Bowling, again

An exciting update- the painting is finished! We have only 8 more boxes to unpack!

We went bowling again today, and once again we had a wonderful time. Took a few photos, so we'll post those later. We are talking about buying ourselves some bowling shoes... it would make sense if we do continue to play as often as we'd like.

It has been snowing on and off, quite a lot. Almost every day we get complete ground cover, and then within a few hours it's sunny and the snow melts away. The other day it was literally a thunderstorm, but instead of pouring rain it was pouring snow and hail! There was lighting, thunder, and the snow was coming down faster than I've ever seen before!

Other than getting our apartment together and occasional outings with friends, usually to the grocery store, we're pretty boring people right now. Not enough time in the day to do exciting travel and whatnot. That will change once we have a vehicle, and can go explore on a whim. For now, I guess it's good that we're stuck at home- it ensures that we clean it up and get it organized! I can't wait to be able to bring Maggie over here. Every time I set up an area of the apartment, I think about where her things will go, and how she might use the space. She really is our baby! :o)

Tschüss for now!

Unpacking

I just want to point out that unpacking boxes is really lame. This is especially true when your movers pack food that they are not supposed to send overseas, and then you have to sort through the items that are still safe to eat and find a way to discard the rest, all the while feeling really guilty because you could probably feed a village with the expired Bisquick you're finding.

Overall, our belongings are in pretty good shape. There are a few things that have been damaged- our mattress, for example- but at least the dishes and glasses made it safely. Sadly, the items that were broken were mostly things that had some kind of intrinsic value. The beautiful photograph my sister framed for us for our wedding is bent, the glass shattered and all over other items. The hand-carved wooden manatee we got on our honeymoon in Belize is missing appendages. I don't know if they'll give us the "replacement value" of these items, which really bums me out. I don't care very much about generic stuff, but I do like to collect things that remind me of places I've been, and when those things are ruined it makes me sad.

In the time I've taken to type this entry (and I am fast), the sky has gone from blue and sunny, to cloudy. It's snowing and windy. The weather here is even more fickle than Maryland!

We have finished painting one room! Now we need to paint our bedroom. The paint was expensive, but we're hoping it will be worth it to feel comfortable in our home for a few years. (Just gone to blizzard-like conditions!) Personally, I'm getting a bit tired of feeling like "home" is just a transient location. I know that is part of life as a young adult, especially in the military, but it's nice to try to fool yourself into a sense of permanence.

Also, we realized that I may be able to sing in the Wooster Chorus Alumni concert this June. An extra week in the U.S. would allow me to travel to Ohio before Margaret's wedding. As I don't have a job yet, it seems reasonable to plan for these things that are important to me. Concert in Wooster, wedding in Chicago, and family week at the New Jersey shore. Then, bringing Maggie with me back to Germany. All good things. Josh will have to practice cooking a bit more before I go. :o)

Tell us how YOU are doing! We really love to hear from people!

Sushi is the new Schnitzel

At least it is in my book.

One of my favorite things about Europe, at least this area, is that you can find really excellent international foods even in relatively small towns. It was hard to find consistently delicious sushi in Frederick, but not so in K-town! Kara and Steve took us to Zum Wok for dinner, and only Euro 16,90 later (about $25.50 these days, ugh) we were enjoy filling, fabulous sushi and sashimi. Josh tried sashimi for the first time tonight, and he seemed to be at peace with it once it was down the hatch. :o)

I love a good schnitzel, especially when it is accompanied with some hearty kase-spatzel (cheese noodles), but a girl cannot live by carbs and fat alone. We cannot wait for our belongings to arrive, in part because we have a full set of sushi-making supplies that we are eager to use with our friends. Hurry up, shipping company!

Speaking of friends, thank goodness for all of the awesome people we have met here thus far. We are really lucky and thankful for everyone who has opened up to us. It makes the move that much easier.

Health, news, and pins.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm on another health binge, and this time, Becky's coming with me. We both joined this cool website called Sparkpeople.com. They enable you to track the calories you are consuming, the calories you are burning, and they let you make goals to those ends. You can also find people with similar goals and plans, and commune with them in the ways of healthiness, as well as hear a helpful and encouraging word or two from those that were once in the same place. I find it very helpful. You should check it out if you are wanting to lose some weight.

In other news, I have one more day of in-processing, and then I'm done with it. I'll be back to my regular job after that. I did learn some cool stuff while I was in-processing, like a little bit of German. Living here is definitely a bit of a change, I'll say that much. I'm walking a lot more than I used to. Of course, we don't have a car yet, but I don't think that'll change too much once we do. It's real nice overall, and Becky and I have met a lot of new people that I hope we'll stay friends with for a long time to come.

We actually celebrated Becky's birthday last night with most of those people. We all went to Chili's for dinner, and then bowling afterwards. We all bowled for about 4 hours! It was crazy. I actually tried out a new style of bowling (where you spin the ball), and it actually seemed to work pretty well for me. When I didn't gutter ball, that is. I think it'll do me good once I practice with it for a bit, though.

Well, that's all for now, I think. Watch for new pictures on our Picasa site.