The blessings of giving

Top 3 favorites for this Christmas; my 3 sisters and I jumping on my dads bed to wake him up Christmas morning would be at the top, next would be relaxing with family, the most family that has gotten together in years, and the next thing to top my list would be opening gifts for the children of Uganda!
This year with our upcoming trip (just over a month and half away!) we asked family that in lew of gifts we would like either gift certificates or cash for our trip or items for us to take to the children, oh boy did we get what we asked for!
I feel so blessed to have such a great family! My dad and step mom Debbie took it another step and did research on what the children in Africa would want and need and did they fit the bill! Oh and to top that they wrapped them all in maps from the pages of National Geographic! They gave chalk boards and chalk, play-doh, pencils, jump rope, frisbees, craft sticks, erasers and more! I can't wait to take all that with us to share and play with the kids!
We also were extremly blessed to recieve cash and gift cards for our trip... so excited in fact that we braved the mall the day after Christmas to do a little travel shopping! We got our insect repellant and clothes wash, than we ordered or mosquito nets!


The awesome wrap job!

Dennis loves opening presents

Feeling inspired and blessed

Again too much time has gone by... I need to blog more often!
The holiday times have just taken up all my time and I'm exhausted by the time I get home, I promise to spend more time at home and on my computer catching up with various things!
Okay so back to our trip!!!!!
Two fundraisers down.. and oh what great ones!
First we had the Santa Photos on last Friday December 10th, it was mainly during the day, so I wasn't able to get there until after 5pm, but luckily Dennis and Jason were there to help out along with Yvonne. Our fabulous photographer Amaryllis (here is her website: http://amaryllisimages.com/)was awesome!! She spent all day taking great photos and we had a real looking Santa, it was so much fun to see her work and her set up, wish I could have been there longer. Here is a friends son with our Santa that Amaryllis took;

We (I use we very loosely, we know that Amaryllis did most of the work for this event!) raised $743!!!!! Wahoo go team!

Last night was our next fundraiser... Beer for Books! What a blast, Jen was leading the team and set up some great bands, including Brandon from our group. I think we had a great turn out, even people that didn't know about our event bought raffle tickets for our numerous gifts that got donated to us! I can't believe we had so many great things! I feel super blessed too, I had some great friends and family come out and support me and our team. After getting lost for a while trying to find the place, we arrived and Lynsey and Justin were already there! So great to see their smiling faces! Thanks guys! My sister Shannon came with us, so nice to have her around now..... blessing in disguise there :) My friend Aja came, even though she couldn't find anyone to carpool with, she still came out, had a drink and supported us, so great! Our friend Matt came too, sad that Karen had to work, but she was there in spirit, I could feel it! Love you guys! Of course I got to spend time with three more of my favorite people, Dennis, Jason, and Shannon.... we are going to be a great travel team, and I know this will bring us all so much closer, love my friends!
My favorite thing about this event is that it was a great opportunity for our group to get together and hang out and get to know each other a little more. I really enjoyed that too. I can see so many great friendships forming from our group already. I felt a few connections on the first day and they just keep growing!
Beer for Books raised $863!!!! Awesome!

Jen was such a great announcer! Good thing we have someone in the group that liked to talk on the mic! I have better pictures coming soon!
Here is also a great pic of our group from our last meeting. Sure wish I would have had a warning so I didn't wear that bright neon pink shirt! I love it, but it sure doesn't go well with everyone else in the picture :)

Can't type anymore today... got my second set of Hep A and Hep B shots... and my arm hurt instantly, I think it was done being poked for the year! But we did get a prescription for sleeping pills, cause I'm sure we will need them for the long long long flight!

The fundraising has begun!!

I can't believe I am just now writing about our first personal fundraiser!
We had our shopping event on Sunday, knowing myself under-stress I'm sure I pissed off a few people making sure everything was going smoothingly, but in the end, it was worth it. The event went off with out a major hitch! The only bad thing is we didn't get as many people as we were hoping for :( but we did get lots of great "shoppers" including friends and family members! All the vendors donated their profits and than we split it between the four of us; Jason, Shannon, Dennis and I.
It did give us a great start on the fundraising platform. Lots more needs to be done. Hoping we will get some more during the holiday times too.
I did put up lots of left over baskets and household items I had laying around the house on craigslist to try and make more money too. I have already sold 3 candle holders for $30, good start!!!


The only pic I got of the baskets, I wish I would have taken more at the event, some great booths!!!!

Next up.. not sure, we want to do a bake sale, another open house, and a poker night in January.
The big thing is we owe $1300 each on December 15th.. better get on that :)

Our group has some really exciting fundraisers coming up, we are still raising the money for the library, we got our website up, and already have $2000 donation!
www.ugandamission2011.com

For the group we have a santa photo shoot on December 10th and a concert at a bar in Woodinville on the 15th, I will get more info!

Can't wait to help out on all of those too!

Well that was fun....

I can't believe I haven't been on here in so long! So much has happened! We finally got those dreaded Yellow Fever shots, we thought cause they were 'live' they would be the worst, oh we were mistaken! The little ole' Typhoid shot sure snuck up on us and kick out butts!
We went to Virginia Mason, and after much confusion were led back in the room and our nurse was really nice and friendly as was our doctor. We both got Typhoid in the muscle of our left arm, than the yellow fever in the back of our arm, odd place for it, but it didn't hurt too much despite the large veil containing the live yellow fever! hahaha after that we went to Costco to check off another thing off our list, the passport photos for our Uganda Visa. Wahoo done! I left Dennis to go shopping and right when I started getting this ache in my arm, my phone rang, and it was Dennis asking if my arm hurt as much as his did. Oh ya it just started to hit me, that was the worst shot by far. My car door accidentally slammed on my 'damaged' arm and brought me to my knees.. ya it hurt that much! It did last only 24 hours though. But I did get a rash at the injection site of the yellow fever and my lymph node in my armpit is extremely sore and slightly bruised, I think I will wait another week before getting it looked at, too many doc appointments this month!

The first stack of shots we got!

Okay on to our first fundraiser!!!!
As a team we have committed to raising $7000 to help build a library at the orphanage. Let me explain something important here, we can't actually build the library, the reason is we would be taking away jobs from the people of the village that really need the jobs and money to survive, so we supply the village with the money to pay the people, instruct them to build if they need (normally only needed for wells and such) but when we get there we can help do the finishing touches, like install the windows, build the bookcases, paint and fill the interior. I'm really excited to leave something behind that we had a hand in raising and building.
So we had this great opportunity to do gift wrapping at Barnes and Noble by the Alderwood Mall, we even got all day on black Friday! They supply all the paper, tape and tables, we just show up and wrap. Little problem, they didn't really tell people we were stuck in the corner, so we weren't getting the attention needed to send people our way to wrap their gifts. After 12 long hours split by 3 different shifts we barely raised enough money to fund 1% of our goal! We left alittle disappointed and discouraged, but we did work as a team to pull it off and hopefully that will pull us together!
Now we are working on the finishing touches of the website to get the gift giving portion up!




Tomorrow is the first fundraiser for the 4 of us for our travel, can't wait!!!!!

Thats going to hurt tomorrow....

Today was a big day! Dennis and I got our first round of shots!
We went back to the doctor today to get the test results to see what immunizations we had as children and what ones we need now. Well surprise, surprise, we only had 2 before, so we had to have lots today!
We were run down the list of what we needed; the only thing that differed between Dennis and I was that he needed tetanus (I had recently already had it), so this is what we got today: Meningococcal, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B (which luckily for us, they combine those two in one shot!), and the H1N1 flu vaccine.
The doc leaves and the nurse comes back with a hand full of needles... oh such a great sight. Dennis jumped in line first, I guess he just couldn't wait any longer :) Since he had to have 4 shots, he got two in one arm and two in the other. He said the most painful was the flu and Hep A and B combo shot. But I know the Tetanus will the most painful tomorrow! He is already whining on the couch as it is :)
I was next, luckily she could do all 3 of my shots in one arm, I took it like a champ, but the Hep A and B was the roughest. Instantly after the last shot, I got my typical heat rush and had to lay down while the nurse brought me a juice, haha what a baby I am, but I didn't need the sucker!
We were also prescribed anti-malaria pills called Malarone, we will start taking them a few days before we leave, and take them every day, through our travel and atleast 7 days after we return.
Another great prescription I'm looking forward to is the anti-diarrhea pills she prescribed too! Oh yeah! :) haha
So.. what is next? The Hep A and B actually comes as a set of 3, but we can't get all 3 before we leave, the second is in one month, and the 3rd can't be done for 6 months. Dennis asked the doc if there is a problem with that.. and this is why I love her.. she said, does it matter? You don't really have a choice, it is what it is!
But the big two come this Thursday.. we get Typhoid and Yellow Fever than! I wonder what arm they will do them in, since I'm sure we will both have bruised arms than! I will let you know how that goes!





I was very proud of my 'battle wounds'

Vampires Office

Making some preparations for our Uganda trip, we decided to make an appointment with our doctor to see what shots we need to get. So today was the day. I printed up my handy long list of travel vaccinations from cdc.gov When we arrived we were promptly told they they realized they couldn't administrate the Yellow Fever and Typhoid vaccine that is required, so we will have to go the health department to get those ones.
Before I made my appointment, I called my medical insurance and was surprised that travel vaccinations and oversea health insurance is covered in my policy! Wahoo for good insurance!
I didn't realize I needed a list of the vaccinations I have had since the day I was born, wasn't prepared for that, neither was Dennis so the only way for them to have proof of what we had, so they didn't double us up which isn't good, we had to get our blood drawn, than test for all the shots. Easiest enough for Dennis, but I don't like it! So I tried calling my mom, my sister, anyone that might know what I had, but my doc said that doesn't cut it, have to get the blood tested.
After I finally gave up my search we headed to the lab or as I like to call it the vampires office. Luckily for me the technician was really great and she used a smaller needle, which most don't they just like to stick my little veins with those big hunkers. She also let me lay down, which is a good choice for someone that is known to pass out at the length that it takes to draw my slow blood.
I survived, I didn't even hyperventilate. So now we have to wait 2 weeks for the test results and come back for the series of shots we need!
One thing starting... but really need to do some fundraising! I think I will need some help with those!

Ways to help

Here is a list of ways to help us on our mission to Uganda and help the children we will see in the orphanage.

1. Things the children need (we will be bringing it all with us and have clearing with customs);

*Art and School supplies; rulers, pencils, markers, flash cards, colored pencils, child scissors, paper..

*Sports equipment; all sports balls, nets, toys, cards, uno, anything they can play with

*Hygiene; toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, sunglasses.....

*Letters from kids to the children

2. Donations for our group (there will be 20 of us traveling);

*Money donations towards our airfare, travel, and cost towards the orphanage

*Things we need: Handsanitzers, mosquito nets, insect repellent, twin bed sheets, power bars, snack foods, electrolyte tablets for our water

*Prayers

3. Fundraisers

*Attend one of our fundraisers, we will have a big one November 28th, a shopping and poker event

*Donate items for us to sell for our fundraisers

*Support or help us with our fundraisers

Thank you so much!

Stepping out on Faith

...... the journey has begun!

Found out last night that there is a spot for me and Dennis!!! Yes I said it, Dennis decided late last night that he was in. I am shocked and so excited. I can't imagine embarking in such a life changing experience and not having my husband by my side to share in it with me.

Lots of planning and fundraising to do in the next few months. Have to have all funds in by January. But I know that will be an adventure and moments of God's love too!

Some things scare me.. the unknown.. the possibility of danger and some things overwhelm me with excitement... seeing a new country that is so different from my own... being apart of something greater than I am.... and sharing the love of God with his children.

The next question will be our team.. who will go with us. This is what I know so far. Our great leaders (only met them twice, but they are such great people, I can feel the love and acceptance when I walk in their house) Yvonne and Trevor Davis are putting this mission trip together. Along with their 2 daughters, there will be 6 more women and 9 more men. The orphanage can accommodate 20, dorm style with up to 10 women and 10 men in each separated dorm. So the next problem.. there were 9 women and only 4 men (including Dennis and I) that are 100% in.

One of my great friends Shannon Perkins is joining us in the adventure too. I'm so touched by this, because she is the one that brought me to Eastlake has been there for me in the beginning stages of my finding God and been a great friend of mine! The two of us have talked about doing a mission for awhile and when I called her and said I'm signing up for the mission, she instantly said sign me up to. She was in with out even thinking it over, she knows this is her calling too.
I know we will share all theses amazing experiences together and each one of us with walk away with a different outlook on life. I can't wait!!!!!

"What will we be eating?"

Here is Africa as a whole, Uganda is where the arrow is

Approx. where the arrow is, is where the orphanage is.

"What will we be eating?" ..... guess who asked that question? :) Yes Dennis did come with me to the meeting, he wanted to see what it is all about and decide for himself if he wants to go on the mission with me or be part of the pray team that stays behind. Surprisingly he asked a few questions and was very in to the discussion.

So let me share a few bullets from last night:

*Travel dates we are planning for is Feb 18th - 27th (may change if we can get cheaper flights another week)

*$2200 for the entire trip, but only 50% can be fund raised, I didn't get that at first but I do know, that is an Eastlake thing, they want you to use other peoples money to travel around the world, and this makes you financially intrigued by the trip too.

*lots of immunizations: Routine, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, Polio, Yellow Fever, Meningococcal, and Rabies.

*lots of diseases, in Africa in general but the orphanage we are going to is mostly children with Aids and/or their parents have died of Aids, majority of the kids have scabies, syphilis and other diseases.

*Their are over 400 kids that attend the school, grades 1-7, 180 live in the orphanage.

Okay with some of the facts out of the way, how do I feel? I feel more driven to go after the meeting, the leaders; Trevor and Yvonne; have done missions before, never been to Africa, but do know Fred (he runs the orphanage) and they do have a few friends that have adopted children from this orphanage.

I feel confident that they will keep us safe and this experience will forever change me!

Having said that, I'm committed to going, the only thing that worries me we can only take up to 20 people, so first we have the hosts and their two children, that leaves 16 spots left, and 37 people attended the meeting last night, that is over 20 people that won't be able to be a part of the group that goes, I'm praying I can be part of the group that travels.. that I make the cut!

We will get a mini head count as to where people are wanting to serve on this mission and than decide who will go next week!

Oh I didn't give the answer to Dennis' questions! So Trevor said that we will bring lots of power bars, for once we are traveling to the orphanage and leave the orphanage, there will be large gaps with no food, or food we don't want to eat! Before we go to the orphanage we will go grocery shopping and have a chef to prepare all of our food for us, we will bring all our own bottled water too. So there will be some trying new things and some bringing our own food!

Here is the website for the orphanage: http://hccpuganda.org/

The Travel Test

As everyone knows; I talk a lot, not a surprise to anyone right? Well it is time to put a little bit of action to my talking :)

Ever since I have become a Christian, I have seen others in our church go on mission trips and "been forever changed". I have been moved to tears to see the videos, the pictures and hear the stories. I know and can feel it deep down that that is where God is calling me, and a way to change my heart for life. Well now is the time to make that a reality.

At Eastlake Community Church we do these awesome small Growth Groups, they come out 3 times a year, and I look forward it every time! I even wait for it to go live online at midnight just so I can see right away what they have to offer! Every time I look, I browse and I dream about the mission trips they have to offer, but I haven't had the guts or the push to do it yet.
The list came out, I looked, I browsed, I prayed and I talked to my mom! (Dennis too don't worry!)

Two major things brought one to life for me. First we had this pastor Fred from Africa come and speak at our church, I instantly was moved when I heard him and the passion our Pastor Ryan had to help his orphanage. So when I saw there was a mission trip going to Uganda, going to an orphanage, going to his orphanage, I knew that was a sign! The second thing was that when I told my mom what I was thinking about doing, she didn't call me crazy or bring me to "reality" or tell me to think about it, she told me I have been talking about it long enough and no time will be "perfect" but now is better than later, so why not do it? Ya mom why not!!!

So here I am, I just got back from my first meeting with the Uganda Mission trip leaders, got some questions answered and some more to think about. I am moved and excited, a little nervous, but as a whole overwhelmed and very pumped! But for now I have to go to bed, sort some things out in my head and I will be back with more details!!!

Photo Albums

I'm sure everyone figured out by now we are home!!! The travel home was long and tiring (we traveled for over 23 hours!) But I'm glad to be home and share my stories, and surprisingly it has been nice to return to work too :)
I uploaded photos to Facebook, but anyone can view my albums, there are three of them; check them out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209130&id=1064636993&l=67a00dadb6
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209135&id=1064636993&l=579200e5de
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209174&id=1064636993&l=b6c50a9476

Can't wait to see everyone!!

The pain

Last night we did a pub crawl, how fun, never done that before!!! We went met up with the group from all over the world at the first bar and than followed them to three more bars and a nightclub. Free drinks were involved (not good, but free haha). It was a lot of fun to meet new people for all different places and experience new things, we were one of the oldest ones there, but luckily we didn´t look like it, we fit in just fine. Its funny though cause it is a huge group of people in little bars, people can hardly move or breathe so you want to get some fresh air so we head outside and I guess are too loud and the bouncer yells at us and tells us to "shut the fuck up and get the fuck back in side the bar". I have never been thrown back in to a bar before, haha, that happened at two of the four bars for us. You would think we would have learned our lesson.
The night club was packed, three floors but the funny thing is all the music here is in english, so we knew all the songs. The clubs don´t close at 2am like at home, so we didn´t realize it was 3am and we headed back to our rooms.
Today we wanted to take advantage of our last day in the sun. We went to the beach, got a couple chairs and began to cook. We had an umberella and I thought we were better I didn´t realize that after 4 hours I would have accumilated that much sun. Oh I did!!!
I was much worse than a lobster, it hurts to walk, I don´t think I have ever been burnt this bad, I lathered myself in aloe, but my legs hurt so bad. I´m sure this will make the flight even more uncomfortable, if only the over the counter sleeping pills worked on me.
The first thing I thought this morning when I woke up was, we are going home tomorrow, which is a positive, negative, and sad thing. I can´t wait to go home, see everyone and hug my little Burton, but I am not looking forward to flying all day tomorrow and a 4 hour lay over in Philly. Plus nobody likes to go back to work right? haha I will be there Monday morning, what was I thinking! :)

Rain? Boooo

So it rained today, just in the morning but overcast most of the day, but warmed up a few hours ago. Good break for us though, poor Dennis looks like a lobster, and couldn´t handle anymore sun, we have almost used an entire costco size bottle of Aloe on him! The heat went away, but he is still really red, not very comfortable to carry a heavy backpack!
Since it rained we just shopped most of the day today, it was really nice, this is a great shopping town, had a ton of fun seeing everything and all the fun stuff.
We are a really great street La Rambla, they have a strip down the middle for people only, have little shops, and interesting things everywhere. There are outside stands with pets, all kinds of pets from fish, birds, rabbits, hamsters and even chipmunks! Flower stands and a lot of statue people that move and talk to you when you give them money, you have to see the pics!
There is a great little market, so much candy fruit, every part of an animal you could want, even pigs heads. So many different fish I never even knew excisted. Definitely the coolest market, towers over Pike Place!
We went to see the gothic cathedral, but sadly it is under reconstruction so there is a ton of scaffolding covering the exterior, doesn´t make for great pictures.
Tomorrow will be 76 no rain, so we will hit the beach and cover Dennis up!
So glad to be heading home in just two days!!!

Arrival in Rome

After three trains and a bumpy flight we arrived in Barcelona. Warm here again, but not sure how hot yet. Checked in to our room, really cute, feels very athentic.
Bonus is they have free internet!!! Such a nice change, those internet cafes were eating up the Euros :) But they don´t have a way for me to load my pictures, which I really wanted to. Oh well everyone will have to wait til we get home. Dennis and I went out for some lunch and found a little pita deli, so good, they have these huge sticks of meat that are roasting and he just shaves it off in to your pita pocket, and than you stuff it. So good!!!!
Probably off to see the town with Matt and Karen now.

Oh the sun.....

Last night we had wonderful spaghetti with a great view of the water. After dinner we went for a walk to the part of town we hadn't explored yet, probably the older part of town, and found a trail that led to guess what.... more stairs!!! haha it went pretty high up on top of the hill and it was the towns sanctuary (cemetery) it was pretty cool but a little creepy. We took some great pictures of the town from that height. Than had some drinks on the break water and watch the town tear to lights, it was really pretty.
This morning we hit the trail at 730am, but good thing we did most of the walk before the sun was in full force.
The 'walk' from Vernazza to Corniglia was pretty steep we just kept walking up and up and up, but we did it in 1 1\2 hours, we were alittle tired til you got to the top than all down hill from there. The views again gorgeous. The town was small a much different feel than Vernazza, it is the only one that doesn't have water access. We stopped for soda and Dennis got an ice cream cone. Than off to Manarola, much better hike, it was only 40 minutes and pretty flat, it was relaxing. Pretty town again but we didn't stop for two long, off to Riomaggiore, now this was the shortest easiest walk, but probably the coolest, they have the La Via dell'Amore, which was a very cool little lovers walk, couples have 'sealed' there loves with lots and lots and lots of padlocks on the fences and walls, and their names on the walls. Of course Dennis and I did it too!!!
So once we got to the town we walked around and took the boat to the last town (because it was on the other side of us) Monterosso, which was a great big resort town with lots of great beachs, we had lunch and than took the train back to our town. Than it was time to relax, we swam in the beautifully clear blue green ocean. We relaxed on the beach, but fell asleep, we are a little red (okay really red!).
Ready for Barcelona tomorrow, but we will miss this town, I really want to go back!

The amazing city of Vernazza

First off last night we had dinner at the most amazing Spaghetti house.. the food was the best ever!!!! Our tour guide from The Palatine Hill recommended it, so glad she did!
Dennis and I took the train this morning to La Spezia than quickly jumped on another short train to Vernazza (one of the Cinque Terre). You don't see much on your ride in, lots of tunnels than you will get a teaser of the amazingly blue ocean. We arrived on a tiny little platform and turned around to see our great little town for the next two days, the town is so small you could see our hotel from the train station (but just the top of it, so you can't hear the train from there).
After finding our hotel down the little main street we got lead up the first of over 10 flights of stairs to our room!!!!! Wholly molly, but it is so worth the walk (over 100 stairs!) the view is beautiful, you can see the clock tower and the hill side. It is so hard to explain how wonderful it is here, I can't wait to post pictures, but we didn't bring the cord (and don't want to walk back up to our room!).
After my first 1\2 hour here I knew I wanted to be back, who wants to go? :)
So we walked the main street, lots of fun little shops and handmade stuff. Than off the little beach and breakwater, had some pizza (there is so much pizza here, it is so good!!). We than climbed to the top of the castle, which was a worth the view too, but we were sort of exhausted after the 100 steep steps to the top and than go back down to climb our 100 steps to our room!!! Lots of stairs here!
We laid out on our private roof top terrace\garden and than went to the break water and laid out there.
Looking forward to dinner tonight, maybe some drinks at the Blue Marlin and than off to bed to get up early for the 6 hour hike through the 5 towns!!! I have heard it is going to be a killer! but the views should be amazing again!
There are a ton of dogs here, already seen 4 yorkies and lots of cats just laying around in the streets, they love to be petted too!
Miss everyone, I love the seeing all the different towns, but the packing and unpacking is terrible, plus every time your bag gets heavier and heavier :)
I love the train rides, but the flying isn't so much fun.
I'm sure we will be back on tomorrow after our nap (I think we will need one!)

About to leave Rome

Wanted to put up a quick blog before we left Rome, we are leaving really early in the morning to go to Cinque Terre, oh it will be so relaxing, besides the 6 hour hike to see all the 5 towns!
We went shopping all day today, the boys were so good all day, (but all the stores has AC which is much needed here!)
Had to take a nap after the long warm day today and now off to dinner.
See you all in CT!!!

Roma

What a day we had yesterday!
The night before we got online and made a reservation for the Vatican, which was the best idea ever!! We walked past the over 2 hour wait line and right in the front door, have no idea why they didn't think of that.
We went to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel (amazing, we sneaked a coupled photos and Karen got a video!) it was only noon, so we decided to keep going!
We went back to the Colosseum and did a tour, great idea too we learned so much and saw things we would have never seen, than we went the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, so many amazing ruins, we uploaded photos, but for some reason they kept doubling and not all of them came across... sorry!! We have so many photos to show everyone!
After our big day yesterday we took a nap and than went out to the loud bar we kept hearing from our window.
Today is relax day, we are at the laundry mat doing well needed laundry and on internet. Than off to check in to next hotel which is by the Pantheon.
Than we will be off to Cinque Terre to do some hiking and soak up the sun.
It is over 85 here and we are all a little red, especially me :)
Poor Dennis has allergies from either all the great smelling Jasmine around or all the dusty ruins.

Photos from Rome

Photos from Paris

Rome........

Ah our first day in Rome, how wonderful!!!! Such a nice change for Paris.
So we took a hop on hop off open air bus tour of Rome, got to see all the beauitful sights in 2 hours! So much more than we ever saw of Paris! Walked around the Collosium, cant wait to tour the inside, we wanted to wait for Matt and Karen. Checked in to our hostel which is a really nice room, and a great roof top garden, great way to relax, we went to the market and made our own lunch up there.
Karen and Matt arrived and we went to an amazing little Pizzeria, our waitress was amazing and so much fun, the best food we have had the whole trip. Dessert was the best!! and we got free shots :)
Off to the Vatican tomorrow! oh cant wait, so many amazing things to see!

Tour de Paris

Were do we begin? We havent (I cant find the apostrophe on this computer!) had Internet for a few days, none in Paris, well Im sure there was some, but no one spoke English or was nice enough to tell us where to go.
Let me sum up Paris in our experience: Much awe plus really really long lines and steep prices equals disappointment.
So we left Amsterdam by train (I think we have mastered, or at least like the train system) and arrived in Paris later than we had thought, so most of the sights were already closed, our hotel guy laughed at us when we said we wanted to see the Louve.
But a nice surprise was a view of the Eiffel tower out our room! Cant get better than that.
Since we didnt have much time we went decided to walk to Notre Dam, didnt know it was further than it looked, haha it took about an hour to get there and no line in to the cathedral, well we later found out cause they were closing, but what a beautiful church and history was awesome. The tower was closed so we got a taxi back to room and got ready for dinner, ate at a little bistro and went to the Eiffel tower for a twilight cruise, oh that was an experience. So after standing in line outside for over an hour, we got in to find out you have to stand in another line to go to second floor, than we go there to pushed around like cattle to the next line to go to top, they jamb so many people in such a small space you cant breathe or move, if you arent careful you can loose someone by not squishing in elevator. Once at the top we could barely move to see over the edge to than get forced back in line to go down. Each line was over 45 minutes!!! We couldnt take the line to go down anymore, really really felt like a big cattle drive. We ended up taking the stairs that no one told us about we just found and walked all the way down to the bottom! But it was pretty impressive to sit under it, but after finally get to the top it was so frustrating and exhausting it took all the excitement out of it. Everything seemed to be like that for us in Paris.
So before we went to bed we set our wake up call... or so we thought, we had paid for the extra breakfast at the hotel to wake up at 11:15am! ahh totally missed breakfast, the lines for the Louve and much of everything. After rushing out the door before they charged us again we got some delicious baguettes and prosciutto and had lunch on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower, than took a taxi to Notre Dam, where we guess what? Stood in line :) But wasnt too bad, after 45minutes we could go up the tower. But like everything else they put way too many people in a small small space and make you claustrophobic. You had to wait in a line to get up to the top tower and than to go back down too, they lock you up there so you cant move. But we did see the amazing bell tower and all the rafters Quasimodo was in, than petted the gargoyles. That was worth it.
We only had enough time to walk to the Louve, the Jardin Gardens and the Arc de Triomphe. Than tried to take a taxi to our Airport, but found out that it would be 150€! I guess I picked the airport that says Paris but is a 2 hour shuttle outside!!! What a tiny tiny airport, after making in through security we wanted, plane was an hour late and there are no terminals, so we walked on and off the plane, havent done that before.
The arrival of Rome.... wow different right off the start. Walked outside of the airport to be swarmed by what seemed like the italian mafia. They grabbed the paper I had with the name of the hotel and passed it around and made fun of each bidding as to who will take us. They told us 50€ which I know was too much, but what do you do at midnight in the middle of no where!!
So after a ride in the country side (that we werent so sure we would get out of) we drove past the Colosseum and some really really beautiful sights, than to our hotel. Very quite, but nice, loud and scary italian guy checked us in, and we got our skeleton key and went up the scary elevator to find a big room will a big scary window! We locked the door and huddle until we fell asleep to the constant honking of horns and yelling of people 5 floors below us. Rome is going to be interesting I can tell!
So we just checked in to our hostel, and there is an internet cafe with the first good prices down the street (and no weed!!!).
Sorry it was so long, but so much has happened :)
We really really miss everyone, and looking forward to our next three stops, but also going home. I miss my doggy and kitties :( Give them loves for me. I saw a yorkie in Paris and wanted to hug it, but the lady didnt look too nice!! haha
Okay we are off.... Karen and Matt should arrive in 7 hours.. what shall we do?

Oh the Tower!

Today started out a little crazy learning the Metro with Amsterdam, wow they shove so many people on the tram and we had no idea what we were doing, we finally got a seat, and made it safely to the train station.

After a nice train ride we arrived in Delft, what a really neat little dutch town, by far my favorite day so far. We didn't know what we wanted to do so just wandering around we found an amazing church Oude Kerk (Old Church) after we toured it and saw the most amazing stain glass windows ever that told the complete story of the bible, we found the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) it was just as cool inside with bibles dating to the 1700 hand written!!!

But the best part was to our surprise you could climb to the top of the clock and bell tower!!! Wow it was so cool, I will admit a little scary, my knuckles were white climbing up the spiral wooden staircase! But oh so worth it, check out our pics going up and from the top. The town was so great, and we ate a little cafe in the town square.

P.S. Today is my 11 year anniversary at work, so nice to spend it relaxing :) Oh and Happy Anniversary to you too Burce, 32 years in business! Wahoo

Tomorrow we are off to Paris!!! Can't wait