2 years in Germany

I just realized that I missed our 2 year anniversary in Germany! How time has flown. Last year I did a recap of all the things that had changed over the past year. Let's see, Adam had back surgery and wow, what a difference that has made! My hair went from blonde to brown, we had several visits from family members, I've given up knitting and replaced it with photography. Last year we were planning a baby shower for a friend, I can't believe that baby is almost a year old! My pregnant friends have had their babies and now I other friends expecting.  (There is always someone expecting LOL). We've experienced a lot as a family. We visited 3 more countries, many many castles, and for the first time went to some Christmas markets. We are planning to add two more countries to our list this weekend and hopefully a couple more this summer as this will be our last year in Germany. We have had to say goodbye to some good friends and will have a lot more leaving in the months to come. I hope we can make the most of our time left in Europe and look forward to meeting new friends as old friends move away and new people filter in.

Heidelberger Schloss

This weekend my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We drove to Heidelberg and had lunch and then visited Heidelberg Castle. It was beautiful! There was free parking up the hill from the castle. We followed the road down which led to some stairs and a path. The path will lead you through a garden that stretches on and on. (Some of the stairs and parts of the path are blocked off due to reconstruction.) The garden and fountains were all outside the area you have to pay to see. There was a gorgeous view of the outside of the castle as well. You can also see The Heidelberg Castle Powder Turret, split by an explosion, as described by Mark Twain in his 1880 book A Tramp Abroad! It's amazing to see such a historic place up close. Tickets to tour the castle cost 5 Euro for adults and 3 Euro for children. Our daughter (3) was free so I'm not sure where the age cut off is before you have to pay the child price. We walked through the gigantic wine cellar and over an enormous wine barrel. There was an amazing view of the town and river from the back side of the castle. We made the mistake of exiting the castle from that side and ended up following a very steep cobblestone path down into the city. We were told we could use our entrance tickets to ride the cable cars but it was getting late and looking like it was about to rain. We hiked back up the mountain (me gasping for breath the entire way. I really didn't think I was going to make it!) It did start to lightly rain as we wound our way toward the gardens. There was some we didn't get to explore this trip but there's always next time!

Downtown Heidelberg

The Castle Gardens

The Powder Turret

View of the City

Another view of the damaged turret

Map of the grounds (See how big the gardens are!)

Entrance to the courtyard

Entrance to the courtyard

Inside the courtyard

Inside the courtyard

Going down to the wine cellar

One of the giant wine barrels

On top of another even larger wine barrel

View of the city/river from the castle

View of the river

A fountain in the garden

Cake my husband decorated with 7's all over it. What a sweetie!

One Year

"The past is but the beginning of a beginning."
--H. G. Wells

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life."
--Federico Fellini

Today we have been in Germany for exactly one year. It has flown by and for the sake of my friends with deployed loved ones I hope the next year goes as quickly for them. Sometimes I wish I could slow time down. There are so many places I would still like to visit and it seems like time is running out. My daughter is growing so fast. I know I need to treasure these moments because all too soon they will just be a memory of a wonderful time in our life. I would like to dedicate this blog to the things that have changed in my life over the past year.




* Ok, well for the first one I'd like to state I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have! I'm looking back through my folders organized by month and I've got nada as far as milestones to share via pictures!
*I guess the most obvious change would be that we moved, overseas, and it was the first time in Europe for all of us.
*I've visited beautiful places I never dreamed I'd see
*I've made wonderful friends that I hope I'll be able to keep in touch with long after we've all left this place.
*I started knitting
*We celebrated our daughters 3rd birthday (and yes I know we each have a birthday every year but our children  are only little for such a short time!)
*We have a different vehicle
*My husband has actually been home all year! (other than a week here and there) Thats a huge change!
*I haven't seen my Texas friends for a year. That's a sad change :(
*We went sledding and built a snowman this winter (and had to buy a snowsuit!)
*My brother and his wife are having their first baby!
*I did NOT cook Thanksgiving dinner this year :)
*Our daughters first movie in a movie theater. It went remarkably well.
*Lastly, I started this blog! I can't wait to see what will change during our next year. I can already think of a couple things we are planning for the future.

What are some things that have changed for you?