Planing Trees - October 2005

As German tradition goes, before you have children, you have to first fall in love, get married, build a house, and then finally plant an apple tree.

We had the first three taken care of...we now thought that it was finally time to get some trees planted. The grass was more or less under control, and it was time to add some greenery.


So, we headed to one of the nurseries that I had seen a hundred times while riding the back country. As with most places in the sticks, the people at the nursery were very helpful and kind.

Our one limitation was the car. Even with a convertible, we could buy only so much. We didn't want to buy much at first; we wanted to test the waters and slowly plant more as spring arrived. We weren't planning, however, planning on buying the Kugeleiche (I have no idea what it would be called in English, but translated it is a 'Ball Oak' tree.


Here is Eva and I with our new favorite tree - our Kugeleiche.


Unfortunately, while lowering the convertible, there was some stuff on the back ledge of the car, and I broke the rear window. Thankfully, there is 'stupid husband' insurance that we have that helped reduce the cost a bit.

Needless to say, a broken window at the end of October is not very practical.

 

Hunter Wedding Bliss

Don't Drees and I look ultra cool in our suits and shades?


The wedding was held outdoors before dusk, and, again, the weather and the surroundings couldn't have been more beautiful.

Here is Tina walking down the aisle with her father. I have to give Tina credit. I bet that she would be crying before she got to the alter. But, she toughed it out and made it all the way through the wedding without giving those tears of joy...


Here's where I get all sentimental. It is truly a great feeling to see a great friend like Hunter marry that woman that is a perfect match. Brian and Tina are a great couple and just 'fit' together.

As cliche as it may sound, I truly feel that I gained a friend in Tina. While she has been a part of the 'gang' for a long time...it is great that it is now official!!!

You can see additional pics of the wedding at http://www.jayweise.com/hunter.html.


The fun started on the way home. We got into a bit of a surprise snowstorm, and I missed my flight to Houston. Welcome to Colorado!

Rocky Mountain High

OK...so the title is a bit cheesy. But, it fits. This is the view from our cabin in Aspen. This time of year is particularly beautiful on Colorado because the leaves all start changing colors. I could have sit on the porch all day just staring at these mountatins.


Joel and Hunter posing for some pre wedding pictures.


Here is the wedding party. If you switch this pic to B&W, it looks like it could have been taken 150 years ago...another one of my favorites.


More pics of the groomsmen. The weather and the surroundings made a great backdrop for the wedding.

 

The Hunter Wedding Preparty

Fortunately, everything worked out well from a timing standpoint so that I could go to the bachelor party and the wedding.

The night before the wedding, we all headed up to Aspen and had a bonfire...all hussied up in our country outfits to try to fit in a bit.

It was sort of like the old 'Wasted in the Wilderness' parties at CU, we were just a bit more grown up now (and didn't try to pee on the campfire, among other things). You see Justin being ultra cool wearing shades at night. I'm sure he couldn't see a thing...


The cabin where we stayed was phenomenal. It had numerous rooms and was very comfortable. Despite the amazing kitchen, there was a lack of coffee. They had only enough for one pot, which was not enough for the 8 caffeine addicts in the house.

I really wished that my inlaws could see this place. This sort of place is not, of course, common in Germany. The fireplace that was both in the living room an outside on the porch was especially cool.


This pic was taken after the wedding at the reception. While the pic looks like a normal den style room, it is actually the men's locker room. Yes - the locker room - loaded with TV's, couches, and a bar. The bathrooms were next door and equally as impressive.

 

A Tale of Two Cities - October 2005

Eva and I parted ways in early October to visit some friends. Eva went to Paris, and I went to, err, Vegas.


Here's Eva, the Ischen, and Annika near the cultural centerpiece of Paris - The Eifel Tower.


Here I am with Joel, Hunter, Justin, and Ize at the cultural center of downtown Vegas - Binion's Horseshoe. We were there for Hunter's bachelor party. While 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas', I have a few fond memories of the weekend:

...being reminded that I am no longer 18
...KrispyKreme Donuts
...being given never ending shit at Maggione's (which I fully deserved)
...falling asleep at the strip club
...every waking minute with my best friends (there weren't many minutes sleeping).

Making a Concrete Pie

With the grass under some control, we decided that it was time to start adding some bushes and trees to the yard. On the south side of the yard, we thought it would be nice to add some granite stones to give the area a bit of structure.

We also wanted to build a sort of planter box for the area near the porch.

So, in my infinite wisdom, we had a couple tons (literally) of granite stone delivered to our house, along with a few hundred pounds of concrete...two days before I had to travel to the states for a business review meeting.

I'm not obsessed with the grass or anything, but it's looking better, isn't it ???


Rene and I ended up mixing the concrete by hand. The first few batches were kinda fun - sort of like making a big cake. After a while, the stones really got under your nails and it really hurt.

My hands were all sorts of torn up by the end of the day - they looked like I got in a fist fight with a cat in a rosebush and lost. The hands looked great for the trip to the States and the meetings thereafter.

Here's the planter box next to the porch. We estimated the number of stones (the weight) almost perfectly. We were two stones short. To this day, almost a year later, we are still missing these two stones.

A few months later, we planted strawberries in the first row and a really weak looking bambus. Both are doing excellently now...

Housewarming Party

After waiting almost 18 months for our condo to be built, and needing about 3 months to get everything settled (and the weeds pulled), we finally had a housewarming at our place with our Erlangen friends.


I made 'american' burgers for the event. Eva thought that they were too big for the 'average' German to eat...so I made a few in a smaller version for our guests. Of course, the men wanted the big burgers, so the smaller burgers became known as 'Frauenburgers' (Women's Burgers).


Here I am with Tobias, our 'Wonder' Intern. It's kinda hard to tell in the picture, but he is a bit taller than I am. Not only does he work with us a few days a week, but he goes to school full time, plays semi-pro basketball, and finds time for a girlfriend.

I'm not too sure how he does it. My time management was quite a bit worse in college (and I think that I drank a lot more).

Note that the grass is looking better...no weeds, but lots of holes.


We even bought a beer table for the event. Here, our new beer table is pictured with our friends in our entry way.

Beer tables are important here...it is sort of a sign of being grown up. 

Chillin' on the North Sea

Eva practically grew up on the North Sea. If the family took a beach vacation - it was on the North Sea. The trick is, especially in late August and early September, the weather. It can rain for days on end, be cold, or windy.

I had been wanting to go there for some time, and as luck would have it, the weather was phenomenal! The yellow 'houses' are small boxes that you can open up and sit on - sort of a fancy beach lounge chair.

Sunset from the beach.

Here's another view of the beach. One thing that was new to me was such a drastic high and low tide. During low tide, you can literally walk over 6 miles to one of the nearby islands. You can sort of get a feeling of the 'shallowness' of the low tide in the self picture above.

It is very cool to walk from the beach for a long distance and not see water...even though you are in the ocean.

Of course, I had to 'build' a sandcastle. I really didn't have any tools, so I just dug to get to some stable sand.

One day, we went on a bike ride around the area.



Eva with a bit of ice cream...no vacation is complete without ice cream overdose.

Ischen Visit - August 2005

In August, the 'Ischen' (Babsi, Susi, Ecke) visited us in Erlangen. Visitors are always welcome...especially if there are weeds to pull.

The whole story of our lawn is a long one...one that many of you have already heard numerous times. But, to try to summarize:

• The contractor planted seed
• Only weeds grew - really tall ones
• The contractor told us to mow the weeds - mowing, in their opinion, was the best strategy to kill these weeds since this type of weed got its power from the sun from the leaves: cut off the leaves, weed gets no sun, weed dies
• After numerous 'mowings', the weeds won. I can honestly say that I have never met a weed in the US that died simply by mowing. I've picked too leaves in my lifetime for it to be that easy. The weeds in Germany are no different.
• I started picking weeds (they were in some cases over a foot tall...)

The above pic is shortly after a mowing. Susi helped me one day pick some weeds...this was probably the only time that Susi would pass up shoe shopping to do anything! ;-)

Here are the Ischen (with weeds in the background).

Texans in Germany - Erlangen and surroundings - Summer 2005

Finally, the last few days of the vacation - in Erlangen. Of course, we had to BBQ and eat outside on our porch.

On Sunday, there was an outdoor quartet playing. It was a very cool event - there was a mix of people coming back from church and those that were beginning their Sunday outdoor activities. The city of Erlangen plans many such events that are free to the people of Erlangen and is a great was to enrich the lives of the citizens and to 'give back'.

It was also great, from my perspective, to see so many families with young children enjoying the spectacle.

We took a hike to one of the more interesting overlooks in the area - Walberla. The small butte has been a point of gathering of the people of the area for centuries - including the festival on the first of May.

If I remember correctly, there orignal festivals were of pagan origin. Now, there is just more beer.

Eva and I weren't really sure if my parents would like a real German beer festival. My mom doesn't drink beer for one. We ended up going a bit early in the afternoon before it would get really crazy with the bands and partygoers...thinking that we would have a beer and leave.

As it turns out, my folks had a GREAT time, and we stayed until closing (11pm). They had a great time and even danced when the bands got started.

All in all, it was great having my folks see my new hometown, and we're both looking forward to their next visit.

Texans in Germany - in Franken - Summer 2005

No visit to Germany wouldn't be whole without a trip to Erlangen and Nürnberg - our new hometown.

In preparation for the World Cup, Germany did numerous things in the cities to get everyone excited about the event that would come in the summer of 2006 - and more importantly to prepare everyone for the flux of tourists.

... so FIFA and Germany decided to put up this huge soccer ball in the old city of Nürnberg. You could actually get tix to go in the huge ball and see a sort of multi media show of the World Cup.
I learned from Justin a year or two ago that it is fun to imitate statues. Here I am trying to imitate Neptune. The end result is the same...the statue remains the same, and the person imitating the statue looks like an idiot.
Interestingly enough, we just spontaneously decided to visit Bamberg. It is a cute city that isn't too far from Erlangen.

These roses under one of the old city arches really caught my attention. This picture was taken two days after the 61st anniversary of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg's attempt to assassinate Hitler (20 Jul 1944). It was a highly coordinated plot, including many of the imperial army (from the first world war) generals. Without trying to rewrite history, many of the people in the room were killed by the attempt, Hitler being saved merely by the massiveness of the table over which the bomb detonated.

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a decorated soldier from Bamberg and is remembered for his act of bravery.

Texans in Germany - the Black Forest - Summer 2005

After the Rhine tour, we headed to the Black Forest to see a bit of nature and to do a bit of hiking. As you can see from below, we are a bunch of tree huggers...

One of the stops was in a small town near Karlsruhe that is known for the 'healing' powers of its springs and water. It has been a center for tourists for decades. Here is mom and I below doing a few laps in the cold water...
I think we looked a bit like we were doing a 'duck walk'...but the directions said that we had to lift our legs way up.
Here's mom and I again, as viewed through one of the old buildings. There was an old monestary in the city center...and added to the peacefulness.
Here we are hiking in the Black Forest. As you can see, the forest isn't black. I think they named it the Black Forest to keep the tourists out...tourists that keep looking for a 'black' forest.

(...they are all green, but the extreme density of the forest, can, when you get off the path, be very dark and almost forboding...hence the name...)