what a wonderful weekend.

This past weekend was really great!

It started on Friday night. My love took me to the old city part of Belfort where we went to a traditional French restaurant. Everything from the food to the decor was so French. We both really enjoyed it.

Saturday morning we had planned to go to a G Star outlet store in Germany. He really likes the clothes there and the prices are really affordable. We both did some browsing and didn't find anything. However, it was such a beautiful day, and we didn't want to head back to Belfort just yet.

My uncle had written on my Facebook about how we should go to Freiburg and so we did. I didn't even realize we were going there until I started seeing signs and realized which direction we were headed. It was just wonderful driving with the windows down, letting the sun seep in, and having the freedom of going wherever we pleased.

The city of Freiburg was really cute! All of the architecture is, of course, very traditional German. There were so many coffee shops and pastry shops. Because it was such a beautiful day, every cafe was packed. Everyone was sitting outside; the streets were bustling; it was very jolly. It must rain a lot there, because all the streets had a little steam running down them. I guess how we have sewage drains, Freiburg has these open streams. They are about 1 to 1.5 feet wide. All the kids had these little boats on strings that they would pull along with them as they walked down the streets. It was very cute! *We didn't bring a camera, an iPhone or anything with us to take photos as the original plan was just to go to the outlets. We bought a disposable camera so I will post more about Freiburg when I get the pictures back!

After we returned from Freiburg, we went over to see his sister who was 9 months pregnant! She has another baby girl that will be 1 year this month. When we arrived, she was wearing her I <3 NY onesie that we brought from NY! It was nice to see the family!

We went back to his Mom's house where I prepared a dish I had been really looking forward to making. One of my favorite bloggers posted this recipe back in March. My love and I truly enjoyed the meal! I omitted the wine and instead added lemon juice. I also doubled the tomatoes since I love cooked, fresh tomatoes. I also added 2 peperoncinis to the pan because we didn't have any dried red pepper flakes and we wanted the extra kick they would have provided. We used all fresh ingredients - fresh shrimp (this turned out to be a bit of a pain as peeling, deveining, and cleaning the shrimp was quite time consuming but thankfully my love took the reigns on that project), fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, even the juice from fresh lemons (I cut up lemon slices and cooked them in the pan, too). We served it over pasta. It was so delicious! I will definitely be making that again.

We were woken up at about 9 on Sunday morning with the call we had been anxiously awaiting - it was time!!! We hurried ourselves out of bed, threw some clothes on, and we were out the door. My job was to watch the baby while my love took the expectant family to the hospital. This, as it turned out, was not a job. The baby slept until 10. She didn't make a sound when she woke up. I kept checking in and eventually found her standing up in her crib. I was nervous she might cry when she saw me (thinking, you are not my mom!). However, she had a big smile which warmed my heart - I could see all 4 teeth!! We enjoyed the morning together eating, dancing, singing, and hide and seek (although not even a year, she is a very fast walker!!!)! I welcome the fact that this beautiful baby girl is the only person on this planet that enjoys my singing!! She also loves Lady Gaga (as she danced she said, "Gaga!")! It was so funny. Every time the music would come on.. she would start bending her knees and bouncing up and down or swaying back and forth. I just love her!

And now, she is a big sister!! Another beautiful, healthy baby girl was welcomed into the family yesterday... how exciting! Yesterday was my father's birthday so I was secretly hoping the new baby would be born on that same day, and to my delight, my wish came true!

On that note, Dad, hope your birthday was a good one!

After leaving the hospital, having a coffee back at the hotel with his oldest sister and her family (it was my first time meeting them and they were SO nice), we took a short drive to  Montbéliard. We took a walk and soaked in the last moments of the weekend together before Monday would arrive and bring with it another busy week. The weekend was such a happy one and we didn't want it to end.

Loved

The world is a crazy place. People are killing. Mother nature is killing people. There is turmoil in so many countries. There are so many people in this crazy world without water, food, shelter, and education - without so many things that I take for granted everyday.  I want to take a moment to show gratitude to the two people who have given so much to me. They have supported me, loved me, and provided for me [without judgment, despite my falls, and to no end]. Although I may be halfway across the world from you both, you are never far from my thoughts and are always near and dear to my heart.

*Mom and Dad

Celine really says it all. My parents were always the best parents (still are). They weren't the kind of parents that did a half-ass job. They were the kind of parents at every soccer game, at every race, at every THING - spelling bees, chorus concerts, science fairs... really, they were ALWAYS there - no event was too small. They didn't just go to events nearby, they would drive however many hours to be somewhere so that they would never miss a thing. I had soccer tournaments in Virginia, Pennsylvania, DC, NY, and even Canada. No matter how far, they were there. They were always the parents volunteering to drive my friends when their parents couldn't be there. That's just the kind of people they are.

Looking back, it seemed normal to me that my parents would dedicate so much (if not all) of their time to driving me everyday to soccer practice, to games, sitting through games, going to meetings at school, helping me with projects, taking us on trips. It isn't normal, and not everyone's parents were doing that. Every weekend was somewhere different with soccer tournaments. If it was a rare weekend with nowhere to go, they were hosting a slumber party. When we would wake in the morning, my parents would have donuts, bagels, juice, and my mom's delicious home fried potatoes and fruit salad waiting to greet us! I never would have expected anything different. They were and always have been so giving. Whether it was car rides, money, clothes, or time.

As I've grown up, my father is more of a silent cheerleader. He only questions me when he feels he really needs to, but even when he doesn't say much, I know he cares. He is the most hard-working man I know. He goes early to work in the morning to offer extra help to his students (free of charge, of course). He stays late grading papers. He coaches everyday - even the weekends. He is the kind of teacher/coach that takes so much pride in what he does. The fact that the government wants to cut spending on education, take away things they were promised and are entitled to, etc. is unfair for so many reasons, but it's certainly heartbreaking and cruel to people like my father who have dedicated over 30 years to being a teacher, a mentor, a friend, and to many students and athletes, a father figure. I am not saying that there aren't teachers that go in there and don't teach a thing and have the students trade papers so they don't have any grading of papers to do later (I have had some of those teachers), but they shouldn't be representative of the profession as a whole. Students of my father's from years back will still call, stop by the house, etc. to see what's up, get advice on which college to choose, or to invite him to their weddings.

My mother was also a great teacher. I can't tell you how many people I have met that have said, "Oh, Mrs. Reabold, she was my favorite teacher!" The reason I loved her being a teacher was because it meant she had the summers off (dad, too!). We would go to the beach everyday or swim in our pool. She is the kind of woman that would take my sister and I shopping and never even look for herself. She's so unselfish. I think sometimes she should be a little bit more selfish! My mom has always been the cutest person! She would sneak post-its with words of encouragement or a simple "love you!" note into our lunch boxes. When I was in college, she would always send me cute cards with a gift certificate to Starbucks or something inside! Whether I had received a good grade or the semester was almost over, I could always expect a cute card in the mail! I loved that! My mom is the kind of person everyone wants to be friends with because she is bubbly, funny, and kind (not to mention beautiful!!). She is one of those people who can always cure your bad day with a few sweet words. I really have an endless amount of nice things to say about my mom (and my dad, too!).

Overall, I have lived a truly blessed life. There is nothing like the feeling of knowing you are loved. With my parents, I never had to doubt that (even at my worst). Thanks Mom and Dad! You rock!



                                  xoxo your baby girl :)