driving and grocery shopping

Matt and Isaiah headed to the treatment center with Ryan this morning while Elle's and I went grocery shopping.
There has been so much that Matt and I appreciate about Germany.  From less than a week here, we already notice the sense of orderliness everywhere (at least from Frankfurt down to Stuttgart).  People are not warm and friendly but they are helpful- there is something authentic about the helpfulness they extend.  It's rare you will get a smile but it's common that same person that did not return your smile will stop and ask where it is your trying to go (so they can help navigate you there).  Over all, they seem uninterested in American's or what our life is like back home, but not showing it through any sort of disrespect.  Their actions say that they are content with their life and their culture and not looking to make American's a novelty.  We appreciate their straight forward approach to life along with the sense of history this country wears beautifully.
Driving has been completely fascinating.  You've got people passing you on the Autobahn going over 150 miles per hour but not driving crazy (it's so hard to explain- you must just experience it).  Matt keeps commenting that you don't see all banged up guard rails on the freeways (from wrecks) nor do you see police patrolling everywhere.  Germans are aggressive drivers but not road rage orientated (they just glare and shake their heads- tssking at you the entire time- Like a school teacher that caught you doing something you were not supposed to do).
All that being said, to get to the grocery store, I needed to drive myself this morning- it was the first time I have driven since we landed.
It was so much fun :)
Praise the Lord for the navigation system the car has (we rented some sort of VW brand car that looks equivalent to a a short version of an American Hearst- The back end of the car is really long)
 People drive fast and the roads are pretty narrow so you have to be on your game.  The grocery store I was going to was 6 miles away- getting there was the easy part...
Grocery shopping is still a guessing game- you have to go mostly off of site and hope you get it right- I googled the name for different sorts of nuts before I went so I would know what not to buy (I'm allergic to nuts) and totally winged it for the rest of what we needed.  There is a larger grocery store within walking distance to us but the size and amount of groceries they have gives me sensory overload- The store I went to is smaller with less variety.  I'll work up to variety- just not yet.

You put 1 Euro in the slot and then can pull out the chain holding the shopping cart attached to the other shopping carts in front of it.  When you return the cart, you reinsert the the key (on the end of the chain) and get your Euro back

This bread is SO GOOD!  Ellie and I eat it, as toast, at 3:00 a.m. when we are both sitting awake with our jet lag

You don't see a lot of plastic- food is mostly stored in either glass or cans.  Total side note, this applesauce is delicious!

I needed balsamic vinegar- I hope this is it....I tried to ask others at the store but could not find anyone who spoke English

Thecoconut is finely ground- looking forward to trying it

This was the only coffee creamer I could find- 12% feet means 12% fat

Flour

you bring your own bags or buy your own bags- the 2 on the left are bags I brought over from Oregon.  The 2 on the right are bought from the store (.10 euro each)

first treatment and the mercedes benz museum

Ryan began his first treatment this morning  He and I left just a bit early so we could stop by a bakery on our way.  The center is within walking distance to our apartment and the bakery is one of the shops on the way.  I ordered a Canadian Bacon pizza roll (yum!) and Ry ordered a peach turnover.  When we arrived at the center, Ry's IV was ready to go.  At this point, he will have 3 treatments a week for 12 weeks.  Thankfully, the treatments should not leave him feeling poorly but instead leave him feeling better and better as each week goes by.  The treatment sessions last for about two and a half hours each.

We've been trying to get out during the afternoons so that we can stay awake.  The 9 hour time change for our family and the 12 hour time change for Isaiah has been difficult to adjust to.  We have found that if we are home from 12-5 pm we all end up falling asleep (and then have a hard time sleeping during the night).  This afternoon we went to the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart....
WOW!  It was impressive!!

just pictures

The view from our living room window as the sun is coming up

Schwabisch Hall (this is just down from our apartment)

One of the many bakeries selling delicious pastries

Buying meat at the grocery store- pork seems to be the predominant meat, at least where we are at

This was lunch today.  It costed 1,80 Euro's (roughly $2. American).  Under the mozzarella, tomato, and lettuce was a dill/yogurt/cream cheese spread.  The bread would be comparable to American french bread

We walked into a flower shop and they had these eggs for sale at the counter....I couldn't buy them cause they did not come out of a refrigerator (but instead just sitting on the counter) BUT I did do a happy dance in my heart that they were white 

This is the flower shop that was selling white eggs.  I wish I could have captured the smell- it was exquisite- The flowers on the table are sold separately - I'm guessing it's so you can make your own bouquet.

Euro's are coin until you get to 5 Euros- then they turn to paper.  It was really weird using the paper Euro for the first time- It reminds me of Monopoly money.  It felt like I was using counterfit cash.  Matt told me after he used it for the first time that he felt the same way.

Yes, I know this is in here twice...White eggs in a brown egg country deserves a second look :)

The knob on this door and the wreath are what earned this picture to be posted here.  It's lovely (like Germany)

Doors like these are still in operation (and functional).  BEAUTIFUL!

snow and schnitzel

Jet lag is not all a bad thing.  You find yourself WIDE awake at hours you haven't seen since you were a teenager...whoo hoo...you feel young again, for a few hours at least!! I can't remember the last time I was up at 3:30 a.m., ready to face the day, not tired AT ALL.  The downfall..by 2:30 p.m. you can't keep your eyes open another minute and have to take a nap, promising yourself that you will only sleep for a half hour.  3 hours later you are awake and going full speed, only to find that your not tired when you should be (10 p.m.) and the cycle continues.  Your eating dinner when your body is telling you it's breakfast and breakfast when your body is telling you it's dinner time.
We were up bright and early this morning with the plan to head to the International Baptist Church in Stuttgart.  It is the closest speaking English church to us.  The drive to Stuttgart takes right about an hour.  If you read yesterdays blog post, you know that we rented a car equivalent to an American Ford Focus (ours is the station wagon version).
Just after we arrived yesterday, a light snow was falling- off and on during the afternoon and then a bit last night.  First service started at 9:30 a.m. so we were out the door just after 8.  The snow had stopped here in Schwabisch Hall and the roads were only a bit covered.
As we got closer to Stuttgart, the snow had started again, it was sticking and building on itself fairly fast.  As we pulled up to the church, I told Matt we should probably not go but instead, start heading back to Schwabisch Hall- we didn't know if they were expecting a lot of snow or if this was going to be it.  Our vehicle doesn't have studded tires or four wheel drive- the freeway was not plowed or cindered, neither were the streets.
We were all hungry and didn't want to waste an hours drive so decided to make a stop on our way back.  It was a local pup/restaurant that had a special of the 200g Schnitzel today (pounded out breaded pork) and fries.  They served it with carbonated tonic water (not the tap but other than that you are served carbonated tonic water.  not my thing but really good to some).
The snow had let up by the time we left the restaurant and we enjoyed the ride home...
Matt and I keep saying that Germany, at least the part we are staying in, looks like the set of a movie.
It really is beautiful!
P.S. Ryan will start treatment tomorrow.
P.S.S. Our luggage arrived.  Praise God!

Our waitress did not speak English so she brought out the cook- He spoke very little English but enough that we could place our order

Love these two!!

200g of Schnitzel....can you imagine eating 400g (offered on the menu).  Maybe we'll work our way up to the 400g by the time we leave :)

This was the salad bar.  Pretty much everything was pickled....

lufthansa, the autobahn, and grocery shopping

We're here!
I just have to give a shout out to Lufthansa Airlines.  Our trip from Seattle to Frankfurt was outstanding.  The food (pictured below) was a visual nightmare but tasted delicious.  I told Matt that the spinach they put on top of our breakfast omelet looked like something dumped out of your lawn mower bagger, after mowing wet grass (but was still good).
Our flight landed on time at 9:00 a.m. this morning (1/16).  Going through customs was easy- our passports were checked and quite a few questions were asked about our destination- they checked Isaiah's passport and then immediately asked for his notarized paper work from his parents stating that he could travel with our family.  In the Frankfurt airport, it seems that most of the police and attendants understand English.
After going through customs, we went down to pick up our luggage.
Lufthansa is still searching for it (AAAHHHH!!!).  It did not come up in their system so they are in the process of locating where it is.  Our hope is that our 4 checked bags did not make our connection in Seattle (as opposed to being 'lost' completely).  The blessing in our lost bags is that we did not have to rent a second car to bring it all to our destination (2 hours outside of Frankfurt).  When they find it, they will deliver it to our apartment.  Still, the negatives in not having our luggage outweigh the positives so I'll just move on to the next subject :)
THE AUTOBAHN
It's crazy fast and completely AWESOME.  I had told Matt that we were supposed to stay out of the left lane (that's for the vehicles going over 100).  We rented a car equivalent to an American Ford Focus....it's practical but not a speed demon....unless my husband is driving.  Somehow he was able to left lane it most of our way to Schwabisch Hall (our 2 hour car ride was quite a bit less).
Just before we arrived in Schwabisch Hall, we pulled into a grocery store.  Ryan grabbed the cart (which you pay a Euro to use and then get your Euro back when you return the cart) and we headed inside.  You also have to bring your own bags for your groceries (or purchase bags at the store, which we did).  You just have to wing it and think of the grocery store as a picture book.  You can't understand a word of what is on the food but you look for pictures.  we bought meat that had a picture of a cow and a pig on it, along with the German name for beef and pork.  Food is cheaper than by us, in Oregon, and taste's fresher.  The store we were at, you did not have any other option than to buy organic produce and the bread items are sold much like a specialty bakery in the states. I tried to ask questions but could not find anyone who spoke English.  We had ham and swiss sandwiches for lunch with chips (the chips are delicious- not greasy but very crisp).
We arrived at our apartment around 2 p.m. (German time so 5 a.m. PST).  Schwabisch Hall is an adorable town that is very traditional looking.  Our apartment sits right next to the town square and close to the treatment center Ryan will be receiving treatment at.
The little bit of Germany we have seen has a very homey feel.  For those reading this that live in the States, it feels a bit like Pennsylvania and a bit like Portland (OR).
Here we go!! Day 1 of 91 is in the books

Canada

Elle's coloring in the coloring book from her school (Thank you Dale)

breakfast (remember those lawn clippings I talked about above...check out the wad of them in the right corner of the omelet)

Isaiah seeing Germany for the first time

The sun rising just before we landed in Frankfurt

This was their view of the Autobahn :)

This is a small village type town just before we came into Schwabisch Hall- not sure what the name of it is but this is where we did our grocery shopping

Our kitchen (with all the groceries)

The view from our living room window.  It started snowing just after we arrived....It feels like a movie set!

a blog post from the plane

I am actually writing this post from the airplane :)
Lufthansa offers wifi on this particular flight (14 Euro for 4 hours)
Currently, we are 2334 miles from Frankfurt and have 5 hours to go.  It is 3:58 a.m. German time and 6:58 p.m. PST.
WHAT A DAY.
This is our first time flying internationally- We are on the longest passenger carrying aircraft in the world (B747-400), according to Lufthansa's information sheet.  It is a double decker plane with state of the art eco friendly services (source, Lufthansa).  Each of us have audio in the front of our seats with over 120 different selections to choose from.  I've personally been watching the 'Flight Info' page the entire time.  It's interesting to see the plane making it's way out of Seattle and into Canada.  When we crossed over the Slave Lake (Canada) area it made me think of my friend Tanaya, who, if I remember right, is from Slave Lake.  We are currently making our way into Iceland, then will drop down over into Europe 5.5 hours from now.
It was an interesting commute, earlier today, when we had to go from the Alaska/Horizon terminal to the Lufthansa terminal.  We had a bit over an hour from the time we landed into Seattle on Alaska Air until we were departing on Lufthansa- We had no time to spare, by the time we arrived in the Lufthansa terminal and made it to gate S15, they were beginning to board the plane.  We had to be ticketed at the Lufthansa desk which took only a bit (thank goodness).  To all of my nephews who will be heading over, get to SEA TAC earlier than what you would normally cause it's going to take you some time to get to your gate (and go through TSA).
We are heading away from the sun so only had light for the first hour and a half of our flight.  We were served a dinner of chicken and rice (with a dark chocolate brownie...Janelle H. and Rhonda- you would have LOVED the dark chocolate) just after it got dark and then they brought around warm wipes for us to wash our hands with.  The wipes smelled really good (like a faint citrus)- Ellie was completely grossed out by them and refused to use hers- so I used it!
Ellie has traveled like a boss today- It is the first time she has flown- Before we left, her school gave her a care package that had a coloring book in it- she alternated between coloring and looking out the window going 'WOW!' our first flight- This flight, she has been watching movies the entire time.

We just crossed into Iceland...it looks beautiful!  Just kidding- remember it's dark outside..

Isaiah and Ry have been just chilling out since we left.  Those boys have some miles behind their friendship- lived in the same state (Hawaii) from when they were 10 until they were 12 and have stayed in contact since.  such a blessing.

We didn't travel light....we have 300 pounds of luggage.  200 pounds checked and 100 pounds of carry on.  50 of those pounds is food.....macarroni & cheese, sun butter, pinto beans, flour tortillas, white eggs since I could not find one store that carried them...blah blah blah- you name it and it's probably in the bag I got from Goodwill that will only make a one way trip with us (I will leave it in Germany when we head home....the food will be gone).
We rented a car in Frankfut instead of traveling by train to our destination- I think we are going to have to rent 2 cars to fit all the luggage.  I'm not sorry though, packing light has never been in my vocabulary :)

I was also kidding about packing white eggs- it was tempting but I figured they would not do too well  in checked luggage.

Thank you to all of our friends and family for the prayers and love you have shown us- I have been in tears multiple times reading your messages.

I will talk to you all after we get to Germany.

P.S. Eli, I miss you already