Our First Adventure...Nuremberg, Germany

Today, we took a chance, went out of our comfort zone, and went on a day trip to Nuremberg. We had fun, but realized (the hard way) that research and planning is imperitive in order to maintain some sense of order and be able to actually enjoy the town to it's maximum potential. This trip was, for the most part, discussed yesterday. Steven has been in the German Head Start class and thankfully learned how to ask, "Sprechen Sie English". That asks if they speak English.

We caught the bus from Rose Barracks to Vilsek train station. The ticket to Nuremberg turned out to be very affordable for us (12 euro) because the kids were free. The train ride to Nuremberg was pleasant for everyone but me. No one else seemed bothered by the fact that we were sitting in rear facing seats which meant we were moving backwards. I, unfortunately, am very sensitive to such motion and felt a bit queasy most of the 45 minute ride.

Once we arrived at the Nuremberg Train station, the real fun began...we had no clue what to do at this point. There were people everywhere. No one was speaking English. There were signs pointing to places that I could only give an educated guess what they were. We followed the traffic of people and directions of the GPS on our cellphone. I needed to potty something bad...so we stopped in the McCafe (aka McDonalds). I admired the beautiful winding staircase in the midst of the fast food resturaunt as I hurriedly made my way to the toilette (restroom) at the top. There was a lady standing outside with a dish in which people would place change before entering the restroom. We had been warned beforehand that you had to pay to use the bathroom, so we were prepared with coins. What we were not prepared for was how much you had to pay. The lady could not speak English and kept telling us an amount in Deutsche (German). I showed her a 1 Euro coin and she said yes for Steven, Macie, and myself to enter the restroom. Later I realized that the charge was 25 cents, and we gave her a 25 cent tip. Learning my numbers and counting euro has now been raised on my list of priorities.

After the potty experience, we continued to follow the GPS, which brought us out to a very busy street. There were taxis, buses, streetcars, bicycles, cars, and lots of people EVERYWHERE. Seriously, I was expecting a typical small German town and found myself lost in a city comparable to that of New York City. Again, we walked in the direction of the crowd, and saw a man nearly get plastered by a streetcar. We were amazed at the sight that awaited once we neared the Hauptmarket. It was like a huge daily flea market, where everything from flowers, to trinkets, to sausages were sold. There were several cathedrals within the vicinity, but time did not allow for us to visit them on this trip.




The one and only thing that we had planned was a visit to the Imperial Castle (Kaiserbug). After a confusing walk through the town and then up a hill that I know burned at least 500 calories to climb, we found ourselves in awe overlooking the entire city. We purchased tickets (only 12 Euro cause kids again were free) that would allow us to climb the Sinwell tower (another 500 calories burned), see the "deep well", and tour the Palas. We did climb the tower, we saw the very deep well, but we got lost and was not able to tour the Palas. At this point, everyone was very hungry (again poor planning on our part)and so it was decided that we would just find something to eat and return some day with more time and a better itenerary.

We walked down the monstrous hill to a resturaunt (Hutt'n) that was suggested by the cashier at the castle. I did my best to read the menu and even tried to use the translator app on my phone, but ended up sticking with what I know and ordered bratwurst. I did not get the right kind though, because they were merely breakfast sausages. Steven, on the otherhand, ordered a nice plate that had several different kinds of Brats, saurkraut, and potato salad. I am finally getting used to drinks not being served over ice, and even went out on a limb and ordered "still wasser" (water that is not bubbly or carbonated).

Germans are very laid back compared to the hurried and rushed lifestyle of Americans. It is not wise to go out to dinner if you do not have at least 1 1/2 hours to spare. By the time we were finished eating, it was time for us to make our way back through the hustle and bustle of people to the train station. Though we did take time to shop for a souvenier and turn the ring on the "beautiful fountain". This is said to bring good luck, which we will definately need in the next 3 years. As we were walking back, shops were already starting to close. It is mandated that stores close early (6 pm through the week, and 4pm on weekends) in order to protect the small "mom and pop" businesses. We were able to take in some street performances by musicians, and other entertainers that didn't even realize they were entertaining us on our way back to the train.



Thankfully, we were able to squeeze on to a train that would ensure our connection bus transportation in Vilsek. At first I was worried that I would have to sit rear facing again, but apparently the lucky turn of the ring was already working in my favor and we scored good, roomy seats that faced forward during our return ride. Once at the Vilseck station, we caught our ride with the shuttle bus and held on for our lives for the next 10 minutes. It was a fast, and nauseating ride. I was so glad to see the Commissary parking lot and didn't even complain about the walk to the hotel room. Once in the hotel room, we were eagerly greeted by our sweet dog Rocky. We decided not to take him this trip until we learned the ins and outs of having him with us on trips (Germans typically take their dogs everywhere...even resturaunts). We do hope to take him on future adventures, although we were very thankful that we did not have Rocky on this go around.

Well, that sums up today's adventure. It was definately a memorable experience for all. I saw such beautiful sights and could not help but murmor a few words of praise to God for His glorious creations and for giving my family the opportunity to enjoy this little piece of heaven on earth.

Finally...we are in Germany

Well, the adventure can now officially begin. After much hard work, lots of anticipation, dreaming, and anxiety, the Nunley family have safely arrived in Germany.

I have been so busy over the last few weeks (and its not really over yet) that I have not posted anything since July. I hope to do better once we get things settled.

After sadly leaving our friends in Texas, we took 2 weeks to visit family in Tennessee. It was a very enjoyable, but busy time together. My cousing got married and we attended 3 or 4 birthday parties. In addition to family time, we also had to tie up loose ends with the flood repairs on the van, and getting the animals ready to travel to Germany. I realized how much I really love my 4 legged babies and how badly I wanted them with us in Germany.

Our families gave us a nice "send off" party and it was a great opportunity to see everyone. I was glad to see each of them just before leaving, but it was so hard to say goodbye. In fact, Alison states that "goodbye" has now been added to her list of bad words that she is not to say.

Just before leaving for Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday morning, we could not find Prince. We searched all around but could find him anywhere. As much trouble as I had gone through to get him ok'd to travel with us, we could not risk being late and potentially missing our flight. With tears in my eyes and heart, I had to leave him behind. While Prince has always been notorius for disappearing just before we are to leave, he has never went "missing" for this long. I feared the worst and just prayed really hard that wherever he was, he would be safe!!!

We arrived in Atlanta right on time and even had time to meet up with my best buddy, Jennifer for lunch. The ticket agent at the airport was from Austria and was super nice to us. I think that he could sense the anxiety in my eyes, and dad even commented that I was shaking. The agent did not charge me for extra baggage weight (and I had a few pieces that were well over 50 lbs) and even gave our parents gate passes so they could accompany us to the gate. That in itself was a big blessing because they were able to assist Steven and I getting the girls through security.
Telling our parents goodbye only seems to get harder each time that we leave. We love them and hate leaving, but...this is what we do, and it not only puts bread on our table, but affords us lots of opportunities that would only be dreams if it weren't for Steven's job. Our parents have benefited by this as well, and we can't wait until they can broaden their vacation horizens and visit us in Germany.

We boarded the plane, which by the way, was the nicest and largest plane we have ever flown. The airline was extremely pet and family friendly and even allowed us to board first (which was very, very helpful). The girls didn't wallow in sadness for very long because their attention was directed to the personal tv's located in each seat head rest. They watched movies and listened to music the entire trip. The meals were excellent as well. I just wish that I could say the same for the comfort of the seats. I practically had to go look in the mirror to ensure that I still had a rear, becuase I was numb from sitting. The first class seats looked much more comfortable, and I had to remind myself to control my envy for those sitting in them.

We had a very safe and smooth landing in Frankfurt at around 8 am. We were actually about 1 hour ahead of schedule thanks to some tail winds over the ocean. Once we claimed our precious dog and load of luggage, we were escorted to a holding area where we waited for about 2 hours for the bus manifest. Thankfully we made it on a morning bus and did not have to wait any longer than 2 hours. The bus ride was much longer than we had expected. We thought it was only a 2 hour drive, but turned out to be more like 4 1/2 hours. I felt really bad because Rocky had to be loaded underneath the bus after already spending nearly 11 hours under an airplane. He was just as happy as we were when we finally arrived at Vilsek around 4:30 pm.

The drive was long and boring. There is not alot to see along the autobahn with exception of a few small communities dotted along the route. The houses look alot the same, but one interesting thing is that it appears that they use alot of solar power and windmills. The windmills were like the ones that you see on the kids show, Teletubbies. I was expecting to see Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, La-La, and Po start running and rolling down the hill, but they never did. I must also make note of the smell here. I had been warned that it smells like piggy-poo and that turned out to be very true information. We actually saw a tractor that was pumping it out over the crops. This will be something that will definately take some getting used to if that is even possible.

Upon arrival, we were exhausted and just happy to have a shower and bed for the night. It did not matter that it is old and small. After bringing in ALL of our many pieces of luggage and organizing them as best as possible, we walked to the commissary to get some essentials for the next 2 or 3 days. We could not get much because we had to be able to carry everything as we walked back to the hotel. I made pizza and quickly discovered that there are going to be challenges as we make Europe our new extended vacation home. I pride myself at being good with math, but I will need to brush up on the metric system as I nearly burned the pizza.

The weather was cooler, but not as cold as I had expected...so that is a blessing too. I am sure that colder is on its way though. We came prepared with new coats and snow boots and are so excited to hopefully see snow this Christmas.

After eating and hot showers (with warm towels...they have towel warmers in the bathrooms)we were able to connect to the internet and chat with a few people on facebook and skype. We were so releived to hear my mom say that they had found Prince (our cat) and that he was, in fact, safe. I guess that he will stay in Tennessee until someone comes to visit us in Germany that doesn't mind toting him along with them. I just hate that we will have to do the whole process over again, as it is only good for 10 days. Oh well, it will work out soon enough.

Well, this post is very long as I wanted to be sure to cover as much detail about our travels as possible. I won't be able to call as often, and am limited on space with facebook, so this is the best possible plan for the moment. I will get pictures as soon as I can find my camera...it is in a bag "somewhere" amongst the mess of suitcases stacked up the wall. Until my next post...I love you all and miss you!!!

Happy "Belated" Anniversary

Steven and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday, July 26th. I have been so busy since, that I forgot to post anything about it that day. I was very glad that we could spend this anniversary together...we usually get 1 or 2 anniversaries together out of every 4. We have been celebrating our anniversary since his homecoming on July 3rd. We were very lucky to have several weeks with just the two of us to spend lots of quality time together. It has been a crazy ride for the last 13 years, but I wouldn't get off for the world. I plan on hanging on tight for another many more years ahead.

Blessed

What an amazing week it has been!!! Steven and I drove to TN early last week and spent a few days visiting with his family before driving another 6 hours to crash the church youth trip in Myrtle Beach. It was so awesome because the girls were not expecting us at the beach and so they were so surprised to see their daddy for the first time since his return home from Iraq. I am most positive that everyone in the room that witnessed the reunion shed at least a few tears. The girls absolutely love their daddy so much and I count myself so blessed and fortunate that my kids have such a great father.

After spending 2 days at the beach, we experienced our first long drive since being all together again. It didn't take very long before the girls reminded their daddy of what girlie arguments sound like. After nearly 8 hours (approximately 2 hours longer than it took us to get there) we were back in the comfort of TN.

Today it was so nice to be in church at Zion. I miss it more every time I visit. The girls sang tonight and did a great job. Tempia, Andy, and I sang "Child of the King" also. It is one of the church's favorites and probably my most requested song ever. Tempia sounded like an angel and sang with such sencerity that it was hard for me to keep my composure. I think the second best thing to my own salvation is knowing that 2 of my very own children have also accepted Jesus into their hearts. I fail them every day and fall very short from any parent of the year awards, but one thing that I know that I have done well is to teach my children about the Love of God and the importance of allowing him to Lead in their lives. Though pride can be a sinful thing, I am very proud that I have been blessed with such beautiful kids (inside and out).

After church, we came home to yet another opportunity to make memories. Megan, Brittany, and Marsha had the brilliant idea of creating a chocolate syrup slip and slide. Who would imagine that a large piece of plastic, 10 bottles of chocolate syrup, and 5 containers of cool whip could be so fun? The girls LOVED every minute of slipping and sliding. I don't think a day at an amusement park could have been anymore fun than they had in the front yard tonight.

So, now that I have reminisced the last week, hopefully I can try, AGAIN...to keep more updated with this blog. This is something that I really want my family to do together...so look for articles from the kids and maybe Steven in the near future.

Woes of a weary dieter

On June 25th, I started another attempt to lose weight and get healthy. As usual, I began with loads of enthusiasm and energy only to find myself a few days later depressed and angry. Weight and healthy well-being have been a life long struggle for me. For some reason, my body and mind cannot be at peace with one another. I have attempted multiple times with different approaches and have almost been successful a few. But ultimately, every single effort ends in failure. I want this time to be different. I want to successfully shed the pounds that threaten me with diabetes and heart disease. But at the same time, I also want to be at peace with where I am right now. I do not want food or exercise to rule my life like it has in the last 2 weeks. Is there a happy medium??? I have made myself miserable by reading food labels like legal documents and exercising to the point of vomiting on several occasions. I am afraid that I have reached a point that my ideas of attaining health have become very unhealthy and maybe even a bit unrealistic.

I feel so selfish and superficial to even get all worked up about such a matter. I mean, seriously, I have so much to be so very thankful for. I am Blessed beyond measure, and instead of living victoriously, I attach a heavy ball and chain to my ankles and whine about being fluffy. But it is my health I'm talking about and here is where it gets tricky for me. I am afraid that if I accept that it is ok to be just like I am today then I am giving up on the hope that I could be better tomorrow. Does that make any sense at all? I get trapped in this conception that I either gotta embrace my fluffiness and be happy, or bust my rear into high gear and lose massive weight NOW!!! At this point I am blinded and I don't see a way that I can have the best of both worlds despite what Hannah Montana may say.

God is Good

I must say that I have had a marvelous and memorable 4th of July weekend. Maybe my best ever. I welcomed my husband home on Saturday from a year long deployment in Iraq and I can't say that the timing could have been any better. I was so happy to finally see him and have him home. Earlier that day I spoke with another army spouse regarding how deployments can actually benefit your marriage. I think that this is something that only military wives will ever be able to totally comprehend and understand. But I believe that it is true. Now I am not suggesting that I like deployments, but I am saying that I am a firm believer in the statement that "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Over the last 12 months, I have remembered and missed all the wonderful things about my husband. I have re-discovered the things that make me love him and even with thousands of miles between us, he managed to sweep me off my feet and I fell in love with him all over again. Yes, deployments are hard...but it is important for us military wives to sometimes put all the negatives of deployments in the trash and appreciate the positive things that it brings to our lives and our marriages. I know that another layer of strength has been added to my relationship with my husband, my kids, my God, and myself. I am thankful that God allowed us to grow closer together over this last year and I am especially thankful that God found it within His will to bring my husband home healthy and unharmed. God is good....even during deployments!!!

Humble Beginnings

This is my very first blog and it has taken me nearly all day to get this going. I am not the most computer literate person, and I definately have alot to learn in the world of blogging. So here is my very humble beginning. I am hoping to add and change things as I learn.

So, you may ask why I would even want to create a blog. The answer to that question is, "Why not"!!! I wanted an easy way (besides facebook) to keep my family and friends abreast of our travels, thoughts, and photos. This seemed like a great idea since we are soon to PCS (army lingo for "move") to Grafenwoehr, Germany. I also wanted a place that we could sort of "record" or journal our life as well as just ramble when needed about daily happenings and such. While I am not the best writer in the world, Blogging seemed the most appropriate and fun route.

I would like to see this grow to the point that my children can also blog on occasion. I think that it would provide a fun and creative way to get them to practice writing. I think that I could put links to their blogs on my page. I will first have to learn how to do that though.

So, I have spent several hours just on the design of my page and am open to any nice suggestions for improvement that you may have.