Tuesday, December 15, 2009

NYC





I love NYC ~ even though it's a total tourist destination. We went for our 7th anniversary. The first day was bone chilling cold yet we braved the lines to get on the Staten Island Ferry to the Statue of Liberty (BTW you need tickets to see ~ apparently none are available until spring). We went up in the Empire State Building and rode around on a City Sights Double Decker Bus (I think I would recommend Grey Lines over City Sights). We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and went on the night tour with the City Sights, this took us around to see all the Christmas lights and a stop at Grand Central Station. We couldn't even get close to Rockefeller on this tour ~ they had a detour because of the Hanukkah celebration. We actually were stuck at a stoplight for about 20 minutes because of the Hanukkah celebration ~ there were several vehicles with the Menorahs on top of them that were driving through the city give out things and music blaring from their vehicles. It was very interesting to see. We stayed at the Hilton NY which was just down the street from Radio City Music Hall. On Sunday, we woke up and headed straight to Macy's to see Santa. What an event that was! It went smoothly b/c we got there so early. The decorations were fabulous. We looked at all the decorated windows at Macy's ~ the theme every year is Miracle on 34th Street. When we left Macy's it had already started raining but at least it wasn't as cold as the precious day. We also did the NBC studio tour ~ we saw the SNL stage, Jimmy Fallon's studio. We learned about a 7 sec delay on television so they have no more Janet Jackson incidents. At the end of the day we decided to go see a movie, so we went to see Up in the Air and afterward we found an amazing Italian (Daniela) restaurant to celebrate our 7th anniversary at. I felt like I was back in Europe!! Monday was our last day in NYC, so we got up went for a walk up to Central Park, down 5th Avenue and made our way to Rockefeller center. While at the NBC studios we saw Kathy Lee and Hoda talking to James Cameron about Avatar. Our last event was the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. We had an interesting taxi driver back to the airport. He was telling us how Bloomberg is trying to get the middle class out of Manhatten. They ticket people like crazy in NYC but the cops that are there to manage the streets hang out of site and socialize ~ until an opportunity to ticket someone.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas Tree at the White House


I must have been in Germany too long because I was highly disappointed with the White house tree. Total of 3 hours commute to see this tree and the trees that represent the states ~ now I know why no one talks about going to see the White House tree. Again, I may be marred by living in Germany and visiting the Munchen, Ludwisgberg and Stuttgart Christmas markets. Where people take pride in Christmas!! There were no decorations outside of this little area with the Christmas trees. Is that the way it has always been or is it because we are supposed to say Happy Holidays now and bypass Christmas!!!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Theo's Visit


Tim's Dad came for a visit over the summer. He stayed with us for about 12 days. A few of the days he spent on his own exploring the National Mall/Smithsonian. We went to the Holocaust Museum with him. We took him down to Fredericksburg and did a walking tour through the old town. Tim also took him to Mount Vernon. We were able to go to Baltimore and catch an Orioles game (which I believe was his first National bball game). Tim and Theo also found time for a bit of landscaping in our back yard.







Monday, June 1, 2009

Visit to St. Louis






Although I am always happy to visit home ~ it was a bittersweet visit. My Dad's mother was in a hospice and passed away while I was in St. Louis visiting. It's a rare occasion that I am around to help my family so I was grateful to be there for my Dad. I did take advantage of my time and caught a Cardinals game in the new stadium with my brother. I also was able to spend a lot of time with my nieces and nephews.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Friday, May 1, 2009

Cali and Idaho





We went for a quick trip to Southern California and to Idaho. While in Cali we stopped buy a few of our old haunts. We wonder why we ever left!! We visited our old home, my old colleagues at StateFarm, the place we were married, ate at InNOut and my favorite restaurant The Calypso Cafe. Then we headed up to Dana Point for Tim's close friends wedding. They were married at the Ritz Carlton, which was on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It reminded us of our wedding in LaJolla also overlooking the ocean. After a couple days in California we heading up to Idaho to see Tim's family. As always, it's fun to catch up with what's going on with everyone's life. This was our first time back since Tim's Mom passed away ~ while it's still difficult I think we are all healing. We also were excited to meet the newest member of the family ~ Madden.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A day at the ball park





We left our house at 1130am and arrived at Washington Nationals park at 2pm. An hour after the game started :( All in all is was good though the Nats lost. We enjoyed being back in the ball park.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!!






Well we stayed close to home today. Took the dogs for a walk around the Lake and tackled projects around the house.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Housewarming Party

I wanted to host a housewarming party while my mom and Ron were here so they could meet some of our friends. Several people we knew in Germany live in this area and we have made some new friends since being here. It was a pretty big turn out with not too much food left over. Thanks to everyone for joining us to celebrate our new home. Our friend Laura made delicious sausage bread, my mom made chocolate covered strawberries and Beverly brought a yummy pasta salad. We received some new plants also!! Everything was much appreciated!!

Mom and Ron's Visit

My Mom and Ron drove two days here and two days back to Missouri. That's a pretty big feat in itself. However, we kept Ron busy while he was here. Mom and Ron bought us a new grill and a closet organizer ~ so guess who put it all together. You guessed it, Ron. We really appreciate everything Mom and Ron and hope you are able to come back for another visit. Maybe next time we will do some sightseeing :)

Gift from the Plummers


Thank you Rich and Becky for the beautiful plant!

Tim's trip to Kenya


Kenya

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Weekly visit with my new friends


I was lucky enough to be introduced to Crystal by my friend Cindy (in Germany). Since I've had a car here Crystal and I meet up weekly for lunches (she's on maternity leave). She's been a lifesaver for me ~ otherwise I'd just be sitting in my big house bored out of my mind. Crystal's baby Megan is adorable ~ and loves the walks we go on. I'll be sad when Crystal goes back to work!!

Friday, March 6, 2009

I need your support!!!

I have signed up to walk the 2 day Avon walk in support of breast cancer research. I need to raise a minimum of $1800. http://www.avonwalk.org/goto/KarenPerkes


THANKS!!!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Our HHG have arrived!!!



I am happy to report our household goods have arrived. We received them on Wednesday and we haven't stopped unpacking. My calfs and back are aching!!!! I don't know how all of our stuff fit in the house in Gaertringen. Josie and Leo are having a blast with tearing apart any piece of paper that have fallen to the floor ~ unfortunately that creates more work for us. Today will be a nice break as we are heading to an engagment party in Vienna, VA.




Monday, February 23, 2009

Argh, I'm having a bad day!!!

Today started off ok, I went to visit my friends in Arlington and had a nice lunch. Then I got a phone call from Tim saying he was going to be home early and wanted to know if I could pick him up (he rides with a co-worker). No problem!!! As I get close to where I'm going to meet Tim (by the way I am an hour early) I get a phone call from the alarm company saying my motion detector in the basement is going off (I thought I bypassed it since the dogs are hanging out down there ~ clearly don't know what I am doing). Then as I'm hanging out waiting for Tim I get a phone call from my neighbor, Kathy, asking if my dog is on the front porch. My little girl got out of her new fenced yard and was waiting for me to let her in:( So, I gave Kathy the code for my garage and she coerced Josie into it. Tim was now due to arrive in 30 minutes but I was panicking about Leo, did he escape also??? he is terribly afraid of the doggy door so I don't think he escaped but I had to go home and see. So, I get home and have one frantic dog in the garage and another in the basement (Leo did not escape). As, I'm leaving to go get Tim the builder pulls up to tell me he rounded up Josie and put her in the back yard earlier ~ she is our little escape artist. After Tim and I got back home we put the dogs in the backyard and walked to the front ~ as we were walking the dogs joined us. Turns out Josie just needs to jump a little on the gate door and it pops open. Argh!!! So, we put a pad lock on it in hopes that it won't fly open. A day in a life!!!!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The "FENCE"



























Wow, what a journey it took to get our fence. First, you have to get an estimate. Second, you have to submit it to the HOA. Then you wait and wait and wait. Since, we are not patient people we started knocking on our neighbors doors (the ones with fences) and asking how long it took to get there approval. Surprisingly, no one we talked to got their approval within the 45 days alotted from the HOA. One person suggested we go to an HOA meeting and that is what we did ~ we were persistent after that with contacting the president of the HOA. He finally gave us our approval a week ago last Friday!!! So the construction began Saturday and was completed by Sunday (just a 2 day process). Josie and Leo will be extremely happy to have a yard to hang out in without being on a leash.