Heidelberg, A Germany Christmas, & Life's Little Adjustments...

i finally made a delicious cup of coffee in our coffeemaker!!!!!!!!!!! now, for those of you that know my husband and i... this probably seems rather ridiculous. seeing as how both he and i worked at starbucks for a lengthy period of time. which would logically mean that we not only know how to brew coffee, make lattes and the like... but we can deal with super picky customers that want it "their" way... so you'd think making a decent cup of coffee for myself every morning would be a far easy task... no thought required. enter case and point: german coffee maker. with it's random numbering system... and small cup vs. big cup settings... i've been trying to make a regular pot of slightly strong coffee every day since i've been here and failed miserably. if i make a cup for myself... it's too weak tasting like hazelnut water... if i make a cup for both D and i it ends being too strong... as in sure i'll take the paint off your car strong... you take one sip and ZING! "Good morning children!!!! it's a lovely morning children!!!!" so imagine my suprise today when i finally got things right.... five heaping tablespoons (and it has to be heaping) and you fill the blue coffee maker of deceit up to just past the four cup line... viola! morning deliciousness.... with a dash of incredible... topped with awesomeness. whew!

THE UPDATE

it's been a while since i've written due to the christmas holiday and D being off work... so the update might be done post-it style.

HEIDELBERG

D & i adventured to Heidelberg with Paula and Bradon Amrein two sundays ago. i ADORE that town!!! there's a gigantic castle on a hill partially in ruins and 80% of the time is covered in fog... Paula had taken the tour so many times that she gave us the english version which was fantastic! i took so many pictures that day... and paula was kind enough to take photos of Dana and i. we went to the christmas markets down in town there and sampled so many delicious things! i miss the markets already.... they made for a super awesome date night... and you can't beat the food. the day was a towering success! it was just nice to hang out with another couple on a massive double date to a city in foreign country. P & B are hilarious. While standing inside the castle we got on the subject of the Princess Bride (shocker because it's my husbands favorite movie. which he reminds me every day...) and Brandon goes "oh yeah! i love that movie.... 'my name is Antonio Banderas... you kill-.. wait...." Dana (while barely containing fits of laughter)- "you mean Inigo Montoya??" cue the audience guffaws. after walking around in the cold drizzling rain, all the while blissful from the views, we stopped at a coffee shop to warm our frozen feet and catch our second wind. it was here at this simply gorgeous and quaint coffee shop that we sampled a new treat.. and i don't remember the name of it... but it was something resembling a truffle-like cake ball. soooo yummy!!! after we were warm and snuggly in our clothes and had a chance to dry off, we headed back out to go through the rest of the christmas market. Then came the monstrous task of climbing 314 steps back up toe the castle and the even more steps and upward terrain to our car. because we were smart and parked at the top of the hill instead of the obvious choice - the bottom. D half carried me most of the way because my feet were so frozen. it had been an excellent day but by the time we got to the car hardly any of us could see straight. so brandon was kind enough to drive home and paula sat up front with him while D and i took the back. while adjusting her seat paula turns to D, making sure he has enough room for his legs... mentioning she doesn't want to crush him. and my husband... my dear sweet tired seriously-out-of-it husband... says "it's alright.... i have abs of steel!" and after an awkward pause brandon pipes up from the drivers seat going... "dude? what does that have to do with your legs?" i don't know if it was because we were all so deliriously tired or what, but all of us were in tears we were laughing so hard. we ended up stopping at a new restaurant on the way home and then back to the amrein's to play apples to apples... which is a game clearly tuned to the female mind.. paula and i were kicking some ass for a while. so i'd say trip to heidelberg? accomplished!

THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY

this year was definitely an original. and during a holiday where many a time you count on traditions and the comforts of what you know (home) much of this year was an exercise in patience. It was amazing to have Dana home from work for such an extended period of time. we had a great deal of fun outings... he and i finally went to K-town and walked around the christmas markets there.... D got his overseas driver's license! yay! (he'd been driving with his military one) we went to the German version of Home Depot here in town called Toom to pick out paint for our apartment! i think i've decided on the color for the kitchen. i'm eager to paint so that we can put up the shelf from IKEA. and my coffee mugs on the drawer pulls. which reminds me, i need to find a drill bit that can go through concrete... and have D charge my cordless at work! He also took me to Saturn the electronics store here. they have everything from Ipads to computer parts, to curling irons and straighteners, coffee makers, espresso makers, mixers, washer/dryers, phones, etc! basically a german Best Buy. sooo fun! dana bought me my christmas present that day - a german hand mixer!!! so now i can bake an my cooking world has been exponentially opened. (i never realized how handicapped i am without a mixer) and we got a pretty good deal, especially with the VAT form. we also went to look at couches in a leather store. HUGE mistake. the average price of a couch in this store was 5,000 € . no kidding. but we did get this epic photo that made it totally worth it.

in light of being in a foreign country and wanting to travel as much as possible D & I decided to forgo the christmas tree this year. we calculated that it would be around $200 for us to set a tree up. and figured that money could be better spent traveling, especially with paris coming up. so sadly the only christmasy thing in our apartment was in the kitchen - the glühwein and eggnog. christmas eve day we had Thor over for brunch and i made banana pancakes and D made his famous eggs. She was the first guest we've had at the apartment. and it was nice to have company. although as soon as we can get a couch, we'll be able to entertain alot more. We were also able to catch up with the W's and the Ndjerareou's christmas eve night... it was wonderful to see familiar faces and family. this meant that christmas morning D and i could have the leftover pancakes and not have to lift and finger for breakfast! we got to open the presents Sarah sent with me in my luggage from Texas and one of the W's packages had made it here before christmas... Dana wrapped them with packing paper and tied them with string because we can't find the tape. Sarah sent us beautiful ornaments for the tree (the W with the swarovski crystals is my favorite!!!) and the W's sent us moccasins! man-oh-man do they keep your feet warm! then it became the christmas i know and love because i buried myself in the kitchen and D was happily occupied playing his new video game. when i was finally done with my giant profiterole tower we made our way to Miesenbach to the Amrein's for christmas dinner! Brandon's brother Bryan is in town for the next four months or so.... which is awesome! we ate a delicious feast.. and heartily tackled dessert (paula made the peppermint oreo balls & i the tower-'o-cream-puffs) while watching horton hears a who. We came home and were able to chat with my father and brother until about midnight our time... at which point we were exhausted. it was a wonderful christmas, albeit different, but it was amazing to be with Dana this year instead of sitting at the kitchen table in Garland writing him a letter every night while he was in basic training.

the day after christmas has always been rough for me. there's always this big buildup and then when christmas is over i end up feeling like a giant deflated balloon. D and i barely knew what to do with ourselves.... it was his last day of vacation. we ended up going to see the new sherlock holmes at the BX. AMAZING MOVIE. i highly recommend it. i know it's probably been out in the states for a little while, so we might be a bit behind, but seriously. go see it! we also looked at all the christmas merchandise on sale... and low and behold they had tree's for half off!!! so Dana ended up getting me a tree after all. plus the amazing glow of getting what you want for half the price makes anything worth it. we also took another look around for a couch and we think we found one, i just happened to have forgotten my camera that day. i want to take a picture and pair it with my furniture in the apartment before we make this gigantor purchase. no worries though. it's not like this model is going anywhere.

Tuesday D came home with armloads of packages!!!! our christmas gifts from Iowa had finally come in the mail! Words can barely express the gratitude that we have for Dana's family and all they sent us. it was christmas in a box. literally. all the good christmas movies, chocolates, decorations, holiday music, games, clothes, etc. i was definitely in tears. it reminded me of what my mom would have done if she were still alive. we celebrated under our newly purchased christmas tree and thanked God for all he has given us.

TODAY AND PREPARATION FOR NEW YEARS

now things are sort of back on a normal schedule. i still need to study for my drivers test (blast!) and i'm trying to prep for our trip to Paris this weekend. We purchased new maps for Jane (our GPS) and i was finally able to get that working today (per D's request). I made german christmas cookies yesterday.... they're called Zimtsterne. we saw them at the christmas market and purchased some of the scraps. they were delicious. and of course the thought in my head was, surely i can make those!!! so i hunted and found the recipe. sooo fun to make! and really easy.

today i'm trying to unpack more... and get laundry done. the kitchen is clean... yay! and it's honestly my favorite room in the apartment right now. (and has obviously received the most love) so life is good, and the W's are definitely ready to ring in the new year!!!
Happy holidays ya'll... i hope everyone wishes came true. God Bless!