kisses

Miles loves to chat on the webcam. When it comes to saying goodbye he will make you give 100 kisses before letting you go. Here he is with Grandma. You can kind of see her (puckered up) face in the pic below.

Kisses...
5 minutes later.... still kissing. Thanks to Grandma for being the kissing machine.

Bike ride

Miles finally figured out what pedals were for. We took a little bike ride yesterday. It was 45 degrees! I am loving this dose of warmer weather!

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Some more random pics from this week.

A much needed get-away

We booked a last minute trip to Prague, Czech Republic! It's very weird to call it that because in my head it is still Czechoslovakia. Other than Turkey, this is our first real experience with Eastern Europe. I have no idea how to even say hello in Czech so this will be a very interesting trip. I'm excited to see what it's all about!

Everest

I forgot how much I love the Discovery Channel. I remember back home it was dangerous for me to start watching something because they always had something incredibly interesting on back to back.

Brad and I rented Everest: Beyond the Limits via netflix and have been watching it in our spare time. If you haven't seen the show it's so interesting! It will definitely hook you. Of course Brad wants to climb Everest now. He thinks he can do it. I think any red-blooded, American, manly-man thinks they can do it. But on the show people are actually dying and getting incredibly ill, and loosing limbs to frost-bite left and right. I actually find myself fascinated with the whys and hows of it. One interesting fact I learned was when climbing this mountain (and other high mountains) you can't just simply climb to the top. It's lots of jogging back and forth or else your brain will pretty much pop (which also happens to a lot of men!) I'll spare you incase you find this post awfully boring.

Anyway, just thought I'd share an interesting find! Definitely a clean, informative and entertaining show should you find yourself looking for just that.

Summer plans

I'm taking the time on here to "vent" about my giant question mark for summer plans. Brad and I, for the life of us, can not decide whether or not to go home this summer. One day, it's a YES, Michigan is worth any price because you can't put a price tag on memories w/family. Other days, it's a NO, too much money, don't want to deal with the jet lag, Brad won't be able to come very long, etc.

I'm going to use this blog to make a list of pros/cons about going home. Maybe the brainstorming and suggestions can help.

PROS

-Trip for Miles and I would be about 5 weeks long which is somewhat worth the money

-Get to see family

-Get to be in the USA! Many things fall under this category. But it's nice to "re-stock" and get some American items, nice to go out to eat (Have I mentioned I've cooked almost every single night since we were last in the USA?), ENGLISH bookstores, children's museums, fun American stuff for Miles to do. The list goes on and on!

-Go to Pentwater which is a tiny paradise hardly touched by time. Miles has not missed a year yet. I haven't missed a year since.... I can't remember the last time.

-We all had a blast last year.

CONS

-The 14 hours of traveling by myself brings me to near insanity.

-The jet lag. Last year, Miles was horribly jet-lagged for 10 days. There were times we were starting our day at 3am. As most of you know, I DO NOT handle sleep deprivation well. I know I can get myself on a schedule quick... but Miles is a whole other story.

-Brad could only come for 10 days (if that) so I will essentially be a single parent for 4 weeks. No guarantee we can even coordinate our flights back together. Not necessarily worth the price for him coming. Infact his ticket is $500 more than mine!

-It's just EXPENSIVE! We are talking $3000 to fly home. We are giving up a lot of potential traveling here in Europe.

- This is not a con by any means but a lot of our family is coming out here in June. I would be hopping on a flight 2 weeks later to in turn to go see them. This is not a bad thing...but definitely doesn't help w/the decision process. I don't have the worry of potentially not seeing them this year.

I can easily talk myself into going. Then I can talk myself right out of it. We are torn 50-50 down the middle. I just don't know what to do! If yes, would like to lock some plane tickets in soon since they are relatively cheap for Miles and I right now... To go or not to go? That is the question. ::sigh::

Miles learns his ABC's

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More snow

I'm wondering if everyone is getting sick of the word snow, looks of the snow, feel of snow. It seems this winter has been especially bad for everyone. We just got dumped with at least 2 feet of snow last night and it's still snowing hard. Luckily, this is normal for Germany so life just keeps on going, but I could see how this may be frustrating to friends and family back home with everything shutting down. Hope you all are staying warm!

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Roomba

Brad got me the iRobot 560 Roomba for our anniversary and it finally arrived in the mail yesterday. I have never loved a machine so much! This thing is every woman's dream machine. It vacuums your whole house for you every day. All you have to do is empty it every so often.

It memorizes your house and where the furniture is, has sensors so it doesn't fall off stairs, and makes it's way back to the charging station when the battery is low.

Normally, we wouldn't splurge on such a machine that could possibly make you lazy in the cleaning department, BUT our apartment is nearly impossible to keep clean. Part of our problem is cats (tons of fur and litter) mixed with hardwood floors. I find myself obsessively sweeping and it just never ends. It can drive a woman mad! Another problem is German's don't believe in central air, which can really help with sucking in all the dust. So with the winter season and closed windows it can be like a dust factory in here.

Anyway, I am SO happy! It is vacuuming now and it sounds like pure harmony to my ears. Vacuum away my little Roomba!

Funky February

So, I'll be honest. February has got me in a funk. It's this time of year that I REALLY start to miss home. Cold, icy weather mixed with cold, icy Germans can really bring the American down. I wish I wasn't so intimidated by the language barrier and culture or I would have Miles enrolled in some classes in our little town. Things are just so different here. People never seem to even smile! Maybe they are down about the weather too. What a difference between here and Italy. This time next year we have to go somewhere to avoid this Feb Funk. Just have to. In the meantime, I will work on my mood. I promise. It was actually 40 degrees the other day and it felt AMAZING! Thank goodness February is a short month. Roll on March! I welcome Spring with wide open arms.

Brad and I are about half way through this Philosophy class. Have you ever taken Philosophy before? It's ridiculous some of theories we have to memorize. Right now we're studying epistemology and one of theories is called the 'Evil Demon Hypothesis'. It basically means our brains are in this container somewhere (kind of like the movie, The Matrix) and an evil demon is controlling our lives. Hmmm... ok. Really hard to take this class seriously! Not to mention having to write a paper when the underlying theme is "no one really knows anything."

But, like I said... we're halfway through!

We started hitting the gym again. I forgot how GOOD that feels. I love to push myself until my muscles are burning or to run just 1/2 mile farther than last time.

Miles is working on his A, B, C's and doing great. He knows 8 letters on paper. I love how he says 'W'. He calls it "da da da do." I will try and get a video of it! I've been showing him pictures of family back home. I'm so surprised he can remember so many people! We sure miss all you guys!