Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you!

Here we are on the Eve of 2013... and Jule has only two full days left with me -- Tuesday and Wednesday.  Then I must say goodbye, or "until I see you again" on Thursday.

Last night we spent time going through all my make-up.  I especially wanted to show her a product called Bare Escentuals.  It's a mineral make-up that is only powders and is all natural.  It looked really good on her.  We'd seen it a few times at one of our favorite stores, Sephora, but she'd never tried it on.  I have lots of it because it lasts a long time.

I had to work today, so Jule slept late while I sat here and pounded out numbers and words on the computer.  My life.  Ugh.

In America, there are a few New Year's Eve traditions.  The first, which we will NOT be doing, is to kiss someone at midnight.  That is definitely not happening, unless it's a kiss to Fizzgig or Hermie.  A "must" is to watch the New York City Times Square ball drop at midnight.  I wish I could have worked it out for Jule and I to be in New York City, but it just wasn't possible.  Another is to open all your doors at midnight to let 2012 out and 2013 in.  It's pretty cold this year, so we will do this for a few seconds.  A common southern USA tradition is to eat black eyed peas on New Year's day to bring good luck and financial blessings in the new year.

Time is a'tickin...

Five Days

Today was a lazy day.  We did virtually nothing.  Doing nothing, unfortunately, does not slow down time.

Jule's American grandfather cooked steaks for Jule's "going away" dinner and then we shot off fireworks in the snow for her farewell night.

I'm writing this at night, so Jule's sixth to last day has come and gone.  Tomorrow we will travel back to Arkansas then the fifth to last day will be gone.

How Big?

For all the blog readers and Jule, I just wanted to share this little bit of information.  Lots of people ask Jule about her location in Germany, and many Americans don't understand the size of Germany in relation to the U.S.  So I wanted to show these few little things to help the blog readers understand how to compare the two.

Below I have compared Germany to a few of the places Jule has been while in the United States.

Snow!

Many of you may know that we got SNOW on the day of Christmas and into the night.  We actually had a blizzard, which is rare for this part of the country.  No matter how much it snows, it doesn't last long here.  It usually warms the next day and it all melts.  But this time we got enough that we had at least one day to play in it!  So Jule made the most of it on the quad!  She got stuck twice and ran out of gas once... but she had fun.

This is how Little Rock looked after the blizzard!

Oh, excuse me... I have stuck the quad!

Help!  Jule got stuck in the deep snow, so Grandpa Marret had to help her out!

Merry Christmas from America!

Sending warm wishes toward Unna, Germany from Sherwood, Arkansas today!  I am so glad Jule was able to Skype with the family yesterday!

Oh... and by the way... the things I was cooking while you were Skyping actually turned out really well!  :)

Santa Was Here!

Santa Claus visited Jule in America!

In the USA our tradition varies slightly from that of Germany.  Large "stockings" (giant socks that aren't really made for humans) are hung on the fireplace when Christmas decorations are put up.  On Christmas Eve, Santa will come down the chimney and fill the stockings with goodies and gifts.  If you're really good, he'll also leave gifts!  It looks like Jule was pretty good this year!

Should I wake her up?  

Oh... I don't know!  

She's a grouch in the morning!  :)

Christmas Eve Present

On Christmas Eve, we decided to go to the Alexander's house to eat dinner.  In America, usually one present is opened on Christmas Eve and the remainder on Christmas Day.  

The kids opened their presents to each other.  Marissa just couldn't wait any longer!

But the biggest present was about to reveal itself...

We decided to take a drive to look at Christmas lights and what did we see?  A halo around the moon!  Have you ever seen this?  We were mesmerized.  Even though it had turned cold, we stayed outside to look at it.  Thank you Jesus for giving us this gift!  :)  Just the right conditions in the atmosphere to show us our own very bright "north star" on Christmas Eve!

It was spectacular!

Hermie is a thief!

Hermieeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Now it is apparent why grandma Golz's sweets have been disappearing!

American Christmas Music

I thought I would post a link to a radio station that Jule and I will be listening to through the holidays!

Enjoy!

I Heart Radio Christmas Music!

Please let me know if you cannot access this from abroad!

Church!

Anita emailed asking what we were doing around the Christmas holiday, so I figured I'd post a link to my church where we will attend on Sunday, December 23rd!

I admit that we have not been going to church on Sundays.  There are lots of excuses, all of them poor.  But this Sunday we will not miss!

Here is my church!

I am officially Baptist by faith, but I found this church about ten years ago and fell in love with it.  It is a First Assembly of God church.  I began by watching it live on TV and then realized that it was just down the street from my home!  I like this church because the sermons are very practical for life.  In addition, the church family is very diverse!  You can tell that everyone feels welcome, as you see people in suits and people in jeans and people dressed in all black gothic styles.  Unfortunately I have attended churches where the clothes you wear would get odd looks.  This church is just different.  You are accepted and loved no matter what.  And I love that these folks take the time to look at people's souls rather than clothes.

As I told Anita, it would be really cool if Jule's family or friends would watch the service as we are there!  The services will be live on Sunday.  We will be attending the one at 10 a.m. our time (1700 Germany time.)  Please feel free to click this link and watch live with us!  Who knows... you might even see us in the congregation!  This service will be different than most weekends.  If it follows previous years, most of the service will be dedicated to giving gifts to people in need.  But there will be lots of music, and the choir is quite good!  :)

We will spend Christmas morning here in Sherwood and then drive in the afternoon to my mother's home in Pocahontas.  She is cooking a special meal for us.  Then we are heading to my father's (about 45 minutes from my mother's) to have some fun in Missouri.  We will be doing more riding of four-wheelers, flying and as I promised Jule, practicing driving.  We'll go in the field behind my father's house and practice parallel parking since this is one of the most difficult things.

Perfect A Grades!

Ich bin froh zu berichten, dass Jule hat alle A-Marken im zweiten Quartal ihres Schuljahres in Amerika erhalten!

Herzlichen Glückwunsch Jule!

Boże Narodzenie jest prawie tutaj!

Christmas is almost here!

Weihnachten ist fast hier!

Boże Narodzenie jest prawie tutaj!

Today was the...

Goodbye, Sylvan Hills High School

Cat Wrapping

Apparently we need stronger wrapping paper.

Oh, The Places We've Been

Above is a popular children's book by Dr. Seuss called "Oh The Places You'll Go."  All Dr. Seuss books always rhyme and have a great message.  It is typical to give this book as a gift when someone is leaving or graduating.

Oh, the places we've been!  I calculated that we have traveled nearly 8,500 miles / 14,000 kilometers since Jule has arrived.  That is a lot of traveling!  Jule has been on buses, bikes, planes, snowboards, trampolines, rock walls and ice skates.  She's pedaled, rode, slid, jumped, skated and climbed her way through this country.  We have seen seven states and the District of Columbia and visited big cities such as Dallas, St. Louis and Baltimore.  It's hard to believe that we've fit so much in to such a short amount of time... but we have!

As I write this, I actually have tears in my eyes.  She leaves in just 13 days.  The time will go by so quickly because of the holidays and New Year's Eve.  Whatever shall I do with my time after she's gone?  Ahhh, yes.  That old thing called work.  I dread the loneliness that will return to my life.

Anita emailed that she had a dream that I was standing at their front door last night.  :)  Maybe that is a good sign that I will be visiting Unna sometime soon!

Only two weeks...

Jule has only 2 days of school left and 2 weeks in America. The time is flying faster than ever. Wish I could slow it down.

She will be in for a weather shock when she gets home. It is so warm here that I have my windows open in the house. It is midnight and 70 degrees Fahrenheit / 21 Celcius.
In other news, Hermie has been very busy.

Hermieeee!!!!!

Darn it, Hermie! You should be good else I'll send you to Germany via the mail!

Elf on a Shelf: Coming Soon to the Golz Family!

Tonight we have a special visitor at the house.  Cricket went outside for a while and came back with an Elf riding on her head.  He said his name is Hermann (Hermie for short) and he is here to bring holiday cheer every year.  We have quickly realized that he is also mischievous.  He's driving Cricket insane!

  

"Elf on a Shelf" is a relatively new Christmas tradition in the United States.  Once the elf visits you, you must give him a name and then just sit back and watch what happens.  He tends to get into trouble a lot, but he also brings lots of laughs.

This little guy has a twin brother at Laura's house.  After a long discussion, he has decided that he will return to Germany with Jule in two weeks to bring Christmas cheer abroad.  She needs to begin German language lessons with him ASAP!

Jule's Final Craft Class Project

A Christmas wreath made from old paperback book pages!  What do you think?

My last Monday driving to a school...

Today was kind of a sad day for me.  The "lasts" have started.  Last time we'll do this or last time we'll do that.  Today was the last Monday that I drove Jule to school and picked her up again.  Tomorrow will be the last Tuesday.

Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people.  Let your memory be your travel bag.  --Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

I hope that I have provided a great experience for Jule.  I have tried to show her the good side of America without hiding the bad things.  She has had many experiences to fill her "travel bag."  I hope I have provided more good than bad.  I believe in my heart that I have given all that I can to be a friend, a mentor, a temporary "mom" and a schoolwork tutor.  I have burned lots of food, broken many plates, run over curbs while driving and laughed a little too hard when she can't open a can or a bag of whatever.  We've stood in front of the White House and underneath sharks.  I've waited in the vehicle while she's running late for school, rolled my eyes when she gets frustrated doing homework, and yelled "I am a genius" when I get an easy homework question right.  We've squeezed through iron and concrete mazes, crawled through haunted houses and took some hard spills on snow.

Jule was here through some bad things as well.  Recently there was a school shooting in Connecticut where 20 children were killed.  There was a suicide at her school, as well as fights.  She watched our political wheels turn through the election.  My friend lost daughter Jule's age to a rare lung disease.  We had a hurricane that devastated the east coast and she saw pictures of Joplin, Missouri that was wiped from the earth by a tornado.  Like I said... I did not want to hide the ugly parts of life in America or life in general.

Despite seeing the bad, we've spent a lot of our time laughing.  Most of the time the things aren't funny at all, but for some reason... we find them so.  She'll remember MORE COWBELL, finding "corn" in her Sonic lemon-berry slush (which was actually a lemon seed), being startled at a fake rat packed in her lunch box.  Fizzgig's antics.  Trying on every scary mask in the Halloween store.  Games of Quelf.  Crack sticking out all the time.  My snoring and smacking in my sleep.  Jackpot Glitzy and everything Honey Boo Boo.  Redneck teeth and our inability to wear them in the car.  Losing my keys in the City Museum and again in the mall.  There are a thousand other things that I could mention.  Many of the funny times are captured in this blog.  I am so glad that I kept it, because the time has gone by so quickly that I cannot remember what we did from day to day.

I did want to give a great experience to Jule, but I also wanted some things selfishly from this experience.  I know that at this age I will never be a mother, so I wanted to see what it was like to be responsible for someone else.  I have a new-found respect for mothers.  I also wanted to grow as a person.  I wanted to learn more about my limits and abilities.  I am aware of those more distinctly now.  I'm pretty good at helping with homework.  I'm really good at keeping a teenager busy and doing dishes.  I'm terrible at cooking.  I'm better at being a friend than being motherly.  These things are my truths, and the things of which I am certain!

In a few minutes only 16 days left...

Jule's Last Week of School

I know that I haven't posted in a while.  I'll try to get caught up this week with posts about her birthday week activities.

Today I took Jule to school for the last time on a Monday.  Her time here is coming to a close too quickly.  We have just this week, then Christmas week, then New Year's Eve and then packing for her flight home.

Work is especially busy this time of year, so bear with me as I work to get the blog updated.

:)

Hope all is well around the world!

Jule's Birthday Presents

On Jule's actual birthday, she got a few things.

First, I let her open the gift from Fizzgig and Cricket at midnight.  They wanted to get leaves and a dead squirrel carcass for Jule, but I told them that Jule would not like such things and they decided on a necklace and earrings with dogs and cats on them.

Next, I drug my butt out of bed two hours early to make a special birthday breakfast for her.   I made "monkey bread" which is a pastry rolled in cinnamon and sugar and pecans and then topped with a caramel sauce that I made also that morning.  It's all baked together usually in a large bundt cake pan, but I didn't have one so I made single servings in muffin tins.

Next, I gave her the box that she received from home and she was quite excited to open that.  She received some really cool bracelets from her family, a scarf, and a whole bunch of goodies including special things from grandma's kitchen!

Later that day she received some flowers at school.  I actually arranged these flowers by myself.  I may not know how to cook, but in all other areas I'm creative and a perfectionist.  I'm just bad at cooking and that's all.  :)

That night I let her choose where she wanted to eat dinner.  Jule's choice: Tropical Smoothie Cafe.  So smoothies and wraps it was!

The next day was her birthday party!

She received a sherpa jacket from Andrea and Daani, a pearl necklace and bracelet from the Philippines from the Alexanders, a scarf from Nom Sum, and earrings from Alisa.  From me she received a Coach watch, some Stila and Tarte make-up, and a soft gray jacket.

Dirty Santa at Laura's

On Saturday night, we attended our friend Laura's Christmas party where we played "Dirty Santa."

The Womack Family:  Brad, Maddie, Laura and Brooke

Laura is famous for putting together parties at her house.  She is a "social butterfly" as we say. 

We played "dirty santa" at Laura's house.  If you haven't played this in Germany, then you simply must put this into your yearly Christmas tradition.  Jule had not heard of this game, but I will be surprised if the adults don't know how to play it.

How to play "Dirty Santa"

1)  Everyone brings a gift to the party.  Set a price limit.  Ours was $25.

2)  Write on paper the number of gifts... one through X.  If there are 18 players for example, make one through eighteen.  Then have each player draw a number.

3)  The person with #1 grabs a present from the pile and opens it and shows everyone.

4)  Player #2 can either STEAL any gift that has already been opened, or open a new gift.

5)  Player #3 can either STEAL any gift that has already been opened, or open a new gift.

...and so on...

Continue this stealing and opening until all the presents are gone.

RULES:

-If the gift that you hold is stolen, you can either steal someone else's gift OR open a new gift.

-A gift can be stolen only THREE TIMES.  On the third steal, the gift is "locked" and it can't be stolen anymore.

-A gift can be stolen only once until the next player's turn begins.  (If you steal my cookies, nobody can steal the cookies from you until the next player begins his/her turn.)

This game is best played with just adults since kids tend to get their feelings hurt with all the stealing.

So what did I get in dirty Santa?  I strategically won a bottle of honey whiskey.  I stole it for the third time and therefore locked it to myself!  Do I drink whiskey?  No!  But... everyone wanted that bottle of whiskey.  And because it was dirty Santa... I wanted it too!  I'll donate it back at Laura's next party.

OH YEAH!  How could I forget?  We had a special appearance by Justin Beiber!  (Or, Justin BAY-BUH as we know it.)

Jule's Birthday Party!

So Jule's birthday surprise was a trip for she and her friends to the Little Rock Climbing Center.

Apparently they turned into zombies on the way there.

Jule's first climb

Nom Sum.  This was her only climb.

It was also Daani's birthday on the 14th!

Alisa

Dylan

The Alexander boys... Jordan and Dylan

Andrea

Alisa

Daani

Jule

Daani, Nom Sum, Marissa, Dylan, Jordan, Alisa and Andrea

They look like frogs.

Jordan climbing high.

After climbing, we returned to the house for cake and ice cream and opening presents!!!!

Daani's birthday was the 14th, so she celebrated with Jule!

Jule's birthday cake!