Sunday Fun-Day

So, the Sunday after Molli left Rob and I decided to go for a little day trip down to Saarbrucken. The were having their Easter Market and had lots of the shops open (which is rare on Sundays). The drive there and back wasn't bad- just a little under an hour. And we didn't really buy much just walked around and explored till our feets hurt. 

Walking around we saw a lot of neat stuff!

Sweet Fountain!

I thought this mural was so weird. Odd looking fairy with creepy trees.

some flowers outside we stumbled upon. I love how many
flower boxes are here.

A sculpture of a man fighting a dragon?
No big deal.

At the end the row of  shops we bumped into a river.

super pretty.

After walking around and getting a brat for lunch we found a super sweet mall. From the outside it totally doesn't look like a mall.

I mean does this look like a mall?

I mean how many malls in the US have stained glass windows!?

How pretty!? Three floors of fun.

After exploring the mall, we decided that our feet hurt and it was time for our adventure to come to an end. 

Just us.
Me messing around on the ride home.

After we got back it was time for lots of homework for me. Then this week, with me still being sick, I worked from home on some flyers and a calendar for work. Homework, work, and nyquil - repeat. Now I'm starting to feel a bit better so hopefully this weekend won't be a waste :D 

FIRST BIG TRIP WEEK :D

So much has happened in the last week And I LOVED all of it. (minus me getting sick at the end)

Tuesday (4.1)  started off with Danette and I loading up our rental car (a pretty tiguan life) and heading out to Frankfurt around 1115 to snag Molli from the airport. The drive there wasn't bad, about an hour and a half. We got to the airport, rode the super fun parking garage swirly thing down to level 4 and parked.

Next was to navigate the airport and find Molli. We looked on the first level, went upstairs, decided upstairs was wrong and headed back down. On the way down, my dumb self in my pretty new black maxi skirt, got eaten by the damn escalator. On the way up my skirt was fine, on the way down - I didn't pay it much mind - and BOOM. The security guard had to cut me loose to freedom. A lot of it didn't get lost but the bottom in the back looked like Kaela ate it and I still wore it. Funny story tho. I was literally like pulling it with all my might and he came over and stopped the escalator like "should i cut?" "um. yes" like my other option was...? lol  

Next we all got barricaded from the arrival area , by the polizei (German police), at the airport for who knows what reason. Luckily whatever the reason was for the caution tape we were fine and found Molli easily after that. Next we snagged some euro, got the car and headed to Amsterdam.

The drive to Amsterdam was about 4.5 hours ish. Which then got totally extended (arrival moving from 6:20 to 7:47) and screwed up our plans. Here in Germany, and with us living on post, we get ration cards for gas. You prepay amounts on them for gas and then use them at only esso stations to pay the American gas prices. Keep in mind this esso-ration card thing only works in Germany at esso stations. Only problem was that we couldn't find an esso.  First, we googled one and headed there and it was not an esso. We then preceded to get stuck in 50 minutes of traffic. That really screwed us up. After, we were able to find one like right off the boarder before we hit the Netherlands. But still, that 50 minute detour sucked. A lot.

BUT since we were really late now (we were scheduled to go to the Anne Frank House at 740pm) we decided we'd try to bust our buts and get to the Anne Frank House first and check in at the hotel after. Since none of our phones worked (data-wise) we used the car navigation to find the Anne Frank House and headed that way. We arrived at like eh 745ish, paid to park, and headed there. We're all walking down the sidewalk, see the building (which we thought was the museum), take a picture (like tourists), walk up close and finally realize it's the flippin Anne Frank School. 

We thought we were so cool. This was totally not the museum.
LAME.

We felt so dumb. And so lost.

That meant back to the car and to try try again. This time, we had a little bit better results. We found the right place, and even a parking spot (by now its 820pm and they close at 9). Too bad the parking meter wouldn't take our cards. First we couldn't get the machine to operate in English and then, once we fixed that, it still wouldn't print the damn ticket. So 830 rolls around and we're like F-this let's just go. So we walked over to the museum, full of workers who are ready to leave, and we pleaded to be let in. Luckily this was our first run in with the AMAZING Amsterdam people and they, instead, signed our tickets to let us come back anytime the next day (aka Wednesday). = such a relief! 

With that good news we went to check in at our hotel - Tulip Inn Amsterdam Center. The hotel was so nice- even did a 24hour service of Valet for the rental car so that was out of the way. (too bad I have no pictures because my camera was lost on Wednesday- to be continued..) 

This is the street view of our hotel (from Google since I had no picture)

This was the street view from our hotel room. The window was probably 12ft high
but the bottom part (head height for a passerby) was frosted for privacy.

We checked in. Got cleaned up. And headed OUT! The night life here was great! Everything was so close and definitely within walking distance from our hotel. We went to a few bars/coffee-shops and walked around most of the evening. Each bar we went to we each bought a round, but we stayed longer at the Irish Pub.

So bad for you but so tasty. Personally, I loved the chocolate covered Belgium waffles.

We even ended up walking through the red light district. Women prostitutes, trannies, men prostitutes- Amsterdam has it all lol. Pictures aren't allowed but literally if you go here all of these are pretty accurate. Molli snagged a few though. Also sex shops were everywhere (not only in the red light district).

Courtesy of the Photographer Molli :D

The only photo Molli snagged of an actual girl working her window
with her bright neon boobs. ow ow.

And when I say sex shops, I mean sex shops.

After much walking around we ended up at that Irish Pub I mentioned earlier. We relaxed there for a while and enjoyed a local dutch beer that was brewed a 10 minute walk from the Pub. The bartenders were super nice! 

Local Dutch Beer.

Us ladies chill-laxing :D

Since the bars close at 1 (pretty late for a Tuesday I thought) we started to walk back to the hotel and call it a night.

The next morning (Wednesday 4.2) we were up bright and early (well early-ish) at 9am. We wanted to get to the Van Gogh Museum at 10am and it was a 30 minute walk from our hotel. I'm so bummed I lost my camera because the walk there was super pretty and I was the one taking most of the pictures. At least I know next time I go with Rob I'll get them all again but still = bummer. We ended up exploring a lot more than expected and didn't get to the museum till 11- which ended up being fine anyway. 

Here a couple pictures from our walk there:

The beautiful canals :D Such a clean city.

love the flower boxes!

And this picture is getting framed for sure-
to me it just captures Amsterdam with the flowers and the Vespa.

Close to the museum we found this clog- had to stop for a photo op.
oh and Molli is a G.

And I have lots of hair. I need a hair cut lol

Once we got to the museum we checked our bags and got to walking around. There were LOTS of people there but it was a great experience to see Van Gogh's work and read about his life. Felix Vallotton as well. No pictures were allowed but, when I post the photo of my Amsterdam goodies you'll see the prints I bought.

After the museum we headed towards the Anne Frank House Museum. (This is the part of the day when my camera went missing). During our walk we detoured to look at several different shops. I think I lost it when I went into a bakery. I might have sat it down and left it? That's the only thing I could think of. 

This was during our walk from Van Gogh to Anne Frank
when we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Gotta love old guys playing street chess :D

Love this one of Molli.

Since we hadn't really eaten yet and it was around noon we decided to stop at a small bistro for lunch. 

The restaurant was super cute.

And my lunch was rather tasty :D

Next stop: Anne Frank House.

The building sign Molli snagged a picture of.

Here we couldn't take pictures either but the experience was amazing and so sad. To read the quotes from her diary that they used, see where they actually lived, and climb those stairs- it was all so surreal. Their rooms were so small. Everything was so dark. I was nearly brought to tears just walking through the house. The annex was off limits for safety reasons but they had a mirror set up so you could see up there and how small it was. Being able to go there was a great experience I am blessed to have had. I still can't believe people deny the holocaust to this day.

After the Anne Frank house my phone was super dead and it was about 3pm. We headed back towards our hotel and stopped in at De Bijenkorf. It was a huge department store/mall full of designer brands. Bijenkorf was right down the street from our hotel so Molli stayed here to hunt around and Danette and I walked back to charge up at the hotel. A little bit later Molli came back and we decided to go walk around for a bit more, do an early dinner, and call for our car to come. 

We decided to do a breakfast dinner since we hadn't tried "crepes & waffles" which was right outside our hotel room window. We figured since we were stealing their WiFi in our hotel room the least we could do was try their food. WHICH WAS SPECTACULAR!

(don't mind the fork dent, I was impatient)
this was my Tiramisu Crepe

This was the most bestest crepe ever in the whole flippin world! I will DEFINITELY be going here again. So happy we stopped here for our early dinner.

We also squeezed in a local cheese shop, since who doesn't love cheese. I ended up getting a Klaverkaas Contadino (with garlic, black pepper, and roasted red tomatoes). Can't wait to cook with it!!

They were all so delicious it was hard to choose!

But sadly, our car came a little before 7 and we were on the road again. Time to trek our 5 hours back to Baumholder.

Here are all of my Amstedam souviners:

Thursday (4.3) we were supposed to do Dachau but MAN did we sleep in. The drive to Dachau is about 4.5 hours so, with it being almost 11 and them closing at 5pm we wouldn't have been able to make it and explore the camp. That and - this was the first day I felt sick. I couldn't swallow and I was coughing up a storm! Just no fun! BUT- instead Molli and I decided to go to Trier.

Trier is a closer city, about a 50 minute drive from where I live. Lots of shopping, churches, and the ruins of the Porta Nigra. We walked around here for a few hours. In and out of lots of shops. They also had some tents set up for an Easter market which had lots of cute little goodies and sculptures. 

This is the Porta Nigra.
There is more information about it here.

There were lots of people out too!

The tent is from the Easter Market.
Love the buildings in the background though- Super German.

Cute froggies. I love the wooden bowl.

And adorable duckies.

Then for lunch we stopped at a small corner restaurant. We didn't order anything crazy since the lady working knew zero English. But we all know you can't go wrong with a Brat and a beer.

Then Thursday night, since the guys were off on Friday (well not rob really, he had staff duty) we went out for a bit. First we did dinner at Hotel Westrich. We all got some variation of schnitzel and loved them. Afterwards we went to the knot for some beers and some Jenga. We didn't stay out super late since Rob had work at 9am and we were going to try to get up earlier and maybe do Dachau. 

Friday morning (4.4) I was more sick which totally ruined the plans. We instead slept a bit more (hoping my medicine would kick in and I'd feel a bit better) and did local activities. We explored in Idar Oberstein for a bit and went to globus. Then I drove to Ramstein to show her the PX / wanna-be mall there. We snagged a quick lunch at Johnny Rockets (which was super American and not photo worthy lol). I'd say we stayed out till about 430 and then came home to get ready and go out to dinner around 8. We did another restaurant here in town called Hotel Berghof. We got so full from dinner that our attempt to drink at the Knot afterwards lasted for 1 beer and we both decided we were old and wanted to call it a night.

Today, super sadly, Molli had to leave. But, I know she's coming back. We had such a great time and there is so much more to experience here that I know she won't be able to stay away, especially for the next whole 3 years we're living here.

But, on a sad note, I feel terrible and want to go lay on the couch. I'm dreading the homework I have due tomorrow. *sigh* back to the real world. If only I could move to Amsterdam forever..

Rob's Back!

Well Rob came home from his mini trip for work Thursday evening. I'm lame and was so excited to have him home already :D

Friday wasn't too crazy. I usually work Fridays but was off. I went with Rob to work on the '95 BMW at the car shop here on post. We (meaning Rob) discovered it needed a new suspension ASAP. We knew we'd need one since the guy we got it from had it lowered so much it would scrape on a speed bump, but we didn't know we needed it so soon. The front left spring was broke so it would fit (the guy who did it was lazy and tried to make a diff size spring work or whatever). Basically we needed that fixed, which Rob then did Saturday with Austin (woot woot). But after we discovered that we came home to let the car rest until the evening festivities began. 

That night Austin, Danette, Rob, and I all went to a restaurant here in town, Hotel Berghof. Danette and I had been there before for Sunnie's birthday and wanted to take the guys. Plus it was "all-you-can-eat" chicken wings and Rob couldn't pass that up. [I got the amazing carbonara again, just because i LOVED it the first time] Then, after dinner, we all walked to the knot for some alcohols and enjoyed the rest of our evening there.

My first Irish Wake! :D

I finally got around to trying an Irish Wake on that night. Scratch that, I tried 3 of them. They're pretty awesome. 1 shot bacardi gold, 1 shot silver, 1 shot 151, blue curacao and orange juice. yum. (I'm pretty sure that's the recipe they use at the knot). Anyway, I'm a fan, but they can get a bit dangerous after a few of em lol. 

Saturday Rob woke up and worked on the car while I attempted some homework (being on spring break I lack motivation). That evening after Danette got off work we all went to Ramstein. We left around 630 and all snagged some goodies from the PX there. After Ramstein we had some friends over. Played some beer pong and went to the knot. Oh and I had to selfie with everyone.

Our wonderful scary faces.

Top: Me and Swift
Bottom: Me and Rosie
I was selfie-ing it up.

And my two favorite gay boys! Jesse and Will. Love them!
And Jesse wants to learn to sew. Super stoked about that.
I'm a nerdy old seamstress.

And our pong game. I love Swift's face in the top one.

We had fun playing before we left- always saves us money at the bar that's for sure. 

We even managed to squeeze in some Jenga at the Knot.

But I mean between my margaritas, fireball shots, and an Irish Wake at the Knot- I was covered. And super hungover on Sunday. Rob, luckily wasn't.

Sunday I laid around feeling terrible and Rob was the productive one. I napped and did some homework. I only ventured out of the house to snag McDs for dinner. It was one of those days. 

Monday (today) I woke up and got coffee with one of the wives, Cynthia. It was nice to sit down and get to talk a bit. She invited be to go to La Tomatina in August which I TOTALLY wanna do. It's the tomato festival in Valencia, Spain.

And, since work called and said they didn't need me today that left me with time to post on here :D I even ordered Molli and I's first tickets for our trip. She comes in next tuesday!

We're all set for the Anne Frank House
and for the Van Gogh Museum.

I Promised.

I promised I would post more so here I am. A little update but an update none the less.

Rob's gone most of this week for work so I'm trying to make the most of it. Today I went with Danette and Austin to the courthouse in Birkenfeld- had to snag my international license before Molli arrived :D

it's a weird booklet. but hey- it's legit :D

So much stress off my shoulders now that that's done and outta the way.

Then after that it was off to the gym. I'm thinking the only way I'm going to reach my goal (weight-wise and "goal-activity"-wise) is if I start doing LOTS of cardio to burn off those calories I seem to be eating. I'm thinking 2 hours of cardio when I hit the gym. #nomatterwhat One hour of hardcore work on the stair machine or the elliptical and then 30/30 on the bike and walking on the treadmill. I am going to lose my weight and look totally different when I come back to the states. I've never felt so determined. I have lots of goals and I will meet them. Plus, I'll feel 110% better when I am happy with my body.
 
Other than that, nothing crazy happened today. Just doing the damn thing and waiting for the hubbsters to come back home :D And it's spring break so I can kinda take a break from that college thing, so that's a bonus. But, with this being spring break, and I'm home alone, I'm off to go lay in bed (super early I might add); just cause I can.

Love ya'll- night.

Oh no- a 2 Week posting gap? I failed.

I can't believe my last post was on February 27th? that's like forever ago. Time to rehash and share a life update.

Let's start with that weekend, March 1st. The Knot was having a Fasching party, which fasching is explained a bit more here. Basically we all dressed up in costumes and went to party at the knot. It was lots of fun. So many people showed up and one of the wives, Sunnie, made her amazing chocolate Oreo truffles, which are amazing!! (I needs the recipe, but my waistline keeps telling me no.)

I liked our costumes. Rob was an escaped convict. Simply for the reason
he wanted to carry a cap gun and well, he had to escape first
to find the gun, of course.

Then that following week, since I finally have my ls, I started gyming more. (which I'm happy about). I even had to selfie in the car after my first successful drive alone in our rickety 5 speed on my way to the gym.

That's my "hey I made it to the gym in one piece" face.
Plus I had to get the right angle to prove I was actually driving alone :D

Then, after my interview with Tosha I mentioned last post I started working on the 6th. My first task, which I finished this past week (like on Wednesday the 12th) was organizing my office. After my first day Tosha and I set up a schedule for me to come in M, W, and F afternoons. Since it's a volunteer thing I just do maybe 3-4 hours each afternoon, sometimes 5 if I'm having Rob pick me up after he's done at work. Nothing too crazy though.

When I first started the office looked a bit like a tornado hit it.
ACS currently doesn't have a marketing person so this marketing office
became a catch all supply room basically.

I had a lot to organize but I like organizing and I didn't mind. Plus it is a nice way to start off my job to see what all materials we have and what we needed. With no one over me to guide me and show me the ropes it helps to be able to get oriented and see what all is there to start with. I moved all of the office supplies down the hall to the supply room, which seemed like the obvious first move. It helped to free up a lot of space. Some of the supplies had to stay in here like colored and patterned paper but most of it was able to move.

Next, I headed down to the pretty creepy basement to sift through materials and see what I could find. So much was down here I doubt they even knew that they had! Lots of trips up and down the stairs were made. Water bottles, mousepads, drink koozies, luggage labels, childrens books, DVDS, pamphlets, and so much more :D 

This is said creepy basement. Totally looks like what I think of
when everyone says these buildings are left from when
the Nazi's were here,

But, once the 12th rolled around all the effort was totally worth it. The office looks fabulous and I'm excited to see what projects I'll be starting this coming week :D

I even went label gun happy. I swear this is super organized.
And, I Love It.

In addition to starting "work" the weather has started to clear up and warm up. We went to the dog park here on post for the first time the weekend of the 8th. We ended up going on Saturday and on Sunday.

Kaela is so good in the car, love when her ears stick out
of our sun roof :D

The park here is like many other I've been to, just a big fenced in field.
She loves it though and chases the ball the entire time we're there.

Then Sunday after we went to the dog park with Danette and Austin we all decided to grill out, along with everyone else on post. When the weather is nice EVERYONE grills out. Literally there are grills on every side of every housing building, just grab a pad and start cooking. We did brats, bacon wrapped asparagus, and we trial-ran a peanut butter/chocolate/banana/graham cracker dessert. It was a win. Kaela even behaved and hung out with us while we grilled out.

Lastly, this week on Thursday was the first company BBQ we went to. It started at 1130 and it was lots of fun. Lots of food and lots of people. They had a volleyball net set up and it was a good time. A couple other dogs were there for Kaela to play with. We ended up letting her off her leash and she did really well. We hadn't tried it before so we weren't sure if she was the running type but she listened well. Murphy, a fellow man dog that wants to be her boyfriend, was there and they ran around most of the afternoon, him humping any air around her. Wish I could have gotta a picture of her sliding down the hill though. She'd get so tired from running around and come lay on the hillside next to me and roll over and start sliding. It was cute.

I didn't stay at the BBQ as long as everyone else and left around 430 so I could come home to clean and set up. We were having people over afterwards and I had to straighten up. Once people got here we beer ponged and played kings for a bit. Regular pre-gaming at the Ruwe's and then off to the Knot. Yay for drinking on a Thursday because its a four-day weekend. 

Friday we didn't do much but recover and today we might stop out at the Knot for the St. Patty's Day festivities. Rob has a work thing tomorrow so we can't be out super late. Other than that I think those are the updates. Our bmw back in the states is finally on its way (thanks to Babcock and Finch for helping us with that). I can't wait for it to get here and the traveling to begin!! Plus I booked the hotel for when my cousin Molli comes in on April 1st. We snagged a hotel for her first night in Amsterdam and I'm super stoked. #wootwoot

More will be posted later. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't make a habit of these two week gaps between posts. I'll work on that.