Lübeck...the prettiest German city I know

The last few days have been just as much fun as our previous ones. I already told you about going to the concert with Nele on Monday so I will start with what we did on Tuesday. On that day at about noon Nele's dad (also named Uwe) came to pick us up and take us to Timmensdorfer Strand to go to the Sea Life Aquarium. Joseph was so excited about it and getting to see some sharks. It was a long wait to get in, but we stood in line and learned about Uwe's profession and more about his family. It started to rain on us at one point so Nele, Joe and I went inside to try and keep a little dry. Finally the time came that we could go inside and Joseph could hardly stand himself. Once we got the go ahead to enter he took off running to see the fish. He had been studying his map of the aquarium for almost a week so he knew exactly where everything was located. After going through the exhibits we went to the gift shop to pick out some new friends for Joseph's favorite stuffed animal, Dolphy.

After that we took a short drive to Travemünde where we went for a long walk and had possibly the most awesome pizza ever! There was a sailing festival with many shops and great food stuffs. We walked around for a while and looked at the boats, did a little shopping and Joseph swam in the Baltic Sea. How cool is that?

Yesterday we left the house at about 1pm and went to Lübeck. We did a boat sight-seeing tour which was a lot of fun. I got some great shots on that tour. After that we had a little lunch and then walked around the city. There are seven churches there and we went inside one that was very cool. Lübeck is a very beautiful city and I hope to visit it again someday. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of the beauty there.

The Best Birthday Present Ever :-)

These are pictures that Nele gave me as a birthday present this year. I was so happy to receive them. I think they are great pictures.

My other present was tickets to see Damien Rice in Hamburg. AWESOME! He is a great singer and wonderful entertainer. Nele and I had a really good time. We left her house at about 3:30 in the afternoon and took the train to Hamburg. We ate dinner at Subway (yeah...I know...very German) and then took the train to the open air concert. It was cold and a little wet, but still totally fun. I will treasure that time with Nele for the rest of my life.

Half way through the vacation...

We have made it to the half way point in our vacation and I'm not too happy about it. I really do like it here. There is so much to see and do that I can't even begin to tell you all about it but I will try.

Our first day in Germany was basically spent travelling to Bad Segeberg. We flew into Köln and had to wait there for 3 hours before we could catch our train to Hamburg. The train trip lasted 4 hours and that was where we met Nele and her parents. They all greeted us at the station which was awesome. Nele was so happy to see us and I think her parents were also. That night we went back to Nele's house and had a great dinner with her mom and step-dad. We stayed up a little later than we should have, but still got a great sleep that night.

On our second day I went into Bad Segeberg with Nele and her mom to go the market and pick up things for dinner. It is a bit like our farmer's market, but much cooler and with way more stuff. We bought meet there which was really neat. While I was doing this Tim and Joe were at one of the lakes swimming. Later that day we all went with Nele out to meet her friends in Bad Segeberg. There we walked around the town and shopped a bit, but not before getting some really good ice cream. Her friends are very nice and were so funny. That night we had a great dinner of lamb (never had it before....it was AEWSOME!!) and other things grilled, and some of Kerstin and Uwe's friends came by to visit. It was good to mee them too. We got to see them very relaxed and cutting up with friends. They are all such wonderful people!

On Thursday Tim and Joe went back to the lake while Nele and I went shopping in Bad Segeberg again (it's nice how she indulges me and my habits). That night we went to see Winnetou at the open air theatre. It was interesting to see a show in German. While I didn't understand the words they were saying I still understood the story (it was kind of like going to the opera in that respect). Joseph had a great time with all the fighting and blasts. I think he understood it better than Tim and I did.

On Friday we went to Berlin and I will write more about that later. We came back from Berlin yesterday afternoon.

Today I haven't done much but sit around the house and rest and get ready for a concert by Damien Rice that Nele is taking me to for my birthday. I'm excited about it. It should be a lot of fun. Joe and Tim are out at the lake...again...and should be home soon. I hope to be able to update everyone later. You will have to wait for pictures until I get back unless we can figure out a way to download them onto Nele's computer. We may not have time though.

I'm off to the concert now. I hope everyone has a good week.

Watch out, Germany! Here I come!!!!!!

I am VERY EXCITED!!!!!! We are leaving in 16 hours for Germany! We won't be there until 8:30am on the morning of the 17th (this is German time), but we are still really happy. I have printed out our boarding passes, printed out extra copies of our train tickets, and triple checked having our passports. We should be good to go. YAY!!!!

The above picture is of the marketplace in Bad Segeberg which is the closest big town to Nele's hometown of Gross Ronnau. It's such a pretty area and I can hardly wait to see it. There are so many things that we are going to do on this trip that I can't even begin to tell you all about it.

I doubt that there will be any updates while we are there, but I could be wrong. We are staying with Nele's family so that is a HUGE help expense-wise (honestly...we wouldn't be able to do this trip if it wasn't for that). So, we will have internet access, but I don't know that I will be concerned about using it. ;-) Therefore, if I don't update you all while we are gone you will hear from me after the 29th. Have a good two weeks and I hope to see you all when we get back (I'm sure we will have lots of pictures).

YAY VACATION!!!

Pictures...as promised.

I still haven't been able to get around to taking pictures of the house. You would think that with the move over I would have loads of time on my hands. HA! Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been out almost every day with Joseph seeing all that Shelbyville has to offer. I think we may be done with that. Just kidding. There is lots more to see, but not enough time. Shelbyville is a small town that has a lot to offer. There are lots of parks and tons of outdoor activities. Our neighborhood is full of young families who are out every evening that it is nice so there is always lots going on. Pretty soon I hope to get out and take pictures of the barn that is only about 2000 yards from out house and also the neighborhood lake. It's a great place to live.

So....here at the pictures I promised. Thanks to my mom for taking the time to get these shots before they left on Sunday heading back to TN. There is an addition bedroom that we don't have pictures of just yet, and also the monsterous garage (Tim's personal favorite).

Our new house.
The living room from the top of the stairs.

The view of the living room from the kitchen.

The view of the kitchen from the living room.

The view out to the deck from the kitchen table.

The master bedroom.

A portion of the master bath (that's right...I said PORTION!!).

Joseph's bedroom. He loves the bed.

Another angle of Joseph's room.

Joseph's bathroom...fish, of course!

Joseph's playroom in the basement. It's great to have a basement!!!

The guest room/office/multi-purpose room in the basement (this room has a full bath which is really nice).

We're in!!!!

This past Thursday evening we moved into our new home in Shelbyville. On Friday afternoon we finished up and closed on our old house. The move was hard work on all of us, but we got it done in record time. We had about 20 people from our church show up to help. It was such a blessing to see so many of our friends there. We also had the honor and privilege of having my parents here to help out. They are both VERY hard workers and really made a huge difference in getting stuff done. Believe it or not, we actually have pictures up on the walls, blinds and curtains hung, and furniture in its place. All utilities are up and running and mail is now being delivered. It's exciting to be in a new home.

What about pictures? HA! Please people!! We have been just a little bit busy here. I think I will try and get that done tomorrow so that all of you can see, but I won't make any promises.

Thanks again to all who helped out. Especially to my mom and dad who made it easier on us. We really could not have done it without you.