This is the begining of a beautiful adventure...

I realize this is a bit late in being added to the blog, but I wanted to be sure we told as many people as we could before I posted this...

In January, I was still feeling under the weather and could not figure out why. I am not used to being sick and not getting over it, so it was driving me crazy. On top of that, I was just exhausted. Given that I worked a million hours last year, that was nothing suprising to me. I just figured it was all catching up with me. Until I started calculating and talking to my girlfriends and realized, there may be more to it than this.

After I bought a test, Alex and I learned we "might be" starting a rather exciting and suprising new chapter in our lives - "Parenthood"! To say that we were stunned is an understatment, but that was quickly flooded over with emotions and excitement with the idea that our love had created a new person! Our love was too much for our own bodies, that we had to create a new body to fill with our love.

So to take this from a "might be pregnant" to a "definitely are pregnant" we had to find a doctor. I had NO idea how to begin a search like this in Germany. Fortunately, Alex had seen an office in downtown Lüneburg next to another doctor he goes to and he called and arranged our first appointment. My first impression was that I loved this doctor. She is so friendly and kind and really made me feel comfortable. (Her name is Cornelia). The second impression quickly made the first one fade, as I found that things in Germany aren't quite as "conservative" as they are in the States. No blankets, no leaving the room while you change, and no robes... (I will just leave it at that - girls, you all know what I mean)

Still, the end result was that it confirmed our home test. We are definitely expecting a little "Peanut" at the end of August. Alex being there with me the entire appointment was so great. He was holding my hand, and getting a bit emotional, through the meeting. We got a picture from this visit, though it was impossible to make out anything. But the doctor did point out where the heart is, and that was all I needed to see. The little heart that Alex and I created!

New Years with the gang

Over the past 3 years, a group of us get together to celebrate New Years. This year, we got together at our friend Robert’s place in Berlin. I was so excited to see this city, as I really have not been out of the immediate area of Hamburg so far. We arrived a few days early so we could do sight seeing and a tour. Fortunately, they have tours where you can listen with headphones in English.

Here are pictures from our sightseeing:

This is one of the squares – I love the lights!

This is Brandenburg Gate. It was the major divider between East and West Berlin:

This is the Parliament building. The dome on top is where we went to look inside:

A view from the top of the dome all the way into the room where Parliament meets:

A picture of the building in the 1800’s when it was destroyed by the British army: The room where Parliament meets: Alex has his own street here – and there is even an Alexander Square!
I don’t know what this building is, but it is so pretty- both day and night!

I love how they have Christmas markets everywhere with outdoor skating!


I think the architecture of the windows on this store is really cool:
This store is called Ka-De-We (Kah-Day-Vay). It was built by West Berlin to intimidate East Berlin with the money and luxuries they had. It is equivalent to Harrods, Neimans, and Sachs Fifth Avenue.
This statue is a symbol of the struggle between East and West Berlin:
This is the White House equivalent for Germany:

This is the Parliament building during the day:
Victory Tower with Lady Victory on top – built after the victory over the British army was defeated:
This is the Kaiser-Wilhelm church. It was destroyed by the British Army. It is kept as a reminder of what the country had survived:

The Holocaust Museum – a VERY long line to get in there!
Checkpoint Charlie:


These cars where made during the depression from recycled plastic – every piece of the car is plastic!
The only part of the Berlin Wall left standing:
These symbols were used during the Nazi regime. They were placed on the citizens to identify them – anything from being Jewish to being gay had a symbol:
Some pictures that I was so overwhelmed to see:



The way you know if you are in the former East or West Berlin is by the walk/don’t walk signs. These are used in former East Berlin:
Former West Berlin:


The first traffic light in Europe:

The Berliner Dome:

Some of these are random buildings that I took pictures of:



This statue is a woman holding a child and is mourning the child’s death. It is a symbol of all the suffering from the wars:
This was an underground library where books that the Nazis did not want read were kept. The Nazis discovered it and burned all the books that were inside:


The Bauer name means “farmer” in German. So you see it on a lot of menus!
The Berliner Dome at night:

Meeting up with Stephan and Michaela for Mexican food – it was really good!

New Years starts at Robert’s place and then we go downtown for the midnight fireworks. Everyone has fireworks and it was the most insane experience! All the fireworks:



Robert and some of his friends:

Some things are better captured on film: