Köln Time

Work was very productive Friday (24 Aug) as we only have a handful of days left of work, so I was feeling the pressure to get my last project done so I can start on a presentation I have to give to upper management about what I've been working on these past few months in Germany. But with a little miracle, I was able to finish my project in time for me to catch the train to the central station so I could head off into the sunset to Köln to spend the weekend with Marijn & Lukas. I know we just hung out in the Netherlands, but let me just say, I love these guys. There is so much love and sillyness between us, and they always take care of me, so I never have to worry about a thing.

Anyways. I got to Köln a little late due to the train...plus, I wasn't able to do any work as I was planning, because when I had my computer out on the train, my mind was blank. So i just listened to my iPod till I got there. As soon as I got off the train, my first thought was "dang, we didn't decided where we were going to meet", so I started walking and luckily I looked down the stairs and saw them immediately. YAY! It took us a while to get out because somebody was having problems figuring out where the exit was and ignoring where the crowd was going. lolz.

Lukas, me, and Marijn. How can you not love them with faces like these?

Marijn got to Köln earlier that day but we all me up so Lukas could take us home. He had prepared dinner for us, but kicked me & Marijn out of the kitchen to finish cooking so it would be a surprise. It was! It was soooo good. He made yummy food, and even though it wasn't a bake, it was great :) We cleaned up, and i must say, Lukas has a sweet flat. it's very nicely decorate. They decided to tell me that Marijn didn't want to do anything super touristy on Saturday since he's already been to Köln, so they decided we should go to the zoo. I love the zoo. and I love the fact that Lukas found a theme song for our  trip to the zoo!

So we relaxed for a bit before going out for the night. It was so fun to be able to speak in Spanglish again. (spanglish is my favorite language!)There were a couple of places to go and when they asked where i wanted to go, my response was "ME-XI-COOOO!!!!" So we went to a Mexican place as it started to lightly drizzle. We sat under a tree only to decide to move under the patio, which was a brilliant idea. Because shortly after, it started to POUR and become super windy. It was there that I learned "Sour Makes Funny" as Germans say. because I had a very bitter lime drink. after all the rain subsided, we went to a Russian place, where I got a nice nonalcoholic cocktail called...THE COMMUNIST YOUTH!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! As much as I'm not a big fan of communism, the name is wicked brilliant! We stayed out until I started to get super ridiculous from being so tired and almost falling asleep.

So this is a sign at the zoo. Is it just me,
or do you see this and think that a big bird
is going to steal  baby?

Saturday morning started off beautifully to a impromptu dance party thanks to a forever classic S Club 7 song I always had stuck in my head back in Spain, Bring it All Back. It was awesome! Lukas made us a yummy late breakfast and we went off for the day. We went up the KölnTriangle Observation deck for a beautiful 360-degree view of the city, without having to climb tons of stairs. (elevators are a blessing). We then walked across Hohenzollernbrücke railway bridge, where people put locks on the bridge as symbols of love. It's a beautiful site :) And we even found that someone put one up for me and lukas. and marijn found out that his girlfriend has cheated on him twice ;) lolz. We then headed to the zoo and loved seeing all the animals and i loved that they have a raccoon in the Köln Zoo. A RACCOON! Brilliant! Also, we found out that an hour and a half before we got to the zoo, a tiger had killed a zoo worker and had was shot during it's daring escape. What are the odds? We had a lovely day at the zoo and went to a brewery so we could try some raw meat. Mettbrötchen; it's a German thing where you eat raw meat on bread. It didn't kill me. YAY! Then we got Marijn fed with a kebab while we sat along the Rhine River, people watching and singing songs. Then we had to say goodbye. It was soooooo sad. Hopefully it won't be another 3 years before we get to hang out. I'm already trying promising him super cool things when he comes to visit in Texas, like BBQ! Yum Yum. As we said goodbye to him at the train station, Lukas and I stayed till it left and made funny signals through the windows. we waved handkerchiefs in farewell and the train pulled out and we declared our love for Marijn in the most dramatic way possible :) Then the real party began. JUST KIDDING! We went down the shopping street, and in one store the new Adidas type store, there was a cardigan and i was saying it was for girls and lukas thought it was for boys and we were arguing until a worker informed us it was for boys. i pity the boy that is seen in that cardigan. We went to a resturant next to St. Anton's church called...Stanton. haha. it's combined! get it? it was nice until I was so full I couldnt eat anymore. Lukas told me I had to finish all my plate or there would be bad weather the next day. I didn't believe in his superstition. (btw. it rained and was super windy the next day, aka, sunday). We went to a beach bar on top of the roof of a parking garage afterwards, where there was a gorgeous view of the city at night. I loved it. and the Cologne Cathedral looked wonderful. It was cold though, so we walked a bit before heading in for the night.

 Sunday morning was another great breakfast after sleeping in much later. I also got to look at the pictures to the book of the most random facts about Köln. It explained why there is a giant upside-down ice cream cone on the top of a random building, and explained about the statue of a man poo-ing on the side of a building 4 stories high. It was pretty epic. So we took of to do all the sightseeing we weren't allowed to do with Marijn. We had a jolly-good day as we were singing throughout the day and enjoying ourselves. One thing I discovered was people are just very chatty with Lukas. We would be at a site, and just randomly start talking to Lukas. Por ejemplo, at the Tünnes and Schäl statues, we were taking a pic and then some random couple started talking to us and led us to a Carnival memorial. Then we were looking at a flood memorial and some guy started telling us about how Neil Armstrong died. Sad. Except Lukas is so clever, he found out this morning. We went to the Köln Cathedral, but there was a service going on then and throughout the afternoon.
We went to a great pastry place for a snack and it was sooo pretty! And the guy behind the counter spoke spanish, so I could understand him and chat with him. There was a point during our pastry time that he asked me in Spanish if everything was alright and I responded in german. haha. then i realized what i did and responded in Spanish. We then wandered to see the Circus in the Park, but i guess because of the weather, it was cancelled. it was pretty windy. So we played on the bench swing for a bit and then went on a walk in the park where there was a tall stump that had been cut. Lukas joked that I should climb in and then made me do it! I had to literally climb on his shoulders. I was so scared I would be blown off and it only got worse as Lukas climbed up too. So we were about 8 feet in the air on a tree stump with about a 1-foot diameter. I don't know how we fit. I thought I was going to fall off. Lukas helped me down, and i'm pretty sure it took about 5 minutes after for my heart rate to get back to normal. We walked to the Kölner Seilbahn (Cable Car for Cologne), which is the safest mode of transportation in Köln. And went over the Rhine River and down to the Rheinpark to see the pacifier tree, where people put a baby's pacifier on there when the child is done with it. It was kinda awesome. Our time was coming to a close, and we went to get my luggage and Lukas and Lukas lost it as we were eating. It was good we weren't in an airport where my left luggage would have been destroyed. Luckily, it was all good. Some guy at the train station thought we were lost and offered to help until he realized that Lukas was German. Lolz. The cars of the train were confuzzled, so I was nervous I wouldn't find my spot, but I sat down and looked out the window to see Lukas acting super sad over my leaving and dramatically saying goodbye. I love my friends. I think the saddest part was when Lukas told me,  "I'm going to miss having someone to sing with" ich auch, lukas. ich auch.  

The train ride back was pretty uneventful. I read one of the books I bought at the Stansted Aiport in London on sale. #win. It is a murder mystery. the first one i've ever read. I don't think i'm made for murder mysteries. i'm pretty sure i already know who did it, and so all the little details are what i need to know, but it takes forever! i guess the story isn't moving quickly enough, but i'm trying not to finish it so i can have an english book to read on the plane back to america on thursday. 

#YOLO

Foreword: YOLO = You Only Live Once. Please note that the use of "YOLO" in this blog post is meant in a manner of making fun of everyone who uses the word.  #YOLO

Warning: This is going to be a long post. You may want to get some snacks and water, because you'll need to stay hydrated.

Kevin, Me & Lindsay at Ammersee

So last Tuesday (14 Aug), Lindsay and I were coming home from the Augustiner, both tired and excited for the holiday the next day. That's right. Wednesday = holiday. So we were grabbing our keys out of our bags on the U-Bahn, only for Lindsay to realize...she had no keys. She had left them in her room and was locked out (this is the 3rd time this has happened). Every problem has a solution, so I gave lindsay a pair of my shorts and she discovered my couch has a fold out bed that's bigger than my current bed. #storyofmylife. Anyways, Lindsay was upset, and to make it better, we watched a couple episodes of Suits and skyped with Elo for a bit.

Wednesday morning, Lindsay was able to call the apartment office for them to come by and bring her keys. We got ready for the day...and went back to Puchheim (where we work) for our day off. haha. So we met up with Siv and when to her flat, which was SO CUTE! It was so awesome, and she decorated it herself. We made some risotto. It was kinda awesome. I cut up the mushrooms. Best cut mushrooms ever! We had a nice lunch and then Kevin came over to pick us up in his...wait for it....MUSTANG! So we were driving through Germany in a nice red Mustang. It was epic. We drove to the lake, Ammersee. The water was a little chilly, but the weather was a perfect temperature to balance it out. We swam, paddle boated, and ate a fish (with the head and eyes staring at you!). Then we went to Dachau to eat dinner and then toured the beautiful town of Fürstenfeldbruck. What a wonderful town! (shout out to Kevin!) It felt funny riding shotgun in a Ford Mustang going 100+mph listening to rap. Haha.

Last week I was also on a Radio Disney roll. I've been switching through different online music streaming websites, and I was so annoyed that all the music kept on cursing at me, so I decided I wanted something nice. So I turned to good ole fashion Disney to save the day. But after a few days, the music got super repetitive. But now I've found a new station with good music, so I'm happy.

I was at home on Thursday when the maids came to clean my room. I let them in, and one of the guys kept on trying to talk to me, so I talked back. He spoke in German, and I answered in English. It was a little difficult at time, but the funniest part was when I was able to explain to him that I don't smoke shisha because it's tobacco and tobacco is bad. We had a lot of fun in the 15 minutes he was in my room. We talked politics, life, and what we were doing in Germany. He was Iranian and AWESOME! My room also was cleaned more thoroughly than it ever had been before. That night, I fed the Sister Missionaries. It was so much fun! Jamie & Lindsay came over for dinner. I went to the Italian restaurant next door to get some pizzas and made some spaghetti, and Jaime brought some salad. The sisters brought dessert. It said it needed to go into the oven, but I dont have an oven in my room.  So I thought it was an already cooked apfelstrudel that just needed to be heated to be crisp, so i said we just put it in the microwave....turns out it wasn't pre-cooked. It was raw. So we did plan B....we cut it in half and got two skillet pans and cooked it over the stove. it was pretty creative. (I've been playing with my food a lot recently and my theory is that it's the sign of a creative mind. #fact)

Friday after work, Lindsay, Siv, and I went to Kempten for a festival. The best part...DIRNDLS!!!! (Definition of a dirndl: traditional Bavarian dress worn at festivals and other days you want to look smokin' hott) I was told on a tour that dirndls were the best because they emphasis all the good parts and hide all the bad parts. #testify. Since Lindsay and I do not have dirndls, Petra let us borrow hers. It fit really well on me...Lindsay's was a little big on top. Lolz. Granted, I'm not big on cleavage, so it was quite a feat that I was modest in the dirndl. It was cool because I did not see any dirndls that were exactly the same. Everyone looked unique. We have also decided lederhosen are super hott! And at this festival were beautiful dirndls, hott guys in lederhosen, good food, and great company galore. It was a really good night, even after meeting Diva-Lindsay on the journey home and having to pack after getting home and not going to bed till super late.

Petra's 2 friends...Petra, Lindsay, Me & Siv

I woke up after 5.5 hours of sleep, and to be honest, I was worried I wouldn't wake up to my alarm. So I got up and flew to Gatwick and got into London a little later than I anticipated. My original plan was to do the HP Studio Tour, but of course, this was the one Saturday it was closed. So I went and got a ticket for Les Miserables. My favourite play in the entire world. Now I must put a disclaimer, this will be the 4th time I've seen this play, and I remember loving it, but when I saw it this time, I fell in love all over again. Within the first few minutes, I was in tears over the beauty of the music and the power of the actors' voices. The emotions the play invoked were so powerful and wonderful. I was able to compose myself for a few moments, but when the Bishop came on the stage and showed such Christ-like love to the broken Jean Valjean saying:

"Come in sir for you are weary
And the night is cold out there
Though our lives are humble,
What we have we have to share"...I lost it again.

Then Valjean is brought back after stealing from the bishop, but the bishop pardons him and says:

"But remember this, my brother
See in this some higher plan,
You must use this precious silver
To become an honest man
By the witness of the martyrs
By the Passion and the Blood
God has raised you out of darkness
I have bought your soul for God"

Oh, the play just testified to my heart the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can all change, repent, and be forgiven. For the rest of the play Valjean is working towards redemption and peace for his past crimes. There was Javert the entire time fighting against Valjean and his change, but Valjean endured and faced each trial with love and faith. I never realized how much the play focused on faith, and it touched my soul. I'm pretty sure that all my crying scared the guy sitting next to me because after intermission, he moved a seat over to be away from me. haha. Another wonderful thing about the play was... when I was 11, I saw my first play ever, The Phantom of the Opera, and it was in London. From that moment on, my mom made sure we had a tradition of whenever we saw a play in London, we would get ice cream during intermission. I am proud to say, I honored my family and our traditions by eating a yummy ice cream during intermission. :) After the play I went to Kate and Rachel's, where Kate and I hung out for the night partying (aka chatting it up!).

Sunday, I ruined an adorable moment between Rachel and (at the time, her fiancee) Ben, when he or she, I can't remember, said "the next time I see you we'll be getting married". I couldn't contain my "awwwww" and then felt bad I ruined their moment and went to the kitchen after apologizing. We had lunch with Kate's family. Rachel has 2 adorable little cousins who I got to hang out with during the wedding. Rachel and I went to run some late minute errands for the wedding and bake the rest of the night.

 On Monday...aka the WEDDING DAY!...I woke up and saw Rachel eating breakfast in the chair watching The Prince of Persia. Now I haven't hung out with many brides on their wedding day or the days leading up to the wedding day, but I'm pretty sure Rachel is the calmest bride ever. It was great. The wedding was in the Hedingham Castle. I arrived with Rachel's aunts, and we got there just a little later than expected, so we had about 10 minutes to walk from the car park up the little hill to get to the castle...plus we still needed to change. I ran into the forest area and had to change into my tight dress behind a tree. I ended up forgetting to change into my ankle boots I brought for the wedding :( and didn't remember to put my lip gloss into my purse. #timesarehard. The wedding was gorgeous. Words cannot describe how happy I was to see them get married, as soon as Rachel came out and the ceremony started, I... surprise, surprise...cried. Totally worth it. The reception was great. I was chatting with the DJ during the reception and he thought it was great that I was from Texas and decided he needed to play a line-dancing song for me. He played Cotton-Eyed Joe. (please click on that link so you know what I'm talking about and can see the dance). Now most people probably aren't as mentally scared as I am from that song, but it brought back memories of bad youth dances of the past. LOLZ!!!! He thought it was great, and afterwards, I had to explain to him that Cotton-Eyed Joe isn't any regular line but has it's very own special dance. His wife said she tried to explain that to him. haha. The entire night Rachel looked like a princess. I was talking to her husband, Ben, and every five minutes, he kept on saying "doesn't she look beautiful" and i would respond in equal awe, "YES :) she's AMAZING!!!!" I also hung out with Rachel's aunts a lot that night. They're legit. It was hot earlier that day, but by night, it was soooo cold. But nevertheless, Rachel was soooo pretty!!!!!!! It was a magical day.



























I stayed the night with Kate and her family in some rooms above a pub. It was awesome, because for breakfast, we had a good ole fashion English breakfast...which means....BAKED BEANS! my fav!!!!! Then I had to buy the Digestives so I can pay my entry fee to get back home to Texas. And Kate dropped me off at the airport early so I could spend the day doing work. I got home an hour and a half late though because my plane was late and then I missed my stop on the S-Bahn because I was reading a book and forgot to look up :/


Wednesday I was back at work in Puchheim. After work, Lindsay and I did some retail therapy, because we found out they are changing our program so we are not going to Brazil and China anymore, and I got some shoes. Shoes. We then met up with Kevin and his girlfriend, Anya at Hirschgarten. It was lovely and the weather had cooled down. They were telling us more about Germany and inviting us back for Oktoberfest. Kevin kept on asking me why I didn't drink, so I explained how it was part of my religious beliefs. His response "Does your religion have a holiday?". He thinks I really need to try the Oktoberfest beer. lol. Then we started teaching Kevin some slang words. This is where YOLO came in. We kept on saying it throughout the night.

At work on Thursday, it was really funny, becuase Lindsay and I were talking about things that had changed since we got to Germany. One thing that was mention was how out German lunches in the cantina no longer make us feel sick. Kevin's resonse? "Mine still do". #YOLO After work, we went to Siv's with Petra for a girl's night! Woot! I told Siv about King Ranch Chicken and how it's my favourite, so she's decided we have to make it, even thought Lindsay and I tried to explain how you can't really get the proper ingredients in Germany, but Siv wants to try it anyways. I've only seen one failed attempt at King Ranch Chicken before, and this time was not the second :) It was made with some improvised ingredients and we made our own rotel tomatoes from scratch. It was pretty awesome. I'm seriously going to miss Petra and Siv. Sad.

p.s. it's thursday night and i'm just now unpacking from my trip to england only because i have to repack for my trip to Cologne, Germany tomorrow. #exhausted #YOLO

The quote of the week:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Skating Through Life

so to offset the fact that i dont want to go back to the states, im trying to think of things im excited for:
1. not having to worry about buying a carbonated drink on accident. seriously, i ask for an orange juice and sometimes i'll get some carbonated orange drink that makes me want to throw up.
2. my chi working again. it doesn't work in mainland europe :/
3. mexican food.
4. not having to stay up super late to talk to people in the states.
5. washer & dryer in my apartment

To be honest, I love everything about living in Munich. I really cannot complain. Lindsay and I were talking Monday night about how blessed we are. I was saying that my biggest complaint was that I was too tired to go rollerblading that night. If that's my biggest issue, life has to be pretty good.

it turns out stracciatella our ice cream of choice

So something that Lindsay and I have discovered is that people in Munich are dress super casual for work. As in, it's hard to tell if people are just hanging out or going to work. There are people who show up in just a t-shirt and jeans. Others have a nice button up shirt and jeans, but jeans are very much the norm. It's super nice. I love it. Everyday is "casual Friday". I'm a believer that you work better when you're comfortable. Anyways, I also love that Munich is so close to lots of lakes. After work on Friday, Petra and I went off to Lake Starnberger. It was beautiful. It was a cool day in the 70's, which made the water seem as cold as it really is. Nevertheless, we went into the water, and Petra thought my oh-man-it's-cold faces were funny. We stayed out for a few hours till it got too cold to stay out, and went back. Then I was too tired to go out that night, so I had a quiet night in and went to bed early.

Saturday, Jamie and I spend the day together exploring the town. We did a Third Reich tour with the coolest tour guide, Ian. We walked around the city as he showed us important monuments and told us stories. I'm not going to lie, history is pretty much my fav subject. I would have gotten a degree in it, if I believed in liberal arts degrees. So my nerdy love was well fed, after I escaped the preppy college kid who kept on wanting to talk to Jamie (who I was with). I then had to escape the conversation and walk by the British (love!!!) tour guide so he could answer all my questions, and I could listen to other people's questions too. There was also this older American couple, who were soooo American. It was embarrassing. Side note: the only problem with doing touristy things, is that you're surrounded by tourists. It sounds like I'm being a little hypocritical because I am a tourist, but I try my best not to act like one, especially an American tourist (the worst!). Friendships have ended over things like this. Back to the story: It was a great tour. We then walked back to the city centre after stopping off at the White Rose Memorial in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. We crossed the street and I saw a girl waving at me, so I waved back awkwardly. She kept waving, so I turned to Jamie to point it out, and Jamie knew the girl. It was Precious! (who is now one of my cool new friends). We were talking and we saw this cute little girl taking pics with an umbrella on a fountain. Of course, we had to copy her :) It was fun. Then we took a bike tour, which was soooo BORING until the last one hour. That means, 75% of the tour was lame, especially because I think the FREE walking tour was a lot better and more informative. That's a bad grade. It was overall a good day. Especially since we got some Eis from Jamie and my fav Eis shop. So good :)

Sunday was a good day. It was an exhausting day, because I woke up tired. We had an amazing talk on grace and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My fav part was when he was talking about how the Lord strengthens us day by day through His love and grace. I loved it. yay! The best part had to be when our Relief Society teacher gave us chocolate & peanut butter cookies. Her husband just got back from a trip to the states, and she gave him a large list of things she wanted so she can bake American food. SOOOO GOOD!!!! Through a miracle, I managed to make it home safely without dying. I was SO TIRED! I fell asleep after forcing myself to eat some food (so I wouldnt wake up starving). I put my alarm on so I wouldn't sleep too long, but when my alarm went off 2 hours later, I wanted to break my phone because I was still tired. I forced myself awake, but I was super groggy the rest of the night anyways. But I managed to make it to the YSA dinner, which I was happy about. We had cafe rio food. The meat was totally worth the trip. I even found out the secret seasoning. Using a crock-pot and soaking the pork in dr. pepper with chili powder. I can't wait to try it! Also, Nathan had some visitors that he met through MormonExplorer.com, and they were crashing at his place. Not going to lie, I want to try it out. I've been wanting to try out Couch Surfing, but am just too nervous. Strangers are scary, but church members are like extended family you just haven't met yet. #truestory

 Monday was AWESOME! So my computer has a great translation option, which is helpful for all the German websites that I interact with. Munich does this awesome thing where every Monday night during the summer, you can go rollerblading through the city, and they shut down streets and have cops blocking things for you. We thought it started at 7. Turns out it was a bad translation. The location (right at the Deutsches Museum) opens up at 7. But we didn't know that so we got there at 6:20pm to rent some free rollerblades, only to find out we were super early because the rollerblading doesn't really start till 9pm. So we went and laid down in the grass to enjoy the beautiful weather and doze off till 7. I really didn't want to go because I was so tired. Lindsay convinced me to go, so I did so reluctantly. Little did I know, our views of this night were going to
completely flip. We got our blades, and I remember being good at rollerblading when I was little, but I was wobbling and Lindsay was freaking out that she was going to die. I got some knee pads, and Lindsay got some knee, elbow, and wrist pads. (she wanted to be prepared.) The event started about 9:15pm, and we were some of the first people. There were thousands of people and it was sooo cool! I lost Lindsay during a downhill slope in the street. I was making a video and then realized I kept going faster and other people were slowing down and I was going to die. Then I found her and she told me she fell (fall #1). The next downhill, one of the event helpers offered to help me with the slope, so I grabbed onto him and he controlled our speed down the hill. This hill became Lindsays fall #2. I had to consciously go slow so I wouldn't leave Lindsay behind. She was so tense and nervous after her two falls, being really scared that more slopes in the road would be ahead. Little did she know fall #3 was coming, not from a slope, but because someone ran into her. Her sock had came off her foot, so we paused so she could fix it. Then we realized, we were at the end of the group. Literally. There were people trying to get you to go faster; the problem being, Lindsay couldn't go any faster, she was at top speed. Luckily, someone offered her an arm and skated her faster so she wasn't the last person. Then I lost Lindsay again, and when I found her she was with a helper named, Peter. We called him Peter Pan, and Lindsay was his Wendy, because when he was helping her, she could fly! She told him she would be okay for the rest of the way because the end was in sight, like 50 feet away. Then came fall #4. LOLZ. I was in high spirits and really happy that we did it. Lindsay on the other hand vowed to never rollerblade again. It was a fun night, one of the best in Munich. I can't believe it's taken us this long to do it. Funny comment from Monday night about the spiders around out metro stop: "The spiders are having babies. They're like muppet babies but scary!"

Tuesday joke of the day: Lindsay and I were having dinner at the Augustiner. The problem with this is it's a total Mean Girls lunch room experience. You have your food and then you have to wander through the tables to find someone who who has a free seat and is willing to accept you to their table. it took us a while. But as we were talking, Lindsay was talking about a movie title, "the road to....the road to...something that starts with a 'D'". My response..."Damascus!" Lol. Bible jokes are the best :) 

Tik Tok

Tik Tok. You hear that? That's the sound of my time in Germany coming to a close. This week Lindsay and I got the go-ahead to buy out tickets to move to our new location in Missouri. My heart hurt a little. I'm loving Germany, and the way of life here. People really enjoy life and understand that work should not be the center of your life. The 6 weeks of vacation time they get doesn't hurt either. lol.

Last week was not as exciting as the previous week, when I was in 4 different countries in in a week time period (Austria, Germany, England, and the Netherlands). I was in the office while Lindsay was working in Italy. Then I was able to go to Frankfurt on Wednesday. I felt pretty cool because I took the train and was in a compartment with two other businessmen who were on their laptops working. The cool part was how hardcore I felt when I pulled out my laptop to work too. It was super legit, and I felt business-y.

Frankfurt was a good meeting and the Friday part was cancelled so I was able to go home earlier and work from home for a few hours. In the compartment on the way back was a man with his 6ish-year-old son. The man figured out early on that I spoke no German, while I figured out he didn't speak much English, but the kid didn't get it. So the kid kept on speaking to me in German and I would smile and nod encouragingly. Haha. He was adorable and so full of energy! He was showing me his coupon for a free Popsicle and kept askign his dad to go get it, but his dad made him wait till they got to a certain spot. They left and a few moments later the kid came back and said something, which was probably explaining that they didn't have any Eis.  It wasn't till later on when the kid decided to ask me a random question and just look at me expecting an answer that his dad had to attempt to interpret for me. Then the kid looked so sad that I didn't speak his language. But we were still friends because when they got off the train the kid made sure to smile and wave at me from the platform, so I returned the gesture happily because he was adorable! I also ate the best little raspberry tartlet ever for breakfast. Life is good. Lindsay and I were able to go out to the Italian restarant near our apartment building and it was good. I didn't eat all my meal and they guy thought I hated the food. It was a mission flashback moment. lol.

Saturday, Lindsay's "friend", Alex arrived from the States to visit. We all went to the Herrenchiemsee Palace on Lake Chiemsee. It was beautiful and we got to ride a little train to the ferry from the train station, it felt like Disneyland. Then we had to take a ferry to the island that the Palace is on. It was built to honor Versailles in Paris, because King Ludwig II really admired The Sun King, Louis XIV (my fav french monarch too!) It was a nice day till the rain started for a few hours. Then we had to walk back to the train station. But we did manage to buy a Bayern Pass on our own. (personal victory).
Later that night, we went to dinner at my and Lindsay's favorite restaurant that night where I was about to take a drink of water until Alex screamed and jumped out of my chair causing me to spill my water all over myself....he saw a spider. lolz.

Michael Jackson Memorial

Sunday was a beautiful sabbath day. After church, Alex, Lindsay, Jaime, and I met up and we did a nice little walk around the city centre. After that Jaime and I went about an hour early to the YSA dinner to watch Nathan make Indian food: Mango Chicken Curry. When went on the metro and by the time we got out on the other side, it was pouring rain. So what did we do? We played in the rain. We twirled, sang "singing in the rain", and frolicked down the street. It was soo much fun. Even when we finally got to the church soaked.  #worthit and the mango chicken totally changed my life, that's how good it was.

mini replica of city centre

Playing in the rain :)

Olympia Park at sunset

 3 weeks till I go back to the states. I dont want to go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Due to the time limit, we've been trying to stay busy and do lots of stuff. Monday we were going to Rollerblade around Munich, but it was cancelled due to the rainstorm. Instead, I went to FHE. :) Tuesday, we went to the Olympia Park for Sommerfest. We rode the swing ride! woot! Then Lindsay, Alex, and I walked up the hill to watch the sunset over the carnival. Oh and I'm in love with applesauce crepes. Wednesday, there was an institute BBQ that was an actual BBQ. I was so impressed. I had some yummy hot dogs. epic.  The most intense part of the evening was when water balloons started falling from the sky. (aka the 3rd story of the building)

Thursday was time for the ALPACA beach bar. We BBQ-ed while hanging out with real alpacas and playing beach volleyball. No seriously. There were alpacas frolicking. We played beach volleyball for a bit. I was terrible. It was 4 against 5 (i was on the team with 5) and i think i cancelled out all advantages having more people could provide. But it was a lot of fun. We had a great BBQ where we learned that the Germans think American's eat A LOT, so they bought more food than we could eat. I had a grilled corn-on-the-cob. I normally have only had them steamed, but it was sooo good with the herb butter they had. Oh man. Loved it. I think the best part was when Petra decided to use a straw to "conduct" Lindsay and I on how to say new German words. It was super fun to go out with the younger co-workers I have. They're all so much fun!

Now for a shout-out to my friend, Mego, who wrote about our epic adventure when we were 14 & 15 of stalking Harry Potter on her blog.  #truestory

My Date with 4 Guys

Let's start with a story...

The first time we ever hung out, Jan 2009...we got a little lost on trying to
find the restaurant that the guys wanted to go to for dinner

Once upon a time, there was a girl who made a crazy decision to go live and study in Madrid, Spain for 5 months without really knowing Spanish or knowing anyone in Spain. After a week or two, she still didn't have any friends to hang out with, as most of the Americans studying abroad just went out and got drunk every night. She was feeling lonely and was praying to find some friends. (Now I'm not saying what happened next is a miracle or anything, but this was definitely an answer to my prayers, and it changed my life for the better)One day on the train back home, she saw a group of 4 guys and 2 girls that she'd seen before at school but never talked to. She gathered all her courage to introduce herself to the group of people. She spoke to the girls first and the girls introduced her to the 4 guys: Marijn, Jelmer, Jarno, & Lukas. The guys even invited her to go to dinner that night! Without giving it a second thought, she agreed to meet up with them that night, so she met the 4 strangers later in during the night in the Plaza del Sol, by the bear, (it wasn't till later that someone suggested that might have been a not so smart idea) and began a journey of friendship which took her on epic adventures to far off places.

More than 3 years later, we had a nice little reunion.

The past week started in England, which was great because my stash of English cookies was depleted. I was working there from Tuesday till Thursday on vendor selection. It was pretty interesting, and I just love working with the English. They are a lot more chatty than the Germans. lol. During the lunch break on Thursday, I stocked up on my English cookies and the firsts reaction after someone saw my big back of goodies..."Are you going on a diet?" haha. They're too funny.

Top of the Dom Tower

I flew back to Munich on Friday morning. I had no food in my fridge because I knew I was going to be in England this week and Frankfurt the next, so I didn't do any grocery shopping. That meant, I had to go find something. I went down the street for some bakery bread and a piece of fruit. Let's just say that Germans like to follow the rules a lot. But I'm a big rule-breaking American. So there was a group of us stopped at a corner and there were NO CARS, but everyone was stopped waiting for the walking man to turn green.  Now I'm not one to encourage rebel-rousing behavior, but I crossed the street. To be honest, I knew the Germans wouldn't like it, but I didn't realize how mad they would be. As I made it to the other side of the road, the light turned green, so I moved back so the bikers could cross, and this little old man gave me a mean glare and started yelling at me in German and he biked past me. I wasn't sure what he said, but everyone around me was staring at me, and the little boy across the street on a bike was looking at me and dying laughing. I went back home a little sad.

Kayaking in the canals of Utrecht

Anyways, I went back to the airport later Friday night to fly to Amersterdam where Jelmer and Marijn were waiting for me on the other side of the gate to take me to Utrecht. YAY! It was awesome cuz we went to get drinks as we waited for our train, and for our drinks, we got orange juice! because they know I don't drink :) Later, we were waiting at the Utrecht train station to change trains, and the Olympic Opening Ceremony was being broadcasted on a big screen for all to see. I was entranced. It was a little weird, and I didnt understand the dancing through the decades part that I saw...I was a little confused at what I was watching to be honest. When we got to the apartment, we turned the tv back on and the countries had just started to be introduced. Marijn was amused and my comments about Canada. As if it's even a country. (joke). I fell asleep around the M's. I remember being woken up for the USA, and saying "Go USA" but I dont remember seeing them or anything. Marijn said I said that and just passed out again. I was tired. lol.

It started raining while we were kayaking. I wish I could say
that I got wet from the rain, but I ended up splashing myself
with water as I a lot, and there was a moment where we
were splashing each other for a bit. 

I was able to steal Jarno's room for the weekend. When we got up, Marijn made us some breakfast. Lucky us. We chilled and waited for Lukas to show up...I was so excited that I was making myself all nervous. lol. Lukas arrived and we headed into Utrecht. We went to the Flower Market and got my mom some tulip bulbs for her garden (hopefully dad won't kill them with weed killer this time). There was an intense gothic festival by the Dom Tower, which was a little disturbing to be honest...but super funnny. We all couldn't help but stare. We went to the Dom Tower and walked up all those stairs. It was exhausting. But it was SOOOO FUN! Jarno lost his keys, as he was arriving from vacation from Italy, so Marijn had to go home to let him in. So we had to wait for him to get back befor KAYAKING! Can I just say, it's a little sad going kayaking with a bunch of guys when you have only a fraction of their upper body strength? It was funny. Lukas, Marijn, and I had our own Olympic race. I totally won. TEAM USA! It was epic. But it's only because they were disqualified for breaking the rules and pulling on each others kayaks. It was epic. It was a great night of fun. Jarno was able to join us for dinner (I think he should have gotten the waitress' number) and drinks after.

When we were back at the house, Marijn was calculating my chances of finding someone to marry and helping me understand how small my chances are :/ lol. Since I want to marry a Mormon, there are only about 14.5 million of us out of about 6 billion humans. Then you have to take a fraction of that to only get the single age-appropriate guys. Then you have to take and even smaller fraction of that for people i'll actually meet and interact with during my life. Good luck for me. "May the odds ever be in your favor", right?  Also, in Utrecht, it was pretty crazy with their terrace seating, you don't face each other, you face the plaza, which is great for people watching :)

Saturday started with a hearty breakfast after waiting for everyone to wake up. Supposedly Marijn was awake earlier but Lukas and I didn't see or hear him. I'm skeptical. lol. So we watched some more Olympics, which is always fun when there are 3 different nationalities. Jelmer left the night before because he had a football game to go to. Jarno stayed behind because he had work to do, so Marijn, Lukas, and I ventured into Amsterdam together. Now, I haven't been to Amesterdam since I was 16 and I was sick when we went, so I remember looking for a store with medicine, and that it was super touristy, crowded, and dirty. Lukily Marijn took us to the nicer parts of Amsterdam, like the parks and nice areas. He was kind enough to avoid the Red Light District for me too. lol. But we didn't go anywhere without first getting snacks! my love language =  food. :)

We saw awesome things. We ate yummy sweets. At one point, Lukas was saying, "I've never seen that part of the city." and "I really like that part of the city." I was looking around trying to figure out which part of the city he was talking about and then we figured out, he was mixing up the words "this" and "that". It was awesome, especially since Lukas' English is better than mine most of the time. When it was lunch time, we got some bagel sandwiches, and while we were waiting, Lukas and I were sharing a coloring book to color a bee. (just an example of how cool Lukas is) it was awesome. Also, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I forgot how Lukas likes to sing-along with the music in your head too! We used to burst out and sing songs all the time in Spain! Also, when we were walking around, Marijn remembers how much I hate PDA, so he would say "don't look" but of course, i would look so see what I wasn't supposed to look at. lol. it was kinda hysterical.  We sat in the park and ate and were so ridiculously silly. Plus, Lukas played our Spain song in the park! Shake It by Metro Station, which we would always listen to in Retiro and when we were travelling.  I can't even explain how much fun I had this weekend and how relaxing it was to see them.

I feel ridiculously lucky to have these friends in my life. We haven't seen each other for over 3 years, but being together was flawless and effortless. Seriously, I'm so grateful for them and their friendship. It doesn't matter how often we talk, but they're awesome and great friends. Plus, they help me live a little, like making me eat crazy Dutch food, aka french fries and mayo. I ate it, for realz. It was also relaxing to be around people who have known me longer than 2 months too. Because they already know my crazy habits. It was a little sad having to say goodbye, but we're already planning our next world adventure. I suggested Greece, because I super want to go.