Easter Celebrations

Easter. "...celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, is Christianity's most important holiday" (via). This is the way  I was brought up...Easter was a religious holiday. Of course, we did Easter egg hunts, took pictures with the Easter bunny, and got Easter baskets and candy, but first and foremost, it was a religious holiday. My family would get up way to early to go to our church's sunrise service (this was at about 7am). Afterwards, we would have breakfast at the church, go home and get our Easter baskets, and do an Easter egg hunt.Of course we would have a delicious Easter lunch or dinner. Mmm, sounds so good right now!

Tyler's family would go to church in the morning, then get together with extended family. While with his family, they would get their Easter baskets and candy, do an Easter agg hunt, and have a delicious lunch. Must be nice to have your family so close together. My extended family is spread out; we're in like 5 different states!

Well, Tyler and I don't really have any  of our own Easter traditions yet, seeing as we don't have any kids. Not that is really an excuse, but I digress. Last Easter (our first Easter by ourselves), we made crepes and had a nice day at home. This year, Tyler's birthday happens to be on Easter, so it's a double celebration! His mom is so excited to have him home on his birthday, that she wanted to host an Easter celebration at their house. So, we're going to have brunch and dinner with his family and some family friends.  It's going to be a full, fun day!

If I were hosting the Easter celebration, I would be sure to have some great decoration and food! Here are some things that are inspiring me for Easter: 

The Decor:

Source: suziebeezie.tumblr.com 

Source: sugarpiefarmhouse.com
Source: blog.baerhomedesign.com

Source: wunderweib.de

The Food:

 

Source: homeiswheretheboatis.wordpress.com

Source: tinyurl.ms 

Source: squidoo.comSource: chef-in-training.com 

We'd also have to have brunch or dinner food, depending on the party. I'm thinking for dinner, something like ham or lamb. This is making me hungry, I need to stop.
 I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter! :)

All Around Good Time

I think our party went well last night! It was a nice gathering of friends and some family. We had delicious food, great wine, and good company. All in all a fun time. Unfortunately, some people's allergies started acting up (stupid cat). Oh, yes, we have a cat...well, it's not ours, it's Tyler's sister's, but since she lives with us, we have to deal with it. It's cute...sometimes...

I made two cheesecakes (one boysenberry and one regular with a cream cheese topping) and pineapple wrapped with bacon. All three of those thing were delicious, not that I have a bias or anything...haha. Tyler made chicken wings (a recipe he found online that consisted of soy sauce, garlic, and honey). Man, were his wings good! However, my Pyrex is still soaking...grrr. We also provided sweet potato pop chips, chips and salsa, bread, meatballs, cheese wrapped with meat, and some beer and wine. We had some friends bring food as well: yummy vanilla macaroons (I really could just keep snacking on those things), veggie pizza, fruit kebabs (such good fruit!), and blue cheese guacamole. Everything was so delicious. I really need to start taking more pictures, because everything was just so good! 

It looked great too!

Tyler and I have this thing where we hate being hungry at parties, so, we try and provide people with a lot of food and drink. That way, if you didn't have a chance to eat dinner, you can be satisfied, but if you just want a snack, you have great appetizer options to choose from and snack on.

Some of the wine for the party.

Well, I hope everyone is having a nice and relaxing Sunday. Besides the cleaning up, I know we're having a very relaxing day. :) Happy Palm Sunday everybody!

Jump!

    Today, I got to watch Tyler jump! I was so excited because I've never seen him jump before! :D
They jumped near town in Chinooks (helicopter things). It was so cool. No worries friends, he didn't get hurt or land in a tree! woohoo! Great success! But man, it got so cold! Silly Germany and the sun being totally gone by 5. Ugh.

    Afterwards, my friends, J, Casey and I went to Aldi. I got this CUTE Advent calendar, chocolate (which I tried later is kind of weird...happens), and of course, I had to get more Glühwein. Love that stuff. :) Once I got home and defrosted a little, and man did that take awhile, I prepped dinner and hung the Advent calendar hehe. Once Tyler came home, he made me a delicious birthday eve dinner. New York Strip, some sort of potato thing and broccoli, yummy! Good job Tyler :)

Happy Monday everyone!

Weekend Review

    Last I left you it was Friday, Veteran's Day. Tyler was recovering from CQ and we had a wine and movie night. Good times.
   Saturday, we had our good friends J and B come over for dinner. We made tri-tip with broccoli ad garlic mashed potatoes (mmm), and for dessert, I made cheesecake. This cheesecake looked A LOT prettier than the last cheesecake I made. Woohoo! Getting better! :). They were joking about how they need to come over once a week for dinner...made us feel pretty darn good about our cooking :)
    Sunday is always our day of rest. Stores in Germany are closed, and we just liked to sit, relax, and watch TV. Sometimes we go for a walk or clean, but it's mostly a day for relaxing.

   Before I leave this weekend review, how can I forget about the new game Skyrim. Tyler got it for his computer and he's been playing it sooooo much. I mean, it looks cool, but I'm just not a huge gamer. I played the Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon and stuff like that. haha. He says it's amazing if anyone is interesting in playing it.

  Have a great day everybody!

Weekend Review

    On Friday, Tyler and I went to a medic going away party for his Captain. It was also an early Thanksgiving celebration. We had delicious Puerto Rican food, some drinks, and of course, there was some dancing. :)
    Saturday, we went with our friends to their Uncle's Vineyard and small restaurant in a very cute, small town about an hour away. The type of restaurant he owns is only open a few weekends twice a year. The food was delicious and the wine wasn't half bad. We had so much fun! Oh man...there were some CRAZY Germans. People even get bused in to this area to come to his restaurant and eat, drink and just have a great time. We had a guy come up to us because he could tell Tyler and our one friend were military. He wanted to buy us all a round of schnapps because he was in the German Army.

Random tree on a pole in the town

music in the restaurant

Tyler and I

Our dear friends :)

This was on the back of the coaster haha.

    Sunday, we just relaxed and watched a bunch of TV and movies. We watched, Midnight in Paris, Misery and Margin Call. M movie day I guess haha. Loved Midnight in Paris...So cute. Tyler even enjoyed it. Misery is a classic, so we had to watch it. It was decent...It's creepy, but I enjoyed it. Margin Call wasn't really my cup of tea, but it had it moments and has a GREAT cast.
     This week will most likely go by quickly since Tyler has a 4 day. Unfortunately, he has CQ on one of the days he has off, so we won't be going anywhere. Boooooo.  Oh, and starting tomorrow, we get to watch our neighbors boxer puppy! Woohoo! :) Should be a good time.
How was everybody else's weekend? Do anything exciting? Any big plans for the week?

Gotta Catch up!

    Sorry that it's been awhile friends. I was just enjoying the long weekend (Tyler had a four day) and my hubby finally being home after about a month! Now it's time to catch up...

    Friday, Tyler had the day off work, (woohoo!) and we he spent basically the whole day cooking. Cute right? He was making carne asada and carnitas for the Mexican Party we were going to that night. They were DELICIOUS! I wish we would've taken a picture. We were hoping to go home with leftovers, but no such luck. I guess that means they were good right? haha.

    Saturday was our building Halloween Costume party. I made pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and devil's food cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Of course they both had cute pumpkin wrappers and fun Halloween sprinkles. :) Oh yeah, on some of the chocolate ones I made faces haha.

A little before the party, Tyler decided to go to our local grocery store to make a meat, cheese, and bread platter and a frittata. Yes, you heard me right, a frittata. It was delicious! He's becoming quite the little cook. I mean, my cupcakes were good too of course haha. :p I'm glad he decided to make that platter and frittata though, otherwise there would have been WAY too many sweets and not enough food with substance. I though my neighbors were supposed to order pizza...oh well. All in all the party was a fun time. Our apartment was for food, socializing, and eventually sing star (haha), and our neighbor's apartment was for drinking games and the "main event."

Tyler and I as Pirates hehe

Casey and I playing sing star

      Sunday and Monday were relaxing days to clean, catch up on TV, watch movies, etc. Tyler even made us biscuits and gravy one morning! Now, Monday was Halloween. I've been told that Halloween has gotten big in Germany in the past 4 or 5 years, so yes, people do "celebrate" it. We even got trick or treaters, but we forgot to get candy...fail. Luckily, some of our neighbors had candy, so I just put a sign on the front door of our apartment building to go up to them. haha.
    Tuesday,  I finally finished cleaning all the floors in the apartment from the party. Woohoo! I also helped a neighbor move her car (it had died...ugh), did oh so many dishes (how do we even have this many to do), and just did general house work. Oh yeah, I also went to Zumba. Love me some zumba. For dinner, I made lasagna. It was my first attempt at homemade lasagna, and I have to say...it wasn't half bad! It looked not so good though haha.

Yay me! We're going to have leftovers of it tonight! mmmm can't wait.

How was everyone else's weekend and Halloween?

My Travels with the in-laws

    Tyler's parents were just here. It was a nice almost two week visit. They arrived Thursday evening, and we left for Munich Friday early afternoon. You can read more about our Oktoberfest adventures here. In short...Oktoberfest is intense, epic and drunken. We went on opening day, so we saw the parade, and were in the tent where the keg gets tapped. I saw the mayor of Munich and apparently I saw major German celebs...who knew? We had the luxury of has a reserved table and tickets for a tent. Most people who go just walk around and try to get in a tent...but we were VIPS! It was all thanks to Tyler's parents friends who live in Munich. Thank goodness for them.

So many people!

Beer is served!

Our first beer! Excuse my crazy eye haha.

Inside the tent

The whole group!

Doing the YMCA...not kidding, they played it

     During the week, Tyler had work, so Tyler's parents had I traveled around the area. The next weekend, we went to Berlin. I LOVED Berlin. It's like a combo of SO many major European cities...it's amazing. I stood where Hitler was burned after he shot himself...I saw the wall...I saw Frederick the Great's Sanssouci...I saw the hotel Michael Jackson dangled Blanket out of (lol). The only downside, it smells like sewage when it's warm because it's built on a swamp.

Brandenburg Gate

At the wall...well, what's left of the outer wall anyway.

Memorial to the murdered Jews.

    While there, we took a walking tour of the city and had the BEST tour guide, Barnaby.  All the history, the cool buildings...oh man...love Berlin! On Sunday, when we wanted to go to Sanssouci. One problem, there was a HUGE marathon going around Berlin. Ok, so, the hotel we were in was in what used to be East Berlin, so it was like we couldn't get out of East Berlin. haha...kinda cool. At 10:45, there was a gap in the race and we could get out! woohoo! Sansouci was EPIC and AMAZING. It's a must see. Below, are pictures from different parts of the Sansouci grounds.

     His parents left on Tuesday and I hope had a great time. I know Tyler and I had fun.
   Other than that, I've been cleaning, job/apartment hunting for our move back to California and working on my cooking. Thrilling huh? Hope everyone is having a very happy Friday!

Life, Love and Remembrance

Via

    Tyler came home Saturday!!! Yay! :) I made us a nice dinner of baked chicken, potatoes (which I boiled, then put in oil in a pan) and broccoli. It was delicious. Sunday, I made my first ever cheesecake from scratch. Wasn't half bad...meaning, it was lumpy but still tasted good. I took a look at a few different recipes and tried to make it my own. It was just your basic cheesecake (cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs...crust with graham crackers and butter) with a sour cream topping. The topping consisted of sour cream, sugar and vanilla, and was really good!
    It's so great to FINALLY have Tyler back. I mean, I did deal with back pain (which is pretty much better), internet/phone problems (which is also solved as of Friday) and other things by myself, but I'm glad I don't have to do it alone anymore.
    Thursday, the in-laws will be here. Tyler and I are excited, but we would also like some more alone time before he has to go train again. Ah well. We have lots of exciting traveling ahead of us at least :).
    I guess I got to finish up my cleaning and stuff before they get here haha. Last night there was this really intense/cool storm, so there's all these leaves in the apartment. Also gotta fold laundry. ugh. I don't hate it, but sometimes it just takes so long.

 *****

    Before I go, I wanted to touch on 9/11. 10 years ago yesterday, I was in 8th grade...I was coming from band (we had band class before school started a couple days a week) to my classroom. I walk in the teacher and some of the kids that were already at school were fidgeting with the TV. I asked what was going on. "one of the World Traders was just hit by an airplane!" What??? What does that mean? I was so confused, and to top it off, I had no idea where the World Trade Centers were. Embarrassing? Probably. So, I ask and was told New York City. We FINALLY find a station that came in on the TV (not in Spanish haha) and start to watch. I remember sitting there, more people are coming in, but we're still all starring at the TV, trying to figure out what this means for us.

Via

I remember seeing the second plane hit the second tower live. I remember watching people jump from the towers, wanting to die from that fall rather than burning or being crushed. I remember watching both of the towers collapse live. I remember the Pentagon being hit live. I remember the other flight crashing in to the Pennsylvania field. I remember not really having class that morning. I remember finally "having" class in the afternoon, but not really because the TV was still on in the background and some kids were taken out of school by their parents. Once I went home, I learned that even certain buildings in Dallas were evacuated just as a precaution. I remember people scrambling to call their friends, family and loved ones in the New York area. I remember people also trying to get in touch with those they knew who worked at or near the Pentagon. I remember Peter Jennings trying to get in touch with his son and crying on air. I remember this day, and will never forget it.
    This morning, Tyler and I were watching CNN International before he went to work. There was a segment about people in Afghanistan not knowing about 9/11. Everyone seemed so shocked, but if you think about it, why would they know? How would they know? They live in a world that's basically in a different time. What was shocking to me however, was the fact that interpreters for the US military forces and the Afghan Army did not know what 9/11 was . I feel like that would be an important thing to tell the people who are helping you. What also shocked me was this, why has it taken 10 years for this to be a thing? Why has no one tried to explain this to them before? Maybe some have and we just don't know about it.
    This was a terrible day for America that will clearly never be forgotten. I hope those who were directly affected have found some peace, and know that their loved ones did not die in vain (military included in this)...their lives/service will never be forgotten. 

   

Motivation

   Yesterday I got in a great hour workout, just cardio, but still good. It's really what I need. I was so proud of myself. I hadn't really worked out in awhile do to the cold/allergy thing and all. I mean, I tried to take walks, but that would even tire me out and/or make me cough. Finally I could do it without getting super tired or coughing. woot!
   I haven't been really inspired to blog lately, not really sure why...just not in the mood. I feel as if I have nothing to write about at the moment, that, and no one really reads this anyway so why bother? But it shouldn't matter how many people read this, I should just do this because I want to. Thus, I will keep going.
   I've been so lazy ever since I've gotten back from the states, well, yesterday I did clean a lot and get a workout in (our apartment looks greats btw :p), but I ended up falling asleep on the couch at like 6 for like 30 minutes or so. Haha.

via

Then I couldn't get to sleep til like after 2 am. ugh. And to make matters worse, I kept snacking.
Oye. Snacking late as night is terrible for you. What's wrong with me? I need more motivation or something. ha.

    As the picture above says, today, I'm trying to stay motivated. I did sleep longer than intended and have had a lazy morning, but hopefully the afternoon will bring better results. I also need to stop watching True Blood. 

via

It's one of those shows that's kinda bad, but you have to keep watching and I'm addicted haha. 

How's everyone else doing today? How do you stay motivated?

Monday, Tuesday...happy days?

   This weekend was kind of lazy. We went and looked at TVs (yup, still don't have one..sigh), got some new lamps (2 new floor lamps to be exact), went grocery shopping...fun stuff. hehe. At least I felt semi-productive. Don't worry friends, even though we don't have a TV, we do keep up on our shows! We just have to watch everything on our laptops.
   Monday I cleaned and did a bunch of laundry...yet, somehow I still have more, sigh. Today, I went with my neighbor and her boxer puppy to a friend's house (a girl I met in SNAPS class) to have a puppy play-date and socialize. It was a great way to start off a day. Puppies and friends? Man oh man. Then, I went with the other neighbor girls to a self help class on post. It literally lasted 15 minutes. Thank goodness. Plus, now I can get free light bulbs, paint, nails and such. Worth it, yes?

via

   Tonight, Tyler and I made broccoli beef with white rice, egg rolls and cream cheese wontons. Sorry to disappoint, but the egg rolls and wontons were frozen, so we just heated them in the oven. Still delicious. I must say, we're getting pretty good at this whole cooking thing. Tyler is much better than me, but I'm learning...slowly, but surely. :) 

I suck at titles...

   Yesterday, I finally got to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4! I love those movies. No, I don't care that they keep getting worse as they continue on, I still love them. This one was a bit of a stretch even for me, but I still had a good time and enjoyed it. Listen, I'm not expecting an Oscar worthy film or anything here. The only thing I didn't like were the mermaids...they made them more like sirens and evil. Boo.

Source

   Tyler unfortunately was on CQ last night, but he also didn't really care about seeing the movie, so I went with some of my neighbors.
   Today, he slept most of the day, so I got a lot of cleaning done. A good thing I suppose. Then, we watched TV, made our steak dinner and had lots of wine, including Port from Porto, Portugal. We also watch The Iron Giant, which I haven't seen since I was little.

Source

Oh man, I forgot how much I liked that movie! I even started to tear up a bit hehe. All in all, it was a good night I'd say. Happy Monday everyone!

Our Travels in Paris

Friday (Day 1):
Tyler and I left a little before 7:30 in the morning for our epic drive to Paris. It took about 7 hours with a stop for gas/food. It was cheaper for us to drive (pay for gas, tolls, parking) than for us to take the train. Weird? I thought so, but hey, I'm not gonna fight it. 

On our way!

Isn't the French countryside beautiful?

Once we got to Paris, we had to find the parking structure Tyler had reserved parking at. It was confusing, but we finally got there. Just so everyone knows, driving in Paris is INSANE!!! They kind of create their own lanes...and well, it's just insane. Trust me. Rome is worse, but Paris is up there. Once we parked, we got our Metro passes for the weekend, and made our way to the apartment we were staying at, which was located in Marais. Best area ever. It's sooo cute and apparently the up and coming/happening place. It is predominantly a gay and Jewish community, so many things were closed on Saturday (for the Sabbath), but were then open on Sunday. Loved it. Instead of a hotel, we decided to use airbnb.com, and rent an apartment for the weekend. It ended up being a little cheaper, plus, we were in a cool area! This woman's apartment was on the top floor of an older building, but it was so cute! I loved how she decorated it. Side-note, there were 74 small, windy stairs to get to her apartment. Ugh. I was sometimes out of breather when I got to the top. haha...fail.

   After we set our stuff down, we went out to explore the city. We usually like walk around the first day to get our barrings. Tyler also had a plan in mind to take me to Notre Dame. Once Notre Dame came in to view, I literally almost cried; I've wanted to go there basically my entire life. They were having mass while we were there...it was so amazing...no words really.
   After that we walked around some more, we stopped and had an amazing dinner at Cafe Grizzli. Great wine too! We also sat next to people from Oakland...small world? haha. After dinner and climbing those stairs (haha) we PASSED OUT.

Saturday (Day 2): 
We started off the morning by going to the Eiffel Tower! Another thing I have wanted to see basically my entire life. Tyler was walking through parking lots, right next to buildings, etc. just so I wouldn't see the Eiffel Tower until the last possible second. Cute. It was so cool! There were people even repelling off of it while we were there. Tyler and I got excited and thought they were maybe filming the Amazing Race! (they weren't haha).
   Next, we had delicious crepes from a cart, and took a boat tour on the Seine. After that, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe.  Then we did a little window shopping at Champs-Élysées (I really wish I had more money haha).

   Next on the agenda was Montmartre, to go see Moulin Rouge, Sacré-Cœur, etc. After some lunch, we went back to the apartment to take a break...it had been a long day already! After a quick nap, we went back to Montmartre to meet up with a former peer student of mine, who has been studying abroad in Paris this past semester, and has 2 weeks left. Man, what a long day huh? Worth it? Absolutely.





Sunday (Day 3):

The Louvre 

   Today was the day to hit up the museums. What we didn't realize until the night before was, the first Sunday of the month, all museums are free. Uh oh. Oh well, we're committed to going! First, we had a delicious breakfast at the Jewish bakery by the apartment, then it was off to the Louvre. Now, some travel blogs and things tell you that you can skip this, I disagree 100%. So worth it, especially if you like art and history. 
   Next, we had a delicious sandwich from a random cafe, and then went to the Orsay Museum. Tyler and I do love ourselfs some Monet and Van Gogh.
   After our afternoon break, we walked around Marais and window shopped/looked for more delicious wine. Dinner was at a cute cafe in Marais.

Monday (Day 4): 
   After cleaning up the apartment, we grabbed some pastries and a baguette at a local bakery, and were on made our way to the car. After getting lost a few times, we finally made it, and away we went! I was sad to go, but it had been a great long weekend. There are still things that I would like to do in/around Paris. Guess I just have to go back, huh?
   All in all, we had an amazing time filled with delicious food and wine (I would like those pastries and baguettes for the rest of my life!) and beautiful sites. While we were there, we ate only "French" food. Also, for not really knowing French, we did well! They would figure us out and flip in to English of course, but no one was ever rude or mean to us. I hear that a lot too, "Oh French people are so rude and mean to Americans...blaaah." I need did not find that to be true at all! Maybe it's because we're not rude Americans and we actually tried? Who knows. The French are nice people in my book!