Tribute to Tacie

 This week an incredible friend of mine, Tacie Wilson, is moving back to the US.  The time has flown!  We have been best friends since the first moment we met and have had so many great experiences together.  She has had such an amazing impact on me and has been an incredible example of courage and faithfulness.  I can't imagine Germany without her, my loyal partner in crime, but I know she will do amazing in Utah.  Here are just a handful of our great memories together.  I love you Tace!

Summer Cravings

This week I finished up my internship at the Kinderkrippe, and I have to admit I was actually really sad to leave.  They gave me flowers and a sweet card and some treats and a picture.  To tell the truth I almost cried, but I held it together.  It was such an amazing experience, and here are the sweet ladies I worked with.

 This last week we also had an end of year ANIMA dinner.  It was good to see Jodie again at least once before she leaves to Uni.

 Not everyone was there, but here are a few of us.

 And...Sister Kohler got a dirndl!!!  She looks so adorable in it, does she not?

 Now we just need Präsident to get his Trachten!

It's been super fun to have Tosha here!  We have already done a lot.  This last week we went to see the movie "Me Before You" and it was so good!  If you have not seen it, GO SEE IT!!  (But take tissues)

 Just goofin'

 This is a thumbnail of a video Margaux and I made for our end of year assembly.  I will post it on here once it is on her YouTube channel.

Last week of school this week!  Summer is just around the corner!

Kinderkrippe!!!

So on Monday I started my three week internship at Unsere Champions Kinderkrippe.  It's like a Kindergarten, but for younger children.  In my group there are 11 kids I think, and they range in range from about 1-3 years.

Here is the entrance/coatroom thing.

 These are the three ladies I work with.

 And here is the inside of our little room.

 The kids are adorable.

 It's been fun so far, but also a bit exhausting.  I think the hardest part is that it's all in German and we have to speak to the kids in German, so it's not too bad but just frustrating sometimes that I can't say things that I'd easily be able to say in English. 

Yesterday we drove up to Ulm to go to church there today, and there was a BEAUTIFUL, ginormous church there that we went in.  There is a common German tongue-twister that goes, "In Ulm, und um Ulm, und um Ulm herrum."  It basically means in Ulm, and around Ulm, and around around Ulm.  So that's kind of fun.

Anyway, that's about it for this week.  Tschüss!!

I'm Singin' and Dancin' in the Rain

One thing I love about Germany in springtime and this time of the year is the rain.  Lately it has rained so much.  And I love it.  It makes everything green and beautiful and the rolling thunder makes you feel safe and sound inside.  Well last Sunday after church we decided to go for a walk, and as you can see I couldn't be bothered to wear my flats anymore so I wore fuzzy socks and hi-tops, and I'm sure glad I did.

 By the time we had been walking for a while and were about ten minutes from home it started raining.  At first it just drizzled and there was lightning and thunder, but we were under a thick green canopy so we didn't get wet at all.  Eventually we stopped at a street corner to watch the upheaval of the sky and wait for it to stop, but inside I secretly didn't want it to stop at all.  I couldn't wipe the grin off my face.  See, I have always had this wish to just run out in the rain fully clothed and just soak it in.  Not even care.  Kinda like in any movie ever, especially "Singin' in the Rain"

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1b/95/0d/1b950df2bb3aef09071294d600b9e95c.jpg

So, I decided this was the day.  Check on more thing off of my impromptu bucket list. We had one umbrella between the three of us, so I said heck with that and I ran into the rain with my arms open and a stupid smile on my face.  (I know this sounds so cheesy.)  But it was like the best thing ever!  I danced and skipped all the way home, avoiding every tree I could.  And yes, I made Sister Kohler take pictures of me frolicking in the rain.  

I know this picture was already on my Instagram (btw: @erika.kohler) but that's ok :)

And that's the end of my story.  Well..it's not the end.  I had to get all cleaned up, but it was so worth it.  So, I guess the moral of this story is...whatever you want it to be.  It was supposed to have some amazing symbolic meaning, but I think I'm just gonna leave it because I'm not gonna preach to you about how to enjoy your life.  You're probably already better at it than me.  

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02867/singing_2867847b.jpg

Have a fantastic week <3

We Get Around

So Tuesday of this week we had our final anima concert of the year.  We were kind of crazy getting all of our music together at the last moment, but somehow the concert seemed to work.  Anyway, our opening song, was the one that can be found at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZpGe5rNJkI

So we did the patty cake part, and a girl in the choir who graduated last year arranged it for us to sing.  It was really fun and a good start to the concert, I think.

 I got to sing the same solo I sang in Amsterdam, O Mio Babbino Caro, and that went well.  (sorry I don't have a video)

 This is a solo part in another song I had

 And...it was a success!!!  Sadly we have to say goodbye to 5 seniors this year, and this one is Jodie, one of my good friends in choir.  she will surely be missed.

 Tacie also did an amazing job with her first solo, and will be missed not only in choir, but in all aspects of my life when she moved back to the states this summer.

 And Margaux and I were looking at this picture compared to one from our very first choir concert next year and how we both look older.

 And the whole group

 This was a short week at school, so Thursday morning we headed down to a town close to St. Gallen to stay for a few nights.  We stopped to see this cool building designed by the same man who did the one we saw in Wien.

 When we got to the hotel the view was gorgeous, overlooking the Bodensee.  The Bodensee directly translates to...floor...lake, but is also known as Lake Konstanz.  It is kind of cool, because it borders the three main countries of our mission, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.  The lake is ginormous, and so very beautiful.

 When we got there the weather was nice so of course we went to a little beachy place and took a dip and sat in the sun.  And...of course I took artsy pictures in the car afterwards.

The next day, Friday, we decided to ride a boat on the lake, so we rode from Rorschach (where the hotel was) to Romanshorn.

 Here we are on the boat.  As you can see from my shirt, "I'm a sailor!  I sail!"  If you don't get that movie reference, shame on you.  (Hint: it's from "What About Bob?")

 Let me put it lightly...there is nothing to do in Romanshorn, and we were stuck there for a few hours.  This is how we felt.

 We just walked around, and the view was beautiful.  We finally found a nice park and just played giant chess.

 Both evenings we were there we had dinner at the hotel, and it was nice and, again, the views over the lake were stunning.  Hard to capture, to be honest.

 Saturday we decided to head over to Liechtenstein and check out the castle before the St. Gallen stake conference.  So..we did.  We could just go in the courtyard though, so it wasn't THAT exciting.  But it looked pretty!...

 From the tope we heard all this music and stuff, and we looked down and there was like this mini carnival going on!  Maybe you can spot the booths and stuff.  But it was so weird!

 So...of course we went down to check out the carnival.  This sign shows you how messed up the Swiss-German is, that obviously carries over into Liechtenstein.  I have no idea what that says.  And my German friend didn't either...

 And we got some Eis.

 And saw a pony!  It was so cute I just had to take a picture!  It was also weird that like right by this mini carnival thing there were like mountains and horses and stuff...

 And, last but not least, to finish off this post....me on a mountain/hill/field, I don't even know what.  It just looks cool.  I may be guilty of frolicking...

Turns out that on Saturday we drove through the four main countries of our mission.  So yeah, we get around.