Weekender to Miltenberg

This past weekend we stayed the night in Miltenberg. We drove through the charming town back in November and James wanted to go back and stay so we could explore the area a little more. We visited the town of Amorbach were they have an abbey churchthat has the largest baroque organ in Europe and a monastary that sits on top of a hill over looking Miltenberg. The Main River runs through Miltenberg and we strolled along the promanade after dinner, enjoying the beautiful view and warm weather. Before we returned to our hotel for the night we walked back through the old part of town, enjoying the view of the small Miltenberg Castle, the store fronts, restaurants and hotels. It was a very nice weekend trip.

"Field Trip"

On Wednesday we took the train into Nuremberg to visit the Nazi Documentation Museum. It was a very well put together display of the rise and fall of the Nazi party. The museum was housed in an uncompleted portion of a planned stadium that the Nazi party was building. There were a lot of photos but it was mostly an audio tour through the self guided museum. We had an audio handset that we used and just punched in the codes at each photo board. It was very extensive and after listening to every single code through 7 rooms (about an hour or so just to get to that room) I gave up and listened to about half of the displays after that. Lazy, I know, but we had the girls and they were very well behaved I wasn't going to make them sit through so much. James found it interesting (and was a bit disappointed) that they never mentioned any of the troop movements or invasions of the other countries that took place. Not a single map or photo of the war itself. The history of the Nazi Party, concentration camps and Nuremberg trials were addressed. It was very interesting place to visit and learn about a very important time in the not too distant past.

After the museum we walked over to the Nuremberg Volksfest. A volksfest is much like an American fair or carnival. There was food, games, beer gardens/tents and rides. We walked around, had a drink with James' coworkers and got somethings to eat. James ended up with a Radler, which is a mix of beer with maybe a lemonade or something similar, and he didn't like it so I drank about half of it. These mugs are HUGE so there was no way I was going to ever finish that drink. When I first heard of this mix I was totally turned off but after tasting it I can see myself having one in the future...it was pretty tasty!

Some Days...

I feel like I lost who I am once I had babies. Some days I wish things were just a bit easier for James and me (who would have thought marriage would be soooooo much work?). Some days I want to sit and have a good cry for a bit. Some days I want just an hour to myself, where I can just not have to deal with a single thing (babies, husband, cats). Some days it is so lonely here that I wish we were back in the States.

Most days I am glad I get to be a stay at home mommy for now. Most days I am happy that we get to live overseas and experience many new things.

Every day I am thankful that I get sweet baby kisses from 2 of the cutest girls in the world. Every day I know I am blessed to have this life that I have been given.

I am just having a moment where I needed to get this out because I am just feeling sorry for myself. I miss having a paying job, miss being able to walk out my front door and talk to my neighbor. I miss popping the girls into the stroller and walking to Starbucks or going to see a friend. I really miss my friends! Friends are so hard to make and I will say that I haven't made too much of an effort but I am at a different place than others are. I can't wait until "my person" moves to Germany. I have missed having a girl around that knows me and maybe God is bringing her here for me, maybe he knows I need a friend in order to survive the next 3 years here and she couldn't be arriving at a more perfect time.

Today is just a lonely day for me.

Vacation Tales Part I

We had a great vacation even though it just flew by too quickly. It was nice to not have to worry about things and just kinda do whatever we wanted. No schedules, no where to be. It was perfect.

We went to visit the Secret Garden Habitat at The Mirage. Aubrey loved the dolphins and we were able to sit right along the wall and watch them swim around for a bit. They had the cutest little leopard cub as well and we had a good time watching him play around with his trainer. He was an aggressive little devil but sweet at the same time.

We went to Hoover Dam and checked it all out. We couldn't do the dam tour because the girls are too young but I just wanted to check it out because I had never been there before. It was super windy just so you don't think I didn't brush Aubrey's hair that morning.

I got some much needed retail therapy! There is something to be said about shopping online in my jammies but I would much rather hit the stores and was so glad I got a few things I have had a hard time finding here.

I have many more photo's to share from our Vegas leg of the trip on a day that I make the effort to get on the laptop and save them onto my external hard drive and then onto here. It will happen, someday. I will make the effort to add some of the Nashville pictures and tales soon.

Sad Day

As I mentioned in my last post our landlord butchered our yard while we were on vacation. I wanted to share a couple before and after pics with you. Please grab a hankie because I am sure this will make you just as sad as we were.

Before

After

We have no idea what was running through his head but his excuse for ruining the yard was that the bushes hadn't been trimmed in 20 years.....so I guess that means he felt the need to take away any privacy we had from the street and our neighbors. There were at least 8 large trees that he cut down as well. I told James we should ask for a discount on our rent because the house isn't as nice as the yard was.

Happy Easter!

We have been blessed with some pretty amazing weather since we got home Wednesday morning. The sun has been shining and the temps have been in the high 60's/low 70's! We spent a bit of time outside yesterday and I planted some flowers. If I manage to keep them alive (it is harder keeping plants alive than babies and cats!) then I will add some more to the yard. We need all the help we can get now as our landlord decided to cut down most of our trees and the greenery that was in our yard while we were on vacation. Now our once secluded yard looks terrible and bare.

The girls posed long enough for me to snap a couple of pictures this morning and this is the only one where they are both looking at the camera. Good thing my new camera doesn't have a delay and I can take several shots very quickly. James got me a Canon Rebel XS for my birthday/Mothers Day gift and I love it. I need to spend some time with my owners manual this week getting better familiar with my new toy.

Happy Easter! I hope you all have a blessed day!

I'm Still Here!

After a long vacation we are finally back at home. It has taken a couple days to get back into this time zone but I think we are there. The girls slept all night last night but still seem to be a little tired. I am hoping I can get them back on their bedtime schedule sometime within the next week. James had to go back to work the day after we got back and I think he will get caught up on sleep this weekend.


We had a great time on vacation but there is no place like my own bed! We were busy the entire 2 weeks and I will be adding some pictures this weekend.

Lolo turned 1 on April 6th and just got her first teeth on March 26th! She looks so cute as they are coming through. She took it like a champ and wasn't fussy at all.