Germany ... 2005

Yep. You read that right. 2005.

I'm jumping WAY back in time for my post tonight!

On December 31, 2004, I jumped on a plane to Germany

to stay with my sister, Jess, and her kiddos for a few weeks

while her husband came back to the States for some training!

This was my first BIG trip without Nate and while I've got to admit

that flying across the giant Ocean without him scared me,

I did it, and I'm glad that I did it, and I had such a wonderful time,

although I missed him like CRAZY!

Anyway, I've been going through some old photos

for my Photography by Annie blog, and I found these,

so I thought that I'd post a few!!

I was SO excited to see these adorable kiddos and once my jet lag

subsided, I was awake enough to have a WONDERFUL time!!

Oh, and before I go any further, these pics were taken with my Pentax -

which means FILM - but I didn't realize until AFTER I got home that I got the

wrong speed - so they're super noisy, but I don't mind - they give the

pics a nice mysterious quality! :)

Village of Oberkail

So my sister and her family lived in this beautiful little village of Oberkail!

It was so picturesque and beautiful and it was so much fun just to tote the

camera around and capture the loveliness!!

Village of Bernkastle

Village of Bitburg - this was more of a shopping area ... not many photos! from here!

Villages of Malberg & Kylberg

 

Manderscheid Castle

Village of Speicher

Village of Trier

On one of the days when the boys were in school, Jessica put me on a 

group tour and I headed on a train to Trier, the oldest City in Germany!

Aside from spending time with Jess and the kids, this was my FAVORITE thing

about my trip! Trier was absolutely AMAZING and someday, I will take Nate back!

The Porta Nigra

The Roman Baths

The Church of Our Lady

 

Trier Marketplace

And the last stop ... Vianden, Luxembourg

We went to Vianden Castle, and it was AMAZING!

I took SO many photos of the kiddos, and I'd love to post them all,

but that would take me a lifetime, so I'll just leave you with these few ...

As you can see, I had an amazing trip and I am so grateful that I  was

able to go!! And Nate was grateful for all the goodies I brought home for him ...

Inner Peace

nimitmangal.wordpress.com

I was talking to our neighbor a few days ago ...

he is super nice, and I learned that he is a conspiracy theory nut.

We were talking about the events that have been happening 

in Boston over the last week and other things that are going on around the world 

and the gist of our conversation was that what happens around us is 

completely out of our hands - but as long as we have inner peace,

it shouldn't really matter what is happening out there in the

big and getting scarier by the moment world. 

This picture has been floating around Facebook for the last little while,

and I really do love it because this is something that I struggle with.

I spend so much time worrying and being fearful of the bad guys and the extremists

that some days I scare myself into wanting to barricade myself and my

family from everything in the outside world.

This is definitely something that I'm going to work on ...

Random March Fun ... 2013

In between preparing and recovering from my trip to PA,

we did have some other fun through the month of March!!

Rascal kept us entertained and we learned that she LOVES

it when we cut off sections of paper towel rolls so that she can

chase them around the kitchen floor. She does not like it, though,

when they go under the fridge or under the closet door!

We had a low key Easter Sunday! We did get some gorgeous

daffodils and a fun Easter basket from Nate's parents in the mail 

that included one of Nate's FAVORITE Easter treats: 

Brach's Marshmallow Chicks & Rabbits

 

We were picking up a few things at Safeway, and saw this GIANT tomato!!

The picture doesn't do it justice - but trust us, it was huge!

Rascal decided she wanted to snuggle while I attempted to get some work done!

I was doing simple tasks lazily on my couch, so she got spoiled for an evening!

I attempted making our own homemade shower soothers using a recipe

that I found on Pinterest! I don't think I put enough essential oil in them,

because they don't seem to work very well, but it was worth a try, right?

We fell in LOVE with this water (also found on Pinterest).

Lemons, Cucumbers & Mint - we make this concentrate and then

add it to the water that we drink through out the day! It's SO

refreshing and is supposed to be a good detox mix!!

Anyway, as you have seen, March was a wonderful month!!

... First Spring ...

When we first found out that we were moving to Grants Pass,

Nate's little brother, Tom (who lives in Eugene) told us about Springtime

in Oregon! He told us that Southern Oregon has a First Spring

and a Second Spring! When I left for my trip to PA, things here

were green, but there were no buds or flowers anywhere ...

I was gone for ten days - and when I got back, I saw that First Spring had

definitely arrived! Nate drove me home through town and I was just in

awe of how beautiful all of the trees and the flowers are - so the next day,

when it was a beautiful 71 degrees, we grabbed some lunch at Jimmy's and headed

out with Nikki the Nikon so that we could share First Spring with you!!

Also - as we were driving through the City Center, I snapped a few

photos as well - it is my favorite part of town, so I thought I'd share those with you, too!

 

As you can see, First Spring is completely beautiful!! I'm so excited for

Second Spring to come around! I'll be sure to share more photos when that happens!