In April three significant events took place. First, I went to the Herrmann haus to celebrate Reinhardt’s birthday and second, my mom came out to visit. After that, I took a trip with some girlfriends to Sardinia, Italy. April was a bit of a blur, but a happy one.
Here are some photos that I took at the Herrmann’s:
Only in Bavaria would your friends be in a traditional style band. They came out to play some songs for the festivities and wish Reinhardt a happy birthday. They were wonderful and some people even got out and did a polka later in the evening.
There was a lot of beer drinking, along with the wonderful food that Christina made.
I finally got to meet the illusive sister, Nina, and her new family.
It was a wonderful weekend away and I had a great time with the Herrmanns as always.
The Mom visit:
The first four days of Mom’s visit we went to see Juan, our family’s exchange student from Spain, and his wife, Sonja, in Barcelona. They showed us all around Barcelona, and had us taste all the delicacies of the area, even pig’s feet. I can’t say they were my favorite, but now I can say I’ve tried them.
Some more photos from the trip.
Our house.
Spring fever.
My friends, Jessie and Ali, and I went to Sardinia, which is an island off the coast of Italy. We just drove around and saw the sights. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t as warm as we were hoping it would be, but we still managed to find some great food and unique experiences.
Sardinian traffic jam.
This island has been inhabited since about 6000 B.C. and the ancient people made these structures that are still standing today. They are called Nuraghi and they are believed to have been used as fortresses. People can just go into them and explore. So that is exactly what we did.
Jessie
In May, my other Mom, Nancy, came to visit and to be my support as I attended my graduation ceremony in Heidelberg. Before we did that, we took a short trip to Switzerland, where I introduced her to my favorite little town in Switzerland, Muerren. As I expected, she fell in love with Muerren, and also the fresh mountain air. The wonderful reception at the B&B we stayed at, Chalet Fontana, helped her come up with a brilliant idea of starting her own B&B in Wisconsin. We had a great couple of days hiking around in the mountains, but alas, eventually we had to come back down. Then it was off to Heidelberg, where I was officially graduated. Although I had really finished my classes in August, it helped me to gain closure from my life as a college student. I was glad I attended the ceremony and also incredibly grateful to have Mom there to support me.
Mmmm, fondue
This is where the brilliant idea to start her own B&B surfaced. It is an idea that is still in the process of coming to fruition, but I know it will be a great B&B as she is quite possibly the best hostess ever.
Back down to Earth and on with the ceremony.
Mother’s Day brunch
A little antique shopping
There is nothing quite like the canola fields in Germany that grow in the beginning of spring. The intensity of yellow is unparalleled.
Later in May I agreed to participate in the first annual Diversity Day held at Spangdahlem Air Base. Diversity Day is an event meant to celebrate all the various backgrounds and cultures that are represented by the military members here and throughout the world. So I was asked to do a yoga demonstration, highlighting the 2,000 year old tradition. I somehow convinced the other yoga teacher on base, Amanda, to join me on stage. Since I didn’t make it to any of the planning meetings, I got to go first for the day. Those of you who know me well know that I am not a person who likes to be center stage, yet there I was, right in the center of the stage doing yoga. Although I was incredibly nervous, I had to pretend like I was completely calm and controlled. Apparently I pulled it off because after people said I looked very zen-like. The biggest thing I was worried about was falling over during my headstand. As I was about to go up into headstand I can’t tell you what was going on in my mind, but I can tell you it was not very zen. Regardless, the 15 minutes of yoga demonstration passed without either Amanda or I messing up, and in the end I did not die of stage fright.
The end of May and early June I decided to go home to spend a little more time with family and to help my sister Emma prepare for her wedding. I am truly grateful I got to be a small part of the preparations and can’t wait for the big day to arrive. In the end of May, Switzerland called me back again, and my friend Deb and I participated in a Frauenlauf, or women’s run. It was a 10K race that took place in Bern. Before that we went to visit Muerren again, and it was gorgeous as always. We had a great time together and actually enjoyed the run. It was a nice change of pace to not have to elbow through sweaty, stinky men during the race. Everyone was very polite, and it was an incredibly civilized and fun run to be a part of. Maybe I can do it again next year. You never know…
My last adventure before Jim’s return, was a trip to Nice to be the support crew for my friend Jessie. She did the Nice Ironman competition (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a full marathon which is 26.2 miles) and completely rocked it. I was so inspired watching all the people push themselves to their absolute physical limits and still survive. It was fun to be a part of the race, but not actually have to do the race myself. Doris, who was the other person on the support crew for Jessie, and I spent the day watching the race and cheering. The rest of our time spent in Nice, we went sightseeing, hung out at the beach, and of course went shopping. It was a wonderful trip to take before Jim’s return, and also I was really glad to be able to support Jessie in her monumental achievement.
Jessie and Michea, the other girl from Spangdahlem doing the race, right before the swim start.
They even had their own cheerleaders. They rotated through different girls and different outfits all day, but there were cheerleaders urging the competitors onward from morning until night.
Chillin at the beach
Doris, Jessie and me.
Riding one of nature’s most fearsome beasts, the squirrel. (I just saw “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”)
The sights
I know I am in danger of being sappy, but as much as I loved all the things I got to do this year, I would have given all of them up if I could have spent the time with Jim. As I could not, these things I did throughout the year more than kept me busy, they helped me reconnect with myself. As I am readying myself for our next step, I think this past year has helped me become a stronger and more self-sufficient woman. Also the lesson has been driven home to me that you have to take care of yourself and love yourself first before you can love others. I know this lesson will help me throughout life, and I hope that you all understand that it is necessity not luxury to take care of yourself. Go ahead, give yourself a hug. 😉
So to sum up my last year, it was hard and it was fun, but it was just a year in the life…
Anna 🙂
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