wack/wonderful Wednesdays

wack 

1.  After nearly two years, Zack & I finally bit the bullet and bought a second car. It's an absolute junker like our other one, but it's made life a lot more convenient with our work schedules. The only thing is, I really miss riding with him. In the early morning drives to work, we would rarely speak but it was a soft silence that felt warm & comfortable. In the evening drives home, we would chatter about our days or give fabulous duet performances. It's kind of lonely now.
2.  Getting home so late. Yesterday I got home kind of early, but most days we leave the house before the sun is up and get home when the sun is going down. I honestly don't know how families with small children and both parents working full time manage. I get home, put away my stuff from the day (lunch box, gym bag, errands) start dinner (which, if I'm working, we usually don't eat until well after 8 PM), do some chores around the house, shower, & start getting things ready for the next day. It just feels so rushed & thoughtless. I can see why most people live for the weekends. 
3. The Walking Dead and its cliffhanger endings. I can't deal.

 wonderful

1.  Ordering a coffee drink without whipped cream to try to be a little bit healthy (I'm the person who gets a Diet Coke with their Big Mac meal) and the barrista accidentally puts whipped cream on it. Don't you just hate that? Yeah, me neither.
2.  Taking a walk with Zack through the streets of our town because it was junking day! Still not entirely sure what junking day is, but every few months, the Germans put a bunch of stuff they don't want out on the sidewalks for the trash to pick up. Most of it is pretty useless, but you can find some gems if you look. I've found many interesting things on junking excursions. Today I only scored a huge wicker basket & a small mug with the word "phor" written on the side.
3.  A wilted bouquet of hand-picked flowers from a 1st grade boy. When he gave them to me he said, "Sorry they aren't roses." I died.
4.  Flowers [daffodils!] from another sweet, a little bit older, boy.

you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness

This weekend was wonderful. Jam-packed and busy, but wonderful.

Friday was date night! I had been looking forward to it all week. Mexican food, the Hunger Games {!}, and my sweet hubby? Yes, bitte. I obviously had to channel some Katniss and sport a braid for the occasion. 

Per usual, Zack & I filled up on chips & salsa at Cantina Mexicana, so we split our favorite- the Burrito Poblano. So. good.Well, as good as you're going to get in Germany anyway.

How did we like the movie? Well, when you anticipate something for so long, there's a 97% chance you're going to be let down in some way. I wasn't as let down as Zack was (don't even ask him about it, unless you're willing to sit for 45 minutes listening to him list off all of his grievances with the movie), but I definitely thought the movie lacked the same spark that the book had, which gained it so many devoted fans. I know the movie is never as good as the book, but I was really hoping it would be close. I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it like I did the books. (FYI, I read Catching Fire in the course of a day.) My favorite casting choices were Katniss, Cinna, & Caesar, I thought they were all brilliant. Everyone else, I was just sort of like,  "well huh." Regardless of the fact we didn't fall in love with the movie, we still had fun. The theater was packed to capacity, and we split some delicious popcorn (not kidding, best I've ever had) and got to drink German beer while watching it.

We were so excited to get to sleep in on Saturday. Unfortunately, my body thinks 'sleeping in' is waking up at 7:30 AM. Oh well. Zack made blueberry & banana pancakes and chocolate chip pancakes. I was a huge help by making the coffee, and introducing him to our newest obsession, Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" We have listened to it probably 47 times now since Saturday. It does not get old. I also had to educate him on what 'dubstep' is. (I think he lives in his own little world sometimes.)

After breakfast, I decided it was time for spring cleaning in the Willey house. Our house is always neat, but not always clean, and I was ready for a thorough scrub down. Inspired by the movie the previous night, we put all of the rooms into a cup and took turns drawing to see who had to clean what. Totally normal.

Saturday evening was a goodbye party for sweet Gretchen & Josh, who PCS back to the States in a few days. The theme was "Bright & Tight" and everyone delivered. It was a great time- full of friends, delicious food, homemade Four Lokos (yeah) & hours upon hours of dance sessions. Surprisingly, there were no tears or sentimental moments, for me anyway. It didn't even seem like a "goodbye" party, I think because we're all sort of trying to pretend it's not happening. So if we keep laughing, drinking, and dancing, we won't be still long enough to remember what is quickly approaching.

Zack doing nothing to help the Germans with their already ridiculous staring problems.

Sunday morning we went to a birthday brunch for Jamie's mom at the Ramstein Officer's Club. It was $22 a person, and was almost worth it, perhaps if I had a stomach the size of a cow. The food was good, and incredibly varied. Fresh waffles, crab legs, stir fry, fried chicken, fish, mashed potatoes, eggs & bacon, french fries, omelettes, and a dessert table that stared me down the entire time. Happy birthday Lori!

On the way home from brunch, we stopped at the St. Wendel Ostermarkt (Easter market.) I was incredibly sad I had just finished stuffing myself to the point of delirium, because the food there looked awesome. The market was pretty much like the Christmas markets, just much warmer and with bunnies everywhere. (Also notably absent: glühwein.) 

The only bad part of having such a fun weekend is the reality of Monday morning that is going to smack us straight in the face at 5 AM tomorrow. Le sigh.

Riga, Latvia

We decided at 9:00 on a Monday evening that we needed to go to Latvia. Don't ask me why, other than we had never been to eastern Europe (I don't count Croatia) and flights were pretty cheap. I didn't even know Latvia was a country. (But please keep in mind this is coming from the girl who had zero grasp of world geography until I started traveling.)

Riga was sort of like that weird place on Youtube you find yourself in from time to time. (Y'all know the videos I am talking about.) You're really not sure how you got there, you're not sure what is going on, you can't put your finger on it but you feel slightly uncomfortable, and all you really know for certain is that you want to get back to where you came from. For me, Latvia was that weird place on Youtube. 

The people looked...harsh. (If that's what living on the Baltic Sea does to you, no thanks.) They were also incredibly rude. So rude, I would rather take 12 elderly Germans and 10 snooty French and throw an intimate cocktail party than have a brief conversation with one Latvian. But they did wear those really sweet, round fur hats in all seriousness, so they get some props for that. It was so cold  frigid that I was a few wind gusts away from buying one, and I think about that hat at least once every three days so I know I should have purchased it.

The food was nothing to write home about, sadly. (Not sure if this is a shocker for anyone, but food is hands down my most favorite part of visiting a new place.) There was this really cheap, open 'til 4 AM, weird place that Zack & I ate at twice. Apparently a popular dish there is a ravioli type thing, which personally I find insulting to the Italians. It was basically like a pasta shell with unidentifiable, flavorless meat inside of it. I can't explain it, and really don't care to stir up my memory of it. We did find a really great pizza restaurant called Charlies, and their food was wonderful. But, it was pizza. If you screw up pizza you have issues beyond anything I can comprehend. We tried kvass there, which I didn't hate, but didn't love either. It's supposed to be fermented, but only like 1%. Anything less than 5% is a genuine waste of my time and I have no patience for it. Speaking of fermented, Latvia is famous for their "Black Balsam" drink. It was repulsive. Repulsive, made me want to peel my toenails off, would rather lay naked on Riga's frozen ponds repulsive.

If you are a Latvian, and reading this post, I apologize. 

communism ftw

But only for the ravioli dig. Y'all step up your game.  

wack/wonderful Wednesdays

wack

1. Screaming Adele at the top of my lungs, (which to my ears sounds nothing short of magic, but to any other human being, it probably sounds like something dying a slow, torturous death) and realizing the windows were open, and that my German neighbors were outside staring up at me. Awkward.
2. I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick. I hate knowing it is coming, and not being able to do much to stop it. My body has an ever-so-slight ache, and my throat is scratchy. STAY AWAY FROM ME, ILLNESS. 
3. The Army threw us a curve ball today. Well, sort of. Zack's brigade is disbanding in October of this year. We weren't supposed to leave Germany until next February, but we had the feeling it probably would get bumped up to late this year. And bumped up, it has. As in, we're looking at a June-August time frame for having to move. I'm incredibly torn on this. On one hand, I feel we're getting cheated out of 6 months here because we still have so much more traveling we want to do. On the other, I think back on everything we have already gotten to see and do and it's mind-blowing. Plus, we have a few interesting options of where we can go next..
4. Getting full before I was even through making dinner. I don't know why I am such a fat kid, but I can't resist nibbling as I'm cooking. By the time I had set the plates down at the table, it occurred to me that I was not only not hungry, but I was full. Yet I proceeded to eat my fair share of dinner. Cool Liza. 

wonderful

1. I got to go the commissary. What a lame statement, I know, but I seriously love, love grocery shopping. From the list-making, to perusing the isles, to taking all of the tasty treasures home and organizing...I just love it.
2. Not a cloud in the soft blue sky today, riding home with the windows down & Jack's Mannequin on the radio. The kind of day you can feel your soul smiling. 
3. I opened up some of the windows in our house because it was just too nice not to. It was a little chilly at times when the wind would blow in, but having them open made me oh so happy. 
4. My February Birchbox came in the mail! Getting that cheerful pink box every month is such a treat, although I'm pretty sure Zack looks forward to it more than me. "OPEN IT LIZA! PLEASE! OPEN IT! I WANT TO SEE WHAT'S IN IT!" 
5. When I went to the commissary, I loaded up on fresh (okay, and frozen) fruit, so today I made my first smoothie of the season. I lived off of smoothies last summer, but during the cooler months smoothies do not sound appealing at all to me. So the first day in which I didn't have to grab for my parka, I grabbed the blender. Blackberries, blueberries, half a banana, water, & a handful of spinach. So much yum.

wack/wonderful Wednesdays

wack

1. Waking up at 0500. There is nothing good about that. Nothing. 
2. Only having one car between the two of us, especially when both of us work and have a lot of errands to do throughout the day. I think we switched back and forth at least six times today. It got slightly out of control. 
3.  I began to complain about having to pack for Malta this weekend. "The weather is weird. What do you pack for 58 degree highs? Should I do a checked bag & a carry on, or just a checked bag? I have nothing to wear." And then staring at my closet for 12 minutes. And then realizing how ludicrous I was, having the audacity to stress out over packing for Malta. Really Liza?

wonderful

1. The fact that I have a husband who can make me laugh at 0500 in the morning. I am probably the least morning person person you will ever meet. And yet somehow he gets me to laugh when my eyes are just little slits and I have a perma-scowl on my face until at least the sun is up.
2. Because I was up so early, I got to go to Jamie's spin class this morning. I love when she teaches, because it's actually fun (in my brain, the word 'fun' is on the opposite side of 'spin class'), the music is great, and the workout is intense. She must be doing something right when she can get a room full of soldiers to fist pump and laugh, yet still have PT shirts that have turned dark grey with sweat. 
3. I made brownies for Zack to take into work tomorrow. DO NOT MAKE THESE. They are stupid, stupid good. The bottom layer is normal brownie, the middle is vanilla frosting covered with crushed peanuts, and the top layer is rice crispy cereal mixed with chocolate & peanut butter. I cannot even deal. It's been a legitimate test of will power to not go into the kitchen every 5 minutes and snatch a bite. (I've only caved twice...so far. The night is young.)
4. Found out some really, really great news about my family. !!!

This past Saturday was the annual West Point Founders Day dinner. It was held in Heidelberg, a charming, quintessential German town, so any excuse to go there is gladly taken. We arrived to our hotel that afternoon, and much to my horror, I had forgotten my curling iron. After a few moments of sheer panic and pointlessly whining to Zack, I [wo]manned up, and got crafty. I wet a few sections of my hair and then put them into pin curls while I did my makeup. The result was soft, yet slightly hideous curls, so I put in some infallible braids, and pulled the rest back. Don't judge. 

My dress was also a near disaster inconvenience. I purchased the dress (Salvation Army, $3, hey girl hey.) last year, about 13 pounds heavier than my current weight. (Although after the past two weeks of basically binge living, I'm sure that number is creeping back up.) I didn't think to try it on until the day before the dinner, and I really didn't have many other options. Well, the dress hung on me like a rather unfortunate black sack. Thankfully, Zack has the hidden talent of tailor (did I hit the jackpot or what?) and spent a good 20 minutes pinning me in various places, until the end result was a socially acceptable little black dress. 

We took a cab to the hotel where the dinner was held, and caught the tail end of the cocktail hour. Zack didn't know many of the '09 grads there, but we made friends with the people at our table. The dinner was full of West Point traditions, many of which went clear over my head, largely due in part to the fact that I didn't date Zack his Cow or Firstie years. (Bitter Liza, go away. You can't come out to play today.) But Zack was a dear, and patiently explained all of what was happening to me. (Like that table being lifted up in the above picture...I just assumed they'd all had too much beer.) It felt nice to be a part of the evening, I felt proud to be in a room with so many incredibly talented, intelligent, and brave men and women of all ages. (And Dress Blues for days, y'all.) 

I got chills when they sang the Alma Mater. The room was eerily silent, with all the grads standing at attention, their voices ringing out strong and clear. I couldn't help but think of the men from the class of 2009 lost last year, and the fact that Zack was standing by my side, safely home from war. I had to blink my eyes quickly, to get rid of a tear threatening to spill out. My heart was, is, so full of gratitude.

Seeing 'Mrs. Eliza Willey' never seems to get old. Two years later, and I still get an excited little shiver down my spine when I see it on paper. 

After the dinner, we went out with some friends in downtown Heidelberg. Maybe it was the wine that had gone to my head, or just the buzzing energy I was still feeling from the dinner, but I was on top of the world that night. We had an absolute blast, just the four of us, and didn't get into bed until well past 4 AM. And let me just say...for two relatively low-key, married couples...we did a number on a certain Irish pub in Heidelberg that night. 

 

instagrams of the ordinary

lazy days // "but i really mustache" // mango pumpkin cream soup with smoked salmon. yeah.
out to dinner // waldmeister ("forest master") gelato // Zack's favorite candy...who knew?
H2O with limes & frozen M&M's, typical // medieval torture device Zack makes me do // cuddles

Scotland

Upon driving to the airport at an ungodly hour (4:15 AM), I was struck with the realization that my knowledge of Scotland was limited to kilts, scotch, the Loch Ness monster, & Braveheart (which I have not seen, much to Zack's horror & dismay.) So when we landed in Edinburgh (pronounced "Edin-burra"...not "berg") I had no expectations, and my mind was wide-open.

And I fell in love.

 Maybe it was the dozens of gorgeous, fascinating graveyards popping up all over the city, or maybe it was the castle itself, looming over Edinburgh like a proud, protective older brother. It certainly could have been the accents and food, which both had me drooling at any given moment. Perhaps it was the charm of the Royal Mile, or the disturbing, whispered tales of what happened underground (y'all know I love that stuff.) Whatever it was, both Zack & I fell even harder for the UK.

Because we got in so early in the morning, and were unable to check into our hotel until 1400, we headed to a sweet little restaurant called the Red Squirrel and had breakfast. Zack was itching to try haggis, and for a boy who talked a mighty big game, I'm pretty sure he only ate two bites. (Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish, containing sheep heart, lungs, & liver and is encased in the animal's stomach lining. So I really could not blame him.) I got the vegetarian version of Zack's breakfast and I absolutely loved everything. Especially the cappuccino, but when have I ever not enjoyed a cappuccino? I think I might turn into one. 

The rest of the day was spent exploring the city, which was surprisingly easy to do on foot. We saw the castle, some graveyards, the Royal Mile, Calton Hill, Top Shop (Since I didn't get to go in one in London, I demanded the store be put on our 'must-see' list), Palace of Holyrood (which I kept referring to as 'Bollywood' and really, really annoying Zack), and Princes Street Gardens. Once 1400 rolled around, we were able to check into our hotel which was quite a step-up from the usual slums places we stay. In both travel books we had, the hotel was listed under the "High-End" section of hotels, and said rooms run about £350 a night. Our room had a rather magnificent view of the castle, and at night it was really something to see. Thank goodness for off-season pricing.

 That evening, after a nap and an impromptu (and completely normal) lizack dance party in our hotel room, we headed out for a ghost tour. We really didn't have time to have a sit-down dinner, so we split a döner, and it was the strangest döner I'd ever had. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't earth-shattering like 98% of all döners I've had are. But Zack got to speak some Arabic to the owner, and talk about Egypt (he gets more excited over this than anything in the world) so all was not lost. We met up with the ghost tour group and explored the city underneath the city, which I was dying over because I was so into it. If you'd like to know more, go here. (Forgive me for citing Wiki.) It's really, really fascinating stuff. To finish up the tour, we went into Greyfriars Kirkyard and learned the horrific tale of what George McKenzie did to thousands of Covenanters in the church yard. We got to stand in a dark vault in hopes someone would pass out, or get beaten up (as is rumored to have happened to hundreds of visitors) by McKenzie's ghost. Nothing happened, and I was sorely disappointed. I saw a bruise on my arm the next day and tried really hard to convince myself it was from a ghost, but I'm pretty certain it was from carrying luggage. The only slightly bizarre thing that happened that night was I was going around the graveyard taking pictures (not the bizarre part) and my camera was doing just fine. I stopped to take a picture of McKenzie's tomb, and my shutter wouldn't release. I tried like five times, and it simply would not take a picture of that particular image.

The following day was spent exploring areas of the city we had missed. St. Andrew's Square, Queen Street, the National Portrait Gallery, ducking into little shops along the Royal Mile, and taking a bus out to Ocean Terminal for no particular reason other than to further my belief that Zack is indeed turning into an Anglophile. (He spent 32 minutes in the Royal Yacht Britannia gift shop reading books on Queen Elizabeth. I spent 26 minutes picking up the free Wi-Fi and 6 minutes eating Millionaires' Shortbread.)

That night we devised a brilliant, and incredibly ambitious, plan to have our own personal bar crawl down Rose Street. We would start at the beginning of the street, and have a pint in each bar along the way. We were 3/4 of a way through our first pint, and decided food needed to be made a priority, so the bar crawl was abandoned momentarily. I knew all hope of ever continuing said bar crawl was futile when Zack spotted an "ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SUSHI" sign in a restaurant. I just ordered a few salmon rolls, but you would have thought Zack was auditioning for a role as King Henry VIII. He was going at this food like none other. Suffice it to say, we waddled back to our hotel room with bellies full of raw fish instead of beer. (Not that I'm complaining...)

We had another early evening flight home, so we were able to fit in a few more things the day we left. We went to the Royal Botanic Gardens, which I imagine are a sight to behold in the spring, summer, and even fall. But in winter there wasn't a whole lot to see. I did get to see Zack attempt to hand feed a squirrel for a good 10 minutes before the squirrel ran off, disgusted. (Can you see why I missed him so? He is constant, 24/7 personal entertainment for me. And he doesn't even know it.) We also got to have afternoon tea at the restaurant in our hotel, which turned into a staggering array of delicious foods. I also tried "tablets" for the first time and was irrevocably hooked.

I'd very much love to return to Scotland, perhaps for the Highland Games or to see more of the countryside. But let's be serious, Millionaires' Shortbread is reason enough to go back.

who killin' em in the UK?

First, I am not doing too hot with the whole maintaining a blog and living in a blissful, Cloud 9 state with the long lost hubby thing. I imagine once we get settled back into a normal routine (or when he goes back to work after leave, wahhhh) things will smooth out and this little blog won't be neglected anymore. 

The past two weeks have been full of traveling (England! Scotland!), kisses upon kisses, and not really living in the real world. And I have treasured every last second of it. 

A week after Zack came home, we packed up our suitcases (I've pretty much become a professional packer...I am that good.) and flew on over to Ol' Blighty. 

I am not sure what can be said of London that hasn't already been said a thousand times over, but it really was an amazing city. I had a pretty extensive list of things I wanted to see & do while there, and we only got through half the list in four days. There is just so much there. History, beautiful things, interesting things, gorgeous accents, any type of food you could want, the Queen, lovely buildings...just, everything. Plus, I got to demonstrate to Zack that I can straight murder Kanye's rap in "American Boy." I think I obnoxiously sang, "JUST TOUCHED DOWN IN LONDON TOWN" at least 12 times that weekend.

We got in on Thursday morning, and after spending a good chunk of the day trying to find the hotel Jamie booked (for the record, Milford Road is not the same thing as Milford Street...I kind of got the feeling we were in the wrong area when I saw Maseratis casually parked on the street), we finally reached our hotel and took a quick nap. For dinner that night, we ate at a traditional little pub and had delicious pies. Mine was Guinness & steak with the most incredible phyllo mound topping. I washed it down a few pints of some English beer, which was slightly disappointing. I swear, German (and Belgian!) beer ruins you for life. It's so delicious, and strong, that anything else seems sub-par.

The next day, Jamie had to go to a Zumba conference, so Zack & I explored London with Nick. We took a walking tour, which was excellent, and saw lots of the important stuff. Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. Although I'm sort of an undercover nerd about history, I learned loads on the tour, and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting London. After the tour, we played around in Piccadilly and I got to obnoxiously sing that One Republic song, "WOKE UP IN LONDON YESTERDAY, FOUND MYSELF IN THE CITY, NEAR PICCADILLY.." (I annoy even myself at times.) I finally got my beloved fish n' chips for lunch that day, and mushy peas which I am undecided on. That night, we went on a pub crawl which is always so hit or miss in my opinion. I have been on some incredible ones (Amsterdam) and some downright sucky ones (Munich.) I feel like pub crawls are great if you're traveling alone or with a group of your boys or girls, but when you're married and with another couple, you really don't need it. I'm certain we could have had just as much fun finding bars on our own, and saved £15. We skipped out on the crawl early for two reasons. The Tube stops running at 12:30 and I was in no mood to figure out how the night buses worked, and we could smell Burger King while in line for a club. (The latter was reason enough for me to duck out prematurely.) 

On Saturday we caught the last bit of the changing of the guards at the Palace, which was an absolute mad house. It was late February, hardly tourist season, yet the crowds were a little ridiculous. I shudder at the thought of what it's like in the summer months. We also went to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Bridge (naturally, I sang Fergie, would you really expect anything less?), the London Eye, and Tate Modern. At the recommendation of a friend, we ate lunch at the Borough Market which was incredible. It was packed full of people, mouth-watering smells, and just so much to look at. I definitely want to go back and explore on an empty stomach. 

Our flight home was not until Sunday evening, so we had almost the entire day to try to cram in more sight-seeing. Zack & I paid  £19 a piece to get into the Tower of London, which I'm not sure was worth it. I was expecting more grisly, horrific stories about torture and death (I will readily admit to how weird I am), but all I really got from it was a funny picture of a raven, some stories I think I learned in Goosebumps A Night in Terror Tower, and an absurd striking of jealousy upon looking at my diamond ring beside the Crown Jewels. But the guided tour by a Beefeater was pretty neat.  

(Fun facts:  1) Zack's English accent is absolute rubbish, mine is brilliant.  2) While in London, Zack developed a downright bizarre obsession with Queen Elizabeth. He is currently reading a disturbingly thick book on her.)

In all, London did not disappoint. It was every bit as wonderful as I'd dreamed it would be, although the company could have had something to do with that.