Acapella

Traveling in Europe I'm always reminded of just how dependent I am on our car. I use it for almost every errand I have to run, from picking up groceries to going to the post office. If I stop and think about why I drive everywhere the answer is always one of pure laziness. Why would I walk or take public transport if I can hope in the car and be there in minutes? Across Europe people rely on buses, trains, bikes, and their own two feet. I realize that many people do own cars and drive too but there are far fewer than in America.

 Throughout the past few days whenever we would walk around Freising or Munich or hop on and off trains I often thought about my first years in Chicago without a car. I biked, walked, or took the CTA everywhere. Running errands such as picking up groceries became something I planned out since i would have to carry it all home. Other times I'd develop a game plan and make a day out of running all my errands. There's be lunch, dinner, or drinks (and sometimes all three) with friends. At the time I was also single and though I was living the city life. How much more urban could I get? I was a city guy!

When I met Adam I also met his beloved Bonita, or for those of you that never met her, his Honda Civic. Suddenly we were driving everywhere and I was spending less and less time on public transport or my bike. I can't tell you exactly when it happened but as I have a tendency to lean towards extreme laziness as I get older I just started driving everywhere and it remains that way to this day. I've made attempts to be less reliant on our car, especially with the price of gas but I still find myself trending back to it often for almost all my errands. I am however, in need of a new bike and maybe this will be the motivation I need to get out there and be more mobile without using the car.

Was?

Adam and I always seem to take two week vacations...or as our friend Bryant likes to say "You guys can't just go to one place, it's always two or three places." However, this past trip was different than usual. First, this way a short, four day trip to Germany only. Second, I went alone because Adam's schedule didn't allow for a trip this month and I was drying to practice the German I have been learning.

Our friend Siw invited me to spend a few days with her and to help me refine what little German I know. We had a very nice time in the little town she lives in which is only about 30 minutes by train from the city centre of Munich. She gave me a tour of her little town, Freising. We went hiking in a beautiful forest preserve, had a picnic while watching planes land at the airport, and two great dinners with her mom, Maiken. I was treated to a great breakfast at her house one day that her mom put a lot of effort into and got to meet her good friend Javier and his playful dog Chico. Siw, Javier, and I spent and entire afternoon laying in the grass of the Gartnerplatz watching the people go by and talking. The next time Adam and I are in Munich I want he and I to lie there and just watch the world go by.

I learned many new German words and refined ones I already knew. It was nice to hear people speaking the language even if I only understood about 10% of what was being said. Trying to learn a new language as an adult is quite difficult and it makes me wish that learning a different language was mandatory for all students in high school like it is in most part of Europe.

Freising, Munich, and all of Bavaria are a beautiful part of the world and I look forward to my next visit, this time with Adam in tow!

I Don't Need You

Our little girls are growing up so quickly. I realized while playing with them last night that Lucy is getting so much bigger and Ali is so much more outgoing and playful. Now if only they weren't such sloppy eaters.

Adam left this morning for a quick boys trip to Vegas with a college friend. Here's to hoping he comes home with a very nice tan and some fun stories to tell. It is Vegas after all...it's never boring.

One of the best perks of being a flight attendant is that when you don't really feel like working you can almost always trade your trip to something easier and less productive. That's exactly what I've done for today. It's pays almost nothing but sometimes a guy has to do what he has to do.

Our old roommate and dear friend Tracy is coming to town this weekend. I'm sorry that I won't be able to spend as much time with her as I'd like but we are all going to dinner on Saturday night at one of our favorite sushi restaurants followed by a little bit of debauchery at the bar. It should be good times.

I have taken a couple days off from Adele, although she's singing into my ear as I type this...I missed her!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Tschuss!

Auf Wiedersehen

I just under a week I'm leaving for a quick trip to Munich, Germany to visit our friend Siw. We met her while sitting on her jump seat from Barcelona to Munich after our transatlantic cruise two years ago and then on the return flight from Munich back to Chicago four days later. She and I have stayed in touch since then and even had dinner on one of her subsequent Chicago layovers. Now it's my turn to see where she lives from her eyes. I'm really sad that Adam can't go with me due to his work schedule but I know that we'll be back there soon enough.

My little vacation also has a second purpose...to get some real experience with the limited German I've learned. One of the downfalls of learning a language from a computer program is that you have no one else to practice with. With time zone differences and varied work schedules it's not often that Siw and I can chat via Skype...so I don't have a lot of options to try out German with her. So, here my limited German and I go...off to Deutschland herself. I'm really nervous to try and converse basic sentences with people but Siw said she'd be at my side the entire time in case I don't know what's being said. I do have two important phrases down. "Wo ist die Toilette?" And "Ich Mochte eine bier bitte." Wonder if that will get me through three days?

Any Age

I'm sure Adam will roll his eyes when he reads this post. You see, since I first listened to Adele a week or so ago I can not stop listening to her. If you ask Adam he will say I'm quite literally obsessed with her. My response to that would be, yes I am. I am not ashamed to say that I spent hours last week watching various clips of her on YouTube and I decided that my favorite is her singing "Someone Like You" live at the 2011 Brit Awards. It's simply amazing. (Pardon the ad at the beginning.)

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It wasn't two weeks after I first started dating Adam that I impulsively took a detour on my trip home from visiting a friend in Seattle to see Adam while he was visiting friends in Denver. I remember how nervous I was to see him again as well as meet his best friends whom he had talked about quite a bit. We would be staying with his friends Jill and Nick. From the moment Adam and Jill picked me up at the airport I let go of all that nervousness. Jill asked all the questions a good friend would but was also very kind and welcoming towards me. At their house I met his best friend Andrea and Jill's husband  Nick. Both couldn't have been nicer and even though I didn't learn their beloved euchre that night they still made it so much easier for me. 

This past weekend we hosted a baby shower for Jill and Nick as they are expecting their first child this summer. I was so happy to be doing this as I will always remember the way they welcomed me into their home after knowing Adam only two weeks. They have become two of my close friends over these last five years and I feel so lucky to not only be included into their little IU group of friends but to have them in my life period. They will make wonderful parents and I couldn't be happier for them.