Step Right Up

Here are just a few pictures from our travels the last few weeks…

Hamburg, Germany.

Hamburg, Germany.

A perfect day on Steinhuder lake. Steinhude, germany. 

Steinhude, Germany.

The incredibly beautiful Marienburg Castle. Malbork, Germany. 

Inside Marienburg Castle. 

Munich, Germany!

The famous Glockenspiel.

We saw the President of Germany while in Munich! 

New friends Kate and Felix. 

View from the Hohensalzburg fortress. Salzburg, Austria. <333

View of the Hohensalzburg fortress. Salzburg, Austria. (old city)

Salzburg, Austria. (old city)

The Benedictine abbey of Nonnberg. Where the real Maria Von trapp lived. Salzburg, Austria. 

Mozarts childhood home. | Street in old city. Salzburg, Austria.

Mirabell garden. (sound of music garden) Salzburg, Austria. 

Mirabell garden. (sound of music garden) Salzburg, Austria. 

The Berlin wall!! Berlin, Germany. 

The famous “world clock”. Berlin, Germany.

The ridiculously beautiful Berlin Cathedral. Berlin, Germany. 

Inside the Berlin Cathedral. Berlin, Germany. 

Inside the Berlin Cathedral. Berlin, Germany. 

View from the top of the Berlin Cathedral. Berlin, Germany. 

Brandenburg gate, the last standing gate in Berlin. Berlin, Germany. 

Oh my goodness. So I’ve never been one of those child-obsessed girls. You know, the ones who are crazy and volunteer to babysit kids for FREE (crazy!) or spend hours entertaining children at parties. Yeah….I am not one of those. BUT since one of my best friends had a baby almost two years ago, my ideals about children have changed. 

I used to be dead set on never having kids. It wasn’t that I hated children, it was more out of fear. I’ve seen so many terrible parents, parents who made their children feel like a burden or just neglected them altogether. When I see those terrible parents I always think to myself why on earth did these self absorbed people have children to begin with? So because I was scared, selfish and young I decided that I would never have children. I didn’t want to feel pressured into having kids (because “it’s what everyone does after they get married”) and then do a bad job raising them. Honestly, I probably would have stuck with that decision had one of my best friends not accidentally gotten pregnant. 

One of my best friends had a beautiful baby girl almost two years ago. Her birth completely and totally changed my views on having kids. I love that child more than I ever thought possible. I would do anything to ensure her safety and happiness.

It’s difficult to describe the atmosphere in the hospital room when I saw her for the first time. I had literally never felt so much love in one room in my life. It felt tangible, like I could reach out and grab it. She was a miracle and such a wonderful, perfect blessing.

I remember watching my friend and her husband pass baby Peyton back and forth throughout the day. They had become parents overnight. All at once they would never be the same. They were exhausted and overwhelmed, but mostly they were happy- in a very peaceful way. They had no idea what to expect and the nine months leading up to her arrival had been stressful to say the least. But it was as if as soon as she arrived, everything was right with the world. Suddenly, nothing mattered to them but her.

For me, it was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. Terrifying because right then I realized I too wanted to experience that. But I knew that it mean’t one day sacrificing a huge part of myself. I remember crying a lot. I was so happy for them. It is truly a miracle that two imperfect beings can create perfection. After that experience, I knew, I knew that one day I needed to experience that with someone else. I needed to know what that kind of love felt like. To create something so perfect with the person I love. Children really are a miracle.

(I still don’t want kids for a least 5 more years….AT LEAST. lol)