First Day of School

We are now the proud parents of a High Schooler!

 (Mine is the one on the right, for those of you visiting my blog.)

I think her day was ok. She showed up at my office at lunch time to say "I'm in HIGH SCHOOL!" and get money for lunch, which she now doesn't have to consume in the cafeteria. 

And the boy started Third Grade. Our day started like this...

 This boy can whine better than any teenager girl. Ever. But he's mine and I love him. And by the time we reached school (we're walking now, remember) he was ok.

His teacher is one of the most popular in the school. I've been hearing about her for years, even before our kids went to school on the base, so I hope he'll have a great year!

 A military classroom would not be complete without a GIANT American flag on the wall. Right?

Our day ended like this:

Here's to an excellent school year!

We Moved!

Wow... Did you wonder what happened to us? Did you miss me? Well.... I have a reason for not blogging for months... WE MOVED!

So Rob got a new job with a German church and we found an apartment closer to base and to the church. It was a lot of work to move, but it was worth it! We had to renovate the old apartment, which is totally normal. We just had to paint and clean. But it had a lot of rooms, and a lot of nooks and crannies! But before we could move into the new place we had to paint the ceilings, wallpaper the whole apartment, install a kitchen, and hang all the lights. Did I mention it's BRAND NEW?! We're the first renters!

It's very normal here in Germany to buy your own kitchen, even when you're a renter. After ten years of living here, though, this was our first time to get a place that didn't come with a kitchen. It was really fun to design it myself! We had lots of friends from the church volunteer to help us build and install it, so it's all DIY! (Well, flat-packed from Ikea DIY) It's not completely finished, and we're still climbing over boxes to walk around the apartment, so no pictures to share yet. But eventually....

We were SOOOO incredibly blessed through this move! We've been going to a German church for over a year now, and then Rob started working for the daughter church. So it's like being members of two churches even though technically they are the same. It's like those satellite churches in America. Anyway, between these two congregations we must have had 30 different people helping us with all the different aspects of moving. It was so amazing and so overwhelming how everyone jumped in selflessly, some even taking time off of work to help us.

This is something so beautiful about the community we're in - they are ready to lend a hand to anyone in need. They all came in their "painting" clothes, which I can imagine they have worn to bless many families just like us.

It was exactly one month ago today that we moved in and today, exactly one month later, we received the gift of internet! Oh how I missed you... I am obviously incredibly behind in posting and hope to make up for that over the next few months. We're still slowly getting settled into the new place and not ready to take pictures yet, but I have several things I want to share with you, so I will do that eventually.

Mostly I just wanted to say "Hi" and "I'm back!!!"

Draping

I created this shirt by draping the fabric on my mannequin. The pants are my cropped Vogue 1051 that I never properly blogged. The shirt was an experiment and I think it turned out ok!

Prairie Girl Refashion

Does anyone remember when I made this dress? It's ok if you don't. 

I made this dress in 2010. I think I wore it once - for this photo shoot. I decided the length was awkward for me and the slip hung funny and clung to my body in a weird way. So it languished in my closet... lonely and forgotten. Until last night when I had pity on it.

WOW! Did I get OLD? I look like TWELVE in that first picture!

First I cut out the skirt lining. Then I just wacked off the bottom and hemmed. Took about 15 minutes and now I have a shirt that I LOVE! The pattern is called Prairie Girl by Favorite Things.

Vintage-esque Suit

When I found this fabric I knew it was destined for a suit of some kind. I was thinking something in the realm of classic Chanel, Mad Men, Pan Am or something Jackie O. would have worn. 

The skirt is my standard straight skirt pattern using my measurements, but this time I added a tailored back vent, which I am quite pleased with! The jacket is Butterick 5332, which I've made once before. I really love the way it turned out! I'm not exactly sure what kind of fabric it is. First I thought it was boucle, but that's not right. I looked up tweed, but it doesn't look like that either. It's a very loosely woven yarn over a less loosely woven base fabric. Hard to explain... It's a pale mint green and white. Whatever the fabric is I love it! It has a super drape to it so the bell sleeves aren't too stiff, but it has enough stability that the waistband stays put. 

I wore it to work for the first time yesterday and got lots of comments that it looked like the 60's and that it was really nice. I wish I had had little white gloves and a handbag for the photo shoot but oh well!

BTW, did you know that this is Me Made May? Thanks to Zoe and her "Me-Made" challenges I have almost a completely handmade wardrobe! I never would have dreamed I could do that. I decided not to be a participant in the challenge anymore since it's my way of life, but I encourage anyone out there to try it! It's easy to start out with simple things, like handmade jewelry, and then keep building your wardrobe. It's so rewarding! 

Rome Highlights

As soon as I returned from the States we hit the road for Rome, Italy. We had Easter in Germany and then left the next day. We were there three full days (traveling on the other days) but still couldn't see half of all there is to see. Here are some of the highlights of what we did get to see.

Castel S'Angelo

This was neat to me because my University was in San Angelo, and that's also where Haven was born. So it was kind of cool that it had the same name. I'm sure there is no connection.

Circus Maximus

This is where they had the chariot races back in the day.

The Colosseum

Forum Ruins

 Vatican City

 St. Peter's Basilica

 Sistine Chapel

 And I saw a yarn bombing in the ruins! How they got it there I don't know....

We saw several other sites from the bus tour and from walking around, but these were the main touristy things, so that's what we made sure to get to. We'll have to go back again sometime to see the rest. I think the coolest part was walking around the ruins. It's neat to think that you're walking through buildings that are like 3000 years old! It's remarkable how much is still standing!

The District of Columbia

Now that OWOP is over I will share some sightseeing photos from my trip here. I've been here two weeks already, with one more to go. My parents joined me this weekend and between Friday night and Saturday I think we walked 100 miles. That's just a rough estimate...

Just to give you an idea of everything I have seen these two weeks (both with my parents and with classmates), here's a map with stars on the major things we saw. We've of course seen A LOT of buildings from the outside, like the FBI, EPA, State Department, and all kinds of neat stuff. The stars mark the more touristy sights we've been to. For scale, the Lincoln Memorial to the US Capitol is three miles.

The US Capitol is at one end of the National Mall.

We went in for a small tour of the center section, which included the gorgeous dome.

Saw the South Lawn of the White House.

Here they are BOTH on their cell phones talking to family back home. "We're in DC!"

I'm pretty sure this is the Occupy DC camp ground.

That sign says "Human Need Corporate Greed."

This is part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial.

It says, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

And the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is very neat.

This one says, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." Here's what it looks like with the "mountain" pieces. His part is the center and is in front of the two other pieces.

The city at night is beautiful. Here's the Washington Monument at night.

And Mr. Lincoln, three miles down on the opposite end of the National Mall.

It's clear that this city is build with the express purpose of making visitors feel the POWER of the United States. that's what you get from these buildings. From the Department of the Interior, which looks like a fortress, to the ornate beauty of the Capitol, you get this feeling like yes, I'm small in this big country, but I have a voice. Very interesting city. I'm very glad to have gotten the opportunity to be here, and that it was long enough to see so many amazing things!