The final installment of Bound for Mom blogging mini-series Carnival, hosted by geneabloggers.
The World Is Not Flat: many Moms love to travel and take off to parts unknown once the nest is empty.
Mom's Travel Log~
My Mom has traveled all over, even since I was a baby she has traveled extensively. When I was only a year old she went to Holland, Belgium, France and England. Then, when I was two and a half, we moved from Germany to the United States. After we arrived by ship we continued on by train from New York to Monterey, CA.
When I was about eight or nine, we had flown to Puerto Rico together for a weeks vacation and about once a year Mom would fly back to Germany by herself to see my Oma (her Mom), her twin brothers (my uncles) and Great Grandparents. When I was 13 I flew with Mom on one of her trips back to Germany for a three week stay during Christmas, this was the one and only Germany trip I made. What a very special trip for us together and a treat to see my Grandfather again, it was the first time he had seen me since I was two and a half. Mom would make the yearly trip so that she was able to spend time with her family. It was just Mom and me here, it meant a lot for her to be with them as much as she could.
During the years of my childhood we had taken many trips from California by car to New York, where we would visit our cousins there. Occasionally my Oma would fly from Germany to New York, where we would pick her up, then drive back to California where we lived. Eventually my Oma was able to fly into San Francisco International Airport, decreasing our trips to New York.
After I left home, she was hard to keep down! Her job had her flying regularly to Chicago and New York. She also continued to go back and forth to Germany, made trips to Canada, England and many different areas of the United States. She even had a friend that owned a small plane and they would fly here and there for short trips.
After being single for close to 30 years she finally married about ten years ago to Adam, who is from Poland. Now they include travel to Poland where they take the train to Italy and on to Germany! Adam has daughters in Italy, Poland and one in California.
Her most recent trip with her husband included my husband, granddaughter and myself. We took a genealogy trip from Southern California to Louisville Kentucky to meet my Aunt Virginia for the first time. In our motor home, with our Jeep in tow, we embarked on a two week adventure that none of us will ever forget.
Mom has always been on the go and to this day still is! She has experienced so much and has had many opportunities to eat many different types of foods. She is a coffee connoisseur, so she has tried many different types and flavors of coffees (I think her favorite is still the typical German strong coffee, she grinds it herself !). She has seen some very beautiful places and Mom can confirm the world is definitely round and life is too short to stay in one place!
My Place to Honor Our Ancestors, Memories, History and Our Lives.
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Showing posts with label Carnival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carnival. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Bound for Mom ~ Lessons for the Road
The Bound for Mom blogging mini-series Carnival, hosted by geneabloggers.
Driving Lessons: along every mile with Mom there was usually a lesson or something to be learned – whether it was obvious to you then or now. Collect her “Momisms,” her favorite sayings, her tips and tricks – all the neat stuff she gave you so you’d make your own journey safely.
Lessons for the Road~
This is a tough one for me and not because Mom didn't teach me life lessons but the opposite, she taught me so many. So many that I just do without thinking about it, I just have a hard time verbally expressing them.
One lesson that stands out the most for me is that she taught me to always come from love, compassion, kindness, and patience. She beleived that you should put yourself in one's shoes. She was and always is there for me unconditionally, that seems to be how I am and have always been. I do have more patience than many other Mom's.
She also taught me to use common sense and to be safe "out there". It was hard for her the day that I left home because I was only 18 years old. However I do know that with all the lessons she had taught me that I was ready and I never had to move back home, but I knew if I needed too I could. She raised me with strength, manners and respect... alot of respect.
One of her Momism's that stands out since I was a little girl was, "come over here so I can spank you". I knew that she was only kidding and she knew she would get that "what, do you think I am stupid" expression from me. I would not be silly enough to go over there so that she could spank me. We would laugh about it!
Mom taught me so much and more than I had realized until I started thinking about it. It's just difficult for me because I am still having a hard time putting it into words and being able to write it here. All I can say is that my mom is an incredible mother that worked full time, managed to teach me to take care of myself, to take pride in my home and that family comes first.
Mom taught me many German and American traditions, such as an old fashioned Christmas complete with a traditional German Christmas Tree. All of this created a warm, secure and loving life that I share with my family and continue to practice with out having to think about. It just flows naturally, the life lessons from my mother that are priceless.
Driving Lessons: along every mile with Mom there was usually a lesson or something to be learned – whether it was obvious to you then or now. Collect her “Momisms,” her favorite sayings, her tips and tricks – all the neat stuff she gave you so you’d make your own journey safely.
Lessons for the Road~
This is a tough one for me and not because Mom didn't teach me life lessons but the opposite, she taught me so many. So many that I just do without thinking about it, I just have a hard time verbally expressing them.
One lesson that stands out the most for me is that she taught me to always come from love, compassion, kindness, and patience. She beleived that you should put yourself in one's shoes. She was and always is there for me unconditionally, that seems to be how I am and have always been. I do have more patience than many other Mom's.
She also taught me to use common sense and to be safe "out there". It was hard for her the day that I left home because I was only 18 years old. However I do know that with all the lessons she had taught me that I was ready and I never had to move back home, but I knew if I needed too I could. She raised me with strength, manners and respect... alot of respect.
One of her Momism's that stands out since I was a little girl was, "come over here so I can spank you". I knew that she was only kidding and she knew she would get that "what, do you think I am stupid" expression from me. I would not be silly enough to go over there so that she could spank me. We would laugh about it!
Mom taught me so much and more than I had realized until I started thinking about it. It's just difficult for me because I am still having a hard time putting it into words and being able to write it here. All I can say is that my mom is an incredible mother that worked full time, managed to teach me to take care of myself, to take pride in my home and that family comes first.
Mom taught me many German and American traditions, such as an old fashioned Christmas complete with a traditional German Christmas Tree. All of this created a warm, secure and loving life that I share with my family and continue to practice with out having to think about. It just flows naturally, the life lessons from my mother that are priceless.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Bound for Mom ~ The Roadside Cafe ~Mom's Cooking
The Bound for Mom blogging mini-series Carnival, hosted by geneabloggers.
The theme? The Roadside Café: “Was your Mom a great or inventive cook? Or perhaps cooking wasn’t her forte. No matter, gather up tales of food in your family and how Mom turned out great meals . . . or how she was an expert at dinner reservations!”
My Mom is an amazing cook…I have wonderful memories of many traditional German meals.
I grew up eating Mom’s German Pancakes, they are to die for, my daughter and grandchildren are hooked too! . Rarely do I eat them now as an adult, even though my Mom only lives about and hour and a half away from me. We get together mostly on holidays and birthday’s but whenever we do, she is expected to make her German Pancakes and there we are all sitting there with fork in hand starring at her!
They are extremely fattening, but you don’t care, you just keep eating them. They are as thin as a crepe, just add your favorite topping (sugar, jam or whipped topping) as you like. I always sprinkled sugar on them, rolled them like a burrito and they would disappear in seconds! Frequently we would devour no less the 3 in one sitting.
My husband likes to place a thin layer of jam with whipped topping in the center, roll them up and then destroy them and the kids all drown them with just lots of sugar. It’s a tradition whenever we spend the night at her home and especially on Christmas morning! She just knows how to make them perfectly.
Holiday dinner is always a roast, most of the time a pork roast with homemade potato balls. She uses a ricer and forms the balls and then boils them. Her gravy is second to none and over the potato balls is so incredible. She also makes a mean Sauerkraut with the traditional applesauce on the side.
Next to the German Pancakes, my all time childhood favorite is her Marble pound cake made from scratch! I only wish she could make you all one, so that you could taste what I mean! I have tried making it myself, but… it’s just not the same. She has no written recipe, she just knows, she estimates the ingredients and it comes out perfect. Getting it into a recipe form would be difficult because she measures by weighing the ingredients in German and I don’t read German. I have told her repeatedly that we need to get the recipe on paper so that we are able to pass it on to our descendants (of course my reasons are a little selfish, I want to be able to make it and enjoy it when I want too!).
My Oma, (that’s “grandmother” in German) is my mom’s mother, she is also an awesome cook and obviously my mom learned from her. She would always make me chocolate bread with Peppermint Tea on the side, occasionally sneaking me some Peppermint Schnapps and told me, “It’s a good way to settle your tummy”.
My Mom worked full time and then some, but loved to put dinners together in our home for our friends and family. I don’t have a clue how she did it so cool and calmly! The meals were delicious and the presentation was incredible. To this day she puts on Teas, dinners, luncheons and brunches enjoying each and every minute of it. It’s what she loves to do…she was Martha Stewart before Martha Stewart.
There are a ton of verbal recipes and meals I could write about, but the bottom line is that my mom is a wonderful cook and my memories of her in the kitchen baking and teaching me are extraordinary. Cooking was a big family tradition, a part of her and her love for us. I feel very fortunate that I was a part of her and for those memories she provided me and hopefully I can carry on with some of those traditions. The German Pancakes and sauerkraut I now have down to a science!
The theme? The Roadside Café: “Was your Mom a great or inventive cook? Or perhaps cooking wasn’t her forte. No matter, gather up tales of food in your family and how Mom turned out great meals . . . or how she was an expert at dinner reservations!”
My Mom is an amazing cook…I have wonderful memories of many traditional German meals.
I grew up eating Mom’s German Pancakes, they are to die for, my daughter and grandchildren are hooked too! . Rarely do I eat them now as an adult, even though my Mom only lives about and hour and a half away from me. We get together mostly on holidays and birthday’s but whenever we do, she is expected to make her German Pancakes and there we are all sitting there with fork in hand starring at her!
They are extremely fattening, but you don’t care, you just keep eating them. They are as thin as a crepe, just add your favorite topping (sugar, jam or whipped topping) as you like. I always sprinkled sugar on them, rolled them like a burrito and they would disappear in seconds! Frequently we would devour no less the 3 in one sitting.
My husband likes to place a thin layer of jam with whipped topping in the center, roll them up and then destroy them and the kids all drown them with just lots of sugar. It’s a tradition whenever we spend the night at her home and especially on Christmas morning! She just knows how to make them perfectly.
Holiday dinner is always a roast, most of the time a pork roast with homemade potato balls. She uses a ricer and forms the balls and then boils them. Her gravy is second to none and over the potato balls is so incredible. She also makes a mean Sauerkraut with the traditional applesauce on the side.
Next to the German Pancakes, my all time childhood favorite is her Marble pound cake made from scratch! I only wish she could make you all one, so that you could taste what I mean! I have tried making it myself, but… it’s just not the same. She has no written recipe, she just knows, she estimates the ingredients and it comes out perfect. Getting it into a recipe form would be difficult because she measures by weighing the ingredients in German and I don’t read German. I have told her repeatedly that we need to get the recipe on paper so that we are able to pass it on to our descendants (of course my reasons are a little selfish, I want to be able to make it and enjoy it when I want too!).
My Oma, (that’s “grandmother” in German) is my mom’s mother, she is also an awesome cook and obviously my mom learned from her. She would always make me chocolate bread with Peppermint Tea on the side, occasionally sneaking me some Peppermint Schnapps and told me, “It’s a good way to settle your tummy”.
My Mom worked full time and then some, but loved to put dinners together in our home for our friends and family. I don’t have a clue how she did it so cool and calmly! The meals were delicious and the presentation was incredible. To this day she puts on Teas, dinners, luncheons and brunches enjoying each and every minute of it. It’s what she loves to do…she was Martha Stewart before Martha Stewart.
There are a ton of verbal recipes and meals I could write about, but the bottom line is that my mom is a wonderful cook and my memories of her in the kitchen baking and teaching me are extraordinary. Cooking was a big family tradition, a part of her and her love for us. I feel very fortunate that I was a part of her and for those memories she provided me and hopefully I can carry on with some of those traditions. The German Pancakes and sauerkraut I now have down to a science!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bound for Mom Carnival ~ My Mom’s Firsts’~
the Bound for Mom blogging mini-series Carnival, hosted by geneabloggers.
The Vehicle: a blog carnival consisting of a mini-series of posts over a four-week period based on stories about your mother (or your grandmother or another female ancestor) gathered from family members.
March 25th – A Journey of Firsts: Moms go far and along the way there are so many “firsts” such as first date, first love, first home, first child, and more.
This is my first Carnival...
My Mom’s Firsts’~
My Mom is a woman of many firsts, some easy some very difficult. I will start from the beginning:
My Mom was born and raised in Augsburg, Germany. When my Mom was 18 years old, she met my natural father John Adam Eimes, who was in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany. After 3 years of their relationship, when I was six months old, my Mom and my natural father parted ways; this would be her first devastating heartbreak.
Several years passed when my Mom met John, who later became my Stepfather. He too was in the U.S. Army and soon after they had wed he had received new orders. He was to be stationed with the 5thInfantry Division to Monterey, California USA, I was then about 2 ½ years old. This would be an enormous first for my Mom, leaving her family and home in Germany for the first time ever and beginning a journey to the United States, with many firsts to follow.
My Mom and stepfather with me in tow boarded a train and left Augsburg, Germany bound for Bremerhaven, Germany. Bremerhaven is a port in Germany where many left their homes from and sailed to many other parts of the country to start a new life.
Bremerhaven is on the opposite end of Germany from Augsburg and requires an 18 hour train ride to get there. When we arrived there we first had to go thru a medical check to be sure that we were healthy and well enough to board the ship for travel. I was sick with a common cold and a high fever. Due to my illness we were forced to stay in a hotel near by for a few days. According to my Mom we almost missed our ship!
On the day our ship was leaving fortunately I was well enough to travel and we were able to board our ship, ‘The General Maurice Rose’. After traveling on the ship for 9 days we arrived in Brooklyn, New York and stayed with my Mom’s cousin for 3 days. We then boarded yet another train and headed to Monterey, California where we located housing and lived for several years. Eventually we moved to San Jose, California where I grew up. Then when I was about 13, my Mom and my Stepfather divorced.
My Mom became a naturalized United States Citizen. Her belief is that if you live in the United States that you walk and talk as an American. We both became Americanized very quickly; she still has some of her German accent though.
My Mom went to work for ‘Montgomery-Wards’, which was her first job in the United States. She started out as a sales girl in the Woman’s Fashion Dept. Later she went on to be the first woman to become a District Merchandise Manager in the history of ‘Montgomery-Ward’s’. She continued to climb the ladder to a Corporate Regional Executive Manager’s position and was very successful up to her retirement 35 years later.
Mom was single, confident and self sufficient for 30 years and then 9 years ago met the love of her life and married him…she is living happily ever after and enjoying life to the fullest. Mom is an incredible woman with a wonderful and a wise soul…she has had a lot of firsts and is an inspiration to me, our family and many others.
The Vehicle: a blog carnival consisting of a mini-series of posts over a four-week period based on stories about your mother (or your grandmother or another female ancestor) gathered from family members.
March 25th – A Journey of Firsts: Moms go far and along the way there are so many “firsts” such as first date, first love, first home, first child, and more.
This is my first Carnival...
My Mom’s Firsts’~
My Mom is a woman of many firsts, some easy some very difficult. I will start from the beginning:
My Mom was born and raised in Augsburg, Germany. When my Mom was 18 years old, she met my natural father John Adam Eimes, who was in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany. After 3 years of their relationship, when I was six months old, my Mom and my natural father parted ways; this would be her first devastating heartbreak.
Several years passed when my Mom met John, who later became my Stepfather. He too was in the U.S. Army and soon after they had wed he had received new orders. He was to be stationed with the 5thInfantry Division to Monterey, California USA, I was then about 2 ½ years old. This would be an enormous first for my Mom, leaving her family and home in Germany for the first time ever and beginning a journey to the United States, with many firsts to follow.
My Mom and stepfather with me in tow boarded a train and left Augsburg, Germany bound for Bremerhaven, Germany. Bremerhaven is a port in Germany where many left their homes from and sailed to many other parts of the country to start a new life.
Bremerhaven is on the opposite end of Germany from Augsburg and requires an 18 hour train ride to get there. When we arrived there we first had to go thru a medical check to be sure that we were healthy and well enough to board the ship for travel. I was sick with a common cold and a high fever. Due to my illness we were forced to stay in a hotel near by for a few days. According to my Mom we almost missed our ship!
On the day our ship was leaving fortunately I was well enough to travel and we were able to board our ship, ‘The General Maurice Rose’. After traveling on the ship for 9 days we arrived in Brooklyn, New York and stayed with my Mom’s cousin for 3 days. We then boarded yet another train and headed to Monterey, California where we located housing and lived for several years. Eventually we moved to San Jose, California where I grew up. Then when I was about 13, my Mom and my Stepfather divorced.
My Mom became a naturalized United States Citizen. Her belief is that if you live in the United States that you walk and talk as an American. We both became Americanized very quickly; she still has some of her German accent though.
My Mom went to work for ‘Montgomery-Wards’, which was her first job in the United States. She started out as a sales girl in the Woman’s Fashion Dept. Later she went on to be the first woman to become a District Merchandise Manager in the history of ‘Montgomery-Ward’s’. She continued to climb the ladder to a Corporate Regional Executive Manager’s position and was very successful up to her retirement 35 years later.
Mom was single, confident and self sufficient for 30 years and then 9 years ago met the love of her life and married him…she is living happily ever after and enjoying life to the fullest. Mom is an incredible woman with a wonderful and a wise soul…she has had a lot of firsts and is an inspiration to me, our family and many others.
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