Back in the Good Old US of A

    Well Friends, we made it back! And boy what a journey that was! We started off Tuesday at 5am (German time, 9pm Pacific), got ready, packed up the car and made our way to the airport. After some technical problems, our plane finally left almost an hour later. Ugh. Of course. We had a direct flight to California, so we only landed 15 or 20 minutes later than we were supposed to...still trying to figure that one out. Oh the wonders of flying.
    I was both happy and sad to leave Germany. Sad to leave the new friends I made, but happy to return to old friends and family. You know what's really weird about this whole situation? We're not just visiting for a couple weeks, we're moving here! It's so hard to fathom. You know what else is crazy? Tyler's out of the Army! What?! AH! So weird.
    I'm so excited to start this new chapter in our lives. It will take some getting used to, but I bet it will be great! :)

Time to Move On...

    So, I've been forgetting to mention something...Tyler and I are moving soon. No more Army for us, at least, for now anyway. Moving is always stressful, but this move, well, I really don't know how I feel about it. On the one hand, I'm super excited to go back to California and be with friends and Tyler's family, but on the other hand, I know I'm going to miss Germany and the new friends I made here. Plus, I don't even get to see my family or some friends I still have in Texas :(. I feel like there is still more I could do here in Germany, but alas, my time is coming to an end. I'm also scared, well, maybe nervous is more accurate, about finding a job and going back to work.
    Now, along with deciding what things I can live without for about 3 months (that's how long it can take for them to ship our stuff to us ahhh!), I'm looking for jobs, and an apartment. Looking for an apartment is fun, but sucks because I can't go look at any yet. I absolutely hate looking for jobs. There are so many I feel I could do/am qualified for, but according to the requirements, I supposedly am not qualified for the job, sigh. Anybody have any good sites I should look for jobs on? I am using a lot, but I am always open to suggestions.
    Speaking of job hunting, I always thought I was pretty good at interviews, but, 2 or 3 years ago, I was told after one interview I did for my school I wasn't. What?! No one else had ever told me that. And trust me, if I didn't get a job that I really wanted I inquired why and what I could do better next time. Ah well, maybe it was a fluke thing, or maybe I need to prepare more. I do know one thing I struggle with is what questions to ask. Anybody have any suggestions on questions to ask and/or interview tips for me?
     Anyway, I'm excited and yet very scared for this new chapter in our lives. But, ya know what? I bet it's going to be a good one. :)

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Pet Peeve

   So this weekend while watching Office Space for the first time, I was like, "omg, they're filming in Texas! I bet it's Dallas...right off the 75." THE 75? THE??? Oh lord. I'm turning in to a Californian officially now. (I've lived there for about 4 years and have the license). Why the use the definite article in front of their freeways I'll never know, but they do. After I said the 75, my eyes got really big and Tyler just started laughing at me and said I'm turning into a nice little Californian ha. Sigh. Oh, and in case you were curious, Office Space was filmed in Austin.

   And here's my pet peeve...people yelling at waiters/waitresses, especially when they're speaking English for you in a non-English speaking country. Really people?! You're just embarrassing yourselves, well, and Americans in general. Please don't do this. 
   Unfortunately this happens a lot where I live. I try and speak German, and if I can't figure something out, I'm nice about it. It could also be a personality thing, but listen, some people are just plain RUDE. It really makes me uncomfortable and embarrassed for them. And you wonder why some people hate Americans? ha. Thus I digress. Happy Tuesday everyone.

Happy Days :)

   Ok, it's been awhile, and I apologize for this, but there has been A LOT going on. Thursday was Tyler's and my 2 year anniversary, so we spent it where we got married, at Angel's stadium in Anaheim, CA, watching the Angels kick some Mariner ass, haha.

   Friday I picked a friend up from the airport, picked up my wedding dress and got ready for the "wedding" on Sunday. Saturday we had a rehearsal in the morning (because there was a wedding at the location that night), and then had a lovely brunch at a local country club.

Some of the people at the Rehearsal Brunch. Look at all the rainbow colors! hehe

   This past Sunday, I got to re-marry the man of my dreams, my hubby, Tyler, in Our Celebration of Marriage. It was so much fun! Everyone looked great, it went basically without a hitch, the food was amazing, the pie was delicious and everyone looked like they had a good time. We also lucked out and got some furniture for free! The company who rented the furniture to the couple who had a wedding there the night before,  forgot to come and pick it up, so I could use it. Win. At this beautiful outdoor location, not only did we have lots of food a drink (lots of wine of course), we had a great DJ and lawn games. Yup, you heard me right, we had lawn games...croquet, horse shoes and corn hole (aka bean bag toss). I didn't tell many people about this (just family), because I wanted to be a surprise, even for the wedding party. People loved them! If you have an outdoor location with some space, some games might just be the thing you're looking for.I finally got the day I had dreamed about for so long. I got to walk down the aisle, have dances, wear a gown etc. It was one of the happiest days of my life. :)
   Anyway, here are some pictures via friends and family from that day. Professional pics should be available in like 2 weeks! Enjoy. :)

Wedding Party

Here I come! hehe

Kiss

Apparently something was funny in the ceremony haha.

Father/Daughter Dance

Parents :)

First Dance. :)

   I felt good in my dress until I saw a few pics of how unforgiving my it was. I couldn't wear spanx, etc. because you could see the lines, yes, even the ones that were seamless. Maybe I just should've worn them anyway. I thought that I looked pretty good, but some pics I feel I look like a fat cow or pregnant. I'm not either, though it would be interesting to find out what people think of me, like, do people consider me to be a "bigger" person? I know everyone said I looked gorgeous, beautiful, etc., but I just wonder, ya know? No, I am not fishing for compliments here...ha; I'm just a HORRIBLE critic of myself. Who isn't though? Well, I'm one of the worst I know. Le sigh. Ah well. I did get angry that all my working out and eating better apparently didn't pay off. Ok, ok. I guess it did, because I learned to enjoy working out. Sorry to vent, I know I did look beautiful, and I did love that dress. :)
   Saturday night, my throat started to hurt, but on Sunday, I was able to ignore it for the most part until we got to the hotel Sunday night. Oh man. My nose started acting CRAZY. Ugh. Of course. Worst part is, I still have it! I think it started as an allergy thing, but now is more of a cold. Ugh. So, it's Wednesday night, and I think I'm still jet-lagged. Also this cold thing doesn't help with the energy level.

Guess who's back...back again...

   Sorry I haven't posted since Monday, it's just, I've been getting ready for my trip back to California. Guess what everyone? I'm here! Wonderful, beautiful, sunny California. :)
   On the way from Germany to the US, Tyler in I were in the very middle of the middle row...of course. Ugh. Ah well. Once we landed in DC, we had an hour and a half to make our connection to California. Should be enough time right? HA!  After customs and what not, Tyler and ran to the gate, because it took about an hour and 15 minutes to do all this. Once we got to the gate, we were told the door was closed. WHAT?! We tried to argue that we still had like 8 minutes, but there was no hope. So, we went to customer service, and they could book us on the next flight which was an hour and a half later. Once we got to California, Tyler's mom and dad were there to greet us. Then, we got our bags, got some In-n-Out, and were on our way. It was a VERY long day...we were awake for over 24 hours, but hey, we made it. 
   Yesterday, we ran some errands with Tyler's mom, hung out with his sis, and then went wine tasting with the family. Then we got home around 9pm, and Tyler and I realized that we were still tired from the day before. Ugh. Jet-lag can be a bitch haha.
   Wednesday was a dear friends birthday, so we're going over to her place tonight to celebrate. :) I can't wait to see my friends!
   Hope everyone has a happy Friday!

"And i miss you, I’m goin back "home" to the west coast..." - From the song West Coast

   So you've guessed it, I'm back in California. Well, I've been back in California since the 21st. haha...oops. We of course had a party where I got incredibly drunk, which, I never do anymore. I need to remember to eat more next time. Sigh. Oh well. At least I wasn't the only one!
   Since I've been back Tyler's parents had the party, I've got to see two of my best friends and some of Tyler's family and their friends. It's all been very nice, but as my time here is coming to a close, I feel like I could use a couple more days. I mean, I feel like I need to spend more time with friends and do more things while back in the states. So much to do...so little time. Such is life huh?
  Christmas was relaxing, we got some nice gifts and had fun with the immediate Berry family. We even played Risk, which got really intense! Man, to think I've had two Christmases this year! One in Texas with my family, and one here with his family. I feel so blessed. Tyler and I have been talking about how good this year was to us a lot lately. I mean, yes it sucked that I was separated from him for a year, but in other ways, we were blessed. He came back from Afghanistan with literally a scratch, I graduated from college, we've been married over a year (though most of it we were apart), we made lots of money and have done well since the deployment even with my student loans,  my paper work finally went through so I can live in Germany (yessss! God is good!) and we finally got to spend our first Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a married couple. :)
Now, I don't want this to come across as me bragging because I am honestly truly grateful for all of this, but sometimes it's hard to express how grateful one is. We are trying to give back by giving money to charities we believe in, so there's that. What else? We're also trying to save up for things we want/need to do like travel around Europe, our celebration of marriage, our new home in Germany...stuff like that.

Anyway, it's getting late. Here are some pics from my time thus far in California for y'all to enjoy! :)

Party time: One of my best friends, Joelle

Me, my wonderful hubby and my amazing sister-in-law:

All the "kids" on Christmas Day :