Well, here we are...1kg heavier and positively enthralled to be living this life. I have taken a liking to bratwurst and gluwein (it is kind of like warmed up wine) and I am very happy that I brought my snow jacket! It is day four in Germany, and it has not stopped snowing. Although a white Christmas is always nice, quite frankly, I am ready for it to quit! I think my neighbors who were yelling at eachother while trying to get their car out of their parking space are ready for it to quit snowing too.

Last night, Justin took me to Koln, Germany. It was amazing. It is a giant city with a beautiful cathedral called, The Dom. The cathedral was so "ginormous" that I could not fit the whole thing into my camera screen. I had to take pictures in sections. In front of The Dom was 2 very cute Christmas Markets. There was an ice skating rink, farris wheel, and lots of small stands with LOTS of gluwein! While drinking our 2nd gluwein (well, Jusitn got another gluwein and I got a rum/coffee drink which tasted like 95% rum with a drop of coffee topped with whipped cream) and standing along the railing of the ice skating rink watching all the small children falling, a young German boy grabbed the railing in front of me and was about 5 inches from my face and yelled "MAAAA!" Since I was not his "ma," Justin and I walked away laughing because I had just got spit on by a little boy yelling for his mom. All in all, Koln was amazing and I definitely want to go there again.

On our way back home, Justin and I got the urge to eat crap food. Low and behold, there was a McDonald's on the corner near our apartment. We decided to go through the drive thru, which I do not recommend if you don't speak the language of the country that you are in. Justin asked the sweet lady, "Sprechen de English?" and she replaid "uhh, so-me?" and Justin continued by ordering me a Happy Meal (and does not come with a toy) and himself 2 cheeseburgers with nothing on them. She said, "wait" and grabbed her manager. Justin repeated the order, but after each item the manager said "Yaaa...yaaaa...yaaaaa." We thought it was too funny and you'd probably have to be there to get the full humor behind it.

Once again, I can't believe I am here in Germany and I hope many of you can take a trip out here once in your life. It is truely beautiful.

Just say "danke"

Well, I made it. I am in Germany! Let's just say that the flight situation was not exactly comfortable. 10 hours and 40 minutes is WAY to long to be sitting in the very middle of the middle section of the plane. The food was good, but I did not get ANY sleep. So, I am grumpy and tired. The connecting flight was not bad at all. The ride felt about 45 minutes long and they also had good food. I flew Swiss.

Justin and I woke up at 1pm today, which meant that we slept for 13 hours. I can honestly say that I am still tired. I don't know what the deal is but I blame it on the time difference. When we finally did get ready, Justin took me to the mall that he said everyone calls, "The City." Forgive me when the  first thing I thought of was Whitney Port from the show "The City." The mall was really neat and the first store we went to was T.K. Maxx. We are pretty sure they are affiliated with T.J. Maxx from the U.S. After buying Justin a scarf, we went to the middle of the mall where they had a whole bunch of stands with chocolate and gluwein (which is like hot wine). Justin ordered 2 mugs of gluwein and as we recieved our mugs I said, "DANK-A-SHAY" The sweet german girl smiled as Justin said, "You said it totally wrong, just say danke" So, feeling embarressed we walked away and started taking pictures.

After "The City" we went to the Christmas market in Opladen. It was beautiful! So many lights and neat little stands. I took lots of pictures. I still can't believe I am a completely different country. I am hoping to get on a good sleep schedule soon because I can't wait to explore Germany a little bit more. I know Leverkusen is going to be a fitting home for me and I am so thankful to be here. :)

Flower Power

So, I am here at Gate 100 and watching my plane being prepared for the 11 hour flight to Zurich, Switzerland. I have never flown by myself, let alone, half way across the world (I have only flown once with my grandparents from Sacramento to San Diego). I am confident that I will make it, but I have to admit that I am extremely nervous. Although my anxiety levels keep rising and falling, it does make me feel somewhat better that there is a giant yellow and pink flower on the nose of the plane. Don't ask me why, but whatever works!

I am extremely excited to see my husband Justin! Waiting here in the airport, I start to thing about the first night we became boyfriend and girlfriend. I totally asked him to MORP (a prom where the girl invites the boy) through an e-mail and he accepted! So, at morp on the very last song, Justin said, "What would you say if I told you I wanted to kiss you right now?" and I said, " I think that would be a good idea!" Then we kissed and the rest is history. In February we will have been together for 8 years. Its hard to believe that it has been this long. I still feel like a 14 year old girl! I am so thankful for the things God has given me, especially my husband.

Well, I have a half an hour until I board this flower power plane and I think I will sign off now so I can watch all the other planes take off into the foggy night sky ;)

It's my Birthday!!!

Thank you to all of my friends and family for giving me such a wonderful birthday. I got more presents than I could ever want. My family treated me to a special dinner at one of my favorite resturants. I GOT A KINDLE and I am stuffed beyond belief. As you can tell, today was a great day!

I have finished school and tomorrow I graduate from CSUS. I am pretty excited because I finally did something completely and 100% for me. I usually am dealing with deadlines, helping my loved ones with their needs, or planning out my future according to someone else's "schedule." It is an awesome feeling to be finished with school and categorized by society as "educated." According to society, I am able to critically think and use my brain to accomplish a task and have productivity within an occupation. I kind of feel like I am "stickin' it to the man" though. I mean, I have this degree and I am going to do absolutely nothing with it (at least for a while). I am going to Germany to be a complete bum. I will be sight seeing, eating, and emersing myself into this new culture. Maybe I will find something I want to do while I am there. But for now, I will be an educated bum from California with a degree in Psychology.

I guess 23 is a good age to be a bum in Germany. I have no mortgage, no kids, and no responsibilities. My husband will be waiting for me at the airport in 3 days. I can't wait to see him and I am so proud of him. I know he is proud of me too! My horoscope today said that the sun is lined up in the exact same place that it was lined up on my actual birth day and that I can expect something good to happen today. I think it was right.

Here we are on a gloomy Sunday...

Well, it is exactly one week until I head to Germany. I am a little bit bummed this afternoon. Green Bay lost to Detroit...need I say more? It was 7-3 and Aaron Rogers got a concussion :( I guess you win some and you lose some, but really? Detroit? Anyways, I hope by next week they get their act together.

I am STILL studying for finals. Gosh, I really hate school! This is a really boring post, but I really just signed in to make sure I remembered how to do it. Haha!

My first blog!

Well ladies and gents, here it is...my first blog. I have no idea what I am doing, but hopefully it works out. I just finished my last day of school today and have 3 finals next week! Yuck! I have two on Monday, get the eye brows waxed on Tuesday, and the last final on Wednesday. It may be a rough week ;). But in all seriousness, it is going to be a pretty crazy week! Like I said, I have finals, eyebrow wax, Thursday is my birthday, Friday is my graduation and graduation party, and I leave for Germany on Sunday! I have different emotions every hour at this point, with a majority of the time the emotion is anxiety.

As I was watching Regis and Kelly Live this morning, I realized that once I go to Germany, I can figure out who I really am... I mean, I know that I am Shannon, but who am I...REALLY? I'm sure I have some talet in me somewhere. Was I put here to help people? Maybe lead people? Or, maybe, just be a hermit? Whatever the case, I am ready to find ME. In Germany, I will have absolutely NOOOO responsibilities (Thanks to my wonderful husband, Justin). I will not be working. I will not be going to school. And I don't have to take care of anything. No responibilities is something that I am going to have to get used to. As most of you know, I am a nut and a worry wart. I stress about pretty much everything, so this should be a very fun and adventure and learning experience.

Well, I guess this was a successful blog...I wrote alot more that I thought I would write. I will save some more thoughts for next time :)