Church Adventures

Today we got a chance to visit our new ward. I was totally anxious, as I know most of my closest friendships will probably be created amongst these people. It's amazing that no matter where I go in this world, I literally have brothers and sisters (a whole freaking ward family of them) waiting to make sure that I am happy, healthy and loved. These wonderful Saints did not disappoint. Not only did we get a ton of offers to help us out, but we also got a dinner invite for this evening and a play date set up for this week.

The ward is half foreign nationals and half native German. Sacrament meeting and Relief Society are in German (it's translated for me through headphones) and gospel doctrine is in English. There are quite a few nursery/primary children and a handful of young women (babysitters!). We stayed with Abby for a few minutes to get her settled in nursery, then she showed her independent spirit and kicked us out. Some things never change.

This is snapshot of my big tummy (28 weeks):

Abby with a strawberry mustache:

Taking the subway to church:

These are some of the awesome houses around the church. The church is located about 15 minutes from the neighborhood we're going to live in.

This is our church:

Simply Heaven

Jeremy and I did a lot of research before we moved to Berlin. We wanted to make sure we moved into a neighbourhood with lots of history and culture, good preschools, that was close to church and Jeremy's work, and safe. We knew we wanted to hit the ground running on the house hunt ASAP. Via the Internet, we narrowed it down to one area: Zehlendorf.

Today we went to visit our new hood. We left the subway station and entered a world of farmers markets, children, dogs without leashes, cobble stone and tree-lined roads, houses with histories, street vendors and musicians, friendly faces eager to give a "guten tag" and delightful speciality stores and delis. In one word: HEAVEN.

We have some great leads on houses for rent; although I'm tempted to buy and stay forever.

Here is a small sample of the beautiful houses (most clearly out of our price range):

I can't wait to live on street like this:

There are super awesome trails that connect the neighborhoods together. This city is perfect for biking and walking.

This is one happy husband.

I'm obsessed with farmer's markets and street vendors.

Abby thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream.

Abby could barely handle all the excitement and needed to sleep off some of the joy.

Creamy dips, fresh bread and olives = happy days.

Our Digs

Staying in a hotel for over a month has its bonuses -- free breakfasts, an attentive staff and a sweet upgraded suite to help us endure the trauma of an international move.

This is the living room:

This is the guest bathroom:

They were kind enough to leave us some welcome presents (wine and crackers, whole milk for Abby, a fruit and chocolate tray, etc).

Jeremy and I have a huge bed that is really two individual beds pressed almost together. It's really funky to see him rolling over but not feeling it on my side. Too bad there wasn't a snore shield that went with it.

Here is our master bathroom:

We have two long hallways in our suite for Abby to run up and down:

Abby spends most of her time hanging out on the window ledge looking down at the cars, bikes and buses.

Here are the views:

Just enough room for some Tom Foolery:

A First Look / Random Thoughts

We ventured out and about yesterday to see some of the historical buildings around our hotel.

This is a performing arts center (opera and symphonies):

Abby clearly wants to go to this university.

Here must be an old knowledgeable dude.

I love the old buildings and jazzed-up window frames and balconies.

We have no idea what this pretty building is.

Jeremy had to stop Abby from running on the road in front of this building. She was seriously mad we didn't let her become road jam. The mean things parents do.

We were about a minute late from meeting this clearly influential French person. I love to watch motorcade protection guard important people. It brings me back to my days in DC. I'm all over political drama.

Random thoughts about Germany:

This is day three for us in Berlin and I've seen about five kids. I have no idea where they are all hiding. It might be possible that Berliners just birth out their kids at age eight. It might also be possible that they don't have kids anymore because most people here seem appalled that we have one. I've never gotten more nasty looks or shocked stares. This is even more concerning as Abby has been INCREDIBLY good for the past few days. Wait until she has a bad day; we might just be deported.

The food here is delicious. I think I've already ate my weight in Kinder Eggs, Haribo gummi bears and Nutella. Pregnant people with cravings should not be allowed to move here. I'm also brimming with joy that there is such a huge Turkish population here. I could eat doners every day of the week. Fan-freakin-tastic.

I'm a little disappointed that people in Europe smoke just as much as people in Japan. It's so weird to see kids smoking and drinking right out in the open. It's not like teenagers don't drink in other countries, but we're not quite so obvious about it. At least I didn't think I was :)

Abby Chat

It's been a while since I shared some of Abby's crazy. Here are some quick thoughts.


Lights, Camera, Abby!

Abby loves to turn showgirl every time she spots a "microphone." Whether it's the reading light on the plane or the headboard lights on our bed, she adjusts the mic to her level and belts out one of her nursery jams. You better believe she's the only one allowed to sing karaoke. If I try to join in -- or attempt to take the mic -- that girl will scratch you right in the face. Nobody puts Abs in the corner.

Top Chef

The hotel breakfast buffet is INSANELY expensive. It's about $40 a person. Luckily we get it free since we're basically living in the hotel. I'm sure they wanted to rescind the offer when they saw we had a kid. Abby decided to class up the joint by:

A. Letting everyone know that -- "Abby's poop is hiding. I found the poops. Stinky is in the toilet."

B. Critiquing the food loudly -- "Yuck! Don't eat it, Mommy."

C. And spent 50% of the meal picking her nose openly and proudly. "Abby put her boogie in the napkin. You're welcome."

Keeping Things Fair

Abby is so happy I'm pregnant. She likes to talk to her brother and sing him songs. I thought it would be fun to let her feel the baby moving in my belly. She looked pretty confused and crawled up on the couch to get a better feel. While I was basking in watching my delightful children play for the first time, she roundhouse kicked me to the gut. She followed that little ditty with this announcement, "Brother kicks mommy. Abby wants to kick mommy." And the sibling rivalry starts already....

Missing You Already

This was the last photo of me taken in Japan. I look surprisingly thin and not pregnant. I should carry a balloon around with me all the time.

One of the hardest things about moving is leaving all the wonderful friends (aka my Japan family) behind. I really made the most of my time and got to know a ton of people. I'll miss all my enrichment groups: book club, cooking class, lunch bunch, playgroups, bible study groups, running groups, etc. It's amazing how much I learned from all of the wonderful people I was so blessed to spend my time with.

Living so far from home means you have to really depend on your friends to meet your emotional, temporal and spiritual needs. Japan did not disappoint. I only hope I was able to give of myself so freely and loyally in return.

To my friends in Japan: you are so missed. I know we'll meet again somewhere in this crazy world. Thanks for making my life brighter and more full. What an incredible adventure you are all on. How blessed we are!

To my Heavenly Father: thank you so much for Facebook. I think I would die without it.

Jenga

Jenga is the best game ever, especially when you play it with spaghetti sticks instead of wooden blocks. Note to self, closing my eyes does not make the mess go away.

Just dare me to break them in half...

What's that over there?

I'll just throw this goodness right in your eye!

Who says you can't put drama back in the box?

The Ninja Shower

This amazing mom just popped out her fourth kid. Crazy, I know. We had a baby shower to welcome baby Emery to the world. Her kids are the cutest! Lisa always cracks me up and her shower was all laughs and giggles!

I was super happy that I got to spend some time with my friend Christy before I left. She is so much fun.

We normally don't bring the kiddos to baby showers (kind of ironic!) but Jeremy away on business and Jill's husband was TDY. The kids were thrilled to be a part of the excitement.

Kim, the party's host, had to pick up a friend at the airport. This was a great opportunity to play some tricks on her while she was gone. I quickly took her ninja pull-apart dolls and put the heads on her Japanese show dolls. Serious fun. She didn't notice until the next day.

I love that the baby is stabbing his mom in this little ditty.

Welcome to the world, baby Emery. Hope you have as much fun in it as I do :P