Home, Again

We are home, exhausted, but happy. Our trip was the best, and we miss everyone we saw (and did not get to see) immensely. It has taken a full week to get back on our sleeping schedule, and poor Zach has had to work through it all.

Tomorrow is German Unity day here, it is supposed to be a celebration of the fall of the Berlin wall, but when we asked some Germans about it  all they said was that "East Germans should go back to east Germany" and that there was nothing to celebrate... geeeeeeeeze.

We went to a birthday party this weekend.  An older couple there didn't speak English, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to practice my Deutsch. I asked them if they had any children and if yes, how many. To my understanding they had nine kids, four girls and five boys, all three years old and under...... these people were in their 60's. After more question asking, and much more confusion on my part Zach finally stepped in and informed me that in fact, they ran a daycare.... I was so close.

It is cozy weather here today and I LOVE it. Fall is my favorite time of year. I remember trying to reconcile this in my mind growing up, because I was so excited as fall was approaching... but that also meant school would start. That has to be the best thing about being a grown-up... no school.

 

 

 

Wyo

Ah, sweet relief. We traveled back to Wyoming this past week, and it was damn refreshing. We were picked up at the airport by a dear friend, who happened to have a gigantic 4x4 truck (something that is the stuff of myths here in Germany) but riding high in his noisy truck gave me a certain satisfaction. After driving a station wagon for a year it felt like an amusement park ride. I kept telling Zach to put his hands in the air, but he wouldn't.

This trip went by at the speed of light, probably (as Zach pointed out) because we saw 90% of the people we know back home. It was wonderful seeing old friends and lots and lots of family. Holding our new nephew for the first time was special,and is a reminder of all the changes we have missed while living so far away.

Another milestone was finally getting to meet our soon- to-be sister in law. This, of course, was wonderful and we couldn't be happier with her and the cheerfulness she will bring to the Konkel family.

Oops, Zach and I unfortunately decided to bring a cold from overseas that effected every single one of the Konkel household by the time we left. Sorry. Didn't mean to...promise.

We weren't met with reverse culture shock when we arrived, even though there were small noticeable differences here and there, it mostly just felt like we had never been away.


Other super duper important notes:

Ate a peanut butter cup

Watched wild animals roam the land

Went to a football game

Shot a gun

Went fishin'

Watched American movies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture Update

 

 

Off to the USA, see ya when we get back!

Funny, Interesting, Delicious, Special, Gross... Not necessarily in that order...

-Newton loves to bring "gifts" when we get home. It could be a shoe, umbrella, or whatever he can pick up off the ground. We had some new people over for dinner and we were talking in the kitchen when Newton arrives with a mouth full of my dirty underwear that he dug out of our laundry basket and drops them in the middle of the floor, I guess he wanted to give our guests something extra special.

-Our five year anniversary today, we've lived in 6 homes, 3 states, and 2 countries

-I spit a huge gob of gunk out the window on the way home from a run with Nox, only to find it right between his eyes when I got out of the car

-While discussing deep life issues with a friend of mine, the very important subject of Nutella came up. I proceeded to tell her that I can't buy it because if I have it in my house, I will eat the entire thing. The next time I saw her, she presented me with the tiniest jar of Nutella I've ever seen and said "Now you won't feel bad about eating the entire thing!"... well played good lady...

-Met a fat bulldog the other day named Gnocchi

-My husband has been on a baking kick, which resulted most recently in the most delicious cinnamon rolls

-I had a nice conversation with an ancient German Frau down by the river the other day. She explained to me, in German "Ich hatte kein Englisch" or, that she doesn't speak English because back in her day when Hitler was in charge, they never had English class in school....