Blessed in so many ways!

As the title says, we are blessed in so many ways!  Life in Germany continues!  We've had quite a full month.  I started taking yoga last month (but have only been able to go twice...).  I quite liked it though!  I plan on going back.

Jesse had the great opportunity at the beginning of August.  He was able to go to the Czech Republic, for a week, to attend a lectureship that they held featuring Russ Bowman & Kenny Morrer.  He really enjoyed it!  He was encouraged and edified by all of those who attended, from all over!!!

Last weekend, we drove a couple of hours away to Burg Eltz, a castle that is in really good condition.  It is still owned by a descendant of the original family.  This castle is not in ruins, and all of the furniture in it is original to the castle!  Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside.  I took pictures outside though.  However, they are currently in the process of renovating the roof, so there's a big crane in the pictures, along with some sort of siding covering parts of it.  But you get the gist of it!

On our way home, we drove through, and stopped at Idar Oberstein.  This town is the capital of Germany's gemstone industry.  Because of this, they sell lots of pretty jewelry!  I got a really pretty bracelet there.  Here, they also have, what is referred to as, the Church in the Rocks.  We didn't go all the way up to it, but we plan to go back and visit again (it's only 45 minutes away!).

Other than that, we've had a couple of families move into the area over the last month, bringing the numbers in our congregation up!  It's amazing; a year ago, when we moved here, there were so few children in our congregation.  There were only a couple of kids that I started the toddler class with, and a few more for the "older kids' class".  Now we have a LOT of kids!  It's wonderful!  On Sunday mornings, we've got at least 7 in each of our children's classes!  We're actually running out of space!!!  Praise God, who gives the increase!

Well, that's all that's been going on!  The only thing to report on is the amazing weather we've been having!  I have total sympathy for everyone back in the states who have been going through this terribly hot summer.  We have been blessed to have such wonderful weather!  This past week has been the hottest so far; and even then, it's only gotten up to the lower 80s at the hottest part of the day.  Not having air conditioning, I'm thankful for the mild temperatures!

I hope all of those going back to school have a wonderful year!

Jesse and Amber - A Love Story

We have this program on our computer called iMovie.  It is a program that allows you to use photos or video clips to make movies.  I've never used it (or any other movie making software).  So I decided to play around with it today.  I got hooked!  I decided to make a movie of Jesse and me!  It's our love story!  I really like the way it came out.  It was fun to play around with the different things I discovered I can do.  And I haven't even done discovered everything yet!  But I thought I would share this video with you.  It's a little over 4 minutes.  The music is Ben Folds - The Luckiest.  This is the song that was played in our wedding that the bridesmaids/groomsmen walked down the aisle to.  Hope you enjoy!

From May to... July?

Yes, it has been a while since I posted.  May went by in a blur....  It's actually kind of hard to remember it now...  Ha!  We spent several weeks in June back in the States.  We spent a week at camp (which was fabulous; as always), then the rest of the time visiting around and seeing family.

Now we're back in Germany, and July is almost halfway over!  I can hardly believe it!  Things have been going pretty well.  I'll admit, it's hard coming back after spending so much time with family.  And yes I know, I live in Germany.  But it's not always glitz and glammer ;)  We have jobs and responsibilities like anyone else.  I'm not going to some exotic place all the time.  Most of my time is actually spent on base, which is like a little piece of America.

But enough about that.  This past weekend, we had family come to visit us.  My cousin, Brittany, and her husband, Josh, got here last Wednesday night, and stayed until Saturday.  We had a good time with them!
Thursday morning, I had to work.  So Jesse took them a couple of villages over to visit some castle ruins in Landstuhl.  I sent the camera with Jesse, and he actually took some pictures!

Brittany & Josh - Landstuhl, Germany

After I got off, we headed over to Heidelberg.  Jesse and I have been there several times, but we really like it.  We walked up and down the main street, saw the castle, and walked up the Philosopher's way (very steep...) and all in the rain...

Before we got wet

And after...

Friday was a fun and crazy day.  Can you say THREE countries in one day?!?!  Yep.  We started out in Germany (obviously) and headed over to Bastogne, Belgium.  We all loved Bastogne.  We practically ate our way up and down the streets of Bastogne.  We went out to the memorial monument for the Battle of the Bulge, and took a stroll through the woods to see where the battle was fought.

This place had the most delicious meats.  I mean, it is the "Museum of Pig" (literally).

They tend to love Americans there.

Yes.  It WAS delicious!!!

The Monument for the Battle of the Bulge.

Jesse and Josh looking at the remains of where a foxhole had been dug on the line.

Dead trees, where the tops were blown off during the battle.

Dead tree with bullet holes.

Memorial for 'E' Company, who held the line for so long.

After going through Bastogne, Belgium, we headed over to Luxembourg (the country, not city), and stopped in Clerveaux, Luxembourg.  It's a tiny little town that's just kind of neat to see.  We didn't stay there long, before heading to Vianden, Luxembourg.  Jesse and I had been here before, and we thought Brittany and Josh would like it.  They loved the castle!

No, it's not Hogwarts...  I wish!

Finally, we left Luxembourg to head back to Germany.  We stopped by Trier to see the sights (we love this town), and have dinner!  It was yummy!

Saturday we took it easy.  We all slept in a little, then went to Mainz.  It was really neat!  They had the BEST farmer's market I've been too!  I got some delicious blackberries (which we ate most of in the car), raspberries, and blueberries (which I plan on using for muffins!).  We've never been to Mainz, so it was  a new experience!

We then headed to Frankfurt, and spent some time in the city before taking Brittany and Josh to the airport.  Once again, a new experience for Jesse and I.  We had only ever been to the airport in Frankfurt.  Frankfurt has a pretty good mix of the old and the new.

Overall, we had a lot of fun with the cousins!  Who's next to come visit?  We have an extra room!!!  The door is open!

As usual, more pictures can be found on facebook!

Happy May!

Happy May everyone! Today is May 1st! I have always loved May. When I was growing up, that meant school was almost over! When I was in college, that meant school was almost over! When I was teaching, that meant school was almost over! Anyone picking up on a theme here??? Well, now I'm not in school, or teaching school. I'm working at the child development center, which goes year-round. This is a new concept to me... I haven't quite adjusted to the thought that May does not bring the end of school, and the beginning of summer break. It's going to hit me in June ;) But that's ok. It keeps me busy. Really busy... So here's to May!

I'm going to leave you with a picture from today!

The "Green team"! Apparently no one else got the memo :)

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter! We started out by having our friends, Kevin and Amanda, over Saturday to help dye Easter eggs!

Then, Sunday afternoon we had everyone from church over for refreshments (cupcakes, candy, punch, strawberries!) and an Easter egg hunt! We had a great turnout, and the kids had a good time!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!

New Job!

I have now completed 2 weeks at my job.  I am in a classroom with 10 one year olds.  I love being able to play with the babies every day and watch them learn new things!  But it is EXHAUSTING!!!  I am up and down, here and there, bending over to help them up or stop them from falling.  My feet hurt, my back is aching, but I still really like it!!!  It's been a rewarding experience so far.  I hate when people say you can't teach babies.  They learn so many things!  I'm sure all the parents out there can attest to that.

Some good things that come with my job are the benefits!  Jesse and I had to get our health insurance through a company that sells to Americans living overseas.  While it's good insurance, with good coverage, it's a big chunk of money that we pay out of pocket, and it doesn't cover us when we go back to the states.  With my job, we get on a group plan, with dental!!!  Much better!  Also, I get holiday pay and paid leave days (vacation!)!!!  But the best part is, Jesse doesn't have to work at the golf course anymore!  He isn't going to quit just yet though.  He doesn't want to just leave his supervisor hanging when he gave him this job and so quickly too!  So Jesse has talked to him about reducing his hours, and only working there a few days a week.  Plus, it will be nice to get that little bit of extra income for now :)

So that's the update on my new job!  Now I'm getting ready for our Easter gathering tomorrow!  I've already made the cupcakes, now I have to decorate them (hopefully they'll look like Easter baskets when I'm done).  Cleaning the house, boiling eggs, and decorating them later tonight!!!  Easter egg hunt tomorrow for the kids!  Pictures to come soon :)

Happy Easter!!!

What's been going on!

We've had a few things going on since I last posted.  First off, I got a job!  I will be working at the Child Development Center on Ramstein Air Force Base!  The Child Development Center is sort of like a day-care, but runs more like a pre-school.  They start taking kids at a couple of months old, and it goes through 4/5 year olds.  There aren't pre-school classes at the elementary school.
I've been spending the last few weeks running around, working on paperwork (there are so many security, medical, and whatever else, checks to be done).  I finally got all of the paperwork done, and had my general orientation last Thursday.  It was kind of boring, but not too terrible (I got paid!).  I officially start work tomorrow, Tuesday!  I will just be going through training and what not.  I don't know yet what age group I'm going to be with, but in my interview I requested pre-school age.  So we'll see!
Other things:
- We are still doing our ladies' Bible study every other week.  It's been going well.  We just finished our lesson on Bathsheba, and we're moving into the lesson on Mary next week.
- We went to a singing that our friends, Kevin and Amanda, had at their house.
- Jesse's been doing a men's song-leading class.
- I got a massage! (it was part of my anniversary present)
- Went to my first Pampered Chef party!  I'm going to host a catalogue party on-line the first 2 weeks in May!
- Went to a baseball game!  Ryan (who worships with us) is on the varsity team at the high school (and he's only a freshman)!
- Jesse started back at the golf course.
- We went to the circus.  They had it here in Weilerbach.  It was really tiny, and pretty lame.  But it was definitely a cultural experience.  Interesting to see what Germans think "country western" is!
- Rusty got a haircut, and he looks so cute and tiny!
- I got to go shopping with my friend Michelle in Kaiserslautern (like 10 minutes from my house).  First time to go shopping since we've been here, and I was surprised at the number of stores that had reasonable prices!  I got an Easter dress for 20 euro!
- Had a potluck/surprise Birthday party at our house!

So that's the run-down of what we've been up to.  It looks like we were busy when I put it in a list form like that.  But it didn't seem like we were that busy...  Anyway, planning an Easter Egg Hunt that we're having at our house!  I'm looking forward to it!  I'm going to make cupcakes that look like Easter baskets!

Here are a couple of cakes I've made recently.

Our friend Caleb re-enlisted, and I brought this to his office for his ceremony.

Strawberry cake with cream cheese filling.

We had a potluck/surprise Birthday at our house.  This was for our sweet friend, Michelle.

Butter pecan cake with cream cheese icing (she requested it a month ago)

Well, that's it for now.  Hopefully I'll have some good things to report after I start my job :)