Just Call Me Famous Dave!

Hello all! Well, this has been a ..... few weeks. Not quite sure what exactly to call them. I have plenty of pictures I just haven't put them on my computer yet, so I will do a later blog of only pictures so as to catch up on my major slacking! Terribly sorry!

Well, there were about four days where I could not get out of bed without feeling like I was about to.... well, I was sick so I will just let you know that it was a stomach infection and I won't go any further. I could not eat anything other than pretzels and dry bread and LOTS of water. I think I watched about four movies a day, I fell asleep through half of them, but it was a nice little Disney marathon. I also started watching Friends. It still surprises me sometimes when I think that I am living the dream! Well, a dream, one of my many.

I have gotten to talk to so many friends back home and it is so fantastic to hear their voices again!!! Also, made me cry at some points. I think I could have sat for hours and talked to them like we used to except for the fact that we used to have coffee while having long talks and it is usually about 11pm when I get to talk to them. I don't mind to drink coffee that late if in fact I will be writing a very long essay or I am VERY interested in a book, or if I don't have to wake up the following day until noon! Sadly, I am feeling a bit old as of late, but hopefully that will pass as soon as fall actually comes and there is no Cleveland weather of 50 degrees one day followed by 80 the next.

Speaking of cold weather!! Guess who is bringing American Thanksgiving to Germany! This girl! I am beyond excited! Although it will be very early because Stefan will be going to Australia to sing in early October and will not be back until December! So! in the following weeks I will be preparing for Fall. Hopefully I can find a few things for decorations because, if you don't know, I work along side my grandmother and mother in a party business called Three Bells. (Shameless advertisement!) I will be taking it upon myself to truly treat this family to a whole day of relaxing and spend my whole day from morning to night in the kitchen! A place where I feel most at ease. I don't know what I will be making for lunch yet, but breakfast and dinner are taken care of! I just need to find one pumpkin so that I can make a pumpkin pie! My Tennessee (Sevier County and Cleveland) famous pumpkin pie! It will not be the same not making Thanksgiving dinner with my grandmother, but hopefully I can make a Thanksgiving dinner almost as nice as what she has given me over the years. I know how I will be giving my thanks over this very makeshift Thanksgiving.

OH! Yes! On an almost related note of "speaking of my grandmother"! I made her world class fried chicken for the kids yesterday! I have never made it before, but hopefully I got the right measurement of love in it. Sophia had fried chicken in Seattle this summer and has been talking about it the whole time i've been here. I made it and she said that it was the third best fried chicken that she had ever tasted! Which I gladly took because she is the picky eater of the family! Her first running was the chicken in Seattle, followed by her mothers chicken, and falling into third place is my grandmothers. Which I am sure I did something wrong if it fell into third, but I am happy to have gotten a "YUUMMMM" followed by her picking up the chicken with her hands and really digging in!

Today is just a lot of "AHHHHH" for tomorrow. The concert! How did it come up so fast!! My dress now needs to be altered, somehow I have managed to lose a few inches since I have been here. Must be all the Dinkel! (Basically no sugar.) Today will consist of ironing, altering, and practicing! I have been waiting for tomorrow for about four years now. Especially for about two years since my clarinet teacher told me that I basically would't amount to anything on the clarinet. I guess we will see tomorrow! If I give my signature to anyone then I will count that as something and probably won't be able to sleep for the follow three nights because I will be so excited. If that happens, I promise not to forget anyone! HA! Let's be honest, no one can even read my signature. I think it looks something like Dan L. Haskeets. If you ever see that signature save it! Well, I need to get some work done!
See you on the other side!

Bis Bald!

Surrounded by Such Talent and Beauty!

Okay! It's been forever since I have blogged. Like a full week! I can and can't believe it all at the same time. Things have been going swimmingly, finally getting into a swing and it feels great! So here is what has happened. I am going to try to sum everything up in pictures. Here we go!

(The above are from dinner on the Rhine! Sunset and beauty)

(Just a few more from the Fischer Stechen in case you missed all the others. HA!)

 (Stefan went to Moscow to sing last week and when he got back he had something new for the house!)

(The smallest one is smaller than my pinky finger nail......)

(I went out by myself for a little bit the other morning and had a blast! I felt like a real "German". Which is saying a lot since all that I can do at this moment is not entirely the bare minimum, but a little bit above that. This is a restaurant, and an old one at that.)

Found a small (about ten feet wide) coffee shop and had breakfast. As you can tell I was hungry and the crescent was heavenly and I took one bite and couldn't stop! The same goes for the Chai latte! Before I knew it an hour had passed and I had basically moved in with everything that I had all over this table! Nevertheless it was a very pleasant visit and I intend to not make it the only one!)

On my way back to the car I was going to stop at this music store and see if they had a CD that I want. Sadly, they were closed BUT! Look at this!!!!! This is a poster for the concert that we are putting on this month!!! If you look very closely you will see my name is the third down on the right upper corner! I just hope the reeds that I've broken in while I've been here will hold out and sound as good as they do today on the 27th. If you're reading this and you're near Hargesheim, Germany please come to our benefit concert! 

As the title of this says talent I would just like to brag about the family that has graciously let me into their home to help out! The Vinke family are absolutely fantastic and even though they will never replace my actual family they are helping a lot by helping me to fell welcome and I am blessed to have gotten the email back in May. I had no idea just what God had in store for my life after Lee University, but a lot of things are coming into focus. I still have no idea what God has in store for me (conductor of orchestras, singing in an opera or musical, playing clarinet or even working at a coffee shop.) As of right now, I don't know much of anything, but I do know that there is a plan and that it has started with a degree and now I am here. I know that there is a reason that I have a degree in music and that God has placed me with some really excellent musicians.

Ta ta for now!

Bis bald

My lips are sunburned

Today was absolutely perfect. We had lunch on the Nahe river where bees are very friendly and not afraid to ask for some food. It was beautiful, however, and the food was very good. After we finished eating we went for a walk down the river and through some of the older parts of town. 

(These are the 400 year old buildings that I was talking about.)

(A walkway of roses!)

(It was very bright outside today.)

(The second try wasn't too good either.)

After walking around we stopped to get some ice cream and coffee. I had the best strawberry milk shake I think I've ever had. (It still doesn't beat my grandmothers peanut butter shakes though.) 

(It was quite pretty however.)

After we were all ready we headed back to the house where we played badminton and it was girls vs. boys. It was a blast!!!!! I hadn't had that much fun with a sport in quite some time. Then we all went inside to get ready for dinner and Sophia and I went down to my room to look at some of the things that my parents sent me. You know, a teddy bear, some books (Frankenstein, The Canterbury Tales, My German bible, and the last of my travel books) and a map. Perfectly normal package! After this we went upstairs to see what Lukas wanted to show me.

 

These are all of his Lego technics. There are seven. They are so cool!!!!!!! He wants to be an engineer someday and I totally back that up. His brain is amazing when it comes to stuff like that. 

That had been my beautiful day. As for now, I will leave you with some pictures, words, and a polite...

Bis bald.

"Touch."

Today is Lukas's birthday and we had a little garden party then went bowling for about two and a half hours! It was a blast! I miss bowling so much! More than that, I miss not having horrible pains in my hands, but such is life. On the way to bowling we got out on a stretch where I finally got to drive about 120kph. I was a pretty happy gal.

The last few days have been fun and I got to go to a children's choir performance for Sophia in a 700+ year-old church! I also got to touch a 410 year-old building that was hanging from a bridge! For those who may not know this about me, I am an European (war) historian, and it is a small life goal of mine to touch every building over 300 years- old that I possibly can. If you ever have the chance to see an old building or anything of the sort with me expect *mouth hanging open when finding out how old* followed by one word "touch" and a small giggle. Not sure why I like to touch old buildings, but I would hug them if I could. There is just something about a 600 year-old building that is still standing and nature. Both are miracles and I am unable to not smile every time I step foot into another country.

God is good.

Bis bald

Partai!!

Today was Sophia's birthday party for her very not quite yet birthday. (Her birthday is in January, but she likes the summer, so we party now!) Sixteen kids, three adults, plenty of sweets and games later everyone was dead, and by everyone I mean the adults. 

Since I am new and I know none of Sophia's friends except a few we kicked the games off with a name game. You know, the one where you throw the ball to one person and say your name and then their name, etc. Well, in German it is a little bit different. Like the fact that I had no idea what they were saying. Just kidding, I knew most of it. After everyone had the ball it was my turn to throw it to everyone and say their names. I got the good majority, but out of sixteen I think I did well! 

After this was an egg run, wheelbarrow run, thee legged race, a water run (they had cups and had to fill a bucket at the end of the yard), a "fireman" line, a game where they linked arms and had to get each person thru a hula hoop without breaking hands, and last but not least a water balloon toss! This was always my favorite game with youth group growing up!!!! This quickly turned into "find some sort of water from somewhere and throw it at the nearest person". After this, everyone got changed and we had some fantastic food made by Stefan and then we all lived happily ever after. The End. 

Oh yeah! Pictures!!!!!!

(Sophia getting her hula hoop on)

(The kids getting their water balloons)

(This is we're the unthinkable started happening.)

(They got cups and started throwing water at each other)

(And then..... The sweetest little girl just looks at me like "can you move over please so I can get past you?" NOT WHAT SHE WAS THINKING!!!)

(And then round two. Down the back of the trousers and everything. It was a BLAST!)

Bis bald!

The Best Siegfried Ever!

Today was the day that everyone in the house awaited!!! Stefan came home from the Seattle Opera where he performed the part of Siegfried in Wagner's Ring Cycle! All of his reviews were fantastic and everyone loved him. (I myself have never heard him sing except around the house today and cannot wait to hear him actually sing!) 

The kids wanted nothing but forts today!!!! I don't know that I will be able to get out of bed in the morning for fear of feeling too old. So, two forts were built, a father came home, and a party was had all day long! It was fantastic and I am so excited to get to know Stefan more! 

Tomorrow is a birthday party for Sophia even though her birthday is in January. She constantly wants a summer birthday and asks Sabine "why couldn't you have me in the summer/why did you have to wait until winter?" I personally think its great! They still celebrate her birthday in January, but no outside party. Unless the activity of the party is going to be making snow angels, but I prefer egg races! Hope everything goes well with it! 

Bis bald!

Hildegard of Bingen

So! Yesterday was great! It rained all day and was cool enough for me to wear jeans, long sleeves, and wool socks!!! (For those reading who don't know, I LOVE COLD WEATHER!!!!!) We had a lazy morning with a breakfast of yogurt, bread with all kind of cold cuts and cheeses, and coffee. After Sophia went off to a friends birthday party down the road Sabine, Lukas and I went to go see the castles on the Rhine river. Well, since the weather wasn't permitting enough we went another way to see some BIG rocks hanging on the side of a mountain! When I say big, I mean bigger than my house. It was a little scary driving by them, but we made it in one piece to where? Of all the places in the world that I never thought I would end up. We ended up in.....

(If you can't see the sign, Bingen!!!!)

That's right all music lovers who are reading this. I went to the place where Hildegard lived!!!! Well, the town at least. We are going back with nice weather to her home! 

After I nerded out a little we went down to the river (Nahe) and watched where it met with the Rhine. 

We started driving to find a place to stop and have a coffee before heading back home. What started out as a want for coffee slowly turned into a two hour excursion of watching the river, looking at the some six castles and churches perched on the mountains on either side of the river, and finally finding a place to have some coffee. And that place? Was in a castle!!!!

It was absolutely fantastic!!!! The views and the small streets were amazing! A little slick from the rain (I slipped twice), but beautiful none the less. After this we came home and waited for Sophia to come home before we went out to eat in a nearby town with some friends. It was so cool!!!! Not even ten minutes away! The place that we tried to go first was sold out, so we went to a place jut on the other side called The Rosegarten. It was so cute! Some sparkling wine and I ate cheese, meet that I didn't know, some veggies, and (as did everyone else) some of Sophia's French fries. Overall I give it a ten out of ten.

Today, however, I woke up and went downstairs to get ready. Sabine had informed me yesterday that she was having a friend over for breakfast. Me being me, I didn't want to intrude even with the invitation to join them the night before. I am in the middle of reading an intense part of Les Miserables when Sabine comes down and tells me that I can come up (I hadn't had breakfast, but I didn't mind to get it after). I went up with them and had the best morning that I have had in quite some time. Sabine really outdid herself. There were small cakes (gluten free and fantastic!), small sandwiches (ham, cheese, egg, and more ham) and of course, coffee. BUT there was a surprise that I really don't even know the name of so for now we will call it heaven. Oh my sweet baby llama!!! I put it in my mouth and both others were looking at me laughing. I can understand why! If I was making the face I think I was making, then it was pretty funny. I could have eaten ten of these by myself!!!! Thank God I could only have two! It didn't rain today, but it was just very overcast. The rest of the day was really nothing. I got to drive again and I had fun with the kids while building fort number two in Lukas' room.

(Fort #1, built yesterday morning)

(Bigger and better fort #2! With Lukas inside to the left, and screaming FORT!!!!!!)

Das ist alles für jetzt! 

Bis bald!