Bring me Back to Germany...

Do you ever go through your old photo albums in Facebook?? I was looking for a picture tonight to send to a friend and while I was searching through some of the albums- I saw some pictures I haven't seen in a long while. It made me realize how much I miss Germany... I thought I would entertain you with pictures of some of the things that made Germany such an amazing place to live for over 4 years...

Let the show begin... In no particular order (other than the one that Blogger chose-lol)...

 

 

 Christmas Markets! Gluwhein (warm spiced wine), snow, yummy food, good friends... The second picture is of my favorite- Edinburgh Scotland...

 WINE nights!!! This was routine with my fantastic neighbor Melissa- who you will see in one of these pictures. These wine nights got us through the deployment! We would sit for hours outside on her patio and just talk... FYI- this fantastic glass holds an entire bottle of wine! WooHoo!

Our walks. Trails are everywhere. There is something so amazing about being able to go walking in fields where you are surrounded by nothing but green grass and sometimes- sheep!

SHEEP! The kids would get a kick out of this (honestly- so would I)

 

 

 I am a runner. So what could be better than running in awesome German towns?? This 6k was in the medieval walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. One of my favorite cities. It is along the Romantic Road in Bavaria and we were only about 25 minutes from it... In fact- this is the town my Godson was born in!!

 Traveling... Prague was only 3 hours away (my fav city ever). This square is where I sat on our last trip there- alone at 5:45am  in the quiet- a week and a half after my cancer diagnosis. I sat there in the sunlight and just watched and thought... it was perfect...

 Girl trips to Poland! This happened several times. This trip here was the first girl trip. 9 women. Lots of Polish Pottery. A cool little Polish hotel. A great exchange rate:)

On a seperate trip, this little lady over on the right->

She make look sweet and innocent... But is the perfect person to have with you when a jerky Polish guy wants you to pay him for cleaning your windshield while you are shopping- even though you did not ask him to. Lets just say that I sent her out there (mind you she was preggo) and I came out (after cowering inside like a wimp) to her telling him that we "liberated their asses" and him telling her to "go home stupid American." It was super hilarious and I think the other 8 of us were highly entertained. Did I mention this fantastic lady is my kiddos Godmother?? And I am her sons Godmother. Like seriously people. All official in the Church and stuff! lol

On a side note- we have been together since 2003. Fort Rucker Alabama. Fort Bragg North Carolina. Katterbach Germany. And they will be here in Fort Carson Colorado in about 7 months! Woohoo!

 Here is Mel. I promised you a picture and I am sure she will be thrilled I chose this one! We celebrated her thirtieth birthday in Nurnberg. We all dressed in 80's style and rode the train up there. We ate at one of my favorite places- Tapasitos- and had LOTS to drink... I miss Melissa tons! We were always together since we shared a duplex. Our daughters were super tight and our toddlers went to school together. We did everything together! Neighbors like that are special!

 

 Here are Hais and I in London. Such an amazing trip!

 German traditions and being lucky to be a part of it. This was the annual Lantern Walk in our little town. Every single town does it. The kids make lanterns at their schools and then everyone gets together and walks through the town- ending at a ceremony of sorts and food!

 I miss this house. We were the first tenants. I moved in while Lee was deployed. I brought Carter home for the first time to this house. I loved this house. I loved the neighbors. I look at that yard and picture my kids playing in the grass.

 Oh, these girls. It breaks my heart to see this picture and know that I do not get to see them daily. Lillianna (blondie in the middle) I have known since she was 2. The girls have celebrated every birthday together since then. This coming June will be L's first that we are not there. Anna (brunette) is Melissas daughter. She was at our house everyday. I love that little girl so much! This picture is from the last outing for the three of them together. We went to shop, eat and dye their hair. Yeah- I am that momma. You send your kiddos with me- I will put a stripe of color in their hair!! lol

 FESTS! Here is a pic of Lee and his cousin Alli when she came to visit.

 Euro Disney. We went 4 times! Once a year! How can you not? It was fun for everyone!

 Girl coffees. This particular coffee shop (backerei) got me through deployments! We would meet there and just relax for hours. Sometimes it was 10 of us- sometimes it was 2. We celebrated birthdays here. We found out about pregnancies. It was a special place.

 Sundays, I would go by myself. I would get up super early- and be there at like 7:45am. Then I would just sit. Sometimes I would read, plan out my week, or just people watch. It was my time. I looked forward to it every week. Haven't found a coffee place here that makes me that relaxed...

 Bowling league! This was sooo fun! We were 3 Hawks and a Hooker (Chinook helicopters are called Hookers- we had one Chinook wife and 3 Blackhawk Pilots wives). This night in particular we were playing our good friends and this was just a hilarious picture... Serious bowlers right?? All on our iPhones....

 A super fun event we went to- Ball der Vampire. In Heidelberg each year- they have this. It is super amazing and something I never imagined myself doing but I had SOOO much fun!

 Another pic of the backerei food... just cause you cannot have enough! lol

I shall leave you with that picture.

Oh and one more story... See those big bread rolls on the back wall? They are held up with baskets in this picture but they used to not be. A friend, who shall remain nameless for her protection, was sitting under one of those bad boys. It had molded and weakened. See where I am going? Lets just say- that moldy bread fell off the wall and smacked said friend right on the shoulder. Hilarious!