NOLA

So life in Sedalia is pretty quiet. I wake up at 7. Leave for work at 7:50/7:55ish and get to work 5 minutes later. Work is nice because I really like the people I work with and my project is super interesting and keeping me busy. A busy Natasha is a happy Natasha. Fact. Also, I've started wearing red lipstick. Like Taylor Swift red. well, it's lip gloss, but still good.

Quick recap of last week: Lindsay and I went shopping at Lee's Summit last friday (9/15), where due to our lack of luggage, we used it as an excuse to buy new things. i invested in some new flats. YAY SHOES! Then we went to a bonfire at a YSA girl's house and played volleyball (where we weren't the worst players) and ate hot dogs roasted over a bonfire. Nice! Our luggage finally came in on Monday (9/17) so im very happy to have all my clothes with me. clothes. and my love-of-my-life-boots. LOVE THEM! I want to wear them all the time. My new exercise shoes came in the mail too. Still haven't used them...but now i have them should i decided to hit up the gym.

This past weekend (Sept 21-23) I was able to fly down to New Orleans. NOLA. The Cresent City. The Big Easy. The City That Care Forgot. Nawlins. Can I make a correction first off? It's not New Orleens, with the hard "e". It's pronounced New Orlans, with the soft "a". It's the south. Love it. Let's start with that Friday.

Friday (9/21) Lindsay and I met with Kim to go over some Kanban questions we had. Lindsay was on a roll as lunch time came around. I could tell Kim was getting a little hungrr, so I suggested that we pause the meeting for lunch. Lindsay responded that she wasn't hungry. lol. but we stopped anyways and Kim invited us to lunch. Lindsay and I bring out lunch, but Kim said to leave it so we could eat some BBQ. Can I just say, the place we went had very bland pulled pork. All the flavor was in the sauce. #depressing but super filling. I wasn't hungry the rest of the day.

taking pics with statues :)

So I left work early to drive the 2 hours to the airport. Note to self: Never live more than an hour away from an airport. Back to the story. When I got to the airport I realized that my NOOK battery was dead. Bah humbug! I just bought a book specifically for the flight. I plugged in my phone, connected in the internet and proceeded to download the NOOK app onto my phone. It took FOREVER. So I was able to get the book on my phone and read it on the way down to New Orleans. So the flight was nice, and I took the airport shuttle to the Marriott on Canal Street. Swanky. Thank you corporate America. (as an explination, my dad is in New Orleans on a business trip and i flew down for the weekend with his frequent flyer miles. win!) I got up to the room and guess what was waiting for me? My blanket, water filter, and winter coat! Best Dad EVER! We were chatting and at one point my dad said, "oh I got you an Apple." "An APPLE?" I responded, thinking of the iTouch Saryah got last week. Then I looked on the bed and saw he had 2 little red apples he got as a snack. Not the kind of apple to get that excited about. Haha.

I woke up from Dad moving around around 7am. Not the time I'm used to waking up at on a weekend, but he was teasing how i've been sleeping the day away, so I got up and found a place online for us to have breakfast, The Old Coffee Pot Resturant. it was adorable! And our waitress was so full of southern love. So happy. We wandered through the French Quarter and made our way to the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. We meandered along the Mississippi River (that's right, I just did the whole childhood-spelling-chant as I typed the word Mississippi) We did the cemetary tour of St. Louis Cemetary #1, and our tour guide was super cool. He even explained the different types of houses found in the French Quarter, along with what Romeo Spikes are. Cool. As the day was progressing the hotter it was getting. After the tour, we went to have one of the original muffalettas. There was a lunchtime line. I know I love telling people I'm half British, but I forget that people can actually tell my dad is foreign. He was talking to someone in line and they ask, "where are yall from?" Dad responded, "Texas!" and they guy says, "no really. where are you from" I heard that and thought, 'dude, he just told you he was from texas. why do you think he's lying? we're from texas!' My dad told him where he's originally from and then i realized, 'oh yeah! my dad has an accent! duh!' I just forget because i dont really hear it. We then went by the oldest building in New Orleans, the Ursuline Convent, before heading back to our hotel for a break. It was just getting too hot and I was DYING!

House in Musicians Corner with Katrina marking still

So Dad took a nap and i relaxed for a bit. We then made it out for dinner at...get this...Huck Finn's Cafe. Say what??? I know, right? But it was funny because we happened to go in right during a football game with tons of fans. Too funny. I got my crawfish etouffee that i'd been craving. (and i sneakily robbed him on his credit card to pay for the meal. hahaha) Then we walked around the French Quarter for the rest of the night. We got to hear the jazz along Frenchman Street and see the nighttime vendors along there. We also got to a park with lots of statues of jazz musicians. It was nice. It was past nightfall when we got back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night watching Ratatouee on ABC Family.  Seriously, coolest dad EVER.

Above Ground Cemeteries are all the rage 

So Sunday morning we got up bright and early to go to Cafe Du Monde for the beignets because Saryah would kill us if we didn't. (Saryah loves NOLA) We then headed back for our city tour. We saw everything. We saw the 9th Ward, where there is still Hurricane Katrina damage. The house that Brangelina own in the French Quarter. the cool LDS church on St. Charles Ave (that wasn't mentioned on the tour, but i totally saw it!) and the Musicians Street. It was a really good tour. Then we went to have our last meal together. I had my first taste of alligator! It was tasty. A little too spicy for Dad. We walked the streets a little longer, and saw the French Market, before I needed to get back to the hotel for the shuttle pickup.  It was funny because as we were walking back to the hotel, Dad said we should turn on the street after Royal. I said, "nah, that's Bourbon Street" and he said, "yeah, that's not really my kind of street". lol. mine either. we aren't really into the party scene :) Our goodbye...of course...was a silly one. Then I got onto the shuttle where we were stuck in standstill traffic for over half an hour due to the LA Saints game just getting out. But i still had plenty of time to get to the airport. There was a magical Blue Bell ice cream place in the airport, which i had never seen before. I slept on the plane ride home, arrived, picked up my beautiful Jeep Liberty, and drove the two hour ride back to Sedalia. The best part when when I was feeling tired and Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake'...the irony made me laugh.

It just made me think of a conversation I was having with Jay over Labor Day weekend. I just kinda paused and said, "it's kind of ridiculous how cool we all are." My family is AWESOME. I haven't had a vacation with my Dad since, I think junior high, when we did Spring Break back home in England. He is so funny. Good ole British humor. THE BEST DAD EVER! But then again, my parents are awesome. And vacationing with them is fun too. I may tag along on their possible trip next year back to visit family and friends in the UK because they are too cool for school. Who knows? #stalkeralert

Can I just say that I shop way to much at Wal-Mart? No seriously. It's ridiculous. but Wal-Mart has everything I need in one stop. On Monday (9/24), Lindsay and I spend 1.5 hours at Wal-Mart after work. It's where the rule, "if it has glitter, it's not manly" was created.

Also, I got my steel toed sneakers for work and they are soooo comfy. I wear them most of the day because it's easier than changing in and out of them whenever i want to go to the factory floor. and they keep my feet so warm because my side of the office feels like an ice box. literally. i have a jacket on all day just because it's so cold.

Futhermore. I love my NOOK. The only bad thing is...it's too easy to get new books. i buy a lot of books now. especially since there is no good library here. i am a fan of libraries. for rizzle....i miss the Tempe Public Library. That library had every book you could ever want! It was a bookworm's dream come true.

And I love that me and my little sister are in the States at the same time again (which hasn't happened since early January) so we can talk on the phone all the time :) She's the funniest person i know. for example click here. And once again....im considering joining Twitter. 

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

I was picked up at the airport Thursday night (Aug 30th) by my big bro. Best broseph ever! because it was pretty much midnight. He drove me home; when we arrived, we went straight to my lil sis' room, sat on her bed and just hung out for a while chatting because we haven't been together for months! It was then bedtime, so I went to my room...only to realize that I was not tired and so I watched Netflix! It was awesome, and then my mom snuck into my room before work and we got to chat it up! Coolest mom ever. Then Dad woke up shortly later and we hung out for a bit. Then we woke up my brother and sister and we rodetripped upto the BLUEBELL CREAMERY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best family trip. We drove up and had a tour. at the end of the tour you get as many samples as you want and then a GIANT cup of ice cream of the flavor of your choice. I highly recommend everyone going to check it out :)

I then got reunited with my good friend Netflix and we had a good time together watching, The Glades. Awesome. Until I fell asleep and ended up sleeping about 12 hours. I woke up. I looked at my watch to see it was 6 o'clock. I went out of my room and my parents were awake. I felt super disoriented and had to clarify if it was Friday night or Saturday morning. They told me it was Saturday morning. The jetlag is messing with my mind!

mom at work

Saturday was mom's day. we went to get mani/pedis. mom, me, and my brother went to get her a iPhone 4S. my mom officially has the coolest phone out of everyone in my family. truth.  we got sweets and partied it up. The entire day dad was at home bbq-ing. Athena and Jay showed up. It was so fun. Cool big sister alert! Jay and I got to cook together...aka...he cut up some sweet potatoes and i cut some veggies to saute. It was a great bonding experience. Then Jax and Davey showed up. The party was really getting started. Then stevie and sonja showed up with the kids! It was awesome cuz i hadn't actually seen the little one because she was born while i was on the mission. yay! it was an awesome family get-together. we seriously had too much fun. it should be illegal how much fun we had.  Everyone eventually left and mom, dad, saryah, and i decided to watch The Hunger Games! then Hollister decided to visit, so i left the movie to talk with her. it was sooo nice catching up. bffs are great.

 Sunday was relaxing. Church was lovely. The day was super relaxing. Monday was Labor Day and we got to party it up at home and I got to run some errands that I've been wanting to do since I got back to the states. Tuesday, I took mom to work and got to help with her classroom. it was so cute. my mom is adorable! I got a haircut before heading off to the airport and flying to Kansas City. (which is not in Kansas). I finally got to use my Nook, which was exciting. The guy who sat next to my on the airport was super bro. He was like a 40 year-old frat boy. He told me stories a lot of very interesting stories. I just smiled and nodded, feeling bad for his sad life choices. Nevertheless, he was entertaining. I then waited after getting my luggage for Lindsay's flight to get in. We met up and it was weird that we haven't been together for so long. We hoped on the bus to take us to the rental vehicles. We were told we might not get the Jeep Liberty because they needed to do some general maintenance. My response? Give me Liberty or give me Death! We got the Liberty, after having to wander around the lot clicking the key button trying to find the car. We started driving and had to stop shortly after because we were starving and Lindsay LOVES Wendy's. She got her food quickly but they had to make mine...then the guy forgot to give me my food. So I had to go and get it later. The guy felt bad and offered me a frosty, i said "make it two", so Lindsay and I got free Frosties. WIN! We got into Sedalia around 9pm. We went to Lindsay's place first...and there was no key for her to get in. I went to my place and there was no key box either. We went to the front office and no one was there. We called the number, left a message and then went to the Holiday Inn to have a place to sleep.  They were booked up for the night. We were about to go to a different hotel, but then the apartment manager called us back. Apologized. and promised someone will be there to let us into our place. We got in and I went to Walmart to get some hangers and stuff for breakfast tomorrow.

Wednesday and Thurdsay was full of LEAN and KANBAN training and afternoons were filled with going to Walmart for things we don't have, food, and watching cable. I haven't had cable since 2008! It's quite a treat! We also made a friend. Her name is Sage and she's a vegetarian and from St. Louis! I didn't make that up. So friday, we had a girls night into Columbia (where Mizzu is) to see Batman (because Lindsay still hadn't seen it) and have some dinner. It was a nice night out.

Slacklining = legendary

Saturday was a day to sleep in and the afternoon we went out with Sage and did some slacklining!!!!!! I only just heard about it when I was in Germany...and now people know about it in Missouri! Crazy. WE spend lots of time doing it and by the time we were over....I could get up on my own and take a step. It was magical. I felt so accomplished.

Sunday I went to the family ward in the morning and the single's branch. it was a long day but very uplifting. Tuesday was Taco Tuesday....so we went there for lunch. believe it or not, the crispy tacos were yummy. I was quite happy. Wednesday was not so great. I was feeling sick and nauseous all day. Kim from work told me I looked pale. I went home and went to bed early. I woke up to Lindsay calling saying she's been sick all morning, so she called us in sick and i proceeded to sleep for 14 hours straight. I do remember solving a murder mystery in my dreams. So even when I'm sick I'm productive. It's moments like this when I wish that I lived at home so someone to take care of me! So I cuddled in a blanket and watch a marathon of The Mentalist on TNT. Love cable. As long at I'm not standing up I don't feel too bad. i hate being sick. it's such a waste of time. My personal theory is that when i'm super busy, my body has no time to get sick, but as soon as life slows down, my body is catching up with me. Life in Missouri is definitely different than I'm used to. Putting a city girl in a small town. But it's nice to slow down for a little bit. I think the saddest part was on Sunday when a lady asked me if I was dating someone and I said no and she said, "well, you probably wont find anyone out here". Sad.

ps. i just had to order exercise shoes online because there is no where to get them around here and shoe shopping for running shoes on the weekend isn't my idea of fun. 

Ich liebe München

So I'm a procrastinator...that's a fact. So Monday (27 Aug) I still hadn't created my ppt presentation that I had to present later that day. Since I was finished with my project at work, i had plenty of time to do that. So I worked on my presentation all morning and finished it by lunchtime. Easy peasy. I gave my presentation and it went a lot better than expected. And Steve, one of the England guys gave me really positive feedback about how well I've done this rotation. I felt AWESOME! Then I had a lot of nothing to do afterwards. After work, I went home and quickly ate so I could go to FHE for one last time. It was so sad, but fun. We had a really nice lesson and afterwards watched BBC's Robin Hood. It was great! British humor...classic. I said my goodbyes and went home so I could pack. Why would I pack so early? Because we're shipping one of our giant suitcases to Sedalia to meet us there, so we don't have to carry two giant suitcases and a carry on with a GIANT personal item on the airplane. Of course, I cannot pack when I have plenty of time to do so, so I watch some tv on my laptop until it got late enough that I was tired enough to concentrate on packing. It was so sad. #depressing

Tuesday after lunch in the cantina, kevin was reminding us to say goodbye to everything. goodbye cantina. goodbye stairs. goodbye building. goodbye parking lot. It was so depressing. But it is goodbye...unless we magically get another assignment there, which would be EPIC! So I did mostly not much at work because I was all finished up...but Lindsay was working on her project and had to give her presentation. Of course, during the same time of her presentation, but big sis posted something HYSTERICAL that I was reading....the reviews for the BIC For Her Amber Medium Ballpoint Pen. It's life-changingly funny. So I tried not to be distracting...but it was too funny for words. On the way to the train after work, we ran into out Finnish friend that we alway run into on the bus, and got to chat with him one last time. He just finished his thesis and was going home to Finland this Friday. Goodbye Finnish Friend! And we met up with Siv, Kevin, and Anja on the train and went to the Augustiner. We ate fish (who still had their faces). I was in charge of buying the fish, and was really proud of myself for being so brave. We had a great last night with the COOLEST GERMAN CO-WORKERS EVER! It was really sad saying goodbye, and they gave Lindsay and me the nicest going-away gifts. I almost cried. Siv, Petra, and Kevin gave us a scrapbook of our time in Germany together with lots of pics and a notes at the end. It was so thoughtful. #bestgiftever

Nymphenburg Palace

On the way home Lindsay and I were making plans to meet up Wednesday afternoon. The best part of that was I had to think of whether or not the bomb has been diffused. So we could go to the English Gardens. Then I was skyping with Saryah and a HUGE bug came through my mesh window curtains and it was almost 2 inches long! It started flying around my room, so i ran out screaming and downstairs to beg for help from Lindsay. She was skyping Alex and I had to beg Alex for forgiveness as I stole away his gf to save my life. We slowly crept back into my room which I left open in my panic and the bug was sitting there next to my computer (where I was sitting) on the curtains mocking me. Lindsay had a rolled up magazine and I had a shoe. Our plan of attack was to knock it off the curtains, onto the floor, and the smash it with my shoe. The plan worked...with a lot of me freaking out and having a blanket wrapped around my head to protect me from a bug-attack. lindsay saved my life.

Nymphenburg Palace

Wednesday. My last full day in Germany. I slept in. YAY! Then walked from my apartment to the Nymphenburg Palace. It was lovely. While I was there I met a fellow Texan, and we chatted for a bit. Then I went to get ice cream and walk back to my apartment. I caught the metro up to Olympiapark so I could go to the Olympic Village and see where the Munich Massacre took place. It was a very somber moment, but I felt it was important to go and remember what happened there, the result of so much hatred.  I then went into town to see the Residence Palace and some churches I've been wanting to check out. I got some pastries and had a nice day, but by the time I got home I was EXHAUSTED! I waited for Lindsay and we went to have our last Munich dinner. We went to our place and got the usual, our delectable salads. It was a nice time. Lindsay had went to the Dachau Concentration Camp earlier that day and shared her experience. It was a good last night.

31 Connallystrasse, site of the Munich Massacre

Wall in the Olympic Village

Thursday started off right. We were both worried that we would not wake up, so we called each other in the morning to double check we were awake. We got our luggage downstairs, and the taxi drove us to the airport. Goodbye beautiful Munich. We had to pay for our overweight luggage. surprise, surprise. I decided to be honest and take out my gels and lotions, but since i didn't have a clear plastic bag to put them in, I had to throw them away. #dumb. I read my book as we waited in comfy couches as we sipped on our freshly squeezed orange juice. yum. I finished the book on the flight to Berlin, and realized it is the 3rd book in a series. Definitely not good enough to make me feel inclined to read any other book in the series. It was ok. Then we had a nice short layover in Berlin, where we got some sandwiches. Lindsay and I were supposed to have seats together, so we were a little surprised when a lady made Lindsay move because the seat was wrong. Sad day. The movies were alright. But the problem came when I messed up on my customs form and needed a new one. I put on the light to call for a stewardess...and after about an hour, one came by for drinks and I told her I needed a new one, to which she responded, "that's up in the front" and continued on. I waited longer, only to realize she turned off my light. I turned it on again...and waited...and waited. Eventually I went up to the front to see the stewartesses and tell them I need a new customs form. Their response was "that was hours ago when we went by with those". Thank you genius. I said, "yes, and I've been waiting with my light on for someone to come by so i could get a new one for hours". One of them when off and got me one, to which I responded again, "thank you, now i can go turn off my light." I was so mad. The rest of the flight was fine. We got to JFK, where I was waiting in customs and the lady behind me says "Excuse me, you're supposed to wait behind the yellow line". Now I'm just going to say, i was tired, my blood sugar was low, and i was hungry...aka easily annoyed. I looked at her...then down at my feet...then back at her and said "I am behind the yellow line". She responded, "Yes, but your suitcase isn't". I was about to go all sorts of crazy on her. I tried to say as calmly as possible how i dont think the wait-behind-the-yellow-line thing includes suitcases. It was ridiculous. luckily, for her own safety, it was my turn so i could walk away. We got our luggage, and checked them into JetBlue for our individual flights home. Luckily our gates were next to eachother. We each got something to eat, and i quickly passed out on the table as lindsay talked on the phone. (it was past midnight Germany time). We moved to the gates at Lindsay's suggestion, and she watched a movie on her laptop and I curled up into a little ball on the floor because I couldnt sleep on the chairs. Bad idea. Because I also was so tired, I slept the entire flight to Houston...which meant, I slept during Germany sleeping time, so all night longer in Houston...I was wide awake and didn't sleep because I was still on Germany schedule. Whoops.

GERMANY! I MISS YOU! Just Top 5 list of things I miss.
1. my German friends
2. The metro system
3. Bratwursts and Simmels
4. the lakes in Germany...they are BEAUTIFUL!
5. Not having to overhear dumb american conversations