Fall is Here

The weather is starting to cool down and the leaves are turning all the beautiful colors. Fall has been gorgeous so far, very unusual from what my German friends have told me.  Savannah loves to take walks and pick up leaves and acorns. We have quite the collection of acorns! We started to donate them to the zoo we frequent because they use them to feed the animals.

Canary Islands

Our trip to Tenerife in the Canary Islands was very relaxing. We were there 10 days, good amount of time to fully relax and have the "ready to return" home feeling. The trip started at a vacation rental but about three days in we moved to the Sheraton La Caleta Resort. Lesson learned...vacation rentals are not the same as vacation rentals at the beach at home. The place didn't have hot water or AC, seems like that would be okay taking cold showers in a hot house, definitely not! When we arrived at the Sheraton everything turned around and we had a wonderful vacation. The resort was perfect for children and everyone was extremely nice.

Mediterranean Cruise

Hi Everyone! Here are the pictures from our Eastern Mediterranean cruise all aboard Royal Caribbean International Mariner of the Seas ship. We had a great time and made many memories. We learned about lots of different cultures, especially on our cruise ship. It was really cool to see so many different ethnicity's on our ship.

We've Moved...

We have moved to our Downtown Wiesbaden apartment....and it is fabulous! We are living in a very old and beautiful 1800's building that has been renovated. Our two-bedroom apartment has the old world charm with the modern kitchen and bathrooms. The architechure in the ceilings, crown molding and doors and walls is stunning. I truly love our place!

Visit With Mom

Hi Everyone! There has been a lapse in time since my last post because my Mom was here for two weeks. We had a wonderful visit with her that included many adventures around Germany and in Belgium. I put together this little slide show/movie that will visually tell the story of our visit.



We started by going to my favorite little town, Konigstein that is about 10 minutes from my house. Savannah played on the swing and my Mom got her first taste of authentic gelato!

Grammy's Coming to Town!

In exactly one week, Grammy will be here for two weeks! We are THRILLED! Everyday around 11:30am (our time) and 5:30am (EST) we talk to my Mom on Skype. Savannah knows who she is and gets very excited every time she sees her face and hears her voice. This will be my Mom's first visit to Europe, "Biggest vacation of her life" I believe she said last week! We have lots of things planned, but most importantly spending as much time together is what I'm most excited about.

We will be visiting Brussels, Belgium Saturday, July 2nd through Monday, July 4th and staying at a vacation rental right in the Grand Place, the heart of Brussels. There is supposed to be a spectacular light show every night at the Grand Place!

We will also take Grammy to a few well-know castles within driving distance and enjoy shopping in the little towns. We'll visit the Rhine River which is about 10 minutes away and enjoy lunch at the Biebrich Palace. We'll show her our soon to be old house and take her on the walk/hike we do every day and look at the unbelievable view we had. Bring good walking shoes Mom! :)

We'll take her to the famous Farmer's Market in Downtown Wiesbaden on Saturday morning and make her try Bratwurst with Curry and Pommes aka french fries! We'll enjoy Savannah's favorite gelato several times so she can try lots of different flavors. We'll visit the pool a few days too. There is a really nice indoor pool just in case the weather doesn't cooperate! I'll introduce her to all our wonderful friends and their children. I'll take her to the Commissary, not that it will be that exciting but she can see where we grocery shop sometimes! :) We'll take her to Italian alley in Downtown Wiesbaden and enjoy delicious pizza and pasta dishes. We'll visit her ancestors winery, the Pfanabecker Winery, about 45 minutes away. Riesling is popular here, this is perfect because she really enjoys this type of wine! I'll teach her the few German phrases I know and have her practice! We'll get fresh chocolate croissants and pretzels at the bakery. Savannah will show her all her tricks. The latest is her dancing to Beyonce's new song, "Run the World"! Absolutely precious. The second the music starts she runs to her "stage" our ottoman, climbs on top and starts bouncing. And if there is anything in her way or one top of the ottoman it gets thrown to the side with no reservation.

We're ready for you Mom!!! I LOVE YOU and can't wait to hug you!!!
XOXOXO
Elizabeth

Savannah's Show!

Bite-sized

In Germany or maybe all of Europe everything is smaller, from the cars to the kitchen sink! All things are done in moderation and conserving energy is key; using less is more is the motto. Even our trash can is small so we have to take our extra trash bags to a dumpster on Base because they won’t all fit and you can’t pile them up next to the trash can like at home. The trash men won’t take them if they aren’t in the can and you will get fined. Hotel rooms are small. Our hotel room in Paris was lovely and cozy just a bit small. The lawn mower looks like a toy for Savannah that plugs into the electrical outlet. Our kitchen sink is unbelievable small with no garbage disposal, which I don’t think exist in Germany. I was literally shocked when I realized this! The refrigerator only fits food for a few days, which is nice because everything you buy is always super fresh and this makes for delicious meals. Although cooking in the small kitchen is different from cooking in a big American kitchen. The ovens are very tiny, I'm still trying to figure out how I’m going cook Thanksgiving dinner! Washer and dryers are very compact and take an extremely LONG time. For example, it takes about 5 hours to dry one load of laundry. This is no exaggeration, I promise. This is why all our friends take their laundry to the Base once a week and do like 7 loads at once using the American laundry machines. Right now we have an American washer and dryer but when we move we’ll have a German washer and dryer. Yikes! 

Seems like the only thing that is super-sized here is BEER! :) Something Rocky has enjoyed!

I have seen some of the smallest cars here too. One was so small it looked like the caboose that belongs on a child's train ride at the mall! This is also not an exaggeration.

There are no super big grocery stores like Giant or Safeway. They are all very small, like Trader Joe sized. I love this part about Germany. Big grocery stores are overwhelming to me, so our grocery, the Rewe is perfect and completely manageable. I have only seen one “all-in-one” store here, the Real, aka Wal-mart. They did build a Wal-mart here but it failed and went of business. There is a specific store for everything it seems.

Germany is very eco-friendly and energy conscious. They recently decided that all of their nuclear power plants will be shutdown by 2022. Renewable energy like wind and solar power is the future.

Gas is measured in liters not gallons, centimeters are used instead of inches, mileage is calculated in kilometers, and the temperature is read in Celsius not Fahrenheit. We’ve learned a few tricks to do the conversions faster.

We’ve been here a little over four months. Some days I love it and other days are more challenging. Everything is different from home, luckily we have access to the Base and that keeps us grounded. We’ve thankfully made great friends that we can trust and count on. That’s all for now!

Chow! XO

Elizabeth

Summer Vacation is Booked!

We are headed to the Canary Islands with our good friends Dieter, Tia and their two children Joseph who is four and Benjamin who is two. Our vacation will span 10 days over Labor Day weekend. The Canaries as they are called are a group of Spanish islands located off the coast of Africa, which is about a four hour flight. We will be staying on the Tenerife Island and renting the El Veril Del Duque villa with a pool and both sea and mountain views. We'll have our own kitchen and have more space rather than staying in a hotel.

I'm so excited to put my toes in the sand and see Savannah enjoy the beach!

Happy Birthday Savannah

We survived the first year, and Savannah has turned 1-year old! I feel like we are graduating and should be receiving some sort of award! Hehe :) This past year has been the most spectacular year of our lives. There have been highs and lows learning the ropes in our new life and now I think we have a handle on this parenting thing, well for now at least! :)

Savannah is a very happy and healthy 1-year old toddler! She is walking well and trying to talk by repeating everything we ask. She says, Mama, Dada, and even says “ruff, ruff, ruff” when we ask her what a doggy says. She loves ham, strawberries, peas, and avocado. She started at 8lbs 10.5 oz. and 22 1/4” long; now at 12 months she weighs 20.5lbs and is 31” long. Her hair has turned to a gorgeous strawberry blonde, just like Nonnie predicted! Lilly is her best buddy, she chases her everywhere. She has six teeth and counting. She is extremely curious and thrives on exploring new objects! When in a group of children she is very kind and gentle and even gives hugs to her friends. She loves her dolly named Lala, and pushes her around in her stroller. Dancing is her favorite activity! She starts wiggling that tiny tushy the minute the music starts! I could go on for hours about her first year and the memories we have. I decided to start a birthday book for her that will include one picture of her on her birthday and a special birthday letter that talks about her developments over that year. This way when she is older she can look back and see how she changed from year to year and read about everything she accomplished.

Savannah's birthday was lovely! We spent the day enjoying her smile and took her to our favorite playground where we had lunch in the park, and then enjoyed gelato (what flavor? Erdebeer, strawberry, of course!). We spoke to all of our family and Savannah's cousins, Cary, Cooper and Carter sung her happy birthday. It was precious!

The next day we had her big birthday party with our friends. This party was our first party without having help from the family. We surprisingly pulled it off without a hitch! The menu was extremely tricky to plan. It had to be both vegetarian and meat friendly, free of peanuts, wheat, gluten and eggs. Savannah is allergic to eggs. We had it confirmed last week, so no eggs or nothing with eggs for the next year until we test again. We didn't have a grill so that eliminated any options there. Also it was Sunday so everything was closed, meaning any ideas of purchasing platters from a German deli were nixed. Then to top it all off, the E.Coli scare just broke out so I was not serving any raw vegetables!!! Never have I planned a party with this many restrictions. I was stressed! :) What did I finally decide to serve you may ask. Well here it goes, and this was all homemade and free of wheat, gluten, peanuts and egg. Everyone loved everything, and raved about our "spread"!

Italian Beef Drip sandwiches

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad

Baked Beans with peppers

Black Bean Dip

Hummus

Guacamole

Macaroni & Cheese

Pigs and a blanket

Last but not least a huge bowl of fresh strawberries!

Savannah's cake was the most fabulous of it all! I really enjoyed making her cake. The icing was absolutely delicious; I used a buttercream recipe from Allrecipes.com. I'm so proud that I made this cake! Decorating it was my favorite part. Rocky and I stayed up late Saturday night, he was a tremendous help and decorated the cupcakes while I focused on the cake. I had purchased all the decorating tools so I was ready! :) Three batches of icing later we had the cake and cupcakes decorated beautifully. Now that I have made and decorated my first cake I've learned a few tricks especially with the icing! I'm so excited to make my next one. I think I will make one for Father's Day!

I also made Savannah's birthday hat. Since I didn't get it together in time to order a fancy birthday hat online, I committed to making her one. Little did I know how fun this would be and I think I'll make her a birthday hat every year! Her hat was so cute, and I was so proud too, I didn't even use any online instructions!

My inner Martha Stewart really shined over the weekend! :) Savannah was given many exciting presents that she loves to play with. We are very lucky to have such a great group of friends here. Everyone has been wonderful in helping us feel comfortable and get adjusted in Germany.

The next few weeks I’ll have more posts, pictures and videos. Sorry the updates have been slower than usual, I promise to work on this!

Hugs and kisses,

Elizabeth

P.s. Here are pictures that my friend Sandie and her husband took at our party. My pictures are already posted in two posts below this one.

Savannah's Birthday Song

Savannah loved every single second during her birthday song!

Savannah's Birthday Photos

Hello Everyone! Here are a few photos from Savannah's 1st birthday. We had a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather. Savannah is a happy, healthy and extremely social little 1 year old! More from the weekend and a special birthday note about Savannah soon!

XO
Elizabeth

Going Eggless

Since Savannah is possibly allergic to eggs we never have them in our house and I'm starting to explore eggless recipes. I've made banana muffins and wheat thins and they have both turned out surprisingly delicious. Today I decided to make chocolate chip cookies (for us not Savannah). Even though I would use eggs in this recipe because Savannah would not be eating them, I still had no eggs in the house. The grocery stores are closed on Sunday so I was forced to find an eggless chocolate cookie recipe.

One thing I am not is a baker but let me tell you, these cookies turned out so delicious! I had to share the recipe. Here are the recipes for the cookies, muffins and wheat thins! :-)

P.s. Savannah is being tested for her possible egg allergy this Thursday, I'll keep you posted!

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.goeggless.com/2008/08/go-eggless-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

I didn't have the self-rising flour so I used 1 cup all purpose flour and added 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt to it. Also I used non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt.


Banana Muffins
http://www.happybabyfood.com/blog/recipes/380-happybabyegglessbananamuffins

I used apple sauce instead of vegetable oil and I think is why they turned out so amazing!

Homemade Wheat Thins
Ingredients:
3  cups  uncooked  oatmeal
2  cups  unbleached  white  flour  (may  substitute  1  c.  whole  wheat  flour  for
the  white)
1  cup  wheat  germ
3  tbsp.  sugar
1  tsp.  salt  (not  necessary  -­‐  omit  if  you  choose)
3/4  cup  oil
1  cup  water
 
Directions:
Mix  all  together,  and  roll  out  onto  2  cookie  sheets.  Sprinkle  with  salt.  Lightly  roll  again  to press  salt  in.  Cut  into  squares  or  diamonds  -­ a  pizza  cutter  works  well.  
Bake  at  350F.  
After  15  minutes  begin  checking  the  crackers  and  remove  the  ones  that  are  golden  brown  and hard.  Continue  checking  every  3-­5  minutes.  Optional  sprinkle  with  sesame  or  poppy  seeds before  baking.

My German Pedicure

This was my Mother's Day treat, a pedicure! Something I have been looking forward to for months now and the reason I haven't gone earlier is because finding an American style nail salon in German is difficult. I finally found a new nail salon that just opened two weeks ago in Konigstein, a town about 5 minutes up the street (I've mentioned this town before).

I walk in and there is a huge pedicure chair, just like the nail salons at home...I felt at ease. The lady was Vietnamese and her name was Lyn. She was very very nice and told me her entire background on why she is living in Germany and why she opened the shop.  The short story is she moved her 10 years ago because her brother and wife were killed in a car crash so she moved from California to here to raise their two children. Well now the children are 19 and 21 and causing major problems and she opened the shop as an outlet and to make money to send home to her two sons that are in medical school in New Jersey. ANYWAY, that's Lyn! :) Very nice lady.

Lyn gave me the May issue of US Weekly and said you are doing what the American women do on Saturdays...getting a pedicure and relaxing! I said, yup and it's incredible! Now for the reason I'm posting this story about my German pedicure.

Lyn said a traditional German pedicure cost 40 Euro and that doesn't include any massage or exfoliation. This pretty much only includes a polish change. They also sit you in this round tub, you get no cozy back message chair. Lyn said the German service is terrible. Her goal is to bring the American nail salon concept to Germany. I told her I would tell all my friends! :) Sounded like a German pedicure was not relaxing nor anything women do together as a girls date like at home. Oh and Lyn only charges 20 Euro, way better! The rest of the day as we walked around I took note of German women's feet. I was surprised to notice most of them had on closed toe shoes, either boots, ballet flats, or tennis shoes. The women that did have on sandels did not have pretty toes! HA! And I think I was the only one where flip flops with spectacular looking toes I might add. The weather was like 80 degrees and sunny so just imagine how trapped their feet must have felt. Now that I know what a German pedicure includes I understand the reason for closed toed shoes in late spring! :)

One more thing. Lyn informed me that Savannah is born in the year of the Tiger. These babies (she said) are very special. They are indepedent, extremely smart and strong. She was very clear and looked me straight in the eye and said, "You and your husband speak to Savannah with one voice." Because if we don't she said Savannah will see that we are not united and she will challenge us. She predicted Savannah will be out of our house by 21 and moved on her own. That made me sad as I sat getting my pedicure on Mother's Day weekend.

By the end of my 60 minute pedicure, I realized I got a lessen on German pedicures, the lifestyle of some German women (that's another story), a psychic reading on Savannah, and Lyn told me she is a certified gemologist!

I will definitely go back to Lyn for two reasons. One great pedicure at a great price and two I'm curious on what else she has to teach me!

Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful, strong and loving mothers in my life!

Love,
Elizabeth
XO

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! The weather was absolutely perfect, minus the pollen of course! Everyone has said the pollen is really bad this year because it hasn't rained much. This is the first time I wish it would rain!

Saturday we went to Downtown Wiesbaden in search of Easter markets, we didn't find any but that was okay because we walked around the park, the farmers market, then had lunch and shopped. Savannah got a beautiful Easter hat and we bought some Easter chocolates.

The farmers market was really crowded on Saturday so we decided to enjoy a glass a wine from one of the German wineries that was set up there. Well this lady about five feet in front of us was coughing up a lung for like 10 minutes then a man next to us was blowing his nose. I started to get uncomfortable so I said to Rocky, "There are too many germs here lets keep moving." Well he thought I meant, "There are too many Germs (as in Germans) here..." It was really funny but in no way did I mean "Germs" as in Germans! I love the German people! What I don't love are people who cough and sneeze in public and don't cover up! That was my funny story from Saturday.

Sunday was again beautiful weather so we started the day with a walk/hike. We visited Savannah's favorite horse, named Sienna, and this time the owner was brushing the her tail. Sienna she said hello to Savannah. This was the closest Savannah had ever been to a horse, she was about 15 inches from her face. Savannah was holding a dandelion, and the pollen must have aggravated Sienna because she sneezed all over both Savannah and me!!! Needless to say we came home all bathed! Surprisingly Savannah didn't cry she just was really shocked. It was funny!

We had brunch late in the morning at beautiful restaurant where they had a buffet. It was really good, all German food. The buffet wasn't like an American buffet. It was like we were at a small gathering at someones house, the food was placed on little dishes with small proportions. I liked it because it wasn't huge and overwhelming. After brunch we took lots of pictures in the courtyard...and everybody starred at us like we were putting on a show. This is a "German thing". They stare, and they don't care if you know they are staring. It's very awkward and uncomfortable but we're getting used to it.

Then we came home and I made a delicious spinach salad to take to our friends house for Easter Dinner. It has been really nice to have friends here that make us feel like extended family. Without these people the transition would be a lot harder. We got to talk to both our families on Skype and that was nice.

Our first major holiday in Germany was lovely! Hope everyone at home had a nice holiday too.

XO
Elizabeth

Big Day!

Savannah had a very BIG day!!! She took her first steps (with an "s")!!! I had a friend over and while we were talking and playing with Savannah she took three steps using both feet with my "come to mommy" encouragement! I was so excited I almost peed my pants!!!

Then we finally got Savannah's Amazon shipment that included her new suction bowls, a few DVDs, a cool new sippy cup, snack pouch and three pairs of shoes. It was like Christmas for her as she sat in the middle of our floor among all the boxes.

When I put her super effective suction bowl on her high chair she totally ate the yogurt using her spoon....for like 5 minutes then the spoon flew to floor and she used her hands. It was hilarious, messy but hilarious!

Savannah likes to eat with us instead of us watching her eat so tonight she had dinner with us and she enjoyed a little bit of roasted chicken and smashed avocado mostly while she sat in my lap instead of the high chair. (P.s. This was the first time I roasted a chicken in my very small German oven, it was thankfully uneventful and at the same time delicious.)

Later before bedtime we were playing I asked her where my belly button was and she pointed to my belly button! I couldn't believe it! Then I asked her where my feet were and she pointed to...my belly button! haha

Looking back on today I realized Savannah practically turned into a toddler overnight. She's 10 months and 3 weeks old and it seems like yesterday we were at the Birth Center welcoming her beautiful face into the world. She amazes me every single day. I'm so happy and grateful that I can spend every minute with her to watch her grow and discover the world.

I will post the walking and eating from a bowl videos tomorrow!
XO
Elizabeth

First Step

Breaking news from our living room in Germany....Savannah took her first step (singular) with her right foot this afternoon! She did it out of the blue while we were Skyping with Aunt Maria! I think she really wanted give her Aunt Maria a hug (*sniff sniff*). She did it a few more times throughout the afternoon, it's just one small step with her right or left foot but it's a STEP and a step is a step, so I'll take it! :)

The Decision

We have finally made the final decision with our house dilemma! The verdict....we are moving to Downtown Wiesbaden in a garden-level flat located directly off the Kurpark inside of a beautiful building that dates back to 1890. The flat is newly renovated and we will be the first people to live there since the renovations. We can access the park directly from our backyard, the location could not be more perfect! The house has been in the landlord's family since it was built, her grandmother grew up there and as did she and now she is raising her three children there. We met her, the husband and children and the family dog...everyone was very nice. They were extremely helpful in answering all of our questions. They told us everything we needed to hear in order to consider moving.

Over the past week we tossed and turned over the decision. Finally I said we need to list what is most important to us and based on those things we make the decision, nothing else. There are so many different variables involved, so many pro's and con's to both places and it doesn't help they are both beautiful. Well what is most important to us led us to moving closer to the American base where our life is beginning to center. Savannah will have endless opportunities to play with friends and we will be able to walk to anything we could ever need including our hot German doctors! :) Rocky will be 10 minutes from work as opposed to 30 minutes. We will not have to purchase a second car right away and we will save hundreds of dollars on gas. The winter will not be nearly as bad since we won't be in the mountains and we won't be stranded in our house for days on end because of icy roads. To describe how different the weather is up here in the Taunus mountains let me tell you a quick story. I had a friend visit last Tuesday, she lives in Downtown Wiesbaden across the park from our new place. Sandie has a 3 month old boy named Issac. We decided to take a walk down to the playground at the bottom of my hill, it's a 15 minute walk to the park. When we arrive the clouds start to dark and the wind picked up so we started booking it back to my house. Well we didn't make it and it started to rain/hail  on us half way back up the maintain! Sandie has lived in Wiesbaden three years so I asked her if this sudden hail storm is normal German weather. She quickly replied, "No, this is totally a mountain thing!" When we got back to my house the hail had stopped of course! The babies were snuggled warm in our strollers so they were fine but we were out of breath and soaking wet!

Our landlord is on holiday right now in France so we will finalize and sign the new lease when they return. They need to install the kitchen and finish landscaping and then our place is ready! Move in day is scheduled for June 25th! My Mom is coming that next day on June 26th so I want everything as moved in as possible before she arrives so she will be comfortable and can enjoy time with Savannah.

I will post pictures of our new place soon. In the meantime you view it on the German realtor website, Immobilien and put the website address in Google Translator to read about it!

Sunday aka Family Day in Germany

In Germany Sunday is strictly family and friends day. Just about everything closes except for restaurants and cafes. It's an actual German law that stores must be closed on this day. There are only four times during the year that shops open on Sunday. Even German websites shut down. So instead of running around doing errands or work you spend the day with loved ones. At first we found this hard to comprehend that you had to get everything done on Saturday. Then we realized this German custom is a treasure that I will miss dearly when we are back in the states.

This Sunday started with a walk turned hike down to the park and through fields. Spring in Germany is absolutely beautiful. Everything is luscious green and the flowers are beautiful vibrant colors. There are horses and cows along the fields at the bottom of our hill where we walk. Savannah adores these animals! She gets very excited every time she see's Mr. Ed! :)

Sunday afternoon we ventured to Kongistein (a small lovely village about 4km or 3 miles away). Everything is Kilometers, Celsius, and Centimeters. Major adjustment but my trusty iphone apps are helping! :) The weather was BEAUTIFUL, about 75 and sunny. It was a gorgeous day. We walked around the park and then had lunch at this fabulous place called Villa Borgnis Kurhaus im Park. Their outside seating overlooked the park and down the mountain to all the cute German houses. The food was really good too. I had ordered an ice tea and was surprised with what I would describe as an frozen yogurt ice tea float. It was really good but not before you eat a salad! hehe



Rocky got a hamburger for the first time in over 2 months. He was excited! The restaurant was really nice so we decided this is where we will spend Easter brunch. I booked us reservations for Easter Sunday at 11am. Savannah will get all dressed up in her beautiful Easter dress from Aunt Maria and we can make a day of it. I'm very excited! :)

After lunch we walked around more and Savannah announced she had a new trick. She likes to mimic this bird like sound. I have a little video that I will post. People looked at us like we were very strange!

We got ice cream or gelato at a cafe. Everyone gets ice cream on Sundays after they eat. There is always a line, but it moves quick and trust me it's definitely worth the wait. The ice cream here is the best I've ever had. And it's so inexpensive too, if you visit you will definitely have a treat!

We ended the day with a movie called The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg. Good movie and there is nobody else that could have played that role, he was perfect! Since we don't have satellite and can't stream movies from my Mac to our TV yet because of our weak Internet signal we rent movies most nights from the video store on base.

Oh more thing! Rocky cut the grass for the first time on Saturday. You can only cut the grass from 1-3pm. But our landlord told us it's not that big of an issue so Rocky cut it Saturday morning when he got back from playing pick up basketball with his friend Dieter (Tia's husband). The lawnmower looks like a toy! First it's electric so you plug it into the wall, and then it's super small and bright red and yellow! It was really funny to see him cut the grass.

Enjoy the pictures! I will have the videos uploaded soon, our Internet signal is making uploading difficult. We love and miss everyone very much.

XOXOX

New Pictures

Hi Everyone! I posted a new assortment of pictures from here and there over the past few weeks. I hope spring is beautiful at home! XOXO

Life on the Hill

Hallo! Spring is here and in full bloom! We are finally experiencing warmer weather, beautiful flowers and unfortunately POLLEN (really the only downside of spring).  I’m so happy to be online again and up and running with the blog. I made the blog private because people from all over the world were accessing and that gave me the willies knowing that strangers were looking at pictures of baby! If you have family and friends that I forget to invite to the blog, please send me their email and I will invite them.

We have lots to update. Let’s start with “Moving Day” which was Thursday, March 24^th. We arrive at our house…I’m driving our 4 Runner, Rocky’s driving his rental car, and the big moving truck behind us. Mind you our house sits on the turning point of a 21% and 14% grade hill…meaning very steep and hard to maneuver traffic, especially big cars! We get out of the car and the first words out of Rocky’s mouth are, “What were we thinking, this house is to far out and the hill is too steep!?” I almost fell over. I said, “Really babe, I’ve been telling you this all along!” We both just laughed it off and moved ahead with the day.  The German movers were very efficient and it only took them about 3 hours for them to unload everything and assemble furniture. The rest of the weekend we unpacked, tried to clean and purchased items for our house.

Daily tasks that normally should take simply minutes take hours. For example, for each of our American appliances we need converters. No biggie we thought….we learned quickly that it is a biggie because each appliance is a different watt requiring different voltage converters. And if you get the converter wrong on the first try you blow out the appliance AND short-circuit the outlet. We almost lost all of our food in our refrigerator trying to vacuum. We didn’t blow up our Dyson vacuum but when we do vacuum we have to turn it on, then go all the way to our basement to flip the switch because the converter short sockets the electoral outlet, so then once the switch is flipped then we can turn the vacuum on again and it will work. This all translates to HIGHLY ANNOYING! J

We blew up our coffee maker and microwave in this learning process. Thankfully we got it right with our TV and that made it.

Patience is the key word everyday.

Our trip to Ikea that Saturday was made easier by a friend warning us you can only pay in Euro’s there. We picked out our closets but didn’t actually purchase them that day because you have to find each piece to the closet separately and gather it all by your self with no help. Oh and it’s all in German so that really makes it tricky. Rocky went back on Monday because believe it or not even Ikea shuts down on Sunday.

We took our first walk to the bakery down our hill that weekend and realized will have an ass of steal by walking everyday! Total bonus to living on a hill! :)

I found our scale and discovered I lost about 20lbs since we moved and Savannah weighs 19lbs! I attribute culture shock to my weight loss.

Rocky put together my closet and Savannah’s closet. Amazing that he figured this out with no help! Very proud of him!

Savannah was really happy to sleep in her own crib. But I found myself unable to sleep because she was so far away, all the way in the other room! J In the hotel she was at the foot of our bed and most nights she would end up in our bed.

After the weekend we talked and decided this house is beautiful, the neighborhood is lovely and the view is spectacular with the fresh air….however it’s too far from Rocky’s office and Wiesbaden. You may be saying, “well why did you chose this house?!” Well that answer is simple, we had about one month to choose a home and during that month we were adjusting to the time change while juggling illnesses, learning how to live in Germany speak their language and find out where we want to live. There is nothing anyone could have told us to do to prepare for the adjustment. Looking back on the last two months I didn’t realize how major that adjustment was. Anywho, so based on the few things we knew, we ended up in this house on the hill.

We chose this house because the view is to die for, the air is the fresh as can be and we have plenty of space for Savannah and Lilly to play inside with a yard outside. Our landlord is also the nicest man in Germany! The only downside we saw at the time was the hill and the 25-minute distance to Rocky’s work and Wiesbaden.

We’ve been in the house about two weeks and I’m starting to really enjoy it. The hill is fantastic exercise. Savannah and Lilly and I go on about 2-3 walks a day. In the morning we walk up the hills and in the afternoon we walk down the hill to the park where there is also a farm with lots of animals. Rocky is carpooling to work with his buddy who lives about 5 minutes down the hill. I’ve become fast friends with his wife, Tia, we have so much in common it’s like we were separated a birth! Hehe, really even our birthdays are only one week apart. They have two boys, 4 and 2 so Savannah already has friends. Tia has shown me around town and made everything less scary. I’m so grateful for her!

We’re still thinking about moving to a garden style flat in Wiesbaden. The location we like is directly on the Kurpark, a beautiful park in downtown Wiesbaden. Earlier in the week we found a newly renovated building from 1890 where the ground level flat is for rent. You can view it here. Google translator will translate the entire website if you want to read about how grand it is! :) The owner of the building has three kids so they are building a small play ground right in that yard that over looks the park. The place is STUNNING! Incredible location too, right off the walking path on the Kurpark. It's Living in Wiesbaden would put Rocky only 10 minutes from work and we’d be within walking to distance to everything including the base. We’ve heard winters are really bad living up here in the Taunus Mountains so living in Wiesbaden would be easier. People have told us to not have concerns about living on this hill in the winter but I can’t stand the thought of being stuck inside for weeks!

My fabulous new friend Tia told me everyone is depressed in the winter so wives and their children go on holiday together where it is sunny because the husbands can’t get away from work. Love this idea!!! We’re planning our trip now and it’s only April! ;)

There are many pros and cons to living here vs. Wiesbaden. As the days go by and I get more comfortable here, I want to stay but seeing the beautiful flat in Wiesbaden really makes me think that is were we should live because of the proximity to everything.

Any advice from anyone is welcome; please email with words of wisdom! :)

Today, Savannah and I ventured out into Konigstien, just the two of us. Konigstien is about 4 km, or 3 miles up the street from our house. It’s known as a town for the affluent. Beautiful architecture, great shops, and many many restaurants. I found one shop that had gorgeous rugs, I went in to see what a Bio (organic) rug would cost….my friends, a bio rug from this shop will run you about 9,000 Euros! I almost fell over! There is no way I could ever convince Rocky to get this rug, not even if we could afford it! The clothing shops were surprisingly way more reasonable though, even more reasonable than the shops in Wiesbaden. When I say reasonable I mean like boutique prices in the U.S. Most Wiesbaden shops are like Rodeo drive prices! Rocky bought me a super cute summer jacket from a shop in Konigstien for my birthday. I love and feel so fashionable in it! J Everyone has summer jackets because there is still a chill in the air during this time of year.

Savannah and I bought some delicious treats at the Italian market of salami and spreads, and then we got some fresh whole wheat bread to make little sandwiches for dinner. Well it looked like whole wheat with sunflower seeds. Whenever I order something I really don’t fully understand what they are telling me. Everything I order is truly an experiment. Most of the time everything is quiet tasty.

Savannah is now 10 months old! She can give kisses and hugs on demand, only for me though, she doesn’t hand them out to Rocky just yet! J She is a super fast crawler and can stand for long periods of time. Her and Lilly are total BFF’s, they play together and it’s the funniest thing. I got a video to explain. She’s very social and gets really excited when she sees other babies and dogs, her little legs start kicking and she starts squealing! Sooooo cute! :)

The weather here is really nice, temps in the 60-70s daily with cloudy days far and few in between. There is a chill up on the hill but the freshness of the air make it worth it.

I uploaded some pictures and videos from the weekend. Hope you enjoy. Now that I have updated you on the past two weeks, my posts won’t be like novels! J We love and miss you all!

Oh and remember, if anyone has advice on living a little farther out of town vs. living right in town while being in a foreign country please email us! 

P.s Check the video tab later today to see the videos. I'm uploading them now but it's taking a while!

XOXOXO

Moving Day

Today we are moving from the hotel into our new home. Yesterday the movers came and unloaded all of our household goods including our 4Runner! It was so good to see our car and house items. Driving the 4Runner felt like home. I actually drove on an autobahn yesterday for the first time and wasn't that scary! Totally manageable as long as you are very careful.

The move yesterday went a lot smoother than I had expected. I got the kitchen cleaned and mostly set up. The movers put everything where we requested and assembled our bed and Savannah's crib. Today we are moving everything from our hotel and tonight will be our first night there! We won't be online for a few days because we have to get the internet set up so you won't see any new updates for a bit. I'll be back with lots of photos and stories in about a week, fingers crossed for sooner!

We love and miss everyone very very much!
XO
Elizabeth

Bonjour! (Grab a snack, this is a long one!)

To celebrate my 30th birthday we decided to take a weekend holiday to Paris! This trip was really last minute because the day before we left (Thursday) Savannah had a scary allergic reaction to scrambled eggs. She broke out in hives and we had to rush to the pediatrician where they gave her hydrocortisone to calm the rash. The medicine made her all better and she was back to normal by Thursday night. The next morning at 9am we decided the trip was a go as long as Savannah was on a strict booby only diet! :) The solid food adventure was on hold until yesterday when we started back with Cheerios and yogurt.

We left for Paris via car around 12pm on Friday. Our dear friend Tiffany and her family watched Lilly for the weekend, so thankful for them! :) About one hour into the ride, Savannah had a meltdown and we almost turned around. We pulled off the autobahn and got some fresh air and let her crawl around the car, after 20 minutes she was okay. The trip was back on...again! It took us about 6.5 hours to get there because we had to stop a lot. Savannah just didn't want to be confined to a car seat that day. Helga (our GPS) led us directly to the front door of our hotel with no detours. We LOVE Helga!!! :) Without her we would be up the creek without a paddle all the time.

We stayed at 7 Eiffel, a tucked away gem located in between two nice shopping/restaurant streets and a seven minute walk to the Eiffel Tower. Hmmm maybe that's why the hotel is called 7 Eiffel, not sure but interesting thought. Anywho the concierge knew exactly who we were when we arrived and she had our room perfectly waiting for us with a baby crib all set up! Savannah was thrilled to move her little legs and crawl around. It was really sweet to see how happy she was to finally move around after the long car ride. While checking in a nice lady recommended a restaurant up the street for dinner. We changed and Rocky parked the car right outside the front of the hotel (only 4 Euro's all weekend to park, totally amazing). We got lucky on the parking spot and never had to move the car until we left Sunday morning. We carried Savannah in the Ergo baby carrier all weekend. With Savannah on my back, we left the hotel in search of the restaurant. It was kinda rainy that night so we were really booking it to the restaurant. Apparently we walked a little to fast and blew right past the recommended restaurant and we ended up at this small Italian place at the end of the street, what we thought was the right restaurant. We didn't realize it was the wrong place until our walk home! hehe However it turned out this wrong restaurant was the right restaurant for that night because it was late and Savannah was tired so we didn't have much time. The little Italian man was really nice, our food came quick, it was delish and the wine was the best yet! We took a pizza pie home and ate it after I put Savannah down. We had to put her crib in the shower room so it was quiet and dark for her to sleep soundly.

Saturday morning we had a 9:30 appointment with the Eiffel Tower. We packed up, loaded Savannah on my back and headed out for a day of sightseeing. The Eiffel Tower was more magnificent that I ever imagined. It was breathtaking, in fact everything we saw in Paris was breathtaking so you might hear that word again! :) Our tour at the Tower was the first of the day so I was amazed how crowded it already was. Good thing we had purchased our tickets in advance because the line for tickets was very long.

Now for the funniest part of our trip. We get on the elevator to go alllllllllll the way up to the top of the tower. It is precisely 324 meters tall, or about three and a half American football fields tall! I did not know these facts before booking this tour. Once on the elevator, we were shuffled to the back corner surrounded by a young British soccer team of about 15 teenage boy. Needless to say they were all very excited to go to the top! We make it to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and I started to freak out. The elevator was getting very small, the air started to get stuffy and I began to think, "How will they administer medical assistance to me at the top of this tower if I faint!" Rocky was as always remaining calm telling me to take a deep breaths. With Savannah on my back the Ergo suddenly felt like it was strangling me. The elevator came to a stop at the 2nd floor, I looked over at the British soccer coach and he said, "Do you need to get out?" He was so sweet. I said "Yes!" and he kindly told his team to move to the left and that a lady with a baby needs to get out! He was so nice and kind, I thanked him and off the elevator we went. I felt much much much better when we got off. The view was beautiful but I only took a tiny glance because it was just to scary!

Rocky was going to go all the way up alone but didn't want to go up without us. Very sweet of him, but I felt like such a chicken and really bad that he didn't get to go! There were little shops on the second floor where we bought some pretty pictures of the Eiffel Tower to frame and tea set for Savannah and I to play with.

It was very cold and windy that morning so after this we went back to the hotel for a quick Savannah nap and then headed back out for lunch and more sight seeing on a Batobus on the famous Seine River. The Batobus is like a huge water taxi that takes you to eight historical landmarks in Paris. The great thing about this boat versus other sightseeing boats is that you can get on and off the boat at the eight locations. It is great and I would highly recommend it!

Paris was beautiful by boat,  there were so many georgous bridges and staues. My favorite out of the eight sights besides the Eiffel Tower was the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris. This Gothic Catholic Cathedral took over 180 years to built and was completed in 1345!!! It was breathtaking. The detail of the achticture was mind boggeling. I just couldn't believe how enourmous and peaceful it was. We said a prayer along our tour of the cathedral and took a few pictures.

During the boat ride we took tons pictures all over the city and really absorbed all the sights. On our walk home we stopped in a few shops and bought Savannah the most beautiful white dress for her 1 year birthday pictures we will have taken in a few months. There is even a little hat that goes with the dress, it is so innocent and sweet!

We came home late in the afternoon to catch a quick Savannah nap while we refreshed for dinner at a restaurant called Le Petit Nicois across the street from our hotel. We got a little dressed up, I even put on make up! This is the first time I really got dolled up for a night out on the town since we were at home and celebrated my Dad's birthday in Georgetown at the end of January! It felt really good! :) Now we get to dinner, realizing that even though Savannah had a mini nap she was not in the mood to sit still. The restaurant didn't have a high chair, very odd! This was the third encountering this in Paris. We had a delish filet mignon and salad. It was really good but hard to really savor because Savannah just want to crawl around.

After dinner we took a brisk walk up the street to the Eiffel Tower for some night pictures. The Eiffel Tower is even more spectacular at night all lit up! We had asked a nice couple to take a few pictures of us to capture the moment. By the time we got home that night, we were all exhausted! When I put Savannah down Rocky went out to get us ice cream for desert. About 20 minutes later he literally came dashing through the door with two cones of gelato in his hands, frozen yogurt for me and vanilla for him. Best ice cream I ever had, it was the perfect night cap to our day! Rocky said the lady at the shop told him to run home with the ice cream because it was going to melt, so that he did! :)

Sunday morning we took our time getting up and mozied around the sourronding streets of our hotel. There were dozens of fresh food shops, each with their own specialty. It was heaven for a foodie! We stopped at shops here and there and purchased a few goodies. There was one shop were we bought the most amazing sweetest strawberries in the world. I took pictures, they were so yummy!

We ended the weekend with breakfast at a cafe and again no high chair! If you go to Paris with babies, make sure to scope out family friendly restaurants first! For booking our trip last minute we were really prepared for everything but researching restaurants. Trip Advisor "advised" perfectly on the hotel and tours but we didn't have time to research restaurants. Next time we will check it out for restaurants too because that website is very accurate and a great reference! Huge Trip Advisor Fan!

The way home was much easier, Savannah slept like a puppy for about half the trip and it only took us five hours to get home as opposed to 6.5! Lilly did great at our friends house and we came home and crashed for the weekend!

Rocky did a wonderful job in making my 30th birthday very special and unforgettable! I love you babe! Now that we have one trip under our belts we are more confident in traveling.

We also learned that way less people speak English in France than in Germany. Rocky knew a little French to get us by but next time we'll learn phrases in the country's language. Also, we were almost taken advantage of a few times money-wise but Rocky insisted they were wrong and they backed down and told us the accurate price. I was very proud of Rocky because I would have just said, "okay, whatever you want!" One more thing, everyone smokes in Paris and I mean everyone so you have to accept that walk very fast! hehe Sidewalk cafes are very common and the tables are very close (like touching) and they face the street. Makes for great people watching!

When we return to Paris we will take the Eurorail, enjoy this Chocolate Tour a co-worker of Rocky's recommended, see a show, and shop! Enjoy the pictures!

XO
Elizabeth

Successful Weekend

Hi Everyone! We had a great weekend filled with beautiful spring weather, new discoveries and newfound friends.

Saturday

We started the morning at an all-organic market called Alnatura in downtown, Wiesbaden. Rocky found this market last week when he was looking for a Thai restaurant so Saturday we decided to spend a few hours there exploring and translating. It's liked a mini Whole Foods. You can imagine my excitement when I finally stepped foot into this store. I was in heaven and very happy that I finally found this place. It was about the size of a Trader Joes so it wasn't huge and overwhelming. Everything was organic, including the wine and beer...amazing! They had lots of produce, baby things and just about anything organic you could ever want...even Dr. Hauschka skincare and make up. It is definitely a mini German Whole Foods. I'm looking forward to spending more time there so I can translate the foods with my awesome Google Translator app! :)

We then went home for Savannah's afternoon nap. When she woke up we went to Biebrich Palace Park located about 7 minutes away on the Rhine River. We tried to go to this park last weekend but ended up at Neroberg because we had the wrong address and Helga (our GPS) got a little confused. Neroberg was really neat; we later learned that it's a winery that sits at the top of hill with a train that runs in the summer and an incredible view of Wiesbaden. We had lunch at a cafe at the top where there was an historic outdoor theater. There is also a Russian Orthodox Church there that was beautiful! Pictures from this are in the photos from this weekend. 

Back to this weekend, Biebrich Palace is stunning. I'm glad we went on Saturday because the weather was a lot warmer than last weekend. The Palace sits right on the Rhine River and behind it is a beautiful park where you can walk, play with your dog and just relax. It was really nice to put down a blanket and enjoy the beautiful spring day. Savannah was occupied with exploring the grass and Lilly's toy soccer ball. Lilly met lots of friends and got much needed exercise. We walked around the whole park, it was lovely! There was an old castle in the middle of the park next to a pond. It was so cool to imagine that many years ago people used to live in this castle. We got to get really up close to the castle too.

After the park we took a seat at the cafe in Biebrich Palace. The Palace was stunning! Beautiful for a wedding or any special event. The cafe was in front and we sat outside at the tables and people watched and enjoyed tea and beer (tea for me, beer for the hubby).

Sunday

We started the day with a nice walk outside across from our hotel through fields. Later we went to Rocky's co-workers Sunday Dinner Club. Everyone was very nice and gave us lots of advice and tips. In fact I came home and immediately wrote everything down in fear I would forget! :) Savannah had a ball playing with the other children. I'm so excited we met new friends and I have other mommies to play with!!!

Now it's Monday and it's rainy but I'm remembering the sunny weekend and looking forward to this week. Hopefully our household goods arrive and we came move. If not, Paris awaits us for the weekend!

Until next time, enjoy the pictures and videos!

Elizabeth

XO

Photos from the last two weekends.

Daddy makes me laugh.

Exploring...

One Month

Well after one month of living here I'm ready to go home, JUST KIDDING!!! :) However, I am ready to move into our house. We (I should say Rocky) have the lease fully negotiated with our new landlord and now the paperwork is in the approval process at Rocky's company. Our new landlord has been fantastic. He has been very understanding with everything. Renting a home in Germany is very different than renting a home in the U.S. For example, when you move out of a home here, you are required to pay a renovation fee which can run over $10,000! And leases here are generally a lot longer than American leases. Most landlords will not rent to anyone for less than a 3 year lease. Sometimes not even 3 years, they want like 5-10 year leases. Also, there are no closets in any rooms. You have to purchase closets from Ikea. We've also heard German washers and dryers take an extremely long time to work. Rocky's co-works recommend we take our laundry to the base on the weekend because we can do six loads at once! But since I'm home all day I can monitor the laundry so it shouldn't be a problem...hopefully. On the up side, homes here are very well kept and maintained. They are just beautiful from the inside out!

Savannah is doing really well. She is super fast these days and is very curious about everything. She does this little thing, when she see something or someone interesting she tilts her head and pokes her head out as if she is saying, "Really, tell me more!" It's adorable. She is pulling herself up and making her way around the furniture, and she'll even stand without holding onto anything for about 15 seconds at a time!

We will hopefully be moving into our home in the next two weeks. We are waiting for our household goods which are supposed to be here Monday. Once they get here, they have to be cleared through customs so we might not move in until April 1st. Total bummer! If this is the case....we are thinking about spending my 30th birthday in Paris. Which would be incredible! The only thing holding us back is our little Lilly. We have to make sure she is in good hands and since I'm very protective of sweet Lilly, I want to be 100% sure I trust the person watching her. Rocky has a co-worker who loves dogs and has three so we are checking with him. If not we'll postpone Paris. In the future we are hoping our landlord will be kind and watch her. He has a 15 year old son that wants a dog very badly so we're hoping Lilly will turn up her charm and they will extend an offer when we get to know them better.

Our next trip will be to Prague to visit the Easter Markets. We've heard they are a lot of fun!

Rocky's job is starting to pick up and has been put on several projects. I'm so proud of him and everything he has accomplished to bring us here. He is enjoying everything so far and his company has been very understanding and supportive in getting us settled as soon as possible. We just got invited to join their Sunday dinner club. This Sunday is our first one, I'm excited to meet all the wives and children.

I have a few videos and pics from last weekend's excursions that I'll post this weekend!
XO
Elizabeth

Guten Morgen

This morning we are enjoying coffee and feeding Savannah little pieces of the grapes we are eating. She also had a little banana and a tiny bite of my oatmeal. Today we are going to Biebrich Palace Park located on the beautiful Rhine River (about 15 minutes away). You can read more about this Park on the Stars and Stripes website.




Thursday we decided to rent the house with a gorgeous view of the Taunus Mountains in Kelkheim!! The landlord is very nice, he is originally from Canada so he speaks perfect English. Our household goods are still on their way to Germany and are expected to arrive on March 11th. We will probably move in our home the weekend of March 18th also known as my 30th BIRTHDAY! :) We had planned on going to Paris this weekend but now that trip is postponed a few weekends until we are settled.

Now let me tell you about our house! It's a detached double house with about 2,000 square feet and three levels. There are 2.5 baths, one located on each level (one full bath upstairs and the other in the basement, perfect for when all of you visit)! There are three good sized bedrooms upstairs and each has an unbelievable view of the town. The air is so fresh and clean it's amazing! The house doesn't even have an AC unit because it doesn't get hot enough in the summer. Our landlord lives in the other half of the double house and he said he keeps the windows open all the time, incredible! There is an abundance of natural light that flows in all the windows from every direction. The kitchen is bigger than we had originally thought with lots of storage cabinets and a good sized fridge. Most refrigerators in Germany are very small so to find a home with a good sized fridge is like a diamond in the ruff. The living room and dinning room open to each other as you'll see in the pictures. The basement has three rooms. One room is very large with another small room attached. This will be the play area/man cave/guest room. The other two rooms down there are for storage. The stairs are enclosed which is great because every house we saw the back of the steps were open, total baby hazard! The house has a deck with an enclosed backyard. The deck is being replaced this month so that will be brand new.

When we move in we need to supply light fixtures, a washer/dryer and closets. This is very normal in Germany. You are actually supposed to bring your own kitchen but this house comes with a kitchen. Yesterday we went to Ikea (pronounced "eye-k-a" here in Germany) and looked at closets and light fixtures.

The town is the perfect size. Most of the streets are cobblestone like many of the streets and the buildings are very old with lots of character. There is a beautiful park with a play ground within walking distance with a soccer field and I think a big farm...still investigating. There is also a bakery at the bottom of the hill of our house. Frank (landlord) said they deliver and he always gets fresh buns delivered on Saturday morning! Not many bakeries still deliver, but lucky for us we live right next to one that does! hahaha I made a rule...this delivery bun service will be a once and a while special treat type of thing for us! Without this rule, we'd be in trouble. :) About 3 miles up the road from our town there is another small town with lots of really cute shops and restaurants.

Enjoy your Sunday, aka "day of rest" here. Nearly everything but gas stations shut down, so it is truly a day of rest!

Xo
Elizabeth

P.s. Friday I passed my drivers test! Officially legal to drive, very exciting!!!

Kissing Fish

Savannah can now make a kissing fish face! There is a book called 10 Little Ladybugs, and in the book different animals play with the ladybugs. One of them is a fish and every time I get to the fish, I make a kissing fish face. Well she has finally learned to make it herself and it's insanely cute!!!! Enjoy :)

Will Walk for Remotes

Little Savannah starting to take off! P.s. Daddy dressed her today! hehe

Good news & bad news :)

Hi Everyone! Good news and bad news to start the day. Good news first. I got my J.Crew shipment within one week of placing the order, which is fantastic! More importantly is that I fit perfectly into their size 29 pants again!!!! This is very exciting. Still more work to be done but I'm happy I'm a 29 again!

Bad news is that failed my drivers test. The course before the test was four hours long and it started at 7:30am. German and international driving laws are VERY CONFUSING! The most confusing one I think is that in most cases you always yield right before left. So you could be driving along a road and car could pull out in front of you and it would be your fault because you did not stop and yield for the car on your right pulling out. Centered around this "right before left" rule there are so many different cases you must remember. There are about 300 signs you have to remember too. On the test I got all the sign questions right (then only ask 25 sign questions) but missed most of the situation questions. My job tonight is to study and then I'll take the test again tomorrow morning at 10:30am and will hopefully pass this time! On the bright side of being in this class I met one of Rocky's coworkers and his fiance who just got here from England on Friday. They are from our hometown in Annapolis and have been on this contract in England for the past two years. He is now joining the project on this location. They seem nice and they are staying in our same hotel as they look for a home. We plan on having dinner in the next few days.

Savannah is well! Last night before bed she savored every bit of her banana yobaby yogurt, we were so proud! Every morning we see her top right tooth emerge further, so we can now see both top teeth. It's amazing how overnight her top two teeth have come in. I almost feel like I have literally watched them come in because she has been up every two hours every night since these top teeth have started!!! For some reason I'm not as tired as I was when she was just a newborn waking up that often. I guess it's true that you just begin to learn how to survive on less sleep.

Update on House Hunting
We've found the general area we like, it's called Niedernhausen about 10 minutes from Wiesbaden and 20 minutes from Rocky's job. There are several other towns around Niesderhausen that we are looking at as well. Now that we have the area narrowed down we can narrow the houses down better.

Right now we have two houses we really like....but only one is possible and that is the one with the great landlord. The other large renovated stand alone house is beautiful but it's a tad to big and expensive.

Today our realtor Ingeborg is showing us two more houses at 3pm. Fingers crossed! :) Also at 3pm today is the Official Grand Opening event at our hotel. Wish we were going to be here for the festivities.

House #2 - Great Landlord Geräumige Doppelhaushälfte mit Blick in ruhiger Lage

Located in Kelkiem, about 25 minutes form Wiesbaden and 25 minutes from Rocky's job. This house is a good size but sits on a slope. The owner lives next door in the other half of the double house. He speaks perfect English and seems really nice and he said the neighbors are great too. There is small yard with a deck that is going to be rebuilt by the owner. The basement is completely finished with a full bath, perfect for when guests visit. It's ready to move in tomorrow. The stairs are closed and it seems to bet he perfect size for us right now. The town is tucked away a little further than Neiderhausen but there are shops within walking distance.

House #3 - Large renovated stand alone Freistehendes 8 Zimmer-Haus in Niedernhausen 

Located in Niedernhausen, this town seems more open and spacious. From this house there are several shops within walking distance. The house is very large with four levels...all completely renovated beautifully. The backyard is adorable, with a patio and cover. There is no deck which I like because then I don't have to constantly worried about Savannah. We'd have to buy furniture to fill the other rooms but the other rooms are smaller so we would have to purchase too much. When anyone comes to visit there would be PLENTY of room. The price is at the very top of our budget. The house isn't ready until April 1st. There is a balcony from our master bathroom and Savannah's bedroom. I quickly confirmed that this will be child proofed and the door would be locked in her room. Her room would have a large room with another small room attached. I was thinking the small part would be her sleeping area and the larger part is her play area. As I write this, I realize I'm in love with this house. I wonder if we could take this house back to the U.S. after two years?!

More to come with the house hunt....

Happy Wednesday everyone!
xo
Elizabeth

Sunday Sunday

Since my last post we have a new favorite house. We realized our previous favorite house was a little to far from Rocky's job, even though it was the perfect house the location didn't work. Our new favorite house is located in a town called Kelkheim about 25 minutes from Rocky's job. A few of his coworkers live in this town. It seems really cute and even has a good sized park. The house is about 2,000 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 full baths. The special part about this house is that the basement is completely finished with a full bathroom. We have not seen a house yet with a finished basement. Every house has a huge basement with tons of rooms but none of them are finished, making them useless. The other great part about this house is that the owner lives in the other side of this double house (aka duplex house). He speaks perfect English and he said the neighbors are really great too. Most importantly this house is totally within the price range. The only downside is that it is located on a street that is kinda steep. The house and driveway are totally level but the street is steep. For example, if you don't drive stick shift then you're in trouble going up this hill! :) Check out pictures of the house Hochwertge geraumige Doppelhaushalfte
Here are a few we took of the view from the front and back of the house. It's really pretty and overlooks the town.



We are going to look a few more houses this week and hopefully make a decision this week. The hotel hasn't been that bad but we are anxious to get settled. 

Savannah is really starting to enjoy food. Today she ate 3/4ths of a YoBaby vanilla yogurt, we were very proud! For everyone that doesn't know about Savannah's eating habits, she is very partial to the boob and hasn't really liked table food. Over the past week, she has gladly accepted (in small doses of course) avocado, bananas, apple sauce, yogurt, and baby rice cakes. She even started a mini protest because she wanted my apple when we were in the car last week. I couldn't peel the skin off the apple fast enough so when I finally gave it to her she was happy as a clam. It was actually really sweet because she just wanted to taste that apple so bad! She loves apples just as much as her mommy! :)

Today we visited an airforce base in Ramstein about an hour from us. This base is about 10 times bigger than the one located in Wiesbaden, where we live. There was a big mall there with tons of American items. We got Savannah a few play clothes, some books and I picked up Real Simple and Shape magazine.

Along our trip we realized we passed the town of Darmstadt where Frankenstein's castle is located. I get to plan next weekend's activities so we might visit that castle and possibly scope out a winery (weather permitting). During the trip we also saw many rolling hills with little towns wedged in between. It's amazing how old these buildings and castles are, and I bet they are really haunted too!

This week I take my international drivers test. Wish me luck. I have not studied a lick and really have no desire to either! :) If I pass this test on my first try, it will be a miracle! On that note, I'm going to look over the driving book and study the different signs.

Enjoy the Oscars everyone! I'm so sad they are not on tonight. We get to watch them tomorrow night, AFTER they have already aired. Sooooo not the same! :)

Love,
Elizabeth

P.s. New video of Savannah and Lilly...since we took this on Friday, Savannah knows how to give Lilly her treats!

Two Weeks

Guten Abend (good evening)! Yesterday marked two weeks since we arrived and it is really starting to settle in that we are living in Germany. I started my German language lessons today on a website called Livemocha. I've learned the basics like how to say my name is Elizabeth and good morning and bye. When we looked at a house this evening the realtor only spoke German so I got to try out my skills. I guess I did okay but what saved us was the Google Translator app. AWESOME app if you are ever in a language barrier situation. The app talks to you and you can talk into the app and it translates.


Anywho, this is the house we like so far, Einfamilienhaus mit tollen Grundstuck. This is actually the backside of the house. The backyard is beautiful. The inside was just renovated with all new windows, bathrooms and a new kitchen. Everything is really nice! It's a four bedroom/2 full bath house. Plenty of space for us! Downside is it's kinda far from Wiesbaden, about 10 minutes and about 30 minutes from Rocky's job. Tomorrow we are going to ask people at our hotel to see what the town is like to make sure there are a lot of young families there.


Tonight we had dinner at really cute restaurant named Ricci in the neighborhood after we saw the house. Savannah met her first little German friend named,  Jonas. They put on a show for the entire restaurant! They had each other giggling during our entire dinner.


Lilly got her international pet passport today. Now she can travel all over the world with us! :)


Enjoy the pictures!
xo
Elizabeth

Photos, videos, and more...

Hi Everyone! I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize our photos and videos on this blog. Any suggestions are welcome! Right now I have both our pictures and videos on our own personal website http://gaither.smugmug.com. I'm trying to organize them on the blog so you can clearly see when I post new videos and pictures. Uploading the videos directly to Blogger doesn't work because the picture is really blurry and YouTube is very public. Please stay tuned and have patience with a new blogger! ;)

House Hunters International

Over the past two days we've seen four houses. The first was a complete disaster. It took forever to get there. We crossed a bridge, a power plant and went through two tunnels. It seemed like we were traveling to a different time zone. We finally arrived....it was definitely not worth the trip. It was located in Mainz-Kastel, a town outside of Wiesbaden. It was a townhouse that was severely outdated and very un-kept. The yard was the size of a closet and the stairs were a major hazard for Savannah. We said thanks to Sylvester (the realtor) and prayed for better luck the next day. 

Wednesday we had Ingeborg Huber (our second realtor) show us a house. This house was located in Niedernhausen, opposite side of Wiesdbaden from Mainz-Kastel. About 20 minutes from Rocky's work and 10 minutes from downtown Wiesbaden. BEAUTIFUL HOME! It's brand new, not even done construction yet. It's a stand alone single home, uncommon here, a lot of houses here are duplex style homes. It was very modern, clean with tons of natural light and a gorgeous view of the rolling hills. The kitchen comes with the house (it's so beautiful too), rare in rented homes in Germany. The house is electric so we don't need to worry about gas. The neighborhood is very cute with lots of other young families. There is a butcher and a bakery within in walking distance. The backyard is kinda small but there is a huge field and walking/hiking trails for me to take Savannah and Lilly on walks all day long. The air was very fresh too, I loved it. There is a pool in the community. If it was up to me we would have signed on the house yesterday! :) However, I have a track record of always signing on the first apartment or house we view soooooo we are going to continue our search until we know for sure this is the house. There are a few cons about the house though, one being the stairwell. All four houses we've seen have had spiral stairwells where the steps were open. And if Savannah had somehow gotten past the baby gate to the steps she could curiously wiggle her tiny self through the steps. I don't know if this is possible but the sight of open stairs just makes me really nervous. Not sure if this spiral stairwell is common in German houses but it seems to be so far. Also the house is a tad small. It's about the same size of our house maybe a little bigger.

Ingeborg also showed us the outside of another house which we'll get to view the inside on Friday. We couldn't get an appointment on Wednesday. This house was a adorable and seemed a little bigger. However it was a detached house. We really like Ingeborg. She is very stylish and seems to know what's going on. She told us all of her houses are very nice and not listed on the main realtor website.  

The second two houses we saw yesterday were each with different realtors that we found on the main real estate website. One was a brand new duplex but had space issues. Nice backyard but way to many steps with a little one. The second house gave me the willies, BIG TIME! Just from the pictures Rocky showed me online, I didn't want to see this house because it scared me. My intuition was correct. This house was 150 years old (was originally a barn), and the people living there were a little strange too. It was creepishly (making up my own word, hehe) quiet in the house, it was dark and the layout was so bizarre. Once I learned it was a barn I understood. It felt like I couldn't get out of this house fast enough, I told Rocky I was going to have nightmares about it! The worst part about this house is that it had a basement that was the scariest thing I've ever seen. It was blocked off with a velvet curtain. Rocky wanted to see it, I said no way am I going down there! However reluctantly I followed Rocky down the steps because he was curious. It was dark and scary. There were round metal hooks hanging from the ceiling and it was so big I couldn't even see where this cellar ended. Rocky was investigating and in the middle of his investigation he accidentally turned out the light! Both the realtor and I got really scared and bolted for the steps. Later we learned this cellar was used to store meat, milk and butter because it gets cold down there. After seeing this cellar I backing out toward the door with ever step I took. Rocky kept wanting to make small talk with the current renters! I finally had to say, "okay thank you for letting us view the house"! Once out of the house, Rocky told me he didn't like it either and there was no way he would let us live there. Thank god! :)

Today is a new day and we are seeing another house at 3pm with Sylvester.

Right now my vote is still with the beautiful new house that Ingeborg showed us yesterday. I'll start taking pictures and posting. 

XOXO

Elizabeth