When · I · am · home · I · want · to · be · away · and · when · I · am · away · I · want · to · be · at · home.

Thai I hope you read this!
Sorry I haven't called yet, I have been working everyday and been really busy. Anyway I Love you and I am gonna call soon, have patience with me!

Love,
Courtney

There are some people in my life that I value incredibly. I think it is hard to understand how much value I place on some of my frienships. I find it miraculous how intricute our personalites can be. Different but somehow the same. I am one of the worst at keeping in touch with people. However there are those few people in my life that I am deeply moved by. When I see a picture of them, or read something they wrote I get caught up in the love I have for them. How unique these people are and how they all have something different to offer. I love with a different kind of love than most people, and unfortunately I can not put it into words like I would like to. I wonder sometimes if people really take the time to realize how blessed they are to know certain people. I treasure specific relationships and continually remind myself how privilidged I am to have such friends.

So I know I get to do so much and honestly I am really blessed. I am really thankful for all I have been able to see and do until now. BUt I am just the kind of person who is never really satisfied. I want to see a new country. I mean we are going to move to Canada soon and so this may be the last time I am in Europe for a long time. My goals are France, Italy and Scottland. Scottland is already in our plans for May, but somehow I have to reach these other 2 countries before we go. But what with being an adult and all, it is not so easy to just go. However I really don't give up very easily and if I want things to happen, they usually do. Even if I have to create some crazy way for it to happen. Mark my words, I will visit France, Italy, and Scottland before we leave.

So I am taking a break from english preparations to write a journal entry. Which I hardly ever do anymore. Although I really like the whole idea of LJ. Just nobody ever writes anymore. Stink. So our house smells funny and because it is cold outside and warm inside water has begun to gather on the windows, what I want to say is our windows are sweating! I am so lame. Anyway I didn't think it was all too bad until it started to mold! AAaaaaaah! So now I have to be alert and wipe off the sweat when it comes!!! I have to let in more fresh air. So now I have opened my windows, which has made my house really cold, but I need some fresh air in here! The window in the bathroom had mold on it. Our windows upstairs, and now the window downstairs! WHat am I suppossed to do? Luckily I caught it at its early stages and I could wipe away everything with a paper towel. I will just have to continually wipe the windows. I am sure this is interesting to nobody but it certainly is my problem for the day, and about 50 other things I have to get done this week. We are going to make Candles on Saturday! yoooohoooo! So I guess I have spent enough time on this for now! Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Ever since I got married I feel like all I ever do is clean. Today is our super clean the house day. I am so excited :-p Before that I cleaned the youth room with 4 boys. That was even more fun! But the job has got to be done! Actually it will probably be fun cleaning with David...he always makes me laugh. Especially since we have been speaking english every day. His english is hilarious! He has to take the TOEFL so that we can go to school in Canada! Oh for those who don't know. We are moving to Canada next year! yoohoo! In Germany they use the exclamation point a lot! So I have begun to use it when I write english as well! So just deal with all my excitement! I am going to do a load of laundry! Leb wohl!

I just don't feel motivated to make lesson plans. Ugh...why? I have to work today and tomorrow! Ugh...at least I have work. But I think man, why does it have to be on Friday and Saturday? Wehell, my very good friend is coming on the weekend, THANK GOD! Really one of the only friends that I have here. Life is so strange. Some weeks you are up and everything is fine and dandy, and then some weeks your like, man I hate everything thats going on right now. Bleeeehhhh! I want motivation, and some really good food. I am hungry. The economy is bad, I feel like I don't know enough about the world situation right now. Well, we have money in the stock market. Hope things work out. Thats all for now, I'm gonna go cook lunch. Ciao, Courtney T.

So I was working in the bakery today in Thurm(small village near mine). Being not too thrilled as usual. Then this lady comes up with her little son probably as old as Brielan. Then her son says "cookie" and I was like, what? Where did he pick that up, because you see, no one here speaks english. Then she asks him, "do you want a cookie?". I was shocked. Then I asked in German, "sprechen sie Englisch?" And she said yes. Then I was like me too! And she said "how"? I said I'm from America! And you know what she sounded so American I thought she was too. It turns out she lived in America for several years and worked there as a teacher and she speaks perfect English. It was so much fun talking to her. It was a blessing from above. So we exchanged numbers and are going to try and meet again next week. She was so easy going like Americans, and not all proper and trying to everything in order like the Germans. It was so refreshing! I am so thankful that I was at work today. Otherwise I never would have gotten to know her! So that was the most wonderful thing that happened today! Yoohoo! I have a new friend!

Probably the worst cold I have ever had in my life. OH well, this is life. I am sitting at home alone, and enjoying it to be honest. If I only didn't have this cold. I really should have canceled the class for tomorrow, but I have not done this therfore, I will be teaching tomorrow in Zwickau. Sometimes I don't feel like a good teacher. At least I got to try it though. Well I am going to go take a hot shower and go to bed! Gute Nacht

I am actually so tired, but I can't sleep. I slept terribly last night even though we stayed up till almost 3 in the morning. Whatever. David is still asleep so I have to be quiet. You hear everything in this house. I wish I could lay down and just sleep but something is holding me back. I want to go see a castle today or something similar. I hope I can convince David to want to see it as well!!!

Who knew that teaching can be so exhausting! Who knew that you would have to prepare so much stuff! And challenging! Talk about trying to keep adults interested in english for 2 hours! I am suppossed to be preparing for English but I am just hangin out doing nothing. But I am going to get started now! Super English Teacher Courtney!! Here I go!

Yesterday we had a meeting in our youth leadership team, it was good, because we were able to get a lot of junk cleaned up between us. We definitly have a communication problem and I think we are working on it, but I really don't know where to begin, and honestly I don't want to in some ways. There is a girl here who is in the team with me and we are "friends" I guess, we see each other at the meetings and in the youth group, but other than that we don't do anything together. I have been here for one year and we have not taken one step to really have a good relationship with each other, and that bothers me. She never once called me, I never once called her. No one took a step towards the other one. Und Mensch! Warum bin ich so vergesslich? I wish that God would take away my forgetfulness!!!! It has caused so many problems. And me not understanding things. Wow, if I would have understood a few small things in the past, things would be so much better now. I am still frustrated about some things, but I don't know how to fix them. Stink stink stink. I want to make things better, but I also want to run away! But I have to try and face these problems. Even though that is the last thing I want to do. Who knows, but I am gonna try.

Today was so exhausting! The 9 months of not working really caught up to me. I wish I had never stopped working, but in Germany it is not so easy to find work! Oh and sorry in my last posts for spelling bakery wrong. It's been so long since I spoke english so I tend to forget things. I worked from 5:30 till 12:30 AM today and I only want to sleep! Tommorrow is Sunday so I get to sleep in, and then next week our discipleship program starts! N4C-Niclas 4 Christ! I am really excited about it. I am responsible for all the food planning. I really like planning meals and organizing how much we need. I need to work with food, I just feel so at home there. I mean food is such a wonderful thing. So many different flavours and colors and variations. I can't understand some people who just don't think eating is so important, or they are worried about how they look so they don't enjoy a good meal every now and then. And then I have to say that I like good food. Not Mcdonalds or Burger King. But REAL food, delicious food. Greek food, German food, Chinese Food, I have yet to try real French food which they say is to be REAL food. And Americans should be proud of their Burger. I mean a real homemade, on the grill Burger, because nobody makes em like the Amis. It is true, you can't come to Europe and find a better Burger than in America, and the funny part is, some people eat them with a knife and a fork. Come on, what is that? And unfortunately Germany doesn't have sloppy joes with french fries and a good dill pickle on the side... delicious! However they do have the best schnitzel and sauerkraut, they make the best fried potatoes, and grill the biggest fattest most delicous sausages...add a Cola-Weizen(cola and white beer) to it and your in paradise! Then of course they have the best selection of bread you could ever imagine. I am working in the bakery now and it is nothing like the Wal-Mart bakery we have back home. The bread has so much flavor, I wish you all could experience it. And there isn't just white or wheat but there are 20 different types of bread. Sigh, simply amazing. Not to mention the variety of Cakes they have, but enough of that. One day I will come home and make you guys some awesome German food, and you can make me Hamburgers and Sloppy Joes!

So the first day at the backery wasn't bad. I work again tomorrow and I think it will be the Hammer as they say in German. Saturday mornings are usually pretty busy here. I have to start at 5:30 in the morning! That is stinkin early, but at least I'm earning money. I learned about all the differnt types of bread and rolls and cake that they sell. But sometimes the people speak strange and I have to ask them again to repeat it. The accent of some people here is impossible to understand, but I am dealing. I am really excited about our discipleship program next week. I think it will be AWESOME! And then August is practically here and only one more month until I start my teaching job. I think I will like it more than the backery. But who knows?

I just want everyone in warm Alabama to know that today in Germany in the middle of summer it is 66 degrees outside and drizzling. Hooray for German summer. It has been like this for about 2 weeks. Hopefully it will warm up soon. So I suppose I am going to go make fried potatoes!

Tschau!

Is my last free day! Tomorrow I start working in the backery here. I am going to be in the store selling the bread and everything, so I am pretty excited! I am a little bit worried about how things will go because I have heard that the lady who is training me is sometimes a bit difficult, luckily all I have to do is train with her and then I will be working in a different stores. They have 12 different backeries throughout this area so who know where I will end up. I am actually driving now. It took us so long to get around to me practicing. We only have a stick shift and I had never learned it. I have gotten the hang of it though and even drove home the other day. So I am pretty confident that I will master it. It is not as hard as I thought. Just something to get used to. Well I've got to go see a gardner about a plant so tschusssssss!