When life gets busy…

…The blog goes out the window… but I bet you know that by now? 

Ok, since it has been absolutely crazy these last few weeks and SO much has happened I will do the highlights version! 

Thursday night, Emily Phil and I all ran the Medtronic 1 mile race. I think it was one of my favorite races so far and I got my best mile time ever! After the race we watched the US 1 Mile Championships. Honestly I have never been more inspired to work on running more than after watching them! These guys are not just running, they are flying! 

Graduation was so special. Having my family from New Mexico and Phil’s come to support us was awesome along with such good friends was amazing. I can’t express how amazing it is to be surrounded by those we love the most celebrating along with us. Having Phil there was also just amazing. As we stood up to walk across the stage I was totally overcome with not only the accomplishment but also how sweet it was to be walking across with my best friend. After the ceremony we had a great gathering our family and friends. Again, I just can’t express how thankful I am for the people in our lives.

Sunday morning after Graduation, Phil left once again for Germany. Saying goodbye is never easy, and I hate it every time, but knowing we only had two more weeks before I came over there made it much easier. Also since my family was here for a week still, it was so nice to come back to a full loving house. As much as I probably would not have wanted to admit this as a kid, I love having a full, noisy house! Having my Mom, brother and sister hear for that long was truly a treat. We filled the week with many things including many long walks and good talks! (Hey that rhymes!)

When they left this last Friday I had a hard time adjusting back to such a quiet house without Phil or family. I think I have struggled more this last week missing family and Phil than ever. Having the house so full of love and life and going to just Emily and I felt like we were missing a big part.

This week I have been working really long hours and just trying to focus on getting to Friday when I leave for Germany! Yesterday I had a bit of an adventure when I had an accident that ended in the ER with a minor concussion. I guess doors and heads are not meant to be slammed together, go figure!  Leave it to me to be the total klutz AND do it when I am home alone. Way to go Katie. Thankfully I was talking to Phil over chat when it happened and he contacted Emily to come home and help me. Oh dear. Thankfully I am recovering and am just a little dizzy and foggy today. Now, can I please receive my award for hurting myself the most? Ok, thanks!

Now all that stands in my way from boarding a plane to see Phil is ten hours of work tomorrow, packing, and cleaning the house and I am off! I can hardly wait!!!

A Whirlwind

Oh Dear, I guess this was supposed to have been posted two weeks ago... Well here is it now!


I have been sitting here trying to start a post and all I can think is I don’t know where to start! Since Friday of last week so much has happened!

On Friday, Phil’s grandpa passed away after a four year battle with cancer. He was a great man that welcomed me into the family without a second thought and will be missed! Phil and I both were quite sad that he would not be able to make it home for the funeral since he is in Germany. However on Sunday morning, I got a text from Phil letting me know that he was literally boarding a plane and would be landing in Chicago that night. I was so excited to see him I literally ran through the house yelling with excitement. With only text messages to plan, we decided that I would drive to Chicago and pick him up so that we were already in the area for the funeral Monday morning.

Before I left for Chicago I was able to get the house cleaned and ready for a house full of family this week and then hit the road. The trip down went really well. It was pretty quick, however I was SO excited to see Phil I think that distracted me from six hours of driving. I made it to the airport half an hour before his flight landed and forced myself to wait in the car for a little bit. I was so excited I could barely sit! When he finally got through customs and out I had waited about an hour, but every moment was worth it :)

Monday morning the visitation for his Grandpa started at 9:30. It was so nice to see  family we have not seen in a very long time. I am so glad that Phil was able to say goodbye and have that closure. We are extremely grateful for such a awesome company that would send him home for this. The rest of the day was spent with family at his Grandma’s house.

Once we left, we stopped and had dinner with my brother who lives in Milwaukee WI. It was awesome to see where he lived this last year and spend some time with him, even if it was just for a bit. He is coming up for the week today, so it was nice to know we would have more time later in the week to spend together.

Once we hit the road again to head home, Phil was so jet lagged it was almost funny! Needless to say, I knew he just needed to sleep, so I had brought a pillow and blanket knowing he would be wiped out and he slept almost the whole way home. I was so tired as well, but really wanted to get home to our own bed and not pay for another night in a hotel. Almost every time we passed a sign saying there was a hotel at an exit I was so tempted to stop! I pushed through though and we made it home a little after 1am in the morning.

Tuesday we slept in and just enjoyed a great day together. It was beautiful weather so we spent a lot of time outside. We also went to Como Zoo and had a lot of fun enjoying the animals and each other! I think because it was such a last minute trip, all day I kept on pinching myself that he was actually with me!

Since graduation is on Saturday, his boss was amazing and said he could stay and walk for the ceremony! I have cried so many times because I am so happy! It was really hard for me to think about graduating without him. In the past two years we have both been working so hard together and helping each other out as we do school, it just didn’t seem right to not finish with him. I am amazed at how God arranged everything so that he will be there. Seriously, every little detail has fallen into place!

Yesterday Phil and I were talking about how blessed we feel. Honestly, just thinking about it now gets me choked up. God has been so faithful to us and continues to do things that are totally unexpected. Phil being able to come home for graduation is just a small part of a huge picture. What a great and mighty God we serve!!

Today the week just gets sweeter because my Mom and Sister from New Mexico and Brother from Milwaukee are all flying in tonight and staying for a week and a half. I have not seen them since Thanksgiving and have missed them all so much! I am so thankful for this time we are going to spend together and JUST CANT WAIT TO SEE THEM TONIGHT!!!

Dachau

This past Sunday, three of the four of us here in Germany took a trip about three hours from here to Dachau, Germany.  For those who don’t know, this was the location of one of the Nazi concentration camps during WWII.  It was a sobering experience. We all agreed that we didn’t really learn much of anything but it was a very good thing to see I think.  While a majority of the camp had been destroyed and rebuilt, the crematorium and gas chamber building was still original.  I would say the most moving or thought provoking memorial was the location behind the crematorium where the ashes were disposed of.  The thought of the ashes of unknown thousands of people being in the dirt at your feet really makes you realize the enormity of what happened during the holocaust.  It was also quite interesting to see the fence which bordered the camp and the trench and river on both sides of the fence making it harder to even approach the fence, much less ever escape.  Finally, the living conditions of the prisoners at the camp were represented in one of the rebuilt buildings helped bring to life how inhumane the living conditions were.  Each of the 30 housing buildings was constructed for 200 people, however by the time of the camps liberation it was estimated that 2000 people were housed in each building.

Completely by accident, we visited the camp on the anniversary of the camp’s liberation.  That is what the pictures of the tent and the large groups of people are about.  Each year on the anniversary of the liberation there is a memorial ceremony at the camp.  The large number people was amazing and sobering to think that each of these people most likely know someone who died at this camp.  Even more than that, there are surely hundreds or thousands of people who were not represented by this crowd.

Here’s the link to the pictures I took of the camp and a few of the castle on the hill in town we stopped by briefly on our way out of town.

Dachau Pictures

Why, Hello…… May?

I am seriously concerned that we may have skipped summer. Yesterday as I went out for what should have been a warm, sunny, spring in-the-air run, my seven miles was met with snow in the air and extremely harsh winds. Welcome May… opps, I mean November! This morning as I let the dog out, again I was met by this white stuff falling from the sky, what is going on?

Needless to say, I am ready for spring. I am ready for flowers in the garden and the smell of freshly cut grass in the air. As I was running in the wind and snow yesterday I decided that I was meant to be a California girl. No doubt. Running along the ocean, citrus on trees year long, yes I live in the wrong state!!

So here is to hoping and wishing for spring!!

In other news… Phil has officially been gone for two weeks now. They have seemed to creep by oh so slowly. Last week I felt like it was never going to end. However this week my countdown has made it under the one month mark and that feels better! From today, I leave in 28 days!

These next few weeks I am extremely busy with work, friends, training in my replacements and family coming into town for graduation. I think that will help the time go much faster!

My Mom, Sister and Brother will all be here for a week and a half and I am SO excited! I have not seen them since Thanksgiving and it seems like forever. I wish Phil was going to be here, but we will have a blast anyways. We have not planned much of anything yet, but I am sure we will be busy while they are here.

Happy (snowy) Monday!!