my new blog link

Here is my new link: bright-eyed girl.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments this past week and past months. I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and stories and I hope that I have more interesting stories to share (possibly even some German stories). Thanks.

life just really sucks

…no more German…
…no more Germany…
…no more Hamburg Bound…

I will be taking a break from the blogging world to regroup and start another path. I will be posting my new blog link soon.

the four letter F-word

F-I-R-E!

Last night we saw the fire creeping over the hills. It is the first time that I saw flames among all the smoke and ash that we have been living in this week. My family’s house is not in the path, but it is scary how close the fire actually is to us. This week we all decided to stay inside after seeing how dirty everything has become outside from the ash-saturated air. Everything is covered in ashes and dirt — you feel dirty everytime you step outside to walk to your car. This morning, the sun seemed to be neon-orange due to the smoke haze that lingered above our heads. Hopefully the weather will calm down by the end of the week and the firefighters will get everything under control.

Let the countdown begin!

One month from now I will be back in HH — just for a quick visit — and I can barely contain how excited I am.

Since my flight is approaching the holiday season, I paid a bit more to have a shorter flight AND only one connection! After several flights to HH with 3+ connections (each with 2-3 hours layover time), I am starting to realize that a super cheap flight has lower priority compared to, let’s say, my sanity.

Hopefully the next four weeks will fly back, so I can catch my plane just in time for Thanksgiving in Hamburg.

insert baby feet here

I knitted these baby booties last weekend with this great dyed yarn.

I was a bit apprehensive if I had enough yarn, but I did, so I made a matching newborn cap.

In comparision to my size 7 running shoe:

my trip to Minnesota

Back to the blogging world. I am a bit apprehensive about writing about my daily activities and thoughts, but I think I have figured out a way to keep writing without feeling that I am exposing my loved one to prying eyes.

As the title states, I flew back to my home state a couple of weeks ago to take care of my father’s estate. I decided it was going to be a quick trip, not counting the couple of flight delays (2 hours in Phonenix and 5 hours in Salt Lake City), so I spent Saturday and Sunday visting with family and friends, checking out the old neighborhood “hang-out” spots (i.e. Caribou coffee, the mall, Uptown), and eating. When I was stuck in Phoenix, waiting to connect to Minneapolis, I started to think about all the yummy places I used to eat in MN. So I made a mental list to eat at some of my favorite places, if I had time. After arriving in Minneapolis, my stomach took over. When I was driving all over the Twin Cities to visit old hang-out spots, I ended up eating and eating and eating. I went to the Edina Grill, then I ate some Knusen caramels @ the G.S., then Cafe Latte cake, finally made it to the Chalet Pizza Place, and of course, drank some non-Starbucks coffee @ Caribou Coffee. Other than the tummyache, all the eating was worth it. Below is a photo album of some of locations that I visited. Minnesota is such a beautiful state with friendly people and great food; it was nice to be reminded where my roots are.

Back in Minnesota

german “catch-22″

With all my free-time on my hands, I promised myself that I would open my german books, so when I am back in Germany, a full complete sentence will come out of my mouth. One could only dream, right? A couple of days ago I ordered German grammar practice books through a local seller on Abebooks. The nice thing was that I could use my Paypal account, rather than give out my CC information. Simply really, until I started to worry about completing the order. I waited to received an email that explained where to route my payment. I received a couple of emails through the abebooks.de website; nothing that seem to hint where to send my money.

After a couple of days, I took another look at my emails, and translated every word. The first sentence clearly states (in German) where and how to pay the seller. I guess I need those books more than I thought.

kitten update

LB is quickly growing up to be the queen bee of the house; Roy (another cat) has given up and resigned to the fact that LB rips tuffs of hair off his butt, and Violet (our french bulldog) is aloof. But time will tell if Victoria (my cat) gives up her “Queen” role.

where do I begin?

thanks for all the positive comments, everyone! I am emerging back into the blogging world; a bit calmer than my last post.

It felt great finish my DAT. I flew up to the Bay for the bachelorette party (fun fun) and the wedding (great fun). Then, I flew back home and I realized that I was finished studying for the DAT and all my summer travel plans were complete, a fear crept over me. What do I do with my free time? Um, huh.

First, I took 4 days just to read, swim, cook, sleep, do yoga, and spend time with my family. It was wonderful.

What now, right? I am still in the waiting stages of my dental application and I am continueing to improve my dental knowledge (today I saw my first tooth pulpatomy). And for fun, I cracked up the german books again. Wow, what a language.

is it August yet?

This summer needs to end as soon as possible. I am completely exhausted at the end of everyday, which would explain my lack of blogging posts. Work, studying, taking care of my dad’s estate, and sleeping basically consume my day. Thank you to all my friends who have kept checking up on me. I appreciate all your thoughts.

My dental application is still being processed. My transcript was finally reviewed, approved and processed. One more letter and it will be on its way to the 13 dental schools I applied to. I am taking the DAT again in two weeks, so I have been reading, and studying and taking millions of practice tests.

When my head hits the pillow, I dream of my life back in Hamburg with Flin. I miss him so much. I can hardly wait until we are living together again. There is so much that we miss when he lives his life and I live mine on seperate continents. I am just tired of 6,000 miles, of planning trips, of waiting 3 to 6 months to get a hug, and of wanting to be somewhere else. I am just tired, I guess. I am hoping that when I head back to Hamburg that life is more enjoyable and fun. My posts will pick up soon, too, I promise. August is looking better and better with Rachel’s bachelorette party and then, Rachel and Steve’s wedding. Flin is flying over for these events and I am excited to see him again, as always. Here is to the summer wrapping it up and to a more enjoyable days.