Czech this out!

(Charles Bridge, Prague Castle)

Hey everyone,

This is Brock, and I am going to post this time.  I know that there are "many" of you that have been waiting patiently for me to dazzle you with my words again, and I do apologize for the wait.  Okay,enough with the crapski. (We just got back from the Czech Republic and a lot of things end with "ski", like "I would like a drinkski", "can I have a sausageski", by the way if you don't talk like this they don't understand, jk).  

We left on Wednesday night for Prague. Usually, it is about a four-hour drive, but apparently everyone else decided to drive to Prague on vacation too.  Well there was also construction and they moved all of the traffic on to one side of the freeway.  You know how in America, when they do this they just give give each direction one lane, well...in Germany they have come up with a much better idea.  In Germany they squeeze all four lanes on to one side of the freeway (aka bad idea). So there is a wall, you, and a semi that is taking up your lane.  After a change of underpants, we made it safely through the construciton and it was smooth sailing all the way to Prague.  We got there at about 2 in the morning and luckily found our hotel. 

The first day we got down to the city and just as we got there, there was a guided tour leaving.  We signed up and went on a six hour tour of the city, which included lunch and a boat ride.  It was so awesome!  Prague has an amazing history.  The tour guide was able to tell us some interesting information about how Prague was before the Iron Curtain came down in 1989.  

So you are probably wondering what this picture is all about.  Well Friday it was my birthday, and I wanted to go golfing so I did.  There was a course within walking distance of our hotel (in Prague of all places) and I was able to rent some clubs and go play.  It was really fun, even though the set they gave me only had 5 clubs.  Arrienne couldn't play with me, but she makes a heck of a caddy! 

Old Town Square Church Tower.  Arrienne was reluctant to take this picture because getting close to the edge "made her bum hurt", I think there are a few of you who understand what this means.  

Old Town Square Tower.  It was an amazing view.  Do you like my pose?

For my Birthday we went to a Medieval Tavern where we had all you can eat food and entertainment.  They had sword fighting, belly dancing (Oo lah lah), and fire shows.   

 

These are some of the performers.  By the way if any of you are wondering what happened to Zach from the show "Little People Big World", he can be found working the stage at the Medieval Tavern.

Arrienne got to hold a huge snake, it was really gross.  I was proud of her because she had to really build up some courage to do it.

Our cool Prague T-Shirts!

Overall, we had tons of fun in Prague.  We ate a lot of sweets and were able to see one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe!

This should make your mouth water...

One thing that I love about Germany are the fabulous bakeries on every corner!  It is hard to resist the temptation to visit one every day and eat something delicious!  As you can see there are many things to choose from.  After having a frustrating moment, we rewarded ourselves with this...

Brock chose a chocolate covered banana that also had some really yummy cookie coating around it... very good choice!

I got this delicious pastry that I had been eyeing the past couple days as I had passed the bakery.  It made the frustration quickly go away. (as you can see I am what you would call an emotional eater :)

Last week we had a fun day visiting the city of Stuttgart.  It is a very busy city with lots to do and see.  This is a view of the Stuttgart castle and center of town.  

There were a lot of "live statues" throughout the streets.  This one was my favorite.  She looks gigantic! There buckets of money are usually pretty full so Brock and were trying to think of our own act we could put together to get some extra money.  That idea didn't last to long because I don't think our own bucket would fill to fast.

It is a very beautiful city.  It is about 11 km away from where we live.  Everything closes about 18:00 in our village throughout the week and 1:00 on Saturdays.  So it is nice to visit Stuttgart because everything is open much longer.  

The reason we look like wet dogs in this picture is that we were soaked to the bone from a rainstorm.  This is a regular occurance right now because it isn't quite summer yet.  So it usually rains a little about every day.  We have to ride the bus or walk everywhere we go so there are many times we get caught in the rain.  As we went grocery shopping last night it was quite the task to get home in the rain without our food getting all wet. (These are the moments when I miss my little Corolla and the Wal-mart around the street, but it's all part of the experience eh!)

Here is a little video clip of a recent rainstorm we were in.  It sure does come down hard!

What? I have to go to school again?

Well actually the key word here is... I get to go to school again! I quickly realized that I was going to be a bit lonely every day with Brock at work until six.  I can only run, look at blogs, read books, and eat for so long. (well actually the eating thing goes on all day :)  So I have enrolled in a class at an adult school where I will learn to speak German! These are some pictures of the room I am in.    I have already gone twice and I absolutely love it!  I go on MWF from 8:30-11:45.  So it does take up a lot of my time,which is a good thing, and I have already learned a lot.  My favorite part about the class is interacting with so many interesting people.  There are eleven people in the class and we are all from different countries like: Bulgaria, Paraguay, China, Japan, Greece, Turkey, Sudan, U.S.A (that one is me), and Jamaica.  It is such an awesome experience to have such different people come together to all try and learn a language.  The cool Jamaican man that sits next to me does speak English so we try and help each other.  The class is all taught in German for the full three hours because the instructor does not speak another language that everyone else could understand.  So yes, even though I did graduate I am in school again and loving it! Here is a bit of what I have learned so far.....

Guten Tag. Mein name is Arrienne Winzeler. Ich komme aus Utah. Das ist in der U.S.A.  Ich spreche Englisch und ein bisschen Deutsch.

This is Waiblingin.  This is the town that Brock works in and where I go to school. We ride the bus together in the mornings to get here. My favorite thing is to get a delicious ice cream cone.  They have the best ice cream in Europe! (so it's a good thing they have the running trails as well eh!)

The building in the background is the Bosch building where Brock works.  He is loving his internship.  He is busy all day, which is how he likes it!

We Made It!

After months of planning, packing our lives into a storage unit, finishing every possible checklist, and flying for over 15 hours.... We finally made it to Germany!  We live in a gorgeous village called Korb.  It is a vineyard town, so every mountain surrounding it has a vineyard on it.  There are trails throughout all the vineyards that you can bike, jog, hike, and just enjoy!  This is the view from the top of a vineyard.  I went on a long run our first day here and it was amazing! 

This is the street that we live on.  It is called Rosenstrasse.  This is the view from the outside of our apartment.  Our landlady is quite the artist, so her paintings are on display inside of our windows.  This is so that people can't see into our apartment.  She described every one of these paintings to me, but I couldn't tell you what she said because it was all in German!

Here are some pictures of our cute apartment.  We really love it.  It is in an awesome location.  We are able to walk everywhere.  It is also a small town so I feel much more safe going out.

This is our own little porch.  


Brock's first big day at Bosch looking so very handsome!

Brock couldn't wait to get to Germany to eat a "Duner Kabob."  This has been dinner two nights in a row and we aren't sick of it yet.  If you have never had one they are delicious.

Student Teaching...Graduation... 2nd Grade Teacher!

There have been a lot of changes in my life the past couple months so I thought I would give everyone an update!  I finished my student teaching at Lakeview Elementary.  I completely loved the experience I had there.  I learned so much and I can't believe it is already over!

This is the second grade teacher I worked with and just absolutely loved!!!  We became great friends and had a blast teaching together.  This is us sporting our matching lunch boxes that she got as a going away present.  I wish I could take her with me to my new school.  She is an amazing, fun, and awesome teacher.

These were the cards that my 5th grade students had written me at the end of my teaching.  They were so cute!  These are definitely the "pay-off" moments for any teacher.  

So after finishing all of my student teaching, I finally graduated!  This was a very exciting day for me.  I couldn't believe I had finally finished my four year degree.  

I could not have made it through without all these awesome girls there to help me.  We all became great friends through the program and I will miss seeing them all the time!

I am so grateful to have such a supportive family that is always their cheering me on with whatever I am doing.  I love you all! Thank you for helping me get here!

The most exciting part about graduating is getting a job with your degree.  So I was absolutely ecstatic to accept a job as a 2nd grade teacher at Shadow Valley Elementary in Ogden.  It is a brand new school that just opened.  It will replace Grandview Elementary.  This is the job I have been hoping for since December!  I know a lot of the faculty at this school and they are awesome!  It was also a great blessing to have the job before I left for Germany.  My prayers have definitely been answered.  

Some fun amidst the craziness...

Our lives have been pretty crazy lately! We are on the countdown to our adventurous summer in Germany and to my graduation- Yay! (I graduate May 1st and we fly out May 2nd aaahhh!) We are so excited but we have lots to do before we go. Luckily, we have been able to find time for some fun with our fabulous families!

We had the awesome opportunity to go see "Wicked" last week. It was AMAZING!! Our sweet and generous Aunt Luann gave us the tickets for Christmas. It was such a fun family memory. I have been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since and I would have to say my voice is quite similar to the soundtrack (haha I wish! but I do sound pretty good in the shower)

I was also able to have a fabulous girls trip with my sisters and my mom down to Las Vegas. We went to visit my sister Shannon and her adorable kids. This is my cute niece Vienna

Boston, Capree, Vienna, and me.... Love them!

We had a great time spending three hours in the MAC makeup store. It is definitely one of our guilty pleasures.

Yes that's right we are wearing matching outfits. We all bought the same shirts and thought it would be so fun to wear them the next day. It turned out to be a little more embarrassing than fun once we noticed the stares we were getting. But hey it's all about the memories right? It was definitely a girls trip with lots of shopping, food, and fun.

Sun, Family, and Fun!

This past weekend we had a wonderful weekend visiting Brock's two sisters in Arizona. We celebrated baby Jake's birthday, Valentine's Day, and just enjoyed spending some quality time together!

It was so fun to see our cute niece Chloe, and our adorable nephew Jake. Brock made sure to bring Jake a Utah State shirt for his birthday. He's recruiting em at a young age now!

The girls had a fabulous day shopping in the best outlet mall in Arizona. This was one funny moment during the day when we found a great deal on jewelry and obviously took advantage of it!

Overall, it was a much needed vacation. We are so grateful to have such an awesome family. The only sad part was getting use to 70 degree weather and then coming home to a snow storm! I pretty much convinced myself that I could make Arizona my new home, but of course I haven't been there during the sweltering summers.

Here is a video of Jake putting himself to sleep after a long day of shopping...