Merry Christmas!


As many of you know I am going to Ireland for Christmas! I leave bright and early Friday morning for Frankfurt to catch a flight to Dublin. From Dublin we will take the train to Belfast where we will stay until Tuesday morning. On Tuesday we will take the train back to Dublin and spend two nights at a hostel there before flying back to Frankfurt Thursday morning. 


That is the general itinerary for my trip. Once I am back to Bad Honnef I will have that day to unpack and do laundry before packing up a few things for my trip to Trier! I was invited to visit Sarah in Trier for New Years Eve! Trier is the oldest city in Germany and is supposed to be wonderful! I am really excited to go there for a few days. 


Well now that you know how I will be spending the holidays I will tell you a little about the past few weeks! 
First there was the Christmas market on campus Dec 8-11 which was great! I went everyday to enjoy some Glühwein and Bratwurst. It was extremely convenient to just walk outside my building and have dinner without having to cook! 


Last week the LEO Club had a Christmas party and the new member intake ceremony. I am the first international member in LEO Club Bad Honnef. The party was a lot of fun. After our private party was the Heaven or Hell party that I helped organize. :) This past weekend I went to the other Christmas markets in the area. Friday night we went to the Christmas market in Bonn and although it was raining and cold we managed to have a good time. After we went to Sarah's apartment and watched The Voice Germany. Saturday Anna and I went Christmas shopping in Köln which was packed! I was getting very frustrated because everyone was walking so slow. We had a great time and spent a few hours just walking around and going into shops. I was on a mission to find a specific present for someone so we went to the Christmas market to find it. The Christmas market was absolutely gorgeous. I will post some pictures below. 


We had a presentation this morning and the paper for the presentation is due tomorrow so my week has been full of classwork and meetings. I am looking forward to tomorrow when it is all over and I can just relax on vacation. 


Sorry this post is kind of scattered but it is midnight and I have been up since 6 and only got a few hours of sleep last night. I will try to post when I get back from Ireland before I go to Trier but I am not sure that I will have time. 


I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas & a very Happy New Year! 

                                              Enjoying Glühwein at the Christmas market

                                                 LEO Club Christmas Party/New member intake

                                                             Merry Christmas! 

                                                        Shopping at the Christmas market in Köln

                                                              Enjoying a crepe in Bonn

                                                          Christmas market in Köln

                                                       Christmas market in Bonn

                                                   Christmas market in Köln 

I have posted a link to a very important video I think everyone needs to watch. It doesn't matter if you are male/female or young/old. Just watch and you will understand. Please watch it before you read the rest of this post! If you don't then it won't make much sense.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/style/send-this-clip-to-every-single-woman-you-know/

What Jean Kilbourne talks about in this video is absolutely 100% true. Just a few weeks ago was the Victoria Secret fashion show and that night and the following day my facebook newsfeed and twitter were filled with comments about never eating again, making yourself throw up, and running to the gym to work out for hours on end. Don't get me wrong I would have had the same thoughts if I had seen it because you look at those women and think "why don't I look like that?" Kilbourne was correct in saying that people don't look like that. Sure some of those models do but that is an extremely small percentage of the worlds population. Those women are not healthy.

This is no longer just a problem in females, eating disorders are on the rise in males and it is our job to put a stop to this. Men need to tell the women in their life that they are beautiful no matter what size or shape they are and women we need to stop telling men that they need to be thin to be considered attractive.

I will be the first to admit that I have conversations with my boyfriend about getting in shape However my motive is not to find him attractive it is because we both eat whatever we want and don't exercise other than walking our dog three times a day.

I tell myself on a daily basis that I need to lose weight and get in shape. I consider myself lucky to be look the way I do because I NEVER exercise. I will exercise one day and feel great then forget about it for a few weeks. With that attitude I will never be in the shape I want to be in. I have been insecure about my body for a long time when in reality I don't really have a reason to be. I have been getting compliments on my legs from friends and even my moms friends since I can remember and I have never understood it. My calfs are huge! They are all muscle but still they are big and I never liked it until recently when I accepted that those are my legs and I better get used to it.

Working as a nanny & babysitter I realize that I am a huge influence to the kids I watch. I once used the phrase "oh no I am on a diet" when a 10 yr old girl offered me a cookie. She was confused because she didn't think I needed to be on a diet and since then I have begun to say "No thanks I am trying to eat healthy." I learned a lot just from that conversation. Kids are learning to go on diet earlier and earlier because they see the people they look up to on diets. Kids think that if their favorite star, mom, babysitter, sister,  or cousin is dieting then they need to as well. It is our job to teach kids that this is not a the way to live.

Yesterday I worked out and today I am extremely sore but it is the kind of sore you know is good because it will get results. Tonight I am going walking with two friends and I already set up a time to do the workout from yesterday again tomorrow. I don't want to be thin, I want to be healthy. Being thin and being healthy are two very different things. Being healthy is eating the right foods, exercise and living a lifestyle that is beneficial to your mind and body.

Feel free to express your thoughts and comments on this topic by commenting below!

This post is random and I bet some parts don't make sense but it is just my thoughts and feeling on the matter. Like I have said in other posts I know I am a terrible writer but you just have to deal with it! :)

Finals = No Fun

I have a final on Monday morning which means no fun this weekend! I was invited to go to the Christmas Market in Bonn but decided to be good and stay home to study. I cleaned the whole apartment this morning which included sweeping, mopping, and wiping down everything in the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and the storage room. Then I went grocery shopping to get a few things since stores are closed on Sundays.

I still can't get over how rude some Germans are. If I am in the states and another lane opens up to cash out I will let the people who have been waiting longer than I have go in that line. In Germany people push their way to the front of the line. This old man was waiting in line behind me today with two items and when the other line opened up so he walked over to it when this middle aged man with a cart full of stuff almost ran him over to be the first person in the line. Unfortunately I can not speak my mind about this to people because I don't speak German plus I can be rude but not that rude! Things like that just make me mad.

After grocery shopping I finished decorating my room for Christmas. It isn't much but I don't see the point in spending a lot of money on decorations I will only use for one year. I know some of my family and friends want to see pictures so I will post a few at the bottom.

When I woke up this morning I found out that a bomb was found on the bottom of the Rhine river in Koblenz which is a city 45 minutes away by train. Everyone within a mile radius was asked to evacuate so they can try and defuse the bomb. Apparently this happens every once in awhile in Germany. Personally I think it is crazy! Here is the article about it: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/315385

Well that is all for now. I should probably get back to studying to prepare before the girls come over at 6 for a study session. Hope everyone had a great weekend. 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I can't believe it is already December. Three months ago today I just arrived in Germany and was getting my apartment organized and unpacking. It has been quite the adventure so far and I can't wait to see what is next. 


Today it snowed back in Buffalo and as much as I complain about snow, the first snowfall is always beautiful and I am sad I missed it. I have been listening to Michael Bublé's new Christmas album (courtesy of Bob) and it has definitely gotten me in the Christmas spirit. I decorated my room with lights, garland and some window decorations. 


What is your favorite part of the Christmas season? 
My favorite part is spending time with family and friends. There is always so much going on during the Christmas season and although it can be hectic I love every minute of it. This year will be a different kind of hectic. I will be extremely busy doing stuff for school but I am definitely setting aside the time to visit all the local Christmas markets with friends. I've come to realize that the little things in life really do matter and just taking time out to take a walk around town to look at Christmas decorations makes a world of a difference. 


Last year I made dozens of Christmas cookies and took them with me to my various babysitting jobs for a fun activity with the kids. I made homemade frosting of all different colors, covered the table & countertops in newspaper and let the kids go to town decorating their cookies. They all had a blast decorating the cookies. 


I am missing the Sabres Christmas party which always proves to be entertaining but mostly because I can't skate but each year I give it a whirl. I haven't been to a Sabres game since they played in Berlin and haven't been to the arena since before I left. This is by far the longest I have gone without going to a game and the arena in over 3 years. Last year I spent New Years Eve, my anniversary, and Easter there.  I really miss being there mostly because that's where all my friends are. 


Thank you for reading a very random blog post! :) 

                                   Logan and his "tandy tane" last year 

                              Cousins on Bretts 21st Birthday

Boys will be boys

                                 Cookies 

                             Bob decorated our new house. Sad I missed it! :l