Christmas time!

Merry Christmas everyone! I didn't quite have it together for all my Christmas cards this year but I did try to send some to the grandparents at least. For the rest of you, we are thinking of you and we do love you. As you bloggers already know Nate and I have had a crazy and wonderful year. We have done more traveling than most people get to do in a lifetime and have moved three times (not our record, by the way). Nate is finishing up his second to last semester of law school and I have a job at an animal hospital. My job has been great but hard for both of us because we want a puppy so bad. I see the cutest little puppies every day at work and I see people who don't take care of them very well and I think I would be so much better at it. We have big plans to add to our family next year (puppies, not babies. Sorry Moms). I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! We love you!

Here we go again

I have been remiss. I have discovered since coming home that I am only a blogger borne of boredom. When life gets busy the blog takes the hit. Nate and I have up and moved again. Deep down (or maybe just right on the surface) I wish we could have gone back to London, but South Bend seems intent on charming us. The first week we have been here we have not seen the sun and we have experienced gale force winds and rain on a regular basis. There is a constant drizzle and no matter how many times I run my chi iron down my hair it is desperate to show just how curly it can be. This may not sound charming to some but to us it has the homey feel of Hammersmith. I feel as I drive Nate to and from campus each day through the haze that I am back in foggy London town. Yesterday as we were returning home, however, we saw the price payed by the decreased visibility on the roads. As we pulled through the pretty tree lined drive to our apartment, in the middle of the road lay one of our beloved geese, dead. These geese cross the road many times a day and even the morning rush waits for them to pass but some incredibly impatient person decided they couldn't wait. I think the stress of moving and unpacking and job hunting all came home at that moment and I just started to cry. Nate, while not a heartless person (he truly was sad for our goose), seemed conflicted as to whether the scene was funny or not. He consoled me but I still feel sad when we drive by the flock.

I have new pictures to post from yet another adventure (this one to Pheonix). I will get right on that.

Busy

I don't know how people have normal lives and still have time to blog. Since we have been home it has been just about the last thing on my mind so I am trying to catch up. The summer has gone so fast and we are now about three weeks away from moving to Indiana for our final year. Nate has loved his job and is trying to decide where we wants to work permanantly. Meanwhile I am causing as many problems for him as I can by having surgery last Thursday to fix my septum and clear out my nose so I can breathe. I have been completely useless since and Nate is, as ever, a really good sport about it. It has also been really nice to have both our families around to help and mostly my mom who picks up all my slack. We will be leaving in a week to go on what was supposed to be a white water rafting trip to Vail,CO and what is now a relaxing weekend in the mountains (my doctor laughed at me when I asked if I could still raft). We will have to make up the trip and do Moab real soon. I will post pictures when we have them!

Carpinteria

Nate and I had only been home for about a week when I was off again. I went with my mom and my sisters to Carpinteria Beach in California. My dad and brother, Nick, came for a few days as well. I had to leave Nate this time and that made me sad. It was the first time we had been in different time zones. Besides missing Nate it was a wonderful week. There is a campground right on the beach and we just set up some tents and sat on the beach all week long. It was good to spend time with my family as I had not seen them for about six months until we got home.

We had really good weather all week and I got some good shots of the beautiful sunset.

Shelby and my Dad and I built a sand igloo. It fell down when they tried to hollow it out. Whoops.

Cute Girls!

Here we are! Plus a neighbor kid that hung out with us.

The day after I got back Nate and I went down to Blanding for my family reunion. I will post some pictures of that later!

COME ON DOWN!!!!!

So Bob Barker has left the Price is Right after over 50 years and over 6,000 shows, and it is the end of an era. I am very sad to see it go. One of my earliest memories is being so excited that I had afternoon kindergarten so that I could stay home in the morning and watch the Price is Right with my mom. I had a childhood dream to get on the show and wear a cute sweatshirt from whatever college I came from and win a car and kiss Bob on the cheek. I suppose I could still go to the show but it just wouldn't be the same. Goodbye, weekdays at 11.

By the way, we are home safe and sound and it feels like we never left. I am working on some cool slide shows but it may be beyond my blogging prowess to post them on here. We shall see.

To whom it may concern...

By the time you read this we will be on our way home!

Hooray!

That is a little misleading because it is a bitter sweet feeling, leaving here. This has been a place filled with much happiness, fun, and love. We leave our cute little flat behind with heavy hearts that are only lifted by the prospect of being back in our mountain home.

We love you all and we'll see you soon.

1 day

The number one thing we are most excited to see when we get home...

We'll see you all in the next day or so.

We love you!

2 days

2 days! Can you believe it? We can't. I still have final so it isn't quite real for me yet but Alayna had lunch to say good-bye to all of her friends from the ward today and is sad to leave, but happy to come home!

top 2 favorite british people:

2: David Bowie (Alayna)
1: Shakespeare (Nate)

Coming tommorrow: no. 1

3 Days

We went to church today for the last time as members of the Hyde Park Ward. It was Stake Conference and we had a broadcast from Salt Lake where Pres. Hinckley spoke to the entire British isles. I was a little bummed that we didn't get to see many people from our ward on our last Sunday but we said most of our goodbyes last week and they had me sing in church so that was a nice sendoff. This really has been a cool ward and I am sad to leave it, especially the primary where I have served as the official substitute teacher and Faith in God Activity leader. Today I said goodbye to several of the tiny little sunbeams and they were so adorable with their British accents and their sweet hugs and stickers and pictures that they give you. Tomorrow I am going to lunch with a few gals from the ward. This is one of the first wards we have been in where I have made more than one friend that I will keep in touch with. I am bad at that sort of thing.

One of my favorite parts about living in London is the amazing shows we have been able to see. In homage to the fabulous West End Theatre District...

Top Three West End shows:

3. Mary Poppins
2. Les Miserables
1. Wicked

This is obviously my list as Nate would probably put Les Miserables first what with all the revolutionaries and dramatic songs and all.

Tomorrow: Top two favorite British people of all time. Be thinking of yours!!

4 Days

There are only four days remaining until will leave London forever, or just until we leave for now. Anyways. I have three days left before my final and man is Anti-Trust complex. If any of you have any tips on concerted refusals to deal, let me know.

top 4 london parks:

4: Brook Green (The little park by our flat)
3: St. James's Park (By Buckingham palace)
2: Hyde Park (You know)
1: Kesington Park (it's right by the church stuck onto the end of Hyde Park)


Tommorrow: top 3 west end shows.

5 Days

Hi everyone. I haven't posted in a while because Nate was on a roll and why mess up a good thing right? Well he has to study sometime so I'm back. Today we went on a marathon coach tour of Oxford, Stratford, and Warwick castle. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. I will try to post a few pictures of that before we come home but we shall see if time permits.

Top 5 Pieces of Art we have seen this year

5. The Kiss, Gustav Klimt (The Belvedere, Vienna, Austria)
4. Parliment, Claude Monet (The National Gallery, London, England)
3. Sunflowers, Vincent van Gogh (The National Gallery, London, England)
2. The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli (The Ufizzi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
1. The David, Michelangelo (Academia, Florence, Italy)

Look at how cultured we are. You won't even recognize us.

Tomorrow: Top 4 London Parks

6 days

Day 6 and we are getting very excited. I spent the morning packing and not studying for my final like I should. Oh well.

Top 6 things we like about London:

6: Window Shopping
5: Free Museums
4: Westminster (Westminster Abbey, Parliment, Big Ben, Thames)
3: Trafalgar Square
2: West End Theatre
1: Tower Bridge

Tommorrow:
Top 5 Pieces of Art

7 days

Man the numbers are lying of the calendar!

No further ado:

Top 7 Restaurants in Europe:

7: Hotel Stein Rooftop Cafe (Salzburg, Austria)
6: That Joint in Florence (Florence, Italy)
5: Rice (London, UK)
4: Griechenbeisel (Vienna, Austria)
3: That place in Rome (Rome, Italy)
2: Pizza Express (London, UK)
1: Dristor Kebab (Bucuresti, Romania)

I'm running out of things to say... Don't you hate pants! (Those who understand will laugh, those who don't won't.)

Coming tommorow Top 6 things about London.

8 Days

We have 8 days a week until we come home. (That was a Beatles reference for all of you out there keeping track.) I have one class tomorrow and then an Exam and I am done!

top 8 tourist sights in Europe

8: Trevi Fountain (Rome, Italy)
7: Lake District (Salzburg, Austria)
6: Casa Poporului (Bucuresti, Romania)
5: Ponte Vechio (Florence, Italy)
4: Tower Bridge (London, UK)
3: Westminster Abbey (London, UK)
2: Colosseum (Rome, Italy)
1: Acropolis (Athens, Greece)

Tomorrow top 7 Restaurants in Europe.

9 days

That's right single digits! In honor of single digits we are making a top 9 list of places we want to go that we haven't been. Note to those of you who will call us on the fact that Alayna has been to Paris and I have been to Hawaii we mean places we want to go that we haven't been together.

9: China
8: Goa, India
7: Yellowstone
6: Australia
5: Israel
4: Hawaii
3: Scotland
2: Malaga, Spain
1: Paris, France (the one in Idaho is too boring.)

I finished my last paper today so now I have one exam and I am officially done with my second year of law school. One to go. Alayna says to write something about London so, here's a shocker, its raining!

Back tommorrow with our top 8 tourist sites around europe.

10 days

In homage to our ten remaining days we are planning a series of countdowns, i.e. 10 things today, 9 things tommorrow, etc.
Today the countdown is the top ten places we've visited during the course of our marriage.

Alayna's top 10 ------------ ---Nate's top 10

10: New York, NY USA ------- 10: New York, NY USA
9: Rome, Italy ----------------- 9: Pheonix AZ, USA
8: Barcelona, Spain ----------- 8: Athens, Greece
7: Sibiu, Romania ------------- 7: Vienna, Austria
6: Vienna, Austria ------------- 6: Pismo Beach, CA USA
5: Athens, Greece -------------- 5: Brasov, Romania
4: Pismo Beach, CA USA ----- 4: Florence, Italy
3: Salzburg, Austria ----------- 3: Sibiu, Romania
2: Florence, Italy -------------- 2: Salzburg, Austria
1: London, UK ------------------1: London, UK

Coming Tommorrow: top 9 places we hope to visit soon.

11 days

There are only 11 days to will come home!

Aren't we cute!

Salzburg

Nate and I ended our big trip in Salzburg. I had always wanted to do the Sound of Music tour ever since my parents went to Salzburg when I was little. I also had a friend go there earlier in the year and she recommended it as the best place to go for a relaxing weekend and I agree, although Florence is right up there as well.

The highlight is, of course, the Sound of Music tour. They take you on this huge bus with a funny tour guide who knows WAY too much about this musical. This is a picture of the lake district. It was one of the prettiest sights we have seen on our trip. Nate and I are both sort of reliant on the mountains in Utah for directions so it was really comforting to be back in the mountain air. This is the tunnel in Mirabel Gardens where Maria skips and sings with the Von Trapp kids. After a three week trip this was as close to skipping as I could get but I was belting it out, I can assure you. This is a view of the famous Mirabel Gardens and the Palace in the background. Behind me is the fountain where the kids skip and sing (they do that a lot in this movie). The Fortress of Salzburg can be seen behind us in this picture of the statues in Mirabel Gardens.On our last night Nate and I managed to sneak into a very posh rooftop bar even though we looked terminally scruffy. We snagged a prime table and then sat there all night drinking hot chocolate and eating these really good tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwiches (the only thing on the menu we could afford). It had a fantastic view of the city. It was a great way to end the trip.

16 days until we get home!!!!!! Happy Birthday to my dear little sister Shelby. I love you!!!!!

Vienna

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Nate's posts. We have had a busy couple of weeks trying to get everything in order to move back home! Yea!! I am thinking of posting a countdown except that our "borrowed" internet connection is not always reliable enough for daily posts (We are down to 28 days by the way). We are trying to do something fun or new every day to keep from getting to homesick. Today I went to Kensington High Street and bought a new bag for us bring some of our extra stuff home in and then dragged it home in the pouring rain (it does that here in Soggy London Town). Pretty fun, huh?

We still have a few pictures to post from our last trip so bear with us. On our next leg we met up with Nancy and Holly in Vienna. Nate and I were so tired by this point that we were so glad to be able to stay in one place for a few nights in a row. Nate and I planned to go to Vienna for a Moot Court competition that Notre Dame was participating in. We spent a week in this really pretty, clean, and friendly city.

The Austrians are real big on Easter and we were in Vienna the week before so we got in on quite a bit of the celebration. My favorite part was the eggs they sell EVERYWHERE. We went to a market where they had literally thousands of hand painted eggs. No more green and purple dye kits in cocoa cups for me. I think I may try my hand at this. These were some of my favorites. One has an entire and accurate globe motif and the other, in honor of Mozart, I assume, has piano keys and notes. Cool, no?

Nate, Nancy, Holly and I went and saw the symphony (Vivaldi and Handel) and the Ballet (Swan Lake). This is us at the Staatsoper where Swan Lake was. It was a really amazing performance and us girls loved it. Nate was ok most of the time but the prince in tights made him a little uncomfortable and he soothed himself by calling him Captain McCroth-Stuff throughout the entire performance. All in all it was a very good night.

This is a picture of Nate standing in front of the balcony where Hitler made the speech that officially annexed Austria as a member of the Third Reich. This is the Hofsburg palace where the Hapsburg family lived (say that ten times fast). The museum claims to have true pieces of Christ's cross and one of the nails as well (believe what you want about authenticity but I thought it was interesting nonetheless).

This is Nate's team (minus one member who was unfortunately indisposed at such an early hour in the morning- the Irish like their beer). Nate and Martha were arguing that morning and the others were there for moral support. They argued against a Finnish team who did well but Nate sort of mopped the floor with them (whoops) and Martha wasn't half bad either. One of the Finnish girls had that really cool color of silver-blond hair that you only find up in those parts of the world; sort of like Fleur Delacour only more silver. Nate's team won that argument but unfortunately did not move on (the rest of Nate's team couldn't measure up to his rhetorical skills).

This is me and Nate by the Blue Danube, or the Damn Danube as Nancy called it- we had a little trouble finding a place to park by it, causing some frustration. We eventually drove down a path that I am still pretty sure is only for pedestrians and got some really good pictures. Nate and I loved the church in the background (the church of St. Francis of Assisi). We had a really good time with a lot of food and a lot of laughter and several near death experiences involving cars. I would highly recommend Vienna to pretty much anyone.

Deva

Welcome to Deva! This is my favorite city in the world! This is a picture of Cetate (fortress) on top of the hill by Deva. You can barely make it out, but if you make the picture bigger you can see that the sign says DEVA, Hollywood style.
This is the tailor where I got my two suits made before I came home. The man's name was Maistro Palacian. Yes Maistro like the music people. He was awesome, he was a very fun old man who was always telling me to take my pants off.
This is claitita lady. Basically Clatitas are crepes but they are way better because they put Romanian ingredients like finetti and vanilla finetti in them. My companion and I would come here first thing in the morning every cold winter day to get a clatita for breakfast. We loved them.
Here is a picture of the cute little Vila where the branch meets. I was sad because we weren't sure when we would be here so we didn't have time to meet with any of the members, I hope they can forgive me. They put a plaque on the wall of the Vila that says the churches name, which hasn't been done anywhere else in the country, which makes me happy because they aren't going anywhere. This is the Behemoth Orthodox church that has been under construction since before I got my mission call till today. The major differences I can see is that they have put a couple bricks in. They are building the church on the basis of donations, so its going slowly.
I love DEVA!

Sibiu

This is Sibiu, where I started my mission. This is the place that gets my vote for the prettiest city in the world. Sibiu was the European Culture Capital for 2007 which means they came through and cleaned and repaired everything recently. The city looks fantastic.

This picture below is the thing that tourists always talk about. It's a section of stairs that go back to Roman times, including the arch work overhead, so I guess its pretty cool, but I like my stairs better. These are my stairs. They are one of many sets of stairs that connect the lower city with the upper city. We called them Scara Iadului (Stairway from hell) because they are long and steep, but the actual name is Scara Aurelilor (the stairway of the goldsmiths) because traditionally the market at the bottom was where the goldsmiths lived, now its just full of gypsies.The Scara Iadului will take you into Piata Mica (The Little Square) then eventually to Piata Mare (The Big Square) which you can see below. The picture is of the Catholic church in Sibiu and if you look at the right side of the picture the other tower with the clock in it is the Counsel Tower. The square has changed a lot since I was here it looks amazing.At the other end of the square is Centru, which is what Romanians call the major area of the city in whichever city they are in. I love the Sibiu Centru because it looks like you are walking down main street Disneyland. It honestly felt great just to be back here.Near Centru is the other major tourist attraction in Sibiu, the Podul Minciunilor (The Liars Bridge.) This bridge was built in the late 1800's and the rumor says that you cannot tell a lie while standing on the bridge or it will collapse. Romanians like to point out that Ceausescu gave many speeches from the bridge so the rumor must not be true. All the same its a very pretty bridge.I lived here for 7 and a half months and loved living here and never thought there was anything weird at all about the town. Alayna is here for 2 hours and notices and points out to me that the houses have eyes and that they follow you. I am now terrified of these houses. Thanks Alayna.This was taken at the market place. Doesn't Alayna look pretty? At least she didn't tell me that the market was haunted or something. We were sad because apparently Sibiu ,being the European Culture Capital of 2007, felt that having the dirty smelly market full of gypsies wasn't the best face to present. I was very upset. The whole reason we went to the market was so that I could haggle with some gypsies. Alayna first saw people using brooms like this in Bucuresti and was desperate to get a picture of one. Unfortunately every time we saw one we didn't have our camera ready. In Sibiu we finally found one.
This is taken in the nicest restaurant in Sibiu. Only the really, really wealthy eat here. This is the restaurant in the Hotel Imparatul Romanilor, which is the Hotel Roman Emperor. We couldn't afford to stay there but we could afford to eat lunch there. The whole meal for both of us cost us about $10. And the food is fantastic! Unfortunately we were near the end of our trip and we looked a little grungy for a nice restaurant. That didn't stop us though.
This is the other place that anybody who goes to Sibiu has to eat, Unicum. It is a great little pizza joint in Centru. This is in my opinion the best pizza in the world, because while the Brick Oven restaurant claims to use a wood burning stove, what they really mean is they use a gas oven with fake logs stuck in there. Unicum actually uses a wood burning oven, they have a log pile next to the oven that they have to periodically feed. It adds an amazing flavor to the food. Alayna agrees with me that it is very good.

Maybe this is what they call burying the lede (lead), but I decided to leave you with a picture of the Evangelical Church. This is the prettiest building in Sibiu and goes back to the 17th century. That is all for Sibiu and if any of you have decided to visit Brasov you should definitely go to Sibiu while you are there because it is a beautiful city and well worth your time.

Bran

Bran Castle is Dracula's castle! It wasn't really, but he may have stopped by here one time... probably not though, he was the lord of the the southern region of Romania called Valahia. His rule did get this far North, but just barely. Still, its a great marketing ploy and a really cool castle, that was in fact inhabited until the 1930's.
Basically we included this to show that Romanians in the 13th century when this castle was built were short. Also I'm standing in a secret passage way. How cool is that! This is a great view off one of the balconies in the castle overlooking the castle courtyard and the hill in the background.
Another shot looking down into the courtyard with the castle well.
Bran is a cool place and I would recommend it to anyone.

Brasov

Our next stop was Brasov. I never served here but I did come through fairly regularly for Zone conferences and such. It is a pretty city and the most major of the tourist cities in Transylvania.


For those who have seen my Conger for President t-shirt, this is a recreation of the original campaign poster, minus the other members of the campaign. It probably isn't too likely but hopefully Mitt will lay some groundwork for us and we can get my old mission companion elected in 2032, remember, "I'll decide!" This is the central street in Brasov. Down at the end you can see Biserica Neagra (The black church) It is called the black church because it was burned out many years ago by some invading horde or other, thus giving it the charred exterior.
This is a closer look at Biserica Neagra. It really is beautiful, although it does look like it just got burned down.
This is the tower in the middle of the council square. You saw it above. As you can probably see Brasov is one of the most picturesque cities in Romania, and if I could get a picture of all of it, the world. Brasov was originally built as two cities on opposite sides of a mountain but they have grown together through the years and the mountain right in the middle makes for a really beautiful city.

Pitesti

The next city on our Romanian Adventure was Pitesti. This is a picture of me eating the famous Pitesti bread (mostly famous to missionaries and the city of Pitesti) in front of the Vila where the branch here met for church.
This is a picture that Alayna took at a train station of a gypsy and her daughter. Alayna loved the little girl so I asked if we could take a few pictures. This is definitely not what most gypsies look like. This is sort of the postcard version but they were very nice.
Romania has a huge problem with street dogs as most people had to turn out their dogs when they were moved into the city blocks. This little guy was fascinated by Alayna's camera and tried to attack after this shot was taken. He was all bark and no bite, however. Up next: Brasov!

Bucuresti

On the next leg of our trip we went and visited Nate's mission in Romania. Since this was sort of his part of the trip I am going to let him write it although we are not sure how to do it under his name yet so I am letting you know that this is Nate speaking starting... now:

I would have posted these sooner but Alayna keeps giving me rules on what I can and cannot say, Ironically Romania just threw out their dictator who told them what they could and could not say but I have no such freedom. This is the Bucuresti skyline, I am going to write Bucuresti, when all you anglophile out there will want to read Bucharest, that tends to make the English say Byoocharest which is one of my pet peeves so forgive me if I spell it properly.

The pyramid that you see here in the foreground is a monument to Martirii revolutii (The martyrs of the revolution) the balcony in the background is the balcony from which Ceasescu gave his final speech. Two funny stories about that. Right before Ceausescu gave his speech, the whole country was in an uproar, and I mean everybody. So Ceausescu is so sure of his divine right to govern that he believes his advisors when they tell him that all he needs to to do is make a public address and people will calm down. Turns out they were wrong. The second funny story is from my mission. While I was there President Bush came and gave a speech to Bucuresti about Romania entering the EU. We thought it might be interesting so my companion and I hooked up with a another companionship and went and listened. Bush gave his address standing not far from this balcony, standing next to him as he gave this speech was Ion Iliescu, the president of Romania at the time, also the prime minister of Romania under Ceausescu, turns out the people have a very short memory. This is funny because in typical Bush fashion he made the comment that "a decade ago a dicator stood in this very square and you threw him down and paved the way for democracy..." or some other similar statement. The advisor who was standing by Ceausescu while he made his final speech to the Romanian people, was the same man standing next to Bush as he gave his speech. (editors note: I do not mean this as any type of comment on the current administration) Casa Poporului (The peoples house). This monstrocity is the second largest building in the world by square footage. The only building larger is the Pentagon. I heard a rumor, but I have never seen it confirmed anywhere that Ceausescu emptied all the granite reserves in Romania to build this thing. Only about a third of the offices are air conditioned, because only about a third of the offices are ever used, for any purpose at all. We liked it because its really big. It takes about an hour to walk all the way around it.

This picture is very near and dear to my heart. While I was serving in sector 5 we met in a little house that the church had bought. There was a chapel in Bucuresti but it was for other branches. One day while I was walking by this empty lot with my companion I remarked to him that it would be the perfect spot for a chapel. I later repeated my sentiment to the Mission president in my weekly letter. 5 years later... there is a brand new chapel on the lot. It was dedicated 8 months ago. It may seem like a minor thing but that to me is a miracle.
This is the aforementioned House that we met in before the chapel was built.
This is a picture of what used to be "the Congo" or the place where we'd go to play basketball on P-day. Its on the grounds of the local college, but has now been turned into a a soccer field. We loved it because it had stadium seating and was completely surrounded by trees and you had to enter through a hole in the fence.
This is the hill in Cismigiu Park where Romania was dedicated for missionary work. You come here on your first day in the mission and your last day in the mission. It is a sacred place.
From that hill you can see what looks to be a huge tree (15 ft in diameter) that has been cut off. On your first day in the mission they tell you that Ceausescu cut the tree down in an effort to market tooth picks to the world. It's really just a storage shed made to look like a tree stump. Not many missionaries fall for it. Alayna fell for it.
Ok Pretty much every missionary falls for it including yours truly. What can I say you are at the very least disoriented when you get there. The remaining posts about Romania will all be done by me so you can enjoy my little tidbits of information, or wait until Alayna starts posting again when we post Vienna.