Our new addition.....

Meet "Sierra"! She is the newest addition to our family! She is a wonderfully sweet 9 week old chocolate lab (female). We have already taught her "sit" & "down" and we are working on "come" and "stay" :)
She is so much fun (and also a bit of work- but worth every minute of it!

Pizza and flourless chocolate cake and cucumber salad, OH MY!

First off I am really enjoying this blog. In my mind it is also a way for the cousins to stay in touch and I really like that. I like reading what we are all up to. Are all the cousins invited and using it at this point?

Last night I meant to take pictures of the dinner I cooked for Rebecca, Michaela, and I. I also meant to take pictures of Rebecca and Michaela and I. I feel like that's weird though, in a "hey let me prove I have friends!" way.

After Rebecca left, Michaela and I watched Argentina defeat Greece. Hilarious comment from German Michaela - "Oh come on Greece, we can't bail you out of this one!" or something along those lines. Also saw snippets of Korea owning Nigeria. I think I've finally reached the point where I can ignore the noise of the vuvuzelas in the stadium. For those who don't know what they are, they happen to be the foulest creation known to sports and yes, they are worse than air horns.

I suspect that I will hear many of them tonight when Germany celebrates their inevitable defeat of Ghana and I will be celebrating when the U.S. beats Algeria. They better beat Algeria. My enjoyment level when watching sports increases when I understand the sport. I understand soccer and I know how the World Cup functions. Last time Germany played I could count the goals even though I was not watching. It *was* that loud.

Anyway, Michaela and I had a little slumber party. I think it's kind of funny and sad that she is going to the U.S. to go to grad school and I am moving to Germany for a year. She got a full ride to Harvard and that is so cool. But she's nervous about living in America just like I am about living in Germany. Now matter how accustomed to a foreign culture you are, you will always be foreign. And when the cultures are similar but different? It's really awkward. Dating in Germany is different than dating in the U.S.; people in the U.S. tend to be more friendly than people in Germany but it's not always sincere; and on and on.

I'm hoping the fact that I will be living with people who lived in the U.S. for 10 years will lessen the cultural shock. I've been here for 5 weeks so really there should not be any - logically anyway. But there totally is.

my secret garden

My handy husband has build/ grown us a lovely garden, which will yield amazing heirloom toms, cucumbers, cherry toms, chives, basil, watermelon, strawberries and cantelopes (to win the "Burnley/Roller/Shwartz" grow off of course!) Here are a few pictures of the progress!

Recital, etc.!

Hello all!

I just got finished with my dance studio's recital...which also marks the end of my working there.

I had three numbers- Chim Chiminey (from Mary Poppins...ages 5-6), a musical theatre medley (ages 5-9) and Over the Rainbow (toddlers ages 2-3).

My face looks crazy in these pics because I was the one teachers who was working backstage with about 60 kids age 6 and under, helping them open wather bottles, change, get on stage, etc...it was NUTS! :p But hilarious and adorable. All of the kids pictured were mine...missing a few though!

All went well, except for a few mishaps...but my kids were all little, so any mistakes just looked cute : p

Anyway, I am recovering now, and looking forward to my next job- working at an Arts Summer Camp. We start training tomorrow- the counselors are going on an overnight retreat to start. I truly feel like a child, going to sleepaway camp and not knowing anyone!

Miss and love you all,

Steph

Any day now I'll have a bum hip

I get to sleep soon and this excites me more than anything. I've been waking up at 6AM because I like having some Allison time in the morning. This means I take my sweet time reading my e-mail and writing e-mail, catching up on my favorite blogs, looking at the foggy sort of mornings, and wishing I could go back to bed. Sometimes I also do homework. All while drinking tea since I haven't purchased any coffee yet.

So, it's now 8:00 and I am ready for bed. If I were Grandma, I'd be sleeping in my sweet motorized recliner right about now because I am definitely ready to sleep. I am tired down to the bone after my weekend in Augsburg.

Plus tomorrow Michaela is coming for dinner and a slumber party type deal so I have to clean my room. I lived with her two years ago and now she lives in Berlin but commutes to Lueneburg so I asked her if she wanted to stay in town for dinner and she could have a place to sleep. Pizza and cucumber salad and cookies for dinner tomorrow night! Or brownies or a cake. Whatever is going to be the least pain in the butt desert. I might do another cobbler. We shall see.

And now I leave you all with my favorite picture from Augsburg. Look at the opulence around me, not at me.

Welcome

Hi Grandma!
Since your crazy grand kids have so much going on, we have dedicated a place where, together, we can keep you posted on our many adventures, as well as our day to day lives!
We all love you very much and hope we are making you proud!
xoxo
The "kids table"