Showing posts with label apartment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apartment. Show all posts

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Drinnen (indoors)

Despite what this blog implies, we actually do some work in between bike rides and exploring.  Here's a sample of what Rand has helped missionaries with during the first half of our mission.  (I keep thinking there's another word for what we're doing - service, projects, unpaid employment...) 


And here's a sample of what I'm doing - call and release letters and certificates, ordering badges for Church Service Missionaries around the area. These are the main countries whose letters we initiate; we also serve the Scandinavian countries, UK and Cape Verde.


Our kitchen sink was stopped up so I washed dishes in the bathroom sink; which really wasn't that different from the kitchen. 

Can't remember what I was doing online but they needed me to prove I'm not a robot and look what the words were! Did they know I was in Germany?




When we visited one of our Primary student families, they showed us a wheel their children use when they're having interpersonal problems.  Might work for senior missionary spats too.  :) JK.


Our neighbors asked us to water their plants and bring in their mail while they're out of town. This catalog caught my eye and I love that it has some older models. Makes me want to start a new look, if they weren't so expensive.

Still indoors, look what our local drug store has - a changing stand with free diapers. Wow!  

The Black Forest Museum in Triberg was amazing! This is what people dress up in for Fasnet (Mardi Gras). And we think American Halloween is wild...

Lastly Rand and I went to a marvelous souvenir shop.  Check it out and let me know if you want us to bring or ship something home for you. 











Saturday, April 4, 2015

Das tägliche Leben (Day to day living)

Are we always eating, you wonder?  Probably.
Our wonderful German/Serbian neighbors came for enchiladas.



Feils are Public Affairs missionaries. Aaron Ruble is an amazing ward member, just arrived from government work in Mali and Afghanistan. 
His family will arrive soon.


Janice Purdy and I prepared dinner for a stake YW/YM event. 

Youth are fun and lively all over the world.


The amazing Francois family invited us for dinner and FHE.
They all speak French, Russian, German and English - wow!

Cheri and John sent us a very generous and welcome care package. I forgot how much I miss Fritos!

Here are some of the sisters who come to Conference Talks Study Group.
I love Tuesdays when we discuss and share our thoughts and testimonies of Jesus Christ.


Our first visit to a hospital. A ward member and senior missionary were patients there. Rand helped diagnose Elder Moyes' pain -
hooray for the Area Medical Adviser!


When the weather's bad (often), we walk 13 flights of stairs for exercise. 


Rand also joined a local gym. Fitness First is a great facility except for the coed sauna and 
women janitors in the men's dressing room. That's Europe for you.


While we're on complaints, graffiti is rampant in Germany. Interesting how we haven't noticed 
as much in Holland or Belgium.



We observed a Turkish wedding celebration right outside our apartment.



Rand and I went to Ghost at the English Theater,
thanks to a gift from brother Tom and Shirl. Thank you!



A few of us got together to watch the General Relief Society Meeting at the office.  



Finally, watch this for a powerful




Thursday, March 5, 2015

Accustomed

Our previous stage of  Adjustments is progressing to "Accustomed"

Some of the things we're getting used to are:

1 - wearing church clothes everyday

even when we're playing silly FHE games                      and feeding cute young adults


2 - junk piles on the street 


When a tenant moves out of an
apartment, the whole place is gutted.                           Although Sister Matheson and I hauled this
Don't ask me why a country who is                              chair up to her apartment from the junk pile.
meticulous about recycling doesn't have a
Habitat for Humanity or something for
used household furnishings.

3 - shelf toilet
Somehow my nose shuts off when I go into the bathroom so it doesn't bother me anymore. Miracles!

4 - cigarettes galore

Cigarettes are sold in vending machines on the streets. 
But most smokers are respectful and stay outside.


5 +  We're also becoming used to apartment living with neighbor noises, the gray weather (thanks to a light box and upcoming spring), German frankness (last week at our place when a German friend cooked a typical meal for us and another missionary didn't eat much, the German said "I'll never cook for you again."), We're also enjoying a simpler life, not feeling pressure to buy stuff for our home and clothes, more prayers and scripture study, time at the temple, walks, reading, (two great books)




and my overall favorite: Facetime, Photo Stream and Hanging Out!








(Nick's usually between classes so we just talk and don't get him on camera much.)

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Holidays

Our Christmas tree

The sister missionaries came for Christmas dinner. Nothing fancy but they were mostly here so they could Skype/Hangout with their families on our laptops - very fun! Looks like two dinner guests is our limit.


Snow and a day of sunshine!


Missionaries having a snowball fight on pday

Keeping with tradition, we went to a movie at the Wiesbaden military base with Sharon Greenwood. Do you remember when movie theaters were this big?  They even started with everyone standing for the Star Bangled Banner. Yea America!


 The girls sent this of their unplanned matching scarves.  Love them!

 Dave continued his masterful White Elephant art of Nick, "Whistler's Father."

Elise, Ted and Julian in McCall.  Always prepared in case Julian gets hungry. :)


A bad odor in our bathroom (it wasn't just from the shelf toilet) evolved into a full-blown leak from upstairs. Since Germany shuts down for two weeks, we don't expect resolution for awhile. Makes for really cold bathroom stops since we're keeping the window open most of the time.



Some of the elders joined a lot of us senior missionaries for New Year's Eve. Aren't they a wonderful-looking group? 

Crazy fireworks in the streets. We had a great view from the Bangerters' 10th floor balcony.


Happy 2015!

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Porthstrasse 11

Quick post of our Frankfurt apartment.  More to come.

Come in the door

Our bedroom, including federdeckes

a second bedroom! - Surprise to us so come visit!
Notice the sunglasses on the desk, not in my purse.
Looks like I won't be needing them in Frankfurt since the sun shines a mere 50 days per year.

Reasonable bathroom, including clothes dryer and authentic German shelf toilet.


Kitchen with Rand's yummy brot.
The appliance on the left isn't a dishwasher, it's the clothes washer. It has everything else (well except a garbage dispoasl - not the German way)


 Living room with cute German booth


We have a balcony with living plants (let's see how long they last with me caring for them)

the skyline