Happy New Year!!!

Tonight is the night. We celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009!

I wish all my family and friends a happy and healthy new year.

Blessed be God forever!

Australia the movie - Review

After a nice meal, Beth and I decided to leave the kids in the very capable hands of our husband's and go to the film Australia. I had read on the Internet that the love scenes between Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman were hot hot hot and that the movie was pretty good for a chick flick. So we went and I was disappointed.

There was hardly any hot hot hot lovin' going on between Nicole (Sara) and Hugh's (the Drover) characters and if you exam (and not too deeply mind you) the story it's more about the aboriginal boy and less about the couple.

I went back to look at the trailer and it's clearly geared toward this epic love story between Sara and the Drover. Like an "Out of Africa" sort of film but I think we got "Gone with the Wind". Hey don't get me wrong, I love "Gone with the Wind". It's one of my favorite movies. It's just dated and kinda cheesy now.

So Australia is loaded with cheese and the number of "beauty shots" is out loud laughable. You have to see it to believe it. The film is predictable and by the end you pretty much know what's going to happen.

I really wanted to like this movie and I do sort of, but I wouldn't pay to see it in the theaters. If you like cheese and okay click flicks, my recommendation would be to wait to watch it on DVD when it's available to rent.

Here is the URL of the movie's web site if you want to check it out for yourselves http://www.australiamovie.com/.

We did see a trailer for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and it looks really good. Not sure when it comes out here but I'll go see this one in the theaters for sure.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Have a blessed holiday and enjoy your family and friends.

Majel Roddenberry

Sad news for all my Trekker friends. Majel Barrett Roddenberry died yesterday 12/18/2008. She of course is the wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (died in 1991). Majel also played the first officer in the Star Trek Pilot, "The Cage", Nurse Chapel in the original Star Trek series, the computer voice on many of the Star Trek space ships, and Deanna Troi's mother Lwaxana Troi on the series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Check out:
http://screenrant.com/majel-roddenberry-died-vic-4681/
http://www.trektoday.com/news/181208_01.shtml

God guide her soul to heaven. Sweet Virgin Mary pray for us!

What's Happening?

December Birthdays

Happy Birthday to all my family and friends (including my new lovely Facebook Friends) who were born in December. Again you'll have to forgive me as I am doing this from memory. My birthday book is in the US.

So Happy Birthday to:

Cousin Jim Mihelcic - Dec. 3
Ed Raeker - Dec. 5

Barb Crain - Dec. 6

Martin Lubell - Dec. 7

Ian Quine - Dec. 8

Cousin John Mihelcic - Dec. 10
Grace Magill-Cuerden - Dec. 14

Cousin Joe Mihelcic - Dec. 15
Mike Bykov - Dec. 16

Carrie Bennett - Dec. 16
Dana Bailey Alexander - Dec. 18

Sharla Siluk - Dec. 21

Okay so that is all I can remember. If I have forgotten anyone please email me (jahays@pobox.com) or post it here in the comments section.

Sprechen Deutsche
My German class is officially over as of last Thursday (12/18). It was very sad to say goodbye but I made many new friends. My biggest hurdle I think was finding the time to study. In 8 weeks we got a ton of material tossed at us. I find it hard to pronounce many words for some reason. I can say them in my head but once they leave my mouth it doesn't sound quite right. The words I know and say more frequently sound great or at least that is what I've been told by my German speaking friends. This makes me feel pretty good. I plan to start up again in March when the weather gets a little warmer. I can't say I'll miss the commute.

Another Fine Outing with Friends
A few of my classmates and I had the opportunity to go out for some dinner. I went out with Teresa and Jia. We had good food and nice conversation. The following week more of my classmates and I went out including our instructor Astrid. We all had a nice time. The food was good and so was the company. Tomorrow I plan to go to Erika Roos' Opera with Beth Muellner. Beth is in town with husband Martin Lubell and their two children Julian (9) and Xaiver (7). Erika was in my German class and she happens to be a world famous Opera singer. I can't wait to see her. It will be a blast.

Here are some pics from my outing with Teresa and Jia.

Teresa and Jia

Jennifer and Jia

Teresa, Jennifer and Jia

Jennifer's yummy pasta dish.

Really yummy Tiramisu

Getting Lost in Berlin

The night I went out with Jia and Teresa I missed the last U9 train home. I thought my line was open 24 hours but I was incorrect. I didn't know about the night bus so I ended up taking another line to another part of the city hoping I could get another train there that would get me closer to my flat but once I got off I again found out that the trains basically stop running during the week between 1-4 a.m. So here I am all alone in a foreign train station in a foreign country not really knowing the German language. I was a little freaked out for about 10 seconds. I looked around and saw a guy looking around too. I asked him in German if he spoke English and he did. He helped me find a Taxi so I could get home. He was very nice. The Taxi driver was also very kind. I was able to talk to him more than I thought I could in German. He got me home in under 10 minutes. I got dropped off right at the door and 10 more minutes later I was snuggling next to my boy Logan who was nice and warm.

Bad Hair Cuts

Yes this is the superficial part of the post but I feel the need to vent. Lately I've been plagued with bad hair cuts. The last two I haven't really liked. I went today to get my hair cut and colored. The color is great (bye bye gray) but the cut, I'm not digging it. Prior to our move to Berlin I had really nice long hair and I decided I needed a change. What a mistake! Today I asked for a trim and got a weird looking something. Yikes!!! I think the thing to do is not to get my hair cut at all for at least a year or two and see where I land or perhaps I just need to find a new salon.

Holiday Meal - German Style

Some friends from German class and I went out to a great Bavarian restaurant after class one night. Here are some pics below.

Guerrmo and the foot long or rather meter long sausage. He said it was excellent.
















Here is Fernando with his civilized meal.
















Ja, Teresa, Anmar and I shared the meat palooza. It was excellent let me tell ya.

















Group pic without Ja. From left to right: Anmar, Jennifer, Teresa, Guerrmo and Fernando.

Pic with Ja from left to right: Anmar, Ja, Teresa, Jennifer, Guerrmo and Fernando.

It was a nice time and we plan to go out again tomorrow Thursday. It's Anmar's last class as he is going on vacation for the holidays. Our last week is next week and the last class is Thursday, December 18th.

Advent Conspiracy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

I can't figure out how to embed the video here put click on the link above to go to the video on YouTube. I'll try to work with this again tomorrow.