The Stuttgart Christmas Market was so awesome we decided to visit the one in Augsburg. According to ChristmasMarkets.com, Augsburg hosts one of the seven major Christmas markets in Germany and since it is only less than two hours away we decided to drive out there yesterday afternoon.

The road trip alone was lots of fun, the sights we saw on the way there were very nice. The further up we went the more snow covered the ground. There were towns in deep valleys that look like Christmas villages Nay used to build back in Baguio. I tried to take a photo, but it didn’t come out quite as clear but you can see that it is beautiful.

We arrived Augsburg at the perfect time, the sun was setting and it made the sky look royal blue as you can see in the earlier photos. Then minutes later the sky turned pitch black and the streets were lit by Christmas spirit. Augsburg’s Christmas Market was not as impressive as we thought, being in Stuttgart the night before raised our expectations on Augsburg. The only thing that Augsburg had more to offer was the Angel performance, unfortunately we were too far to see the show and take photos of the Angels. Nevertheless, it was still a fun trip we got Glühwein of course and had some yummy street food!

Next weekend we’re going to Heidelberg again to experience the Christmas Market there. Love, love, love Christmas! Click here to view the photos.

I am most thankful for Tay’s continued strength and will to live. Although he has been in the hospital for three months he still fights for his life. I am thankful to those who care for him, they have made his hospital room as warm as it could be. The doctors and nurses take good care of him and seem genuinely caring of him, not just because it’s their job. I am thankful for Mama’s upcoming US citizenship, something we’ve all been waiting for forever. I am thankful for my husband, the best in the world, he makes me so happy. I am thankful for the health our our kids Alex, Gabby, Kookiis, and Vandy. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Today we had a yummy Thanksgiving meal prepared by Stephen. We had the traditional turkey, corn on the cob, biscuits, stuffing, and gravy. After a huge meal we headed downtown Stuttgart to shop at the Christmas Market. It was lovely, all the shops were scattered throughout the Schlossplatz and the shopping areas. There are so many stores, it seemed like they sold everything! There were even a couple stores that sold all brushes! Brushes!? I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of the brush stores, it was so weird to see a store sell nothing but various types of brushes. The kids did most of the shopping, Gabby bought Christmas gifts and Alex bought stuff for himself. I got a scarf, mittens, and a hat from H&M and Stephen bought me Christmas ornaments. We also enjoyed some Glühwein and chocolates.

I love being back in Germany, and the holidays are my favorite because it’s like they celebrate Christmas for an entire month! Hopefully this weekend we hit a couple other markets like in Heidelberg or some other town.

Of course I have pictures to share with you, click here.

Today is the 26th of November, a day I’ve been waiting for all month, not because it’s the day before Thanksgiving but today is the start of the Christmas Market in Stuttgart. German Christmas Markets begin sometime in November and last through Christmas Eve. Tonight we are going to the Christmas Market here in Stuttgart, and for the long weekend I think we will be driving to other towns like Heidelberg to visit other markets. I love Christmas! It’s such a great way to end the year and being in Germany for the holidays is such a great opportunity because it’s like they celebrate Christmas for an entire month! I can’t wait to drink some Glühwein (German Mulled Wine) and shop for Christmas decorations, food, and gifts! Pictures to follow… until then here’s a video about the German Markets.

As I was browsing the Google Trends this morning to find inspiration for an article on eHow, I found inspiration for a blog entry instead. Googleganger ranks number 5 in today’s Google Trends. I clicked on the article “What does Googleganger mean?” and began to laugh as I started reading the article. It reminded me of a blog entry I wrote a long time ago on my Multiply profile called “Have You Googled Yourself?” Don’t lie, you’ve Googled yourself, and if you haven’t you are going to do it now. A few months ago, I was talking to some girls at work about results I found when I Googled myself and my husband’s name… expectedly I do not have a Googleganger (ah, now I know what it’s called), but my husband had a few. So, the girls were curious about themselves and so we went to Google and Googled away! One girl’s Googleganger turns out to be a porn star!!! How insane is that?! And the other girl found her divorce information. Way more insane than having a porn star Googleganger.

It’s time I start building a portfolio and the best way for me to do that is to offer my services for free. I want to build you a website… from nothing, from your drawing, from your Photoshop mokup, or to redesign one you already have. The idea is for me to make web pages based on a client’s needs. Of course the hosting and domain fees are not covered, but if you don’t have those yet I can help you get them. I use Dreamhost, I registered the domains I host with them. The fees are very reasonable. I’m also open to designing lithographs, certificates, and collages. These are other ways I can practice and show my skills in graphic design.

If you’re interested leave a comment or send me a message so we can discuss the details.

The past couple years or so major TV networks have posted full episodes on their websites for public viewing. It is such a great service for people who don’t have time to watch their favorite shows on the scheduled times. We can just go online anytime to watch. Of course having a TiVo is great too because some shows came on at the same time and you can record one and watch the other. While we were home in California we used TiVo but now that we’re here in Germany we were counting on watching streaming video to keep up with our shows and new ones. The most disappointing thing hit us when we went to the websites and they all denied us the service, saying it was only available for US residents! What kind of crap is that?

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