Christmas will be over in one week - OR - Let's just call this a memorable night....

Today is December 19th 2010 and I have no idea where this year went. But it will be over in twelve days. Let's see what this year brought. I took an entire ELEVEN days off work, during which Aaron took me to the Bahamas to make up for his absence on New Year's last year, I went to Germany/Turkey, and got stuck in NYC on my way there and I took my sister to NYC this past weekend. Oh, and I took my birthday off because I believe nobody should have to go to work on their birthday. So I decided to take an entire two full weeks off next year and go to Germany - maybe stress free for a change. This year also brought a lot of sad things. Aaron lost a lot of friends who will always be remembered and taken home way too early but I believe there was a different plan for them and their job here was done. There was a lot of babies born, just to name two - Malik and Zachary. Malik is my soon-to-be-aunt's little one, who is adorable and Zachary is one my close friend's baby and he is a little bundle of joy as well. It was both mom's first-borns and they have had to make some big adjustments. But it is all worth it.
Yesterday we had our Company's Christmas Party and I was the designated driver. Well, I really volunteered, since I do not drink. I suggested Dillon and his girlfriend could ride with us, so we did not have to all go, plus that meant they could drink as well. So that's what we did. Party was supposed to start at 7pm, so they came over at 6.30pm. Introduced them to the doggies and we left. Well, there was an accident on 635 so it took us about an hour and 20 minutes to get onto 635 and my car started smoking. Great. Perfect day for that. I started freaking out. Awesome. Turned on the heat to take some heat off the engine and it stopped smoking. We still decided to pull over to the next gas station to check the water. The gas station we thought was coming up was closed down so we pulled over to the walgreens next to it. Dillon called his uncle to make sure what was wrong really was wrong and we got some liquid to put in the EMPTY tank. Cool. Car was fine after that and I was not freaking out anymore either. We finally got to the Christmas party at 8.45pm, hmph. Just a reminder. We left the house a little after 6.30pm and it was in Addison at "300". We say hi to everyone and grabbed some food, which was really good. Then we started bowling, that was fun. I actually won a $50 gift card, yeay. I guess overall it was a memorable night.....

In Neeeeew Yoooooork..... Are way too many people around Christmas time - and Jasmin and I were right in the middle of it this weekend!!!

I could finally embrace my Jasmin this past Friday (December 3rd). Her plane arrived late - but better late than never. We were at home around 7p and she settled down. We went grocery shopping and then she went to bed. Our Saturday plans included a trip to IKEA in Frisco, a baby visit and going out with my co-workers. We did not do the latter. Jasmin was knocked out on he couch around 10.30p and Dillon (our organizer LOL) was sick. Oh well, we decided to turn my kitchen into Santa's bake shop that weekend and so it smelled deliciously like Christmas Sunday night. Monday and Tuesday Jasmin came to the gym with me so my co-workers could meet her and she could work out. On Monday I am gonna work her out - for free of course LOL.
Anyway, on Thursday we went to New York City. I went to work from 5am till 7am and we went to the airport. Thanks to Delta our plane left DFW about 90 minutes late so we did not make it to the hotel till like 6pm or so. We checked in and went right to explore the city - straight to H&M. And we were starving. Thank goodness I had rebooked our hotel Wednesday night to one right on 7th and 53rd street so we didn't have to take the subway in and out the city. We went to sleep kind of early but we had to be well-rested for Friday because shopping is hard work and that was the program after breakfast at Lindy's. So Friday morning after we had a delicious breakfast we went straight to niketown. We both got a pair of awesome shoes. Jasmin is so in love with hers, I think she will always remember this trip because of those shoes, haha. They were the last pair in her size too and they were never sold in Europe, so lucky her. Honestly, we could have bought a whole bunch more there and the staff was really awesome but we decided to just stick to the shoes. After that we went to lululemon. Jasmin really enjoyed that store and one of the ladies that worked there on Friday asked us where we were from. I told her that Jasmin was from Europe and she said my accent sounded European with some southern accent mixed in there - I guess she got that right. We had an awesome experience there as well - very friendly staff. We had to take a break after that and grabbed some coffee at starbucks. We talked to our parents on our way back towards H&M and there we got some things for me. I was so excited to be in there, Jasmin only got some accessories and judged my choices in the dressing room. The cashier there was very slow. I'm sorry, but back in the day as I worked for H&M my supervisor would have had a talk with me, especially since the line got longer and longer. We dropped our steals off at the hotel and recharged the phone, since that was our guide and about to die, and rested for about 30 minutes. Then we headed to Katz's deli on east Houston street - all the way across he city, 50 blocks away from our hotel and we walked it. Unfortunately, as we got there we didn't find anything we liked so we headed back to Times Square to find something to eat. Jasmin was Miss Grumpy-Pants by then because she was starving. But after I fed her she was my happy Jasmin again and we got souvenirs for her friends. We were beat after all the marching back and forth and watched a movie at he hotel - in bed. Saturday morning we went to a different breakfast place around he corner. We just beat the breakfast rush and were seated right away. After breakfast we chilled at the hotel for a little bit and then walked to our age-appropriate culture attraction - The Museum of Sex. We learned a lot there and saw some very disturbing things. For example - did you know that it is normal in the animal kingdom to have sex partners of the same sex? I thought that was very odd, because back in the day I learned that dolphins and chimpanzees are the only other creatures besides humans who have sex for reasons other than reproduction, aka pleasure. Apparently that was wrong. We refueled with some coffee and went back to the hotel to relax a little in the lounge and change. Around 4pm we went on our way to JFK. The concierge told me that the train we are supposed to take was not going that day because there was something wrong with the doors. Too bad because that train departed RIGHT infront of the hotel. Long story short: we had to fight ourselves through ridonculous masses of people on Times Square to get to another train station where another train departed. We asked to make sure we were right and that guy only told me half of the directions and asked for weed instead. Yea, about that...... OMG. There were some weird creatures on that train to say the least. LoL. One lady kept on flashing the passengers (top and bottom!) and some soccer kids smelled up the whole cabin thingy. The weed guy was on that train as well and he kept on moving around in such a weird way that we were more than happy as he got off. We made it to JFK eventually, checked in real quick and went through security. I got us something to eat because we had to board soon and Jasmin and I were happy to be at the airport and to have something to eat.
It was an awesome sister-weekend, but we will never go to NYC again when it is Christmas time - unless we feel like we need a mass snuggle session while being pushed through the crowds.

Santa came early this year - OR - Only 7(!) more days and Champ meets his auntie!!!

Exactly one week ago I became a doggie-mom, officially now, since Cody is really just my step-dog, lol. I got my Christmas present early in form of a little boy Shih-Tzu, who was named Champ, because he looks like he got punched in the face. He is so cute. He was born on July 1st and is a fur-ball with legs. His butt looks a little bit like the one of the "Charmin"-bear. Very furry and round. Overall, he is really cute and he is all mine! Cody did surprisingly well so far, I am really proud of her. She is even sharing her toys!! Anyways, my Jassele will be here in exactly one week and that means that in exactly two weeks her and I will be in NYC! Yeay. I am really excited, it is going to be so much fun! Last weekend we went to a wedding, so I wore a little black dress which surprisingly fit, yeay. So all the sweat and soreness is finally paying off I suppose, haha. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I really missed my family in Germany. This weekend is the first Advent Sunday and my family in Germany and I have a tradition of going out to dinner at a nice restaurant in Braunschweig where my brother lives and I will not be there. I am not even sure if they are doing it this year to be honest. But I still miss them more at this time of the year. My new baby Champ is doing a great job cuddling with me and keeping me busy though. Here he is in his first video:

I need a replacement

20 days and counting down, then my sister will finally be here! :) I so cannot wait! I have not seen my family since I left Germany in June after I visited my Jasmin in Turkey with my mom. My dad could not go because of work, so I only really spent two days with him. The Saturday I got there (24 hours later than I was supposed to) and the Saturday my mom and I came back from Turkey. This time of the year always makes me think of my family even more and then of course I miss them more as well. I remember that last year I was really sad, because there are certain family traditions that they are doing without me now since I decided to live here in Texas. It is really bitter-sweet sometimes. I love being here, because I love who I have become because I always had the dream to live here eventually ever since I went to High School here in 2001/2002. I did not give up and always worked towards my dream to eventually move here and be happy. As it did not work out in 2007 though, I kind of had to make it work in Germany and with everything I had to do I became who I am today. A lot of people that have met me after I moved here 20 months ago do not know that I used to be a totally different person. I know I have come a long way. After all I was 17 years old as I left Germany to live in a country for a year in which I did not know anybody and I had never been to. I would always do it again.
Anyway, the other day I came to the realization that no one can ever be replaced. You might find a substitute, but you can never 100% replace someone. I was thinking about my dad in particular. (No offense mom.) My dad is very rational, yet he finds the right words in any chosen situation to soothe me when I need it. It could be that the single reason for this is that he is a guy, whereas my mom is a female and we tend to over-analyze things and then exaggerate and do not shut up. I do not know. But I do know that I miss him and the rest of the family as well.

Trick or Treat.....

Happy Halloween!! This coming weekend is Halloween. Trick or Treat! Today we are supposed to dress up at work, so we will see who is all going to do that. Last year I was the only one who did dress up, but we have a lot new fun trainers, so I am sure I will not be the only one. Last weekend was the big move weekend and it is all done... Cody was a little confused which led to her being stressed out with bloody poop and all that jam, but she is fine now. It only lasted for that weekend anyway. It was pretty much all done on Saturday except for the closets and the little stuff, so I got up at 8am on Sunday to take care of that and now it is all done. Yesterday we cleaned the old place, so we are all clean on that page, too, literally. My Jasmin will be here in 36 days and Cody is ready to see her auntie. I fixed up the guest bedroom the other day, since I was getting things set up anyway and Cody really misses her auntie. On the weekend she was watching the boxes, I guess she needed to prove her abilities as a watch-dog or something.... The view from the balcony from the new place is amazing. I caught the sunset the other night and took a pic of it.... Love it. It makes it all worth it and the move not even matter, though I really did not have a weekend because of it, but oh well..... I cannot wait for this weekend to come though, so I can finally catch up on my sleep and do something for me. The plan is to go horseback-riding with Diane and today I am going to make a baby-visit to see the adorable Zachary and his mom, not sure if Daddy went back to work yet. Hopefully I can squeeze in another baby-visit with Hawaii to see the new addition to the family and see how little Malick is doing as well. Last time I saw that little bundle of joy was the day of his naming ceremony and he fell asleep in my arms. I refused to give him up, he just looked so peaceful. Anyway, I cannot wait for my sister to be in town and take her to New York City and go shopping and just have fun with her! Oh *newsflash*: H&M is coming to Dallas, TX baby!!!! I am super-excited!!! They announced it on the news Tuesday night, they plan to open it in the second half of next year, so that could be like a year I guess, and it is going to be at the Northpark Mall, PERFECTION!!!! How many days? -36!

Decisions, decisions............

Every day we face them. What to wear, what to eat, what to do? Some are minor, some are major. Some match our moods, some match the weather. Some we have to think about more, some are spontaneous. What if the decision we make matches what we want, but not what we need? But how do you know what you need and what you want? How do you know if what you want is what you need and what you need is what you want? What if another person's actions affect your decision-making? Of course you do not want to hurt anybody by a decision you know you need to make in order to get what you need or want, but what if you cannot necessarily avoid that? Is it better sometimes to make a decision that might not result in something you want but need? Or is it better to get what you want, whereas you know that does not match what you need, but you know it does not end up hurting anyone. Is that going to be a good decision? What if a good decision turns out to be the wrong one in the long run? You cannot tell that when you make that decision in the beginning thinking it is the right one. But in the end, everyone has to make one. Either good or bad. Matching the want or the need, both or neither.

Check your tatas!!!!

I have been very up and down lately for whichever reason. The man has been dealing with it very well though, so kudos to him! My parents just came back from their pre-anniversary vacation in Turkey and I regretted dearly that I could not share that time with my family and just enjoy some time off with a clearly needed change of scenery.

Good thing Jasmin will be here in 9 weeks from yesterday and then she will be all mine for seven freaking weeks ( I am a "little" excited if you cannot tell). On October 16th, which is the international day of fitness, we will hold a Zumba Fitness® Party in Pink Zumbathon® at Gold's Gym at Whiterock Lake from 9.30am to 11am (www.partyinpink.com). It is going to be so much fun!!! I have added another class on my schedule to help another instructor out because she could not teach it any longer, so now I teach four Zumba Fitness® classes per week. Yes, the weekends I still try to take off, except for special events, like the one for Breast Cancer awareness! So, ladies, if you have not seen your special doc in a while - make an appointment asap. I know I had my two ladies checked this past week. You can never do that too often!
How many days??? - 62!!

85 days and counting DOWN!

My Jasmin will be here in 85 days. Hooray. She will be here for seven full weeks and it is going to be so awesome! I already booked our tickets for NYC. We will be leaving on Thursday, December 9th and will be coming back on Saturday, December 11th. I cannot wait to go with her, it is going to be sooo much fun! The first weekend she is going to be here we are also going to go to IKEA, because the man and I are moving at the end of October and I am sure we will need a thing or two for the new place. Hopefully Jasmin will not be too jetlagged, but if she is I will just give her coffee, coffee and more coffee. This week on Monday was Labor Day and we taught a one and a half hour long Zumba(R) Fitness class at Baylor Tom Landry. We had four instructors there and about 60 members in the class room. It was so much fun. Last night there was a tornado watch and they actually "evacuated" us into the ladies locker room for like 20 minutes as I got there. They said we could either leave or stay put. I stayed put because I was not about to be blown away in my little Beetle. Haha. It was all for safety reasons and it was good that way. We started class 15 minutes late, but still had a blast. I changed my schedule at work so that I do not have to drive there that often anymore and have a little more time at home. I am trying to work smarter, not harder. I am gonna save a little bit on gas too. Hehe he. This weekend we are meeting some of our old neighbors for dindin, that's going to be fun!


Results of Hermine's doing - flooded water blocking the street I usually take to get to work....

Y'all ready for the fall?

Jasmin was diagnosed with acute gastritis last Tuesday. That means she has some fluid in her stomach that refuses to go back where it belongs and that causes her pain. She refused to take some antibiotics before because a couple of years ago as she took some they messed up her intestines and that had to be fixed as well. She is doing a lot better now, but she was in the hospital for two days and they looked into her stomach through a tube that was put into her throat. Fun times. At least they did not have to do a colonoscopy, haha. This week at work was busy, plus I subbed two classes on Friday and Saturday because Amy was at the Convention in Orlando and Bob was on vacation. Saturday afternoon I went to the Aerobics Convention with Diane, but we were a little bit disappointed, there was not much going on. We thought that maybe we could buy some clothes or so for a bargain, but that was not the case. They did have a couple of new exercise classes on display though, some looked interesting enough, other did not, hehe he. After that I had to take a nap though, I was tired. Thursday night I had a hard time going to sleep, because my legs were hurting, like restless. Fun. Today is an awesome day because my Jassele booked her flight to come see me!!! YEAY!!! She will be here all of December till January 21st. It is going to be soooo much fun. She will be here in 96 days. That is below 100, whoop whoop. We are gonna go to NYC to go Christmas shopping, I just have to book the flight. My parents are the most awesomest parents ever, too. I talked to them today and they are actually giving us money to use for our NYC trip, so we do not even have to think about that and can really enjoy our mini-vacation, including shopping, some educational museum visit and of course Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building. This is gonna be so much fun!!!!

We almost survived the hottest month of the year!

All my non-Texan readers, August is the hottest month of the year in Texas. And this year has not been any different. We have had triple digits for several weeks now, with sporadic rain showers. This week at work has been another hard and long one. But keeping myself busy makes the week pass so fast that the weekends pop up faster and faster. Also, Jasmin plans on being here soon as well. If everything works out she will be here at the beginning of December till mid-January. YEAY!!! And then I am going to take her to NEW YORK CITY!! I am so excited! I can hardly wait. We have been planning on going Christmas shopping in NYC forever, so it will be so awesome to finally go. Right now she is not so feeling so well, and I mean I feel like we get closer every time we see each other, but this is ridiculous. She was telling me the other day how she felt like she was tired all the time and had no energy. And believe it or not, but before she was telling me about her not feeling well, I had not been either the couple of days prior. Isn't that insane? So, this connection between her and I gets stronger and stronger, though we could not be further apart from each other with her being in Turkey and me being here in Dallas, TX, USA. School is starting again here in Dallas next week, so that means this weekend is tax-free weekend in Texas. That also meant that people started going crazy beginning Friday morning at 12.01am. Tax-free weekend means (for some of yall who do not know) that certain items are exempt from the sales tax, like backpacks, sneakers, clothes, school supplies and so on, as long as they are under $100. Oh well, I am not going anywhere near a mall this weekend. I do not need anything in my closet other than cleaning it up and sorting some things out and I am really looking forward to seeing my Jassele in December and would rather treat her to some goodies then, and of course go to "H & M" in NY. Yeay! Guys, we really need one here. Seriously! Alright, it is the weekend, I have nothing to do other than the normal stuff, like laundry and prep for the next work-week. Maybe I'll go get my tire fixed this weekend, hehe he.....

Jassele, we will go see this one in NYC. I already walked by it the last time I was there!! ;-)

Soooo,....

Lately I have been thinking a lot of "What if... "s. I do not really know why, but I have. Like what if I had never gotten the Greencard? Would I still have found a way to come to Texas? What if not. What would I be doing right about now? What would the man do right about now? He really never had a choice or a say in this. I told him I had taken part in the Greencard Lottery and that I had to wait. Next thing I know I got it. I asked him if I could stay with him and he said yes. What if he had said no? Would I still be here, maybe in a different living situation, but would I still be here? What if we had never found each other again? Would I have gone through the whole thing without him and his support? Or would I have stayed in Germany, scared and discouraged? I really do not know. I cannot answer any one of those questions, at least not 100% honest. I really do not think I can. For all I know, I know I was scared. I was scared as I asked the man if I could stay with him, after all ,we were not even officially a couple again. I was scared about the future, still am sometimes. I was scared to lose him, friends, other relationships and contacts. I really do not know what I was thinking as I took the leap back in July 2007 as I signed up for the program. I probably was not thinking. I know I do not regret any of my decisions that I have made since then concerning my life over here in Dallas, TX, USA. I have some awesome co-workers at work. I do not really have too many friends, but I never did, anywhere. I do not go out much on the weekends, but I have always been more of the kind of person that stays home more than going out and party. I have so much more on my mind but that is meant for a whole nother post. ;-) Baby shower on 7-31-2010

Hmph....

Let's see... what has been going on? Work, sleep, work, eat. Really. Mostly in that order. Oh well, I get to relax on the weekends, since I try not to work then, but other than that I have been at work between 6am and 8am, depending on the day of the week and my clients and I have been at home between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. I do take a nice lunch break though with a much needed nap of about one and a half to two hours if I had to get up at 5am. But really, it is easier for me to get up at 5am than at 6am. And the bottom line really is, there is no big difference of the hour when you have to get up, getting up and out of bed is hard at any time of the day.
Other than that I miss my Jassele, and so does Cody. She tells me every day.....

Oh well, expect the unexpected ;-)

I should have bet some money on Aaron being here for July 4th or not. He said he would be fine, I said he won’t make it. He was scheduled to fly out of ATL on Sunday last week I think at 4.15pm, but his uncle dropped him off a little too late, at 3.50pm. So, that flight was gone. After that he could not get on another plane, because they were all full. He tried till 10pm local time and then I texted him “I told you so”, since I had been right. So, the doggy and I watched some fireworks on the good old couch and had some ice cream with it. Now, the man said he would make up for it if he misses the 4^th with us. We will see where or what that leads to this time. He finally made it back in the morning of the 5^th, but I could not go get him, because I was teaching my Zumba® Fitness class at 9am. He got a ride though. The week at work was busy, but I finished the case study with Satek for the BodyJuggling he teaches. Aaron came with me Saturday night to a Yoga Studio downtown to record the whole thing and interview me. He has been really supportive this weekend. Today I “taught” my Zumba® Fitness class at the Taste of Dallas. Unfortunately there had not been much advertising, so the turn-out was not so well. I still presented my new awesome new Zumbawear® skort in purple which I got in the mail on Saturday. Other than that, Cody is the same lazy doggy and we had a lot of rain this week. My Jassele has been very busy this week also, so I have barely been able to talk to her, boo :-(.

Nap time needs to be practiced more often!

It is almost July – unbelievable! This will be my second 4^th of July here in the States. Aaron is in ATL right. His family wants him to stay till after the 4^th, but I asked him to come back before. The problem is that he is flying stand-by and since I experienced the dilemma of trying to fly out of ATL on stand-by on a Sunday I do not see us spending the night of the 4^th together to watch some fireworks. I have been working a lot, since I was on vacation the first week of this month, but I also decided that I do not work weekends anymore, unless I absolutely have to, like subbing a Zumba® Fitness class or so, like last weekend. The weekend after July 4^th, my gym asked me if I was willing to teach a class at the Taste of Dallas and of course I said yes. I think it will be fun, plus it can possibly bring some business in the door, besides the fun it will be. I got a couple of new songs on my playlist, Shakira’s “Waka Waka” is one of them and that one is tons of fun. I had 37 members in my class last Thursday and the energy was just so great! Cody has been supporting the German soccer team with all she got, except for when they lost their second game. I did not know they were playing and saw the game on TV at 7am as I got to work. I had not put her jersey on, so that’s why they lost. Other than that she has been wearing it and since the States are out we do not have to make her choose which team she likes better, since Germany will not be playing the States. I have been working on my tan on the weekends and working out at the gym in the morning hours before it gets really hot there. I miss my Jassele a lot :-(.

The first week is always the worst :-(

I miss my Jassele. I miss my parents, too, but my sister more. I have been back home now since Monday and this week has been hard. Monday? Yes, Monday. I was supposed to get back on Sunday, but since everybody in Atlanta gets on a plane to Dallas on Sundays for whatever reasons they may have I did not make it on any of the ten or so flights on Sunday. I almost did not make it Monday, I was not even supposed to be on the plane that I was on, but I made it to Dallas at 3pm on Monday and my loved one picked me up. I just had to get my suitcase, since it had gotten to Dallas the night before and go home. I spent the night at Aaron’s aunt’s house in ATL and that was the upside of the delayed trip home. I finally met her. She had dindin waiting for me and the guest room was ready, so perfect. As I got home on Monday I was “attacked” by a very happy Cody who was REALLY happy to see me. She almost knocked me over as she greeted me. I went to work at 5pm till 8pm, went to the grocery store after work and then did the laundry. After that I went to sleep, yeay. I must say it is good to be back home, but I could have stayed longer with my sister in Turkey. For some reasons though, I guess, it is always too short when we see each other. I miss her so much, it is really bad this time. I have no idea when or where I am gonna see her again. She will be in Turkey till November of this year. I already looked at flights to see her again, but they are around $1600, and that is a lot! Plus the cost at the hotel I would have to pay. I do not know when it is gonna get better, but I know it has to. I know she misses me too, a lot and I really wished I could help her. I am really looking forward to the next time I am gonna see her and hope it is not gonna be too far away! Luv u sissy!