Last Day!

Mom's last 2 days we took it pretty easy. There's this great forest just 5 minutes from our apartment so I took her there. I took a million pictures and somehow only a couple loaded up to my computer. Oh well. It was pretty. The last time Greg and I went it was all barren but now there were flowers and green everywhere!

Mom found this. She was really interested in it. It is the remains of some building out in the middle of the forest. Weird! She was trying to find a date on something to find out how old it was. I was wondering what it was doing in the trees!

Her very last day we went to this Botanical Garden that was supposed to be really big. Well, it USED to be a botanical garden- 20 years ago apparently. Now it's a venue for concerts. We were disappointed. So we walked around. It had a gorgeous garden outside.

Then we bought some salads at what could be compared to a 7/11 store (do those even still exist? that makes me feel old!) and ate them on a bench.

Then the BEST part of the day! We traveled what seemed to be FOREVER to this chocolate factory outlet store. Supposedly we could get a ton of chocolate for way cheap. We had ALREADY consumed and purchased an insane amount of chocolate this vacation- but why stop now, right? Well, it was HOT, I tend to get motion sickness on the metro/tram/buses and this place was on the edge of town meaning we're riding for quite awhile. We also weren't exactly sure where we were and where to go once we got off the metro. We knew we had to walk a ways, but wasn't sure which direction to go. By the time we got there, I had a head ache and was just in a bad mood. And then we found it! And everything tasted good! We sampled everything! We shouldn't of, but we did, and then we felt sick all the way home. But we bought some chocolate!

Those boxes are FILLED with chocolates. We went in together and got 3 boxes for 20 euros. That's 6.66 euros a box! Greg looked it up online and whatever we bought was over a $100 in the actual retail store. The catch is . . . it's one flavor per box. That's a LOT of one flavor. That's why we went in together and then shared- so we got 3 flavors.

Ok, this is sad. I'm not the ONLY person who ate these chocolates, but gimme a break, I definitely ate 90% if not higher. And this BOX of chocolates vanished before the week ended! I want to say in 5 days, maybe 4? And there were 2 other small boxes of chocolates in the house too. All now consumed- DAYS ago! That was an insane amount of chocolate. I've noticed, things are showing up more than they used to. I never got it until the last few months- or should I say month. I'd be at an activity and someone wouldn't eat the refreshments and I'd say, "It's ONE BROWNIE!!! You really think this is gonna show up?" Oh my gosh. It's showing up. I guess it IS time. I'm far from my teens now and can I really say on my way to my thirties? How wierd is THAT!!! It sounds like a lie but I actually am 27 so I guess it's truth. Wierd. Gosh and it's probably going to get worse. I always said I knew I wouldn't be able to eat this way forever, but now it's happening. I wish it weren't. Now I'll HAVE to have self control, not just think about it.

Mom's haul:

See the big boxes? All the little chocolates? Some of it is covered up and you can't see that there are 3 layers in each box. Important information: most of this (well actually, maybe half?) are presents. It's not all for Mom :)

Well, it was a good trip. It was great seeing my Mom. It was really funny. I realized I have a lot of traits that she has. Things she'd say, things she'd do and I'd think, "Wo, I do that everyday." Strange. The older I get the more I think I'm just like my Dad, but this trip I realized my Mom is definitely in there too! I feel like I had so much to say, but I am exhausted and am drawing a blank!



Well, on other notes . . . Greg started his internship last week! It's going well! He really likes who he's working with. A giant draw back is that we've found out that NATO doesn't hire interns ever! It's just not the way it works. He wasn't necessarily counting on it, but was hoping it was a possibility, something to fall back on. I guess not anymore. So he's starting to wonder if he should've even done this, because he is SOOO pushed for time for school. He's been feeling stressed, but last night we realized, if nothing else, it will be a good reference. He doesn't really have relevant or recent work experience because I supported us once we got married. So that makes us feel better about the whole situation.

Hmm . . . what else? Work's going really well. I was sort of dreading it because it was so awful before vacation, but it's going well. The break did me a LOT of good. I needed it. Oisin has figured out how to give a REAL hug versus the just lean in for a hug hug and it is AWESOME! And he kisses now. Well, to the best of his ability. And he kisses me all the time! After I feed him, when I pick him up from his nap, even after I change him, and if we're playing together he'll stop and crawl to me, give me a kiss and walk away! It's so deliberate! It made me cry! I've been amazed at how much we can communicate when he doesn't say a thing! I think it's amazing! We have so much fun together! We're friends! Everytime I'm holding him and he's smiling at me I just think, "Ah, I wanna do this with my OWN child!" Ah, can't wait.

The weather has been amazing and beautiful pretty regularly now. Oh yeah!!! Greg's cousin Zac came to stay with us for a couple nights! It was good to see him. He works for the State Department, which is where Greg wants to be soon so they were talking about work, applying for work, etc. etc all the time. There are some pics but I'll get to that in another post. Speaking of work- the reality of the economic situation has finally set in. We've been hearing about it and reading about it forever now, but I've always just thought positively about the whole thing. I've been a bit naive about it all. I don't know why, but I thought it was gonna turn around in a year. And suddenly I realized this week, "Wait, it's probably gonna be YEARS." I also haven't thought too much about it because I also thought, "If worse gets to worse, Greg can just work at Walmart or McDonald's." Then I realized, "Wait, everyone's losing jobs. Why would there be openings there? Everyone's got to be holding on to their jobs like crazy!" Then I thought, "Oh my gosh, what if he doesn't get a job at all!" Then panic set in. Greg was calm and tried to reassure me. Then the next day he was freaking out and I was calm. Alteast we panic on different days :) Well, Greg wants to work for the State Department, which involves a year long hiring process- IF you get hired the first time. Greg works with someone that it took 3 YEARS and he got in his first time! So realizing this he's been looking at other jobs to fill in the waiting time. I've always said to Greg, "Work wherever you want to. I don't care where, you just cannot be required to carry a gun." Well, these are the jobs he's thinking about applying for, "Border Patrol, Naval Criminal Investigation Services, Portland Police Department and the Fire Department. Except for the last- ALL OF THESE REQUIRE A GUN!!!! But they come with a good salary and great benefits and they're hiring. Well Border Patrol is, he hasn't check that on ALL of them. Greg wanted me to inform you that he is applying for other things. Greg thinks it would be really cool to be a Fire Man. I'm feeling more comfortable with it now. Last night he told me and I just started crying. I always imagined a safe, behind the desk kind of job. Sigh. But with the way things are, we'll take what we can get. The whole situation is interesting, that's all I can tell you. We're hoping for the best.

OH MY GOSH!!! Here's a tid bit for you. One morning a beer can appeared on a ledge connected to our window. I didn't like it, but left it there for a couple days. Meanwhile Greg sees an old man walking his dog past our window. A normal looking old man. He sees the can, stops, picks it up, looks at it and gives it a little shake. THEN HE DRINKS IT!!!!!! Then he got a disgusted face and spit it all out, put the can back and walked away. WHO DRINKS FROM A RANDOM CAN ON THE SIDEWALK!!!!! GROSS!!!! So today the garbage comes so I grab it to throw away. It's almost full! Greg and I are suspicious (as we were once he spit out the drink). Did someone pee in it? Why would someone leave a full beer on the road? Besides the insane idea of drinking from a strange can that could've been out for days, if not months, if you actually do, don't you think he'd expect the taste of beer and finish it off? Hmm . . . something unexpected must have occured. I don't know. Of all the things I thought I'd never see- THAT was at the top of the list. Ew. It makes me shudder.

On another note, a memory popped into my head today. Pretty hilarious, so I'll share. Now, none of you can judge me. When Greg and I were first married, and I mean like a month, we were going to bed and he wants to open the window. I didn't. He persists and I ask why. He replies with that he is afraid that I'll suffocate us and we'll die in the middle of the night- as in MY GAS is so POTENT that he is honestly in fear for his life. At first I thought it was a joke, but he was COMPLETELY SERIOUS. Can you believe that? Anyway, that popped into my head and I still laugh about it. Hopefully you're all laughing now. I am. Anyway, I'll leave you with that little thought in your heads. So long!