Happy New Year!

As I think back on 2010, I realize that all the (excuse my language) crappy things that happened turned out to be blessings. Everything that happened "last year" ended up for the better. I am extremely more happy with my life and I am so thankful to be where I am and who I am. I have so many people in my life that love me and care about me. It is really amazing to be this blessed. Thanks to all of you that have helped along this road and I think about you all each and every day. You are very special to me.

Now, on to my adventures... since my last blog update, Justin and I had a quiet Christmas dinner. We had tortellini and broccoli and polished off a bottle of wine. It was an amazing dinner. We talked about where we were and how thankful we were. My Christmas present from Justin was a trip to Paris, France. I know, I know...you are all thinking, "what the heck is this girl's problem? She is the luckiest person in the world!" All I got him was 2 Men's Fitness magazines. In my defense, I had to bring something that would fit into my luggage. So, December 26th we flew to Paris!

Paris was pretty amazing. Every building seemed important. I ended up taking about 200 pictures in the 4 days that we were there. We saw so many different things and some of them, we didn't even know what they were. That's okay though. We took pictures anyways and I'm sure we will find out what they are later. We managed to get lost in the subway twice, it was about 15 degrees, and had lots of people ask us for money...but other than that it was a nice vacation. We walked about 10 miles to see all of the amazing buildings and saw some of the most amazing pieces of artwork in the Louvre. If you ever have the chance to go to Paris, do it. We headed back to Germany on the 29th and decided to go visit our friends in Hamburg the next day.

UGH...Traffic on our way to Hamburg was pretty aweful. Instead of closing off a lane that is being worked on, the Germans leave it open but put cones on the part of the lane that is being worked on. So, there are two lines to drive on, but one of the lanes is seriously 5 feet wide. As we squeaked past cars and trucks, with me screaming at Justin to just get in the big lane, we ended up driving for four an a half hours. Once we got to Hamburg and saw Jesse and Christina, we were happy again. On New Year's Eve we bought lots of fireworks. Germany is way different from the US in terms of fireworks. I have never seen so many fireworks in my life. They were huge and coming from all directions; People were shooting them from their windows. It was amazing. It actually brought tears to my eyes because I was so happy to be there. New Year's was a definite success. Jesse and Christina also showed us around Hamburg and a neighboring town, Lubeck. There were incredible buildings there too! Overall, the weekend was amazing and I loved it.

Once again, I am so thankful to have the opportunity to travel the world and have so many wonderful people in my life. I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and please make 2011 a year of hope, love, and laughter.