Wedding, Challenges, Christmas soon

Berlin, Germany

Midnight

Warm Fall Night

Hell, 

loads happened. 

I took pictures at the friends wedding and it was a lot of fun. Beautiful couple. Great background. 

A couple of days later I had my Bacherlerette Party. The girls dressed me up and took me to a Karaoke Bar. On the way there I had to collect advice from people on my way in 3 different languages. I managed. 

Oh and my crown sold at Alexander Platz for 50€! First round of drinks :-)

On September 1st my fiancee came to Germany. We had a lovely week, visiting with his parents and grandma, who also came to visit, going to a fair, doing a little sightseeing and just being together. 

On September 7th I married my love. My mom had gotten us a 1958 Baby Blue Buick to drive us from my place to the registry. I loved it. :-)  His Mom and Dad were there as was his 86 year old Grandma! 

After the ceremony we took some pictures and then drove out of Berlin to a friends house, where we had the party. It was basically a garden party with pot luck and a BBQ at night. We loved it :-).

His family left the Monday after. We left for a little honeymoon trip. 1 day in Hamburg, 3 in Hannover and the weekend in Görlitz (Harz Mountains).

It was fun, but in retrospect, I wish we spend more time with each other. Alone time ;-). 

So, he had to leave for the States. I am flying back for Christmas. And it's harder than I thought it would be. Not having him here, to talk, to hold, to kiss, to share, even to argue. 

I started working on ICU (adults). It's tough. Loads of stuff I need to memorize and apply. Loads of new hellos and sadly goodbyes. 

So, this is it of for the moment. 

Much love, 

Andrea

Family, Weddings and Distances

Berlin, Germany

11:00am

Warm fall day

Hello everyone,

My little nephew was born 6 weeks too early, but he did well. Emil Julian only needed one day of respiratory support and a week in the incubator. 2 weeks after he was born, my sister and her husband took him home. 

It took me a couple of weeks to free my schedule and go visit. He is so adorable. We cuddled a lot, I was able to give my sister some baby-free time by taking Emil of her hands and we also had some sister time. 

I spend a lovely evening at my Cousins house, which was awesome. A couple of hours at the lake and then back home, looking at her wedding pictures and a yummy BBQ afterwards. My cousin lives on the outskirts of Berlin, so I drove home on my scooter at night, being all alone on the country roads and I loved it. The air was fresh and smelled like woods and fields. It was beautiful and a little scary at the same time. 

The wedding has moved up to the 7th of September. Some people asked why and my answer is practicality. Victor is coming to visit for 2 weeks,  his mom, dad and the 82 year old grandma as well. My family and friends are here and so we decided to have a small ceremony at the local registry and a garden party after. 

Let me tell you, getting married to an American in Germany is a lot of hassle. German authorities love paperwork and it was very frustrating in between, but now that we're almost there, I try to leave that behind me. Just one more note, I think that people who work at a registry, where couples come to join together, should be friendly and outgoing, not grumpy and unfriendly.

So the official part is 20 min and I admit I am looking much more forward to the party afterwards, where we can have fun with our friends and family. I know I am his and he knows he's mine, so the ceremony is just formality. The party after is not going to be a typical wedding party, more like a garden party with cake and space for the kids to play, with a BBQ and homemade salads for dinner and a fire pot at night where everyone can sit, warm up and let the day come to a beautiful ending. Just what Vic and I love.

There is going to be a second "wedding". We still plan to have a more formal event in the USA next June. 

If everything goes as planned I would like to  move to the States next year, depending on the US government and my evaluation. I still have to apply for  the NCLEX, which might be a problem, because California has very strict rules about foreign nurses working in Cali and especially pediatric nurses (which does not exist in the US). I really want to work as a nurse in the USA, because I am a good nurse and I love my patients and I always give my job a 100%. We'll see. 

Till my wedding I still have some things to do. Work, of course. I am going to take the wedding pictures at a friends wedding. There is going to be a bachelorette party. So many things, too little time.

So these are the latest news. I hope everyone is in good health.

Much love, 

Andrea

California Dreams

2260 Miles from Philadelphia over the Atlantic Ocean

11:37pm ECT (Philadelphia)

There has been so much going on my life that I don’t really know where to start.

I left for the USA to visit old and meet new friends. What I didn’t know that I would also meet new family.

I arrived in Indiana and met up with my dear friend Colleen. It was like I hadn’t really left. We talked deep into the night. We went to see our old friend Sofiya’s exhibit, which both of us loved.

The next night 2 of the Weiss men came by on their way home. It was great seeing them. At midnight  I picked Victor up from the airport. We missed each other terribly and were very happy to be with each other again. That’s only what words can say… it was whew!!

First day was spend together introducing my man to Eiteljjorg Museum and Canal District. It was great just walking and spending time together.

We left for Columbus the day after to meet some distant cousins of mine, Ray and his wife Susan. Both of them are lovely, gracious people with a great sense of humor. We also met Ray’s mom and dad, Ingrid and Erich. Ingrid is my family tree connection. She is my Grandmas cousin (Dad’s side). I loved them both and we shared some family history and pictures. Victor wasn’t feeling too well; I guess too much chili, cheese and fried food. We stayed one night and after a fabulous breakfast home cooked by Ingrid we left to get back to Indiana. While my love rested a bit I started dinner. Sofiya came by to join us for food and conversation. Great night, despite me hogging Mark’s (Colleen’s husband) kitchen without giving him the heads up.

On Tuesday we spend time at the IMoA. They had a free guided tour about landscaping. The lady who held it was very enthusiastic and knew quite a lot about the old and new arts. The museum has 100 acres of grounds to walk on and explore, but Vic and I had already made reservations for a dinner theater. It was gonna be “Legally Blond”.

The food was very nice and I loved the first part of the musical. I went to use the restroom during the break and when I got back, Victor seemed nervous. 5 seconds later I found out why. He proposed to me. My first sentence was, you just did not ask me that. And my second one was yes, I will marry you. He gave me a lovely ring and a big kiss. Somehow the waitress got wind of it and we got champagne on the house as well as a lovely congratulation over the intercom. The rest of the show was great.

The next day we went with Colleen to her High schools to meet with her German students. Great kids and during the lunch hour we met up with Melinda to have lunch at a local diner.

For the evening we returned to Indianapolis to have a little celebration at the” Rathskeller”, a German restaurant. We left the next morning for California and I was nervous as hell to meet his family.

After a little rental car problems, we finally arrived at his parent’s house where we were welcomed with open arms by Victor’s mom Martha. Everyone was great hugging me and welcoming me into the family. I felt so blessed.

We had dinner with Victor’s brother Marco and his wife Deanna. Marco seemed quite and some of his first words were “So, when are you leaving?” – which he didn’t mean the way it sounded. He is a actually a good guy.

A week later the family threw an engagement party for us, with games, gifts and great food. I was kinda scared to meet more family and Victor’s friends but it turned out well.

We did some trips to San Francisco, Six Flags, Oakland, San Jose and Santa Cruz. The later trips I took with Carolina, one of the cousins. She’s great fun and we seem to have lot in common.

There’s one more person who claimed a part of my heart. The nana. Victor’s grandma lives with the family. She doesn’t know much English and my Spanish is very non-existent, but we got by surprisingly well. She’s a smart woman who has to fight everyday just to get out of bed since her husband died last year. Although she puts up a brave face, you can feel the sadness radiating of her. The only thing that makes her smile is spending quality time with her family, every member of the family.  I feel proud that she accepted me as one of her own.

You can imagine how hard it was for me to go back to Berlin. Home has switched from Berlin to being with Victor.  We’re planning to get married in June 2013. I am as excited as terrified about what’s ahead, but this is us making it work.

Love,

A.