I ain't missing you at all

I love that song.

I want to post some things that I miss about each place I've lived, exclusive of specific people. 

I really miss Texas thunderstorms. The big scary kind that come with a threat of hail or tornadoes. I love being outside and watching them roll in, and the when the rain finally starts falling, running under the shelter of the patio until the lightening is too close to stay outside safely. I would then sit by a window and watch the storm, getting up only to check on the radar how much longer it would last. The heavy rain and the mighty thunder fill my soul with happiness.

Georgia? Having a car. It's the only place I've had a car ready to use at all times. Mobility is a great thing.

I would say something about my family, but I said I'd leave people out of this.

The South in general: Heat. I'm so glad I'll be going home in summer. I'm strangely looking forward to walking out of the cool airport into the sweltering heat. Summer doesn't exist in Northern Germany, as far as I'm concerned.

And BBQ. Although it's different in each state, I miss it in general.

What do I miss about BYU? Living a maximum of 10 minutes by bike from my friends. I miss living with people my age. I have had some really awesome roommates, not to mention the great people I got to know in the German House. 

I think I'll miss Germany even more though. I've got less than six months now, unless I get called here on my mission. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

We can dance if you want to

Once upon a time, I went to a church dance in Bielefeld. I wasn't really planning on going, but the night before, my friend asked me if I was planning on going and so forth. I don't really get to hang out with friends much, but since she was going, I worked it all out to go. Friday evening, I went as planned to the appointed place of carpooling, only to find out my friend was sick. I figured it wouldn't hurt to make new friends, so I went anyways. Here's some irony: the first guy I danced with is from the States too! You know when you see someone and you think "you look oddly familiar, but I have no idea why on EARTH..." That happened to me. Another guy asked me to dance. He said we'd spoken before, in Kiel, when I was sick. ... ... oh YEAH! That's why you look familiar. I could recall for the life of me what we spoke about, but whatever. I blame feeling miserable for my forgetfulness. I danced with a couple other guys, and made some new friends. And though there were definitely lonely and boring times (I didn't really know anybody there) and snide quotes about dancing and balls from Pride and Prejudice kept popping in my head, I enjoyed myself. I can't always say that about dances. A lot of the time, I agree with Kitty: "I think a ball is an irrational way to gain new acquaintance." I want to watch that movie now... choices, choices... Not like I actually have a lot of stuff to do or homework to get in the way. Anywho...
Mostly life's been same-old, same-old.
We did have another rehearsal weekend for choir. Fun stuff. Except second soprano sucks. It takes all the fun out of being a soprano- the high notes. So at first I thought, "oh well, harmony's fun, right?" Not so, for the seconds, at least in these songs. Mostly it's just boring. Platitudinous, Vapid, Insipid, Plebeian, Stodgy. Sometimes it's like "your not good enough for high notes or awesome enough for real harmony" and I find it almost insulting. Maybe it's just the songs. I sure do miss singing high B and C. Just gimme a chance! Sorry for being such a hater, but... I can't help it.
On the bright side, I got to have a grilled cheese for breakfast today. First one in months. The timing was perfect. Maria bought cheddar cheese, and soft, rather un-German bread at the same time for once. Sweet, tender mercies! And the snow melted!!! That had nothing to do with my lunch for breakfast, but made the day even better. And Dana and I, well mostly me, danced while waiting for the bus. Yes, the day was that good.

And I sit at home looking out the window

Events of the week:

*playing with kids, of course

*the following exchange with nine-year-old Joni
    me, in an attempt to be silly/come up with a nick name: Hey Johnny!
    Joni: Hey Baby! (grins)
    (I nearly die of laughter)

*attempting to draw wizards with three-year-old Jilli with the aid of a kids drawing book. Mine, in black/gray ended up looking like Gandalf the Gray. Hers, in brown, looked like a bit more like Radagast the Brown, all messy and stuff. It. Was. Awesome.

*the misty/rainy/nasty weather finally turned back into snow. Hence a lot of looking out the window. It doesn't help that the neighbors across the street are getting a new roof or something.

*Dana has decided to like me again. She's even drawn me some lovely pictures!

*I did something very hard for me. I returned some Blu-rays to the store. Not that I was particularly attached to them or anything, it's just really hard to explain why Region B Blu-rays won't work on your Region A player in a language you barely know, especially when you don't like talking to new people. I didn't check the region restrictions because most Blu-rays don't have them. My explanation involved a fair amount of awkward pauses as I was trying to gather my brain and me forgetting how to say the letter "e" auf Deutsch when asked my name to fill out a form. But Mission Accomplished! It was pretty much the scariest thing I've done in a very long time. Go me!

*going shopping for entertainment purposes only after returning said Blu-ray set. I didn't buy anything. I need to get out more... or make some friends or something...

*an extremely long Google Hangout session thing with my family. As in, Google asked me if I was still there. I sure do love my family.

*and a lot of wasted time, particularly late at night. Typical.

Oh, we're halfway there!

Guys. Today marks six months in Germany. Talk about depressing... It's all downhill from here. That doesn't necessarily mean easier, though. One time, I went on a little hike, and going down the mountain was more painful, for my legs at least. Guess I was really out of shape.
"We've gotta hold on to what we got." Six months. That's all.
Saturday drove it all home, since I went to my friend's going away party. She was also an Au Pair here, and now she's moving on to bigger things. Like Russia. Dang, I'm going to miss her! She was at this point in her Au-Pair-ness when I met her. Wow, how time flies...
I think the past six months have been crazy. Crazy good, but of course with some downer moments. I can't help but wonder what the next six will bring! More choir weekends, traveling with said choir around the country, my mission call, friends, reading some books auf Deutsch, and a whole lot of hours playing with kids and dragging them around town. That's what I've got planned. I'll keep you posted.
I remember telling my friend in August that I couldn't bear the thought of having to leave Germany in such short time. I want to stay here forever! And now it's already come to the half-way point. I just hope that I'll get to serve my mission here. We'll see.

It's raining again

I don't think this land ever completely dries out. I recall, even in the relatively (and by that I mean somewhat) sunny summer, your rear-end will probably get damp if you sit on the grass for too long. Having grown up in a drought in Texas, this is all rather strange to me. Anywho... It's been a rather wet couple of weeks.

Last Friday, it was determined that we would go on a hike in a "mini mountain range" just half an hour away. I, as a frequent checker of the weather forecast, thought this was kinda, well, dumb. We either somehow ended up in the Misty Mountains or there were some dementors close by. When it wasn't raining, it was misty and foggy, and the roads were sludge. I didn't mind too much. The hiking kept me warm, and we were out of the house. 

On the bright side, ever since my mom was here, Dana's been a lot nicer to me. No tantrums at the sight of me in her room or at Kindergarten. Maybe she's finally realized I'm on her side and here to play with her and so forth. I can't complain.

And now that the kids are back in school, life is much the same as before. I like being back on a schedule, even if it is different every day. The surprise changes aren't as common now. 

I finally finished Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz. I'm just one book away from crossing something off my bucket list! 

Last Saturday, I watched Pride and Prejudice with my sister, who lives 5,000 miles away. No big deal. We kinda have a tradition of watching it at some point every Christmas break, since it's just that good. And did we manage that across the Atlantic? We pulled up the google+ chat thingy and started at the same time. That way we could comment on all the cute things and quote along and everything. The only way it could've been better would have actually been together. 

This is an awesome address given in 2009 by President Uchtdorf. It's super uplifting and wonderful!


And so, although we've had pretty crummy weather, at least it's not been snowing! Life's good :)

Another year over, and a new one just begun

Our Weihnachtsbaum

So what were you doing at 4:00 AM on Christmas Eve? I was taking my mom to the train station so she could fly home. Yep, that sucked. Fortunately we were so busy the rest of the day that I didn't have to think about missing her. We had a bunch of people over for the occasion, and we had to get ready and stuff. I even got to decorate the tree and arrange the presents around it, which are two of my favorite Christmas things (yes, I am weird...). The tree doesn't go up until Christmas eve over here, and it's also a surprise for the children. I'm just glad I wasn't grouped with the Kinder this time! And guess what! The lights on the tree were real candles! I didn't know people still used them, seeing as it's a fire hazard and all that jazz.

We had a Christmas Devotional that day as well. I got a phone call asking me to play the piano for some musical numbers. So I got to sightread some music at the Devotional. It went surprisingly well! 

Back at home, we ate the traditional potato salad and wurst. We sang Weihnachtslieder. Ok, I didn't sing so much, thanks to my rebellious throat. And then we opened the presents. You know the drill.

On Christmas Day, we went to Jared's sister's home across town. Kids Everywhere. And although the feast was delicious, it was much more like a meal with a turkey instead of a chicken as opposed to the feasting we do in the States. It was a lovely day, even though there was no pie anywhere.

The next days, the second Christmas Day, was a chill day. My old roomie from BYU is now an Au Pair like me in Berlin, and she was able to stop by as her host family went somewhere to visit family. That was so fantastic! I've missed her so much!

I went shopping Saturday. Still can't find any boots I like for a decent price in my size. I swear everyone here wears a 39 and nobody 36/37. I did find some cool shirts, though.

Lighting a firework!

New Years... We had some random older people from church over. The interesting part, though, was lighting fireworks! That's right, it's totally legal over here to light fireworks in your neighborhood. So there were little explosions all over the city... or rather, above it. It was pretty awesome.

New Years Day... was a little bit of a let-down. Absolutely nothing is open, and I had the day off. What's the point of having a day off if you can't do anything?!? I guess that's nice for the people whose friends are in town... So I just wore my new pajamas all day. At least I was comfy!

Well, thanks for reading this Holiday Edition!