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!