Einundzwanigster Geburtstag

21 years old. That used to sound so old, so mature, so grown. Now, not so much. Being 21 really puts 21 in perspective. It's so young. Maybe I just feel young. But I feel really old and ancient at the same time, which is ridiculous. Oh goodness. One thing I do know for certain is that 21 brings me into a whole new ball game, I'm officially an "adult" these days. Shit gets real from this point on folks. What a scary and thrilling thought.

I love birthdays. Especially mine. I always get super excited for them (like counting down from January to May and such) and I am always let down. Not that all my birthdays have sucked, most of them have been freaking amazing, it's just that I place way too high of expectations on them that can't be fulfilled. Which is ridiculous, I know. Well, this year was a little different than usual. To be honest, I was actually dreading my birthday. Why? 1. Being 21 didn't have the same significance that it should have, considering I have been able to drink the moment I stepped into Germany 2. I wouldn't be able to celebrate it with my friends and family back home 3. I figured nothing special would happen. I decided because of these reasons to not get excited for my birthday like I do every year. In fact, I planned on not thinking about it all.

My strategy worked (sort of) all the way up until the end of April/beginning of May. Around this time Nacha, Ivanka, and Daniel started bugging me about what I wanted to do for my birthday. Especially Daniel. I kept shrugging it off saying we would figure something out, I just wanted to go on an adventure somewhere. But Dan kept at it. And eventually we had all these jokes about what I would do for my birthday, like going sky diving or driving a Porsche. Just jokes. Sky diving is a no go because I'm quite scared of heights... that adventure shall be left for another day. And I couldn't actually drive a Porsche for two reasons: my California license isn't valid here after 6 months and don't know how to drive a stick shift. Eventually the Porsche jokes turned into Mercedes jokes. Mainly because I could actually drive a Mercedes because they are automatic, and because there is space for more people. I didn't think much of all this talk though. Dan was just messing with me.

About a week before my birthday my friends were able to squeeze a birthday schedule out of me. Dan and I would have breakfast, go get Starbucks, then meet up with Ivanka and Nacha, take a train to Baden-Baden, explore the city for the afternoon, come back to Karlsruhe, and have a little dinner at Nacha and Bernie's house. I got my adventure and it sounded like a pretty fun day.

So May 30th rolled around and there I was, 21. It was a strange feeling. I'd finally reached "the age". I was a ball full of energy; my attempts to not be excited about my birthday thrown out the window. Dan came over to my apartment and we made breakfast. Well, I made breakfast. And I failed miserably at my pancake making because I put too much salt in them on accident. They weren't horrible though, especially with the strawberries and whipped cream on top (Dan would disagree I'm sure haha).

Then it was off to the city to get Starbucks. Which I know doesn't seem like a big deal, but for me it was a total treat. Starbucks is ungodly expensive in Europe. Worse than at home. Thus, I've only had it here maybe three times. So I'm sure you can imagine my total excitement. I got a Coffee Frappachino (without whipped cream) and it was heavenly.

Walking from the center of the city back to my house, Daniel started joking about the Mercedes again. (And Hummers. He knows how I loathe those things). He said that he really did get me a Mercedes for the day. I told him I wouldn't believe him until my ass was in the seat. Well, when we got to my street, he pulled a set of car keys of his pocket. Foot in mouth. I certainly did believe him once my ass was in the seat. I was stunned, and pretty darn stoked. Such a great surprise.

Daniel, Starbucks, and a Mercedes. Life is good.

Daniel drove us to go pick up Ivanka. Once we got Ivy, we hopped on the Autobahn and headed to Baden-Baden (Nacha was to meet us there). I stuck my head and arm out of the window in pure giddy glee the whole ride. We picked up Nacha at the Baden-Baden train station and drove towards the center of the city while deciding what to do. Well, adventure found us in the form of a castle. One of us saw a sign for the Altes Schloss. We all decided it was worth a look and drove up a winding road to where the castle sat atop a hill.

Driving on the Autobahn.

The Altes Schloss (also known as Schloss Hodenbaden), has been around since 1102 A.D. That's pretty intense, if you ask me. You can definitely see the wear and tear that time has created on the brown stones that make up the walls. Yet the castle manages to still to give off a feeling of solid power and beauty. The four of us spent a good hour or so exploring the various areas of the castle, climbing lots of narrow stairs, and catching breath taking views of the valley that Baden-Baden sits in. The girls and I spent a majority of our time there pretending we were royalty.

Altes Schloss entrance.

Exploring the ground floor.

Stairs aplenty!

The view was amazing.

We left the castle to go into town. After a short drive, we parked, and then the weather decided to give me a nice birthday present: rain, thunder, and lightening. And it was humid on top of all that. Ever so delightful. But, in true German fashion we just ignored the weather as best we could and continued on with our day. As a group we decided that we were hungry, so we got some Leberkäse (similar to the idea of meatloaf) and Coke. Delicious.

We arrive in the city just in time for a thunderstorm. Here we are hiding under a tree canopy.

The four of us spent the next hour or two walking around the city. We saw the casino, lots of fancy stores, old people dressed ever so fabulously (Baden-Baden is a place where a lot of rich people retire), the Trinkhalle, the Oos River, the baths that the city is famous for, and the Roman bath ruins. The Roman bath ruins were probably my favorite. It's crazy to think this city was founded by Romans almost 2,000 years ago.

Some of the places we saw in Baden-Baden.

The Oos River.

Tree hugging and chillin' by a pretty fountain.

The Roman bath ruins.

After a nice afternoon, we jumped back in the car and headed back to Karlsruhe. We needed to be back by 6 p.m., that way Nacha and Ivanka had time to cook dinner. We dropped the girls off at Nacha's, and then Dan and I headed back to my house to hang out and wait for dinner to be ready.

Much sooner than I expected, the girls called and told us to come on over. As we walked to Nacha's, I couldn't get over how excited Daniel was. Totally cracking me up. In a easy breezy five minutes we made it to the apartment and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. I knocked on the door. I slightly confused why Nacha hadn't opened it already, but figured they must be doing last minute details for dinner.

Then the door opened and all of my friends yelled "SURPRISE!" Oh man, was I totally surprised. I just about died. Before I could get over my shock, everyone started hugging me and telling me happy birthday. I felt so special and loved. I couldn't believe they threw me a surprise party. I've always wanted one. It's more than I could have asked for for this birthday. So much love.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Happy birthday!

Then Nacha, Bernie, and Ivy presented me with my birthday gift: paints, brushes, canvases, candies, a headband, and sunglasses. Such a great present! (Later in the party Albert gave me a present as well... a soccer ball. Oh my, was I excited).

My birthday gifts.

Then Dan's mom appeared with snacks and a cheesecake. All this was added to the snack table, which everyone totally devoured throughout the course of the night. Nacha also made me a cake: my favorite.... ice cream cake! Two cakes for one birthday girl?! Muahaha. So spoiled.

Nacha put three candles in my ice cream cake and lit them, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me (once in German, English, Spanish and Portuguese). I made three wishes and blew out the candles. After that we obviously ate both cakes. Yummmers!

Cake, cake, cake!

Hanging out at eating cake and snacks.

Then everyone just hung out and talked for quite some time while music played in the background. Bernie put on The Beach Boys for awhile, just for me haha. I had my "1st drink"... which was silly of course considering I've been able to drink since October. All the same it meant a lot to me. Now when I go home I will be legal to drink too!

My very "1st" beer.

 While everyone was eating and talking, I made them take part in a ridiculous game. There's no official name for it, but I usually just call it the "Animal Game." The rules are simple. One person has a camera, and the other person is in front of the camera. The person with the camera will call out an animal and then the other person must act like that animal. While they do this the camera person will take a picture. The result is really hilarious pictures. We had a lot of laughs doing this.

The animal game.

 After playing the Animal Game, Daniel brought out another surprise for me: Rootbeer. He knows how much I love it, so he somehow managed to get me some even though it's pretty rare in Germany.  I made a rootbeer float, and ah goodness, it was ah-mazing. Everyone teased me about it though. Rootbeer and rootbeer floats are very, very American. All my friends think rootbeer is too sweet and really gross. I don't care though, I still think it's awesome.

Me and my rootbeer float.

Later we all played Celebrity. For those of you not familiar with this game, I'll give you a little break down of the rules. You have your group sit in a circle. Then everyone gets a post-it note and has to write the name of a celebrity on it. As long as it's someone everyone will be familiar with, it can be anyone who is dead, alive, or fictional. Then you take your post-it note and stick it on the person to your left's forehead. Then you pick one person to start. That person will ask a yes or no question such as, "Am I male or female?" and the group will respond. If the answer is "yes", then that person gets to ask another question. If the answer is "no", then you go to the next person on the left and they get to ask a question. And so on and so forth. Basically you use the questions to figure out who you are. Towards the end of the game people start guessing who they think they are. But caution, once you guess a name, that's your last question! If you get it right you win, if not, you lose. It's a great party game! It was a pretty long round since there were so many of us, be we all had a great time.

Our game of Celebrity.

Ivanka was Edward Cullen.

Not long after our game of Celebrity, hugs were given and goodbyes were said. It was well past midnight at this point and it was time for everyone to be getting home. We took some group pictures before everyone left that totally crack me up, we were quite the hyper bunch.

Theses guys are a crack up.

Feeling the love.

Ahhhhmygawsh. This day was almost perfect. I am so amazed by my friends. And so thankful. They took what I thought was going to be a mediocre birthday and made it amazing. Definitely my best birthday ever! What a great way to start off a year. I feel so blessed and loved. Especially by Nacha, Ivy, Bernie, and Dan. That bunch. They made my day absolutely magical. All my friends did. And for that I am forever grateful. May 30, 2012... a day for the history books. Well. At least my history books.

Blonde Girl Takes on Paris (Day 4)

Here's part four of my story of how this blonde girl fell in love with the city of lights, and how she learned to blend in and stick out all at once.... all in quick and easy to read bullet points that I jotted down in a moleskine as I explored or took a breather from all of what Paris has to offer.

To find the other parts of my Paris trip, you can click here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

Day Four - January 5th, 2012

Weather:
- Crazy extreme! Cloudy and rainy on one side of the sky (East) and blue skies and sunny on the other (West)
Places:
- Seine River Walk, Place de la Concorde, and Train Station (Gare de l'est)
Events:
- slept in (still felt sick)
- got ready real slow, packed up, checked out, and left luggage at front desk
- went to the Seine River and walked along the river walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Place de la Concorde (after I missed my boat tour, this became my plan B, it turned out to be more fun than a boat tour anyways)
- saw a bunch of statues (mostly war memorials) as I walked
- saw/walked around the Place de la Concorde (the Obelisk was amazing)
- totally nerded out here (my guidebook helped me nerd out a lot the whole trip), but knew I had to get going so I headed towards the nearest metro station
- had another fun encounter with a guy (what is it with these French guys and I??), this time one who got seriously pissed off at me for not wanting to talk to him. fun stuff
- picked up my luggage at the hotel and headed to the train station which was almost right across the street
- got there 30 minutes before my train was to leave, and waited at the correct platform patiently
- little did I know that the platform next to me had my train, because they had switched things around (I didn't know because everything was in French)
- thus I missed my train, waiting at the wrong gate
- my ticket was non transferable, and Johannes and Christiane had warned me not to miss my train no matter what I did. I thought I was prepared for every possibility by coming early, but I wasn't
- I called Christiane, and she told me to talk to the ticket office. This turned into a several hour adventure of dealing with people that spoke very little English along with lots of ticket complications
- finally, once they were all super fed up with me, the ticket office just sent me on a train with a copy of my receipt for a ticket Christiane had bought for me online
- I was mortified that without an official ticket that I was going to be kicked off the train and either be completely stranded in Paris, or in the middle of nowhere
- the ticket master ended up taking pity on me after I was crying on the train while explaining to him why I didn't have a ticket
- he let me stay on the train but I had to pay for the train I would take from Mannheim to Karlsruhe in a few hours. Miraculously I had just enough money for that ticket on me (that's a God moment right there)
- I spent the rest of the evening on trains wallowing and trying not to cry about how miserably such a wonderful trip had come to and end
- I finally got to Karlsruhe Hbf near midnight, and then had to wait a half hour for a Straßenbahn to get me home
- when I finally got home, I dropped everything on the floor, got my pajamas on, and went to bed
Thoughts:
- "Let's Go Europe" (2010) is a great guidebook.
- I love the pop out map of the city that Christiane and Johannes got me. I used it so much. The mini metro map also came in handy a lot!
- I seriously have quite the creeper fan club in Paris. Is this what I get for being blonde?!
- One of Christiane's co-workers got me a Paris moleskine for Christmas. I used it a lot (that's where I jotted down all these notes about my trip). I love it, can't wait to add to it and use it as a reference next time I go to Paris.
- Though I am an over packer as it is, I need to bring along at least a little bit of cold medicine on trips from now on. Never know where and when I (or someone else) will get sick.
- The ominous weather made the Place de la Concorde so intense. I could totally imagine the place full of a blood thirsty crowd, watching people get their heads chopped off by the guillotine. It's so interesting that the Obelisk stands in place of the guillotine now.
- Oh, French people... so frustrating. I really missed my Germans.
Fun Facts:
- Seine River
    ~ It's pretty much brown. Lovely.
    ~ It took me almost 2 hours to amble just a portion of it.
- Place de la Concorde
    ~ Paris's most infamous public square.
    ~ Built between 1757 and 1777.
    ~ During the French Revolution it was named the Place de la Revolution.
    ~ In 1830 it was renamed to it's current name.
    ~ Also in 1830 the Obelisk was placed in the middle.
    ~ The Obelisk was given to Charles X by the Viceroy of Egypt.
Photos: 

It's super faint, but there is a full rainbow in this picture. Amazing that I had a rainbow the day I arrived and the day I left!

Boats on the Seine River.

View of the Eiffel Tower from a bridge over the Seine.

Clouds beginning to loom in the North and East.

It crazy windy! Me on a bridge over the Seine near the Eiffel Tower. As you can see, my firework burn starting to look less gross on this day, but it is definitely going to scar.

I love the character of the types of river boats in Paris.

The Seine River walk. Everything looks so bare and wintery, guess that makes sense haha.

I have no idea what these actually was, all I know is that I immediately thought: the Statue of Liberty's torch.

I love the contrasts in this picture, this is still on the path along the Seine.

This statue had all it's writing in English (I was ever so excited) because it was gifted by American school children to the French after a war (can't remember which war).

Epic view of the Paris Eye, the Obelisk, and the looming storm in the East.

Place de la Concorde... the place of peace, very ironic considering how many people were murdered in this location during the French Revolution.

Me soaking up my last bit of France.

Smiling, so stoked on my trip. Little do I know that I'm about to deal with missing a train and all that comes with that. Fun times.

On this trip I saw and experienced so much, yet I barely made a dent on the list of the many things that I can do there. Amazing. Paris was a city that I had a lot of preconceived notions about. While many of those turned out to be true, many proved false. I would say in this case it was great to be proven wrong.

Paris, keep the lights on for me, I'll visit you again someday!

To relive the story, you can check out my other days in Paris here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

Blonde Girl Takes on Paris (Day 1)

Well. To state the obvious I am blonde. I am what you would call a "typical" white girl: blonde hair, blue eyes, pale white skin. Now, I love my God given coloring. Though like many people, I do wish to look different a lot of the time. If only my hair looked like hers, if only my eyes looked that startling clear, if only my skin was that lovely... the list goes on.

Here in Germany I've found myself wishing desperately for my hair to grow out in order for me to have long hair, and so that my super blonde dye job goes away and my darker, natural blonde makes a come back. Here my super blonde California locks stick out a little too much to my liking. My natural coloring fits perfectly with many Germans. Sadly my hair goals are faraway from being achieved, so I am stuck with what I have for now. Patience shall be required.

Even with my super blonde locks, I fit in quite well here (until I open my mouth and my poor German skills give me away for being a foreigner). But when I found myself in France at the beginning of this month (my Christmas present from Johannes and Christiane), I truly felt like a sore thumb in a crowd of creamy skinned, dark eyed, dark haired Parisian men and women. I loathe feeling like a tourist, no matter the city, so the desire to blend into the crowd is quite great for me. But that wasn't possible in Paris. Here's part one of my story of how this blonde girl fell in love with the city of lights, and how she learned to blend in and stick out all at once.... all in quick and easy to read bullet points that I jotted down in a moleskine as I explored or took a breather from all of what Paris has to offer.

Day 1 - January 2nd, 2012

Weather: 
- rain, hail, partly cloudy (really cold)
Places:
- Eiffel Tower, Ecole Militaire, Champ de Mars, and Seine River
Events:
- 5:30 a.m. wake up call
- 3 hour train ride (TGV)
- bread for breakfast
- paid to pee at train station (ridiculous)
- found hotel (Hotel Amiot) and checked in (great service)
- settled in and then napped (no sleep night before)
- left to take bus tour, got lost on metro, ended up missing tour
- figured out metro, decided to go to Eiffel Tower
- got a slice of pizza at a "To-Go" cafe
- started pouring rain, then hailed
- double rainbow over Eiffel Tower
- walked along the Seine River (got drenched)
- took a million pictures of, around, by,  and next to Eiffel Tower, Champs de Mars, and Ecole Militaire
- waited in huge line to get inside Eiffel Tower (took elevator, not stairs)
- got to see 2nd and 3rd floors (missed out on the 1st by accident)
- amazed by view, but it was crazy cold and windy
- got down and took pics of the tower all lit up at night
- my feet were on fire and I was tired and grumpy, so I decided to go eat
- got lost looking for a specific crepe restaurant (from guidebook), ate two doors down from hotel
- had salad, coke, huge piece of toast with cheese and chicken on top (delish)
- also had a chocolate shake... not as good as In-N-Out's
- went back to hotel, watch part of Season of the Witch on the "English Channel". Weird, weird movie.
- stayed up way too late
Thoughts:
- There is no way to see everything in Paris in 4 days. Best just to pick a few places and enjoy the ride.
- Food in Paris is crazy expensive. (Coke was 4 Euros...)
- Be prepared for all types of weather. So glad for my coat, gloves, scarf, hat, and layers upon layers of clothes and socks.
- There is no such thing as a nice tourist. Be one.
Fun Facts:
- Eiffel Tower:
    ~ Created by Gustave Eiffel in 1889 as tallest building in world.
    ~ Was the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair
    ~ It's 9.90 Euros for a student to take the elevator to the top.
- Ecole Militaire
    ~ Military head quarters during Napoleon's reign.
    ~ Now just used as a court building.
- Champ de Mars
    ~ Named after the Roman god of war.
    ~ Was a drill ground for Napoleon's army.
    ~ Pretty park these days, but it's simple.
- TGV
    ~ It's the fastest train to get you from Germany to France.
    ~ Only takes 3 hours to get from Karlsruhe to Paris,
    ~ Most other trains take double the time of the TGV.
Photos:

My hotel room at Hotel Amiot.

First time I see a full double rainbow and the Eiffel Tower.

Me hanging out in Champs de Mars, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

In front of Ecole Militaire rocking my nasty firework burn.

Just about to get in the enormous line for the Eiffel Tower elevators.

2nd floor of Eiffel Tower.

3rd floor of Eiffel Tower, me bundled up but still freezing.

The epic view from the top.

Yes, that's a lightening rod...

The Eiffel Tower all lit up and fancy smancy.

To continue the story, you can check out my other days in Paris here: Day 2, Day 3, Day 4

Deustch Klasse. Take Two.

Hallo, mein Name ist Ashley. Ich komme aus dem USA. Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt. Mein hobbys sind malen, lesen, und fußall. Ich spreche englisch und ein bisschen deutsch. Wie heißt du? Woher kommst du? Was sind dein hobbys? Was sprichst du?

German. What a language. I speak in it, dream in it, I think in it. It's invading my brain. Sometimes I even forget English words for things because of all the new German vocab I am learning. Languages enthrall me and German is no exception. But geez, this language is kicking my butt. Most of the time I look like a tongued two year old trying to say something. But I take pride in knowing that I have learned a lot and gotten better in the three months that I have been here. Just need to take a deep breath and constantly remember that I am just learning.

When I first arrived in Germany, it became very apparent, very fast that the German I knew so far at that point just wasn't going to cut it. Well. I knew a lot thanks to the wonderful class I took over the Summer. The problem was accessing that info in real life moments. Frieda could communicate better than I could and she's two. I felt beyond dumb. I pride myself on my ability to communicate through my words. Those of you who know me, know that I never shut up. So finding myself in a totally different culture and then not being able to communicate barely at all was beyond frustrating. It was embarrassing. I was beyond relieved when Johannes and Christiane signed me up for German class (deutsch Klasse).

My class was to be from early November to late December, five days a week, four hours a day. I was slightly dreading having to sit that long, especially in the morning. I just don't have that kind of concentration. Too much of a wiggle worm. But I knew it was worth it. I absolutely needed to improve my German. It wasn't an option to back out. I needed this.

The first day of class I walked to the school. VHS Karlsruhe (an adult school) is only a ten minute walk (or a five minute bike ride) from my apartment. I walked up to the big brick building and proceeded to try and push a door that you are supposed to pull. Story of my life. I do this all the time, no matter where I am in the world. I entered the classroom with the usual first day of class jitters. I had already realized that this was a great opportunity to meet some people my age, and I was holding my breath to see who would be in my class. The classroom was small, and the desks were set into a large square in the middle of the room. I sat down near the door next to a girl with lots of curly hair. I watched as each person arrived and wondered about where they were from and why they were here. Then the teacher arrived. And she immediately started talking in German. Come to find out, she only spoke German. I just about died on the spot.

As the days and weeks went by I realized how blessed I was to being take this German class. My teacher, Irene, was super sweet, funny, understanding, and extremely patient. Her speaking only German was the kick in the ass that I needed to force me to speak in German. As for my classmates, they were a blessing too. Once we got into a comfortable groove that most classes fall into, everyone became friends. I adore each one of them. I could go into detail about each of them and how awesome they are, but I won't embarrass them like that haha. It was just so refreshing to have people near my age to relate with and hang out with. Being away from my friends and family back home has been hard. But my classmates have helped alleviate missing home. Through this class, not only did my German improve a whole bunch (along with my confidence in regards to speaking it), I made friends from around the world.

Celebrating Ioana's Birthday! (Top row: Maria and Kush Bottom row: Me, Nacha, Ioana, Gabriel, and Carmina)

Out to coffee on our last day of class. (From the left to right: Irene, Maria, Ioana, Edina, Aryenn, Gabriel, Me, Cindy, and Carmina).

If someone would have told me this time last year what my future held for me I would have laughed at how far fetched it would have sounded. Me, live in Germany, learn German, meet people from all over the world, and see places I have only seen in books? Ha. Yet here I am.

The Boots

Last night I cleaned my boots and left one by the front door and dutifully went to bed "early" like a good little girl. I am sure you are wondering why I would do this. Isn't it obvious? Sankt Nikolaus was coming, and I had to be prepared!

My very clean boot.

I can bet most of my American readers are very confused as of this moment. As for my German readers, they know exactly what I am talking about (duh). Shall I explain for the clueless out there?

When I think "Sankt Nikolaus" (Saint Nicholas... in English) I come up with two thoughts. One being of a big, jolly man in a red suit who comes and brings me presents on Christmas Eve. The other being the legend surrounding the actual Saint Nicholas, and all his kind deeds hundreds of years ago. But most Americans would only think of the first thought. Because Saint Nicholas and Santa are one in the same for us. But, this is not so in Germany.

Germans give Sankt Nikolaus a whole holiday all to himself. And the Weihnachtsmann (literally translates as "Chrismas man") gets a whole holiday to himself as well. Because they are different people! Nikolaus was an actual man who became a saint in the Catholic Church; while the Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) is not a real person, but just an embodiment of the Christmas spirit and a great way to bring joy to little kids, and parents, across the country. So Sankt Nikolaus day is on the 6th of December, and the Weihnachtsmann gets to spread his holiday cheer on 25th of December.

How this holiday works is that on the night of December 5th, you grab your boots and scrub them clean. Then, you put them on your doorstep with some milk and cookies. And if you have been good this year, Sankt Nikolaus will come in the middle of the night and fill your boot with candies and sometimes small presents. Then of course when you wake up in them morning you run to the front door to see what you have received. As you can tell this is a kid centered holiday in many aspects. The fun for the parents comes in another form. Usually if you have a party on or near the 6th of December, Sankt Nikolaus will show up. He will then read off all the naughty things the children in the room have done this year. Then the children are expected to sing a song or recite a poem to curry his favor. If they do well, all is forgiven and they get goodies. If not, Sankt Nikolaus' helper will swat you with a birch stick. Of course, all in good fun. Usually the parents get a good kick out of the kids squirming and trying to deny their bad deeds of the year.

So last night, Martha, Frieda and I cleaned our boots and set them in front of our front doors. We also prepared a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. All in the hopes that we had been good enough little girls this year and cleaned our boots well enough to receive candy. Then we went to bed early like good little girls should. (I must confess I didn't go to bed early. Shame on me...).

Martha and Frieda's boots. Along with the milk and cookies.

This morning I hopped out of bed (an unusual occurrence) and swung open my front door. There stood my boot. Full of chocolate. I was so excited! Before I closed the door, I noted that the girls had already grabbed their own boots. Typical. I hopped back into bed and gleefully dumped out the contents of my boot. All chocolate. Then, like the "grown up" that I am, I had to get ready for German class. I sadly couldn't linger over the awesomeness of the morning.

My boot and my loot.

I just got back from class and thoroughly enjoyed a few pieces of my chocolate. I want to make these last me till Christmas (when I will be getting more chocolate), but I doubt that will happen. Chocolate is just too good to resist.