together. And so many fun trips to the repair shop. Let's not discuss the matter further.

I finished the wall I was working on. But I've realized lately that I shouldn't use the money for the trip I was planning on with my friends. Good thing nothing was set in concrete. Heck, nothing was set even in Jello, other than that we wanted to go. I hate money. At least my sacrifice will be for a good cause. And Switzerland is in my mission, so maybe I'll even get to serve there. But because I'm American, the chances aren't super high, since the Swiss aren't handing out visas to us right now. At least that's what everybody tells me.

I'm having a hard time refraining from cutting my own hair. Layering can't be that hard, right? My haircut could hardly get worse. ...Ok, it could. Which is why I haven't done it, although there have been some VERY close calls. We're talking standing in front of my mirror with scissors in hand. And I wish I could do bangs. Oh the joys of somewhat curly hair.

I have a love-hate relationship with chocolate covered rice cakes.

Everybody's really excited about Eintracht Braunschweig getting into the first league. I mean, I spotted Aufstieg 2013 beer cans and even Aufstieg Bratwurst at the grocery store this weekend. I love Germany...

Less than two months left in Braunschweig. We're not talking about that either.

And the weather had better pull it's act together and start acting more May-like.

Climbed aboard the dream weaver train

It's not often that I remember my dreams, but when I do, they're craaaaaaazy. I remember two from last night, or rather this morning, since I possess the excellent skill of being able to go back to sleep for a while instead of going jogging. Loser. At least they were entertaining...

I dreamed that I was in a medieval battle of sorts. We were in some sort of fortification up on a cliff or mountain. Apparently even in my dreams I am not a skilled archer... I specifically remember trying to get this one guy, who was a really easy target and not even that far away, and missing three times. There was also a guy with a huge hammer. I don't mean Thor. Thor is much better looking than this guy. He was some insane old guy in robes swinging a hammer around quite ineffectively (unless his intent was to just keep people from touching him). It was like having a movie in my head, but I was in it. There were all sorts of cool effects and lighting and such. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Maybe it was based off something from LOTR or the Hobbit. 

I don't remember now all of the second dream. I walked around a very modified, but no less confusing version of the Fine Arts building at BYU, which then turned into my high school cafeteria, where I met my sister and her new boyfriend. He was rather distraught, as my brother had just been giving him a very hard time about something, probably just about being Kenzie's boyfriend. The weirdest thing about him was that he didn't look like the pictures I've seen of him. He took on the appearance of this little dorky kid from back home and was wearing some sort of strange denim shirt with black leather epaulets that was at least three sizes too big. It was bad enough for me to remember the horrid details. And then I decided to wake up for real.

Here's one from earlier this week: I think it was supposed to be a tour of typical German homes through the centuries. But even in my dream, I recognized that the homes weren't even German at all, but more like the pictures I've seen of British homes. Thank you, brain, for trying to entertain me with a fake documentary with false information.

Some of my dreams from the more distant past:

Traveling with my choir by car to Ireland...?! 

Trying to buy cheddar cheese... I guess I miss sharp cheddar or something.

My Grandma telling me to chop off my sister's head with a huge battle ax for refusing to vacuum. Right...

Reading books with friends in a castle library only to have the castle set on fire by a dragon.

Road trips that end at super weird destinations. For example, some place that was supposed to be a camp that I went to once upon a time, but didn't resemble it at all. There may have been dinosaurs involved.

A spotless and very modern airport- everything was white and smooth with clean lines. I don't know about y'all, but I have yet to see such a place in real life. And then a very very long road trip. 

Going back to (a quite modified) high school and seeing several friends that I haven't talked to in three years and a super huge truck.

Some sort of chase on an old-school train. By that I mean, on top of the train. 

Being out somewhere with my dad when suddenly a guy I used to like showed up out of nowhere and gave me a really long hug. That was the weirdest thing... Symbolic of never understanding the kid?

There may or may not have been one about being a rock star...

I will return again

Hello, World!
I finally got my mission call Tuesday. I'm going to (drum roll, please) the Alpine German-Speaking Mission! I report to the England Missionary Training Center on 5. September. My mission covers Southern Germany, Austria, and most of Switzerland.
Leaving Germany this July will be much easier now that I know I'll be coming back in two months time. I'll probably get homesick for Germany anyways. Last time, after being here only three weeks, I pretty much had withdrawals. I mean, I broke into tears at a grocery store just because it wasn't Germany. Luckily it was night, so nobody was around, and they had bubbly water, which made things a little bit better.
I'm amazed they're sending me to the England MTC. That's where they send German-speaking people who are going to German-speaking missions. I think they think my German is better than I think it is. I must say, though, that the beginner classes in the Provo MTC would be way too easy. It's still unusual to send an American to the England MTC for Deutsch. I wish I could see more of England than just the MTC, though. Someday...
Interesting fact: I have ancestors from just barely inside my mission boundaries. How cool is that? And just after I got my call, we started looking at more genealogy stuff about the people . We were able to find several more people!
If I could have picked my mission out from the 300-something missions all over the world, I would have picked this one.

It's absolutely perfect.

Well, let the good times roll

Ever have one of those days when you're just happy for no apparent reason? I did today, my friends. I woke up before my alarm clock and was actually happy. Alarm clocks and feelings of happiness shouldn't even belong in the same sentence. I even had a good song in my head! I managed to go jogging too, due to not having to work until noon. Well, I've never enjoyed jogging in the slightest, but it's good for me... right? Luckily I had good music to keep my spirits up.

My first assignment of the day was to make lunch- chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and frozen spinach. Not exactly my first choice (especially the spinach), but it was good nevertheless. Not to brag, but I make some good mashed potatoes. A bit chunky, with butter, buttermilk, salt, copious pepper, garlic, and a bit of green things- like oregano or whatever. Mmm delicious :) And today they were super good, most likely because I haven't made any in months. Not even Dana's complaints about them being too spicy could bring me down. They weren't even spicy. Stinker.

We then went on our usual Friday swimming excursion. I don't like swimming. But this time wasn't that bad, since I mainly went on the big slide with the girls. It's pretty big for an indoor swimming pool. Nothing for Hurricane Harbor, but it's still the biggest slide I've seen at a swimming pool. Jilli got such joy from going down the slide with me that it was impossible to have a bad attitude about climbing that spiral staircase.

I got home and started immediately on the wall. The paint stripper looks like, well, some sort of cross between snail slime and snot, with a very chemical smell. It has to work for 1-3 hours before you chip off the paint, so I took a trip to Real,- while waiting. They are having a sale on Ritter Sport chocolate. Who on earth would do that? They sell well enough at 89 cents... but 69 cents?!? I had to buy six bars. And the cute cashier was there too. And then my iPod decided to play awesome songs. The weather was great, I had chocolate, a nice bicycle ride, good music... Ok, back to the wall. Removing paint is a much more enjoyable experience when you use the proper materials. I would've worked for longer, but I had to go inside at 9:00 when it started getting too dark to see properly. There is something extremely satisfying about hard work. Maybe we Americans have forgotten that as we've gotten pulled into more "'intellectual" work.

Anyways, it was a nice day. Nothing extraordinary (except the random chocolate sale...), but I had a good mood all day. It's all in the attitude, people :)

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing

Once upon a time, somebody, namely some previous owners of this house, painted an exterior wall in our backyard with the worst paint ever. Parts of it are chipping off, and my host dad/boss/whatever offered me a nice little chunk of change to take it off and repaint it. It's finally warm and dry enough to take care of that. So guess what I spent my Labor Day doing! Hard labor! Turns out this horrid paint does a great job sticking to the wall in the places where it wants to.The kids helped out for a while, even though they aren't getting paid for it.
First we attacked it with putty knives, picking off what we could.
After a good hour or two, that got a bit ridiculous. The easy part was done, and the real work began and the kids left for lighter work or play. I sat there  forever, chiseling away at whatever would come off. I still had a good attitude about the work. I have this vision of visiting Switzerland with some friends later on this summer, and this wall is going to send me there. Then Jared came out and gave me some Turpentine stuff, which smells... fantastic. A couple of layers of that somewhat helped in the effort. There wasn't much in the can, and I had to resort to the other can of paint brush cleaner. Dr. Jared said that's the same stuff. As the daughter of a man who has done his share of hard work, I couldn't help but think "nuh-uh! read the freakin label." And it really didn't work as well. Not that the turpentine worked especially well, but at least it helped. I mean, the stuff is for thinning wet paint. Still-in-the-bucket paint. Whatever. We also had a drill bit that looked like a bit of scraggly metal things that was supposed to help blast the paint off. It worked better with the turpentine. Jared went at the wall with the drill and complained almost incessantly about how horrible it was. It's all in the attitude. Seriously. I was grateful for the miserable task because it's funding a trip that I really want to go on, but have been concerned about how to pay for. Jared offered to hire some pros anyways, since it is such nasty work, but I really just want to see Switzerland, so I'm sticking to it.
Since we ran out of turpentine, I was rode my bike to the store today to get that and some other things for the project. Praktiker is basically a small Home Depot in blue and yellow. And it was there that I met my first rude German. Perhaps I was not the first person to ask a relatively dumb question today. They were having a sale and the store was packed. My German isn't perfect, especially when it comes to home improvement terms. I just wanted to make sure the paint stripper was ok for concrete, since some wording on the container made me doubt for a minute. I asked, and the employee wasn't exactly nice in her response. All I needed was a simple yes or no. People like that make it hard for foreigners to have the courage to ask questions, especially when it's hard in the first place. At least the old man next to me offered his advice: wear gloves; that stuff eats hands. Looking forward to tomorrow when the work recommences. Wait, let me rephrase that. I'm looking forward to being paid when all's said and done.

So good like we never parted

This song = good stuff. I also took this post's title from one of the lines.

***Warning: 80's rock*** (did you expect much else?)

When you live abroad, nothing's like having a visit from home. 

Erin was one of my first friends when I moved to Georgia one semester into high school. She conveniently was able to visit me last week between school and her summer job. Yay for Delta benefits! By the way, Erin doesn't know German and managed to battle her way to me on five hours worth of regional trains. You go girl.

We had lots of adventures together. Soooo... Highlights!

Discovering German Chocolate. I already knew how fabulous it is. According to Erin, you can get everything here in chocolate flavor. Chocolate cream cheese, chocolate in your cookies, chocolate granola, chocolate covered rice cakes, heck, even chocolate pieces in chocolate mousse in your chocolate. What can I say? I love Germany.

Paying Darion two Euros to eat a spicy pepper. It was pretty funny. Enjoy the sequence of facial expressions :

Shopping at H&M. We've decided the mirrors in the dressing rooms are skewed to make even the skinniest of people feel too big. And they have cute stuff, despite the facts that their models can't possibly be real people.

Being engulfed by a bazillion very happy fans. Sometimes I wish my host family would like Fussball like the rest of Germany. Then I would've known about the game. Apparently Eintracht Braunschweig gets to be in the Bundesliga now, which is super awesome, especially since soccer was first played in Germany here. It's been 28 years since the last time Eintracht was this good. My presence in Germany seems to be correlated with the success of certain teams...
Whatever. It's way easier to follow than American football. I just wish I knew more about it. 

Going to a castle, which was conveniently hosting a medieval market. Super cool. I finally found a leather bracelet! I've wanted one since, oh, August. Not just any one, no. One from a legit Markt. No mass-produced retail rubbish. (oh dear, my half-hipster side is coming out...)

They even had knights!

I couldn't resist getting a pretzel. Erin's not a fan, but I told her she had to try a real German one. And she wanted this one. It's covered in Gouda and Emmentaler and pumpkin seeds. DIVINE! She still didn't like it though. I just don't understand.

 Just takin a bike ride and pictures at the same time. Like a pro. 

We won't mention the other pictures that didn't turn out at all.

Pictures can't capture everything. They may be worth a thousand words each, but whoever said that didn't think about the quality of the words. Thank you, Erin, for saying things I needed to hear :)

And the worst part about her leaving is that there is a possibility that we won't see each other for three years, since we're both going on missions.

Now that spring has come

It's freckle-gathering season! That also means unintentional sunburn season too... Oh the joys of being a red-head. Actually, my hair isn't even all that red. It's been the topic of several discussions over the years. I don't even know what color to call it. Anyways...
I have to take Jilli to a playground every day. I love the sun. I don't love that I can get sunburned by being outside for an hour in not even hot weather. For example, it was 19°C/66°F and I managed to get burnt. I blame the North-European genes. Oh how I hope I don't get sent to somewhere super-sunny on my mission. That would be death. Yeah, I grew up in the sunny South, but I certainly wasn't outside all day. Last week we had a really warm day. It was like summer here. I mean, it was like 24°C/75°F. Perfect weather- sunny, with a slight breeze. We went out that evening, and the kids were complaining about how hot it was in the car. Puhleeze. I grew up in Texas, and every stinkin' summer was a drought. I remember getting in the van one day and the thermometer read 112°F. That's 44°C. By the time the air conditioning even starts being effective, you're back to your hot, sticky house.
And since this is Germany, spring doesn't mean eternal sunshine. It also means cool and cloudy weather. This ain't the South. Not everywhere on earth can be blessed with sunshine and crazy storms.

Now that I've gone on and on about the weather, I should probably write about something more interesting.

I went to Stuttgart this weekend with my choir.
Sadly, they never plan any tourist time. I would've liked to see the Porsche museum or the Ritter Sport museum, or heck, anything other than our two church buildings with a brief excursion to sing in the city center. Granted, we didn't have much time, but still...
I've decided that southern Germany is absolutely beautiful. It's a relatively long car ride down to Stuttgart. It's a whole five hours. And for Germans, that's a long time. I caught one of my friends in our carpool group complaining about it. He should be glad he doesn't live in America then. It takes it a bit more than five hours to cross the country. Ok, we didn't cross the whole thing, but a good portion. Whatever.
By the way, if you want to take pictures of the countryside, don't sit on the left side of the car, especially when traveling on the Autobahn. You will either have blurs of color called cars in your picture or have to awkwardly lean across two people for a shot that will probably be gone by the time they make room for you. Naja. Lesson learned. I still love the Autobahn. I couldn't help but think we should get rid of speed limits on portions of the interstates back home, but then I remembered how idiotic Americans can be.
I don't know if my rambling counts as interesting stuff, but you just read it, didn't you?

I don't know where I'm going

I handed in my mission papers last Sunday. In just a couple long weeks, I'll know where I'll be serving for eighteen months.
The suspense KILLS.

If it were up to me, I'd pick the Alpine Mission. I so wish to stay in the German-speaking part of Europe. It's not up to me, though. I could be sent anywhere in the whole world.
And that terrifies me.
I love this part of the world so very very much. I can't stand to think of being separated from my beloved Germany for the next several years. I say several because I won't be able to afford coming back after my mission for a while. Plane tickets aren't exactly cheap, ya know. Maybe I'll end up going to school here one day.
To leave Germany. I've been dreading it since August, maybe even July, when I first came. I knew I'd have to leave in a year.

What if I'm sent to France? No offense, but I really dislike that language. I don't understand why everybody thinks it's so beautiful.
Or what if I'm sent somewhere super-sunny? I sunburn super easily, thanks to my North-European genes and my red hair and fair skin. I can get sunburned in March. I have the awesome capability of turning into a lobster even when using SPF 70. Well, it was a day at a water park... and missionaries are outside a lot... I don't want skin cancer. This week was *slightly* warm and sunny, and I managed to turn pink.
I'd rather not serve in the States. I really just want to stay in Europe. Forever. Just watch how long it'll take me to start scheming how to get back once I get off my mission. I'm thinking about three seconds. Well, maybe a little bit longer. I think I'll want to say hello to my family before I start scheming.

There are times you feel you're part of the scenery

So here's what went down in Leipzig:
Anna and I drove there Friday midday. There was snow everywhere.

Friday night, there were classes. This guy named David introduced himself to Ary and me. The two of them hit it off and he hung out with our little group most of the weekend. Or Ary hung out with him. Then there was a movie night because apparently you aren't supposed to dance the Friday before Easter. Yay old traditions?

We went to the Stasi Museum. Stasi = secret East German police. And they were creepy good at finding people out, guilty or not. They were even better at keeping records of minutia.

We found a door our size!

And then we found out it was a door for disabled people......

Markt!

We were looking at watch necklaces. I kinda sorta maybe want one.

By the way, Leipzig is really run-down, except in the town center. You can really tell it was in communist hands for several decades. 

 

Osterball/ Easter ball

Ary and David hanging out on the Osterspaziergang thing. I'm not a creeper at all.

The chocolate bunnies we found on our Osterspaziergang.

What if chocolate rabbits multiplied like real rabbits? That could potentially be very awesome. Or really bad. Then I'd eat even more chocolate.

My real question is: Why did it snow on Easter? I should be wearing shorts at this time of year...

Game night on Sunday

I'm not a creeper, I promise! I was just... bored...

Monday we decided to take some silly pictures before we all left.

One more picture with Felicia. She just had to move to Russia... 

I'm so glad she came down for the weekend!

One last gem! A Trabbi! The notorious East German car. People have refurbished them and stuff. That still doesn't mean they go very fast. This guy certainly wasn't. But that's ok, because I got a picture. Seriously, seeing this made my day.

I like West Germany a lot better than the East. Maybe I should just spend more time there. It's not fair to base an opinion on anything after such a short time, especially since a lot of the time was spent in the church building. And I'll be honest. Sometimes I was downright lonely. My friends would manage somehow to all hang out with their other friends at the same time, and I either didn't want to interrupt potential flirting or couldn't find them at all. Nevertheless, it was good to get out of this house. Oh so very good. And now I know that I never want to live in Leipzig if I can help it. Don't even get me started on the quality of the roads or how chunks of the facades of the various buildings were missing. I'll just leave it at that. I'm sure Leipzig can be nice. It probably looks better when there are leaves on the trees, too.

Where the children of tomorrow dream away

I don't think I've ever seen a movie that  moved me as much as Les Mis. It was so intense and depressing and... wow. I just feel like venting my thoughts to the internet.

I know America isn't as bad off as France back then, but I can't help but wonder when we'll have another revolution. So many people aren't happy with the way things are going. Or have we become too complacent or apathetic, thinking that nothing can touch the government far off in DC? It'll probably take something really over the top. I don't know what it'll be or when it will come. I'm not calling for a revolution, by any means. These are just the thoughts that ran through my head last night.
Love and Mercy overrule Justice. There's a lot to be learned from that.
There are a lot of really great lines too. "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." Just go listen to the soundtrack or watch the movie. You'd be doing yourself a gloomy favor.

And maybe it was a bit foolish of me to go home and listen to the soundtrack, because now I feel I can somehow relate to several of the songs, or at least some of the lines.
After the film, I thought I would never want to see it again, simply because it was that memorable and sad. But now I want to buy it. I haven't been able to get it out of my head for more than a few hours at a time this past week. I'll buy it in the States, though, since it's not worth it to buy in German. They translated only the spoken words and just had subtitles for the lyrics. So, 99% of the film was in English anyways. 

And I had to laugh to myself a little when Maria asked before I went to see it if it would be something her 12-year-old son would enjoy... ummm, it's a musical....

On the note of revolutions, this week has been full of reminders of them. I went to Leipzig this weekend for a Young Single Adult conference held by my church. I'll post more about that soon. In 1989, Leipzig was home to a peaceful revolution. I love standing where history has hinged.
I've been watching Downton Abbey, and the last episode I watched featured some drama about the Irish Revolution.
And there have been the constant reminders through the repeated songs from Les Mis. It's my friend's favorite musical, so we sang it all weekend long.
Why has it been a week of revolutions? It's getting a little creepy... 

Tell me when can I see you again

My dear friend Ary visited me last weekend. Ary was one of my roommates in the German House at BYU and is now an Au Pair in Berlin. I've missed this girl a lot in the past months. We've been trying to work out how we can afford to visit each other for a while now, and it finally worked out, just in time for my birthday!
Friday night I picked Ary up at the Hauptbahnhof. I conveniently had waaaaaaay too much time to kill, so I decided to finally get around to composing. I've determined composing is much easier with a piano around. We talked and talked like the good ol' days less than a year ago. This time last year, we were thinking and dreaming and scheming (ok, I was seriously scheming) about coming to Germany as Au Pairs. And now it's all come true!
Saturday we tried to go to a spring fair. We got there a good bit after it should have opened, but it was rather creepily deserted. I can't blame them though, since Winter is just barely starting to loosen it's grip now, when it's almost April. Maybe it was just open at night or something strange like that. Should've asked a local beforehand... So we went shopping instead.

Oh, and we made pumpkin pie. Well, technically some cupcake-sized pies and... a loaf of pie. It was taking much too long to make all the little pies and we only had one tin. Pie isn't  big here, so we had to make do with what we had. So what if we were a bit late for Pi Day and very late for the normal pumpkin pie holidays? It was still delicious :)

We also tried to watch a movie that refused to work. It was super frustrating, especially since that meant I had to go exchange the blu-ray. Eek. 

You should totally read Ary's post on the weekend. She wrote it much sooner and it's much more interesting from a visitor's perspective. We had such a great time together! I can't even express how nice it was to have a roommate again, if only for the weekend. And I get to see her again this weekend at a Young Single Adults church conference in Leipzig this weekend!!!

They say it's your birthday

I really should've gotten around to writing earlier, but I was (somewhat) busy last week and then had an adventure and then found a link to watch Downton Abbey over here... Anyways. Birthday.
It was all-in-all rather chill. I won't bore y'all with every minuscule detail.
We didn't wake up early for the presents, and I think Joni was more disappointed than the birthday girl.
I was just getting ready to take a shower, when Maria said someone was here to see me. Huh??? I went up the stairs fully bewildered and in all my unshowered glory and met the senior missionary couple. They're responsible for the Young Single Adults in the area. Apparently they bring everyone a card and a chocolate bar for their birthday. 'Twas a nice surprise.
The kids gave me sweet little gifts. I think my favorite was a painting of a jellyfish from Jilli. Her little three-year-old German brain might think Jilli and jelly are the same thing... naja. I got a coupon for the purchase of the Hobbit as soon as it comes out over here, a month later than 'Merica. I really want it German as a bit of nostalgia. yay memories... i'll probably cry at the sight of it when i'm back in the states...
I'm pleased to report that KFC is at least as delicious here as in the States, perhaps even better for the lack of it for so long. Not that I ever ate out much, but sometimes a little food from back home can make all the difference. Chicken tenders, barbecue sauce, fries, fountain drinks with free refills and an ice machine (nobody puts ice in their drinks over here. It's cold enough already outside without the superfluous ice in your drink) with the best kind of ice- namely the small, crunchy pieces- and salt and pepper packets for free... and to top it all off, Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream. All the best parts of American junk food. It was beautiful.
I also got to skype with Felicia, my mom who was visiting her mom in Texas, and the rest of my family. Fortunately these conversations weren't simultaneous. That would have been confusing.
And my dear friend Ary came to visit me this weekend just for my birthday! But that qualifies as a whole nother adventure. So, new post for that one.

I look at the world and I notice it's turning

Hello, World. Just thought you'd like to know that tomorrow's my birthday. My 21st, to be more exact. There will be no "first legal drink" for me! Firstly, I could've had that months ago when I first got to Germany. Secondly, and more importantly, I don't drink. Never will. And there ya have it.

Today my thoughts have turned back to what was going on in my life a year ago. Life's changed tremendously. Around this time I was:

The happy wearer of shorts. This year, not so much. I don't really dig the whole shorts and tights look. I've already vented enough about the cold front. But last year, the weather in Utah was oh-so-lovely.

Celebrating my birthday with two parties. One was planned for the weekend, the other involved my friends spontaneously deciding we also needed to celebrate my birthday on the actual date and buying lots of ice cream and inviting everyone in the Foreign Language Housing over. I felt rather loved :) That's not to say I don't feel loved now; I have small friends that tell me they like and love me all the time. Goodness, I miss the German House.

Still obsessing over that one boy. I never knew how much or even if he liked me. It seemed to vary more often than the weather, which, as anybody who has lived in Utah knows, changes all the time. It all seems a bit ridiculous now. Heck, I knew I was being ridiculous then! But in hindsight, I'm glad nothing came of it. Still single, though. That most likely won't change any time soon. Here's to the next two years being as single as the last twenty! Yay...

Worried about the future. I found out too late when the scholarship renewal application thing was due... there went my method of paying for education... It was then I decided to somehow move to Germany for a year for real. I'd been dreaming and scheming for a while, but without any resources. That's when I got serious about finding a family that needed an Au Pair.

Enjoying a short visit from my Dad.

Fed up with school. Didn't realize at the moment that I'd soon be taking two-and-a-half to three years off school... Yep. It depends on when I get my mission call. I wasn't even thinking about a mission then. I just wanted to get to my beloved Germany.

Going on picnics for dinner. I mean, I would do my best to persuade the rest of the German House that it was nice enough to carry all of our food and dishes down two flights of stairs and over to some picnic benches. It worked several times! For some reason, I don't think Maria would like the kids eating in the backyard...

My goodness, how life has changed.

Winter's here again...

For some unknown reason, winter decided to make a comeback. And my birthday is supposed to be the coldest day of the year. I don't remember ever not being able to wear a short-sleeved shirt, usually with shorts on my birthday. Well played, Germany.  Dumb snow. I've never seen snow in March, either. I think I'll be able to survive anything now. Maybe not Siberia, though.
This week, I tried to get out a bit more. Thursday I got off work early enough to go into town. I headed over to the library to get me some education. As just about any regular American living in Europe, I can definitely feel the holes in my general education. So I found a decent little "Short History of Europe" book to read. And when my head refused to focus on the German words anymore, I found that I still had time to dispose of the remaining funds on my gift card from Christmas. I bought a super-cute skirt for my mission. It even has pockets!!! Pockets add about 100 Awesome Points to any given skirt.
When I got home, there was a phone call (!!!) for me. Jared's sister wanted to know if I could babysit the next day. Ummm... Yes. It took a minute to make the decision, since we were supposed to go to this really big store with absolutely everything. And normal people (AKA non-business-owners) can't normally shop there. But... I need money. Any additional income is most welcome, especially since Au Pairs here don't get paid squat. So I worked my six hours Friday, hopped on some buses over to her home, and babysat. We even got to watch The Incredibles! AND they all went to bed without a fuss, well, with the exception of the baby. But that's to be expected. Yay for easy kids :)
And Boris died. He was already a bit indolent and lethargic Thursday. When I got back from babysitting, he was all curled up and dead. That reminds me, if you want to laugh at something, watch this Monty Python vid. Or just about anything Monty Python. I don't recommend the inappropriate ones.
Saturday, I got to go to the library again, but this time with a cardholder. Jared, Dana, and Jared's mother accompanied me. Finally I was able to get some good reading material and a blu-ray to take home. I got the European History book, a small book of German poems and The Nibelungenlied. That's not something I can easily find auf Deutsch in America. I then went shopping! More stuff for the mission. I got to go to the store that I skipped out on for babysitting, too. Jared said it was exhausting going there, but because stores of that size are, well, commonplace in the States (think Costco/Sam's Club/Walmart), No Big Deal. I hurried back home because I was supposed to babysit for Jared and Maria in exchange for some free time on my birthday. Then they ended up not going out. And to think, I could've seen Les Mis with my friend :(
Backup to Saturday morning at 7:45. Maria had taken the car out for a tune-up. Jilli came down to my room and woke me up to take her to the potty (still working on the whole potty-training thing, so I wasn't too upset that she recognized that she needed to go). Turns out, Maria told Jilli to wake up Jared if she needed something. I was slightly honored that Jilli picked me, even if it was early. And she's started calling me "my Shelby" and giving me super awesome hugs. Score!
It snowed all day today. Not happy. It should never snow in March, let alone three inches. And it may have snowed more since I've been down here in my cave.

Feels like the first time

Yesterday I went to the doctor for the first time in a very long time. I don't even remember the last time I went to the doctor. I mean, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" right? Nothing was wrong; it was just a necessary visit for my mission papers.
So my host dad is a doctor by profession. He asked his coworker to give me my physical just for the sake of decency. She agreed to do it for free since I'm going on a mission :) I had to take a bus, and then the Straßenbahn, and then another bus to the practice. It's in another town, and I've never been there before. It was an interesting experience. The bus didn't have a display that showed which stop we were at, which complicated things just a little. I ended up getting off two stops late, because I had to go by the time instead of stops. Luckily I spotted a street sign that clued me in on where we were. I then walked to the practice. Thank goodness it was another sunny day! It made the walk rather pleasant. The ironic thing, though, is that I wanted to get off at the proper stop, but couldn't see if it was right or not, so I just stayed put since it was three minutes too early. I had to laugh at myself when I walked past it!
One of the things the doctor had to do was take a blood sample. It was a whole new experience for me. Here's my thought process during the procedure: "Oh gosh here it goes... Don't look... Oh wait, lookie here, this is actually kinda cool... and that's my blood in a little vial... and here's a band-aid! That didn't even hurt! Hmmm... maybe I should donate blood sometime... do they even let foreigners donate blood? I guess I'll have to see if I can do that when I get home...."
And, as expected, I'm perfectly healthy. Woohoo! Just need to get some shots now. And go to the dentist. Both of which are things I haven't exactly done in the past few years. Shame on me.

We also decided where to eat for my birthday. Jared said, "Hey, we saw this new restaurant this weekend, and the kids are dying to go there. It's called KFC, I think..." DEAL!
And Boris is surviving his incarceration just fine. And by that I mean...If he could talk, he'd say: "I'm not dead yet!"And I'd respond: "Oh, shut up, you will be soon!" (name that movie!) I do wonder what the little guy eats though. He's bound to be hungry... wait a sec. I don't really want him to survive anyways.

Boris the Spider

Imagine that it's quite late at night. You are laying in bed, lights out, doing some last things on your computer before finally shutting it off for the night. Then, out of the corner of your eye, you see a spot on your headboard (well, technically backrest since you sleep on a pull out sofa bed) move in a most curious manner. You turn to see it properly, and, lo and behold, there is a spider mere centimeters away from where your head is.

What do you do? Freaking out won't do any good- you'd just end up with six quite agitated people rushing down to see why you're screaming bloody murder. Can't squish it with a shoe- the sofa is white and that'd would bring only an ugly spider-entrails blob and a heap of disappointed complaints. Can't take it outside this time of night- the host parents wouldn't be too pleased with an open door at that hour. You keep a somewhat cool mind and look around the for options. Don't wander too far or let your eyes leave Shelob's spawn for too long. Don't want the thing running away, maybe into your sheets, only to reappear once you're finally asleep, if you can manage to sleep in your bed after such an encounter. Your eyes rest on a plastic box that, until a few days ago, held some Q-tips. Bingo! You place the box over Aragog's little friend and watch as he crawls into it, no need for a piece of paper to help him out. Congratulations! You now have a new house pet. And since you love rock, you know that the Who wrote a song about a similar occurrence, except with a rather more violent ending. But, since you are a kind soul, you just incarcerate Boris and show him off to the kids the next day. And you hope and pray Boris didn't have a girlfriend.

P.S. Sorry for all my nerdy references to really large spiders from fictional works. Boris isn't even big. He's rather average, if you ask me. And he's about as entertaining as a pet fuzzy. Except with fangs and legs.

It's been a long, cold, lonely winter...

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun!!!
It's finally starting to thaw out here. Spring won't be as warm as I'm used to, but hey, at least the snow's gone. Normally I can wear shorts on my birthday, which is a little more than a week away, but that won't happen this year. But I might not have to wear a coat. And that's almost as good. It was relatively warm today and the sky was clearer than it's been for months. I know, 6°C or 43° F doesn't seem very toasty at all, but the sun made up for it. It's as though the sun got sick in the fall, took bed rest for all of winter, and appeared today in all it's glory. I even sat outside in pants and a t-shirt- not even a jacket!!! I haven't done that since... September?
Which brings me to what I was doing outside. I can now cross something off my bucket list. I have officially read all seven Harry Potters in German, as of this evening. Oh yeah. I feel awesome. And just as when I read them in English, I still want more. And what does one read after the marvelous Harry Potter? It's a shame that library cards cost here. Wait, I rarely would be able to go anyways because of my working hours and because they're only open until 14:00 on Saturdays. Dumb. Anywho... It felt great to read all day today. It was like the good old days, before Facebook, before I even had an email address, when I could read for hours so long as I put the book down for dinner and did my chores. I remember, when the last couple HP books first came out, my family would buy a copy to share and race to see who would finish first. I don't think I ever didn't win.
So my boss/host-parents/whatever-they-should-be-called said we could all go out for dinner or go somewhere for my birthday. That presents somewhat of a conundrum for me. I recently found out there's a KFC on the other side of town, and some good-ole fried chicken always does the soul good. But, I can also fry my own chicken, and KFC is rather, well, American. So... what about some Schnitzel? Except that gets expensive, especially when there are seven mouths to feed... Or I could have a party. Problem is, my friends kinda sorta live all over the country/continent/world. Oh dear. Ideas? Suggestions?
And, yesterday Dana drew me a picture of a desert oasis with a camel holding a heart that says "ich hab' dich lieb" (i love you). Day made! I think I finally won her over :)
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Everybody's working for the weekend

This past weekend was yet another Vocalis Wochenende. And although I don't particularly like some of the songs we're singing or singing second soprano, it somehow didn't bother me this weekend like last month. I actually enjoyed myself a lot this weekend. We had considerably more free time, and I actually got to hang out with people my age!!!
Friday night, some of us decided to head over to McDonalds. My absolute favorite "restaurant" of all time... but I never really get out, so I went anyways. Still can't bring myself to try a burger, even though Micky D's is purportedly better over here. I ordered a Cookie McFlurry. They were promoting especially American varieties, and the cashier decided to complain to me about how these awful American names are so hard to pronounce and don't make any sense... "Appleh krumbleh...?" I love Germans. :)
Saturday I got to go to the temple! I wasn't planning on it originally, especially since I stayed up much too late conversing with the ladies with whom I shared I room. But I managed to wake up just early enough to go. It had a wonderful impact on my day! And then...
We rehearsed. Yep. We had sectionals with the director. Here comes the worst part of the weekend: we had to sing a line of this one song by ourselves, in front of the whole section. Naja, doesn't sound that bad, but singing in front of people somehow makes me forget how to breathe, which is rather unfortunate since singing requires a lot of breath. And so I breathed in the middle of the phrase and the director said it was a catastrophe. Gee, thanks. I can sing just fine when not alone. Guess I'll never have a successful solo career. Didn't want one anyways.
I played some games with my friends that evening. The best part was when nobody told me how to play Skip-Bo (or maybe I just wasn't listening properly when they explained auf Deutsch) and they expected me to be the second one to play. "Your turn, Shelby!" "What am I supposed to DO?!?" And then someone decided to tell me in English how to play. You could say things were lost in translation or something.
Sunday was also rather good. I had dish duty with some Swiss people. Swiss German... is interesting! It would be really cool to learn it. By the way, drying dishes and putting them away goes a lot faster if you make a game out of it.
All in all, I was loath to leave Sunday afternoon. Like I said (wrote? typed?), I don't really get out much, and I only see these people once a month. I get tired of hanging out with people less than half my age day in and day out. Oh Monday. I may not have a real job or go to class, but I still don't like Mondays. And it was such a nice weekend, aside from my catastrophic breathing problem.

Everyone's trying to get it right, get it right.

Much Better Than a- Owner of a Broken Heart

Please forgive the poor grammar of the title. I didn't write the song.
I love how I am listening to my bitter music on Spotify and then BANG they play an add about how "love is in the air!" and I should listen to their love playlist and crap. Guys, do you not realize that I am most definitely not in love on this Singles Awareness Day?
I'm just grateful that, due to my current circumstances, namely working 12:30-18:30 and living on the outskirts of town, I didn't have to see a single happy couple. For once, I'm grateful that my only outing was to pick up Dana from Kindergarten. And at least I don't have a broken heart. Or ridiculous and totally groundless hopes of somebody popping up out of nowhere. I'm grateful I'm not in high school. Really people. Get a freaking life. High school romance... ha. Valentines Day in middle school is even more laughable. And I'm glad I don't have to see people really in love back at BYU. See, there are pros to everything!
I am "celebrating" my seven months in Germany. That's in quotes because I'm not too thrilled about that. Why, you ask? Don't you just love Germany? Exactly. I do. And I have only five months left. But since I decided to make Deutschland my valentine, I can still eat a lot of chocolate from Germany... right? ha...ha... Well, Sunday during Skype-time, my sisters and I kinda all decided to be each other's valentines. It's an on-going joke... because none of us three ever have real valentines, and at this rate, we won't until the youngest, who's ten, has graduated high school...
Just wondering, why do we have to have a day to celebrate couples? Can we have a day when we celebrate the lonely and those still searching?

P.S. I finally got my mission papers last night. And now I get to start filling them in!