Mom Visits and Birthday in Berlin

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, so please pardon my lack of posts. Mom came for a week and I was loving every minute of it! We got in some sight-seeing, some shopping (of course) and a lot of quality time together. My mom has a special way of knowing just what I need and exactly how to make me happy and I am so grateful for her and everything she does for me. I was sad to see her go on Sunday but i'm happy for the time we got to spend together. We also got to see my cousin Juston, who is in the military, and he and his wife Amy and adorable son Blake live two hours south of me. Yay for family!

How cute is he?!

Mom in front of the church in the town square. She's so hott!

We played a match in Berlin this weekend and got a chance to walk around a bit and see some of the city. Berlin is huge and for the small amount of time I spent there I really enjoyed it. I was fascinated by the recent history of the city, with the tearing down of the wall in 1989 that separated West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic, or the communist Eastern side. This wall stood to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Eastern and Western Europe from the time of WWII to the end of the Cold War. Only a small part of the wall still stands today and remnants of its borders are visible on the streets of the city.

The brick line in the middle of this main street in Berlin is where the wall once stood.

This picture was taken from inside our car, so it's not great. But you can see the wall that lines the right side of the street.

We also saw some government buildings, the new American Embassy and some other monuments in our quick two hour tour of the city the morning we played.

The night after our match, which we lost in three, five of us stayed in Berlin to get our cars while the rest of the team made the treacherous 5 hour journey home on the bus. Wolfsburg, home of the Volkswagen, was our next destination. So after a birthday dinner and a less than decent night's rest, we headed to the proverbial Volkswagen Disneyland to pick up our cars. This place was crazy and we kept taking pictures because the whole process of buying a car is so different than in the United States. This was an all day affair and we found it quite interesting. In the end I got a brand new, silver VW Fox (stick shift, which I now know how to drive like a pro!) to drive home.

In the "waiting room" with millions of other people waiting to be given a key to the Volkwagen vehicle of their choice.
While we waited we were given a tour of the grounds. I'm simultaneously glad and sad that this isn't the car I was given.
Mom with her nostalgia was loving this old van. Pretty sure Stephen would have been thrilled if this was the car i'd be driving around Germany.
And I, in turn, would have been thrilled if this little Italian scooter was my ride to take home. One of the first Vespa scooters (which every other BYU student owns nowadays. Vespa means wasp in Italian, just for your "gee whiz" collection).
My car came from one of these two towers.
My ride!

The drive home from Berlin was beautiful and it was a great chance for me to get more comfortable with driving a stick shift. As it was my birthday, we kept with family tradition and had a birthday dinner, complete with Happy Birthday Erica! signs on the wall, balloons, and a beautiful cherry chocolate cake that Paula and Liv brought from the bakery. Mom always makes birthdays special in her own way and this one was no exception. Dinner was delicious and we got to spend our last night peacefully at home, talking and enjoying being together.

Birthday kisses! I love you mamma, thanks for being the best mom ever and my best friend. And Paige, this picture is a product of your camera. Notice the bluriness? You might want to figure that out.

P.S. As a side note I wanted to mention that I got two callings last week in church. I will be a Relief Society teacher and I will also be the activities coordinator for the young single adults in my ward. Since I only know of myself being the lone single adult in the ward, I believe I will be spending quite a bit of time with the single adults in the German ward. The Lord really does answer prayers; sometimes in unexpected ways, but he knows what we need and i'm so grateful and humbled to have these callings. Every day my testimony of the gospel is strengthened by the tender mercies that the Lord sees fit to shower upon me. I am ever grateful for his blessings and for my membership in the church.