Your Choice.

Lately I've been on a bit of a kick to listen to different speakers on different topics, mainly motivational & faith based... but a few others in there as well :) Who knew YouTube could be such a positive thing? it's not just bloopers and homemade videos gone viral after all...

Anyways, my time at work has been helping this 'kick' as my schedule for the next 2 months is training time. Time to do online trainings, full day courses & other requirements, but along with this extremely flexible schedule, I've been able to see a few guest speakers that have come to Fort Sill or even some special events which is fantastic!

One of the speakers said something that really stuck with me, his name is Jon Gordon. Most of his talks are in the business sector so they're motivational leadership type of talks, but I definitely got a feel that his content is faith based. Especially with this thought. He said "research shows that you cannot be thankful and stressed in the same moment."

Wait what? Read it again.

"research shows that you cannot be thankful and stressed in the same moment."

That means, at any particular moment, you cannot be both stressed and thankful. That's pretty powerful. If you're stressed, you're not thankful. If you're thankful, you're not stressed. So the next time you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, stop and take a minute to count your blessings and remember all that you have to be thankful for. You can literally choose to be stressed or blessed! (the saying "too blessed to be stressed" comes to mind... and fits!)

This has definitely helped me with my move here and the transition to being by myself & such. If I catch myself feeling overwhelmed or stressed by one thing or another, I just take a step back, take a moment to think of at least 5 things I'm thankful for and I can just re-group with that. So simple yet so powerful.

And to go along with this, I was listening to another talk online the other night (sadly, I can't remember details to reference) and this talk mentioned a similar concept. But instead of talking about being blessed or stressed, they were talking about hope & doubt. You can not be hopeful for something and doubt that it will happen in the same moment. To take it a step further, you cannot be hopeful in the Lord and doubt Him in the same moment.

This is another thing I've been struggling with, admittedly more than the stressed vs. blessed idea. I've been struggling with doubt, wondering what I'm doing in Oklahoma, why did I leave Colorado, is this really where I should be, and so on. So hearing this thought shortly after the stressed vs. blessed thought really hit home... whenever I'm in a moment of despair and doubting God and His plans for me, I just need to stop. Rid myself of those thoughts and think of all the things I'm hopeful for... all the things God has promised me, all that He has done for me thus far that show me He won't lead me astray, and what I hope will come out of my time here in Oklahoma.

I know this wasn't much of an update on my life, but I thought it was something worth sharing. Hopefully you were able to follow my thought process somewhere in there & thought so too :)  So today's quote is my quick summary written on a post-it note that's stuck to my computer for my daily reminder.

Stressed or Blessed? Hope or Doubt? It's your choice today.

1 month & OKC

Well, as of today, I have officially been in Oklahoma for a month. Not sure how big of a "yay" that gets as I'm definitely still adjusting to life here. I think the major factor with that is that I'm still staying in a hotel. Not necessarily a bad thing, as it's part of my transition benefits but I'm ready to feel settled and be into my own apartment.... which will be soon! :)

Work has been really, really great. It's been a lot of trainings and meetings and although this week was really quiet (an awful lot of online courses) I'm learning so much that will definitely be applicable as a manager within the Family & MWR programs throughout my career. I'm just looking forward to get past the reading & quizzes to apply what I'm learning and really see it in context.

One day this week I was invited to an all day training about the "Warrior Adventure Quest" program (or WAQ, because the Army loves to give things long important sounding names, and then not use them). Anyway, the WAQ program is a newer program to support Army soldiers after deployment, with a focus on team building and outdoor recreation. Although I have little to no experience with outdoor recreation (ODR) it was great to learn more about that in general and this program. It's set up so that funding comes from headquarters for each unit (approx 12-20 soldiers) that returns back from deployment will participate ('mandatory fun' as they call it) in high adrenaline activities to help them re-channel their energy and adrenaline after a deployment. The statistics show that soldiers are struggling when re-integrated into civilian life and just have too much energy and aren't sure how to process it all. So activities like bungee jumping, ropes courses, paintball, etc. will help them get to know their unit on a different level, find new ways to de-stress and release that energy and even have some fun. I'm not sure how much I'll actually be working with this program in the future, but it's just amazing to see what MWR is doing for these soldiers.

Another great takeaway from this all day WAQ training was to meet the ODR director here at Ft Sill. She is a Management Trainee who spent her first 2 years here with sports & fitness division, and has just started her 3rd year in this position. I'm excited for this not because I'm looking to get really involved with ODR, but because she also oversees some other great programs like Special Events, BOSS (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers), & LETRA (Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area). I'm definitely hoping to help out with Special Events as that's something I might be interested in working with in the future :) but who knows!

PS- here's the website to get a little bit of a better feel for all of the programs/services MWR offers. This site is specific to Fort Sill, but most of the programs are run very similarly at all Army posts -- www.sillmwr.com

Anyway, back to the title of this post... OKC! Last weekend (Labor Day weekend) I decided it was time to leave Lawton. Although there is a lot offered here, and I still have a lot of exploring to do, my travel bug was getting antsy so I took my first trip to OKC on Monday. The drive wasn't bad, just a little over an hour to get into the city. I decided to park by the National Memorial Park & Museum and make that my first stop. Hard to believe that happened in 1995, 17 years ago ! Visiting the Memorial on Labor Day wasn't my brightest idea, not because there were a lot of people, but because it was 106 degrees that day... I found myself looking for shade most of the time! haha but here are a few pictures from the Memorial Park -- the reflection pool is located where the street was, the truck with the bomb was parked in the street. The area with the trees and chairs is where the Murrah Federal Building stood, the building that was targeted. They do not believe specific people were the target, but that it was a target at the Federal Government in general. Each chair in this area represents 1 life lost from the bombing. The chairs are set up in rows, each row represents a different floor of the building, with the chairs showing which floor each person was on. So if you were to see an aerial view, you'd see almost a bar graph of where everyone was. The area opposite the reflection pool is where the parking lot was, and on the other side of that is the National Museum.

Across the street from the Memorial Park (which can be seen in this last picture above) is St Joseph's Cathedral. A few buildings that were part of the church grounds were damaged in the bombing, as I'm sure a few others in the area were. Below is a picture of the "And Jesus Wept" Memorial that is just across the street from the entrance to the Memorial Park. The second picture is St Joseph's Cathedral from the front.

After roaming around downtown a little while, I was looking for a place to eat lunch but most every place was closed and I was about the only soul dumb enough to walk around downtown in 106 degree weather... I've had better ideas !! haha but my next stop was to the outlets just west of the city, so I just found some lunch there and did a little damage getting some clothes for work :)

Overall it was a great week, I'm looking forward to moving into my own place this month & hopefully doing more exploring if the temps ever cool down some. I know it's a been a little warmer than normal everywhere, but I'm really missing the typical "fall football" weather... especially since I might not see that weather until the end of October & into November...

Anyway, thanks for reading! For today's quote, I found a good one that's all about your perspective. Make it a regular practice to find something good in your day, every day... even Mondays! ;)

"Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day." 

Just what I needed to hear...

Ever have that song, or quote, or even something a friend or coworker said that was exactly what you needed to hear? I mean exactly...

Well lately I've had this song that's definitely hit the nail on the head. It started playing during the Olympics for the USA Women's Gymnastics Team, which was right when I went to San Antonio for orientation and then moved from Colorado to Oklahoma. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, and it's still speaking to me.

Regardless of what you believe in, sometimes you just need to hear something and no matter how many people say it or keep telling you, it's eventually going to stick somehow. Well this song is what finally made it stick, even though I'd been saying it all along but I'm not sure I was really believing it. I'm 100% confident that this song is what God has been trying to tell me. I'm just finally listening :) 

Anyway, here's the song on YouTube followed by the lyrics.

Hold on to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this weight of it is stringing us along

Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home

Settle down it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost you can always be found

Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home

Settle down it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost you can always be found

Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home

Oklahoma, the start of something new.

Well, it's official. I live in Oklahoma.

And that's a sentence I never could've guessed I'd ever say. But I guess before moving to Iowa for grad school I felt the same way. It's all an adventure and I'm excited to see what and where I may be next. But that's another 2 years down the road.

Anyway, I've been in Oklahoma for about a week now, and so far so good! Before coming, I spent 10 days in San Antonio, Texas for an overall orientation to the program at headquarters. For me, this was a really cool opportunity to get to meet the people that oversee the MWR (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) programs on all Army posts around the world... quite a big deal!  The orientation days were long, but very informative learning everything there is to know about the different divisions of MWR and how we'd work with them. I also got to meet 15 others that are participating in the same program as me, just at different Army posts & in different divisions. Out of the 16 of us, 4 are in CYSS (Child, Youth & School Services), 3 Chefs, 3 in Contracting, 4 in Sports & Fitness/Outdoor Recreation, 2 in Financial Management, most of us are placed CONUS (continental United States... I'm still getting used to all of these acronyms myself, so I'll do my best to explain them!) with just 1 going to Stuttgart, Germany for CYSS (lucky!) Overall it was a great group, I'm glad to have met them and hope to see them in some context throughout our careers. There is one trainee placed in Fort Sill with me, her name is Crystal and although we'll have different schedules starting in November, so far we get along great & have even had some fun :)

Here's a few pictures from my time in San Antonio. Our hotel was right on the river walk, which was so fun to explore!

 

This is the entire group of trainees at orientation (I'm in the 2nd row, to the right of the red suit)

Right after I got back from San Antonio, I spent a few days for a much needed vacation in Florida with family. We had a kick off to my dad's birthday month which was a lot of fun :) We also spent a day at the beach, took a river tour that reminded me of the bayou tour I took in New Orleans, we rented a boat for a morning and explored the area around Mt Dora. I even got to see my Grandpa for dinner one night, which is always a treat since I don't get to see him as often as I'd like. :) 

The day after I got back from Florida, the movers came to my apartment in Colorado to pack & move all of my stuff... it was pretty rushed, and I'll be honest, it seemed like a good plan when I put it all together in early July, but it sure was stressful. No time was wasted though :) The movers worked pretty fast, I was impressed, and I even started my road trip to Oklahoma a day early thanks to them finishing quickly.

Anyways, now on to the good stuff! I started my new position here at Fort Sill last Thursday (the 9th) and have really been enjoying it! So far it's been a lot of meeting people, online trainings, getting tours around post, setting up my own cubicle & all that fun :) Everyone I've met is so nice & welcoming, and the town of Lawton isn't as small as everyone made it out to be. Yes, there is no Target, but there's a Starbucks, Ross and 2 Wal-marts so I will manage (and can always shop online!). I have yet to explore too much as it's just been too hot (but a cold front came through yesterday, highs only in the 90s!!) but I've been checking out different churches, haven't found one that I love yet, but I have 2 more to visit :) I'm hoping to visit Oklahoma City soon (or "the city" as they call it here) and see what all there is to do there. I've also been doing a little apartment hunting (I'm living in a hotel for now) and I think I've found a place that I really like. I have a few more weeks in the hotel so I'm going to take my time with the decision, but so far everything is off to a good start! I'm enjoying the down time a little to relax and get myself organized. 

This is my cubicle, much bigger than I'd expected... now I just need to decorate!

Once I do more exploring and have my own place, I will gladly welcome visitors :) Not sure what we'll do yet, but I'll find something !!

Thanks for taking the time to update on my life :) Today's quote is from the movie "We Bought a Zoo" and I think it's just great advice for any situation you're in :)

"You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery and I promise you something great will come of it." 

Another new adventure

Yes, I am truly enjoying my time here in Colorado, but as the picture says, it is time for another adventure :)

So before I briefly summarize the last few months, I'll update you on what's next. I'm moving to Oklahoma, yes Oklahoma, for a new position :) This position is similar to what I'm doing now. I'll be a Management Trainee with the Army MWR Child Youth & School Services at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This position is more of an internship for me to gain experience & learn everything there is to know about MWR CYSS programs. Oklahoma is the duty station I've been assigned for the next 2, maybe 3 years. I am very excited for this opportunity, especially as over 2,000 people apply each year and there are just 20 positions worldwide. Oklahoma wouldn't have been my first choice (not that I was given a choice) but I just have to trust that God has something great in store for me :)

And now back to the recap of the last few months. I thought I'd be better at updating this blog once I moved into my own place here in Colorado Springs, but as luck would have it, my trusty computer crashed (typical). But even though the posts may not reflect this, it's been an exciting few months. I've made some fantastic friends here in Colorado Springs that I met through the Catholic Young Adults group. We've had many fun adventures so I'll do my best to give you a feel for each month.

February - moved into my new apartment in the Springs, flew to San Antonio for a 1 day interview for the position I'm starting in Oklahoma, starting going to the Young Adult group meetings & met some amazing people.

March - was moved to a toddler room in a different center for a few weeks at work, was offered & accepted the position in Oklahoma, spent St Patrick's Day in Denver, was moved back to school-age in a different center for Spring Break & got to go on a few field trips with the kids.

April - family visited for Easter, saw Christopher West speak in Castle Rock, took a road trip to Fort Collins & Roosevelt National Park and even drove into Wyoming, saw the Broadway Musical Wicked in Denver, worked a 12 hour day/night for a lock-in with the kids, was moved back to my original school-age center at work.

May - spent a lot of extra hours at work prepping for accreditation (we passed!), flew to Ohio to be in a friend's wedding, went to a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater, started summer camp at work.

June - Celebrated a friend's confirmation into the Catholic Church, went to a Colorado Rockie's MLB game & Chalk Art Festival in Denver, spent a weekend in Santa Fe with a college friend that lives in New Mexico, went to the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, CO, survived the scare of the Waldo Canyon wildfire that burned over 300 homes in Colorado Springs. (I didn't have to evacuate, but a few co-workers did & I had my bags packed for a few days).

And upcoming for this month, I will be celebrating the 4th of July today with a benefit concert for the victims of the Waldo Canyon Fire (due to extremely dry weather & fire danger, no fireworks were allowed this year). This coming weekend a few of us are heading to Pueblo Reservoir to spend a day boating on the lake, and my friends here are throwing a "Bon Voyage" party for me & another friend that are leaving on the same weekend. (She'll be spending a year as a missionary in Africa!)


That's the very quick summary of my time here in Colorado. I have just 2 weeks left before I spend 10 days in San Antonio, TX attending orientation for my new job & then head to Florida for a week of family vacation. The day after I get back from Florida the packers/movers will be at my apartment to take everything to Oklahoma, and the following day I'll start my drive to move there myself.

It'll be very busy, but I am excited to see what lies ahead. :)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the decision of the Lord that endures." -Proverbs 19:21

The next chapter.

Hello from Colorado !

I have officially begun the next exciting chapter of my life and couldn't be more excited.

I arrived in Colorado last Friday after a 3-day "goodbye tour" across the country via route 80. I"m calling it a goodbye tour because I stopped to see a few friends I hadn't seen in a while along the way in Chicago & Iowa. It was definitely a long & exhausting 3 days but I'm so happy I was able to see friends along the way. This weekend was spent resting up & adjusting to the change in altitude & time zones. (and watching football, but we won't get into that...)

For the time being I'm staying with my step-brother & his family. I may have mentioned this before, it'll be about an hour commute to & from work, but I'm so glad this worked out as it gives me a little time to get on my own 2 feet.

On Monday I took my first drive down to Fort Carson. I'm typically not a fan of solely relying on the GPS, but when traveling somewhere I've never been before, it's a must. The drive was fairly simple, I think I'll be able to make it GPS free in no-time. The GPS actually didn't lead me astray until I was on base. Getting to Fort Carson quickly reminded me that military bases are not visitor friendly. Not in the sense of welcoming or friendly people, but they're not easy to navigate. Anyway, I eventually made it to the personnel office & got a few more paperwork items taken care of, then they sent me to the MP (military police) office to get my fingerprints done for my background checks. After that it was back to personnel to turn those in and get my instructions for what's next. Boy, the military sure does make everything a process! It's not too bad, just taking a lot of time. So now I'm just waiting to hear when I need to go to Oc Health for my physical & fill out more forms for the background checks (once I receive them)... hopefully I'll have my own ID to access base & will start orientation within the next 2 weeks, but that depends on how quickly everything moves along.

It's a long & tedious process, but so far everyone has been welcoming & very helpful. I picked up a map of the base (it's the biggest military base I've ever been to!) and am hoping to meet up with a friend of a friend soon for her to show me around Colorado Springs.

It's a slow start, but I'm enjoying every minute! I'm going to share a picture I took of the view in Colorado Springs while driving to base. You won't find me complaining about my commute ! (well, not the view at least...) ;)

Today's quote is one that seems fitting for me right now. :) Thanks for reading!!

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -Anais Nin

2012.

New Year, new beginnings!

First things first...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I am happy to share that I have been offered a job, accepted the position and will be moving to Colorado... this week !! After a long 4 months of job searching, over 150 applications, endless emails, phone calls & interviews, I was offered a position with the Army Child & Youth Services in Ft Carson Colorado. This position is right up my alley, very similar to the work I did with Camp Adventure when I was out in the field each summer. It'll be a little bit of a transition to be somewhere completely new, back on an Army base & not knowing many people, but I am positive this is where I need to be. This is a big step for me but looking back at the "big steps" I've taken, they've always worked out perfectly with no regrets. I'm definitely nervous/anxious for this transition but am so excited to see what lies ahead of me. It seems fitting that I'm moving just after the start of the new year, starting 2012 off right!

Although the job search may have seemed hopeless & put me down in the dumps at times, I want to thank my friends & family for their support (& spare bedrooms). :) I'll continue to do my best to share this next adventure with all of you.

Many blessings to you & yours this year. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes to start off the new year.

"Happy are those that dream dreams and are willing to pay the consequences to see them come true."

Restless.

Well, it's been about 3 months since my last post... and not much has changed. I'm still searching for a job and traveling around. Since returning from Key West I've been able to spend time with family and friends. I'm doing my best to take advantage of this down time as I'm not sure when I'll be able to travel like this again. So I've been spending time in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado & Iowa. It's been pretty busy, but pretty low key at the same time.

I've been steadily applying for jobs, approximately 10 per week... some weeks more & some weeks less. It's definitely a waiting game, requiring a lot of patience. I've had a few phone interviews, and this past week I had my first in person interview. If anything, I'm gaining experience with each interview and seeing which jobs/locations I'm leaning towards. Hopefully something will work out soon. I'm doing my best to remain patient and know that the perfect job for me is out there... it's just a lot easier said than done.

So that's me in a nutshell for now. Just thought I should add an update before the end of the year :)

The quote I'm adding at the end of this post is just a good reminder for everyone, regardless of what point your life is at or where you're going...

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." -Guillaume Apollinaire

It's been a while ...

As the title says; it's been a while. Hard to believe it's the end of August already, seriously sometimes I wonder where the time goes. Some days it feels like I'll never make it to the end of the week, but then days like today I have to stop and think about what day it is. And what a crazy month it's been!

I'll blame my lack of posts on the end of summer crazy-ness, and then on my luck with technology... I'll get into that in a minute.

First, the end of the summer. Wow! Things ended great !! It was a little rushed with all of the end of summer paperwork and having Dessertfest our last week in Key West, but somehow we made it and it was a success. Our theme for Dessertfest this year was a Circus - The Greatest Show on Earth. We didn't go all out in costumes like we did for Toy Story, but the gym was all decked out, nothing left untouched. The girls did a great job getting the campers ready with their songs & skits, and everyone had great feedback. Here's a picture of the Key West Camp A staff after the event. (sorry about the quality)

And now time for the end of summer reflection ... overall it was a crazy, hectic, stressful summer that at times I wondered why I'd signed up for it. But looking back, those stressful challenging times are the exact moments in which we grow. And that I did. I was humbled to learn the lesson of when to say no, and knowing when too much is too much. Not sure how I pulled it off, but I'm thankful for the fantastic staff I had in the Gulf Region. The girls I worked with directly in Key West were all wonderful, and my directors at the other sites gave me nothing to worry about. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I know it wouldn't have been a great summer with a different staff. It's hard to see the cloud's silver lining when you're in the middle of the storm, but looking back now I'm grateful for this experience and I know I gained & learned a lot. Hopefully my staff learned a thing or two from me as well ;)

Since leaving Key West I've been bouncing around from place to place, and will continue to do so for the next month or so. I'll be visiting my family that's spread all over the states, meanwhile applying for jobs online. Just this week I've applied to over 30 jobs. It's definitely a tedious process, but hopefully I'll start getting some calls soon :) I'm not being picky on where the job is, trying to focus on East Coast, Florida & Colorado, but I'm not ruling out anything if I'm offered a great position somewhere else. We'll just have to wait and see :)

Oh & I almost forgot to mention, I had ZERO flight trouble getting back home AND my bags arrived on time. That never happens !!! :)

As for the computer drama, my hard drive crashed on my MacBook. I can honestly tell you I've never heard of that happening to anyone with a Mac. Ever. So there's no Mac store in Key West, but I found a retailer that would do repairs. They estimated $303 for a new harddrive and it was debatable whether I'd be able to transfer the data. Since I only had 2 weeks before leaving Key West, I decided to hold off on the repairs and wait until I was in Ohio. Boy am I glad I did!! I drove to Akron to visit the apple store and the guy I talked with was surprised at the $303 quote. I was a little nervous at first because his tone wasn't leading either way, but it turned out only costing $180, YES!! Unfortunately all data was lost, I had most of my files backed up onto an external harddrive in May, but I lost my music & most of my pictures. It's kind of nice to be able to 'start fresh' with a new computer, I just really wish I hadn't lost so many pictures.

Anyway. Things are going good for me now, I'm keeping it low key, definitely enjoying some down time & visiting family (much needed on both accounts). Hopefully I'll get a job soon and be moving to a new exciting city. :)

The quote for this post is one that I think certainly applies to many of us, and for me it can almost sum up my summer :)

"The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow." - H.G. Wells

July.

It's already July 17th? How did that happen? I've been meaning to post since the beginning of this month, but clearly it caught up to me. So I'll start from the holiday weekend.

July 4th - this year the 4th fell on a Monday, so we had a 3-day weekend and worked the "Bash at the Beach" event on base on Monday evening. It was a fun time, the interns were in charge of the water play this year, which was fun as we got to see a lot of the kids we work with there with their families. I really love seeing the families come out and do things together, our only 'family' time at work is when the parents drop off their children & pick them up each day, so it's nice to see the families have time to do things together.

The only downfall to this year's event was that it was on Monday. Last year the 4th was on Sunday so we were able to watch the fireworks and hang out late on Sunday night while still having Monday off. Not that we were out too late or anything, but it was a bit of a bummer that we had to go to work the morning after the fireworks. But I'm glad it was on a Monday and not in the middle of the week. :)

Here's a picture of our Camp A group for this summer at the end of the event.

Work has been busy, typically I only go on the pool field trips with the day camp (every Wednesday & Friday), but this week the Tuesday/Thursday trips were to the beach. Per Camp Adventure policy we need a supervisor on any aquatics trips that are off-base, for extra supervision & such. I don't mind though, because this was my schedule for the week:

Monday - day at the centers... observations, paperwork & such

Tuesday - beach field trip with the 8-10 year olds

Wednesday - swimming pool trip with the entire camp

Thursday - beach field trip with the 5-7 year olds

Friday - swimming pool trip with the entire camp

Although my 'one-piece-tanline' isn't going away as I'd hoped & I'm a little behind on paperwork, I can't complain about that schedule! :)

This week has also been busy as I had some visitors to the keys! My sister Mary Anne & her husband Joe came to Key West for a week's vacation.

Sunday we went on the Fury's Ultimate Adventure, and the title describes it all. We went parasailing, jet skiing, swimming/inflatable rock climbing & snorkeling. It's pretty much an all encompassing trip for any water sports you'd

want to do in Key West.

Here's a picture of our view while parasailing.

The rest of the week was just as busy, I was able to spend a lot of time with them, show them around the island, do a few touristy things & enjoy a sunset cruise. Here is a picture of the dolphins that visited our boat during the sunset cruise. We joked that they must've escaped from Theater of the Sea or Sea World because they put on a little show for us :)

Mary Anne & Joe left last night & overall I think they had a nice relaxing week. As for me, I've got 4 more weeks here in Key West that will prove to keep me busy. We're planning our big 'dessertfest' for August 10th with a circus theme, so it'll be fun prepping & planning for that. Still no word on where/what's next come August 13th, but I'll keep you posted :)

Today's quote is from a book I received as a graduation gift from my roommate in Iowa. It has a positive quote for each day, I really do enjoy reading them. Some of them make you think or reflect while others just remind you to appreciate what you have. Here's one that'll get you thinking.

"Ideals can be like the stars; we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them." -Carl Schurz

My thoughts- Sometimes it may seem like nothing will ever be ideal, or that we'll ever be able to accomplish anything. But we still need those ideals/goals to keep us going, to chart our course by them so we know we are on the right path & stick to it.

Hump Day.

The title says it all. Wednesdays = hump day. Sometimes it feels like the longest day of the week, but once you get past it you've only got 2 more days until the weekend. Some weeks it seems that knowing it's hump day makes it that much more difficult, just gotta make it through hump day and you're almost there. Almost.

Today is not only the hump day of the week, but the hump day of the summer. Exactly 6.5 weeks completed here in Key West, 6.5 more to go. Phew! I'd say things have been going well, I'm still waiting for things to slow down... it feels like I keep saying 'next week will be better because...' but then something else comes up, making that week just as long as the one before. Things have been gradually improving, but there's always something.

Looking back on how these past 6 weeks have gone, I'd say we've come a long way. I've been given a lot of additional responsibilities than what I'd originally anticipated, which has definitely kept me busy. Supervising day camp programs off site is a new experience that I'm definitely still working the kinks out with, but as things are going well, there's always room to improve.

As I look forward to the next 6 weeks, they'll definitely be busy, but I'm looking forward to what's next, whatever that may be. I've been steadily applying for jobs since arriving in Key West, about 2-3 per week. Haven't heard much yet, but hopefully something will work out to give me a full time position in the fall.

The quote I'm ending with tonight is a good one for me here in Key West. Sometimes with the long days and busy schedules it's hard to really get to know the girls I'm working with here. It's not a bad situation, but one that leaves room for improvement. Remembering this quote can remind us that the simple things matter most in friendships.

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." -Victor Borge

All at once.

The title to this one says it all... all at once. It seems that everything we'd been anticipating here in Key West happened at once.

1- Site visit from our Project Director (supervisor above me). She made her visit for 1 day here in Key West before heading on to Marathon to do their visit. She arrived Wednesday night (the 15th) & observed and had meetings on base on Thursday the 16th.

2- Accreditation visit from NAEYC for the CDC program. This visit is a huge deal, so that the center can earn their accreditation status. When we first arrived in Key West they informed us that the accreditation visit would happen before the end of July. Everyone was in full force to get things done for this visit. This visit also happened on Thursday the 16th. It was a 2-day visit so they came on the 17th too, thankfully only visiting the CDC though.

3- Midterm. As the summer moves towards our midterm week (the 'hump day' of the summer is June 29th) there are evaluations and additional paperwork to be done. Naturally Camp Adventure likes to have things done early, which means everything should be completed by the 24th, so it needs to be worked on starting the 15th so that the meetings, discussions & reflections can take place before the paperwork is due...

4- New staff. Finally! The school-age program has been hurting for more staff to cover ratios, finally the newest staff member hired can be in ratio full time as of the 15th, but it's still her first few days so she's learning, oh but she's been on vacation this week, returning Thursday.

5-As if that's not enough, in additional to the typical weekly tasks, Michelle got sick. I had to take a day to 'rest' on Friday the 17th. I visited urgent care, per their diagnosis I have an infection, but I'm not convinced it's a sinus infection. With a prescription nasal spray, an antibiotic & few days later I'm still feeling pretty exhausted and headaches come and go as they please...

Oh, & 1 more thing, one of my counselors here had to go home for a family emergency, so she left on Saturday and will return tomorrow afternoon.

I'm tired just typing all of this, let alone reliving these crazy days !! I'm thankful they're past me, for the most part. I swear there will never be a dull moment in Camp Adventure. I'm trying to play catch up with anything & everything, but there always seems to be something. Take last night for example... 2 of the counselors decided they were going to go snorkeling after work to finally use their new snorkel gear they'd purchased here. About an hour after their excursion began I got a phone call (which is never good...) One of the girls slipped on the rocks and cut open her knee. At first it wasn't something to worry about, but after I saw it & the girl consulted her parents & a few others, we decided to take her to the ER, and 2 hours later we left with a prescription and 4 stitches. That's what I get for planning to have a productive night.

Overall though, as hectic as things always seem to be, I think it's going pretty well. Definitely keeping me on my toes and testing my juggling abilities, but for tonight I think I'm coming out on top. Hopefully I'll agree with that statement tomorrow.

"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." -Henry David Thoreau

Prep.

Hard to believe I've already been in Key West for 4 weeks now. Time sure does fly. Although we've been here 4 weeks and have been full time with the children for 3 weeks, we're just getting started on Monday. For the past few weeks the counselors working with the school-age program have been spending their mornings at the child development center (CDC) and their afternoons with the after-school program. Starting Monday the full day summer camp will start. We've got the programming done and field trips ready, but it's going to be one rocky week. The CDC is up for their accreditation visit any day now, and the youth center is way understaffed. Technically there's only 4 people (including my staff) assigned to the 60 school-age summer camp kids. That's fine for ratios, until someone needs a break during their 8 hour shift. It looks like I'm going to be spending a lot more time in the classrooms than I did last year, but thankfully they have 1 additional MWR staff hired that will start later this week.So far things have been going well, here in Key West and at the 3 additional sites I'm supervising. As I said in the last post, it's a lot of work & keeping me on my toes, but time sure is flying, just 9 more weeks!

This past weekend (Memorial Day) we took a group trip up to Bahia Honda state park, it's about 40 minutes north of here on Big Pine Key. It was a nice relaxing trip, and also got a little work done as I did a risk management check of the site as the day camp will be heading there in July.

This weekend I didn't do much. Friday night I went out with a few of the girls at work, we went to this amazing sushi restaurant called Ambrosia. It was a little pricey, but soo good. I'll eat sushi every now & then, but I'm not too brave when it comes to trying new types. This group, though, were regulars at this restaurant. So I decided to have blind faith in their ordering, and ate what their favorites were. None of the sushi I tried on Friday were any I'd had before, but I loved them all. Now if I only knew what we ordered! Here's a picture of one of the platters (there were 7 of us), so good!!

I felt a little under the weather on Saturday so I stayed in and caught up on my sleep, Sunday was spent going to Church in the morning and wandering around the island. I'm definitely keeping my weekends low key, but it's necessary as the work days are long and the weeks even longer. I'm continuing the job search for August, as I find the time/energy but there doesn't seem to be much out there right now. Hopefully within the next month more jobs will be posted with August starting dates. Only time will tell :)

I'm going to end this post with another Dr Seuss quote. This is one that I cut out to decorate the 2nd classroom at the youth center (the picture is kind of hard to see, but it's below) I think it's a fun one & great for the kids!

"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you!" -Dr. Seuss

Summertime

As you may be able to tell from my lack of posts since March, it's been a busy 2 months for me. I've done a lot of traveling & working and finished my research paper to earn my Master's :) I can officially add "M.A." after my name!!

As far as this summer goes, I am spending one last summer with Camp Adventure working in Key West. This will be my 6th program with Camp Adventure, my 5th summer, and my 4th time on an island. I can't really complain with those numbers :) I'm excited to be back in Key West, to have a familiar program with familiar faces, and although a lot has changed here in the last year, it's good for the program to have some consistency with the summer interns.

This summer will be a little different in a few other aspects though. Although I am still living and working in Key West, I will also be supervising the Gulf Region programs for Camp Adventure. This includes Key West & 3 other day camp programs - Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee, New Orleans Navy Base in Louisiana and City of Marathon Parks & Rec in the Keys. I will be the direct supervisor helping with their programming, risk management, staffing, etc. for each of the day camps there. Each site has a director that I will mainly be in contact with. Unfortunately due to time & money constraints I won't be able to do site visits to each program, but I'm excited to work with directors and have that little something to keep me on my toes ;)

Each program starts at a different time, which is nice for me as it spreads out the paperwork & responsibilities, but it'll also keep me very busy for a good few weeks. Last weekend the Arnold staff arrived & completed their orientation so their first day of camp is this week. The New Orleans staff arrived this weekend, so they'll have orientation this week and will start camp the next week. And then the Marathon staff arrives next weekend, to have their orientation week and then the first week of camp after that, which is also the first week of summer camp here in Key West. So I have a very busy few weeks ahead of me working out the kinks with programming and new staff getting used to the Camp Adventure program, but I have some great directors that I think will do a great job.

As all of this work will inevitably be piling up quickly, I took this 3 day Memorial Day weekend to relax a little. Spent both Saturday & Sunday on the beach, working on my freckles, and took the day Monday to catch up on work & relax. Just what I needed to get charged up for the summer.

I'm really looking forward to this summer and know the next 11 weeks will fly right on by, hopefully having a happy ending with a good job in August :) only time will tell!

I chose one of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes to start off this summer, which was coincidentally (or not) one of the decorations in the classrooms when I returned this month. I think it's very fitting for me right now :)

"You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..." -Dr. Seuss; Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Spring Break.

This year for spring break 3 of my friends here decided to take a big trip. Initially we were going to drive to Dallas, then to New Orleans & back up to Iowa through Memphis. But after realizing how much time we'd have in each place, we decidedto go to New Orleans for 5 days & spend a night in Memphis on our way back.

This was my first time in New Orleans and I really loved it. Parts of the city reminded me a lot of Key West, just on a larger scale. The city has such a cool feel and tons of character (plus great food!) We had a ton of fun exploring & touring and relaxing in the Big Easy :)

The trip got off to a bit of a rocky start, the 19 hour drive to New Orleans brought us through a snow storm in Missouri that we got stuck in for a while, dinner at Cracker Barrel (a first for the other 3) and a huge thunderstorm in Mississippi. Needless to say we were happy when we finally made it to our hotel in New Orleans.

We spent our first day browsing the city, since this was the first visit for all 4 of us we wanted to scope out what we'd be interested in seeing.

Overall we did a lot of walking, but a lot of sight seeing too. We took a tour of the city that also brought us through

the lower 9th ward and the areas most affected by Hurricane Katrina. Our tour guide was very grateful for the many volunteers that have visited to help in the rebuilding. The picture to the left is where the levy broke. Before the hurricane the levy was 2 ft shorter and there were houses right up against the levy wall. Over 12 ft of water ended up in this area. There were a lot of houses being built or remodeled, including a few larger scale projects. But there were also a lot of houses that still need work, and many properties for sale. I can't imagine being in the city right after the storm.

We also took a Bayou tour while in New Orleans, which was definitely a must. It was a lot of fun to see the 'stereotypical' Louisiana. We learned a lot about the wildlife, and also learned that people don't live on the bayou like the movies would lead you to believe. We saw a ton of gators & turtles and even some birds. At the end of the tour the tour guide passed around a baby gator that they rescued & will release back into the wild. To the right is the 4 of us with the gator: Anna, Kristine, me & Jazelle. :)

The day we went on the bayou tour (if you didn't guess) was also St. Patrick's day. It was a lot of fun to see the city prepare. We arrived just a week after the big Mardi Gras, and if you hadn't known you never would've guessed. Everything was spick & span with tons of decorations for St Patrick's day already. Now I know that the measly St Patrick's day festivities were nothing compared to Mardi Gras in the Big Easy, but it sure was a lot of fun! There were people everywhere and there was even a parade.

Overall I had a great time in New Orleans, I'm not sure that it's a city for me, but it was fun to visit :)

Our next stop on the way back to Iowa was to see Memphis, Tennessee and Graceland. This way we could break up the long drive home and do a little sight seeing. Graceland was fun, but I was honestly a little 'Elvis-ed' out by the end of it. We toured the house, the property (the picture to the right is the entrance gate), multiple award showcases and then additional exhibits focused on different aspects of his career (acting, live shows, awards, etc.) We ate at a diner with his favorie foods, grilled peanut butter & banana was a favorite.

We were able to explore Memphis a little too, which is a really fun town with a lot of jazz inspiration. There was some kind of special event on Beale street that night so we walked around & listened to the locals playing their music and watched the tourists dance :) We also stopped by to see the Lorraine Hotel where MLK was shot and saw the memorial museum for that.

Overall it was a lot of fun packed into one week. I'm really glad we made the trip to New Orleans & Memphis, 2 cities that I've always wanted to see but never made the trip. It was fun to see 2 classic southern cities with unique characters. I'd definitely recommend visiting both :)

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lent.

It's so easy sometimes to get caught in the hype of giving something up for lent. Often we forget what the real meaning to giving something up...

Here is something that a friend posted online this week that I wanted to share. Rather than simply giving up that favorite dessert, give up something you really struggle with. And challenge yourself to become a better person this Lent.

Give up complaining - focus on gratitude.

Give up harsh judgements - think kindly.

Give up worry - trust Divine Providence.

Give up discouragement - be full of hope.

Give up bitterness - turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred - return good for evil.

Give up anger - be more patient.

Give up pettiness - become mature.

Give up gloom - enjoy the beauty around you.

Give up jealousy - pray for trust.

Give up gossip - control your tongue.

Give up sin - turn to virtue.

Give up giving up - hang in there.

Regardless of your faith, you can take these next 40 days to focus on you and become a better version of yourself that will last.

"To change and to change for the better are two different things." -Proverb

Santa Fe

Hello Again!

This past weekend I traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico to visit with family & explore a new town. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate my step-mom's birthday which was a lot of fun.

I left Iowa on Thursday & flew into Minneapolis then straight to Denver without any complications. I think Minneapolis is one of my favorite airports to connect through. I've never had any trouble and although it's a huge airport, everything is so easy to navigate. :)

So Thursday night I stayed in Denver with my siblings that live out there & then

Friday morning we started the drive to New Mexico. At first the drive was gorgeous, nothing but sunshine & views of the mountains. But the 6 hour drive proved to be a boring one. We did our best to keep it exciting (I took a nap or 2), and we even stopped in Las Vegas... (the small town in New Mexico..)

Finally we'd made it to Santa Fe and although the weather wasn't very warm (they were experiencing a 'deep freeze' themselves) the rental house was amazing & we were happy to finally have made it.

The weekend proved to be a great one. We always have fun when the family is together, especially when we can explore a new place. Santa Fe is a fun city, but has a small town feel. There is a lot of culture there, with a big heart for art. We visited a few galleries and museums and overall had a relaxing weekend.

On the way to the airport, we had some time to kill in Albuquerque so we explored downtown a little (from the car). There honestly wasn't much to see. The 'downtown' area seemed like a few blocks and not much else. I'm not sure if it was the visibility of seeing so far that made everything seem so small, but again it felt like a small town. I'd have to say New Mexico isn't the place for me, but I definitely enjoyed the visit :)

"Nothing in life is Impossible, the word itself says I'm possible" -unknown

Recap.

It's been over 3 weeks since I returned back to the states, and it's definitely been busy catching up with school and work. But first, let me fill you in on my eventful last week in Germany.

The week started off pretty well, typical site visits & end of program logistics, evals, etc. However, on Thursday Kasee (who was living about 3 hours away) and I decided to meet up for lunch so I could pick up a microwave & printer for one of my sites. We decided on meeting in Heilbronn as it was just about halfway between our 2 locations. Prior to leaving we'd only decided on meeting somewhere in Heilbronn & getting lunch.

So I left Baumholder in time to arrive in the Heilbronn area around the time we'd planned, but traffic seemed to be moving pretty quick on the autobahn that day so I had some time. I called Kasee and when she said she still had about 30 minutes, I decided to park in a 'parkplatz' just off the autobahn while I waited. As it'd been a long 3 & a half weeks, I took a little nap while I waited. (The parkplatz is like any rest stop you'd find in the states, but instead of having a parking lot it's just 2 lanes so you parallel park on the right while traffic moves on the left.)

After about a 20 minute nap, Kasee called & as we were trying to coordinate our GPS's to get to the same restaurant, a car pulled up beside me & 2 guys were looking into my car. A little weirded out, I mentioned this to Kasee so she would stay on the phone. The car parked in front of me & I watched the 2 men get out & approach my car... they proceeded to knock on the windows and show their "Polezei" papers so I quickly told Kasee the police were here & I'd call her back.

As they knocked on my window for the second time, I quickly rolled down my window to see what they wanted... immediately they began speaking to me in very fast German so as soon as there was a break I interjected with "sprechenzie English?" (do you speak English?), which of course they did. He explained that they were police and he needed to see my license to drive and my travel documents. I hastily handed them over, nervous as to what the issue could be. But as I was doing this, I noticed that neither of the men were in uniform and the car wasn't marked. As my suspicion grew I noticed a semi truck blocking traffic ahead and started to panic a little, the whole situation wasn't sitting right with me. So as I handed over my license & passport I asked why the car wasn't marked and they weren't in uniform. He then explained that it was so the truck drivers didn't recognize them and asked me about a first aid kit... I was still uneasy about this (and later found out it's a law to have a first aid kit in your car in Germany, whoops!) but they had taken my passport & ID to their car so I had no choice but to wait. As I looked through everything I had in my car, hoping something would be what they were looking for, I found my travel authorization form stating that I was in the country to work with the U.S. Army. I thought it's worth a shot, and showed the officer this form & explained it. As I've learned after talking to friends back in the states, in most cases just saying you're with the U.S. Army is enough for them to stop questioning, which was thankfully true in this case. He immediately stopped with the small talk and we waited in awkward silence for the other officer to return with my documents & I went on my way.

Finally, I made it to Heilbronn and although my GPS couldn't find the exact address of the restaurant Kasee found, I was on my way to a nearby address. Or so I thought. As I drove through a completely residential area, the GPS said I'd arrived but there were no restaurants in sight. So, of course, I called Kasee to see if the area seemed familiar to her, but it didn't. So I used the GPS to find the nearest restaurant that was over a mile away, and not the restaurant Kasee found. So we decided to give in to the mercy of my GPS & go to this restaurant, and once I'd arrived I'd call Kasee with the address so she could find me.

So off I went, away from the residential area towards this cafe. I don't use a GPS in the states because I don't like relying on it to know where I am, but clearly it was necessary for my trip to Europe, despite the troubles. Anyway, just a few minutes into my next drive, someone hit my car... I was beyond frustrated at this point, and as I pulled to the side of the road I realized I'm not even sure what to do in this situation if I were in the US, let alone in Germany. So the other driver also pulled over & got out of the car, no older than 18 and looking just as frazzled. He started speaking German really fast. With the confused look and my broken German I uttered the words for I don't speak German, thankfully he spoke English. After a quick conversation we looked at our cars and found everything was fine on both cars, both of us were fine & we went on our way. (phew!)

Finally, about 10 minutes later I arrived at the restaurant to call Kasee & tell her the address. I waited a while for her, and once she arrived we went into the cafe. As we walked in, literally every single head turned in our direction. We noticed that this was a little odd but we asked to be seated anyways. As it turns out, the kitchen was closed (it was around noon) so we wouldn't be having lunch there. At this point we were both beyond frustrated that we just laughed it off, put the printer & microwave in my car and headed our separate ways. And I ended up eating McDonald's on my drive back for lunch.

Thankfully, for my sanity, the last 2 days went smooth for the most part. I'm sure there are stories that I'm forgetting, but I think I covered the jist of winter break in Germany.

I apologize for this post taking so long, but I hope to be writing soon on my life since returning to the states.

"You cannot change the direction of the wind, but you can always adjust your sails."

Week 3 & weekend.

Well, week 3 was definitely an interesting one. It was the first full 5 day week and it sure felt like it.

I was finally able to make it to Brussels for a visit, which was nice. I really like how everything there is on a much smaller scale, a lot less stressful! It was a little challenging getting to the girls' apartment as the GPS seemed to be a little indecisive. Once I'd arrived, I parked infront of an apartment building as the GPS directed. After a few minutes I wasn't hearing from the girls that they were home, so I decided to walk around with the GPS to find the actual building they lived in. After walking a little ways, I realized the GPS was telling me that I still had 5 minutes of driving time... which was odd because I parked once it said I'd reached my destination. So after a few more minutes of waiting, hoping the girls would be home to direct me, I decided to get back in the car and listen to the GPS. So I drove those 5 minutes and parked where it said I should. Right as I parked the girls called to let me know they were home. It took about 10 minutes for us to figure out where in Brussels I was, after looking at a few bus maps & trying to find Christmas trees & roundabouts (they're everywhere!). The girls finally decided that they'd have to take the bus to come find me, which they did. Once they found me, we drove to their apartment which was, ironically, exactly where I had parked originally !! In fact, I had parked directly infront of their building, you can't get a better parking spot than that! But of course, this time around we had to park 2 blocks away. I'm still not sure what the glitch was with the GPS, but that wasn't the first (or last) time I'd trusted the GPS and it guided me wrong... and this time, it made us too late to go shopping :(

Other than that, nothing too exciting or awful seems to jump out from the week... this past weekend (8th & 9th) we decided to lay low & just do a few day trips. So on Saturday we ventured out to Trier, the oldest city in Germany. The main incentive to visit Trier on Saturday was that there is a lot of shopping to do there, and that was basically the only day we'd actually had to shop (stores close at 7pm on weekdays, aren't open on Sundays or holidays).

It ended up being a perfect day, the sun was actually out for once & the temperatures were in the mid 40s, it felt like April! We did see a few of the sights, Porta Nigra was the original city gate (right) & the Roman Baths were pretty neat too...

Sunday we ventured out to Heidelberg to see another castle. Unfortunately for us, the weather wasn't quite as nice. It was much colder and poured rain the entire day... but I guess it could've been worse :) The castle was really neat, not as extravagant as the Neuschwanstein but it was still very cool to see the inside. And since Germany has had this abnormally large amount of snow this winter, and then it warmed up and rained all week... the river running right through the middle of Heidelberg flooded part of the roads. Thankfully it seemed only roads were covered at this point and it hadn't reached any buildings yet... but the forecast calls for more rain so we'll see!

For dinner on Sunday we searched for the "Schnitzel Haus" which was recommended to us by a few friends and was supposed to be worth the trip. After asking a few people for directions & finding the flood waters, we finally found it & were so glad! The menu had over 100 kinds of Schnitzel (101 to be exact). So all 5 of us tried a different kind, and we loved them all (I got the Ratatouille Schnitzel). Definitely a recommendation if you're ever in Heidelberg, it's right along the river, just down the hill from the castle by one of the bus stops :)

Now I'm off to the last week here in Germany. Hard to believe it's over so soon, but it feels like I've been here a few months! It's definitely been an adventure and a challenge for me. I'm looking forward to getting back to Iowa and relaxing a bit... (and not answering my phone!) :)

"Sometimes you can only see as far as your headlights can shine, but you can make the whole trip that way"

New Year.

What a weekend !! I was finally able to travel for a weekend trip, and it was exactly what I needed. Thanks to the New Year’s holiday, we had another 3 day weekend & took advantage of it.

Thursday night I stayed in housing & got an early start on Friday. Friday morning we (Nicole, from UNI & was in Key West with me, Christine from BGSU & I) left early and drove out to Dachau. It was a long drive, but nothing to complain about.

In prelude to Dachau, it’s a memorial site of a former concentration camp just outside of Munich. I’d been told many stories from friends & family that had visited Dachau during the summer, and had pretty moving experiences. This was my first visit to a concentration camp, and it was very moving.

Visiting during the winter months had a different effect too... everything was cold & dull and nothing to it. I think it added to the somberness and just the overall feel of the place. I think it would've been a very different experience in the summer. We toured the grounds along with the museum, some of the cells, the memorials & the cremetorium. Overall it was a good visit. It seems that the concentration camps and everything going on at that time is jsut something you hear about. Having the opportunity to visit a site, especially as well kept up as Dachau is, really put it into perspective for me. I would definitely recommend this visit.

I included 2 pictures from Dachau, the first is the ovens in the cremetorium & the second is the roll call area, where you can see the memorial sculpture which was added after the camp was freed & became a memorial site.

After our visit to Dachau, we headed into Munich to find our hostel. We were a little skeptical about the hostel, but it turned out to be great :) After settling in & resting for a little bit, we headed out for our New Year's Eve dinner. We found a nice restaurant along the way & stopped in. We didn't even think that every place would need reservations for New Year's Eve (silly Americans)... thankfully this place said we could have a table, but only until 8. Since it was just 6:30, we didn't see that as a problem. We looked over their special menu for the holiday and didn't recognize a single item. Luckily our waiter was nice & patient with us, enough to explain that what we thought was a salad was actually a nice arrangement of deer meat. I used my German phrase book to order Lobster Soup. It wasn't extremely filling, but it was very good!

After dinner we asked the desk clerks for advice on where to spend our New Year's. He suggested a nearby park, which turned out to be really awesome. There were different tents set up and a ton of people near by. It seemed almost like a community event for that part of town. We spent most of the evening in the tent with all of the food, as our dinner wasn't too filling & that seemed to be the only place to find an open seat. It was pretty fun & relaxing. We tried the beer, but I definitely wasn't a fan... but at least I tried :)

The entire night we'd heard fireworks going off at the most random times, so we decided that just before midnight we'd head outside to see the firework show & countdown. We went outside & more people gradually came outside too. It was a little odd as there was no big countdown or big clock to know when it was officially the new year. Instead we just went off of our phones, and the only difference between 2010 & 2011 was that a lot of couples began to dance. It was fun. During all of this, fireworks continued to shoot off in every direction, which made it a really cool atmosphere.

After enjoying the fireworks & excitement for a while, we decided to head back to our hostel to see what was happening there. To our surprise, as we left the park, all of the fireworks that had been going off the entire night weren't professional. Apparently New Year's is one of the few times of the year when anyone can buy fireworks to shoot them off, and they do. It felt like we were running through a war zone to get back to the hostel. Fireworks were being shot off in the park, on the sidewalks, in parking lots, in the middle of the streets, on bridges, everywhere !!! We literally had to watch where we stepped to make sure a firework wasn't ready to go. Some of the others weren't even phased by this, while the 3 Americans were ducking for cover at every loud noise. It was quite the experience & definitely a New Year's I'll never forget :)

Saturday we slept in a little & went off to explore Munich. We had lunch at the Augustiner Beer Hall & dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. Both were good & really fun. Since it was New Year's day there wasn't any shopping open, but we managed to find enough churches & beer halls to pass the time :)

Sunday we woke up early and headed off to Fussen to visit the castles. We stopped by the Hohengwenshau Castle on our way to tour the famous Neuschwanstein castle. I remembered the hike being a challenging one in 2008, so we'd decided we'd opt for the bus, especially in the snow. But Fussen had other plans, the busses weren't running that day due to the weather conditions... yikes !! It was a challenging walk, just as I'd remembered, but it was also the busiest day of the year, so it was plenty worn down which made it easier to walk. We toured the inside & had a nice and relaxing day. It was pretty cold & windy outside, so we were glad once our tour finally started. Here's a picture of the castle from the front at one of the view points.

The drive back to K-Town was a struggle. I didn't even think (again) about the holiday traffic and we were stuck in staus (traffic jams) for what seemed like an eternity. There wasn't any accidents or any construction, it was just simply too many cars for the road so everyone was backed up. It seemed we were either going 5 mph or 100 mph, but no where in between. It was pretty frustrating as our 4 hour drive took just over 6 hours, but we passed the time with fun games, madlibs and the German radio station :)

All in all I'd say this was a successful weekend in Munich. Driving is definitely not my favorite way to travel within Europe, but we got to see a lot on a budget. Hopefully next weekend will be fun too!

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."