A Hodgepodge of Holiday and Everyday Life

I thought I would be ready to work at this point...  Perhaps tired of having little or no schedule..

                I'm not.  It's still excellent.  I am appreciative to have a choice.  

What do I do all week? Well, we eat real meals now which is a first in our 8 year marriage, outside of special occasions.  And for all of you that are dedicated meal makers, you know this can be time consuming!  Finding recipes, meal planning, etc.  I enjoy it now--because I have time.  Mike also enjoys it.  

I also go for walks, read books, and most recently, thanks to my mother-in-law,  I play Mario Kart  A lot of Mario Kart.  Too much Mario Kart.  Must. Beat. Mike.  Hasn't happened yet...well, aside from the occasional race where his nose itched or I punched him during a crucial jump.  :D  

I also have a friend.  Yes, I have a friend.  No but really, I have this friend who makes my week awesome.  We meet with a mission:  See something new!  Yesterday we ate at a restaurant called the Cube.  It's on the top floor above an art museum and it's all glass so the views of downtown are beautiful!  Lunch was at least two hours with wine and finished with a cappuccino.  Afterwards we just strolled the main shopping street and checked out a few new stores. 

The Cube

One thing I miss about the States is Wal-mart.  Lower your weapons you haters.  Wal-mart has everything you need all in one place, they're open 24 hours a day-- not to mention they have "Everyday low prices" AND it's free entertainment!  :D  I heard there was a similar store here in Germany so one day we went in search of the German Wal-mart.  The name of this great place?  Real.  There are many around and it was everything I dreamed it would be.  It was more like a Super Target for you Tar-jay people.  But, much bigger-  This place is massive and has EVERYTHING--and, at good prices even with the conversion rate!  That in itself is a score because things here are just more expensive in general but with the conversion rate, I find myself back home online ordering because I'm just not going to pay double for a tube of lipstick or a pair or socks.  There are exceptions to this--Grocery stores for instance, are really about the same price and often less expensive than our stores.  Staple items like milk, fancy cheese-all cheaper.  

And like Wal-Mart, the Real has fabulous fashions.  Here, my friend who has remained nameless until now- Jessica is her name...  Here, Jessica has picked out coordinating sweater vests for our husbands.

These overalls are apparently, big fun

Sometimes I think "What can I do to change the world?".  Well, I've decided that I should become the buyer for whatever PX/BX we live near.  We have a large, beautiful store but like most PXs, certain selections are kindof poo-poo.  But, there's a lot of it so it's like a lot of poo-poo all in one big, nice store.   It's kindof like when you see a bottle of beer with the label reading "BEER".  So, if you wanted beer then sure, you can get beer but its just that.  "BEER" and nothing remotely cool or clever. (Of course I'm exaggerating a bit) But, I am thankful we have such a nice shopping establishment with normal prices and there is always a certain comfort in  an English speaking environment.  Speaking of English speaking:  I've noticed when we are out in town and a fellow American overhears you speaking, they're instantly your new best friend.  The language barrier is in fact, a barrier at times and can sometimes be stressful but I recently had this epiphany-  When there is a language barrier, it's almost impossible to make an enemy with the locals.  I mean, I'm standing there smiling, they're standing there smiling.  We're all smiling, we wave, and occasionally we bring each other baked goods.  Kindof a sweet deal really.  How could they not like me?  They have no idea what I'm saying and vice versa- Outside of basic German and English of course.  And those are just pleasantries.  

Christmas Markets and the Chocolate Festival

I try not to be too repetitive with pictures and information but, since some of our family is not on Facebook, I must.

We went to a few Christmas Markets during the season.  The largest was downtown Stuttgart and it was my first big one so I insisted we go as night fell so I could see it lit up.  The markets are so charming but, overwhelming!  There is just so much to see and so much to eat!  

 Here, they were cooking fish over an open fire

I read somewhere the decorated booth roofs are competing with one winner announced at the end of the market!

                                                 

the Esslingen Medieval Christmas Market

Many of the markets have their own theme..  I was most excited about the Esslingen market because of its medieval theme.  I read they turn down many booth applications each year and only let the best come!  The shopkeepers and the shops are all in theme with elaborate costumes and decorations.  Esslingen is one of the few towns that wasn't destroyed during WWII, so the still have much of the original architecture and it's beautiful.  We had our first real snow that morning and I was so excited to see my most anticipated market in snow but unfortunately, by the time we went that evening my beautiful snow was mostly slush and the "light snow" in the forecast for the evening was actually "light rain" so my Uggs were soaked through and we were just wet.  Mike was thrilled with my planning.  :)  It was still great!  The best part of the night were these deep fried donut type things with bits of apple fried in the dough.  Ahhhhhh!!  We ordered six and quickly realized what we meant to order was 60.  

 This guy was just whittling away...

 Lots of handcrafted wood things such as toys and intricate nativity scenes

 My BluBlu bear

 These corridors are so charming --beautiful cobblestone streets in between impressive buildings

the Tubingen Chocolate Festival

Yes people, a festival dedicated to chocolate.  It's held in Tubingen Germany, a small but absolutely adorable University town.  I try to envision how these things came about..  What man.. wait, no--definitely a woman-just one day said, "Hey, let's put an entire festival together with everything being chocolate!"  And let me tell you, there was a lot of chocolate-  I did a horrible job of photoing it and for that, I apologize- But, it was just so overwhelming.

What's next?  Well, lots!!  Almost too much to even talk about and I am giddy with excitement.  Moving here was stressful-not just for us, but for our beloved pups as well.  We had decided to wait until the first of the year before any big trips together just to give everyone in our house time to adjust and settle.  Although I've been antsy to start hopping planes and trains, I know it was the right move.   In a couple weeks we are be headed to ski in Garmisch, there is talk of a trip to the Canary Islands soon and we have another trip planned for March in the Bavarian Alps.  And, negotiations have also begun with our Stateside crew to get them out here for a reunion in Italy!!!   Wahooooo!!!   I literally have forty Google search pages open at all times.  Thank goodness I have a Mac.  ;)  

Christmas, Paris and New Year's Eve

We couldn't have asked for a better holiday season.  Well, I suppose snow on actual Christmas Day would've been nice but, we did have a beautiful snow a few days prior so I won't complain!

This is the view from outside my craft room/closet/gym room

Pooped after running around like ca-razy in the snow!

As some of you recall, we bought a ridonkulously big, 12 ft Christmas tree a couple of years ago.  It was so big it we had to almost oddly position it an area where the ceiling vaulted past 10 ft.  Well, this is not Gigantor but it worked!  

                                       So, what did we do with all of Mike's time off?  Absolutely nothing.  No, really.  And, it was perfect!  Everyone has their own holiday tradition and ours is Christmas; spent together, alone.  This might seem hermit-ty to some but for us, it's special.  No traveling, no rushing...   Every Christmas Eve we stay up until midnight, pour champagne or Baileys (sometimes both), and open gifts while listening to Christmas music.

Our landlords dropped off a huge bag of bakery goodies right before Christmas.  

This was Mike's favorite!

Things are a little different here...  The base commissary is often out of things and you just never know if you're going to find what you need.  I don't mean to create an inaccurate visual-  This is a large and excellent commissary that just might be missing a few things only you need.   It doesn't normally bother me except when it potentially affected my Christmas seasonal creamers addiction.  I made sure I stocked up  because I couldn't bear the thought of being without...  There were more in our second fridge.  The check out lady asked me "You like creamer eh?"  I said, "I like having it when I want it!" and sure enough a week later, they were sold out for good--all except a few eggnogs.  I felt a tiny bit guilty for buying 50 because somewhere out here in Stuttgart, someone went without so I could have an excessive amount of seasonal creamer.  

One of the many homemade deliveries from our neighbors to us...

You know, I read Germans are more reserved.  I've also heard people say they are rude.  The latter is such a fallacy!  I have encountered nothing but fabulously kind and giving people here.  The reserved part is more truthful but, I've found it's nothing that a big smile and hug can't melt away. 

Mike thought giving me a monster box of chocolate was a good idea...  At the time it seemed marvelous.

Paris

The day after Christmas I went with five other ladies to Paris for a little girls' trip!  Paris was a quick and painless 1:15 hour flight from Stuttgart.  I had heard mixed reviews on Paris so I had low expectations.  It was amazing!  We did see the Louvre,  the Eiffel Tower, the Thinking Man, and Notre Dame but that was about the extent of tourist stops...  The rest of the time was spent walking, admiring, eating, and shopping-  My favorite way to travel!

Chocolate making machine

 .....for the best hot chocolate ever!

At the Thinking Man

I really enjoyed these girls' company!

at Notre Dame Cathedral

Cutest little tea/coffee/dessert place! One of my favorite memories!

the Eiffel Tower-  I was much more impressed by this than I expected!

New Year's Eve

We decided to stay home New Year's Eve for a few reasons.  1.  We weren't really sure where to go which is my fault because I didn't even look for anything 2. Because it was raining off and on all day and the main reason...  3. Because we were having such a great holiday time being at home together.  We had a little bottle of Prosseco-a gift from a neighbor ready to pop at midnight.  We didn't expect what actually would happen at midnight...  Nobody told us fireworks were allowed everywhere here!  There were people all in the streets of our little town setting off massive amounts of fireworks.  It was insane!!  I'm actually thrilled we had no idea because it made it that much more exciting!  We put on jackets and went outside and stood with our neighbors as everyone wished each other a Happy New Year with hugs and cheek kisses.  Even the little kids had their own little fireworks parties in the streets.  The smoke screen was ....wow-everywhere!  Heavy, heavy smoke from all the fireworks,  Pop! Pop! Pop! from all around you and the sky just kept lighting up.  Every fireworks display I've seen was organized so this was...something to see.  We loved it!  It was the perfect end to a Mario Kart marathon we were having that night!