My Life. My Adventures. My Journey.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Random Feelings

I haven't blogged in a while, mainly because I've been busy with school and getting back into the groove of things, but today I just feel so strongly that I need to blog.

Many of you know today is september 11th.. and in the past years I take this day to remember the fallen heroes, and pray for the people suffering from loss.. but this year, today is so much more emotional for me.

Maybe it's because I'm older and I can appreciate things like these better, or maybe it's just because I'm maturing.. I'm not too sure, but I just need to write some things down and let some feelings out.

So many people back in 2001 lost their lives, just for being in the wrong place and the wrong time. Many others lost their lives because they were being good citizens and trying to help out. I just can't get over how somebody out there can do something so evil. It's ridiculous. The world is SO messed up.

I mean with all the shootings lately, and the evil things happening daily, it makes me worry about society. This past weekend my friend came to visit me. We had spent the day shopping, eating lunch, and enjoying each others company.. but on the way home, I noticed something on the side of the road. A large black lump. A firetruck was stopped on the road and a cop was slowly driving up. I then realized it was a woman, naked, wrapped in a black blanket. It looked as if she was crying, and slouching over as if she had been hurt. My immediate thought was that she was raped.. and that thought could be wrong, but for whatever reason that poor woman was on the side of the road, obviously hurt, clothed in nothing but a blanket. I don't care what bad things she may have done in her life, she did not deserve that.

It just breaks my heart that so many evil things are happening now a days. What happened to society? We shouldn't have to be afraid for young children to play in the streets at night time.. yet we do.

It also just makes me sad that while I'm enjoying life others are terrified for their lives, or struggling. It makes me appreciate what I have, but it also makes me sad.

I guess all these thoughts are just triggered by the date, today.

A facebook friend posted a status today that really hit home, he said:

Today at work something amazing happened...as I was leaving I saw a man in a wheelchair wearing a fire fighter 9/11 memorial hat, I stopped and aasked him if there was anything I could do to help him, he said he was just looking around and we started talking and it naturally went to 9/11 and I asked him if he was there because of his hat...I looked into his eyes and I could see tears, he told me both him and his brother were..He told me his brother was one of the first responding untis on the scene. He said as the north tower fell his brother was still inside, days and days passed by before they found his brother but by the time he was found he had passed away... He pulled out his wallet and showed me a picture of his brother 2weeks before it happened and the mans voice started to choke up. I stood there and looked at the pic for a few minutes and I asked did you lose your legs that day aswell? He said no and looked into my eyes...I saw a passion in his eyes ive never seen in another mans eyes...He had vowed to protect his country and his family anyway he could and to honor his brother so he joined the army... He was then shipped to afghanstan 2 years after enlisting and was in a mountain valley when his unit was ambushed by al quada, he had taken a good blast by a grende and was paralized from the waist down. I told the man to wait there for a few mins and I would be back...I went to my manager and asked him if I could get the man a meal and have it charged to my account from my first check and he told me yes. So I took the man upstairs and sat down and ate with him and listened to his stories about being over seas, he showed me pics of his brothers little boy, girl and wife and also his own family he also showed me his brothers memorial in his front yard. We finished up and I helped the man to the front doors and helped him to his truck, shook his hand and told him thank you for your service and he told me "no thank you for being an american I just did my job in protecting your freedoms" he saluted me and drove away....im so glad I meet that american hero today and stopped and talked to him..."

I'm not real emotional, but this made me tear up and it gave me chills. This man has gone through so much, put his life on the line for my freedom, and was injured.. yet he still is grateful and happy just to be able to live his life.

I absolutely LOVE that there are people like him in this world. I strive to be like him. Instead when I have a bad day, I'm usually "mad at the world." People like him make me want to be a better person, and I'm working on that everyday.

There's so many mixed emotions. I'm sad when I think about the bad things happening in the world, I'm happy that there are people as appreciative as that old man, I'm determined to work on being a better person, and I am hopeful that the future doesn't get worse but gets better.

I prayed a lot today, and I will continue to. I just feel like it shouldn't have taken such a serious day like this for me to realize thats what I need to be doing all the time. Just let go and let god. I'm extremely blessed and I almost feel as if I take that for granted sometimes. I pray regularly, but that's not enough. I always say I'll look for a church, but I have yet to do so.. and I need to do that, now. Quit making excuses and just do it.

Today has been emotional, to say the least but I'm glad that something good is coming out of it.

Thank you again to all the service men fighting for my freedom.

Prayers to everyone grieving today.

& NEVER FORGET.

9/11/2001.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

This is it.

My Summer Vacation Is Over.

Tonight is the last night in Europe.

It's an extremely bitter sweet feeling.

Though I am excited to get on the plane to America, I'm more sad to leave my family. I have had the BEST Summer ever. Being able to come to Europe with my family and travel is such a blessing.

All good things come to an end though, don't they?

I just finished packing my bags. I'm sure I'll find a million other things in the morning that I've forgotten. (or mom will, she's good at that) This time, I weighed the bag I'm checking in.. It's at about 48 pounds.. I'm not sure if that's cutting it too close. I know that sometimes different scales are different. Maybe I'll take some things out in the morning.

Little bella cuddled up on my bed as I was packing my life away. I'll miss that little doggy. (: not as much as I'll miss the family though(;

During high school, teens are always annoyed by their parents. They're too strict.. they're too concerned.. they're so annoying.. all they do is complain.. blah blah blah. The minute you leave the house you realize how much they mean to you. You're thankful for all the things you over looked before, and you become closer to your parents than you thought before. This is definitely the case with my mom. (: The complaining mentioned is a bit over- exaggerated, but the bond part is true. She's become one of my best friends, and that's how it's suppose to be. There is never a day in the house where she doesn't do something goofy and make me laugh until I cry (HALLOOOO).

I'll miss her silly self. so much. :( boooo.

I can't thank my dad enough for all that he has done for me. I can't even mention everything he does for me.. it's that much. This is the part of my life where I grow up. It's time to go back to school, get a job, and start saving my money. The bank of mom and dad is officially closed, and the journey to becoming an adult has begun. My Dad has supported me in so many ways, and pushed me to be the best I can. This sounds so cheesy.. haha. It's true though. (:

Thank you, dad.. for all your support, love, and for an amazing summer in Germany.

And lastly, my sister and her preggo self(: We've had a few ups and downs. That's what happens when you separate two girls for a long time and then stick them back in the same house. That's what sisters do though. They bicker, argue, and fight and the next day they laugh and makeup. Life is too short to hold grudges. I'm glad you came to Germany, it made the second half of my vacation even that much better. You're going to be a great mommy and though I won't be able to see little no name baby anytime soon, I'll be looking forward to pictures and skype sessions with you and the little dude. I'll see him when he's about the age of a little tiny bulldozer. haha. Good Luck. I love you sister(:

Enough of that sad/happy/emotional stuff.. haha :D

My Summer has been soooo fantastic. Like I've said many times, it's the best I've had so far..

I'm also looking forward to returning to Lubbock.

It'll be the start of my sophomore year. I'll have a brand new apartment with new roommates. and hopefully a new job.

So many things are in store for the upcoming year and I can't wait to make more memories at the greatest school ever(; haha. WRECKEM!

Though school is a blast the majority of the time, sometimes the going gets tough. It'll suck not being able to just drive home on the weekends where I just need to get away, but it's time to grow up(: The one thing that will keep me going through the year is looking forward to seeing my family again next summer.

Mom and Dad.. thank you for an AMAZING summer. I love you guys and will miss you so much. Y'all are the best(:

and Amanda, you're the best sister a girl could ask for.. (even when you do make me angry.. haha). I love you to pieces and can't wait to see you and the little monster!

Just remember:

It's not goodbye, it's see you later. (:

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Day... WHO CARES? SUMMER IS OVER :(

My Summer is almost over. :(

I definitely have mixed emotions about this..

I've been more concerned with spending time with my family than blogging, so prepare for this one to be a tad bit lengthy.

The last few weeks of my Summer vacation have been amazing. Just last week Dad took leave so that we could do a little bit of traveling before I had to go back to the states. (: (What a good dad I have)

That thursday we loaded up the car and headed to Munich. One of the main things I wanted to do while I was here in Germany is visit one of the concentration camps. We decided to visit the first camp, Dachau, in Munich, since it's close and the town has other things to offer. It's only a couple hours away, too. Early that morning we began our adventurous weekend.

The first stop was obviously at the concentration camp, which was REALLY cool. When we entered the memorial we stopped in at the information center to check out some audio guides. Each section of the camp had a sign with an assigned number to punch in on the deal, when you held it up to your ear it talked about whatever we were looking at.

The camp/memorial itself was so big. It had a cool set up and was really informational. It was such a weird feeling to walk on the same grounds, and through the same buildings, where so much evil took place. We saw where innocent people were tortured and abused. I took a million pictures, so I'll post a separate blog for those. Seeing the showers, the bunks, and the crematory was just... incredible. Moving, even. The information posted throughout the camp was so informational.. I learned about things that were never taught to me in school. I mean, not only were Jews taken.. criminals and random innocent people were arrested too.

I never knew that within the concentration camp they had a library or that they were able to write letters to their loved ones. While in school they mention all the men in the camp, I learned about all the horrifying things that happened to the women. It was one of the coolest experiences I've had, though.

While we were walking through the camp the temperatures rose quickly. By the time we walked out we were so hot and sweaty. We stopped to grab a water and then got back in the car to head to our hotel.

Our hotel was surprisingly big. It was the size of a normal room in a US hotel, but for a hotel in Europe it was REAL big. The beds were actually comfortable and they had wifi!

Once we settled into the room we walked downtown to go to the barbarossahof (sp). It's a real big tourist attraction but if you're in Munich, you HAVE to go. It's a real big restaurant that shows off what the "real" german picture is. It's basically a replica of like Octoberfest. There are men in lederhosen, the beer is seriously oversized, and the have girls walking around with their baskets of pretzels. They have a band playing litte german tunes and everybody basically shares a table with strangers.

Sadly, we forgot to bring our camera in.

We sat there for a little while, laughed at all the people, and had some drinks.

We began to get hungry, so we left and walked across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe to grab a bite to eat. We sat outside under a big umbrella. (:

After we ordered our food we started to see some black clouds forming in the sky. Just to play it safe I suggested we move our table closer towards the umbrella so our table would be covered. GOOD CALL... just a few minutes later it started POURING. I mean, it hasn't rained like that since I've been here. We were covered though, so while everyone else was running for cover.. we were enjoying our meal. After we paid, while it was still pouring, we decided to make a run for it to a taxi.

We made it safely back to the hotel, showered, and hit the hay!

We were pooped!

The next morning when we woke up we began looking at where we wanted to travel for the day. We ended up going to a small town named Garmish.

We left the hotel to get going that way, but we made a pit stop about half way.

We stopped to go tour the castle that inspired Walt Disney.

It was seriously the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

We got to the bottom of the mountain to stand in line to get tickets. Usually people stand in line for 2 hours, but because it was sprinkling a little bit we only stood in line for 20 minutes(:

The walk up to the castle is a pretty steep, and long hike.. so we decided to take a horse carriage instead. We all piled into this horse carriage with this mean old German man and began the journey up. The old man was SO funny.. I seriously thought he was going to let his horses run over the people in the road..

After about a 10 minute ride up, and a short little hike, we were standing in front of the most beautiful castle in Germany. Unlike other castles that are run down, and brown this one was being renovated (on the outside) and it was white..

Just like the one that shows on the screen before a disney movie plays. (:

We waited hours before it was our turn to go in, but it was definitely worth it. The king who had this castle built had it done for only himself. He only lived in the castle for a short period of time, while it was still being built, before he was pronounced dead. Apparently some doctors claimed he was insane and was no longer fit to rule.. just a little while later they found his body in the lake. The castle remains as it was when he left. Only 16 out of the 200 rooms were finished.

Everything on the inside was SO extravagant. They kept the original furniture that he used in there.. Of course it was guarded off though. No pictures were allowed either.

We got to walk through a few rooms, and a tour guide explained what they were.

I'm sure if you look up the castle online you can check it out, too. It is AMAZING.

Neuschwanstein.

After we left the castle, we drove a few more hours to our hotel.

It was located right above a restaurant, so after we set our bags down we had dinner.

This hotel was definitely a downgrade.. (for the same price)

The beds we slept on were like box springs, there was no wifi, and the church bell across the street rang once an hour all night long.

The only good thing was the AMAZING view we had of the swiss alps.

We were glad to get out of there in the morning.

The following morning we set out for our last day of vacay.

That day, we would go to the top of the very same swiss alps we woke up to.

We went to the top of the HIGHEST mountain in Germany.

We took a little boxcar/lift to the top of the mountain. The view was incredible. The mountain itself was above the clouds. Stepping off of the boxcar was a bit scary. Just thinking about how high we were was mind boggling. We also took lots of pictures here.

Being on top was pretty cool, but the view from the gondola thing was really the best part. (:

After that we got back in the car for the long drive home.

It seriously felt like forever.

I was glad to be home though.

What a bad habit that is.. calling this place home. :( I guess it's not much of a home if I'm only here once a year.. booooo!

I miss America, but I'm not ready to leave Germany & my family for a year. Growing up sure does suck sometimes! haha.

Other then vacation I've really just been spending time with my family.

Tomorrow is my last day here in Europe. I really can't believe how quickly time has passed.

This summer has by far been the best one I've had.

& I'm so thankful I got to come here.

I'll miss my family, but it's not goodbye.. It's just a see ya later(:

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Day SixtyTwo & SixtyThree: Summer Livin'

Days Sixty Two and Sixty Three:

My Weekend

I hope everybody else's weekend was as eventful as mine was(:

I blogged on Friday, so this post will cover Saturday and today.

Yesterday, I woke up and got ready for the day. We decided to drive out to saarbrucken to check eat at the german Hooters! It's only about thirty minutes away, so why not?! At first we couldn't find it cause it was a bit hidden, but after driving around for a little we finally got there. It was set up exactly like the ones in the states, most everything was the same. The menu was a little shorter, but they basically had it all. We didn't know if the wing sauce would be the same, but mom and dad tried it anyway. I played it safe and got a burger and my sister got a chicken sandwich. Though the restaurant seemed the same.. the food just wasn't hooters food. The fried pickles, which we were looking forward to, were disappointing. AND on top of that the meal cost $85. (Did I mention you don't get free refills here?)

After we ate at hooters we walked over to the mall. Unlike most shopping in Germany, this was a mall like the states have.. it was all indoors! We walked around for a little while (it was nowhere near as big as the ones we are used to) and then left.

Dad had mentioned earlier in the week that he spotted an outlet mall, just like back home, so we decided to try that out. It was literally JUST like every other outlet mall! Of course, some of the stores were different but they had the major stores like Nike, Levi, Adidas, Ralph Lauren, and the others.

While we were walking through, it started to rain and it was cold, so we made our way back to the car.

When we got home we all split up for a little bit. We all wanted to do our own thing. I started working on my essay for my history exam. This girlllll made an A on her first set of assignments, whatsupppp?!

We were all full from lunch so for dinner we just made sandwiches. (:

Today started out as a lazy day. All of the businesses were closed so there's really nothing to do. It was the end of the day that brought the excitement. For dinner mom made chicken cordon bleu. Afterwards, my parents and I decided to talk bella on a walk through the woods behind our house.

(heres where the fun comes in)

There's a large field in between the tree line behind our house and our backyard. Sometimes in the field we see deer and foxes (: We heard there are some pretty cool trails back there so we decided to go on a little adventure.

We left the house and started to walk through the field. Almost immediately we saw.. some creature? It looked like a fox but it definitely wasn't.. i'm just glad we only saw that thing once.. Bella looked like a little bunny rabbit, running and pouncing through the field. She LOVED it. We got onto a trail pretty quick, and followed it for a while. Eventually we could hear the water running from the stream nearby. We followed our ears & WALLAH we found it.

The trail through the woods was so pretty! There were benches along the way and little bridges crossing the water. In the states you'd have to travel to Yosemite National Park or something to experience what we did. It's a lot cooler down by the water, too. We let bella off the leash, and she ran free! She loved it down there.

Along the way we found some really weird rock looking things.. we later found out that they were castle ruins. I mean, how cool is that? Right behind our house! Dad walked up some stairs, we stayed lower though. We continued walking through the woods and then met up with him at a restaurant that the paths link up at. (I'll note here that the restaurant is half a mile.. the short non-scenic route lol)

Walking through was.. nice.. peaceful.. calming.. gorgeous.. quiet.. (all of those types of words.. and then some)

Now the way back..

THAT IS A DIFFERENT STORY.

In case you don't already know, let me just tell you.. our house, is on the tippy top of the highest hill in our little tiny german town. LOL.

As we started to make our way back it wasn't so bad. It was about 9:10.. and it doesn't get dark here until about 10:15, so it was still fairly light out. We began walking back the same way we came..

However, with the tall trees covering up the little bit of sunshine it was a bit dark.

Little did I know.. with darkness comes BATS.

Yeah, thats right.. i said it.. BATS.

Those creepy little flying creatures.

Let me tell you, I do not think those things like humans. When we were walking back dad said, "Oh wow, look a bat." I'm thinking.. oh thats cool.. (this would be cool had it only been one little guy)

NO.

They were EVERYWHERE..

though that freaked me out, I probably could've dealt with that.. had one not dove down right next to my head! I really think that thing was trying to eat me..

or convert me to some sort of vampire... :o (LOL)

I screamed. Mom sprinted. Dad Laughed.

Of course, the stairs we had to take back up to the main road were about as steep as mount freaking everest. Seriously, almost died y'all.

We made it to the top of the road.. Only to find ourselves on the steep road that leads us up to our house.. STILL not close. lol.

From this point on the roads got steeper. As dramatic as the post seems, this part has no exaggeration.. SO STEEP. haha.. If i didn't die while I was walking up the previous stairs, I was sure I was going to die going up these..

How my little dog still had energy to walk after she sprinted all over the woods, is beyond me.

Ball of energy. Literally.

I think the only reason I made it up that hill is because I saw jesus near the light at the top..

Fo Real.

We finally reached the top of the hills. Then we climbed up another set of stairs, walked down the road a tiny bit and FINALLY made it home.

WE SURVIVED.

Boy, that was an adventure.

I'd do it all over again.. but I will NEVER.. take the same route back that we did.. and I will NEVER walk through the evil bats territory every again while they're awake.

I enjoy being alive. So sorry to the bats I made angry.

I took a bunch of pictures so you guys could see how gorgeous it was!

Enjoy them (:

Thanks for reading!

SamanthaK<3

Daddy walking through the woods!

Some really weird rocks we saw. They're HUGE and EVERYWHERE!

Mom & Dad walking!

Just a picture of the water.

Mom feeling the water.. BRRRR.

A bench and table we found - so cute.

Looking up at the trees.

Another view looking up.

Mom and Dad(:

The trail we went on. (:
before we died.

Dad was standing next to the castle ruins we found.

Explorer Dad(:

My parents walking up to the Gazebo near the creek.

A picture of the creek.

Some swans in the pond at the restaurant where we
linked up with dad after we split up.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Day Sixty One: Summer Livin'

A little update along with day sixty one

It's been over two weeks since I last blogged. The reason being is that nothing has really happened. Instead of boring you guys with pointless blogs every day I figured why not just wait and post later and update them on everything at once.

I leave Europe exactly three weeks from today. It's hard to believe that the end of summer is already near. Time has been FLYING by. It's also hard to believe that the next time I'll see my parents again is a whole year from now. Possibly longer. That's such a long time & so many things change in one years time.

Craziness.

This weekend my uncle, aunt, and cousin will come down for a night. Next weekend my moms best friend is coming, and the following weekend is my last weekend here. I imagine we'll go travel somewhere that weekend, but I'm not so sure.

Like I said, nothing has really been going on around here since mom got out of the hospital. Really we've just been hanging out at the house. I've been spending my days doing my online history course, shopping online (well, looking), and PINTERSTINGGGGG. :D

The weather here lately has been cool, and always rainy. I don't think it's gotten to be over 80 degrees since I've been here.. Well, except maybe once or twice. Other than that it's stayed nice and chilly. I said it always rains, but the rain isn't like back home. Sometimes when it rains it will be bright and sunny, and only last for five minutes. Other times it lasts a little longer and is dark and gloomy. However, it usually rains once a day. I've begun to enjoy it.

I'm really gonna be in for it when I get back to the states.. louisiana heat AND lubbock...

I just don't think I can handle it.

My Summer here has been amazing, but I also look forward to the Fall semester. I recently found out the number of the apartment I'll be living in and what other roommates will be living with Katie and I.

Let me know if you want my address so you can send me cute apartment things and shower me with presents (; LOL.

When I get back to the states I'll have to shop for all the things I need for my apartment, find a job, and get back into the groove of going back to school. This semester should be much better since I didn't take any 8 am classes and didn't try to cram all my classes onto Tuesdays and Thursdays like I did last semester. The 8 am seemed like a great idea so I could get it out of the way and start my day out early.. yeah, no. & who wouldn't want to have school only two days of the week? ME. sitting through hour and a half classes all day long is NOT my cup of tea.

Needless to say, this semester should be much better.

I hope everyone back home is doing good, and also enjoying the end of their summer. I haven't talked to most of you guys so let me know what you've been up to!

I plan on staying in Louisiana a couple weeks after I arrive back in the states, then driving to Fort Worth for a couple days to see everyone, and then head to my brothers house for a few more days before I make my way back west to lubbock.

Make some time for me so I can see all of you before I go back to school. (:

Thanks for reading my blog guys,

SamanthaK

Monday, July 9, 2012

Days 48, 49, & 50: Summer Livin'

Days Forty Eight, Forty Nine, and Fifty:

A bunch of days crammed into one post(:

Nothing much has happened over the past few days, so instead of posting a few shot blogs I figured I would post one blog covering all three days!

Day forty eight was on the sixth, the day after dad's birthday. When we woke up that morning mom was feeling really sick. The night before, after dinner, she was saying that she wasn't feeling well but we figured it was just something she ate. Mom was miserable, she couldn't do anything without being in pain. Usually when mom is sick, she still manages to vacuum the house, or clean the windows, or something crazy like that... nothing ever stops her. So when we saw how helpless she was that morning, we knew something was wrong. My sister and I tried to persuade her to call the doctor, but stubborn little mom just wanted to wait it out until monday. Finally dad called and convinced her to call the doctor. The doctor just said that if it gets worse, to go to the ER and they would call him in. After a couple hours mom finally decided to go to the ER. (It wasn't necessarily that drastic, but there are no primary doctors here at this hospital so you must go to the ER first.) They checked her in, called the nurse in to look at her, and then called her doctor. Since she hadn't eaten anything, the doctor decided to go ahead and do surgery that night. Dad came to the hospital straight after work. I won't go too much into details, for my mom's sake. (nobody wants all their information floating around the internet..) The pain was caused by some unknown (for now) bacteria, infection, or something of the sort, near her expander, so they went ahead and removed it for now. She recently overcame breast cancer, and ever since she's been on this roller coaster ride with this deal, poor mommy. We think that this time around she will kick this thing once and for all.

Who's the real patient here? haha

The other two days we've just been hanging out with mom in her hospital room. What a small room it was. She had to share her room with another lady that had a kidney stone removed. She also had visitors in and out, so the room got pretty full. Her roommate also caused mom a couple problems at night. When mom tried to sleep the nurses would come in for the roommate and turn on all the lights and talk loud. Eventually mom asked her nurse to move her rooms and finally, last night, mom got moved.

Whenever we were at home, dad, amanda, and I just hung around, watched TV, and played words with friends together.. haha. I miss mom's cooking. lol. The other night we walked down near the neighborhood swimming pool because they were having a fest, it sucked though, so we left. lol

Kickin' my sister's butt..
as always :p

Yesterday after I left the hospital, I met up with a women who had the book I needed for my online class and bought it from her. I got really lucky because none of the rental websites I usually order from wanted to ship APO. Thank God. (:

My online class starts today. After spending near $300 on it, I better make an A! Now I'm sitting in mom's hospital room with her & my sister, typing up my blog and getting ready to start reading the first chapter of my textbook.. Oh how I despise reading textbooks..

I'm gonna jump off of here, now.

Hope everyone has a good day(:

& please say a quick prayer for my mom.

Thanks, y'all!

SamanthaK

Friday, July 6, 2012

Day Forty Seven: Summer Livin'

Happy Birthday Daddy! (:

Day Forty Seven:

What a long day! Well, today was my daddyo’s birthday! (: but of course, he had to work. (boooo) My mom, sister, and I began our day by going up to Landstuhl for moms doctor checkup and to get my sister registered. Afterwards we went to Ramstein to grab an early lunch and do a little bit of shopping. I bought victoria’s secret lotion (since VS is cheaper here – that’s a plus), and some chap stick since I lost mine. My sister bought a baby swing for little landon. He should be here in about two months. :D

After we did that we went to the commissary to pick up dad’s cake and a couple other things we needed. Well, I stayed in the car and read my book. Lol. Then we went home to relax a little and decorate the house for dad. We wrapped our gifts, cleaned the house a little bit, and hung up all the ribbons and banners for him. In the mean time I decided to look online for the textbook I’ll need for my online class. Usually I rent my text books since it saves so much money, but after searching forever, it appears that nobody ships to APO. Well, no rental text books. Which means, I’ll have to pay near $100 for the dumb textbook. College can be so expensive. Thank God for my Dad’s GI Bill or I’d be covered in debt. I’m truly blessed. I found one posting on bookoo here (a website for military people trying to sell their things before they PCS) that said they had the book I need, however it’s an earlier edition. It’s a history class.. so I’m thinking not much can change, right? I plan on asking my professor if a different version book would affect anything.. but hopefully I can just get that one. It sure would make my life easier. LOL

Anyway, after a hot and humid day, the skies started to get dark. It sprinkled a little bit right before we got home, but we thought that’s all we would see. Not even five minutes after the birthday boy got home, it started POURING down rain. I’m talkin’ the works... super strong wind, crazy rain, lots of fog, and loud thunder followed by bright lightning. We always leave the windows cracked a tiny bit but since it was so bad we had to shut all of them, the wind even knocked down a curtain rod! The storm ended up only lasting about five minutes or so, though. I’m glad it passed so quickly.

Once it was over we all jumped in the car to go out for dads birthday dinner. We decided to try out a restaurant by our local swimming pool. When we read the menu right outside the doors, dad decided there wasn’t anything appealing to eat, so then we went to another place fairly close called the swan! There wasn’t a huge selection, but we were hungry and just wanted to sit down. We all ordered schnitzel, except for my sister who ordered spaghetti haha.

After dinner, we came home so dad could open his presents.. but not before singing happy birthday. (: I snapped a couple pictures of the whole process. My sister got him a couple nice work shirts, I got him a Harley shirt with cut off sleeves (I’m workin’ with a college budget.. don’t judge), and mom out did us both with a new pair of oakleys. He seemed pretty happy with all his gifts. I’m glad I got to spend his birthday with him this year, there’s no telling how often that’ll happen as I start to grow up and get my life going. Once he opened the gifts we cut the cake (we just had to try it).. it turned out pretty good, I don’t think any of us are really big on birthday cake though. It always just ends up sitting in the fridge for a while. I think we just don’t want to let the tradition go. Maybe with my pregnant sister in the house the cake won’t last that long this time. Landon is gonna come up loving chocolate cake! (:

Dad's presents & cake (:

Blowing out the candles!

Reading one of his cards!

After all that jazz, we all finally started to wind down. Mom wasn’t feeling well so she took a shower and laid on the couch for a while. I took a bath, as usual, and read for a while. My sister knocked on the door and said my brother was on the phone. That was a pleasant surprise. (: I talked to him for a while, and eventually I was the only one still up. They all left me! Lol.

Now, I’m blogging it up, preparing to get some shuteye. I’m so sleepy, who knows.. maybe I’ll actually sleep past 9 tomorrow! Let’s hope.

Besides, if I don’t quit blogging now, I’ll fall asleep at the keyboard. Goodnight Y’all.

SamanthaK.

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