Being Thankful...

Hey all!  So, I woke up this morning feeling sort of homesick.  It's another cold, rainy, windy, all around dreary day, and I'm sitting at home by myself.  And I kept thinking about how over the past 2-3 months, I haven't spent more than an hour by myself, so it seems kind of weird to be sitting in such a quiet apartment, alone.  I then realized that it was Friday, and unlike the past few months, I literally have no plans for the weekend.  I'm not quite used to not having anything to do... For those of you who know me, you know that I love staying busy, and the past few months at home have kept me extremely busy! :)  Needless to say, I started to feel slightly melancholy and I started thinking about what my Friday's consisted of over the past few months...  Going to the movies with Stacy to watch the newest "chick flick" with Starbucks Frappuccinos in hand,  trips to Na-Tah-Ka, staying at home and watching "What Not to Wear" and having Kaden proclaim that "'Fika outshide..." when mom and dad walk into the living room,  hanging out in the family room with everyone and falling asleep because it's so cozy and warm in there, and the list could go on...  Of course, reminiscing about all of these things made me even more homesick, and had me a little teary-eyed and I was starting to go into that whole "I feel sorry for myself" mode, but then I got a phone call and it kind of put things into perspective...

My friend, Eva, called me to welcome me back to Germany.  During our conversation, I found out that our friend, Val, has been in the hospital for about a week.  She was having some problems and went in to have them checked out, and found out that she had a pretty aggressive form of uterine cancer... Thankfully, they caught it in the early stages, but she still had to undergo a pretty intensive surgery on Monday and starting next week, she'll have to undergo chemo for three weeks.  It so sad!  She's such a sweet woman and it's so unfortunate that something like this should happen to her... And to make it worse, she's not even from Germany... She's only been here about 6 months longer than I have... Can you imagine, being sick and being so far from home?  Scary!  

After I hung up the phone, I looked out the window and caught a glimpse of the lake and the mountains on the other side... They were standing there, all serene and beautiful, and as I stared at them, I thought about all of the things I had to be thankful for.  Here I am feeling sorry for myself, when in all actuality, I should be counting my lucky stars.  I'm married to a wonderful guy, we're able to live and travel in Europe for two years, we're living in a pretty awesome apartment, we're healthy and very happy, and we're surrounded by an amazing group of family and friends.  As for being homesick, sure I'm homesick.  But, when I look at the reasons why I'm homesick, it's because I've got really great family and friends that I enjoy spending time with... And, when you're this far away from everyone it makes it rather difficult to spend quality time with each other... However, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the last 3 months with them, and I was able to take back with me some wonderful memories.  And, the way I see it is, instead of using those memories to feel sorry for myself, I can use them to pick me up when I'm down... Because, there's no doubt in my mind, that there'll be plenty more memorable moments over the years. :)  

So, on that note, I'm off to make the best of this rainy day.  I'm off to the gym, and then I'm going to try to find a flower shop (wish me luck with that! :)) to buy some flowers so that I can take them up to Val in the hospital...  Thanks for putting up with my little "pep talk"! :) Oh, and just an FYI... If you look to the right of the screen to the section that lists my favorite blogs, you'll find that I just added another section... It's a listing of blogs written by other Americans living in Germany.  I found them to be quite entertaining and helpful... So, check them out if you'd like to read other people's perspectives on life in Germany. :)  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  Miss you much!