Oh the Good Life....

Burns hurt. and i always think it's hilarious how whenever i accidentally manage to singe my skin i vow to NEVER do it again. 'i'll be more careful next time....', 'don't touch the stove, it's hot', etc. and yet... when it happens it's awful. horrible enough to remind me why i'm so careful in the first place and why it was such a big deal the last time it happened. for those of you that don't know, German ovens are tiny. seriously. tiny. i had to ask Dana to buy me new cookie sheets because all the ones i own refuse to fit into our oven. My only saving grace has been a round pizza pan that i actually use to make giant cookie cakes. In addition to the miniature oven, we have an electric stove... also a new experience in cooking for me. we always had a gas stove growing up and in my opinion, it's the ONLY kind of stove to have. don't misunderstand me here, i really am grateful to have a stove at all... i'm merely setting up my story. i had made fajitas the other night for dinner and bought sun dried tomato tortillas. Normally, i'd heat the tortillas on the gas burner. that's the way mother always did it growing up, so that's what i know to do. and don't even have a cast iron skillet to warm them on the electric stove. so in a moment of sheer genius (or stupidity depending on how you look at it) i decided to throw them in the oven for a bit to warm on the racks. trick is, you have to flip 'em. turn 'em over. imagine my surprise when i'm pulling my hand out of the oven only to snag it on the top of the inside.... hearing the soft hiss and smelling burnt hair. yechflhth. my husband, the quick thinker, grabs ice from the freezer and immediately applies it to my hand. ever notice that you never realize how much you use a certain part of your body until you burn that area and have to not brush, scratch, rub, touch, run hot water over, or any where near this part of you? zambloonie.... it hurts. moral of the story is... don't be stupid. wear oven mitts.

THE UPDATE

So, yes. i realize it's been practically a month since i've written. and i'd like to offer my sincerest apologies. dana and i kind of got smacked in the forehead with wedding stuff shortly after the new year and have been trying to bounce back ever since. since the beginning of January some exciting things have moved forward and i'm gonna throw them at you bullet point style.....

OPERATION LIVING ROOM SEATING

we have a couch!!!!!! i managed to find this beautiful piece for a steal on ramstein yard sales... and i have Jessica Aiduk to thank for it because she (in enjoying her newly acquired couch bought and purchased from ramstein yardsailes as well) inspired me to not give up hope and just keep looking. now we can pick out paint colors for the living room!! (:

FLASHBACKS TO MY 17TH BIRTHDAY

i have my drivers license!!!!!! that test was WAY harder than i expected. you study the handbook and study the practice test at the back of the book not to mention the abysmally long list of traffic signs and then sign up to take a written (written?!?) exam while monitored by a proctor. you can only miss up to 15 questions on the test to pass. i went in pretty confident and began sweating bullets about halfway through. because when you go turn your test in he counts your missed questions in front of everyone (trying to be as quiet as he can of course, but sit in the front and can hear him plain as day). people are missing 18, 22, 25 questions right and left and are having to come back to take the test again the next day. and i reeeeeeeeeeallly didn't want to do that. so after arguing with myself in my head and decided not to second guess what i've already written, i turned my test in to find that i only missed 8!!! a 92%!!! woooooOOOOO HOOOOOooooo! i could have kissed the proctor of the exam i was so excited! then dana came and picked me up giving me a refresher course around base. i got to drive to the commissary all by myself and buy groceries by myself and drive home on the autobahn by myself!!! i was nervous about the auto bahn because it's vicious, and our poor honda was made per US specs and was not designed to go from 0kph to 130 kph in 4 seconds. *sigh* but it was still a blast. and i'm going to seriously have to watch it when i get back to the states. driving 90 mph here is normal. i feel like i'm setting myself up for defensive driving..... (:

Date Night

D and i have date night once a week... and we go and do something together. we toss whatever worries are weighing on our shoulders, kiss the world goodbye and go forth through the looking glass into our own wonderland for a night. most of the pictures below are from our random excursions. and have become reasons why i love germany.

wine pong at the wollschlager's. this was a hilarious experience. thank you Thorlund. (:

tasty deliciousness from Thai-rama. OMG. the best thai food i've EVER had. sheesh.

this is my favorite aisle at the BX. the foreign candy aisle.

bliss. pure bliss.

PIZZA ATTACK?!? lol this is an actual pizza delivery place... they drive smart cars to deliver the pizzas. hilarious.

flowers that D brought home for me this past wednesday for date night. total surprise... he's such a sweetheart. (:

the Thompson wedding

one of the guys in Dana's shop got married shortly after the new year.... we were the witnesses for their ceremony at the German courthouse. the wedding was in German and also in English. the amount of paperwork and euro forked over by these two, in order to get married in Germany is inspiring. We had them over for dinner the night before the wedding and i got to meet michael's lovely wife-to-be jamie (the now Mrs. Thompson). She told us crazy stories of how she yelled at the officials and having to overnight a birth certificate from the states (serious $$$) and all of the other fun facts that are forever stamped into their story. Congratulations to the two of them, and we wish them much love, bliss and happiness.

Trier Adventure

we decided it was time to take another trip close to home and asked the Amrein's to come along. Going to Trier that day was a blessing. the weather was beautiful (sushine!!!!!!) and it wasn't too horribly cold. in hindsight we should've gone on saturday because NOTHING is open in germany on sundays. it's like they take that day of rest thing literally or something.... (who does that??!? lol) the highlights of that trip were the church/chapel, the food, and the pink palace/gardens. Here are some photos below. If you want to see all the fun here's our Sunday-funday trip to trier album.

Things to look forward to....

we're close to being in a good place with the kitchen. we finished painting and i managed to remember to borrow the drill from our grounds keeper to drill into the solid concrete walls of our apartment. we're hanging shelves tonight and i should be able to take and post pictures of before and after in the kitchen soon.

we're headed to the cirque dreams show for valentines day, which is super exciting. last time i saw a show like this was cirque du soleil in amsterdam. We're both thrilled.

As far as trips go, we're hoping to get to Garmish soon to see the cinderella castle. I'd love to see it in the snow, but it might be easier to get to in better weather conditions. it's hard to believe that time is flying so fast here. i'll be back home in four months to prep for the wedding in Mckinney. we got our save-the-dates in the mail yesterday so my dreams this week have been filled with calligraphied wonders.... as i am hand addressing every last one. i did manage to find an art shop that has all the calligraphy supplies i should EVER need!!!! i was thrilled. now if i can only find a hobby lobby equivalent here. with my recent pinterest obsession growing stronger by the day, i need to have a place to buy supplies for all of my macaroni glitter crafts!

Well that's all for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!