R.I.P. Kitchen Aid

Today was a sad day for all KitchenAid lovers 'roun the world. Today this ridiculously confusing and frustrating German electric grid along with a transformer decided to kill my KitchenAid (murderers!). I have used it 4 times since we have been here and it was fine, but today, today my Kitchen Aid died :( And that is not all; last week my immersion blender bid adieu to the world!


Goodbye trusty friends. I remember that time we mixed Alton Brown's Puffy, Chewy and Crispy cookie recipes all in one day. And the time we made my first batch of homemade cinnamon roll dough together. And immersion blender, I remember fondly my first Butternut Squash soup that you pureed to perfection and that homemade tomato soup that you blended silky smooth. You will be missed! And even when you are replaced, a special place for you will always remain in my heart.

And as for you Mr. German electric outlet/transformer, you are not on my good side and you will have to work to regain my trust.

And now if we could all have a moment of silence for the lost kitchen appliances.


In lieu of flowers, I have setup a special fund for contributions that will go toward the purchase of a new bigger, better, brighter KitchenAid and immersion blender.

Another NEW piece!!!

I did it! I purchased another new piece of furniture and I didn't even get cold feet before the big buy. My husband will claim that the only reason I didn't get cold feet was because I thought he was going to veto the purchase, which may or may not be true, but either way I purchased it with little to no hesitation. After several measurements and a rather ferocious battle (it is solid Eucalyptus wood...that sucker is HEAVY) the TV stand was in the back seat of our car and on the way to home! I have never had an actual TV stand before, in the past we used an end table, which I must admit served its purpose well (thanks, Travis!) but I absolutely love it.

Our old TV stand...ignore my husband and the dog.

The new and improved TV stand!

My husband had to drill this hole, it was quite a battle but alas, victory!

the remnants of my husbands hardwork

traditional, yet rustic....perfectly my style!

I have lots of decorating to do still so forgive the bare wall.

Decorating on a Euro - Walk-in 'Closet'

No closets = lots of wardrobes and a giant walk-in closet....errr....bedroom. Go ahead and be jealous of the luxuriously large closet with a charming blue and star patterned wall paper ;) Andrew decided that for simplicity sake this room shall be called, 'the Closet' rather than "the upstairs bedroom with all of our clothes/shoes/wardrobes and other assorted items." Its not perfect but, eh, it will do.


Those are my 2 wardrobes. Andrew thought it was unfair that I got 2 and he only got one, but I personally find it unfair that all of my clothes are forced to be shoved into 2 tiny wardrobes with no room to breath!

In spite all of my best organizational efforts, having limited closet space means that some places just cannot and likely never will be as organized, tidy, or clean as I would like. For instance, this is what the inside of all the wardrobes look like.....total disarray. Sometime soon I will organize the insides, but that is going to have to wait until I get some stroke of genius to make everything fit better or can somehow magically shrink all of our clothes!

On Healthcare

I promised previously not to make this a political blog....but, I just have to:

This past Sunday the House passed a health care bill, that by many polls show that the American public is by significant numbers vastly opposed to. In addition to the greater intrusion in American's personal health related issues and the extended financial burden placed on struggling American tax payers and on our already economically weakened businesses, the passage of this monstrosity brings up an even greater concern for me.

Why are Nancy Pelosi and the other democrats running around pretending that they are some kind of civil rights heros??? The House majority whip, James Clyburn even went so far as to say, "I could say it is on par with the passing of the Civil Rights Act." OH PLEASE!!! Stop flattering yourselves. By no means are you on par with or anywhere near the level of the civil rights activists. I am sorry, did I miss burning crosses, KKK conventions and legitimate threats on their families? The men and women who marched for equal rights risked their lives each and every time they spoke, marched or protested. The climate for passing the CRA was laced with great ignorance and bigotry, passing a health care bill that spends money you don't have (and spare me the, "its going to reduce the budget argument," the bill requires 3 years of front loaded funding, of course the additional 3 years of taxation for 7 years of benefits is going to reduce the budget over 10 years! But what happens the next 10 years where there is not those 3 years of advanced funding?) is nowhere near the caliber of the historic civil rights legislation. So do us all a favor and stop parading around town comparing yourself to great civil rights leaders and trouncing on their legacies.

Second, I have spent a great deal of time reading news articles and watching news reports citing that politics has lost its civility. Lost its civility? Politics has never been civil! Politics is a full contact sport, lest we forget that Aaron Burr (our great nations 3rd Vice President) murdered Alexander Hamilton because of political differences. Politics is nasty. You can make an argument, and I would likely agree, that it is a sad state that politics is at. Perhaps things should be more civil (and I wish they were), but that is not the reality! Do I condone the actions of a few whom are using racial slurs and other unspeakable derogatory speech? NO, absolutely not! I personally feel when people use inflammatory speech and other vulgarities it is merely a reflection of their tiny vocabularies. But lets face it, politicians under fire by their constituents is nothing new, that is after all the basis of our Constitution. The House of Representative by design is meant to represent their constituents (the Senate on the other hand is another story) and if their voters feel as though they are not being adequately represented it is their Constitutional right to let their voices be heard, I think it is important we not trample on our first amendment rights in the name of civility. I wish that the politicians that had ugly words hurled at them would have stood up at that moment and called out the behavior instead of crying to the media! For goodness sake, you have a slue of bodyguards and aids walking with you, stand up for what is right AT THAT MOMENT instead of running to the media because you know that it will gain greater traction.

I have already told you how I feel about the handful of individuals using alleged hate speech, I think we should also remember that a few bad protesters does not reflect wholly on the group/movement. I have been to 2 tea party protests: one intentionally and one incidentally, and at neither did I see any actions on behalf of the protesters that was less than respectful or dignified, they even had a designated crew to clean up any left behind trash! How many groups do you know of that make a conscience effort to clean up after 1000s of protesters? So please stop pretending that those of us who peacefully protest or disagree with this body of legislation are equally represented by those few that have chosen to protest with less than stately behavior. But don't expect civil behavior at the ballot box come November 2, because I do believe that November 2 could be a very long, borderline 'uncivil' night for the democrats!

French pottery, wine, pastries and other delicious things.

Andrew and I went to France this past weekend!!!! It was fabulous and I am pretty sure I have caught the travel bug!

First we went pottery shopping and got to see how French pottery is made. We were able to take a tour of a pottery shop in Soufflenheim, one of the original families that were granted rights to the clay by Barbarossa in the Alsatian region.

I bought this piece, it is pretty much a dutch oven but is called a Baeckeoffe oven. I love this piece and can't wait to use it!!!!

We then went to the village of Wissembourg. I charming town in the Alsace region of France. Here we toured the town, some of which were remains from the 1300s, ate, ate some more and drank a glass or two of French wine! (It is my goal to visit every wine region in France.....up next, the Champagne region?????)

I am a foodie. I have mentioned this before, but pretty much every trip or place I visit revolves around food. So without further ado, here is the food portion (and what I believe to be the most important part of any trip)! For lunch, I had a regional favorite Sauerkraut and sausage/ham and Andrew had Baeckeoffe. The French make their Sauerkraut from cabbage marinated in white wine, while Germans marinade cabbage in vinegar to make their sauerkraut. I am a good little German girl so I enjoy a good bowl of traditional German sauerkraut but I have to say the French version, was quite delicate and delicious!

After visiting the beauty and splendor of Wissembourg, we went to Cleebourg winery and tasted a great variety of Alsatian wines.

First of all I would like to thank......

My blog was nominated for a Creative Writer Blogger award by Cupcakes and Combat Boots! In keeping with the Creative Writer Award tradition we are going to play a little game...

Have you ever played that little “get-to-know-you” ice breaker called “Two Truths and a Lie”? Each person shares 3 statements – two that are true and one that is false – and the others in the group try to guess which one is a fabrication.

Well, this is sort of like that, except it’s Six Lies and a Truth.

So here it goes, 6 of the best fabrications I can come up with and 1 truth. Which one do you think is the truth????


1. I auditioned for American Idol but sadly never even got to see Randy, Paula and Simon. :(

2. I have never gotten a traffic ticket before.

3. I am in love with the Cosby show and own every season on DVD.

4. I pluck my toe hair.

5. I recently signed up to take a few culinary arts classes at Le Cordon Bleu Academy while Andrew is away at gunnery.

6. I dunked my Aggie Ring in under a minute!

7. This past weekend we ordered a brand new BMW but we won't get it until April.


There they are (WOW! Making things up takes a long time). Which one is true?????



Now, comes a second part and probably the more difficult part of receiving this award, I am supposed to nominate 7 other Creative Bloggers to receive this award. I honestly, don't read that many people's blogs so 7 is tough. But here we go, I nominate:

Georgia Grown
Magnolia's and Mimosas
My Huckleberry Friend

Now, go forth you chosen few and lie!

Decorating on a Euro - Half Bath

Today, I am starting a series I like to call, "Decorating on a Euro," where together we will venture through the incredibly expensive and interesting decorating of our German casa. In full disclosure, I am mainly doing this for myself to encourage me to finish decorating this house! So, I am going to try to blog about a room everyday (or lets be realistic every other day more likely).

SO, I am going to start with the only room in the whole house that it is anywhere near completion: the half bath on the first floor.

Priscilla gave me this really neat wall hanging of historic Round Rock that I decided to use as the inspiration for decorating this room. The only problem was the entire bathroom walls are all tiled so I had to get creative with how to hang it, my solution is definitely not perfect and not my preferred method, but eh...it will do. Also, I intend to get some Polish pottery (which is generally blue-ish) to decorate the windowsill but for now my collection of Precious Moments is doing the job. Please note the teenie-tiny little sink...I think it is so funny.



I had to get creative with places and ways to store toilet paper seeing as how there is zero cabinetry and no closet to store this necessity!

Airing my dirty laundry

Today, I forgot my shoes...

Andrew and I are sharing a car (feel the enthusiasm!). Which most mornings requires myself to pry my morning sunshine self out of bed at 0530 to drop off Andrew on post in time for PT. Since I am already on post, with no place else to go and nothing else to do (and I guess because it is healthy to do so) I work out at the gym while he does PT. After working out, I have been showering at the gym so that I can run my errands/shop/do fun things while still on post. BUT, I must confess I am not very good at packing up everything I need for the gym/shower/day. The first day I forgot a washcloth shower shoes and learned that Dial body wash was in fact not a very good substitute for shampoo. The second day I remembered a washcloth and shampoo but forgot deodorant and *gasp* clean underwear! The third day I forgot my rings, watch and again deodorant. Today, I forgot my shoes. I had a relatively cute outfit picked out to wear but was forced to wear it with tennis shoes and dirty socks. The funniest part of forgetting my shoes today is that last night before we went to bed I told Andrew that I was certain I had in fact packed everything and wouldn't need to borrow his deodorant. I remembered my deodorant but am still wearing the same sweaty socks I worked out in this morning....which reminds me, I think I'll go change them now :)

Can I see your license and registration please?

On our way to church yesterday morning, my husband got stopped by the military police who clocked him going 48kph in a 30kph zone. Let me take this moment to let you know that 48 kilometers per hour is roughly 30 miles per hour and 30kph is a little over 18 mph! That's right folks the speed limit on a large portion of post is 18 miles an hour!!! You can go faster than that in school zones in the states!!!! Andrew got clocked in an area just outside of a 50 kph (31mph) zone just after it transitions to the dreaded 30kph zone. The MP's had little sympathy for us as we were becoming later and later for church as they were writing up the ticket. At this point in time my husband's good Sunday attitude has now changed to angst and anxiety over the butt-chewing he was going to get from his chain of command for speeding on post (pretty much a cardinal sin any servicemember knows they should avoid, not to mention it gets printed in the weekly newspaper!) as well as the "negative points" that will now be on his USSEUR driver's license. I swallowed my own personal annoyance felt by this situation to play the role of the loving and sympathetic wife as we journeyed around the corner to finally arrive at the chapel, now 25 minutes late for service.

After church we had a few errands to run around post but before doing so, I suggested that we drive down the street Andrew got stopped on and see where the speed limit changes because I couldn't recall a 30kph speed limit sign. We ventured up and back down the street looking for that darn sign, but alas, NO SIGN! Andrew is now feeling slightly vendicated and is becoming less concerned about any potential problems the ticket would cause. As we are arriving in the PX parking lot, we see those same 2 MP's parked in the parking lot, they flag us down and come over to our window and ask for the ticket back because the speed limit sign had blown away. What a divine turn of events: ticketed and unticketed all in the same morning!

Out with the Old; In with the New!

Years ago when Andrew and I got married and moved into our first home I joked with him that if he hadn't married me he would have been sitting in a tiny apartment with a nice television resting on a cheap TV tray relaxing in an office chair with his computer next to him again resting on a cheap TV tray. I on the other hand had ample furniture, pretty much everything we would need for our first starter home...errrr...duplex.


For instance, I already had a beautiful bedroom suit made special for me as a graduation gift, when I graduated from A&M. I think it is the prettiest bedroom set in the world and each time I look at I think of the special guy who made it for me!

I come from a family of whittlers, my Dad whittles, Andrew's Dad whittles and my brother-in-law whittles, so pretty much all of my wood whittling wants/needs are met.

My Dad made me that desk before I went off to college.

My brother-in-law made me this table and the other end tables we have. I think he felt indebted to me for the countless hours I spent while in college watching my sweet niece, so he pretty much made me anything I asked for (plus, it didn't hurt my cause that he likes to whittle). What he doesn't know is that the tables were not my reward for watching my niece, those were just a nice benefit, my reward was having been able to spend quality bonding time with my niece and the wonderful bond we have formed because of it.
I inherited those couches from my beloved late Grandma who passed just a few short days after Andrew and I got engaged. She never made it to my ceremony as she had wanted, but I think about her daily as I sit and enjoy coffee, read a book or watch TV while relaxing on my beautiful couches. As long as I could remember visiting my Grandma's house she had those couches, I was born in 1983, so those couches had to have been purchased sometime in the 80's and look at them! I think she had pretty good taste when she picked them out....we won't however, talk about the bright gold couches with tassels that she had in her living room. That coffee table I had from college and refinished it just before we got married with support from a friends sander and again my wood-whittling loving brother in-law. The quilt rack I got as a High School graduation present.

Anyway, I think you get my point: nearly all of the furniture we own, I owned before we got married. This past weekend, as I began to throw around the idea of purchasing a new dining room set my husband was quick to point out something. "Angie" he said. "You always talk about how all the furniture we own was yours before we got married (which is true!)." "Yes" I replied. "But, you never bought a single piece of this furniture, all of it was either built, given or acquired in some way."

I had never thought about it before, be he is right! I have never actually purchased a piece of furniture before. Now, if you know me this will not come as a shock to you because I am...now, how is a nice way to say this.....frugal...aka...cheap! I am a penny pinching, sale finding, frugal woman, and proud of it! So once we had found a table that we both loved, of course I got cold feet and didn't want to spend that much money and tried to talk Andrew out of buying it. But alas, my husband with great judgment looked at me and said, "Angie, I knew you were going to get cold feet, so I came prepared today to buy this table without your full approval, because I know that you love this table and secretly want it but would never actually purchase it."

Before - The dining room table acquired from college, which in fairness has served us quite well and has miraculously fit in every tiny "dining" area we have been forced to place it. (that hope chest...also given to me by my Grandma, probably my single favorite piece of furniture I own)

After - Our first piece of purchased furniture. I love it and think it is going to match with all of our stuff perfectly!


I love it and secretly want the matching buffet, but we all know that I will never go buy it so I will just continue to dream about it and think, "what if....."