BAH!! SOOOO EXCITED~!

So we are leaving for MN tomorrow morning! I don't think anyone has any idea how freaking excited I am!! :) Now, we just need to get through our 10 hour flight, 7 hour layover, and 2 hour flight to MN and we will be set! See you all soon!

On May 15 we took a trip to the Black Forest! A long bus ride to a dark forest! It was really pretty minus all the rain we had that day! We took a trip to see a few wood-carvers, a bee keeper, schnapps tasting with a traditional Black Forst meal, and cuckoo clock shopping in Triberg.

<--This picture is of wooden faces, carved out by hand. They use these in celebrations such as Fasching (similar to Halloween).




<-- The family! Here we are at a locally owned farm, they served us our meal of smoked ham and swiss cheese. It was actually soo much better than it really sounds! They also had pickles, bread, and soda. Probably the best pickles EVER! :) They sang us their German National Anthem and played some music for us! They definitely made us feel welcome!







<-- Here is a photo of our meal! It was amazing!












This photo is of a German man carving out a tree for us to see. He hand-carves his own cuckoo clocks and sells them at local clock shops, as well customers in other countries. It was pretty neat to see someone so young doing something like this.








<-- My Briahna at the first wood-carver! The logs were formed to have a heart in the middle! :)












We also took a trip to Stuttgart this past weekend! I had the weekend off and let me tell you, it was amazing! I am NOT looking forward to going back to work this week! Anyways, our trip to Stuttgart consisted of the Wilhelma Botanical Garden, Kin's Palace Chinese food, the Porsche Museum, and a visit to the zentrum (city center). It was lovely! I'll post pics of that soon! :) Today, Monday, we spent the day at the pool! The weather has finally been nice and sunny! It has made me in a much better mood!

Well, I can NOT wait to come home the 31st! I am in need of some family time and shopping! Ugh! So excited and angry that I have to go to work this WHOLE week! boo! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Procrastination anyone?

Yup, I admitted it. I am a true procrastinator! It is actually quite horrible! I am taking my online class right now, beginning algebra or something along those lines, anyways, I have yet to do last week's assignment! It is so difficult trying to teach myself through this online course. I NEVER had so much trouble in math before, I always got A's in highschool and my early years of college. But, for some reason, this class is killing me. And instead of sitting there trying to figure it out, I keep giving up. I really do not want to quit, but online learning is NOT for me. I would much rather have a set schedule and go to my class everyday. At least I know I have an actual teacher who can sit down and help me! Also, this Learning Team bullsh*t at University of Phoenix is ridic! I don't need team work for a dang math class, and than get shitty postings about not participating and such! Yea, I don't have enough time in my day to deal with this! Ugh!

On a good note, Miss B is growing like a dang weed! :) I have been so busy the last few weeks, I litterally missed her growing 2 inches! What! She is getting so big, and she is so smart! She puts this smile on my face and knows how to keep it there! I am planning to enroll her into the Children's Learning Academy again! It is pricey, but worth it! She is so bright for being 2 1/2! Speaking of age, my little girl will be 3 in June! I can not believe this! The time sure flys! It is amazing to watch her personality develope over the years! Ah my love!

Also got my new camera the other day! I am in love! Can't wait to post new pictures of our upcoming trip this weekend! We are going to the Black Forest in Germany! I am so excited to spend the day with my 2 favorte people! Oh I also found my dress for K's wedding! Victoria Secret, how I love thee! It is adorable, and I am about to order it tonight! :) Well, just 20 more days and we will be on our way to Minne! Family and friends, here we come!

What a week!

SO I can't decide if this was a good week or a bad week! I began my week with some shopping with my bestie! That was lovely, however I spent more money than I should have! BUT I found the cutest little clothes for B! I celebrated Cinco De Mayo on Wednesday with a friend of mine who came back to Germany! That night was quite exciting, BUT I had the hangover from HELL for 3 days following! I had to call in sick the next day, how embarrassing! You know, I did tell the truth as to why I wasn't going to be there, but I felt so dang guilty! :(  Friday, I met with a prospective client for childcare! (She called me today to watch her kiddos!!) Saturday I made an appearance at work, I was a bit embarassed, as all of my coworkers saw me on Wednesday, but they proceeded to tell me how fun I was and what not! So that was a good thing? Sunday, I actually picked up a shift at Chili's because I knew it was Mother's day and it would be busy, therefore, I would make money! ($92 to be exact). T and B came to suprise me with a rose :) So sweet of them! I got home and T cooked burgers and we just hung out at home! I was planning to do my school work last night and today, and yea STILL not happening. My math class is kicked my booty! It's difficult for me to teach myself online versus in the classroom with an actual teacher! Frustrated for sure! Today, I went and got some new coloring books, paints, books, and a game for the kiddos tonight! I also stopped by the passport office and recieved our tourist passports! We can now officially travel anywhere! Woot! I am also watching 2 new kiddos tonight, so I am prety excited about that! I think T is as well, he cancelled his plans so he could be home too! :) Sweet guy, I know! Oh and I think he is going to come home on leave with us!!! Yay! So I guess this week was more good than bad I think? Maybe just long! The fact that I have a weeks worth of school work to do tonight, is what will probably push me over the edge! :( I'm sure I will end up turning it in late! Not good I know, but what can ya do! Online schooling isn't for everyone!

Happy Late Mother's day to all those AMAZING women out there! This world would NOT exist without you! No matter how much better you think or thought you could be, your children love you and are proud to have you as their mother no matter what!

Well, that's it for now! Nothing exciting, but my way to sort out my thoughts :)

Toby Keith...

I took B to her first Toby Keith concert last night here in Ramstein, Germany! He was here en route to Afgahnistan! B enjoyed it for about 2-3 songs and was ready to leave! T of course is not a coutnry fan so he had no objections for leaving early! It was a good concert for sure, it's great that these guys come over here and put on shows for our soldiers! They most definitely need the morale boost! :) The USO is a great organization and they do so much for our soldiers! If you ever get the opportunity, make a donation or volunteer your time! Heck, just stop into a USO office and thank them for what they are doing! Our soldiers appreciate the "home away from home." 

Oh technology...how I love you...and...

HATE you! Can you believe how advanced technology has become, just in the last 15 years? It is unreal. Technology and all of it's amazing quirks and horrific downfalls have been on my mind lately. My current battle with technology is online schooling. BAH! I know it is convenient and easy and blah blah FREAKING blah, BUT it is not for  me. It is too easy to log on, write a few sentences for discussion, and write a few papers. But I am currently in an algebra class, NOT easy if you don't have a teacher to watch or go to for questions. Math is more of a "write it down and solve out the problem step by step." I sit at a computer ALL day long, I don't want to come home and spend the rest of my night sitting in front of the damn computer again! It's killing my back and my family time! WTH!

Okay so maybe it's not that bad, but I am frustrated with it and would rather go to a REAL school with REAL teachers who actually have teaching degrees! UGh!

Another technology downfall, debit/credit cards and ATM machines. WTH do we do when the financial instituion we use has system failures or updates. We don't know when that happens, but you go to the store or the ATM and guess what, DECLINED! The other day, the credit unions system was down, the ONLY way to get money was to walk your ass into the bank and withdraw money. I have never seen such angry or rude people in my life. They try to blame me for the issues, as if I have any control over that! But anyways, as I was thinkin throughout the day, people have their entire life savings in some financial institution somewhere, what do we do when the system is down? I mean do we continue to trust the banks and keep our money in there, maybe have a safe at home with our money in it, or split it half and half, that way we at least earn interest? I mean WTH do we do? I was talkin to the branch manager about money in general, and say for SOME reason, EVERYONE needed to get their money out of the bank, did you know it is NOT Possible??! Banks do not hold enough money in their vaults to suffice EVERYONE who has an account there. So then what? Something to think about huh!

We are beginning to depend way to much upon technology. Some day it will get the best of us! It wouldn't hurt to become more simple. I mean honestly, do we REALLY need internet on our phones, WI-FI in the lunch room, grocery shopping online? We are getting lazier and lazier and less and less smart as time goes on! What is it going to be like when our children are old enough to be on their own?

Okay, done rasing some hell! On the upside, there are some GREAT things about technology of course! Especially in the medical and criminal field. With out some of that technology, people wouldn't be able to overcome illness and criminals would get away with so much more! And yes, I will admit it is nice to have internet on the phone, you know for that important e-mail you have been waiting for all week, or  whatever it is people NEED it for. I can't complain too much, but just saying!

And that is it for now! I have spent ALL day on the computer and I am now shot! I'll be back tomorrow AFTER my 5 hours of homework!