Possibly the Longest Post in History!

Saturday

Jon and I woke super early (4:30 a.m.) because we planned a mini vacation to Prague. We were so excited about this trip, that it wasn't hard to get moving and get out the door for the five hour drive ahead of us! Really it was a breeze, it was like driving from Oklahoma to Texas.

Once we arrived, I was like a little kid in a candy store. The architecture in this country is unbelievable, mouth dropping. So of course I pulled out my camera and went to town on some picture taking! (You're not alone Valerie!) I take way too many pictures, but it's something I love to do and feel I have a knack for! First we saw the famous astronomical clock that was built in the 1330's. Everyone was crowded around at 1:55 p.m. to wait for the twelve apostles to appear at the strike of 2:00. (Of course this happens at every hour.)


If you look closely you can see two of the twelve
apostles in the windows above the clock.


Everyone cheered after the show was over and continued on their day. It was really neat to see how many people stopped to watch this, the entire area was filled with people.

Next we walked to the Charles Bridge, which was by far my favorite part of Prague. This amazing structure was built in 1357. During the day the bridge is so full of life, with people crossing and taking pictures, vendors selling paintings and photographs, musicians singing and playing instruments; I felt like I was in a Disney movie and we were all going to start singing the same song, lol. Here are several pictures I took of the Charles Bridge.


The people cramming onto the bridge!

A view from the bridge

One of the many statues on the Charles Bridge
People were standing in line to touch this statue.
It is said touching it will bring you good luck.

What a great picture!

Jon standing on the Charles Bridge

Me

A band playing some jazz music

A view of the castle from the bridge.

A view of the river banks


It started getting late, and at this point we realized we hadn't even started looking for our apartment building, much less had we checked in, so we decided it was definitely time to start searching. Finally we found the apartment building and were extremely surprised by how nice it was! The apartment was in the center of downtown and was fully furnished, perfect for the two of us. We couldn't have been happier.

The kitchen

Living area

Original ceilings

Bedroom

Bathroom

And a little nook


We finished unpacking and headed out because I was dying to see everything we could possibly see in one day! We walked through the Jewish Quarter, window shopping at Versace, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. I was interested in seeing the Old Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery has over 12,000 tombstones, and was crammed into this unbelievably tiny space, where the graves are piled on top of each other.

The street with the best shopping!

Ceremonial Hall, a Mortuary House built in 1911.

Since the cemetery was locked we had to search for an opening
along the cement wall to take pictures. I found a small window,
stuck my camera through the hole and caught only these few pictures.





We walked through Wencelas square, found an
Italian restaurant and grabbed some grub.
Jon being silly!

Me waiting on my pasta! I bet you can see in
my eyes how hungry I am at this point.

Pretzels to eat while you wait


After eating the yummy Italian food, I really wanted to get some night shots of the church and the clock tower. Here are the pictures I captured.

Jon in front of the church,
you can see the moon just to the right of the church.










We called it an evening and went back to our apartment to get some rest!

Sunday

I woke up almost every hour through the night because I wanted it so badly to be morning! It was like waiting for Christmas morning, and when the clock hit 6:45 I was shaking Jon to wake up so we could continue our adventure! We got out of bed at 7:00 a.m. and hustled to get ready so we could see Prague first thing in the morning. Luckily we made it out of the apartment around 8:00 and the streets were empty! I wanted to get some good pictures of the Charles Bridge minus 9,000 people!

On the way to the bridge



Amazing!

There are two towers on either side of the bridge,
this was the inside of the tower looking up.

A mural inside of the tower

Another statue; isn't it beautiful!

The empty Charles Bridge

Touching the statue for good luck



A wonderful fall picture I couldn't pass up showing!

Walking on the Charles Bridge

It looks like a little piece of Italy


Jon and walked through the town on the other side of the bridge and made our way to the Castle. Through many winding roads and about 1000 steps we finally made it, all the while singing the Rocky theme song to the top!


Posing for a picture!

Beautiful

Jon being silly

I was trying to be a living statue.

A view from the top

Jon and I at the top of Prague! Very winded and out of breath





Jon with a great view behind him.

The Palace/Castle and church inside the castle walls

The church, almost impossible to take a picture of.
I was sitting on the ground to take this shot.



Jon standing in front of the church




Once we finally reached the top to where the Castle and Church were, we realized we were famished and desperately needed some breakfast. There wasn't much open at this time, but to no surprise trusty McDonald's was open so we grabbed a breakfast sandwich and chowed down. Since my daily morning ritual is to have coffee (and without this I cannot function properly) we got a cafe latte from Starbucks and mosied our way back to the other side of the bridge. Once we reached the other side of the bridge, Jon noticed the tower was open so we thought, why not climb to the top of the tower to see the view.

The steps leading to the top of the tower. I was
getting dizzy climbing these steps it was like walking
in a constant circle all the way to the top.

Frostbitten but happy with my Starbucks

Jon reading a pamphlet about the tower

A gargoyle at the top, and silly Jon peaking over the side.

The view of the bridge from the top



The view

Beautiful Prague.


I had the best adventure to Prague and the most amazing time with my husband! It was a much needed vacation that I won't ever forget! We had such a wonderful time together. Prague is by far my most favorite city in Europe (although I haven't seen many..........yet) I can't wait for our next mini holiday; I can only imagine what other beautiful places I am bound to see!

Since I took over three hundred pictures and was not able to post them all on this blog, I have posted the best ones on my flickr account. If you'd like to see the rest of the photo's CLICK HERE ;)

Happy Monday! Hope everyone has a great week!

Just Finished

I just finished Twilight and it was awesome! Obviously I loved it because it only took me two days to read. I can't wait to get the other three books.
I really do recommend this to anyone who is interested in vampire love stories!! ha ha lol

Tomorrow Jon and I are on our way to Prague for the weekend. I am so looking forward to this trip because we have been working so hard on our new place and Jon's had so many business trips, it will be nice to have this much needed vacation and some much need QT with my husband. I will have pictures up soon of our adventure!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Twilight

I have become completely and utterly obsessed with Twilight, the book written by Stephenie Meyer.



The back of the book reads:
"About three things I was absolutely positive.
First Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him and
I didn't know how dominant that part might be
that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably
in love with him."

I cannot put this book down. Yesterday was the first day I opened it and I got through half of the book and am now on page 250. I think it's the way she writes that keeps you enthralled with every word. It is a love story (I am not much of a romance novel reader, actually I don't read them at all, but.......) It is about a young girl who falls in love with a vampire and he in turn is in love with her, even though it is dangerous for them to be together. This book is being made into a motion picture and opens November 21st in the states.

I had been skeptical about reading this, only because I had no idea what it was about. Finally, we took our weekly trip to the book store and Jon said I really should read it, so I grabbed it and am so happy I did.

It's really sad, but I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about Twilight and what would happen next in the story. I know I will finish the book today, because I am putting everything aside, (laundry, dishes, etc, etc) to finish it.

There are three more books to the Twilight Series:

New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Down

I will definitely be buying these as well.

I was so excited about the book I called my mom and brother to tell them about it, but they had both already heard about the books. My brother is almost done reading the first one and my mom was planning to buy the book very soon. How funny.

Just thought I'd share my new exciting find! Back to reading I go!!!!!

In a Fall Mood

Jon and I decided, why wait to eat pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day, when you can eat one today? So I gathered all the correct ingredients and put my lack of culinary skills to work on this awesome pie! I think it turned out great thanks to Libby's pumpkin pie recipe; it's nothing short of delicious.

My ingredients all mixed together

My first pie crust

The finished results


Happy Fall Day

Spectacular Saturday

We woke up early Saturday morning on a mission, we were going to Ikea! We still have several things we need for the house and Ikea is definitely the best place in Wiesbaden to buy furniture. We started our morning coffee and I decided to make pancakes. I remember when I was a little girl my mom used to make Mickey mouse pancakes, so I thought I would give it a try!

Mixing up the AWESOME heart healthy Bisquick!
They make the best, most fluffy pancakes!

My first attempt! Not too bad

Finished product

Making Jon laugh!! Isn't his shirt funny.
We bought it during St. Patrick's Day in the kids sections at Target.

Second attempt! This one was a lot bigger!
Jon had to flip it for me.

Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse Pancakes!

Heading out on our crazy adventure to Ikea! Saturdays are the worst days to go, because everyone in the entire country of Germany goes to Ikea. There are so many people and it tends to get a little overwhelming but we thought we would brave it anyway!

Our car covered in fall foliage!

IKEA!!!!! This was actually our third trip here. I know it's crazy, but they have the best hotdogs here and they sell them for only 1€. We chowed down on our hotdog after shopping! I wish I would have thought to take a picture of them, they are huge!

Loading up the car.


Sunday we spent most of the day organizing and putting boxes into the cellar. We still have a lot to do but it really is coming along well. We cleared out an entire room that was loaded with boxes to the ceiling. I feel like we got a lot accomplished! Hopefully I can get pictures up soon of what we have done so far.

Happy Monday

Steph the Hypochondriac

Yesterday while I was unpacking a man came to the door and told me he was here to check our gas meter in our home. So I let him in to do his business and when he was done he came to me, not being able to speak good English and drew on a sheet of paper the letters CO. After he does this, he than says this is measuring too high and we need to call someone to check it out.

If you haven't met Hypochondriac Stephanie yet, "Hello nice to meet you. Here I am!"

I had a conniption fit just as soon as he walked out the door. I got on the internet and started looking up carbon monoxide poisoning and all of the symptoms that occurred from the poisoning! Of course after reading everything I could about CO poisoning, I started feeling every symptom, fatigue, nausea, headache, dizziness etc etc etc! I called Jon and had him call the landlord to let him know. He said they would get someone out on MONDAY! Are you kidding, I'm dying here!!!

So right when Jon gets home from work, I run out of the house and we drive to the airbase to get a carbon monoxide detector. All the while I am still feeling sick and have no idea what I am going to do. (and Jon is laughing at me because I'm such a darn goof and do this all of the time. My poor husband!) When we get home the first thing we do is plug in the detector. That was at 5:25 p.m. It is now 10:28 a.m. and of course (SILLY ME) there has been no alarm from the monitor! I guess I don't have carbon monoxide poisoning! (Thank you Lord) I guess I might have overreacted a little. Ya think!

TGIF!!!!!!!!

Loving Fall

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day in Wiesbaden. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and a light jacket was all I needed to go out and about. I couldn't be more happy, this weather brings out the kid in me! Although I was stuck inside most of the day unpacking and slowly working on getting our home organized, I did manage to pop out for a minute to enjoy the day. I took pictures of our street. I absolutely love our street and the way the trees line the road. It has such a cozy feel to it, so picturesque (as Jon says.)

As I was going through my pictures of our street,
I came across this picture I had taken about a month ago.
I thought this leaf was beautiful. I caught it mid changing.
Still green on one side, turning to yellow and orange. How cool!

This is a view at the top of our street.

A view closer to our apartment

Our sidewalk

Another view by our apartment.


Unpacking is not one of my favorite things to do. Actually I really dislike it a lot. Trying to find a place for everything is very overwhelming, especially with no closets. Thank goodness for the cellar we have downstairs or we would have to make one of our spare rooms into an "I don't know where to put this, just throw it in there," room. It will just take time to get our place the way we want it. (I just wish our stuff would magically unpack itself and place itself in the correct location while I go about my normal life.)

Today, it's a little more gloomy, but a typical fall day in Germany. This is the rainy season here, it is usually rainy and foggy, but it's not too bad. Jon and I tried to do a little shopping this last weekend in hopes to buy some fall decorations, but it seems like they just skip right over Thanksgiving and move straight to Christmas decor! I remember looking for fallish decorations a month or so ago, and they had already put the Christmas decorations out! Why is this so? Anyway, while we were out shopping at the farmers market I got a great picture of the church in market square.

We parked in a parking garage and had to park on the top floor because Saturdays are the busiest days downtown. This was the view from the top of the garage.


Back to work I go! Have a great Wednesday.

Proud of Our Soldier!

Matt, Jon's cousin, came to visit this weekend and we were so happy to see him! He also lives in Germany but about two hours away in Schwienfurt and he drove to Wiesbaden to see us. Matt will be leaving soon for his second one year tour in the Middle East. Although we are sad to see him go, he is actually looking forward to making a difference and fighting for our country. We are very proud of him.

Here are pictures from his visit!
Matty and Me

Jon and Matt

We took Matt to Wickinger, it's has wonderful German food! The atmosphere is so cozy, with a fire pit in the middle of the restaurant.

After eating our yummy food, we took Matt to the local Irish Pub where they have live music. The band was so great. They played American Classic Rock.

It's hard to see because of the crowd, but I got a shot of the lead singer.

A better shot of the band.


Happy Monday!