Embracing the Future....

Another weekend slips away and fall is officially here (Rock On). Aaron and I spent the weekend with our families. Saturday was a beautiful fall day. We woke up to enjoy a top notch breakfast, a quick oil change, a pop in at the bank, and then we were off to the Red Barn. The Red Barn in known for apple picking, pony riding, hay baling, apple cider drinking, hot dog devouring, tracker pulling, pumpkin picking, chickens clucking, honey tasting, and a great expression of country living. We had a blast with my mom. Aaron and I pined for almost an hour over what 2 pumpkins to pick to bring home. How dorky are we? Then we enjoyed some Carmel apples before making our way to Weston, MO. We love Weston. We enjoyed lunch at the Pirtle Winery, and finished the afternoon off with a little more shopping. Mom said good-bye and Aaron and I made our way to the lake for some late night fishing. - What a good day! Sunday was spent up North in St. Joe with AB's family. First stop was at Gran and Tat...

After a quick work week, Aaron and I settled back in our daily lives back in the states. On Saturday we ran the Save the Chimps run at the KC Zoo. Our friend Adam joined us for the 4mile adventure. Check out a few pictures: (Us during the race, and after). Plus, it was baby Nate's first visit to the Zoo! After we walked around the Zoo for awhile we all headed to Jalapenos' for lunch. Then we parted ways- Aaron and I made our way to my rents house for a quite afternoon with Phil. The afternoon was filled with popcorn, limeades, pies, cookies, and more. Before we knew it- dust had quickly approached us, we headed back for a quick shower, before making our way to Burton's House for an engagement party. My friend Laura is marring Burton- They have not set a date, but I am pumped! Sunday was spent cleaning and getting caught up around the house. We manged to squeeze in a couple hour of fishing on the Lake too. Good times!! All in all it was a great weekend. This week at work i...

Olympic Park- Munich Inside the Castle - Munich The Nymphenburg Castle- Munich Salzburg- Fortress on the hill over looking the city Eating lunch over looking the Alps on the Fortress- Salzburg Salzburg- The Dom and St. Peters- From inside the Mt. Climbing inside of the Cliff to a secret Chapel inside the Mts. -Salzburg Sound of Music picture opt. Inside the Munich Train Station

Friday was spent in Salzburg with the Radius Tours . We meet Allen, our tour guide- from England, and we traveled by train to Salzburg, Austria. We enjoyed a quick city tour before we took a tram up to the Fortress on the hill side over look Salzburg, to explore. We ate lunch over looking the Alps. We are so blessed! Then we explored an old chapel hidden in the mts., saw a few sound of music picture opts, and the Dom Church all before we experienced a little more "liquid sunshine." We escaped into a little alley to fall upon another coffee shop- gotta love some European coffee, as our day in Salzburg came to an end. After a quick train ride back to Munich we made our way to dinner. We enjoyed a great dinner and more pints. Aaron enjoyed a lush Cuban cigar. Another day slips away- now we have traveled to 4 different countries . We really have maximized our time abroad- as we will shortly embrace our last day in Munich. Another great breakfast- we headed to the U-Bahn to make o...

Munich City Center Streets of Munich Aaron & I at the Chinese Beer Garden in the English Garden Park Beauitful Church on our tour Aaron riding his bike on our bike tour of Munich City Center Me enjoying Tea at the "Hag" Aaron- Munich City Center Square

We arrived late into Munich, and it is common when traveling to any country where their 1st language is not your 1st language things can be a little hard at first. We had a really had time try to by U-Bahn tickets into the city center. We finally found the information desk, and they were able to help us. We made our way to our U-Bahn stop and climbed up the stairs to see Munich for the first time. Our hotel was a quaint little place. We dropped our bags of before heading out for dinner. Gotta love an all German menu- we were glad beer and brats are pretty much the same in German and in English. Our hotel the Herzog Wilhelm had an amazing FREE breakfast spread. After some great eats, we made our way through the city center in the day light. We found where we were to meet Mike's Bike's Tours for our bike tour of the city. We stumbled upon a sweetshop called 'The Hag'- we enjoyed some cinnamon rolls and tea before we continued to explore the open air markets- were meat hu...

Irish Brunch at the 'Bank'- Dublin Giant Causeway- Northern Ireland Us at Bushmills 1608- Northern Ireland More Coastal Views Northern Ireland coastline The jolly green island Me and Pippa, right before she is about to get on a bus :( Aaron in the Guinness Brewery-Dublin Me crossing the Rope Bridge- Northern Ireland Trinity College Grounds- Dublin

After a greats sleep we made our way to meet Pippa. Today was our day with Pippa. Pippa and I meet back in 2002, while I was studying abroad in England. She played a major role with my new relationship with Christ. Pippa and her husband Matt our youth ministers in London. We took Pippa to Trinity College and saw the book of Kells before we headed back to the Queen of Tarts for lunch. I knew Pippa would love this place. Aaron and I enjoyed some Irish tarts, then we all headed off to the Guinness Brewery for our tour. After the tour we made our way back to the bus station, so Pippa could make her way back to London. She is an amazing person, I am truly touch to have her as a friend across the lily pond. After a bittersweet good-bye Aaron and I made out way to the Brazenhead for some local Irish food. The Irish make a great veggie-soup! Another day down..... Tuesday we woke up early to catch a bus to Belfast to go to the Giant Causeway, a couple castles, and climb over a rope bridge. Good...

Aaron inside "Queen of Tarts"-Dublin Having a pint after seeing the play "The Rivals"- Dublin After the rain stopped- more coastly views! Getting rainned on at the Cliffs of Moher More Coastly Views Th Chiffs of Moher- Clare Country Western Ireland Chirst Church Catherdal - Dublin Dublin Castle

We left for Dublin, after a four hour lay over in Phil, the flight was shorter than we expected- there was a strong tail wind. We found our way to the Trinity Capital Hotel via Paddy Wagon Tour bus. Gotta love a free ride. (here is a pic of our hotel) We could not check in yet, but we dropped our bags off and headed out for some much needed lunch. We ate a Queen of Tarts, then we stopped in the Porter House Pub for a pint before we made our way to Christ Church Cathedral, what a sight to see.The church was breath takingly old, then we made our way to the Dublin Castle and found the tourist office. Where we were to meet for out tour the next day, then we headed back to the hotel for a short cat nap. Then we grabbed a snack before heading to the Abbey Theatre (Ireland's National Theatre) to see 'The Rivals'- a romantic comedy. It rocked- we even saw a few of the actors after the play in a local pub. The next day was spent with the Extreme Ireland Tour Company traveling acros...

It is only a day before we head overseas for 10 days. Yummy! I am so excited I could run a marathon no problem. I am however not really looking forward to riding on a plane- Funny b/c it is really no big deal it is not like I have not flown abroad before. I think my longest flight was from LAX to Tokyo= 11 + hours, then Scotty and I still had 8 more hours to Bangkok. So, 7 hours on a night flight no problem! Since Aaron and I have been together 5 years this week. We have always talked about going to Europe together. I absolutely loved my semester aboard during undergrad and my brief 3 weeks with Meghan after graduation. It has taken me almost 4+ years to get back over the mighty Atlantic. Though a lot has happened in those 5 years: Aaron and I got married, we have been to Mexico 3 times, a family trip to Florida, one Masters Degree, spent time in New Orleans, our niece Jillian was born, we became proud home owners, became skilled salad makers, 6 of our good friends were married, Now 3 ...