Chocolate, Family & Cannibas... Oh my!

Last weekend, we had the awesome privilege of being visited by some family from the states! Ray's brother was going to be in London for some work, bringing his wife and new baby, so they said "Hey, we know people in Germany, let's visit them."

So they did. And we are so happy they did!

Jon & Amy flew in on Thursday, so when Ray and I got off work we all went to dinner at the Berg Lichtenburg Castle Restaurant. We had been to the castle before, but never had eaten at the restaurant. I must say, probably the best schnitzel and noodles I've had here in Germany thus far! It was so fun to relax and catch up with them over a delicious meal. We got to do some socializing with our new little niece too. Just look how adorable!

 On Friday, we all piled in the car and drove to Brussels, Belgium. This was quite arguably my favorite excursion in Europe yet. And for one good reason: Belgian Chocolate.

Oh. My. Goodness.

For reals, guys. You don't know what chocolate is until you've had chocolate from a little boutique in Brussels. Not even Toblerone compares. Just, no. You have to put it on your bucket list to get there and gorge yourself on chocolate. We decided to do our own "tour" so each time we passed a chocolate shop we all went in, and each picked out one piece. We'd then stand outside the shop giggling and swooning as we bit into our morsels of heaven. My favorite piece was white chocolate covered fresh cream that was violet (as in the flower) flavored. Sounds bizarre, but seriously, it was the best piece of chocolate I've ever had in my entire life. And that's saying something... I eat a lot of chocolate. 

Here's the little walkway we perused sampling chocolates.

Just one example of the beautiful sweets we tried!

All of our hands look like this because the chocolate melts the second you touch it- no wax preservatives!

Our family chocolate :)

After eating a meal to counterbalance the sugar rush we just had, we meandered over to Brussels' Grand Place to observe some remarkable architecture.. and some human nature comedy passed down for centuries.

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The Mannequin Pis. Apparently little boys peeing into a pool made great subject matter for some sculptor years ago. Today it draws hundreds of tourists for its comedic qualities.

The Mannequin Pis x 3

Then it was back in the car to get to Antwerp for an overnight stay. Saturday morning we drove to Amsterdam for some sightseeing there. It rained for most of the day, which was a little bit of a wet blanket on our activities, but we still loved being with family and just walking around the city with them. My SIL and I found these fabulous swim caps. I'm so glad she could share my swimming affinity and was more than eager to pose clandestinely with the caps!

Of course you can't go to Amsterdam without seeing some of the classics: Marijuana and Flowers. We visited the lobby of the marijuana museum, but didn't want to pay the 9Euro to get in. We also visited the street Flower market, which was full of tempting bulbs and cute Dutch and flower souvenirs. Made me wish I didn't have such a black thumb! Ray and I also visited the Anne Frank House, which was incredibly powerful. I haven't read the diary in years, but after walking through the 4 small rooms the 8 hiders shared, Ray and I have set a goal to read the book together. If you're ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend this piece of world history be added to your list of things to see and do.

This flower especially made me wish I had a garden!

When we left the city, we shared one final dinner, and then dropped our family off at the airport. Ray and I then headed to a small hotel outside the city we had booked in honor of our 2 year anniversary! It was nice this year actually having a day to celebrate (technically on Monday) since last year we lost the whole day in an international flight. On our drive to the hotel we saw this absolutely amazing double rainbow. We couldn't get over how bright the first one was and then all the sudden another appeared! Two rainbows, for our two beautiful years of marriage.

Our 2nd anniversary also marked our one year mark living outside of the U.S. This means Ray and I have now spent more time together as a married couple outside of the U.S. than in. What a crazy, blessed life we live.

This weekend was eventful and exciting. We're looking forward to a little down time here at home before our next adventures begin in July when my friend comes to visit. It's a little weird when going to work is a welcome idea as opposed to going on another whirlwind tour of Europe over the weekend!

Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart!

Are you familiar with that song? Well, if you'd spent the weekend with us in Paris, you would be now because we sang it an awful lot there. Turns out we don't know many other songs about Paris. Hm.

So yes, Paris. It was Memorial Day weekend and our last little break for a while, so on Wednesday evening I turned to Ray and said,

"Ray, what do you want to do this weekend? What do you want to see?"

To which my dear husband replied...

"Kailin, I'd like to go to Paris."

So I booked us a hotel, got us tickets to Versailles and Disneyland and on Saturday morning, we were off!

Apparently we like to plan last minute trips

 First of all, I am happy to report that I drove us most of the way to Paris, including getting us to Versailles- and I did it all in a stick shift... without stalling once. Go ahead, applaud. I deserve it ;)

Second of all, an even larger round of applause for Ray who actually drove us from Versailles to our hotel which was in the heart of Paris. He also drove stick (obviously), but more importantly, he navigated the streets and CRAZY Parisian drivers without getting us lost or in any sort of harm. 

Our hotel was right across the street from the major metro stop Gare du Nord, which was very convenient. We parked the car in a garage and did the metro for the rest of the weekend- it's the only way to go. 

On Saturday, after the tour of the Palace of Versailles, we decided to go the Eiffel Tower to see it light up for the night. It was absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend seeing the tower this way; it's impressive by day, but stunning by night. 

Even if you pre-order and print out your own tickets, you still have to wait in this crazy long line to get into Versailles.

Pulling the classic Hall of Mirrors photo

 On Sunday, we woke up bright and early so we could beat the crowd at the Louvre. This worked out remarkably well, too! We walked in and went straight to Mona Lisa so we could get some good pictures with her without battling the seas of people. After that, we were free to just meander and see whatever we liked. My personal favorite were all the Greek statues- sculptures are my favorite art form turns out. Ray's favorite were the pristine apartments of Napoleon III. Branching out from the very popular items, the Louvre was still and silent. Sometimes we'd be the only people in an entire room. It was wonderful, and allowed us to really appreciate what we were seeing. 

I really enjoyed making captions for each
statue. For example, this one is saying,
"What is this mess doing here? Didn't
I say to clean it up 10 minutes ago?!"

Me no dum-dum. You dum-dum.

Napoleon the III's Grand Salon (a.k.a. the Hangout Area)

After four hours in the Louvre (I know it hardly seems like much, but it did allow for a breeze through of all three wings), we headed for the Catacombs. This was something I had entirely forgotten was in Paris until my stepdad reminded me of it. I'm so glad we went, which may sound weird, but it was absolutely fascinating and such a unique experience. I'll admit, being around 50' under ground with the bones of 6 million skeletons was a little unnerving at first, but I calmed myself and ended up really enjoying the 45 minute walk through. 

"Stop! This is the Empire of the Dead" What kind of face do you make for a photo like this? Clearly we didn't know.

                                                                                                                                                                                               







For those who don't know, like I didn't, the catacombs are a labyrinth of passageways from as early as the 1700's that were carved out as Paris was quarrying limestone to build the city. Later, as public cemeteries began getting overcrowded and posing health risks to neighboring homes, skeletons were exhumed and entombed within the now abandoned quarry halls. Bones were stacked high and deep, and large stone plaques mark which cemetery each group of bones came from. 

Right after the catacombs, we stopped off at the remarkable Notre Dame; which is currently celebrating its 850th year. Going inside is free and the line moved quickly, so we jumped on in. We are so glad we did because being inside Notre Dame became both of ours highlight of the weekend. We also happened to be there right during Mass, which only added mystique and beauty to the high arches and magnificent stained glass windows. 

At this point, our feet were pretty much screaming at us, so we headed home, bought some French baked goods and other delights for dinner, and then parked it in our hotel room to pig out and relax. Ahh...

An example of our French delicacies: a crepe with chocolate pudding inside, then dipped in chocolate on each end. Yum!

It's a good thing we got our rest because on Monday, we went to Disneyland Paris! Ray may not love Disney quite as much as I do, but he really likes it :) We had so much fun at the park. We quickly discovered that Space Mountain 2: Supernova, is much better than Space Mountain in Anaheim, but that Indiana Jones in Paris pales in comparison to the original Indy. We saw some characters and made our way through all the lands and a bit of the second park (Walt Disney Studios) before literally dragging ourselves to the car to complete the 4 hour drive home.

Lookout from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

Walking down Mainstreet USA, it was almost like
being back in Anaheim, CA.

 

     It was a crazy weekend, but we loved every second of it. Turns out, we really like French too. Even though all we could say was "Merci" and "Bonjour" we were a little sad to get back to Germany and begin reading signs in German again. Also, I'll really miss my jambon-fromage sandwiches.

As of Late

Well, I at least made it almost halfway through the year doing my resolution of a post a week. Oh well! Here are a few things we've been up to lately.

I learned how to peel spargle (white asparagus, that has a woody outer layer you peel before cooking). It was fun, entertaining and delicious!

We bought another car. This was a huge decision that we deliberated over for nearly a month. Forest had been having some issues (namely his engine falling out on the road), so we decided to just take the plunge and become a two car family. We kept Forest around because we had a transmission/engine warranty from the dealer, so all repairs were free. He's all fixed up and I still get to drive an automatic :) Ray drives our new Opel Agila, which is a fabulously bright blue... inside and out! We love this little car, it's super fun and so far is running perfectly (fingers crossed!) We just need help deciding a name, so feel free to give us your input. It's between Rolph, Jenny and Dussel. The choice is yours.

Our ward split, and with that came new callings. Ray has been called as the deacon's assistant leader and the Scout Master. He's really looking forward to working with the scouts and young men, especially all the camp outs he'll get to do with them! Ray is an Eagle Scout and is going to be such a great example and influence to these boys.

I'm interviewing for a new position at work. I have already been made a closing supervisor, and I got employee of the month in my first 3 weeks. This new post would put me in a higher leadership position where I would help run the entire facility. Everything from organizing daily schedules, field trip supervision, running meetings, and of course child care. I'm nervous for the responsibility increase, especially since it's all happening so quickly, but I hope that if all goes well, I will be able to rise to the occasion and it will help me in the long run.

It never seams to stop raining here, and I'm floored by the amount of greenery. My mom informed me we're at about the same latitude as Seattle, so I guess the rain and greenness of it all makes sense. It's something new. I miss my desert.

With two cars, jobs, and our own mini fridge, we've finally settled into a groove and this feels like home. I can even get to the house if I miss my normal exit off the autobahn. That's usually my test to see if I have become one with a new place :) As I think about our new jobs, it dawns on me that we are actually going to be able to make our 1 year goal a reality. For a while I didn't know if we could do it. I'm so happy we are though- it lends a lot more stability to my mind as I try to process more of the hiccups of "settling in" somewhere.

That's really all for now. Our next plans are Memorial Day weekend- trying to figure out what to do on our first 3 day weekend in a long time!

Another One Bites the Dust

"Baow, baow, baow. Another one bites the dust!"

(Did you know I really LOVE Queen?)

Soo yeah, another week is done. Thank goodness. It was long and stressful. I started out Monday morning crazy tense due to our rather terrifying drive home from Holland on Sunday night. So as promised, here's that story...

Here in Germany there is a gas station called "Esso" which is a super happy place for those of us Americans with military registered vehicles, because we can get an Esso Card. The card allows us to purchase gas at America prices, rather than pay the 1,50 euro per liter. What that means for us is that it's only $40 USD to fill the gas tank, rather than about 60 Euro ($80 USD!)

 Quick aside- we just found a little hedgehog out in the backyard! He was sooo cute!

Okay, back to the story. We drove from Amsterdam, down through Belgium, and into Germany. We'd calculated our mileage and knew we would get to Germany with enough gas to get us to an Esso. Which was great- no paying Euro for gas! Money saved. 

Money saved. Sanity lost. 

Sure enough, we made it to Germany just as our car started telling us we had 55km left in the tank. No big deal, we had seen tons of gas stations off the side of the road all the way through The Netherlands and Belgium... Fun fact about Germany though: once you cross the border, there is literally nothing, including gas stations. It is pitch black as far as you can see, for miles on end. I started to get a little nervous here, as I reached for our GPS to locate the nearest Esso: 34km off our route, which added an hour to our trip home. Not happening.

So I searched for just the nearest fuel station: 3.4 km off the autobahn. We exited, and started making our way through a tiny, winding road that took us much further from the autobahn than we expected. Into a small, sleepy town, in the middle of nowhere, Germany... at 10:30 at night... did I mention I don't speak German?

Did I also mention gas stations close around 8 PM out here? Small town living, it's not my thing. 

We got to the gas station, and miraculously there was a machine to take cards (truly a rarity, all our gas stations by home require you to go inside to pay, no card option!) Unfortunately, this machine, for whatever dubious reasons it had, wouldn't accept our cards. At this point, I broke down in tears. It had been at least half an hour that we'd been looking for a gas station, and I really didn't think we would make it back to the autobahn from this tiny village. 

Ray gave me a firm hug, and told me we needed to get back in the car and keep going. We drove further into the town to another station: closed, and no card readers. Back through the town, back up the terrifying, winding, dark road, and back onto the autobahn at 11 PM. 

I searched for gas stations again and limited options to those that were indicated to be straight ahead on our path. There was a Shell about 20 km ahead, so we set our sights on that. I began praying like I had never prayed before. I was convinced we were going to run out of gas on the autobahn (which you will be ticketed for), in the middle of the night, in complete darkness, with little to no traffic actually passing in either direction. 

Me freaking out is an absolute understatement. I can't even begin to describe the anxiety attack that ensued. 

Ray kept his cool and asked me to check the GPS again for fuel stations. When I did, I noticed a new station had popped up, it was only 8 km ahead, and said it was straight on our path. We took the exit, despite the fact that we couldn't see the station. Through a quick glimpse between hills I did see the station though, and we decided to risk it. We both knew that if this didn't work, there was no way we'd make it back to the autobahn. At this point, we had already gone about 20km+ over our car's 55km warning. We coasted into the abandoned gas station. Lo and Behold there was a card reader! I jumped out of the car in my socks (that's how distressed I was, I walked outside in socks, despite years of my mother yelling at me and my brothers we'd ruin all our socks that way), and made my way up to the card reader. I blindly followed the German prompts and just hoped I wasn't locking my card out. Somehow I managed to enter the correct pump number, and an amount to charge my card. I gave Ray the signal and he pulled the pump to see if it would deliver. 

Thank Heaven, it did. I swear to you I could have collapsed right there in the middle of the gas station from sheer relief. I really can't remember the last time I was stretched so tight. We put 30 Euro worth in, and clambered into the car, rattled and ruffled. We said a humble prayer of thanks to our Father in Heaven for watching over us, and then returned to the autobahn for the final hour of our journey. 

Even writing this now, my shoulders and back tense up. Argh, I need a spa day to unwind from that one. 

What I learned most from this experience is my greatest fear: darkness. Even when I thought we'd run out of gas on the autobahn, I wasn't afraid of the ticket or oncoming traffic. I even had three back up plans in my mind that I knew would get us out of the situation. But none of them fixed the fact that I would be sitting in the dark for an extended period of time. I was terrified of the absolute darkness we'd be in: no street lights, no lights from surrounding cities, and no lights from our car. Not even the stars were out in cloudy Germany.  I am so grateful I did not have to go through that long wait.

As I think about it now, it makes me more humble and grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who provides His light to me everywhere I go. Darkness cannot exist with Him in my life. Though I would have had to endure a small moment of physical darkness, I know He never would have left me and Ray, and I know that through our times of spiritual and emotional darkness, all we have to do is turn to Him to receive some of His Light. 

So with that as the start of my week, and some "sink or swim" moments at my new job... yeah, I'd say another trip to Baden-Baden is most certainly in order.

How do you deal with your major stress moments?

How did you see God's Light in your life this week?