Honeymoon Numero Tre: Getting There

March 5th. That was the day we made the decision and officially booked our trip to Sardinia. Twelve weeks. Twelve weeks of planning what I’d wear each day. Twelve weeks of “only one glass of wine for me thanks, I’m going on vacation soon.” TWELVE WEEKS of some serious anticipation. And it was finally here.

Packing for an exciting vacation on the beach is fun. Typically. However, Brad and I went the budget friendly route and chose to fly RyanAir. We paid the extra 40 euro each way (more than the cost of the actual ticket, weird) so we were both able to check a bag but this bag could only weigh 15 kilos. For those of you unfamiliar with the metric system, that’s 33 pounds. Seems like a lot….but it’s really not. Let’s think about this: 7 days of outfits (yeah right, more like 11 days of outfit…you just never know), bathing suits, cover ups, outfits for dinner, pajamas, sweaters for the cool evenings…and don’t get me started on shoes. Throw in shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, sun block, special sun block for my face, other special sun block for tanning (legs only, don’t flip out Mom), cooling aloe in case we burned, hair brush, flat iron, curling iron, transformer for the 220 volt stuff, converter so I don’t blow up anything up….let’s just say that 33 pound limit was exceeded. I know this because I had our scale in the hallway and continued to weigh each bag until it was…well, close enough.

And then we were off! Almost. First stop was the kennel which is never fun. We drive Miss Stella a good half hour from our house (even though there are plenty of kennels around here) because this is the nicest place we’ve come across. Such a diva. They assure us that she’ll make friends the minute we drive away and I have no doubt she did. That’s what I told myself anyway.

Because Brad and I didn’t have the option of missing our flight (the next one wasn’t for several days) we arrived a good 2 hours early. Brad missed his morning coffee since I had him running around like a chicken with his head cut off, so first thing we did was get him an espresso. Then he was a happy camper and we were able to officially start our VACATION!



Alright, it’s geography lesson time. The majority of you probably don’t know where Sardinia is (I sure didn’t) much less, anything about it. Quick overview – Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and is a region of Italy. Here, maps make things easier.

It was a quick hour and half flight from Frankfurt Hahn to Algehro, Sardinia. Here we picked up our awesome rental car, a Nissan Micra, and hit the road for Olbia in search of our hotel. Now we obviously hadn’t the slightest idea of where we were going but I thought ahead and remembered to bring Karen. And thought even more ahead and printed off MapQuest directions in the event Karen got us lost. Oh, Karen is the name of our GPS lady. She’s Australian and we have a love/hate relationship with her. If she pulls another stunt like she did upon our arrival into Olbia, we may just have to switch to Bernard, the British guy. (If you don’t have a GPS system, you likely have no idea what I’m saying.) But after a few trips up and down the same road, we made it in less than two hours….largely in part to the way Brad drives.

We checked in and made our way up to the room. Now when you’re staying in a European hotel, you never know what you might get. This was no different. The room was simple but nice, not huge but I’ve seen MUCH smaller. But our breath was taken away when we discovered our balcony with the most incredible view. Ahhhh, bliss. Now. Now we’re on vacation.

More to come…

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…..

Metal Detectors Beware

Check this out...

As Brad so eloquently put it - "Six screws and a titanium plate... just like on the space shuttle Forrest."

German Hospital...Round 2

“Don’t freak out, I’m ok, but I think you’re going to need to meet me at the hospital.”

That’s how we kicked off last Saturday. The weather was beautiful so I had walked down to the farmers market to do some shopping and Brad was meeting a buddy to ride bikes. As I mentioned before, we recently bought some new mountain bikes for each of us. While I love to ride, I’m not much for the “serious” trails….apparently Brad isn’t either. Not five minutes into the ride, he took a spill after dodging a tree trunk and BAM! Bike went one way, Brad the other and shoulder first. He told his buddy he was pretty sure he’d broken his collar bone.

When I arrived in the emergency room, I was bracing myself to see my husband’s clavicle jutting up through his neck or something….fortunately, that wasn’t the case. He was covered in dirt and in a fair amount of pain but all in all, he was in good spirits. It was no surprise that it was going to take FOREVER for an actual doctor to come see him. We decided if they didn’t hurry up we were going to lick all of the tongue depressors and put them back. Maybe next time.

An X-ray quickly confirmed what we had expected – broken collar bone. The bad news was that it had broken right in the middle and into several pieces which meant surgery would be necessary. A titanium plate would need to be inserted to reconnect the bones. The doc said Wednesday would be good. Pause. “Excuse me doc, did you say Wednesday? That’s not for 4 days!” He wasn’t kidding; Brad walked around with a bone literally trying to poke through his skin for FOUR days! And he did this with nothing stronger than ibuprofen. Such a manly man.


But the fun was just beginning. They asked that he arrive Tuesday at 8:30 am to fill out some paperwork prior to his surgery on Wednesday. Little did we know, this was going to be an all day affair. We spoke with all sorts of people, of course they ALL had the same questions (are you allergic to anything, do you smoke, etc.) and they ALL made us wait an absurd amount of time before seeing us. The last person we had to talk to was a surgeon but surprise surprise, he was in surgery and wouldn’t be out for another 2 hours. By this time we’re starving so we went home for lunch and came back with a deck of cards. Another 2 hours later, in walks the doctor. And do you know what he had to say?! “Do you have any questions?”

Blink. Blink blink.

The words “are you serious?” shot out of my mouth before I even had a chance to stop myself. We just waited 4 hours to see you and you want to know if WE have any questions. He admitted the organizational skills on how they do things were not exactly perfect. I’ll say. But that was that and we were done for the day. Finally.

Now then, are you ready for the tale of The Longest Day E.V.E.R?

We were back at the hospital at 7 am the following morning and Brad was shown to his “room.” I’m not sure what we expected, I guess something similar to what I had when I was in the hospital. Mmmm, not so much. Think a notch above what you’d expect in a 3rd world country. Ok, so that’s a tiny bit dramatic but not really. I should have taken a picture. I suppose it was clean enough but there was ZERO privacy between him and his neighbor, there was an old television but it didn’t work, nothing on the walls except for a crucifix and crappy photo (some guy took a picture of a field of sunflowers but it’s from behind so you can’t actually see the flowers, dumbest thing I’ve ever seen) and the bathroom and shower weren’t even in the same room. Ugh.

The nurse told him there were several surgeries scheduled before him but it should be around 11 or 12. Noon came and went. As did 1….and 2…..and 3. We knew our pup was probably crossing her legs by this point so I ran home to take care of her. Of course, the minute I left they rolled him down into the O.R…..then rolled him back up because someone with an emergency came in (note to self – breaking your collar bone is NOT an emergency in the eyes of doctors. Got it.) He didn’t have to wait too much longer and according to the nurse I harassed for answers when I came back, he went into surgery at 3:30.

Please note this surgery that they claim to perform almost daily typically takes around an hour, maybe two.

Tick tock. Tick tock. By 6:30 I’m starting to get a tad nervous that no one has come to let me know how he’s doing. No one seemed to have any answers. All I could do was wait. And wait I did. It wasn’t until just after 8 pm that a nurse walked in and told me Brad was in ICU but that I could go see him.

I think the nurse could tell I was on the brink of losing it and quickly explained that this wasn’t uncommon, they probably just wanted to keep an eye on him following surgery. (He could have led in with that little tid bit of information. I’m just sayin.)

I spent the next hour talking to my completely out-of-it husband who now looked like an oompa loompa, thanks to all of the iodine. An hour later, he was taken up for X-rays and finally back to his room.

Deep sigh of relief. The day was finally over. Well, almost. Stella took it upon herself to eat, not chew, but eat one of Brad’s socks then proceeded to vomit it up in multiple places throughout the house. Lovely.

Brad spent the next few days in the hospital. He kept entertained with the first season of Mad Men on the iTouch and kickin’ my booty at gin rummy. The minute he had the okay to leave on Saturday, we were outta there!

So there you have it folks. The Bingham’s are keeping the German surgeons busy. Now both of us will return home with some pretty awesome scars from our Adventures in Deutschland.

My Never Ending Battle

It's Saturday and it's early. My husband is asleep in bed and the pup has had her breakfast and is conked out....on the couch. This has become our routine on Saturdays and I must admit that I quite like it. Strange, I know, since I have the house to myself all day during the week but there's something almost peaceful about Saturday mornings.

But I can't find peace. Not anymore. Because as I look down at my cup of coffee, there is a Stella hair floating around in it. There always is.

This is my battle. And while I know I will lose this battle day in and day out, I have to keep fighting.

She's a Lab and they shed, I get that. And I know that this time of year they start to lose their winter coat. But come on now! This is out of control. Let me try to put this into perspective for you. Her hair is everywhere. Not everywhere as in I have to sweep and vacuum everyday because that's a given. It's E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E.

On top of bookshelves. In the bathtub. On lampshades. In the curtains. On "clean" clothes hanging in the closet. Inside my workout bag. All over my pillow....she's not even allowed in our room. In the microwave (how does that even happen?). Inside pages of books. And today, not unlike most days, in my coffee.

She hates to be brushed but I hold her down and do it anyway. (Don't worry, she gets treats for doing it.) I typically come away with a plastic sack full of her hair. I've done this FIVE times and it still keeps on coming.

I can't win.

But I can't quit.

*sigh*

Catch Up and Adventures to Come

Nope, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth. Quite the contrary. The Bingham’s have been beyond busy these past few weeks but I’M BACK! And it’s time to get caught up on things we’ve missed and all of the exciting things to come.

First off – we’ve moved. Yup, we packed up everything we own and schlepped it approximately 150 yards from where we were. A new place in Fintherville (not the real name) finally opened up and we jumped on it. This was the fourth apartment offered to us and before they could change their minds again we were in! We love it! And I’ll tell you why……..space. It’s as simple as that. Closet space. Kitchen space. Cabinet space. Storage space. An actual guest room. A sunroom. Two balconies. Ok, so our still somewhat small apartment is starting to sound like it’s massive and it’s not; however, I no longer feel like I’m living in a Cracker Jack box. I already have all of the curtains hung, most of the pictures up, and the majority of the decorations are in their place. Feels like home. Well, as Carrie Underwood would say – our “temporary home.”

The timing of the move was perfect. Talk about a gorgeous day and we had six friends help with the move which meant it was done in about 2 hours. I don’t want to jinx it but Spring has sprung (with a few chilly days here and there) and it has brought with it a whole new attitude for our household. At least I think so. I’m telling you, a lack of Vitamin D does something to you so WELCOME BACK SUN! You’ve been missed.

Just a snipit on the pup - Stella has a new friend, Tebow, that she has play dates with a few times a week. We're still working on her sharing skills...

She'd rather steal the ball and roll around on it

Now on to other exciting events – JACK’S VISIT:

The week before the move, Brad’s buddy, Jack, came for a quick but fun visit. I’d hardly call it “Spring Break” since he landed on Thursday morning and was back on a plane Sunday morning, but for $500 I’d say it was worth it for him. Brad took him into downtown Mainz for a night out on Thursday. We spent Friday in Frankfurt, met friends for dinner at Zum Adler (one of our favs) followed by a couple of drinks at another great little place called Zum Löwen. Note to friends coming to visit in the future – German beer is much different than what you’re likely use to. We’ll keep it at that.

The next morning was kicked off with some delicious blueberry pancakes then we hit the road to Cochem. I’d never even heard of this town but saw a commercial on it a couple of weeks prior and according to Rick Steves it was definitely worth seeing. He was right! The drive was just gorgeous and I fell in love with this little town. It’s right on the Mosel River with hills on either side. And at the top of one hill sits one of the greatest castles we’ve seen to date. I don’t want to go into too much detail because hopefully many of you reading this will have the opportunity to come see it with us. But here’s a taste:

A couple was having their wedding ceremony inside the castle

This was the real armor of a 7 foot Austrian man

Look closely at the lock; the monks had a bit of a drinking problem so they designed the locks so their key would fit easily even if stumbling around

Strolling around town

A scenic overview on the drive back home

In other news, Brad and I have booked a pretty extravagant vacation for the week of Memorial Day. We wanted to do something amazing since our OktoberFest trip to Munich was cancelled due to “The Foot Incident” AND we had to cancel our ski trip to Edelweiss since Brad had to go to Iraq. Not to mention, we spent our first anniversary thousands of miles apart. Ok, I think I’m done justifying why we’re going to take such a great trip. Are you ready for it? We’re going to……….

SARDINIA!!!! After literally weeks of research, we finally picked Li Cuncheddi in Costa Smeralda. I’ve learned one thing, if you dig long enough you can typically find good deals to places you never dreamed would be possible (or even knew existed). We’re flying from Frankfurt to a small airport on the northwest side of the island where we’ll rent a car and drive to the northeast side of the island. And here we’ll spend the next 7 days in what will hopefully be pure bliss.

If you want to jumpstart your workout routine, book a vacation where there’s a chance you’ll run into George Clooney or Brad Pitt. Since booking it, we've started hitting the gym, taking cardio kick boxing, and even invested in some good bikes for both of us. Unfortunately, time in the gym is pretty much wasted when you spend the weekends eating schnitzel smothered in some delicious cream sauce and washed down with a .5 L of brew. Oh, and let’s not forget the tasty fries. But baby steps, right? I’ve got two months to wean myself off of this weekend routine….but it’s not looking good seeing as how my mouth is watering at the mere mention of schnitzel. Uggh.

But the fun doesn’t stop there! No sir! The tickets have been booked and the Bingham’s will BOTH be back in the US of A in June! I’ll be coming back a little early as I’m going to do everything in my power to be home for the arrival of our new nephew, Mr. Liam Jackson Bohanan.

And just when you think it couldn’t get any better……it does. My best friend is going to marry the man of her dreams on June 25th and I couldn’t be more excited to stand up there with her. She is going to make such a beautiful bride!


Whew! Well that’s about all the excitement I think I can share in one post. God willing, I won’t have to go another 2 weeks without Internet. Pictures of the new place will be posted soon!