Another shot taken while on my way to work.  For the sake of this photograph, I wish I had a more classic bike…but then again, I love my sporty one :).  It gets me where I need to go.

I took this photo after work today.  A bunch of these pretty yellow flowers are growing outside by the front door of our apartment building.  I brought one upstairs with me, put it in a vase, and took it out on the deck.  The off-white background is one of the side walls of the deck.

Here’s the shot for today.  I enjoy this beautiful view almost every morning, so I thought I’d park the bike for a second and take a photo.  I’m sure all those green leaves will be gone soon, as fall is on its way.

A couple weeks ago, Jason and I took an extended weekend trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a city in beautiful Bavaria. We left Wiesbaden on Friday morning and made a stop on the way there to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. King Ludwig II commissioned the construction of Neuschwanstein in 1869. The King made it to be a retreat and dedicated it to the work of Richard Wagner. Scenes from Wagner’s operas are painted throughout the castle. King Ludwig also loved swans and worked them into the architecture and decoration of the castle. There is even a sink with running water in his bedroom made in the shape of a swan. In 1886, as construction of the castle neared completion, King Ludwig drowned in the shallow waters of a nearby lake, shortly after being declared insane. Visit this website for more information!

I was sad to find out that photography is not permitted inside the castle. However, as we were walking out, I did grab this shot looking out through one of the windows.

Jason took this shot looking down on Hohenschwangau from up by Neuschwanstein. The castle pictured was the residence of King Ludwig II and his parents. Jason also took the black and white shot below of Neuschwanstein from down by Hohenschwangau.

It was raining on and off all afternoon. As we were leaving, we saw this rainbow and had to pull over to get a photo of it. So pretty! Well, that’s it for Neuschwanstein. Come back soon for some shots of the Zugspitze in Garmisch. It’s the highest mountain in all of Germany!

As of late, Jason and I have been feeling a bit nostalgic.  Actually, that is an understatement–we have been swimming in the ocean dubbed Sentimentality.  When we ride our bikes downtown and the cathedral bells are sounding, our eyes get misty.  As we walk through the gardens in the afternoon we find ourselves sighing a few extra times.  And after we share dinner and a fun evening with Tyler and Antje, the hug goodnight lasts a bit longer.  Why, you ask?  Because our time in Germany is coming to an end.  It’s weird to type that sentence out, as it does not seem real just yet.  The place we flew to on August 12th last year with just two suitcases and a duffel bag is a place we have come to call home.  It will be hard to pack up and leave our life here, especially because we don’t know when we will be able to come back.  Living in Germany (and not to mention all the traveling) has been more amazing than I even imagined, but it also has not been free of difficulties.  Gaining a residence permit in Germany is incredibly difficult, so we turned to the army as a means of staying here.  As tourists who flew in on our passports, we had three months to find jobs that would not only pay us, but provide us with the means to live in Germany (ie residence permit, SOFA stamp).  We did this successfully after just one month and we thank God for that, as we found out later what a long shot it was.  Through Jason’s current job here, an opportunity arose in Dallas, Texas, and voilà, we shall be settling in there by January of this coming year!  We are excited to live next to family there (Jason’s grandma and grandpa, his brother Ryan, Ryan’s wife Cassey, and our little niece and nephew).  Plus we will be just a drive (albeit a very LONG drive) away from our friends and family in Arizona.
Well I could go on and on, but I shall leave you with some photos instead.  The first was taken in the gardens by our apartment, number two is of a delicious latte machiato at Tyler’s and Antje’s place, and finally a shot of the lovely Marktkirche downtown (more photos of that here and here).