Back to School (Yay?)

I mean, I'm glad to be going back to school again. I'm just not excited about taking out more student loans and having to write papers again - blech.

For those of you who are wondering, I am about to start my Masters program through Liberty University Online. It should take me about 3 - 3 1/2 years to complete. My degree is in Professional Counseling. I just finished registering for classes and filling out my FAFSA online.

The person I talked to on the phone told me to check back in next Wednesday to see if the FAFSA has gone through. Problem is, I will be on a cruise ship in the Bahamas next Wednesday. This cruise could not have come at a more inopportune time, because I also had a possible job interview that was going to be scheduled for next Tuesday, but again, I will not be here. Argh! Obviously, I will enjoy myself on the cruise (all life obligations aside, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!), but I wish it was possible to put life on hold for fun things like cruises. :)

So, as you can see, I currently have a lot going on, even though I'm not really doing anything during the day - contradiction? You be the judge.

Through all of this craziness, I keep reminding myself that God has got me, and He's in control. No matter how disjointed the pieces of my world may seem right now (and believe you me, I wish I could get a sandblaster in here and smooth these pieces down), to God the pieces are falling into place just as He ordained them to. I only pray that I would seek to do His will rather than pursue my own folly. I pray that the decisions I make are His best for me. After that, the only thing to do is sit back and enjoy this roller coaster ride of life He has me going on.

More later!

PS: Get Your Career Tushie (over here)!

PSS: You're busy. I'm busy. But that's no excuse for the lack of Skyping as of late ;)

Fellow ck-er: Why is life so hard?! I miss you :)

Unpacking Memories

I just finished the last of my unpacking from my trip. It feels good to be back in my room (and for my room to finally be clean again!), but at the same time, I am sad that my time in Germany is over. It seems like a hazy dream already, and I've only been back for a little over a week. I found a shirt that smells a lot like the detergent Alwina used for laundry while I was there, and it took me back. I almost started crying. These are the things I miss the most:

1. Eating meals with the family
2. Going for walks with Alwina
3. Holding and kissing Levin
4. Riding bikes with Wilhelm around SchiederSee
5. Praying while standing up
6. Hearing everyone around me speak in German
7. Hearing Elias ask, "Heh?" when he didn't understand
8. Hearing Lionel say, "Christina, see! This...and this!"
9. Hearing Levin say, "Oh no!"
10. Making faces at Levin at the table
11. Singing songs in German

And there are many more. But I shan't continue to bore you with details. There are some things that I missed about America that I'm glad to have back in my life. Things like:

1. A cell-phone. Definitely.
2. My own car! To go where I please, when I please.
3. My family (my mom, sister Sara, sister Jessica, bro-in-law Matt, niece Bella, and nephew Liam)
4. My friends (most specifically my best friend. You know who you are!)
5. My church (I do not know where I would be without my church. I praise God for my local body of believers.)
6. My dog, Ceecee.
7. TV!!!! :)
8. Prayers in English, hymns in English, PASTOR OSBORNE'S SERMONS in ENGLISH!!!!

And those cover the main things I missed. I love being able to text or call someone to talk or hang out. I love being able to drive over to Matt and Jessica's house and hang out with them and the kids all night. I love being able to watch RomComs with Hannah and bemoan our unmarried statuses. I love it all. So it makes sense that I'm not an emotional wreck about being gone from Germany. But I do miss it. It is a part of my life that I will never forget. And I do hope I can go back. Maybe one day :)

PS: Gratitude counts totally :)

PSS: How is it that we Skype less now than when I was in Germany?! This needs to be remedied.

Fellow ck-er: One other thing I miss about Germany - seeing you there! I hope you're doing well :)

I'm home!!!!

So yesterday was one of the longest days of my life.

I woke up at 3:30 am to get ready to go to the airport in Hannover. I was already tired. Good start, right? ;) We (Alwina, Wilhelm, and I) left the house a little after 4 am, and arrived at the airport at about 5:30. I checked my bag (only 21.3 kg, thank you very much) and ate a little breakfast. At 6:00 am, I went through security, which is always a fun adventure. Got patted down to check if I was carrying my glock. Which, of course, I left at home. haha The flight boarded on time and took off on time - yesss. Got into Brussels at 8:15 am. Rushed around to change my euros into USD and get my boarding pass in time to board the plane. Except...the plane, which was supposed to take off at 10 am, did not take off until 4 pm. That's right. It was delayed for SIX WHOLE hours!!!!! Argh! Long story short, my bag got lost (as in, never left Europe) and I had to rebook my flight from Newark to Tampa (which was supposed to get in to Tampa at 5:30 pm, but ended up getting in at 11 pm). When I got off the plane, I was exhausted. But it was good to see Hannah, Amy, Dakota, and my mom who had waited for me at the airport for 6 hours!!!! They had made a sign to welcome me, Hannah had made snickerdoodles, and Dakota had made her 7-layer dip and brought chips. Soooo good :)
We got back to Hannah's house and dropped off the girls. I saw Hannah's new apartment (so cute!) and Mom and I drove home. It's so good to be home. Let me tell you!

I went to sleep at 1:30 am, and got up this morning at 7:30 am with no alarm. Ugh. So mom and I had breakfast together (American pancakes and scrambled eggs....soooo lecker!) Then I reactivated my phone, and now I'm updating you on my life whilst Skyping this raven beauty and her gorgeous mother :)

More later from the American girl back in her native land (finally!) <3

PS: Got your cookies. Tastyyyy!

PSS: Get on Skype, foo! :)

Fellow ck-er: Why aren't you in the US yet? Seriously!!!

Countdown to the End.

This is my last day in Germany. Consequently, this will be the last time I post in my blog whilst in Germany. Hope you enjoy it!

Yesterday, we went to Cologne, or Koeln as the locals call it. We wanted to visit the Chocolate Museum and the Sports Museum, but they're both closed on Mondays. Sad! So instead, we took a boat tour down the Rhein River (and no, it wasn't 3 hours long. And no, we didn't shipwreck on an island. Name that show.)

After the boat tour, we went to the cathedral in Cologne. It took roughly 500 years to complete. No joke. They started building it in the 1300's and didn't complete it until 1880. Crazy, right?

Wilhelm took the boys on a tour in German starting at 2. Alwina and I were going on a tour in English starting at 2:30, so in that 30 minutes, we decided to grab some lunch at McDonald's (her idea, not mine, thank you very much). So there we were, eating and having a grand old time. I went to take a drink of my Coca Cola Light, and all of a sudden, some unknown and UNappreciated object went down my esophagus. Here are my conjectures as to what it was:
40% sure it was a bee stinger. There are bees like crazy in Germany.
30% sure it was a piece of fry or batter from the chicken nuggets.
20% sure it was a a piece of plastic (straw or drink lid).
5% sure it was an actual entire bee.
3% sure it was an extraterrestrial.
2% sure it was a small, extremely angry man with a pick-axe.

So those are my guesses. In any case, it hurt like something that hurts a lot. So Alwina and I were walking around, trying to find a bathroom without a huge line that I could use, even though we had 5 minutes left before the tour started. But we didn't find one. So we took the tour anyway. And I couldn't tell you anything the guide said, because the whole time, I was thinking about how much my throat hurt. It. was. awful. I kept having these visions of my throat swelling up, being unable to breathe, and dying. Which would not be cool. Dying in Germany of a bee sting in my esophagus. So there I was in a beautiful German cathedral dying of a bee sting. It was pretty funny, now that I look back on it. But at the time, I was flipping out. Okay, enough about that. Pictures! That's what you were waiting for, right? Well, here they are:

After the tours had ended, and I was still alive, we walked back to the car and drove home. As we were driving home, we stopped by a futbol stadium so the boys could have a look. Alwina and I stayed in the car, talking about girly things, until the boys came back. Then we finished our long trek. I shot many videos of the boys doing funny things. I have a great game I can't wait to introduce to the college group back in Florida! And on our way home, we stopped by Alwina's parents' house to pick up Levin. We had dinner and tea. What a delightful family. I will really miss them :( We finally made it home around 10 pm, and I went to bed (after Skyping a certain beautiful best friend for a bit!)

Today is a lazy day. I will do laundry, pack, Alwina and I will go shopping later, and I'll try and tie up all my loose ends, so to speak. For breakfast, we had french toast. Alwina said every time they eat it, they will think of me :) For lunch, we will have MANTI!!! My favorite meal here. And that's about it for the day. Pray for me as I make the long and arduous trip home tomorrow. Pray that I will not miss any flights! And pray that I will not get sick on any flights either. God is good. <3

PS: Guess you're celebrating tomorrow!

PSS: Exophagus - the next video game hero, fighting strep throat and other viral infections one throat at a time!!!

Fellow ck-er: Just move to the US already! :D

The Briefest of Posts.

I know I haven't posted since Thursday, but I've been busy.

Friday, I went to Evelyn's house to spend the night. We visited Externsteine, which is a huge monument. I think of it as a mix between Mount Rushmore and Stonehenge. We also played the German version of "Sorry" and "Life."

On Saturday, Wilhelm's uncle, Waldemar, celebrated his 25th anniversary with his wife. They invited many family members and friends. It was an all-day event, complete with speeches, lunch AND coffee with cake, musical numbers, and a 30-minute photo presentation chronicling their last 25 years together. They have 10 kids - can you believe it?! Must be a Mennonite thing ;)

Today was a good day. This morning, I did my devotions in 1 Chronicles, and I just got to the good chapters. I had to slog through all the genealogies first. That was a challenge. haha I also took a nap, because I woke up this morning with the biggest crick in my neck. It's still there, actually. At 4, we went to church. Then we had pancakes for dinner. I excused myself and went to bed earlier because it hurts to turn my head at all. Hopefully, it will be better by tomorrow. We're going to Cologne which is 3 hours away. And I'll need a good neck to take pictures to show all of you :)

RastiLand and God's Land!

So yesterday, Alwina, Elias, Lionel, Julian, and I all went to RastiLand, a theme park about 1 hour from Schieder. It was fun! But it was no Disney World ;) Here are some pictures:

Elias and Julian ^

Lionel on the bumper boats ^

Elias and Julian on the playground ^

Alwina and Lio riding in a go-cart ^

On the wettest ride ever ^

How wet they got ^

How wet I got! Ugh! ^

The boys playing in the rain ^

As you can see ^^ we were perpetually wet the whole day.

Boys being boys on the way home ^

Today was another good day. Last night, I had trouble sleeping, even though I was exhausted when I went to bed. So I got up and spent some time reading God's word and talking to Him. And, once again, God impressed upon me how faithful His love is. Just read this Psalm He showed me to remind me:

"Out of the depths of my despair I call to You, Lord. Lord, listen to my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my cry for help. Lord, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered. I wait for the Lord; I wait, and put my hope in His word. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning - more than watchmen for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with Him is redemption in abundace. And He will redeem Israel from all its sins."
-Psalm 130

Isn't that amazing? God is amazing! He has been showing me so much through the Psalms, but the main theme has been His faithful love. A hymn that He has been using in my life lately is "Great is Thy Faithfulness." Especially the second stanza - "Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love." Today, I went on a mini nature walk and took some pictures of God's beautiful creation. Here are some examples of how this hymn was shown to me in nature:

After I got home from my nature walk, we went to Elvira's house for dinner. Elvira is Wilhelm's sister, and she and her husband, Eduard, have 4 daughters. I had a wonderful time singing and spending time with them, and for dinner, we had PIZZA! It was sooo delicious! The three different kinds of pizza were: tuna (yucko), corn and salami (pretty good!), and ham and pineapple (my absolute favorite!). On our way home, Wilhelm and I got into a discussion about the children and about life. It all started when I asked him if he ever wished his boys could stay the age they are now, because they're just so cute. He said no, because the boys will see "beautiful sights" at each stage in their lives, and he wants to be there to see them experience them all. For example, he said, his parents are retired now. And his father has more time to spend reading God's word and spending time in prayer. So those are his beautiful sights right now. Wilhelm also said sometimes people are so caught up in waiting for the right job, the perfect mate, etc., that they are not content with where God has placed them right now. Which is what God has been showing me lately also. I need to be content with my present situation. I need to open my eyes to the beautiful sights God has for me to see in this period of my life. I'm excited to see what they are <3

More later!

PS: Generic yogurt crummy tastes.

PSS: Hallo! Wie geht's dir?! ...Yeah, that's all I got. I'm getting better though, right?

Fellow ck-er: Seriously. RastiLand - you shoulda been there.

Helen's Visit = Lovely Time, Indeed

I have no idea how I'm going to summarize Helen's amazing visit from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon, but I will try my hardest, because I'm a blogger, and that's what bloggers do! ;)

Well, first of all, Friday morning, we were supposed to leave the house at approx. 9:30 am to pick Helen up. This was because Wilhelm wanted to get to the airport early and watch the planes come in with the boys while we waited for Helen to arrive at 12:55. But Thursday night, there was a huge storm, and Wilhelm's parents' roof caught on fire. Luckily, no one was hurt, and no major damage was done. However, several fuses did blow out, and the roof had a sizeable hole in it. So early Friday morning, Wilhelm went over to help repair some of the damage. When I woke up and found this out, I had the boys sit down and help me make some "Welcome, Helen!" and "Hello Helen!" signs with which to greet her at the airport. Wilhelm finally arrived at the house to pick us up around 11:20.

On the 1+ hour drive to the airport, the boys entertained themselves in various ways. We sang songs, I took pictures of them being...well, themselves, and we even tried to play "Oma went to Paris..." again, but that lasted about 5 letters. Finally, we arrived at the airport. 5 minutes late. And could not find any parking spaces. So Wilhelm dropped the boys and me off at the door and went to find a parking place. I couldn't wait to see Helen! I excitedly searched every face I walked by to see if it was her. When we arrived at the proper terminal, I looked everywhere. And then, out of the corner of my eye, a lovely Irish lass with a beautiful smile approached. That's right, it was Helen! Oh, sweet reunion time! The drive home was wonderful. We talked and laughed, and Wilhelm and the boys got to know a little bit about the amazing person that is Helen.

When we got back to the house, Helen, Alwina, Levin, and I went on a walk to the castle. It was a relaxing and beautiful way to welcome Helen to the quaint little town that is Schieder-Schwalenberg. Helen, of course, fell madly in love with Levin just as I have done, and by the end of the walk, I do believe he reciprocated her feelings. I say this because as we passed by the rose garden, he picked us both flowers. =)

The rest of Friday was spent at the house playing games and relaxing. Helen and I went to bed "early" in order to Skype Hannah. It was a great time. Then, we stayed up late giggling and talking about girly things. Car keys ;)
Saturday morning, we had to get up "early" to go to breakfast at Wilhelm's brother's house. David, his wife Jenny, and his daughter Hanna were all very happy to see us, and they were very accommodating. The breakfast spread was fantastic, and I positively stuffed myself to the max. After we arrived back home from breakfast, we all (excluding Wilhelm) walked to Freibad to play Mini Golf. I had loads of fun. Also, Helen and I were shocked to discover that mini golf in Germany is more difficult than mini golf in the UK or the USA. There are rules for each hole! Can you believe that?! So after taking silly pictures...

...and after playing many intense holes of mini golf...

...we were finally done. And the end result - well, I won :) AND I got three holes-in-one! Not that I'm trying to brag or anything...*cough* Alwina and Helen both came out with 80 and I ended with a 67. Good times.
By the time we got home and had lunch, Helen and I were exhausted. So we both ate our delicious Spaghetti Bolognese (because Alwina is probably one of the most amazing cooks in the world) and fell into bed for about 2 hours. After we woke up, Helen and I walked down to SchiederSee to see what we could see =P And we ended up riding the paddleboat for an hour! It was great fun - videos to come, hopefully.

Then we came home just in time to have dinner with Wilhelm's other brother, Waldemar, and his family - his wife, Xenia; his daughter, Julia; and his son, Aaron.

Helen and I both got to hold Aaron, and he is such a cutiepie! Dinner was served outside, and it consisted of watermelon and sugar-free donuts (for lack of a better term - they were good though, I promise). Funny story about the watermelon - Helen and I can't stand it. But we were both good sports and ate it anyway, and it didn't turn out to be half-bad. After dinner, we sat around and talked about things. After a while, I challenged Waldemar to a foosball game upstairs. We also picked Lionel and Elias to be on our teams. Waldemar had Lionel and I had Elias - they were really good! Lio and Waldemar won the first game, but Elias and I dominated the second.

Before Waldemar's family left, I got every one together for a group picture. The Duecks really are an amazing family :) After we went to bed, Helen and I Skyped my sister, Jessica, and her family, and then we Skyped with Hannah. And found out Matt Hopkins and Lauren Brock got engaged - congratulations, Matt and Lauren! (Not like you read this, but still!) After the Skype talks, we had more girly conversation, and then it was bedtime.
Sunday morning - church day, yay! We ate breakfast and then went to church. We sat with Wilhelm so he could translate for us, and he did a really good job. Helen and I were both extremely tired and could barely keep our eyes open, but it was still a good time. After the church service, we walked home in the rain. With a regenschirm (umbrella) and a Lionel (the boy). Lunch consisted of some amazing soup that Alwina made with pork and vegetables. After that, it was time for another nap! When we woke up, Wilhelm took us (and Levin) to the Freilichtmuseum (Open Air Museum) in Detmold. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

And, of course, what's a trip to the Freilichtmuseum without frogging?

The basic gist of the museum is that it's a bunch of historic German houses which have been imported and reconstructed exactly as they were built. People get to walk through the houses and see what it was like for people back in the day in Germany. The trip was well-worth it, even though my feet were very sore afterwards. The museum closed at 6 pm, and then we drove to this other historic monument in Detmold. I don't really know what it was about, because I was in the car waiting to leave the museum whilst Wilhelm was outside the car actually explaining the significance of the monument to Helen...oh, well :) It was pretty, anyway. haha

After visiting the gigantic statue, we drove home and had dinner. Outside once again. The weather is just so nice here. I excused myself before any watermelon could be forced on me for dessert so I could take a shower (sorry, Helen). When I got out of the shower, wedding pictures and baby pictures were taken out and passed around. At about 9:30 or 10:00 pm, Helen and I went to bed. We watched "The Wedding Date" and ate salt and vinegar chips and M&M's (rather, I ate salt and vinegar chips and M&M's because I like to eat). When the movie was over, we ruminated about life, God's sense of humor, men, the future, and funny things. I laughed so hard, I cried, and I was sure Alwina would come in the room and ask us to please be quiet and go to sleep. But she didn't. That woman has the patience of ... a really patient person. Job, maybe?
So anyway, the next morning, we got up and had breakfast. We left the house around 9:30 so we would have plenty of travel time before Helen's flight. When we got to the airport, Helen checked her bag, and we took some group pictures. Then, we looked at the monitors and picked out places we would want to visit. After that, we all took the elevator to the top floor where they have a special balcony reserved for children and adults to be able to watch planes take off and land.

...And this is how Elias died.

Just kidding! Geez ;)

^This was actually Helen's plane, coming to take her safely off to Ireland!

We walked around until it was time to leave. Saying goodbye to Helen was really emotional. And I will miss her greatly. But I know that someday soon I will get to see her again. So Helen, I'm really glad you could come see me in Germany!
Also, she slipped an envelope in my purse when I wasn't looking. I found it after she left. In it was a card and a gorgeous pair of earrings. *sigh* I love that girl.

The car ride home seemed empty and forlorn without Helen. Even though the boys were making enough noise, what with the toy planes and helicopter I bought them at the airport.

After we got home, we ate lunch and I had a nap to sleep off my sadness :'( Then I woke up and went on a bike ride with Wilhelm and the boys. It was exhausting, but fun. I think I'm getting better :) Came home, then went to bed.
Today the boys had an art lesson from 11-4 in Steinheim. After dropping them off, Alwina and I went grocery shopping. Then we came home and unpacked all the food. After lunch, Wilhelm and I drove to pick up the boys and we picked up Julian, Alwina's younger brother, and my HOMEMADE SKIRT on the way home. Pictures to come! When we got home, the boys and I had an English lesson (we played Memory with animal pictures and learned Psalm 23:1-2 in English). After dinner, we all went down to SchiederSee so the boys could go swimming. While they were swimming, Wilhelm and I went on a bike ride around the lake (another 8 km - I'm getting good at this). I took a picture of the beautiful sunset and the waterfall on the way. Came home, took a shower, and now I'm writing you this blog.

God is good, and I'm tired, so this is all you're getting :) Hope it was newsy enough for you.

Goodnight!

PS: Grate your cheddar Thursday. :)

PSS: I'm really thinking about coming back here to visit for a longer period of time in the future. So when I get home, I propose we commence German lessons via Skype like, hardcore :) You know who you are.

Fellow CK-er: Today, I ck-ed so many people in the face! (All in my mind, of course, but it was all for you!)