Hefeweizen and Gummi Bears...

Hey all! I hope your day is going well... It's been rather quiet here today. I'm getting ready to head out to the grocery store... I've got my list ready and I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to easily carry the items during my walk back to the apartment. Let's hope! :) I'm actually quite excited to go out and buy all of the ingredients to make a salad today... I've been craving a huge salad with ranch dressing since we moved over here, but I haven't been able to have one due to the fact that they do not have ranch dressing in this country... Crazy! As many of you know, I love my ranch dressing, so not being able to have it here has been rather difficult for me! :) However, my loving family sent me a package last week, which was full of ranch dressing, so now I am on a mission to make my salad! :) Thanks to Mom, Dad, Stacy, Jason, and Kaden! :)

I also have to make sure that I get to the grocery store today because we have virtually no food in this apartment. I've been purchasing the bare necessities during my trips to the grocery store, primarily because I either can't figure out what some of the items in the store are (being that they're all in German), or I can't read the preparation directions on the back of the packages (again, because it's all in German), or I can't carry everything back to the apartment... So, Brian and I have been surviving largely upon salami and cheese sandwiches, pasta, or tomatoes and mozzarella... And I have to say, after almost 5 weeks of that, it's starting to get a little old. :) Hence the reason, we tend to go out to eat so frequently. Although, eating out isn't the healthiest alternative for us either... I've noticed that their primary food group here seems to be carbohydrates... They love their pizza, pasta, pretzels, rolls, bread, etc.!! I'm thinking that may be why everyone chooses to walk or ride their bike everywhere... to burn off all of the carbs they consume on a daily basis! :) Anyways, as I was saying, I need to get to the store to get some groceries so we don't have the same problem we ran into the other night...

Brian and I had just come home from the gym, and we were searching for some food in the refrigerator... and we came out empty handed. So, we decided to head out to the little bistro down the street, which was still open. Now, businesses close very early here in Germany, so there was nothing else open for us to go to... no other restaurants or grocery stores were available to us. So, we hiked on down to the bistro and walked in. We sat down and ordered hefeweissen and then asked for menus. At that point, the waiter informed us that the kitchen had been cleaned and it was closed for the night. This was definitely not a good thing seeing as how it was our only hope for food. :) We discussed walking out and searching for someplace else, but we already had our drinks and we thought that would be rude. So, we sat back down and tried to ignore the fact that we were starving... :) I quickly noticed that there was a cup full of gummi bears on our table; however, we weren't sure if they were intended for us to eat (they apparently had had a birthday party there earlier in the day)... However, me being as hungry as I was, decided that I would just sneak them... so one-by-one Brian and I sat there and consumed the gummi bears along with our hefeweissen... Not exactly what one would consider a healthy meal! :) Now, after reading that story, I'm sure you can understand how imperative it is that I get to the store today. :)

On that note, I think it's time to head out on my 25 minute hike to the nearest Kaufland... Fun, fun! :) I hope you're all having a good afternoon! Miss you much!