My To Do List

Every day when I am done with work, I write down in my agenda what I have done that day. I write down what I did in the morning at work, and what I did in the afternoon. I also write what time I got to work and what time I leave. This way, I can look back and see what I've done, if I've missed anything, and have a checks and balances of how I am spending my time. No one asked me to do this, I am only doing this so I can remember what I have learned, because I am learning new things every day and want to keep track of how I am spending my time at work. I feel it is important for me to do so at this point, that way I can also share with my boss what I have been working on when I have my mid-internship review at the end of the month. Yes! It has almost been 3 months, and that means I am half-way through the internship phase.

Each day, depending on how busy I am, I make a "To Do" list. There are of course days where I get maybe one thing done off the list, depending on how big of a project it is, and some days I take care of everything on my list. Somtimes they are only small things, and sometimes they are more time consuming. Sometimes things are time-sensitive and need to get done asap, sometimes colleagues come to me and say, "Kerby, we need this done by tomorrow! -or- Kerby! We need this done this afternoon so the professors can check it over. Can you please make a flyer, poster, powerpoint, insert requested item here?"

So, here is an example of what my "To Do" list looks like...multi-lingual!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Germany isn't really big on Halloween. Nobody is going to come and "trick or treat" at my door, and I don't have to go out and buy a bunch of candy in fear of my house being egged. Nope, Halloween reprieve for me this year.

Last year, I think our first trick-or-treater showed up at about 4:30? If I can remember correctly. We were out of candy by 5:30 or 6. At one point, I just sat outside on the front porch instead of people ringing the doorbell and having to open the door 5,000 times. Plus, people drive their kids into our neighborhood in mini-vans. I'm sorry, but the principle behind it is you go in your own neighborhood, where you know your neighbors. Not to some other neighborhood where you think because the houses are new that you will get good candy. Uhm, not in this economy! Anyway, when I know the kids live in our neighborhood, I might give them an extra piece (that is unless they play in the middle of the street and don't get out of my way when I am driving in my car...in that case, they get what I determine to be the icky candy that is left. Haha!).

The next major holiday that will be celebrated here is Christmas. There are already (and even for at least a month now) Christmas Stollen cakes out, gingerbread cookies and even chocolate Advent calendars. Yes, I have perused the isles, and have been scouting which Advent calendar I will treat myself to this year. I'm thinking Lindt...if you're going to do it, you might as well go for the good stuff, right? I think so.

With this time of year in Germany comes my favorite cookies, the Spekulatius. They are by far the most tasty cookies there are. They smell and taste like Christmas, and they are so so good. That, and they ring in at under a euro, and you can eat two for less than 100 calories. Score!

And who doesn't love Christmas Haribo...don't worry Mom, I will send you some of these :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

P.S. Two times this week, once by my room mate and once by a colleague, on different days, told me I smell like Christmas. I think it's funny! I don't use any special lotion or anything...maybe it's the scent of Spekulatius coming out of my pores...!

Harvest Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Loaf!

Happy Fall!

With fall comes all kind of my favorite things to bake. My Mom had sent me this magazine with some fun recipes in it, and today, I attempted one!

A little oatmeal, flax seed, dried cranberries, apple and voila! Here you have some lovely Harvest Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Loaf. Yum!! Let me know if you want the actual recipe. I would be happy to give it to you!

Happy fall baking, everyone!

Don't worry...this will be going to the office. I did have a small slice though, strictly for quality control!

Sunrise

This was a picture of the last sunrise jog I took before my trip. Now I jog in the evening after work. Still nice, but not as cool as watching the sun rise on my jog back home. Maybe when we "fall back" I will be able to jog again in the morning again, and enjoy beautiful sunrises like this one again!

Kleiningersheim = Hollywood?

When I got back from the trip I asked my colleagues if I missed anything exciting while I was away for a week. Oh yeah, you know, nothing really. Other than they are filming a tv show/movie in the castle and in Kleiningersheim. Oh ok, that's not much....

The thing about living here and working in the castle is that it really is quite the attraction. It is really beautiful, and has a lot to offer as far as a film set goes. At least I think!

The other day I was walking through town to go to the bank and low and behold, the street has been blocked off (I went around the blockade anyway! haha!) and they were getting ready to film. Random people dressed as priests were hanging out around the church (I am certain they were not actual priests!) and everyone seemed to be enjoying the Kraft services.

At first I used to think the bells of the town clock were kind of annoying, ringing all through the night, randomly at 11am and 4pm, non-stop, and then again at 12pm and 5pm, again non-stop. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to me. However, when they film, they actually have the authority to turn off the bells. Craziness! What I once found annoying, I have come to rely on as a way to tell time without having to look at the clock. The bells ring once for quarter past, twice for half past, three times for quarter till and then on the hour it dings four times and then however many times for the hour that it is. Ok, that was a very complicated way of explaining the bells, but you get the point!

This whole filming thing is kinda messing with the rhythm of the town by turning the bells off. But it is kind of cool at the same time!!

I enjoyed playing paparazzi!

Happy October!

Fall has officially hit in Europe. I used to be able to wake up at 6am, get my run in and go to work. It seemed as though fall hit as soon as I came back from vacation with my sister. The mornings are dark until at least 7:30am (and I mean really pitch black...) and the air is crisp and cool. I love this weather!

On Saturday last weekend, one of the towns here had Apple Fest. It was a little disappointing in that there were only about three or four stands actually selling apples, but there were many artisans selling their wares and all kinds of jewelry and art.

Fall is here!

Sisters in Europe

A couple weeks ago, my sister stepped on European soil for the first time. She has some vacation time at work that she needed to use or loose, so what better way to use it than by flying to Europe?!?

We decided that since there are so many great destinations all over Europe that are so close once you actually get here, that we should try to see if we could swing a trip to another country. We thought about going to Paris in France, and Barcelona in Spain. We also thought about London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. I had been to Paris and London before, but never to Barcelona or Edinburgh. By looking at the hotels and everything, Paris was eliminated based on cost. Hotels there are seriously expensive. London was also out, because it just didn't seem as attractive as the other two. So, we were left with two very different choices. Barcelona or Edinburgh. Sun or not? English speaking or not? Euro or not? By the time I figured out the cost of everything, it was a wash anyway. Hotels in Barcelona were kind of expensive. But then again, changing from the Euro/Dollar to the Pound was kind of expensive. In the end, it was just about the same as far as cost went. In the end, we decided on Edinburgh, and it couldn't have been a better choice!

Overall, the trip was pretty interesting! We saw quite a lot of Germany in 10 days, and also Edinburgh. We rented a car, drove on the Autobahn (some portions of it don't have speed limits), went through every small town near the Germany/Austria border thanks to our navigation system, and survived Oktoberfest. Here are some of the highlights!

On the gondola in Rüdesheim am Rhein

Beautiful Edinburgh Castle

 Greyfriar's Bobby

 Where J.K. Rowling supposedly wrote Harry Potter

Possibly the inspiration for Hogwarts

 On the Marien Bridge at Neuschwanstein Castle

 View over the Hohenschwangau Castle and the Alpsee

Gingerbread hearts at Oktoberfest

Hope you enjoy the photos! 

Edinburgh, I will be back!