Summer Vacation 2009

So- I am just getting done with my summer vacation. I'm in New Jersey at the beach. Joachim met my friends and my family- and I think they all liked him a lot. I like him a lot more now than I did three weeks ago when we left for vacation. Its amazing. We spent the last three weeks together, with very little time apart, and we aren't sick of each other. Also- he really impressed me. He's not selfish at all. A few times I felt like I really needed his support or encouragement and he never let me down.

Right now I'm in the hotel room getting some relaxation time and Joachim is at the beach. Hopefully he will get back soon and we can go to the pool together.

I'm really happy i got to see my family and my friend's, Miriah's, wedding was really awesome in Boston. I miss the girls a lot.

The only thing I'm disappointed with for my trip is that I always brag about United States hospitality and how american's are really friendly to customers. Now after just about two weeks of being at hotels and eating at restaurants- I've decided that I prefer Europe. I prefer anywhere but the United States. This trip definitely feels like its pushed me towards feeling a little more love for Europe. I guess it has something to do with the bad ecomony in the United States- but that still doesn't give people an excuse for treating customers like they are the enemy. I guess it was only a few bad experiences- and we made the best of it. I guess most of it for me is that I don't like being around so many people. The east coast is too populated for me. Maybe I'll try the west coast next time- or maybe we'll go to Hawaii like Joachim wants to do in February.

Thats it for now. :)

Frustrations

Sometimes I get really frustrated with work and generally this is because I have certain limits and I'm not sure how to get around them. In so many ways I'm really organized, but in the ways that I'm not I feel like I really suffer. Also- I procrastinate so much! I think teaching a child from a young age the consequences of procrastinating is a really good idea. I thought I'd post a photograph of me from years ago today. Also- I thought I'd let my family know that I'm definitely coming home in August for a few days. :) This photograph is from 2005, back when I was really thin and ran even when the snow was coming down. Wow- how things have changed. :) Now- no more procrastinating today. Lots to do and very little time.

Betty & Jo

So- I decided to post another, nicer, photograph of Joachim. Also- I thought I'd write about things I'm really looking forward to in the next 6-7 months. I'm looking forward to introducing Joachim to my sister Holly in Paris/France on a vacation we'll take in June. I'm looking forward to introducing him to Deb when she comes out to do some awesome outdoor activity with me and I travel with her to Berlin to see her husband! ;) I'm looking forward to taking him home to introduce him to mom & dad. :) I'm looking forward to taking him out to my favorite restaurant- that one could even happen tonight- but I bet it will happen a few months from now. (I really like to look forward to things). :)~

I'm looking forward to finding song that I actually sing well and singing it to him at Karaoke night. :)

Okay- here is a photograph of him from the first week we started dating! :) Yes- he is cute. I know and this one you all can actually see his face. :) ha ha.


And the one at the top of this entry is a photo to prove to mom that I am still really silly! :) 30 years old isn't making me grow up! Not at all!

Happy me.

So- a lot has happened in the past few weeks. Mostly my brother danny came to Germany and we had a great time. I'll post one photograph of him and me from that trip. Next- I'm totally in love and I'm really happy. In just another 6 weeks I'll get to visit my sister Holly in France and go to Paris to see Julia. ;) That will be a lot of fun.

Okay- so I have to run- but I thought I'd post some photographs.

First Danny-boy and then a cool photo of my boyfriend. :) Yeah- he's really cute.

Learning German

Okay- so today marks the day that I will begin a full attempt at learning German. I decided I'll try to learn 10 words a day for 5 days a week for the next five weeks. Then I should know 250 new German words and an additional goal is to really try to use those words in speaking with someone. Also- it will be okay to speak all English but those words. Also- in the next four weeks I want to make a list of all the words I already know so that I can make flash cards for the words I need to know.

The nice thing is that many German words are the same as English. My first set of words are Der Koerper (the body), Gefuehle (feelings), haus Woerter (house words), and Alltaegliche Ausdruecke (general Expressions).

I also found a nice website to help me learn German. I've included an image: http://www.languageguide.org/im/body/de/

Daniel is coming to visit

So- I'm not sure what to do with my brother. The first trip we ever went on was to the Wind Rivers in Wyoming, followed by a very high mountain hike, followed by a trip down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (where it was 112 degrees in the shade), followed by giving him 50$, a hotel room and a night to himself in Las Vegas. :) And I think at that time he was just barely 18. I'm a really wonderful sister- I know. ;)

Anyway, then last time he visited me we went to Switzerland and did a kletter steig and also hiked to the top of a very tall mountain (Schilthorn-- where a 1970's James Bond movie was filmed).

Now I'm thinking of taking him to a european city or to Slovania. :) He doesn't know that yet- but he'll do whatever I tell him to- its great. :)

Okay- lets see if I can dig out a photograph of Danny and me.

Mountains are where my heart is..

I'm not sure why mountains feel like home, but they do. The number of times I've hiked up the side of a mountain probably only reaches the number of years I've been on this planet. However, I really treasure each of the steps I've made towards the summit of a cowering mountain. This easter weekend I travelled down towards Oberstdorf to a small town called Steibis. I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend and I feel like I really couldn't be happier. I'm exhausted now and am going to go to sleep- but first I wanted to post a photograph of me. In the photo I felt really silly and definitely felt like life couldn't be better. I also crashed into a ball into the snow after the photo was captured which helped in making me laugh! :)

What a wonderful weekend. More photos from this trip will be posted at some point- I'm sure of that. I hope everyone in my family had a wonderful Easter. I can't wait for Danny to come to Europe and I'm really looking forward to seeing Holly, Terry and maybe even Brett in Europe in the coming weeks. I feel really lucky!

Spring and Summer

This is definitely the best time of the entire year! I am loving it. This weekend I'll go to the mountains- and also I'm having dinner tonight with some friends to celebrate Easter. Tomorrow night I'll sing Karaoke with a few people from the office. That will be nice.

Right now I should be working on writing a grant, or one of my papers but instead I'm writing here in my blog. I feel like I can't get much done today. I worked for an hour or two on the grant earlier today and then met with a bunch of people- but I think i should just call it a day and get out in the sun for a bit.

Yeah- yesterday I met Jo's family (at least some of them) and that was really nice. I was a bit nervous since I speak so little German- but you can really tell when people are warm, happy and nice and I think I only made them a little nervous- which is really the worst thing about not speaking a language. I really hate making other people feel uncomfortable. ;) I'm definitely motivated to learn German now -and I feel like I understand more and more, which is really awesome. :)

I also got an awesome package from my mom with some candies from when I was a kid. Admittedly they are way too sweet for me now to eat more than a few of them- but my office mates also had some of them today. She is so sweet to send a package all the way to Germany.

This reminds me I have to do something.. be back in a minute... Okay.. flowers purchased. :)

I miss all my friends in Salt Lake City and sometimes I wish I could just jump into a worm hole and find myself in the foothills near downtown Salt Lake. I also miss Margarita, Miriah, Cory, Oscar, Dave and last but not least my siblings in PA. However- Danny is coming to germany once again- and I'm pretty excited! Okay- peace out for now. oh right- a photograph.. lets see if i can dig up a funny one.. Ok- there is a blast from the past. Me from 2005 in the Panolab with super long hair and a goofy setup on my head.

Block Praktikum 2009

So- this past week I learned a bit more about what it would be like to teach. First- I realize that I really like to teach- especially if it involves being nice to students. Second- I realized that it is a tremendous amount of work.

Anyway- I don't have much to say except for that it is late at night- I can't get to sleep and I have to wake up early tomorrow morning and hear some students give a presentation on the work we did last week together.

I have a photo of how sleepy I am these days. I'm looking forward to some beer and pretzels tomorrow after we are done. It has been four years since I was in Germany for the first time. So much can happen in four years- it is really crazy. Life is good in general- but my mom is right- i still go where the wind takes me.

New beginnings..

Life is pretty good for me these days. I applied for a bunch of jobs and surprisingly when I came back from Christmas I was already a lot happier here in Germany than the months proceeding my five week trip home.

I'm so excited again because my baby brother Daniel is visiting me again in late April/Early May. Then Holly and her family come to Paris in late June. :) It will be so much fun. For easter I'm going to the mountains with my boyfriend and at the moment I really have the feeling that life couldn't be better. The springtime is awesome, I like my job and most importantly I really feel loved lately.. and well that last one is quite priceless.

I miss my family- so I guess on that front I could be closer to them- but as I wrote above a few of them are coming over to me and I'm sure I'll be home soon enough- maybe even for a job.. who knows. Life is quite interesting and keeps surprising you- and boys and girls- I think I like that the most about life.. even if I do complain sometimes when the surprises aren't pleasant.

No photographs today.

Back in Deutschland once more

Hello all,

It is late on a saturday night. I'm recovering from a cold- so I slept more today than I normally would- and well that makes it hard to sleep at night. I'm going to sleep soon, but first I wanted to post a photograph of me playing my guitar. I just fixed it today and I went through one of the on-line lessons for learning the chords. I learned a lot by just putting the new strings on. I can be so silly about some things. I hadn't realized that the strings themselves are the different notes. I mean- I assumed that it was ALL in how tight the strings were and hadn't really realized that it must also be the width and strength of the string too.

I'm happier than I thought now that I'm back in Germany. I'm excited about my decision to move back to the states and I hope that in the next few months I will get more job offers so that I can really have a fair chance at deciding where to go based on all the things I want in life. However, I am just grateful that I have any offers at this point and I hope that with the current economy they can last for more than a year.

Tomorrow I plan on joining the gym here in Tuebingen, working on some more animations and going out with some friends in the evening. I'm also gonna try my best to go skiing next weekend- with or without friends. I think I might go down to Andermatt. I really liked that place and I think it wasn't so far from here in Tuebingen.