Dear English girls...

...You are giving me shoe envy. My bank account simply won't allow me to purchase the posh shoes you wear. And to add insult to injury, you wear these gorgeous boots and heels in the mud! *sigh* Please refrain from running through the mud and rain, it hurts my heart to see them damaged so.

Oh and I'm obsessed with these:

SO much to look forward to

These two essays --which are due tomorrow and will be out of my life forever, thank god!-- have been taking over my life for the past few days so I'm incredibly happy to see them go. With a big weight off my shoulders I can now look forward to the awesome things I have lined up!

Dad visits: March 1-5
Scotland (maybe): March 19-21
Dublin: March 26- 29
English High Tea Party: April 1st
PARIS!: April 2-5
Italy: April 11-15
Mum visits: April 20-24
Visit Marky with Mum: April 24-26
Amsterdam for Queen's Day: April 28-May 1st
Uni Beach Break (think Woodstock on the beach): June 10-14

We're thinking of planning Vienna and Prague for late May and the dream trip is Croatia-- if the money lasts. Then home June 18th. I cannot believe how much I have planned! Oh and a final and essays somewhere in May...

Vilseck is for brothers...

Whew. I literally just got home from one of the longest- but most worthwhile- trips ever. My trip into Germany sounded very much like this : cab, bus, shuttle, plane, second plane, cab, train and cab. God bless the Swiss and their toblerone or I may not have survived my first flight. I arrived in Nuremburg with little frustration or freakouts. And just like in "Love Actually", Mark was waiting for me at the arrivals gate which was such a nice treat.  We spent a night in Nuremberg because one of us was way too tired to get on another train (me) and we had a lovely dinner of McDonalds because we spent so much money on the hotel room (me again).

The next morning we made our way to Vilseck, a small town about 40 mins away from Nuremburg where the US Army has a station. It's an odd feeling of deja vu. You drive through this tiny little hamlet of a town only to come up to this large American base with schools, libraries, grocery stores, and yes a car dealership. It looks a lot like "Pleasantville" except everyone dresses in Army fatigues or is a wife of a soldier carrying multiple children. It's an odd world, where one of Mark's friends has been dating a girl from his hometown for 2 months and the girlfriend (who gave up everything she has in Wisconsin to move to Germany) is expecting him to propose. They're both 18. These men are already giving up so much and even the women they love drop everything to be with them. Everyone makes their own sacrifice I suppose. I also told Mark if he ever got married at 18 or 19 we'd have him committed.

I loved seeing Marky, it's been so long and I didn't realize how much I miss him. I left today feeling like I hardly saw him but I know the trip meant a lot to the both of us and I'm so proud of the man he's grown into.

Leaving base was slightly more dramatic. It was pouring rain and NO CABS WERE AVAILABLE. Have you ever heard of such a thing? So me, no cab and no way to get to the train station in shitty weather created a less than desirable situation.  So I started walking, half crying because I was afraid of missing my flight when I heard a car pull up and an accent I hardly hear. A 60 year old woman saw me on the side of the road and turned around to come get me. I sobbed with thanks and we had a lovely chat. She and her husband are civilians but he is a dentist and was contracted to work on the base. They've traveled so much and experienced 75% of Europe at an age when most people are slowing down. I tried to offer her some money in exchange for driving me but she waved me off and said, "I have a 17 year old granddaughter. If she were somewhere scared and needed help I would hope someone would help her. We'll just all pay it forward." I believe she gave me good karma for the rest of the trip and a nice mom hug which, I have to admit, I've been needing.

That time I was supposed to go to Germany...

This was the weekend I was supposed to visit Mark at his duty station in Germany but due to a problem booking my flight, I was unable to go.  I feel so badly because he never gets time off and this would have been the perfect weekend for it. I just hope I can see him next weekend or another time...

Oh and happy valentine's day/single's awareness day!

Betsy in Canterbury

A few weekends ago, one of my dearest friends came to visit from London. I had been getting a little homesick, but when she came it really brightened me up. We got to site see and enjoy the beautiful weather England's been having. Rain and 30? No way.

Oh and a word to the wise-- even someone whose never had a brain freeze since they were 11 can still get one from a frozen margarita.

Thanks to Bets for the pictures

The Cuban

I am a firm believer that I have ZERO rhythm but I was never more aware of that than when a bunch of friends and I went to a Spanish bar and did some salsa dancing. They are some phenomenal dancers and the night was awesome!

Germany and Rome

Today I'm booking my flights to Rome for a week during my spring break and to Germany to see my little brother next weekend!! The Germany trip will be short (only the weekend) but I'm soooo excited to see Mark.  Then my dad and older brother, Kurt come to visit the first of March! I'm a lucky girl.

On the other hand, I've been reading "Ulysses"-- which is almost 900 pages long and it is my goal to read every single damn page. C'mon Joyce, I love ya but let's be serious.

I'm on 266.

The struggle continues.