First mobile blog

Thanks to Sarah, I found out about blog press, an app for mobile blogging! Yay!

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Tressa Visits!

This weekend Tressa trained it from Paris to see us!! I'm not going to lie, even with all the new things, I've been a little homesick. Matt and I were so happy to see our good friend!

She arrived Saturday and we took the train from Kindsbach to Kaiserslautern where we attended the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) downtown. There we indulged in delicious glühwein, our first German beers and a delicious dinner at Spinnradl.

Our plans were to head to Heidelberg to see the castle and old town, but as you can tell by the picture, we were snowed in.

All in all it was an amazing weekend!!

Brittany and Matt

We can drive!

So Tuesday Matt and I took our driving test. The night before we reviewed the book and what not, and Matt was just sure we were fine. So I said, what they hay, I guess we are.

And he was half right. That is, he passed the test on Tuesday. I laughed it off, and signed up to take the test Friday AM (this morning). I haven't studied this hard since Senior finals.

I bought note cards, read the entire manual - twice, wrote and rewrote notes. I studied at least five hours a day Tuesday through Thursday.

And then this morning. I woke up, after barely sleeping (oh memories of college), and hit the books one last time. After receiving 6 inches of snow, we weren't sure if the Autobahn was even open, or if the roads were clear. But we headed out to Daenner to try our darndest.

Waiting to take the test was torture. I writhed in anxiety, and almost got sick. I. Loathe. Tests.

Within a half hour I was done with the test. Our teacher messed with me and shook his head in disappointment, then said, "Mrs. Cole, you made a 99!" He said that's the highest he's graded :)

Lesson learned. Just because Matt studies the night before and passes, doesn't mean I can do the same thing. Plus, now I can rub it in his face that I scored higher ;)

Cheers!
Britt

HOUSE!!!

Matthew and I went house hunting today. We've heard this is a long process and to prepare to view at least seven or so houses. But we went to this one, and it all worked out!

It is two stories, 5 bedrooms, one and a half bath, with a very large backyard and patio. The house was built in 1971 (new for this part of the world!), however it has been remodeled and we absolutely love it!

The kitchen is a little small, but average, maybe even large, to be German. The feel is mostly modern, which we love, with a little bit of old school as there is a cute little fireplace and bushes lining the backyard.

It is located in a more suburban area called Sembach, and the village is most lovely! We get our paperwork ready on Tuesday, and it will be ours! Then we just have to wait to move in until 1, January.

And, Sembach is seconds away from the Autobahn and offers a 15 minutes drive to work for Matthew. It's such an adorable village, out in the country a bit. Perfect for Patton.

Anywho, thought I would share this little tidbit of info with you all. We are now looking at cars for me. I wanted a green Mercedes Elegance (never heard of it? yeah, it's got European written all over it), but Matt has talked me into an older red BMW over the "jellybean". We shall see.

Yesterday I spent the majority of the day applying for jobs in the area. Please keep your fingers crossed, there are a few of these I'm really interested in!

Oh, and the picture about is from downtown K-Town. Add a little photoshop and you have a masterpiece, haha!

Til next time,
Britt

Our first few days in our new town!

It has been fun, so far. We've gotten our new phones (iPhones, FINALLY!), started in processing, set up an appointment to take our driver's test, etc.

We headed down to Kaiserslautern last night, walked downtown and ate dinner at Spinnrädl, an authentic German restaurant. Matt ordered a turkey salad with spinnrädl dressing (it is like a mixture of ceasar and ranch), and I got a "farmer's salad" with oil and vinegar dressing. It was so delicious! I found it odd, though, that they put fried potatoes on top of the salad. The tomato soup that came before the salad was A-MAZ-ING!!!

Afterwords we strolled the Christmas Market and Matt got a nutella filled crepe!! I only had a bite (okay, three) and it was scrumptious! Absolutely the best combination of food I could imagine, besides peanut butter and chocolate :)

We also had glühwein, which is like a mixture of hot wine and cider. So yummy!

Oh, I almost forgot. It's been snowing here like crazy. Though some of it has melted, it's pretty slushy. Ew.

Matt and I trekked through it all to get to the commissary yesterday. We had a nice little stroll through Vogelweh. I quite enjoyed it...that is, until we had to carry the groceries back.

Well, that is about it for us. I guess we better get back to house hunting and studying for the driver's exam...help me.

See ya later,
Britt and Matt

Willkommen in Deutschland!

We arrived in Frankfurt on Wednesday, December 8th at 7:10 am local time. Greeted with Lebkuchen treats and friendly smiles and welcomes, we made our way to what I like to call the "military compound of Frankfurt" inside the airport.

Well, ya know. Let me share the email I sent to the fam:

Hallo!

We have made it to Deutschland! Matt and I have been up for 35 + hours at this point, and it's surprising how well we are functioning. That being said, please understand my grammar/punctuation/spelling/sense in general may not register to well rested humans. So forgive me.

Let's see, so we left Dulles at 1721, 7 December (was that yesterday? or two days ago???) and arrived in Frankfurt at 0710, 8 December. Matt has me writing/speaking like this now.

And it's really weird because it feels like we've been up for two whole days. I mean, heck, I guess we have. This is the weirdest experience ever...and I'm not even tired yet!

Anyways, we arrived in Frankfurt, picked up Patton (who was scared to death) and headed to the army facility they have in the airport. And, of course, Patton thought it would be entertaining to relieve himself immediately upon exiting his crate. I mean, I can't blame him. He was holding it for quite some time. But I don't know why he had to make sure he soaked my leg...yes. Disgusting.

We then proceeded to the buses which shipped us to Kaiserlautern and there our sponsor picked us up and showed us around a bit, before taking us to his house to drop off Patton (he's keeping him there so we don't have to kennel him). As soon as I left his car I, not used to this so called "snow" and "slush" proceeded to bust my backside in his driveway. I'm the only one who found it hysterical, which made for an awkward moment.

Then we stopped at a local Germany eatery, "Subway", and now we're chilling in our room trying not to fall asleep too early. And that's about it.

We'll I guess that's it for me. There's a little piece of Lebkuchen calling my name :)

Britt and Matt

That pretty much explains it. Busting my ass in front of Matt's boss has not been the highlight of our arrival, I must say. It would probably be that it snowed six inches last night :) Quite an improvement to the "let's shut down school, there are flurries" days in Alabama.

I shall talk to you all, soon, my pretties!!!
Britt and Matt

This is It!

It's the final countdown. 72 hours and counting. Matthew and I just don't know what to do with ourselves! All of our things are gone, including the television. Which I guess we should count as a blessing, but seeing as the TIGERS are playing in the SEC CHAMPIONSHIP today, well, we're not so thrilled. This has allowed us to spend more time talking, going to the movies, and catching up on missed episodes of The Office on Hulu :) And today we'll have to find a bar to watch the game.

Yesterday I was so ready to go (it's depressing just hanging around) that I begged Matt to call United and see if we could get in on an earlier flight. Reluctant, he complied. They said we could possibly make it on last evening's flight, but that was too soon!

And being the spaz that I am, I've called the airline probably 2,000 times to confirm Patton's safety and such.

Our friends Emily and TJ are also moving to Germany (Vilseck) and phoned yesterday to let us know that pets are not allowed on flights where the temperature in the area of departure and arrival is 20 degrees F or less! Which could be an issue, as it has been super cold here in Virginia, but even colder in Frankfurt. I'm talking single digit temps with subzero windchill. God help me.

We have a contingency plan (thank you Matthew) and hope that we won't have to use it. I'm only freaking out a little (understatement of the century).

Poor Patton has no clue as to what's going on. He's become weary of movers, because he thinks he's going with them. So whenever Matt and I get up and walk into another room he follows us at our feet. And he's always been a snugglebug, but lately you can't get him off! He just plops right down on your lap and stays until you forcibly remove him. Ha!

And the cold weather. Christ. I don't know what to expect. I know he sure doesn't! But we have his argyle wool sweater ready for the flight, along with blankets in his crate. If he'd let me, I'd wrap him up in nice warm scarf as well. But that would end up in his belly, and then result in an embarrassing waste pick up.

So this is most likely my last post in the states for some time. Unless we have a malfunction of sorts or I become extremely bored.

That being said, Auf Wiedersehen!
Das Coles