Buckeyes in Wiesbaden?

Okay, the order is supposed to be the good... the bad...the ugly, but I'm using the down-side... the up-side...the flip-side.  Down-side is going first because then we can focus on the good and put all the bad in the past.  

The down-side:

• I'm sad to announce that we did not get off-post housing.  After filing three exception to the policy memos and three months, the battle is over .  We Sam gave it a good fight, and if this is the worst thing we have going for us then I'd say we have it pretty good. I've been dreading posting the news on here because it makes it that much more real.  Tear.

• All of our clothing is wrinkled and smells like it's been in storage.  Can you put a claim in for wrinkled suits?

The up-side:

• Our unaccompanied baggage is here!!!!  This means I have more than one long sleeve sweater to choose from, I can wear boots in the chilly fall weather, and we have our dishes!!!!  I didn't know how much I missed them until I had them all laid out in front of me!  

I felt like this after putting all of our clothes and dishes away.  Not sure how I'll feel next week when our HHG arrive...

• This tiny apartment living will give me some crafting and decor inspiration.  For example, getting rid of the horrid "boob" apartment lighting.  Yikes!  Now if only there was a Hobby Lobby within 5 mins of our house like in good-ol' Clarksvegas.  Who knew I'd become so dependent on that place!

• I found a place to get my hair done!  Our sponsor rocks and recommended Gold Rausch in Wiesbaden (ask for Nicole Quabo)!  She did a great job considering she didn't know the time commitment blow drying and flat ironing my hair would take.  Picture this:  All the German clients staring as two girls tackle flat-ironing my hair.  I love the cut!  What do you think?

• AFN has been restored!  We're back on track to watch our favorite shows and random movies.  They even played all of the shows we missed the previous week on a loop.  Score!  I wish they would do this more often for all of the shows I miss during the week.  This could be AFN's attempt at DVR.

• We did the REAL Oktoberfest in Munich!  Be on the look out for a blog post.  You do not want to miss pictures of Sam in his lederhosen!

The flip-side: You: What does flip-side even mean in this context?  I'm going for the really exciting news here...just go with it!  I found some real Buckeyes in Wiesbaden!!!!  No, not OSU fans.  Real. Buckeye. Nuts.  This must be good luck, right?

Okay, they are red instead of dark brown, but I'm looking for the silver lining.  On a side note if you haven't seen the movie Silver Linings Playbook go rent it now. It's one of the best movies we've seen in a while!  Back to Buckeyes.  I know what you're thinking:  Michelle those are chestnuts.  Okay, I did a lot of internet research googling ("Are there red Buckeyes" Buckeye trees in Germany" "Buckeyes vs chestnuts")  to ensure these are in fact Buckeyes...or at least a relative. Based on the tree leaves, burrs, edibleness (not edible), and shape of the nut I've deduced these are in fact red horse chestnuts.  Check out more info here.  Fun fact:  In Germany they were used to mark storage cellars for beer because the shade they created kept the beer cool.  AND hybrids were created using the American Buckeye tree.  So, for the sake of my happiness, we will call these German Buckeyes (are you getting annoyed that I'm capitalizing Buckeye?  "fear the nut!").  OH - IO!

Our German Buckeyes (I may or may not have solicited the neighbor's little girl for help)!

   Real Buckeyes

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