Thoughts for Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all had a great President's Day weekend. I know I did.
This weekend we bought a new couch, had a wonderful dinner with friends, celebrated one of my best friend's birthdays, had great wine, amazing cupcakes, got Tyler's sister all moved in...need I say more? 

This week I have some goals for myself: 

1. Start a new workout routine (new chapter = new routine)

2. Apply for more jobs (this includes temp agencies) 

3. Make delicious dinners ( I have 2 planned already :) )

4. Become better at creating blog titles (haha, this may take time)

Now, I there are some other goals, but those are more long-term. I think these 3 are very doable for this week, don't ya think? 

Now, speaking of delicious dinners, check out what my husband, Tyler, made tonight: 

That, my friends is habanero chicken, served with broccoli, garlic rice, and mango. Mmm mmm, so good! I think I have a chef on my hands! Hehe. :)

Now that I've been totally random talking about my weekend, my goals, and the delicious dinner I had, I'll leave you with an inspiring quote. I hope it will inspire all of us (yes, that includes little old me) this week. :)

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. 

It does." 

- William James 

{Via}

Weekend Review

    So, this weekend, the whole family (Tyler, myself, Tyler's brother and his girlfriend, Tyler's sister and her boyfriend, mom, dad, aunt, and uncle) all went to Vegas. It was a pretty good time. It was Tyler's first time in Vegas, so he enjoyed walking through some of the hotels, seeing the sights, and of course being able to walk around everywhere and drink.

Our hotel

    Friday, after we got to our hotel and got settled, we went to the Cosmopolitan buffet. Oh my goodness it was delicious. I highly recommend it. After that, we walked around the strip, then, eventually went to a few bars like Margaritaville.

 

  Saturday, we had delicious crepes for breakfast, went shopping, walked around the strip, went to the Sugar Factory, and went to a piano bar where Tyler and has his dad had some cigars (yuck). After that, we went to dinner at Samba, and had so much amazing food. It's Brazilian food, with a whole lot of meat. I was SO FULL, but it was SO GOOD. After dinner, we saw the Love show. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I had a great time! It's such a cool show, and totally worth the price. There's not a bad seat in the house! I wish I was a better dancer, more flexible, and not afraid of heights, because it looked like a lot of fun. I miss performing. Random, sorry. 

All the "kids"

About to have dinner!

    After the show, we walked the strip, went to a few bars, then Tyler's brother, Tyler, myself played the slots. I won over $127!!!! WHAT?! Crazy right?! I have no idea what happened, but I'm not going to fight it haha. The Princess Frog penny slot is my game!

    Sunday, after packing up, checking out of the hotel, and loading up the car, we had a delicious crepe breakfast. I may love crepes too much, if there is such a thing. Then, we hit the road. Of course, we had to stop and get some Alien Jerky on the way. So good. 

    All in all, it was a good Vegas trip. I hope we can go again soon, maybe with friends, so we can see more of the hotels, and go to more bars/clubs.
    Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble on about my travels. I hope you all had a good weekend and a happy Monday!

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!

Veterans Day

Happy Friday everyone! So, if you didn't know, today is Armistice Day, more commonly know as Veterans Day. According to the 2010 census, 7% of all Americans are Veterans and 0.75% are those currently serving.
I'd like to take a moment to thank all of those who have served, are serving, and have passed on. We appreciate you...we thank you. Also, I'd like to thank my personal hero, my husband, Tyler. Love you baby. Thank you for all you do.

Source: Uploaded by user via Loretta on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Thru Lisa's Lens on Pinterest

Yesterday, Tyler had CQ, so I was alone all day/night. Plus, the owners of the dog we were dog sitting came home, so I was really alone at night. Worst part was that Tyler had the day off yesterday and today. Ugh. Sigh, happens. We were supposed to travel, but Tyler's CQ shift hindered are plans.
Today, Tyler recovered from CQ and I cleaned house. Thrilling huh? Hehe. Tonight, we ordered take-out (which we NEVER do) and are having lots of wine while watching TV and movies. :) Got to enjoy this time off while we can!
We're not sure what we will do the rest of the weekend, but I'm sure we'll come up with something fun :)

What are y'alls big plans for the weekend? Anything exciting?

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?

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!

long weekend

Sorry for neglecting this, but Tyler had a four day weekend, and I just wanted to enjoy it. :)
   Thursday, he had staff duty. Basically, you’re watching headquarters for 24 hours. There is also CQ, which is watching the barracks for 24 hours. Yikes. He’s been doing it a lot these past 2 months too. Ah well, such is life I guess. For some reason, I was a little more bored and lonely then usual; one of those days I guess. Sometimes I really enjoy my nights alone and take advantage of them. Thursday was not one of those nights. I watched some TV on my computer (yes, we still don’t have a TV, so we watch everything of the computer. But it’s cool. I would rather travel than get a TV anyway.) and just relaxed.
   Tyler slept a lot of Friday to recover from being awake so long, haha. I got a good workout in and some cleaning. I even took a nap with him. Then, I woke him up he could actually go to sleep that night. He also started to work on our family tree. Needless to say, he was up VERY late...dare I say up early?
   Saturday we went to Kreuzberg in the Rhön Mountains with our neighbors.  It is a monastery that makes beer. It's so pretty there, and the beer was delicious! And this is coming from a person who doesn't even really like beer! The food is also pretty good and cheap! I recommend going.There are also some really neat places to hike, camp, etc. around there.

   Sunday, we went over to a friends for an early Memorial Day BBQ. We had some margaritas, delicious food and fun with friends. Unfortunately, Tyler's allergies got the best of him in the evening. He couldn't stop rubbing his eyes. He finally had to take his contacts out. Then, he came up to me and was like, "you're going to have drive home. I just had to take my contacts out, and I don't have my glasses with me." Luckily, I hadn't drank TOO much (also ate with it and had water), and we could sit around and chat for awhile just in case. Tyler's allergies have been SOOO bad lately! Hopefully they get better soon. 

   Monday, memorial day, we just relaxed. Good way to spend it I think. :)  Before I end this post, I just want to say this: Thank you to all who serve/have served in the military, especially those who have lost their lives. We thank you and will never forget what you have done for us :)

How was everyone else's weekend/memorial day? Do anything fun?