Tuesday, December 28, 2010

my favorite kind of shopping..

for BOOKS! Today, Ali and I spent our Christmas gift cards and bought (too) many books!



Book Recommendation for the Week: "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Dinner Recommendation for the Week: Spicy Malaysian-Style Stir-Fried Noodles via Cooking Light (my sister and Mom gave me a vegetarian Cooking Light cook book and we've just started testing them out. This recipe was DELICIOUS, but spicy!)

Apple Necessities

- CleanMyMac

- Aperture (danke Vater)

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Non-Traditional

Christmas 2008.. our first Christmas as a married couple!




Christmas 2009... our first German Christmas/Deutsche Weihnachten




And Christmas 2010.. a not so traditional Christmas. Opening presents via Skype! Thank goodness for technology!


I Support My Troop


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Sending Love

Today was a big mail day down range! Alex got 5 packages!! Think people miss and love him?! A special thanks to Grandaddy and Grandma Martin, Grandma Helen & Jerry, & Beau and Rosey (and his Christmas gifts from me.. which cannot be opened until the 25th of course)!! I also got my 'stocking stuffer' from Alex, so we got to open over video chat! Skype Video Chat.. this just might make Christmas bearable!




Can you feel the love <3

Friday, December 17, 2010

the Best of 2010

Januar (Salzburg/Axams/Innsbruck/Garmisch):





Februar (Carnivale in Venice/Fasching/Lago di Garde):




Marz (Interlaken/USA):




April (Burgundy/Keukenhof/den Haag):




Mai (Sardegna/Prague):





Juni (London/Burke Visit/Brad Visit/Amsterdam/Brugge/Brussels):







Juli (Anni Italy trip/Gibraltar/Ibiza/Africa/Verona/Cinque Terre/Pisa):








August (Canary Islands):




September (Oktoberfest/Stockholm/Romantic Rd/Madrid/Mallorca/Toledo):






Oktober (Paris/VT Football/Reid):






November (NJ/Philly/NYC):




Dezember (USA/Afghanistan):

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Downtown

Love these prints! We have two (the Lyric & Carol Lee Donuts) hanging in our deutsche haus. Just thought I would share because they are super cute and great gifts for Blacksburg-ians/lovers.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlacksburgArt

Sunday, December 12, 2010

smitten for 'Smittens'

A friend showed me these:http://www.smittens.biz/Smittens/Home.html

HOW CUTE!

Brett & Basketball





Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Kabul, Afghanistan

Isn't the internet wonderful? Even though my husband is teens of hours away with a 9.5 hour time difference, I get to talk to him multiple times a day and see pictures of where he is/what he's doing.. and then send them your way!!

Kabul, Afghanistan:




Saturday, December 4, 2010

ACChampionship

Down in Charlotte for the game - VT vs. FSU! LET'S GO HOKIES! Wish this man was with me, like the very first ACC Championship we went to in Jacksonville.



(ACC Championship Jacksonville 2005)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Hibernation: Not just for Bears

Ever since returning to Blacksburg, I have been in my own semi-hibernation. Mill Mountain is my forced socialization. Beyond that, I stay at home, make dinner, read, watch TV, cart B&A around, anything/everything but go out in public (beyond the gym). I don't know what it is about explaining to every single regular that walks through the Mill Mountain door about WHY I'm back in Blacksburg that just does it for me/makes me want to stay at home all day and/or night. At least 3x/day since I've been back (2 weeks... who knew there were that many regulars?!) I've had a little conversation that has gone something like this:

Regular: WOW! Where have you been? Long time no see! Is this just a guest appearance?
Me: Hi! Yea, long time no see! I'll be back here working for a few months.
Regular: Oh really?! Why? Where have you been?
Me: (in my head - oh gosh, here we go again). I live in Germany now (trying to give as little information as possible).
Regular: (apparently, that's not enough) Germany? Why? And why are you back?
Me: (finally giving in) My husband is in the AF. He just deployed to Afghanistan so I'm back while he's away.
Regular: OH MY GOSH, I'm SO sorry. And he has to miss the WHOLE HOLIDAY SEASON?! Wow, that really stinks.
Me: (in my head - thank you inspector obvious for rubbing that in ONE MORE TIME because I haven't already thought about that a million times before). Yea, it'll be ok. My family is here. But thanks...(not really, at all).

As you can read, my hibernation is well deserved. Tonight, however, was my first night out on the town.. well, I saw a movie with a friend from highschool and then went home. Baby steps. I can't hibernate the whole time A is away.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Dog Food for Dummies

aka Boston

So apparently my awesome euro-travel blog has turned into a not so awesome dogblog.. I'm lame. I guess that's ok, but only for this 6 month USA break (then immediately back to the travels, promise).

So today I had to take Riva to her pre-spay appointment at the vet. I have the worst dog luck EVER.. turns out she has a heart murmur. Not that big of a deal, but still. Anyways, while I was there, I asked the vet if she had any suggestions on how to help Boston eat (Boston inhales food like a vacuum - never chewing, only sucking it up, the whole time choking and after, very bloated - Remember in Marley and Me when the stomach twists or whatever? Well, I don't want that happen to my fav dog, so I asked). She suggested spreading a bowl of food around the room and letting her hunt for it. So today, we tried it. Man did it slow her down. I have never seen her take so long to finish only a cup of food! Good suggestion Dr. MacMillon.



(the set-up)

Boston, sniffing and searching for the goods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cofp6kVde38

Weihnachtszeit

This time last year, we were exploring Christmas markets all around the country of Germany. How I miss it there.