Maybe I'm odd, but I like to look...

Isn't this the most beautiful room you have ever seen?!?! I found this on the pottery barn website. I love it and if I had enough money would have this for my baby room. Did you notice that the curtains and bedding have a Peter Rabbit print on them? I love Peter Rabbit! However, I will probably never have enough money for this room (especially the crib) and that is ok...but I just might want the Peter Rabbit bedding.

I'm not even pregnant, but it is still fun to look!

Actually, I think it was this carpet that really made me go head over heels. It is so perfect for a baby room, boy or girl. In the first picture you can see this all put together wonderfully. I am not sure how they painted those walls, but I would love to try it.

Well, that is pretty much all from me. I fell instantly in love and had to tell someone.

Freshened up the blog

I felt that I had had the previous background for too long and needed somthing new. I like how the blog looks now, but will probably change it in a few months as well.

Tyler and I have been doing great! Tyler has started soccer practice and I am in my first SVU play. We are doing A Midsummer's Night Dream. I have already done this play before and I played Hermia. This time I am just Fairy 2... Oh, well ...I did not expect much as this is my first play and they don't usually give new people good parts. However, I am attempting to be the best Fairy there ever was!

We start school in two weeks and then our lives will get even crazier adding school onto our already busy list. Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a job at SVU's library. I am working there to get work study money. Tyler will hopefully get a job at the tutoring center for work study.

That is pretty much all that has been happening and now I have to go get ready for work!

Vacation: our German guests, Oregon, and the wedding

My good friend Laura, from Germany, came with her boyfriend Simon to visit Tyler and I on the East Coast. We went to New York City, had fun in Virginia, and then Tyler and I flew to Oregon to help out with Jessica and Ricky's wedding. Here are some pictures of the fun times:

New York City:


The hostel we stayed in, which was very nice.

Simon, Laura and I in Central Park

Tyler and I in Times Square
The four of us on the Brooklyn Bridge

Tyler and I on the Brooklyn Bridge

Sorry this picture is so blurry... but I had to put it on because it was so cool!! This Harry Potter stuff was at the Scholastic store in NYC. They had the Weasley's clock, Harry Potter dolls and much more! So cool... Happy Birthday Harry on July 31st!

Back in Virginia:

Yumm... Slurpees...
Laura and Simon in front of Main Hall at SVU
Laura and I on the footbridge and yes, we did jump off it...
I think it is about 25 ft and a whole lot of fun!

Oregon and the Wedding:

Great picture of Ricky... I laugh every time... I supposed he was very unsure about where and how they wanted their pictures taken, The happy couple outside of the temple Tyler and I as bridesmaid and groomsman....note this is dress Tyler made Jesper (Adam's exchange student from Sweden), Adam, and Laura outside of the temple

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the reception at my parent's house, but it was a beautiful reception.

The Beach:

A couple days after the wedding we decided to head to the beach to relax and get away from the heat in Portland (107 degrees!!) Laura came with us and it was a lot of fun. Laura, Tyler, me and Erik
Ian after a long day of surfing

The beautiful Oregon Coast

We had a great trip and it was wonderful to see family and friends. We are back in Virginia and already busy... I am in a play and Tyler is starting soccer, not to mention we have work and school starts in a month. I will blog again soon and let you all (whoever actually reads this) know what we are up to next!

Update on what we have been doing...

We have had quite a bit going on in June. Tyler had his birthday on June 16th and turned 21. We also celebrated our first anniversary on June 21st. I feel like we have been married longer than that, but also I cannnot believe it has been a whole year since we got married. We have had a great first year and I love Tyler more than ever. I think this is the earliest picture of us. Prom was our first official date together. I was 16 and so was he... He would turn 17 in June. Do we look any older now (4 years later)?

The other day I cut Tyler's hair--the first time almost all the way by myself... Tyler helped a little in the front. Here is a picture:

I think it looks pretty good.

Besides birthdays, anniversarys, and haircuts, we have been working at Tuscany, making my bridesmaid dress and Tyler has been playing for a men's summer soccer league. Fun, fun, fun!

Well, I really should go, as Tyler needs my help with the dress (he really is the better seamstress--or tailor).

Europe Trip: Luneburg, Germany---our last stop...

An exchange student, Laura Heinkele, from Germany came to my high school my senior year. We became really good friends and I could not pass up the opportunity to see her when we came to Europe. So, we traveled up to Luneburg, Germany (near Hamburg) and stayed with her family. It was really great to see her, meet her family and boyfriend, and eat home cooked meals. They showed us around their home town and Hamburg. It was wonderful to be shown Germany by locals. I am so glad I got to see Laura again and lucky for me she is coming to the US this summer to visit Tyler and I on the East coast and then fly to Portland and see everyone from high school.

So here are a few pictures of our time with Laura: Luneburg-Laura's home town Walking around in Luneburg with Laura, her sister and her mom. One of the many churches in Luneburg--note how crooked the tower is. Some very lovely stained glass in the above church.
Erik, Jessica, Laura, me and Tyler

Laura drinking a milkshake---which are much different than the milkshakes we have. They are basically just milk with a syrup added and maybe some chopped up chocolate or coconut depending on the flavor you choose. Weird that they don't use ice cream, huh?

Me, Laura, and Jessica drinking milkshakes

Hamburg:

The next day with Laura we went to Hamburg, which is about a half hour from Laura's house. Laura and her mom did a great job showing us around the city and they took us on a boat ride through Hamburg. This is Laura's mom, Laura, me and Tyler on the boat.

A view of Hamburg from the water
There was a sailing class out on the water while we were in the little tourist boat.

Erik took this lovely photo of Mom---I think this is a reflection on the window, not taken from the outside of the boat.

Laura and I--and I am listening intently to my English translation of the boat tour---which by the way was hilarious--The guy had a strong German accent, some of his phrases were really awkward in English, and he was extremely proud of being German (and liked besting the English whenever possible-'this palace has 12 more rooms than Buckingham Palace..etc' ) I really think Germans love their country--more than Americans love the US or the British love Britain or Brazilians love Brazil etc.. It was a great boat ride and the scenary was beautiful. This is Laura's Mom on the boat. She was a great hostess, made excellent food, and we are very grateful for all she did! Thank you!
Erik looking at all the swans.

I think the building to the left is some sort of government building and it was a beautiful building.
All of us walking the streets of Hamburg.

After spending a few days with Laura we drove west towards Belgium to catch a ferry back to England. We stopped off in a little town in Belgium to pick up some chocolate and then rushed and rushed and almost missed our ferry--but we did make it!

Leaving the country gives you a different perspective and I am glad I live here in the US. I could easily live in Great Britain though. It was an amazing trip and I am so thankful my Mom took us! I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and stories!

After Tyler and I landed in Washington D.C., we were able to go see Coldplay (my favorite current band as The Beatles are my favorite band of all time)!!! Christian and Heidi picked us up and came with us to the concert as well (which they already blogged about). It was an amazing concert. Coldplay is great to see in concert, they have so much energy and are great performers.

After the concert, we headed back to Buena Vista and I was actually very glad to be back. The little town of BV felt like home.

We have been back for about a month now (I know...it took me a long time to post the whole trip). This blog is already much too long, so I will just have to let you all know what we have been doing lately in the next blog post. Until next time!

Europe Trip: Salzburg, Austria

Sorry again.... I have not felt up to blogging lately and with Tyler home I have much less free time (he went home for a week to help his dad move). Salzburg was a very beautiful town and the drive was as well. Below are the Austrian Alps: More beautiful scenery A wonderful view of Salzburg--home of the Von Trapp Family Singers and Mozart The Castle
Tyler and I eating some delicious sausages--though I don't think the sausages made it in the picture.
Me posing with some pretty awesome statues.

If you have seen The Sound of Music, then you would recognize this tunnel...
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do

Jessica, me and Tyler in the same tunnel as above.
Erik with a statue of Mozart behind him. Some locals...

Jessica showing off her delicious pretzel.

I really enjoyed Salzburg. It was a beautiful town, but we did have a little trouble getting around...in the car... We decided to go out to dinner a little outside of Salzburg because we were having trouble finding a restaurant---either they were closed, too expensive, or full. So we drove out of town a little bit and found a cute little bavarian hotel with a restaurant. My Mom wanted to finish eating before it got dark so it would be easy to find our way back to our hotel. However, that did not happen as it took about an hour and a half just to get our food. So, we ended up spending almost 2 hrs. driving in circles around Salzburg to find our hotel, which was very stressful for the driver... At one point, we accidently turned onto a one way road (the wrong way), which was not a big deal because no one was on the road and we pulled over to turn around. However, a car came down the road flashing its lights at us. It then pulled over to us and an angry, old Austrian man rolled down his window and started yelling at us (in a very strong German accent). He yelled, "This is very dangerous what you are doing here!!! Turn around immediatly or I will call the police!!!" He repeated that over and over and was very scary. We already were going to turn around, but now he was in our way. Jessica just told him we already knew it was a one way road and would have turned around a long time ago if he had not blocked us. She then rolled up the window and the crazy guy finally drove off... It was very scary at the time, but now it is just funny. We eventually made it back to the hotel and decided that the old man must have been a Nazi. Good story....

Next up Luneburg, Germany and then I will write a post about what has been going on here in Buena Vista!