Call Me Captain Random

Well, there are no super exciting trips to speak of this time. But that's not to say things have been uneventful so here are a few of the random things going on in the Bingham house....

You'll be impressed to know that within 24 hours of returning from St. Lucia, Brad and I were completely unpacked, ALL laundry finished AND we picked up on our little workout routine our first day back. In all of my life, I've never been able to accomplish this great feat. And now I know why. Following that first day, we fell off the workout wagon for a good 3 weeks. Oops.

Our little 10 pound pup has quickly grown into a 40 pound pup and has quite a ways to go. She seems to know that it is much more difficult to pick her up these days and has no problem REFUSING to come inside after potty breaks and walks. As soon as we start heading for the house she turns into limp puppy and will roll in the grass knowing we can't drag her through the yard. Nothing but ornery. She's also going to school on the weekends. We are now working with a new trainer who is fantastic and seeing how his dog, Friday, turned out only gives us inspiration to keep at it. Keep in mind, Stella turns into "Marley" at least once a day so we can use all the inspiration we can get!

Marley

Unfortunately/fortunately, softball is over for the summer season. I say unfortunately because I had a blast watching Brad play and I know he truly enjoyed it (for the most part). But it's fortunate because playing 3 games a week and tournaments on the weekends got old...really fast.

I have a small confession - I had a brief "meltdown" following our vacation. While it was wonderful seeing family, it really hit home how much I miss them and my girl friends. It occurred to me that the majority of my conversations throughout the day where with a dog. With that said, the power of prayer is quite amazing. Anica and Aadel (our friends that joined us for our Mexican Fiesta a while back) invited us to have dinner a couple of weeks ago at their place with a few friends. We had a blast!! And also met some really great people. It was just what I needed. I still miss my girls back home terribly but it sure is nice to have a few here.

Last weekend, Melissa and I went with Anica and our new friend, Mariam, to what Anica described as a "beach." It was more or less a small lake/large pond with nice white sand around it. Works for me! We spent all afternoon soaking up the rays, reading gossip magazines (in German) and chatting. Finally! Some girl time. We quickly made plans for a shopping trip this Saturday and I'm hosting brunch for everybody on Sunday. I'm tellin ya, ask and you shall receive.

I've also been introduced to my new favorite blog (thank you, Kasey B). Simplyrecipes.com. Check it out! Brad and I have tried multiple recipes from this blog and have yet to be disappointed. I highly, highly recommend the Eggplant Parmesan. Quite possibly my most favoritest thing we've had. Ever. And we've had some pretty good dinners. It's become almost tradition to make a homemade pizza on Sunday nights but it's been the same thing week in and week out - pepperoni with jalapenos. We decided to change it up this week and were blown away by the flavor of the Black Bean Spinach Pizza. I mean, WOW! And so easy. We've also had Baked Shrimp in Tomato Feta Sauce and my first try at Lasagna. All this week. Needless to say, we're back on the workout wagon.

In other news, the Audi is misbehaving. But you've gotta love the timing. I'll back up a little bit - a couple of weeks ago Brad and I were out driving around and I showed him that my black purse, the one I carry almost ALL of the time was starting to fall apart. He said, "well we never really got you anything big in Strasbourg for your birthday so let's go find you a good one." (I know, I have the greatest husband EVER.) So we looked around a bit but nothing caught my fancy and we called it a day. It wasn't 2 days later that the Audi was in the shop and wouldn't you know - it was the automatic clutch that needed replacing. Not exactly the "clutch" I was hoping for but beggars can't be choosers.














A trip is in the works for Labor Day Weekend. We're thinking Amsterdam but aren't 100% sure yet. There are a few details to work out but a good trip is definitely due. And for friends and family who are ready for a trip - get that passport out and come on! We're settled and ready for you to come visit!

Speaking of trips, Brad and I had put in for a lottery to travel to Edelweiss Lodge and Resort over New Year's and Brad's birthday. Since it's a very popular destination for military families and DoD employees that live here, it's quite difficult to get a reservation so they just set up a lottery system and we had to register by May to even be eligible. Well.....we got it!! That's right! Brad's 26th birthday will be spent on the slopes of the Bavarian Alps. Eeeee! So excited!

That's all for now. I know, this was a random post. Until next time....