To hump or not to hump, is that even a question??

Today, Jenna, Lindley, and I went downstairs after unpacking to see if Tracey needed any help making dinner. We figured that we should help out after sleeping through 2 meals already. She said no and that everything was taken care of. So we sat in the living room to talk and play with the dogs. Lindley is standing up and Bronie, who is a female english bull dog, runs to her and starts nibbling at her leg. I think it's funny, and then I see Bronie jump up and grab Lindley's leg and begins to HUMP her. I thought this was the funniest thing ever. All Lindley can say is "owwww". Tracey runs in and pulls her off. She puts the "collar of shame" on Bronie. It's like a bark collar, but instead of shocking it sprays. It gets traded around the dogs all day. It is hilarious. The dogs hate wearing it and begin to pout whenever it gets put on. Regardless of the collar, Bronie comes back (unsatisfied) and begins to hump Jenna's leg. I am laughing so hard at this point. I can't call for Tracey and Jenna just slightly moves her leg to get her off. I guess Tracey heard my laughing at comes to Jenna's rescue. Bronie was perfect all of dinner, but then I feel something....Bronie starts to hump my legs under the table!! hahahaha oh man...this dog needs a friend.

For our first homecooked dinner, we had ribs. I don't like ribs, but to be nice I ate them anyways. They were good, but I had no idea that you are supposed to eat them off of the bone. So while everyone else is chowing down, I'm cutting my meat off the bone. They probably thought I had some weird meat phobia. Oh well. Tracey also made homemade french fries. They were fantastic!

Tomorrow is our first day of school and the UN party. Don't worry, I've been working on my first impressions, so I won't let you guys down!

Can you sleep for an entire day??

So, last night Jenna, Whitley and I stayed up till about 2:30 a.m. here. How could we do it?! We have absolutely no idea! I guess we got distracted by this thing called the internet here...and then skyping with Christine. Apparently, everyone else is avoiding us because at 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas only 2 people were on skype/facebook. And that was Jenna's mom and Whitley, who I could talk while still sitting in my room.

So, I finally pass out around 2:30ish and I sleep really well. So well that I have slept through not only the night/morning in Brussels, but the night/morning in Texas!! We didn't get up until 3:30 p.m. here. And when I say "I", I really mean all of us! We slowly creep downstairs, except for the dogs gave us away and say goodmorning to Tracey who just laughs in return. What can we say...we're teenagers! Or young adults...

P.S....

The 3 dogs that live with us think that Lambie Pie is a toy. I found Lambie in a dogs mouth 2 times now. I have to hide him.

How could I forget...

So, Tracey gave us her cell phone to use while we were out in the city center. Somehow, I was the one to hold the phone...ndb right? So we are exploring and we see this pretty church. We walk in, become major tourist with our cameras, but who cares. There are about 15 signs all around the church saying, "silence". I'm silent...it's hard, but I manage. So we are almost done in the church and I'm walking next to Jenna and we both hear this loud whistle and then someone screaming taxi. We look at each other like wth?! I keep walking thinking nothing of it. I soon realize that it is the cell phone that Tracey gave us. I pull it out, but there are no buttons on the side of the phone to silence it. It just continues to get louder and louder. I'm so flustered, people are staring, and I can't keep the phone quiet. I end up opening the phone and then closing it. Apparently, hanging up on the person calling was my only quick fix to the problem. About 20 seconds later it starts ringing, well screaming at me again! I have no idea what to do, so naturally I hang up again. I think we are good to go, but it starts to scream at me again!! This time, I run out of the church and answer the phone. It was Tracey's son and he was worried becasuse he thought his mom was hanging up on him! I then had to explain that I am one of the 4 girls that will be living with him, that he hasn't met yet and that his mom still loves him because he thought that his mom didn't love him anymore. I had only been in Brussels for about an hour and I already made a fool of us. Great.

No sleep in 30 hours, means a great first day in Brussels!

Wow, so we finally arrived in Brussels, and I'm in love with it already!!! I really have no idea where to start, because the trip thus far has been crazy! We start by leaving for the airport about 45 mins later than we planned. We arrived on time anyways, and we begin to check our bags. It's my turn in line and I get the guy to throw my bag on the scale because it's way too heavy for me. Turns out I packed 62 pounds of crap!! Damn that huge suitcase Christine gave me! It allowed me to pack too much. Since I went over 50 pounds I had to pay $100 dollars!! HOLY HELL! Jenna, Whitley, and Lindley had already checked their bags so I couldn't transfer goods at this time. Shit, Shit, Shit. Well, I see it as one more thing that TCU bought. Thanks TCU!

We make our way to the terminal, board the plane, and take off. It all happened within 20 minutes. I was surprised and in shock because I then realized that I was finally headed to Brussels! The 11 hour flight went by fast. They served us nasty food. If you can tell me what this is, I'll be extremely surprised!!

I watched movies, played games, and watched tv, all on this personal tv in the back of the seat in front of me. I slept for probably about 30 minutes...crap I knew I should have packed an ambien. Jenna and I got bored of the tv and played the "Penis" game. For those of you who don't know what that game is, it is where you say penis over and over and each time until it continually grows louder. Let's just say we got slightly loud for this plane. Whitley finally sits up (who was sitting behind us) and goes "why do you guys keep saying penis?" I played it cool and said "oh, you can hear that?" and turned back around.

We landed in Amsterdam 7:30 their time...who the hell knows our time. We were supposed to have a 50 minute delay, but snow delayed us for another 20 minutes, and then another 2o minutes. I couldn't be too upset because the airport amsterdanians are pretty cute!! We finally boarded and I lucked out and had the whole row to myself! Even though it was only a 30 minute flight to Brussels, I passed out! I woke up to a very rough landing from the pilot. Rude. We land, scream a little because we are "home", de-board, grab our luggage, head through

customs which consisted of walking through a hallway, walked into this sea of people and saw a beautiful TCU poster waiting for us. They didn't even need the TCU sign, we stuck out obviously! We were like a lost puppy dog. We probably looked pathetic to the locals. Doesn't matter, because I live here now.

The host family we are staying with are the best people ever! They are sweet and funny and go way out of their way to make sure that we are having the best time ever. They even bought us these waterbottles, called camelbak. You bite and suck and the water comes out! No tipping or pouring, just bite a suck. Their son, who is a sophomore in high school had a wrestling match today and they went to watch him after they picked us up. We decided to take the metro into town to go exploring! Keep in mind, we haven't slept for about 20 hours now. The city center is AMAZING! And I had my first Belgian Waffle. Let me tell you, they are the best thing I have ever had! People aren't lying when they say that they are the best thing ever. Mine had hot chocolate sauce and bananas and powder sugar mmmmm.

We finally decied that we were about to crash, so we headed back to the metro station....too bad we only found it by accident! Whitley passes out on the train, I had a guy sitting WAY TOO close to me, and Jenna and Lindley were zoning out. We reach the station and then walk back to the house. It was about a 2 mile walk, but it wasn't bad. It was really nice outside and Jenna and I had a mild snowball fight. I'm sure the people driving by were thinking "crazy Americans". On our walk back we ran into some sheep. Apparently, I have a gift for sheep calling. I was able to use my baaas to lurn the sheep to the fence. Ya that was a highlight for sure. We ended up arriving back home just as the host family was pulling back into their driveway. We decided to take a power nap that last about 2 hours and then the host family took us out to dinner. This great Italian place that had fantastic wine. Ps the drinking age here is 16 and the driving age here is 18. It starts snowing as we are eating and we get way too excited about that. We we get back home it is snowing so hard that we can't help but play in it. We begged the family to let us walk their dogs in the snow. I'm almost positive they thought that was weird, but they gave in and let us walk them. The snow was way to pretty to be inside, even though it was 9:00 at night.

So I haven't slep in about 32 hours now....I'm going to pass out now! But before I do, this is what I have learned so far about Brussels:

1. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right away.

2. Belgians do NOT look where they are going.

3. When a church says "silence" do NOT let the host familie's cell phone that they gave you for the day ring in the church. Especially when the ring is a loud whistle and then says taxi. And then do NOT proceed to walk around pretending that it isn't yours.

4. Deodorant isn't a priority around here.

5. The waffles ARE as good as they look.

Ps...here is a look at what mine and Jenna's room looks like right now....

Packing sucks

So, I started packing today...one day before I leave. Normally, I'm more on top of things like this, but I had too much fun at the going away party last night! I picked up these space bags at the Container Store to help minimize the space my clothes will take up in my ONE suitcase! Let me tell you, these bags are AMAZING! I was able to fit all of my clothes into 4 bags! So, I bring out my suitcase thinking that it's going to fit perfectly and that I'll have all this space left over. Ummm...I could only fit one bag into my suitcase. Let's just say, on the outside I seemed calm and together, but internally I was flipping out! I call Jenna and Christine into my room to look at this and apparently my suitcase is a baby. I thought it was huge, but Christine brings down her suitcase and it swamps my suitcase. Apparently, I've been sheltered in the different sizes of suitcases. I put my bags into her suitcase and I have SOOOO much room now. I was able to fit all my stuff and I still have extra room. I guess I need to get out more in the luggage world.

Well, packing is boring and I decided to have some fun with Lambie Pie. He is definitely ready to go tomorrow!

Tomorrow...

I can finally say tomorrow! The day has come! Too bad I haven't started packing yet. How do you even start packing for a month trip to Europe!?

Last night was our going away party....sad...but it was fun! Too bad my mom couldn't come! hahahaha. Yesterday, I was asked why I was going to Brussels. I said to student teach and the guy's response was "is that safe?". What does that even mean?! Is it safe to teach there? He then begins to tell me that Brussels is in this huge war. I had to stop him there and tell him that there was no way that I could continue this conversation and walked away. Just to make sure, I googled it went I got home. I was right for walking away.

5 followers. Today is a good day. And I haven't started packing yet and I leave in 2 days....crap.







Oh and...Ya, it's what it looks like.





And I think Lambie Pie is ready for this 11 hour flight...

3 days and 3 followers...

I made it up to 3 followers...gosh I'm popular! I found out today that TCU is not only paying me to go to Brussels, but that they are also giving me $900 extra dollars to spend on whatever....probably beer, chocolate, and waffles. Suck it TCU...that's for giving me up to the law firm who was suing me for illegally distributing music. I'll spend your money on crap. But that's another story and not what this blog is about.

But since there aren't any good stories yet, I'll give you a 2 in one story just for reading so far. These stories are the kind you want to hear when you're having a bad day so you can think back and go "thank god that isn't my life". You're welcome.

Background of story one: Summer of 2009. I am nannying too many kids and I have to drop 2 of the kids off at Museum School. There is a major hottie that works at this school. I see him 4 times a day, at least. Unfortunately, he might be in high school, but let me tell you his outer beauty was spectacular. I never spoke with him, but this story is about the day I did.

Story 1: I just dropped both kids off at their classrooms and I have to walk back by hottie. I decided that today I am going to walk by, make eye contact, say something short and sweet, but leave a little mystery in there. Cosmo tells me that that is the best way to hook a guy! Cosmo is wrong because I walk by, make eye contact and to my surprise he said "Hey". I'm not sure if I was thrown off because I didn't get to finish my routine, but instead of saying "hi" back, I end up tripping a little kid and knocking him down at least 5 stairs. IN THE RAIN! I literally stand there and watch this kid fall down a flight of stairs and then start to cry. What do I do you ask?!?! Do I help this little kid up, do I apologize profusely to the kid and family, do I try and do anything?!! NO....I say "I gotta go" and I run away! Gosh, that was so stupid. Was that mysterious enough Cosmo....? So, when I went to pick the kids up I was hoping that I was able to see the hottie again and regain any dignity that I lost, but to my luck I never saw him again! Yea, he was definitely hooked.

Background to story 2: Summer 2009. I am nannying this little boy, Nicholas. He enjoys playing sports outside. For all those who know me, know that I am not athletic in any way! Nicholas wants to practice his soccer and baseball outside one day.

Story 2: Nicholas and I are out in his backyard playing tag or something. He wants to practice soccer, so he grabs his ball and we are kicking it around. I'm doing fairly well, making some good shots...nbd (no big deal). Nicholas says and I quote "Sarah, kick it as hard as you can". Me, wanting to please this little kid....that sounded dirty and it wasn't meant to be...says "alright, let's see what I can do"....he throws the ball to me, I line it up right and I kick this ball really hard. I thought it was a great kick until I see Nicholas on the ground holding his face. Oh crap. I kicked this little boy in the face with his own soccer ball! I start freaking out, but secretly laughing because what are the odds that I would do that!! He stands up and brushes himself off, says that he is alright, yet he has a bright red spot on his face...oops. Nicholas decides that we are going to switch sports and move to baseball. We are throwing the ball, hitting it, everything is fine. Nicholas says and I quote "Sarah, hit it as hard as you can". Me, knowing that there is no way in hell that I'm going to hit this ball, agree. He throws it, to my surprise I hit the ball, I start jumping and screaming because I'm so excited (those who have had the pleasure of seeing me excited know how I can get), then I see Nicholas on the ground. What the hell! How is it that I can hit this little boy in the face TWICE with two different sporting objects and I can't play a decent game of anything?! So, the baseball hits him straight in the head. He isn't happy about this, he starts throwing his baseball bat at me and all the balls that he can find and chasing me around the yard. I have a crazy 6 year old on my ass now! He starts screaming that I did that on purpose and runs inside and tells his mom that I hit him on purpose and that I was trying to kill him! Keep in mind that this is the 2nd time I have ever babysat for him. I was mortified. How do you recover from hitting this little kid in the face twice and then defend yourself when he is saying that I am trying to kill him?! I really was just shit out of luck. The mom decided that I was done for the day. Nicholas held a grudge for a while...such a girl. But he did give me 4 cents to add to my Brussels fund. He was probably saving up for a while.

Now, which situation would you rather find yourself in?! haha ya, neither! Welcome to my life!

So, I now have 2 followers...wow this is exciting! Too bad Jenna is one of them, so she'll will already know what happened in Brussels and won't need to read this, but I'll take what I can get.

I decided that I should e-mail the teacher that I'm student teaching with just to let her know that I'm coming. She tells me that I have 16 students and 4 of them are pulled out for different reasons. So technically, I only have 12 students for a portion of the day. Yes, my sanity should remain with me.

But that's not the best part of the e-mail conversation. She then e-mails me again to apologize for not inviting me to this party she calls "New Years Drinks". I immediately think that she is really confused because new years happened a month ago, but I open the invite anyways. UHHHHH turns out she is a "lady" and her husband is a "sir" and they are throwing a party and thought that it would be a great idea to invite 4 21 year olds that they have known for 2 days since the party is on February 1st! Not even 2 days...the day of the party will be the first day that I start student teaching with her. I really need to make a great first impression...crap. Those aren't exactly my strong points. I'll try and upload the invite so you guys (Samantha and Jenna since they are the only ones who read this) can see how official this party is.

Maybe I'll meet some handsome silver fox and he'll teach me how to dance and then make me a lady. And by "lady", I mean the kind of lady that my teacher is. I'll have to keep you posted on how the night goes.

The weather update is 25 degrees. It says that it should be snowing the day we arrive.


Ok...so the attachment wouldn't work. I copied and pasted it and it came out funky. On the invitation their crest was on the top and it was is nice cursive font. This will get the point across to you though...


The UK Permanent Representative to the EU

Sir Kim Darroch KCMG


and Lady Darroch


request the pleasure of your company for New Year’s drinks

at the Residence, Rue Ducale 17 Hertogstraat, 1000 Brussels
on Monday 1 February 2010 from 6.30pm 8.30pm

RSVP: Debbie Chilcott

Meet Lambie Pie

Ok, so many of you guys don't know who or what Lambie Pie is. So, I am going to introduce you guys now so you aren't confused when I just use his name in sentences. Lambie Pie is my stuffed animal from when I was little. He used to be able to squeak, but that is long gone. He used to have fur, but that too is long gone. He also used to be white, I still claim that he is but apparently what I think is white is technically considered dirty white. Ugh, technicalities.

Anyways, Lambie Pie has been with me for 21 years now (that's how old I am). So he is legal and able to do whatever I am. You guys may have seen some of his nights out in Lake Tahoe...he really enjoys the slots and drinking beer. People say he takes after his mom.

So Lambie Pie is going to Brussels with me. He will be enjoying the trip with all of us and it will be me who will be reporting to you about his adventures. They will be interesting...just like our lives. Oh and only 5 more days!

So, it's 6 days until we leave for Brussels and I have no idea what to do with myself! This is also my first time to ever blog, so it may be a little rough at first. You'll get over it though.

So I'm going to try and keep these posts PG-13 for those who don't agree with the way I live my life, but if some R activities slip in here...well I'm in Europe...you can't ground me...suckas!