Seventy days.  SEVENTY.  I can’t believe it’s been that many days since I said a tearful goodbye to Jason at the airport.  Before these past weeks, we’d never spent more than a couple days apart, and I hope to keep it that way from now on.  I also can’t believe that I’ve taken a photo every day for these past seventy days.  Today’s photo, of the Theodor-Heuss Brücke–also seen here–is the last of my photo-a-day series.  It has been so much fun to document my last couple months in Germany this way.  Click here to view all seventy days of photos on my flickr page.  It is fun to look back at them as a complete group.
I still have some Heidelberg photos and miscellaneous shots around Wiesbaden to go through and post.  And though I will not be in Germany, I will continue to photograph life as I see it and post many photos to the blog, so check back often!!

I played around with the timer on my camera this afternoon as I took one last walk through the gardens.  With our apartment just across the street, Jason and I have enjoyed walking through here often.  Click here to see more photos that we have both taken in this lovely setting.

Here is another Christmas Market photo for you all!  This shot is from the market in Rüdesheim.  If you remember, Tyler, Jason, and I rode our bikes to this lovely little town along the Rhein.  Each Christmas Market creates their own set of mugs to serve the Glühwein (sweet, spiced wine served hot) in.  You pay an extra two euro for the mug when you buy your drink.  Then, you may choose to keep the mug or bring it back in exchange for your euro.  Because I think they are so neat, I decided to keep my mug; plus, they make great (and useful) mementos!

Today was officially my last day of work.  After we closed down the bank for the day, Suzana, Claudia, and I drove over the bridge to Mainz.  Claudia was looking for a certain item, and we ended up passing through the Mainzer Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) on our way to the store.  We walked through quickly, but I just had to grab a shot of all the beautiful lights.  Christmas markets in Germany are so festive and fun.  Tyler, Antje, and I are going to visit a couple, including this one, before I leave Sunday.

Today is a very important day–it is Antje’s birthday!!!  I spent the evening with Antje, Tyler, and Antje’s parents, Holger and Karola.  We enjoyed a delicious meal of baked potatoes with all the goodies, and then played some wii games.  Tyler and Antje put all their Christmas decorations out last night, and they have some really neat things.  One of my favorites are these holiday nesting dolls.  Antje told me where they got them from…but I can’t remember.  Perhaps she can comment below with the answer.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time hanging out with Antje and celebrating her birthday tonight.  Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Antje!

I went out to the Eisgrub Brauhaus for dinner today with a couple of my coworkers.  The Eisgrub is a local brewery and is one of my favorite restaurants here.  It is located in Mainz, the city just across the Rhein from Wiesbaden.  It was nice to spend a bit of time together outside of work, while enjoying some delicious German food.

After enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving meal, we went for a little walk.  There is a small refuge for storks in Kandern, that many of these birds call home.  There are even a few ducks living there and one very moody goose.  The storks are not caged at all, and are able to come and go as they please.  Here are a bunch of them hanging out on a roof at the refuge.

We are down in Kandern this weekend at Jason’s aunt’s and uncle’s place.  Because of work and such, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving this coming Sunday, and we spent this morning preparing some pies.  I rolled out and pressed the crust for the pumpkin pie below.  I’ve actually never made a pie before, so it was a lot of fun.  Aunt Leigh Ann gave Antje and I some great recipes, like pecan pie and poppy seed bread.  I’m excited to try them out!