Salzburg, Vienna

Here are a few lingering photos from our Christmas trip to Germany. It was a completely delightful trip. I should've posted more right after the trip... But I'll at least try to record as many memories as I can now.
In Munich, this church has tombstones built into the outer walls of the city cathedral. Strangely fascinating.
Here's a photo of the town hall building in Munich. We didn't spend too long in the city because it was absolutely freezing and we were ill-prepared. (At least I was...)

Once we arrived in Salzburg, we took a Sound of Music tour to get a better glimpse of the city. We hoped to see a lot of Salzburg countryside and hear a bit of history. Apparently most people who take the tour are Sound of Music FANATICS and it was a little annoying for our tour guide that we didn't recognize many of the sites we were seeing. But overall it was a very great and informative tour!
IeLi I took this photo for you!! This is the gazebo where Liesel sings "I am 16 going on 17"

And here is the Von Trapp house from across the little pond. Did you know the Austrians hate the movie and refuse to have anything to do with it? A little foolish huh, since it's be the source of much of their revenue and notoriety.


On our Sound of Music tour, we passed through a little compound with this darling advent house. This little city has a huge Christmas Advent Market. They open one set of shutters everyday. I had to snap a picture. Cute right?

Gardens outside the advent house.


Stopping for lunch outside Salzburg. Actually all we ate was cake and apple streudel. Dad snapped the photo right before I was actually ready. We laughed all afternoon about this pitcutre.

Snapping a photo overlooking the little town of St Gellin.
Overlooking Salzburg.
Cute decorations inside the restaurant where we had dinner.
Exploring the oldest street in Vienna.
Pausing on the bridge.
Mozart dinner concert. Complete with period costumes. So good.
We did dinner concerts on two of the nights. One was Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Despite the major jet lag I was experiencing, I really enjoyed the show. So much so that it made me buy tickets and drive to SLC when the symphony orchestra played their rendition.

Do you know how hard we had to work to keep mom from buying this Little Amadeus DVD? It's completely in German. And no subtitles. And yet, she almost couldn't resist. It made for a long stop in the guest shop of Mozart's childhood home.
Who chooses a turnip for their crest?
Stopping for a hot dog snack outside the fortress. Very tasty.
Dad got good at taking jumping pics. Christine had never taken a jumping pic until this trip. How can that be?!
Jumping in Mirabelle's garden. This is the garden and palace built for the king's lover. (By the way, he fathered 17 children with his lover before being thrown in jail at age 30!!)
The Salzburg Salt Mines provided a great adventure. I have a hilarious video of mom and dad sliding down the salt mine schute. I'll figure out how to post it later...
Did I mention they made us wear these hideous white space suit things to protect us from the dirty underground mine? They were completely hideous. And I've got some great new blackmail material...

And finally...

Beautiful "welcome back to America" flowers.

Frohe Weihnachten!

On Tuesday the 23rd, we all drove down to the Nurnberg Christkindlesmarkt for some Christmas cheer.

It was pretty cold but not unbearably so, and there's no snow around. We walked around the many booths and shops lining the streets. There were tons of people and the overwhelming smell of alcohol as people stand to sip their Gluhwein in the market mugs. It took some work for us to find a booth that still had mugs of the 2008 variety but we ended up with 6! It's a great collectible.

Christine and I picked out some decorations from the booths. Mom made some stops in Kathe Wohlfarht.

On Wednesday the 24th we all ventured out to the Zeil in Frankfurt to catch the shops before they close for Christmas. It was a madhouse!! Dad noticed that there were lots of people out walking around, but very few people had any shopping bags. Weird, since its Christmas eve, the last chance to buy what's left on the list.





















We rushed over the Karstadts at 1:45pm to try to buy some candy and snacks (and broccoli) for Christmas before they closed at 2pm. At exactly 2:01pm we could see employees coming from upstairs literally running to leave the store. Walking through the department store to our car at 2:25 was almost eerie because the place was SO empty. They don't joke around. Luckily, we knew that was coming so we were able to buy all we needed before the ultimate shut down.

On our way home from the Zeil, Christine and I were ready for lunch but the city was pretty shut down so options were limited. We settled on the McCafe, reminiscent of our Christmas Eve In n Out tradition back at home. Their chocolate chip cookies are quite impressive. Dad claims they're the best cookie in all of Germany. I don't doubt he's done the research.

The rest of Christmas eve was pretty quiet with wrapping and resting and such. Mom made a nice soup for a late, light dinner. After a reading of the Christmas story we were off to bed.

Oh and don't worry, we've got the TV fire to keep us warm.

December blahs....

One night last week I just wasn't loving life. There was so much to be done and no time and I could not bear another minute of studying. There were feelings of being overwhelmed, and frustrated feelings towards my loved one(s) so dear. Seeing a movie solo wasn't going to work out, although it would have been my first choice...


So I snuck away to Barnes and Noble at the Riverwoods with a salted caramel hot chocolate to read a bit of The Christmas Carol.


Because that story reminds me of Christmas. And reminds me of seeing the play every year while growing up. And my siblings. And being home. Which is not the same as being in my little house in Provo, wreath and all.

I think it did the trick. I love Christmas lights. I love outdoor shopping centers. I love classic stories. And sometimes, I love being quiet with myself--quiet inside and out.

So great.

Those who know me know I love grocery shopping. It's like a big organizational puzzle.

I may or may not have designed a spreadsheet which prints off a grocery list that is organized by aisle. And then I may or may not bag the items based on where they go in the cupboard, or bag them according to the meal they are meant for. Wanna know what makes grocery shopping even more fun?

This little darling.

Finals are ALMOST over...

So guess what I'll be doing all day tomorrow??


Christmas baking!! Oh how I have missed Mint Surprise cookies. Ken waits all year long to get some. (All the while saying "why can't we have those at times other than Christmas again? Who makes these rules??") But it's just the way it is. I might stretch this Christmas baking season through January, since the treat fast caused a delayed start. Mmm...

Rose Bowl Race

It's done! The race is over! Overall it was a wonderful day.

Zack and I ran together for the first 6 miles of the race. I forgot how silly he is when he runs. He's chatty, making jokes to me and other runners. He cheer and claps for any spectators out on the road. Funny.

First of all I'll say, I love Pasadena (and La Canada) houses. So so very much. They are so charming and classy. We ran past so many that made me stare and smile. Large, tree-lined streets, big front lawns, thoughtful house fronts with shutters, nice doors and windows, careful Christmas decorations. It was so delightful. And helped the first few miles pass.

Around mile 4 we had just finished coming up a pretty big hill when we encountered a strange house-turned-business of some sort. Imagine my surprise when I read the sign "Embassy of the Republic of Korea"!!! Can you believe that?? I thought of YOU and ran a little faster then. We came back afterward to take photos. I've lived in this area for almost 2 decades and never knew this building existed. How fitting to find it on this day, on World Run Day.

We ran back towards the Rose Bowl and onto the trails over towards La Canada. Running at the Rose Bowl always reminds me of my dad. And the Saturday mornings when I would pull into our special parking area on the wood chips and find my dad's car already there. He loved running around the Rose Bowl. So I thought of him and kept going.

The dirt trails over towards LCHS reminded me of running in high school track with Haley, back when I was training for my first marathon ever. I remember how excited I felt about running a big race. And how everyone thought I was crazy. And how I didn't really know what I was getting myself in to. Five years later and I'm still going at it. Who would've thought.

We ran through the back of Oak Grove/Hahamongna Park and the Flintridge Riding Club. Which made me think of Christine and how horse-back riding is to her what running is to me. It made me hope she'll find a way to keep it up.

Next came JPL, with some pretty rocky and annoying terrain. JPL will always remind me of September 11. We were at school watching the news coverage in each class. Until they told us school was cancelled and they were sending everyone home. JPL was worried about being a potential target and had evacuated. Our school was so close that they sent us home too. I remember watching kids run through the parking lot all excited and happy to get out of class. I remember being so annoyed and mad at them for their lack of understanding. When September 11 comes each year and people ask "where were you", do those guys think about how excited they were to skip school and get drunk? That's too bad for them.

At mile ten, we rounded the corner from Linda Vista over back towards the Rose Bowl. This corner I have run so very many times, the most recent being two weeks ago when doing my training run at Thanksgiving. I was overcome with a surge of energy and ran faster than I had since the beginning of the race for the next two miles. It just felt great to be in such familiar settings. And to be almost done!

(The beautiful Pasadena Tournament house. Passed while running up California Ave.
Or was it Orange Grove? I can't remember now...)

Mile 12 was hard and long and annoying. It's my least favorite side of the Rose Bowl loop… But with the help of some great music (Let's Get It Started, Coldplay new one, ) I made it through. All until The Killers – When You Were Young came on. It was exactly what I needed to get me around the final corner. Is it bad to say Guitar Hero helped me finish the race? Because it's kinda true. Guitar Hero and being in Utah at the Wiley's house and carefree days when I would stop by in the middle of the day just to play.

Finish line crossed and race done. Zack was there to greet me which is always nice. I certainly didn't set any PRs, partly due to my rotten IT bands which flared up around mile 2... But I really don't care. I'm just glad to get another race under my belt.

Post race snacks included cookies, which I would normally pass right by. But in the name of officially ending the treat fast I figured what the heck and partook. Oh how I love a good chocolate chip cookie!!! A photo shoot followed. And all was well.

After the race we had a delicious lunch at Taco Deli and then I made a request that we stop at Penguin's, home to the very best (in my very experience opinion...) frozen yogurt on the planet. Along with a wide assortment of toppings that make the whole thing complete. Contrary to what the picture might show, I did not eat an enormous helping. Although I probably wouldn't feel bad even if I had.

(Please excuse my super squinty, crazy hair look. That's what pure joy from having ice cream again looks like.)

Sweet Giveaway

You have until Monday night to enter Design Mom's 12 Days Giveaway! Check it out.

Welcoming Christmas

My blogging habits are so strange. Often very notable events go un-blogged (what happened to the rest of my birthday? and Thanksgiving? and Special Steak event 2008?) And then things like Chinese Fire Drills get the front page for over a week. If you've done something amazing for/with me, and it isn't on the blog, don't take it personally. There's no logic.

I will, however, mention the first official Christmas activity of the season. Kirstin and I went up to Salt Lake for a wreath making class. It was taught by a very old, scruffy man who also made jalapeno jelly for us to eat. (You could leave him your phone number for the recipe. He clarified the jelly was made by him, not his wife.)

You can see the back side of our teacher over Kirstin's shoulder there...

It was a bit of a challenge getting all the greens to sit in the right places. It's also hard to remember that it doesn't have to look perfect all along the way, just get it all wired on there and adjust/plump later. Of course the hardest part for me was deciding how exactly to accessorize the wreath once I was done putting it together. (Something about my strength being recognizing good design, not necessarily coming up with it from scratch...)

In the end, I like how my wreath turned out. Even with it's unevenness and oddities. I'm glad we did something to try to override the stress and anxiety of this end of the year time. I wonder how long it will take me post-college to separate the stress of finals from Christmas. Because they have been closely knit in my life for the last 6 years.

Must get back to schoolwork. Merry Christmas!