My European Vacay - 2011

By now, you're probably wondering what happened to me, since I gave you a "glimpse" of our vacay...and nothing else. Well...these last few weeks have been spent working long & hard on our annual PHOTO book. It takes FOREVER & then another few days to pick out the color scheme, the layout of the page, cropping the pics to fit "just right", and writing the blurb about everywhere we went (well, that was Steven's job, really).

PHEW!!! Am I glad that is done!!!

So, here is the grand masterpiece ~

dun - Dun - DuN - DUN

(in chronological order, for the most part):

Click here to view this photo book larger

Glimpse of Vacay 2011

Now that everyone knows we've been on VACATION....here are a few pics so you can see that we actually survived 17 days in Germany, France, & Spain with a group of 34 travelers.

Yes, we survived it. After eating lots of gelatto, potatoes, and more french bread than you could ever IMAGINE...we're home now...sleeping in our OWN beds, and smelling freshly smelled laundry once again. Ahhhhh...isn't home NICE?!!

Oh...and thank you MISSOURI, for trashing the nasty cicadas while we were gone! :)

1. DACHAU- we went through the SAME ENTRANCE as many people that entered this concentration camp. Very humbing, VERY dark, and something I'll never forget. Ever.

2. Neuschwanstein Castle- the one that influenced Cinderella's castle. What a cute town at the bottom of this castle. We toured the inside, walked around it, and it was one of my favorite things we did while in Germany.

3. BMW plant- Munich, Germany. I would LOVE to tour this place, if I ever go back.

4. Various street vendors--so cute! I love getting great bargains, and it is one of my favorite things to do on vacation!!

5. Versailles- these are only PART of the majestic royal gardens that surround this magnificent palace. WOW! The tour was grand, but the gardens were never-ending and it was so much fun to eat lunch w/ Steven in the garden!!

6. Biggest Beer Barrel in the World- that's right. Well, this one was the one beside of it. Steven got a pic beside the LARGEST one...but we could actually fit both of us and this barrel in the pic, so I will show you this one. You can't even IMAGINE how big the biggest one actually is....

7. Notre Dame de Reims- this one is almost twice as big as the one in Paris!!! We were walking in downtown Reims...and this literally popped out of nowhere!!! Really an amazing thing to see!!

Just so you can see just how big the entrance is to this thing...here I am standing just outside the entrance:

8. Eiffel Tower- of course I went to the tippy-top of it! Steven made it half-way, and I took a small group of gutsy kids who wanted to visit the top. We were so lucky this day, because every other day we went...the top was closed for visitors. Too many people and I guess they were scared it would fall!!! ha!

This is a pic of me...only half-way up, though. Can you imagine the view from the TOP?!?!!

9. Notre Dame de Paris- go ahead...go back to the one in Reims and see if this isn't smaller! But still...it was cool to see this remarkable place and go inside!!

10. Pont du Gard- the best preserved aqueduct of the Romans. Steven climbed up the side...but it is now closed off to pedestrians to walk on the top of it. What an amazing view from here. It was nice and warm, but breezy that day. Many were kayaking and canoing down the river. Wish I could've...

11. Madrid, Spain- beside the famous statue of Don Quijote and his sidekick Sancho Panza. What a neat city to visit and be able to see such amazing history!!

You'll have to wait for the "rest of the story"...for now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite pics of the trip. Just a small glimpse that captures the amazing ambiance of Europe. Freshly painted apartments. Fresh flowers and plants of every balcony. Many bikes and pedestrians along every road.

Ahhhhhh....

as much as I miss it, and yearn for more of it....

I'm glad to be home.

Places, Places, PLACES

Just a few of the things we will be seeing shortly.

See if you can guess them all (or at least the countries we'll be visiting):

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Old School

I CAN'T be the only one who watched

some Saturday Night Live & In Living Color

back in the OLD SCHOOL DAYS (early 90's), am I?

C'mon, you can admit it. I just did!

So, this morning I went and found some good ones from the past that still crack me up. I hope you enjoy laughing as much as I do:

FIRST UP...clips from In Living Color:

1.

Jim Carey as Vanilla Ice

2.

Wayans bro. as Hani-Man

Now.....some clips from the infamous Saturday Night Live:

3.

Will Ferrell as the Devil singing w/ Garth Brooks

4.

Spartan Cheerleaders...who could forget this dynamic duo?

5.

Cherti Oteri & "SIMMADOWNNA"

6.

Chris Farley & "Down by the River"

Movie Must See

Why am I so amused & addicted to the Madea movies?

Because they make me laugh.

This one....THIS ONE....is funny!

Watch the trailer, and get your flops on, and get your gear ready to go see it. NOW.

Easter Sunday

Do you remember what Easter was like as a kid???

I do, and I was reminded of it today, while at church. Here's a few things I remembered:

1.

I remember going shopping for my annual "Easter Dress". Oh fun that was! I don't remember too many of the dresses, but I DO remember the qualifications for said Easter Dress: new white ruffled socks, new shiny white shoes w/ a buckle on the side, a dress w/ tons of flowers on it, and a white brimmed hat with a bow on the front to match the color of the flowers in my dress. I have several photos of those days. I couldn't find one that quite matched the description above...I'm sure my mom still has them and is enjoying them today. However, I did manage to find these beauties:

Can you tell which one is ME? And yes...my mom made us cut our hair that way. So don't blame me for looking like a boy....all of my sisters did at one time or another. Mom says we didn't like to brush our hair, so she decided to keep it trimmed short. I say she was sad she only had one boy. Oh well...what was done was done. I'm still bitter about it, though...obviously!

2.

Going for Easter Egg hunts. My mother went out of town to visit my brother and his family for the Holidays. She loves dying the eggs and hiding them for the kids. Now...we never had MONEY-filled eggs like some folks. But we did put candy in them. Frankly, I'm surprised my older brother didn't put "nuggies" or something crazy like that in there....he was always doing crazy stuff like that! Anyway, I miss doing that...it was always fun.

I do remember one year when we had maybe 30 eggs that we hid in the backyard. Of course, we'd just put them random places and we thought we were smart enough to remember where we hid them. WRONG!!! Let's just say that the NEXT year, we found some pretty rotten eggs in the woods, and dad got upset w/ us for leaving them in the gutters as well!!! ooooppppssss.....

3.

I saw a pic of my friend's little boy sitting in the Easter Bunny's lap. Ya...I never did that. Nor did I ever do it with Santa. I don't know...was I scared of the scary looking thing? Was I camera shy? Were we too cheap to purchase the pictures? or Were we just too lazy to actually stand in line for a while to get a picture w/ the creature? I dunno.

4.

In our baskets, we always had simple things. It ALWAYS included a chocolate bunny. Mine had to be white chocolate, of course. I'm not a big fan of chocolate...unless it's white. Then, I'm all in!!! We had some jelly beans, some Cadberry eggs (and yes...mom was the only one who actually liked those things, so I'm sure that is why she kept buying them to put in our baskets...she always got the leftovers....smart woman!!) It was simple, but a nice present.

Years later, I went to my Aunt & Uncle's house who were living in Utah at the time. I spent Easter with them and got to see what was in their baskets. MAN...my mom jipped us. My cousins got toys, games, money, candy....I mean, today they probably have Ipods and laptops in their baskets. Soooo jealous!!! But hey- I'm not complaining. My Aunt put some money and Bath & Body Works stuff in a basket for me. I guess I was a good girl that year, b/c that's the best basket I've ever gotten!

What do you remember most about Easter, when you were little?

My Favorites - good or bad?

Yah...I know...

I shouldn't have "favorite students" in my classes.

But I do!

I am reminded of it everytime one of "those kids" ask me for something and I say NO, and then my lil angel comes up and asks for the same dern thing....and of course, I say "ok....rápido" with my cutsie smile.

I KNOW I shouldn't. I KNOW it's bad. I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW, I said.

But who can blame me? I wanted teachers to like me...I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to show off. And so...I guess I tend to favor them as well.

I'm a horrible person. I mean, really...how do parents keep from doing it? C'mon...be honest here! You KNOW we all do it. We are all like this at some point. I mean...if you could go to the store and buy the perfect child...wouldn't you???

I KNOW I would!!!