Adventures in Deutschland

New Blog

2009-09-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

I decided to start a new blog, this one was getting kind of old, and very very repetitive! The new one is also on the blogger site here's the address

http://thatsprettywhack.blogspot.com/

Hops you guys follow me there, thanks for reading!

Jess

Auf Wiedersehen, Sommer

2009-08-29T03:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Summer is over. It's still August but it's been really chilly and I can just feel that it's over.. and the fall decorations are out on display at the supermarkt here. I'm happy though, having humidity with no A/C was not fun at all during our 2 months of warm weather here in Tübingen. I'm looking forward to the leaves changing color and everything too. It should be gorgeous by the time Steve gets here, so going to Munich is going to be great, and it should be beautiful at Neuschwanstein too!

I'm ready for vacation! I basically have the whole month of September as a vacation, besides a couple of days. The family is leaving for the day and overnight to go to a wedding at a castle north of Stuttgart, and on Monday they leave for Turkey for 14 days. I do have to drive them at 4 in the morning to the airport, but it's worth it and I'll even do it with a smile on my face the entire way. They'll come back on the 14th and then Steve gets here on the 19th! We leave for Munich on the 21st and we decided to stay an extra day since we're not going to Paris, which will give us more time to explore Munich and spend in the tents at Oktoberfest.

The family also asked me to stay until Christmas. I told them I'd think about it.. but I'm just thinking of a polite way to say no. They said no pressure or anything, but yeah right. I've been here for almost a year like we had agreed. They're in contact with new nannies and everything, they're just worried because most of them aren't experienced drivers. In Europe, you have to be 18 to start driving, so most of them are new. They're having a hard time finding an American nanny like they had hoped, but maybe they'll get lucky. I just think that missing two Thanksgivings and two birthdays in a row is too much for me, I was really homesick last year and now I've been really looking forward to being back home in Virginia. This is also really unfortunate because my friends in Heidelberg asked me if I could stay with them for a few weeks in November. Bekah and her husband Chris are both in the Army Active Duty and usually they can both manage to make their schedules work so while one of them is gone, the other is home with their three kids. In November they're both scheduled to be gone. They do have ladies on the base that are available to come and stay with kids, but they think that's a bit weird for the kids. They're also like family to me so I was planning on helping them out and spending some time with their kids, but now that's screwed. The family is paying for my ticket home, so how would that look if I said no to their request, and then went up to Heidelberg to help out? I'm sure my friends will understand.

Anyway, I'm going to take the puppy on a walk and enjoy the rest of the day to myself. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Jess

Crappy Friday

2009-08-14T04:54:00.001-07:00

...Literally!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a little over a week since I've written a new blog, so here's the update! Isa has been with us for a week and a half and she's doing alright. Having a new puppy around the house is a lot of work, but it's nice too. The new puppy excitement is starting to wear off and I really expected all the puppy responsibilities to be dropped on me, but so far I don't have to take care of it all by myself, which is really really nice. She's doing alright for the most part. She was already being trained to pee out in the grass before we picked her up, so we don't have too many accidents in the house. She's only pooped once, which is nice. Nothing smells worse than dog poop, and farts. She always lets the most horrible smells out when she's asleep cuddled next to someone, and it's bad enough to make your eyes water and cough like crazy! She does have the typical puppy behavior.. like.. jumping, biting/chewing on everything, trying to get into everything, digging in the garden, etc. We went to the pet store and bought a lot of puppy bones for her to chew on and she really loves pig ears and pig stomach lining.. ew. They smell gross and look gross, but if it keeps her from biting my shoes and the furniture, I can deal with it. Potty training a 3 year old and a puppy suck! I feel really bad for the trash can too, more than double the amount of poop now, sick. I already know to hold my breath before I'm 3ft within the garage area. Charlotte has still been driving me crazy too! Thankfully, she went back to daycare/ pre school on Wednesday. I'm just getting really sick of her tantrums and I really really.. REALLY want to get medieval on her butt. Today was the worst it's been in a long time too. When I went into her room to get her dressed, it smelt pretty bad so I asked her if she pooped in her diaper, she said yes, so I told her to come over to the changing table so I could change her, but of course, she started to run around. Her diaper looked like it was ready to explode in any minute, so I had to chase her down quick. She kicked, pulled hair, bit me, pinched me the entire time I was trying to get her on the changing table. Once I had her diaper off, she kept kicking me, and of course, poop got everywhere. On my shirt, my jeans, my neck, my hands, my arms, her legs, her stomach, the changing table, the floor. She kept screaming and kicking the entire time too. She just never stops, ever. I try talking to her calmly a ton of times. I've really gained a lot of patience with this, and I'm happy, but it still doesn't last long with her. Graziella was talking to me about how stubborn Charlotte has always been. I guess she was stubborn as a baby and she does this really weird thing too. She cries and cries when she doesn't get her way, so like most parents do, they left her alone until she stopped. Well she never stops. Ever! She can cry and cry and cry for hours. She said once they said they were going to just leave her alone so she'd get the point. Well she cried for 6 hours. They always give into her because of that. How do you break that?? I feel like I'm talking about breaking a horse in or something haha. It's just nuts. Oh well, only two and a half more months! I hope the weekend is a good one, and no more horrific poop accidents occur either. Have a great weekend everyone!

Jess

Ch-Ch-Changes!

2009-08-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

Guten Tag everyone!

It's been awhile since I've written a new blog, we've had a couple changes in the house since I last wrote. On Tuesday, we picked up the family's new yellow lab puppy, named Isa (EEEE-zuh). She is so cute and she learns so fast! I wish she'd stay her size forever though, she's going to be huge when she's full grown, so I'm happy I won't be here for that. It's crazy how Graziella has been with the new puppy too. It's like she swallowed a Care Bear grenade and she's been WAY happy with the dog! I haven't even seen her this affectionate with her own kids! I wish they had picked up a new puppy the day I arrived, that would have been nice. The kids really love her too, so it's nice that they have some of their own new entertainment for a while. I'm not sure when the excitement of a new puppy will wear off though. This week has been kind of hectic. Nicholas left last Saturday to spend some time at his Grandmother's house alone, so Charlotte stayed here. She went to her pre-school/day care on Monday and she's stayed home all week because of the new puppy, it's killing me!! I don't know how mothers live without sending their kids to daycare everyday. Seriously. I don't think anyone should have to spend an entire day with a three year old! When I worked at a daycare center I only had to spend 8 hours with them. Here with Charlotte, I only spend about 4 to 5 hours a day with her. It's been miserable this past week. She has been so jealous of the new attention Isa is getting, so she's been extra cranky and moody. Luckily, Nicholas and Oma came back yesterday and now Charlotte is being entertained by her for a couple days.. whew. Now that Gitmo is being closed, our country should think about sending terrorists to daycare centers all day, I think that would be enough torture for anyone.

Jess

Ich bin glücklich, dass es Freitag ist!

2009-07-24T02:57:00.000-07:00

Guten Tag everyone!

Like my subject says, I'm SO happy it's Friday! Friday is always the busiest day of the week for me, but it's also the best. It seems kind of funny that it's the best because most people look forward to no work the next day and having a relaxing weekend. I don't get a relaxing weekend or have it off really, but I still look forward to it anyway. I'm going to be stoked when I actually have days off in the U.S., if my job(s) are scheduled that day, we'll see.

Lately I've been thinking about how much harder things are going to be when I get home. As much as I'm looking forward to going home, I'm dreading it just as much. I'm really looking forward to being with my friends and being back in an English speaking country, but I'll still feel alone. When I moved here my mom already told me that I wasn't allowed to come back to "her house" so I've been prepared for this for almost a year now. My Dad has asked me to come and live with him, but I don't think that's a good idea. He's having a hard time letting go and dealing with me making my own decisions. The Army made him into a control freak so he HATES not having a say in what I want to do. Living with him would only make that worse and I can see it turning into a "my way or the highway" situation and I really don't want that. I've been feeling a little bitter about some of my friends who have it so easy. It really just is jealousy though. One of them has their parents house so he has a place to stay since they moved to VA, one gets to stay home for free, not work and just go to school, one has an apartment her parents pay for and a new car with no job. Blah! I'm going to bust my butt just to make it for the first year. I have been looking into grants and I think I can apply for most of them, and that will help ALOT (thanks to Liberal Politicians!) I've always been a pessimist though so maybe I'm just being down and expecting all the worst things to happen. I'm not afraid of the hard work that's coming my way. I'm really thankful for all the support my friends are giving me and hopefully that will be enough to get me through. That sounds so melodramatic! I guess everyone gets nervous when they take the next step of life.

I'm not sure what's planned for the weekend. I know that a teacher at Charlotte's preschool is getting married tomorrow so they're going to that. I'm not sure if I'm going, I kind of doubt it since I have nothing to wear. I want to talk them into going to Neuschwanstein soon though. It sucks I got stuck with the family who does NO traveling haha. It's only a 3 hour drive away, if we got up early in the morning we could do it easily. I'm planning on taking Steve when he comes to visit in September. I really want to make a trip to Berlin too, but we'll see.

Anyway, I hope you guys have a great weekend!

Jess

P.S. Here is a cute website I found of dachshunds! I want an army of them!

Adorable Dachshunds!!!

I dream.... of Canon

2009-07-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

I dream about this camera

I drool over this camera

I want it nooooow

Unfortunately a $549.99 Canon - EOS Digital Rebel XS 10.1-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera
is NOT in my weak budget. I hope to get it by the end of the year though. I got a digital camera from my Dad and Debbie for Christmas and I do love it, but I can't take the pictures I want to take with it. I need to be able to focus and capture light better. P&S cameras are kind of difficult to capture a picture fast, especially with a 5 second delay after you press the button to take it!

I can dream and drool until then...

Very Important Blog

2009-07-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

**Warning: This is kind of a rant, so beware!**

This blog isn't focused on whiny kids or demanding parents for once. I'm just really really mad right now and I need to vent here and give Steve a break :p

All of this irritation started with Facebook. I had a post about watching a TV show and then I got a few comments that kind of irk me. I've changed a lot over the past few years and I'm finally becoming my own person and I'm discovering who I am. I make my own decisions and I don't follow the herd like everyone else does. I've always been free spirited, even with a hardcore Army Dad. I guess I'm starting to discover what I want in life and how I want to live it.

A big change in my life is church. I was raised in the LDS (Mormon) church since I was born. It was very helpful since I moved around a lot with my Dad being in the Army. No matter where we moved, there was always the church and a family like environment in the church, and people to connect with. I loved the social aspect of the church, I've met some of my best friends in it. I honestly have never believed in it. I've never willingly beared my testimony because I never felt that I had one. I always questioned everything. I do have faith, but not in the church. I started thinking more about it when I lived in Virginia. My parents have been strong in the church too. My Dad was raised in it his whole life and eventually converted my mom when she was in High School. I usually went regularly unless I could get out of it, usually by faking sick haha. When I was 15, my stake in VA made a trip up to Palmyra, NY where Joseph Smith (the 1st Prophet and Founder of the LDS church) started it all. Everyone talked about how much they felt the spirit there and how spiritually uplifting it was to be there. I never felt that way and I was actually really mad about it. I prepared myself before the trip, I was ready to be there and in the right mindset. I stopped going to church shortly after that. My Dad left for Iraq and he was really the only one who made sure I went to church. I was 15 and "knew everything" so I didn't listen to my mom either. Once we moved to Georgia, I went a few times again, hoping a fresh start would do some good. It didn't. I stopped going all together and that's just the way it was. I got weird messages from church members with authority too. Before I had my breast reduction, I had to have a talk with a Bishop about my chest size because it was a distraction. My mom thought I was having sex and told someone about it and that got around and eventually I had to have an interview with the bishop. I was supposed to tell him all the details of what I supposedly did. I haven't experienced that yet either. That's really weird and perverted too. It always bugged me that I was supposed to confess my problems like that. If I need guidance and counsel, I'll go willingly to seek it. I don't have to do any of that to repent of my sins. Whatever I do is between me and God, not some perverted Bishop. A lot of the standards bother me too. I'm not turning this into a bash-fest on the LDS Church, don't worry. One thing I have always loved is the moral structure of it. I was pretty much raised by the standards upheld in the church. It did prevent me from making a lot of bad decisions, but now I just think it's because those rules were instilled in me for such a long time too. I'm mostly complaining about the simple standards. No Coke. No Tea. No Rated R movies. No spaghetti strapped shirts. No more than 1 piercing per ear. NO. NO. NO. NO. After awhile I gave into these, and of course I was judged by almost everyone. My former seminary teacher in GA gave me the cold shoulder after I got more than 1 piercing in my ear. I have 7 ear piercings all together by the way. Being shunned is not a good feeling. It seems hypocritical in a way too. The church teaches that people should NOT judge and accept everyone. Well most people don't live by that, but I am grateful for those that do.

Just like this Facebook status! I talked about loving a TV show and BAM! Here come the judgmental comments. I am who I am. Don't call me Ms. LDS. Don't quote a prophet about being CLEAN or True. I am who I am. It really makes me angry. I could even turn green and rip my shirt off. Not really haha, but still, it does frustrate me a lot. I appreciate guidance and support when I need it. But I hate being criticized and judged the most. If I am able to open myself up to someone, they should be happy that I am that comfortable to do so. I respect everyone and their beliefs, even if I don't agree with them. I don't blame the church or anyone with it for anything. I am grateful for a few life-lessons I have learned from the church, but I honestly do not see myself being in it. I can't live my life like that. Things can always change, but now I do not see myself in it. Please do not push your beliefs on me. I wouldn't do the same to you, even if we have different beliefs and ideas.

I don't have a problem with anyone who goes and believes in it.

90% of my family is LDS and for the longest time I hid this from everyone because I didn't want to disappoint them. Disappointing the people I love and care for used to be the biggest fear of mine. I didn't want to be pushed away and judged by them. Well now I am SICK of hiding my thoughts and TRUE beliefs from everyone because I'm afraid of disappointing people. I'm not afraid of that anymore. I'd rather be myself then put up a fake front all the time. So I will be honest in what I believe in.

I do have faith and I do believe in God and in Jesus Christ
I do not believe in Joseph Smith
I do not go to any church regularly
I do not see myself going back any time soon

I watch rated R movies
I have 2-3 cups of coffee everyday
I smoke cigarettes occasionally (yes, I know it's a disgusting habit)
I have a beer or glass of wine occasionally
I plan on getting a tattoo when I'm ready for one

I really hope that any of you who read this can accept me for who I am. It's not all with church either. I don't want to be treated any differently. I'm kind of nervous posting this, but I'm sure I'll feel a lot better once I'm done. I can still be a good person and not follow the herd like everyone else. I'm Jessica Anne Campbell and I'm still the same person. I'm really appreciative of the support I get from my friends and family. Please don't shun me because I don't share the same ideals with you. Thanks for reading this if you stuck around this long. If any of you feel the need to message or talk to me privately, my e-mail address is jeckawecka89@hotmail.com

Jess

Productive Monday!

2009-07-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

Guten Tag!

Today has been a really great Monday, which is rare, Mondays are usually bad for everyone. I was dreading the day, but I'm really glad it's turned out to be good so far. Yesterday I slept a crazy amount. I got 9 hours of sleep Saturday night. I woke up at 11am yesterday and I was bored out of my mind. Sundays are my days off and everything is closed so there's not much to do. I read for a bit and then took a nap at 1 and woke up around 5. I read some more, watched Chocolat, talked to Steve and then read some more. I knew I wasn't going to get to sleep on my own since I slept so much during the day, so I took a chug from NyQuil, the most amazing thing in the world! I was out before 11 and woke up at 7. Charlotte started screaming my name around 7:45 so I got her milk and she told me to go away when she was done so she could go back to sleep! I was able to start the laundry and get myself ready. I woke her up at 9, dressed her, gave her breakfast and took her to preschool. I came back and did my housework for the day and waited for a guy to come check the furnace and all of that. It was actually pretty funny. On Friday, Sven asked if I was going to be around the house on Monday because the Schornsteinfeger would be coming by. I gave him this crazy look and asked what the heck the Schornsteinfeger was. It sounds like The Ghost of Nazi Past or something creepy like that haha. It's a chimney sweeper, so that was relieving.
After all of my stuff was done I was pretty bored once again, so I read (again) and surfed the net for some entertainment. I have a ton of sheets of paper laying on my desk with recipes on them, so I started to look for recipe cards and found a cool template to make my own out of brown paper bags, from the grocery store. Here's the link! I made a few of them, but it takes some time if you don't iron out the sheets of paper before you print. I keep them the way they are, and if it's too wrinkled I press it with a heavy book for awhile, but the wrinkles make it look cool. They feel a bit flimsy at first, but once the glue dries it's firm and easy to write on.
I don't really have anything new to share. Things have been alright with the kids, some ol' same ol'. I've had a few arguements with the mom, but that's not anything new either. I hope you all have a good week!

Jess

I can't believe it's already July!

2009-07-09T01:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Time is flying by here, next week we'll be in the middle of July already!! I can't believe I only have a couple more months left here. The past two weeks have been pretty crazy! We've been hit with Swine Flu! It's not as crazy as the news makes it out to be and it's not any more dangerous than the regular flu. Nicholas was home all of last week with it and Charlotte was home this week. It has been tough with the kids home, but I should count myself lucky since they weren't home together at the same time! Charlotte is actually doing a lot better and went back to pre-school today, which I am so thankful for, now I get to rest and get over it as well. I guess there's no way of escaping it when you're with kids all the time.

The 4th of July was a lot of fun. I drove up to Heidelberg to stay with my friends and I had a good time even though it was only for a couple days. I was stuck in traffic for about an hour on Friday when I left. It was pouring rain and when I got on the autobahn, traffic was at a dead stop. At least I had my ipod to keep me company. I left a little before 5 and got there at 7:30. It took longer than usual, it's only an hour and a half normally. The weather cleared about halfway and that was great! Driving in the rain with no glasses is no fun. I actually stopped to go to the bathroom at a German rest area.. never again! They are SO disgusting. I mean rest areas in the U.S. aren't the best either but these... oh my. When I got there, we just hung out and watched Bolt, which was hilarious. I might have laughed more than the kids :/ Saturday was pretty laid back too. All of the PX was opened even though it was the 4th, I was pretty happy. I got a few things there and then we went back to the house so the kids could play in the pool. We ended up watching Twilight and now they are hooked on it. We had to walk down to the festivities on post because Beka had to sing the anthem and God Bless America, all short notice. We came back, had some dinner, and then walked back for fireworks. We had great front row seats by the cannons and fireworks, so it was great. My favorite part is the end of the night when they play the Overture of 1812. James was pretty excited to see the cannons go off, they were pretty loud too. We came back and I watched a movie with Jake, and then I crashed. Sunday was also laid back. We slept in, had some breakfast and then went to the library. Beka was on the prowl for Twilight books and then we went to the commisary. I love going there, it's great to have American food. I bought a few things to last awhile here. I found a Cheesecake recipe online for Pumpkin Cheesecake. I hope it works out! If it does, I'll put the recipe here.

I'm excited because the family finally decided on a puppy! No backing out this time, like with the beagel. It's a blonde lab and she is so cute. Her name is Isa and she's still a tiny puppy. We're going to pick her up at the beginning of August. I'll be spending a lot of time with her too, the family will be going on vacation in September for 2 weeks, so if I go anywhere, Isa comes with. I might go to Paris for a day, I can walk the puppy around I guess. My friend Steve is coming to visit as well, I'm very very very excited! It'll be nice to spend some time with someone and venture out more. Well I'm going to get a few things done so I can relax. Have a good one!

Jess

Juni ist sehr gut!

2009-06-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hallo Everyone!

June has been a pretty awesome month for the most part. The weather is finally warming up more, so we're able to go to the pool, flowers are everywhere, everything is green and traveling is better. The first couple of days of June, I stayed with my friends in Heidelberg. I'm really looking forward to visiting with General Ham when I go back. His daughter used to babysit my sister and I when we lived in Germany about 15 years ago. I feel bad for her, I put her through hell! He's a really nice guy though so it'll be nice! I love going to Heidelberg! It's great to have friends so close and it's like stepping into America for a little bit each time I go. I plan on going for the 4th of July weekend, so I'm looking forward to it. Driving there is a lot of fun too. I love road trips and this one is only 90 mins, without traffic jams. The Autobahn is really fun to drive on, at first I had a hard time keeping up with the traffic because it was so fast, but I got the hang of it and even caught myself having to slow down because I was going way too fast. The majority of the time I was just coasting around 100mph. It's so nice to have my ipod in the car too. I don't have to torture myself with German Radio and I can jam out with Robert Plant, Elvis, John.Paul.Ringo.George, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and Kurt Cobain!

It's getting better with the family too. We have a way of doing things now and it works for everyone. It took long enough though! Potty training with Charlotte is going well. She only wears a diaper at night, or if we're in the car or out and about for a long time. We don't even have to bribe her with candy. Now I hope we can tackle the bottle of milk situation. She's 3 and a half now and she still sued the bottle with the nipple and everything. She's going to have a killer overbite and her teeth are getting gross. Even though she's going to lose them, it's still not good. I brush her teeth 2-3 times in the morning just to try and get rid of the nasty spoiled milk smell, but it usually doesn't leave. Maybe they'll jump on that band wagon soon. Nicholas is doing well too. He's learning more English in school and he practices with me. I actually started teaching Charlotte English too. We made flashcards with colors on them and simple things like flowers, fruits, animals etc. She's getting the hang of it and it's not too crazy for her to remember them. I teach them funny things too, it's great. Charlotte can say "whatever girlfriend!" with a lot of attitude, and even a head bob and snap.

I'm getting pretty pumped up to go home too. I feel ready to move on and start the next stage of life. I miss being in school so so much. I'm glad I do too. Most people who end up taking a year off after High School usually don't end up going back for college. I'm still set on being a Labor & Delivery Nurse too. I learn a lot from Sven and it makes me even more excited to do it, struggles and all. I'm excited and scared about being in Richmond. I know I'll have good friends near me so I won't be completely alone. My Dad, Debbie and Darby will be in New Jersey and that's not a bad drive away either. Shelby and Cindy will be in Alabama, not sure where though.. maybe in a van.. down by the river. Just kidding. Cindy is actually with my grandparents for the time being until she decides what to do with her life after she gets out of this HUGE mess she made. Right now, Debbie is in Georgia finishing the house with Darby and Shelby. My Dad and the dog are in NJ already and I think the girls are meeting with him in the middle of July. My mom already left everyone and went to Alabama. I've finally simmered down some. I'm still very angry with Cindy. I haven't bothered to call her, there would be no point to it anyway. I'd end up losing my temper or she just wouldn't even talk. I used to call her when I got here to check up on her, let her know I was doing, blah blah blah. She just stopped wanting to talk to me after a while so I only called because I had to. I called her on Mother's Day and it was one of the most awkward conversations I had with her. It was like playing 20 Questions.

"Hey Mom"
-"Hi"

"Happy Mother's Day"
-"Thanks"

"How are you?"
-"Good"

"I'm doing pretty good too, so what's new?"
-"Nothing"

You get the idea of how the conversation went. It ended with her passing the phone to Darby passed it to Shelby, Shelby was too involved with texting on her cell phone to really pay attention. I probably would have had better luck talking to the dog on the phone than anyone else. She didn't call when I was in the hospital after my Dad called her and gave her my room number, and she wouldn't let my sisters call when they wanted to. I could go on, but I won't, they're all just more reasons to be angry. I was angry since I found out about what Cindy did. I saw how distraught my Dad was, and is. She lied to so many people and I cannot believe that my family is now in this huge mess. Everyone I've talked to feels disappointed and let down too. I already knew that our relationship was a downward spiral, but I did think it would get better once I left home and we had our space. It didn't and I'm okay with it, we've never been very close anyway so it's not a huge loss for me. I'm not losing anything and I can only have those "what if", thoughts and feelings about our relationship. I just worry about my Dad. I hope his job isn't at stake and I hope they make it through. Let's hope it all ends well!

I really hope to actually SEE Europe before I leave. I still haven't left Germany in 8 months!! I'm only 2 hours away from France, 5 from Paris. I HAVE to go before I leave for the U.S. Even if it's just for a weekend, I want to see it all. There are cheap flights all over Europe so I can make it through that way. I just worry about money. I have enough to do all of this, but I need to save it too. I don't get paid much so that's a bummer, but I can find a way I hope. I'd love to go to Madrid, Rome, Venice, Prague, and London before I leave too. I can fly for about 30 Euro roundtrip to most of these places, so I guess all I have to do is find time and grow a pair and travel alone! I hope I still feel ballsy when the time comes for it.

Well I guess it's time I end this lengthy blog entry! Hopefully you made it through all the rambling. Thanks for reading!

-Jess

The Best Things in Life Are Free

2009-06-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Money! Money! Money!

Money is everyone's problem. It's my biggest worry when I come home and now it's the biggest factor in my parent's divorce. So I do agree that the best things in life are free. Friendship, love, a beautiful view, a nice walk, summer storms, laughter, and so many other things

It's a Beautiful Morning!

2009-06-08T03:22:00.000-07:00

Guten Morgen meine freunde!

Today is a pretty great Monday! My vacation is over and I was dreading today, but it's turned out to be a really great morning. The family got home yesterday evening and today is a normal day for everyone. Yesterday I was napping when they got home, and Charlotte ran upstairs and came in my room to hug me and she told me she missed me. It was pretty cute and I did miss her. This morning I set my alarm at the usual time and I was waiting in bed for her to start yelling, "Jess! Jess! Jess!", or "Mama! Mama! Mama!". She never yelled so I was surprised. Instead, she came into my bedroom and crawled in bed with me and told me about her visit with her Grandma (Oma in German). We talked in bed for a little while and then I told her I had to go to the bathroom, so she said she'd go with me and just talked and talked and talked while I peed.. it was funny. Then she had a surprise in her room that she wanted me to see. Her Aunt Raffaella bought her a cute pink castle tent, so they put it up yesterday and this morning, we both had to get in it, I felt like a dog getting through a dog/cat door haha. We played in the tent for awhile and then I got dressed and she let me dress her, which I was relieved about. I was expecting a tantrum or her wanting her mom to dress her since she hadn't been with her all week. Breakfast went well, the drive to her pre-school went well and so far it's been a productive Monday. I hope it lasts! I hope you all have a great week!

-Jess

June is here!!

2009-06-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I'm so happy that it's June already! I have a lot to look forward to over the next couple of months. This week I have a vacation, so it's pretty nice. I had my first European roadtrip this weekend and it was awesome! My friends in Heidelberg were having a big birthday party Saturday night, so I left Saturday afternoon and drove up to Heidelberg. I had to take 2 different autobahns and it was pretty nice. I'm going to have a major speeding problem though. Going about 120mph is so fun and it's not as scary as I thought. You just keep up with traffic and you're good. I only had problems at night on my way home. No glasses makes a huge difference then! The signs got weird too. They were yellow with black letters, that's pretty hard for anyone to see I think. Anyway, I got home around 11:00 last night and all was well. I think I'll head back up to Heidelberg for 4th of July. I'm actually really surprised that the family pulled through and went on vacation. Well, Graziella stayed behind but that doesn't matter, I don't have to baby sit her! Well I have a mini-crisis on my hands right now, I got a few stains of hairdye on the linoleum floor.. so I need to go get those out! Later guys!

-Jess

A Different Post!

2009-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Since I have nothing new to report, I decided to blog a little about an upcoming event I've been thinking about for a long time. I was scanning Amazon.com for a few books, and I ended up looking at Helter Skelter written by Vincent Buliosi (The Prosecuting Attorney in the Manson trial) and Curt Gentry. It is about The Infamous Tate-LaBianca murders that took place in Hollywood in August 1969. This year is a big year because it marks 40 years since the crime had been committed. Bugliosi pretty much put Charles Manson and a few of his followers from his cult, "The Family", behind bars. Manson himself never took part in the murders, he just gave instructions to go and "do something witchy". He did assist in binding the hands of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca because he thought his followers did a messy job at the Tate/Polanski Residence.

Anyway the killers are :

Charles "Tex" Watson

Susan Atkins
Leslie Van Houton
Patricia Krenwinkle

Linda Kasabian

All of them were sentenced to be executed, but conviniently, California abolished the Death Penalty after the trial, so they were then sentenced to life in prison. They are all still alive today and on May 28th, Susan Atkins is up for parole again. She is the only woman in California to be denied parole 17 times. This week will be her 18th attempt. She was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2002, and she was given 3 months to live, but she was denied parole once again in 2005. As of now, she can't sit up in bed and she has had a leg amputated. She has always been described as a "model prisoner".

After I read about this in the news I started thinking about it more. I know that she stabbed Sharon Tate to death while the actress was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Atkins was about 19 when she did it and completely brainwashed by Charles Manson and his crazy preaching. It still doesn't excuse her for what she did. I was starting to think she should be released, she has spent so much time in prison and she is dying. After I started reading Helter Skelter, I changed my mind. The book goes into great detail about the murders and the autopsies, even interviews with the Manson Family members at the time. Atkins was so disgusting and derranged. She showed NO emotion or remorse. She told the police that Sharon Tate begged for her and her son's life, and Atkins replied, "I have no mercy for you, you're going to die tonight".

In an interview with Dianne Sawyer a few years ago, she explains that she is a different person now and a born-again Christian. After nearly 40 years in prison, who wouldn't be a "born-again Christian"? Prison Facilities offer all kinds of programs to the inmates and some religious program is usually one of them. If that's all you have to keep you going, of course you're going to be like that. 40 years is a long time to sit and think about what you have done in your life, but does 40 years give justice to murder? Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger (the coffee heiress), Jay Serbring, Steve Parent, and Voytek Frykowski could have had 40 more years of their lives to live also. In the book, she would taunt the police officers and go on and on about Indian beliefs of Karma, always saying they would get what's coming for them down the road. Well I guess her karma beliefs came back and got her. She should be lucky she was granted life in prison and not executed like she was supposed to be. She's had a decent life in prison also, with a lot of privileges like wearing her own clothing, certain positions and duties and she has even been married twice in prison! Now the remaining family members of the victims attend the parole hearings and ask that the murderers be denied parole. In 1992, Sharon Tate's father passed away, but he wrote a letter to a judge before he died and said, "If Susan Atkins is released to rejoin her family, where is the justice?". I also feel so bad for the victim's families. Sharon Tate's father was a Colonel in the Army and left after she died. He grew his hair long and disguised himself as a hippie so he could go to their hangouts and try to find who murdered his daughter. Her mom lost her mind and her two younger sisters had to go through all of this. There is only one remaining relative who still plans on attending every parole hearing.

I'm really anxious to see what happens with this parole hearing. Vincent Bugliosi, who put her away, thinks she should be granted her compassionate release, but The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger does not agree. You all know how I feel about it, what are some of your thoughts on the issue?

Craziest of Them All!!!!

2009-05-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

This past week has been the craziest week I have had since I've been here! So much was going on and it seems like it was awhile ago already. On Mother's Day I had probably one of the most awkward conversations with my Mom on the phone when I called. Most of you know I don't have a good relationship with my Mom, but it was still weird. I had to push and push for her to talk to me and to keep a conversation going. I am glad I called though, it would have been a different story if I hadn't. Darby started living with my Dad and Debbie last week. She's starting to live with them now so she can have a better idea of how it will be, just in case she changes her mind before they leave for New Jersey next month.

Sunday night I got zero sleep, I'm not sure why it was kind of strange, so I was a walking zombie all day. I made it though, so that was nice. Tuesday was a normal day and Wednesday was weird. I was at a stop light and there was a man walking along a sidewalk looking at the concrete and then he walked right in front of a bus. I'll spare the details, but it was pretty horrific. I gagged and cried, but I snapped out of it pretty fast. The more I thought about it, the more it got to me, so I didn't sleep well for a few nights. On Saturday, I went to the ER because I had a ton of pain in my side and lower stomach area, and it sounded like appendicitis. We got there and it went pretty fast, I ended up having a pretty bad UTI and all that fun stuff, but they still thought I could also have appendicitis, so they kept me for just under 2 days and they were going to operate on Sunday, but decided not to. I really hate the hospital here. It was SO boring! They had huge windows with no AC, so the sun was beating in the room all day and I was gross, sweaty and stuck in a hospital bed. Even though I was pretty much miserable, I remembered to be nice to my nurses, so it was alright I guess. I came back yesterday afternoon and now I'm just relaxing for a little bit. This week will be pretty easy and I'll dive back into everything next week. Anyway.. that's all I have for now! I'll have a better, slightly less depressing/whiny update soon!

Jess

Spring!!!

2009-04-25T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!

Spring is finally here in Tubingen, and it's great! There have been daffodils and tulips blooming everywhere, trees are blooming, and we can actually go outside without wearing heavy wool coats! It's really nice to be able to go outside for hours in the afternoon inside of being cooped up in the house. I think it'll get a little warmer within the next couple of months, but thankfully, it won't be as bad as Savannah. The humidity in Savannah is horrible, and I don't miss it.

I have been here for 6 months already! It seems a lot longer, but it has been going by fast. I have a few trips planned out and now that I have something to look forward too, time is slowing down.. funny how that works. I was able to see my friend Beka in Heidelberg for Easter, which was great. Her family lived near us on Fort Monroe in Virginia and they have 3 kids, Jake, Jessie and James (JP). I used to babysit them all the time and it was so nice seeing them again. I was pretty much in love with JP while he was still in the womb and it was crazy to see him grown up. He wasn't even a year old before they left and now he's 5! It was a nice visit, but poor Beka was swamped with emergencies at work, so she was pretty busy. I'm sure I'll make more visits to Heidelberg since it's pretty close. We had fun coloring easter eggs and making these birds nests.
**These are just like the ones I saw on your page Stephanie! I thought it was crazy that we did the same thing!

It's going well here with the family. Everyone is back to work/school now so it's pretty busy. Sven is going back to the U.S. for about a week, I'm kind of jealous! We've been working with Charlotte to get her potty trained and it's going very well! We kind of just force her to wear the panties now, she doesn't havw the option of wearing a diaper during the day anymore. She only wears them at night, which is great. She does a good job with it and she only has a few accidents, but most of them are from accidents on the toilet haha. We had an interesting experience a few weeks ago while on a walk. She was wearing her panties and I made her go to the bathroom before we left, but didn't think about how long we'd be gone, so I didn't put a diaper on her and I didn't bring any wipes, extra panties or a back up diaper. Whoops. We were passing the stables and she told me she had to pee, we were too far from the house for her to hold it, so I had to help her squat and all of that without getting her clothes dirty. We were successful and she didn't hit her clothes! At the time, there were still no leaves on the trees and dead leaves on the ground, so wiping with leaves was out. I pretty much had to shake her a lot! People would drive by and laugh and honk, so I guess it was pretty funny to see this frantic lady shaking a half-naked 3 year old around. I know to prepare for next time at least!

I started working out at a new gym, which is nice but really crowded! I am so very thankful for my ipod too! I wouldn't make it there at the gym if I had to listen to the techno the entire time I was there. I don't understand why Germans LOVE techno so much. It's like in their blood.

Well this is all I have for now, I'll try to update more. Have a great weekend everyone

Jess

Tiger Faces and Black Easter Eggs

2009-03-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

I'm making an effort to blog more! Last week was the best week I've had in a long, long time! Every day was really great. The weather was beautiful, the kids were happy every day and everyone was just in a good mood! We watched Jurassic Park Friday night, which was awesome. I really loved that movie as a kid (and I still do!). On Saturday, the weather was kind of gross, so we went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch and then came home for a nap. We finally had our time change this weekend, so we're all getting used to it. It's amazing how one hour can make such a huge difference!

I'm starting to get ready for coming home. I still have a little over 6 months, but I guess it's okay to prepare ahead of time. My friend Steve has been helping me search for apartments, well he's actually been doing most of the work haha. It's greatly appreciated though! I'll start the job search in a few months too, so I hope that goes well. I'm worried about keeping a full time job and going to school as well, but I'm sure I'll make it work somehow.

I'm really determined to do all of this without any help from my parents whatsoever. Whenever I talk to them, it seems as though they're just waiting for me to screw up with something and it's really depressing. I know I'm not perfect and made a lot of mistakes at home. I'm not on the path my parents want and my Dad keeps trying to make my decisions for me, or he disapparoves of them when I share my thoughts and ideas with him. The more my parent's divorce progresses, the more ridiculous they both get and I am SO tired of it. I know I'm not the only one and it must be worse for my sisters. It gets old fast and I'm really worried that my relationship with my parents will be even worse over time. I thought that being away from home for a year would help everyone "forgive and forget". My parents, sisters and myself included. I'm still being blamed for a lot that goes on at home, which is funny since I'm not even there. I talked to my Dad a little over a week ago and he said half the problems at home were because of me. It seems like he thinks he does no wrong, well I think he's screwed up the most, so he has no say in it. It's not like he's been around for most of it lthe past few years anyway. I'm not too worried about anyone reading this either, they know how I feel and it's not like they even come here anyway. So, I'll end that little rant :)

Charlotte and I have become really close and I love it! She has finally stopped testing me and I guess she accepts me. Whenever I drop her off at her daycare/pre-school, she always has to run towards me so I pick her up and throw her in the air, and she gives me a HUGE kiss in the cheek and says bye. It's so sweet and I'm happy she feels like she can depend on me when she needs to. Nicholas and I have been getting a long more as well! He talks to me more and it's really nice. He asked how long I was staying and I told him until October, and he got a little sad. I hope I make a good impression on them, so they don't compare me too much with their next au pair haha. I mean, I think things are going well. We have a nice routine set up and we stick to it. I can goof off with them too.

Charlotte is pretty hilarious. I think it's so funny how a 3 year old can come up with the craziest sayings. I can't imagine the thoughts swirling around in her head. At her daycare, they colored easter eggs last week. I was getting everything out of her cubby to take home and I saw this black piece of paper. I glanced at the other cubbies and saw all these cute, colorful easter eggs. Hers was jet black! What kind of demented 3 year old colors an easter egg jet black?! It was pretty hilarious. On Friday, they were having their faces painted when I went to pick her up and all of the girls were made up to look like Princesses. Except for Charlotte. She decided to have a Tiger face like many of the other little boys there. She was growling and crawling all over the place with them. She is so fierce and I think it's hilarious how much she shows it. Okay, so I didn't think her fierceness was so hilarious at first, but now I do. She's a really unique little girl :)

That's about all I have for now. Tomorrow is our last class so I might post a blog with a few pictures! I hope everyone is doing great!

-Jess

March Update

2009-03-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

I guess it's about time for an update. I need to blog more often, I've been slacking a lot lately! Things are going much much better around here! Graziella and I have been getting along well this whole year! We've had a couple iffy days, but for the most part, it's pretty awesome. Charlotte is better too! She listens more and her temper tantrums are short lived. I can't believe I've been here for like 5 months already. I feel comfortable here, so that's nice.

German class is going well, next Thursday is the last day! I'm not sure if I'm going to take a follow-up course or not. I feel pretty content with my German right now, and it'll get better the more I use it. I can understand pretty much everything I hear, or bits and pieces and I can just put it all together. Speaking is still the hard part, but I'll get there.

I am feeling a vacation pretty soon. Things are better, but having a routine like this is getting kind of old. I do like being in a routine, but the weeks just go by so fast when you do the same thing everyday. I'll have to see what I can do. I may have a small break next month if the family goes away for Easter or a short vacation, which would be awesome! I need some alone time! Sorry I have nothing too interesting to report, I'll have more to share next time! Later guys

Jess

Horses!

2009-03-23T04:20:00.000-07:00

Guten Tag!

I went on a fun walk with Charlotte on Saturday, the weather was beautiful and we saw several horses. Here are a few I took. It's always so fun to see Charlotte get excited whenever we see them. I was able to get them to come over the fence, and I helped her pet them. It always makes me nervous because they're cautious animals and I don't know how they would react to a 3 year old being too aggressive or something, but she always listens when I tell her to be gentle with them.

Thank God for The Beatles.. Seriously

2009-03-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

If it were not for The Beatles.. I would probably be in prison right now. I would have lost my temper several times and maybe even murdered a couple of kids I watch.

30 Minutes of screaming non stop, biting, kicking, dirt throwing, and hitting...
Ticket to Ride saved me!

A 9 year old telling me to shut up and go away after I tell him to turn the TV off after 3 hours of cartoons...
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da life goes on!

The lady of the house going through my room and getting in my face...
Happiness is a Warm Gun

I'm sure you all get it now. Whether it's John and Paul's soothing voices, or Mr. Harrison's uplifting lyrics, they get me every time. I can listen to

"Little darling the smiles are returning to their faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun
and I say
It's Alright"

and I feel much better! All of the angry feelings and thoughts escape and I feel calm. I'm pretty happy that it works every time, no matter how bad the day is. I even have lyrics from The Beatles picked out for my tattoo, and I know I won't regret it when I'm older. I think hell would have to freeze over a thousand times before I disliked The Beatles!

It's February!!!

2009-02-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

It's finally February! It feels like I've been here way longer than a couple of months. I guess I'm working on 4 now. I keep losing track of time. All of my days are the exact same, kind of boring I guess. I have the same schedule everyday besides Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my classes, and on Sunday I have the day off, so I just sleep in and read most of the time. I know it may sound mean, but on Sunday, I don't want to see anyone's face! I just want to be alone, no kids arguing no diapers to change. I even skip dinner because I don't feel like pulling through a conversation, it's kind of sad, but when it's my day off I don't want to deal with anyone.

Happy Groundhog Day, by the way! It's not anything special over here, I actually forgot about it until I scanned the news this morning. We'll have an early Spring.. that's nice! It seems like 2009 is going to be a good year. A lot of nice changes have been taking place and most of them are good changes for the most part. I work out a lot now, especially with extra time on my hands. Losing weight kind of sucks though I can only wear a few items of clothing I brought with me, so I need to suck it up and go shopping eventually blah. I'll just hold out until the Spring. There's no point in buying new clothes when it's about to get warmer.

I went back to the Foreigner's Office today and took my little language test. I'm kind of worried, but not too much. I missed a few questions, but overall I think I did alright. It was a verbal test, a woman just sat with me and asked me basic questions, and I was able to answer most of them. She sent the results and a photocopy of my language course enrollment letter to the Employment Office, so once she hears back from them, she'll give us a call. It's pretty simple and it'll go two ways.

1. I know enough German now to have an official "Au Pair" visa and status
2. I do not know enough German, and I can re-take the test once my course is
completed.

I'm hopeful that it's going to be okay!

February seems like a pretty eventful month. There are a few birthdays my cousin's wife is having a baby and there are a few holidays. In the states, I always saw all the Valentine's Day decorations go up as soon as February 1st came around. Here, I have not seen any. The big holiday this month here is very similar to Halloween in the states actually. It's pretty much the same thing. I don't think they go around door to door for candy or anything, but they dress up in scary costumes. The purpose of the holiday is to "chase away Winter." Well.. that's about all I have to share for now. I'll check back in later. Take care everyone

Jess

Finally!!!

2009-01-22T03:33:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I am finally enrolled in a language class! It happened pretty fast, but I feel very comfortable with it. I honestly didn't even think it was going to happen. When we were taking care of my visa at the Foreigner's Office in town, they never mentioned a language test being required. Well a day after we were there, the woman we met with called and told us she checked into it again, and I do have to take one, so Graziella finally started calling a few of the different language institutes. She found one that offered classes at a convenient time in the day for me, so she dropped me off at the institute and I met with the director for a placement test. I was expecting a written test, but I just ended up sitting down with her and chatting. I'm surprised I knew as much as I did. It's easy to pick up and understand the language, but speaking is a different story. She said I was doing great for being here 2 1/2 months, so she placed me in an intermediate class. I feel more confident with my German now and I'm not worried about taking this language test for my visa anymore.

My class is every Dienstag und Donnerstag (Tuesday and Thursday) from 9:15am to 10:45am. Since I missed Tuesday, today was my first day in the class. I was very nervous about it and to make me even more nervous, last night Sven informed me that I would not be able to use the car and I would have to take the bus. I knew where to go, but I was nervous about being on time. This morning before my alarm even went off, I got a knock on the door and I was asked to take Nicholas to the swimming pool, his school goes to the pool every other Thursday for swimming lessons. He said it would only take like 10 mins and he had to be there at 8am. Well, it took 45 mins because the rest of the kids were late. I sped home, turned the hair straightener on and started getting ready as fast as I could. It was 8:20am by the time I got back, and I wanted to be gone by either 8:30am or 8:45am. I missed the 8:30am bus, so I wanted to catch the next one. I had to help with Charlotte, so I missed the 8:45am bus as well... When we realized I miss that one, Graziella just said "Oh well there is no way you will make it there on time.." Thanks a lot! I hate being late, I really do. It was already bad enough that I missed the first day of the class, but being late on my first day?? I was so mad, so I just walked to the bus stop and waited for my bus. I ended up being 15 minutes late for the class, but the teacher (lehrerin) was very nice and welcomed me in. There are 4 other people in the class. I'm the only American!

We have:

Sybille - Teacher (German)
Tizano- Italy
Sergio- Chile
Penlu- Taiwan
Ester- Venezuela

It also amazes me that English is such a universal language. Everybody can speak English in the class. It makes me feel silly in a way. I can speak Spanish decently, but that's about it. If any one could not understand something in German, they asked for help in English!! That's crazy! They all have a hard time learning German too, so I feel better. I got to know Tizano and Penlu a little too as we were all walking to the bus station together. Tiazno is pretty funny. He is a student here, Penlu is as well. I might invite her to lunch next week if she is not busy with a class after our language course. She is pretty nice. I'm glad I am more outgoing there, I think I will be able to make friends easily now. Well that's it for now. I'll have more to write about after the weekend. Take care everyone! Tschuus!

Jess

Entschuldigen, Ich spreche Englisch

2009-01-19T03:39:00.000-08:00

Guten Tag Everyone!

I have been putting a new blog off for a long time, so this one might be a little lengthy, so if you choose to stick around thanks, and if I bore you to tears with my rambling, es tut mir leid!

Christmas went well here. I was pretty homesick through the holidays for about 2 weeks. I really missed everyone at home and the family here has different traditions, so it really never felt like Christmas. In our house, the presents accumulate under the tree the entire month of December until Christmas morning, which is fun because everyone gets to shake and make guesses. Here, they keep the tree clear until Christmas Eve, and then the children go upstairs and play, while Santa and his angels come and bring all of the presents. He then rings a bell and then the kids get to come downstairs and open their gifts. It was pretty neat I guess, it was hard to keep Charlotte and Nicholas entertained the entire day, but once family members began to arrive, they had sometime to do until dusk. Graziella's younger sister, Raphaella, had a friend visiting from the U.S., so it was really nice to have someone to talk to. There were four languages (German, English, Spanish, Italian) swirling around the house for a week too! It was alright though, I could catch parts of most of them, obviously English. My German is still not the best. I was supposed to start a class at the beginning of this month, but not enough people signed up for it, so it was dropped. I hope we can find a new one soon! Thanks for all of the Christmas cards guys! I even received a few care packages, which are greatly appreciated! My mom hooked me up with some good old junk food (Chex Mix, Pringles, Sunflower Seeds) but uh thanks.. now I have a minor case of porkeritis since I'm out of it all! I went through a bad porker withdrawl when I moved here, no junk food or chicken! Food in the U.S.A. is the Devil's food for sure, it's so bad.

Here is the Christmas Tree. A little fat and kind of bare

I now know why mother's are SO excited when kids go back to school after a break! It is so hard trying to keep two kids entertained with as little TV as possible. I miss sleeping in on the breaks. I was up bright and way too early every morning, usually around 6 or 7. Charlotte was up and ready to play, so the mornings went by fast. She didn't nap much though, which was NOT fun. Nicholas played with friends most of the time so that was nice, one less worry I guess. I started trying to find videos that Charlotte would like, so I torture myself and listen to The Wiggles. She really loves them and can even sing along to their songs in English. They aren't as bad as I thought a few years ago, but as long as she is happy and entertained, I'm happy. The tables kind of turned with the kids too. I don't have as many problems with Charlotte now, but Nicholas... oh boy. Charlotte and I get along pretty well and she will listen to me. I can "threaten" her with silly things and make compromises with her so she will cooperate, and it always works. Nicholas.. not so much. One thing I really hate is when I am trying to get Charlotte to cooperate (example: I am trying to blowdry her hair after a shower at night and I need her to sit down, so I tell her she can't have her bottle of milk at night if she doesn't sit down) and Nicholas will come in and tell her not to listen to me and when I try to talk to her, he tells me to be quiet and says Sh! over and over. It makes me crazy! If I did that when I was a kid, I would have been spanked. It's pretty rude. I talked to the parents about discipline and all of that a few weeks ago and they said no spanking, which is fine I would feel weird spanking them anyway. Nicholas has only been spanked once and the dad felt so horrible, he told himself he would never do it again and I am pretty sure he hasn't. I guess it is a big deal. I think a good smack on the butt or two is good. You don't have to spank kids often, usually just once will do the trick. When I was a kid and I was being bratty, the threats to go to the bathroom always shut me up. I kind of wish they had spanked him more! He has really strange habits too. I take my showers at night after the kids are in bed, and the bathroom doesn't have a fan, so I crack the window to let the steam out, and then close it about an hour later. Nicholas cannot sleep at night unless he knows the window is closed. I thought it was just a random thing at first. He comes in my room about 20 times a night going "fenster, fenster" (window, window). I just say it's okay and I'll close it in 20 mins. He comes back 5 mins later... fenster fenster. He also goes into the batrhroom EVERY time I leave, which is funny. Last night I was messing around with it to see if it was in fact, every single time. I would go to the bathroom and leave, he'd go and turn the light on, check around, go back to his room. I would go again like 10 mins later and get water or something, and then the same thing would happen! We went back and forth for like an hour, it was pretty crazy.

Damien.. err.. Nicholas and Charlotte

I actually go out and about by myself now, which is a huge improvement. I used to be SO scared of leaving the house alone, but now I can do it with no problems. "Entschuldigen, Ich Spreche Englisch" is my most used phrase. It means, "I'm sorry, I speak English." I try and use as much German as I can when I talk to people, but when they lose me in a conversation, this phrase is a life-saver. People will usually smile and use their English and others will just nod and say they can't speak it, which is cool. Both of us will make it work and finish the convo with both languages. The weather has been nice, but I can now say that I am sick of snow! It's melting now, which sucks. 1. The roads are horrible, covered in thick layers of ice and all that fun stuff. 2. Everything smells like horse poo... We live in the country side and there are a few stables around, so after all that snow vanished, it's finally thawing out.

I have a pretty good feel for the town now. I'm used to all the crazy driving too! I get pretty impatient like everyone else with slow pokes. The road rage must be contagious or something. When I do get frustrated on the road, I'll usually just say "Oh my God!" Which is funny because Charlotte has caught on to it, and she says it when she is frustrated now too. Better than another phrase I guess. In one of my care packages, I received one of those awesome cassettes that play your ipod through the sound system in the car. The radio here plays English music for the most part.. but as most radio stations do.. they over play songs way too much. If I hear another Pink, Katy Perry, or Beyonce song.. I might end up driving through a guard rail off the road, into the valley and I'll probably die in some catastrophic accident. Now that I can play the ipod, I sing all the time, so the kids say I'm crazy, but I really don't care. I'll belt out any song I like.

Today we finally went to the Foreigner's Office in town and turned in all of my employment paperwork. They extended my stay until March 30th, which is nice because my tourist visa expires on the last day of the month and I doubt I'd get all of my crap back by then. It kind of makes me sad that I've been "The Mexican" here. I've been working while I have been here, but I never had the legal permission to work. Oh well, I hopped an ocean instead of a fence!

I don't really have anything else to say for now. I'll try to blog more, I just get caught up in other things. I think you all should get skype! It's a life saver, especially keeping in touch with people, so if you do choose to get skype, my name is Jess Campbell in Tubingen, Germany! Take care everyone! Tchuus!

Jess

Rant!

2008-12-05T00:48:00.000-08:00

Okay guys, I have to rant! I have been trying to avoid it, no one likes to hear someone complain a lot, but I think ranting in a blog is better than keeping it pent up and eventually going postal.

Last week was a HORRIBLE week. I rarely have bad weeks, but every now and then one pops up. A bad Monday turned into a bad Tuesday, and so on. I was just really frustrated, mostly with Charlotte. Like I mentioned before, she tests me a lot. I can usually take it and deal with it, but it's different now. She's 3 and she's really babied still. She's no where near being potty-trained, she wears diapers 24/7, she still drinks from bottles and it's kind of frustrating. I get kicked in the face at least once a day when I'm changing her because she throws a tantrum every time I change her, and it's always horrible because she screams like I am murdering her. Her baby monitor is usually on too, so I always feel awkward. I don't do anything I shouldn't do, but it kind of freaks me out that who ever is downstairs can hear everything that goes on. She doesn't really get disciplined all that much either, she'll get a stern tone every now and then, maaaaaybe a tap on the hand. She bit me a few times last week too and didn't get in much trouble. I think her mom spanked her, and then less than 5 mins later went back to babying her so the effect from the spanking didn't sink in. I'm not allowed to spank or anything, which is understandable, but if she never gets spanked, she's never going to learn from right and wrong. I'm definitely not going to tell the parents what I think about it, that's like telling them how to raise their kid and it's pretty inappropriate for me to do so. So I guess I am kind of stuck with that situation.

I get kind of annoyed when they go in my room I guess too. I have nothing to hide, but I like my privacy I guess. I know it is their house, but I don't go through their bedroom and snoop around when they're gone or here. I hope they aren't mind readers too, because I'd definitely be in trouble if they went snooping through my thoughts. They also keep bugging me about getting out more. I am still hesitant to go walk around the city by myself. Sure it's not that big, but I like being with company and walking around alone just makes me feel like a loser. I have no one to talk to and it's just boring. I'm sure I'll make friends once I start taking my German classes. I'm perfectly fine with staying around here most of the time and doing other things. Both Graziella and Sven have lived abroad, but they were always with some kind of program, whether it's an exchange student program, or school. They always had people around them. I know living in a foreign country isn't easy for anyone, but I think this is a little harder, I just can't walk into a store and become friends with someone. With a language barrier it's even harder. So I kind of wish they'd get off of my back about it. I just kind of smile and give a curt nod whenever they bring it up, so if they know body language, I'm sure they'd get what that means. I try to learn German on my own, but it's hard. I'm afraid of sounding stupid, and I'm learning the "Caveman" way, which is basically just learning simple vocabulary and then trying to piece words together in a decent sentence, sometimes it works and the kids understand me, sometimes it doesn't and they look at me like "what the heck are you saying?" so I'm sure classes will be SO much more effective than this "caveman" way of learning.

Well, if you stuck around this long, thanks for reading! Any advice would be nice :) I hope you all are well!!

Jess

3 Weeks!

2008-11-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are all well! I can't believe that I have been here 3 weeks already! It really seems like it's been longer, which is good. I feel very comfortable here so I am glad. I've been getting into the regular routine and it's working out. I've been waking up before the kids everyday, I have to get Charlotte's bottle of milk ready for her and I give it to her when she wakes up, it's like her cup of coffee in the morning, she won't function until she has had it. I get her ready, do her hair and bring her downstairs, then off to her daycare for a few hours. I wish she didn't have to stay at the daycare regularly, I feel like I'm getting paid too much to be doing so little. I have a lot of free time through out the day. I'm used to driving here and even though it's basically the same, there are some differences. All of the cars are SO tiny! The car I drive isn't too small, it's bigger than the others but if it were in the U.S., it would be considered tiny. I am also the parallel parking master! If you don't know how to parallel park in Europe, you're kind of screwed! They don't have huge parking lots like we do, only at a few places, a lot of grocery stores have parking garages and all that, it's weird. When I pick the kids up from the daycare, parking is always the biggest hassle. There is construction going on at a building right beside both of their daycares, so parking sucks. If a handicap spot is available people take it! It's nuts. I guess when cops don't have anything to do here, they don't try to screw people over and set speed traps and all that crap, it would be nice if that happened in Richmond Hill.. but anyway

The kids have been good.. lately Charlotte has been testing me more and it's killing me! Sometimes I think she hates me, but then again I don't know, I'm not mean to her or anything, but she is 3 so I guess it's the way she is for now. Sven was talking to me about disciplining the kids and not to be shy if I have to yell or use a really stern tone. Nicholas and Charlotte were chasing each other around the living room and he told them to stop a few times and they didn't, so then he yelled, and when he was done I told him that I'm pretty sure he said what every Dad would have said, but if I was ever yelled at in German, I'd probably pee my pants. He laughed and said he sounded like the typical German Nazi guard.

Today Graziella, Charlotte and I went shopping in a town like 3o to 45 mins away. It was in this huge mall that was pretty much like any mall in the states. It was unbelievably crowded! I got a little down though, it's no fun shopping alone I guess. I know Graziella couldn't really shop with me because she had to keep an eye on Charlotte, but I did get a little lonely. So I came home and took a 3 1/2 hour nap! I have this schedule that works for me and I love it! I wake up at either 6am or 7am, get ready, get Charlotte ready, take her to her daycare. I take a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon before I get her, so I can stay up later and talk to friends in the states and still be able to wake up on time. I'm happy it works. My Dad was worried I'd stay up all night and talk to friends, but I have it worked out :). I am also SO happy, it's been snowing here for the past 2 days and more snow is expected to come tonight and tomorrow. I love it, I haven't seen snow in a few years so I hope we get a ton. Well I feel like I am rambling at this point, so I'm going to end it here! Take care everyone!

Jess

Food

2008-11-07T02:20:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I have been doing great so far. I can't believe I've been here a week already, I do feel at home here so that's good. I haven't gone out on my own yet. I am really nervous about interacting with people since I don't know the language well enough to have a decent conversation. I keep hearing everyone speaks English, but I'm still very nervous about it.
I've been sick the past couple of days but I should get over it soon. I'm learning a little German everyday and it's been sticking with me. I sound ridiculous with the pronunciation, but I've been told that it's better to sound so ridiculous so I learn from my mistakes I guess. I've gone grocery shopping with Sven and Graziella twice since I have been here and it's not too different. The selection of meat and cheese and bread is a lot larger than most of the grocery stores in the U.S. One thing that is different is there are no baggers at the grocery store. You either bring your own bag, buy some there, or you're screwed! You also have to pay 1 Euro to use a cart as well, but you get it back, you just stick it in a little coin slot on the handle of the cart to get it off of the chain. It seems like people are always in a hurry here as well. People are always rushing by, and on the road people are always in a hurry too. Well I have learned more words, mostly for food so here we go:

Pears: Die Birnen (Dee Beer-nen)
Orange: Die Orange but it is pronounced differently (or-anj-eh)
Raspberry: Die Himbeere (Him-beer)
Strawberry: Die Erdbeere (erd-beer)
I think the two easiest fruits are
Banana: Banane
Apple: Apfel

I only know a few veggies and they are:

Tomatos: Die Tomaten
Lettuce: Der Salut- pretty easy, sounds a little like salad
Peppers: Paprika

Oh, and jelly/jam here is called: Marmalade (marm-uh-lad-eh).

I have also fallen in love with German Bread! I love waking up every morning and having a slice of bread from the bakery with some butter and Himbeere Marmalade!

Well, that's it for now. Talk to you all later!

-Jess

Ramble?

2008-11-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I hope all of you are well. I'm doing great here. I've been a nervous wreck all morning! Mainly because of elections. I don't think anyone has been this excited about a Presidential Election, I think it's great that so many young voters are involved in it. I am ready for this to be over though. I'm tired of all the hype, and mostly all the hostility. So many people think that I'm a bad person for being on Team McCain, which makes me mad. I don't think less of anyone for voting Obama/Biden, it's their own choice. I wonder what wil be a bigger upset for me... The Patriots losing the Superbowl, or Obama being President? I hope that it's the Superbowl, but we'll see. One thing I hope doesn't pass today is Proposition 8 in California. I'd say I'm mostly conservative, but I do support Gay Marriage. I have a hard time understanding why people think they don't deserve the rights that everyone else in this country have. Sure, people argue that marriage is between a man and woman, but that's our definition of marriage, I think anyone who is happy and in love should have the fair chance and opportunity to do what they believe is right. Being in love is so wonderful and I couldn't imagine someone denying me the right to marry because I am different. It's just not right. To me, it's almost like before African-Americans had the right to vote. Our country wouldn't let them have the right just because they were different. Same situation here. I was actually upset that I recieved newsletters from the LDS Church about voting yes on Proposition 8. I'm not against the church, but I don't think this was right. I know our church is not the only church doing this, but I do find it hurtful that they go this far to destroy and prevent happiness and equal rights. They said that families would be destroyed and all that.. bullcrap! People said the same thing when women had their rights and began working and being independent and as far as I can tell, we still have families today, so that was also bullcrap.

Finally Here!

2008-11-03T01:48:00.001-08:00

Guten Morgen! For those of you that don't know any German, like myself, it means 'Good Morning.' I am happy to say that I arrived in Germany on Friday morning. The weather here is great, even though the temperature is pretty low, I think it feels great, and they think I'm kind of crazy for loving it so much.

I flew out of BWI (Baltimore Washington International) airport, and that wasn't so much fun. I had some problems checking in at the Delta desk... I only bought a one-way ticket to Germany because there didn't seem to be any reason to buy a round-trip ticket since plans could change. The attendant told me I wouldn't be able to fly without a return ticket, so my mom and I almost had a panic attack, but the attendant checked again and she was wrong, so I was able to go still. I went through security fine too. I really don't know why people complain so much, I mean you take your shoes off, big deal. It was kind of funny and weird, on my first flight from Baltimore to Atlanta, I sat by the window and I had 2 carry on bags, one went up in the overhead compartment, one by my feet, well the woman sitting next to me moved my bag down to fit hers in, so she moved my laptop to the front of the plane, which then freaked me out because I was nervous about someone taking it. That flight was miserable just because of the stress, I didn't know if I would be hasseled in Germany because of the whole return ticket deal, and then I had the laptop situation piled on. We arrived in Atlanta about 2 hours later and my laptop was still there and I just over-panicked. I had a couple of hours to kill before my plane to Germany departed, so I tried to find a seat near an outlet, but people already snatched them up and used both plugs, so I was out of luck for using my laptop. Thankfully, the time passed quickly. I had a window seat on that flight too, which was nice, but the man next to me was odd. He was german and for those of you who have seen the movie Heavyweights, he looked exactly like one of the characters, I'll post a link. Man on the tree is the guy .All he did was take up the leg room and even the armrest, and he drank a TON of beer and burped a lot... lovely. I did catch some sleep on the flight which was great. I woke up a few times through out the night. On the overhead screens, they would show a map of the plane and where we were. I woke up and saw we were over Nova Scotia, and then a few hours later near Greenland and then later Iceland before I fell asleep again. When I woke up for good, we were over Ireland, so we didn't have too much time to go before we reached Stuttgart. At that time, I started thinking.. oh my God, what am I thinking? What gave me this brilliant idea to come do this? Why am I so stupid? blah blah blah! I don't really feel that way, it was just nerves, I'm actually very happy it is working out! We landed and surpringsly, I kept my cool, went through passport control with no problems! The woman asked how long I planned on staying and what my reason for being in Germany was, so I told her I was visiting friends in Tübingen and I wasn't sure how long I planned on staying. Our plan was for me to come to Germany on a tourist visa, which is valid for 90 days, and then get a work permit and visa within those 90 days. So I went through customs with no problems and and everything was good. I only had a little problem then, I didn't have a chance to get a cell phone number for Graziella so I was a little worried. They also knew about the situation with my ticket, so I am sure they were just as worried. I got all of my bags and waited outside the baggage area and looked around for Graziella, I thought I saw her but then again I wasn't sure. I kind of pondered if I should have gone up to her and asked or not, so I decided to. If I embarrassed myself, oh well I would never see them again, right? Well I was right and we were both relieved, so we went to the car and stopped by a bakery on the way home. It is such a beautiful little town, I love all of the fall colors and all of the building look so cool compared to what we are used to back at home in the U.S. I will post some pictures soon, but most likely after Christmas, hopefully I'll get a new digital camera from mom or dad.. hint hint.

The family has been very kind and patient with me, which is great. I still don't know much German at all, but I have been picking up on smaller things. I start taking a Beginner's German class in the beginning of January, so that will be great. I did bring along a couple of German Language books, one is a guide called, 'German Phrases for Dummies.' It has actually been great. It helps with memorizing the words and with pronunciation, which is pretty difficult for me, but I am getting there. There are many words in both languages that are similar and alike, so that is nice. In a section of the book, they have a list of words that are very similar, almost the same as American words, but are pretty different. For example, 'After' in English and 'After' in German are two very different words. In German, 'After' means 'anus' so I hope I never get that mixed up, it would be pretty embarrassing if I used it in a conversation with someone. It's like in Spanish, 'Embarrassed' and 'Embarazado' look alike and even sound similar, but they don't mean the same thing. My Dad told me that when he was on his church mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a sister missionary was speaking in church and said 'Soy Embarazada, Soy Embarazada.' She felt embarrassed because her pronunciation and vocabulary was poor, so she thought she was saying she was embarrassed. Well she should have been because in Spanish, 'Embarazada' means pregnant. So she was basically telling everyone in the church that she was so pregnant.

The kids in the family, Nicholas who is 8 and Charlotte, turning 3 tomorrow, are very fun. Nicholas was a little shy at first but now he was warmed up to me and plays with me. Charlotte is hilarious. She kind of runs things around the house. We have a decent way of communicating since they don't know English and I don't know much German. They probably think I'm crazy with all these silly gestures I make. I always ask what something is in German so I know the word and Nicholas has been nice about it and tells me, I hope he doesn't get annoyed by it soon. On my second day here, Nicholas and I watched 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.' It was really nice. The movie was dubbed over in German, but we put on some English subtitles so I could read along. It's kind of weird not hearing Harrison Ford's voice in German but who cares, he's still nice to look at :) I learned a few words in the movie. Nicholas was a little scared by the skeletons that would pop out at times, so skeleton in German is: Skelett, kind of pronounced like skillet, but more of an 'eh' sound than the 'i'. I also learned that snake in German is Schlange, pronounced shlong-uh. I thought it was kind of funny because I realized that must be where we got the nickname for an area of the male anatomy haha.

Well I think this is all I have to say for now, I'll update a few times a week. I hope all of you are well and keep in touch! Tchüß (tshuuss) Goodbye!

-Jess

Tagged

2008-10-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

JOBS I'VE HAD--
1. Secretary for a Real Estate company
2. McDonald's Cashier (I lasted a week!)
3. Caregiver at a Daycare
4. Nanny/Au Pair

4 MOVIES I'VE WATCHED MORE THAN ONCE--
1. Fight Club
2. Star Wars
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

TV SHOWS I WATCH--
1. Nip/Tuck
2. America's Next Top Model
3. Family Guy
4. South Park

4 PEOPLE WHO EMAIL ME REGULARLY--
1. Gap
2. My Dad
3. Debbie
4. Graziella or Sven (my German family)

4 OF MY FAVORITE FOODS--
1. Anything Italian!
2. cheesecake
3. Mexican
4. Chicken and Dumplings

PLACES I'D LIKE TO VISIT--
1. Vicenza, Italy
2. Hampton Roads, VA
3. Paris, France
4. Prague, Czech Republic

4 people I tag:
Who ever reads it!

Getting Things Ready...

2008-10-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

I'm so excited for my trip to Germany. I still can't really believe it's happening, it doesn't seem real yet. For the past month I have been trying to get everything in order, so I don't have any complications. It is hard work, but well worth all of it. My Dad bought me a laptop for my graduation present, so that's great, I'll have an easier time updating everyone and keeping in touch. I have my passport, all of my shots are updated, I have new luggage from my mom as an early birthday present too.

I've been trying to decide on how long to stay at work. I've been working at a daycare center for the past couple of months and I love working with the kids. I work with 1 year olds, they're pretty funny. I won't miss changing 40 to 50 diapers a day though. I hate the management there and I have been sucking it up and staying through all the hard times, but I've just had enough, I don't know if I can make it and stay sane until next Friday...

I've had a hard time trying to pack for a year too. I don't want to over do it and pack too many things, but I don't want to pack too little either. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know! Anything is greatly appreciated.

Well I guess this is it for now..I'll more to post when I'm closer to leaving!