Prayer

Today is National Day of Prayer- so get out those knee pads and get prayin' y'all! If you go to the link you'll see there are 7 areas of focused prayer:
Government- (sadly, President Obama decided not to recognize this day of prayer- and with so much change, prayer is needed for our leaders NOW!)
Military- An area so close to home for myself and many of my friends.
Business- Something America needs to focus her attention on during this difficult time.
Education- What other way is there to improve in the future if not through the education of today?
Media- When the good is so seldom reported and the scary is so grossly shoved in our faces.
Church- Our support system of fellow believers, let us gather together in prayer.
Family- As Mothers' Day approaches, it is time to focus on family.

Okay... you get the message, God wants to hear from you!

Now on a lighter note. I found this clip and just laughed!! Enjoy!

Rob's 29th

Happy, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband Rob- who is 29 years young today! The less-than-one-year countdown to 30 has begun! *Insert wicked little laugh here.*

Honestly, though, he is wonderful and I thought, in honor of his 29th birthday, I would share with you all 29 reasons why I love the guy...

1.I love the way he greets me- on the phone or at the door- with so much love in his voice.

2. I love that he is always willing to be my TallMan Superhero and reach those things up high that I can't.

3. I love those green eyes of his. (Green also just happens to be my favorite color.)

4. I love that he dreams big.

5. I love that he doesn't let reality (or me) squash those dreams.

6. I love that he encouraged me to get a costume of my own so we can now both dress up for Renaissance fairs.

7. I love that he cooks!

8. I love that he loves the Lord!

9. I love that he'll slow down the pace of his long, long legs when we walk together.

10. I love that he loves to write.

11. I love that he chose to marry me.

12. I love that he is a soldier, and proud of what he does.

13. I love that he will, without complaint, trade plates at a restaurant if I end up liking what he ordered better.

14. I love that he'll sing in the shower.

15. I love that he gets up at 5am to go to work to provide for the family (while I can simply go back to sleep for a few more hours.)

16. I love that he was willing to drive over 25oo miles on our recent vacation to Italy- with his in-laws in the car, too!

17. I love that he apologizes with roses.

18. I love that he still plays with Legos.

19. I love that he likes the same style of decorating as I do.

20. He'll watch chick-flicks with me.

21. He lets me have my way more often than not.

22.He remembers to call home and talk to his mom, dad, and brothers.

23. He'll eat the burnt parts of my toast for me.

24. He lets me walk along the 1/2 walls we find so I can enjoy my 2 minutes of being tall like him.

25.He babies me when I'm sick...

26. (and sometimes he babies when I'm not sick, but what the attention anyway.)

27. He always has my robe ready and waiting for me when I get out of the shower.

28. He doesn't mind (too much) when I nod off in the car instead of keeping him company.

29. and last, but not least, I love the way he loves me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!

It-Lee!

So, this past month we went on vacation.
Mom and Dad (and my friend from college, Patty) came to visit. (Patty was only able to visit for 2 days before going to meet up with some other friends in Germany.)
We visited the area before heading off to Garmisch for Easter weekend. The weather was great and we were able to do some hiking around the lake while soaking in the beautiful Alps. There were LOTS of frogs in the lake and I actually caught one and decided to see if he was a prince- he wasn't (but since I'm married to my Prince, that's okay.)
We headed south through Austria and into... It-Lee (my dad is from the mid-west and can never say the "a" in Italy so it sounds more like It-lee. )
Then it was off to Venice and glass shopping on the Island of Murano (where all the glass is made). Then we went to wade and collect shells at the Adriatic Ocean. After that we went to San Marino (a cute little country, land locked in Italy, with its castle built on a cliff.)
Our next stop was Rome and Vatican City where the sun was at its best and we all got a little red. We ate at Hard Rock (yes, we are typical tourists it seems.)
Our second week we stayed at Camp Darby near Pisa and used that as a base to visit: Pisa, Cararra (where all that marble comes from), Florence, Siena, the beach area nearby, Lucca and Cinque Terre. The last being the most gorgeous 5 path-linked coastal towns in the world (I could easily have done a whole slide-show of just pictures from here.) While I am super proud of my parents for bravely hiking the most difficult section of the trail- Rob and I did all 4 parts that linked the 5 towns and finished along the Via de Amore (Road of Love) just as the sun was setting. The most shocking moment (besides the sudden soaking downpour of rain) was running into our friend, Andrew, from Mannheim going the opposite direction along that little trail in the Italian Riviera!
We then left Italy, driving into southern Switzerland and stayed in Lugano (near the lake district the 2 countries border). Then it was to Konstanz to be near the Bodensee (BIG lake that Germany, Switzerland and Austria border). We had the most amazing meal at our hotel where we cooked our meat on a hot stone brought to our table. Later we walked it off looking for the carnival in town we had seen driving in earlier- and Rob and I went on the biggest, most up-side-down-and-dangle-you ride they had. I held on and screamed for dear life as I felt my bottom leave the seat (yes, you read that right, I was starting to fall out!) when we were suspended upside-down who knows how many feet above the cement below! Rob just let out a roaring laugh and yelled for more. *Sigh*... so my "prince" has less than knightly moments it seems.
Anyhoo... then we came home. Mom finished sewing new pants for Rob's Renaissance outfit (his birthday gift) and then they flew out early Wednesday morning.
I loved being able to travel with my hubby and visit with my parents. I can't wait until our next vacation... already the ideas are forming.

Complicated Pics

The world of digital pics is great- but sometimes it makes itself way too complicated. Recently my wonderful husband bought me a card reader so I don't have to hunt down the cord to hook my camera up to the computer(which I was never able to find after the our cruise this last summer.) So, in theory I should be able to take the little electronic chip full of pictures, put it into this card reader and viola!- have my pictures all ready for blogging, facebooking and all the other ways I post and share them thinking you wonderful people actually want to see them.
Well, that same wonderful husband also bought me a larger picture card (apparently I need to be able to hold over 600 images and not 200 like my previous one let me.) Seems the bigger disk is too much for the card reader and will only recognize the smaller 200 picture holding disk and while I have many pictures on my camera I want to blog and share with you, guess which camera card they are saved on. Oh, come on, you know the answer, guess...
The big 600 picture one. *Sigh*. So while I would love to show you pictures of our trip to the Easter Egg Market in Michelstadt * last weekend and the pink wonder that as a friend's 3-year-old daughter's Princess birthday party- you will have to wait since I am simply too lazy to get the pictures on the computer by feeding them through our digital picture frame which is on the other side of the room right now.
Thanks for understanding. =)
* The pictures of eggs here are not necessarily from Michelstadt (or even Germany for that matter) but do show what the eggs at the market I went to looked like. The picture of the building with a bunny band below in Michelstadt is real, though.

The BBR in Poland

This past weekend I went with 5 of my good friends to Poland to do some serious pottery shopping. While I bought various things for gifts, I was the only one with a particular pattern and kept my eye out for the green speckled and flowered pattern Rob and I had picked out back in August of 2007.

We left early Friday morning in 2 large vehicles. We stopped at a few stores on our way to Elim Christian Center (yup, same place we went on the mission trip for Thanksgiving). I bought some great chips and salsa bowls with a rare chili pepper pattern on them that first day.

Saturday was Operation Polish Pottery and it was a full day of shopping. I probably bought way more than I needed to- but I am only a few key pieces away from having everything I could possibly want in our pattern. And I have gifts to last me through a few birthdays and such.

For dinner both nights we ate at the same WONDERFUL pizzeria. For all 6 of us to eat 2 giant pizzas (they have their own table that is placed next to our main table) salad and have wine was only about $30 total!

We left Sunday after a devotional (we had to forgo going to church since it started too late in the morning) and arrived back home in the evening with very weighed down cars to unpack.

While I love the pottery I bought, what really made the weekend so great was my BBR sisters. Since the Army is separating us soon we have vowed not to simply become Christmas card friends- and the passing of the Blue BeetRoot key chain every month (and facebook, of course) is going to help keep us as close as the sisters we now are. God really has blessed me with godly, goofy women to befriend along this journey called life.

My Lovely Week

Yesterday was Valentine's day. While I was originally scheduled to spend it with a wonderful group of middle schoolers on a retreat this weekend some new meds from the docs had me feeling a bit under the weather so I ended up staying home. Rob and I woke up to snow on the ground. We took a walk to rent some movies and go out to dinner to celebrate the overly pink and hearted holiday.
Last week there was a dinner fundraiser to help pay the way for some of our high schoolers to go on a mission trip over spring break to the Czech Republic. The asked for volunteers to decorate the tables and my table (pictured above with a wine theme) won first prize. Beat that Martha Stewart! My prize vase is now sparkling on my dining room table holding a new bouquet of swirl colored roses that Rob also got me for Valentine's Day. (Isn't he a sweetie?)
Oh! There was also a dessert contest (in addition to the table decorating one at the fundraiser dinner) and though this spaghetti and meatball looking cupcake didn't win first prize it was just too cute not to share with all of you:

Jibble... Jabble....

Jibbitz!

It has been awhile since I last updated you on my Jibbitz status. I now have my winter (fuzzy) crocs decorated with Care Bears and my original summer crocs have some Winnie the Pooh characters and various summer critters.

Strange enough I wasn't crazy about crocs when they first came out. The shoes do look fairly odd. I think they are in the same boat as the little, big cross-eyed dog that lives downstairs- they are so ugly that they're cute.

Well, either way I am a croc girl now.

Birthday and Age Confusion

I love birthdays. Anniversaries are cool, too, sharing in the love you have for your spouse and all- but birthdays? Man, it's my own little holiday celebrating- ME!! and it is all, all mine.

But that brings me to my little dilemma- is today really my birthday? See I was born in Seattle- at 3:25pm Pacific Standard Time. Well, being here in Germany where there is a 9 hour jump into the future from Seattle, that would make it after mid-night. So is my birthday technically tomorrow by German standards? Or is it today, being a Washingtonian and all according to the tax people I will be seeing once all that W-2, 10-99 stuff comes in the mail? I guess I better embrace both my legal and technical place (and time) of residence and celebrate both, huh?

Whew, glad that's figured out.

Anyhoo... birthday happenings:

Went out for Greek food last night with "the girls". Having dinner with more friends tonight. (Should be a lot of fun.) Going to see the play "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in Heidelberg tomorrow night.

Oh, funny story: So the middle schoolers I volunteer with were trying to guess how old I would be turning this birthday. One of the girls had seen some of my friends shopping earlier in the day for my b-day gift (and these friends shall remain nameless since I've already been getting the evil eye whenever I tell this story.) Well, this girl said something to the effect of "Oh, I think I saw your mom at the PX today." How old did she think I am? Or how old did she think my friends are? Anyhoo... this made for great laughs last night at dinner and I now have another "mom". hehe.

Garmisch Time

I know I told you I would only be away 10 days and I've been home a whole week and haven't blogged.
So, anyway....
My friend Tiffany and I went to help watch kids during two different conferences at the Edelwiess Lodge in Garmisch- room and meals included. We decided to stay over and pay for our own room over the weekend linking the two different conferences. (Actually we stayed in a heated rustic cabin over the weekend-- at $30 less a night than a hotel room-- and rented "The Great Outdoors" from the library to watch since it was so fitting-- Great idea, Tiffany!)

While there:

Tiffany and I became friends (we had never gotten together before this trip- boy am I glad we got along so well!), I tried skiing for the first time (not my sport it turned out since the ski boots were killing me), we got hot stone massages and facials, banged my knee while doing cartwheels... in the snow... in flipflops ( I know, I know. But it was SNOWing!) , went shopping downtown, had an 80's night!, watched the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Jazz Band preform, walked along a frozen river gorge, watched "Valley Girl", and drove to Vaduz, Lichtenstein and through St. Gallen, Switzerland with a stop at the Bodensee and Starbucks for a city/country mug from there. (We even went through a tunnel over 10 miles long-- GPS was out for that long at least!)

Anyhoo... enjoy the pictures. (Tiffany took most of them, so I may have more once we get around to swapping images.)

First Post of '09

Our New Year came in quietly- just the two of us at home. We got off on a productive foot and organized the closets, our storage room in the basement and labeled all our cables, cords and random wires for various electronics and computer items. (Thanks to the wonderful, new labeler my folks got us for Christmas.)

Today we went to Speyer where they have the only Christmas Market still going (unitl Jan. 6th.) Here you can see a slideshow of some of the things we saw there. It is a cute place and we need to go back and see: The Technology Museum with all the aircraft we saw people going into, the History Museum which is currently featuring a Viking exhibit, the SeaLife Aquarium (they have a smashed coin- yes, I collect these things like crazy!) and simply walk the parks and see all the churches.

On Monday I will be going to Garmsich for 10 days to babysit during some conferences- but then the rest of the time I get a free paid vacation and might even try skiing for the first time. So though I won't be back to blog for a bit- I'm sure once I do there will be plenty to share with y'all!