Holiday time with Miles

One of the hardest things about being overseas is being so far away from your family.  Not only the distances, but the time differences make it seem like the family is a million miles away.  At this time I would also like to thank the creator of Skype for coming up with probably one of the coolest programs ever made.  Skype has really been a life-saver whenever I’ve been feeling a little homesick.

Another thing about the distance is that it makes you really value just how important family is.  Now don’t get me wrong - I’ve always felt like I’ve been a pretty good ‘family man’, and have always tried to be there for whenever my mom, dad, or brother needed me.  But being so far away, really makes you appreciate just how important family really is.  I’m so unbelievably thankful that I was blessed with the family that I was.  From being raised speaking two different languages to getting countless birthday emails from my 19 Aunts and Uncles - I am so appreciative of what God has given me in this life.

Anyways, I say all that to say just how awesome it was to have my brother Miles coming over to spend the holidays with me.  I spent my birthday alone over here, and it was pretty tough - and just having Miles here these last two weeks have been so refreshing.  We haven’t really done too much - but just having someone from my family here for so long is all I need.  He got here Saturday the 18th and was a couple hours late showing up because his train was canceled a few times.  It has been snowing unbelievably here and there are airports all across Europe that have been shut down due to weather.  

Here’s a view of one of the first days it started snowing here

Anyways, I was there waiting to give him some German chocolates and a scarf.  We hung out for a while and then went out that night, but didn’t stay out too long.

I had classes the first week he was here, so we kind of hung out, watched movies, and went out for some good eating/drinking.  Miles’ first full beer of his life was here in Germany.  So that is something he can put down in his list of interesting facts.

Here’s a picture commemorating that experience

On Christmas, we decided that we should try to cook a normal Christmas meal.  This may seem like an easy task to everyone else in the world, but neither of us had any experience cooking anything except for frozen foods.  So we went to our number one source of information: instructional internet videos!  We spent the rest of the day cooking our turkey, potatoes, veggies, gravy, stuffing and dessert.  Everything turned out awesome, and here’s a video showing us finishing up our hard work with extreme satisfaction. 

No idea what he’s doing

Checking the Turkey

Potatoes don’t peel themselves

Finished

Merry Christmas from the O’Brien kids

Our original plan for after Christmas, was to take a train to Paris and stay there for a few days and come back to Hamburg for New Years Eve.  Unfortunately, that didn’t go as planned and we’ve just ended up staying here, relaxing and enjoying the time together.  Tomorrow is New Years Eve, and we’ll be going out to experience New Years in our 3rd different continent!  I hope that everyone stays safe and has enjoyed this holiday season as much as I have.  My next post will probably be my New Year’s Resolutions!  Anyways, until next time - God Bless!

30 December 2010 · Comments