We got our wedding pictures last month and promised to share them with you. Here is a link to the 200 out of 2,000 I posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100393387585059.1073741825.13800542&type=1&l=4a225c7b74
Our wedding was also featured in a wedding blog, which was pretty cool. Here is the link to the article: http://blog.weddingwire.com/index.php/weddings/purple-and-orange-fall-country-club-wedding-in-new-jersey/
Mike and I are currently in Austria enjoying a ski week with our friends. We'll post soon with pictures of our vacation.
~ Katie and Mike
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Happy New Year!
Can you believe 2014 is here already! Wow, 2013 flew by!
December was a challenging month for me, work wise. I know that in the end the changes that are being made will be good, its just going to be a adjustment for me. It will also mean my German will improve significantly in the next few months and I might even be treating German patients on my own soon. Time will tell. Bring it on 2014!
Also in December we had a lovely visit with Mike's parents. We enjoyed traveling to Trier and Rothenburg ob der Tauber, as well as around Wiesbaden and Rudesheim. Here are some pictures of our visit with them:
Here is Trier -
Rothenburg ob der Tauber-
December was a challenging month for me, work wise. I know that in the end the changes that are being made will be good, its just going to be a adjustment for me. It will also mean my German will improve significantly in the next few months and I might even be treating German patients on my own soon. Time will tell. Bring it on 2014!
Also in December we had a lovely visit with Mike's parents. We enjoyed traveling to Trier and Rothenburg ob der Tauber, as well as around Wiesbaden and Rudesheim. Here are some pictures of our visit with them:
Here is Trier -
Old Roman Baths that were very impressive!
Trier Christmas Market
Sharing some Gluhwein
Our Christmas Tree - Carolyn did most of the decorating :)
Rudesheim - So beautiful at night
Rothenburg ob der Tauber-
A medieval city with the surrounding wall still intact
Overlooking Rothenburg
At the end of December Mike and I took our first honeymoon/Christmas Trip. We drove to the Italian Alps, called Sudtirol to a little town called St. Johann. It was beautiful but a long drive so on the way home we left a day early and stopped in Southern Germany to see Neuschwanstein Castle.
Taufers Castle overlooking the valley.
Overlooking Brunick
We hiked to this beautiful waterfall near our hotel.
Outside view of Burg Taufers - one of the coolest castles I have been to. They had some original furniture, including a wooden table with hand carved wooden inlay dating to 1620.
Near our hotel in Fussen, near Neuschwanstein Castle.
Another amazing castle, rated number 1 in Germany.
We also went skiing in the Italian Alps. You had to go to the top of the mountain for the snow. It was beautiful and my knee held up pretty well - it was sore and the second day of skiing I didn't last more than a few hours, but we had fun.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We missed being with family over Christmas and are glad we will be with them next year. New Years was fun this year, we had 12 people and lots of fireworks - a true German New Years celebration!
Happy New Year to you all!
Katie and Mike
Monday, December 2, 2013
Sorry for being MIA the last few months :)
But it was for good reason, I think.
The summer and fall was very busy for Mike and I. We made two trips back to the states, one in July for our wedding shower and one in October for our wedding! It was a wonderful and busy few months leading up to the wedding, trying to plan everything from abroad, and the actual day of our wedding could not have been more magical. It was everything we could have wished for and we enjoyed every second of it. I am told by our photographer that we will have our pictures soon and I will be sure to post them here for you all to enjoy.
When we got back from the wedding, I was hoping to have more free time to blog, work on my hobbies, and put more effort into learning German, but that did not happen! When I got back to my 20 hours per week job, it soon became many more hours because of an influx in new American patients being referred to our clinic. It is wonderful to be needed and valued in this community, but it was extremely overwhelming for my boss and I to wade through the 20 referrals a day and countless phone calls. We sort of have it under control now, but its definitely a work in progress. I am grateful for this job - I am learning more and more every day, but working with American patients 8-9 hours per day, makes it very hard to learn German, as you can imagine. It's definitely getting better, but its going slowly for sure!
In other news, Mike is taking a new step in his career - he will be entering the world of management starting this summer. This also means that our time here has been extended by an extra year (more time for you all to visit us!). We will now be here until Fall 2016.
Not much else new here. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our friends here who really are more like our overseas family. We are so thankful to have them in our lives and it makes holidays away from family that much easier. Now it the time of year where we get to enjoy lots of Glühwein and Christmas Markets. Mike's parents are coming out next week to visit us and enjoy the magic of Christmas in Germany. Then, Mike and I will be travelling to Südtriol (the Italian Alps) for the week of Christmas for skiing (hopefully) and relaxation. I say hopefully for skiing because Misty and another dog ran into my knee last week while playing and the pain is not going away. We'll see what the doctor says later this week - fingers crossed!
Here is a taste of the Wiesbaden Christmas Market, one of my favorites!
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will be better at updating, I promise! :)
Miss you all,
Katie (and Mike)
The summer and fall was very busy for Mike and I. We made two trips back to the states, one in July for our wedding shower and one in October for our wedding! It was a wonderful and busy few months leading up to the wedding, trying to plan everything from abroad, and the actual day of our wedding could not have been more magical. It was everything we could have wished for and we enjoyed every second of it. I am told by our photographer that we will have our pictures soon and I will be sure to post them here for you all to enjoy.
When we got back from the wedding, I was hoping to have more free time to blog, work on my hobbies, and put more effort into learning German, but that did not happen! When I got back to my 20 hours per week job, it soon became many more hours because of an influx in new American patients being referred to our clinic. It is wonderful to be needed and valued in this community, but it was extremely overwhelming for my boss and I to wade through the 20 referrals a day and countless phone calls. We sort of have it under control now, but its definitely a work in progress. I am grateful for this job - I am learning more and more every day, but working with American patients 8-9 hours per day, makes it very hard to learn German, as you can imagine. It's definitely getting better, but its going slowly for sure!
In other news, Mike is taking a new step in his career - he will be entering the world of management starting this summer. This also means that our time here has been extended by an extra year (more time for you all to visit us!). We will now be here until Fall 2016.
Not much else new here. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our friends here who really are more like our overseas family. We are so thankful to have them in our lives and it makes holidays away from family that much easier. Now it the time of year where we get to enjoy lots of Glühwein and Christmas Markets. Mike's parents are coming out next week to visit us and enjoy the magic of Christmas in Germany. Then, Mike and I will be travelling to Südtriol (the Italian Alps) for the week of Christmas for skiing (hopefully) and relaxation. I say hopefully for skiing because Misty and another dog ran into my knee last week while playing and the pain is not going away. We'll see what the doctor says later this week - fingers crossed!
Here is a taste of the Wiesbaden Christmas Market, one of my favorites!
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will be better at updating, I promise! :)
Miss you all,
Katie (and Mike)
Friday, July 12, 2013
Die Sommer!
Hallo Freunde!
I can't believe how fast this summer is going! We finally have summer(ish) weather here in Germany and I am realizing why this country is so great (I am also understanding why Germans are so sun obsessed). Sadly, I also know it will not last forever. So, we are making the most of the nice weather and trying to get out on the weekends. Since we are in Germany, there is a fest pretty much every day and we have been taking advantage of them.
Let's catch up on what's been going on here in the last few weeks:
I spent a long time getting our backyard in better condition since it is overgrown with weeds. Here are some before and after pictures:
On Friday after 4th of July, Mike took off from work so we drove 90 minutes to Burg Eltz which is a really cool Castle. It has been owned by the same family since it was built over 800 years ago and still has many of the original furnishings. We took a really nice tour through several of the rooms of the castle. Definitely somewhere we would return to when we have visitors.
Over this past weekend it was Sekt Fest in a town near us. Sekt is what the Germans call bubbly wine or Champagne. We had a few bottles and hung out with friends along the river, it was a good time.
I can't believe how fast this summer is going! We finally have summer(ish) weather here in Germany and I am realizing why this country is so great (I am also understanding why Germans are so sun obsessed). Sadly, I also know it will not last forever. So, we are making the most of the nice weather and trying to get out on the weekends. Since we are in Germany, there is a fest pretty much every day and we have been taking advantage of them.
Let's catch up on what's been going on here in the last few weeks:
I spent a long time getting our backyard in better condition since it is overgrown with weeds. Here are some before and after pictures:
BEFORE
AFTER
My Rose Bushes bloomed this month too:
There was a fest on July 3rd on base for Independence Day. There was food, rides, games and of course, fireworks. It was really fun and the fireworks were impressive.
On Friday after 4th of July, Mike took off from work so we drove 90 minutes to Burg Eltz which is a really cool Castle. It has been owned by the same family since it was built over 800 years ago and still has many of the original furnishings. We took a really nice tour through several of the rooms of the castle. Definitely somewhere we would return to when we have visitors.
This is the path you walk from the parking lot to the Castle, it is a nice 10-15 minute walk.
The first view of the castle.
The courtyard
The car ride had some crazy windy roads up and down the mountain that you can see here on the GPS. Mike was loving driving this road in his BMW, I was thankful for the slow truck ahead of us on the way back :).
Over this past weekend it was Sekt Fest in a town near us. Sekt is what the Germans call bubbly wine or Champagne. We had a few bottles and hung out with friends along the river, it was a good time.
This picture is of a woman who came to the fest via kayak and her dog is sitting in the kayak with her! So impressive especially on the Rhein river which moves very fast!
We enjoyed the fest.
In other news, all three animals have been having issues over the last several weeks. Both cats had UTIs and were on antibiotics and supplements and now special food for the rest of their lives. And, Misty had an infection from a bite she got at the kennel we had her in when we went to Croatia last month. Luckily, after 8 days of antibiotics and lots of bandages to keep her away from it, the sore is healed and Misty can run free in the stream again! We are glad to have all our pets healthy!
I have been working 3 days a week in the afternoons (its a pretty nice schedule) at the German clinic. I have an amazing variety of clients and I feel like I am becoming a "generalist". This is something odd for occupational therapists as of late, since we all seem to specialize in a certain area. I was a brain injury specialist and now I am seeing children and adults with all sorts of diagnoses. I am learning a lot and growing professionally for sure. I feel challenged and have very supportive bosses. It has been a great experience thus far!
In addition to working, I am also taking German lessons with a private teacher who specializes in medical terminology. I work with him twice a week for 90 minutes at a time. It has been super challenging to learn German and I have had my ups and downs with how I feel I am doing. Overall, I am definitely understanding more and while I can say a bit more in German, I freeze up when it comes to using it in public. I study several hours a day and I am trying to immerse myself in as much German language as possible.
Other than that, we have been good. We are getting ready to head to the states in a few weeks to see family and do some wedding preparation. We are definitely looking forward to seeing our families and getting a little taste of "home".
This weekend is BretzelFest (yes, a fest for pretzels), and I will take lots of pictures for you to enjoy!
Schönes Wochenende! (Have a nice weekend!)
~Katie (and Mike)
Monday, June 10, 2013
Croatia
Mike and I were able to squeeze a 4 day vacation into our busy schedules and it was wonderful. We went to Rovinj, Croatia. We stayed in a hotel on Katarina Island off the coast of Rovinj and took a short boat ride to and from the island to do site seeing everyday. It was a very relaxing, enjoyable four days and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Croatia uses the Kuna as its currency and currently the exchange rate is 1 kuna = .17 cents USD. So pretty good deals even in a touristy area. Because it is on the Adriatic Sea, there are lots of fishermen and the fresh fish daily was amazing! We had some of the best fish ever on this trip. In fact, the first night the waiter brought a platter of fish caught that morning and we picked the exact fish for them to grill - delicious! Mike did learn a lesson though - don't order the grilled squid, no matter how fresh it may be :)
Here are some pictures from our trip:
The pool at our hotel
Downtown Rovinj, a sea of boats
Oldtown Rovinj
The oldest Roman archway in the city
We climbed the clock tower of the cathedral. The staircase was really, really old and wooden - needless to say it was a bit scary!
But, ultimately, worth the views.
The view from our balcony at the hotel. I love the color of the water here.
On a boat cruise around the islands off of Rovinj
With some sketchy grappa they gave out on the tour.
Relaxing after some grappa and wine on the boat.
Love love love!
On the island we stayed on.
Part of the island. The beach is very rocky (no sand here).
Mike's favorite find while exploring the island.
We took another boat cruise to the Lim Fjord a bit north of Rovinj. It was nice but disappointing because the boat stopped for an hour and we thought we could go hiking or something and it was only touristy stuff - oh well. We also stopped at a cave where the Captain Morgan stayed one night - but again, it was turned into a touristy bar and you had to pay to go in. I would not recommend this boat tour.
It was a lovely trip and I wish it had been warmer so we could have gone swimming, but maybe next time. They are predicting the coldest summer since the 1800 for Europe this year - go figure.
Anyway, life has been busy since we got back. It has been raining a lot here, so much that the Rhein River, which we live on, flooded - the worst in 10 years. So bad that the major road that takes you to our house was closed for 7 days - making commuting a bit of a hassle. Luckily we had a few sunny days last week and the water has receded so that we can use the roads again.
This past weekend was a big fest in Wiesbaden. It was a fun time and I got to see what I call "butt bells". Here is a clip of what I am talking about: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10100234465591009&l=5075769002196804169
Okay, maybe it was all the strawberries soaked in wine, but I thought that was pretty funny!
Next weekend is Strawberry Fest. I am really enjoying strawberry season here - its hard to not eat an entire box of strawberries every day!
That's all for now!
Tschuss!
Katie and Mike
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)