Is it weird that...

the most normal part of my Thanksgiving was watching Clemson lose to SC?

This was an unusual Thanksgiving. I'm not complaining in the least bit. I was surrounded by good people here in Germany and I'm blessed to have great relationships with family & friends in the States. So really there was love all around. It was just different this year. Not having RC around was the worst part and knowing he's stuck in "the sandbox" and can't really embrace/experience the holidays hurts my heart. Fortunately they had a fairly traditional Thanksgiving meal and were able to have some free time to have a ping-pong tournament.

So with a quick recap let's compare the difference between Thanksgiving in the States vs Germany...

TYPICAL THANKSGIVING:
THANKSGIVING DAY:
Start the day with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, spend time with family, meet up with extended family, football in the background all day long, enjoy a deep fried turkey and all the southern fixin's ;). Then nap after eating a ridiculous amount of pumpkin & pecan pie.

BLACK FRIDAY:
Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, hunt for the PERFECT Christmas tree, decorate said Christmas tree, play Christmas music since its AFTER Thanksgiving and the appropriate time to do so.

PALMETTO BOWL:
Surround yourself with family & friends .... even if they're Carolina fans, experience every range of emotion (and for the last 4 years at least) pout because your team lost, practice extreme self-control and do not engage in the idiotic comments on Facebook.

Black Friday-- Christmas tree shopping circa 2011

THANKSGIVING IN GERMANY SANS HUSBAND:
THANKSGIVING DAY:
Drive to a friend's house 40 min away, watch old hockey games??? (yah, I know), eat, try gluhwein (forget spiked eggnog! I'll take gluhwein as my holiday drink), wait the appropriate time to get behind the wheel, drive to another friend's house 30 min away, notice that there are babies and little ones EVERYWHERE, have your first taste of pumpkin pie, finally some football in the background, talk to your husband for maybe 10 min on the phone, know how blessed you are to have him in your life. Then round of the day with a quick Skype session with the family.

BLACK FRIDAY:
Sleep in, realize that the PX has nothing remotely worth getting up for, come to terms with the fact that you will not have a Christmas tree this year, nor will you decorate for Christmas (highlight: because YOU'RE GOING HOME), jealousy sets in... your family is eating hashbrowns & pancakes at Cracker Barrel- you had granola cereal for breakfast. Watch Fringe for the majority of your day :)

PALMETTO BOWL:
Stay up until kick off at 1 am, Skype with brother & SIL during the entire game (BEST part), feel less crazy when yelling at the tv because you're watching "with" someone, experience every range of emotion, pout because your team lost AGAIN, practice extreme self-control and do not engage in the idiotic comments on Facebook. Go to bed because it's 5 o'clock in the morning.

Halfway There!

Even though everything inside of me doesn't want to....it's kind of hard to say "WE'RE HALFWAY THERE" without making the obligatory Bon Jovi reference. So there you go...

Wooooahh, we're halfway there. 

Wooooahh livin' on a prayer

Take my hand and we'll make it- I swear

Wooooahh livin' on a prayer

Mom's Visit: Poland

Poland! Our Poland trip ended up being quite an adventure. One of the first things I heard about once moving to Germany was the Polish pottery and how you HAD to visit the town of Boleslawiec to visit the many, many pottery shops or skelps. I'm talking there are some seriously obsessed women out there.

We decided to make a two day trip out of it although many people do it in one. Personally I don't find driving 9+ hours in one day enjoyable so we opted to stay in the 75 euro a night Palac Brunow. And boy am I glad we did. You can find pictures of the palace below. An absolutely beautiful "hotel", spacious rooms by European standards, and an amazing meal for dinner AND breakfast as well. All for just over $100 I might add.

I'll be honest after driving through Boleslawiec and around Poland for close to 2 hours Palac Brunow was a sight for sore eyes. Overall there were many run down or unkept buildings. Maybe from the influence of the Soviets who had ruled for so long? It may not have helped that it was a very dark and dreary day. So while the town of Boleslawiec nor the area we drove through was very appealing to the eyes the pottery most definitely wise. I definitely understand why people make it in a day trip. There really isn't much to see beyond the pottery. I may be spoiled by the charm of Germany.

Oh, and I should also mentioned that we woke up the next morning to snow! Snow in October! What am I getting myself into? I do not belong in the snow, but nonetheless we thankfully had a snow scraper in the car and battled through 4+ hours of snow and ice to make it safe and sound back home.