Mowin' the lawn

Today I offered to mow my dads lawn as it needed it and he's not in the best of shape to do it. He showed me how to work his riding lawn mower and off I went. I had thought that I would be using a push mower but he said it was fine to do the riding one. It was better to do it this way as I was not dressed to mow it with a push mower with flip flops on. About half way through my second time around the yard I thought to myself "This thing isn't mowing". I was quite perplexed as to what was wrong when all of the sudden I realized I hadn't put the blades down. So back to square one with the mowing.
The back yard was tricky because of it's layout. I was rounding a tall but skinny tree trying to get as close as i could when I got stuck. At first I was just caught on the branch so I decided to keep going when all of the sudden the tree bends and just as I think I'm cleared I hear a snap and the tree swings up hitting me in the back. Luckily it wasn't a hard hit. I was mortified as I thought I had ruined my dads riding mower and that I had ruined my step mom's favorite tree. I looked over at my dad and he was dying laughing. He told me not to worry everything was okay and that they were wanting to take that tree down anyway. Turned out for the best.

ballroom dance

I've always wanted to learn ballroom dance ever since I can remember. I decided I needed to get out of the house and get some exercise. What better way! I signed up for an introductry lesson pkg. After that I decided I wanted to continue and decided to treat myself for once. In addition to the lessons one is to also attend Practice seesions and or a group lesson. After talking with the one of the head ladies we decided I would benefit more from a practice session. I was a bit skeptical and shy at the same time. I was worried I would be the only young one there. When I arrived on Friday night a set of students were just finishing and there didn't seem to be very many people there. Then they started coming in one by one and my nerves started working over time. All of them over 50 minus the couple who had just finished their lesson. I'd say they were in their 40's. And when I thought I had lost all hope in walks this nice looking guy. He was young in fact younger than me. I was just happy that there was someone in my generation there. I was asked to dance by some of the other guys. One of the older guys asked me to dance the rhumba. All I had learned left my mind. I was tripping over my feet and not on beat. His dancing was far more advanced than mine. At one point I thought I might be in the movie Dirty Dancing as he told me "you're frame's not stiff enough you're not giving me anything to push against." I was shocked that he had just said that to me. In addition I think he'd had a drink or 2 as I could smell alcolhol on his breath. I was never more happy when that dance ended. The young guy, I believe his name was Joey, asked me to dance a few times. He was quite a dancer and takes everything seriousss but laughs to. I think I was more uptight than he was, but probably because I was so nervous dancing with new partners. We danced the waltz, tango, and foxtrot. When I'm with my teacher I'm a little more relaxed and move a bit more comfortably. I've just got to learn to let the guy lead and not just do the steps. The night was fun and challenging learning to adjust to new partners. I realized I danced more rhumbas than anyone else I think. It was a great workout.

Victoria's Secret

A lot has changed since I've been gone. I remember when this store used to be classy and sophistocated. Rich mahogony woods framed the doorway. Pale pink floral fabric covered the walls. Elegant silk nightgowns, silk pajamas, silk boxers and silk robes filled the store. Last night I went to the mall and it hit me....Victoria's Secret is no longer a store I like. They've changed their target audience to the college age. Everything is so young and the decor looks more like a college dorm. I realize they're trying to reach a new audience, but I wish they would have kept more of a mix instead of just on one age group.

Multi-Cultural Wedding

I had the privilege of attending my friends wedding before leaving Switzerland. This was unique in that they were combining Swiss, Western, and Papua New Guinea traditions. Verne was an MK and grew up in Papua New Guinea and Rahel (Rachel) grew up in Switzerland. The church was beautiful. A single pink rose adorned each pew. The podium had a flower arrangement while a three tiered candle stand held 3 moss green colored candles. The atmoshpere was inviting. It felt as if everyone was family. When it was time to start Verne walked down the aisle casually and greeted some people he hadn't seen in a while. He wore a black suit with brown undertones and a brown vest and tie. His father performed the ceremony. Shortly after Rachel entered. She looked like a model with her slim figure. The gown looked delicate and complimented her. She radiated throughout the ceremony. Anytime they sang a song or had a scripture reading they had a verse in each of the languages from their heritages: English, Swiss, and Pigeon. It was beautiful. I believe this is the first wedding I've been to where the groom enjoyed it, was excited and radiated when he saw Rachel. One could catch the excitement bouncing off of Verne and Rachel. Their vowels were beautiful and defined their relationship with God and each other. They stressed the need and desire to have God involved in every aspect of their life. It's one of those were you sit there in awe and think "Wow! I want that! I want that kind of relationship with the man (or woman if you're a guy reading this) I marry!

Surprise Birthday

In Germany it is custom for you to throw your own birthday party. It can be lavish or just a simple gathering of friends for tea. My friend Nicole and I had talked about celebrating together since our birthdays are 1 week apart. We never got any definite plans set and time was getting closer for me to leave. I decided just to let it slide as I had so much going on trying to get things done and see all that I could the last week. Lely suggested we have one last girls night. These were common for us throughout this past year. It was our time to get together do facials, manicures, pedicures, massages, dancing etc....Just us girls. We arranged it for Thursday the 16th. Lely fixed chicken curry, I made salad and Lisa made dessert. We met at Nicole's apartment and enjoyed the dinner and laughter. We were standing around when Lisa came in with brownies and candles in the shape of 31. We started to sing happy birthday but then in the middle of it I became confused and didn't know who the song was for. Was it for me or Nicole? It ended up being Lely, Simone, and Lisa finishing the song and that's when I heard "Happy birthday Nicole & Jenn..." They definitely pulled one over on us. The cheesecake brownies were so good.

I had dressed in what I refer to as my "country" outfit. I don't know why I just feel that way when I wear it. Boot cut jeans, boots, and a brown striped button up shirt. I jokingly suggested we get some music and start line dancing. Simone and Lisa looked at each other and suggested we do a photo shoot. I'd been dying to do another one. :) Since we all live in the vicinity of each other we each went back to our apartments and got clothes to dress up in. We did each others hair and make up going all out on it and becoming daring. We had a blast. It was the best birthday party I've ever had!

European vacation part 1

Before leaving for Germany people said "Oh, you'll get to see so much of Europe because it's cheap to travel around." I'm not sure what their source was, but travel wasn't all that cheap. There were a few times we could get train tickets for 29 Euros and up to 5 of us could travel somewhere within a certain distance. I regret I didn't take advantage of more of these. Most of my travel was done when my family arrived at the end of July. We visited Garmisch, Heidleberg, and Venice. I had adapted to the European / German culture but some of my family had a little trouble adjusting in some areas. We did most of our travel by train. I booked us with fast connections to eliminate waiting time. What was I thinking????? There were 5 of us each with 1 large suitcase and at least 1 carry on. A few of us had backpacks. In addition to this I have asthma. For my time in Germany I had very little trouble with the asthma. We had our adventures traveling by train. Getting off on one platform and running to catch the other one which most of the time wasn't in close vicinity. There were times the conveyor belt for the luggage wasn't working and we'd haul all the luggage up the stairs while running. This kicked my asthma into gear running and carrying heavy luggage. One time I got us on the wrong train, yet we still ended up catching our next connection on time. The ICE (Inner City Express) trains were quite nice. The seats were plush, the cars air conditioned, and if you were lucky you had earphones to listen to music. The slower trains weren't as plush and sometimes not air conditioned. They were also strict on putting feet on the seat. I had the conductor get onto me for having my foot propt up. He wasn't too friendly about it either. All in all we had a good vacation despite the travel flops.