Welcome Back

Hello everyone!

Im back from my vacation and getting back into my normal routine. Coming back to Germany this time was brutal. Skipping seven time zones really just isnt any fun and its taken me a week to get readjusted. Waking up at 3 am starving, then not being able to go back to sleep is not my idea of a fun night.

It was all worth it though because I had a fabulous trip back home. My first weekend back, I visited J in ATL. We went to the Atlanta aquarium which was amazing and had some kick-ass American food, which I had been craving. When the weekend was over, I drove to my parents house in AR and spent a lovely week being a bum on their couch. It felt wonderful to just relax, watch real TV (no AFN commercials!) and have all of my meals cooked for me. I love my parents house! =) Unfortunately, I also caught a terrible cold Day 1 of being there. Thankfully, it only last 1.5 weeks and Im all better now. That Friday, I picked J up and we spent another week with my family. We shopped, we ate (Mexican, Brazilian, Sushi yum!!!), we even got snowed in. After a winter in Germany snow has lost its luster for J and I.

I didnt realize that I was homesick until I actually went back home. I miss my family and so many things that living in the States affords you, things that you take for granted when you've lived there all your life- the convenience of everything, a variety of restaurants, shopping, being in the same, or nearly the same, time zone as everyone you know, television, variety in every form, being able to pick up the phone and call anyone, etc. Dont get me wrong- I love living here in Germany. I just didnt realize that I also really missed living in the States.

While I was away I acquired several new followers, so I just want to say hello to all of you and thank you for following! Im more likely to follow you back if you leave a comment, that way I can find my way to your blog.

This past week was very busy and exhausting:
-We havent fully unpacked (make that- J hasnt fully unpacked yet).
-J went back to work.
-J's car broke right before I left for the States. While I was driving it. NOT my fault (thankfully), but we've been without it all week and havent had a chance to take it in. For now, we're back to being a one car family. (why do these things always happen when the men are away?)
-We had three Dr's appts between the two of us. More on that to come later...
-We hung out with several of our friends. I really missed them while I was away!
-We celebrated Valentine's Day by having dinner at a castle restaurant! The setting and ambiance was so romantic and gorgeous. The food was really just ok, but that didnt damper our mood.
-We spent tons of time with our pup Reese. I missed her so much and I know she felt the same from the welcome home we received. Her mamaw bought her some new outfits and, wait for it...... shoes. Yes, my mother bought my dog shoes. Pink ones at that, with a zipper and velcro. Pictures and even a video of that are on the way. Watching her in those shoes is one of the most hilarious things that I have ever seen!
-We caught up on a few of our favorite shows- Glee and Modern Family. Im also digging the new shows Harry's Law & Fairly Legal. Ive always loved CSI, HIMYM, Top Chef & Cougar Town!

Now that our first week back is out of the way, Ill hopefully be back to my regularly scheduled posting.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend! Happy Monday!

Mediterranean Cruise 2010!

*Thank you for all of the sweet responses to my last post.

*As for the Christmas cards, I chose the 2nd one since

that's the one our photos would fit in.

I cant wait to get them in!

*Uncork & Unwined will soon have a completely new look!!!

I am beyond excited about this remodel.

I've been working with a fabulous designer

and Ill provide you with all of the details once it's

installed. *SO excited!*

Sooo, I'm sure you've all been breathlessly awaiting to hear about

the exotic locale of our latest trip, right? ;)

Well, the wait is over if you read the title.

We went on an Eastern Mediterranean Cruise!

We left out of Venice/Treviso, Italy and went to:

Bari, Italy;

Katakolon/Olympia, Greece;

Santorini, Greece;

Mykonos, Greece;

Rhodes, Greece;

&

Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Since I have a thousand photos, Ill break it down into ports, so it's not so overwhelming.

We didnt see much of Treviso or Venice before we left because it was raining. And flooding.

Same goes for Bari. We got off the ship for about two hours in Bari. By the time we got back on,

we were completely, soaking wet from head to toe. I wish I would have taken photos of our clothes. J was wringing the water from his socks! Needless to say, I didnt get very many photos from that day. The ones that I did aren't very good. When the streets began to flood, we caught the bus back to the ship.

Our next stop was Katakolon/Olympia, Greece. The weather was gorgeous & warm. This was my first time in Greece and it certainly wasnt a disappointment. It was beautiful! I had done some research before leaving and found a winery only 5 minutes from the port, so that's where we headed first. It was gorgeous, interesting, diverse & at only 5 euro per person, very inexpensive. We took an hour long tour that ended with 4 tastings. Surprisingly enough, our guide was a Scottish guy, so we had no trouble at all understanding!

It was a very antique/vintage winery which I LOVED!

There were dogs, cats & peacocks running around the whole place!

Inside the winery was modern, but filled with antiques.

The wines were good and we bought one bottle.

My favorite was actually the sweet red dessert wine,

which I do not usually like, but this was

really good! It was also really expensive,

so we settled for just a taste. =)

This is a pepper tree. Who knew?

It was gorgeous and when you rubbed the leaves,

it smelled exactly like black pepper!

One of the old buildings on the property

from the 1800s.

As we were walking through I saw this piece and

*GASPED!*

I have this very shadow box!

The exact same one!

So cool that Im halfway around the world and see

the same wall hanging that I have stored in

Arkansas.

Antiques from the early 1800s.

Since it was the end of the tourist season, the cab drivers were very flexible and easy to bargain with. Ours waited for us while we were at the winery for an hour and then drove us the 40 minutes to get to Ancient Olympia and back for a very reasonable price.

Ancient Olympia is where the very first Olympics were held in 776 B.C. The ruins are just amazing. I couldnt believe what had survived for over 2000 years. Most of the main structures were destroyed by earthquakes over the years. Even so, there were still buildings, temples and columns standing. It was pretty amazing to be standing in the same spot where real gladiators trained and competed. The actual stadium is nothing more than a large, cleared, dirt field. There is an area to the side made of stone where the judges supposedly sat.

The "Stadium"

This column was rebuilt for the 2004 Olympic games in Athens.

When we got back in to port, we enjoyed some local specialties:

A block of Feta cheese with locally grown olive oil, bread,

taziki sauce & Mythos, Greek beer.

Yum!



From here we left for Santorini, Greece, which was one of our favorite ports! ........



I Need a Vacation From My Vacation!

I'm BACK!

We are back from our whirlwind vacation

and Im ready to tell you all about it!

We have had the busiest month and a half ever

and I have a ton of photos and stories to share with all of you.

But first let me say that I missed reading all of your blogs

and I am really trying to catch up.

Maranda over at My Camo Colored Life tagged me

while I was gone and I was given an award by

Meg over at Life and Times of an Impatient Military Wife.

Maranda asked:

1. What is an amazing book that you have read recently? I absolutely love to read! I read several books while on vacation, but none of them were noteworthy. I guess the last great book I read was The Hunger Games.
2. Seen any good movies lately? If so, what was it? The Town was good, if not predictable, and I loved Inception. We get movies later than the US over here and since we dont have real TV, I never see any previews.
3. What are the last 3 songs you have listened to? I watched Glee last night so it was the songs they sang. I loved their version of Teenage Dream! It was a great episode! I usually end up liking their versions of songs better than the originals.
4. What is the very first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Pee.
5. Do you have a 'before bed time' routine? What is it? Pee, brush my teeth, wash my face, strip and climb into bed. These days, it also includes turning on the heater in our room first to warm it up a little!
6. What is your favorite snack? Cheese & fruit
7. Do you order the same thing off the menu every time or do you change it up? I almost always change it up. I want to experience it all.
8. What is your favorite hobby? Traveling of course!

Thank you so much Meg!

I am so happy Meg gave me this award, simply because

it made me aware of her blog.

I spent some time yesterday catching up on her posts and

I love her blog!

Be sure to stop by if you haven't already.

The rules are:

Thank and link to the awesome giver of award.

(Life and Times of an Impatient Military Wife)
Share 7 things about yourself.
Pass it on to 7 blogs you have recently discovered and enjoy
Leave the recipients a note telling them about their award

Seven things about me:

I love to listen to music while cooking, cleaning, etc.

I love Grooveshark, but miss Pandora

I am beyond happy that the commissary finally has pumpkin spice creamer

I am tired of all the rain

I have always wanted to paint and am going to begin learning very soon

I wish I was multilingual

I am almost done Christmas shopping

Since most people have already received this award,

Im going to be a downer and not pass it on,

but all of my favorite blogs deserve it.

I am going to start uploading the thousands of photos

that Ive taken over the last 6 weeks and

once that's done, Ill start blogging about

our latest adventures!