Hallo Spring!

I want sun! Texas, show your sunny face, you sure did this morning…. February is over and March is just around the corner. These last two weeks I have been really sad. I really miss Jasmin and Cody always talks about her aunty, too. Two weeks ago on Valentine’s Day Aaron came back from dropping his cousin off at the airport and had somehow gotten tickets to the ALLSTAR NBA GAME at the new Cowboys Stadium. I was really excited, but more than overwhelmed as we got there. Usher was there, he sang as they introduced all the players. Alicia Keys and Shakira sang during halftime and there were so many more celebrities. I was so overwhelmed. After that night it kind of really hit me how long I have not been back to Germany. But tickets are so expensive right now. If they were not as expensive as they are I would get on a plane next week when Jasmin is there as well, so I would get to see everyone. Well, but Aaron is taking me out of town, so that should refresh me and make me feel better. Also, I plan to go to New York in April. Last week I also signed up for my prenatal study package which I got in the mail on Saturday. That covers my CEC plans for the first quarter of the year and is really going to come in handy whenever there will be pregnant ladies who want to work out with someone that is actually certified in that field. Today I went to a baby shower, that was fun. It was in the Aqua Lounge and the host did an awesome job organizing it. I even won a game! Yeay! Last weekend Aaron came back from New York and had food poisoning from real Chinese food he had eaten, I guess his stomach did not like the dumplings. I had planned to take him out to dindin, but those plans were shattered by puke and dehydration, haha. Yesterday morning I could barely walk because my shins were on fire. I subbed two classes on Friday, more or less back to back and my legs had already been hurting on Thursday night. I thought it would go away though. Well, Friday morning the pain was not gone, but I made it through the classes anyway. Saturday and today I rested my legs more or less and I feel better now. We will see after tomorrow’s class though. My dad’s and brother’s birthday are coming up this month and then my mom’s in April. And then my dear fiancé’s. Maybe I can shake something fun out of my sleeve for him, but we will see about that. ;-)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.....

… to everyone who does the Valentine’s Day deeds and happy one-year-anniversary of having been a U.S. resident to me! A vear ago I think Aaron was still waiting on me with our luggage because the procedure for me at customs took forever. But we made it and Maik and the kiddos picked us up! Anyway, this weekend was crazy here in Dallas. Thursday night Aaron’s cousin from Atlanta came in town and he brought his baby (girl, 3 months old). Friday night his other two cousins from Houston came in town – for the Allstar weekend here in Dallas. For those of you who do not know what that is: Once a year I guess all the NBA “stars” go to a certain city and everything goes crazy. Friday night there was a celebrity basketball game, last night there was a dunk contest and tonight two teams made up of the NBA “stars” play each other. I went to the mall yesterday, because my new pants at lululemon athletic were ready. If I had only known. Apparently everyone went to the mall. Kobe Bryant supposedly had just left as I got there and someone told me that Alicia Keys was there on Friday night. There were so many posers and wanna-bes, I cannot believe it. I am sure there were some celebrities, but I did not see anybody, nor did I really care. I just wanted my pants. It took me about 30 minutes to find a parking spot in the garage, and I usually park outside and then about an hour to get out of there. I even switched of my car as I was waiting for other cars to get out of the way or for them just to move because it took forever! So then last night we went out with Aaron’s cousins and we went to “DEUX”. I have been there once, and it was fine, but yesterday…… It was packed. Since Aaron knows the owners we did not have to wait in line but the place was just so crowded. And again, a lot of people who were trying to meet someone I suppose or trying to be something they were not. We still had fun, and so did the cousins from out of town! Needless to say, since today is my one-year-anniversary I feel kind of weird. It is weird how fast one year passed really and all the things that have happened. Also, I have not seen my family and friends in Germany for six months and I miss them. Hopefully, Jasmin will be able to come in August at least so we can go to the convention in Orlando. Aaron and I are going out of town for a couple of days soon and I am very excited!!!

Love is in the air....

…. Dumm-dumm-dumm-dumm-dumm-dumm-dumm, love is in the air….. What are you doing for Valentine’s day? Anything special? I was thinking about that the other day, but did not really come up with anything, since we are not that big fans of any days like that anyway. Last year I baked a heart-shaped mini cake for Aaron and my dad. My dad got it in the afternoon, my mom gave it to him, since Aaron and I were on a plane and Aaron got his Friday night, as I was packing and practically going crazy…. It is Allstar Weekend in Dallas next weekend, so that means the city is gonna go crazy and there are going to be all kinds of people. Aaron’s cousin from Atlanta is supposed to come in town that weekend, too. Today I finally had a chance and was in the mood to go to the mall, but had to leave after not even an hour, because it was too crowded. I felt like I could not breathe anymore and almost did not find the exit…. Yaya, I know. I did go to Lululemon Athletica though for my gift card from one of my clients. They even do complimentary alterations and my pants need to be shortened, so they will be ready in about a week or so. I am excited. They look super cute and feel really good as well. Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. Yeay. Super exciting, not. I might just go downstairs and check it out for a little bit and then snuggle up on the couch again. It is already Saturday night, there goes my free weekend. I did not work this weekend. I felt like I deserved a free Saturday after having worked four in a row. But those weekends always pass fast L. I got all my tax documents in the mail and Aaron is gonna help me with it. We will see….. Jasmin is finally happy in Turkey (I got a complaint from her last time, because she was not mentioned hehe he) and that makes me happy as well. She speaks very highly of her co-workers and loves going to the bazaars for bargains. I cannot wait for the summer to be here, because I really don’t like the rain!!!

Expect the unexpected

This week I had a two-day orientation for my job at Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center because they brought me on as an employee. I really did not like the idea at first having to go to Irving for two days and spend pretty much all day there to get educated about safety and hygiene guidelines. Turns out though it was totally fun! The only thing that was not fun was me having to go to my regular job till 9pm after the 8am till 5pm orientation on Monday and Tuesday. They let us leave early on both days though, so we beat the traffic and I actually had a chance to get some rest at home. So, now I am an official Baylor Employee with all the responsibilities that come with it. I like it! We got I.D. batches for identification, I met a ton of new nice people, they fed us plenty of awesome food (breakfast, lunch and snacks), we got tons of goodies and had a lot of fun together! Aaron’s grandma went back to Africa on Monday and she said she might be back in September. It was kind of sad to say bye to her on Sunday night, but I am sure she will be back soon. My one-year-anniversary of being a U.S. resident is coming up in about two weeks and I cannot believe that I have lived here for almost an entire year already. It passed pretty fast. It also falls on Valentine’s Day, but I don’t anticipate any kind of celebration. To me it is very special personally, because I had worked so hard to be able to live here legally with all the highs and lows, but it might not be special to anybody else. Maybe I will treat myself to some shopping or just spend the day at home with the doggy. I do not know yet, but I have two weeks to make plans! So we will see!

I guess when you turn 26.....

…. You do not need a birthday cake anymore. This was the first year in 26 years that I did not have a birthday cake. I assumed I would get one without having to say it, but as I learned that did not work. It would not have had to be one like on the picture on my last post…. Just a simple American birthday cake with lots of tasty frosting on there. Now, I know I should not say that, trainer that I am and all, but I love all the sweet temptations the American supermarket has to offer. Do I eat them a lot and all the time? Absolutely not. Would I if I could? Absolutely so! Anyway, I guess I’ll buy my own next year. Jasmin is not coming to Dallas, because she is going to Turkey on Friday, yeay!!! She is going to be there for six weeks and then we will see. I am really excited for her because that club resort is a lot bigger and they are already working on the class schedule for her so she can actually get back to giving classes, like Zumba® Fitness and Spinning. YEAY! That phone call which woke me up two minutes before I had to get up yesterday made it ok, LOL. Saturday night Aaron and I wanted to go see “Avatar” at the IMAX in 3D again, and it was sold out again. Bummer. I hope we will still get to catch it before they stop showing it at the IMAX. It is not too cold here anymore, but we cannot unpack the bathing suits just yet either. Cody is on vacation and I really miss her. Hopefully she will be back VERY SOON!!!

Happy Birthday Capricorns!!!

Do you feel older? That is what Aaron asked me yesterday as he came home to pick me up so we could go to the BODIES exhibition in Dallas. Nope, was my answer. Does anybody actually feel older just because it is their birthday and by calendar you are a year older all of a sudden? I do not know, but I still feel the same. People are actually still amazed whenever I tell them how old I am, they always guess beginning twenties or even younger than twenty. Anyway, my highlight of last week was a text message from my sister that said that she was leaving Switzerland for good! Made my day, even though she sent it before I had to get up to go to work. For news of that nature I do not mind! So, Sunday night (German time) Patty and her got on the train with their gazillion travel bags after a dindin trip and a run to the drug store and headed home. She called me while they were on the train and I texted her at midnight German time to tell her “Happy Birthday”. Last year on our birthday she came back from her sun-vacation where Nathalie was and I picked her up at like 2am and gave her a little baby-cake with a candle at the airport. After we got to her apartment we ate some of it and went to sleep, since we had a brunch reservation with the ladies in the morning. We basically ate all day and did not move at all, but it was a nice birthday. I was more waiting on my passport with my visa in it, because one year ago I did not know yet whether or not they had issued the visa. I think I got it on the 14th. Anyway, so yesterday Aaron and I went to the BODIES exhibition and after that to dindin. Aaron had made reservations and after we were finished eating we headed across the street to the Ritz Carlton, because Aaron had dessert plans. They did not have what we wanted though so we headed home. We were debating on getting ice cream but it was kind of cold so we stopped at “Bailey’s” for dessert, and they actually had what we were looking for! Crème brûlée, with bananas. It was really good. We headed home and watched a movie. That was about it. I did not work, because I did not want to and I am gonna do that again next year. It was really nice not having to go to work, especially since yesterday was Monday and I really do not like Mondays! I had an awesome workout today and am just waiting to hear from Jasmiin. She is waiting on her company or whatever you want to call it to let her know where and when she is going next for the job. Portugal or Fuerte Ventura are on the list. But before that hopefully…… DALLAS!!!!!

Dear 2010.....

….. it is official! The year 2010 is here. Ya ya, I know, I am a little late, but it is only the 3^rd of January. I hope everyone survived the change of the years safely, I know Marcus and I did. I had to work till 6pm on New Year’s Eve and then went home to get ready. We kind of dressed up but not really. Aaron was still in Milwaukee, WI, but we called him at 12am/midnight. After I was ready to go Marcus and I went to pick up a couple of his friends and visited their mother in the hospital. She had surgery done on Monday and they had not gone to see her yet, so we went. One of Marcus’ friends was pretty drunk already as we picked him up and was, well let’s just say he was behaving a little inappropriate. His sister, who was the other friend we had picked up, had never seen him drunk and got more upset as the evening proceeded. Oh well, we went to a friend’s house, where there was supposed to be a “black-and-white-party”. There were people and alcohol, but no party so we decided to go downtown. After a spilled drink and a misbehaving friend later we decided around 11.15pm to drop Marcus’ friends back off at home and so it was that we were on the tollway at midnight and rang the year in with a classy breakfast from __________. On New Year’s Day Marcus and I cooked – tilapia, cheese potatoes, broccoli and croissants. Before that though I figured I could go downstairs and shop around a little bit. Ha, I did not feel any of the three dresses I tried on and after I did not even find anything at the sporting goods store I gave up and went home for some coffee. Nothing in any of the stores appealed to me, but then again it is not like I need anything. I have dresses in my closet that I have not worn yet and during the week I only wear gym clothes. I would need some new workout-shoes, but I did not find any that I liked. Oh well, saved myself some $$$ there, didn’t I? Yesterday Aaron came back home and he even went to “H & M” for me. And the best thing…. It fits! He did a great job! We spent a nice evening at home with movies and brought in the new year a little later. I am a little unsure of what this year has in store for me, but I will see. Last year was all about the big move from Germany to Texas and I want to focus a little more on my career this year, since everything else is settled for that. Jasmin, squeeze those cheeks together and practice patience. I know I am someone to say that, but patience always pays off in the long run. I miss you tons!