Spring is Here!!

I'm sorry!! I know it's been an awful long time since I've posted anything so here ya go. What has been going on in my life recently!? Well I've been here for over a month now and everyday is still pure enjoyment. Let's start with why I'm first here..... to learn. Class is getting more and more intense every week. It's hard and I actually have to study but I love it. The studying isn't all that bad when you know the moment you walk out your door all the new knowledge will be put to use. And not just used maybe once or twice but throughout the whole day until you fall asleep. A new assignment for this weekend is the memorization of a poem. I am actually excited about this because with my theater background this kinda of memorization is simple. However, making sure all the phonetics are perfect will be the difficult task. I am still learning lots each and everyday and can tell improvement from when I first got here. That fact is reassuring for the days where I feel like nothing is clicking. We continue to have quizzes and tests but overall class is going great!


So, last time I wrote I was really missing music and the availabilty to go play. Well, I have discovered the music room in the bottom of my building. I have spent maybe too many hours down there playing when I should be studying . The guitar and piano added into my life has been absolutely wonderful and such a good way to release and relax.


Also, I have discovered the Uni Sport classes. They have a whole ton of classes that are free for students so I have been spending alot of time in the Sporthalle and Gymnastikhalle. My favourite classes are Super Fitness and then of course modern dance. Super fitness is exactly what is sounds like. Running for the first 45 min in different styles then more toning and a bit of cardio for the last 45 min. It is pretty super! :) On Tuesday there were no classes because of holiday. The tradition is everyone goes hiking with their family and friends and picnic and just enjoy the First of May. We did exactly that. We went on a three hour hike through the woods and fields of daisies. It was gorgeous with the sun beating down on us. Yes, we all got a bit sunburned but the day was well needed relaxing time.

It was a gorgeous day for a hike

It was GREAT to see this girl

What have been my recent adventures?? Last weekend I was able to go spend the weekend with a good friend which was lovely. She was actually an exchange student in high school so it had been 3 years since I last saw her. I got on the train right after class and went to Landau where we sat in the park and played music in 80 degree weather, went to Maimarkt which is like a little carnival and visited the Zoo. It was so great to be able to catch up and spend some time with her. I'm excited to go back and adventure some more.

You were allowed to get SO close to the animals! This would
 have NEVER been allowed in America. Yes, this  is a Penguin
 trying to eat me.

So I don't only study! I do have fun hiking, dancing, visiting friends and discovering new little cafes. Since April 16th some nightly activities have been attending a friends concert he was putting on for a charity, watching Marvel's: The Avengers 3D in German, going to a karaoke bar, the modern art museum and ballet in Stuttgart, many parks and just enjoying the city.




Who know's what tonight holds?! :) I'm just going to keep on living and learning and doing what I do best....... Living my life out to it's fullest potential! 

So much laughter and song!

I have been in my wonderful Tübingen now for a full 2 weeks and well YES I am still loving it! Surprise?! Nah! I continue to discover something new everyday and my head continues to be filled with knowledge. This past week was intense indeed. Much class and homework and quizzes and this next week will be the same. We have our first real big test this week, Thursday, but I'm determined to do really well. It was also great being at the Uni today because it was the first day all the students were back. It was fun to see everyone reuniting again. 


So, you keep hearing me say I'm getting along great and loving my life, so you may be wondering what I miss about home? Well I sure don't miss America but the people of course, but it's really the music. I don't miss American music I miss the accessibility of it. I can't just pick up my guitar and start jamming or sit for hours singing and writing music with friends on the piano. Laughing at the awful notes that were just played or getting real excited over wonderful harmonies that just happened. Once it's all taken away one realizes how much apart of their life it truly is. In my tutorium we listened to and translated this song and it was stuck in our heads the next few days. We'd go about singing this song but we only knew a few words from it. I miss that ridiculous singing ALL the time and having it happen anywhere and everywhere. There is SO much music to be made when I get back and for that I am completely stoked!


I'm learning other things to occupy my time like hiking through the hills or simply sitting and chatting over coffee. And well, I have lots of homework that always needs finishing. Also, I've been cooking more so that can take a bit of time. :) 


We'll see what new things I can find to do this week and occupy my time with! Sending you all love from Germany!

This is our American group with our tutors. About half of them I have class with. In the background is the former Cistercian Monastery of Bebenhausen founded in around 1183/84.

Here is the song from Tutorium so it can get stuck in your head too!

Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter!

Today is Easter! Normally this is a huge holiday for my family where we generally have 35+ people over and we eat WAY too much food and the little kids do an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. This year I am in Germany, Amy's in Canada and it's a small lunch at Dad's. By small I mean the amount of people, I know Mum's already making food as is Dad. She's a Mennonite we can't NoT have enough food to feed an army. Also, this is the first Easter away from our old house. I've had every Easter I've ever known there but life is always changing and given my current location I wouldn't trade it for anything. :) There's always old memories to be cherished and new memories to be discovered! 

We're not quite "stair step sisters" anymore. Mum used to make all our Easter dresses for Sunday morning. She'd stay up all night sewing and we'd wake up to them hanging on our doors. The picture to the right was taken last year, 2011, reenacting the one to the left, as we knew it'd be our last Easter in that house.


Easter is all about Jesus' resurrection and redemption. Without him we have nothing, but through him we are given EVERYTHING and a whole new life. I am definitely living proof of this promise. From almost dying in the emergency room, to now living on my own in Germany nearly 4 1/2 months later. This portrays his goodness and mercy in my life.

My tattoo I got to symbolize the promise made to me. It says Exagoradzo or "Redeemed" in Greek. The specific term exagoradzo means to be saved and plucked out of Satan's hand. I have lived that definition and continue to grow stronger through it everyday.

My whole life is a testimony to what Easter's all about. Redemption.  
From being born with hip displacia, to my family's tragic car accident, then going through my whole sickness, my family has always been there as support and God has always been there healing and saving along the way. Easter is a great time to look back and reflect but we should continuously be examining our lives. We can look all around and see his faithfulness to us. The every morning sunrise, our growing relationships with family and friends or simply the opportunity to live. 
 How is my life going to continue on from today?! How am I going to live out God's promise to me and what I have experienced? Everyday is our chance to do something new, to impact just one person in a grand way. Start today and simply live every moment to what it's worth with no regrets and to your highest potential. 

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I've made it, surviving and loving it too!

It's been exactly a  week now since I boarded the plane that would take me 16 hours across the ocean and bring me to the place I now call home for the next 4 months.  Although it's only been a week I feel like I've been here for much longer. We've done tours of the city, sat by the river with the sun shinning down, shopping, ate wonderful food and have started classes. I'm starting to figure out the bus system and if all else fails just wander around till I find my destination. I'm excited to dig deep into my classes and really start to get a handle on  this language. As I meet people and wander about the city I understand most of what people are saying, I just can't form correct sentences and use the right words to answer back. I'm excited to see what this fist week of classes  holds and how intense it will truly be.

Life is great though! I am settling into my room nicely and have met several other students who live near by. The kitchen is well equipped with supplies so I was very excited about that. I also bought a cookbook so I can start making awesome food and so I don't have to convert all  the measurements. :)

It's difficult waking up to a view of the Swabian Alps every morning :)

Here's my lovely room. I'm probably going to make an Ikea trip to get something to make it a little more hom-e.

This is the Neckar River that runs through the middle town. 

Yes, we have a H&M in the city center and Yes it actually is better than  in America.

So, picture what you think a little German village should look like with cobble stone streets and little colorful buildings and that's where I live. My flat is actually up on a hill in a 15 story high rise building with paved streets. But, as you get into the shopping and where the University buildings are you'll see more cobble stone streets and tiny alleys. I walk around and still feel like I'm in a dream. I mean, you can potentially have classes in the old Castle on the hill. We have buildings in Tubingen dating back to the 1400's, way before America was ever established. It's absolutely wonderful here and I'm so excited to go adventure more and see what all this city has to offer.

So Long, Farewell America

Here' s my blog I'm going to update every once in awhile to let you all know I'm alive and well! It will probably be more pictures than words but I figure that's better than nothing. :) I'm heading off in the morning and flight leaves at 6:45am meaning leaving the house at 4. Pretty early, yes, but then hopefully I'll be able to sleep on the plane. I'll arrive in Stuttgart on April 2 at 8:00am where my wonderful friend is so gracious to pick me up. I am so thankful to her so I won't have to figure out the whole bus system after 17 hours of traveling. I am so excited to be going and can not wait to see what Germany has in store for me!  I may not have internet for the first week in my housing but I will try to find a cafe to utilize their internet and update. Also, here is my address where mail or anything can be sent to.  And........ goodbye America...... Hello Germany and a whole new life! :D

Annie Ralston

Fichtenweg  07 Z. 1014

 Tubingen 72076

Deutschland