Our bags are packed

Our summer travel tour has officially begun and we start it off with a trip to Spain. Only one more day until we leave for Barcelona. Friends of ours from the States are celebrating their 5 year wedding anniversary by sailing the Mediterranean and invited us along. We will be spending two days in Barcelona before meeting up with our friends and then taking an NCL cruise that will stop in Florence, Rome, Naples and Palma. This will be our first time exploring southern Italy and we plan on trying to take in as much as we can before heading back to sea each night.

Even though we are only spending 12 hours at each port I plan on taking as many pictures as I can since this will probably be our only shot at seeing these amazing cities. I will post on each stop once we get back to Germany.

See you in 10 days! Bon Voyage!

Filming complete and time with family

The filming is now complete for our show on HGTV and we are excited to find out when it will air. We are even more excited to receive our dvd since we are not able to get the network over here. They have told us it will most likely air in 2 to 3 months so I will update the blog when I hear something.

It was a lot of fun to be able to travel back to Charlotte for a few days and see friends. This trip however was more than just stocking up on goods and having lunches with old friends. My grandfather passed away after we had set up this flight. The dates that I was going to be home just so happened to line up with his memorial service in Philadelphia. This made it possible for me to be able to drive up to Philadelphia with my mom, dad, sister, brother and sister in law while I was home. It was such a blessing to be able to be with family and see extended family members that I had not seen in over 5 years. It was a sad time but also a wonderful time as we focused on the man that he was and the fact that he is now with his Savior.

What a wonderful time of laughter, tears and family togetherness. I should also add that I returned to my husband in Germany with 5 jars of peanut butter and a backpack full of pancake and muffin mixes. All in all a great trip.

Weddings, Festivals and Flea Markets

This weekends events included watching the royal wedding, hiking up to Walberla Fest and another flea market. It was really nice to spend time with friends, enjoy the beautiful weather and get some exercise walking around Erlangen.

Friday, as everyone knows, was the day of the Royal Wedding. A few girlfriends of mine and I had decided to watch all of the hats and tiaras with a group of English speaking expats in town. While reading an expat blog I came across an invite from a wonderful Australian woman names Moira. Her husband had no interest in watching the wedding so she decided to host a party in a 500 year old cellar beneath her jewelry shop. There was a small cover that went toward purchasing children's English books at the local library. The cover included a beautiful Mediterranean lunch, a glass of prosecco, games and a slice of wedding cake. We were also awarded gift certificates for Moira's jewelry store for making the best wedding dress out of toilette paper. Needless to say I had a wonderful time watching the wedding projected on the cellar wall and enjoying a few laughs with the girls.

Our beautiful hosts.

The starters at every table


The menu


The toilette paper brides


On Saturday we hiked up a mountain outside of Forcheim to Walberla Fest. We had a great time enjoying the sun and eating chicken legs,chocolate covered fruit, and cotton candy.



We ended up spending a lot of time relaxing in the grass and taking in the beautiful views.


On the hike down the mountain and into town we came across a few beautiful Easter displays.


On Sunday Phil and I had a great time leading worship at church. Afterwards we joined a few friends and headed to another flea market. We had attended this particular flea market last year and came across a few treasures. This year I walked away with two 1970's dresses for 3 euro.

Since it was May Day the whole town was outside enjoying the weather and attending the local festivals. Since we were not yet ready to go inside we headed back up to Erlangen to walk around the spring festival one more time. We ended the day with a scoop of gelato before heading home.

It was a great way to enjoy the last weekend in Germany before heading back to the States for awhile.