it's the freakin' weekend

Happy Friday! Anyone else ready for the weekend? *two hands up*

We'll start it off with a little sharing. Since sharing is caring.

1. I am extremely nosy. People watching and peeking in open windows are some of my favorite past times. It's not like I even care what I see, I just like to observe. You know? Most times, I see normal things. Other times, I see my neighbor sunbathing nude. 

2. This week was amerikanische woche (ameri-can-ease-ish voe-ka) at Aldi. Bascally, they have all things "Amercian." Things like non-frozen pancakes, bagels, burger patties, hot dogs, marshmallows, and mini apple pies were all stacked neatly side by side. Our culture, in a nutshell - as told by Germans. Ryan and I couldn't resist buying the apple pies. He wasn't a fan of them so I selflessly ate his share. 

3. I just learned that barbecue is actually spelled with a C and not a Q. Not sure how I've gone my entire adult life not knowing that. Although, it might be worth noting that barbeque is a north american variant that's also acceptable.

4. I love getting lost in books. The easiest ones to get lost in for me? Romance. Every day, all day. I even read them back in high school. Lately, I've tried expanding my repertoire and trying new genres. I enjoyed reading the biography about Maude, which killed me at the end. And just last week, I finished Working Stiff, which was so well written. What types of books do you read? Have you read any good ones lately?

5. And finally, I envy people who don't need a lot of sleep. I wish I could run on five or six hours. I'd have so much more time! I would be so much more productive! Er, I'd have so much more time! Seven hours is the least I need to be a tolerable human being. Eight is ideal and nine is just glorious. With nine hours of sleep, I'm the happiest person ever. But that typically only happens on the weekends. And only sometimes. Most days I get between six and seven and it's a struggle. All. Day. Long. There should be a 3pm nap time - just for 30 minutes. It'd be perfect.

One of the major things I love about Ryan is that he makes me smile and laugh, constantly. I always joke that he's the newer, improved version of his father, who comes out with some serious gems. Ryan's got plenty of his own. 

Since we both have activity trackers on our watches, Ryan and I make it a point to hit our daily step goal. As we were walking to the store the other night, we had this conversation...

A: "Did you get your step goal yet?"

R: "No, not yet."

A: "How many steps do you need?"

R: "Two thousand. How many do you need?"

A: "Ugh, four."

He's quiet for a few steps and then, 

R: "DONE!"

A: "Four thousand...."

I wouldn't trade him for the world.

This weekend there's a big fireworks show along the Rhine and while typically we'd be traveling this weekend I wanted to make sure we got a little firework action in! I will be indulging in a drink, holding hands with Ryan, and pretending it's the fourth. Happy belated birthday, America!

To top it off we're continuing our search for the best burger in town. Our current number one snuck into the top spot last week. My "Don Vito" and Ryan's "ODB" at Beef Brothers were so delicious. The owner calling our order number in english rather than german - because we're THAT obvious - made for a great memory too.

"Number one hundred eighty-eight?"