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!