5 Question Friday!!!

Oh I am so excited for the weekend to finally be here!! I swear this was the longest week ever..for reals!!!  So I want to first say thank you so much for all the sweet messages I was sent about Murphy being at our house. Just to update you all. I did find a very good auto shop just around the corner from our house and they couldn't have been nicer to me. The owner checked out my truck and did a few tests and let me know that it was just my battery and that if I wanted once I got the battery he would be more then happy to install it for me.  What a super nice man!!!   So I lucked out the local AAFES here had my battery in stock and as soon as i called Mr. M and told him he said he would put it in for me...case closed!!! Yayyyyyy for simple solutions!!  As for the rest of my house falling apart that will get done next week. It much more important to me to get my truck running this week to be sure that I had a way to get my stuff done. All in all though I will say that we kicked Murphy's butt right out of our house and are doing just fine!! So thank you everyone for your kind words and as always I do appreciate each and everyone you.

Now let's get to the Friday questions so this weekend can get going already...what do you say??

1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?

Nope. Now I have lost my child in a store before because she decided to play around in the clothe racks and I couldn't find her. I am so used to having my girls with me then when they are not with me I actually still have that feeling like I am missing something and will sometimes catch myself looking around for them. Yupp I am that crazy woman in the store that looks like she is lost because she is looking around for her invisible children!! Haha!

2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!

Ok well my very first date was actually quite the story. This boy who was friends with some of my friends from highschool asked me out and he ended up taking me to a party. Well of course there was drinking and all kinds of craziness going on at this party so it wasn't long before I asked to leave.I was seriously terrified about my mom finding out what was going on there and I just wanted to be somewhere safe..uh huh I was a goody goody back then!!  So as we went to leave the party apparently some guy my date had had several run ins with ran up to my date and started yelling at him. The guy was drunk and holding a liquor bottle which he proceeded to smash into my dates face. As my date stood there bleeding and all I could think of was...1. I can't drive stick so how the hell do I get home now..2. my mom is going to kill me...and 3. I went on my first date with a moron!! Ughhhh

So needless to say he drove us both to the ER which was just around the corner from the house thank goodness and then one of his friends called my mom to let her know where we were. Now most of you are probably thinking that my mom showed up and beat the tar out of both of us but no she was actually very cool. She came in and asked the doctors about my date and then after finding out what had happened and that his father was out of town and not wanting him to be alone after this invited him to spend the night in the spare room. What a mom right?!  Yeah whatever I was pissed at him and we didn't speak for a few days after that. 

3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights.)

Ok ok so I am going to admit something that I don't like to admit but sometimes have to.  I have a phone phobia!!  I have no idea how I got it or why but it is really hard sometimes. Every now and then I will have to call someone and it will take me forever to get the number dialed.  I will half dial it and hang up and then a little more and hang up. I hate that I have this and it sucks because I would rather drive to an office then have to call someone to make an appointment. Talk about a waste of gas and time but I can't help it.  I told you I had issues ya'll!! 

4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away?

OMG  I HATE confrontations!!  I will avoid them at all costs but if the time comes when I have to stand up for something then look out.  Of all the things that I consider my qualities my words are the best of them. I can talk anyone into anything just about and if it comes down to someone getting under my skin to the point where I need to say something then that person will be leaving the room feeling like a micro midget!  It is not really the best of qualities but yes I can belittle someone to the point of making them cry if I have to.  There I said it..sighhhhhh I am not proud of it but sometimes my skill is needed. Almost never though so please don't think I am big fat meanie running around belittling people because I am not but I can hold my own that is for sure.

 

5. Wood floors or carpet?

Oh goodness!!  From the time we have been in military housing and not had a choice to our very first house we bought and then sold I can tell you that I can not stand wooden floors!! I don't care how pretty and cute and nice looking they are...they suck!! You wear high heels and they scratch up and dent..you have animals just forget about them.  I will take my carpet and my ceramic tiles any day over stupid stupid wooden floors!!  So there!!

Ok so now that you know more about me and you are probably either intrigued or terrified of me go on over and get your questions done with Mama M. I know I have said it before but she truly is fabulous and I just love reading her blog.

Have a great weekend everyone and I will be speaking with you soon....oh and let me leave you with this  I have something big next weekend going on and I will share it all with you soon!!!  :)

Post it note Tuesday!

Murphy has arrived at our house....

So since we got back from our weekend trip I have been noticing some things about my truck that just aren't right. The brakes sound like they are grinding but no biggee I can just take it to a shop right?!?! Oh yeah I am in Germany and I am driving a Chevy so that is more of a chore then I even realized!!  So I had resigned myself to calling the few shops that were reccomended to me and so far still had no idea how much this was going to cost us. Again I wasn't worried and was just hoping it wouldn't take too much to get done.

Well yesterday Murphy stepped in and kicked us in the behind!!!  I woke up and started getting the house clean and laundry done. As I went to put the first load of laundery into the dryer the door won't close....lovely!!!  That means I will have to sit at home all freaking day waiting on some worker to decide when they are going to come fix that. After figuring out how to jam the door so I could atleast finish the laundry I go to the bathroom to start cleaning. After scrubbing the toilet I go to push the button to flush(in Germany our toilets have push buttons to flush instead of a handle) and the button falls off....WTF?!??!!!  Ok so all I am thinking is  "well atleast I won't be sitting at home for just one thing now". So I then make my way to the kitchen to do dishes and guess what...yupp Murphy had been in there too. The flipping dishwasher keeps shutting off and I have to reset it 4 times to get it to finish one stinking load!!!  Can Murphy please give me a break?!?! Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz!!!

So I have now calmed down and reserved myself that I will call the work order in first thing in the morning and just be done with it.  So I go into the kitchen and start making a dip that I am supposed to take to this babyshower I am going to around 3pm.  As I am finishing up the dip Mr. M comes to tell me he is taking off to get some work done that he needs to do by Monday morning. No big deal. So I finish the dip, grab the present, tell the girls all the rules of what to do when we are not home and head out. I get down to my truck only to have it NOT START!!!  Oh yeah as if my day hadn't already sucked now Murphy has taken his stinkin' little behind all the way to my truck... Aaaarrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!  So I try to call Mr. M to see whre he is at. As I am sitting in my truck and dialing his cell phone I suddenly hear a phone ringing...OMG Mr. M had apparently left his cell in my truck from Saturday...ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!!  Seriously can anything else go wrong now?!!?  So I come back up stairs and stick the dip in the fridge and wait. I had already texted the woman holding the shower to let her know I wouldn't be coming any time soon since my truck wouldn't start. About an hour and a half later Mr. M calls and says " hey I just stopped by the shower to check on you and you are not there why?"  Now everything in my head told me "don't yell because he has no idea what your day has entailed" so I said very calmly.."my truck won't start and so I can't go" so he says "fine I am coming home to help you".  I am thinking great now maybe we can jump the truck or whatever. He comes home with an attitude..apparently his day hadn't gone so well yet either...so as he begins barking at me I simply say "Babe I have had the worst day so far and you are yelling at me for no reason"  Mr. M is usually pretty good at telling when he better just shut up and listen so he puts his head down and says"ok tell me" so I proceed to tell him all about my day.

After all of that we go downstairs to try and find our jumper cables that I swear are in his car and he swears are not...I was right btw!!  As he takes the bazillion things out of his truck and finally finds the jumper cables I try to start the truck. It sounds like a 1957 car with it's sputter and cough and then finally starts..yayyyyy I was sooo happy!!  Of course Mr. M is just smiling as I walk over to tell him "thank goodness it started" He jsut laughs and says " Yeah it sure did"  I smile and say "don't start with me mister" and we both finish cleaning his trunk out and put the jumper cables in the truck just in case.

So now not only do I have to find a shop to get my truck fixed and hope to god that they do not charge me an arm and a leg to do it..which they totally could be we are in a foreign country driving an American vehicle so they pretty much know we are at their total mercy and can charge us whatever they dang well please..and all of this has to be done while still doing all the things that normally go on in my week plus a class I am to take today and volunteering at a school this week as well... Yaaayy for me!! NOT!!!!

So I do wish that you all have a fabulous week and that you feel good knowing that Murphy is at my house so he is too busy to visit yours!! lol

5 Question Friday!!!

Holy cow this week was loooooooooooooooooooooong!! Why is it that the short weeks always feel so much longer then regular weeks?!?!  I am so ready for this weekend and I have so much to do today so by the time the bell rings for the end of the week I will definitely be ready!!

1. Can you drive a stick shift?

Why yes, yes I can!!  Does that make me special or something?! Would you like to know how I learned to drive stick..of course you do..duhhh!! So I was 16 and dating this guy a jerk and he drove a stick shift truck. He said I needed to learn to drive it and so one night he drove me to a parking lot up the street from his house, gave me 1 lesson that probably lasted 3 seconds with him yelling, and then left me there. He said as he was walking away "I will see you back at my house and you better not wreck my truck" What a charmer eh?!?!  Yupp I did learn to drive stick that night but let's give a cheer to the moronic boyfriend who left his 16 yr old girlfriend in an empty parking lot in the middle of nowhere on a Friday night!!! Cheers dirtbag!! I was TERRIFIED!  Oh I made it back to his house but not before I hit a dozen things, killed the clutch and took out his mailbox..haha on him!! :)

2. What are two foods you just can't eat?
1. oysters: raw or cooked they sucks..yuuuuuuck!
2. snails: they are chewy and disgusting..ewwww!

3. Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? What is your favorite kind?

Heck yeah I buy girl scout cookies!!  Who could resist thin mints and tagalongs?!?! Mmmmmmmm  Matter of fact I have a big box on the way with 5 boxes of each...jealous?!?!!  

4. How do you pamper yourself?

Well there are many ways I pamper myself. I could:

a. just chill at the house and refuse to do any housework..oh yeah baby!

b. go to a salon and get my hair, nails, or a facial done.

c. go shopping for some retail therapy...of course this is my favorite one!

5. What is your nickname and how did you get it?

I had a nickname in highschool and college...The suz...not exactly sure why but I had it on my license plate because I was soooo cool!!

A year or so ago I had a dear friend who started calling me..coach...not because I coached any sports but because she said, and I quote.."I swear you have everything ever made by Coach and still find things to buy from them!"  She was not correct by the way..I do not have a coach watch nor do I have a coach scarf(which I am dying to get one). 

Ok so now do you feel like you know me just a weee bit more?!?! I love these questions and I think I love the fact even more that they come from the fabulous Mama M.  Have I told you all about her?!  She is fabulous and I adore her. Go check out her blog and while you are there why not try on some Friday questions for yourself.

Have a fabulous weekend ya'll I know we will!!!

Our trip to Belgium!

So we left Amsterdam and headed to Belgium. We were so excited to see the next country and yet sad to be leaving Amsterdam and all it's beauty and fun.  We actually stayed in a small town just outside Brussels called Mechelen. I highly reccomend this little gem of a town for anyone going to Belgium and wanting to see more then just big city or those who really like small town feel and gorgeous architecture to go with it.

 Yupp again with the signs!!  It was only a short 1 1/2 hour drive from Amsterdam to Mechelen.

 Such a gorgeous town.

 I love it when things work out and you end up finding hidden gems you never would have found had you not chosen the out of the way hotel. Gorgeous cathedral!

 This was a garden on the inside of an old building..beautiful!

It was a beautiful place to spend the day and we even were able to get some fine Belgian chocolates while we were walking around..yummmm!!!

 Gorgeous Brussels!!!

 The Grand Place.

 Of course we had time to stop at a quaint little cafe and have some warm yummy Belgium waffles. Here is my waffle with strawberries and chocolate right next to my latte machiato!

 Thought maybe you would want to see a close up...can you see the cocoa powder on top?!?! OMG it was sooooooo good!! Only problem is now that no other waffle or chocolate will ever compare...sighhhhhh!!!

 The Atomium. A fabulous place to take kids after a full day of sightseeing. You all know how we need to keep the kids happy or else!!

A look over mini Europe. Of course they were closed while we were there....mehhh that's ok that just means we can make a repeat trip to do that too!!











So I hope you enjoyed our little weekend trip and hopefully if any of you are planning a trip to either of these countries you will feel you know a little more then you did before.
Have a fabulous day!!

Our trip to Amsterdam!

 Yupp I am one of those people who takes pictures of the road signs so that I can keep my pictures straight when going to multiple countries!! :)

 The one thing you expect to see when traveling to Holland!! They really are beautiful.

 Now I have no idea what these signs mean but they were all over the highway once we entered the Netherlands. 100% BOB  0% OP    Any ideas?!?!

Told you they were everywhere and we were fascinated by them...crazy Americans!! lol

 Our hotel...I can not say enough for Holiday Inns in Europe!! Love them!! Their breakfasts are always fabulous and most of them have an indoor pool so you have bribery for your kids to make them behave while you sightsee around town...Huuuzaaaa!!

 We always go to Hard Rock Cafe in every country that has one. They best food and it is pretty much a guarantee they speak English too.  Although I have to say for anyone thinking of going to Amsterdam..they all speak English very well and are not afraid to use it!! Score!!!

 A war memorial in Dam square. It was beautiful and so detailed we spent a lot of time there looking at it.

 Believe it or not this store was actually in our Rick Steve's travel book!! We had to see "the cows grazing on the ceiling" for ourselves!

 We stood in line for a while to get into The Anne Frank house...so worth it and something I will NEVER forget!!

 The Hermitage Museum. Huge building and too bad we were too late and it was closed!!

 Europeans do not like you to look at construction work so they have all kinds of things for you to look at instead..this one was a string of people ducking down and walking around the construction. Europeans are so clever!!

 Ohhhh yay baby....the Gassan diamond building!! We were given a tour of the factory and showed how they made their diamonds and then were taken into a room where we were able to see a ton of diamonds...can you say heaven?!?!

 We were comparing the different size and color of some of the loose diamonds. Can you see that the smaller diamond is only 16, 240 Euro?!  What a steal eh?!?!

I told Mr. M he could come back and buy me this for our Anniversary..it was only 6,000 Euro!! I am totally worth it right?!?! hehe












So that is most of the highlights of our trip to Amsterdam. We weren't able to take a boat ride down the canals and a few other things we really wanted to do but we did make up our minds that we would be going back when it was warmer and staying longer next time.
Amsterdam really is a beautiful city and so worth it to anyone who goes!!

Post it note Tuesday!! We're baaaaack!!

Ok wow this weekend was so much fun and we had the best time despite several mishaps..will tell you all about it the next 2 days promise. I have tons of pics to share as well so be ready to read and gawk your hearts out tomorrow and Thursday!!

Here is a sneak peek at pics to come....now do you see why I miss my waffles so much?!??!  sighhhhhhhhhhhhh