Papa and I left Stockum early in the morning. I was very sad to leave Germany, but even more excited for my next journey: LEBANON! Papa and I got to the airport with plenty of time. Check in was fast and easym so we enjoyed a beverages at an aiport cafe for about an hour. With just over an hour to take off, I figured it was about time to head through security. Security only took 10-15 minutes. It took the rest of the hour to get to the plane. I had to walk and walk to get to the gate, passing through a passport checkpoint. At the gate they checked our passports again, checking to be sure that we had never been to Israel. Then I boarded a shuttle bus. After about a 10 minute ... read more

Today, Franzi and Maike graduated from the Gymnasium in Sundern. The celebrations began this morning with a church service and then "Zeugnis Ausgabe", passing out of the report cards. Kind of like receiving their diplomas. I wasn't at either of these events. In the evening I joined the festivities as the celebrations continued with the Abi-ball. Family and a few friends who were fortunate enough to be able to receive a dinner card joined the graduating class in the Stockum Schützenhalle for an elegant dinner. In many ways the night reminded me of Prom. The ladies were all dressed in long elegant dresses. The hall had be nicely decorated with flowers on the long tables. Franzi and Maike looked beautiful. Luckily, we were all able to get a seat together (Bernd, Angelika, Johanna, Franzi, Maike, Anne, ... read more

Ahhh.... what a relaxing Sunday it was. (Especially considering Marina and I were at the wedding till 2am) Of course, neither of us woke up really early. Unfortunately, Marina had to head back to Köln soon after she got up. She still had a lot of studying to do and a test to take. =/ She's studying for the German equivalent of the CPA exam. But, it was still very very nice to see her and, I'll be seeing her again when I go to Köln next week. =) Later that afternoon, Mama, Papa and I went for a walk around the Sorpesee, a lake in the area. Just a few years ago, they re-did the area around the lake, with new walkways and play areas for kids. It's sooooo nice. There were quite a number ... read more

Yesterday, I left home and a 3 hour car ride, almost 11 hour flight and another 2 1/2 hour car ride I arrived home. =) It feels so good to be back in Germany. The plane ride was uneventful, exactly the way it should be. I was sooo excited when we finally landed in Frankfurt. I knew my papa was waiting for me and I couldn't wait to see him. I was going to have to be patient though, as it took over an hour to get off the plane, walk thorugh the airport (and walk and walk and walk), go through customs and get my bag. When I was finally able to walk through the doors exiting out to where people were waiting to meet passengers I was thouroughly exhausted but also filled with excitement ... read more

ahhhhh.... what a wonderful weekend this has been. Yesterday we finished the drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway and we even had beautiful weather! We even got to eat our lunch outside on a picnic table!!! Unfortunately I didn't see much of it 'cause I got a little car sick, so slept most of the drive. However, what I did see was gorgeous and I was told I missed several really great overlooks. It's definitely a drive I would like to do again, but next time I'd take more than 2 days. It took us about 16 hours to drive the whole parkway, so that didn't leave much time to see much along the way. Even though I didn't get to see much of it (due to a rainy and foggy day the first half of ... read more