In the life of me.

Today was our anniversary and we had a pretty fun one at that. After museum visiting, chinese food eatting, and walking about, we went bowling at a German bowling alley. Ours on the base is shut down for some reason. But that is honestly no big deal. It was amusing to see how everyone else bowls. I’m used to in the US that everyone bowls the same way, start off on the back dots and step carefully foward, swing the ball back, bring it forward and roll it gently down the lane.

Here there are many styles, there’s the tippy toe down the lane and swing the ball back and forth until your hand gives in and has to let the ball go. Or there’s the run down the lane like a spaz and pray you let the ball go at the right time. One of my personal favs is standing there right about where the buzzer would go of, staring straight down the lane for a few minutes before finally just dropping it and walking away. It was all pretty amuzing to watch. I’m not trying to diss German bowlers but I got a kick out of watching how they bowl and how they must have wondered what the hell Bry and I were doing. Granted, I used proper form and followed the ettiqutte (don’t bowl when the other person in the next lane is bowling) and still sucked. I did beat Bry the first game and then my thumbnail ripped off at the nail bed. Yeah, pretty painful and it hurts to type.

I had a blast today and I must note, I LOVE my black leather trench coat!! Third anniversary is leather by the way.

~Jen

Quite frankly, it was the worst book to film movie I have ever seen in my life. Even those that didn’t read the book were sorely disappointed with how quick pased the movie was. All of a sudden a 17 year old boy knows elven words and can do magic with his dragon (when it only shows him learning just a handful of words). In an instant Saphira grows to full size…Oh and this kiddo suddenly knows how to fight when he can’t even shoot a blasted deer when he goes hunting.

They also make it appear that he discovered the Varden and that night prepared to fight and did. No no no!!! Time spent with the dwarves didn’t last long either. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

It seemed like they took out all the important bits from the book and shoved in action instead. Sorry, I know Paolini approved the script, but it was crap. They neglected to mention that Saphira named herself and that there were two other eggs that hadn’t hatched yet…

If you plan on seeing the movie, go for it if you like; but, you have been warned, your 100 minutes is better spent reading both of the books. They even set up the ending to clue in that there might not be a second movie…which wouldn’t be that bad actually.

On a good note, the CG of Saphira was pretty good. They based her off of the cover art.

Sorry for the rant and that it might have come too late to some of you, but I only saw it last night.

There’s nothing better than strolling through a Christmas market in December to get you in the mood for Christmas. You hear the songs playing in the background, children laughing, and adults pondering what to get someone for Christmas. Not to mention the grand smell of Gluwine or my new favorite baked apple cider with booze in it.

The first visited was Rudisheim. It’s a small little town tucked away beside the Rhine River. (I appologize now if I have botched spelling, I am just waking up.) It was cramped to walk through but the smells and energy of the whole place was wonderful. Prices for the hand crafted goods were amazing! There I snagged a pair of dangly silver earrings for just 10 Euro!

We also went by the torture museum there which was pathetic for a 4 Euro entrance fee. However, they had some devices another museum we visted did not.

The next weekend we kept it local and went to Mainz. We got lost a little bit…*cough* a lot bit because of me. Thanks to Becca and my cell phone we turned ourselves in the right direction. The market was pretty much the same as the last year and I did not like the cups from there. Just about every market has it’s own style of mug for warm beverages. You can either return it and get 2 Euros back or keep it. We collect them. My favorite part would have had to been when I discovered the snowball treat (cookie wrapped up in marzipan and dipped in chocolate. I went for the dark, of course.) and winding through the paths to find the huge Weihnachts Pyramide (the wooden pyramid that you light candles under and the paddles spin at the top). Other than that, it was the same as last year.

This weekend we traveld about two hours to Rothenburg. It’s a decently sized town within walls that were built in medieval times. There weren’t that many booths and they didn’t have many hand crafted goods. Most of it was pre-manufactured. Nothing beats the half meter sausage on a baguette though! That place had to be rolling in the Euros every day that they were there. The waffles there were amazing too. We did like the cups there as well as the ones in Rudisheim. This one was also cramped, but it was still enjoyable.

As little side trips from the market we went to the Christmas museum and to the Kriminal museum. Both are worth it. The Chrismas museum is up year round and is open on Sundays. They only ask that you donate a Euro per person to see inside. It’s pretty much a giant gift shop but wow. It’s amazing in there. They even have a Father Christmas walking around passing out candy to children.

Last on the list visited is Wiesbaden. I went there with another friend last night and I really enjoyed it. I was hesitant to go since I heard it was not that great. As far as prices, yes, I agree, way too high. For the spirit of Christmas and decorations galore, I loved it. It was by far my favorite. Not to mention this is where I found the baked apple cider with booze and it came in a ,41 liter mug with the square painted on the side all decorated for Christmas. While drinking away we rode on the second story of the carosel. I rank this one as my favorite this year. There was a lot more than last year and hey, got to try free chocolate (strawberry truffle…YUM) and some delicately seasoned nuts. I ended up walking out of there with a bag of marzipan almonds. Mmmmm.

There was also this new thing there that I never saw before. It’s called a nudel? It’s a ball of sweet dough that’s baked and they slather on vanilla sauce and lightly dust it with cinamon and sugar or you can get warm cherries on top. Delish!

Hopefully we can get up to Frankfurt and see how that one is. I look forward to it and I badly want to collect the mugs from there too.

Merry Christmas,

Jen

After munching on a half meter of sausage tucked away in a baguette, we wandered the small cobblestone streets of the Christmas market in Rothenburg. It is a beautiful city, walled in from medieval times. The whole goal of the trip was to see some place new. Oh and to also snatch a Christmas market mug. You see, each city has a mug of their own for the markets and they change them every year. We try and find two different ones at the same market and keep them. We definately got that wish.

Despite the stalls being full of pre-manufactured goods, it was still an enjoyable trip. We did more than peek our heads into the stalls of the market. We also went inside a cathedral. I cannot remember the name of it. But I loved the outside of it. The friends we went with are to share their pics of it since our camera went kaput. Then we went to the Christmas museum. Oh that was wonderful! The magic of the season was definately felt there. I also fell in love with a cuckcoo clock…219 Euros, dang good price compared to others I’ve seen. But the museum is open all year for those that want to get their shopping done early.

Our feet also wandered off to the Kriminal museum. Very interesting stuff there. Gotta love the “violins” for quarrelsome family members. Or the Shame Masks. I think my ultimate favorite torture device…well it is really more of shame, was the drunkards barrel. They’d walk around in this massive barrel, arms inside but the head and legs poke out. Sometimes it’d be filled with a sort of liquid and eventually the drunkards own. This torture museum was 100x better than the one in Ruddisheim.

And here are some pics of the trip:

Thanks to a friend of mine out here I am now feeling more at ease about the whole Bry not being promoted anytime soon. She showed me the tools to show my husband on how he can rack up the points. Also, his points are down to promote, meaning if he maxed out his civilian and military education, he’ll be 33 points away from being promoted. Seriously, I hope he applies himself and takes in what I have to say.

Short and sweet but that’s all I got.

Today I anxiously awaited a phone call. Why? I was to receive a call about a job I applied for on the base. Sadly, I didn’t get the job yet. However, the boss man put a sticky note on my application for April. So hopefully then I will be hired.

In all honesty, I didn’t even want the job at first. I just wanted to get rid of the Mary Kay gunk and move on in life. Screw painting Germany pink. Well, as I made my consultant cry and beg for me to stay in, she mentioned a job. I said no until she said it had German benefits. Of course I said yes. Not many of you know this, but you get three years of maternity leave with half of your regular pay and soon I was hoping to add to the family. And the pay is great for the part time hours. I was amazed. Even the job…it’s simple, far too simple. The only downer would be to get this older woman to understand that I am to be her supervisor and she is to listen to me and do her job correctly. Apparently she has had an issue with that for the past two years with this other woman. But ya know, I can deal with that no problem. When I was an RA in the dorms I was younger than my residents. It took a little bit of effort to earn their respect but I got it. I can easily show this woman…oh well.

I guess I’m down even more about it because a lot of positive things had been going on with friends around me. Nothing could go wrong, right? I shall live and maybe I’m not meant to have that job. Maybe I am meant to stay at home and volunteer instead.

The other day I was lurking around the air field waiting for the bus. I was playing my silly video game since my iPod wasn’t charged. It was raining a little and I huddled under the cover of the bus stop. Not long after I sat down, someone else did too and she greeted me warmly. It was then that I took the time to put away my game and hear what she had to say. It’s something I will never forget. She and I talked for at least an hour while we waited and while we were on the bus.

This woman is 50 and had some inspiring things to say. She’s worried how the world is today…how our generation is treating it. I told her I hope we fix it instead of making it worse than it already is. It’s true. Then I watch Oprah and see all this environmental things going on. I’m seein’ it. By now Germany should have the white stuff, the Alps shouldn’t be bare. But it doesn’t. I’m sure even in Boise they’re having to use the fake stuff to cover most of the ski slopes.

Ok that isn’t the only problem. It’s what’s being portrayed in the media. Look around you, do you see the wanna be thugs with thier waist line down to their knees? Do you hear them call their girls bitches and hoes? I do, it’s sick. *points her finger at MTV and VH1* That is where a lot of it starts. It’s more than just there too. There are other programs on tv that totally trash the views and morality that our youth should have. They think it’s ok to be disrespectful to everyone. They think it’s ok to swear at everything and anything. They think it’s ok to toss their Pizza Hut boxes and Burger King cups down the hill on the walk to the Commissary. They also think it’s ok to be rude. That it’s ok to sleep around and feel invincible. It really sickens me.

How will we make this stop? Well, I challenge all of you reading this to not only pass this on, but to talk to a stranger everyday and show a bright smile. Kindness prevails. Show it and see how it will change the world. Sure it’s a slow process, but that experience totally warmed my heart. Just do it no matter how down you are. Show kindness and you get it back. Show negativity and you get it back. Which would you rather have?

It was great to meet someone who is just as open and honest as I am even with someone they don’t know. She wasn’t afraid to tell me her nephew died of AIDS. She wants that message out there. I can’t even get that kind of relationship with some of my friends. It was outright amazing to find that in a stranger.

On that note, strike up a conversation with someone new. You never know who you might meet.

*huggles and love*

~Jen