Well after returning from Switzerland, I was back at work as busy as ever. Things were going very well with everything and I couldn't be happier about the Switzerland trip, as well as the week to come. That was until I got a phone call Tuesday night, saying my nephew was in the hospital, as his oxygen was too low, and he was also battling RSV. As upset as I was about him being sick, it also was upsetting as it meant my sister would not be bringing him to visit on Wed. This also meant plans for my Friday birthday would be changing.
After a night out with some of my co-workers on Thursday, I decided I would go to London still on Friday (as this is where I was supposed to be meeting my sister and nephew) and celebrate with my friends there. Luckily, all my my Canadian and Aussie friends were able to come out. We went for dinner at Texas Embassy...my Mexican food place...and then went to a little pub for drinks after. It was a fun night, and I was so excited I got to see everyone.
Saturday, after sleeping in for the first time in a long time, I got up and went to AbbaWorld, an exhibition in London all about Abba. My dad has got me hooked on them, ever since taking me to see Mamma Mia many years ago. This was very interesting and exciting as I got to learn about the four singers, the group, and see costumes that they wore. There were also interactive activities such as singing karaoke and dancing to Abba songs. Saturday night. I went and saw Les Miserables, for my first time ever. It was a very deep, emotional play but a very good one as well. The music was amazing. Following the show, I had a delicious dinner in China Town, which was partying like crazy for the Chinese New Years.
Sunday morning, I went to the Dinosaurs Unleashed exhibit in London. This exhibit included 22 animatronic, life size dinosaurs. Even though the place was filled with kids, I loved it very much. All of the creatures were quite amazing, if only we could see them today. After my time here, I went and saw the afternoon showing of Jersey Boys, which I had seen once before. The music in this play was as great as always, and ended the weekend for me on a high point.
After getting back to Lincoln, I saw the Carr's for the first time in two weeks, as they had been in Portugal. They gave me some really neat birthday gifts. I thought my birthday would end there, however last night, I came home to a mini surprise party. There were decorations and balloons everywhere, as well as a cake in the middle of the table,. Jaime's two best friends, who came to Centre Parcs with us weeks ago, were there to celebrate with me as well. It was such a surprise and such a fun night. It was a yummy dinner and ended with bubbly champagne. The night got even better, as I heard from my sister that she got the doctors approval to bring Asa over for a visit on Thursday. Yippee for family, friends and good times!!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Huge Update...and VERY EXCITING!!!
Life has gotten extremely busy my last month and a half so I have not had time to post but here we go. Last weekend I went with the Carr's to Newcastle where they were taking me to see my first official English football (soccer) game. Newcastle vs. Cardiff and the home team won 5-1!! This was such a blast and something I didn't want to leave England without going too. The rest of the weekend included a visit to one of the oldest Roman forts in England as well, as a walk along Hadrian's Wall. What a site to see, and so crazy to think how old it really was. We attended a jazz singing concert, which made for a nice evening, visited Bryan's 99 year old aunt, and just hung out together.
Monday of this past week I took my new position at work...in Stores...no more reception! It has been quite a fun challenge so far and I love doing something new. I am now responsible for getting all of the deliveries, which are all pieces of equipment being built, gathered together and into their proper places. It sounds easy, but is far from it. It was a short week in my new spot though, as I headed to London Tuesday after work to meet up with my friends...which meant our Switzerland trip was only hours away. Although the trip started off with us exhausted, as we had to sleep in the airport due to early flight times, it was an unbelievable trip. After landing in Zurich we took to train to Interlaken, where we would spend the next five adventurous days. Thursday, after a long nights sleep, we wandered around the town of Interlaken to enjoy the sights of the beautiful Swiss Alps, as well as souvenir shop...including much chocolate tasting. In the evening we had a private night sledding trip, and what a trip it was. This was not just sledding up and down a hill, instead we flew down a track on sleds, which lasted about an hour and a half. It was so crazy, and we even stopped half way down to see a frozen waterfall. To warm us up, we then enjoyed a traditional Swiss dinner including Swiss beer, cheese fondue, salad with dressing, and hash browns with an egg. It was very delicious and made for a great way to end our private tour! Friday was our day of snowboarding on the mountain, and what a blast it was. The views were amazing from the top. The Swiss Alps are definitely the most challenging mountains I have ever been on, but snowboarding from the top to the bottom of the highest mountain was awesome. Although the day did end with much soreness. Saturday our group of five split and we all went our own ways for the day. While some went hiking around the lake, another went skiing, I decided I was going to take the train to Mount Jungfrau, considered the Top of Europe. It is the highest train station in Europe, and I can't even begin to describe the views that I saw. I spent about two hours atop the mountain, viewing glaciers, walking through an ice palace, and just taking in the majestic sights of the Swiss Alps. Truly a wonder of God. Because Saturday night was our last night in Switzerland, we decided we would all go out for a nice dinner, as most other nights, were were eating in the hostel to save money. The night was an absolute blast. Dinner was great (I enjoyed a peppercorn steak, with whipped cream peaches, and fries) and dessert made the night even better. We ordered chocolate fondue for the table...but because we had read the Rules of Fondue just hours earlier online, we decided to follow them. If any girl dropped a piece in the fondue, they had to kiss the guy on their left, and if a boy dropped a piece, they had to buy a bottle of wine for the entire table. Let's just say kisses were given out, and a bottle of wine also appeared. It was hilarious! On our final day, Sunday we woke up to cloudy overcast skies which did not make us happy. The next few hours, while we wandered around town and watched movies at the hostel, we continuously glanced at the sky and held our breath. At noon a van pulled up, and confirmed, to our surprise, that were indeed going on our mid-day trip. We hopped in and after about a 40 minute drive, arrived at SKYDIVE SWITZERLAND...yes, that is right...we were going skydiving over the Swiss Alps, and there were blue skies all around. After instructions were given and body suits were fitted, the 3 of us girls along with 8 guys (all video guys, our tandem instructors, and pilot) were in a plane ascending in the sky with the Swiss Alps below. We enjoyed a 20 minute flight around the mountains (nerve free) before the plane door was thrown open. Before I knew it, I was the first to swing my legs out the plane, and on the count of two was falling free from 13,500 feet. We did barrel rolls out of the plane, as we had a 45 second free fall, and then the parachute was pulled and we enjoyed a 7 minute parachute flight before landing. This was something I have always wanted to do, and to be able to say I literally flew over the Swiss Alps was incredible. The view I saw was breathtaking, and the whole experience is still so surreal. I can't wait to show the video to everyone...the pictures will be on Facebook. There was no better way to end the trip!
Monday of this past week I took my new position at work...in Stores...no more reception! It has been quite a fun challenge so far and I love doing something new. I am now responsible for getting all of the deliveries, which are all pieces of equipment being built, gathered together and into their proper places. It sounds easy, but is far from it. It was a short week in my new spot though, as I headed to London Tuesday after work to meet up with my friends...which meant our Switzerland trip was only hours away. Although the trip started off with us exhausted, as we had to sleep in the airport due to early flight times, it was an unbelievable trip. After landing in Zurich we took to train to Interlaken, where we would spend the next five adventurous days. Thursday, after a long nights sleep, we wandered around the town of Interlaken to enjoy the sights of the beautiful Swiss Alps, as well as souvenir shop...including much chocolate tasting. In the evening we had a private night sledding trip, and what a trip it was. This was not just sledding up and down a hill, instead we flew down a track on sleds, which lasted about an hour and a half. It was so crazy, and we even stopped half way down to see a frozen waterfall. To warm us up, we then enjoyed a traditional Swiss dinner including Swiss beer, cheese fondue, salad with dressing, and hash browns with an egg. It was very delicious and made for a great way to end our private tour! Friday was our day of snowboarding on the mountain, and what a blast it was. The views were amazing from the top. The Swiss Alps are definitely the most challenging mountains I have ever been on, but snowboarding from the top to the bottom of the highest mountain was awesome. Although the day did end with much soreness. Saturday our group of five split and we all went our own ways for the day. While some went hiking around the lake, another went skiing, I decided I was going to take the train to Mount Jungfrau, considered the Top of Europe. It is the highest train station in Europe, and I can't even begin to describe the views that I saw. I spent about two hours atop the mountain, viewing glaciers, walking through an ice palace, and just taking in the majestic sights of the Swiss Alps. Truly a wonder of God. Because Saturday night was our last night in Switzerland, we decided we would all go out for a nice dinner, as most other nights, were were eating in the hostel to save money. The night was an absolute blast. Dinner was great (I enjoyed a peppercorn steak, with whipped cream peaches, and fries) and dessert made the night even better. We ordered chocolate fondue for the table...but because we had read the Rules of Fondue just hours earlier online, we decided to follow them. If any girl dropped a piece in the fondue, they had to kiss the guy on their left, and if a boy dropped a piece, they had to buy a bottle of wine for the entire table. Let's just say kisses were given out, and a bottle of wine also appeared. It was hilarious! On our final day, Sunday we woke up to cloudy overcast skies which did not make us happy. The next few hours, while we wandered around town and watched movies at the hostel, we continuously glanced at the sky and held our breath. At noon a van pulled up, and confirmed, to our surprise, that were indeed going on our mid-day trip. We hopped in and after about a 40 minute drive, arrived at SKYDIVE SWITZERLAND...yes, that is right...we were going skydiving over the Swiss Alps, and there were blue skies all around. After instructions were given and body suits were fitted, the 3 of us girls along with 8 guys (all video guys, our tandem instructors, and pilot) were in a plane ascending in the sky with the Swiss Alps below. We enjoyed a 20 minute flight around the mountains (nerve free) before the plane door was thrown open. Before I knew it, I was the first to swing my legs out the plane, and on the count of two was falling free from 13,500 feet. We did barrel rolls out of the plane, as we had a 45 second free fall, and then the parachute was pulled and we enjoyed a 7 minute parachute flight before landing. This was something I have always wanted to do, and to be able to say I literally flew over the Swiss Alps was incredible. The view I saw was breathtaking, and the whole experience is still so surreal. I can't wait to show the video to everyone...the pictures will be on Facebook. There was no better way to end the trip!
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Birthday in Sherwood Forest...
Jaime's 15th birthday was on Wednesday last week, and I can't tell you how excited she was. We had a delicious dinner, followed by ice cream and cake, and then the opening of presents. Her birthday celebration continued throughout the weekend...in Centre Parcs.
Centre Parcs is located in the middle of Sherwood Forest. It is a mini resort, filled with cabins, activities, lakes, and bikes...as no cars are allowed. It is an escape from every day life. We headed to Centre Parcs Friday afternoon with two of Jaime's friends. We got settled in our cabin, got out bikes, and then went for an adventurous bike ride through the forest. We had a competitive game of bowling (where I got 2nd, behind a girl that used bumpers) :-) and then enjoyed dinner at an American themed restaurant.
Saturday morning we enjoyed cycling around the entire property, seeing all of the different activities that were available. After a break at Starbucks to get hot chocolate, we played an intense game of badminton. I had never played before, but picked it up pretty easily, and very much enjoyed it. We then put on our swim suits and headed for the mini-water park. Yes, it was indoors, and the water was heated...however, there were parts of the rapids that went outside, which was quite neat. We enjoyed water slides, a tube ride, the rapids, the wave pool and even jumped in the plunge pool...a 50 degree pool of water. After drying off from our three hours of water fun, we put on our skates and had fun at a roller blading disco. The day finally was winding down, as we had dinner at a sports bar. We finally biked back to the cabin, exhausted, where we popped champagne and enjoyed a candy birthday cake for Jaime. The girls and I stayed up that night just talking away, which was quite fun.
On Sunday, Jaime, one of her friends and I, all did the Aerial Adventure rope course. This was an intense experience and much more difficult than I thought it would be. It involved a bunch of bridge type obstacles, high in the air, that had to be crossed. There was a giant spider web, a tight rope, swinging logs, etc. The final obstacle was a zip line. This was so much fun! We then went for hot chocolate again, in order to warm up. Then there was more swimming and water activities one last time, before heading to the cabin to pack up. We enjoyed one last dinner at the American themed restaurant again, before heading back home.
The weekend was amazing, the activities were a blast, and I had so much fun hanging out with Jaime and her friends. I even got one of them to say y'all in a sentence...she didn't even realize what she had said!! It was so great!! :-)
Centre Parcs is located in the middle of Sherwood Forest. It is a mini resort, filled with cabins, activities, lakes, and bikes...as no cars are allowed. It is an escape from every day life. We headed to Centre Parcs Friday afternoon with two of Jaime's friends. We got settled in our cabin, got out bikes, and then went for an adventurous bike ride through the forest. We had a competitive game of bowling (where I got 2nd, behind a girl that used bumpers) :-) and then enjoyed dinner at an American themed restaurant.
Saturday morning we enjoyed cycling around the entire property, seeing all of the different activities that were available. After a break at Starbucks to get hot chocolate, we played an intense game of badminton. I had never played before, but picked it up pretty easily, and very much enjoyed it. We then put on our swim suits and headed for the mini-water park. Yes, it was indoors, and the water was heated...however, there were parts of the rapids that went outside, which was quite neat. We enjoyed water slides, a tube ride, the rapids, the wave pool and even jumped in the plunge pool...a 50 degree pool of water. After drying off from our three hours of water fun, we put on our skates and had fun at a roller blading disco. The day finally was winding down, as we had dinner at a sports bar. We finally biked back to the cabin, exhausted, where we popped champagne and enjoyed a candy birthday cake for Jaime. The girls and I stayed up that night just talking away, which was quite fun.
On Sunday, Jaime, one of her friends and I, all did the Aerial Adventure rope course. This was an intense experience and much more difficult than I thought it would be. It involved a bunch of bridge type obstacles, high in the air, that had to be crossed. There was a giant spider web, a tight rope, swinging logs, etc. The final obstacle was a zip line. This was so much fun! We then went for hot chocolate again, in order to warm up. Then there was more swimming and water activities one last time, before heading to the cabin to pack up. We enjoyed one last dinner at the American themed restaurant again, before heading back home.
The weekend was amazing, the activities were a blast, and I had so much fun hanging out with Jaime and her friends. I even got one of them to say y'all in a sentence...she didn't even realize what she had said!! It was so great!! :-)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
