brace urselves..this is kinda long...

Life is beyond a bit crazy and hectic, but what am I doing...at this point, just chillin', soaking it up, actually enjoying it.  We've moved 3 times now in the last four years, and we will move once more when we go back to the states.  Hopefully back to Colorado, I left a little tiny piece of my heart there and I want it back.  So moving back would be the only natural thing to do.  We have thought about buying a house there while we live here, but still in the 'thinking about' phase....

So, we are living in an apartment until we move into our house in a few weeks.  Apartment life has been cool.  A cleaning lady comes every week to clean up after us, which, I have found I thoroughly enjoy.  Im not a pig, well, maybe I am, I am kinda a messy person, that likes to clean though.  But having someone else do it is suuper cool.  She is so nice and only speaks Russian, so I cant understand her and she cant understand me, which makes a very zenful and harmonious situation if you ask me!

So is it different in the Pflatz than in Bavaria???....YES, it is!  Where we lived in Bavaria, it was remote, like living in the country.  None of the locals spoke English, and people were very to themselves.  Everything was very by the book, very, very tidy, and cookie cutter like.  I did enjoy the solitude and the ENDLESS riding possibilities.  The skiing, the riding, the beer, the fact that it felt like you were living in a foreign land...
which brings me to living in Ramstien/Kaiserslautern.  First off.  I live in a little village near K-town as they call it.  It is VERY hilly, which I know is going to make me an amazing climber come next season.  Hills that definitely would remind you of a scene out of the Sound of Music, with cows, sheep, and wildflowers, green as the far as the eye can see...
Anyway..back to the original thought, well, here in the "big" city, I have found, pretty much everyone speaks English!  When going to ikea to buy a bunch of furniture, we did not have to speak German, because to our surprise, the elderly German woman who ordered our stuff for us spoke English, almost perfect.  We go out, we use our Deutsch, but are always replied to in English.  I figure, we are just being returned the favor, and of course we know our Deutsch is not, well far from, perfect.  People also dont look all the same.  People are very individualistic which is nice change.  It just is way more people here, some places look kinda dirty with trash, but not everywhere.  K-town is pretty cool, enjoy just going shopping, walking around and finding a nice cafe to sit at and people watch whilst drinking a wiezenbier.  Its absolutely beautiful here too.  Bavaria, I thought took the cake, and there are places that cannot even compare, but I think they are both beautiful.  The landscape is a bit diff here, but they both are equally scenic in my book.

I just dont want to EVER, ever sound like I dont appreciate this experience!  I know how lucky we are.  My husband has "paid his dues", through education, other jobs and graduate school to be able to have a very good and secure job.  Im sooo happy and grateful we get this opportunity!

There are just so many more people, ALOT of Americans and much more to do.  There is a surprisingly amazing amount of riding, I will be hopping off the mountain bike and start getting on the cross bike, I think I will partake of a few cyclocross races if possible, but not before I do a 13 mile off road running, yes, I said running race in October!  I have started running and building up to this distance.  Justin does 20 miles the day before mine, then I do 13.  It is supposed to be over crazy terrain.  You are required to wear a backpack, carry first aid, etc.  Im EXCITED>  .  My racing season is pretty much kaput with the move.  Although Justin has been racing. He raced marathon WORLDS< yes!  But had some mechanicals that forced him to abandon ship.  This past weekend, he raced a U. S. Forces race in Spangdahlem.  I was not able to go watch (it was raining, and I didnt feel like going), but he won and used it as some training.  He is racing an XTERRA in two weeks.  It is basically a hardcore off road triathlon.  He swims in a lake, runs off road and then mountain bikes.  It sounds so much fun, and watching him train for it has been insightful.  Im actually kinda interested in triathlon myself.  I have done a few in the past, but I really have an itch, but its just a little itch at this point..

We drove over to France and bought a bunch of wine, cheese, baguettes, etc because a friend told us about this store right across the border, so had to go.  Driving on the autobahn, it took us 24 minutes to get home.

I just have a lot of thoughts and excitement for the future.  Im VERY excited to move into our house.  It is HUGE!  It has an amazing yard.  It is on a bike path.  We only have a few neighbors, which is nice.

It will be nice to just get back in the swing and start training for next season.  We do have a trip to the states in December, but aside from that, my focus will be on season 2011!!  Heck Yeahhhhhhh!!!!!

We are ready to move into the house and we have friends from the states coming in Sept.  My husband loves his job and the bike path goes straight from our house to his work, so he's happy for commuting.  Im toying with starting back up my massage business, and other stuff...my son starts 3rd grade in two weeks, my little 3yr old is going to go to daycare, giving me some extra time to train.  Justin and I have a plan, I train days, he gets evenings, the life of married with kids....lots going on...

All I know is...Life is good.

where have i not been?!!?!!

This past month has taken me on many adventures.  We have been to two different countries and have had numerous adventures.  I dont have time to post any pics right this sec, but I will in the coming days.

The first part of the month, we headed over to Cesky Krumlov for a fun rafting trip with friends on the Vltava river.  It was amazing!!  If you have the chance to go the the Czech Republic, GO TO CESKY KRUMLOV!  By far, this was the best place I have been in Europe thus far.  It is a small city situated on the Vltava River, the same one that runs through Prague.  It has a beautiful castle, and the city streets are all cobble and the buildings old with medieval history brimming your historical flavor..I actually found out that Hostel the first movie was filmed here.  It has this amazing warm, friendly ambiance that cannot be replaced by the big city.

We took our raft for 5 hours and made pit stops along the many little side bars/restaurants, much good Czech beer was had!  My favorite was Eggenberg.  sp?  But sooo good!

Then we moved out of our house in Bavaria, and headed for the alps.  Garmisch, another amazingly beautiful alpine town was fun, then through Austria, back to Deutschland to our new home, Ramstein/Kaiserslautern.  We have been here almost three weeks, living in a temp apartment looking for houses.  It has been an exhausting experience, as there are at least hundred of other people in the same boat.  It has become cuttthroat for this way too mellow, laid back family, but of course we have adapted, which got us into our new home.  We offered thousand euro down as a deposit on the spot to rent what is basically our German dream home.  We move in Sept 1!  We have a huge yard, a brand new, yes BRand NEW 5 bedroom large home, in the country, unlimited Bike access/trails, we live in a very HILLY region, so climbing should be an asset and not a weakness next season.

On the downside to all the traveling and moving, my riding has gone to the wayside.  I am very dissapointed, but next year will be better, and Im not giving up on my season, I just know that its not going to be at my highest level.  Justin is racing marathon WORLDS next weekend, so that will be good.

Anway...pics to come...peace, Angie