Trial & Error

what to do at midnight?... Well, here in good ol' Wisconsin we can drink beer, go cow-tipping, OR raid the pantries and taste everything! Which is exactly what we did...well, Miou did most of the tasting ( in Maud-size portions of course :) ) It was so cute. We had just gotten home and we could admit that we were tired, but as usual, we just didn't want to sleep. To us, sleep is simply a waste of time. So we brewed a pot of coffee (extra dark, just the way we like it,) sat out on the deck staring at the midnight sky just talking. After that, we searched the house for food. Some was odd, and some familiar, and some just filled with great child-hood memories ( i.e. the marshmallows in lucky charms,) and we nibbled our way through the night. I love this girl. She just cracks me up!


Tonight we a dinner party at her house in Milwaukee, just us girls. And it was so sweet. Maud prepared us all home-made spring rolls, which I have never had before, and they really were quite good. And she even baked a cake for desert. It looked delicious but unfortunately my stomach couldn't handle an ounce of anything else.

Right now she is trying to fall asleep, tomorrow is a big day.... it's her last day. :( I don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves. I mean, i suppose that life goes on as usual, but I'll be on cruise control, just getting by. With Maud and Karin, life is good again. Real good. I love these girls so much. Our friendship, is such a great thing. Here we are, seperated by land and water, miles apart, and not seeing one another for years and when we are reunited it's as if no time had ever come between us. That is true friendship. We are all here for one another and honest with one another. We're friends.

I apologize, because my mind has so many thoughts going on right now and I can't seem to focus on just one thing. This entry will most likely be a short one, and probably very random. OLE!

Last night, Karin stayed the night. We were having such a 'blah' day. Not sure why, but neither of us were motivated to do anything. Well... I know why, but it isn't something we want to talk about because it only makes matters worse. The three of us are being split apart again. It's the hardest thing to even think about. I see the eyes watering up when we mention the slightest bit of it and I feel my eyes start to flood. It's hard. I'm so blessed to have such beautiful people in my life. I learn so much from them. I laugh so much with them, and I smile. Have you ever caught your self fake smiling? From time to time I'll slap one on because I know it's what people want, but I never really paid much attention to it. And Maud has pointed out that these are our "real smiles." I didn't know that one could see the difference, but she can, and now I can too. Up until Europe, I hadn't really smiled. School just killed me. I knew it was rough while going through it, but now looking back, I see how miserable I was. I felt as though I had little, if anything, to live for. School, homework, school, homework. That was all I could do. And now I'm back home, and I remember why I smile. Sad, huh? I'm getting so sad to leave back for school. Right now everyone is in Colorado to set Emily up for school and I stayed behind to spend time with my foreigners. I miss my family so much and I know I'll be seeing them in a few days here. But the house is so big, and dark, and quiet and lonely. I'm used to the bare minimum of 8 people and 2 dogs running around the house and now I'm down to....me. When Karin and I got home last night, we placed our purses on the table and just exchanged a look of disappointment. It feels weird. And that just wast a good combination with our "blah-ness." To make things better, I baked her some cookies. She wanted them for a midnight snack- literally. Haha. I baked the cookis around 9h30/10h00 and she waited till 12h00am on the dot. She kept looking at the clock sighing until the digits went from 11h59 to 12h00. It was worth it, so she said.
Today, she and I decided to have a somewhat productive day because we assumed that a storm was headed our way- BOY were we wrong! Today could not have been more beautiful, 76 degrees, gentle breeze, and the clouds were dreamy! What did we do all day you ask? We worked on personal projects. I just about finished a garment I am working on for my freelance, and Karin read her book. It was nice.

I am listening to my itunes right now on shuffle, and I am thoroughly pleased with the songs that are playing. :) well, I am needing to write in Mauds journal now. So overall, Lately I have felt happy ( to have my best friends at my side again,) and really sad ( to know they are leaving again,) and now I'm pissed because i am getting eaten by this mosquito that I can hear but can't see or kill! AHHH! Well, good night world. schalff gut!

You Gave Me Peace in a Lifetime of War

This was such a gorgeous sunset over the fields of delafield
The three pirates have been re-united once more. I can't even find the words to explain just how great it is to be with them again- and at the same time! Tonight we ate a very (filling) American meal for my little foreigners. Mom grilled some burgers, some corn on the cob, some french fries and a very green salad. All was delicious as usual, and now my stomach feels it's pain. I am getting so big! gah!
After our giant meals we needed some quality couch time, you know, to let everything settle- and whats better that to watch Troy?!?! Afterall, this is mine and Karin's tradition, and Maud's first time watching it.Pour little frenchie, she is still sick from me. I feel awful! She leaves for France this saturday already and Karin is next week. And Emily leaves for school early (early early early) wed. morning. The family is driving out with her and I am so torn if whether or not i should go. I've waited three years to see my pirates, but at the same time I haven't seen Matt for the longest time and I'm not ready to say goodbye to Emily yet. ...I'm never ready to say goodbye, it truly is the hardest thing for me. So now I'm at a cross, do I say goodbye now or extend our adventures? Ah, decisions, decisions.
So Nana had to go back to the hospital today. I'm so scared. I don't like to admit it, for reasons I'm unsure of. I guess what I want is to stay strong for the family-especially for dad.... I'm also in denial of anything being wrong. My mind is just incapable of grasping the severity of her illness. why is it that in life we must be confronted with such hardship? Does it really make us stronger? All I feel is small, weak, and useless. I don't who is reading this, or if anyone is for that matter, but whoever you are... can you please pray for Nana? Pray for her health, and comfort and the strength of my family.
As I struggle with these thoughts, Kadyn came up to cuddle at my side. He brings such comfort into my life. Being home is so good, I'm free from my insomniac-self, and surrounded by my family. I'm so blessed. I really am, and I never tell them how much they mean to me, at least not as often as I should. I need to change this. I have definitely learned over the past years, that life is much too short. Too short to fight over the little things.


Maud andKarin, and all the house is asleep. Everyone but Kadyn and I that is. The poor little guy, he's so tired, but he won't sleep till every last person in the house is silently sleeping. Unfortunately for him, I don't plan on sleeping anytime soon. The two of us are just sitting on the cold kitchen floor, of all places, wrapped up in quilt and a warm coffee at hand. I'm thinking of moving to the deck once I wrap this up, just to enjoy the night sky. Earlier in the week, Maud and I went over to Andy's house and we layed out on the lawn watching the meteor shower. I had always wanted to see one and never had until wed. night. It was incredible! Very surreal, and just absolutely breathtaking. It's one of those events that really proves God's beauty to yo. My eyes were open so wide!

Summer has really been going fast. I leave in just a few weeks already! I'm not ready to go back. I'm not ready to leave my family- we still have so much that we have to do together.
Last night I was up till 5am working on a jacket for my client back in Savannah. I'm almost done. and then after that it's onto the dress. I should really start sewing here in a bit, finish at least one garment! haha. I suppose my rambling is due for an end here. Well,good night to you.

Click, Click, Click

Good Morning World! it's 1h32am here in good ol' Wisonsin. Maud, Michael, and I just finished watching the movie 'Yes Man.' We figured 2hours ago that we would just fall asleep to it, but instead, stayed up laughing through the whole movie! I love this movie! like, a lo' a lo'! ( inside joke- reference to the Parent Trap)
Anyways, today started off a bit slow, we just chilled this morning and drank lots and lots of coffee--of course! we just sat on the deck drinking our coffee and enjoying eachothers company. I've missed this girl so much. Being able to talk face-to-face again is so great!
As we sat with our coffee at hand, the weather was going from hot to cold, sunny to cloudy, and then we decided that it was the perfect day for a photoshoot. Maud had kindly enough agreed to modeling my garments for me to help make my portfolio and it's incredible! It's like my clothes were made for her! Everything--EVERYTHING fits her perfectly! and she can make anything look good because she is french and absolutely gorgeous :) !!!!! We started shooting around 5hoo pm and expected to shoot all my garments before dusk----haha! ...right. We had so much fun, and such great lighting with the sunset that we took 1000 photos and that is only of 2 garments. The yellow chiffon baby-doll dress and my cream leather jacket. I don't even have to photoshop them! Perfect as is, and I owe all the thanks to my incredible model!! MERCI BEAUCOUP MA MIOU!!! I am going to post a couple, though it's hard for me to narrow it down to just a couple that I like, We both love them all. :) Please give me your honest oppinion, it means a lot to me!
o.k. my friends, I need to post the pix and then try to sleep because I am getting sick, and I can't swallow and now I'm coughing up a storm! I need to be 110% because it isn't everyday that your best friend travels across the world just to visit yoU! Life is amazing- people are amazing- I am so blessed!

Bon Reves!

Bon Matin Tout le Monde

It is now Thursday Morning. I'm over at Maud's house right now, woke up feeling really sick, but I'm starting to shake it off :). Today we are going to drive back home and kidnap Michael for the day. We don't know exactly what we are going to do, but no matter what it is I'm with my frenhie, so life is great! :) It's beautiful today. We just took Charlie for a walk and now we are getting ready to head on out. I'm so glad that Maud is here! I love love love this girl! I'm not ready for summer to end.

Happy Birthday Sarah Nicole

Today we had a FEAST ( no joking here,) a feast for Sarah's belated birthday bash. For what was supposed to be a stormy day, ended up being an incredibly gorgeous day. We just got the family together and ate a massive breakfast/lunch/dinner or what I will refer to as a "brunner." Like I said, this was a feast, this is Marci Hunzinger we are talking about here, and when she does something-- she goes all out. We just hung out at the lake house, shared some laughs, drank a good amount of the wine coolers and just relaxed. It was so great to be surrounded by family again. No offense to any of you who are reading this outside of the Hunzinger bloodline, but I can't deny the fact that I have the greatest family ever.
I'm going to keep this blog short, because I have to get back to sewing here, but to sum-up today's events, Emily has put on a little performance for you to enjoy. A tribute to MJ, if you will. Yep, that is my lil' sis. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!!!!!!!

This is My Morning Cup

Guten Morgen everyone! It's gorgeous here! Many would probably disagree with me- the sky is gray, the trees are swaying, the clouds are cryng, and the breeze is chilly- and I absolutely adore everybit of it! Dad and I took Kaedyn for a run not too long ago. Now everyone is getting ready for the day. Sarah and Kevin are coming over, and it's a big deal. Everyone is acting as though today were Thanksgiving, the cleaning, the cooking, the baking, ...it's a great feeling. :) I am anxious to see her, it has really been a while!
At the moment, I am sitting in the kitchen, savouring every sip of my coffee from my "schlumpf" mug, the mug I wake up every morning with. :) It brings me back to Germany, even if only for a moment :). And I also decided to be unhealthy this morning and go the full German distance, and top it off with my favorite Knoppers. :) Thank you awesome germans, for making my every morning a german one!!!

I'm off to the post! I'll tell you all about today! Lots and lots of American love!!!

You Make Me Smile, Please Stay for a While.

I'm back home, just spent the day with my one and only frenchie. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me to have Maud at my side once more. I've missed this girl so much, and to see her, to hug her, and to listen to her laugh is so comforting. This afternoon we sat at the pool and just talked about life. The ups, the downs, and all about the optimistic road ahead. This girl has such a spirit to her, it's really great to be around it. Together, we are addicted to coffee, so naturally we had a coffee date at the good ol' Starbucks.
This summer has really been a blessing. The past school year was so hard on me, physically, mentally, I just wasn't myself and I've been struggling with a lot. God is telling me something. I know he is, I'm not sure what exactly, but He has really been using my loved ones to reach me.
Well,tomorow, we will have more blogging, but for now I have to get back to my sewing. sweatshop, sweatshop, sweatshop!

Take a Walk in My shoes

Good Morning! ( I don't like saying this in english.... it only makes me miss Germany all the bit more.) I just back from a morning walk with mom and the boys ( boys, as in, Kaedyn and Chandler.) We took them to Lapham Peak Park, which is one of the most beautiful areas we have here in Wisconsin. The weather is gorgeous, only 67 degrees and the sun is cheerful. :)

So I must apologize for how long this has been taking me to get back to writing my blog. I promise to pick up the pace again. Promise. I just got home a few days ago from my world-whin adventures. Well kind of, I came home from Europe nearly a month ago now ( tears.) But I haven't actually been home, in Wisconsin, for a good 2+ weeks. I left immediately for Savannah, GA and met up with the bride-to-be, Meghan. She, Liz and I had some great girl time- Meg's last few days of being single!!! We then escaped from the Savannah heat to a gorgeous resort in Palmetto, South Carolina. It was beautiful. Us girls stayed in the bridal suite Cottage for 3 nights. we were able to ride our bikes through all the nature, run down the long docks to watch dolphins and catch the midnight bonfires to make s'mores. It was the most beautiful, the most relaxing place I have been to. And Meghan was such a calm bride. Liz and I were freaking out more than her! The most adorable thing though, was after the first dance with her new husband, she came up to me fanning her face and tears of joy were just streaming down her face. She was like, "It's just hitting me! I'm MARRIED!"
It was a beautiful ceremony, held in a tiny little chapel at sunset, and the reception was wicked fun! To sum it up in a few, I dance from start to finish. Literally. I caught the bouquet! ( that was very unexpected.) And I kind of met someone, who coincidentally caught the garter ...

Then from Savannah, I was off to TEXAS! WHOOOO! State of Bush!! My new boy from Meg's wedding, Tyler, was so sweet and drove me to the airport at 4h30am! I had 4 connecting flights that were all getting delayed and switching routes, but miraculousy I still made it into Amarillo, TX at my original scheduled time of 2h30pm. Seeing Christian and Jackie was so great! My girl Christian was the next to get married, but first she played texas tour guide for me. She and her incredibly sweet friends Camille, and Toni, took us to see the famous summer musical of "TEXAS." it was wicked fun. We drove down into the Palo Duro Canyon ( 2nd greatest canyon next to the Grand Canyon) What better way to learn about the history of texas than through a musical!!! :)
IT really was a treat to see Christian again, and kind of emotional, not gonna lie. I just look up to her so much and I miss her terribly already. She graduated this past year, and now my best friend won't be with me in Savannah any more, she was about to walk down the aisle and start the next chapter in her life. She was just glowing through it all, and it was the most beautiful thing ever to see how much in love she and Brady are. Brady cried the moment he saw Christian in her white flowing gown. It was such a moving ceremony. She is still on her honeymoon, and I miss them so much! While she was off with her new hubby, I ran through Texas. the day after the wedding I had a lot of cookies and cupcakes to run off, so I ran for 2hrs. It was quite the adventure, and as you can imagine, the desserts of texas are quite hot- so I ran through some sprinklers :) It's what I do. And then Meagann (Christian's Sister-in-law) took me to The Amarillo Dilla's Minor League baseball game. We went with Opa, and Blake. We won, and there was a great fight on the field. :) After that, we went to the Cadillac Ranch, which if you get a moment you should research. This artist is a weirdo, but none-the-less, he is pretty interesting. He was protesting against cadillacs and so he bought like 12 cadillacs, all different models and buried them in the middle of a field. And he just leaves cans of spray paint out there for people to come and grafitti. So we did. There was also a lightening storm that night. Texas has the prettiest sky I have ever seen. Each night I'd just stare up at the stars, and you can literally see every constellation out there, because the skies are so open, no trees no clouds, you become one with the sky. :)

Then it was back to Wisconsin for me! Here I am. It's great being home, though I miss everyone and every place so much! My days have consisted of being aimlessly busy. I go running every day, walk the dogs every day, try to catch some friends here and there. Maud is back in Wisconsin! She and I went to the Brewers game earlier this week! That was fun. I hope to see her more, she lives really far away though, so it is difficult.
I am also working on lots of free-lance work. I'm trying to at least, but it is SOO UBER hard for me to get motivated to sew. Not much has been completed, rather, I jsut bike out to the lake to enjoy this summer sun and peace. ....I may bike out there again today and paint!! I'm uber excited about that, and not so much about my summer homework and freelance work...eh. Well, for now I should probably get back to work. Love you! Stay tuned, I promise to keep on top of this blog from here on out. :)

Les Deux Moulins

Lundi 6 July

Woke up nice and early today, not wanting to waste a moment of our Paris adventure. Though our hotel is in the red district, we still have the greatest location!! We climbed our way through the cobblestone alley-ways, up  and up and around each corner to find ourselves at an adorable and scrumptious boulangerie. Breakfast time! Cori ordered  a pan au chocolat, and I got two petite madeleines. MMMMIAM MIAM! ( how the french say yummy!)  So delicious. We nibbled our little delicasies till they were non-existent and by the time we were done, we found ourselves standing at the base of the Sacre Coeur, overlooking all of Paris. :)!!! It was beautiful! Gorgeous weather, an incredible view, and  some hot swedes that we past on our way down, always a plus :)

There was also this adorable little old man who was sitting on a bench feeding the pigeons, so I took a pix.... he wasn't at all happy about that, so we ran. We ran right into the textile district of Paris!! I did a little fabric shopping here and there and then after that Cori and I headed to our new favorite cafe ever, Les Deux Moulins, the cafe where Amelie took place and was filmed. And get this, it was only 4 blocks from our hotel!!! I ordered a Noisette cafe and Cori a Chocolat Chaud. It was delicious and so much fun. Probably the cutest little cafe I have ever found myself sitting at. And the greatest thing was, that they didn't really advertise the fact that it was the Amelie cafe, and the prices were so reasonable and the boire chauds were so delicious! After fueling up for our day, we continued on, walking all over paris. Literally walking everywhere, which Cori and I agree, is the best and only way to go about our adventures- you get to see and experience so much more! :) When the day sun was coming to an end, Cori and I headed to the Louvre for our own little  photoshoot, and then we took a ride on the ferris wheels to see all of Paris. A storm was rolling in, so the sky against all the Paris lights was gorgeous. We just walked and walked, and called it a night probably around 1am, we were wiped! But so worth it. Tomorrow we get to see MAUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the Road Again!!

Sonntag 5 July

Cori and i were up till...hmm.... about 4am. Well, Cori I actually think later. I "pulled a Cori," and passed out on her bedroom floor as she finalized everything for our trip to Paris. This morning we woke up around 7 and hit the road for Paris!!!! YEP! PARIS! The city of ... EVERYTHING! It was only a 5hr drive to reach the city, and a beautiful drive it was. I don't know if any car ride could ever beat the view of Europes country side. ... I think I fell asleep for some of this drive, yea, pretty sure. lol. Sorry Cori.  

Getting gas was our first stop in France. We both needed to use the lou, fill up the tank, scrape off all the bug guts from the windshield and place our feet on french soil.

We had a few more hours to go in the car, and the excitement was just building up. We kept driving, passing through several tolls, and taking in all the beautiful scenery.

FINALLY- we made it!  We made it to Paris, the architecture was amazing, the air was crisp, and the streets were practically paved in gold. We were immediately in love. 

Cori did such a great job handling the hectic Paris traffic- 10 pts for her. :) We drove to the heart of the city, kind of freaked out a bit when we passed Le Tour Eiffel, and then we continued to drive further into the heart of the city. We needed to find our hotel/hostel for the night before we went exploring. It was so hot outside! And no where in Paris is there free parking- haha, as was explained to us on several accounts from the locals. We found a few hotels and checked them out- their prices per night were much higher than what they listed on line. blah. so we decided to park the car and just walk around till we found a place. We checked out some places that were ...yea.... disgusting. You know the Wisconsin Dells/ northern howling wolf print, that for some reason is quite big in the midwest, yep, well that was the blanket for one of the hotels that was just thrown over the tiny twin size bed that was maybe 1.5 feet wide and 4.5 feet long. Haha. We only needed a place to get a few hours of sleep a night at, but still... this was gross. And it was located in the middle of an alley. We continued looking.

 We settled on the Tim Hotel, where a really hot italian stallion worked as our concierge. He offered us two nights for 150 9 which was basically giving us one night free....and he was hot.) We had a room! We signed in, got our key, then found a parking garage for only 15 euros a day, man gave us a deal, and allowed us 3 days for 30 euros! I owe all this credit to Cori for finding this space. We grabbed our uber stuffed backpacks and caught the next metro back to Pigalle (AKA, sex ave. because were right in the red district. Directly across from Le Moulin Rouge) where our hotel was located, dropped off our stuff and then began our exploring. We walked everywhere. Found ourselves at the Eiffel Tower for our first meal all day, a real french bagette, a bottle of cheap wine that didn't open, an awesome apple, and some cheese. we found a grassy patch and enjoyed our first meal in France. Some reallly good looking guys were playing frisbee and "accidentally"   threw the frisbee in our direction. They invited us to join them for dinner and open a bottle of wine. Cori, without thinking said "non-merci" and continued eating her cheese. .... I stared at her, jaw dropped, wishing she said "ah-bah-oui!" Haha. 

The warm evening sun was setting behind the Eiffel Tower, and it was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever been able to endure. After notre diner, we walked our way to the Seine River and overlooked all the boats passing by. There was a party going on next door, that Cori and I danced to.

The best part of our "Seine Experience," was when Cori was taking pictures with her artistic ways, and then everyone surrounding us began cheering and ooh-ing and aww-ing. She mumbled, "what, have they like never seen the Eiffel Tower before-" I tapped her arm and she turned around towards the Eiffel Tower, " WHOAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!" And she became your typical tourist for about 2 minutes, taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower, because they had turned the lights on and they were sparkling lights. I swear her "WHOA" was louder than everyones reaction combined. Hahah. It was so great. After that, we just walked all over Paris, up and down the Champs D'Elyses and almost went to the club to see Lady Gaga perform, but went back to the hotel around 2am and we both "pulled a Cori." Bonne Nuit Paris!

Day Dreaming

July 4th

So Cori and I went for a fantastic run! We ran here and there, and up and down, and found ourselves at the public swim area, where this weekends festivals were being held. Awesomeness happened! The water park was open and actually free swim for the public. WE HAD FOUND OUR WATER SOURCE!!!! Cori and I were sooooo uber happy! We ran around the park, bumped into some friends, got cheered on by some lil ones as we ran up the uber steep hill, almost fell down the hill ( haha) and then around the lakes. It was so much fun, and it was so beautiful! We had been there the night before for the festival, so it was cool to see it in the hot summer sun.  After our run, we made our way back to the swimming grounds, stripped down to our swim suits and jumped into the water. I don"t even know how to tell you just how refreshing that water was. And it was free! We swam laps up and down the pool- man is Cori a fast swimmer! And then we went to the water slides and that was so great! SO SO SO much fun. We spent so many hours there, just swimming, and then lying on top of the hill listening to the bands practice for later that night.  

Cori and I were so excited that we ran to the festival grounds, and all Cori kept saying, was, "my dream came true! my dream came true!" All day she had been talking about just jumping in some sort of water, and today she go to jump into the greatest water ever!

After our relaxing on the hill, we ran back home, showered up, and then got ready for the nights events.

It's the 4th of July!! Time to celebrate!!! We gathered up the troops and headed back to the festival grounds with a blanket at hand and sat on the beach to watch the fireworks go off. It was so cool! Their fireworks were so beautiful and entertaining. They actually played classcical music with them, and everything was synced together- really neat way of doing it. Cori is hands down the best person to see fireworks with (by the way,) she was so excited to see each one shoot up into the air and then explode! :) We hung out at the festival for quite some time, and ran into Carla  and Christine ( Cori's awesome sister and friend,) and  just made our way around the grounds, singing and dancing and taking the night in.  I love germany.

It truly was a great day! I forgot to mention what I did earlier. I woke up pretty early, after a late night at the festivals last night, to go and see Max's Tennis match. I was so excited to go and see him play! I know tennis means a lot to him, so it meant a lot to me, that he let me come see him :) It was so cute because Felix and Mrs. Hartmann were telling me how much Dad had worked with Max on his serve while Max was in the U.S. I remember how much time the two of them spent together, it was really cool, and they would always go to play a match or two of tennis together. It was just nice, and felt like home being there with him. The sun was hot and shining, though rain clouds were pushing forward, Felix, Mrs.Hartmann and I, enjoyed a cup of tea as Max played his matches. He was really good! I had never been to a tennis match before, and I really like it, I also liked having a little brother to cheer on :) Max won his matches (of course,) !!!

Happy Birthday to the U.S. of A!!

yogging

hello my loves! I apologize for slacking again. I promise to catch you all up again soon... like tonight when cori is asleep again. haha. but for now I'm going to go running again, and Cori is coming too!!!! YAY!! we are running in our bathing suits in hopes of finding a hidden source to jump in and go swimming becaus Deutschland is HEATING UP!!!! Ciao for now!

Schlaff Güt!

Ciao! So it's approaching 2am here. I feel awful, because I went for a run not too long ago and Cori and I were going to have this amazing movie night, complete with The Office, and lots of chocolate! ..But I was on the phone, and now she is asleep...(sorry my love, sweet dreams!)
I love it here so much, I don't want to waste a single moment, so I'm often up early and to bed late.'Late at night when the house is sleeping and I go sit on the balcony and stare up at the night sky. I know this is one of the lamest things to say, but I think that the stars are the most beautiful thing we have, because no matter the distance, we all share their light- it brings us together. I love how here in Frankenthal, I am living in a city, and get to enjoy the city life, but once the sun falls, I feel like I'm back home in the country. Everything is quiet and still. I know my time abroad is quickly coming to an end, and I get so upset just thinking about leaving here. I feel like I have finally found my niche. I don't want to go, I don't want to leave all this behind, all the people I've met, all the adventures I get. I miss Cori already and her ability to laugh through life and her Grandma, who bless her soul, is the sweetest woman and I can't understand a single syllabul she says. I miss the city lights and the mountains in the horizon, and the cherry trees, and apple trees, and vineyards that hug every street. I love it here, and I've never felt more comfortable than I do now. I don't want this trip to end.
Today Cori and I woke up at a decent hour and Philip picked us up and took me on yet another marvelous adventure. He and Cori had planned a day of exploring in Heidelberg, Germany. Such a beautiful town with an emmaculate castle residing atop the hill. We went through the castle on a little self-guided tour and got lost in the beautiful view. It started to pour while we were there, and naturally we didn't think to bring an umbrella. But the rain only made the colors of the forests more vibrant. We then headed down the hill into town, and it was so beautiful! A very inspiring place to be, with views of the mountains through every alley-way, and streets lined with adorable cafe's. Apparently a great deal of Americans livehere because of the army base near by, so I had lots of 'tourist opportunities.'It was such a treat to spend the day with Cori and Philipp ( who by the way are just an incredible couple together- Cori, you have all of my approval for this bloke. :) ) They really did give me such a wonderful day, and have been since my arrival.
After we got back from a day in Heidelberg, Cori played mom, and dropped me off at Max's for a play date. It was so much fun! I love being with my brothers! Max, Felix, and I played a match of soccer, then played pass with the football for a bit, and after that we headed out to the fields and played some baseball. Max and Felix really love baseball, and they have gotten quite good! Max was playing so well, and was hitting the ball so hard, that he split it! We were all really impressed, and on that note, had to end the game because it was the only ball we had. Haha. So we treated ourselves to some 'eis,' (ice cream) and just walked around the neighborhood for a bit. I really want Max to come back home with me. I miss hanging out with him, and playing soccer and all that. Its so nice having him so close by. Today; I was at his school for 5-10 minutes and he met me in the courtyard just to hang out for a while. It's so nice seeing him and laughing about stories from when he was home in th US. Oh my gosh, and his jokes! They are so bad that they are HILARIOUS! I love it! Every bit of it!
I'm working on getting myself to Stockholm, but from the looks of it, I fear that it won't be able to happen :( But Cori and I are for sure headed to Paris in just a few days here! VRAIMENT!! we are thinking of driving and splitting the gas, it's looking to be much cheaper than a flight or train-oddly enough. YAY for road trip number 2!! We are planning on leaving saturday through tuesday, just enough time to soak up that french air :) oh man, I can't wait to have cup of coffee in a paris cafe. mmmmm. Can I just say, coffee in Europe, is SOOO much better than anything I've ever had back in the states. So delicious! Even the crappiest cup from mcdonalds or even a gastation is exquisite- kid you not, the gas stations actually have cafe's within them and barista's working to prepare it for you. It's incredible here. I love it. Love love love, LOVE IT!
Well, I should probably be signing off here in just a bit and get some sleep. I think tomorrow I'll go to the movies with Max and Felix while Cori works ( she works at the theatre so it'll be good. :) Ok. Schlaf GÜT my loves, and I will be writing you tomororow. Ciao for now!

Summer in The City

1h23am here, and Cori is snoring SOOOO loud (that was for you Cori.) We only got home about 30 minutes ago from Franci's apartment. So fun! Oh my gosh. We played with the kids and made home made pizza which was zuppah! And we laughed-- A LOT! So many laughs, It was great. Earlier tonight there was, what we thought would be a huge storm and really wasn't, and we ate out on the balcony of their apartment over-looking all of Mannheim and the neighboring cities. It was absolutely beautiful. Such a great view! I could spend hours overlooking the city :)
Earlier in the day, I went running and showered as usual and then Cori and I caught the train into the city, and sat right next to Lenny Cravitz!!!! We spent the whole day walking around downtown and peeking into stores here and there. And today was so hot that we caved in and grabbed a scoop of gelato---yum! And it's only 1€ here! AWESOME BLOSSOM! As we were enjoying our gelato, we stumbled across this hidden fabric store ( well, i say hidden only because we hadn't noticed it before and I feel like adding some drama to this piece, hah) but it was tucked on the corner of a street on the second floor. We walked up there, honestly I was expecting crappy quilting fabric, but to both of our surprises, there was so much! I got a lot of great fabrics- A lot! I literally went pale in the face, and a bit nauseaus as I handed the vendor my cash. THe sad thing is, I know that this isn't even half the fabric I need. :( Gah.But it's beautiful and german, and no one else will have it. I spent so much time up there in my little fabric heaven, poor Cori, what a sport. There was literally no air ventillation up there what-so-ever. They closed the windows the second we got up there. crazy I'll tell ya. But 'yay' for fabric! It is always such a challenge to find.

Yesterday was another really hot day out so we went over to a friend of Philips to go swimming. It was a really nice fun, and über lazy day that we all thouroughly enjoyed. I kinda got tan again.. geil. and Cori over here, well she is now black! ( sense the jealousy... just a lil. bit.) After that we went to Vapiano's for some dinner. Delicious salate, if I do say so myself and a 'gross' (german for huge) handful of haribou gummy bears. I must say, it truly is wonderful living in a country where gummy bears are free! :) Then we went back to Philips to watch a film for our what night Cori? ( all Cori was singing was this, ' we're gonna have a movie night. we're gonna do it right. We're gonna have a movie night...and so on.) yep, I crashed within the first 5 min of the film, I think Cori made it maybe 10...don't know though.

Right now I#m looking into my flights to Stockholm and Paris. Fingers crossed I#ll be able to make it into Stockholm, I so badly want to see Vinny my Svede. And Karin too, but she is actually headed to Denmark in just a few hours here. fingers crossed that I can still get out there!!! Cori and I are for sure traveling to Paris though, to stay with Maud for a few days which will truly be a blast :) can't wait to see that lil frenchie of ours.

Well, I best be signing off here shortly, seeing that it is nearly 2am and I am waking up in just a few hours to go running. I'm going to try and make it to the gymnasium to visit Max before school starts and then from there Cori and Philip are taking me on a German roadtrip/adventure!! Not gonna lie, I'mpretty pumped for this. So Ciao for now!
xoxo,
Kit

Nothing but a Set of Wheels

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in my entries here. Wed. Morning Cori and I woke up bright and early to roller blade over to school and see Max. It was so great seeing him! We went over to the local markt and grabbed a coffee and the others, some "brot." Yumm! Before Max had to leave for class, I got to see Felix (Max' Brother,) walking to school with his guitar at hand, which was pretty much bigger than him. :) It was great seeing both of my "brothers," and it was so great too because they were both wearing their wisconsin shirts! :) YAY! Once the boys headed off to class, Cori and I picked Sebastion up, and our road trip began!
We drove to Strasburg, France ( 1h20m away) and it was beautiful! Strasburg was an amazing way to spend the day. Though I didn't find fabric, I did however find myself some buttons and notions quite cheap. It was so great being able to speak french. It felt right, and natural- we even went to the flea markets there and I bargained so much--arguing in french, does it get any better?! Haha. The three of us had so much fun and once we got in the car, we decided that we didn't really want the trip to end, so we drove all the way to Genova, Italy!!!!!!!! Crazy, right?! It was the best trip ever! Before we got on the road, we ran into the super markt and grabbed toothpaste,tooth brushes, water, shampoo, and apples, and then across the street we bought swim suits for about $8, and that was all we had, and all we needed for our adventure! I'd have to say that that night was incredible. The rush we all had from not only spending the day in France, but to spiratically get in the car and drive to an entirely different country-- priceless.
As soon as we crossed the border into Swizzerland, The trip really began. It was really late when we arrived so we couldn't exactly see the Alps, more or less the silhouettes of them, but that didn't matter because the stores were out. It felt incredible to be so close to the stars! They were so big and bright and thousands- the most I've ever seen. I think that this was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and the most peaceful feeling I've ever experienced. :)
Driving through the alps was really fun, because it was like riding a roller coaster with the twisting roads up and down and then up again.
Driving was divided between Cori and Sebastion, I wish I could have helped, The most I could offer was to stay awake for the driver just to keep them awake... the closer we got to Italy, the harder that was. But Cori made sure that I was able to see the sunrise through the Alps-- zer shon! Breathtaking.
We finally reached our destination of Genova, Italy at about 5h30am and headed straight to the beach. We spent only and hour or 2 there exploring the city, and then it was back in the car to find a better stopping point. We drove in and out of the most beautiful hills, with clustered villages here and there- all very unique and colorful. The amount of bridges we'd crossed, and tunnels we went through, I could even tell you but only made the road trip more fun because we never knew what we'd find on the other end of the tunnel. By about 10ham, we found a great stopping point in Rapollo, Italy. SO beautiful. We brushed our teeth on the rocks of the Mediterranean Sea (pretty sure that's not allowed) but we did it anyways. And then we just sat there on the rocks, watching the sun reach it's final height, and hear the crashing waves. The three of us just stayed there for some time journaling and sketching, trying to capture everything about this spot so that we'd never forget. And when the time had come, we piled back into the car and headed for an even better beach. It took us a while, but we finally found the most beautiful town ever, none of us know the name of it, but it was paradise! We spent the whole day here, lying in the sand, swimming to the rocks, and soaking up the italian sun. -- Which, I must say, was incredible... yes I got a slight burn, but I GOT TAN! All three of us got the best tans of our lives! ( so basically, I finally have the pigment of a normal person,haha.) Oh, and because we had been on the road for a couple of days, we really really wanted to shower. So we did, not in the sea, but at this little "rinse-off" shower on the beach. Yea, this isn't exactly allowed, and in fact, we got yelled at by some italian woman, but we showered anyways and thoroughly enjoyed it. By the way, no one in Italy speaks english! Which is awesome, it only made our adventure that much more exciting. But we went to grab some real italian gelato (my very first gelato ever- I can now cross this off my list of things to do before I die, Gelato in Italy,) but ordering it was quite the laugh. It was sooo good. Cori and I split a banana split gelato. Yum! A storm was rolling in and we wanted to see some other places, so by late night we decided to drive up to Milano and then spend the day there the next day. We pulled into Milano around 8pm and then went exploring, grabbed a croissant for dinner and watched the Brazil v. Africa soccer match that was projected onto a building for public viewing in the center of the city. It was so fun, and a huge community event. We all cheered on the steps of the cathedral, once the game was over we walked around some more until a huge storm came our way, in which case we had to catch the metro to make it back to our "hotel," a.k.a, the car. Cori's teeny-tiny little european car was our hotel for the night. Not too bad. We all slept relatively well that night, but who has time for sleep when in Milano!?! We woke up, grabbed a coffee and croissant and enjoyed breakfast at Tiffany's ( yep, I did this in NY, and now in Milano!) and then there was this fabric store just around the corner sandwiched in between Roberto Cavalli, and Prada, that I really wanted to have a look at. It looked really nice, and given it's location, it was. I stuffed my croissant in my purse and buzzed in. Now keep in mind, that I hadn't truly showered for days now, haven't changed my clothes at all, and I'm holding a cheap cup of mcdonals coffee in my hand that had spilled and I pushed the gold plated buzzer to go in, oh yea, and I don't speak italian. The door keeper allowed me in and showed me my way. I find out as soon as she opens the door, that this is an "appointment only" fabric distributer that sells haute couture fabrics, all hand made, but the woman allowed me to have a look. I explained to her that I'm working on a collection right now and that I'm very interested in their textiles, so she lead me down a long ever green hallway with gold accessories and guided me into a room. There was a long board room table made of mahogony and then she turned on the lights. It was just like the movies, one light coming on after the other highlighting each and every bolt of fabric. It was beautiful and heaven and incredibly expensive- the sale fabric was about 93 euros per meter. But she allowed me a sample and I was on my way. Gosh was that ever beautiful! I was so embarrassed about my appearrance, but at the same time, this was something I'll never forget. :)
We kept walking and walking, taking everything in, the people, the architecture, the culture, it was beautiful! And we stumbeled across this salon that looked tres tres chic, and Cori and I exchanged looks and walked in. We had talked about maybe getting our hair cut somewhere, but weren't too sure about doing in. This very itallian man who spoke no english at all told us that he would cut our hair for 20 euros. I said, alright, only in Milano once. and plus, not to mention, my hair would be washed!!!!! It was fun not really being able to communicate. I trusted him, I mean, aferall, he was an Itallian. All I said was that I trust you, and away he went. I loved it, it felt so refreshing and daring to not know what was going to happen. I wanted to go crazy short and different, but I had to keep in mind all the weddings this summer. Once I was all cut and styled I turned to Cori and said it was her turn. She was hesitant, but Sebastion and I talked her into it, and boy are we glad we did! She looks stunning!! Sebastin picked out a picture and we showed the hair stylist., so Cori didn't really know what she was getting. She looks so french, it's amazing! Love it! We heard on the radio as they were getting all italian with her hair that Michael Jackson had died.. that was random. and our hair dresser just looked at us and said "capute."
After exchaning many many "grazie's" we strutted our stuff on the streets of Milano with our new hair cuts. :) You only live once.
By this time, it was already half past 3, and we needed to head back to the land of Deutcsh. So we drove some more through Italy and then up and down and in and out of the Swiss Alps once more. So beautiful. I wish Switzerland could be a fashion capitol, because I would really love to live there. I've never breathed such fresh air, and I've never experienced such beauty. By 6pm or so, we sopped in Basel, Switzerland... a special stop for me. On my list of things to do before I die, I really wanted to have a cup of hot cocoa in the Swiss Alps, and that's just what we did. It was awesome, and delicious, and I'm so going to do that again! They prepared the glass for us, steamed and frothed the milk, and then they brought out shot glasses of powdered swiss cocoa so that we would make it ourselves which was even better. :) I'm checking off so much from my list, I love it! After our swiss break, we were headed back for Frankenthal, Germany. We made it home by 1am, still with a high from our adventures. We couldn't believe we did it! Everything, we actually road tripped through europe and saw the things we saw, and did evertyhing that we did. What an adventure, and stories that will never die. :)

Saturday Was Silke's birthday, so miss Corrinna and I went over to her place to have a breakfast brunch and I got to meet all of Cori's friends. We played cards and laughed as we sipped away our coffee's. It was so much fun. And they have a friend who's name is Dominique, and for short they call hime "Dome," so me beign the american that I am, every time it was his turn or what not I would sing "domo arragoto, mr. roboto. domo....domo." and it was funny. haha. But then it got even funnier when finally, Dominique asked what I was saying, and I was like, you know that really awful famous song from the 80's..... yea. Apparently this song never made it to germany. Haha. So I was just laughing myself to tears. Finally the group You-tubed it and now laugh equally as hard as me. haha.

Later that night, us girls got all dressed up and went to a fashion show and the Mannheim University. It was so fun! We then went to the theatre of Mannheim where there was a festival going on and an AWFUL band playing. So bad, that it was so great! Haha, lots of the crowd were german, and drinking a good amount, I hadn't one sip and I pretty much danced my heart out more than anyone else in that room. The musik sucked, so I had to make it better! Haha, and I did, and then I rocked out witha few strangers, and bumped into this really really old creepy cross-dressing guy, who i watched walk into the ladies room, but I can assure you, this was no lady. haha. And that was my night. Pretty sweet.

And yesterday, the 28th, I spent the entire day with Max and his family. It was so UBER fun! They took me this castle, with the most beautiful view overlooking the Rheins. There are 300 castles in the Rhein vallies and this is the only one that is still in perfect condition, and it really was perfect. We took a german tour, and Max was the best tour guide ever. He translated everything for me, and made it funny. Gotta love that boy, and his jokes! haha. So bad, but so good. Oh and we had to run all the way back down to grab "dad's" camera from the car and it was a pretty steep climb. On our way down we passed this little boy, no older than 5yrs. and he was panting his way up the top and actually stopped on a step for a break. As he hurls over panting I look at him and say, "don't worry buddy! You're almost there! You can do it!" and this kid looked so confused and quite scared when he turned to me and said, "Vas?!" Max and I laughed soo hard. Max's english was so good that even though I knew I was in Germany, I felt like we were back home and speaking enlgish so it had never crossed my mind that this little tyke would have no idea what I said. Haha.
We then drove to Binge and the Hartmanns took me to this huge monument. We hiked all the way up and all the way down. It was so fun. I had so much fun racing up and running around with Max. We got to catch up so much, and we are trying to figure out a time that would be good for him to come back to the U.S. We all miss him so much, and really wants to come back! :) He's a really awesome brother :) We spent the entire day here, and it was so beautiful! The vineyards covered every piece of land, and at teh end of the day "mom," ( mrs. Hartmann,) and I had a glass of white wine that was made right there, right from the vineyards across the river that we had just hiked through. :) What a cool experience. I had so much fun with them and I can't wait to see them again. They are such a generous family and funny and their english is incredible! I didn't even have to speak german, and though I would love to, the little bit that I did speak, Mrs.Hartmann asked if I had studied it because I spoke it well. GEIL!!! Hearing things like that are such a compliment. I love it! I love love love languages, and I want to learn them all!
Alright my loved ones, This is going on to a novel, and my computer is dieing, so this entry must come to an end. I don't know all that we have planned for today, but the sun is shining and Cori and I are ready for yet another adventure! Ciao!

Found Myself in German Cafe

Hallo. It's now approaching 2am here in the lovely Frankenthal city. Cori and I are just winding down from yet another day of adventures. we spent a good majority of our time at the Mannheim ticket counter trying to finalize our backpacking trip. we have finally figured everything out, and will actually be flying everywhere since its cheaper and lends us more time for exploring. We leave tuesday for Stockholm (!!!!!) and will be there visiting Vinny and Karin for a few days and then fly from stockholm to london (another"!!!") and from london to paris to visit our favourite frenchy Maud! we couldn't be more excited for our trips. We are traveling with no more than a back pack! Can you believe this? I can't! I just, I can't beleive that I'm here, and living my dream, and I get to do it with my best friend! :)
Being here in Europe, just feels so right. I know that this is where I'm meant to be, I just know and it makes me so happy. I don't even know how to explain it, but when I first came to europe, back when I was 14, I remember walking the streets of Paris, and just knew that that was my walk of life. I know it's odd and sounds stupid to go off on such a tangeant, but I just feel like I'm being called here. The people are incredible, the way of living couldn't be more my style, and I just feel like my true self here. I can be whoever I want, I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, I can dress how I feel, the culture is incredible, and life is a much simpler style than in the states. The old mixed with the new, and not to mention, I get to speak different languages. I can speak english, french, swedish, ...working on the german, and hopefully more to come soon. I just never want to stop learning other languages ( speaking of foreign languages, Cori is giggling up a storm here as she is on facebook, because she just turned her language to pirate-english. haha.) anyways.... what was I saying. Oh yea, I love it here :)
Tonight Cori and I decided to have an easy going night, and it couldn't have been more perfect. we went to the most amazing cafe haus aroud 9pm, and sang our hearts out to a Regina Spektor song for some strangers who truly enjoyed our performance. Haha, we love to entertain ourselves and in return entertain others :)
This cafe is so unique and I have to say it is my favorite cafe in the ENTIRE world (thus far). It used to be an old fire station and the architecture of this building is so incredible, and the character it has is so inspiring. We went to go and journal. I was working on some sketches for my collection and Cori was writing her list of things to do before she dies. As she was listing her things, we realized even more how similar we are, because just about everything she named off, is apart of my list. Our friends out here, Sebastion and Sari, were telling us how scary our similarities are. We laughed about everything and played a german board game that was uber fun (- the german won.) Time passed quickly but was quite the treat- we enjoyed our drinks and laughed our hearts out till 1am. :)
Well, I should probably be going to bed soon. Cori and I are going to skate to the high school and visit Max before class starts and then from there we are driving up to France ( Straussburg) to go fabric shopping, and Sebastion is coming too!!! Can't wait! Wish me luck on finding some incredible things. I love you and miss you all! I really wish you were here! xoxo!