Last night I went to the US Embassy in Switzerland. They were having a Cinco de Mayo party! It was complete with yummy nachos made from Velveeta cheese, tacos, the best chicken enchilada's I have ever tasted and a Mariachi Band. I think American's were still the minority, but it was a lot, a lot of fun. I went with my co-workers, ran into many of the American children I work with (and their parents) and met my other Swiss/American couple, Annie and Andrew, there, along with Katie, an American who is here for two more years. It was just a fun evening!
I forgot to mention that there were some tasty margaritas.
That's it!
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 just realized, I have never uploaded any pictures from our wedding. I have at least a thousand pictures from that wonderful day. So, here are a few of my favorites! Enjoy!
Thomas and I had a date night last night. We went out to eat and then went to a movie. What an expensive night! It costs a lot of money to live in this country. Dinner was 80 Francs, the movie was probably around 30 Francs, plus a 5 Franc water and then 20 Francs to park in the parking garage for 5 hours. Ouch!! I hope we can eat this week!
We went to Valentines Day, which was a pretty good movie. There were a lot of good actors in it. The movie was in English with German and French sub-titles. I noticed a few times that the audience laughed before the whole line was even said, that prevented me from hearing the joke. I figured it out that they were reading the subtitles faster than the actors were speaking. It actually was kind of annoying. I had to ask Thomas what they said! So, comedies may be difficult for me to go to.
It was my dad's birthday yesterday! I spoke to him on Skype for a little while. Their new camera works great so it was also fun seeing him and my mom!
SO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY JACKET!
Why did I start? I started a scrapbook for our wedding a few months ago. So far, I hate every page that I have done except for two. I also have no desire to do anymore. It is too hard and I am not creative enough. Buh.
Wow, I just realized that I can say the same about learning German! Interesting. Guess I had better not quit either "hobbies."
Aren't hobbies supposed to be enjoyable?
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!
