Turkey Day!

Gobble Gobble Gobble :)
I hope everyone has a great day full of family and friends <3 I am thinking about all of you! Wish I could be there eating the great food and sitting in front of the TV with some of my favs SREAMING -GET THE DANG BALL! WHY'D YOU RUN BACKWARDS.. UGH! My thoughts are deff with you! Loves!

Anywho we are having a thanksgiving feast or we are gonna try tonight, so I won't be to lonely haha
Also I wanted to update to let you know that I have purchased two things today
1- A Vaccum to help rid of all the dust in my room
       Hopefully my allergies won't be so bad
2- I bought a scale
       This is so I can track my weightloss - that I hope I lose.. haha.. but with all this good german pastries and the Christmas Markets coming up, We will see how that goes haha :)

But the website MyFitnessPal is going to help me.
Well just wanted to Say happy Turkey day and I am thankful for all that I have been blessed with and all who are in my life! Love you!
<3 Ris

Man how time flies

Welcome to the Week of November 15th.
Monday - Class the usual.. except after class I went and paid for the volleyball class only to find out later that I am the only one of the "Americans" that paid for it, so now I will be going by myself to get my moneys worth.. and that starts tonight because last wed - I bailed for something else (will be noted further on)

Anywho Tuesday-16th  was nothing special until the evening.. Pamper night with my girls! Kaleigh, Chelsea, and Kayte came over and we did facials.  My first time I might add.. and well .. lol.. It was interesting I felt like I looked like a snake/Doll  Theres a picture! look it looks like my second skin haha <3 but my face was nice and clean after.  We also did something for your hair. it was weird.. but nice at the same time, we just talked and watched sex in the city and Kaleigh did my eyebrows!! I love her so much for that.. they were horrible.. but much better now!! and I painted my nails woot for girls night <3

Wednesday - same ole same ole.. except for that night.. I was all getting ready to go volleyball when Steph comes online and tells me to check the news.. and then I call my parents and by that time.. I was in no mood to go to volleyball.. I had no motivation. I was lacking it in the first place lol.. sooo I decided to go to Johns party.. Kayte picked out my clothes lol :) cuz she wanted to and then we took a group picture and we were off :) It was his 21st bday party.. It was deff awesome it was called Club Love.. (his last name is love)

Then I left the party around 12:30 -1 ish.. and came back and ended up staying awake working on my 10 page paper until like 4:30 lol.. I even got to talk to alex for like 10 min after his class before I went to bed.. Lack of sleep but.. I finished my paper wooo.. way for motivation at 1 in the morning haha

Thursday-18th I was supposed to have class but tutor canceled it so I got ready for my weekend in Paris and jumped on the train with steph in the after noon and we were on our way!! When we got to Paris.. tom met us all decked out :) lol It was great to see him.. then we made it back to his cozy apartment which is perfect in every way for him ;) and he made spaghetti and I must say tom is quite the chef!

Friday morning We woke up and head into the town stopping at their big mall I think can't remember what it was called something galleries.. but Steph and I took a cute Christmas Pic there ^ located up! then took pictures from the top of the building.. but in side the building was this goregous Christmas tree with all its lights :) AMAZING.. lol but after that we were off to the Lourve where we met up with Emilie Tom's GF - it was fun we say the mona lisa and ate a good sandwich and learned how to use the metro.. and fun stuff like that.. it was a busy day then we walked down their super expensive shopping street lol.. just for kicks right?? We also went out for dinner this night and Steph and I had a French version of Auflauf- sorry tom it just wasnt the same, but I did try tom's rabbit that he ordered and it was quite tasty to be honest, I would eat it again. 

Then on Saturday- We woke up and made our way to the Eiffel tower, granted we didn't go up because the line was 3 hours long, not worth it.  But we took some fun pictures of the group and I attempted to take some artistic ones. I think one of them turned out quite well!  Then we went to the arch.. and went up on top at night and it was awesome.. took some pretty cool pictures and we had a sandwich and just overall it was a good day. And the weather was amazing!! The sun was shining and the clouds were away.. it was a great day to just sit and relax!

 

Then that night tom made some delicious Hamburgers and salad.. we just could not get enough off.  Also this was the day we tried some really famous pastry.. called Macaroon, except I'm pretty sure I spelt that wrong haha (sorry guys), but anyways they are like sugar waffers with like a jelly filling and they are really good but deff pricey. I would buy them tho, on occasions lol                       

Sunday we made our way to Versailles..  Which was cool.. I tried to re-inact a picture that I took last time I was there I wonder how I did? hmm.. lol.. anyways it was raining this day so it wasn't as nice out so we did not really go into the gardens but that happens soo.. oh well.. atleast we got to see it :) Then for lunch i had spaghetti and steph and some famous beef cooked in wine. which was decilious she let me try it and then I also tried duck, which tom ordered.. I was just trying everything haha.. I feel kinda bad.. oh well atleast now I can say I've tried it ;)  Then we went to Notre dame later that night and it was beautiful. Last time I was in Paris I only got to see it from the Boat on a river.   

So We went in side and I could not believe my eyes.. It was like straight out of my mind how I would have pictured it to look.  beautiful gothic arches and structure.. it was mind blowing.. I took tons of pictures. Another cool thing about going to the church on a Sunday there was a mass taking place.. and I got to witness it.. well I mean the others did too.. lol.. :) It was extremely cool and once again I lit a candle for Lita May- She would have loved it there!                       After that we headed back to his apartment and watched Ice Age 2 and The dark night while he worked on his paper that was due on Monday lol.. and then later we ate Butter noodles and Salad and he had Butter noodles and Steak at midnight that's right we know how to live :) 

 

 Anywho Monday was the sad day- The day of Departure.. we packed our things the night before seeing as we had to be up by 5:30 to leave by 6 to catch our train at 7:04 am! All was well we said our goodbyes and see you soon's with promises to come visit again.. in either country :) yay!! We made it back into Marburg at like so we had missed one of our classes, but that is okay.. we are allowed to miss 8 hours of class and now I've missed 2 hours not to bad if I do say so myself :) Then I did some abs and Worked on my hw for tuesday ;) 

Speaking of tuesday.. it went by rather fast.. had tutorial gave my presentation did a decent job he was happy with and so was I :) Then after that I BOUGHT a LAMP for 13 euros.. :) including the light bulb its blue and I think I will design the lamp shade sometime when I have free time right now its white.. :) I'm so excited for it :)

Then since kayte's family was in town we were going to go to Paprika.. but then plans changed and we were eating in CWH 111 Kitchen with Paul Cooking .. yummmmmmm .. hes a good cook!

So I headed over there and met up with Kayte's family, Beth, Susan, and Paul it was fun :) Paul made beef stew.. it is soo good and he makes it extremely well and we also had the amazingly cheap and tasty garlic bread :) Then we sat around and talked for a while just shoot the shit as some people say.

We talked about how weird it will be when everyone leaves and how its gonna be weird not seeing the same people.. by this time it was just Kayte Paul and I.  We tend to have a lot of conversations like this.. I'm really gonna miss them.. I guess I'm just gonna have to visit the coast.. sometime in the future haha watch out NJ & PA here  I come haha.. but when I have money haha

Well now we are on today.. had class added the finishing touches to my paper and now I should prolly do my other paper.. but we will see how that goes its only 2.  Normally I would be going to Conversation Course.. but itw as canceled because my teacher is sick, so I have the afternoon off and I have already gone food shopping :) So I'm stocked up for a bit, which is deff a good thing.. and tonight is volleyball ;) I'm looking forward to a good workout!

BTW- Happy Thanksgiving ahead of time!!! I hope everyone has a great Turkey day- my plans for tomorrow are to go to my tutorial for one hour then buy a vaccum hopefully and then Dinner with some friends and then hopefully skyping with the family :) Well till the Turkey Gobbles have a good one!

Loves and miss you all

<3 Ris

Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo.

You may be wondering why this is the title of my blog- Well I you may be more surprised when I tell you that is an actual sentence. I know I was. Here is how: Buffalo(The animal) buffalo (to bully) buffalo (strong) Buffalo (the city). so The animal bullies the strong city.  Hahaha.. I know it took me a while too.. Well anywho as you are pondering that here was how the rest of my week went.
Dating back til Tuesday :)

It was all going to be good and everything and I was going to get insurance and make sure I was covered on all angles.. but guess what.. turns out I already have insurance.. goodness gracious as my lita would say - that would have helped like 2 months ago when I was sick. But nonthe less I now know that I have insurance and can seek a doctor when I need it.  Well my tutorial was canceled as well-b/c my tutor has some run in with some glass and his foot = never a pretty sight.. :(  (hope he feels better) Then Class then AUFLAUF!! @ Parika yummm... With Sarina, Susan, Kayte, Steph & Chris it was a rather fun night ;) That is a picture of it.. ooo its soo yummy can't eat it all the time tho its so filling <3

Then Wed we had conversation class but instead of class we went to a movie.. in German but the title in English is - The conference of the Animals in 3D.. it was funny and cute, but I could understand it so that is all that mattered.  There was a turtle named Winifred. I know I probably spelt that wrong haha. But anywho after that I was gonna get ready for volleyball sad thing is.. Chels and I went all the way there and were totally ready to kick some butt, but we didn't pay because the office wasn't open so we had to leave, which ruined my night a bit, no well ill be honest and say alot, I was not to happy. :( oh well Win some and Lose some.  Then we tried to pay on Thursday but the office was closed once again.. soo Now I must wait until Monday @ 3 to pay for my lovely volleyball class I am a little bit sour but it should still be fun ;) then Thursday I had my tutorial and then came back and made some fried rice.. I was pretty proud of it.. GO ME!! I'm learning I'm learning there is hope and I would say it was quite good for my first try!
Friday was wake up pack and got meet up with Sam and Sarina for some lunch and then off to the bus to go to ESSEN for the weekend with IUSP.  It was a rather fun trip, when we first got there we went to a the Rathaus and had a beautiful view of the city: reminds me of Milwaukee kinda :) home = miss you

Later we just chilled @ the hostel and did nothing of great importance. Saturday we woke up and ate some bfast and headed out to the bus. We took a tour of the Dome treasure, it was a little bit on the dry side but I still managed to learn and have a bit of fun.  It was rather pretty I will say that :)  Then we had a lunch break - did not eat super healthy but I did have a Bratwurst with Steph and then we visited a bookstore and I purchased a German to Spanish Dictionary. Ik ik.. why did you buy that- Well I figured it will help me learn the Spanish language and the German Language, and I have decided Spanish is the next language I am going to learn - sorry Italian I will learn you some day- Spanish just has more of a purpose right now! Then we visited Starbucks and I found a drink I enjoy but its an X-Mas flavor = Toffee Nut Latte
Then we went to a Steal Mine/Digging place its called Zollverein in German it was quite cool.  It kinda reminded me of a roller coaster in the building with the carts, granted  I knew it was not one, but it was still really cool looking :) yay!!

Then that night I had subway eat fresh.. lol yep Ham & turkey it was pretty good with a cookie with candy pieces haha :) Then headed back to the dorm this was the night that I learned about Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo. It is quite a sentence.

Then today we woke up went on yet another tour this one is of Centennial Hall it was HUGE- seriously I can't imagine how many people could fit inside that thing. But the really cool thing, which now that I look back on is kind of silly and a bit pathetic that I was so excited for was that there was a race going on outside.. so many kids and so many people just really made me inspired to run that marathon like I want to within 3 years.  They were soo cute and just so you know that girl in the white shirt with the black leggings creamed the competition :) Look at that form!

Well then back into town we went for yet another break I had Mr.Chicken-not so good, would not reccomend it, but I was hungry and I had already bought it so I ate it. But then I wandered around the city of Bochum with some peeps that I normally don't get a chance to hang out with to much so it was really fun. We went into a church and then another church and just tried to see what we could see even tho it was raining.  In the first church it was really pretty and I lit a candle for Lita May - God bless her soul.. LOVE YOU.... I think the picture is pretty artistic too <3

The second church was an Evangelist church and it held mass at 12:30 every Sunday in English and they have Priests from all over the world that come and preach at the masses. Again it was really cool, way smaller than the first church but still pretty.


Then back to the bus to head off to our final destination on this trip the Mine Nachtigallstollen- Nightingale I believe. We had to wear Hard hats.. :) woo hoo for that, I think we pulled them off quite well! Oh and my quads had a good work out seeing as I had to squat walk through most of it because I was too tall :) But all in all was a good turn out.

Essen was the given the Title the capital of Culture in 2010 - fun fact and it was mainly the starting point or the foundation of the Industrial Revolution of Steal and coal :) way cool and that totally ties into my Industrial Revolution class- Possible bonus points haha well we shall see :)
Well now I am sitting here and I should unpack and work on my paper or call it a night and just relax.. I know what I should do but who knows what I'm going to do. Well love and miss you all - hope your weekend was filled with better weather than mine was and that you have a fantasizes Sunday evening :)

Quick update

This weekend.. well all was well.. on Saturday I got up and just chilled and was prepared to just relax and work on homework which I did.  However, I had slept over at Steph's so I made it back to my apartment made some breakfast than got down to business.  All was well, and I practiced my presentation that I gave today btw.. (more details later) and started writing my 10 page paper.. then I decided I'm gonna make some rice and have some Uncle Ben's sweat and sour sauce with extra pineapples.. Well all was good I made the rice the right way this time.. and then added the sauce and was talking to Alex and getting ready to eat had to bites and then had to run to the bathroom cuz my throat was closing up and my lungs were burning.  It was one of the weirdest feelings I have ever had in my entire life.. I felt like my insides were just burning.. well I got sick twice.. and then with a little crying and telling Alex that I really was okay.. I started making Chicken.. cuz i was soooo hungry this time it was much better and i felt much better.  But the rest of my night was shot, I watched an episode of bones and then sea biscuit and called it a night.  Ooh and I gave Alex and Brent a call on their break at work.. it was nice.. I miss them :) lol
Then on Sunday all was going well.. I did like absolutely nothing all day hw and hw and being lazy you know the usual college thing to do.. except No football... the packers game was on to late.. so I played tetris and solitaire and made some spaghetti and was going to go on a scavenger hunt.. but epically failed at reading the bus sign time.. and missed the bus.. but I guess it wasn't to bad.. because it was super cold out.. :( brrrr... and my room was nice. Then just chilled and Sarina came home.. and then went to bed

Then today I woke up.. to find out the packers killed wooohoo.. then had some breakfast and practiced my speech and then caught the bus.  Off to the races ladies and gentlemen! Well i gave my presentation it was roughly 30 min long.. or longer but I rocked it :) i am soo happy :) i was scared.. but now i have more info for my 10 page paper :) woot.. and then i went shopping bought more milk b/c im already out. i have a feeling i will need to buy more again.. on monday when we get back cuz.... otherwise idk.. mb i can make it last.. lol..
well then i went for a run and stretched and now im sittin in my kitchen chillin with mike z! :) haha no meditation monday with kayte tonight she is still out of town.. soo im on my own.. its called goodluck carissa haha.. it wont be too bad tho.. Well til the cows come home.. ttyl!
<3 Ris

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”

This weekend is kind of uneventful.. there was an event that took place that will be revealed at a later date.. some people know others do not.. it's  a surprise.. all will find out in the end.. anyways..
the rest of November 2nd.. was good I completed my journal that was due.. now i need to continue the other ones.. soo much to write such little time :) then later that night i had some of the best hot chocolate i have ever had with hot milk.. that I warmed up on the.. guess.. the STOVE.. ik right.. it was sooo good i had that with a half of peanut butter sandwich.. it was like a heavenly meal :) I mean snack haha
 Then on Wednesday it was a pretty good day.. tutoring and class and all was well. and we had some yummy spaghetti and i gave quite a few massages.. lol.. im getting good.. hmm.. mb that could be a side job.. note to self look into massage classes.. anyway then volleyball. IT was so much fun.. I love it.. i totally missed playing.. but anyways.. we were diving i have some floor burns and some bruised knees because I have forgotten how to dive.. lol.. man does one learn fast.. lol it hurts otherwise..
but we had to leave early so i could get my package from the bar.. which was nice.. because i opened it and got a Gift card for Media Mart for buying my Internet there.. and lets just say it was a pretty hefty amount.. i was like WHOA this has to be a scam.. but it wasnt.. so WHOO for $$ to bad they dont sell lamps there lol ;)
then Thursday i got to skype with some people and found out that people are thinking of coming to visit me.. :) I really hope all works out .. but ik cant get my hopes up.. and I went shopping for food that was needed. and yes I also made Hamburgers.. yumm yummmm and guess what they had onions in them.. ik right.. me eating onions.. I never thought I would see the day but man were they good. with some corn and ketchup of course :) Then Friday I slept in.. it felt good.. then just chilled around.. did some hw played some tetris.. yeah Ik i have the life haha.. well anyways.. then Steph called and i met up with her and Chelsea in town and walked around.. and yes.. then we came back and chilled and i ate more of my hamburgers than packed my stuff then headed out for girls night.. lol Steph, Chels and I watched movies ate junk food.. and ice cream.. and just talked about uk the usual stuff, boys movies, drama, travel..lol.. it was quite fun.. We ended up watching saved and Julie&Julia.. both were pretty good.. i hadn't seen either prior to.. then I woke up and made my way back to the CWH and had some bfast.. lol. and then worked out.. :) yay! then talked to the fam about how their trip is gonna go.. which im totally pumped for then got to skype with Hannah and a lil bit of Kayla :) it was funn.. I miss them .. Its good to catch up some days.. and then later I will skype with Alex before he goes to work.. and I will make some dinner.. which i will do now i think.. yes. sounds good..
OOh and i found out my dad and my uncle Greg are going to tomorrow nights packer game.. 5th row. by the end zone.. IM sOOO jealous.. I hope they get to see a good game! GO pack GO!
Hmm i should also practice my presentation and mb watch a movie sounds like a plan to me..
well cyz on the flip side :)

European Fashion = Hamburg

Last Sunday after writing that glorious blog.. I went to eat dinner at our friend Nicola's it was Homemade mac & cheese, chicken strips, and some cucumbers, and before that was veggies and dip.. it was soo good  :] definite props to her.
October 25th- was class.. like usual.. except we got our homework assignments.. yay.. I am presenting next week Monday on the Lingo of Pro-Choice and Pro-Life views of abortion and the messages they portray.. I am excited :) and then we have to write a 10 page paper.. not to bad.. all should be okay.
OO and something that totally made my day.. was that I purchased FLOSS.. seeing as I was out of the floss that I had brought.. did you know that flossing atleast once a day adds 5 years to your life.. woot for longer lives :)
Then I will say I am proud of Kayte and I we actually had the first of many Meditation Mondays :) it was great! We found Yoga for dummies Part One.. called the daily dozen.. and we did them all.. soo if any of you want to join us.. lol.. they can be found on the internet :) and guess what is FREE.. haha the best kind of exercise.. even tho I think I am slightly obsessed.. but anyways it was a great work out.. and we deff both felt it the next day.. :)
October 26th Tuesday- I purchased the tickets for Steph and I to make our journey to Hamburg :) I talked to my mom.. had my tutoring session.. we recieved our possible outline.. and then after that Paul made stew again.. and we ate that. and we played UNO.. it was fun :) and then i worked out again... and crawled into bed and called it a night :)
October 27th Wednesday- was a very busy day... I had to wake up early for my tutorial which was fun.. we went over who was gonna do the presentation of what we talked about in class for the rest of the classes.. so it was nice.. i go on Nov 29th .. and then we had conversation class and we talked about vacations.. only German .. if we speak English we have to bring in Candy.. :) haha.. It looks like its gonna be only German :) That is fine by me.. I love this language!
Then it was Volleyball time :} we actually ran drills and had a warm-up and the last 20 min was play. but man it was tough.. I realized that I am slow and out of shape this will help me get back into shape.. and hopefully lose the weight that I want to :} yaya!!

Anyways October 28thThursday- had my tutoring.. and then left for hamburg with Steph.. all was going well until we stopped and they announced there was an accident on the tracks with a person.. I have no idea what actually happened but I'm not sure that I really want to know.. uk? anyways we eventually made it there.. around the time we were oringinally supposed to.. I have officially met the Fuchs family.. or should I say Steph's Weekend family.. or German Family.. she has so many lol :] got to love her tho!  Well that night we went to champs.. and I had a Crispy Chicken Ceaser Salad Burger, Ik isn't that a long name, but it was soooo good :) and that was that!

October 29th- Friday we woke up and the girls gave me a tour of Hamburg it is quite pretty... for those of you who don't know Hamburg is a huge city, but the nice thing about this city is that you can't tell how big it really is.  I will say it is one of my favorite Large cities, seeing as I am more of a small town girl near the city not in it!  OO i forgot before the tour of the city we carved PUMPKINS! I was sooo pumped.. I was sad that I was going to miss that.. but LOOK I didn't .. ain't it cute.. its a witch with a bat and a spider haha I LOVE HALLOWEEN!! <3
Then later that night we went to a cocktail bar- which turned out to be a gay bar/cafe thing, which was cool. and then we hit up the Kietes(?) or the Red light district... This was quite an experience, fun to say the least :) We hit up a club and danced for a while.. then my feet and steph's feet were in pain so we bailed and headed back home to got to bed!

October 30th Saturday.. we woke up and ate some breakfast.. we had breakfast everyday and it was always so good :) yumm! Then we hit the town to go shopping and this is where my new fashion comes in. I now own a Coat and some Boots I love them :] they were a good buy it took me a while to find them, like usual haha.. nothing new there.  Then we went back home and made some pizza and got ready for the halloween party at Patrick's which was a success I may add.  I went as a Hippie and Steph was a Pirate, Chris was a Zombie, and Sarah Fuchs was cat women! We all looked pretty good, if I do say so.  Anyways at this party we danced and drank and I spoke only German after I had a couple of drinks in me.  Its funny how that happens, I guess its because I don't over analyze everything I try to say, and I just say it, all points aside it was fun :] thanks Patrick! We made it back home at like 4:30 am So it was a good night!
October 31st-Happy Halloween was mainly spent on riding the trains home to Marburg and then just unpacking and getting a notice in my mailbox telling me I have a Package and waiting for the bar to open to go get it and guess what.. It never freakin' opend UGH. So now I have to wait until Wednesday to get my package, the funny thing is I have no idea who its from or what it is, so I am excited/scared haha :P oh well
NOVEMBER 1st! I have been here officially for two months.. man time flies by!
Again seeing as it was Monday I had Meditation Monday with Kayte again and then we had eggs in a hole and some carrots for dinner healthy right?? haha kinda i guess.  Then I spent the rest of the night going between doing some hw and taking a break playing tetris with Alex, which was a good break because you can only look at ads for or against abortion for so long before you start to feel sick, well at least in my case.
And today November 2nd- Tuesday I have already woken up and ran for 17 min.. WITHOUT MUSIC i never do that, but my ipod died and I needed to work out so I did it so I am proud of myself :] yay! Now I am going to do some journaling, which is much needed and then showering and getting ready for the rest of the day!
Love you all and I hope you all had a fantabulous Halloween and weekend.. Its a great weekend :]
<3Ris