Getting Medieval on you!

I know, I have been slacking on my posts!  I didn't even do the Friday fill-in!  Dang, I really like those things too!  I will do my bestest to post it this Friday, but something uber exciting is happening then.  Wait for it...

My in-laws are coming to visit!!!

Now, most women would not be saying this as excitingly as I am, but I have been truly blessed with a great new family.  They are sweet, wonderful people, and I am excited to have my first visitors since I have been to Germany.  We will be taking them locally around Germany, and also taking a mini-vacation to London!  It is about a two hour plane ride from here, and even though I have been before, I am looking forward to sharing this experience with them.  I love all things UK.  I have been to Ireland, Scotland, and England, and those have been three of my favorite countries.

Now, on to more local things.  Fall is (I think) officially here.  However, a few weeks ago it was nice and toasty here in Germany.  Joel, me, and a few friends went to a local medieval fest, and I wanted to post a few pictures.  Everyone gets dressed up in costume, and they have a camp sent up selling yummy treats and crafts.  This one was in Kaiserslautern, our home turf, so it was a nice day out.

The local chick band

Camp life

Me and Joel...and naturally people bathing behind us (weird!?!)

A storming of the castle!

Scary!

All in all a good day.  :)

Oh what a man I have...

I have been pretty lucky with my husband's hours.  Especially considering that he is in the military.  Sure I have to deal with TDYs and Deployments, and we're not going to even go into how bad they suck.  But, when he is here with me, he is usually home before I get off of work.  It is really nice.  We can (usually) make plans for dinner, hang out with friends (we have a Wednesday tv night tradition), and schedule whatever needs to be done as far as joint errands, etc.  But, for the past week and this one, he was/will be working 12 hour night shifts.  This is a big "boo!" for me because, since I also work, that means I will get to see my husband for about an hour each day.  No bueno.  So, in order for me to perk up, because in reality I realize that I am one of the fortunate ones with this assignment, I remind myself of some fond memories.  So today I am going to send a big shout out to my husband for how sweet he really was recently.

We recently tried a restaurant with some friends in the village next to us (Landstuhl), and really enjoyed the atmosphere.  It was quiet, cute, and quaint, and the food and wine were delish!  We vowed to return.  Joel noticed that there was a "candlelight dinner" special on the menu, and booked us a romantic dinner there a few weekends ago.  It was by complete surprise and a truly romantic gesture!

(Table decorations)

We sat down to this lovely table decorated with flowers and candles.  Well, let me back that up a second.  First, they sat us down at an ordinary table and lit a candle.  We were a little perplexed, but hey, it technically was candlelight.  When they handed us menus (the candlelight dinner had a set menu) they realized we were at the wrong table, and moved us to a quiet corner of the restaurant away from the main dining room with OUR table, which was absolutely beautiful.  They even made a heart out of candles!

(Aww!)

(The view into the main dining room)

The food was absolutely divine!  We started off with some yummy homemade bread and quark butter, and they gave us a half bottle of wine of our choice and water.  Joel was sweet, and even though he likes dry wine he opted for a semi-sweet bottle for me.  We then moved on to the main course.  Chateau briand!  We also had croquettes, fries (in true German style), cooked veggies, grilled tomatoes, and this mushroom concoction.  It was way too much food, but we made good works out of it!

(Yum!)

The meal ended with dessert consisting of vanilla eis and hot raspberries.  To everyone that can (especially those in Germany) please try it!  You won't be disappointed.  We went home and well...I have shared all of the story that needs told.  The moral to this posting is that sometimes I need to remember the good things about my husband's career.  If we weren't stationed in Germany, we never would have found this delightful place, among many other things.  And for these experiences, and many more to come, I am thankful.

Does anyone want to share anything that they have been thankful for lately?

Friday Fill In!

Ok, this always looks like fun, so I thought I would join in.  Wife of a Sailor does this great "getting to know you" questionnaire, and I think I want to play!

1.  If you could be a fugitive from the law for whatever reason, what would your crime be? (from It's a Hooah Life)

First of all, I hope never to be in this position!  But, gosh...hmm...ok, it would have to be getting in trouble for kidnapping my husband!  Cheesy, right?  Well, the military is always pulling him away from me and they can never make up their minds about anything.  Nothing seems to pass the common sense test, know what I mean?  So, I can see myself in this dream world of just kidnapping him and running around the world as a fugitive.  I think we are worldly enough we might be able to do it!

2.  How long do you think you will be a military family? (from Julie the Army Wife)

Well, Joel now has six years in.  If it were up to me, I'd say next year when he can put in his resignation.  But, he really loves what he does, and, well...I love him.  Se we will be doing this for at least fourteen more years.  Wow...did I really just say that?  We are lifers!

3.  What's your favorite recipe? (from Keep Calm and Soldier On)

Crap!  I hate these questions.  I am not much of a baker, and I can cook just fine and dandy, but everything I do I just "do."  No recipes.  I would like to get better at that (anyone?), but for right now I can't share a recipe.  :(

4.  What would you want your last five words to be when you leave this life? (from My Goal is Simple)

Life was full of love :)
5. Where do you hope to retire? (from Pennies from Heaven)

Wow, I wish I was ready to retire!  But, it sure is fun to think about.  I am a Midwestern gal through and through, and if I could pick anywhere right now, it would be Louisville, KY.  I love it there.  Big city with a small town feel, lots to see and do, four seasons, with family and friends near by.  What more could I ask for?  Just don't ask my husband, the Oregonian, this question.  I think he'll slightly disagree.

Blog Hop 2010!

So, thanks to my bloggy buddy Kendra, I have decided to join the blog Hop 10 that Pensieve is hosting.  Seems to be a lot of fun, so if no one minds, I think I will play along!

My name is Kristen, 26, married to my husband who is serving in the United States Air Force.  We just got married in May (newlyweds!).  We met because we are both stationed in Germany.  I, too, work for the military...but I work for the good ole' US Army!  So, we tend to have branch wars with the bets of them.  But, we truly believe that all paths in life brought us together, and we are one of *those* couples who truly are best friends.  Gag me, right?  Don't worry, I won't be too sickeningly sweet on here.

My blog is not just limited to military talk, although I am sure that will encompass some of it, because it is a big part of my life!  We are also huge travelers and love to post pictures as memories.  But, I also blog about randomness of being 26 and still trying to figure life out.

I have a dog, my lovable pug Pugsley, and my super cool cat (ha, get the joke there?)  Jaeger.  No babies, and that's a whole other part that my husband isn't allowed to bug me about yet.  We will be moving next year back to the states, and doing all of those new couple things like decorating, buying a house, me re-finding a job, as I will be following my husband's career (note: I am not so excited about this).  I love my husband and I will do my best to not kill him during all of this, because I will miss him...just a little. :)

Working on my fitness...

So, Joel and I got married in May.  We are on three months of newlywedded bliss now.  Since we live in Germany and flew to the states to get married, we opted out of taking an immediate honeymoon.  Instead, we wanted to focus on new family and friends, and worry about ourselves later.  Plus, May is a beautiful time of the year, and we thought it would be better to escape the cold winter to go to the beach.  So, we planned a January honeymoon to paradise.  No, literally, to paradise.  May I present, THE MALDIVES!

www.meeru.com

We will be staying here in a jacuzzi water villa, which will look like this.

I know, right?  This is an all-inclusive resort, which will mean a whole lot of swimming, snorkeling, hanging out in the jacuzzi, and relaxing.  You know what I will have to wear during all of this?  That's right, a bathing suit.  You know the problem with this?  I feel that I look like this...

Ok, obvs that isn't me, and of course I am not that fat.  But, I sure feel like it a lot of days.  I have put on more weight in the past year than I can admit to people I have never met.  That's bad!  But, I am determined to lose some weight before the honeymoon.  I have worked out twice this week, and I am not stopping there!  I hope to make it to the gym (in between work and school) at least two or three times a week plus working out at home.  I need this for me...for my sanity!  I want to take lots of pictures during out honeymoon because we didn't have a photographer at our wedding, and I want to make an album out of the two events.  So any advice or encouragement is greatly appreciated.  I want to be -15 lbs by mid January. 

Attainable, no?