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. 

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