dubrovnik, croatia

this past weekend, bobby and i dropped off the bear to grandma & grandpa's house and took off for croatia.

we were able to book an apartment right on a little harbor. it was so great to be so close to the water. in the evenings, bobby and i would walk down, sit on a little dock, and let our feet dangle in the water. we could also walk into town for dinner and we had dinner at the same restaurant twice! bobby swore they had the best pizza. i loved that it was a rooftop restaurant that overlooked a port. so pretty!

we could also walk to the copacabana beach from our apartment. this is meant to be one of the nicest beaches in the area. the water is so blue it's almost unbelievable. so scenic. i spent most of my time in the lounge chairs reading. bobby preferred being in the water and that was fun to watch, too. they also had an obstacle course in the water that a lot of kids and teens were attempting. bobby was drooling but didn't want to be the only adult, ha.

we took a cab into the old city of dubrovnik one day. this place was stunning. you could walk the walls of the city. i felt like some of the staircases going up the walls would never end but it was worth it. the views were amazing and the overall experience of it was cool. apparently some of the scenes from 'a game of thrones' were shot here. i've never seen the show but a lot of people were talking about it as we were on the walls. when you come off the walls, there's a little port with tons of tour boats that head out to the islands. we didn't do a tour (motion sickness hits this girl strong) but we did walk around the port. there was a spot where you could walk on a bit of a wall that went into the sea. waves constantly come up crashing against this wall. tourists love to stand there and either try to dodge the waves or stand there and take the waves. bobby dodged a few but a giant one got him as he turned away. he spent much of the afternoon soaked after that. we ate generous amounts of gelato, played with a few stray cats, and nonessential souvenirs as any good tourist in dubrovnik should do before heading back to our apartment.

i wish we had more time in this fascinating city. it was a perfect little getaway in the perfect little city with my perfect husband.

all my love,
E

a parisian weekend

bobby and i took a fast train to paris last weekend to meet up with two of his friends from college. it was interesting getting to hear bobby's college stories and learning about the things they did in those years. definitely different from what i experienced at byu! it was all good fun talking and such. the food was amazing, too. we had one of the best breakfasts while were there and, let's be honest, crepes are one of the best foods on earth and no place is better to eat them than france. we only got to see the eiffel tower and notre dame while we were there as it was such a short visit. both sites were gorgeous. spring is in full bloom and i love it!

the only downside to the whole weekend was the weather. typical rainy, european weather. also, the line for the catacombs was horrendously long and, if we had waited it out, we could have missed our return train home. that was a bummer.

but it's paris & paris is always a good idea. i hope we get to go back soon!

all my love,

E

traveling at 41,000 feet for 8 hours with an infant

my mom, beau, and i flew to new york yesterday, to visit family. it's about time he gets to meet that side of the family!

i was so nervous about flying with a baby. i didn't want to be that person on the flight with a screaming infant and having no idea how to calm them. i was picturing worse case scenario the whole way to the airport. check-in went smoothly, saying goodbye to bobby went semi-smoothly (i cried), and boarding the plane went okay.

we were able to score the bulkhead seats, thank goodness. the airline was exceedingly accommodating and hooked in a bassinet for us to use during the flight. the bassinet was interesting, though. it had a flap that came down on top of the bassinet to make sure the baby wouldn't fly out during unexpected turbulence. we placed beau in it for a bit and pulled the flap down. it was pretty funny. poor kid had no idea what was going on.

eventually, we were able to get beau to sleep and lay in there without the flap. i'm not 100% sure that was kosher with the airline, but no baby is going to willingly sleep with a lid on their bed. 

overall, the flight went perfectly. beau was such a good baby and all of my worrying was for nothing. he didn't get fussy at all until maybe the last half hour or so during the landing. people on the plane complimented how well he handled the flight. it made us all feel pretty great. 

let's hope he does just as well on the flight back in a few weeks!

all my love,

E

falaises d'etretat

i finally made it to etretat, france. it's such a cute little town on the west coast of france. while there, we hiked up the cliffs and ventured all around. before leaving, we ate crepes. the only french food i think i like.

yeah, i made it to the top. it's something to be proud of at eight months pregnant. bobby kept pulling me back from the edge of the cliffs. do it for the picture though. am i right?

we spent the night in bayeux, france. it was closer to normandy so we didn't have to wake up too early for our tour the next day. literally ten minutes before the tour, i broke my foot. i was just walking down steps and it cracked. hubby didn't believe it was broken. he told me to stop being dramatic and had me go on the tour anyway.

thanks, babe.

all my love,
E

tying the knot in copenhagen

i'm officially married! everything is happening so fast but i wouldn't have it any other way. i love this guy so much and now i get to call him my husband. how crazy is that? husband. it feels so weird to say. but i love it.

we started our trip on friday. we got to copenhagen early enough to have a good afternoon in the city..and at the hard rock cafe. because it's my favorite. saturday was spent touring the whole city. whoooole city. on foot. bobby made sure to stop every two hours to make sure i got a snack because the hangriness is real these days. copenhagen is beautiful. even in the rain.

my mom flew in the next day and we took her to all of our favorite places we found the day before. we had fish and chips by the water for lunch and hard rock cafe for dinner again.

the next morning was the wedding day. the inside of the city hall was insane. after waiting a bit, we got to go in and listen to a danish man give us a lecture on love, exchange rings, kiss and bam. we're official. how easy was that? denmark is the vegas of europe.

look at our cute little brace faces. true love right thurr.

all my love,
E

paragliding in interlaken

over labor day weekend, i put my life in the hands of an oversized kite and a handsome french man. it was quite possibly the most exhilarating moment ever.

ingrid was first to take off, then it was my turn, and then i'm not sure what the order was after that. i do know that bryan was the first to land and i was the last. bryan accidentally threw his head back and knocked his pilot the face. though, i'm not surprised. if any of us were to injure our pilot, it would be bryan. he even dubbed himself "bad luck bryan." to top it off, he crash landed. it's all on camera. thankfully.

my paragliding experience was much better. we barely had to run down the mountain at all before the wind took us up. once in the air, the view was beautiful. interlaken is a gorgeous city. you could see both lakes and the jungfrau. the pilot, patrick, even let me steer for a while. it's such a crazy feeling flying through the air like that. i lucked out with an amazing pilot. he had such a great sense of humor. after hearing that i chickened out on a rodelbahn earlier in the day, he flew past it and said, "this is where you were scared earlier...now you're flying high above it!"

we flew around for about 20 minutes but it felt like a lot less. y'all should definitely give it a shot. just hope there's no "turbulence" because that could easily make you wet your pants. no joke.

all my love,
E

amsterdam

a few weeks ago, we were able to take half a day and explore amsterdam. if you ever go, take a weekend to explore it. one day wasn't enough.

my main goal in amsterdam was to visit the anne frank house. i had heard horror stories where the line to get in was nearly three hours long. my group ended up waiting for 45 minutes, which compared to that three hours, was a good deal. also, they have free wifi in the area that you wait in. the tour was done well. you walk from room to room while watching videos and reading passages on the walls. definitely a great experience especially if you've read anne frank's diary.

we also did a canal tour. for the most part, it was pretty great. i did fall asleep for about fifteen minutes though. i was going on two hours of sleep and the ride was really relaxing. around three o'clock, the canals get jammed with boats. it's kind of funny, actually. you have tourists in smaller boats trying to steer clear of the larger tour boats and locals. it's comical. if you go and have fifteen minutes to spare, just sit at the edge of a canal and watch.

and finally, we took a walk through the red light district because how could we not. not gonna lie, probably the best part of the trip. just something you need to experience for yourself.

all my love,
E

bratislava, slovakia

i'll be honest. i didn't really know slovakia existed until recently. like when-we-booked-this-trip recently. 

slovakia is a really small country but it's beautiful. the roads leading into bratislava from the autobahn were surrounded by fields and fields of sunflowers and wind turbines. there were no end to the fields on either side of the road. it was perfect, especially with the sun rising up over everything.

bratislava is a cute little city. emphasis on little. we walked the whole city in an hour and a half with a tour guide. actually, to be honest, we ditched the tour after an hour because we had seen everything and the talking was beginning to be a bit much. information overload. i ventured away from the group to snap pictures and my mom followed soon after. we decided to get something cold to drink and a bite to eat. the restaurant we went to had the BEST lemonade i have ever tasted in my life. i call it slovakian lemonade (good name, i know) and i've been trying to recreate it ever since. i'm failing. if you know of a recipe for this goodness, please be a doll and help a sister out. 

there it is ^. the slovakian lemonade. are you drooling? i am. i have a goal to figure this one out by the end of the summer. if i'm successful, i'll share : )

all my love, 

E

budapest, hungary

boo-da-pessh-t

that's how they say budapest in hungarian. interesting, yeah?  yeah.

after a 14 hour bus ride from germany to hungary, we could finally see our first glimpse of budapest. we rode over the chain bridge to our hotel and i couldn't get over how pretty it all was. budapest reminds me a lot of prague. a larger, busier, business-y version of prague.

budapest was preparing for an airshow/ air race while we were in town. they had shut down the chain bridge for a period of time as the planes were racing down the river. above, you can see the river all set up for the event. it was so cool watching the planes race over the bridge and up into loops and such. 

below is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. you can see the budapest eye (the giant ferris wheel) on the right. i heard it has amazing views from the top and it's worth a trip around at night. i wasn't able to go because i was traveling with someone who is deathly afraid of ferris wheels. hey, mom. i talked her onto the london eye when we went to london once. that was fun. if you've ever wondered if the panic buttons inside the capsules on that ferris wheel are ever used, you should travel with my mother. you're in for an experience.

budapest became one of our favorite cities instantly. there's so much to see and do. plus they have a hard rock cafe. i'm glad i was able to take a trip here. and it may be hard to believe but it was worth the 14 hours on the bus for sure.

all my love,
E

calendar marked: normandy

rough times have been had and i'm drained. i came home tonight and just laid on my dad's side of the bed while my mother picked my brain to figure out what was going on. life. just life.

i asked her if we could get away for a bit. i asked for norway and she said, "how about colorado?" then, having realized my accumulated leave is practically non-existent, we started thinking about places a little closer to home. a weekend trip. we decided on normandy. 

turns out, normandy is a pretty big region. we plan on hitting etretat in upper normandy first and booking a hotel there for a night. the photos of the views look amazing. we'll then hit the southern part of normandy and see mont saint-michel, the american cemetary, omaha beach, and all places in between. 

i love my mother and her ideas. it's time to escape for a minute.

all my love,

E

oostende, belgium

our beach weekend was amazing. it was a much needed break from the real world. i loved hanging out with our little group and just taking in all of the smells and sounds of the little beach town. the boardwalk was huge and never ending. i had the best italian food of my life and my first taste of real greek food. weird since this is belgium and along the coast, yeah? i had a mojito for the first time in my life and, i have to say, never again. gross. 

i have a slight obsession with reflections and the trapped water from high-tide made an excellent mirror for such pictures. and check out those sail boats. is this place not beautiful?

we chased down some guys trapping crabs. it was crazy how many people wanted to be apart of this. even the kids were down in the water helping bring out the traps. apparently, it's a pretty big deal here.

dear oostende,
thank you for being exactly what i needed. you were perfect.


all my love,
E

calendar marked: an imperial weekend

the outdoor recreation program is hosting a trip to budapest, vienna, and bratislava in july. we've had our eye on the trip for a few months but we didn't know which time frame would be most convenient to go with work and all those other annoying grown-up priorities. we chose the july trip and paid for it today. yay for paydays! i haven't traveled much in eastern europe so this should be exciting. fingers crossed.

like i've said before, i never had any desire to visit hungary until recently. when i saw this trip back in february that went to hungary, austria (which i love), and slovakia; i begged my mother to go with me. she's always wanted to go to slovakia, i want to go to hungary, and we both love austria. it couldn't be any more perfect. and now the trip is booked and i'm stoked.

if you're in the kaiserslautern area, you should definitely book it and come with.

all my love,
E

calendar marked: ostend

i was driving to cora, a giant grocery store in france that you must visit, with my mom and another lady we work with. she was telling us how a group of people we know from work were going to ostend in may and how we should join them. i was down. i never say no to a trip. or a carride. or a beach.

so. we've officially booked our trip to ostend, belgium. memorial day weekend shall be filled with sailboats, cathedrals, one fluffy dog, lighthouses, seafood, and, of course, being a beach bum with the group.

also, brugge, belgium is only thirty minutes from this city so we're planning a little trip there on the drive back home. how convenient is that? 

all my love,

E

summer 2015 travel list

because one day i will have leave, i will have money, and i will have time. and that one day better come sometime this summer because this girl has travel GOALS!

- budapest, hungary

to be honest, i never really paid budapest any attention until i was talking to one of our coaches at work about his failed travel plans. he was going on about how his girlfriend had gone psycho and he broke up with her, she took it pretty hard, yadda yadda yadda...and the trip they had planned to budapest was now going to waste. but while he was doing that, i was thinking, "why the heck budapest? no wonder that relationship went down the tubes. take me to paris." i looked up budapest when i got home anyway. uhm, it's kind of gorgeous. i want to go. 

- paris, france

yeah, i've been here a few times. but never in the summertime. and i want to go. and so what if i've been before. paris is never a bad idea, right? right. audrey hepburn said it herself. paris is always a good idea. wise woman that audrey. let's follow her advice. also, let's go to disney while we're there.

- edinburgh, scotland

the sweet, old lady in the family history center told me my mother's side of the family came from scotland and england. i feel that is justification enough to take a trip to edinburgh. it looks lovely in photos. i bet it's even more beautiful in person, yeah?

- dresden, germany

i think it's crazy that i've lived in germany for thirteen years and haven't been to dresden. everyone says it's one of the best cities in germany. there's also a really pretty castle right outside of the city. i'm making it a goal to visit both places.

- prague, czech republic

uhm, i have an addiction to prague. i can't shake it. it's my all time favorite place in europe. i want to go back asap. i want to eat bagels every morning and walk across the st. charles bridge listening to all of the music. i want to eat chimney cakes and fresh made chips. i want to ride a horse and carriage around town and watch little kids chase giant bubbles in the old town square. i want to take pictures of the bridges from the castle and check out all of the royal guards as they stand oh so serious. and i also want to find a non-sketchy hotel this time so i don't get scared at four in the morning because of the crazies outside.

- cinque terre, italy

just look at that picture. who wouldn't want to visit this place? i'm thoroughly jealous of my friends that have been and post such amazing pictures. it's hard to believe places like this exist. it looks like a dream. and i bet there's some amazing pizza and gelato up in those towns.

- bruges, belgium

i'm told brugge is like the venice of belgium. and i liked venice. so why wouldn't i like the venice of belgium? it's also only thirty minutes from a beach we're visiting in may so i think the opportunity to visit will surely be there. everyone that goes here talks about how beautiful it is. it's my turn to find out.

- grindelwald, switzerland

yes, this place is picture perfect but what i really want to do here is go ziplining. like really bad. some of our camp adventure counselors are there this weekend doing just that and i can't wait until work next week so i can hear all about it. imagine the view as you're coming down off the mountain. ohmuhguh, i bet it's great. 

- amsterdam, the netherlands

amanda and i got in a deep (but maybe not so deep) conversation about the difference between the netherlands and holland. and we've decided that it's the same thing. we say holland when referring to the tulip fields and we say the netherlands when we talk about any other city. just a fun fact. but, yes, i want to visit amsterdam because i think it's kind of sad that i haven't yet. it's so close. and i've always wanted to visit the anne frank house. it has to happen before the end of the summer.

- cornwall, england

momma bear and i are already planning our summer trip here. she and my dad grew up in cornwall, new york so of course we have to visit cornwall, england. the england version looks a lot more picturesque than the new york version. but the new york version doesn't really stand a fair chance with it being neighbors with newburgh and all, does it? anyway, i'm super stoked for this trip. there are beaches everywhere. you can take surfing lessons if you want. which i don't want to. and there's a place where you can rent a donkey and take it for a walk. i actually want to do that because how often are you given the opportunity to take a donkey for a walk? not often. i shall name him jack.

now, if you'll excuse me, i have to go vacuum out my car so theo doesn't get dog hair (not even from my dog) on his behind when i pick him up from the airport tomorrow. because he actually had time to travel this weekend. whatever.

all my love,
E