What would you do if your spouse was going to be deployed to a remote location, fighting daily to make the world a better place, and you were stuck at home to wait? Well I did what any self-respecting girl would do. I cried for a week, and then I went to Paris and cut my hair off. Let me tell you, it was a very liberating thing, and I highly recommend hair therapy to anyone who is facing life without their beloved.
Besides cutting my hair off in Paris, I also attended my very last class to receive my undergraduate degree in Humanities. The class was a week long and we spent that week talking about Picasso and asking the question that everyone must ask themselves when faced with modern art…what does a urinal have to do with art?
I also continued to teach yoga. These are a few pictures taken by the base photographer for the newspaper. These weren’t the pictures they ended up publishing, but I liked these best.
In late October, Jim and I got to meet up for the time between his training and his actual deployment to Afghanistan. We took that time to go to Savannah. It was wonderful and a much needed vacation from the reality that we were facing. I won’t go into more detail about the trip because Jim posted the pictures earlier this year. You can check them out here: http://www.jimanna.com/archives/000163.html
For my 29th birthday I said goodbye to my husband for the next 9 months and boarded a plane to take me back to my empty house in Germany. In November, I decided I was going to go snowboarding with a friend. Mind you, I have not been snowboarding since I was about 20. I am not 20 anymore, but I seem to forget that occasionally. I brilliantly decided that I should go off the jumps. If the 12 year old boys could do it, I could do it, right? Apparently that logic had some flaws to it because I did not land my jump quite right and fell back on my arm, acquiring my first ever broken bone.
Ok, so it isn’t the best picture, but without my own personal photographer around, the pictures of my life have been very limited. So please bear with me for the rest of the photos. Some of the photos are mine, and others are from other people, but none are as great as Jim’s. Keep that in mind as you continue to read.
The rest of November and most of December I spent healing up and teaching modified yoga classes. While it is more difficult, yoga can be done with a broken arm. Christmas time came, and I spent it with my family. This Christmas was an unusually snowy time for Wisconsin. So I got to enjoy a very white Christmas and somehow managed to not crash my father’s car into the ditch. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures while I was home, but I’m sure you get the idea. Before I left for Wisconsin, I enjoyed a couple girls nights. Here is some evidence.
The weekend after I broke my wrist, my friend Jessie broke her opposite wrist, doing the same thing I did. Snowboarding is a hazardous sport. We still managed to make it out to the Trier Christmas Market though, along with Doris, who kept us from breaking anything else.
In January, I decided to take a trip to Amsterdam. The teacher who taught my last class in Paris was teaching a class on Van Gogh in Amsterdam. Even though I was done with school, she generously agreed that I could come and hang out with her class. I spent most of my week in Amsterdam by myself, wandering around the museums and entertaining myself with the always colorful people watching. I actually enjoyed myself quite a bit, and learned a little more about Van Gogh in the process.
Notice how this car is as long as the bike the girl is riding on.
As I was taking pictures of the car, the owner came up and got into it. I was so embarrassed, but she didn’t seem to mind and she obligingly let me take her photo.
Only in Amsterdam…
Upon my return to Germany, fate stepped in and united me with my new best friend. Sheena was looking for a new home, and I was looking for someone to talk to. So it became official. I am now a crazy cat lady, and Sheena and I couldn’t be happier.
The rest of January and part of February I spent getting ready for the Prague Half Marathon and also trying not to rub it in that I was meeting up with Jim in South Africa. It was great to be able to have a trip like that to break up the time and reconnect with Jim. Again, he has posted tons of pictures from the trip, so I won’t add extra. I just wanted to add that of all the trips we have taken together, South Africa may have been my favorite. If anyone is considering taking a trip there, do it! They have everything you could possibly want in a vacation, adventure, culture, interesting flora and fauna, as well as lovely warm people.
After my return from S. Africa, I turned my attention back to running. In March I went with some friends to Prague to run a half marathon. All the training paid off, and I ran the half in 2 hours and 2 minutes. It was a great race and all of us had a wonderful time together. Since I was so close to beating the 2 hour mark in Prague, I decided to sign myself up for another race in May. The Luxembourg half marathon was the race I chose to see if I could beat my time. Unfortunately, I did worse in Luxembourg. I won’t put my time on here, but I’ll just say that I still would love to beat my Prague time by 2 minutes. Someday…
After the race, and still smiling.
I will continue April through July on the second half of this post.
Anna 🙂
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Our Family Story.