Happy... Easter?

Something tells me the Easter bunny froze his ass off last night...

Luckily, I have this little guy to console me while I wallow in snowy, miserable self-pity:

Thank you creators of Lindt chocolate bunnies; you make my Easter bright and sunny even when I'm faced with an arctic tundra and slushy disgustingness on this third lovely day of spring.

Paris in 2 Days

Can I just say... Paris is one of my all-time favorite places on the planet. We loved every single minute of that fabulous city (even after walking for what seemed like an eternity and my legs felt like they just finished the Boston Marathon). It was a great time - and I have the pictures to prove it (in no particular order, of course):

At the Rodin Museum - "The Kiss"

You can see Rodin's "The Thinker" & the museum in the background where Napolean's tomb is kept

I got a little up-close and personal with "The Thinker"

The Socre-Coeur


Another shot of the church at Les Invalides
Another sculpture from Rodin

And another...

And more of the Rodin Museum


Courtyard area of the Rodin Museum - Paris was very cool in that there were many areas like this - parks, courtyards, etc. They were so peaceful and quiet.

This Rodin guy was a fan of sculpting naked people.

And random hands

This is the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe - they say it's the best view of the city

And of course, who goes to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower?
The random guy that took our picture didn't quite "get" that we wanted the Tower in the background...

The Louvre

Notre Dame

Jeff on the Seine River

And after all was said and done, we indulged in some yummy pizza and lots and lots of wine...

We've definitely put Paris in our memory bank of places we need to visit again. We'll be back, Paris!

Road Trip to....

Full report to follow after this weekend!!

Rain, Rain, Go (the F*#&) Away.

Since it's been a while since I've bitched and moaned about the miserable (f'ing) weather here (approximately 6.4 seconds, to be exact), I figured I'd share a dose of my misery with the world.

Weather forecast for Germany, everyday:

Rain. Wind. Gusty, shitty wind. More rain. Oh, and cold. Can't forget the cold. Did I mention wind? Wind that turns your umbrella into a useless piece of dog poo.

Here, see for yourself (taken directly from our wonderful friends at Yahoo! Weather):

Detailed Local Forecast: Mackenbach, Germany

Today: Cloudy and windy with periods of light rain. High 44F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph (20-30 mph - are you f'ing kidding me?). Chance of rain 70% (nice.).
Tonight: Rain likely (weird). Low 43F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph (awesome!). Chance of rain 90% (fabulous).
Tomorrow: Windy with periods of rain (a nice change at least). High 48F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch (beautiful).
Tomorrow night: Mainly clear skies (suuuuure). Low 39F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Thursday: Light rain. Highs in the upper 40s and lows in the upper 30s.
Friday: Showers. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 40s.
Saturday: Chance of showers (Yay! Something different!). Highs in the low 50s and lows in the upper 30s.

And a pretty picture with lots of pretty colors, just to show how lovely it is here:

The weather gods are officially off my Christmas card list this year. There, take that, weather gods!

Drooling

Literally. Foaming. At. The. Mouth. Yeah, that's kind of gross. But I am about to catch the next plane to Sumter to ward off any other potential buyers of this unbelievable creation. This house will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Hello, lover.

Reason #1 why you'll find me perched on their lawn with a big stick and a sleeping bag. Stay away other buyers. Stay far, far away.
And, reason #2. I could do some serious sock-sliding across those hardwood floors, dontcha think?

Who needs a couch when you could rock out on a trampoline in here?

And a tiled patio for a whole sock-sliding party.

I think I'm in love.

THE END.

Our Super-Fly 'New' Furniture

Well, the movers have taken our crap. It's apparently on a ship somewhere floating across the big, blue pond, making its way over to U.S. soil. Luckily for us, we're not having to pull out the lawn chairs for our evening movie-watching marathons. Nope, the military graciously brought us some temporary furniture to use while awaiting our deportation back home. And let me tell you, it's H-O-TT. Here, see for yourself:

The oh-so comfy 'couch'. It's especially comfy with both of us crammed on there, trying to stretch out. I personally like to rest my head on the wooden arm rests.

I had to include a pretty living room shot. I think my dying palm tree adds a nice, personal touch, don't you?

I certainly don't want to seem ungrateful - I absolutely appreciate not living in an (entirely) empty house for our last month here. (Thank you, military.) But I also absolutely find the humor in our college dorm-like furniture. It does have a certain appeal though, doesn't it? I mean, I suppose if you're homeless it would.

Back to Blogging...

It's been brought to my attention that I'm a craptastic blogger. I know, I know... I honestly don't feel like I've got much to share with the world lately. Although, we have had a couple of fun goings-on in our life. As most of you know, our time here in Germany is slowly but surely coming to an end. This means many exciting changes, one being the all-important purchase of our first home together. Although buying a house in such dismal economic times makes Jen just a wee-bit nervous, I'm excited as all hell to finally be able to settle down somewhere for a while. Well, as much as a military family can "settle down somewhere" anyway. Here are several more reasons my excitment levels are soaring these days:

1. We're fortunate enough to be taking a pre-move trip to South Carolina in just 2 short weeks (!!) to find aforementioned pad.

2. South Carolina is warm(er) than dreary ol' Germany. Much warmer. Like, yesterday-it-was-a-whopping-45-degrees-warmer-than-Germany-type-warm(er).

3. We get to see the little munchkins! (*This is actually more exciting than anything, but we keep telling ourselves that it's strictly a house-hunting trip)

4. I am getting my hair did by a normal hairdresser. A normal hairdresser who will give me normal highlights. Yesssssssss.

5. My precious dollar doesn't SUCK to high hell in Los Estados Unidos.

6. We've got 4 weekends left here to do with what we please. In fact, here is a schedule of events we've got in the works:

This weekend: Family obligations

15-16 March: Paris, baby!

21-23 March: Undecided. We're looking at Garmisch (southern Germany) though...

25 March - 2 April: Civilization, I mean, we'll be in the States.

5-6 April: Seriously considering a trip over to Spain but will definitely depend on fundage.

11-13 April: LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a little excited.

19-20 April: I've been informed that we'll be at the mercy of our family since that is...drum roll please...OUR LAST WEEKEND HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a little excited about that, too.

7. I have, literally, 10 working days left. That is roughly 80 hours or...oh hell, I don't know how many minutes nor do I care to show off my stellar math skills in trying to figure it out. This does not include today, which technically only has roughly 1 hour and some-odd minutes left. (yay!)

Something else that made me smile today were these:

I mean, they are pink and they are shoes. What's not to get excited about? Just some randomness to break up the monontony of a post completely devoted to my boring, little life.