Friday, May 25, 2012

Anniversary Pie #3

Last Wednesday we celebrated our third anniversary!  Since it was in the middle of the week we just had a low key night at home, which was pretty spectacular I must say!  For dinner we of course had Anniversary Pie!  Okay, before I go any further I will explain the previous statement for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about when I say Anniversary Pie!!

On our first wedding anniversary we didn't have much money.  I was on bed rest from a hip injury so we couldn't do much anyway.  It was on a Saturday & the weather forecast was crum!  So we pulled the mattress off the bed in the guest room & brought it into the living room.  Got cozy & settled in to watch movies all day(we do not have a TV in our bedroom so it was easier to bring a mattress into the living room than move the TV!)  We watched Love Story, Fireproof, Dirty Dancing and An Affair to Remember!  It was a great day!  We made plans to go to Outback for dinner so I had not gone grocery shopping to have anything to make for dinner.  Well then as soon as we were about to leave the house the bottom fell out of the sky & we didn't want Outback bad enough to deal with it!  So I went to the pantry!  All we had in our house to eat was 2 boxes of Kraft Spirals Mac-n-cheese, a pack of Hebrew National hot dogs, & some condiments!  There may have been some other things like tortilla chips & salsa too but not much!

That is when Anniversary Pie was created!  Now, I'm sure i am not the first person to come up with this either but I cut up the hot dogs into bite size pieces & cooked them with the noodles in boiling water & followed the directions for the mac-n-cheese until it was done.  When everything was mixed together I added some ketchup & mustard to the mix too since my logic is that's what would go on a hot dog(I know all my Illinois/Chicagoans Ketchup doesn't belong on a hot dog but some people like it;)) mixed it all together added some salt & pepper & bam had Anniversary Pie!  It is actually really good & has become a tradition for us!  So now every year on our anniversary we have anniversary pie for dinner & watch a romantic movie together!  It's not really a pie but that's what we came up with to call it! And decided that no matter what every year this is what we will do on our anniversary!  So in years to come & we have children they can celebrate with us too!

This year Hubby had the responsibility to decide what movie we watch.  He did really good too!  He came home with The Notebook & told me that he thinks that it is the greatest love story ever!!  Of course I cried at the end but we snuggled on the couch & spent our anniversary with Noah & Allie & one of our favorite traditions!

The following Saturday we took a day trip to France which was so much fun, but that is a whole other post all it's own!  I will be back soon with that one!  This weekend I hope to get the car post finished so you can finally hear the story! LOL  Stay Tuned!

On the bus getting ready to head off to France for the day!

Have a great & safe Memorial Day weekend!  Happy Friday!  Cheers!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Happy Thursday!



This picture was taken back in August 2011 on our camping trip!  That was the best vacation ever!  I was a blessed child & went on many vacations growing up!  My husband though he grew up in places like Hawaii & Germany & North Carolina did not go on as many vacations.  So we have different views on getaways!  I convinced him to do a day trip for our anniversary which I promise a post on!  But I have also been trying to convince my husband that we NEED to go to London this August for the Olympics!  How awesome would that be!  I mean seriously!!  Well after trying my hardest he will not budge.  Too many people, too many chances for a terrorist attack, too close to coming back from NC for SIL & BIL's wedding, we will spend money, I could go on with the reasons he gave me as to why we can't go!  I have sadly given up.  I do not want to disrespect his feelings.  

This is a bucket list item for me & not to mention a once in a lifetime opportunity!  Not very expensive.  I'm talking less than a thousand dollars for a Friday to Sunday trip.  I am not posting this to get help convincing him because like I said I have given up on that.  There is no changing his mind!  He told me that we will go to the Olympic Games one day but he is not comfortable about this one!  He has pretty good intuition so maybe that's why I am not pushing the issue anymore!  

No big plans for Memorial Day Weekend probably just the two of us will grill some burgers or something!  I just found out that there is a farmers market just down the road from our house every Saturday so I am hoping to check that out this weekend!  Cutting our grass, hanging some pictures, finally hooking up our Vonage & arranging some blog posts about our house & car(s)  that I have been promising will be our fun-filled weekend!!  


What are your plans for Memorial Day?

P.S. I have decided to take a break from Facebook for a while so if you would like to contact me please do so via email or once we get our Vonage phone hooked up I will let you know & if you would like the number please email me & I will send it to you!

Cheers!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Cochem


Cochem was a fun little town that we went to in Germany with a castle that is open & has guided tours.  Not to mention some adorable little shops including a wine store that is literally a cellar under a couple shops!  They sell all kinds of wine that is made in town & in the region & other locally made liquors including Absinthe which I really wanted to get some to try but we will just have to make another trip there! There was also a vinegar store!  If you are anything like me you are thinking "Vinegar...really?"  and yes really!  They make all kinds of infused vinegars like strawberry, blueberry, rhubarb, peach, pomegranate, and several others!  They also sold different types of mustard's.  I tried a peach mustard that was actually pretty fantastic!  They make homemade bruschetta spreads like a mango brushcetta that you just add some water to.  Those were fantastic also!  We didn't buy anything in these stores so I am sure we will be going there again!


Driving into Cochem this was one of the views of the castle.


We had to walk up to the castle which is great because the roads are super narrow, however,  they were STEEP!  This picture doesn't do it justice at all! It wasn't a short walk either!  I had to stop a couple of times to use my inhaler!

This picture gives you a little bit better idea of how steep it was! The tower on the left is where we were headed & the road was just to the right of the tree that went straight up!!  Oh and the stuff in front of us are grapevines!  There are vineyards on the side of mountains & hills like this all over Germany it is kind of incredible!



This wall has a mural of Saint Christopher which a lot of people say is why the Castle has survived in such great condition for so long!


A view of the town from the entrance of the castle



Julie & me!  Check out the gargoyle behind us!




The part that is a different color is sad to be completely original!  The castle is very old but no one knows for sure how old.  The first mentioning of Burg Cochem dates back to the year 1000!




This was a tunnel that monks used to use to secretly transport alcohol to & from town!  Also for the residents to escape whenever it was under attack! It was a secret passage of course & the door when closed even blends into the wall so only a handful of people knew it was there!  It was in a room called the ladies parlor & our guide said that sometime mistresses would use it to come & go in the night as well!


This was a light that is said to be cursed!  It is a mermaid with antlers coming out of its back and legend has it that if you touch the belly & make a wish it will come true!! Notice how worn the spot on the belly is!!  They allow you to make a wish on it as you pass through the room!



This was the game room!!  Not what we think of these days as a game room!  We had to take a picture of this wild hog for our BIL who is a die hard Razorbacks fan!!!


Bear skin rug!  Yes it is real and our guide said it it a few hundred years old!



This was the Knights Hall where the knights would be able to hang out & have pints & play games & what not!


Suits of armor.  The big one was 7ft tall & belonged to the head knight!  


I forgot to mention that this tower is also called the witches tower!



This was the restaurant our tour guide recommended to us.  It was so good!  Schnitzle, pommes, Hefeweizen, Salat, & some amazing tomatensuppe.  Alte Thorshenke is the name & it is attached to a hotel of the same name!  So if you ever come visit we will be doing you an injustice not to take you here!!


Julie & me being silly trying on some funky hats!


Cochem has been by far my favorite place we have explored so far!  I can not wait to go back & I can not wait to have people visit us so we can take them there!!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Luxembourg

A few months ago we took a day trip to Luxembourg with our friends The Starnes'!  Now I had always thought that Luxembourg is a city in France, but I found out that it is in fact its own country!  We went to the capitol Luxembourg City!  I am not very familiar with its government or anything but there was a "palace" in the town center with a guard that just marched back and forth!  They have two native languages German & French!  Most natives speak French and almost every native European we have encountered speaks a little English! Back to Luxembourg!  We spent the day roaming around the Center.  We also went to the American Military Cemetery that is there.  We finished off the day with dinner at a sports bar with some delicious American-French-German food & a movie at one of the biggest & nicest movie theater I have been to!  It was kind of funny to us to be in Luxembourg watching an American movie that was in English but with both French & German subtitles!! 

The Guard at the Palace.  You can see the worn path from them walking back & forth so much!

This city was completely walled way back in the day & this is some remains of the guard tower going over the bridge into the center

 Looking down onto some centuries old Luxembourg.



Parliament Building



On the other side of the guard tower going into the center


On the left is the Palace...all of it!  It was so big I couldn't fit it all in the camera!!



This dog was so pretty & well behaved!


The gates going into the American Military Cemetery



There were a lot of graves of unidentified soldiers there


I couldn't not put this in here!  I almost died seeing Star Wars hype in Luxembourg!!  It was everywhere too but this was the only Yoda I saw so I had to get a picture!!


This was just a statue in the Center I have no idea who or what it is suppose to represent I just liked it!  


I was in complete amazement the whole day! With wide eyes & my camera up & ready we were complete tourists that day in a land that seemed like we were dreaming!  These places only exist in movies type of feel!  It has been so fun exploring all these fun places!! 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

What's Happenin!!

Hey y'all! I can't believe it has been a month since I posted!  Sorry about that!  I know I owe you all a few posts, one about our car situation! And one about our house including pictures!  Unfortunately neither of those are happening today!!  A few months ago we took a day trip with our new friends to Luxembourg & so I also feel that I owe you all a post on that trip as well!

Today, however, I just wanted to make sure you all knew we are still alive!

Let's see where to begin! Since the last post my "little" brother turned 19 & finished his first year of college! I am so proud of him! He is so much like his big sister I mean whats not to be proud of! Hehe!

We got a new car after some issues arose with the first one we bought.  I won't get into that now, but I promise a post all about that situation soon!  Trust me it needs its own post! LOL!

I believe Easter happened too!  We had a great day!  I cooked a ham & for the first time ever I made my Grams' infamous cream potatoes that she only ever made on New Year's & Easter so it felt a little more like home at least for me!  They turned out pretty good, though no where near as good as when she made them!  I also have a new found respect for this particular dish as I never realized just how much work went into them!  I also made green bean casserole, we had bread of course, corn on the cob(that didn't cook all the way and was still cold when it was time for dinner!) and for dessert...banana pudding!  When I was little it seemed that my mom would make great banana pudding for Easter & Christopher had never had "Yankee" banana pudding before!  It isn't really called "Yankee" banana pudding but the only banana pudding he has ever had has been from the south where it is only one layer of pudding, bananas & wafers with a meringue on top.  Mine was several layers of pudding, bananas, wafers & of course Cool Whip!  He liked it & was surprised at how different it tasted!  My friend Julie had come over a few days before Easter & we colored eggs!  So when her & her husband came over on Easter for dinner she brought some devilled eggs with bacon in them!  Oh My Goodness!  They were so yummy!  We finished up the evening with a fun game of Taboo!

I finally got my European Drivers License!  I barely passed the test but I knew Christopher was going to be going TDY soon & I didn't want to be stuck at home while he was gone!  I was really intimidated to drive at first but I just took a deep breath, baked out of the driveway & hoped for the best!  It wasn't bad at all!  Though I am still a little intimidated by the Autobahn!  I haven't gone very far just on base which is about 5 or 6 miles from our house & Church which is about 20 miles away maybe.  It has been so nice to be able to run errands & not have to wait for Christopher to get home after he's had a long day at work!  I got some independence back & it was so liberating to have one less thing to have to depend on my husband for!

Christopher went TDY to Romania for ten days.  It was hard to be here by myself but I kept myself busy!  I went on base everyday I think!  Walked around the huge exchange & the bookstore & went to the gym & probably spent too much money! LOL  I had the pleasure of having lunch with Chris' supervisor & his family on the two Sundays he was gone!  I ran into them at church after the service on the first Sunday ( I had no idea they went to the same church!) & then again at the exchange food court after we left church so I sat down & had lunch with them!  The next Sunday they called & invited me to come with them out to eat again & I did!  They are such a sweet family!  I started a garden. Well, I started digging up the area that used to be a garden but the landlords put down grass seed in the fall so I had to dig up all the grass.  I got about half of the are done so I decided that is how big my garden is going to be this year!  I dug it all up, put down some compost & am planning on planting later this week.  I also started "Spring Cleaning" our house!  I know we just moved in but we have so much stuff still unpacked & I figure if we have lived without it for 6 months we must not need it that bad!  So I have been going through all of the still packed boxes and trying to unclutter our lives & home!  I went yard-saling for the first time in forever with my friend Julie!  I bought a bookshelf, 4 paintings, a grill & a lamp for $25 & 20euro! It was so fun I can't wait to do it again!

The day before Christopher came home I started getting sick. BOO!! Then of course he got sick & the 5 days he had off when he got back we spent together in the living room being sick, sleeping & watching movies & aching & coughing & being completely miserable! Which brings us to Saturday!  Not much has happened since then!  So are all caught up!  This was a really long one & my fingers are cramping now! LOL  Happy Wednesday!