Just A Tease...

Hi All! I just wanted to post very quickly to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you! It's just been rather hectic around here lately, and I haven't had much time for blogging... And, trust me, I've got alot of fun stuff to blog about... Our Saturday in Munich, rock climbing in Austria, my finished balcony/flower project, and our recent trip to Amsterdam! :) I'm hoping to get everything posted within the next couple of days, but until then, here's a few "teasers" you can enjoy! :)

And, now I'm off to the gym, so that I can come home to clean before I head to Lindau to act as a tour guide for a visiting friend, and afterwards, a dinner get-together with some fellow English speakers... Today is my one day off from teaching this week so I'm trying to cram in as much as possible! :) Hope you all have a great Wednesday!!

Amsterdam at night... Gorgeous!

Bikes, canals, and gabled canal houses... Typical Amsterdam! :)

I love the houses in Amsterdam!!

Hanging out in Munich...

The "Lucky" Lion... People rub the lion head on the shield as they walk by for good luck...

The Marienplatz in Munich...

Getting ready to do some climbing in Austria... :)

A Mother's Day Wish...

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

- Washington Irving

My mom has always been my role model. She has inspired me to work hard to become the person I am today. Throughout my life, I have always looked up to my mom and admired her... I've never met anyone who is as loving, hardworking, supportive, and dedicated to her family as much as she is! She has always been our support system, no matter what may befall us. For as long as I can remember, she has encouraged us to dream big and to never settle for less than our best. She has boosted our confidence when it was low, and fostered so many of our crazy ideas over the years (and, believe me, we've had some crazy ones! :)). She's given us tough love during those times in our life when we needed it most. She's wiped away our tears and chased away our fears. She has encouraged us to fight for what we believe in. She has shown us how to be strong individuals. But, most importantly, she has given us unconditional love and unwavering support. :) I am truly grateful for all that my mom has done for me and for our family!

So, I'd like to take a moment to thank my mom for being truly exceptional! I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful mom and role model. I wish I could be there to celebrate Mother's Day with you, Mom! Just know that I'm thinking of you, and I look forward to spending time with you in just a few months! :) I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day! I love you!!

And, to all of the other mom's out there (especially my sister, Stacy!! :))... I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing Mother's Day! You all deserve it!! :)

Let the Planting Begin...

What a beautiful week it's been! It's been mid-70's and sunny all week... I love it! :) Needless to say, I've been spending as much time as possible outdoors... And, I've got the springtime farmer's tan to prove it... Lovely! :) Well, as many of you remember from last year, I've become slightly obsessed with gardening since moving over here... And, with the weather warming up recently, I've been very antsy to start planting and getting our balcony ready for summertime! However, I kept myself from purchasing anything just yet, as I had plans to head home for two weeks, so I didn't want to plant before heading home, and then leave Brian with the responsibility of taking care of them (even though I know he'd do a good job and all! :))... But, now that I've rescheduled my trip home to later in the summer, I simply couldn't wait any longer to get started with planting (I know, I'm a dork! :))... So, I headed out to the local greenhouse and went on the first of (what I assume) many shopping sprees this season! And with that said, here's a small peak into what I've been occupying my time with recently... :)

My first round of purchases... Rain daisies, geraniums, Diamond Frost, and hanging petunias... Let the planting begin! :)

Our flower boxes... Geraniums with some Diamond Frost added in...

I love this guy! :)

Our "welcome" cat with daisies...

(This was our anniversary present from my parents last year... Thanks, Mom and Dad! :))

I upgraded this year and finally got some hanging baskets of petunias... They're so pretty!

A pot of rain daisies... Brian requested daisies for the balcony this year... So, when I saw these and loved the colors, I knew they were the perfect addition! :)

The herb garden...

Yes, folks, I'm getting an herb garden started... I'm constantly buying these plants for all of the new recipes I'm trying out (Yes, my other new obsession is now cooking... Never imagined those words would ever come out of my mouth! :)), so I figured I'd try my hand at growing them instead... We'll see how it goes! :)

Our rose bush...

I'm actually very proud of this little guy (yes, I really did just call a rose bush a "little guy"! :))... I accidentally left it outside all winter, and I didn't think it would make it... But, I cut off all of the dead parts, watered and put in some new soil, and voila! It's back... And, with two new blossoms as well... Yay! :)

So, that's where I'm at with the balcony as of now... But, I've got many more ideas that I still need to implement, so stay tuned... :)

Oh, and before I close this out... I forgot to post this picture as part of my last post... It's from our bike ride to Langenargen last Saturday... We stopped by the field of dandelions so that Brian could take some pictures... And, I couldn't resist taking a few of my own... Here's my favorite!! Doesn't he look so cute just laying there in the dandelions taking pictures?? :)

Lovin' the Sunshine!!

What an interesting few days it's been around here! As of last Saturday, my plan was that I was flying home this Friday for a couple of weeks... Well, due to some unforeseen circumstances, the plans changed... Which resulted in scrambling around for the past few days trying to reschedule flights, find new dates to go home, and inform my employers of my new time off needs... Needless to say, after spending hours on the phone with airlines, and dishing out a little more money that I would have liked to, I finally got everything straightened out... Whew! (And, in the process, I've learned that I will never use Orbitz.com again!! They are completely ridiculous to deal with... Grrr!!) So, instead of heading back to the U.S. on Friday for a couple of weeks, I'll be heading back to visit in July... And, even though I know that I'll be there to visit in just a few more months, I'm still rather sad that I don't get to see everyone this coming Friday like I had been anticipating... But, on the bright side, July is only a few months away, and it's also the perfect time to visit Michigan... I absolutely love summertime in northern Michigan!! :)

So, that kind of explains why I've been laying low in the blogging world recently... :) We did have quite a nice weekend, which I planned on blogging about on Monday, but it never happened... So, I'll make up for it today. :)

The weather was beautiful this weekend, so Brian and I spent most of our time outdoors soaking up the sun!! We took a bike ride to the town of Langenargen on Saturday, where we had a picnic lunch along the lake and then strolled around town taking in all of their magnificent tulip displays... Gorgeous!! Afterwards, we came home and grilled out and had our first dinner of the season on our balcony with the view of the Alps in the distance... Overall, it was a perfect Saturday. :)

Sunday was spent checking out the scenery in the area... We took a drive to Ravensburg and enjoyed the warm weather, beautiful flower displays, blossoming trees, green grass, and fields of dandelions along the way... Spring has officially sprung here! :)

On that note, I'm off to get started on my busy day... My list of things to do today includes the gym, lunch/coffee with a friend, cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, flower shopping (now that I'm not going home, I'm going to entertain myself by sprucing up our balcony for summertime!), and then doing hair/make-up for the performance tonight... Yikes!! Now I'm just hoping that I can stay focused long enough to get it all done... But, with the weather being so pretty and the sun shining so bright, I'd much rather be down by the lake soaking it all up while reading a book! :) I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!

One of the many floral displays in Langenargen...

Taking a break by the tulips after our bike ride... :)

Look at all the tulips!! And, to think that this is just a small portion of the tulip displays in this village!

I love this picture!! I have to admit, orange tulips are my favorite! :)

Downtown Langenargen... That's me sitting under the tree guarding the bikes while Brian strolled around taking pictures. :)

The tulip displays run throughout the entire town... It's absolutely stunning!

We passed a field of dandelions on our way home... So pretty! :)

After our day of bike riding, we decided to BBQ... Here's Brian hard at work... :)

We had some sekt (champagne) in the fridge, so we opted for that as our dinner drinks... Definitely thirst quenching after a long day of bike riding! :) And, to top it off, it just looked so pretty sitting on the table with the setting sun in the background! :)

Ahhh... Dinner is served! With all of the bright colors and veggies on the plate, you can tell summer is coming! :)

Scenes from our Sunday drive...

We stopped for a photo op along the way... :)

Spring has sprung!! And is it ever gorgeous!! :)

Springtime Fun...

Ok, I admit... I've been a little MIA lately... I have to apologize for that. But, in my defense, I haven't been blogging because I've been so caught up with doing things outside and taking advantage of the great spring-like weather we've been having! :) Brian and I have been occupying our time, when we're not working, with bike rides, walks along the beach and the many hiking trails in our area, grilling out, gardening (yep, I've already started getting our balcony ready for summer... yay! :)), meeting up with friends for coffee at the many outdoor cafes along the lakefront, and simply spending time outside soaking up the sunshine and warmer temps... It's been great! :) And, of course, while we're doing all of those things, Brian is snapping pictures like a crazy man... So, without further delay, here's a peak into what we've been up to over the past couple of weeks...

Last weekend, Brian and I (along with our friends, Maciej and Cornelius) decided to go for a bike ride... We were given two options... We could ride to the top of one of the smaller mountains in the area (called Gehrenburg) or we could take a more relaxed ride through the many bike trails that offer more picturesque views... Of course, I'm sure you can guess which one I opted for... :) But, being that I was outnumbered by three guys, we ended up biking to the top of the mountain... Grrr!! Let's just say, after what seemed like days of pedaling uphill (in reality, it only took about 2 hours... but, it was a VERY LONG 2 hours!), and many stops to catch my breath along the way, combined with some emotional outbursts of "I really am not enjoying myself here!" and some additional cursing at the guys who were much faster than me and truly enjoying the pain caused by pedaling uphill for this long (I honestly don't think I'll ever understand men... They really love to feel alot of pain when working out... I mean, I love working out and all... But, not quite to the point where I'm doubled over in pain... Men! :))... After all that, we finally made it to the top... yay! And, I have to admit, the view was pretty nice after all of that work to get there! :) And, the ride back down was definitely better than the ride up, as we found a great mountain bike trail to take back down... My mountain biking techniques aren't all that great, but I had quite a bit of fun during the ride down! :)

I made it!! :) This is shortly after we got to the top of Gehrenburg... Whew! :)

We stopped for a short break at the top... And, of course, we had to take some pictures! :) I'm loving Brian's helmet hair in this one! :)

The four of us at the top of Gehrenburg...

During one of the walks through our neighborhood... The farmer sells homemade schnapps out of his barn. :)

The English speaking theatre group that I'm a part of is gearing up for their spring performance, which starts this week... So, I've been busy helping with hair and make-up and Brian's been snapping pictures of their rehearsals... They're a great group of people to work with! :)

So pretty! :)

The trail into town is getting greener every day! :)

Taking a break to soak up the sun while walking along the beach... I love living so close to the lake! :)

Someone made this cute little heart on the beach... :)

I love these flowers!

I love the fact that during our walk through the neighborhood, we can stroll past the cows grazing in the meadow... That's something you definitely don't see too often back in Livonia! :)

Here's my newest addition to the balcony... I saw this little guy and just had to have him! :) He goes so well with my two potted geranium plants which are sitting on the table on our balcony... Isn't he cute?! :)

Ok, so now it's time to finish cleaning and grocery shopping... And then it's off to meet Eva for some coffee and "girl talk" at our favorite outdoor cafe... Time to soak up the sun and the gorgeous view of the Alps and Bodensee! :)

Climbing is Good for the Soul...

Last week, we had another opportunity to do some outdoor rock climbing... Being that it was such a beautiful day, we happily accepted the invitation and headed into Austria to do some climbing!! This time around, we climbed in a different location... This location required a short hike to the climbing area, of which I was not quite prepared for as I was wearing my Crocs (my favorite pair of easy, slip on shoes which are good for just going rock climbing, but so not good when it comes to hiking through muddy areas and steep slopes! :)) But, once we reached our destination, I realized it was totally worth it... We had a remarkable view of Bregenz, Austria and the Bodensee with the Alps in the distance... Gorgeous!! :) It turned out to be a great day of climbing!!

The view...

Looks like spring has sprung! :)

Look at that intensity! :)

Yep, those are my feet... I actually really like this shot! :)

Brian on his way up one of the routes... He had to stop for a quick photo op apparently. :)

That's my "Monkey Boy"! :)

This was a really fun route up!! It looks much worse that it actually was... I promise! :)

Maciek on his way up... And, apparently he had time to stop for a photo op as well! :) (I think the boys were just having too much fun playing with and posing for the camera! :))

Brian, on the ground, belaying Maciek... Notice how he's tied up to the tree roots behind him? That's because he's standing on a very steep slope, and if Maciek fell, and Brian wasn't tied in, it could make for a "nicht sehr gut" (not very good) situation...

More of the view...

Gus making his way up...

Sunset in the mountains... Time to head home. :)