The Weekend & A Nuremberg Must See

Recently a friend sent us an article- 40 Incredible Secret Places Most Travelers Don't Know About. And guess what?? A street here in Nuremberg is included on the list, Weissgerbergasse! So Robert and I set out on Saturday to find this hidden gem and explore a little. 

Once we got to the street, we realized we had been there before! It was at night though so we didn't see all the beautiful colors and stunning architecture.

The best way to describe this street? Charming, very very charming. 

The rest of our weekend we worked out a little, read on a blanket at the park, ate at a fun biergarten and enjoyed fresh fruit from the markets downtown (best strawberries ever). 

How was your weekend??

Neighborhood Walks with Frankie

Last week was a week full of puppy love! 

We took on the role of "dogsitter" for 10 days to a little beagle named Frankie. One of the best parts about having a dog (in an apartment) is that it makes you get out and go on lots walks. And walk we did. One night I pulled out my camera to capture some German neighborhood beauty.

I just love this pretty neighborhood and all the stunning architecture, it made our walks so enjoyable! Sitting Frankie was great practice for us. We are in the process of deciding whether we want a dog in the next few years or not. We loved our time with this puppy but man it is hard work! So...we are still undecided on the puppy front. I think right now we are at a solid maybe :)

Have a wonderful day friends!

Easter 2014

We had a very low key and great Easter! I admit I did have a little cry session a couple days before, missing family and such who we normally spend Easter with. But man the day came and there is something so special about just spending a holiday with your husband. I realized that the holidays spent just the two of us together will be very few compared to our life, so we need to soak it up! 

We slept in, made an Easter brunch and read/discussed the Resurrection after our meal. I seriously feel like every time I pick up the bible I learn something new or realize details I had not noticed before. It is so neat and I felt overwhelmed (in such a good way) with how God loves us. It is so deep and truly unfathmoble. He is Risen! Just as he promised. It fills me with an indescribable JOY. 

It was a beautiful day so we decided to walk to downtown after brunch. The Easter Market was opened which was wonderful. We enjoyed the sun, market stands and got a few trinkets. As we were walking back home it started to drizzle a little, so we made the great decision to take a nap. A nap with the rain pouring outside is pretty much perfection in my book.

 Love all the blooms that are starting to show. 

Robert had practice that night and then afterwards we went on another walk (with the puppy we are dogsitting) and enjoyed a nice cool night. We explored some new parts of Nuremberg we had never seen. It was lovely:)

We had a nice and relaxing day. One filled with an overwhelming joy for how our Savior loves us. Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter!

Whole 30...Half way!

As I have mentioned, Robert and I are doing the Whole 30 program. It is similar to Paleo, just a little more strict. It is all about eating clean for 30 days in hopes to form healthier habits. It helps you determine how certain foods might be negatively impacting your health. You eat lots of veggies, lots of meat/eggs and lots of fruit. 

Why are we doing this program?
Robert and I had a serious talk one day about how to stay healthy now and for the rest of our lives. We have eaten okay this past year but not great. We were not treating "treats" as treats and had just really gotten away from any self-discipline. So we are doing this program to form better eating habits and habits for a healthier life now and for always. Will we still eat desserts, pizza and fries after the 30 days? Heck yes! I cannot give that stuff up forever.But the plan is to introduce it back into our lives slowly and eat those things in much better moderation and occasionally instead of every day:)

How do we feel? 
We are 15 days in, half way through the program! Wahoo! Honestly, we feel incredible. The first few days we were tired, our bodies needed to adjust. But now...We are way less bloated, have more energy and just feel good. It is amazing how much more your body loves you when you cut out processed junk and eat clean food. Our bodies our definitely thanking us.

What do we eat? 
We eat a variety of protein with every meal...eggs, lean ground beef, chicken, shrimp, ect. We eat a lot of fruit, probably more than we should. So we are trying to exchange some of that fruit for more vegetables. Which surprisingly is the hardest part for me. In the first 10 days we ate a ton of sweet potatoes, they were/are a life saver. Since day 10 we have cut back quite a bit because we got a little tired of them. One of our favorite meals so far is this kitchen sink soup...

We followed her recipe pretty close. But also just used what we had in the kitchen...sweet potatoes (a must), carrots, ground beef, celery, yellow pepper and tomatoes. This was so good and made enough for leftovers for the next day! Other meals...

 Frozen shrimp, sauteed with a little olive oil and whatever spices you like. Eat with fruits/veggies. 

 Mexican meatballs. 

 This was our Easter brunch. We tried to make it a little special. Eggs, fruit, bacon and Whole 30 Banana Muffins. They encourage you during whole 30 to not to substitute "junk" food you were eating before for a whole 30 version of it. Like muffins for whole 30 muffins. But it was Easter and we needed a little something and these muffins hit the spot. They are made with almond butter and almond flour. It makes 12, so you can have some for the next few days!

A lot of meals look like this. A protein, sweet potatoes and a veggie. 

Is it hard? 

Robert and I tried this program back in November and failed miserably. We made it 4 days in, I think, and quit. I just thought it was too difficult. But for some reason this time around it has been much easier. Why? I think because we have set our minds to it. This is what we are going to do and there is no quitting. With that mind set, it is a game changer. We are finding all sorts of new foods and meals like the ones above that we love. They fill us up and it is so satisfying knowing how healthy it is for you as well. We are not just eating these meals, we are enjoying them! There have definitely been times where all I want is a pastry from the corner bakery or we walk by a pretzel stand and I can hardly stand it. And I kinda want to cry (but I haven't yet)! But we are determined and 15 days in we see how beneficial the clean eating is. This is soo do-able, just set your mind to it!

15 days in, 15 more to go! I'll do a recap at the end of this journey as well. I do not want to overload y'all with this information and every single meal I eat because we all know that is very entertaining:) So I will get back to blogging fun stuff! But if you do have any questions, comment or shoot me and email! And I will help the best I can. 

I hope you all have a great day!

I am Back!

I took a little break from blogging to enjoy time with my mama the past week and a half! And it was wonderful. I will do a full post on her time here soon. Basically, we traveled, talked, ate, went on bike rides, saw a musical and enjoyed every nook and cranny of Nuremberg! I SO enjoyed time with my sweet mama.

A little side note: She was set to land in Lubbock (home) Sunday night at 8:15, which would have been after 20 hours of traveling. She made it to Houston and was ready for her final flight and then it was delayed. And delayed and delayed. Something about not having a crew for the flight??? So then after 7 hours of waiting they finally said no flight and put them up in a hotel. But did not have a flight to Lubbock for three days! So she finally got a flight for 7 the next morning (slept about 2 hours) to Dallas, where she then could connect to Amarillo- about an hour and half away from Lubbock where my sweet step dad would pick her up. And THEN she gets to Dallas and they do not have her reservation so she then has to wait for the next flight which is then delayed as well. Can you believe all that?? About 30 minutes ago she finally landed in Amarillo and will be home to Lubbock soon. I was shocked with all the trouble she had do go through- she is a tough cookie.  I have never had this much trouble with flying but definitely heard stories like this. Has this ever happened to any of you??

So now, this week will be a slow one, which Rob and I are excited about. We are using this week to really start the process again of being productive and getting lots of things accomplished. With so many visitors we kinda got out of the groove, which we will take any day! But it will be nice this week to really get back into a routine- cooking more, eating healthier (still working on those March goals- a full recap will come at the end of the month!), working out regularly, reading more-just getting back into a "normal" day to day.

 A few pictures from our past week, some I also posted on instagram...

I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday. Here's to a great and productive week!

Laurie and Layne in Germany

I am a little behind on blogging... I am finally sharing a little visit we had about three weeks ago!

Our wonderful friends, Laurie and Layne visited and I just have to document some of there time here! They were here for a full week and we just had a FUN time. We walked all around Nuremberg, shopped downtown, played cards almost every night, went to the movies and just enjoyed each others company. It was so nice to spend a full week with these two and just catch up on life. We are all looking forward to many more trips in the future together! So many good times to be had :)

 ^^^Robert the tour guide. He literally has the rally ground tour down. It is pretty impressive. ^^^

Laurie and Layne, we miss you!! So glad you guys came to see us, so glad! We are super grateful for you two and your friendship.

One day we took a little trip to a town called Bamberg. And it was the cutest! I will be sharing our little day trip to there very soon!

The Weekend

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

This weekend was a good one with some of our loved ones. We had 7, yes 7!, people visiting! They are on a little German adventure to see lots of family and we were their first stop! They were here Friday-Monday and it was a busy and fun-filled weekend. They stayed in a little town outside of Nuremberg, called Erlangen, and we ate out there quite a few times at some new restaurants for Rob and I...delicious. I was introduced to potato pancakes. Oh my. Cannot even explain how yummy they were. We showed them all around Nuremberg, enjoyed some basketball and enjoyed some gorgeous weather. Saturday it was in the high 50's and Sunday it was in the 60's! It was beautiful. People were out everywhere. Tons on blankets in parks enjoying picnics, flying kites, running and kicking soccer balls. Then on Sunday we walked all around downtown and tons of others were doing the same thing. Lots just sitting outside cafes drinking coffee with the sun beating down and lots walking around with delicious gelato in hand. I forgot how much I love this weather!! I sure hope it is here to stay. I got a few pictures while everyone was here with the phone...

 ^^^delicious Greek food^^^

 

We are so glad that this bunch was able to stop by, we will miss you guys! Now for a nice (and sunny!!) week.