Where are the Rapaljes?: "10k Chick-fil-A"

"10k Chick-fil-A, 10k Chick-fil-A!!" -- this is what A has been shouting when we talk about our upcoming (tomorrow!) trip to America. What is he excited about?! The little vegetarian man I'm married to, excited about a greasy chicken biscuit. HAHAH. Typical. He already has extensive plans about waking up on Saturday morning, running (literally) to CFA and eating "at least 4" chicken biscuits!

What am I excited about?! Our WHOLE TRIP! We start it off right, attending a cocktail party for Matt and Laura's wedding, hanging out with Jesse & Shannon (who I'm SUPER excited to meet even though it feels like we already know each other!), John & Kim, Matt & Laura -- med school friends. The next day, we will be watching football in DT Chapel Hill, followed by Matt & Laura's wedding.. more hang out time with great friends. Sunday morning we PICK UP MY TWO PUPPIES - FINALLLY!!!!! Boston and Riva, at last! They will come with us to Benson, where Mrs. R will be having a mini-Welcome Home from Afghanistan Cookout for A. We get to see good friends (Brad & Anna & REID!) and all of A's family (all 4 nieces, two of which we will be meeting for the very first time!). We will be there until Wednesday, when we head to Atlanta to see my Grandparents and Aunt. A flies out of Atlanta with the pups on Thursday and I make my way back to Blacksburg, where even more excitement is going on. I will have the pleasure of seeing Brett play football, Ali play soccer and volleyball, the Hokies play Clemson AND Miami, the newly floored house, drink and hang out at Mill Mountain (my FAVORITE spot) Bhatta!, my Dad's coming to town, bff from highschool, myfav ex-Mill Mountaineer and her adorable daughter, seeing beautiful Blacksburg in the Fall, and much, much more. Can you tell that I'm excited?! And that this is going to be an extremely busy trip?! Guess I should start my packing.. considering our flight leaves in... 24 hours!!

In other Rapalje Recently news... we went to the FC Kaiserslautern vs. FC Mainz fussball game over the weekend with Sean and Erin. Man, it was like an NFL game. The crowd was HUGE, the fans were so into it, they got there early to tailgate, all sporting the famous scarves, lighting the scarves on fire, spilling beer when we scored, etc etc. And to make matters even better, FCK (the home team who we were rooting for) won!! After the game, we high-tailed it out of there and trained home. Next day, we find out there was a HUGE riot (we did notice the hundreds of police dressed for battle) and most fans didnt get home til 1am (we got home at 930!). WHEW. Glad we missed that one! Mainz and K-Town are HUGE rivals, less than an hour away from each other, both in the Budesliga and fighting to stay in. Big, BIG deal!

On Tuesday, we also went up to Sean and Erin's for Kate's first birthday party, their youngest daughter. A went to fly at Ramstein so I got to hang out ALL DAY with Erin and the girls. So much fun! We played, decorated for the cookout/party, etc. I just love that we live close enough that I get to be a part of their lives!