A Break in the Clouds

It's been raining. Constantly. Every. Single. Day.

Nature pulled a fast one on us and gave us beautiful weather about a month ago that lasted not even a week then BAM! It went right back to being cold. Don't worry about the fact that I'd already put away all of my sweaters and busted out the spring/summer wardrobe. Oops.

It's not just that it was cold but the dadgum rain was just depressing. No sign of the sun for days at a time, then we'd get a glimpse for an hour or so....followed by rain.

This was no different last weekend. Saturday was dreary and gloomy and we expected Sunday to be no different. Fortunately, we were wrong and the sun showed her beautiful face that afternoon.

I mentioned last week that I had to cut the blog short because some friends called to see if we wanted to join them for a drive through the countryside and stop for some wine. Let's just say that it turned out to be a good marble weekend.

I'm telling you, the hillsides were the brightest greens and yellows you've ever seen. We didn't travel too far, just enough to truly enjoy the view. Our friends, Alan and Verena, led the way through each little town until we made our way to Weingut Margaretenhof in Schwabenheim. Sidenote: Alan's baby is his Porche GT. You'd think the most beautiful woman in the world just walked by when he drives that thing; people's heads just turn and it's quite funny to watch.

Schwabenheim is a tiny little town and nestled on the outskirts is Weingut Margaretenhof. Alan and Verana had been here once before for a little wine festival (the weekend Brad broke his collar bone so we missed out) and were anxious to come back. It was a little slice of heaven.

We enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine while taking in the view. Great wine. Great scenery. Great company. It took me back to an incredible lunch I had with my family while we were in Italy. Wonderful memories then and now. Before the sun set, we made our way to Essenheim for dinner at the place Brad and I have started buying most of our wine. Turns out they also make a pretty mean schnitzel and I had my very first taste of spargel. I’m sure this is something you could find at Central Market or Whole Foods but we’d never heard of spargel before moving here. It looks just like asparagus (because technically it is) but it’s white and has a sweeter taste. Delicious!! Drizzling it hollandaise sauce only adds to its greatness. Mmmm mmmm.

Unfortunately we had to snap back to reality as the following day was Monday. And wouldn’t you know, it was raining. Yet again. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

It rained. And rained and rained and rained. And just when I thought I was going to loose it God said, “ok, that’s enough. Enjoy your weekend and the sunshine.” So that is precisely what we’re going to do. We’ve invited several friends over for the evening to have some Sangria, salmon cakes, and other delectable munchies. Out of fear that the sun may disappear once again, I’m going to step away from the computer and go savor the rest of my weekend. You should do the same.

A Desperate Housewife No More

I know, I know....it's been a while. But I have a good reason this time - yours truly landed herself a great job as the Marketing and Sales Coordinator with Andrews Federal Credit Union and I couldn’t be more excited. Actually, WE couldn’t be more excited. But it does leave less time for the blog, ho hum.

So here’s the story: a couple of months ago I went to a career expo that was held on the Wiesbaden Airfield. The advertisements for the expo said there were going to be multiple employers looking for all types of positions and to please come dressed professionally with copies of your resume. Easy enough. Touched up the good ol’ resume and pulled out my favorite suit (which hasn’t seen the light of day in who knows how long). Unfortunately, the expo wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and I left quite disappointed. I was told by multiple companies that they weren’t hiring. Even better, I was told I could take an immediate position with Subway or Baskin Robbins…mmmmm, think I’ll pass, me working with ice cream would end badly.

Fast forward about 3 weeks and I get a phone call from Andrews Federal Credit Union and it’s the Vice President of the European Region. As it turned out, leaving my resume with their recruiter paid off. Even though he told me they were only hiring for teller positions, I asked him to hang on to my resume and if something opened up that they thought would be a good fit to give me a call….so they did.

I couldn’t have asked for a better interview and I left being told I’d hear something I liked by Friday. Sounded promising, right? Friday came and went then Brad decided he wanted to spend some time in a German hospital. Ok, so that’s not EXACTLY how it went but we all know what happened that Saturday. I didn’t even have time to think about the fact that they didn’t call. I knew the VP would be traveling to the States shortly after our interview (Andrews’ headquarters is in DC) so I figured he left before making a decision. I was right and he called with an offer just a week later.

That was on a Thursday and I started the following Monday. So there’s my reason for not blogging; I’m no longer a desperate housewife….ok, so maybe I was never all that desperate but housewife, yes.

So far things are going really well. I like the people I work with and I’m learning a lot fast. I can already tell there is a lot of opportunity for me to succeed here.

It took a few days to get used to the fact that I had to sit in traffic again. But I must say, I almost enjoy it now. The views I have are incredible and right now the fields are the most amazing colors. Thursday was a German holiday which meant the roads were clear. Did anyone else hit 105 (legally) on their way to work? I did.

But it’s not all work and no play. Brad and I are gearing up for our big vacation that’ll be here in less than two weeks. Look out Sardinia! Here we come! We’ve been trying to catch a few rays before we go so we don’t look like complete ghosts on the beach. This means taking advantage of every sunny weekend we can get….which have been few and far between. But when there is sun, we do it up right. Sangria anyone?



Other than that, we’ve been taking it easy. Brad still isn’t able to exercise or play golf but he’s actually healing really well. Better and faster than they expected him to. I don’t think he’ll be swinging a bat anytime in the near future but we’ll see.

Well I’m afraid I have to cut this one a little short. Friends just called and asked if we wanted to go for a drive through the countryside and stop for some wine. Ummmm, yes please. Until next time…..