june 2014 | usa-germany world cup

Posted on 6/27/2014

Yesterday was the FIFA World Cup USA-Germany game .... if you didn't watch, we lost.

But watching Germany win while in Germany was pretty nice. We wore our USA sunglasses, and had an American flag scarf. It was just us, and one other larger group of Americans (who weren't all that nice, really).

This was the view, note the giant church in the background...

Honestly, it was pretty hard to see or understand what was going on in the game. At one point I was sure that America had scored, till the Germany next to me said "no. You didn't. The reaction would be different." Well, then.





After the loss, we got ice cream. Ice cream called spaghetti, that really did look like spaghetti...it was awesome.

Oh, and Josh is totally channeling his inner Tony Perkins here (before the game started, he was riding his bike home from work). 

june 2014 | wiesbaden, germany

Posted on 6/25/2014

While Josh was at work, and when my mom was done napping, we went on a walk up into the forest.


we rode the tram up the hill....

for this view-

and then walked around for about two hours before heading back for dinner with Josh.


This church was on the way home, beautiful, right? 

Now it's 7pm...I have been up since 4am... and I am going to bed. Jet lag, I am determined to win. 

june 2014 | Wiesbaden, Germany

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After a long day of travel, we are here! After a 4 hour layover in Vancouver, BC which was the nicest airport I have been in in a while, and a 9 and a half hour flight (we flew Condor, which is the "budget" airline, and we were slightly concerned that it would be miserable but the flight was great and we saved a bunch of money!) we got to Wiesbaden!

It's so pretty, and the weather was great.
We went out to dinner with Emma, who used to be Josh's upstairs neighbor, till she moved. It was great having her in Josh's building when I needed girl time,  but her new apartment is supposedly pretty swanky, so I am excited to check that one out, too! (Even if I will miss the proximity!)

After dinner, we went on a long walk, and Josh told me "none of this is out of the ordinary, look! No one is taking pictures but you. You look like a tourist!" But whatever.... I am a tourist. And it's so pretty! 
Today we are relaxing (Mom and I both woke up at 4 am) and going to a market later. Dinner is in the crock pot, and Josh has some "projects" for us to do (hanging pictures and things like that). Mom is taking a nap, but I am determined to stay up all day and beat the jet lag. We'll see. The German-USA game is Thursday night, so that's a pretty big incentive to be on local time.... and see that palace above? They are having a huge viewing there, and I really want to go (if Josh can get off work in time, they only admit the first 5,000 people). But even if I can't watch it projected onto a palace (tough life), literally every single restaurant has a tv playing the games.... you can really watch the games while just walking down the street because there are that many. It's awesome. 

(It goes without saying that we are both PSYCHED to be back with Josh! We even skyped with Dad yesterday, which is as close as this family gets to a reunion. We haven't all been together since June of 2011!)

laguna beach week 2014 | part 3 of 3

Posted on 6/21/2014

Ocean time.














laguna beach week 2014 | part 2 of 3

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Pool time.










 ^ my favorite picture

laguna beach week 2014 | part 1 of 3

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Last year, I went to Laguna Beach to meet up with my friend Matt (we were both WorldTeach RMI volunteer teachers), get some serious relaxation on, decompress from teaching, and do nothing but read by the pool/beach. 

This year was pretty much the same.


 ^ amazing view from the condo


Nightly strolls on the beach...





We get so spoiled here. The pool is "crowded" if there are more people then us there. The beach is "super busy" if there are more then ten people on it. (It's a public beach, with no public access so it's usually pretty empty.) The biggest questions are what to eat for lunch, and what movie to watch at night, or what card game to play.

Weeks like this are SO needed. No work e-mail. No work phone calls (okay, maybe one)... just reading, and listening to podcasts and funny conversations with Matt, who loves history (maybe even more then I do) and keeps up on world events, even better. It's basically the best post-school year vacation, ever.