Switching to Blogger

I am over here now: http://yeahhonestly.blogspot.com/

Yes, I am leaving WordPress. I liked it but I got tired of not having customizable templates. I don’t want to pay money right now since I am not blogging as much as I would like to. So I switched back to Blogger. I’ll still keep my wordpress account, so I can still read some of you guys’ private blogs.

So meet me on the other side.

Things I am excited for

Having only one more final to study for and being done with everything by noon tomorrow.

Wake up from winter hibernation and start running again.

Hook up my Nike+ adapter to use for running with my iPod.

Go to Nuremberg this weekend and enjoy some delicious Starbucks.

Catch up on The OC, Weeds, LOST and The Office.

Start researching for my thesis.

Read a book.

Knit something nice.

And just having more time for Collin and myself!

Cramming.

The first month of the year is almost over and I still haven’t written a recap of 2008. I probably won’t have the time to do one but to sum it up in one sentence: I am so happy that my husband is home! That was by far the best moment of 2008.

I am currently in the middle of finals. So far I have taken four with four more to come. Studying has been going fine until today. First of all, today’s final didn’t go as well as I expected. I studied really hard and tried to memorize everything but some of the questions seemed odd to me because all of my answers seemed to contain the same facts only the wording was different. I know that I passed but I am really ambitious and missing one fact is usually a disaster for me. Some people are happy with a B or C but my goal has always been an A. So of course, having a bad feeling about this past final is dragging me down a little. On top of that, I am having the worst cold in years. I am currently trying to recuperate by taking some time off studying. But only for a few hours because I have a lot to do for next week. Four finals in four days. Beat that!

Oh, and I thought next semester would be relaxing with only four classes but guess what: I signed the paper work for my thesis. Yay! I will be working on it for five months starting March 2. I will need to have it turned in by July 31. The funny thing is that I am officially not allowed yet to start working on my thesis because I haven’t completed my internship yet but with Collin and I moving back to the States, me being on the right track with all my classes and in good terms with the professor who will be my adviser during this process, I was able to get an exception. I am excited to start researching and getting started on my thesis.

That was a lot about school, I know. I can’t wait to have a few weeks off starting the end of next week. I can’t wait to have time to myself again, to work out, watch TV, spend more time with Collin instead of having to study and cram.

I swear he doesn’t do this every night. ;)

Everyone is doing this picture meme and since I need a short break from studying, I decided to do it too. The way it works:

1. Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 more people.

Here’s my picture:

This picture was taking a few weeks after the guys came home while we were celebrating a Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas party at the Outdoor Recreation Center on post. Collin and his Army buddies like to be very affectionate with each other after spending 15 months together day in day out. It’s like they are all married to each other.

I gotta go back to studying. But before I do that, I would like to tag everyone who would like to participate!

Christmas in Pictures

I can’t believe Christmas is already over again. It was really nice spending it with Collin’s family. Here are some pictures:

I hope you all had a nice Christmas.

Loving life.

We made it safely to Seattle last Saturday and arrived to a ton of snow. It usually never snows like this in Washington State – at least not on the coast of Washington State. But this time the snow is actually staying. Collin’s mom who works at an elementary school actually had two snow days for the past two days. Roads have been really icy because, unlike in Germany, they are being neither salted nor plowed.

We have had a great time here so far. Last night we built gingerbread houses and afterwards went sledding with our friends. We have also been spending a lot of time with Collin’s family just talking, hanging out and watching movies. It is really nice to be here and next week will have a few more great things in store. We will get to see a few more friends that we haven’t seen in a long time. Plus, Christmas is next week.

Oh, on Monday I had an appointment at the Seattle Immigration Office to ask them in person about the status of my greencard. Well, I got my extension stamp since my current greencard and the initial extension letter have been expired for a few months now. But my case is on hold for now. Apparently my fingerprint card hasn’t gone through when I sent it in in July 2007. I now need a biometrics appointment which I can’t take care off until we are back in the States. So for now, my case is on hold until we get to Washington DC. I am glad I got to talk to someone in person. Now I actually know what’s going on and why I have been waiting for so long.

It’s time to watch another movie now. Man, how I love Blockbuster and catching up on all the movies that we haven’t been able to see yet. Life is good and we are truly enjoying being here!

Going home.

Only four more days until we are heading back home (Yes, I am calling ‘The States’ home because it is my home as well.). We are so looking forward to just having a break from school and work. The past few weeks have been really stressful and busy and it feels nice to have a sort of slower week right now even though there are still a few more projects my lab partners and I need to get done. Luckily the majority of the work is already completed and turned in.

This morning I got an email from Expedia with a reminder that our flight is coming up soon. I can’t wait to see our friends again, hang out with them, enjoy Christmas with Collin’s family, go shopping, head to the movies and actually have a choice of several movies to watch (the Army theater only shows one movie a night several times a week), have Starbucks’s whenever I feel like it, get lunch at Jack In The Box…

I am also having a lovely immigration appointment in Seattle while we are visiting because my 10-year greencard is still pending and has been for almost 17 months. Hopefully this will speed up things a little.

So, we will be off in a few days. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

PS: Debra, I can’t wait to see you and Steve and your sweet little family again!

Home for a month.

Collin has been home for a month now and it is so amazing having him back home and enjoying all the different things of being a reunited married couple again. 

Unfortunately, I have classes to attend and I usually don’t get home before 4 or 5 pm. Sometimes even 6 pm! So between going to school, doing homework, writing papers, tutoring, doing other random chores there is not much time left that we can enjoy together. But we are trying our best. Every night we are trying to watch at least one episode of King of Queens, The O.C. or The 4400 together. On weekends we are usually trying to get out of the house. Yesterday we went to Munich, did some shopping there and enjoyed a tasty traditional German dinner at the famous Hofbräuhaus. It was a lot of fun. The next couple weekends are pretty much planned out as well because my parents will be coming to celebrate an early christmas since we are leaving for the States on Dec 13th.

This Thursday is Thanksgiving and we are hosting it at our house. This will be my first time making a turkey. I hope it will be edible!!! Hehe. Wish me luck!

P.S.: Seven years ago from today Collin and I went out on our first date!!!

Homecoming!

It is Saturday and Collin is already back at work. But first of all, let me tell you about the homecoming.

I had another sleepless night from Wednesday through Thursday because I was expecting THE call that night and therefore couldn’t sleep at all. Yet there was nothing. Just like Wednesday I decided to take a day off school on Thursday as well because I just couldn’t concentrate on anything else but checking my emails to see if the flight manifest would show up and staring at my phone to avoid missing the important phone call. Around noon on Thursday, my girlfriends and I decided to get some lunch because we all just couldn’t stand being at home waiting. Lunch was great and as soon as I got back home, I went online to check my emails and there is was: the flight manifest. All of our husbands names were on there. I started calling everyone and everyone started calling me. We were so excited. The flight was supposed to come into Nuremberg around 530pm. Around 8pm the buses finally went through the gate and passed the PXtra (shopping center) where we were standing to cheer and welcome them home.

Link to the videos of the buses passing us (part 1 and part 2).

About two hours later around 10pm the 5-min (Thanks God it was only five minutes long!) welcome home ceremony took place. After that… let’s have the pictures tell the rest!

Yesterday Collin had a day off that we spent in Nuremberg. Today he is already back at work because there is lots of reintegration paperwork that needs to be done. He will only have half-days throughout the next week which will be nice.

It is so great to have him home! It is so great to do everything together! I finally feel married again! Hehe. Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments!!!

YAY!!!

Someone is going to welcome home her husband today!!!