A quick walk to work

Just to give you an idea of what our commute will be like once the barn/office has been completed, Amy is up in our apartment (middle balcony) and the barn is just below the yellow arrow (There's blue tarp on the roof). It's about a block away! We're thankful that our gas consumption will be lower because the price for gas right now the equivalent of $7.52/gallon (Yikes!).

By the way, you can click on these pictures and they'll get bigger.

STUFF!

Our container arrived, and with it, all our stuff! Everything went very smoothly – no rain, no injuries, no badly damaged furniture – thanks be to God!! Once we got it all in, the next question was, "Wow! What are we going to do with all this stuff?!" Our favorite part of the entire day was getting to sleep in our very own LARGE bed that night... blissful!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving evening with some of our new missions family. We had all the trimmings, including sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie! It was fun to get to know more of the folks with whom we will be working.

We did discover that you can't find pecans or marshmallows in Germany. And Amy was in charge of making the sweet potatoes. We found a sweet potato casserole on the web that didn't call for marshmallows and replaced the pecans with almonds. Turned out pretty good!

Setting up house

As we wait for our shipping container to come, we have spent time finding appliances that we need that are 220 volt (washer/dryer, microwave, CD player, telephone, etc.) as well as purchasing and assembling wardrobes (they call them shranks here -- pronounced 'shrahnks'). It is unusual for European housing to have closets and so it is normal to buy something to hang your clothes in.

The barn

Just across the street from our new place is a massive barn built in 1884. It is currently being renovated into office space. Our office is on the third level, where the roof line intersects with the floor. Large dormers are being built up and out from the slanted tiles so we can stand and not crawl around in our new cubicle. Out the future windows will be an impressive view of the surrounding hills. The barn should be completed by next fall.

Too cold for ice cream!

Sara took us to Riquewier with her son, Josh, and his friend, Parker. Josh and Parker decided they wanted ice cream as a snack... As you can tell, it might have been a little too cold for ice cream that day!

We've been getting used to what feels like colder temperatures here (when you compare them to Denver's dry cold!). Since we've been here, it's been in the high 30s to high 40s during the day with clouds and rain – Chilly!

Riquewier

We visited a little town called Riquewier on All Saints Day, a holiday celebrated on November 1. Everything is closed down in Germany and France except for touristy things, so we spent the day exploring a little. Riquewier is on the Wine Route just west of the German border in France. It was good to go to a place where we could understand the language!

Schlingen in the rain

Schlingen is several km west of us toward France. You get there on a road that winds through patches of the Black Forest. Most days the journey is overcast and dreary, and some days it is wet and drizzly. You have to be careful of the giant semis weaving their way through the tiny streets. It's a glorious feeling.

A new chapter begins

Welcome to EuroBatts! We are setting up shop at the crossroads of 3 European countries. This is our place above the flower shop. We look forward to learning the language and getting to know our neighbors. Everything is close. Post office, grocery store, bank, Chinese restaurant, and of course the florist, are all within walking distance.