Less than a week will be the New Year!

We had a pretty fantastic, jam-packed busy weekend (which is why it is almost noon and Kev is still in bed!). Kevin was away Thursday and Friday for a game against Mannheim (won in a shootout) so I was on my own to play Christmas music and bake and cook for the weekend. Since they bussed to Mannheim, Kev didn't get home until after 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning. He didn't sleep well on the bus and couldn't fall asleep when he got home right away which wasn't great since I then got him up at 9:45 a.m. to go to the Christmas Eve skate organized by one of the other girls.

I was dangling all over Kev before this shot

It wasn't mandatory to go to the skate but we were glad we did because it turned out to be so much fun! I even got out there with a stick in hand and passed the puck around and took some shots on net. Hard to believe that after almost 4 years around Kev, this was my first time messing around with a hockey stick. Actually, it was probably only my second or third time even on the ice since we first started dating! It was so much fun though and there was some food after and a secret santa exchange for the kids. We had to leave the skate early in order to make one last trip to the grocery store before they closed for the weekend. The stores here closed at 1 p.m. Christmas Eve and didn't open again until today, so we really had to plan in advance! Nothing done last minute around here! Kev napped in the afternoon and I got things ready around the apartment for our guests that evening. I cooked a ham for the first time since we were having another couple over for dinner. After dinner 2 more couples came over for drinks, snacking, and to play some silly games. Even though we all miss our family this time of year, it's great to get together with all of the other couples that don't have family visiting as well.

Kev and some teammates

Christmas card worthy!

Christmas day we got up to have a mini-Christmas together before we headed to the Scherenbergs for brunch. It was really nice to spend Christmas with them and we got to experience a very typical German brunch. There was a cheese plate, bread plate, fish plate (cooked but cold), a cold cut plate, along with different spreads and fish salads. I don't eat food like this often so I was excited to try everything and I really enjoyed it! Kev isn't a big seafood (especially cold) fan, but Oliver made him some scrambled eggs and bacon so all was good! Han's really loved the Freezers gear we gave him and we came home with an amazing Hamburg book. We were there up until Kev's practice in the afternoon. When Kev got home later, we had about a 3-4 hour date with Skype which was absolutely amazing. We were able to talk to all of Kev's family and all of mine. We even got to see my dad, brother, Suzzanne, and Sheridan open their presents from us on camera! Pretty cool, what would we do without Skype!? We really missed everyone but were lucky to be around so many great people this time of the year.

Hans gets picture shy but loved his Freezers stuff!

Ida, the next Mrs. Clause

She is so precious!!!

Yesterday was a bank holiday here as well, so the Freezers had a game. We were pretty lucky it was a home game too. The guys won and are alone in 4th place in the DEL now. Kev has 2 more games yet this week, one tomorrow and Friday. I have the rest of today and tomorrow off and it is back to work for me on Thursday. My classes have been on break this week also, which has been a nice vacation so far. Anyway, that's all for here! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day for all you Canadians! Tschüssy!

Another intro video!

In my last post, I put up a youtube video of the Introduction during the first home game. In that video you couldn't see what what up on the jumbotron so Friday night I took a video of the Jumbotron during the introduction. This is what they play before every home game!

Kev said it was pretty awkward filming this video, but it turned out pretty neat, and it is way less embarrassing than the team's video from last year!

I also put a tab at the top of this page that has links to different webpages so you all can follow Kev and the team! It is a beautiful day here today, so I'm about to go head out on a run and then get this apartment clean before Kev comes home from the game tonight! Tschüss!

Post #1 and lots to say!

I caved. I got sucked into the world of blogging! Kev and I wanted to have an easy way to let everyone we care about know what's going on over here in Deutschland and this seems to be it. I've already been here for almost 3 weeks, so there is a lot to update you all on! Since I have been here, Kev has started the regular season of games (and the team is 2-0!), we've gone out a few times, I have started my work as a nanny and have also begun German classes! We have gotten our apartment to feel a bit more like home after a few IKEA trips, have explored our neighborhood and a little bit of downtown. I've met the other guys on the team and their families, sig. others, and we are more than happy to be in Hamburg with this team!
Kev had his first regular season game last Friday and it was a home game so I got to experience my first time in the O2 World Arena. There were over 10,000 fans in attendance and these fans love their hockey and their team! The Freezers won 4-2 and below is a video of the team's introduction.

In the past 2 weeks, I have been spending a lot of time with the family I work for. The kids' names are Hans (3 yrs.) and Ida (5 mo.) Hans has tons of energy and right now it can be challenging because he does not know English and my German is not near good enough to communicate well with him. I began my German course this past week, so hopefully that will help out soon! The mom, Bea, has forced me to become more acquainted with their area by sending me out on errands and such. She is around a lot since she is still on maternity leave, which is nice to help with my communication with Hans, and she is also just a fun person to be around! Ida is a really easy baby that doesn't cry much, although she's getting to the teething stage and is beginning to be a bit restless. Yesterday, I made some sweets with Hans and we made my homeade kit-kat bars. It's not a type of dessert that Bea or her husband, Oliver, had before, so they were thrilled to try some American sweets! And they may even like sweets more than me, so I know we'll be getting along just fine! Hans and his mom even made me a cake for my birthday!

Hans put KS on the other side for Kevin too


Since I have been pretty busy lately with class and work, and Kev with hockey, we have not been able to explore Hamburg as much as we would like. The Scherenbergs are leaving tomorrow for a vacation so I will have this entire week off and hopefully we'll be able to venture out downtown more. The class I attend is right in the heart of downtown in a beautiful area with tons of shops and restaurants, so hopefully we'll stay around there after my classes next week! (Pictures to come soon of that area!) Last week we went to the main shopping district of downtown which has more high end shops. I don't know if I'll be doing much more than window shopping in that area! Below is a picture of Hamburg's Town Hall and another area of downtown. We tried to sneak inside the Town Hall but the only way to get inside is to take a tour so we may have to look into doing that!

Town Hall



Yep, we get this view regularly!



Well, I think that is enough for the first update. I promise it won't take 3 weeks to get another one! Tschüss!