One Year Ago Today

A special someone came into my life. Someone who, at first glance, seemed too cool for me. Little did I know how close we'd become! My spontaneous travel buddy, my fellow music lover, unbiased to all who wanted to hang out with us...and German-born.

That's right, I'm talking about my car. One year, over 22,000 miles and counting. I'm thankful for this car! (Of course, I realize this mostly when I have to drive Parker's car- it's just not the same...) I'm thankful that God would let me be able to give rides, visit new places, and get to work each day...stylishly at that!

~VLP~

Chiclets and Chick Lit.

Did you know that Chiclets are selling for between ten and twenty dollars on Amazon? Just for gum! It's silliness, really- the point is, lately I've been having this major sweet tooth for things that aren't readily available. Like Chiclets and germknodel (Edelweiss, Edelweiss, I will love you forever)...and krapfen (shown below)- three cheers for Bavaria! Y-u-m.

What better to do with a delicious pastry then to enjoy it with the company of my latest literary finds? (Imaginary krapfen in hand, book in the other...) Yesterday, I raided the Santa Maria Library of any interesting chick lit. I could find. Sadly, there wasn't much- but I hunted, I searched, and I triumphed with a stack of books in my arms as I carefully made my way back to the car. Now, I will shamelessly admit that I only picked these books based on their covers (gasp), but so far I am not disappointed.

~VL~ 

A Great Weekend and a Happy Day

This last weekend was the college Unite conference at Hume Lake. A group of ten of us went up from Grace Baptist (eleven if you count Stephen's gnome), and it was a good weekend of learning, hanging out, singing, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings that are Hume. We had a different speaker each chapel, with this common theme of making a decision to live for God, instead of "limping between two ideas" as one of our speakers put it. It was a more intimate feeling at this camp, I felt- the worship was personal, and the lessons practical. For some reason, though, I couldn't wait to get home. I missed my family and I missed church Sunday morning, and I missed...other people (guess who)... I think one of the best things about the weekend was that my cell phone didn't have reception and I didn't have my laptop. Those two things are definitely things I depend on but don't necessarily need. So not having them was a bit freeing. As we started getting reception on the way home, though, I got almost fifty text messages!

After we got back home, the Late Service worship team got right to practicing and, I'm not gonna lie, I felt a little bit like leaning my head on the piano and falling asleep during worship. I was so tired. Right after Late Service was over, I went home and went to straight to sleep, because the next morning I knew Parker and I were going to...

Disneyland! When my alarm went off Monday morning, I was super groggy but excited to get to spend the day with Parker. As we were getting ready to start our drive, Parker told me he had a surprise planned, so of course I got even more excited. We stopped in Ventura for Starbucks, kept driving...and as we started coming into L.A. Parker pulled out a map and told me to avert my eyes...we got off the freeway, and I was still clueless as to where we were going, and then after driving a bit more, we pulled up to a German bakery! I couldn't believe it- maybe I'm the only one who gets this excited about carbohydrates, but I almost cried. They had German pretzels. And besides the pretzels, Parker thought of it and that was the sweetest thing!

After that detour, we made our way to the Happiest Place on Earth to find it completely packed with people- on a Monday! But no matter. We walked around and rode a record-breaking two rides: Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, twice. It was really nice to just spend the day there together. We stayed 'til the fireworks and I was totally amazed because I've never seen the regular Disneyland fireworks.

A happy ending to a happy day.

~VL~

Im Rückblick (In Retrospect)

I've been thinking in German ever since I woke up this morning. Often random German words come to me in thought, or a phrase of annoyance comes out every now and then (it's really funny to me that the German phrases that stick in my mind mostly are exclamations of disdain and how to order a pretzel). But today is a little different because a year ago on this day I was on an airplane en route to Germany. It's so crazy to think that a whole year has gone by since I left warm, sunny California for frozen, snowy Germany. All the emotions, anticipations, reality checks, language barriers and victories- it was a hard but ultimately changing and shaping experience. I realized in a new way how much I love my family and friends and what a great thing it is to have a strong support system, but also how much I really do love traveling and experiencing the world in more ways than just reading about it. I can't wait until my next trip!

I'll always love you, Deutschland!