After a 7 hour flight, I find myself sitting at my gate in the Frankfurt Airport listening to the charming voices over the intercom politely notifying customers of where to find their gates... quite nice for what I would consider to be 3:30am. I’m restful now, but a very turbulent flight and 45 minutes of walking through the airport later (seriously, I felt like I was going to end up at the Brandenburg gate in Berlin). It’s overcast and snowy here in Frankfurt and I realized this morning why they had so much trouble with clearing snow in the past week: they’re currently using little trucks with plows on the front. About 20 of them, lined up along the runway ready to push the snow around. I giggled, mostly out of exhaustion, but the guy from Belarus next to me also thought it was funny - or maybe he was laughing at my not being able to stop giggling? Anywho, the Tunisian lady on the other side of me was quite excited to get home away from the snow... If Matthias wasn’t waiting for me in Stuttgart then I would have asked her to switch tickets. Tunisia sounds nice, right? Try explaining that one to the man waiting at the baggage claim in Southern Germany. My first impressions of Germany here in the airport aren’t true to life outside these bilingual walls. The lady behind the Lufthansa desk has spoken at least 4 languages since the 10 minutes I’ve been sitting here, and I haven’t heard much German. Though I must say... This is the FIRST time in my life where I’ve travelled somewhere and most people are caucasian and I have NO idea what they’re saying. Might sound far-fetched, but I was thinking about that on my walk down the eternal hallway, the two elevator rides, the 1km of moving floor and the long tread down the A terminal... It’s an interesting feeling...

Cedric also made it to Frankfurt!

Top 30 before 30...

Jon Acuff from Stuff Christians Like is turning 40 in 5-ish years. That reminded me that I'm turning 30 in 5-ish years... He also posted a 40 before 40 list and I stole his idea and did something like-wise. Spending my whole day talking about travel and amazing places around the world has definetely impacted this list, but for the better!
So here it is, in no particular order:

1) Lie on my sand pile in Uruguay - best place on earth
2) Set foot on Europe, Africa & South Pacific (Australia & New Zealand)
3) See Barcelona
4) Watch a World Cup game in person
5) Drive from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Victoria, BC - and visit everywhere in between
6) Drive the Ring of Kerry in Ireland
7) Decorate my OWN home
8) Start & finish a book in the same year
9) Find that place in Panama that looks divine & go
10) Learn to salsa
11) Get my whole head professionally braided
12) Sleep under the stars on a remote beach
13) Celebrate New Year’s on a plane
14) Go on a cruise
15) Have an NBBI reunion with the people I miss!
16) Spend quality time on the beaches of Madagascar
17) Learn German
18) Also, Portuguese & Italian
19) Get a great job at a good travel company
20) Spend a week or a few days somewhere with all my closest friends
21) Hold a NEWborn baby
22) Learn to take breath-taking pictures
23) Buy a sweet lens to take those pictures
24) Sail in the Greek Isles
25) Be the maid of honor in a good friend’s wedding
26) Visit my sponsor child in South Africa
27) Go for a two hour massage
28) Play with a small, domesticated white tiger
29) Skinny dip in the Caribbean Sea
30) Run through a sunflower field when it’s in bloom
31) Shave my head... this is an extra one because I’ve kinda always wanted to see what it felt like but will never do it!

winter wonderland

Deadness covered by a white blanket of glistening perfection... I think that's the best way to describe winter. Don't get me wrong - some parts just plain suck. I just came in from un-burying my car and my fingers are still thawing. But, there's something about the combination of snowflakes, fires, hot chocoate and hockey that make this season truly special. However, let's not get carried away - I would like it to be gone and dry by April 3rd. It's fantastic, in it's season.
After finishing school early today, I spent the afternoon watching movies in sweatpants and talking on the phone with Matthias, while watching the snowflakes dance by my livingroom window. Life is good.
After hearing the romantic lighting in the park across the street pretty much call my name, I suited up, doubled my gloves and headed outside. That's when I realized that the snowflakes dancing by my window, were actually blowing snow from the freezing wind. Man, it's cold outside.