B is for "Best"

Hello all! Since Chad has a midterm to study for, and I actually did some traveling this week, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to take over the blog duties. I'm currently on my way back from visiting my friend Juliane in Bremen, which is in northern Germany. Juliane was an exchange student when we were in high school and she and I have stayed close since. She had a baby two months ago, so it seemed like a good time to visit her again! Her baby is beautiful and amazing and it was so cool to see my old friend as a mother! I also got a little peek into how much work it is! You mommies and daddies out there are pretty impressive. I don't think I should ever complain about not getting enough sleep, because I don't think it can ever compare!

One of the many ways Jaro likes being held.

I just... the cute.... Ahhh!!!

Over the weekend I visited my friend Andreas in his hometown of Biedenkopf. His family still lives there, so we all enjoyed a meal together at the restaurant where his sister got married, and walked around a little bit in the lovely surrounding country.

Apparently this sort of thing has become popular in Germany. Is it in America? It looks like a big obstacle course set up among the trees. I think it looks super fun. I would bet Chad doesn't.

Andreas and I on top of the castle tower in Biedenkopf. Because you know, every town deserves a castle...

In the evening, I got to experience opera in a way I never had! Andreas and his sister are both musical, but their way of performing opera is slightly different than mine! They are marionette puppeteers! They performed The Marriage of Figaro to a recording, and all the action was played by the puppets. For the encore, the curtain was lifted, and they played the final scene, but this time we could see what they were doing! It was incredible! The amount of concentration and coordination of fitting 5 people into that tiny space was really impressive. The whole experience was so charming, and I'm so glad I got to see it!

Other than that, I had a performance last Friday, which was fun as usual, and I'm looking forward to our next one on Friday! The day after that, I go to Copenhagen to visit our friend Florian, so I'm sure I'll have more to write about next week! And THEN, the week after that, Chad and I will be together again! All this traveling helps the time go by faster! Hope you all had a wonderful week!