Want a plane that loops the loop.... me I want a hula-hoop!

I suppose that since today is New Years Eve its a good time to write my Christmas post before I forget and it becomes summer again :)

We had a Christmas party for Lukas´work a couple of weekends ago at a country club which was nice. One of those typical sit down, eat, and chat with your co-workers for a few hours and then escape when you feel its not TOO early and rude to leave :)
I have to say however, it was a lot weirder at my department party with almost double the number of staff and faculty standing around than students! We tried to hold out but still left after about 1.5 hours. Fortunately to reward us from all the silly parties we HAVE to go to, my friend Yasmina had a "End of Semester/We forgot to celebrate her birthday" party the next day which was a lot of fun. Although we learned that the Germans show up on time and everyone else shows up 3 hours later.... but o well, it was fun regardless :)

Work was pretty slow for Lukas on Christmas Eve since he has European clients and if anyone was working they probably left at noon which is 6am our time. Fortunately his boss is very cool and brought in treats for them.... espec. as Lukas forgot to set his alarm and woke up at 6.55 when he should be at work at 6! He got there 1.5 hours late with no breakfast and only an apple for lunch so Im glad they fed him :) Then the day got even better because at noon they let him come home! Late to work... early to leave, Merry Christmas from CSC! :)
I had wrapped his presents and hung them on the wall which was funny because he wasnt sure why there was no present for him under our little tree, and wondered what was on the wall. We unwrapped our presents and hung out a bit and then headed down to Smyrna to my Mom´s new 4 bedroom house. I dont have any pictures of it yet but let me just tell you, its huge and beautiful and I love it!
We spent 4 days watching movies, eating lots of food, crocheting and making cookies... it was fantastic! I was very sad to have to come back to our tiny apartment Saturday night but I guess that is what happens when you grow up, get married, and move out... sad! :-p It was a really relaxing and cozy Christmas with my mom and Im glad she lives so close that we could celebrate with her. It would have been nice to see the rest of my family and some of my friends but maybe next time.

Other than Christmas, not a whole lot has been going on here after Hell Week... o, I mean Finals Week... finally finished. I ended up with pretty good grades and didnt die from all the stress, so I´d say it was a successful first semester in the German program! fortunately I have 7 weeks of vacation as we have a Winter session but cannot take classes nor teach during it. The fabulous thing is we still get paid during this session... so Im getting paid to sit at home on my butt for 5 weeks, woo hoo! We start back the 9th of February or some far off wonderful date like that... Im definitely enjoying the down time at home and just being lazy and doing all the fun things I have missed during the school year like reading books for fun IN ENGLISH, crochetting, and just relaxing.

Plans for my month+ off: Yoga twice a week with my friend Autumn, a very interestingly titled class called "butts and guts" once a week with Autumn and Lukas, reading tons of German books to study for my comprehensive exams, and the best part..... GOING TO FLORIDA FOR A WEEK! Wooo hoooooooooooooo :) Its kind of cold here, not Midwest Im up to my butt in snow and cant feel my body parts anymore kind of cold, but still... Im very much looking forward to some warmer weather down south!

Thats about it for my rambles... here are some pictures of our Christmas decorations in our tiny apartment. It feels homey and christmasy and that is what matter, right? Right!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Nothing like Thanksgiving to get you in the mood... for Christmas!

The week before Thanksgiving Lukas´ parents flew out from Germany for a week to visit. That was nice and Im happy for Lukas that he got to see his parents. They flew on further to California to spend Thanksgiving and over 2 weeks with his brother and family who live out in the Redlands area.

My dad´s 50th Birthday was on the 25th of November and he flew out that night to Delaware to spend Thanksgiving with Mom, Lukas and I. We had lots of yummy food thanks to the wonderful cooking skills of my mother and had a good time talking, watching movies, and playing games. We all sat back later and did the "Thanksgiving full-belly-slouch" on the couch, as you can see my dad and our reindeer demonstrating :)
(I was pretty excited to get this ginormous Reindeer... although Lukas seems to monopolize all of her snuggling time :-p )

On Black-friday Lukas and I got up at 4am to go shopping, and then came back home for a nice nap :) My parents went shopping for a bit too and then we decided to go down to Smyrna to check out the new house my mom just bought! Its a ginormous with 4 bedrooms, 2 full and 2 half bathrooms, and 2 stories with a full finished basement. Definitely a lovely house and Im so excited for my mom that she will finally be moving into her own place and out of the apartment she has rented for the past 7 years. Unfortunately she will be about 40 minutes south of us, instead of only 2o minutes away like she is now, but that is ok... we will still find time for crafts and hanging out :) Pictures to come soon since she moves in on the 20th of this month!


After taking a family tour of her new house, we headed down to Dover to check out the Chocolate and Candy festival. Although there was a lot less chocolate and candy than hoped and more vendors and advertising, there were still some lovely gingerbread houses and a village on display which was pretty neat. I love how the focus turns immediately towards Christmas right after Thanksgiving... its my favorite time of the year for sure starting out with Halloween and going out with a bang on New Years Eve :)

Play time! Go Team Germany!

Lukas started playing soccer on an intramural team here at University of Delaware. They were called Haphazard.

Our friend from church, Josiah (ignoring the camera in the picture below with Lukas) knew the team captain and they decided to play together.

It was fun watching the boys play and their team did rather well but unfortunately did not make it into the semi-finals. As you can see by his bloodied up knee, Lukas did his best to save the last game but sometimes its just not enough.

Indoor season should be starting soon and Lukas is ready to get back in there. Hopefully this season will be a little less violent and hopefully just as much fun as the last!

Celebrating our 1 year Anniversary in September

For our one year anniversary on September 21st we decided to spend the weekend in NYC and see the Lion King! It was fantastic as far as the costumes and theatrics. The music was cute, not as good as Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera, but overall a great show! The following day we wandered around downtown NYC for hours and hours and walked over 60 blocks. It was fun but tiring. Lukas did however make a sweet new friend...



We also visited the temple again in October which was rather lovely as always. Its so fun to see the temple from the highway while driving towards DC. Can´t help but smile when you see this beautiful Temple of the Lord pop up out of the trees :)




It was a good trip and a wonderful way to celebrate our first year of marriage.

Home Sweet Home!

As of the end of August Lukas and I moved into Graduate and Family housing on campus.


It is rather small but we are doing our best to make it as cozy and homey as possible :)







As you can see we decked the halls a bit for Halloween and Thanksgiving, yay for Fall!





We will most likely be living here for the next 2 years while I finish my Master´s program. I dream of a bigger apartment, eventually a house, but we are content for now and counting our blessings :)