Passion Play

This past weekend, I went with Elizabeth down to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play. This play is put on every ten years and is a huge deal. Here is a bit of background info on it...

The Oberammergau Passion Play dates back to a vow made in the year 1633. At that time the plague raged in the entire region. Many people died. It was then that the people of Oberammergau vowed to portray the "Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ" every ten years. From that moment on, not one person succumbed to the Black Death.

The stage...

In order to be in the play, you must have been born in Oberammergau or have lived there at least 20 years. If not, you can't participate. Even though all the cast members were locals, the play was absolutley amazing! It is so well perfected. The play is nearly 6 hours long and spoken in all German. It was a bit difficult to follow along, but we figured out that buying the script and following along made it a lot easier. The actors did such an amazing job, the scenes were beautiful, and the costumes were explicit!! I am so glad I got to go. The ticket was super expensive, so I was debating on whether it was worth it. Now that it's all over, I'm so glad I decided to spend the money. It was a once in a lifetime experience!!

We left Schweinfurt at 6:00 on Saturday morning. It took us a long three hours to get down south. I drove about 3 of it, but then we started to hit the mountains and the windy roads along side a river. I'm not a pro at the stick shift yet, so Elizabeth took over at that part! I can handle the autobahn, but these roads were a bit rough for me! Once we got to the town, we had quite a bit of time before we needed to be at the theater. Elizabeth and I had a great time walking around the town and doing some shopping. It's a very quaint town with a lot of character! I loved walking around it!

The play is split into two because it is so long. They take a break right at supper time so everyone can go eat. We went with a large group, so that was fun. I haven't had German food for a long time... so I enjoyed it! After the play was over, Elizabeth and I were wide awake. We were supposed to go to a nearby town to spend the night. We weren't too keen on it because five of us would have been stuck in one room. Instead, we decided to tackle the 3 hour trip home! Elizabeth started driving and got through a good portion of it. Once the road started getting blury for her, I finished it off. I crawled into bed around 5:00 in the morning! But it sure did feel good to sleep in my own bed!!

Definitely a trip I won't forget! I bought a picture book and have the script, so will get to enjoy that and remember it for years to come!

Volunteer Supper

Tonight we had our CAV volunteer supper. The rear D guys served us a great meal! It was nice to sit back, relax, and have everything brought to us! We had a delicious lasagna meal and cupcakes for dessert! They then called us all up, gave us a certificate and a koozy, and pinned us. It was a quaint little night!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all those wonderful mothers out there, I hope you enjoy your day of celebration! I can't be home to celebrate my mother, but I sure am thankful for her!

My mom has blessed my life in more ways than she even knows! Even though I am grown up and out of the house, she still serves me so much! I get cards in the mail just to tell me hi and that she loves me! I get boxes full of treats on special holidays! I get to talk to her on the phone all the time! I'm so lucky to have the relationship that I do with my mom!

I can't wait to go home this summer and spend two months with mom and dad (and the rest of my family)! I'm excited to be on the farm again and enjoy hanging out at home! I may ask Dad to find me another project this summer! When I was home two summers ago, this is what mom and I spent a week doing!

When we were little, this is what we got mom every year for Mother's Day! We would always go out to our bush and cut them fresh on Sunday morning! I loved the smell they would fill the house with! We have them all over here in Germany! I drive by them and can't help but think of mom!

Main River Boat Trip

Today has been a very relaxing day! I don't get many days like this, so I cherished it! This morning I had a softball game. I created the line-up, got the girls started, cheered them on a few times, and then left the field! I went to Wuerzburg with a bunch of teachers from the elementary and middle school. I was sure glad my friend Sandra was there. Otherwise it would have been me with a bunch of elder teachers! They all had at least 30 years on me! It was nice to talk with Sandra! We took a boat on the Main River to a quaint  little town. I have no idea what the town was called! I really had no idea about anything on this trip! That was the beauty of it! I simply followed the crowd and didn't have to think. Once we got off the boat, we walked through the town up to a palace. It was a small little palace with flower gardens all around it.

We had a while to wait for our tour, so we sat on a bench and enjoyed the outdoors. Actually... this is what I really enjoyed!

Little Loralynn is just beginning to eat solid food. She still doesn't quite know that she is supposed to open her mouth when there is food in front of her! It was fun to watch her because she was so happy while she was being fed! The impressive part is that she didnt' even get any food on her clothes, only her face!

We then took the tour of the castle and then a boat ride back to Wuerzburg. It was a nice little trip and I'm glad I went. Once I got home, it was back to work! I completely forgot that I have to serve snacks at chapel tomorrow until this morning. I headed straight to the commissary as soon as I was back in Schweinfurt. I purchased everything I needed and headed for home to start cooking. I decided to keep it easy! All I'm doing tonight is making cookies! The rest will be thrown into a crockpot in the morning and will be ready by the time service is over!

Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of the evening! I'm going out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants and then back here to watch a movie!! Yeah for a day of calmness!! Much needed and appreciated!!

This is What Friends are For!

In February, I had a group of ladies over for a Valentine's meal. When it was cold outside, I used my window sills as an extra refrigerator. It worked great... except for when the food fell off the window sill. A strong wind must have come up and blew a bag of garlic bread and an orange juice container down onto the roof. We are on the third floor, but out these windows is a roof from the second floor that is connected to our building. I couldn't reach these things because they were down a floor. I have been trying to figure out how to get these things for the past three months! I've been brainstorming contraptions I can make to hook the bag and bring it up.

Well, tonight, I had several people over for a meeting. After the meeting, my friend Elizabeth stayed after for a bit. I asked for her opinion on how to get the food off the roof. Her idea... she decided she would crawl out the window, down the side of the building and stand on the roof. So, out she went! This was the easy part. She got herself down to the roof in no problem. She handed me the food and all was good! Well.... not so much! Now came the part that we didn't think about before hopping out the window. Elizabeth couldn't quite figure out how to get back up to the third story window from the roof of the second story. I ended up handing her our step stool, but that wasn't high enough. So I ran through the house trying to find something sturdy enough that she could stand on, on top of the step ladder. I came up with Jay's tool box. So, she stacked them up and was able to jump up to the window and pull herself in. Another mission accomplished! Now one thing left to do.... get the tool box and the step stool back into the house. We made a contraption our of the broom and a hanger and were able to pull them up. Success!!!!

On the second story roof... rescuing the lost food!

True effort... trying to get herself back into the window.  This is as high as she could get... so in came the tool box!

Using the step stool, with the tool box on top, Elizabeth pulled herself in. Then we used the broom and hanger to hook the handles.

 Who says we need guys around!! We figured it out!! And I'm sure it was quite a site to see!

(But Jay, I still want you home as soon as you can!!!)

This whole situation led to a lot of laughs!! It kind of taught us to think through a situation before beginning. But on the other hand.... that wouldn't have been nearly as fun!

I'm so glad to have such a great friend around to help me out! I sure don't know what I would do without her, especially during this deployment! Thanks friend!!!

Elizabeth.... this is reason 1,634,923 why we make such good friends... because you do the unpredictable to help me out!