It has been so long since I've blogged. Over two months. I'm sorry. But, Hey! I have plenty to talk about now!
I have been keeping quite busy since I last wrote. I had a fantastic birthday weekend here in Germany, we hosted Thanksgiving for 13 people, ventured to many Christmas markets, took a last minute trip home for Christmas, applied to two more grad schools, attended many evening sessions of the GO Conference, have been meeting a lot of new people around town here in Mosbach, and I have become a "regular" at a coffee shop in town!
My birthday was awesome! I shared a bunch of stuff on Facebook/Instagram, but I had a little party with the kids on my actual birthday with red velvet cake and Cornish Patsies (My favorite food discovered on the trip to England). The kids got me little gifts that they picked out themselves, it was super sweet and Helena surprised me with Tickets to see Taylor Swift in Berlin! (the concert is in less than 2 weeks, I AM SO EXCITED!)
The day after my birthday Rachelle and I took the train to Frankfurt to get CHIPOTLE! It was awesome. I was so glad to have Chipotle after 7 weeks without. We got Starbucks (the worst of my life, I even had them remake it) and then walked around town for a little while. On the way home we stopped in Manheim and saw Catching Fire (in English). I thought the movie was amazing and I can't wait until it comes out on DVD!
Thanksgiving was super fun. I was able to call home and talk to everyone that was at my Cousins house. We made a full spread of typical Thanksgiving foods! With plenty of desserts.
Christmas markets are something that Germany is well known for. There is one right in Mosbach, as well as in every major city around. I was able to visit the one in Heidelberg as well as Bad Wimpfen. They are all more or less the same, but I think my favorite was the one in Heidelberg, as they had shops that the other two didn't. I was able to pick up a bunch of Christmas presents at the markets!
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| Me in Heidelberg |
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| Rachelle in Heidelberg |
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| Bad Wimpfen |
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| Bad Wimpfen |
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| Mosbach |
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| Mosbach |
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| Mosbach |
My friend Rachelle and I were attending church together in Heidelberg up through when I left to go home for Christmas. I really like Calvary Chapel and I am excited to go back tomorrow! The Sunday before I came home, Rachelle and I had finished lunch at our favorite Pho place and were sitting in Starbucks (enjoying our first one since my birthday!) and I heard a voice that sounded a lot like Elise (the littlest Witherall) and I looked up and Helena was with her sister and the two little girls! It was nice to hang out for a little while before heading back to Mosbach.
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| Elsie in Starbucks |
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| Heidelberg |
When I heard that I was going home for Christmas I started doing some serious Christmas shopping. This is a picture of everything I brought home! So much Chocolate! And believe it or not I packed super light so all this was able to fit in my 50 pound suitcase and my carry-on.
My trip home was a blast! I was super busy the whole time but I enjoyed every minute of it (beside New Years day when I was sick). I was able to see all my local friends, family and kiddies, play early morning games of pinochle with my Uncles (thanks to Jet Lag), visit my churches in College Park, go snowboarding, and hang out with all my little cousins. It was a great time and I am glad that I had the opportunity to go home! Thanks Mom and Dad for paying my way!
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| 9 Degree temperatures snowboarding. |
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| We survived. |
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| Cousins on my Dads side |
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| Me and my God-Daughter Beth |
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| Man |
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| Grace and Victoria |
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| SISSY |
Before I left to go home, my research adviser from last year recommended that I apply to two more "tier 1" grad schools. So I decided to apply to Vanderbilt and University of Florida, ranked number 1 and 7 in the country respectively. I finished all my applications while I was home and I am excited to hear back from schools in the next month or so.
I have been quite busy since returning back to Mosbach (and sick). It was pretty nice the first week back so I took the kids to the park a few of the days! It was super fun and we were all able to burn off some energy.
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| Juliette and I's favorite book! |
The last two weeks, the GO Conference has been going on at the Mill. (OM headquarters here in Mosbach) The Go Conference is for all the OM missionaries that are being sent to the field for the first time. There were people from all over the world, being sent to all different destinations. About 40 people are headed to the Logos Hope, which is OMs Ship that travels the world as a floating book fair among other things. The conference runs all day but I was only able to attend the evening sessions, because of school and kiddies. It was awesome to be there though, I really enjoyed the experience. I met a bunch of awesome people who have all been called to be "donkeys" for Jesus. Helena and I hosted all the female staff from the US that were in town for Raclette and Cinnabun Cinnamon rolls last Friday and it was really cool to here everyones testimony on how God called them to become involved with OM. The conference ended last night with a worship and prayer night and we had communion.
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| Communion |
I made it to German class everyday this week for the first time since being in Mosbach! It was great to finally get into a "normal" routine. A few people have joined the class, including another nanny in town, and a girl who spent the last 10 years in England. I am looking forward to getting to know them better as well as my now 14 year old friend from Poland (We are getting lunch this Friday!). My German is steadily improving. I can understand and read pretty well. I am working on practicing my speaking, though it often comes out as a mix of German and French! It should be quite interesting when I visit France next month. Ich bin zwar lernen!
Tomorrow night we are hosting the new batch of International Business Students for Sloppy Joes and NUTELLA BROWNIES. (Sorry, they are seriously so good) I have heard there are 4 Americans and a few people from France, as well as other countries. I am excited to get to know them and perhaps introduce some of them to my favorite coffee shop!
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| Your welcome. |
Until next time! Hopefully that will be before March.
