Day Twelve: Summer Livin'

L - A - Z - Y 

Day Fourteen:

Whoops. Almost forgot to blog today. 

You know how when you don't do anything at all you get super sleepy? That's where i'm at right now.

We didn't do anything today, really. We planned on walking to the bakery and grocery store but it began raining, and once it stopped the idea just sort of faded away. Dad got home from work, and we talked to him a little bit about his day.. the usual. We went outside in the garden, and I read a little bit of my book. I actually got cold, so I came inside. The highest temperature this weekend will only be sixty something degrees.

WOOOOO HOOOOO!
This is my kinda weather.. haha!

I'm excited lol.. tired of sweating when I go outside! 

Mom made schnitzel for dinner, which was super yummy. After dinner I talked to my aunt on the phone for a tiny bit, and then face timed with my sister. Played tetris for a while... lol and family feud and now watching the news. 

Tomorrow we're going out to the house again to take care of a few things & possibly going to get our cable & things like that taken care of. We move into the house in just about 5 days! wooo. I'll try to snap a few pictures for you guys to see. This is the only one I took last time.. 

This is the back of our house, the backyard is huge & slopes downward.
The upper two windows in the corners have their shutters down.
It's such a beautiful house!

Tomorrow and Friday probably won't be so interesting to read about, but this weekend I'm going to my oma's house since her birthday is tomorrow.. so I'm sure there will be a few interesting things to talk about(:

I'll probably read a little bit more and then go to sleep since it's already 10:30. 

Congratulations to all the seniors for finishing their last day of high school! I can't believe it's been a whole year since I've been out.. time sure does fly. I seriously feel like my first day of freshman year was like, last week! haha. I'm growing up, y'all! :,) LOL.

Hopefully you guys make your day a little more productive than mine has been.. LOL.

Until tomorrow, 

SamanthaKay. (:

Day Eleven: Summer Livin'

Snap back to reality 

Day Ten:

Ahh such a good day(:

However it started out a bit.. well you'll see what I mean. 

When I woke up I thought my mom was gone still (from dropping my dad off at work) but instead she went back to sleep and had woken up around the same time as I did(: Dad called & said we had to pick him up from work at 10:30 to go take care of a couple things at the new house. 

On our way to pick up dad, while we were on the autobahn, all of a sudden the speed limit slowed down to 80km & there was traffic in the right lane. Of course we got over in attempt to pass everyone up when a truck driver started waving his hand out of his window. I asked my mom why he was doing that and she said she had no idea.. and then we saw it. 

Some poor soldier was riding his motorcycle.. well crotchrocket.. on the autobahn & apparently, something went wrong & he wrecked. All we saw was the guy laying on the side of the road holding his head and sort of rocking back and forth right next to his totaled bike. :( Another soldier stopped to help him as well as another civilian. I felt so bad for the guy. 

Kinda makes you snap back to reality, huh?

After we got through that we picked dad up & headed to the new house. Of course the GPS took us through the scenic route.. lol. We finally got there and let me just say.. the house is amazing! 

It's soooo big & nice. Three stories, with a whole separate apartment downstairs.. also the biggest backyard I've ever seen! lol. I'm so excited to move into it. (:

We had lunch afterwards, dropped dad back off at work, ran a few errands which included: going to the bx, a garden store, a store similar to lowes, another store similar to best buy, a leather furniture store, a coffee place, and back to base to pick up dad.

When we got back to the apartment, mom couldn't find the keys. We searched everywhere in the car and they were nowhere to be found. We had to buzz the landlord to let us inside and when she did her daughter handed us our keys. Before we left this morning mom took our paper trash out while she waited for me to come downstairs.. turns out she accidentally threw them away, too. Thankfully another renter here had to throw some away, before it was picked up, and she saw our keys and grabbed them.

Whew.

When we got back home, as usual, I checked my messages and Facebook. Only tonight on Facebook, a friend of mine posted something terribly sad. :( His dad, an amazing sweet man, passed away from cancer. He's in a better place now, and not suffering, but it just seems too soon. It's crazy how quickly life can end. 

Cherish every minute of it. 

Rest in peace Mr. Smith.

We were all full from lunch so we had a small dinner tonight. Then we facetimed my sister, watched a little bit of tv, and just hung out. Mom isn't taking dad to work tomorrow so I can afford to stay up a little later tonight to read my new book(: 

I hope everyone is having a good summer(:

I'll post again, tomorrow!

Day Ten: Summer Livin'

Memorial Day & Pfingsten 

Day Ten:

Before I say anything about my day I'd like to take the time to talk about the importance of today. As everyone knows it's memorial day... this day means so much more to me than just another holiday to host a barbecue. 

Is this not perfect?
People always seem to forget the true meaning of the best holidays.

Memorial day is a day in which we should remember the fallen soldiers, the soldiers that suffered through war overseas for our freedom, the soldiers that have served us stateside, and the ones that are doing so now. Sure everyone says they're thankful, but to a military child, it means so much more. My great grandfathers, grandfather, father, brother, and brother-in-law have all served in numerous wars. Thankfully they all survived, but deployment is no joke. My family members didn't get summer vacation or certain holidays off unless they took time off, because they earned it. Being in the military, whether it's army, navy, marines, coast guard, national guard, air force, or any other service.. is not an easy job. I'm thankful every day for what these men & women do for me, but today, I'd just like to acknowledge that. (:

So.. PawPaw Petty, PawPaw, Dad, Bobby, Ryan, and any others I may have accidentally left off of this list..

Today was also Pfingsten in Germany. This holiday represents the pentecost & is the 50th day after Easter. I believe it has to do with how languages came about but i'm not 100% sure... 

Since it was a holiday today everything was closed. When we woke up there was nothing to do. My dad was dying of boredom and finally just said "y'all find something to do and let's go do it". haha

We ended up going over to Ryans house and we barbecued some ribs & steak and then watched a couple of movies. (if you haven't seen the movie grey, i recommend it) 

After that we came home & now we're just chill in & relaxing. (:

That's really it for today, though we didn't do much it was a pretty good day. (:

Day 6, 7, & 8: Summer Livin'

The Weekend

"German men sit when they pee?!"

Day Six:

Hmm, I've been gone all weekend which is why I didn't get a chance to blog & am now combining three days into one. I guess day six was Friday. I woke up at 7am since mom decided to rearrange furniture -_- lol.  She dropped dad off at work, we got ready & went back to the shops downtown since I had to return a shirt cause it had a stupid hole in the side :( anddd... 

I GOT MY BIRKENSTOCKS(: 

yaaaayyy!

We picked dad up from work, and had brautwurst for dinner and a few left overs. We also watched that new show duets.. didn't really seem like a hit, but it was only the first episode, so we'll see! (:

That was about it for friday. (:

Day Seven:

Yesterday we woke up, got ready, & packed to go spend the night with my moms childhood best friend, Gabi. We loaded up in the car for the two hour trip and hit the autobahn. woo hoooo! (: When we got there they had already started grilling out. They had brautwurst, ribs, steak, and a few other choices too. I've learned that Germans LOVE to eat! haha. We had dinner & then the crazy germans started drinking. Another thing I've learned is that germans love their beer & alcohol. haha They thought it was a little odd that I didn't drink or smoke because in Germany you used to be able to drink at 14 but it just moved up to 18.. LOL. 

With drunken Germans comes crazy conversations.. which is where my title came from.. 

APPARENTLY German men sit down when they pee at home because they don't want to make a mess.. LOL. The unspoken rule in Germany is that if the man wants to stand while he pees he has the duty of cleaning the bathroom, if he doesn't want to clean.. well, he sits. LOL.

Thought y'all might enjoy that weird little fun fact. haha. 

Around 10 I went to bed while the Germans partied on. Dad and Mom followed shortly after. 

Day Eight:

That's today! (:

We woke up and went downstairs to talk to everyone for a little while. After we showered and got all clean we had lunch, which was left overs from last night since there was so much food and some weird german sausage lol. A couple hours we had cake and coffee..

this cake.. was different.

The whole reason we went down there was because it was Gabi's boyfriends birthday. This is the birthday cake for the old German man...

... there are no words for this. I'm saving you guys but showing you the cake with the bikini still on...
YES.. it was removable..  -_- 

The cake tasted nothing like an american cake.. lol. I was a little bit tired after lunch so this is how I spent my last few minutes at Gabi's..

Seriously, talk about perfection.
NOTE my new birkenstocks(:

We left, hit the autobahn once again, & now we're at the house(: 

Maybe for dinner we'll go the the little Italian place or something. 

Hope you guys had a good weekend!

OH, & I learned a new german word this weekend too!

Urlaub (oo-lop): it means holiday! (:

I was trying to explain to someone that I was on a 3 month vacation & he taught me this! lol

Always give thanks..

ThankYou.ThankYou.ThankYou.
<3

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with my posts. I started out blogging just so I could remember everything from my summer & so my family back home could feel as if they were a part of my trip as well. I didn't realize so many of my friends would read as well! It means a lot to me & I hope you are enjoying it.
(I know I am.. lol) (:

A few of my friends have said that I've inspired them to blog as well, and for any of you that do so make sure to tell me your blog name so I can read what you guys have to say, too(:

Thanks again, y'all (:

Day Five: Summer Livin'

Bummish Day

Day Five:

One word to describe today? Lazy. Scrubby. Relaxing. Bummish. Blah.

Ok, thats more than one word but you get the point. We really didn't do anything today.. I mean nothing. 

We let dad take the car to work so mom wouldn't have to wake up early to bring him and we wouldn't have to pick him up. We woke up and hung around until about noon. Showered & got ready.. and did some more sitting around. Well, mom did a load of laundry and ironed. Around 1pm we took bella for a walk to the bakery up the road and got a few goodies, came back to the apartment and ate a little bit, and then skyped my sister until dad got home from work. Mom started cooking while we talked to dad about his day. Mom made chicken, potatoes, and green beans.. but I ate leftover spaghetti cause it was just so yummy yesterday lol. After dinner dad went outside to read a book, mom took care of some bills.. and I, well I did some more nothingness. (Actually, I downloaded family feud again to cure some boredom.. so if you have an iPhone download the app & play so you can get me some pointsss!)

And that, my friends.. was my day. 

Told you.. Bummish. :)

Maybe tomorrow we'll keep the car and go do some more shopping or something. I really want those birkenstocks and we need to return a couple things, anyway! (:

I promise tomorrows post will be a lot more interesting, but hey.. everyone loves a lazy day every once in a while. (:

.. don't act like you don't!

I don't even have a nifty german word to teach you guys, today. :(

so for now... 

Hasta La Vista(: 

& y'all have a good day!

Day Four: Summer Livin'

Hunting for shoes!

Day Four:

Looking back on today it seems like it flew by, but earlier I felt as if it were dragging on forever. That's probably because of the heat though!

This morning, I woke up.. sort of fell back asleep and then eventually got out of bed to get ready (took me long enough). This girl is not an early riser.. The only plans we really planned for today was to go on base to the BX and commissary. We went to the BX first and holy crap.. it was HUGE. I've never seen a BX/PX that big in all of my little military child life! haha. I regret not taking a picture for you guys. The BX usually isn't anything extravagant at all.. it's like a small target.. (and not the super one haha). But this one.. oh boy! When you walked in there was a food court with about 6 AMERICAN food places.. and tons of airmen & soldiers. Felt like a little piece of home to me (: There were several shops in the hallway before you entered the actual BX, like a spa, furniture store, a trinket store, a harley davidson store, and many others. There was even a car dealership outside, y'all! LOL. The BX itself was huge, though. Usually the clothes are just some random brands but this one had everything from Victorias Secret PINK to Miss Me and Roxy. I fell in love. haha. There was even furniture and.. well just about everything you could ever need in there. I'll definitely be going back there.. 

We shopped for a couple hours and then got some food in the food court.. while we were eating apparently my brother in law had just gotten off work and went to shop at the BX and ran into us.. lol. That was pretty cool.. small world huh? I only know about 5 people in this country (lol) but I run into one of them at a random place! 

After lunch we went to the commissary to get some groceries and things that are cheaper on base than off. We brought everything home and relaxed for about half an hour and then headed out the door again. 

This time we were on the hunt for some birkenstocks I want. They're everywhere here in Germany & super cheap, too.. but the style I want seems impossible to find.. lol. 

These are what they look like, in case you have no idea what I'm talking about.. 

They're the most comfortable shoe ever! They have a footbed.. it's like a bed for your feet! haha (:

After we looked at about 4 different stores we stopped so my mom could get coffee and a sweet snack and I could get a drink, too. Then it was time to go pick my dad up from work.. 

only.. we were lost. LOL

We had no idea what the address to his work was and we had no idea where we were either... As I was trying to think of a "point of interest" to put in the GPS my mom was just driving down a random road and all of a sudden we were right around the corner from my dads work..

How that happened.. we don't know.

(Thanks Jesus, you really did us a favor.. dad may have been a little cranky if he had to wait too long in his hot office!)

We picked dad up, actually about 2 hours ago, and we've just been hanging out in the nice cool apartment.. LOL. They don't have AC in Germany cause it usually doesn't get that hot.. I thought I'd die without it.. but who knew the power of a fan? lol. We crack the windows in the morning and at night and leave the fan on all day, and when we come home from being all hot and worn out.. it feels just like the AC has been on. (:

Germans also don't use ice.. so when you go to a restaurant and order a drink, they don't give you ice. How weird is that? It takes some getting used to. Usually the drinks are cold though.. good thing! haha.

It's so cool being in a different country and seeing how the people live. This summer we already have plans to go to Paris and a few other places. I look forward to that.. and also seeing some world war two memoirs and concentration camps.. 

I really can't believe it's already been four days! I know that time is going to fly by, so i'm enjoying every minute I can. Tomorrow my mom is going to let my dad take the car to work so she won't have to wake up at 6am to take him. We'll sleep in and relax a bit. Maybe there's something in walking distance to do. I'm totally okay with a day inside though.. It gets hot when the sun comes out! haha

Anyway, I'm sort of just rambling on now.. and I can smell the spaghetti that mom is cooking.. 

and i'm sure whoever is reading this is bored by now.. lol (sorry guys!)

I'll post tomorrow & I promise I won't make it so long! 

LOL

Auf Wiedersehen! (:

(Pronounced: Off Ve-De-Sane & it means see you later)

<3

Day Three: Summer Livin'

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping! (:

Day Three:

Yet another long day has come and gone. This morning my mom woke up around 6am to take my dad to work so that we would have the car today. She woke me up around 9am and I did nooot want to get up.. guess that's because I stayed up until 1am last night blogging. (oopsies, oh well!) I guess mom went to the bakery sometime after she dropped dad off because I woke up to some fresh breakfast foods... they looked yummy but I just had a little lunch meat on a brotchen or whatever it's called lol. I took a shower, and got ready & then we headed out for our eventful day. (:

We went downtown to do one of my favorite things.. SHOPPING! (: There were a millionnnn stores! The place we went was sort of like a mall but all outside. There were shops, restaurants, and tons of bakeries! We probably hit every store there. I ended up with a pair of pants, two shirts, and some earrings(: Mom got some pants and a few shirts, too. 

After shopping for a little while, we decided to stop and get food. We wanted to sit outside and eat but all the seats outside at the majority of the places were taken. We ended up at a random little (expensive) restaurant. Of course the menu was in German so mom had to read it all to me.. lol. I ordered some baked pasta with meat sauce & she had a salad. Note to self: Pasta is NOT the same here as it is back home. Mom says it's because this is the real thing.  If that's the case I prefer the "fake" haha. Needless to say, I brought a whole plate home for dad. 

There are a couple pictures in my last post of our lunch & classy drinks.. (: 

If anyone cares..

After we ate we walked into a few more stores and then stopped at an ice cream shop (how could we resist?). We ordered coffee (coke for me) and a vanilla ice cream scoop.. which there is also a picture of in the last post.. (: I just can't get over how yummy the ice cream is here! LOL. 

We shopped for a couple more hours and then left because we had to pick dad up from work - on base. I didn't realize that dad worked on base again, and also didn't think we wouldn't go back to the apartment before picking him up.. so guess who didn't bring their ID card and guess who had to wait IN THE PARKING LOT while mom went on base to pick him up?

You guessed right.. ME! 

boy, that sucked. lol I'll never leave my ID at home ever again!

Lesson: Learned!

We had dinner reservations at the barbarhof for 6pm with my moms sister & ryan. So after we picked up dad, we came home and got ready & headed that way. I enjoyed this place because the menu was in English AND German(: lol. My kinda place. I ordered a cheeseburger since I figured I won't be able to eat American food many places.. Bad choice, it sucked. 

Once again..

Lesson: Learned!

Now we're back at the apartment relaxing.. shopping and eating sure does wear you out.. :p 

Mom and Dad are on the couch with Ryan chit chatting and watching the House series finale. I'm here blogging my life away. LOL. I think i'll go to bed much earlier tonight.. staying up late really wasn't that great of an idea. haha.

Hope all of my readers had a good day, too! (:

I'll update again, tomorrow!

Tschuess (:

(pronounced chooooose - that means bye!)

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Just wanted to post a few random pictures from today (:

enjoy!

This is one of the many little bakeries. (: Everything is freshly made. Yummmmy bread!

This is just the name of the bakery above! 

Just a couple normal cars in the parking lot.. BMWs Mercedes Benz and Audis EVERYWHERE!

A beautiful church!

Clothing store we went into(: Pretty normal. Quite a bit expensive!

All the drinks at restaurants come like this! - No refills! haha
Makes us feel classy though(:

German kit kat bars!

German HiRises or Apartments!

Pretty picture of some buildings and a hotel!

German Ice Cream(: SUPER yummy!

JOHNDEERE YALL!

Just some buildings(:

German Ambulance!
Emergency number is 112.

Mom laughing because we are lost... lol

Just the usual german road! (: 

Weird post in some store.. lol.

I'll update my blog tonight with how my day went & what I did. (:

Day Two: Summer Livin'

Lazy day with a little bit of exploration.

Day Two:

I woke up this morning around 11am.. obviously I was still a bit worn out. Usually Dad works during the week but today he only had a meeting. I showered, got ready, did some laundry, and then went on a walk with my mom and our dog Bella(: When my dad got home we went to the store to get a few things. I was expecting a grocery store but it was more of a mall type thing. When you walked into the building there were clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a restaurant and food court. Then the main part of the building was the grocery store. Before shopping we stopped to get food since we hadn't eaten. We each got a bratwurst with pomas. (those are french fries, i'm learning y'all!)

After we ate, we walked back to the grocery part of the store. We bought a few things there, mainly coke, water, and sprite.. since those are the only American drinks they really have. We bought a couple other things too, for my mom to cook & whatnot. (: 

We left the store, hit the autobahn (WHICH I AM IN LOVEEEE WITH!) and headed home. I didn't realize it was already 3! We relaxed for a few hours, and I fell asleep because I developed a bad headache. Mom woke me up for dinner.. she made more bratwurst since the ones at lunch apparently sucked. I wouldn't know since I never eat that.. haha It tasted fine to me. Hers was obviously better though! Chef Mommy(: 

After dinner, we watched a little bit of TV, and mom made me a bowl of German ice cream. FREAKIN' DELICIOUS. If you ever get the chance.. get some! Best I ever had haha. Mom and Dad were getting sleepy so they headed to bed soon after. Now it's midnight and just as mom said.. I'm unable to sleep since I took a nap.. teehee. I'm watching music videos on TV since they only have about 10 american channels. Not like we watch that much TV anyway. Why would we when there is so much to see, here?! 

So many things here are much different, the roads, the things in the stores, and the food. It's weird getting used to it all, but it's exciting too. I can't wait to see everything here, and travel some more. I hope I learn a lot, too.. kinda sucks having no idea what any of the signs and billboards say or even worse, what people are saying! lol Good thing I have my mom to translate every single thing.. she probably loves that. LOL.

It's only been two days and I am already having an amazing summer. (:

I should probably try to sleep now since i have another long day ahead of me.. 

Guten Nacht.. 

or however you spell that.. :p

Day One: Summer Livin'

The flight & then some. 

Summer is finally here & boy do I have HUGE plans! 

My parents recently moved to Germany, since my dad got a new job. My summer will be spent in Europe spending quality time with them & traveling the world!

DayOne:

Today consists of leaving my grandparents house to head to New Orleans so I can board the plane to Germany and my sister (who came along for the road trip - she's so sweet) will be flying back to DFW. We left the house around 8:30am. My pawpaw stopped and got us some donuts for the 3 hour trip, and then we hit the road. We arrived at the airport around 11 or so.. my flight boarded at 12:35 and left at 1:40.. Surely i have enough time right...? (of course not)

We check in, and walk up to the counter to check my bag and what do you know? It's ten pounds over the weight limit.. soooo my pawpaw if forced into buying me a new suitcase AT THE AIRPORT. Everybody knows the airport is extremely overpriced.. So here I am on the floor in the airport switching my clothes over to the new bag.. finally, the bags are both under the limit! But what do you know.. it's almost $100 dollars to check the new bag, since it's international.. 

After that mess is done, I go with my sister to check her bags and whatnot. She tells me I can go ahead and go through security since my plane now board in 30 minutes. Of course, I say no because surely the security line is short.. (how gullible I am). When my sister is finished checking her bags and all that good stuff, we walk towards security. My sisters flight was out of a different terminal so it was now time to tell her and my pawpaw goodbye :( sad. i'll miss them both this summer. The security line was INCREDIBLY LONG. and took FOREVER. 

My flight was boarding in about 3 minutes.. and I was just now getting to the front of the line.. Just my luck..

Cost to not split my suitcase and put it on the plane: $170

Cost of a new suitcase to split my things: $70

Cost to check an additional back internationally: $80

Sitting on the airport floor switching all my things over and then having to RUN through the airport because I suck at packing and the security line was sooo long: PRICELESS 

Around 4pm I arrived in Philadelphia for my connecting flight which was at 8pm. 

I wasted time by grabbing a meal, doing a little shopping, and searching for a spa.. haha. The time actually passed by quickly and before I knew it I was boarding the plane to FRANKFURT! (:

It was a super uncomfortable and long flight. I took some Benadryl to sleep but only slept about 4 hours.

I arrived in Frankfurt at around 3am Texas time, 10am here. My parents greeted me and took me to my Oma's house. She cooked a yummy German lunch for us and baked a cake to celebrate. It was all so delicious. I took a shower and an unexpected nap (oops) and when I woke up my aunt, uncle, and cousin were there to see me. We talked for a while and then headed down to the gorgeous garden. They don't have yards here since they live in a high rise (apartment), so each person has their own little yard in a central place, which they plant flowers and have patio furniture for people to enjoy some fresh air. (: They're awesome. Around 7 we finally came back to my parents cute apartment and relaxed before we went to sleep.

Day one was actually kind of two days.. haha. I was super tired and worn out, but I was already having so much fun. 

What a GREAT start to my summer vacay. (:

Whats the point, anyway?

Reasoning

I've never been the type of girl to keep a diary, or get all "touchy-feely" and emotional, but as I've grown up I've began to realize how sweet my life really is. 

A couple things have made me realize this.. from losing friends way before it was their time, and talking to other people who aren't as blessed as I am. What I mean by that is this: One thing I just can't get over when I think about my friends who passed away is that they will never get to experience the things I am able to. It makes me appreciate even the annoying things in life, like school. My friends will never get to experience things like moving away to college (and the amazing feeling of visiting home after you've done so), they will never be able to get married and have kids like I will some day, they will never be able to fulfill any life goals they had.. and when I think about that I'm so much more appreciative of the little things in life. Some of my friends I met in college really helped me with this too.. I never realized how awesome some of the experiences I've had, really are. Things like going to Mexico for mission trips, going snow skiing almost every year, getting a car for my 16th birthday, getting an even better car for graduation, and being able to attend a Big 12 University (WRECK EM TECH). I mean sure, I was grateful... but honestly, I was more of a "spoiled brat", if you must. Meeting people in college, talking to them.. realizing that they aren't s blessed as I am.. seeing that they have nowhere near the amount of things I have, or even as good awesome of parents as I do.. made me see that I'm one lucky girl... 

"Thank you God for this wonderful life, and please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough." 

^^ PERFECT.

                                                                                                                            Anyway, because of this, I decided to make a blog. I'm tired of my parents talking to me saying things like "oh, don't you remember when.." and my answer is usually  "no". So I figured this will cure that little issue. From here on out, I will record the amazing things that take place in my life, so I will always remember. (: & others can follow along and keep up with my hectic life. 

So here goes nothing.. 

Life is passing by so quickly, and when I'm old, I want to remember every single part of it. 

Welcome to my crazy, hectic, beautiful, chaotic, amazing, blessed, life.  (: