Ausfahrt.

Well I don't have much to say as this week has been anticlimactic. Saturday we woke up very early to go shopping in Germany (I didn't buy anything). However, I did eat delicious falafel.

I did see a woman with a crazy mohawk Afro thing going on.

And, we did, as always, laugh at the German exit signs (because we're immature).

But, that's really all we did. It continues to be either freezing cold, snowing, raining, or sleeting which isn't really fun. I guess that's winter for ya.

I joined the gym here two days ago at the incredible price of 90 euros ($118) per month. I literally gasped. I am not sure what the price of my gym back home is these days, but I used to pay $60 a month and that included a ton of amazing classes, a ton of equipment, two pools, a hot tub, etc etc etc. This gym is SO small - there are only 2 treadmills so it's a game of chance. It doesn't even have dumbbells. It certainly doesn't have any classes. There isn't a place to do any abdominal exercises so I have to come home and do that on my yoga mat. There is a pool... I'll give them that.

I think I am too hard on France sometimes and always want to compare it to the wonderful things I am accustomed to at home... but gosh, in the USA, possibilities really are endless. The United States is a blending of all cultures, and that's what makes it so special.

I am looking forward to the Spring and one glorious month in the USA :) April, are you here yet??

Stay American, Baby.

After my last depressing post, I am feeling a bit revived. We hosted our first American BBQ and to rave reviews! We had some of my guy's family over for an All-American cook-out last night. Sure, it would have been a bit more fun tailgating and cheering on the Big 10 and bouncing around to Zombie Nation, but I'll take what I can get... and the company was good!! It was a really nice night.

We were all set to have the BBQ on our outdoor terrace which was really the biggest selling point for us on this place, but just as we had the tables set and the candles lit and the BBQ fired up, it started to pour! Just our luck! We love entertaining outdoors, and we do it almost every night. We are getting good at working as a team (in tight quarters). Entertaining his family daily is also the perfect motivation to keep this place clean. There is always someone coming over here, and I never want to get caught with the place looking like too much of a hot mess. 

My guy really let me go all out yesterday (I had him feeling bad after my last post. However, it's not him - he just can't fill the void for EVERYONE else!). He patiently took me to FIVE stores to get all the ingredients I needed. He didn't complain while I spent two hours making an apple pie thus forcing him to clean the bathroom and sweep the floors. He didn't mind when I spent some of the precious time I could have used cutting the potatoes for our now "famous" french fries to decorate my mason jars as I had seen here. 

Sometimes I need to sit back and take a look at what I have. I need to be more accepting of this challenge. It is never going to be easy to be away from my loved ones, but I am fortunate to have shelter, a job, the chance to see the world, and people who love me right here. I have to remember that when I complain about being away from the people I love, there is someone right here who loves me that I am hurting. I can't always have everything I want right at my fingertips, and maybe the saying "it doesn't hurt to try" isn't always true. I am hurting myself and others by trying.

My last post saddened my family and friends that can't be here. And, it hurt my guy because it made him feel like he'll never be enough. Let me be clear when I say that I am happy, but sometimes life gets you down. Sometimes the only cure for me is a day playing dominoes, scrabble and yahtzee for hours on end with my Mom and Aunt or a day at the beach with my best friends. And vice versa, sometimes nothing comforts me more than a lazy day watching movies with my guy or watching him suck wind as I run circles around him (joking joking... maybe!!).

I will soon get used to all the changes and will adapt to life across two continents. As my friends work more and save more and when my father retires, there will be more visitors; and in time, I will make friends here, too. Maybe now I feel like my heart is being stretched in different directions, but I think I should consider myself lucky that my heart is so big and has the capacity to love so much.

Now that I got all the mushy stuff out of the way... here is a recipe for perhaps the most American thing you can think of... Apple Pie! I adapted this recipe from a whole bunch of recipes, and I promise, it was delicious! The hardest part of making this is sitting and peeling, slicing, and coring the apples as that was a bit tedious. I used apples that my guy picked himself when we were in Besancon.

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 - 9 inch pie crusts (store-bought or homemade)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (I, of course, used the vegan stuff)
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add syrup, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. 
2. In a bowl, mix half of the sugary mixture with your apples.
3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust (this is my favorite part!).
4. Gently pour the remainder of the sugar mixture over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
5. Bake for 1 hour.
6. Let cool at least an hour before you eat. It allows the sugary mixture to form a gel rather than be too runny.

Follow the directions exactly and it's fool-proof!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm back to more cleaning and more entertaining!

I am full. My heart is happy.

Whole wheat everything bagels are my favorite way to start my morning and that's exactly how I've been doing it since being back in NJ. Nothing beats that!

What else have I been doing? Well, mostly, spending time with my Momma! We've been doing everything together, and I absolutely love these moments. We shop until we drop, eat at our favorite restaurants, go for walks, play games, and watch trashy television. My dad is in Brazil and Columbia for the next week or so and we're taking advantage of the ladies time.

This week I have a lot to look forward to and I'm really happy for that. I want to make sure to take advantage of my time here. Tomorrow I'm going to have dinner with a dear friend. My sister's birthday is this Wednesday so we'll take her for a nice dinner date and have family over. My mom's brother is coming to visit from Seattle. My friends are coming to visit from Pennsylvania. We have a family party on Sunday at our state's capital. Monday I'll be in NYC.

I have phone calls to make and doctors to see, but mostly, I just want to enjoy the beauty that is my home. I want to take full advantage of the fact that we live by the beach. I want to wake up early and run on the boardwalk. I want to swim in the pool and the ocean. I want to ride bikes. I want to soak up the sunshine, read good books, and of course, do more shopping!

So forgive me if I continue to be MIA for a while longer, but I want to enjoy these moments I have here with my family - in the house I grew up in - and that means doing my best to keep off my computer (except to g-chat with my favorite European guy back across the pond).

the comforts of home.

With all this talk of the good ole USA, I'm missing home. Of course, before anything else, I'm missing my family and friends. I'm missing the comfort of the house I grew up in, the only house I ever knew before moving to college. The house my Dad built with his own two hands. The house with the big yard, the pool, the playhouse, the long driveway and the basketball hoop. The house with the front yard that was the setting for so many memories. The light post that acted as second base for our many kickball games, including the one where my sister ran right into it, knocking out her two front teeth. The pool that was the highlight at many parties, afternoon diving and racing competitions, and relaxing afternoons sunbathing on a raft. The hammock where my Mom spends many an afternoon alternating between reading and snoozing. The apple tree that grows only crab apples. The garden that is the scene of my Dad's ongoing battle with raccoons, possums, and deer - the same deer that eat all the beautiful flowers throughout the yard. And, the same white tailed deer that after some persuading, I had my guy convinced were deadly creatures. This is the house with the back deck where my family has enjoyed so many meals together - my favorite place to dine. This is the yard where I watched my Grandpa tinkering away at everything, fixing, re-fixing, adjusting, re-adjusting for so many years. This is the house with the doors always opened to guests (as long as they close it before the dog gets out!). The house where many people stop by on a run, a bike ride, or just because. This is the house where the cherry blossom tree beautifully sprouts in spring time while making a mess of our cars. The home so close to the sea that you can smell it in the air. This is the house with the wall where my parents recorded our heights each year. This is the house that smells of Yankee candles, that is full of more Longaberger baskets than one can count, that is covered in pictures and full of moments - the good and the bad (mostly good).

So while I am thinking about home and the place I obviously miss so much.  I, of course, am thinking of other things I am missing. My French teacher laughs at my little list of both things I need to do when I'm back home and things I need to remember to bring back here! I will undoubtedly be adding to this list as the time nears, but here is what I have so far...

Food
BAGELS! specifically from The Bagel Store and more specifically Multi-Grain Everything but I'd settle for Bayside Bagels
Chu Chee Curry from Chai Thai
Veggie Burger and Peanut Butter Bomb (OMG! the best Chocolate Cake) from Curly's
Focaccia Melt, Coconut Curry Garbanzo Soup, White Bean Soup, Carrot Cake, Muffins, AND Cupcakes from Twisted Tree (with my mother and sister!!)
Potato Salad and Pasta Salad by my Mom
Shrimp Scampi with Broccoli and Chili by my Dad

Things
Spices (I swear pepper does not taste the same here)
Measuring Cups (all my recipes are in US measurements!)
My beloved Fiestaware dishes, bowls, mugs, my favorite soup cup, etc.
My knife!!! (it is so hard to cut without a proper knife)
My pots and pans (it isn't rocket science that the spices and the foods you cook get ingrained into your pots and pans, and I want mine!)
Books and Cookbooks

I'm actually quite amused that everything on my list involves food. I, of course, want my summer dresses and bathing suits, summer sandals and wedges, but I knew when I was packing that I wasn't packing for summer so the fact that it's been warmer than I imagined is nothing a shopping trip can't solve. However, the comforts of home, the restaurants, and the things on my list are all tangibles I can only get while home.

If I want to enjoy France more, I need to have more of the things I love surrounding me (because I, unfortunately, can't have the people I love here all the time). Maya Angelou was once quoted saying, "I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself." That's my goal. So, eventually, when I have a home of my own here (when I say eventually, I mean, please, God, SOON!), I can fill that home with the things I love and miss and start building a haven of memories just like my Mom and Dad did/do so well back in New Jersey.