Happy New Year from Germany!

Guten Tag! Happy New year! We rang in the new year drinking coffee. We just can't party with the rest of them anymore! It was a good time spent with good friends and that's just how we wanted it. Today will be filled with cooking and working off all the food I had yesterday! I hope you all have a wonderful new year filled with love and happiness!

Tchusse!

Gearing up for the new year

I have been very sloppy with my blog this year. A new resolution is to start blogging more. I have no excuse not to. I do a lot throughout my day and could do better keeping you faithful followers up to date. Whether it's gym time, baking, Germany events, or trying to maintain a healthy diet, I will do better to keep you updated. My goal is to have a blog good enough to be re-pinned onto Pinterest (we're starting small).  Let's go!

As far as my 2012 ending, a lot has happened. I got married, flew across country (twice), quit my job, moved across the WORLD (once) and spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in a new country. I have tried to learn the language and I have discovered a lot of new German customs. I have seen real castles and beautiful architecture  I have felt isolated and completely alone all while being surrounded by people who love me.  I have made friends here from all over the world and lost them back home from a town I spent 24 years in. I have learned that true friends are hard to come by and once you have them, they will never be anything less.  I have realized who truly loves me and who doesn't. I have learned to be a good wife, good mother, and most importantly, a good Christian. I am a child of God.

I have learned that I am stronger than I think I am. What have you learned this year?

Influenster

I have recently joined the Influenster world. It's pretty hard to explain and I wouldn't want to get things mixed up or give false information, so if you're interested in it or just plain curious, please click here to be directed to the site. If you are already an Influenster-er (?) then great! You know all about it and maybe we can be friends and help each other out to get more points! YAY! Let's be frannnns! Best Frans!

Lush

I have decided to split my posts up into two parts. Part one was an OOTD post I submitted a moment ago and this would make part two. When living back home, I was skeptical of buying any Lush products offline. I wasn't sure of the product size or smell or anything important. We were coming back from dinner when I saw it, the little yellow LUSH sign above the door. I was excited. About as excited as you can be about handmade soaps. Anywho, I bought the comforter bubble bar. It's a lot bigger than I thought which made me very happy. I love the fact that the bubbles are huge and the water is pink. Any skeptics out there, skeptic no longer, Lush is amazing! Here is a picture for you to enjoy =) 

The mini-lush's on the left are samples they gave me in the store. The pink is a soap called Angel's Delight. It smells wonderful! The yellow is a dry skin cream. It's called lemon.. something. I forget. I apologize. Anywho, the big pink one is the comforter I previously mentioned. 

Thanks for reading my unorganized and sloppy blog. Love you all! 

OOTD

Cold Day here in Deutchland (snowing again) and I haven't been doing the best job of keeping up with my blog recently.. or my schooling for that matter (shame shame). Anywho, I figured I would do a quick Outfit of the Day for anyone who still keeps up with me (thank you!).

Note to self: I should do a better job of taking self-mirror pictures. Well, this is the jist of it.

Scarf and leggings: H & M

Shirt and boots: Charlotte  Russe

Keeping it short and sweet! Have a great day! 

Christmas in Germany

Its finally Christmas time here in Deutchland and It certainly feels like it. It has snowed a few times already. Being from south Alabama, snow is the last thing you can expect to see. Living there for 24 years I have only seen it twice; once in 1995 and 2010. Even then it was only a few inches. I am loving the snow here so far. I haven't been in it long enough for the "love" to wear off although I am sure it will sooner or later. The Christmas markets here are amazing. I am so excited to explore as many as I can this month. Although I am thrilled it's Christmas, it also makes me homesick. It's true what they say, you know. Home is where the heart is. Or, there is no place like home. Both are true. I miss my mama most. Since moving here, I have certainly learned alot. One, never take family for granted and spend as much time as you can with them. I can't just drive down the road to see them. I miss my son being able to see his grandparents and spend time with them. Two, learn to appreciate the country you come from. I wanted so bad to get out of the states only to want so badly to return. Three, people are different everywhere. They have different beliefs, views, and customs than you. Learn to appreciate that not everyone thinks the way you do. Four, make as many friends as possible. Aside from your spouse and kid(s), they are all you have. Five, aside from not taking family for granted, do not take small things for granted. I miss wal-mart, waffle house, and cable to name just a few.  Welcome to Army Life.

Oh, and on another note: I have finally met some nice Germans.Faith in humanity restored! =)

made from scraps around the house

  

Being prejudice is so 50+ years ago...

My dear readers,

 As many of you know, my husband, son and I moved to Germany about a month ago, not by choice, but by command. Being in the military, one really doesn't have a voice in where they want to live during their service. A few lucky ones with connections get to live their 3-4 years in the location of their choice as warm or as cold as they may like. What I do not understand, is why some of our service men and women would be forced to live in a country that hates them because of their heritage, background, ancestors, whatever you want to call it. The day my husband told me we were coming to Germany, I was ecstatic. It was a place I had never been but wanted to see. Everyday that I have been here, I have been beyond excited to be in a different country, until yesterday. Yesterday, I realized how prejudice and racist Germans are. Now, I am sure you're thinking "not ALL Germans are that way." Well, my friend, I haven't met one yet that doesn't hate Americans. If there are any out there, PLEASE contact me. I would be more than willing to change my mind and admit I am wrong, IF in fact I am. Now for a few stories. My husband and I have been searching around for a puppy to adopt. We have searched online, in the classifieds, and by word of mouth. No luck. So, we decided to check out animal shelters. Boy, was that a mistake. I checked online at some local animal shelters and in black and white read "We do not adopt animals to Americans." I had to do a double check. I couldn't determine what was worse. The fact that these "people" do not adopt to Americans, or the fact that these "people" would rather these poor helpless animals sit in small tiny cages crammed into a tiny hut than adopt them out to an AMERICAN! I am HEATED! I will tell you this more than anything makes me PROUD to be an AMERICAN! I never in my life thought that I, being a child of the late 80's would ever be a victim of prejudices based on where I was born. Now if that wasn't bad enough, the very same day, my husband came home and broke the news. The same news I had already heard. "well, hunny, I tried looking into some animal shelters today. A friend of mine told me I was wasting my time because they refuse to adopt to Americans." I was hoping that what I was reading about earlier was just a fluke, but no. It is in fact true. Animal shelters. For the next story, I was emailing this man about two puppies he had. He responded rather quickly asking me all sorts of questions. I am sure I answered all correctly "large room to roam, not a breeder yada yada.." It wasn't until a couple emails later and him finding out I am here with the service that he almost immediately responded with a "my puppies have been adopted." Just like that. You cannot contemplate in your mind that it reads any other way that the fact of him not wanting to adopt his puppies out to an American. I will save the story about the rude lady at McDonalds for later. I mean let's be honest here, how can you be rude when you work at McDonalds?

The only question I have is: WHY? Why are Germans prejudice towards Americans? Call it whatever you want, it's prejudice... or racist. Either way, I want an explanation of why I can't adopt a dog or order a Big Mac without a snotty attitude or turning me away because of where I was born. I do know one thing, I will be sure to raise my child to never be prejudice or small minded such as the people here.