A Small Taste of Germany

Last week as I was perusing the local Northern Virginia magazine, I saw an ad that caught my eye. It had a photo of a man holding something I haven't eaten in almost 2 years...a Doener sandwich! For those of you wondering what one is, I have included photos below. Some of you reading know exactly what this is because you visited me in Germany and fell in love with them. My friends from Nebraska had to have one before they boarded the plane back to Omaha and my parents loved them too.


When I saw the ad, I was immediately taken back to my local Doener guy in Landstuhl. I would stop by the parking lot at the market and buy one at least once a month. He had a little restaurant on wheels. It was a mom and pop shop and his entire family squeezed into the little trailer.


Scott and I decided to finally try them out and made the hour drive to Leesburg. The little restaurants must be the way that they serve them all over Germany and this man brought his to America. It was great seeing all of the German food on the menu and I really wanted to try everything. We each got a regular Doener and sat outside on the cute German fest tables.

Well, the sandwich wasn't nearly as good as the original ones. We both didn't care for the sauce and the bread was a little dry for me. We still had lots of fun and I'm very glad we ventured out and tried an old favorite. It did bring back great memories from Germany and I can't wait to get back there some day and see all of my friends!


Yes, I have my full set of braces now and YES, I can't wait to get them removed in January. Eating food is a pain and I don't know how young kids deal with it.

200 miles!

I haven't written in a long time because school has taken over my life. Now that open house is completed, I can rest easy and fall into a nice rhythm. Being a teacher is an incredible job and it takes many hours of work outside of the classroom. My day begins at 8:00 and I usually don't leave the school until 7:00 p.m. I always feel as if I abandon Scott because I am around all summer and I seem to disappear for 9 months. I'm lucky to be married to such an incredibly patient man.

Scott and I are getting ready for a race that we'll run together on October 11th. I haven't run a race with him and I can't wait to spend time together doing something we enjoy. I also signed up for a half marathon for October 19th. I am not a runner at heart and it really took over my life when my friend and I decided to "try" and run a half marathon. After I painfully completed that(with my friend literally pushing me to the finish line), it got a little crazier. We signed up for a full marathon! I can proudly say that I finished it and that...I NEVER want to run that far ever again-ha! Shorter distances are my comfort zone and I'm completely comfortable with that. I'm just glad that I CAN run. So, run I will. I started logging my miles on July 4th and I can't believe that I've run over 200 miles!

The news on the adoption is pretty dismal and I really would love to start sharing some good news about it. It looks as if another agency will have to take over our case and we're just praying that this isn't a lengthy process. We keep praying for little Luda and hope that we can still bring her home. Here's the word this week from our agency...

At this time the director advised us that she has no additional information to share. She is waiting to hear back from another agency, the other agency that may be able to assist us in completing our adoption. We regret that this process is becoming more complicated for you.

We appreciate all of the positive thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming!

Running for Others

On August 31 I completed the NIKE+Human Race 10K. I ran this 10K to support the UN refugee camps and help raise awareness of the plight and the potential of refugee children. All of the runners combined raised half a million dollars so far!

It‘s easy to take our education, sport interests and technology for granted, but millions of kids miss out on these important elements of childhood.

Refugee children have often suffered enormously, leaving them severely traumatized. The trauma is not left behind when they finally make it to a refugee camp. Some refugees are born and live out their childhood in camps, often with no access to sport or recreation. Did you know the average refugee spends 12 years in a camp?

I was amazed when I learned some of the facts about how these children have to live. I thought that I could easily do my part by running in a 10K. I hope this reaches the hearts of many and we raise enough money for these kids to have a future filled with hope.

Here are my results for all to see!