Finally starting to plan

With 26 days left until we leave for Germany, I’ve finally been able to start thinking about the fine details of planning. I’ve got my taxes started and my car is in decent enough shape so I can hopefully stop worrying about it. Some major shit has gone down at work and we’re just now trying to get everything sorted after a few days of bewilderment.

So, first things first. How will I communicate in Germany? We’ll be staying with my friend Jodi, so we should have free wi-fi and internet access the entire time we’re over there. From what I understand, wi-fi in our devices should work fine over there. We’ll both have our iPads with us (and Jodi has a computer in any event). My phone’s wi-fi should work anywhere we get wi-fi without taking any kind of hit to my phone bill or what have you. So expect regular updates while we’re there.

I have several accounts you should be able to bookmark to keep tabs on us. I’ll list them here in order of how I plan to post.

Twitter – For the brief posts while we’re out and about.

Deutschland Reisen – Like I did for London, this secondary blog will be where I post the majority of the longer posts while we’re there. I hope to post at least a little something every night.

Deutschland Reisen (tumblr) – The abbreviated version of the blog above, I’ll most likely be posting pics here throughout the day as I get wi-fi while out and about.

rocketship75 (tumblr) – One of the photo apps on my phone won’t go as deep as being able to post to Deutschland Reisen (tumblr) for some reason, so you can look here for the odd photo or two when I decided to use that app.

Facebook – I’ll probably use this mainly as a means to communicate to everyone that we made it and are having fun. Photos may be hooked into it as well.

flickr – I’ll be posting all of pics here when I get back.

Unruhe – Not sure how much I’ll post here. Maybe by accident more than anything.

So yeah, in typing this out I realized there are way too many ways to keep up with me. I’d say both the Deutschland Reisen pages would be the main ways to keep in touch. Please feel free to leave comments as well.

LOVEly weekend (barf)

Anniversary and Valentine’s Day all wrapped up into one weekend? Pretty much. That’s how Kristin and I spent Saturday night. I leave it to you to figure out which presents were for our Anniversary and which were for Vday. (Despicable Me UNIcorn not included.)

We went to Red Lobster for dinner. We played board games. We watched the Bayern Munich game and Parking Wars. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

(note: I probably should have cleaned up a bit before taking this picture, so I apologize for my apartment’s craptastic state)

February… amiright?

Wow, already 10 days through February and I have yet to post anything. Sorry about that. The last couple of weeks have been fairly busy, but not enough that I couldn’t have written something.

Anyway, this weekend marks the 1-year anniversary of Kristin and I’s first date. It’s pretty crazy to think we’ve been together for a whole year already. We’re planning on possibly seeing a movie, then having dinner at Red Lobster, lol. We both like RL quite a bit, but we hardly ever go.

This coming Monday with mark the final month to go before Germany. It’s coming fast and I need to start preparing for it. I have to buy a new piece of luggage and assorted long plane ride kind of things (neck pillow). Our flight leaves around 4:30pm, so we’ll be awake for quite a bit of the flight over, so we’ll need plenty to occupy ourselves.

I’m getting back into board games a bit. Played a few games with some of Jesse’s Minneapolis-based entourage last weekend and the game bug bit me again. I’m just glad to have someone to play with again (including Kristin). Not sure how much I’ll play with those dudes, but it’s a nice option to have again.

I’m trying to get a new pair of contacts. They came in but don’t fit right. My eye care provider network is utter shit, so I’m having to work through the budget mall retailers. Hopefully they get sorted before Germany, though I think I may be wearing my old ones over there.

Through January

January is almost over and it’s 44 degrees out. It’s supposed to be in the low 40s almost all week. I am in no way complaining. On the contrary, every day it’s like this is one less day I have to deal with snow and the aftereffects that comes with it.

Dumped a bunch of money into my car yesterday. I got new front brakes, new shocks and new struts. Hopefully that makes it feel a little better than it has the last few weeks. The downside is it wasn’t cheap. I’m glad I got our tickets to Germany paid off because I just put half of that right back on the card. I’m trying really hard to cut off all unnecessary spending until after Germany.

Only 43 days until we leave. It’s coming fast, even if the last week or so has felt like it plodded along. I need to focus on my German for the next month. I need to put down the controller and pick up the pencil again.

Other than all that, it’s business as usual in Minnesota.

Cold, anniversaries and self-imposed pain

My car’s temperature gauge bottomed out at -9 this morning, which is actually the first subzero reading yet this winter. That’s pretty unheard of around here. Couple that with that fact we have no more than a dusting of snow on the ground and we’re having a crazy winter in Minnesota indeed.

I should mention last weekend marked the one-year anniversary of when Kristin and I first started hanging out, outside of German class. Our first unofficial date was seeing Black Swan at Rosedale and eating at Big Bowl. It would a short month later before we would start dating, so look for more on that next month!

I’ve started working out again, or at least, trying to work out again. As per usual, my back is giving me a spot of grief, but I’m taking it easy at this point. I’m sticking to cardio by riding the bike and swimming. I need to lose a few pounds before Germany, or at least get used to walking everywhere.

Germany! and Muppets!

Kristin and I bought our tickets to Germany last weekend! Pretty excited now that it’s a reality. All the plans and ideas can finally be put in motion and made concrete. We leave in mid-March for seven days (plus two for travel). More updates as the date gets closer.

I’ve been thinking of pushing my lease out an extra month when it comes up at the end of April. I know the next couple of months will fly by, so I don’t want to get behind with all that while planning for Germany.

We went to see The Muppets over the weekend and I have to say it was one of the best movies I’ve seen in the theater in a long time. Of course it helps that I’m currently going through a little Muppets phase right now.

New Years this and that

Happy new year! Hope you new years was fun and safe. Krisitin and I spent it watching The Big Bang Theory marathon and playing video games. We went to Toys R Us beforehand, ate dinner at Chili’s, cause we’re adventurous, and came home to avoid the shitty weather that eventually hit. Pretty uneventful, but exactly how we both wanted it.

The new year should hopefully be much better than the last. We’re going to Germany in March, I hope to buy a new car in late March/early April, and I’ll need to move at some point too. My lease is up at the end of April, but I may extend it a month or two so I’m not running around, committing to a place I’m going to hate just cause I needed to be out.

So Germany. We’re going to Hamburg in mid-March to stay for a week with my friend Jodi and her husband. I’m planning on buying the tickets this weekend. Looking at the flights, good lord are we in for a treat. Best flight is three stops: MSP to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Hamburg. Luckily the first and last flights are pretty quick and the travel time looks to be about 14 hours total.

Plans while in Germany? We’re keeping it pretty fluid. I don’t want to have a bunch of big plans to travel here and there and wear myself out like I did in London (which was great, don’t get me wrong). Since we have a home base in Hamburg, I think we might take several day trips out to smaller towns/cities. Good news is, unlike London, we’ll have internet access most of the time we’re there. Expect daily (or more) updates.

So until March, I’m just plodding through life. I’m getting all of my German books out, and I need to get back up to the Y. Between both of those, the next couple of months should go pretty quickly.

Subbuteopia

Teaser trailer for a new film about Subbuteo. Almost makes me want to play again. Then I realize I was horrible at it.

Xmas – In Brief

So Xmas weekend went pretty well. I didn’t get much of a chance to see friends for more than a couple of hours here and there, so I apologize if I missed anyone or didn’t get to hang all that much. You’re always welcome to come up here anytime.

My parents were incredibly generous in terms of Xmas gifts, and for that I thank them. I got an assortment of video games, movies and books. Now I just need time to dig through everything.

Even though the week is a short week, I’m already over it. It’s pretty amazing how much bullshit people can pack in to three short days, especially when we’re short staffed like crazy. Next week is going to be mad. We get Monday off, which cuts out another day toward deadlines. Ah the life of a glorified Kinko’s employee.

My weekend summed up by a single pic

Roxie.owned.me.all.weekend.