Burnt Macaroons

Its been a pretty good week so far. Mostly because the snow finially came! Everyday the weather would say that it was supposed to snow and nothing would come. Then yesterday morning I woke up and looked out the window and there it was. Beautiful white powder covering everything. I was so excited I may have yelled "It's snowing" and did a little dance. Greg immeditly told me I was way to excited. What can I say, I just love the snow! It really makes it feel more like Christmas.

The night before Greg had promised to go to the gym with me. Working out has really become something I love and with all my free time I can finally really focus on it. So I asked a friend of mine if he could set me up with a plan. I want to start lifting weights and incoperate other things other then just running. I figured it gives me a goal and something to work towards.

Greg being the nice boyfriend he is said he would go with me and go over my workouts and show me how to properly do everything.  The gym was dead when we got there which was perfect. We didn't have to worry about rushing.

Greg and I really enjoy working out together. We always have fun and it's a great way to take your mind off what your doing. I just wish we could go together more often. Although I don't think he liked the picture taking part. I told him people like to see pictures and what fun is a story without something to look at! So he gave me this face when I told him to smile for the blog : )

After our workout stopped and picked up some groceries and then it was home for lunch. We fallowed that up with a few episodes of Dexter. Around 6pm I jumped in the shower and got ready. We had plans to meet up with some guys from the team for drinks. We started at the Christmas market where Greg of course had a steak sandwhich and then walked to a near by Irish pub. 

I enjoyed my black apple while playing the finger game. It was a silly game but very entertaining. I lost the first few times we played but once I got the hang of it I was good to go. We had a fun little night out and headed home before midnight. Our taxi driver ended up being a guy Greg and I saw earlier that morning at the gym. We thought that was pretty ironic. 

When we got home I needed a little something sweet so I enjoyed one of my burnt macaroons I made the night before. Next time I will pay more attention when making these tasty balls of coconut. Apparently they burn easy. Thankfully it made no difference and they were still delicious!

The rest of our evening will be spent bumming around and starting the second season of Dexter. Every time we watch the show I laugh because the creators get you to like Dexter even though he is a serial killer. Sounds kind of crazy when you think about it! Don't you agree?

This Christmas Market Will Be the Death Of Me

Today Greg and I wanted to get out of the house and go walk around the christmas market again. Seeing as the first night we went it was so packed you could hardly walk. Our plan was to go walk around and kill some time before we meet some friends for sushi. We both got ready, layered up for the cold, and headed downtown. Our first stop was to get Greg a steak sandwhich we saw the other night and wanted to try. After he scarfed that down he headed over to get some coffees because we were out this morning and I am one of those people who needs their coffee.

As the lady made our coffees these little fellows caught my eye. Now if you ask me they do this because all the people around here are so religious and they all love chocolate so who is going to say no to buying one of these. No home is compleat during the holidays with out it ahah! My eyes then went stright over to the baked goods

This country will never fail me when it comes to treats. They are everywhere and I will admit I have tried many of them. But not today I did not want to spoil my meal. 

Greg and I took our coffees to go and continued on our way. As we walked around looking at all the little nick-nacks for sale we got a message from our friends that they were not going to make it. The first thing out of Greg's mouth. "Now I can try all the food!" I was starving seeing as I had yet to eat so we walked around trying to find something for me. Some how I ended up with a hotdog and Greg with a suasage. It was actually way better than any hotdog I have ever had at home. After we finished Greg had not filled his bottomless pit yet so he went back for another steak sandwhich. Him being the weirdo he is made me go and order it so he did not look like a fatty. 

After he was done we remembered we only had an hour on the meter and should start heading back...but not without stopping for some roasted nuts!! We both looked at each other and knew this place was bad news. We (Greg) just ate our way threw the market! I think we are going to avoid going downtown for a while because clearly we can not handle the temptation. 

Once we got home we decided to start watching Dexter because we finished our last show and needed something new to watch. We both have seen it before but never started from the very begining. We watched the first two episodes before Greg had to leave for practice. We plan on watching a few more after he gets home and we eat dinner. Our sleep schedule is a little off lately so Im thinking about breaking out our german sleepy time tea (aka tranquilizer tea) so that we will be able to go to bed at a decent hour and get back into the grove of waking up early.

Hope everyone had a happy Monday!!!

To Much Free Time

Now that I have settled into my life here in Germany and I feel comfortable I find that I have more and more time on my hands. I really should not complain! I know people are reading this right now and thinking, and no Im not trying to have a pity party. I am just simply stating I have more time then I know what to do with.

I have been a none top student sense I can remember. The goal was always to graduate from college and then get a job. Well somewhere in that plan I meet Greg and my life changed. Now I am in another country with a college degree and no job. Its been hard for me. I have no job to go to, no class to study for, no papers to write, nothing. It was like being on vacation at first but then you get over that feeling and you say to yourself, "now what."

I have been aimlessly searching the internet for work. I honestly thought it would be no problem. Boy was I wrong! Finding an at home job would not be so hard if I was in the US but throw into the mix that I live in another country...big time problem. Getting a job in the city I live in is impossible because everyone speaks german and all I can do is count to 10 and order coffee and pastries. The other problem being I do not have my visa yet so as of now I am an illegal alien (for all my friends, insert joke here) 

So for those of you who have gone to college you know your time there was not cheap and for the those lucky ones who foot their own bill you know you have six months till those lovely student loan payments kick in. Talk about pressure. Panic attacks have happened when I think about how much it cost to go to school. Greg being the one person I see everyday who gets to hear about it. Poor guy. But I could not ask for anyone better to be there for me. He is always by my side helping me get threw it and stay hopeful. So for now I am staying positive and praying that my one lead on a job works out, fingers crossed!!

I have now decided with my extra free time I will blog my little heart out! Keeping with that is an update on what Greg and I have been up to! A few weeks ago we took a trip to go visit a concintration camp. I have always loved history and museums and this was something I always wanted to see but never thought I would ever get a chance to do. The closest one to us was Dachau. It happens to be the first one ever opened here in Germany and was only 50 minutes away.

This was the entrance gates to the camp

We had planned to take a guided english tour but due to our lack to of energy that morning we had a late start and did not make it in time. Luckily everything there is translated into english and we read everything we could. Typical Greg and I, walked threw the gates and stood there trying to figure out where to start. We ended up looking at the whole thing back wards, shocker. The whole thing took us about two hours to see. It was an experience I will never forget and feel so grateful to have seen.

Greg had his first real away game. Usually they drive all day to get to away games and get home really late that night around 2 or 3am. This time the team they were playing was about 10 hours away so they left they day before. This was my first time being alone in the apartment for full night on my own. When it came time to sleep I decided the coach was a good idea sense I can keep the tv on. The strange part about that is I actually really hate the tv on when I sleep. We dont even have one in our room and when we did at our last place we would always turn it off before we would even try to fall asleep. But when I am alone you bet that tv is staying on. I slept like crap and finally at 6am I was woken up by a Justin Beiber music video and a stiff neck. I figured sense the sun was coming up I was ok to sleep in our big bed alone. The second night alone I stayed up till 4am watching Magic Mike and then forced myself to sleep in the room because my neck could not handle another night on the coach.

We also celebrated our first big holiday away from our families. Thanksgiving fell on a Thursday which was the night before a game so we decided to celebrate that fallowing Monday with some of the imports. Greg and I volunteered to have it at our place so that meant I had to make dinner for everyone. I was slightly nervous but everything turned out pretty good! It was nice to hang out with everyone and have our own little celebration.

We have now entered December which means Greg finally got rid of his mustache, thank god!! It also means it is time to break out our advent calendar we got courtesy of the Starbulls!

Who can honestly say they don't like to wake up every morning to a piece of chocolate! Greg will never know the joy, there is only one small piece a day and I am not sharing. He knows how much I love chocolate and he also knows what would happen if he tried to eat it! Can't wait for the morning so I can eat another piece!!!

I need to blog more

It is crazy to think that I have been here for over a month now! It took some time and getting used to but I finally feel comfortable being here. When I first arrived it was a crazy feeling for the first two weeks. Life here is so very different from the US, everything from driving to going to the store to what is just normal to German people. My mission was to try and blend in and not offend anyone, so I do try and speak german. I never said I was good at it but I try. It is funny though, how you think it would be so scary to live in a place where you don't speak the language. Well to be honest it is not that big of a deal. It seems more normal not to hear english now. It dosent even faze me. A few weeks ago Greg and I heard a girl speaking english as she passed us on the street, now that was weird. We are so used to not hearing it that when you do it kind of takes you by suprise.

Although a lot of young people here know english it is not common what so ever to hear people actually speaking it. So when Greg and I are out and about chatting away with each other people look at us like we are weird. It took a while to get used to that but I understand why now so you just forget about it. I used to get so scared to do anything by myself here. I was scared just to go to the gocery store alone, how silly does that seem. They are really big into grettings here. When you walk into a store they say hello in  three to four different ways in a row and the same goes for when you leave. I had yet to feel comfortable to say anything other then hallo. There was no morning, hey, bye, see you laters coming from me. So I didnt go anywhere without Greg.

After being here for about two weeks he bought me a gym membership so I could go workout. At this gym you have to give this key thing at the front desk when you walk in and when you leave. This meant human interaction. I was scared shitless just to say thank you or goodbye. Every time I would go to hand them my key I would get super nervous and start smiling like a huge idiot and then mumble something and then walk away. With time it became less scary and now Im a pro! But just of greetings nothing else.

Greg's hockey games are really fun to go to. Just like everything else they are very different. The rinks have no heating in them so they are very cold but I got a nice long jacket to keep me warm. The fans are crazy here! They wave around huge flags and bring drums and sing the entire game. The games are so loud sometimes you can hardly hear the person next to you. Almost the whole rink is standing room only. All the wives and family are put in the same section and that is one of only two parts of the rink where you can sit. Weird right? They also have this thing with a gold helmet. Each leading goal scorer on their team wears a gold helmet. It seems like a target to me but it's just how they do things here. Needless to say Greg has been wearing the helmet a lot!

Halloween was bust here in german town. No dressing up, no parties, and most importantly to me...NO CANDY! I think that has been the only time I had a little case of home sickness. I look forward to stupid things like that and here it was just another day. Even though there is no halloween here germany has a lot of random holidays and Greg and I never know when they are. The best part is they usually fall on a monday which is veryyy bad for us. Nothing is open on sundays and by this time we have ate all our food. Sunday is always a game day so we usually just have food to make pre game meal and then a small snack for after the game. Mondays we always go to the store and get ur basics so breakfast and lunch and then we go and buy dinner seperatly every other day of the week. This really puts a dent in our plan when we wake up and it looks like a ghost town and all we have is water and strawberry jelly in the fridge and peanut butter and nutella in the cupboard. Yeah this has happened and not just once. Ill admit it I may have ate a spoon full of a PB and nutella. 

The last time this happened we found a random asian place (go figure) downtown and had dinner there. This place was more of the take out place not a sit down restaurant, but we were so hungry we wanted to eat right then. They had two tables, which I think people just sit at while waiting for the food but we really did not care at this point. As soon as we got our food all these people came in and gathered around by us and just started drinking and hanging out with the workers. Greg and I started laughing quitely to each other. Imagine walking into a random persons tiny little apartment sitting smack dab in the middle of it all and eating a dinner while they hang out. It was weird to say the least but funny at the same time. We always seem to be getting into these very strange situations but just laugh because as much as you want to be like wtf is going on right now you just have to roll with it. 

For instance we got to go into Munich for the day on Monday. I was saving my appetitte till we got there because I knew they had a Starbucks which I have been looking forward to for a long time and we were going to be drinking lots of beer and eat a good dinner. We went to the hofbrau house to have a traditional german meal. I wanted to get this yummy noodle dish with all kinds of cheeses in it but Greg thought it was lame and told me to order something better. So I decided to get meatloaf, thinking to myself how can that be any different from home. Well it was. The waitress puts my plate down and what laid in front of me looked very similar to a piece of spam. I looked at Greg and he knew he was about to get it. He told me just to order something else but I figured what the hell eat the dam spam!!! It was not my favorite thing I have eaten here but I am no princess ill suck it up and eat it. Who wants to be the rude American who wont eat their food, not me! 

Well its about the time in the day where I drag myself to go and work out. Hope everyone back home is enjoying the beautiful fall weather and drinking lots of apple cider for me!!!

It was not a scene from bridesmaids

It took my over 13 hours to make it to Germany. It started with my first flight out of Detroit. I was more then a little nervous to say the least. Once I found my gate I sat down and immediately took a xanex. So far I had not heard of any delays so a little bit would help calm my nerves and take the edge off. Everything went smooth and they started to board. The international flights take so long to board and I was literally the last person on. I found my seat which was in the very back, like the last seat. I sat next to a really nice man, we got lucky because the seat that was between us was empty so we put all of our extra stuff in the seat and I stole the extra blanket. I made myself comfortable and took the other half of my Xanex. I was still freaked out. All I could think is how the hell is this massive thing going to get off the ground. Well it did and it was loud and I was grabbing the arm rests like it was my job.

Once we got in the air they started to give out drinks and a snack. I saw the bar cart coming and took full advantage. The lady made me a very strong drink, heavy on the vodka light on the tonic. I pretty much took it down in three sips. At this point I knew things were going one of two ways. I was going to be super relxaed and not so freaked out or it was going to be like a scene from bridesmaids. Thankfully things were in my favor for once. I was super relaxed and did not have a care in the world. Everyone had their own personal tv screen in the head rest in front of them so I picked out the movie "The lucky one." Half way into the movie they started serving dinner. All of the sudden the flight attendant comes running to the back, whips behind the satiation behind our seats, jumps up on the seats where people are sitting, all in a skirt! She then opens the over-head compartment and grabs a silver suitcase that is locked in. I was like "oh shit." She runs back to the front and there lays a man getting CPR. We were almost out of Canada and I knew if he didn't make it we would have to turn around or make an emergency landing. 

Well the old man became stable and we just kept going. Only on the flight I was on would that have happened. After that I figured a glass of wine was almost necessary so I had one with my dinner. The rest of the flight was pretty much a blur. I laid there semi drunk and in a daze. I watched in total 3 moveis, an episode of 30 Rock, and a sort film on Frankfurt Airport. Once we landed I went straight 

to customs and back to security again. Once it was my turn I put all my stuff in the bins, walked in the wired mechine that checks you, and waited for my belongins. I started to grab everything and noticed my pillow was gone. I looked all around and stuck my head in the scanner. "Excuse me sir my pillow didn't come out." He held it up and asked if it was the one in his hand. "Yes thats mine thank you!" He then says you have to come with me. He asked me my name and for my passport. "Is there a problem," I asked. "Yes we have to check for explosives." Seriously dude? If I wanted to bring a pillow bomb I would have been a little more subtle about the color choice of my pillow case. I would have went with tope not bright pink. Once they cleared my pillow I was back on my way.

That airport was like a maze! My terminal hate 38 gates alone. I had an hour and a half till my next flight. I wanted to get a hold of Greg and tell him I made it ok and would be there on time. I tried to conncect to the wifi, no luck. Ill just try and text him, no service what so ever. This man next to me saw that I was struggling and told me he has 10 minutes till his flight was going to leave but I could use his hotspot service till he had to go. I connected as fast as I could and got a hold of Greg after a few minutes. I told him how I was having trouble and how this nice man helped me out. We both got very excited it was only a few hours till I would be there!

After we were done and I could finally relax I could feel how tired I really was. It was 11am in Frankfurt that would make it 5am at home and I still hadn't slept. I set an alarm on my phone so I could take a nap for 30 minutes. I am one of those people who checks the alarm 3 times before I sleep in fear that I set it wrong. That still was not enough so I got up and asked these two young guys if they would make sure I was awake once they started boarding. They laughed but said they would as long as I didn't wake up angry. I went and laid down and as soon as I closed my eyes I was out. What felt like five minutes later my alarm went off. I woke up in a panic. Where am I? HOLY CRAP I'm in an airport in Germany!!! The guys turned there heads and saw how confused I was and laughed some more. Imagine when you stay in a hotel or somewhere out of the ordinary and you wake up really confused. Times that by 50 and you get what I had. 

Shortly after I woke up they boarded and we were on our way. The Flight was very short only 30 minutes from take off to landing. The best part is they gave everyone a bar of chocolate. Not some crappy bag of crackers or something no one wants but a candy bar! If you know me you know I love sweets and this made me very happy.

Once we landed I got off as fast as I could and went and waited for my bags. Of course my bags took forever to come out and I had two of them. As soon as I had both of them I was off to find Greg. He had told me not to go out the doors you would think your supposed to go out. But to find the side sliding doors that will lead you out to where people can wait. I found the doors which lead to more doors and then out into the open. I looked around and Greg was dead center he waved his hands and I wheeled my two huge bags pillow and carry on over to him. We hugged and kissed and it was like seeing him for the first time. I was so happy and excited that I had butterflies all over and my hands tingled. He took all my bags and handed my a cappicino from Starbucks and a pretzel with cream cheese and green onions. What I cute boyfriend I have. He knew I would be tired and hungry and tried to make me feel better.

We got in the car and headed home. It took about an hour to get to the town we live in. Greg brought my bags in for me and showed me around the apartment. I sat down for a while to relax. Put a few things away and then got into the shower and got ready. We hoped in the car and he drove me around showing me where the rink was and all the little places around town. We parked the car and walked around the downtown area. Its so beautiful unlike anything you see in America. The downtown has cobble stone streets and all these little restaurants where you can sit outside and enjoy your surroundings. All I kept thinking was this is where we get to live for the next 8 months this is amazing and Greg and I are so lucky to experience this. I was more then happy.

We sat down at this little Italian place that Greg like. He spoke his best German and ordered dinner for us, complete with my first real German beer. The dinner was amazing and I was mildly buzzed...again. At this point I was riding on fumes. My body was dying for sleep and I most likely looked like I had been hit by a bus but it was only 6:30 and I could not go to sleep yet. So I sucked it up and stayed awake. If it was not for working at a bar I never would have been able to do this. So Wayside, thank you. (You will never hear that again)

Greg could tell I was growing even more tired so we got out of the house and went down to meet some of his friends. We had a glass of wine and hung out for a few hours. We went back home around 9pm and I got ready for bed and laid down. I would say 2 minutes after laying down I was out cold. I had stayed up over 24 hours and had the most amazing day(s) of my life.

I have now been here for a week and still can't believe that this is all real.

Except for the sauna experience but that is another story.....

21 Questions

I have been getting a lot of questions from friends and family about my move. Mostly the basics but manly one seems to keep coming up. Are you scared? I will admit that at first I was a little nervous. The thought of moving so far away from everyone and everything I know. But then I really thought hard about it, Am I scared? The answer was no. I get to move to europe with the person I love and share an amazing adventure with him. Why should I be scared? I get to travel europe with my best friend and make memories that I will remember my entire life!

I have decided to embrace the change and not fear it. I have spent the last four years of my life in college. Stuck in one place working a job that I hate and killing myself trying to do everything at once. This is going to be the first time I have ever been able to do something that I want, and I want this. I can't wait to wake up every morning and actually be in the same place as Greg. The best part is he has practice in the evening! What a change from college hockey. No more smack in the middle of the afternoon have to plan your whole day around kind of thing. This was music to my ears. This means a chance go places and see things, lay around on a lazy afternoon, do whatever we want!

Being married or dating a hockey player may not always be the easiest thing. I have learned this over time and even more these past few months. It means a lot of different things like not knowing where your going to live, how long you'll be there, if you're even going to be in the same place together, and so on. But if you love each other none of it matters. All the sacrifices, tears, time apart, it will all be worth it when I get off that plane.

Greg if your reading this I love you with all my heart. I wouldn't live this crazy life any other way then next to you.

New York State of Mind

This past week I got the pleasure of helping my boyfriend move out of his apartment. This meant we got to cram everything he owns into his car and then drive 10 hours to his parents home in New York. If that wasn't fun enough he left behind a few things for me to go back and as he says, take care of. AKA he ran out of time and there are still things in there I have to move out. Thats my boyfriend for you. 


We thought it would be a great idea if we split the trip up into two days. Sounds like a great idea right? We had plans to stay with a friend which would put us at about four and half hours of driving. As we got close to his house we tried to contact him. No answer. Greg's response, "just keep driving." 20 minutes goes by, still no answer. At this point I am so tired I can hardly drive anymore so Greg decides will get a hotel for the night. Make it easier on ourselves. As he looks for hotels to call he leans over and says, "hey Al when were planning on telling me we were on empty?" I internally start to panic. Greg being a good boyfriend laughs and says will get gas at the next exit. This is why I love him, always trying to laugh at the situation instead of yelling about a mistake. 


Once we arrived at his parents we had almost five days together till my flight back to Michigan. We tried to make the most of the last trip home to his family. The two of us went into the city one day and walked around. We hit up all the good stores, trying to keep in mind were moving over seas and we get to bring one suit case, one very LARGE suit case. We used self control and only bought one thing each. My purchase being a pair of pants from lululemon that I had been itching to get. 


The next few days were spent with his family hanging and enjoying the time we had together. The night before I had to leave his mom planned a trip into the city to go to a German beer garden. It was unlike anything I have ever done. The Germans mean business when it comes to their beer. You get an arm workout just from lifting the mugs!

In the blink of an eye it was Saturday. That meant it was going to be a really bad day. I had to say goodbye to my best friend and I had to fly back home alone. I truly think Greg was happy at that moment for my fear of flying. I was more focused on the fact that I had to get on a plane instead of thinking about how we were going to be apart. It was not until I was standing in front of the airport bags in hand that it hit me. I never like to cry in front of Greg when we have to say goodbye. This is the lifestyle we live and I never want to make him feel bad for going to do his job. With that said, I cry like a baby as soon as he can't see me anymore. It's an airport they see this kind of thing all the time right? 

Four hours of layovers later and one non stop flight to Detroit and I was home. Back to life here without Greg. Awaiting the moment we are back together again!

Life as I know it

My journey to this time in my life has been nothing short of interesting. Yet when I think about it, life has just begun.
My boyfriend and I meet in college and it would be years before we would ever date. I will admit I was not to fond of the idea of dating a college athlete but after our fist date I knew our personalities just clicked. He still talks about that night and how I was "waiting" for him to kiss me. When really I was just buzzed off the two nine percent beers I drank. The rest is history as they say.
Today we are preparing for our biggest adventure yet, moving to Germany.