a new pair of old jeans.

This is truly a sad day, because my favorite jeans are finally falling apart. The realization that my perfectly worn in jeans from high school are too tattered to wear anymore. The overly faded denim, and the unflattering frayed holes are indications that our long relationship is most likely over. This is a sad, sad day for me. I hope that i can one day find another pair of jeans that can go the distance as much as these jeans did!!!

Oktoberfest Munich 2009

As an observer at this year’s Oktoberfest in Munich, I was able to be a sober onlooker at the events of the world famous Oktoberfest.

Our group consisted of four of Todd’s teammates, and two of their girlfriends. We decided to travel to Munich by train, we were told to meet at the train station at 5:45am to catch the 6:00am trail to Munich. As we all found our seats on the train, one of Todd’s teammates proceeds to pull out 3 six packs of beer. Now, my initial thought was that the group would drink the beers before we entered the festival, which would most likely be around 11am. (Even still, I thought that 11am was way too early for drinking.)

At 6:02am Todd’s teammate begins to open the box of beers and starts to pass them around, one for each person. By 6:04 just as the train begins to roll along the tracks, all 6-group members begin toasting and drinking. Thus was the beginning of our Oktober festivities.

While making our way to one of the “world famous” beer tents, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between children and adults. You have sugared rushed kids stumbling from one carnival booth to another in search for their next candy to win and devour. Then you have the overly intoxicated adults acting like children stumbling from one beer tent to another in search of their next beer to consume. The irony of it all is that whether you were an adult or child, come nightfall, the designated family member or friend would be forced to baby-sit.

Finally, the beer tents the loud, colorful, smoky, and overly crowded beer tents. I had no idea how we were going to find an open table for 7, considering there were people standing everywhere due to the lack of seat and open tables.

So, the guys devised a game plan:
The guys decided to use us girls as bait. Our job was to find the table with the most men, and then us girls would use our womanly charm to get them to ask us to join them at there table. Then eventually, we would have our guys squeeze in, leaving no chance for the other guys to continue flirting with us, thus resulting in them leaving, and us having a table.

Well, the first part of the plan seemed to work like a charm. Second part, not so much, the men could care less if we had boyfriends or if we were married, they immediately bought us drinks and came in close so there was no easy way out for us girls. We respectfully declined the drink, and said that we needed to use the restroom. After their playful objections to our departure, we finally made it to a table the guys snagged up. By this time, the guys were already 2 drinks in.

After a few hours of singing along with 4,000 other drunken tent mates and dancing on tabletops, and after consuming about 4 gallons of alcohol between the 6 people in our group, the night was officially over.

All in all, as and observer and not a participant in Oktoberfest, I’d have to say that it was TOO MUCH:
Too much drinking, singing, talking, laughing, eating, toasting, smoking, yelling, dancing, spending, touching, flirting, groping, kissing, cheering, stumbling, falling, slurring, peeing, playing, barfing, fighting, punching, and resulting in the police arresting.
But, I guess you can never have “too much” of a good thing. Great time! Even better memories… Check it off the list!

Old Naked.

So, When Todds Physiotherapist told him that he needed to go to the local spa to rehabilitate his hamstring, We both thought to ourselves, great, while Todd uses the pool to work out his injury, i can use the sauna. We thought this would be a perfect break from our often mundane routine.

As Todd and I are getting ready for a day at SpaVital, We could not stop talking about how great it's going to be, to be able to sit in a sauna, and steam room again.
Now, Since Todd is apart of the basketball team, and SpaVital is a sponsor of the team, Todd he gets a free membership to this spa. I however, needed to pay 14 Euros. (Yeah, I thought that was pretty steep too) but we payed the entrance fee, and proceeded to the locker rooms.

As we walked in, Todd and I notice that it is just one large room, full of lockers, No separate rooms for men and women. At first we thought this was strange, but since we We both already had our suits on, we didn't think much of it.

We locked our belongings into the locker, and proceeded to walked out of the locker room through the showers, and into the spa area.

As Todd and I walked out onto patio, I quickly notice something to the left of me rather orange with glowing gray hair and frighteningly droopy and moving at a snails pace. As my eyes frantically focused on the object I instantly become uncomfortable.

This glowing Gray haired wonder was actually a 68 year old women completely naked. That orange glow, well, that was just her over processed tan, the droopiness well that was due to her being hunched over her walker.

Just as eyes were finally registering with my brain what i was looking at, I notice another old object directly in front of me underneath a shower head. This time, the body parts were not as distinguishable as the previous radiant orange fox i had just seen. Let me just say, when "Mother Nature" and "Father Time" work as a team, they can be pretty harsh! This time, a man was showering in all his naked old man glory pointed right at me. At that instant, my brain went into overload and I began to frantically look for the only thing familiar to me... Todd.

As i looked to the right of me, I found Todd, still looking at the old lady that was to the left of me. Now, if you know Todd, you may know that he has terribly eyesight. So, Todd said to me kind of in the form of a question/statement, "Ash, look at the man right there, look a his man boobs." And, at that very moment it hit him, like a ton of bricks... that was NO man. That was an old lady... and she was naked. Todd quickly looked away, but everywhere he looked more nakedness.

Todd grabbed my hand and we instantly turned right back around through the showers and into the locker room. Both speechless, we didn't know what to say to one another, we just started laughing hysterically. So we walked back out to the foyer and asked the employee of the facility if it were okay if we wore our bathing suits. His answer was simply, "NO, but you can wear a towel around yourselves." So we thought okay, we would just give it another shot and suck it up. As long as we were covered up it would be fine, we could handle this, We are mature adults here!!!!!

So, Again, through the locker room and out the shower room doors, to the outside deck... another look around, and we again turned right back around got dressed and got the heck out of there.

So as Todd and I are driving back home we could not believe the situation we were just in. However, The greatest part about it, while driving home Todd turns and says to me, "So wait. How was i supposed to rehab my knee there? Did they really expect me to stretch and run in a pool of water that comes up to my mid thighs, completely butt naked... with my wiener all hanging out...? "

Wow! What a day!

Singing the Blues

What is it about blues music that can ignite emotion in someone? I mean every time i hear Mr. B.B King play that guitar, i can actually feel the music. It's as if those six guitar strings being played is compilation of emotions that cannot be expressed with words alone. With every riff that is played another layer of real emotion comes out with it, with every strum of the pick there is another harmonious storyline of Love, Despair, Passion, Grief, Excitement and Sorrow that is felt deep in ones soul.
Most of these song these stories are personal experiences that are being expressed through music, and only a great artist can make you feel as though you yourself had gone through it.
Thanks B.B.

We're Here!!

To think I thought Reims, France was a small town; Crailsheim, Germany is about half that size, but however small this town is in comparison, it sure makes up for in hospitality. It’s amazing, when you smile at someone; you actually get a smile back! Shocking!!!

After our trek up our 7 flights of stairs we finally make it to our new home. Our humble one bedroom apartment, tiny kitchen, and even smaller bathroom, but it already is feeling a little like home. As we began to unpack our entire life for the next few months from our suitcases, the realization of another season in Europe is setting in.

The first few days of adjusting are always pretty difficult. It’s one thing just trying to adjust to the time change and catching up on lost sleep, but it usually takes a few weeks to get everything in order.

Upon our arrival, we entered our very clean apartment; unfortunately, it currently is lacking most of the necessities needed for everyday living. We currently have no, towels, no washer, a broken water pipe in our kitchen which leaks water underneath the sink; and as far as a nice warm shower we haven’t had one yet due to a broken water heater. So we had to make due with sponge bathes with boiled water from the stove. And used dish towels to dry off. But to be honest, despite all the minor hiccups, I must say, I am starting to love our little home.

With our clothes finally placed neatly in drawers and shelves. We officially are unpacked. Now we just have to wait for TV and Internet. It’s amazing how attached one is to the Internet and technology. I’ve been Internet free for just one day and I’m already itching and frantic for a usable IP address. It’s crazy how everything is so centered on the World Wide Web. How am I going to check my email, or upload new photos and videos? How will I know what the most recent top ten songs on itunes are?

How will I know what happens in the next episode of Entourage?

Minus the little bumps in the road the first few days, things are looking pretty good. Germans, over all are amazingly hospitable. They are mostly all smiles, and warm natured, a big change from last year. Most of them know English, and are willing to speak to you and help you out in any way. It’s a pretty positive start for this season. My motto for this year, is Keep the Positive and get rid of the Negativity!

Once I get an Internet connection I will be posting videos and photos up….

Until next time!

Another country another adventure...

Au Revoir France, Hallo Germany!!!!!!!!

Our next adventure will take place in Crailsheim, Germany. Crailsheim is a city in Baden-Wurttemberg province.

As i gear up for another European season. I remind myself how blessed we are. Most people dream of having a Europe experience, we get to live in one.

Is it fun and exciting everyday... NO! But what is?

I am excited to see what is in store for us this season.... wish us luck!

I will keep you posted on our new home this year!

Set Free

How many times will run away?
How many times will i disobey?
Time after time you take me back
each time with no questions asked.


My beloved why do you run from me...
when you know that I have the key that sets you free?
My beloved why do you turn away,
when only I can give your weary soul a place to lay.
Give your burdens to Me so you can be set free
Give your troubles to Me so you can be set free
Give your dreams to Me so you can be set free
I am the one to trust, so put your hope in Me.
I will make you whole, come rest beneath My wing. Rest beneath My wing.


My soul is heavy Lord.
My heart is weary too.
My tears have withered Lord,
Show me what to do.


Give your burdens to me so you will be set free
Give your troubles to Me so you can be set free
Give your dreams to Me so you can be set free

je suis LAZY!

At eating and sleeping, there’s no beating the French

"We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves." -Alice Bloch

TIME


Time, it is either intrusive or nostalgic.
We either have too much of it or not enough.
It is always available, and yet we have no control over it.

Time is perpetual, long after we are gone, it will still keep ticking.

There is no stopping time, not even slowing it down. Time is crafty, one second is a reality, next second it's a distant memory.

Time can be a date, an hour, a season, or lesson learned.

It can be the time when you punched the school bully in 5th grade, the time you went to your first prom, the time you got married to your best friend. The time you realized how much you need your family.

Or it can simply be the moment you found out that some one close to you is quickly running out of time.

How often have we said, "I'll see you tomorrow, I'll do that later, Next time I see you, I'll call when I have more time" ?

In the End we often think that the time given to us was not enough or it was not good enough. The truth is, we swindle ourselves out of our own time. Time is not the Fraud, we are. We tend to think we have this extra "reserve" of it.

In the End, TIME does not dictate whether we have had an ample amount. Nor does it dictate if our time was agreeable or not, WE DO. We determine how we spend our time, we determine if it is well spent, and if it will be an enjoyable journey.

With time, there are no reserves, there are no left overs, and with each second you have it is really all you get. It is what you do with it that makes your Time worthwhile.

"We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves."
-Alice Bloch

Mile Marker Six: A quick story of Adventure!

Click Link to Read my story:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcsvx7mp_0g9k5p9fc

Excellent advice on how to Avoid the Swine Flu

Don't Do This!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Tommy Boy Moment

Well,
While Todd and I were off to the city center for a nice dinner we had what I like to call "Our Tommy Boy Moment."

What most people may or may not know about Europe is that the streets and parking spaces are quite small.

The street Todd and I live on is a one way street. The parking spaces on the street are meant for parallel parking, residence are expected to fit there car into a tiny space in between two tall bushes.

These particular parking spots, if parked correctly, leave you with about a foot of room or less between the two bushes front and back.

Now here is where the story actually begins.

As Todd and I are get in the car we begin to pull out of the spot into the one way street. When we realized that the back drivers door is not closed all the way. Todd, quickly opens his door gets out to make sure the back door is shut all the way, when he spots a line of impatient drivers forming behind our car; all eager to pass him on this tiny one way street.

In order for us to avoid our angry French drivers, Todd decides we'll just reverse the car back into our original parking spot and let everyone pass us.

So, Todd quickly re-shuts the back door, hops in the drivers seat, throws the stick in reverse, and steps on the gas

However, what we both failed to realize is that we had pulled up slightly ahead of one of the large bushes that separates each parking spot. Secondly, we did not realize that we were a lot closer to the bush then we had realized. Lastly, and most importantly, we didn't realize that when Todd threw the car in gear and stepped on the gas had forgotten to shut his door.

So, as Todd and I are backing up frantically, trying to avoid a mob of angry Frenchmen, we realized that the bush had caught the door forcing the door the completely in the opposite direction.

Now, the first thought that came into my head was; "Thank goodness that wasn't me who just did that." And secondly, was "Don't laugh... Not yet, it's too soon."

With my hands over my mouth hiding my shocked grin, Todd and I looked at each other and we both were thinking the same thing... "That didn't just happen?"

That is when the timing was perfect for me to interject in a Chris Farleyish fashion:
"Whatcha do?"

And we both burst into laughter

Upon assessing our door completely distorted as it was, Todd could not get angry with the situation even if i tried because it was just too comical.

Thus resulting in what we call "Our Tommy Boy Moment"

"Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home." - Bill Cosby

i love you mom and dad!

You think that's Funny??

Then laugh about it, For the sake of you health, LAUGH!

The Benefits of Laughing

The Spring of Life...

Being in France, i have come to witness an actual change of seasons.

Winter was horrible. The weather was cold and dreary. The trees were stripped of all their color so that only the true nature of the branches were showing, dark, brown, empty branches.
Winter seemed long and drawn out. I thought Spring would never come.

One morning i woke up early, got out of bed started to make coffee when i saw leaves. I thought to myself, wow, just like that leaves are out.

A week later trees were blooming, color seemed to be everywhere you looked.

Pink and White cherry blossom.
Dark Green New leaves.
Yellow tulips.
White Daisy.

It was as if God worked all night decorating so that i would wake up to a beautiful surprise!

One warm day Todd and I decided to go for a walk. As we were walking the Lord softly showed me through his stunning creation, that the season of our lives are no different than the season of weather.

Much like the leaves in fall, the things in our lives that are weighing us down that are not of God, things that produce no life, need to be stripped and removed.
Each leave must fall before the next season.

Winter cold, forsaken, and barren, in most areas this is when the sun is least felt. And it is often the longest of the seasons.
Our spiritual winter is when God is showing us who we really are. Naked, with nothing to hide behind. We may feel forsaken, we may feel as if we are producing nothing, and we may feel as if we can't feel the Son, and it may feel as if it will never come to and end.

One morning you wake up to tiny colorful sprouts. One morning you wake up with a sense of hope and perseverance. Knowing that winter is coming to an end and Spring is approaching rapidly. That if the dead leaves hadn't been removed, if it wasn't for the time of barrenness and nakedness, there would have been no room for the new life of beauty that Lord had planed for all along.

God was showing me that,
We MUST go through times of Winter, long, lonely, and as cold as they are, are necessary in order for new life to be brought out in us.

It makes the colors in our Spring that much BRIGHTER!

Luck of the Irish

Who wouldn't like to go to Ireland during St. Patrick's day?
So, when the opportunity presented itself to my husband and I we pounced on the chance like a cat and mouse.
First thing I noticed exiting the automatic doors from the airport was something so familiar to me and yet foreign at the same time.
Something that was native to me my whole life, yet seemed as if I was hearing it for the first time... the sweet, sweet, sound people speaking English.
For the first time in four months I could actually ease drop on a conversation, I could ask a question without trying to mime what I wanted, without blank stares and awkward, silent moments. It was as refreshing as a cool swim in summer heat.

Temple Bar, notorious for pub life, live music, crowded bars, and your occasional drunk on the street either crying or singing to themselves. Either way, it is quite the place to be anytime of the year.

There was an estimated 500,000 people in Dublin during St. Patrick's Day. I could swear 300,000 thousand of them were in Gogerty's Pub. It was as if I were drowning in a sea of green hats, people around you in ever direction. Getting to the bar was like an obstacle course, pushing, jerking, squeezing, sucking in, squat down, lean forward, with beads of sweat on my face, and my lungs gasping for air i finally made it. The next obstacle, getting a drink.

15 min later, Bulmers for Moi, and Guiness for Todd.
Ireland is exactly how you imagined it would be. Red headed freckles faces, live music, cheerful converstaion, drunkers singing old Irish Folk songs, singing their heart out all in unison, even Todd and I joined in, it's quite hard not to when the Irish make you feel so at home.

I'm not sure what it was about Ireland that made it feel like home. Great music, hospitality, amazing food, friendly faces, orange, white and green sequence bowa's? I'm really not sure.
I guess i'll just have to make another trip!

It's never the Destination.

As the plane slowly makes it's decent into Charles De Galle Airport, I desperately look outside my plastic window, as my heavy eyes squint, unsuccessfully trying to avoid the early morning sun beams. I was in search for something, anything Parisian, A distant Chateau, tiny streets filled with tiny little ant like dots, those famous "Round About", and yes even The Eiffel Tower.
However, much to my disappointment, flying into Charles De Galle Airport is NOT as excited as I had imagined. It was much like flying into Montgomery, Alabama and even that was a bit more eventful. The scene outside my private window slowly became clearer and larger, as the French flight attendant begins to prepare for landing, something is said over the intercom which the only thing i can make out is toilet... 7 minutes later... tires screeching.

My first couple weeks in France was quite stimulating to my very Americanized mind.
Seeing modern stores awkwardly placed in classic, vintage buildings, some which even date back to 1700. I quickly learned spiral staircases are NOT as fun as I had always imagined. They are very impractical, especially if you have large feet!

Cliché that are true:
The French do actually walk around with at least two large baguettes in hand.
The French take pristine care of their dogs.
The French also do NOT pick up after their dogs. ( it is not fun nor is it safe to constantly be watching what you step in)
Most French folk do not like Americans.

Cliché that are false:
Don't have any.

Adjustments:
Coming from a city where you can get a Starbucks Coffee at eleven o'clock in the evening, or if you really wanted you could get a sirloin steak at nine in the morning. Then suddenly being in a city where the closest Starbucks is an hour a forty-five minute drive into Paris, and only choice of fast food is McDonald's or KFC (which just opened in our town a week ago, it was very exciting, I even got dressed up for the event, It was a big deal!)

It's like I keep telling myself... It's NEVER the destination, it's ALWAYS the journey!


Copy link and past in URL bar to see the town we currently live in.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/06/23/reims.france/index.html