Resurrecting the Blog -- and Going International!

It started as an idle question.

"Why can't we do that?" I had asked, somewhat jokingly.

"We can," Todd had replied without skipping a beat, totally serious. I remember blinking once. Blinking twice. And then I laughed.

It was March 2016. Todd and I were at Billie Bob's - a well-known bar in Fort Worth - with a group  who had attended a high school friend's wedding. A country song was playing in the background, and everyone around us was talking about his or her various extended adventures in Europe during college -- working odd jobs, traveling to exciting locations, seeing the sights, and eating delicious cuisine. Although we had plenty of other great experiences in college, Todd and I had never studied abroad. It had simply been too difficult to try to match up our different schedules, find accommodating study-abroad programs, and make ends meet with our strapped finances.

After my laughter died down, the planning started. At first, we talked about a trip to Europe -- where we wanted to go, what we wanted to see, what we wanted to do, and how long it would take to go through the list we had made. But it didn't take long before more idle questions popped up. Why just Europe? Why not somewhere else? Why just a week? Why not a month? Why not longer?

As the months passed, our questions morphed into nebulous ideas and intangible (and ever-changing) plans -- admittedly, rather vague plans that were difficult to explain to others. We wanted to travel. We wanted to meet people. We wanted to be challenged. We wanted something different.  We wanted to travel abroad for a while, maybe even live abroad for a while.

Even though "The Plan" had not yet fully formed, we began to take little steps towards achieving it. We ordered heavy-duty storage containers. After all, a radical international move (or whatever it was that we were doing) was the perfect time to sort through everything we had accumulated over the years. As it turns out, we had  a lot of stuff. It's crazy how quickly a house fills up!

One weekend we moved the furniture around so that our "get rid of" stuff was in the front room. We moved the bookcases to that room and went through our books - all 297 of them. We moved our knick-knacks around. We realized that after an entire weekend of work, we had hardly brushed the surface of our endless pool of stuff. At the same time, we realized we would have time to dive in again and again to get through it all.

The next weekend we sorted through our keepsakes and took a walk down memory lane. I read all of my notes to and from friends in high school (and admittedly wondered if we had ever paid attention in class). Then we chuckled as we looked through our yearbooks and relived those memories. Afterwards, I died from embarrassment as I browsed through my diaries, with entries dating back to second grade. Just in case Brandon was wondering who that poorly-written "I have a crush on you" note was from -- it was me. I apparently thought I was playing a hilarious joke on my little brother.

Each week, "The Plan" seemed both more real and more surreal. The possibilities seemed endless. At the same time, the obstacles seemed overwhelming. How would we support ourselves? We started browsing for jobs: Hong Kong. Tokyo. Beijing. Seoul. Bangkok. Singapore. But the challenge of finding work overseas was significant and the days just kept passing by. Our plan seemed to be slipping further and further away as reality settled in. Then we wondered if we really wanted temporary jobs in those places, especially if we had never even visited before. Maybe not.

So we wondered whether we should just travel a bit instead. Did we really need to work while we traveled? Could we afford not to?

I won't pretend that all of the thoughts and worries weren't overwhelming. And yes, maybe even a bit terrifying. Todd and I both have good and stable jobs in Arizona. We like our colleagues. We have friends here. We have a house. There are a lot of reasons to stay here.

But there were also a lot of reasons to take that leap.

So, this week, we jumped: we informed our employers, who were graciously understanding.

And we bought the tickets: 

So far, "The Plan" is this: we will formally resign in July, we will either sell or rent the house, we will either sell or donate most of our possessions, we will pack up our keepsakes, and we will move stuff up to Wyoming. We will spend the month of July with our family before flying to Atlanta in August to spend some time with friends for an annual gathering of fun and games.

From Atlanta, we'll fly to Houston. And then, on August 8th, we will leave for Hong Kong. We promised our families that we would return to Wyoming for Christmas, so we're coming back to the States in December. After that, who knows? We're open to pretty much anything.

As it stands now, we plan to start in Hong Kong and travel around China. From there, we'll fly to Japan and do some more traveling. Afterwards, we'll jaunt over to South Korea for more adventures. By that time, the weather may be cooling down, so we may head down to Vietnam and/or Thailand. If we have time, we may also pursue adventures through Laos, Cambodia, or the Philippines (or travel those countries in 2019, maybe).

I want to keep a record of our travels and exploits, so this blog may be back. It's like a zombie -- it never truly dies! With that said, I am also considering using a travel app, so we'll see what I settle on. I want to be able to provide pictures, information, and updates so those who are interested can follow us around.

On that note, if you have any thoughts, advice, recommendations, tips, or insight into any of these places or traveling abroad in general, please let us know. As an appellate attorney, I enjoy sifting through research, and I welcome any and all resources to help us plan for this trip of a lifetime!

My semi-annual blog update!

Hello friends and family,

It's that time of year again, apparently - time for me to remember that we have a blog and we should be updating it (special thanks to Nick and Hillary for starting their own blog and reminding me of my neglected one). So here's a quick overview of what's been going on with the Hoffmann household.

This summer I worked at Modrall Sperling, a civil litigation firm in New Mexico. I thoroughly enjoyed the firm and my experience there. We worked on substantive issues in a variety of cases and I was able to interact with some fantastic attorneys. The firm also organized a great summer program that included golfing, time at a resort for a firm retreat, baseball games, a night at the zoo, and more. I had always worried about the "big firm" environment that you so often hear about but Modrall Sperlin didn't have the "all work, no play" feel to it that so many talk about. Everyone at the firm was truly exceptional and I could really tell that they had worked hard to build up a truly caring community.

Todd spent the summer in Phoenix, though he made several trips to Austin, Texas for his job. He's still working with Freescale and seems to be doing a good job at it (considering they gave him a bonus and some stock in the company)!

As many of you know, at the end of the summer, my grandfather's health took a turn for the worst. He was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive cancer. I left my summer associate position at Modrall early to spend some time with him at the end of the summer. I will always be thankful for those weeks and I was so blessed to be surrounded by family during that time. School started and I was able to arrange it so that I attended classes/work Monday-Wednesday and flew home to spend time in Wyoming from Thursday-Sunday.

One of those weekends was actually spent in Bismarck, North Dakota with Todd's grandparents (Doris and Ed). I had never been to Bismarck and I really enjoyed my time there. Todd was there all week helping out with chores and little tasks around the house. We were able to spend a lot of time with Grandpa Ed and Grandma Doris. Grandma Doris and I were even able to attend a high tea together!

We were also able to have a birthday celebration for Grandpa Ed's 97th birthday. There's a fantastic video of him and Grandma Doris dancing during the celebration. Additionally, we were able to go see the homestead where Grandma Doris' grandparents lived when they first came out to North Dakota. The weekend was spent learning a lot of family history, sharing stories, and eating delicious food. It was a really precious time and I hope that we're able to make it out to Bismarck more in the future (once things get settled down around the house).

Unfortunately the weekend ended on a somber note: As we were boarding the plane from Bismarck to Phoenix, my father called me to share that my grandfather had passed away (on 9/8/2013). We boarded the plane, got into Phoenix, de-planed and then bought me a ticket home at the gate agent. I boarded the same plan about 15 minutes later and flew home to Billings to be with my family. It was a deeply saddening time, but I felt so blessed to be able to mourn surrounded by such a loving, amazing family. It was a family that my grandfather built - through his love and in leading by example.

For those interested, his obituary information and a truly touching photo compilation can be found here. I am incredibly grateful for the time I was able to spend with him and all that I learned from him over the years. He was a loving and caring grandfather and he will be sincerely missed.

People care about this blog? Okay then!

Well, after talking to some members of my family, I realized that people actually do read this blog and pay attention to it. And while I'm hesitant to post things that I consider "routine" or "boring," I was admonished to remember that sometimes people just like to know what we're up to!

With that in mind, here's a quick update on what's been keeping us busy lately.

Todd is still working at Freescale as a Test Engineer. He's getting the hang of things and working hard. There are times that he goes in to work by 6am in order to get some time on the Tester. Either that, or he'll stay until around 8pm or so. He's getting to know his coworkers and they have a weekly happy hour. I would explain more of what he's doing at Freescale but...I will leave that to him. Or to your imaginations.

I'm working at the Arizona House of Representatives for the semester. I'm a legal intern with the House Rules Attorneys. My job is to help the attorneys go over all of the bills that are introduced in the House and check those bills for form and constitutionality. I'm thoroughly enjoying my job. The range of topics is extremely broad and I'm learning an incredible amount.

Along with those jobs, I'm also taking classes and participating in some student organizations. Todd has been  busy around the house. Oh the joys of home ownership! He's been working on our pool pump, which has resulted in issue after issue. He worked all weekend and has been going to work early in the mornings so that he can come home early while it's still daylight. After the pool pump, we have a whole list of projects that we want to get done: buying a pool filter, putting in cinderblock fences, residing the house, fixing the roof...

So we'll be busy with the house for a while! Hopefully we'll have made some decent progress by the time that a bunch of family is coming down to visit in March. Sadly, it won't be done for Tom and Sonya.

Tom and Sonya are flying in to Phoenix on Thursday. We're looking forward to spending the weekend with them. It's always so fun to have family in town and we're really looking forward to it.

This past weekend we had dinner with Uncle Pat and Aunt Wanda. Afterwards, we went to the Golden Vista's Kona Coffee House, where everyone gathers and listens to the talents of their fellows. Uncle Pat recited two very  moving poems that he had written (about his father and grandfather). It was great to spend time with them and be able to be a part of that!

That's about it for now. I'll work on updating things. A lot of times I just tell people that we're still doing well, still incredibly busy, and still fixing the house!

Fly-by Update

For those of you still following this blog, you're used to our random and sporadic updates. I can promise to keep giving those, occasionally, but I can't promise more than that. Life has taken us in its grasp and, while we're loving it, we've just grown extremely busy! Between concerts, networking events, work, school, taking care of the house, hanging out, business travel, interviews, and everything else...there are simply not enough hours in the day!

I'd like to start out with updates about the house, but I don't have pictures to post so I won't bore you with descriptions. Sometime, out in the nebulous future, I will try to post those.

Todd's sister, Sonya, is flying in Thursday evening. We're running the Color Me Rad 5k on Saturday as a team. Our team name is "Get Wyo'd" and we have cowboy hats as part of our costumes! Despite my best intentions to train for this little jaunt, I never found the time (or energy). So it's a leap of faith. I think it's going to be a lot of fun though. Once more, I'll tentatively promise pictures, with the understanding that I could entirely forget. Maybe Sonya will keep me accountable.

Next, onto some whirlwind updates on life. Todd is now working at Freescale, after leaving Amkor. He's enjoying his work and is definitely keeping busy during the days! He's also contemplating buying a bicycle so that he can ride it to work. Maybe he'll post a bit more about his work sometime. I would try to explain, but I think we all know how that would turn out... anyway!

I've been busy with school. After fall break, I started a study regime to help prepare for finals. Registration for the Spring semester is in mid-November, so I'm also trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I have an interview for a Legislative Legal Internship, which I'm really interested in. The internship would involve spending 20 hours a week at the State Legislature, doing research on proposed legislation, drafting legislation, and other similar tasks. From everything I've heard, it sounds like an amazing opportunity. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

This semester I'm working at Community Legal Services as an extern. I'm in the Housing Division and, despite my concerns that I might not enjoy the work, I'm loving it. My supervising attorney is really making me feel a part of the team and I'm doing work that I feel is important.

As for summer plans...I was recently offered a Summer Associate position at Modrall Sperling, a firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Albuquerque and meeting the attorneys at the firm. Todd and I are discussing the opportunity and the implications it could have, but we're both extremely excited about the chance. I'll keep people updated on where that leads.

For now, it's time to run off to the next class!

More From Germany!

I'm behind in updating the posts! That's alright though since we have a little bit of time this morning. We'll just -pretend- I'm packing up my stuff while I actually update posts. Besides, most of it is packed anyway! (Sorta...).

I don't think that I'll be able to upload pictures here since they upload so slowly. But I'll be putting some albums of our trip up so that people can see all that we've done! Now, onward with the brief overview - and yes, it has to be brief since breakfast is waiting for me downstairs.

Day 2 in Germany consisted of a LOT of walking. We toured the shopping district of Munich and saw the Marienplatz with its iconic tower. On the hour there were figures in the tower of the building that moved around, like a giant cuckoo clock. It was definitely a sight to see. There were some churches that we were able to walk in and see and they were stunning. The amount of work that must have gone into those creations is mind blowing. We saw numerous German shops and made our way over to a beer garden (Biergarten in German) for lunch. We bought some food and beer and enjoyed the beautiful weather. And then we were back on our feet, touring some more. We went to the Englischer Garten, which is absolutely huge. It's very beautiful though - green grass and trees. There's even a little spot in the river that creates enough waves to allow people to surf on them. We watched people surf for a while there and then we were off again to see the pavilion in the garden. After that, we walked to a little restaurant near our bed and breakfast, where we all sat down to...you guessed it, more beer and food!

After that, we wandered to a little ice cream shop and had some delicious icecream before bed. Exhausted, I went straight to bed. Some of the others went out for another drink before calling it a night.

On day 3 in Germany, our little group decided to split up. Tom, Sonya, James, Katie, Todd, and I all went to visit Dachau. For those that don't know, it is one of the concentration camps in Germany. We all felt that while we were here, a visit to one of the concentration camps was appropriate. You can read about Dachau on the wikipedia page and there will be pictures later. The museum was quite large and had a lot of panels to read. We walked through the maintenance building where prisoners were first brought in and had their possessions taken away. It also served as the kitchen for the camp. We were able to walk through the barracks. Two of them were reconstructed and the other 30 or so just had their foundations laid out. There were a lot of little memorials around the camp. I think that the crematorium, where they kept the ovens that burned all those bodies, was the most emotional site we saw. During our tour of the museum, we saw pictures of the bodies piled in those rooms...and then walked through the empty rooms. We also saw the gas chamber, which we were told was never used in Dachau. The camp was extremely large and after spending hours there we had only covered the prisoner section. We left after that and didn't see the SS part of the camp, the execution grounds, or the cemetery. We had neglected to bring lunch along with us because I don't think any of us realized how large the camp was. You can certainly spend all day there.

We made our way back to Munich by train and met Eric at the train station in town. We all got our lunches to go from various little shops and headed to a beer garden to eat (and drink, of course). While there, we decided that Nymphenburg Palace would be a great place to spend the rest of the afternoon. The grounds were absolutely huge, with stunning views. We also were able to tour some of the rooms of the palace. The pictures are definitely something to see.

By the time we finished touring Nymphenburg, it was dinner time. So we made our way back to the Englischer Garten - this time to the Chinese Tower. We had more food and beer there, yum! By that time, some of Eric's friends had gathered around. They had planned on going out with Eric for a little bachelor party. So all of us girls said goodbye to the menfolk and made our way home (with a stop by the icecream shop first, of course!). And the men...well, we heard stories (and maybe some groans) the next day. Needless to say, they were out late and had quite a bit of fun.

Whew! Now onto day 4. We woke up and prepared ourselves to take the train to Salzburg, Austria. It is a simply gorgeous little town that was the birthplace of Mozart. We walked through the town and to the gardens at the Mirabell Palace. The flowers and gardens there were amazing to see and we took plenty of pictures.

After the beautiful flowers, we made our way towards Hohensalzburg Castle. It was truly amazing! The view from the castle towers is like nothing else I've ever seen. And you were allowed to tour the castle, which we did extensively. I think that the visit to Salzburg and the castle were my favorite part of the trip. We then caught the train back to Munich, which took about 2 hours. Once we arrived in Munich, Todd and I decided to wander around and find a place for dinner. We found a nice little pizza restaurant a few blocks away. The waiter didn't speak English and we didn't speak German, but we were able to order pizza, beer, and dessert without a problem!

Then it was back to the bed and breakfast to fall into an exhausted sleep again. Now we're awake, on Day 5, and getting ready to leave the bed and breakfast for the wedding site. We'll be there until Sunday! I don't know what our internet situation will be like, but you might not hear from me for a while if there's no internet there.

I apologize for glossing over so much. Truly, each day has been packed full of sights to see, pictures to take, and places to visit. But right now I need to rush to get ready, pack up, and move on to the next leg of our trip.

Besides, I'm sure that you'll get a better taste of what we've been doing once you see all of the pictures!

We're in Germany!

(Pictures will be forthcoming. We don't have time to upload them since we're on the go!) 


For those that don't know, we're in Germany! Okay, okay, you probably did know that. I'm writing an update form a little coffee shop in Munich right now as I drink a latte. I feel like I should be in some sort of movie or something.

We're going to be meeting with the rest of the Hoffmanns here shortly, so this update will have to be quick. But we're in Germany and enjoying it immensely!

Our trip began yesterday (two days ago per Germany time?) on July 28th. We woke up early, got ready, and had the Flying Scottsman pick us up for the airport at 6:45am. Our plane to Philadelphia was scheduled to leave Phoenix at 8:55am, but we sat on the tarmac for about 2 hours...which meant that we arrived in Philadelphia at 6:30pm...The same time that our flight from Philadelphia to Germany was supposed to depart! Todd and I knew that it would be a close call, but we were determined not to let it stress us out. As soon as we got off the plane, the agents told us that the plane to Munich was being held, but we needed to hurry.

Thus began our mad dash through the Philadelphia airport! We were those people that you always see sprinting like crazy through the airport. Except I was in heels. I know, I know, silly me! But they were easy to slip on and off for security, so I wore them. Anyway, we arrived at the gate right as they were closing the door. One of the ticket agent guys said "Close the door, these people should have been here a long time ago."

"But we're here now!" I said, with a pleading look at the lady who was scanning the tickets. She motioned us forward and let us on the plane. We weren't quite the last ones on the plane, but it was a close thing. As we made our way to our seat, the Hoffmanns gave us a high-five for actually making it.

The flight to Munich turned out to be delayed by an hour or so. So we had some time to recover from our mad dash while the plane waited in line to take off.

The flight was nice. I've never been on a trans-atlantic flight before. We watched a few movies, had dinner, and tried to sleep. The key word in that last sentence is tried. It was hard to sleep on the plane though. Oh well!

We arrived in Germany in the morning, which meant we had to stay awake all day during our first day here. We had some coffee to help us along and off we went to the train station!

We rode the train into Munich, which was nice. It reminded me a lot of Phoenix's Light Rail system (though, of course, this system was much more developed and had more than one route!).

After departing the train system, we made our way to Eric and Margit's apartment. They're the whole reason we're here, for those who don't know. They're getting married later this week here! Congratulations to them again.

We stowed our luggage in their apartment for a while since our bed and breakfast wasn't yet prepared for us. After enjoying some time to rest, we headed to the bed and breakfast and got moved in. And then our trip began! We walked around Munich and saw the office at the University where Eric worked. Then we had a nice little lunch (with beer, of course!) at a cafe nearby. More walking ensued and we toured around a church, the streets of Munich, and one of the gardens.

Then we made our way back to the bed and breakfast since we had an hour or so before we needed to leave for dinner. I think most of us, exhausted from not getting any sleep on the plane, took a nap. After waking up and refreshing ourselves, we made our way to a nice little Italian restaurant in order to celebrate Tom's birthday. Dinner there was a lot of fun and the dessert that Todd and I had (Panna Cotta?) was delicious!

Then it was back to the bed and breakfast to fall into an exhausted sleep.

And here we are again, the next morning! Plans for the day depend on the weather, but I'll try to wake up early again tomorrow to come down to this little cafe and make another entry. If not, you can expect some pictures another time.

Poor Titus

It's summer in the Valley, which means that it is incredibly hot. On my most recent visit home, Todd and I got the idea that....maybe we should cut some of Titus' hair for the summer. A little shave to help stem the tide of shedding fur all over the house and to cool him off a bit.

I promise we weren't drinking when we came up with this idea.

So yesterday Todd went to Wal-Mart and bought a shaver. And last night, once it got dark, we set up our little barber station outside.

Before going out, we took some pictures of Titus with all of his long hair.

Isn't he absolutely fluffy?

Then we took him outside for his adventure. He wasn't exactly thrilled with it.

This is him wanting to go back inside after we brought him out to the back porch.

But at least he didn't try to kill us with his claws. Occasionally he'd let us know he was unhappy by sitting in our laps and growling. But other than that (and his few frantic bids for escape), it went pretty well.

At least it went. I swear we shaved enough hair off of that cat to make a whole new cat. But you could hardly tell a difference! Sure, the hair on his back is a little less shiny and you can tell that it's shorter...but as for the rest? Well, it looks almost the same. By this time, Todd and I were covered in cat fur, sweating, and ready to call it a night. Titus was ready to call it a night too (he's hiding back by the wall). 

So we hosed off outside before heading to the shower. With Titus. We hadn't given the poor guy a bath for a long time, so tonight was his night.

Here's some pictures of little wet-rat looking Titus.

He's so funny looking after his baths! 


And here's some pictures of Titus today, all clean, somewhat-shaved, and shiny! (Yes, we know that it's hard to tell that we shaved him. He still has soooo much hair)! 

Oh, and a random 4th of July picture! Todd and I went to Tempe Town Lake and watched an absolutely amazing fireworks show! There were a ton of people there, but it was a beautiful night and a perfect way to spend 4th of July.