Thomas and I have been back in Switzerland for about three weeks now. We had an incredible time in Nebraska! I was there for the whole month of July and Thomas came a week later and stayed for three weeks. We packed so many things in, I hope I can remember what we all did!
I brought Arwen back with me and I was kind of nervous taking her through customs. As I was getting out her Swiss passport to show the customs agent, I looked up and saw about six other agents standing around us. Before I could get to nervous, they all started asking questions about Arwen, I soon realized that they were just curious about her as a dog, the questions had nothing about her getting into the states. Shew.
The week before Thomas came, my wonderful friend Stephanie came to Nebraska. We didn't do too much, but had a lot of fun. Sorry I can't say more about what we did Steph, I had a lot of fun though!!!
The weekend Thomas came, I went camping with Lindsey and family. Again, we had a lot of fun. The last night there, a terribly large storm blew through. I thought I was going to die. My rain flap came off my tent right before the rain started, luckily. Once I went out to get that tied down, the rain came along with the wind. It went on for a long, long time. I was very happy when I woke up the next morning safe and dry. Later that evening, I went to Omaha to pick up Thomas!
During the next three weeks, we did too much shopping, hung out on the lake a lot, went golfing a few times, went to the shooting range where I got a bulls eye, moved a dock, celebrated our first anniversary, removed the wood flooring and put down new wood floor in the living room, taught Arwen to swim, hung out with some really great friends at my parent's house (Lindsey, Robyn AND Sheryl all on different days) and many many more things. I wish I could remember them all. Since my posts always seem to be too long, I thought I would just post some pictures that would sum up our trip better!
Now, we are back to working and living. School started last week for me so that has been keeping me busy, well kind of. I am only working three days a week. I work Wednesday through Friday. I had an interview at an English school, adults learning English as well as other languages. I was offered the job, but I didn't take it. I don't really know how I would good I would be at teaching adults, they kind of scare me! Truth be told, I am interested with working at the International School of Bern as a substitute. I just sent in all my paperwork and I am hoping I can work there two days a week. That would be a great way to get my foot in the door for the future.
Check back soon!
So, here is the continuation our fabulous trip home! After a week and a half in Nebraska, Thomas and I boarded a plane to go to New York City. My first time to the city and Thomas' second time. We didn't have a lot of time there, but we managed to squeeze in a few things.
(Anyone get the play on words there? We "SQUEEZED" in a few things . . . Get it? Look at the picture! I'm the funniest person I know.
Once we checked into our hotel, we walked around and did some window shopping. We also saw The Rockefeller Building and saw the long line of the NFL draft. Hundreds of guys were standing outside a building waiting for the players to come out. That night, we went to a show on Broadway. We saw Wicked. I loved it, but Thomas had some trouble with the language and the story line. He has never seen the Wizard of Oz so he wasn't too sure of the story line. Also, since most of the story line was in song, he couldn't really understand what was going on. He said he still enjoyed it, but was completely lost. I'm pretty sure I saw him sleeping once or twice.
The next day we wanted to get up early, but instead slept in a little later than planned. Oh well. We went and got some breakfast and took it to Central Park. We walked around a little and then found a nice spot to sit and eat. It is most definitely a beautiful park. It was a great time to be there since all the flowers were blooming.
The next stop was Tiffany's. I really wanted to go there and buy something. So, we did. We bought a pretty little ring, that I love, love, love.
We also took the ring that I lost and then found to be polished. It looks good as new. On a side note, I lost my favorite ring a few months ago. I thought it was gone for good. One afternoon, after all the snow had melted, Thomas saw something shining in the sun in the dirt. It was my ring!!! What a good find!
We also went to the top of the Empire State Building and then had some lunch at a great Brewery.
We rode the Subway to Ground Zero and then walked to the pier. There we saw the Statue of Liberty. I never realized how much I wanted to see it until it was right there. It was far away and small, but nevertheless, I was happy to see it. It made Thomas and I wish we had a better zoom for our camera. :-)
By this time, we were so exhausted from our time spent in Nebraska and all the traveling, we decided to call it a day. We could have maybe done one more thing, but we both decided to get ready for our LONG trip home.
Oh, we also had some YUMMY pizza while we were there.
The next morning, we had to get to the airport. There began our long travel time. We had to fly to Atlanta from JFK (Why? I don't know). We encountered some bad weather and after flying around the airport for 30 minutes, we learned the storm was heading our way! The pilot took us to North Carolina to get some more fuel and to wait. We waited and waited. When we finally made it off the plane, our flight to Zurich had taken off 15 minutes earlier. What a bummer.
The lines were super long at the Help Desks so I called Delta Sky Miles, I'm a member now, and they got us on another plane to Amsterdam. Just like that. I would recommend anyone to sign up for the Sky Miles thing if only for situations like this. So, we made it Amsterdam and then on to Zurich. No more problems until we got to Zurich. Our suitcases were still in Atlanta. Turned out to be not such a big deal. My suitcase and Thomas' checked carry-on were brought to our house the next evening and his suitcase followed the next day.
So, there you go. Now, we are back to life as normal.
What a crazy two weeks! Thomas and I left Switzerland two weeks ago to visit my amazing country and family! During those two weeks we were in Omaha shopping, Norfolk visiting my grandma, in Lincoln to see the VoKohtz's and friends, Kearney to see the Kohtz's, New York City, Georgia, North Carolina and Amsterdam. Shew. It was BUSY!!!
We spent the first week in Columbus with my parents. We went shopping with my mom, tried to golf with my dad and we did shoot blue rocks. The best part of the Blue Rocks is when my dad got out the pistol. I had a lot of fun shooting that! (I was also the first one to hit the target, I'm just saying.)
We also did a little fishing. Thomas needed to learn so he can go with the boys this summer on a little fishing trip. He picked it up right away, not much to fishing. He even caught a fish, his very first fish!! I think my dad caught three and I caught four or five? (Again, just thought I would get that out there.)
Thomas also went to the airport with my dad for a day. I think my dad worked him pretty hard, and Thomas loved every minute of it. Dad, Thomas wants to help again in July . . .
We went to Lincoln to do a little shopping, see some friends and hang out with Craiger and family. Craig made me the best chicken sandwich! Yum! While we were in Lincoln, I met my new God-Son, East Matthew Brian Sample. He's a little sweetheart!!
Some of my friends who are still around Lincoln met up with at Brewskys for dinner and then we went out downtown. I think it's safe to say we all had a lot of fun!
We all LOVE Thomas!!
As usual, we headed to Kearney to see the family there. Lauren asked me in February if Thomas could be her show and tell. Her teacher liked this idea and asked if he would teach the kids some words in German. So, Thomas and I read the The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the kids (I read in English, he read in German) and then we taught them the color words in German. We finished by playing Color Bingo and the kids got some Swiss Chocolate when they won. It was a pretty fun morning, I liked being in the classroom again. :-) We also stayed and had lunch with Lauren, we sat at the special table, and then we went out to recess with her class. I had fun and I think some little girls fell in love with Thomas. They were following him around and holding his hands. It was pretty sweet.
Since it is Brayden's birthday very soon, we gave him his present while we were there. Thomas wanted to buy him Legos (I think just so Thomas could help him put it together). I think Brayden loved his present, and the two boys spent a good hour putting it all together.
Here is a picture of Lauren doing her impression of Thomas "dancing." It's pretty hilarious when Lauren dances like this. (Sorry dad, we all think it's funny, Thomas included . . . )
So, our vacation didn't end there, but this blog does. I will update again soon. . .
To be continued!
I am finally updating this blog. We have been busy with some ups and downs. After a "down" Thomas and I decided to finally take our honeymoon. We booked a flight for Nice, France for the weekend. I had Friday off of work and Thomas is finally on vacation from school so we went away for the weekend. What a weekend it was. We arrived in France around 4:00 in the afternoon and started our vacation. Our hotel was a 2 minute walk from "Old Nice" and that is where we spent most of our time. The weather was nice enough for us to hang out on the beach Saturday and Sunday. We weren't in our swim suits, but we sat on the beach for a couple of hours in short sleeves and we even got a tan. It was absolutely wonderful.
Friday, after we walked around a little near the beach and in the old city, we found a little restaurant. The food was so good!! I had a Chicken Caesar Salad and it tasted like home. (I just can't be adventurous when it comes to food, and I'm never unsatisfied.) We had a few drinks at the restaurant and we found out later that the alcohol content in this beer is much higher than we are both used to. Let's just say I didn't feel to well Saturday morning.
We ended up eating at this restaurant twice. Thomas had the same thing both times, but I tried the American Club the second time. It was SO good!!!
Saturday was spent walking around, doing a little shopping and some sight seeing. We ventured away from Old Nice and found a little shopping area.
Saturday night, Thomas and I went out for dinner at a restaurant we spotted earlier in the day. The only problem was, we couldn't remember where we saw it. So, we did what anyone would do, we backtracked. We actually found it pretty easily and it was worth the trek. It was very good!! We shared a bottle of wine and we cheers-ed to our marriage. (Dad, I swished, smelled and tasted the wine this time--it was good.) Afterward, we walked down the promenade. It was beautiful weather and a beautiful view. We even saw a Light House in the distance, the first one I've ever seen.
The next day was Sunday, our last day. We had room service delivered and then started the day. We walked to the Light House. We saw yet again, a different part of the City.
Along the way we took some pictures of the waves, we were having fun with our new camera.
I wanted to get close to the water without getting wet, but those waves are tricky! I got wet.
We finally made it to the Light House and I think we had more fun walking to and from it. We made one more stop until we got some lunch and again I wanted to get close to the water without getting wet. But once again, the water got me. I just had to get closer to the water.
This time I got REALLY wet!
So, I think that is the whole trip in a nut shell. We had a wonderful time together and now we get to look forward to our trip to Nebraska in two weeks!! I also wanted to brag about my hot husband. Look at him!!
More photos here.
I haven't written anything for a while, but things have changed. I don't know when or how but I think I am starting to feel at home in Switzerland. I went home to Nebraska for a week and after that one week I was actually ready to get back to Thomas, my life, and my house. That's a good feeling. I didn't cry at the airport this time, I didn't feel that I was abandoning anyone, I was ready.
On the other hand, Nebraska was fun! I was worried about one week and it not being long enough. It was actually the perfect amount of time. I did some shopping with my mom, hung out with some friends in Lincoln, visited my grandma, annoyed my dad and spent two whole days with Lauren and Brayden. It was perfect!! I did A LOT of shopping while I was home. I am getting very good at packing and knowing when the suitcase is more than 50 pounds. Haven't gone over yet!
I was able to bring back 11 curtains from Pottery Barn! We wanted curtains for the first floor and we looked into getting some here but it would have cost 4,000 Francs, which is the same as $4,000. OUCH!!! I found some nice and MUCH cheaper ones at Pottery Barn and ordered them. I hung them up today and I LOVE them! Once they are ironed, I will post some pictures. I think the house looks great and I am very proud of our first home! Too bad only a handful of people will ever get here to see it. (Not making anyone feel guilty am I?)
The trip to Nebraska and back were amazingly fine. I missed the bad weather both ways. Going to Nebraska, I went through the Georgia airport, the snow followed a few days later. Coming back, I went through Ohio, missing the blizzards that hit Georgia and missing the blizzards that hit Nebraska by one day. Very lucky. Because I went through Ohio, I had to stop in Paris for a connection. There, I did have some trouble. That is a big and confusing airport. Our plane landed around 9:00 in the morning. After a long taxi (20 minutes), we had to take a bus to the terminal. THEN, when we got to the terminal, I looked at the screen and it said the Zurich flight left from terminal 1. So, I waited to take a bus to that terminal. I finally asked if it was right and the guy told me Terminal 2G, which was right up the stairs. I RAN and ran. it was about 9:30 by now. The plane was boarding. I went through passport control, the lady let me go through the business line where no one was, and ran some more. I saw signs that said 2G but they just disappeared. I finally asked someone who only spoke French and he pointed me to outside to wait for yet another bus. By the time I got to the terminal it 9:57. My plane took off at 9:50. Grrrr. I was able to get on the next flight which was at 1:05. It was good, frustrating and annoying, but good. Thomas met me at the airport with roses so it was getting better.
Guess that's all! A not too detailed update, but it's all I got.
Take care!
I am starting to pack! I'm coming home to the "Good Life" and I couldn't be more excited! I am packing almost nothing too. I am planning on coming home and getting LOTS of stuff. I am going shopping with my mom in Omaha and we will get a good lunch together. I'm also going shopping with my friend, Lindsey in Lincoln and getting a great lunch with her and an even better supper with some other friends! I hope we can make it to Norfolk to visit my grandma one day and get some Big Apple Bagels. It sounds like I am more excited for the food! (Not going to lie, I plan on eating a lot.)
The best part of this trip happens on Sunday. Lauren and Brayden are coming to Columbus and I am going to surprise them! They do not know I am coming!! Ryan and Jackie are going skiing the week I am home and Grandma and Grandpa are watching them on Thursday and Friday. Surprisingly, I will also be there! I am so excited to see the kids and to see their reactions when they see me. Hopefully, they are surprised and won't let me down.
I hope to get some good pictures!
Robyn, I'm sorry that you have parent teacher conferences. I will be missing you and thinking of you!
Thomas and I went to Basel this weekend to visit Andrea and Philippe, Thomas' cousin. We had a really great time. Andrea and Phillipe invited us to their home as a wedding gift. It was a great time to go and visit because the fair was in town this weekend. So, we saw a little of that and did some other stuff. I need to mention that we had the BEST tour guide ever, Philippe. He knew what he wanted to show us and he kept us moving at a good pace. All in all, I would like to take my friends and family to Basel after this weekend. It is beautiful.
So, let me explain what we all did. First, we walked 10 minutes from their apartment to the "heart of the city." This is something that I like about the cities here, there is a center of each city and in this center everything happens. (This used to be the US' downtowns). There was a lot of action going on because it was a Saturday and the fair was going on! We saw about 5 different little fairs. Each place had a few rides and lots of good food. Phillipe showed us the main church which was beautiful. It was originally built in the 1300's (?Philippe, is that right?) Of course, it is beautiful. This picture is only part of it. What you can't see are the tall towers and the beautiful architecture.
Then we went on a giant Ferris wheel which gave us a bird's eye view of the city. You could also see France and Germany from there! This is by far the biggest Ferris wheel I have been on. It was a lot of fun!
Then, we walked around that area a little, in search of the perfect cotton candy. We finally found some and it was yummy. I haven't had any of that since I went to the Platte County Fair as a child! It was a little piece of homey goodness.
So, after that we walked around the church and waited for a ferry to take us across the river. This was just fun in itself! Apparently, a long time ago, there was only one bridge that you could cross to get from Big Basel to Little Basel. You even had to pay a fine and go through customs. OR you could take the ferry!
Now we are on the other side of the river! Here is a picture of where we were just at.
From here, we walked to the bus stop and went to the three corners. This is where three different countries meet, France, Switzerland and Germany. I have now been to these three countries! Of course, we took pictures in each country. (Thanks for being good sports guys!)
We are in France!
Now we are in Germany! Where part of my family comes from.
And finally, we are back in Switzerland.
Then we took the bus again to a different square, which had more fair rides and food. We went into a bar called the Sky Lounge. It is on the 33 floor of a skyscraper.
We had a drink and then went to the coolest bathroom ever! See for yourself.
Looking out the window is the fair! This time we are on the 32nd floor of this building, but you can look at the city while you do your business. Once we were on the ground, Andrea and Philippe pointed out the bathroom. You can seriously see inside from the ground. Luckily, it's far enough away to not see very clearly. It's the second floor from the top.
Did I mention how great our tour guide was?
Anyhoo, next we went to a market. There was all kinds of food, candy, chocolate, and other knick-knack kinds of things. I tried Magenbrot, translated it is Stomach Bread. It's kind of like monkey bread but more chocolaty. I also tried Schoggi Kuss, which means chocolate kiss. This is a chocolate shell around a foamy, creamy center (kind of like a Twinkie center). It was pretty good! We wandered around this market for a little while just looking around. This led us to a beautiful alley. Andrea likes to think of this alley as theater alley. It really looks like the houses are made out of wood and could easily be knocked down. It is absolutely amazing. The path is winding stairs, the houses are quaint and little. It's just a really neat little part of Basel. (It was too dark by now to take any good pictures. And pictures would not do it justice).
This was the end of our tour. We went back to their house where they made us dinner, we played some games and went to bed. The next morning, we awoke to freshly baked bread (seriously right out of the oven) and then spent a few hours at the Basel Zoo.
Thank you so much Andrea and Philippe for this weekend. It was a lot of fun and it was just what Thomas and I needed.
There are more pictures!!
More photos here.
Enjoy!
Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco.
Well, I am back in Switzerland and doing great. I think while I was home, I made myself believe that I was unhappier than I really I am. OR (this thought just came to me) I realized that only I can myself happy. And as someone said this past week, "I chose this life and it is up to me to be happy or not." I am choosing to suck it up, get over the cultural hump and start living life. So, day two is going great!
Anyhoo, I want to share everything that I did while in Nebraska! (Nebraska will always be the best place ever!) I was in Nebraska for two weeks. I went to the farmer's Market, tailgated, watched a Husker's football game, enjoyed plenty of American food, went blue rock shooting with my dad, saw my grandma, went shopping and shopping with my mom, finished Christmas shopping and my Christmas letter, had Thanksgiving dinner, was scared out of eating red meat again, picked up my finished wedding pictures, went swimming with Lauren and Brayden, played Super Mario Brothers with Conner, only broke down to tear three times, had plenty of family time and plenty of friend time, read to Brayden's preschool class, had two pedicures (the first one smudged), picked up all that I needed to scrapbook with Jackie's help, and bought some Sharpies (teehee). It was a perfect two weeks. Just what I needed. To my surprise, coming back to Switzerland was easier than I thought, after the tears in the airport after I walked away from my dad.
I guess that is all I am going to say. Maybe the pictures will sum up my first trip to the place I will always call home. Enjoy!
PS. The house is finally coming together. We spent all day hanging things up and getting things in order. SO, tomorrow AFTER church, I will post some pictures!
More photos here.
I had another great weekend in Lincoln. I ate out with my friends, had a few drinks, went to the farmer's market, did some shopping and hung out with some great friends. I also saw Craig, Jamie, Conner and Abby. I played Super Mario Brothers for a while (I'm better than Conner), went grocery shopping with Craiger, I tried to eat a Juicy Lucie, but I saw something while it was cooking that I should not have seen. It was hard telling them all goodbye, an hour of tears followed that goodbye. I ended my weekend with a yummy breakfast with Stephanie and Brian and then I drove to Kearney.
Anyways, as I walked into Ryan and Jackie's house, I was attacked by two sweet kids! Lauren took me to her room to listen to the song that reminds her of the wedding. It was the first song played after the formal dances. Anyone remember? Lauren does. It was "Tonight's gonna be a good night!" It was fun.
Then, I just had to give the kids some gifts. I brought some Swiss chocolate, some erasers for Brayden and a notebook for Lauren. I also brought some Silk Superman Boxers for Brayden. They were Thomas' but he didn't want them. Turns out, that Brayden just loves them!
My parents also came to Kearney today. We had some pizza hut and just hung out. It was a good day.
More photos here.
I have been home for one week and I have loved every minute of it. I have been to Lincoln, Columbus, Omaha, Norfolk and York this week. I have seen family and friends, I have been shopping with my mom and I have watched football with friends. The Huskers won by the way! I have had lunch with my dad, with my grandma and Aunt, had dinner with my entire family (minus Thomas-we missed him) and I have bought a lot of clothes.
The rest of my time home will be spent with more friends and family. I will be in Lincoln and Kearney. I am thinking going home to Switzerland is going to be challenging, but being away from Thomas is difficult too. It's hard being pulled in two different directions.
Enjoy the pictures! More to come soon!
More Photos Here.
I made it back to Nebraska in one piece. I woke up in Switzerland on Thursday at 5:15 to start the journey. We left the house at 6:15 to drive to the airport. I arrived in Omaha 23 and a half hours later. What a long day. Then I still had the drive home to Columbus!
So, today is Friday and I am enjoying being lazy in bed with good tv. I miss all the shows in English. Soon, I am going to get some lunch with my dad. Then it's off to Lincoln to hang out with good friends and watch some Husker football tomorrow. I am so happy to be here.
It's weird to be back where I was before the wedding! Thomas and I are on a 7 hour time difference and we are already back to texting and e-mailing one another. I surely don't miss that.
I'm off to enjoy my time in Nebraska! I love this place.
Oh, the Governor of Nebraska is Dave Heineman.
So, I know I have only been in Switzerland for two weeks, but I just booked my flight home for my first visit. It was only $745.00!! That is cheap! My wonderful profession of teaching, allows me a Fall Break for three weeks in September and October. Two of those weeks will be spent in Nebraska. Mostly Columbus, but some time in Kearney and Lincoln. AND maybe some shopping time in Omaha with my mom! I am already so excited!! I was worried that after the wedding, what would I look forward to? Yes, my parents are coming to Switz in December, but that is so far away. Now, I get to look forward to this! I have lived the past two years "looking forward to seeing Thomas" that I got kind of used to it. I need that something to look forward to. Actually, right now I have a lot of things. Our couches to arrive, Internet at the house, the shipping container, COLDPLAY in Bern, going home, my parents coming in December and Craig and family coming in June. I am sure a lot of other things will come up in between as well.
So, put in your calendars. I will be in Nebraska September 24-October 8th! Only a few short weeks away.
Well, as you can imagine, Thomas, Arwen and I all made the long trip to our new home together. It's been a long time a coming. I started to get scared a little on the flight when I thought about the word forever. I am living in Switzerland, forever! Gulp!
Now, I want to brag about Arwen. She did incredible on the flights. For $100 she was able to travel as my carry on all the way to Zurich! The first flight was only an hour or two. She stared up at me from under the seat ahead of me from her travel case the whole time. Once we arrived in Atlanta, we went outside and found some grass to sit on. There began the 6 hour layover. Our plans were to sit out there the whole time, but it was too hot.
About two hours before the flight, we took Arwen outside one more time and then headed through security. I was nervous with Arwen, but she let me hold her walking through the metal detector AND she just stood there waiting for me while I put everything away. Near the gate and for the whole trip, we left the front door of her travel case wide open so she wouldn't feel trapped. She layed there so nicely the WHOLE time just watching, even when a kid would walk by at the gate and when we took off in the plane. I think she felt very secure in that little bag. It was nice.
So, about 10 or 11 hours later, we were in Switzerland (that is including the two hours waiting by the gate in GA). We had to get our suitcases and then walk through customs. My heart was racing. What if they denied her? I took out her paperwork (first time anyone asked to see it), they scanned her micro-chip, we paid 80 Swiss Francs, and that was it! EASY!! Then we took her outside to let it all out. She did so good.
I guess that is all for my first post. I am finally feeling tired. Tomorrow I will telll you all I know about our apartment. I think we are finally moving in and getting out of our parent's homes.
Until next time. . .
