This is one (of the many) reasons I want to move to Copenhagen!

Bosnia?! Why are you going to Bosnia?!

When I say Bosnia and Herzegovina, be honest, do you picture this...?

"Attention! Dangerous Ruins!"

Can't tell what I'm shooting at? Here, let me help...

And this... Yep, those are bullet holes.

Or do you picture something like this??

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina - a view of the Neretva River and the Crooked Bridge

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

I can take absolutely no credit, zero, for choosing to go to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Shanna threw that idea out there. And when she said Mostar, I of course, immediately google-searched it and saw the famous Crooked Bridge. From there, I was sold. But according to google images, the Crooked Bridge is all the town had to offer. Well, that's simply not true. The bridge is, as you can see, picturesque. The river is an unbelievable color of blue that the pictures just do not do justice to. But the town itself is also worth seeing. Yes, there are bullet holes throughout many of the buildings surrounding the Old Town, and you have to walk by those buildings (it's actually interesting to see the war damage still visible), but Old Town itself seems like any other historic 'Old Town Center' you may visit in any other city in Europe. Markets line the streets. Tourists walk around taking pictures. Tour guides give the history. People eating ice cream. Mostar was great, just great. I'm so glad we added it to our last European hoorah itinerary (until we live there again, of course)!

(More pictures to come, of course! I took a million!)

Ohio v. Biloxi: Who will win the battle of worst places to live??

Yes, Ohio is this boring that I am having to tell you about menial things like Kroger and closets. Oh, what has become of my life?

For instance, here is a piece of cheese... to be specific, a chunk of three year aged Gouda which was to die for. Kroger might be my only saving grace in this town. I know, I know, Kroger. But to go from these awesome European grocery stores, I thought I would never find another grocery I enjoyed shopping at. Well, this is no European grocery store, but it's not Wal-Mart either (thank God).  They have quite the cheese selection. So much so that I almost got lost in it yesterday. I came out with this chunk of aged Gouda, one of my favorites. Expensive? Yes. Delicious. Yes. 

 So, I compare a lot of things to Europe... in my head, out loud, on the blog, everyday, everywhere. I just can't help it. So let's do this again. Closets. We had none, no really, not one single closet in Germany. We lived like this for 3 years. It was a shock at first, but we worked it out. Now, we move to (I'm not even going to say it out loud, you know where live, sad face) ____, and we have 6. 6 closets. Well, that's nice. Of course, we won't have that many in Baltimore so we shouldn't get tooo used to it. But I'll take it for the 11 months that we are here. But beyond that, look at these freaking closets. Yes, they're fine, nice and big (these are the two in the bedrooms), but there are NO CLOSET DOORS! WHY?! Why do this to me? The other four have doors, thankfully. But the ones in the bedrooms, no. Again I ask, why? I love the space, don't get me wrong, but I don't want anyone to SEE what's behind the closet doors. Not because I'm a slob kebab (ahem, Alex), but because I'm slightly OCD about this kind of thing. It looks baaad, just baaad when you can see in the closet, see all the crap, whether it's organized or not. Why do this to me?

And now, I'll try to be more positive. So here's the sunroom. No it's not anything super special, but I like it....and I won't get bugbites in here, so that's a plus. In case you're wondering, I currently have 12.. 12 freaking bugbites. Oh America. Geez. I miss bug-free Germany. Seriously.

Seriously, this is how boring we are... we like our fridge. It's nice. And we have filled it with the essentials: beer, sushi, and water. FYI, the water in Ohio tastes like milk. It's that bad. Sick. 

I don't hate the pink tile as much as I thought I would.. but these tiles (above, right), yes, yes I do. Even more than I thought I could. Who, I repeat, WHO would do such a thing? 

Our temporary set up (above and below).... a stolen futon from my Mom's. This serves as both our couch and bed. And our old tiny outdoor bistro set from Biloxi, serving as our dining room table! It maybe not be pretty, but it works!

I have quite enjoyed going through all our stuff that was delivered from storage in Biloxi.. Haven't seen this crap in over 3 years. Of course, we don't really NEED any of it, but it's fun to look through. The living room, as you can see, is filled with crap that needs to be sorted through, my job for the next few days. While sorting, I have found lots of old pictures, like the one above of Brett and Ali when they were all little and cute :) Awww.

This place is dog central. No, not like Germany. But still. One on side, we have a family of 6 and that's not including their 4 dogs. Above is one of their 4 dogs, Bud, a super sweet Rot. He is constantly running along the fence between our yards wanting to play with B&R. He's jealous of all the ball playing we do. Behind us is another dog, a bit of a barker. And one of other side of us, two rat dogs which leave us alone, thankfully.

Our absolutely hideous counter tops (above) and heinous floors in the kitchen (left). The dogs do love the kitchen... the only relief from this scorching miserable heat in all of the house.

My last and final saving grace in O: my Sodastream. OMG. Lifesaver. I love sprudel way to much to give it up, but at American prices, that would have had to happen. Luckily, A saved the day and bought me a soda stream. I can have as much sprudel as I want.. and make it as fizzy as I want. And it's kinda fun to make! 

My home is my Kasel

Our Very Last Day in Kasel

The dogs love Kasel.

The last Kasel weinfest we will attend. Prosting with the Scherfs at their booth.

Mrs. Scherf is awesome. At the weinfest, we said good-bye to the Scherfs. Fortunately, we have a large stock pile of their delicious wine. They kept telling us we had to come back and visit. They have an extra room. They insisted we bring our (future) babies with us. Ha!

One of our favorite houses in Kasel.

Scherf booth.

Last meal at the Schnitzelstube, down the street from our house. Best schnitzel, Bitburger, Pommes mit mayo, und salat EVER

Last Bitburger

Best dog sitters of Kasel!!

Good-bye

One of the many wineries in Kasel: Chrisopher von Nell

Schnitzelstube. DELICIOUS!

Another winery in Kasel: Neuerberg Weinhaus. Best Rose in Kasel.

Moving Day Kasel

(a few weeks before)

The day started off nicely. Just look at our lovely view.

And then the storm moved in. Quite nasty.

The Scherf house before the storm.

The Scherf House and Winery (not the same Scherf). Svenja's house a street over.

Nasty storm.

Complete with hail. I think this was a sign we weren't supposed to move.

But then the sun came out again. Look at this great house. Man, I want to live here forever.

Neighbors. First a German couple (Doris, the actor, their son, and a golden retriever). Then Micael and Matt (best neighbors!). Then Tanya, York, and Nero.

Our beautiful house.

The view. Ahhh. REALLY missing this place.... especially after seeing the 'views' in Dayton.

As we pulled away, the residents of Neustrasse were lining the streets saying good-bye. It was so sad. I cried, of course. Everyone coming outside to wave (which we taught them how to do), shake our hands, say good luck, etc. Even the drunk across the street started crying! What a great place to live for three years, the best place.

recently rapalje

Just a warning. We (yes, BOTH of us, not just me) only have depressing things to say.

We traded this amaaaazing weather....

For this terrible weather... and mosquitos. UGH.



We traded this amazing-ness...



For this awesome-ness...

Can you believe they sell Bitburger at the Food Lion in Blacksburg??! Of course it is ridiculously overpriced... and we don't even like it. But still.



Our new awesome license plate. 



While driving from Blacksburg to Cincinnati yesterday, we had to stop in the middle of the road to clear a fallen tree. Only in America.