Un Año.

One year. It sounds like forever, but feels like yesterday. Today marks exactly one year since the passing of my friend and classmate, Eric "Big Cat" Sorg. August 21, 2011 marked the start of a journey into a new and different chapter of life; senior year, and senior year with out a dear classmate at that. August 21, 2012 marks yet another passage into new and unknown territory; tomorrow I leave to move into my college dorm.

One year is a big land mark if you will for any event, it's a passage of time that we as humans have allotted to mean a substantial amount. As this big day approached sad doesn't even begin to describe my emotion. Today is a reminder of a terrible fate that overcame an amazing young man.

As I thought about all my peers spilling tears of sorrow and grief on this day year after year I thought of this verse: Job 1:9 reads, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Eric's nickname was Big Cat, strong and courageous are definitely adjectives that come to mind when describing a big cat. He would want us to strong, courageous and to live life fully. His too early passing is a solemn reminder to all of us that death is lurking behind every bend, but we have no need to fear that because not only is our God with us wherever we go, but as Jeremiah 29:11 says He has "plans to prosper" us.

Today I cherish the few memories I had with Eric, and I also cherish that fact that I'm not alone in this journey. God's always right by your side wherever you go, and Eric's spending eternity at His side now too.

We'll always love, and never forget you Big Cat.

xoxo,
Abby

Little Things.

It's been five weeks since I left the states now, and just 2 days before I return. I knew from the get go that this summer was going to be light years different from the rest of my summers. For one of course I'm not going back to high school after this one, and for two I spent it in a country that was foreign in every way, shape, and form.

Over these past five weeks I've learned to really appreciate a lot of the things that I took for granted in the past:

1. English - being able to speak my native tongue with other who speak it like I do is a luxury that you don't find in Germany. They speak pretty good English here for the most part, but being able to really describe and explain things to people with a limited vocabulary in either language is rather difficult.

2. Air Conditioning - I was told that it was supposed to be relatively cold here, hence the fact that nothing is air conditioned. Well, the last week has been hotter that it is back home which is ridiculous. I have really learned to love my little bedside my bed and hanging out in our semi-cool basement.

3. American Food - it's fattening, high in cholesterol and all around terrible for you, but there is nothing I have missed about America more that a hot and juicy burger.

While I've missed a lot about the states I've also learned to love a few things about Germany. Everything here from the bread to the veggies you can get fresh on a daily basis, and man oh man! do the German's know how to bake bread! The scenery here is also a whole heck of a lot prettier than the States. But my time here has come to an end and its time to miss some things about Germany and embrace the great American quirks!

xoxo,
Abby

Hokie Pokie.

The Food Court at the BX on post seems to be a major hang out spot for Hokie alum, and it seems like I've had the privilege of getting to meet every single one of them. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I end up wearing a Tech shirt every time I'm in there, but hey there's no shame in that. It never ceases to amaze me that all these people started there career at the same place at one point in time, share the same love for a really buff turkey, and ended up in the same place again half way around the world. In just four days I'm off to begin my journey in Blacksburg and I couldn't be more excited! I have the world's best roommate and the best of friends heading there with me and it's nearly time for a serious adventure!

xoxo,

Abby

A Weekend in Paris.

Going into my short summer in Europe Greece was definitely on the top of my list of places to travel to, followed very closely by none other than Paris of course. We got to ride first class on the bullet train from Stuttgart to Paris, which included a meal both ways - the most gourmet travel food I've ever had in my entire life, probably because the Parisians do not do anything (including train food and street lights) half ass.

Our first day was spent exploring the Louvre and surrounding gardens, a dream of mine since I've been little. Almost an entire room in the Louvre is devoted to the master pieces of French painter Jacques Louis David. In the 10th grade I did a research project on David (one where the teacher made us use books for research instead of the web, so I got to know David pretty well) and getting to see his HUGE painting up close and personal was a real treat. And of course, there's the Mona Lisa which was surprisingly bigger than I expected her to be - opposite of most people I think.

Day two was devoted to a visit to the Longchamp store and Fat Tire Bike Tours (they have tours in Paris, London, Berlin, and Barcelona if you ever go to one of those cities go on the tour, just take my word on it). Although my bottom still hurts from taking both the day and night tours, it was an absolutely great day and such a neat and informational way to see the city. Great, great, great!

Hanging out in the really long line to enter the Louvre through the pyramid, which is obviously not original to the actual rest of the building.

The Venus de Milo, not entirely sure what's so special about her, but she was a starred attraction.

Napoleon's Coronation! One of David's biggest masterpieces.

Why yes, I stood in the huge throng of Asian tourists to get a front row look and snag a picture of the Mona Lisa, who ended up being a tad bigger than I expected.

Winger Victory, one of my favorite statues in the whole museum.

We bought Longchamp in PARIS!!!!

This was given to Napoleon as a peace offering, but it laid in this square on its side for 30 years before they figured out how to put it upright. Napoleon died before they figured it out.

Napoleon's tomb, he's buried there with his wife and fourteen of his closest army officers. 

My favorite way to see the Eiffel Tower, lit up from the Seine.

Night bike tour = über fashionable neon reflective vests.

Got bikes? A pretty neat way to tour the city.

And now: the obligatory silly pictures with the Eiffel Tower. I'm pretty sure its illegal to leave Paris without taking at least one, so we took three!

A lovely sunset from a pedestrian bridge lined with hundreds of "love locks."

Going into this trip Mykonos was my favorite place in the world, but after this weekend Paris is definitely it! Such a rich and gorgeous city. Also, being able to walk through the streets and say "I'll be back soon" is something I never thought I could say truthfully, good thing its only a three hour train ride from Stuttgart!

xoxo,
Abby

Mykonos.

Forget the Outer Banks, Bethany Beach, even California when it comes time for a beach vacation; just spend a week on Mykonos instead! Located just 3 1/2 hours from Athens by ferry my family and I got the privilege of relaxing on this "party" island as part of our Grecian vacation. Though the island is crowded with noisy, young and rich Australians and Italians our hotel (owned by friends of my dad's co-worker) was the complete opposite and one of the coolest little hotels I've ever been too. I decided that Mykonos (or any Greek island) has become our families new yearly summer trip, we'll see how my parents take that...

The streets of Mykonos just wind around and around like crazy. The entire town in basically a maze which makes re-finding any of the tons of shops pretty much impossible.

Somehow this pelican ended up here and decided he liked it so much he didn't want to leave! So someone named him Petros and he became the town mascot.

Our view for dinner on our first night, Little Venice. It used to be where all the ship captains lived, now its just a bunch of restaurants.

It's kind of hard to tell, but those are some octopi hanging from the ropes to dry. They really like seafood in Mykonos!

The town by night, pretty cool.

A picturesque view of a Greek island if you ask me!

The beaches on Mykonos were GORGEOUS! They were all secluded lagoons filled with chilly, clear blue water. Breathtaking and refreshing. We spent almost everyday at one of the many beaches.

Mykonos is known for these windmills, and here they are!

Be on the look out for an update from our weekend in Paris! Thankfully our two straight weeks of traveling are over and now its time to relax at home for a week before heading off to Blacksburg for the first day of school (:

xoxo,

Abby

Athens Day One.

Day 1 in Greece and we hit the ground running! Starting off with a tour of the Acropolis, which was stunning and one of the things I have ALWAYS wanted to see, checking out the Ancient Agora and meandering through the new Acropolis Museum it was a day packed with history. It amazing me to think that the same paths that I walked through the Acropolis and the Agora were all paths that some of the most famous names in history once walked (Plato, Homer, Socrates, Pythagorus, etc). The construction of the Parthenon is amazing too, the pillars are all tapered at the top and tilted slightly inward to force the perspective of a straight line, how they could even come up with that back then is amazing! Walking through the museum however it was quite sad to see that empty spots that are serving as place holders for artifacts that were taken by the Brits many years ago and have not yet been returned (those darn brits!).

The Acropolis is still an active archaeological dig, so there's "construction" going on everywhere!

Parliament guards in traditional uniform. Yes, those are cotton tights and long sleeves and its around 100 degrees most days, poor guys.

The front of the Parthenon. Apparently the scaffolding has been there for the last 30ish years.

You can clearly see all of Athens from the top of the Acropolis!

The Ancient Greek Agora.

A headless and limbless statue of Hadrian, I'm sure this is how he wanted to be immortalized....

Back of the Parthenon sans scaffolding.

Greek cat! They are EVERYWHERE and I think I have picture of almost all of them.

A cute little bottle of Greek Coca-Cola Light.

These pigeons cracked me up! Even they thought it was too hot out and needed a nap in the shade.

You can check out more pictures from our adventures in Greece here.

xoxo,
Abby