When we closed on our house last year, two days before flying out here, the closing company gave us a box of Girl Scout cookies in congratulations. Since all of our stuff was already shipped, the cookies got dropped into one of our bags and was the only food we had in our new house once we got here to Germany.

When Jenni came over to help us with furniture, we offered her a Girl Scout cookie, which she LOVED. Now, on each trip back to the U.S. she asks if we can bring back some Girl Scout cookies PLEASE! She doesn’t really understand that they are a seasonal thing and only sold once a year. In fact, when you think about it, I guess I don’t really understand why, either.

A Denver colleague sent around an e-mail asking if anyone would like to buy cookies from his daughters. The delivery and payment work out to be perfect for my business trip to Denver at the end of Febuary, so I ordered ten boxes. Perhaps a little on the gluttonous side, but ten boxes for three people doesn’t seem like that much to me. I can just imagine going through customs with all these cookies… I’d better save enough room in the suitcase!

On the one map of Durban I was able to find, I noticed a dot not too far away labeled “Natal Lion Park.” I wasn’t able to find any further information about it online or elsewhere, so after our time at the Sharks Board we decided to check out this park.

At the park entrance, they explained that the “park” was a 45 minute route and at the end we’d see the lions. We weren’t sure what to expect, and Travis talked to someone who had just done it and said the lions chased your car and it was “really wild.” At this point I was a little scared and started wondering what the lions would think about our bright yellow rental car. Maybe it resembled some kind of exotic jungle snack?

We started the loop, and within a few minutes spied a herd of zebras off in the distance (too far for photographs, unfortunately). Then, as we rounded a corner, we almost ran into a blue wildebeest crossing the road. Unfortunately, he was a lot faster than I was and by the time I had the camera ready, the wildebeest was hiding from us and my picture looks just like a picture of some trees. So that object in the picture could be a wildebeest or a rhino or a Yeti, for all you know. But trust me, it’s a wildebeest.

Not too much farther down the road, we came upon this adorable elephant eating lunch.

This was also the point that Travis discovered his memory card on the camera was full, so we sat next to the elephant for a few minutes while that problem was alleviated. Luckily, the elephant wasn’t as allusive as the wildebeest and we got his picture before driving on.

We continued our drive without seeing many more animals, but just enjoying the scenery, until we got to the “cage” of lions. The cage was a large fenced in area about the size of a football field. First, a guard opened a big iron gate and we drove in while he shut that gate behind us and the next guard opened the next gate. Then, when both gates were shut, we were locked in with the lions.

I joked about not bringing any raw meat to feed the kitties, but in reality, there were strict rules about keeping your windows up, staying inside the car, and even about what to do if a lion charged the vehicle.

Luckily we didn’t have any lion attacks. The lions were beautiful, but I knew it wasn’t anything like a REAL safari since they were locked up. Still, it was fun, and we even saw them playing around a little bit.

We also saw some lions participating in grown-up activities (which I also caught on video).

This weekend, we decided to hit an “American” pub that I was hoping would have the Iowa football game on. I haven’t seen a second of football  since the Super Bowl, which is strange and crazy considering my fall weekends used to revolve around that weird oblong-shaped object.

The bar was packed with football fans alright. Or, soccer fans, as we call them. Someone was playing someone else, and the crowd was excited. We resigned ourselves to the only table left in the joint, figuring on getting a bite to eat and then heading back home where we could watch clips of the game on the Internet.

The flatscreen t.v. in our corner was showing lotto, as in the actual balls jumping in the hopper, which I found immensely more entertaining than soccer. A few minutes after we sat down, though, someone came over and asked the bartender to change it. And he did, to ESPN! I was thrilled! Sure, it was Georgia Tech - Clemson, but I got to see a few Game Break highlights of Iowa rolling Wisconsin. (Sorry to my Badger friends out there.) (Well, not really.)

Some guy from Ohio heard me talking about Iowa and couldn’t resist getting his own two cents in about our coach. It made me laugh. A year ago, I would have argued back and thrown out a few meaningless statistics to support how right I was, but now I’m clueless to the scene. And I didn’t mind one bit.

I was talking to our German friend Jenni the other day, and she informed me that she’s never carved a pumpkin in her life. So, I decided we’d better do it! Tonight she’s coming over and we’re going to take a knife to a gourd and see what amazing conncoctions we can come up with. I was trying to think of any other Halloween traditions she might be missing out on, and the only thing that comes to mind is caramel apples. Of course, I couldn’t find any caramel to melt (I did buy apples, though) so I don’t think we’ll be participating in that activity. Are there any other Halloween-ish traditions I’m forgetting that I can share with the Germans?

Now that the weather is cooler, I’ve had an itching to do some baking again. I brought some cake mixes back on my last trip from the U.S. after realizing that a lot of ingredients we would typically use to bake from scratch are hard to find out here. Also, I haven’t found a “cake” here that is anything like our cakes; they’re usually dry and tasteless (insert jokes about Germans here) and I just wanted a good ol’ Duncan Hines cake.

Cake mixes take usually two additional ingredients: vegetable oil and eggs. Eggs are easy enough to get, and I thought oil would be too. Imagine my surprise at the grocery store with the entire aisle of oil and nothing vegetable about any of them. They had walnut oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, flaxseed oil (maybe flax is a vegetable?), and olive oil of unlimited brands but nothing corn-ish or veggie-ish.

So that got me thinking about the various “everyday” items that I haven’t been able to find here, some of which are vital to my baking lifestyle, such as: brown sugar (they have brown GRANULATED sugar, which they somehow think is the same thing), chocolate chips, canned pumpkin. There goes my famous chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, or my pumpkin bread!

I should probably learn how to make “German” baked goods, but from what I’ve tried so far they’re just not my style. I can still hold out hope that maybe someone will share a recipe with me that will knock my socks off.

is the only word that comes to mind when I see pictures of my beloved hometown this morning, Cedar Rapids. 100 blocks (and growing) are underwater, bridges have collapsed, and many homes ruined.

I have a strong affinity for my hometown and it’s so sad to see this happening from afar. I almost wish I was there so I could bag sand, or help evacuate the hospitals, or something. Anything.

To all of our family and friends in Iowa, we love you and wish you all the best.

When I first moved to Denver in 1998, I signed up immediately on the Broncos Season Ticket waiting list. I figured that even though I was broke at the time, when my 15-20 years on the waiting list was up I might have some money to spend on Broncos tickets.

I got this letter from the season ticket office today:

Dear Erin,

Congratulations!

Your wait on the Broncos Waiting List is over, and you are now eligible to purchase Denver Broncos season tickets. Your 2008 season ticket package consists of 2 preseason home games, 8 regular season home games, and the ability to purchase any home playoff games. For complete schedule information, please visit DenverBroncos.com or nfl.com.

As you are probably aware, current season ticket holders are upgraded into any canceled locations on a priority number basis. Therefore, the remaining seating available to first year customers is typically in the upper level corners and end zones. Each year, you will have the opportunity to improve your seat location.

To secure your season tickets for all 10 games at INVESCO Field at Mile High, please review the purchasing options below. Should you have questions regarding pricing, seating options or deadlines, please don’t hesitate to call our office at 720.258.3333. Waiting List Sales Representatives can be reached by pressing Option #8.

For more information on Season Ticket Benefits and Policies, please visit www.denverbroncos.com/ticketoffice.

In fairness to those who continue to wait for seats, if you elect not to purchase season tickets for the 2008 season, you have the option of moving to the end of the waiting list (about a 15 to 20 year wait) or being removed from the season ticket waiting list. We will interpret a non-response as a request for removal from our existing list. Thank you for your understanding.

All accounts are subject to an $8 per seat account creation and administrative fee. You are eligible to purchase up to four (4) season tickets. This offer is only valid for the account listed below.

The deadline to purchase your seats is: June 6, 2008

Anyone want Broncos season tickets for the next 2 years?

Last night I stopped at a new grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised to find the one junk food I wasn’t sure I could go for two years without:

They weren’t quite the same as good ol’ US Doritios, but they were still delicious (as evidenced by the empty bag, perhaps??).

And if I get too homesick for American foods, a co-worker sent me a link to this sale at Aldi’s which takes place today. I love some of the “American” items they’re featuring, such as whatever this guy is trying to sell:

(Which, by the way, I believe is Roasted Onions. I’m learning!)

Happy Mother’s Day to our Mamas.

We love you very much and are thinking about you especially today. Thanks for being such strong, supportive mothers who raised a couple of pretty decent kids. Although you may not always understand us (”Why do they want to move halfway around the world, again?”) you always want to see us happy. And there’s nothing more we can ask for then that.

We wouldn’t be here without you!

Love,
Travis + Erin

(Also, Mom Boardman, they DO have morel mushrooms here. I saw some yesterday at the market and wanted to take a picture for you but I didn’t have my camera. Thought you would be proud!)

Last night, coming back from Boulder, was so bittersweet. I drove along highway 93 and looked out over the city - this town that I knew so well (look, there’s the area of Travis’ old house… and there’s where my first apartment was!) and I couldn’t quite process that I was leaving THIS place. The place that’s been my home for the last 10 years and that’s given me so many great memories and great friends.

Time for the next chapter!