There's another Flicker blog about Berlin: http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/11/04/experience-history-berlin-1961-1989/ It is about creation of a Flicker Group for "...photographic memories of a divided Berlin...".

Also I have added some misc. photos from the year I lived in Germany with my husband to my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmhill/sets/72157622683858060/

Enjoy

cross posted to deutsch_kultur

Buzz off Base just posted the list of upcoming a Christmas Markets in Germany and it made me think of going to them when we lived there. This is a picture from the one in Ktown, which I love because it says how far Ktown is from different countries capitals. I love the one in Trier. We also went to Rothenburg which was nice at Christmas time, esp since thats where the main Kathe Wohlfahrt store is.

So anyway I posted a few pictures from the last year in Germany, more to come after the 1st.

Ok so first of all I am much more of an Easter Candy person, but every holiday has some candy I like. For Halloween its the eyeball chocolates from Palmer. They come with fudge, peanut butter, or carmel filling. When we went to Kroger on Sunday they only had carmel ones. We have eaten almost all of them already. Not sure if we will have trick-or-treaters but I should probably stock up. I also am one of the few people who actually likes candy corn, which are ridiciously cheap.

Right, now I like different salads since I get tired of traditional salads. For example, cucumber and tomato salad, which is just any tomato you have on hand, cut into bite-sized pieces and mixes with cut up cucumber, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and if you have it on hand, crumbled feta or cubed mozzerella. Coucous salad and pasta salads are also good. When I am in the mood for a traditional salad I do some mixed field greens with crasins and toasted sliced almond with some vinegrette.

Also, I like to keep plain yogurt on hand to make a tasty snack or great veggie dip. Yogurt mixed with honey and cinnamon, served with fresh fruit is a nice snack or breakfast. Yogurt mixed with a variety of spices like chives, powdered onion, powdered garlic, Season-All, Italian seasoning, etc to make veggie dip.

I got the mail today and there was a promo thing from Similac (baby formula people) for soon-to-be moms. First, what did I sign up for that gave my address to Similac and second why do they think I am an expectant mom. Its like right after we got married I got coupons for baby photos at a local studio, and I think they got my address from my wedding registry. What about getting married means we are having kids right away.

Also, in our home Sunday is Grocery day. We go to Kroger and I always have a list and coupons and the whole bit, so I tend to know what our common groceries cost. So anyway I know groceries stores sometimes act like things are a deal when really they are only a little cheaper. I always buy Medium Eggs because they are 95 cents for a dozen and Large eggs are usually $1.20 and I have never noticed a difference in baking or cooking. So, anyway this week the Medium eggs had a yellow tag that they were part of the 10 for $10 promotion making it look like they are on sale, but they were 5 cents more than usual. That is so annoying.

Snapfish ~ Share to Care
Throughout October, Snapfish will offer free "Share to Care" photo greeting cards for its customers to send to friends and family members. In addition, calendars, photo books, notebooks, notepads and stickers are at the Snapfish "Share to Care" Store, where 30 percent of all proceeds will be donated to Breastcancer.org.

Article about the event: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/164491.php
Snapfish Website: http://www2.snapfish.com/

Currently the "Share to Care" section of the store is still called "Pink Gives"

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Calling All Bloggers: Get Ready to Unite to Fight Prematurity
November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth and the March of Dimes is inviting all bloggers to get involved!

Put a badge on your blog during November (Prematurity Awareness Month) , and on November 17 blog for a baby you love.

For more details on how you can help, read about the Bloggers Unite event at http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/fight-for-preemies


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Both cross posted separately to foragoodworld

If you have ever had AFN you probably know the Grill Sgt from the Pentagon Channel. One of the only thing I watched on that channel, but when you only have 10 channels you watch some random stuff. He is actually very entertaining and energetic. Gotta love his sailor band the Taste Buds. As well as the thinly veiled ads for going to the commissary.

Just saw an ad last night on the Food Network that next Wed Bobby Flay will be have a Throwdown with the Grill Sgt. So, I am totally looking forward to that. Not normally a big fan of the show Throwdown but I plan to watch this one. Here are some links about the Grill Sgt and Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/thegrillsergeants/gs_admiralsfaves.shtml
http://www.foodnetwork.com/throwdown-with-bobby-flay/bbq-chicken/index.html
http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/07/02/23813-armys-grill-sergeant-matches-skills-against-culinary-hero/

So I got it set up to blog my photos from Flickr to my LJ. So far I just have my best Holland flower photos. Can't wait to add more photos in the next few months and really be able to share my photos.

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Even better because I just got peach flavored black tea bags.

You Are Peach Iced Tea

You are easy going and very friendly. You are happy to make every occasion a social event. You need lots of people in your life. You feel lonely and bored when no one else is around. You are a generous and caring person. You are emotionally involved in many people's lives. You may come off as overly sweet, but you can't help it. You're a naturally sweet person.

So, I finally decide that it was worth it to start a Flickr page. Although, after starting it I realized that you can only add 100MB a month, which seems to be about 50 photos. Just like Snapfish and Facebook, it does take awhile to upload without downloading special programs. It will just be an ongoing project to put all my best photos there. So far, I have just have some of my Holland photos up. More to come this week (until I reach my limit)

So if you have a Flickr page feel free to add me to your contacts:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmhill/

So far, I really like the idea of adding my photos to groups and to the map for anyone to find and enjoy. Still want to figure out how to make my newest uploads show on my Facebook profile.

or how to use up left over coucous.

If you havent used Couscous, its cooks super quick like instant rice. Lately we have been buying the whole wheat kind, which is oddly cheaper as well as healthy. Cooked with chicken broth/boullion and garlic powder it makes a tasty bed for any variety of cooked chicken.

But when you only have two people, a whole box makes more than we can eat. So the solution is Couscous Salad. Its very easy to make based on whats on hand. The most recent batch had tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Two recipes for ideas:

Cous Cous Three Ways

Low Fat Couscous Salad

We have been on a bit of a blueberry kick, especially with lemon/lime flavors

Today I tried Lemon-Blueberry Diamonds from the Sept 2009 Family Circle - which were very good, I used the whole pint of blueberries though
http://www.parents.com/recipe/bars/lemon-blueberry-diamonds/

I have also been playing with this recipe for Blueberry Cakelets, that are very good, but I have trouble getting them to come out of the muffin tin clean even with the parchment paper, plus it only used the zest of the lime, so I can add the lime juice to cranberry juice, for a nice mocktail.
http://www.relishmag.com/recipes/view/39830/blueberry-cakelets.html

Overpreparing Kindergarteners
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32404017/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/?GT1=43001

First of all, this can be good or bad, some kids may need it, but if you take it too far your kid ends up ahead of the whole class, you create more levels of students ability than a teacher can handle, and your kid wont get as much attention as the ones who are still learning to read. So it has to be a happy balance. I think pre-school is very important not just to start to learn, but to get a child used to a school routine and socializing with other kids. Besides Kindergarten is still not even mandatory in most states and yet they argue over half-day or full-day kindergarten.


Unions vs. Young Teachers
http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/090816-the-battle-between-unions-and-young-teachers.html

I am a young teacher (well I would be if I had a job, darn the constant moving) but I am generally for teachers unions for the protection they provide teachers legally, as well as job protection. Any job is first in, first out when they downsize. I have more of a problem with Teach for America because its geared at non-teaching majors graduates to teach in schools that need teachers, usually they work cheap and do it as a way of giving back, but I know there are young teachers out there who would teach, even in "undesirable" schools. In my opinion, a good school has a mix of experienced teachers and new, young teachers. Experienced teachers and new teachers have much to learn/teach each other.

For this week and next we will be in Clarksville, TN while Patrick takes a class for work at Ft. Campbell. Doing some research I have found plenty of things to do here on Clarksville this weekend. Patrick also has an old army buddy here that we plan to visit.

Things on the agenda:
Downtown Walking Tour http://www.clarksville.tn.us/
Museum http://www.customshousemuseum.org/
Winery http://www.beachavenwinery.com/
German Cafe' http://www.edelweisscafeusa.com/

So on the advice of a friend I have been seriously considering starting a flickr account to post some of my best photographs. I did some exploring on the site and I like the fact that it has groups that I could also post pictures to, like a group for Vicksburg and one for Keukenhof Park. I also like that you can identify where you took your picture and search for others in the same location.

So the down side, is it worth it to take the time to upload picture to another picture site when I already have all my photos on Snapfish so I can print them and most of them on Facebook so I can share them.

Flickr is more of a community site so I would probably get feedback on my photos and it is good to have photos backed up in several places, but it is it worth the time?

So those of you with flickr accounts, what do you think? Pros and Cons.

Ok so I keep meaning to update. Getting used to living in Vicksburg, medium sized town, with everything you really want in Jackson about an hour away. But it is very photo-friendly with lots of wonderful things to take photos of.

We are mostly moved in with just a few boxes left. Some of the boxes will just to stay that way since there is not really winter here, and we dont have space for all of Pat's Army stuff to find a home. Considering a storage space in the apartment complex, but for now the office is doubling as the storage room. Hoping to get everything cleaned, organized and as put away as possible by the end of the week - if not I guess I get good at hiding things in the closets and cupboards. To make matters worse I am leaving for my trip to get my stuff from storage in Indiana and I have have mostly no idea where its going to go.

So I meant to update after the July 4th weekend and never got around to it. We did some major touristy stuff on July 3rd to beat the rush on the 4th. We finally went for the first time to the Military Park (that we live next door to) and it was good, but very hot and we need lots of water next time. So, we really only enjoyed about the first quarter of the driving tour. Since July 3rd/4th marks the surrender of Vicksburg during the Civil War they had a cannon demonstration that was pretty cool. Then we enjoyed several of the memorials before it was just too unbearable to keep getting out of the car into the heat and we rejoiced when we got to the U.S.S Cairo Gunboat Museum that was air conditioned and had water fountains. By then we were spent and took the shortest way out avoiding all the sections of the driving tour that make a loop off the main tour road and plan to return in the future to fully enjoy the park. We have an annual pass so more adventure and pictureswill be assured.

We also went on the evening of the 3rd to take pictures at sunset that two bridges that cross the Mississippi from Vicksburg, MS into Lousiana. The old bridge that was 80 that is now just a railroad bridge and the newer one for I-20 and 80. Very beautiful.

As, I said I am leaving for Indiana at the end of the week. I fly from Jackson to Atlanta to Indy because no airline flies from Jackson to Indy direct and since I know the Atlanta airport somewhat; it make a good layover spot. Spending about a week with my bros and at some point going up to clean my stuff out the pole barn. Then we are driving down to MS on the 24th and the new plans involve my mom driving down with us and a trailer. Hopefully we can leave early so I can see Patrick on his birthday.

Also that weekend Patrick's parents are planning to visit. So that will be a full and busy weekend. Patrick has asked them to drive his Volvo over and take his Saturn back with them. So we will have his pretty car, that he picked out here.

We have a massive Goodwill pile that will only get bigger in the next few weeks as I weed out all the duplicate kitchenwares and outdated clothing. The nearest Goodwill is also almost an hour away so we will probably make a day of it and I will probably look for real nightstands because I am not sure I have more than one.

So thats the update for now. If you will be in Indiana on the 18th through 23rd you should give me a call.

Here is the food selections as I see them:

"Local Places" we have tried:
-Goldie's Trail Bar-B-Que - very good with a sweeter thin sauce, good service
-Sun Koon- Chinese - good lunch prices
-Panda Buffet - Chinese - good selection
-El Sombrero - Mexican - good fajitas and chips/salsa, I think they might be moving into a newer, bigger place just up the street

Chain Restuarants (some regional) in Vicksburg
-Whataburger - very good burgers/shakes
-Shipley's Do-Nuts - good donuts, nice mom and pop feel since one is in an old gas station but there are 3 in Vicksburg
-McAlisters - new favorite place to eat
-Cracker Barrel - right in front of the outlets
-Captain D's - better than Long John Silver in my opinion
-Pizza Hut - not my fav but good $5 menu, if you get a whole pizza go for the pan crust
- Pizza Inn - Cheap buffet price and close to apt, ok pizza, good dessert pizza
- KFC - 2 nearby, one with buffet, now with Grilled chicken if you're into that
- Burger King - where is there not one
-Wendy's - near our hotel
-Subway -near our hotel
-Taco Bell - near our hotel
-Shoney's -it was ok, but not great - near our hotel
--------also here but we havent had yet
-Taco Casa - didnt see anything we liked on the menu
-Garfield's (part of the mall) - which I have had before in IN but the outside entrance of this one was very smoky, might have to try some other time on the mall entrance side. Only other food at the mall is a chinese place called The Wok and a wing place called Wingos across from each other inside, no real food court.
-Waffle House
-Sonic - slightly frustrated by drive-in at 90+ weather
-Heavenly Ham - ads say they do eat in and carry out
-Popeyes - I prefer KFC
-McDonalds -where is there not one


Places I want to try:
- Rusty's Riverfront Grill - have heard good things about the seafood
- Jacque's Cafe - inside the Battlefield Inn, claims to have the best steaks from Memphis to New Orleans
-China Buffet - near the outlets, ad for super seafood buffet
-Borello's -Italian/Creole
-Casino food - there are several casinos here each with their own restaurants

That is most of the places to eat in Vicksburg here, there are more in the Yellow Pages if you are really interested.

So I wanted to make a list of the touristy things I want to do in Vicksburg while we are here. Also at some point we will both have famiy here and it would be nice to have a list ready so we can figure out what we want to do.

http://www.visitvicksburg.com
http://www.vicksburgchamber.org
http://www.vicksburg.org

In no particular order:

-visit/photograph the two bridges of Vicksburg- The I-20/US 80 Bridge and the old railroad bridge are side-by-side (at Welcome Center/Navy Circle)
http://www.visitmississippi.org/welcome/warren.asp
-wander around/window shop in historic downtown http://www.downtownvicksburg.org
-National Military Park and USS Cairo http://www.nps.gov/vick
- Pemberton's Headquarters
http://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/pembertons-headquarters.htm
-Scenic Drives (from the city travel brochure, goes past most of the historic homes)
-Museums
-Old Courthouse Museum http://www.oldcourthouse.org
-Biedenharn Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia
http://www.biedenharncoca-colamuseum.com
-Battlefield Museum http://www.vicksburgbattlefieldmuseum.net
-Corner Drug Store(Civil war artifacts) http://www.vicksburgcornerdrug.com
-Yesterday's Children Antique Doll and Toy Museum
http://www.yesterdayschildrenmuseum.com
-Sweet Olive River Tour http://www.msrivertours.com
-Vicksburg River Front Murals
-Farmers' Market http://www.vicksburgfarmersmarket.org
-Outlet Mall http://www.outletsatvicksburg.com
-Parkside Playhouse - longest running play "Gold in the Hills"
http://www.vicksburg.com/~gold

101 Things to do in Vicksburg http://www.vicksburgcvb.org/press/101things.html

Outside Vicksburg http://www.visitthedelta.com
-Bass Pro Shop - Pearl, MS http://www.basspro.com
-Port Gibson http://www.portgibsononthemississippi.com
-Grand Gulf Military Monument http://www.grandgulfpark.state.ms.us
-Beauvoir - Jefferson Davis Home in Biloxi, MS http://www.beauvoir.org
-Crossroad Museum Corinith, MS http://www.crossroadsmuseum.com
Mobile, Alabama
-Mobile Bay http://www.mobilebay.org
-Battleship Alabama http://www.ussalabama.com
-Christmas Town http://www.robertmoorechristmastown.com
-Gulf Shores, Alabama http://www.gulfshores.com
-Fort Morgan

I will edit this entry as I come up with more places to visit.