Amazing Nicole

A couple of days ago, I asked Nicole to update my blog for me. It took a few trys to find the right layout (for now), but I think she got it. Isn't she just amazing? I sure think she is. Thanks sista! :)

It Feels Like Home!

Our last shipment came in last Monday and we've been working hard all week to find a place for everything. Our aparment finally feels like home... it's much more warm and cozy!! We also got our internet hooked up today so we will be able to call back to the states. FINALLY!!! We are really getting settled in.

Bedroom... very patriotic... and looking good with its new paint job!Living RoomOur new kitchen table

Entry way with our new table from IKEA.

Dresden

We spent this weekend in Dresden. We took a three hour drive on Saturday morning and made it there shortly after noon. We spent the rest of the day on Saturday walking around the city looking at all of the old buildings. It was prefect weather as we were only in sweatshirts. We were able to ride the tram to get us to different places when walking was too far. Several of the buildings we saw were like what we saw in Prague. It's amazing to think that so many of these places are older than the United States! Our country is so young! On Sunday morning we woke up and headed out early. We spent the day looking through different museums. We went into a knight museum, paintings, and a scuplture museum. We had a hard time understanding all of the paintings. Jay thought he could do just as well as many of the artists! It was neat to see the different knight uniforms and also all of their swords. After we were done with the museums, we looked around the town a little bit more before finally heading home.

Dresden at sundown

On the Elbe River

Finally Working!!

Work has been kind of slow for Jay the past couple of months. The squadron is getting resettled after being in Afghanistan for 15 months. They were given some time off to rest and get rejuvenated. Then they had to inventory everything as it arrived back in Germany. Things are really starting to pick up for him. This past week he was put in charge of a platoon, which is about 20 guys. Next week, he will really start training with his guys. He’ll start putting in some long days. We’re hoping he doesn’t have to head out into the field until after Christmas.

Jay's in the second row, second person in...
I have finally been able to get into the school. I have spent a few days subbing and I was also hired as a tutor. For the tutoring position, I stay in one classroom all day and work with kids in small groups or individually. I help them with any subject, but it is usually math. I help the students to better understand the concepts they are working on and give them extra practice. I have really enjoyed the program so far. Subbing has been a challenge as the students have a lot of attitude. But then again, that’s middle school. They learned very quickly that I won’t take much attitude from them and then the next few days I didn’t have any problems! It feels so great to be in the classroom again. I’ve really missed it! Thankfully I’ve been able to keep in contact with many of the teachers from Sioux Central, so I feel like know what’s going on and keep up with my kids.

Prague

Last weekend we drove to Czech and spent some time in Prague. It is a beautiful city with a lot to see. We were lucky to have perfect weather. We spent two full days walking around the city simply looking at all of the surroundings. We didn't spend much time going inside buildings because there was plenty of walking to do. We definitely got our exercise by the end of our trip. We enjoyed looking at all of the crystal shops. We even splurged to buy our selves a vase. Our favorite part of the trip was walking along with river at sunset. The sky was beautiful every night. The lights on the buildings were so pretty. The Prague castle was a very Gothic looking place. The architecture was absolutely amazing... and kind of scarey too. There was a cathedral that had orange lights shining on it at night. That made the place look haunted.

We stayed in a hostel while we were there. This was a VERY interesting experience. To sum it up... we had a guy come in drunk in the middle of the night. Somehow he got up to the top bunk, but then rolled out and hit the ground. He then went to the bathroom all over the floor. By this point I was scared to death! I made Jay come sleep with me in a little tiny bed. The next night we went in the room to get something around 5:00. The guy was in bed. Jay asked him if he had been there all day. He said he had been at the bars all day, but was resting because it was going to be a wild night. As soon as we walked out of the room, I said we're switching rooms. So we did and had great roommates that night. Just a bad luck of the draw.

We also spent a day driving to the town of Nechanice. In this town is a beautiful castle. The castle is still filled with all of it's original things. We were able to take a small tour to see some of the rooms. It was so cool to see!!

Rothenburg

We had a fun trip to the town of Rothenburg this past weekend. It is one of the most toured cities in German. It is known for it's historic structures and the wall around the city. We kept ourselves busy looking through many little shops and walking along the wall. You can actually climb stairs up to the top of the wall and walk around the top. It was neat to see the city from that point of view. There were a couple of Christmas shops that we LOVED. Christmas is a huge thing in Germany. They have Christmas markets all over the place once November hits. These stores are up all year round. I saw so many things I would have loved to had, but couldn't. We also went through the criminal museum. It showed how people were dealt with back in the day. It was really neat, but also kind of gross. We left Rothenburg and drove on what it called the Romantic Road. It has beautiful scenery along the road. It was even better than usual because the leaves were PERFECT. It is just so beautiful here right now.

Painting!!

It has been a busy couple of weeks as we've put some color into our lives! We spent a lot of time painting the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bedroom. We were tired of the bright white walls and the bright white tile floors. Now, we are full of colors! It's taking some getting used to, but I love it! Now I am just waiting on our shipment to come so I can put things on the walls. I'm getting so excited to decorate!!

Oktoberfest

It's that time of the year and what better is there to do on a weekend in Germany than to go to Oktoberfest. We picked up two other guys from the barracks and headed down to Munich. (If you're going to go, you might as well go to the best party in the world, Munich) We had no plans, were just going. We had the trunk full of a change of clothes and lots of pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags. We got there around 7:30, parked the car, and took a cab down to the fair grounds. We walked around for awhile looking at all of the vendors and rides. We tried to get into a few of the beer halls, but everything was completely packed. It was kind of hard to figure out what was going on because we couldn't take to anyone and not a lot of signs. We talked to a few security people and we kept being told that all of the halls were at their max and not letting anyone in unless they had a reservation. So, we walked some more and finally gound a seat out at a beer garden. The guys tried out the beer and we just sat there and took it all in. One beer was enough for awhile as the mugs were huge and the alcohol content was high. There were so many crazy things happening. People were standing on the tables all over while singing and dancing. We then started to walk again and found a door with no line at it. We asked the security guard how long it would be to get in. He said 10 minutes, so we decided to wait. We finally got in, but it took us another 30 minutes to find a seat. There was a live band in the middle of the room up on a stage and the rest of the place was just packed. I loved to look at all of the dresses and outfits. Everyone was decked out! Jay and I decided we want to each buy one of the traditional outfits before we leave. We sat there until 11:00 and then the place started to close down. We started walking out and headed toward the street. On our way out, there was a really drunk guy that started to come at me and try to kiss me. Jay stepped inbetween us and then the guy tried kissing him. Jay took care of him quickly and on we walked. I felt pretty safe having three military boys around me. They all were really good about watching over me. I appreciated that. We walked for a little ways down the street hoping to take off a few euro from the taxi. We finally caught one and rode back to our car. We walked around the town where our car was for a little while. The other two guys went out and Jay and I went to the car to sleep. We pulled out the blankets and pillows and got comfy. Behind us a couple hundred feet, the police were randomly stopping people and giving them breathelizer tests. We watched them through the rearview mirrors. Surprisingly, no one was caught as they all drove away. We haven't figured out how our car lock system works yet. Jay got out to get something out of the trunk and the horn went off. We finally got it shut off and with no attention brought to us. But then we needed something else so got out again, and again the horn went off. Then a cop came over to see what was going on. Jay told him that when the doors are locked and we open it from the inside, the horn goes off. Jay then had to give him his license and registration. The cop asked where we were staying. Jay said we were waiting on our friends and then we would find a place to stay. He accepted that thankfully since we had no idea where we were going, and kind of planned on staying right there. He took Jay back to take the breathelizer test. With that alcohol content, one beer was enough to set you over. Jay was smart that he never had the key in the ignition, knowing that that could cause trouble. The cop said he was going to take the keys to the police station and we could pick them up in the morning. But then Jay told him that I didn't drink. So, they walked back to the car and the cop took down all of my information. He asked me if I drank and I said no. He said I needed to have the keys and that I had to sit in the driver's seat. So, we switched seats, got settled in, and fell asleep. The guys came back later that night and slept in the back seat. We woke up, went to McD's right down the road for breakfast. We then drove closer to the fair grounds, hoping we could walk there instead of taking a cab. We found a spot about a mile away and followed the flow of the crowd. We simply walked around the enitre place, watching the rides, ate lunch, and walked some more. We tried to find a spot to sit down around 2:00, but found nothing. All of the beer halls and gardens were packed already. We walked to almost every hall and found nothing. All of our legs were super tired, so we found a hill and sat for while. It was actually a neat spot because it overlooked the grounds. It was unbelievable to see how many people were jammed into that area. Everywhere was shoulder to shoulder. We decided there was no way we were getting in anywhere and we were all tired, so we headed out. As we were leaving, there were hundreds of people walking in, so we definitely decided it was a good idea to leave. The taxi driver from the night before said Saturday nights are the worst. We are glad we went down there to see what it was like, but will probably never go again. We had our experience of seeing it and have our pictures, that's good enough for us!!

The front entrance to the fair grounds.

These mugs were heavy!! Four was all I could do!

Inside the beer tent, with a live band, and thousands of people.This was Saturday afternoon, as the crowd was really starting to poor in.