11/29/2009

A Parisian Thanksgiving

What did you do for your Thanksgiving holiday?
Wanna know what we did?
See these pictures?


Yeah.
I took them.
IN PARIS!
In person.
Over Thanksgiving.
That is all.







Okay, that's not really all.
I'm sorry we couldn't spend this wonderful "season of thanks" with all of our loved ones!
But alas, life must go on.
And so it did in Paris.
We arrived on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The chillins were wonderful during our 7 hour ride in the car!

Thanksgiving Day, we ventured out and learned how the Paris metro system works ,
(same as the others)
saw the Arc de Triomphe

walked down the entire Champs Elysees

and ended up at the Eiffel Tower.

Our 2nd day in Paris,
we visited the Louvre
(I REALLY want to photoshop that lady out...)

where we saw...

Aphrodite
(approx 323 B.C....
I hope I look that good at that age!)


The Great Sphinx of Tanis
(said to be 4,000 years old!)

Dennis and Ann Leary

And, of course, the great Mona Lisa...
which is now behind a wall of plexi-glass,
with a wall in front of that,
and ropes in front of that...
dumb thieves!

...okay, okay,
because I KNOW you're dying to hear about my encounter with Dennis Leary, given that he's like the #1 hottest actor on the "Who's who of the B-movies" list,
I will tell.

He was there with his wife and son... with us at the Louvre.
He and I were chattin' it up.
I told him how great I thought his mullet was,
or rather, his "business on the sides, party in the back" 'do was.
He thanked me and told me not many people complimented his hairdo.
I told him " no problem. I speak the truth."
And then I told him how great movie make-up is!
'Cause it hides some serious freckelage!
Then he said "Happy Thanksgiving, crazy Lady." and they went on their way.

After the Louvre we headed over to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
...
Now fast forward to the evening where Luke and I went on a hot double-date.
And by "hot" I mean I got to play dress-up.
I wore a silk blouse, and tight black pants with my highest, blackest heels.
Did I get any pictures of our hot selves?
No.
Got so caught up not having children, I think I forgot.

We sat at a cozy French restaurant with our good friends, Laura and Jeff
and enjoyed great cuisine and 4 hours of relaxed conversation.
4 HOURS!
No crying.
No pooping.
No fighting.
No whining.
It was nearly 1 a.m. when we left the restaurant.
We decided to then go see the tower in it's nocturnal glory,
because I have a "thing" for shiny, glittery stuff.
What girl doesn't?
Give a girl glitter, and send her to Paris on a pony and she could die happy...
(well, according to Luke, anyway...)
???
Whatev, honey. We'll let you have your little fantasy.

So anyway, after forcing Jeff and Laura to let me take some cutesy pics of them,
Luke and I got into our contrived pose,
Jeff got into his photographer pose and as he was pressing the button,
the glorious, sparkly, twinkling lights shut off!
{GASP!}
And they did not come back on!
Our last night in Paris!
SAD. SAD. Night for Steph.
But all is well.
Our friends have some cute shots and I was able to take in the Eiffel Tower in all of it's shiny glory!!!
At least the memory will live on in my little noggin.


Out of all the shots I got of the great Eiffel Tower, we did not get ONE with the entire family or of Luke and myself!
Ah!
Frustrating.
But, that just gives us a reason to go back :)
I guess I'm a little glad we didn't try to suffer through trying to get the
perfect couples/family shot because I just had my hair done.
(*this pic was taken in the Louvre. Porter had his Sully, and Luke saw a photo op.)
Don't like it.
Too harsh.
Getting it fixed in a week.
I only wanted the dark that was already in my hair, a little richer.
Not all of my lightness gone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/08/2009

Suhweet Sweden

So Luke flew me to Sweden for my first trip away from any and all kiddos in waaaaay too long.
Nobody was on my hip, and nobody was in my belly kicking or pushing my food back up into my throat.
Nice.
The last time I was on a trip with my hubs without any hint of a child was over 3 years ago.
Daphne made it possible for me to leave for 5 beautifully glorious days.
Thanks Daph!
So when I flew in to meet Luke, he told me upon my arrival that his Hertz rental car had broken down.
(We were in Sweden, home of the Volvo,
but he was given a Ford Focus.
Go figure.)
Customer service is NOT what it is in the states.
We spent hours on the phone trying to get someone to step up and help us figure out what to do.
We had to call a tow truck and then find our own way up to the closest rental place.
So....we hitched a ride with the tow-truck man.
We were squished in there like smelly sardines.
Well, tow-truck man was really the one who had bathed with sweaty fish that morning.
Just sayin'
Tow-truck man didn't care too much for conversation with us.
But Luke kept insisting on striking up conversation just after he'd turn his Celine Dion back up loud enough to drown us out.
I thought it amusing.
After an hour in the truck with Mr. Sardine, we couldn't wait to get into our next Ford Focus!
After this all-day adventure, we had time for a nice dinner out and some bowling.
Sweden's food is AWESOME!
Germany's? Not so much.
After 6 months of trying different restaurants that claimed various national cuisines,
only to find out the common ingredients were still potatoes and salt,
Swedish restaurants were amazingly accurate in their claims!


On the up side of our day, we found that Sweden has signs warning you of the upcoming speed-camera locations!
(unlike the smart, sneaky Germans that have mobile cameras so you never know where they are!)

Stockholm LDS Temple -
we were able to do a session while sporting hot little English-speaking headphones.

Changing of the Royal Guard in Gamla Stan Stockholm



Like England, these guys aren't to acknowledge us or smile.
But Luke made these boys laugh by getting all up in their faces with the camera while they were on trash-duty.
In 1520,
After King Christian forced himself into the position of king,
he hanged and beheaded 94 noblemen, clergy, and commoners in this square.
The event has since been referred to as the
Stockholm Bloodbath


As legend has it, this cannon ball was fired at the king during the bloodbath in 1520, and has been left there as a reminder of the atrocities ever since.



Church built during the 14th century

Inside

Scenic views









Vasa Ship - Constructed in the 17th century, sank during it's maiden voyage, recovered and restored in the 20th century! Pretty awesome ship...it was very Viking-ish, even though Vikings were earlier, it still had that feel. I definitely recommend visiting this museum (built around the ship) and giving yourself a few hours.
This was our favorite part.
Hope you enjoyed our tour of Sweden :)

11/04/2009

I. Love. My. Man.

He:
~ dances to make me laugh
~ is not too proud to be caught in this:

~ buoys me up when I feel fat, unproductive, or unimportant
~ encourages me when I'm in a rut
~ loves me when I put my foot in my mouth
~ laughs at my "funnies" that usually aren't so funny
~ lets me buy new shoes
~ inspires me to be a better me
~ has taught me patience
~ has taught me that healthy communication involves talking.
(huh. weird, I know!)
~ does not laugh when I've embarrassed myself and everyone else does
~ tells me to go shopping when I've had a rough day :)
~ is the BEST father. PERIOD.

~ likes to watch "my" movies
~ will let me have the last bite or last sip
~ let's me be ME and loves me despite
~ let's me sleep peacefully knowing he's there protecting us
~ and, well, he's Hot!

I love you, Luke!
Happy 5th Anniversary!
Here's to another 50 years of exciting adventures together!


10/27/2009

Me, Michael, and the Produce

I love "grocery" days!
Well, the act of choosing new, yummy, ripe, and temptatious foods, that is.
However, I don't always look forward to my "grocery" days
because that means "prep"days.
But in this case, I had an upcoming weekend getaway to Sweden to which I was looking forward!
So as I was washing, peeling, chopping, slicing, and dicing...


my Michael was serenading me over and over and over again.
Telling me he hasn't met me yet, but he knows we'd be SO amazing...
(yes Michael, I know, I know. but...........)
but he'll have to wait...'cause he just hasn't me me yet.
I just didn't have the heart to tell him how long his wait will actually be,
seein' hows I'm married for eternity 'n all.

Golly, how time flies when you're kickin' it with Michael!
Before I knew it, my fridge was packed and prepped.
And all it took was the thought of meeting my hottie
(Not Michael...HELLO!)
up in Sweden without kiddos.
(Oh, and of course there was that itsybitsy teenytiny help from
Michael serenading me 72x)

*p.s. the upside-down bread in this picture is bothering me...I'm going to fix it.

10/24/2009

Crazy Munchkin, AKA: Afton

Her "sound track" does not make me want to spring out of bed
after a short night's sleep
But this face sure does!




BTW, since I had a part in gifting you those beautiful baby blues, could you loan them to me for a night on the town with my hubby or something?
Small price to pay, sweet pea, for the stubbornly sleepless nights that you STILL insist on keeping!
K.Thanks.

10/22/2009

Hohenzollern, Round 2

Only this time it was in Autumn, not Summer.

And with my baby sister Daphne(who's not so "baby" anymore),
and not my hubby...

And we let Afton out of her straight-jacket to walk around...

And we had to wear our WINTER coats, not shorts...

And I got a decent picture...yay!

And then it was time to go!
I love love love, having my Daphne here! She's my mini-me, only better!
She's tall, I'm short.
She's got fatty lips, I ....don't.
She's got rhythm, I ...have a Caucasian doctor for a dad.
(yes, it's her dad too, but she didn't get the gene)
She's the youngest of 6, I'm the oldest of 6. 12 years apart.
She's going to be living with us for the next year and I could NOT be more grateful!
Luke has been away more now than at any other billet.
Fun times.
And we haven't been fortunate enough to live close to any family.
I feel spoiled!

10/07/2009

Legoland for Porter's 3rd

Yes, his birthday was August 18th.
And two months later, here I am!
It's a pattern I'm beginning to like...
only because I can't seem to change.


LEGOLAND
The land where little boys' dreams come true.
K, well, at least we like to think so...


1 shared, frozen, flavored-sugar bonanzic euphoria...
although I do admit letting the birthday boy steal
extra sips whenever his friend would turn his head.
...
What?...You KNOW you would too :)

2 Ice cream cones to reward them for their hard work
& to make them crash that much harder on the drive home...



And 3
The age of my baby boy who has taught me (among many other things)
patience, love, and charity on a level I never EVER knew existed!
And let's be real.
I'm soooo imperfect.
I still don't know why I get to raise him!
He is the sweetest thing that has EVER been in or around my life!
I don't want to be the one that breaks his spirit...ever!
anyone want to volunteer?
That way I can be the one who seems like a good person :)

Okay then.
I guess I'll still play "Mom" and continue to let him take me by the hand and show me how to be Christ-like.

Happy 3rd Birthday, my Little Buddy!