Hello 2007!

As the first day of this new year is about to end, I thought I would look back at 2006 (still being jet-lagged, I'm not feeling nearly as tired as I should right now).

2006 was a pretty big year in my life (if you missed that, check the archives ;o). Thank you to my family and "far-away" friends, who have been supportive through these major changes and have been so good about keeping up with my blog, emailing and even downloading Skype to call....I love you all and I was soooooo happy to see (most of) you while I was in MI. I can't wait to hear about your plans to travel to Germany in 2007 (hint, hint)!! And thank you to my (newish) "near" friends, who have been hospitable above and beyond my expectations, extended friendship so readily and become my family away from family (like home away from home).

I am so thankful for you all, near and far, and I hope that 2007 will be a wonderful year for you!

My "firsts" in 2006:
May: I put a house up for sale for the first time (I hope that I'll be able to very soon say that I sold a house for the first time....).

June:
-I started a blog for the first time.
-I moved out of Michigan, out of the US and to a foreign country for the first time.
-I traveled with cats for the first time.
-I rented an apartment for the first time.

July:
-I started working in an office where the official language is something other than English for the first time.
-I went alone to buy a car for the first time (and while speaking in German!).
-I bought my first Mercedes (hopefully not my only ;o)!

August: I made my first official work presentation in German.

September: I became an Aunt for the first time.

November: I celebrated my first Thanksgiving away from my family (and felt really, really lucky to have such awesome friends to celebrate with in absence of my family).

December:
-I flew to Michigan "on vacation" for the first time.
-I met my nephew for the first time.
-I turned 28 for the first (and only) time.
-I celebrated New Year's Eve in Germany for the first time.

There were lots and lots more firsts.....if you've been reading for a while, you know about most of them.

I haven't made any grandiose resolutions for 2007. And I like it better that way......

Tomorrow, when I'm hopefully over my jet lag and motivated to learn how to upload photos from my new camera, I will write about and post some photos from the festivities yesterday.....or should I say today, since they continued until the wee hours of the morning?

Although I am not tired, I will now try to sleep. So, I leave you with a German tradition, the film Dinner for One (in English!), which is watched by many on New Year's Eve. (We didn't watch it last night, but it was quoted frequently.) I hope you appreciate British humor. (If not, it's only 11 minutes!)

Happy New Year!



----If you're wondering about this film, Wikipedia has a good entry about it here. I don't know, I guess it's just one of those things...