Saturday – the day of my sister’s wedding :)
We had to get up damn early, because Nina’s wedding would last the whole day with the Standesamt [legal ceremony] in the morning and the church wedding in the afternoon. I got up at 7:30 a.m., took a shower, got dressed and drove to the florist shop to pick up Nina’s bridal bouquet. I dropped some stuff off at the restaurant and then went to my sister’s. She was already up having Dirk’s aunt do her hair. My aunt Andrea was there, too, to do Nina’s make-up. It was cool to finally experience the day from a different perspective… Nina was a little nervous – I could tell – but I don’t blame her. It’s such an exciting day!
I went home at 10 a.m. to get ready and then we drove to the Standesamt at 10:40 a.m.
Nina and Dirk looked so beautiful together :) The ceremony at the Standesamt was really nice and Jon performed a song for Nina and Dirk at the end… and they loved it!
We drove over to the hotel afterwards and all got ready for the church ceremony. The church was only a short distance from the hotel, so that we could all walk over there. The church ceremony was beautiful [held by a guy who went to school with us :)] and when Nina and Dirk walked out, there were all the kids from Nina’s class performing a personalized song for them. They were so adorable :)
The reception was held in the beautiful park behind the hotel and it was really fun. Someone took this nice picture of my friend Ira and me and let me tell you, we really had a great time :) My sister and Dirk were just glowing with happiness :) The dinner and party was great as well… we partied till 6 a.m. in the morning again :) Overall the wedding was quite different from our wedding two weeks ago, but just as special and wonderful. We had organized some performances for the happy couple and we also had time to dance :)
Finally I had the opportunity to eat my way through the whole buffet [since I hadn’t really eaten much at my own wedding ;)] and I also tried to wedding cake… which was delicious :)
Sunday – I got up at 9:30 a.m. after three hours of sleep and I tried to wake up Jon, who had come to bed at 7 a.m. No reaction whatsoever ;) I decided to let him sleep, got dressed and went downstairs. My parents, Dirk’s parents and his aunt and uncle were sitting outside on the patio enjoying their breakfast. Nina had gotten up also, so we checked out the breakfast buffet together. Then Jon showed up outside [and he looked so tired ;)] and was able to order some breakfast, too [although usually breakfast is over at 10 a.m.].
Afterwards we started packing our stuff and putting all the gifts, leftovers and decoration stuff in the cars. It’s unbelievable that Nina’s wedding is over now as well.
In the afternoon, after dropping off stuff at my sister’s place, Jon and I took a nap. We were so tired. At 6 p.m. we went out to eat “Turkish pizza” [which Jon has started to love :) and which he wanted to have as the last dinner in Germany] and then we stopped by at my Granddad’s and my great-aunt’s place to say “goodbye”… yes, four weeks are over and Jon is flying home tomorrow.
We had some leftovers from the wedding for dinner, Nina and Dirk and Marita and Jochen came over to say “goodbye” as well and then we started packing Jon’s suitcase.
Monday – I took Jon to the airport at 7 a.m.. It was kind of sad to see him go. Even my parents had teary eyes when they said “goodbye”. I kept reminding myself that this will be the last time I have to take him to the airport and see him go alone. We had some coffee at a coffee shop and then he had to go through security.
It felt weird after having so many people around during the last few weeks that Jon was the last one to leave. I took a nap when I came home and in the afternoon I had a tutoring lesson and then went to my sister’s place with my Mom in the evening.
Tuesday – I feel like I could sleep for a whole week. I am so tired. I wanted to get up at 8:00 a.m., but fell asleep again and didn’t wake up before 11 a.m.. Then I had to take care of some paper work for the visa.
I had a tutoring lesson in the afternoon and afterwards went shopping with my great-aunt. She invited me for some ice-cream later and I had a huge strawberry bowl with vanilla ice-cream :) yummy! In the evening, I watched soccer with my Dad :)
Wednesday – During the day I was busy with cleaning up my desk. I really have to keep some order with all the gifts, cards and documents that I have.
I watched the soccer game [Germany – Poland] in the evening with my Dad. What a thriller! I definitely think that Germany deserved the goal that they scored in overtime.
Thursday – Feast of Corpus Christi and a holiday for certain parts in Germany :) Yay! I got up at 9:30 a.m., had breakfast with my parents on the patio and then went over to Marita’s house. She had filmed at my and my sister’s weddings and I had promised to help her put the film on DVD… it was cool to watch parts of it already.
In the afternoon, some of my parents’ friends came over, we had coffee and cake and watched the DVD’s :)
Later my Dad started the BBQ grill and we all had dinner together.
Friday – I went to the Bürgerbüro in the morning to order a copy of my criminal record [which I have to present at the consulate at my visa interview] and was also able to pick up my new German ID :)
In the evening, I was invited for Ira’s birthday party and I went over there at 7 p.m. to help her prepare the last few things. The party took place in the winter garden and backyard with a big barbeque, delicious Italian dishes and desserts. The thing that got the most attention was the “chocolate fountain” that Ira had gotten for her birthday. Everybody was totally fascinated by it and of course wanted to try it out :)
It was a really fun night. Nina, Dirk and I stayed till 4 a.m. in the morning.
Saturday – I only slept for 4,5 hours and I was tired when I woke up. I had some breakfast outside and then slept some more in the afternoon. I seriously need to find my sleeping rhythm again… I am so “off” right now *lol*
I watched soccer with my Mom in the evening [USA-Italy] and … OMG… was that an aggressive game! I watched part of it while talking with Jon on the phone, because he was watching the game, too. It was funny to be able to watch the same on TV, although we found out that the transmission by ABC was 14 seconds behind *lol*
I went to bed right after the game, because I was soooo tired.
Sunday – sleeping in… enjoying the nice weather… relaxing…reading… BBQ :)
Wohoo… I have finally caught up with my diary :) Thank you for being so patient.