Full of Joy

When we (Dan, Mom, Renate, Chuck and I) pulled into the Dubbe's driveway, I all of the sudden felt this nervous excitement.  I told everybody as I climbed out of the back seat, "Geez, I don't know why I'M nervous!"  When we walked in the front door, there began the trail of pink rose petals.  That pretty much confirmed my suspicions, but you never know.  I stopped by the little girls room (AFTER I took my shoes off, of course ;) as soon as we got back though so I missed the big announcement! When I went into the dining room, Anni (Tim's girlfriend) and Tim were out on the porch so I followed them to see what they were looking at.  When I glanced over the railing, there was a huge German sentence dug out into the snow, all lit up with candles.  I was so excited and frustrated all at once.  Practically jumping up and down I said, "WHAT DOES IT SAY?!"  Timmy beamed at me and translated, "It says 'Will you be my wife?' "  (Commence sc...

Can anyone guess what the mystery night turned out to be?! P.S.  Your guess doesn't count if you already know the mystery! =)

During our second week in Germany, Chuck's 2nd to youngest brother Tim asked if the whole family could leave the house on Wednesday night.  We all, of course, had our suspicions but upon interrogating Timmy, he wouldn't crack.  So on that particular night we all trooped out of the house, except for Jamie who was allowed to stay in her cage.  Dan, Mom, Chuck, Renate and I all piled into the car and went to visit Bad Kissingen.  This is another town they used to live in.  Though the night was frigid, the coldest night that stands out to me, it was impossible not to enjoy the evening.  What with being around family while exploring an adorable German town, it was the perfect way to "kill some time" while we waited on Timmy and his secret plan. Our first stop was a bakery-cafe.  Thankfully it was warm so we were able to thaw out a bit.  Plus Dan treated us all to hot drinks and pastries.  Now I love Starbucks, and you all know where my loyalties...

The Doener.  It's worth 2 posts in a row.  Plus Renate is way too cute in this picture.  =)

One fun afternoon Chuck, Renate, and I went out for lunch so I could experience a Doener Kebab.  Though actually Turkish in origin, Doeners are still a yummy German must-try.  Just thinking back on our little date makes me want to eat one again right now.  This was also where I got to try Schwip Schwap, a cola/orange drink.  I would liken a Doener to an enormous pita-type bread (so delish!) stuffed with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and this fabulous white saucy stuff.  Oh and when I say enormous, I mean enormous.  Just my style.  This girl does not like to go hungry.  =)  While the three of us chowed on our meals, we just chatted the time away.  Afterwards, we proceeded to shop in the quaint town of Bad Neustadt.  Since this is the town near where Renate lives, she was able to show us all the fun places to stop into.  Mueller was one of my favorite stores.  I think Renate giggled every time I tried to pronounce it.  We ...

Wido (pronounced "Vitto") is the friend that Chuck has known the longest.  They met in 4th grade, which I find completely adorable.  We made arrangements to meet up with Wido and Lisa (his girlfriend) at Wido's parent's house.  The same house Wido grew up in and where Chuck spent many hours playing as a kid.  It was really fun to drive by the Dubbe's old house as well.  Finally all the stories Chuck has told me began to take shape in my mind.  Experiencing this quaint little German town was wonderful.  I have to admit, I never usually get car sick, but driving around in German villages brings car sickness to a whole other level.  But back to Wido and Lisa.  Chuck and I were both pretty nervous to meet up with them.  Wido claimed to speak English well, but I found other people's definitions of "speaking English well" to vary a whole lot.  When we arrived in the town, Chuck was so excited, like a little boy going to an amusement par...

It's fun to be silly.  Especially in Germany.  =)

The craziness of Sunday kept me from remembering to post yesterday.  Here is my "Sunday post"... Chuck and Renate at the Christmas market.  This was such a cool place I just had to post another picture!  I thought the church in the background was beautiful and authentically German. 

On Wednesday, December 22, while we were in Germany, Chuck's oldest sister, Becky had her second baby.  Before we left for Germany, Chuck and I were totally packed and ready to head to the hospital (2 hours away) where Becky planned to give birth.  Becky had asked me to be in the room with her when the time came and I was so honored.  I really wanted to be there for her.  Obviously her husband, Dave was going to be with her, too but I wanted her to have my woman support.  God had other plans.  So it goes when it comes to babies. So little Jaden came into this world on our third day over there.  The whole family was constantly checking Twitter and Facebook for updates.  When Dave first posted pictures we were all squealing, ooing, and awing over our precious new family member.  (OK, maybe just the girls were squealing...)  Then on Christmas day we got to Skype and actually see the new guy.  He is such a doll. After we got back Ch...

  Growing up, I always thought it would be fun to marry a guy with brothers.  I had no idea I'd marry a guy who was one of 5 boys (as well as 2 girls).  As it turns out, it's a lot of fun having Chuck's brothers around.  And it's even more fun watching Chuck with his brothers. In this picture, Adam is holding the dog (Cute Jamie), Tim is standing behind Chuck, and Dan (Chuck's Dad) is the back left guy.  Dan is one of those "Guy's Guy" kind of guys.  Know what I mean?  He likes to hike and climb mountains, work on cars, fix things around the house, ride motorcycles, and in his opinion, there is no worthy computer if it's not a Mac.  I appreciate that Dan has passed on some of those skills to Chuck.  Chuck has learned how to fix a lot of things around the house, including car stuff.  He is handy with tools which means a lot to me because so is my own Dad.  Chuck also has learned to be a strong leader because of his Dad.  He is...

This means "Merry Christmas" in German-  a phrase I came to know well.  Christmas day was really quaint, just how you would imagine Christmas day to be.  Lots of snow and all.  First thing in the morning, Chuck shared that his Mom had set out "Kristollen" which is another super yummy traditional German cake thing.  It could be described as a type of fruit cake, but in the States that would be considered disgusting.  Let me just tell you, this was no American fruit cake.  Kristollen is like a dry pound cake with some chunks of yumminess in it.  (Raisins?  Nuts?) Then it's covered with loads of powdered sugar.  Oh happy day.  Chuck's Mom really is the ideal Mother-in-Law.  I love her so much.  I've learned recently that Christmas happens because of the MOM of the house.  I've seen it with my own Mom, and then I witnessed it with my MIL as well.  She was working all day to make Christmas happen.  From breakfa...

Another very special evening.  I should probably stop saying that as pretty much every day we spent in Germany with Chuck's family was special.  It is worth mentioning that Chuck and I did not "sight see".  Sight seeing was definitely an option, but those types of outings don't particularly interest me.  What I desired to do was spend time with Chuck's family, doing their usual life things.  Sitting around the dinner table was my most treasured time.  We went to Germany because that's where Chuck's family happens to be from, the fact that it was a different country was just icing on the cake.  Christmas Eve was my first visit with the church Chuck grew up with.  People that have know him since he was very young, and people that have watched him grow up.  It was really sweet to meet them.  This is the church where Chuck's dad (Dan) is a Pastor, the reason why the family is in Germany.  Chuck and I established a routine.  He wo...

Our first 2 days in Germany are a blur in my memory.  I realized during this venture that sleep is more important to me than food.  Never would I ever have come to that conclusion had I not been withheld precious hours of sleep the way we were traveling over there.  Of course, Chuck was snoozing away on the plane while I sat straight up in my seat fidgeting around like crazy desperately trying to find one possible comfortable position.  I kid you not I had a melt down somewhere around 2 in the morning, body clock time.  I was seconds away from bursting into droves of tears, ripping angrily at my cheesy airplane blanket, stomping my feet (yes I did) and about to scream (yes I felt like that) when a new movie started.  I resolved then and there that I was never going to be able to sleep again and I might as well deal with it.  Thus I realized sleep is more important to me than food- lack of sleep makes me a crazy person.  I believe this is actually ...

Our two week trip to Germany could never be captured into one blog post.  Our trip may, however, be captured in a blog post a day for two weeks.  I thought it would be fun to focus 14 posts in a row on our special trip, as well as 14 different pictures.  This is also a great way for me to stretch my writing muscles as they have been super dormant lately.  Our journey started off pretty rough.  We realized on Sunday night (Our flight was scheduled to leave on Monday at 5pm) that my passport still had my maiden name on it.  Ugh.  After having checked and re-checked my passport's expiration date, it never occurred to me to check my own name.  As Chuck was checking our bags in online, he realized the name debacle. God provided one solution after another and totally took care of the passport issue.    That is really an amazing story in and of itself.  Needless to say, about 3 and a half hours before our plane took off, I officia...