first advent

the first advent = Christmas markets are offically open!! 

but first... BRUNCH!

an impressive spread as usual!

 small grape. smaller salt shaker.

 I almost talked him into wearing this on our outing.

 We took the train to Stausburg to visit the Christmas market!

 Carsten is a zoom-in kind of photographer.

 It was a beautiful day! It just didn't feel very Christmas-y.

it turns out i'm not a fan of crooked pictures, but I thought I would add this one anyway.

 (In the cathedral)

That little girl is thinking of all the toys she could buy with all those €'s.

 I was thinking of all the bicycles I could buy.

 very creepy.

very crooked.

 

 GLüHWEIN!

 wishing he had  glühwein too.

fancy french

fancy, but not so efficent- we left with soap on our hands...

it was either us or the sink that wasn't working. i'm going to go with the latter.

bathroom on display?

yes.

Merci Monsieur pour la crêpe délicieux 

(unfortunately I don't know if that makes sense, but all the correct words are there) 

 bahnhof

(train station)

thanks

I thought about writing a post about the few things that i'm not thankful for because I don't have enough time or patience to write EVERYTHING that I am thankful for.

But that just seems wrong, so i'll pick a few things...

I'm thankful for:

These 5 people.

Laughter.

One of the first days in Deutschland Emily, Marlyse and I were at Presstrade and saw this thing on the table. Emily was curious so she pressed the top of this little contraption and out came a little tablet. She decided to try it; thought it might be a mint or something, so of course I had to try it (i'll try anything once!).

It was disgusting!!! ...As should be expected from a sweetener tablet.

We COULD NOT stop laughing.

(and for the record I did not see the label...)

 A healthy body that allows me to play the sport I love.

AND... My bicycle (which I am slightly obsessed with.)

DA SUN.

 Travel.

And this incredible opportunity to play the game I love in a foreign country that loves the game I love.

MUSIK.

The people who have stolen my heart; young and old, near and far: my friends and family.

Nature and its constant reminder of my relationship with my heavenly Father, the One who created Heaven and Earth.

It's strange to be in a foreign country that does not celebrated a day that is very special to me and my country. Not to worry, I will find some turkey and pumpkin pie somewhere ; )

I wasn't "home" for Thanksgiving last year either. I got to spend it in San Diego, California with this special family.

the details...

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.

Confucius

 (did I mention it's humid here?)

Today I marvelled in the beauty of the details, it was wunderbar.


In other news...
Last night we played our final game of this portion of the season.
We won 4-3!
I played 90 min at center back.
I took a free kick straight to the chest/neck, that's what the wall is for I guess.
I scored goal #4 (don't tell my coach but I snuck up the field because I was getting bored in the defense, muahahahaha, good thing I scored!).


ALSO!
The other day a couple of the girls asked how to say my last name. I said "It's Grrrrrrrrrrr Din."
They said, "You're saying it wrong! It should be GER (as in GERmany) Din.
Touché.

One more thing...
4 posts in one day!
Oooooooops!

love this.

John Lewis Christmas Advert.

Warms my heart.

oh brother...

Happy 19th Birthday to my baby brother.

Here are a few reasons why I love him so much:

 He's really photogenic.

He thinks i'm really pretty.

  He has a fanny-pack.

He puts up with abuse from his 3 sisters.

He loves Chick-fil-A.

He cares about me.

He's cool.

Heartbreaker.

(and) an amazing man full of integrity, love, honor, kindness, etc...