One Week LEFT!

HURRAY!!!!!!!

Only one week left until Evan and I get married and I still have SO much to do! Oh well, I'm excited :) My dress looks awesome, my friend is doing the flowers and the cake is coming along. I'll post pictures of my progress on the cake if I ever get around to taking them :) It's too bad the housing market is so slammed right now. Evan and I were really hoping to have our own little Christmas in our new house. But there will always be next year. I get to see my dad and my brother and my sisters on Sunday or Monday! YAY! I haven't seen Makayla or Jenny or Josh for a YEAR! How ridiculous! Hopefully plane tickets will plummet in price too, I mean gas has so why not a plane right? I still can't believe I have only a week left though! I'm so excited!!!!! I need some good ideas on what to do after my shower. My friends and I want to go out for one last hoopla since Evan and his friends are going to the Nickelcade... yes Mormon bachelor parties CAN be fun! :) Anyway- I honestly can't think of anything exciting. I wanted to go dancing but I'd feel weird going without Evan... and it's Monday night. Maybe we'll just go to the mall and try on goofy outfits and then go watch a chick flick or something. Keep your fingers crossed for me that there will be no snow or ice on the road. They keep playing that STUPID commercial where the girl is sad because her fiance was hit by a drunk driver the day of their wedding----AAAAAGGGHHH! Like I don't have enough to worry about. Anywho- perfect wedding weather would be cloudy but not dark (pictures turn out better and it's warmer outside) but no snow or rain. KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED! I was lucky enough to meet Evan so maybe I'll be lucky enough to have perfect weather too. That'd be awesome! ANYWAY-ONE WEEK!!!!

Home

Well, hopefully everything works out and we can close on this house but the bank accepted our offer! AWESOME! I really liked the location of another house we were looking at but this one is a better deal.... it's almost 700 sq ft larger and it was only five grand more... which isn't bad, five grand is a lot of money but not in house terms. Anyway.

The house is ten minutes away from the high school where I'll be teaching at next year....yes fans I'm switching AGAIN. Here's the skinny. Lehi is way to small for the number of students so they built a new school called Westlake. They are pulling teachers from Lehi to go out to the new school and they want me! :) Not only that but I get to teach Photo AND Art classes! And I get to be the department chair and I get to help out in setting up the classrooms, stocking them with necessary equipment. COOL! Yes I'm tired of feeling like a first year teacher (this will be the third time in two years) but remaining flexible has always helped me be successful...so that's what I'm doing. I'm SO excited to start at a brand new high school though!

Virtual Tour... No I didn't take these- I will take better ones as we get the house... I guess I should say if, if we get the house...

First you walk into our living room through the front door, and it wraps around to the kitchen, half bath, garage- two car! I've never been able to park my car in one! and stairs to the basement...

The upstairs has laundry, FOUR BIG bedrooms and two full baths, one is a master with two sinks, huge tub and a walk-in closet!!! It's going to be SO nice to have a tub and a shower! For the last three years I've had one or the other but not both! Agh! I'm so excited!

The house was smoked in which is why we got it for so cheap but my mom knows how to fix that... it's going to take some work though- cleaning the carpets, walls, cupboards and then painting all the walls...which are HUGE.... so if anyone gets bored.. 'hem hem' ;)

Ten Ten All-Time Greastest Christmas Movies

These are not in order but they are my favorite Christmas movies

1- The Grinch (with Jim Carry)
2- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Animated)
3- Elf
4- Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer
5- A Christmas Story
6- A Muppet Christmas Carol
7- The Santa Clause
8- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
9- Home Alone
10- The Chronicles of Narnia

What are yours?

YAY is not a definitive word

Ok what happened... I left my classroom for two seconds to talk to a teacher and when I got back my phone was ringing. I missed it oops. Then my PA thing went on and the office asked me to come down for a second. On the way down there I was going through all of these scenarios... what did I do? Is my student really sick or something? Is Evan here (I invited him to come down to lunch today) with a surprise that's too big (like balloons or something) ? Is he having problems getting in? Am I in a bunch of trouble for something? WHAT?!

Then, I get down there and the secretary is like, oh Chuck (my principal) wants to talk to you. So he starts talking about grades and I'm thinking Oh crap. Did I do something wrong? But he just wanted to tell me I was doing a good job and my numbers were good and that I might want to bring that up with the principal at the new high school (they are pulling some of us to teach at Westlake in Saratoga Springs) Then the secretary comes back in and said I need to get back to my classroom. As I was leaving Chuck got a phone call that he missed because he was explaining things to me and he said, oh it's from room 122.... I was like, that's my room! And he said, ok you'd better hurry and make sure your kids aren't causing a ruckus.

I came into my room ready to ask what was going on. I saw a student to my side so I turned ready to answer what their question was...only it was Evan! I smiled and said Oh! Hi Evan! (because I new he was coming to go to lunch) then he smiles and gets down on one knee! I was thinking OH REALLY!!!!!!???? And he got out the ring box and said will you marry me? I gasped and said YES! Of Course! And he stood up and gave me a big hug and we gave each other a lot of little kisses, my kids clapped, the photo teacher had also snuck in and was taking pictures. Then he hands me the box and says so do I give this to you now? I don't really know what to do. (he was NERVOUS... there WERE like 30 kids in my room) I said YES! And so I took my ring.. fits great and it's SO pretty! Anyway it was so much fun! All of the teachers here were like OH take the rest of the day off! What are you still doing here. Evan had to go to work though. Anyway. COOL! :) I was way shaky after he proposed because I's so excited! I can't stop smiling! :) SO FUN! So that's my story :) WOO WHOO!!!!!!

8 Things

Eight Shows I like to Watch:

Friends
The Office
Arrested Development
House Hunters
What Not to Wear
Cities of the Underworld
Samantha Brown: Europe
Anything on the Food Network or HGTV


Eight Restaurants I like to eat at:

The Bombay House
Thai Ruby
The Smokehouse
India Garden
Cedars of Lebanon ;)
Maestro's Gelatto Cafe
Sam Hawk
My Kitchen

Eight things that I've Done today:

Printed off my Curriculum (first drawing lesson anyway) Dr. Beattie would be proud :)
Repeated myself for my students at least ten times :)
Had Thai food for lunch
Talked to Evan
Talked to my mom
Taught my kids about Postmodernism
Made a Postmodernism PowerPoint
Ordered Art Supplies


Eight Things I am looking forward to:

Going out with Evan!
The weekend!
Twilight!
Thanksgiving
Christmas
Getting a house
New Year's Eve
Having a clean kitchen



Eight Things on my wish list:

Ummm, Fill in the Blank here_____ ;)
My house contract to go through in the next week.. won't happen but this IS a wish list right?
Getting better at art
That the school system would stop piling stuff on us to do... because we get paid just SO much that we have to continually validate our jobs! :) I love it though
I wish I had a place to put my stuff
I wish I had a more comfortable bed to sleep in
I wish Evan didn't have so much homework
I wish I understood things better

New this week

I went to my first French fair!

Evan I went last night. It was held at the BYU Wilk in the garden court. It's so cool that BYU has so many opportunities to learn about cultural things! Go missionaries!

I know I had fun and I think Evan did too. He sat at the Belgium booth for awhile and told people a lot of random but interesting facts about Belgium... he wasn't even asked to which I thought was very funny! ;) Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the french fry was actually invented in Belgium, not France... 1640 a.d. Anyway- he's very smart. We also had free croissants... not like the ones in France but still yummy... and hot cocoa- perfect because it's freakin' cold!

While he did that I walked around and looked a a booth or two. There are a lot of cool places that speak french. I even met two Haitians! Anyway- I wish there were more cultural fairs to go to but I guess that's just me because I'm a nerd. ;)

GROW UP

So-
I was listening to KSL this morning and they said there are going to be several protests in LA and on Temple Square today about Proposition 8. They think that because the Mormon Church spoke out for Prop 8 that this issue should be taken to them. Lets think about this in another way for just a second. Lets pretend that I'm a Vegan. I STRONGLY believe that eating meat is morally wrong right? Lets take it a step further- I'm Hindu- I cannot eat beef because I believe the cow is a sacred animal. Now. Maybe there are those of you who like to eat beef. Maybe you eat beef daily. However, maybe eating beef has only recently become legal in India (keep in mind, this is only a comparison). Then lets pretend that I get to vote that beef should once again become illegal. Now, if my religious philosophies are such that my conviction that a person should not eat beef is so strong that I feel that I should SUGGEST to other people in India that they vote with me instead of the beef eaters where is the problem with that? I did not force anyone to vote with me. I merely voiced my opinion. And if it's a strong belief that I hold OF COURSE I'm going to spend money to get my voice heard. Lets say it passed. Did I alone get the government to change that law? NO! There had to be MANY MANY MANY MANY people to agree with my beliefs, the majority of the people in India if you will. So, doesn't it seem absurd that all of the beef eaters would come and stand on my lawn until I apologized for standing up for what I believe in. Doesn't it seem absurd that they petition to get me to change my beliefs... something that I believe comes from GOD who is more responsible for my life than one or many people? Shouldn't the "beef eaters" be petitioning to get the law changed? Shouldn't they be knocking on the door of every voter? If they were really that passionate about eating beef couldn't they move to a country where eating beef was legal? Shouldn't they be petitioning the GOVERNMENT, the people WHO MAKE LAWS?

Obviously I realize that gay rights are not the same thing as eating beef. BUT if a church or even a group of people have a conviction that something is morally wrong, they are going to fight to keep it illegal, just as those who want it legal are going to fight to make it legal. However, lets be adults. Lets us agree to disagree. We are not going to change each other's views- that is obvious. Let us simply voice our opinion and let the people of this country decide. Then when they do- let us be adults about the decision. Let us be kind to each other. Let us be neighborly. Let us respect each other. If proposition 8 had not passed I would, as a strong conservative, have been disappointed. I would not go stand on my neighbor's lawn holding signs about how evil they were. This is not being a good Christian or even a good American. America was set up to be the land of the free, where we each may have our own thoughts and beliefs. However, there are laws here to. Laws that were set up to maintain peace in society. If I believed murder was ok it doesn't mean that I can go out and commit murder. That is not the definition of a free country. We are free to speak our minds. We are privileged to live in a country where we pretty much can live how we choose so long as it doesn't effect someone else in a negative way. We are free to be neighborly to those who do not share our views. That doesn't mean that we have to agree. If I wanted a different outcome, I would try again by petitioning the Government. Not by whining about the outcome. One news article stated that "It all came down to a difference of about 504,500 votes."That's still a half a million people who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. The news tries to downplay that by saying it's only 3% of the population. That's A HALF A MILLION PEOPLE! There were only 102 passengers aboard the Mayflower. 102. And yet they started a country. I say lets share some of that tolerance that people keep shouting for. The Mormon church is not the only one who urged its members to vote yes. Yet, for some reason, they're getting all of the attention. If prop 8 hadn't passed I would be petitioning the government, not my neighbor, not the gay rights activists, not LGBT... the government. Anyway. I'm frustrated with people right now. I am also frustrated with people I know to be church members who are unkind to those who do believe that gay marriage should be passed. Again- I say to even people who share my conservative views, grow up and be kind. Don't forget, some of the best things you learned were in kindergarten...

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

I realize that my blog today doesn't apply to any of you guys- my regular readers who just want to keep up with what I'm up to. I'm just tired of the way the world is. Too many people want handouts and freebies. Too many people are looking to blame someone else for their problems. I believe if you don't like the way something is, work to change it. If you're going to do nothing then shut up. Getting angry doesn't solve the problem.

It's really frustrating seeing it get worse. I see it everyday in the attitudes of my students, and adults that I see. Lets grow up.

My Amazing Students!

Ok- I know everyone is just super curious as far my class goes... and it seems like that's one of my main subjects... but I'm really please with my students' work! It's awesome! The first few minutes of class they have to work on their Altered Books. Here's some examples... basically you take an old book and make it something new.

























My painting class did a few projects- here's a few...












This project we learned about Gustave Klimt and the importance behind Pattern...

Pomegranates and Politics

So, Here I am sitting in my classroom getting ready for the day (eating a pomegranate of course- they really should be around much more than just in the fall :( Harmon's or Macey's usually have the best btw) and I find myself wondering who is running in Herriman. I know who's running for Congress and President AND who's running in the Provo/Orem area... but I'm a voter in Herriman. I thought about contacting the county clerk's office but is this the best way to find out what Herriman's candidates are all about? Any suggestions? Thanks! Ps- I am really worries Obama is going to win. Life is going to get difficult with people believing handouts are a necessary obligation of the government. I think what I like and respect the most from our founding fathers is that they didn't expect someone else to fix their problems. They addressed the issue themselves...

Author: Alexander Hamilton

To the People of the State of New York:

...As CONNECTED with the subject of revenue, we may with propriety consider that of economy. The money saved from one object may be usefully applied to another, and there will be so much the less to be drawn from the pockets of the people.

it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government....it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.-Declaration of Independance

It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm. Nor, in many cases, can such an adjustment be made at all without taking into view indirect and remote considerations, which will rarely prevail over the immediate interest which one party may find in disregarding the rights of another or the good of the whole. -James Madison Federalist papers

Needless to say- I've had an interesting morning.

What am I up to?

I really don't like looking for houses. Very stressful. None-the-less... that is what I am up to...and have been up to for the last week. I've found a lot that are BARELY out of my price range (barely as in 20,000... but in a house that's only like 15 percent) and not within that don't need MASSIVE amounts of fixing (which will not work with my FHA loan)...

So far, I have looked in Cedar Hills (which I found a townhouse I love), American Fork----all ghetto, Saratoga Springs- putting an offer on one today there but I doubt I'll get it, Eagle Mountain- very far away, Draper... and I've looked at pictures of homes in Orem, Provo, Sandy, Bluffdale, South Jordan and Herriman.

I don't really want to live in Orem or Provo though because I like being up north a bit more. We'll see what happens and I'll keep you updated!

They Killed Kenny!

Hi Everyone-

This is Kenny, my new class skeleton. I'm using him to teach my kids about figure drawing. Hurray!

Evan is Amazing

So, Evan's soccer team is pretty much dominating. Unfortunately, I took my little point and shoot camera and not my super big nice SLR. Anyway hopefully you can get a feel. I think they're going to win the tournament!Also, Evan met Lavell Edwards. Don't know if I've mentioned this but here's a photo from the galaAnyway. I'm out for now. Lehi High is paying me extra money to update their website! Yay! And it's something I can do during class! And it's Fall Break this week! Hurray! :)

BOOYA!

Hurray! My blog now has amazing Halloween decoration, music, AND I transferred it to my new email! I love technology when it works! Thanks Ang for the cute background place!

So, today is Monday which means early out! Wonder what kinds of crazy meetings I'll be in.

I'm reading Brisingr right now, The third book in the Eragon series. Like it- not as good as Harry Potter but I do enjoy Christopher Paolini's books. In fact, I'm going to eat my homemade chicken noodle soup and read it since it's my prep period right now. Hurray! I love A days!

This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

So-
I decided to be more fun and decorate my classroom for Halloween. Plus it's an added bonus that October just happens to be my favorite month of the year. I love dressing up, drinking hot chocolate, going to haunted houses, corn mazes, hearing the crunch of leaves, the crackle of a fire as I curl up with a good book. It even smells divine around this time of year. Anyway-

Here are some before photos...

And the after photos.

I did a Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin scene on the Window, bats on the ceiling, A werewolf escaping into my classroom on the door and a mini pumpkin patch on my desk. I also bought a pumpkin scented oil diffuser that sits on my desk


.

GLORIOUS!

It's the weekend.... "hear angels singing in the background"... I'm photographing at the Ascend Gala tonight, so no break for me. Me work. Oh joy. But I'm excited to try out my new flash! Hopefully this one won't explode on me. That'd be embarrassing... "Lavell Edwards! Smile!....Hey, there's smoke coming out of my flash!"

Anyway. I'm glad the weather should be nice. I plan on going OUTSIDE, I don't care when how or who with but I WILL go outside! :)

And yes, that is about all I've got. I'd better go, we're having a pizza party in my AP Art History class because we're talking about Rome! :) Yay!

Admittance

Ok, I'll admit it. I don't know much about the economy. I don't know much about investing. And I don't know much about how the market works. But I am frustrated. I make 30,000 a year. I work more than 40 hours a week. Last night I worked 13 hours because of parent teacher conferences. I get a "compensation" day but it's about 5 hours short when you count in the other two parent teacher conferences I am REQUIRED to do. My salary does not go up for spending more hours on the job. So where does the government come off thinking it can pass some idiot millionaire investor's iodot choices onto MY paycheck? You know that taxes are going to be raised eventually for the American people to pay off the debt the investors are benefitting from. I'm sorry but why do they deserve 10 milllion? They invested poorly, they should suffer the consequences. What happened to "if I do something wrong, I have to pay for it"? I understand forgiveness and all that but lets not be ridiculous. I see this attitude in my students. Parents or friends or counselors bail kids out on a daily basis. Make them suffer the consequences and then they'll learn not to do it again. It's harsh but I've seen too many lazy people expecting someone to bail them out because they didn't do anything in the first place. Anyway. There's my schpeel.

Well now that I'm done with Europe...

Evan was teasing me because I haven't written about anything since Europe.. which was two months ago. Ok. What I've been up to...

-Hanging out with Evan
-We had our 6 month in July: Went to Brewvies & played pool & saw Get Smart
-Went to an awesome wedding reception at La Caille with Evan
-Went to my first drive in movie with Evan- The Mummy #3 and Batman Dark Knight: very fun! We stuffed a bean bag chair into the back of my truck
-Went to my family reunion in Wolf Creek and played a LOT of games, went on a hike/short walk and went swimming...
-We went to Las Vegas and Zions with Patrick
-Getting Evan ready for BYU
-Moving to Orem
-Hanging out with Evan some more
-Started teaching at Lehi High
-Had lots of meetings for work
-Going to BYU Football games and seeing my first and second shut outs! Awesome! #3 here we come!
-Decided to go to a figure drawing class when Evan was busy
-Went out to Cold Stone with my friend Andra
-Went school clothes shopping
-Went to India Fest- they burned a 12 headed bad guy Ravanna (I THINK)
-Took Evan to Sam Hawk (yummy Korean food here in Provo)
-Hiked to Bridal Veil Falls with Evan and his roommates
-Went to Sundance with Kelsy&Dan. Took funny pictures

Anyway- We've done a lot :)

This week we went to FHE, tonight we're going to a Bodies exhibit, tomorrow is Parent Teacher Conferences, which I am NOT excited about- Parents complain a LOT at Lehi... I get an email a day. It's really annoying because they expect me to justify my job on a daily basis when their child comes unprepared to work in my class. uuumm, oh yeah. THE OFFICE is on Thursday! Friday is the Gala and this weekend we're doing something outdoorsy! And then it's the week again. I'm all for staying an extra two hours a day at school in order to have Fridays off. Carissa, I'm jealous!

Europe Day Eight

Today was a DOWNER. We went to Dachau. Very sad. Also depressing because today was our last day. Jess really didn't want to go to the concentration camp because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it. I can't believe there are people who think that the Holocaust was just made up by some government. Really made you think walking around there. We watched a video on the victims first. Women were little less than sex slaves and the men were forced to do hard labor, sometimes they were forced to just stand perfectly still for hours on end. All because someone thought they weren't human. You see this today. You'd think we would learn from history and have a little compassion for each other. Guess we'll never learn. What will will do when the world has killed everyone off? After the video Jess, Jen and I walked around. They had two bunkers rebuilt. Inside, men were stacked like chickens in a chicken coup. The "showers" were even more frightening. I started having an anxiety attack in there. People were split up into groups. One group was told to go get ready to take a shower. They really did look like gym showers! This was to fool the people into a false sense of security. Only it wasn't water that came out of the pipes. The gas chambers were never put into use in Dachau but it still made me sick. I am German and Austrian. The worst part is that people living nearby didn't really know what was going on. Those that found out and tried to help also disappeared. Everyone was really quite when we got back onto the bus. We had a lot to think about. How lucky we are to live when and where we do. I wish there was a way to end suffering around the world. Maybe I'll get to see that day. I can hope for it anyway. That's why I love to learn about other cultures. By learning about them I can appreciate our differences. I don't hate the extremists that are tearing our world apart. It makes me sad because I am so interested in their culture. Too bad people can't learn to appreciate one another's differences. The world would be a better place I think. Anyway. I'm off track. The rest of the day we chilled in Munich and hung out with people in our group. I was SO excited to go home and see Evan! Luckily we just had one flight on Luftsansa...NICE AIRLINE. I would definitely fly with them again! You felt like first class! And yes, I've flown first class by a happy accident so I know I'm comparing correctly. I slept most of the time and watched The Spiderwick Chronicals and Friends. Anyway. Evan picked Jess and I up and had a great time!

Europe Day Seven: Munich

Well... Munich is pretty "tight" as my students have been saying this whole trip! We took a bus tour in the rain, visited the Glockenshpiel which was AWESOME! Wish we had cool stuff like that in Utah! Lunch was Italian since Jennifer, Jess, Rachel and I were sick of German food. Delish. Dinner was in this cool old brewery.. But alas. It was German food. Jess and I walked around and tookcool photos. It's been so much fun hanging out with her. I really miss all of the people I've met along the way. It's good to be home with Evan though ;)

Anyway, after dinner Jen, Jess and I watched Friends and The Office and went to bed.

Hey You Gu-Uys

Check out my old Europe Posts. I added pictures :)

Europe Day Six

So, I am getting better at this right? It helps when you have nothing to do at work because your kids are finishing up projects :)

Day six we woke up and drove to Neuschwanstein Castle. I LOVE this place! We walked around town for a bit, Jess and I went shopping but I didn't find anything I wanted. It was all cheap tourist crap. Jess bought a cute necklace though. Then we took a bunch of photos and had lunch. I got the Schnitzel. Good but heavy food. Again, I will reiterate. I am not a huge fan of German food. The place where we had lunch was cool though. We had a good view of the castle and the waitresses were dressed in peasant dresses. Kind of fun. So, funny story. We had to hike up to the castle because Ben told us we could take a trolley or hike. Well the "Trolley" was a horse drawn carriage! I was so mad! That would have been SO cool to ride up to a castle in a horse drawn carriage. Sigh. Maybe someday. Anyway, those of us that wanted to get a shot of the castle from the bridge had to RUN up these very steep mountains in order to get there and what did I find when I arrived? A VERY sketchy looking bridge at least 300 feet over a roaring waterfall. Oh, and did I mention that this bridge was PACKED with people. Talk about hyperventilating! I stayed long enough to get my shot and then I be-lined it back to the castle. Everyone started hanging Ben their cameras to get a shot of the group. How annoying, they should have just gone on the website and downloaded it from there. So after 50,000 shots of the same thing Jess and I escaped to take some funny photos of us running up the stairs towards the castle & losing a shoe. The castle inside was SO cool! I wish we could have taken photos but no such luck. There was an AMAZING gilded ballroom and even a CAVE! Home sweet home. We even saw them making a movie. A girl in a Cinderella costume was wandering around being filmed. No idea what for but it was cool. I miss being on set sometimes. Anyway. After the castle tour we went back to our coach, drove and drove, and drove some more. The Austrian, Swiss and German countryside seem to be plagued by large marshmallows :) Stopped in a LITTLE town, looked at a church and drove.... to Munich, where we had more German food, I called Evan, watched Friends and the Office with Jen and Jess and went to bed, still tired even though I'd napped all day on the bus. :)

Europe Day Five

:) Yes yes, it has definitely been awhile! Ok, Day Five...

This day was fun. We spent the day traveling to Austria. We stopped and had lunch in Liechtenstein, I had my first European Donner Kebab- TASTY but I wish Evan would have been there to share- IT WAS HUGE! On the bus ride, as soon as we got into Austria we sang "Edelweiss." Kind of cool going back to where a good portion of my family is from. I'm not going to lie though, after Switzerland, Austria was kind of a let down....it looks like the Rockies. Anyway, at the border we all had to give Ben our passports so they could be stamped and we made a big joke about him running off with them and selling them to the Communists or the Muslim terrorists. I think it was one of those, "You had to be there" things but it still makes me laugh. After driving some more we made it closer to Innsbruck. We went to the Swarovsky Crystal Factory. It was SO cool! You walk through this hall of mirrors like Dorothy in 'Return to Oz' and into the factory. Imagine every sort of decoration you can-but all very modern- covered in crystals. They had a waterfall made out of crystal! Tres-Chique! Everything was, of course, VERY expensive- but fun to look at. I did buy a few crystal beads though. They're cheaper there than in the states at the bead fairs. Anyway. That was fun. Then we headed back on the bus to Innesbruck. In Innesburck we had a little time to do some shopping and take pictures- most of the shops closed around 6- weird. Anyway, I bought my mom a Christmas tree ornament (rocking horse- cute) and I took some cool photos. Then, again, back on the bus to go to our hotel which was up in the mountains. I do not like German food. It's all meat and potatoes- no fruit, unless it's cocktail. Gross. So dinner was uneventful. Bu-ut. We got our hotel room assignments. I was in room number 13 overlooking a graveyard. Spooky. Jennifer and I went for a walk and took some pictures of this old bar that wasn't open and heard some people singing in the church. The lady with the "stinky frommage feet"( according to Dragon (yes that's his real name) our old bus driver in Swizterland and France) was taking PHOTOS inside the church while people were trying to practice for their church choir. Very rude. We got back to the hotel and I went to hang out with my sister and some of the students. We sat around outside and talked until it got too cold and then I went to bed.

Europe Day Three

Ok, I know it's been awhile, but this has been difficult to keep up with since I've been starting work.


Day Three-Bus Ride to Lucerne

We spent the entire day in a bus. I slept most of the way. I did find Evan's Cote 'Or in chocolate form so I bought him a few bars. The countryside in France is very flat. Once we got to Germany though we started to see more mountains. seriously though, I slept most of the day. Our hotel in Switzerland is AMAZING- not because of the hotel itself but because of the location. We rode our huge coach around these scary cliff sides. It was COLD too. Luckily they had this DELICIOUS celery soup waiting for us. We ate dinner, (turkey something on top of noodles and jello for dessert-ew), then Jennifer and I hung out with a few of our students in the common room, we played games and got GOOD hot chocolate- Swiss chocolate- YUM! Then I called Evan and went to bed.


Day Four- Lucerne

It rained and rained and rained. We visited the famous Lucerne Lion, The Swiss Army Knife shop, the chocolate/truffle shop, The Bridge that's really famous here, and then we just looked around town all day. I bought Evan's birthday present (a watch of course) and then we got this really good curry sandwich that was BRIGHT yellow. Delicious! I bought more chocolate as well. :) I think I bought at least ten to fifteen pounds of chocolate to give away. My favorite is Nehaus or Callier. Yummy! I took a ton of pictures and my kids were laughing at me because I kept crawling up posts or leaning on the ground to get some good shots. It was a good day. We heard bells ring and we saw an old apothecary that looked like it belonged on Diagon Alley. Dinner was disappointing but I had some more hot chocolate and then my sister and Jennifer and I sat up for awhile talking. Good day. :) This sunny photo was taken the next day as we left Lucerne...