Our Trip in a Nutshell

Hello lovely bloggers! How is everyone doing?? I hope you all had a wonderful week! I am super far behind on my blog reading as I COMPLETELY forgot to bring my computer with me to Cologne this week while Jon was working. Silly me.... so please forgive my absence, I will get to catching up with y'all soon, hopefully!

I'll just give you a quick run down of what we were up to this week:

Tuesday Jon left UBER early in the morning for Cologne, while I stayed behind to meet a friend for lunch. Later that evening I hopped in the car and pulled out my trusty Garmin and headed for Cologne..... only to of course have some serious issues with the Garmin. The thing WOULD NOT work for me. It took only about 45 minutes for me to finally figure out the last time we used it, we put it on pedestrian mode, YA..... so of course it wouldn't work properly, but I got it adjusted back to driving mode and was finally on the right track to Cologne. I made it there in one piece and we grabbed dinner at Farmer's Steakhouse, who grills the most fantastic steaks I've had in a long time.

Wednesday I started my Christmas shopping, which of course is always exciting! Then later that evening we ran to the Chocolate Museum just before it closed and did a quick walk through. Here are some pictures from the museum:

The outside of the Chocolate Museum

A chocolate fountain and some of the assembly lines.

And oh what fun it was when we came across a tiny car.
You know Jon loves tiny cars and doors.....

Thursday I did a little more Christmas shopping and spent the rest of the day engrossed in a the 7th Sookie book which I finished last night. I just LOVE those books. But I'm so completely weird about them; I love them so much that I put them off because I don't want to the series to be over. I am just hoping that Charlaine Harris will have another Sookie Book for us on the way.

That night we had STEAK again! I can feel my arteries clogging as we speak, but it was totally worth it.

Today I walked around Cologne for what seemed like hours.... it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, the first one we had this week, so I couldn't miss the opportunity to spend it outside. I got some pictures of my jaunt:

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Halloween Weekend Update

Hello lovely friends! How was your Halloween weekend?? I hope it was fantastic.

Ours was great! We had a wonderful weekend, but as always..... like I say every Monday, it went by way too fast!

Here's what we were up to:

Friday: Scary movie night at our friends house! We started watching Rose Red and didn't realize the movie was 4 hours long! But we made it half way through, while eating some yummy pizzas, salsa, cookies...... nothing like junk food and scary movies ;)

Saturday: We woke up early and went on a jog. Got ready and ran about 8 thousand errands and bought some finishing touches for Jon's costume. We then went to a Halloween party that evening and had to dress up as super hero's.... here's what we came up with:

Wolverine! Check out those claws

Poison Ivy

Hammin' for the camera

My friend Tara and I
Wonder Woman and Poison Ivy!

Buck Rogers, WW, Silly James, Poison, and Hugh!

During the party we all separated into teams and went on a scavenger hunt.
Here's my team!
Scary mask guy, Great American Hero, Sailor Moon and Poison!Sadly, we didn't win the hunt, but we had a great time scavenging!

I am sad to see October go because it is such a fun month! But I am sooo looking forward to November and Thanksgiving and then onto HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS in 44 days to spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends! It's going to be FANTASTIC!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater!

That's right I'm a cheater! I made easy pumpkin pie last night and it was as easy as 1, 2, 3!!

Like literally there are only 3 ingredients!

Jon has been asking me to bake another pumpkin pie and when you're in a hurry this is the perfect way to make it. And, if you aren't a baker like me, then I'm sure you've used Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie mix. But if you haven't, seriously, it's the easiest (let's see how many times can I write "easy" in one post) way to make pumpkin pie and it tastes GREAT! I still consider it homemade, because come on, you have to mix stuff together and you still have to put it in the oven ;)

SO, Here's what you need:

Click to enlarge to see recipe.

Mix the ingredients together and pour into deep dish pie crust.


Bake for 15 minutes on 425F and then reduce to 350F and bake for 50-60 min.
After cool add some whipped cream....
and Tada!!

Easy as pie, right?!?

I hope you all enjoy your Thursday.
Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!
and now I leave with you a funny picture I received in an email yesterday.

How creative is this???

HAPPY THURSDAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN!

WAY WAY back Wednesday!

Well hello lovely blogging buddies! It's Wednesday today, and you know what that means, only two more days left in the week! and I couldn't be happier. This week has been a busy one and I so look forward to another weekend. This weekend is sure to be a good time, with scary movies and Halloween parties, I can't wait!

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought it'd only be right to show a picture of me from WAY WAY back all dressed up for Halloween. Check this:

Rockin a fairy princess costume and a PERM! Bwa hahah! Gotta love the 80's..... and having a hairstylist for a mother!

and look at my little bro... he's so cute in his little ninja turtle costume!

I hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday!

Jon Has a New Best Friend

Last night we hung out with sweet Addison for a bit while her dad was working. She was the easiest baby to take care of! She ate exactly when her dad told us she'd be hungry and crashed at the exact time he told us she would. Like clock work. It was so sweet to see Jon with her, I think he had a good time and enjoyed taking care of her. He is so good with kids, and it's obvious, as you can see below by the pictures, that she absolutely adored him. He's going to make a fantastic father some day (some day really, really far down the road from this day!)

Aren't these the sweetest??

Addison just stared at Jon for the longest time....

And then of course went straight for the beard!

Not much else is happening this week. Lots of hairdos and work, and that's... about.... it!

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!
I'm off to get ready for my next client ;)

Another Weekend Update

Hello blogland and you lovely bloggettes and blogdudes!

How are you this fine Monday morning?

Me...... not too happy that it is already Monday! Where in the world did the weekend go? It flew by so fast my head "figuratively" spun. (That's for you Jon.)

We really did a whole lotta nothin this weekend and I was not happy when the alarm clock went off bright and early this morning. And to add to my "not happy" note, we had daylight savings yesterday and it is now getting dark at 5:00 p.m. YUP 5!! What the hey Germany! I forgot how early night falls in the wintertime here.

Anyway, here's what the Barretts were up to this weekend:

Friday we went to the American sports bar downtown and grabbed a couple of drinks with some friends. Then of course it always turns into a couple more and a couple more...... Good times! Sadly, I forgot to take pictures......

Saturday we did absolutely nothing, like didn't leave the house, nothing! And it was FANTASTIC! I got Jon to have a scary movie marathon with me. We watched scary movies all day long! What a perfect day.

Sunday I had a couple of hairdos! Yup on a Sunday. But these clients can only come in on Sundays and it really works out just fine for me. Afterward we headed over to the hospital to visit our friends Shannon and Don who just had their very first baby. Her name is Oriana Grace and she is the sweetest, tinyest, most adorable thing! Congratulations to them, she is a precious blessing. I was going to take a picture, but I got caught up in her cuteness and forgot.

After visiting them we braved the commissary on base, which always causes my blood pressure to rise, but made it out okay and ended up at home on the couch to be lazy for the rest of the evening.

Pretty lazy weekend ya'll, but it was perfect!

I meant to show these last week: I bought a new pair of boots for traveling. I think they'll be perfect for all of the walking we'll be doing this winter. I wanted some flat boots so as to not ruin my boots with heels. What do ya think?

OH!! I was so excited to check my blog this morning only to find that I had some new followers!!
Hello and Welcome to The Adventures of Jon and Steph! Glad you stopped by ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Brrrrr It's Cold!

Well, hello lovely bloggers! How are you this morning?

I'm great, but totally flabbergasted by the weather here.

So much for Fall! It has skipped right over Fall and gone straight into Winter, it is totally bone chilling cold today. What the heck happened?? Makes me want to bundle up in my pajamas or better yet..... a SNUGGIE and watch Christmas movies, whilst drinking loads of coffee. My friend Sarah has a snuggie and at first I thought they were totally dorky, until I actually wore it. Now I must have one! They are so cozy and I don't even care if I look like a wizard!

Funny story, this was taken at Sarah's one night while watching football. I had come across their Oktoberfest wizard looking hat, put it on, and then Sarah made me put on the Snuggie! I look ridiculous! But it still makes me laugh.

Anyway.......Do ya'll have anything fun planned for your weekend?

We're having a very laid back weekend. My brother went to see Paranormal Activity last night with some of his friends and they said it was terrifying! I would LOVE to see it as I am a scary movie fanatic. There is no telling when it will come out here, it's not even playing at the base, and is not listed at the German theater. So I might be S.O.L.

Last night I actually talked Jon into watching a scary movie with me, so we jumped on iTunes and rented Trick or Treat. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY or time! It was not scary at all, actually it was quite stupid. I love Anna Paquin and was seriously disappointed in this movie. I guess it's because I've seen so many scary movies that nothing really frightens me anymore.

For you scary movie lovers out there: Got an suggestions for me??

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
See ya'll on Monday!!

EDITED: My friend Lola at Not all those who wander are lost is raising money for a wonderful cause! Please go make your donation today!

Home Early!

Hello lovely friends! How is everyone today? Great, I hope!

Jon's trip schedule changed a bit and we ended up coming back a day early, which was fine, since the forecast called for clouds all day today and tomorrow. Isn't it strange, no matter how long you are away from your home, 1-20 days, it is so nice to get back. Back to your bed, your couch, your TV, etc. Home is so nice!

Yesterday after Jon got off from work we walked downtown so I could grab a quick picture of the front of the church during the day with the sun-a-shinin'! Here are the pics:

Afterward we went in search of the Mexican restaurant "Si Claro," that we had been waiting to enjoy. But guess what....... we got lost! For about an hour! AN HOUR OF WALKING! But FINALLY we found it and at this point my lust for Mexican food was kind of tossed out the window. But once we sat down and ordered that Tecate, all was right in the world again! I ordered chicken enchiladas and Jonny had a chimichanga! YUMMMMM.

It was totally worth getting lost for an hour, (but if you would have asked me during that hour if it was worth it, I might have ripped out my hair.) After dinner we called it an early night and made our way back to the hotel to watch Angels and Demons. It was our first time to see the movie and it was AWESOME!

This morning Jon had some work to do before we made our way back to Wiesbaden. Before our trained left, we dashed like lightening to the Hohenzollern Bridge and attached our own Love Lock. Luckily the bridge is right by the train station or we wouldn't have had enough time. I am so glad we got to attach our own personalized lock. It really meant a lot to me and is something I will always remember.

Our engraved lock.

Attaching it.

Cheesin' in front of our lock.

When we got our lock engraved, the man told us it's good luck to throw the keys to the lock into the Rhine River. So that's exactly what Jonny did.

What a fun time!

Okay, now back to reality: it's time to unpack, do laundry, some dishes and get to working on dinner. Oh good news..... business is picking up! I just got another new client who called me today and she comes to see me next Thursday. Oh Happy Day!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Adventures in Cologne

Hello lovely blog friends, how is everyone today? Wonderful I hope!

I am blogging today from our hotel room in Cologne. It's a beautiful day here today, the weather is fantastic! But I needed a break from walking, so I thought I'd share some of the pictures I've taken so far from this trip. The forecast said it was supposed to be cloudy all day, but God has graced us with sunshine and no clouds today. He is good!!

Last night I arrived around 8:00 p.m. by train. It was my first time to take a train to another city (other than Frankurt) alone. But thanks to my friend Yve and the Kings of Leon, it actually wasn't a bad experience. The only frantic moment I had was when I arrived at the Frankfurt station and had to change trains, I had exactly THREE minutes to make my next train. So you can imagine the sheer panic I had when I saw that my train for Cologne had already arrived at the station and I was on the opposite side of the tracks. Luckily I just followed some random crowd and found a flight of stairs that took me across the tracks, to my train, where I jumped in the first seat I could find just in time for the train to leave. Whew. Good times!

When I arrived Jon was waiting for me, we dropped my stuff off at the hotel, and made our way to the Dom. If you've been reading our blog for a while, you've probably seen this cathedral in some earlier posts. But for my new readers and my faithful readers and my lovely picture lovin' readers; here is the Dom, once again (or for the first time), for your viewing pleasure.

After seeing this massive beauty, we went to a fantastic steak restaurant called Farmer's Steakhouse. Mind you, we haven't had good steak in forever, so let me tell ya'll, this was a real treat. My mouth just waters looking at this photo.

After dinner we walked through the town, window shopping. They have some awesome shopping here in this city. Too bad we're saving for our trip home, or we'd both be maxing out the cc's! ;)

Today we both got up early, as Jon had to be at work early, and grabbed breakfast at McDonalds. Oh ya, you read that right!! The McDonalds here is directly across the street from the cathedral. You can site see while you eat a sausage, egg, and cheese McMuffin and drink your morning coffee.

I walked Jon to work and then made my way back to the Dom for some picture taking.

I love the fall trees and leaves!As you walk across the Hohenzollern Bridge you come across thousands of locks. The locks symbolize love. Actually...... while I was on the bridge I witnessed a couple attaching a lock with their names engraved on it. It was pretty darn sweet, minus the make-out session they had afterward. Here are pictures from the bridge.

I was completely mesmerized by all of these locks, I must have read about 200 of them.
I just think it's such a neat idea.

I slowly made my way back to the center and planned on going inside of the Dom, but my camera battery decided to quit on me. (Only because I forgot to charge it before we left.) So here I am now waiting for it to fully charge so that I can take pictures of the interior and more of the front of the cathedral during the day, which I will post tomorrow.

Tonight Jon and I finally get our much anticipated MEXICAN FOOD fiesta! I can't wait. Talk about one happy-but-soon-to-be-chubby-from-all-of-the-chips-and-salsa-and-Mexican-beer wife! I hope ya'll will stop by tomorrow to see some more pictures from our adventure to Cologne (Köln to all the German folk).

Have a great Wednesday!

Furry Friends and Another Adventure

Well hello there! How's everyone today on this Tuesday morning?

I'm super stoked!! I am packing up my bags today and taking the train up to Cologne (Koln) to meet Jonny boy. We'll be there until Friday. He will be working during the days, so I'll be doing a little exploring and picture taking. Then at night we'll be eating loads of Mexican food and he's found a great steak place so we'll be gorging on good ole steak as well! What a TREAT! I don't know what I'm more excited about.....seeing the city or eating Mexican food. ;) Let's hope the weather pans out for us.

Before I leave I have to share pictures of my two favorite furry friends. They've been hanging out with me for a little while now. Ellie hangs out with me a lot:

Isn't that the cutest outfit ever!

and Sampson: Look at that face!

Sampson was with me all weekend. He's my other best bud! His "parents" ran in a half marathon this weekend in Spain! How awesome is that. Anyway, I'll be sad to leave them today. We've had loads of fun. and they've gotten loads of treats from me but I told them not to tell their parents! I'm like the favorite Aunt who feeds them loads of goodies and sends them home to their parents ;) That's why they LOVE me so much!

I'm off to finish packing. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of Koln. You know it wouldn't be a normal "Steph" post without lots of pictures.

Have a great Tuesday ya'll!