The Alpine Line

The Gum Hunter

2012-01-30T22:27:00.002+02:00

Quietly ensuring

that you can never find gum

when you really need it.

Best 5 Euros Ever Spent

2012-01-24T09:14:00.000+02:00

Book Reviews 2011

2012-01-18T20:09:00.002+02:00

Ok, it's that time of year again! Book report time.

It was a good year for books for me, but it's hard to narrow it down. I guess I will go by category.

Best Classic: Little Women

Coming from a family with four girls, the movie version was staple at my house growing up (ooh boy, that Christian Bale) and I'm so glad I finally got a chance to read it. It was a sweet and interesting look into life for everyday women during the civil war. You really fall in love with the characters as they weave themselves towards adulthood. Wholesome goodness.

Best Parenting Book: Boundaries with Kids

I was given this book by a friend of mine and it really articulates well how important it is to start getting your child into good habits when they are still small. Like the title says, it's all about setting boundaries that help your child understand that they are ultimately responsible for themselves and their behavior. Really well written and perfect for a new mom who is just starting to have to lay down the law.

Best Overall: All the Pretty Horses

Cormac McCarthy is swiftly becoming one of my favorite authors. He handles words like a master and his prose is at once spare and poetic. This is a great novel is a modern day western full of horses and adventure. Loved it.

Well, that's it for me, what did you read this past year? Anything of note?

I got a Kindle for Christmas (hooray!) and am looking forward to this year. With all of these new possibilities my to-do book list gets longer by the day...

Happy reading in 2012!

Sweaters Beware

2012-01-13T15:10:00.001+02:00

Hey! Adelaide just got a new sweater!

Unfortunately, it used to be her dad's.

It's amazing how much they shrink in hot water.

A word to all you sweaters out there:

Don't cross me.

Silvester

2012-01-08T14:32:00.001+02:00

Let's be honest, getting married between Christmas and New Year's Eve was not one of my better ideas. It sounded great at the time, but every year when our anniversary comes we are always a little bit broke, tired of parties and gifts and sick of rich food. We always end up just keeping it really simple.

This year for our Anniversary I was sick with a cold. And our gift giving was limited to me giving Ben that cold. I know, I'm very romantic.
(I also made him pancakes, that should count for something.)

What the sore throat meant was we were both fairly sick for New Years Eve (Silvester in Austria), and instead of our usual sushi and a party we ended up recovering on the couch with hot soup.

Luckily, I had picked up some lead fortune tellers at the store so we did have some (low key) celebrations. In German it's called Bleigiessen which means lead pouring.

You start with small lead objects:

Every shape represents something different: love, money, health etc...

A candle is lit and small chunks of lead are melted in a spoon over the candle. You then quickly pour the melted metal quickly into a cup of cold water to harden. Then you tell your fortune based on the shape of the shadow that is cast by the new form of the lead.

Addie thought this was fantastic.

I'm not the best diviner, and couldn't quite make out what was in store...

Microphones? Ghosts? Tiny waiters? Fertility?

Missy's 2012

What do you think -- What are your predictions for this year?

8 Years

2012-01-03T12:40:00.002+02:00

There's no place I'd rather be.

Santa Snowman Sisters Salzburg

2011-12-28T09:53:00.000+02:00

Christmas was awesome.

We found this great Playmobile Barn at a flea market complete with little goats and boys in lederhosen. Between St. Nick and her Grandparents, Adelaide came out quite well. Christmas as a parent continues to exceed my expectations. Lovely.

Santa's handiwork

That night when she went to bed, she kept asking when "Hi-Ho" (Santa) was coming again, convinced he would come the next night too... ahhh, the disappointment. Only 360+ days to go...

We also built a snowman, ate salmon, watched movies. Had a good, lazy time.

It was so nice to have my sister come. I can't say enough how much we appreciate our families. Thanks for the Christmas cards, the packages, the Skype calls. We really love you guys and miss you this time of year.

Heart!

And then, because in Austria people also have the 26th off (St. Stephen's day, hooray!) we went to Salzburg to see the sights.

Superb!

Christmas Roundup

2011-12-23T22:39:00.000+02:00

What a busy month. Here's what we've been up to:

It started with a Christmas Playmobile Advent calendar which managed to get itself entirely opened by December 2nd.

What can I say, I just got really excited.

Just look at those baby foxes! Cuuuuute.

We went to the Innsbruck Christmas Market, which is always lovely and looks and feels the way Christmas should. And being in the city center gives us an excuse to buy kabobs. Bonus!

Next, our British friends Michelle and Andy invited us to their Christmas party, where I tried my first mince pie and a chocolate cheesecake that would make you die happy.

It has been nice to meet friends who speak English.

And we got tickets to the Opera, to watch a friend of ours sing the lead. Opera is huge in Austria, and even smaller cities have their own opera houses and companies. The music was great, but it was all in German so Ben and I kept leaning over and whispering... "wait, so did they just say they wanted to get married?.... no I think that's his daughter... oh wait they are kissing now so never mind..."

Needless to say, it was the best half opera I have ever been to.

Other than that, it has been work, work, work with loads of English lessons for me and Ben engaged in getting his experiment up and running.

And the last best news, my sister Meg is coming today to spend Christmas with us:

The party can officially begin! Have a nice weekend everyone.

Holiday Card 2011

2011-12-17T10:40:00.003+02:00

Happy Holidays!

Temptations

2011-12-11T16:07:00.001+02:00

Last week, Grandma and Grandpa sent us a package...

A package full of goodies. Wrapped presents with pretty bows. We put them under the tree right away and they have been driving Addie c-r-a-z-y. An unopened gift is tantalizing, almost too much for a toddler to bear. She holds them daily and fingers the wrapped edges and lectures her dolls about not opening them until Christmas...
And there they sit under the tree... trying to lure her in.

I probably enjoy her torture a bit too much. But I suppose we all have our temptations.

Two weeks left, and if the gifts remain untouched for that long, it will truly be a Christmas miracle. The chocolate covered gingerbread however... umm... that's another story.

Krampus II

2011-12-04T20:58:00.001+02:00

Christmas is coming... how can I tell?

Because Devil masks are for sale at all the shops...

Krampus has returned!

The mythical creature that accompanies good St Nicholas, and punishes the bad little children is back. Last year, it was snowing and freezing cold so we didn't go out to see the traditional Krampus festivities that occur in many villages throughout Tirol, but this year it has been warm and the village next to ours was having a Krampus party, so we went on over to check it out.

It did not disappoint. The village was crawling with these sinister beasts, whipping at the ankles of passerby and growling. Traditionally the masks are hand carved from wood, they wear large bells, and formidable hairy coats:

But some of the masks are have a modern flavor and are a bit more disturbing. This isn't a face I would want to wake up to in the morning:

And, as Ben and I are running for "Parents of the Year", we took our toddler along. This was her basic impression:

Stone cold.

She's a tough little hellcat.

A couple of times a Krampus would come by and shake her hand with his big hairy claws. She obliged, but warily. But, there weren't any tears. And this makes sitting on Jolly Old Santa's lap a piece of cake.

Still, I have a hunch we will be sleeping with a scared tot for the next month. You reap what you sow.

Then, as if the night could not get any more bizarre, we bought the world's longest hot dog.

Merry Christmas!

PS. For a look at how they do things in Switzerland, read this.

And some great information about celebrations throughout Europe, check out this post.

Turkey Day

2011-11-29T20:17:00.001+02:00

Another Thanksgiving here and gone. We had ours with this friendly neighborhood turkey man (and fellow American), who had driven with his wife all the way to an Army base in Germany to get this Butterball turkey, along with some real Stove Top stuffing, Jello and pumpkin puree.

Ahhh, America in food form.

Unfortunately, even with all of the delicacies, this was all Addie was interested in:

But with some persuasion she started to catch on.

She stole this turkey leg from Ben's plate and dragged it around all night, taking little nibbles here and there and leaving little turkey handprints wherever she went. (sigh) As long as she eats something right?

And I don't know if it is because it is so rare here, but seriously I have never had such a good pumpkin pie. Ahhhh, so delicious.

Anyway, it was a lovely occasion but as always friends and family were sorely missed. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Whew, what a week.

2011-11-23T18:46:00.001+02:00

I'm ready for some turkey and pie, thankyouverymuch.

Hide and Seek

2011-11-17T09:39:00.001+02:00

Last weekend we taught Addie how to play hide and seek.

This was her first hiding place:

I really can't tell you how much I LOVE toddlers.

Ridin'

2011-11-10T23:21:00.000+02:00

Addie is going through a cowboy phase right now. She LOVES them. Anything she can sit on becomes a horse, and anything that is swingable is a rope.

It all started when seeing this old Disney cartoon in America.... here a little clip of her singing along:

umm... please excuse my incidental singing.

And then she watched Toy Story for the first time with her cousin and she was sold. Cowboys (and girls) are officially awesome.

Luckily, it's a good look for her.

Last Gasp of Warm Weather

2011-11-05T10:21:00.000+02:00

Halloween Miracle

2011-10-31T21:27:00.003+02:00

It was another October 31st in a foreign land. There would be no trick or treaters. No carved pumpkins. I was feeling blue. And desperate. And then my mom sent us a package filled with goodies, which cheered me up a bit. It included this amusing little spooky brownie kit. This is how they were supposed to look:

And this is how they actually turned out:

It didn't help that Addie kept trying to eat their eyes and poke at their hair. Ok, I shouldn't blame it all on her, my frosting was strange and drippy. Notice the pool of green... I guess it makes them a bit scarier.

That was to be all for our Halloween when at the last minute we found a Halloween party to go to! Which meant that I had to hurry and put together a costume out of whatever we had on hand.

She's a monster. I would also take pumpkin or chicken as possible correct alternatives. Although I have to say, it turned out ok for being so last minute. Just don't look at the stitching...

The party was through an ex-patriots group here in Innsbruck made up of Americans, Canadians, Brits, Australians and New Zealanders. It was at this awesome little petting zoo up in the mountains.

And Addie got her very first pony ride, which filled her little horse-loving heart with joy.

Seen below is her serious face. She only pulls it out when she is REALLY into something.

And twenty minutes later, she crashed in the car on the way home.

So although I had some serious doubt about Halloween this year, it turned out pretty awesome. A real Halloween miracle.

Introducing: The Evil Emperor Zurg

2011-10-27T15:59:00.000+03:00

When did this happen?

2011-10-20T12:33:00.000+03:00

And just like that, she wasn't a little baby anymore.

Harry Potter and the Never-ending Book

2011-10-13T22:16:00.000+03:00

I've been reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to aid my German. While I've learned all sorts of valuable words like Owl (Eule) and Scar (Narbe), it is slow going. I started it last November and just today he finally arrived at Hogwarts...

Maybe by next November I'll actually finish.

Pray for endurance.

Little Sponge

2011-10-07T08:53:00.000+03:00

In the last month or so, Addie has really started using her imagination.
I often catch her tucking in her babies and making her little people dance and hug.

It is so riveting to watch the dramas that unfold out of her blooming mind.

Sometimes though, it's like looking into a slightly unflattering mirror. When I catch her barking orders at her little people to go bed, or yank them into "time out" it makes me wonder what she is learning from her dear old mom...

Hopefully some good things too.

A Ghost Eating Ice Cream

2011-09-30T17:04:00.000+03:00

Ok, for some reason whenever Addie and I sit down to color, she asks me to draw this:

It's a ghost eating ice cream. I have no idea where this idea came from (or why) but to date we have several hundred pictures of ghosts eating ice cream. And sometimes apples and cookies.

I guess she just likes the idea of a ghost eating ice cream.
I do too, come to think of it.

Fire Hazard

2011-09-23T08:46:00.000+03:00

One year older and hopefully wiser.

Alten Werke Festival

2011-09-17T09:54:00.002+03:00

Last weekend we took the car for a spin. Because we could. The day started with some spätzle on the top of a mountain.

And to our delight, there was an "Alten Werke Festival" (Old Works Festival) going on in a nearby village. There were barrel makers and wheel smiths and all sorts of pastries, schnapps and strudel.

Addie spotted this Carousel from a mile away...

and after one ride, she was devastated when we told her we wouldn't be staying there for the rest of the day. Ahhh, the hardships of a toddler.

And of course there was lederhosen EVERYWHERE. As far as the eye could see.

A boy looking at "Krampus" masks

I have to admit. I have a thing for Lederhosen.

Pretty good Saturday in my book. Thanks Austria.

Wheels

2011-09-13T10:09:00.001+03:00

We've gone through a few changes the past couple of weeks.
First, we got this sweet little number in the states:

I know what you are all thinking, and yes, it is a McClaren. *demure blush

Not only does it have a rain hood and the seat lays back, but the handles are high enough for normal adult sized people to use without hunching over. Bonus!I love things that only cost 35 dollars (classifieds) but make your life 35 billion times easier.

And then, just when I thought life could not get any better, Ben found THIS:

We were getting by fine without one, but I think we have hiked every trail in the area and we need new mountains to climb (and a way to get there). It's a 1996 toyota. Isn't it beautiful?I'll tell you what is beautiful; carrying home groceries in the trunk and not on my back on the bus. Revolutionary.

In the end, if we get a year out of it, it's the same as buying a year's worth of bus passes.Let's just pray she lasts longer than our last car...

Birthday Video

2011-09-10T18:12:00.000+03:00

Last year, she didn't know what was going on, this year it was a snap.

Addie Blows Out the Candles from Missy & Ben on Vimeo.

This one's for you, Grandparents!

II

2011-09-04T09:04:00.001+03:00

Someone just turned two...

Does it show?

The Rest

2011-09-01T10:21:00.000+03:00

The rest of the trip was a bit of a blur. A dizzying twirl of family parties, barbecues, play dates and nights out on the town.

We spent some quality time with my grandparents:

Ben took his first spin on a road bike. And fell in love. Not with Dave here, with the bike. (Don't worry Dave, he loves you too).

Spent a night up in Idaho at the farm with our nieces and nephews, who are a bunch of the hardest working kids I've ever met.

We saw my little sister play in her band, Bearclause. If you are into the Salt Lake music scene, be sure to check them out. (She's the one with the violin)

And we had dinner with friends:

And more dinner with friends:

And more dinner with friends:

And after so much good food, boarded the plane feeling a bit like this:

We were all sad to leave. I will miss the closeness of so many lovely people. But it will be nice to settle into a routine (and a normal diet) and to get back to work. All in all, it was an amazing month. I feel so grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Uintas

2011-08-28T09:43:00.002+03:00

This is my dad.

He is a happy camper.

When I asked him if he could take us camping, in just a few hours he had all of the gear rounded up, a menu planned and the car packed. He's an old pro.

And as luck would have it, our friend Timo from Finland was in Salt Lake on business, so he got to join in on the fun.

Addie, always the darling of the grandparents, was supplied with plenty of cookies and marshmallows. We told scary stories, ate s'mores, and Ben tried his hand at the mandolin.

Of all the activities we did in the USA, this was the one that made me love our great homeland the most. There is nothing better than waking up to this:

Oh Uintas, I think I might miss you most of all.

Vancouver

2011-08-25T09:32:00.001+03:00

While we were in the pacific northwest, Ben and I took one day and sped up to Vancouver to see his best friend from high school.

Vancouver was amazing.

So beautiful and shiny, with all the amenities of a big modern city and still having the ocean AND mountains so close. For me, that is heaven.

We rented bikes, which was a huge hit with the babe.

I would love to live there. The city was crisscrossed with bike paths and waterways and they had an enormous park on the edge of town.

My only regret is that we didn't get to stay longer.

Mark my words Vancouver: WE WILL RETURN.

(Thanks Brady and Erin, for such a nice time!)

Roadtrip: Seattle

2011-08-22T16:16:00.000+03:00

What is one way to ensure hours and hours and hours of family togetherness?

A Roadtrip! Hooray!

The best way to see the US is definitely by car. There is so much beautiful scenery along the way and as long as you have a great playlist and good conversation the long drive goes pretty quickly. It also helped to have Grandma and Grandpa helped quell the toddler storms as we drove along:

Once we got to Seattle we hit up all of the landmarks:

The Space Needle

Pike Place Market

We also made it to the Seattle Art Museum, which had a great collection as well as an excellent exhibit on aboriginal art. Which usually isn't my thing, but I found myself pretty taken by it.

Aboriginal Art

Seattle Art Museum

The rest of the week we stayed busy throwing rocks on the beach, canoeing and island hopping.

It took some getting used to traveling with these two, they can get kinda bossy.

But we found fun things to do. Addie was especially impressed with her first carousel ride. It helps being cheered on by so many adoring fans.

It the end, it was a great ten days. I loved seeing a new part of the country and getting the time to spend with my family who are usually so very far away.

Family Reunion

2011-08-20T13:38:00.002+03:00

Ahhh, to return to the homeland! For Ben, this was the first time touching American shores in three years, so it was a sight for sore eyes. To kick off our USA trip off, we went first to Ben's family reunion.

This year it was held in the small country town where Ben's father is originally from. A good ol' western town, complete with haystacks and real life cowboys.

While there we took a dip in the local watering hole:

And went to the Pioneer Parade. Which was pretty much people riding slowly in the back of pickups with handmade signs and throwing candy at very eager children. If you have never been to a parade in a small western town, it is an experience to remember!

We went cliff jumping, ate great food and for four days made beautiful music together:

Ben's family is pretty big. Altogether we are up to 49 people and still growing.

Whenever you get this many people together, it's bound to be a little chaotic. (I mean that in a good way). But it was great to see everyone and a rare moment when almost every member of the family was able to attend.

Addie's BFF

2011-08-14T15:17:00.001+03:00

Coming to Utah, Addie got to meet lots of cousins. But she spent a lot of time with her cousin Asher, and right from the start they hit it off.

I have never seen her interact so well (or fight so much) with another child and it was really fun to watch them.

For the last month these two were inseparable. I think Austria will be pretty lonely without him.

Family Time

2011-08-07T08:19:00.003+03:00

The last few weeks have been so great. We are relishing in all of this quality family time and can't believe it's almost over.

Full report to come!

A Proud Day

2011-07-31T23:13:00.006+03:00

So Ben has this big tough older brother who has arms like tree trunks and eats nails for breakfast. And as a family of wrestlers, growing up Ben has never been able to pin him.

Until last week...

And it's Ben for the win!

Smitten with Kittens

2011-07-26T23:42:00.004+03:00

Uncle Aaron's cat had a new litter and Addie fell head over heels for them.

Is there anything cuter than babies and kittens?

You know, I don't think that there is.

Austria: A Year In

2011-07-19T16:51:00.000+03:00

It's been a year in Austria. A whole year! Is it just me or does time seem to go by faster as we age? Anyway, one year ago we pulled up in our little Nissan and stood looking at these mountains wondering what was going to happen next.

In the meantime:

Ben has almost finished building his experiment (more on that later). He's traveled all over Europe to conferences and really loves his work.

Adelaide has learned to walk and talk and do a million other things. The transition from baby to toddler has been such a quick rush of development

And I've learned some German.

It's coming along, albiet slowly. After a year's study I now have a dangerous amount learned. Dangerous as in I'm starting to feel more confident, but can very easily get overtaken in the conversation. I tend to mix up words and tenses and I've even found myself saying English words with a German accent when things get really crazy.

Most of the time the reactions I get are:

1. The person will automatically switch to English

2. The person will look confused

3. The person will laugh and make a comment on my skills. A couple of weeks ago out shopping I started to speak and the salesgirl told me "Oh, your German is SO CUTE". Now I'm not an expert or anything but I'm pretty sure that German is not supposed to sound cute.

It's humbling.

So things are going well. We just need to keep on keeping on.

America

2011-07-14T23:10:00.000+03:00

Lake Achensee

2011-07-12T13:20:00.002+03:00

Last weekend we went to the lake for a day:

After so much rain the past few weeks (lots) we were all excited to get some sun and get out of the house.

And I love love love having my sister here, even though when I stand next to her I look like a ghost. We've had so many great conversations and have enjoyed every minute of their visit.

At the end of the day we left tired and happy.

Throwing rocks is exhausting business.

Fourth.

2011-07-05T09:15:00.007+03:00

The first sunny day in a week AND the Fourth of July?

The only logical way to celebrate was to build a slip n' slide in the backyard:

Unfortunately Addie stuck one little toe in the cold hose water and before we knew it she was back inside raiding the toy box for drier things to do. Completely uninterested.

Luckily, Uncle Dan stepped in where Addie stepped out.

Grown man + Slip n' Slide = Hours of Fun

For dinner, we had bratwursts and sauerkraut. Ok, so not very American. But in the American tradition of making unhealthy food even more unhealthy, the brats were wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese, and were amazing.

I think my heart stopped several times during dinner.

It was worth it.

And Addie ate her weight in watermelon:

Plus we did drink Coke to stay connected to our American roots.

Happy Birthday America. We sure love you.

Endless Rain

2011-06-22T19:01:00.004+03:00

It has rained a lot these past few weeks...

There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.

But the sun is out today, so we are spending the day outside. See you later!

Burning House Project

2011-06-22T10:54:00.003+03:00

I saw this idea on this site and was inspired. If your house was burning down and you only had a few minutes to grab things and get out, what items would you pick?

Of course, Addie would be number one and the rest would just be happy extras. So what about it? What would you take with you?

Dear Old Dads

2011-06-19T19:30:00.011+03:00

Good Mommy

2011-06-13T10:33:00.000+03:00

The other day, I came into the living room to find this:

She is just being a good mommy, but I still had to take the lotion away.

The Alms

2011-06-08T09:01:00.002+03:00

So in the Alps, they have a different way of camping than in the US. You aren't allowed to start fires or put up tents for conservation reasons, and instead they have built a networks of alms (cabins) that serve as restaurants and guest houses for outdoor enthusiasts. We had heard about this from friends, but this weekend we decided to see it for ourselves.

It's great, after a few hours of hiking you can stop and rest and get a hot meal and a cold drink and enjoy the view. Some of the alms have cows and make a lot of their own food, fresh off of the farm.

While I love sitting around the campfire as much as the next guy, it really is an excellent system. You still get to eat like a king and sleep in a bed while enjoying nature, even while far off the beaten path. Plus your pack load is MUCH lighter without your tent and sleeping bag.

And while carrying this little girl, you want your pack to be as light as possible. She's wiggly.

Tiny Pigtails

2011-06-01T11:21:00.001+03:00

Finally, after months and months of waiting and telling strangers that my little child was indeed a girl and not a little boy wearing a dress...

...our little Adelaide finally grew enough hair to put into pigtails.

Teeny weeny ones, but they are there!

And once I finally got them in and straight, she began to fuss and want them out. And I realized what a blessing it was to have a bald baby for as long as I did. Let the hair battle begin!

Kate and Dan.

2011-05-28T17:21:00.002+03:00

A few weeks ago, my sister Kate got married. To a man who already felt like he was part of the family:

We were very sad to miss the wedding, but to our delight they decided to spend their honeymoon in Europe!

Bring on the good times!

Schönbrunn Tiergarten

2011-05-21T09:07:00.004+03:00

This week Ben had some research to do in Vienna, and my English classes fell through so Addie and I joined him there for a few days. Because he works all of the time we have taken it upon ourselves to visit every park, slide on every slide and swing in every swing in the city. So far so good.

But to break up the monotony, we decided to go to the Schönbrunn Tiergarten (Zoo). It's the oldest existing zoo in the world, and was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

First of all, it exists on the grounds of the Schönbrunn palace, the residence of the Hapsburg royalty. The historic part of the zoo is very old and romantic looking with a pavilion in the center, surrounded by fountains, statues and the menagerie.

If you ever are in Vienna (and especially if you have children) this zoo is worth a visit!

By the end of the day, Addie was a little tired of the animals and started to inspect trees and rocks instead.

Oh well. I had a good time anyway.

Ugh. Not again.

2011-05-15T08:22:00.001+03:00

Well, at least now I have two that match:

Now where is she finding these pens?

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:12:00.004+03:00

Hope your day was as sweet as mine! Love to all you moms out there.

Vienna and Hallstatt

2011-05-06T17:19:00.004+03:00

And lastly, we made our way to Vienna; a surprisingly spectacular capital for a country of only eight million people. While here, we took a tour of the cathedrals (and their catacombs).

Then to the Hapsburg palace, Schloss Schönbrunn

With the amazing gardens and awesome hedge labyrinth:

And to an art gallery, to see this beauty:

The Kiss, Gustav Klimt, Belvedere Art Gallery

We visited the Mauthausen Memorial and Concentration camp, which was very sobering, but informative.

And celebrated not one, but two birthdays with this tasty little baby:

The famous Viennese Sacher Torte

The girls did some shopping:

And we went to multiple playgrounds.

Addie was pleased....until we had to leave.

On the way home, Ben randomly took a detour to this little Austrian village called Hallstatt.

We rented a boat and just soaked in the beauty. And then stopped for dinner.

It was a relaxing way to end the trip.

The End.

Innsbruck and Salzburg

2011-05-04T11:42:00.017+03:00

After Italy, we were all pretty worn out. So we took it easy for a couple of days in Innsbruck. Ben and I started by making a German style breakfast:

We went on walks,

Mingled with the locals,

Went to the Innsbruck city center,

And then to the local castle, to enjoy the gardens...

And run from the peacocks.

It was a nice, relaxing couple of days. It's nice to have guests because it allows you to re-appreciate where you live.

Every night we tried to make authentic local cuisine:

Aliina with Tirolean Knödel

And Addie absolutely loved the attention.

It was nice to relax, but there was still lots to see! So midweek we jumped in the van and made our way to Salzburg. Ben had found a really great (and inexpensive!) hostel on a cliff overlooking the valley that looked like an old castle outpost:

And this was the view:

Salzburg is really lovely. Lots of gardens and castles, and enough Mozart memorabilia to last you a lifetime (or two).

Our lovely Addie is getting to an age where she would prefer not to be in the backpack. Or more accurately, she resists it tooth and nail and must be bribed to get in. When at the park, it's ok for her to run around (except she loves to pick flowers... we have to watch her like a hawk) but at the Mozart Museum, surrounded with 400 year old pianos and other delicate historical items... Ben volunteered to take her out before any real damage was done.

I'm realizing that my days of strolling leisurely through museums and galleries are on hiatus until she gets a little bigger. Until then, the park and the zoo will have to suffice.

Venice and Verona

2011-04-30T11:59:00.004+03:00

Next, we hopped the border to Italy for the weekend. First stop was Venice:

As one of Europe's best preserved medieval cities it is completely gorgeous.

A bit impractical, but gorgeous.

Then we introduced the girls to gelato...

And we just wandered around getting lost. Very romantic, even with a baby on your back.

Next the land of Romeo and Juliet, in fair Verona is where we lay our scene:

We toured around the Arena, an amphitheater built by the Romans.

It still functions as a venue today, which is pretty remarkable considering the building is almost 2000 years old.

And then some more gelato...

And after a long weekend of touring, we drove off into the sunset.

Munich and Neuschwanstein

2011-04-26T10:04:00.012+03:00

Whew! It's been a busy two weeks. We covered a lot of territory and collectively took about 3000 pictures. Of which I have had to prune substantially and will now cover the highlights:

We picked up Ben's parents and our nieces in Munich and spent the morning walking around the city center:

They loved the local attire:

And the tiny cars:

And the tasty Kebabs:

Then we listened to some folk music at a local brew house:

And just enjoyed the scenery and fruit stands.

Next we drove down to Füssen to see Neuschwanstein, an iconic castle built in the 1800s.

I was a little hesitant to go because I had heard stories of it being a bit of a tourist trap, but the castle was beautiful and it was a nice hike with amazing views.

And that was just day one!

Grandparents

2011-04-19T09:46:00.001+03:00

The first time Grandma and Grandpa has met our little one in person...

It's been nice. Between the candy in Grandpa's pocket and the Finnish lullabies at bedtime I think Addie is enjoying their visit...

Quick! Take a picture!

2011-04-12T10:02:00.006+03:00

I had to document my pristine home because I'm afraid it wont last long... I guess this is as good a time as any for a house tour...

Kitchen/Addie's Room:

Addie's room:

Living Room:

Ok, no one is allowed to eat, play or touch anything until our guests arrive tomorrow.

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-07T11:37:00.002+03:00

There is nothing like visitors to end the procrastination to deep clean your house.

Next week my in-laws and a pair of nieces are coming to visit so I've been giving the corners and hidden dust proper attention, rustling up bedding and blankets and generally trying to get our house in a more organized chaos.

But no matter how fast I clean, I just can't keep up with this one. This is the third time today she has decided to "organize" the colored paper.

One step forward, two steps back.

Mummy's Little Artist

2011-03-31T11:08:00.001+03:00

One chair down, five to go.

SPRRRING!

2011-03-25T12:10:00.002+02:00

With weather like this, how can you not feel happy?

Scratch, Picks, and Speed Cameras.

2011-03-19T09:37:00.008+02:00

When driving around Europe, one must be on the lookout for speed cameras, ready to sneak a photo documenting your lead-foot tendencies...

or any other tendencies one may have. We recently received this in the mail:

Ben is convinced it was a scratch. Your thoughts?

Fasching

2011-03-12T14:00:00.001+02:00

On Tuesday, we celebrated Fasching. Also known as Mardi Gras or Carnival, Fasching is a Catholic holiday celebrated from the 11th day of November and ends on Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent (the 40 days before Easter that is set aside to remember Jesus and give up your sinful/decadent behavior)

Here in Austria costumes went on sale in January and the festivities swelled around the weekend before Ash Wednesday. There was a Fasching party at our church the weekend before:

Balloons and doughnuts? Addie was very pleased.

And on Fat Tuesday all of the shops closed early and there was a big festival in the city center. Wanting to get in on the action Addie and I went into town to participate. It was fun to see so many people performing and dancing and drinking. Booze, loud music, costumes. Scary gorillas. Everyone relishing the warm weather.

But in the end, it wasn't very baby friendly (quite loud) and Addie started to let me know that she was ready to go home (also becoming quite loud). But when we got off the bus in our village, and there was a huge crowd:

*Well, huge for our tiny village anyway

There were people in costumes milling about and talking and suddenly, two lines of men with masks and huge bells behind their backs walked down the road.

They were led by this old woman holding a broom and they performed this dance with their bells. Then whomever's barn they danced in front of came out of the house with trays of krapfen (jelly filled doughnuts) and bottles of schnaps for them.

And young women would wander around the crowd with little barrels of schnaps, offering a shot for a tip:

The atmosphere was so relaxed and light, kids running around dressed up like spiderman or princesses and everyone having a nice time.

The bells were loud and enormous

It was really fun and interesting to witness these unfamiliar celebrations. If you are interested, here is some footage of the masked dancers.

Fasching in Austria from Missy & Ben on Vimeo.

Happy Fasching!

Found!

2011-03-05T11:12:00.001+02:00

The other morning I couldn't find my headphones ANYWHERE. I looked and looked and looked. It was very frustrating. And then, when cleaning up lunch I finally found them:

Looks like a little someone was being helpful.

I hate to wonder about all of the things I've unknowingly thrown out in the past few months....

You have to watch this one.

She's sneaky.

Happiest Place on Earth

2011-03-01T10:24:00.002+02:00

It's been cold. You know, because of winter. Unfortunately Addie is ready to spend every day barefoot in the grass, but her mean mom makes her stay inside and wear her sweater and all that. So to beat those winter blues we've been taking lots of trips to the local pet store.

Here she is allowed to get out of the stroller and roam. Which translates into pure baby heaven. I'm telling you: Pure. Baby. Heaven.

The nice ladies at the store coo over her and don't mind her loud chirps of awe and surprise as she rattles on incoherently at the caged rabbits. And they let her touch the toys.

Has anyone else noticed how similar baby toys and pet toys are?

Similar interests I suppose.

God bless you pet store! You have made winter bearable. For both of us.

18 months

2011-02-24T14:58:00.001+02:00

One of my favorite things about babies this age is that they aren't afraid to show how they feel:

Oh No! from Missy & Ben on Vimeo.

Tiny Dancer from Missy & Ben on Vimeo.

I say this with the pride of a parent, but I really think she is the cutest little thing on the planet.

Birthday Date

2011-02-24T10:05:00.013+02:00

Ben and I got to go out for his birthday. Alone. To eat at a restaurant and talk like regular people do without having to monitor the sugar packets and sticky little hands.

It was so fun, and yet we were excited to go pick the little monkey up from the babysitter. Funny how that works.

We returned home for some birthday cake and presents.

Happy Birthday Ben. Thanks for all that you do.

Old Man

2011-02-20T13:28:00.002+02:00

It's official.

I'm married to a man in his thirties.

Love Day

2011-02-16T09:51:00.005+02:00

February 14th. A pretty good day.

Filled with chocolate...

(homemade chocolate cheesecake kisses to be exact...)

Fancy jewelry...

(of the princess variety)

And people you love...

Happy Valentines!

A Step Into the Dork Side

2011-02-12T09:46:00.003+02:00

So some friends of ours got us watching reruns of the old Star Trek Next Generation a month ago, and since then we have watched an episode religiously every night before going to bed. I've never seen the series, but as a girl who loves science fiction it has been fun for me to finally connect with this culturally iconic behemoth.

Mark Databurg

Ben was inspired to make this connection: has it occurred to anyone else how much Data looks like Mark Zuckerburg?

Discuss.

Ben's View

2011-02-05T12:43:00.000+02:00

In Austria, there is this law where every worker's office must have a window. I'm guessing it's for morale purposes? So this is Ben's view from his office:

Ahhh, I feel better already. Back to work!

Ice Skating

2011-01-29T10:07:00.006+02:00

Here in Tirol, it's skates by age two, skis by age three.

Adelaide disagrees.

*editor's note: In spite of it looking like I am an abusive mother, she did have fun the first 15 minutes...

My brother John, all grown up.

2011-01-22T11:33:00.001+02:00

It's hard to believe that this wild hooligan:

has transformed into this upstanding citizen:

in less than a year. Now he is off to serve a 2 year mission for the LDS church in Finland, of all places. I hope he learns more Finnish than I was able to!

Book Reviews 2010

2011-01-16T10:57:00.003+02:00

None of these books are new, but you will have to forgive me, my selection is based on the tiny English section in the library and any books my mom is nice enough to mail out to me.

First Place: Crime and Punishment

I read this for the first time in High School. Ok, actually I only read 1/2 of it and then ran out of time and hit up the cliff notes. It sounds strange, but I have felt guilty about that for the last decade (wow, ten years since high school... sheesh) So I finally buckled down and read the whole thing cover to cover. The plot was much more exciting than I remembered and I actually teared up a little bit at the end. An excellent psychological drama.

Second Place: Guns Germs and Steel

This books is so insightful and interesting. It starts at the dawn of man and describes the conditions and circumstances in which some groups of people gain power and others succumb to it. Diamond is excellent at taking a lot of complex facts and assembling it into a bigger picture. Fascinating.

Third Place:

I know I'm like 3 years late to this party, but when my brothers brought this out this summer I finally gave it a whirl and loved it. It's young adult fiction which means it doesn't mess around getting right to the plot and you can get through it in a day or two. It is a satisfying, fun read.

And that's it!

What did you read this year that was good? Any recommendations?

Until next year, happy reading in 2011.

Great Speech.

2011-01-15T11:17:00.006+02:00

And the news slowly trickles in from the other side of the ocean...

Hours of Entertainment

2011-01-09T22:01:00.004+02:00

Making the most out of life's simple pleasures.

A Week in Pictures

2011-01-03T22:18:00.012+02:00

Adelaide was grumpy all month that we didn't let her open those tempting presents

So you can imagine her joy Christmas morning when she got the green light:

We had loads of good food:

And left for Dresden to celebrate the New Years with some unintentionally monsterous homemade sushi:

The kids got along well enough:

Which was nice because we really wanted to play Halo uninterrupted:

Then we said a final goodbye (again) to our Dresden friends and headed back to the daily grind. Ahhh, December. Such a nice time of year. Although to be perfectly honest, I'm excited to get back in to a routine again. Hope you all had a great holiday.

From: Ben, Missy and Addie

Sublime

2010-12-27T09:42:00.000+02:00

It is so sublime to have a child

at Christmastime.

Innsbruck Christmas Market

2010-12-22T21:12:00.006+02:00

Ben has been busy busy with work this week, and my English lessons have stopped until the new year. So this morning, instead of wiling away the hours at home, I thought I'd take Addie out for some Christmas sightseeing.

Here is my perky little companion:

And I packed some emergency treats, just in case:

The options were toast and chocolate covered gingerbread.

You can guess which was preferred by both mother and child. But that is a different post entirely.

Downtown Innsbruck is lovely this time of year. Christmas trees and a Christmas market, people everywhere drinking Glüh wine and eating bratwursts and gingerbread.

I intentionally bring no money with me because these markets are geared towards wealthy skiing tourists and not wives of Ph.D students. But it's nice to window shop nevertheless.

Arcade Fire (or) A Last Attempt at Youth

2010-12-14T09:50:00.003+02:00

So there are certain things you trade in once you have children:

You trade in candlelight dinners and cloth napkins for family restaurants and crayons. You trade in glass for plastic, purses for diaper bags, morning news for sesame street. Little substitutions, most of them minor and painless.

One thing I have missed since we had Adelaide was going to concerts. Ben and I love love love music, but now it seems like too much of a luxury/hassle. But when we heard Arcade Fire was coming to Munich, we were sorely tempted.

Ben got tickets for my birthday, we found a sitter and went. It was awesome.

The show was at this old warehouse:

And not to have our date night out go to waste, we arrived early to get a good spot. Close enough to see the lead's sweaty head.

If you aren't familiar with Arcade Fire, it is an eight person band with loads of instruments. An accordian, violins, two drum kits, and even a glockenspiel. And the band leader, Win Butler is my new hero.

And at the end of the show, they threw the crumpled set list into the crowd and Ben caught it!

He was giddy about it the whole way home.

I got beer in my hair and we had to drive home in blinding snow, but it was so very worth it. Thanks Arcade Fire, for making us feel young again.

Krampus

2010-12-07T11:12:00.001+02:00

I have something important to say:

There is no such thing as Santa Claus.... in Austria.

One of Ben's Austrian colleagues told us of the disdain for Santa here, saying:

"Santa Claus is an American invention made to sell Coke"

Instead, he is replaced by Saint Nicholas who comes on the 6th of December (yesterday), who is accompanied by a demon, called Krampus

To illustrate:

Good little girl, getting her gift from St. Nicolas

Bad little boy... um praying (?) to Krampus and getting a whack with the switch.

Krampus survived from pagan times as a demon who was to scare away winter and darkness, who later got roped into Christian traditions. So it's a little strange to see the angels and tinseled trees next to a display of chocolate devils:

But it is what it is.

Every year on December 5th in Austria and Hungary there are Krampus parties in all of the small villages. Men dress up with dark skins on their backs and enormous bells and these terrible masks. Then they get drunk and chase after the villagers (cute girls seem to be the main target) with switches made of birch and threatening to take the bad children away.

Here is a clip:

It has to be the most terrifying Christmas tradition I have ever seen.

But if the threat of Santa not coming isn't enough, I think this would probably scare any unruly child into obedience.

Merry Krampus Everyone!

Poor Baby

2010-12-03T19:43:00.008+02:00

First, she had a bad cold. A sleepless, sniffling, week long ordeal.

Then, mom tipped over her stroller and sent her poor little forehead straight on the pavement.

Today, she ate a bunch of match heads.

Not the whole match. Just the head.

Poison control said that she would be ok as long as there were fewer than 20 matches. I don't really want to know how they got to that magic number, but you can file that knowledge away under "useful mom facts".

Thanks

2010-11-30T11:03:00.001+02:00

Thanksgiving was great. Unfortunately, all of my photos turned out quite badly. But it was fun. It's not hard to love a holiday that is centered around food. Oh and gratitude. That too.

On that note, top three things I am grateful for this year:

1: I am grateful to live in a place with an even distribution of seasons.

To not have to trudge through snow in October, or walk home in the dark at 3pm. It's a lovely thing. No offense, Finland. But your winters just about drove me to the bottle.

2: I am grateful for my dishwasher.

After 7 years without one, I had completely forgotten how wonderful it is to have a machine do your work for you. Now I just need a robot that changes diapers.

3: And of course, I'm grateful for these two.

I hope everyone had a nice start to the holiday season! Let the Christmas madness begin.

On a Quest

2010-11-24T13:34:00.004+02:00

Thanksgiving is in 24 hours.

Will I find these elusive items?

Or will my dinner be deemed a failure because there was no pumpkin pie...

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of:

Trying to Cook in a Foreign Country

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

2010-11-16T13:17:00.000+02:00

How many times in a row can a person watch Cinderella before they go crazy?

Wait and see!

Farewell Tour

2010-11-12T08:34:00.002+02:00

We have these friends, see.

They live in Germany, but are Americans. Good friends from college. And in the past two years, any time we needed a healthy dose of America to stave off homesickness we would give them a call.

It was easy: same time zone, same struggles of living in a foreign country, same love for Halo, movies, books...

conjoined family photo

And now they are moving back to the US of A.

While we are excited for their journey onto bigger and better things, this continent just wont be the same without them.

Bye guys. We'll miss you. Thanks for coming to see us one last time!

At the Park

2010-11-06T18:56:00.010+02:00

Halloween Lessons

2010-10-31T07:39:00.001+02:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Yet another year of wanting to be all dressed up, but with nowhere to go. Luckily, there was a youth party at my church that I volunteered to help with.

Ben wanted to go as a hydrogen atom:

But I vetoed that idea. Here in Austria, the whole concept of dressing up for Halloween is very basic and I was pretty sure the language barrier wasn't going to help anyone get the joke.

Austrian: So what are you?

Me: I'm a hydrogen atom.

Austrian: What?

Me: You know, an atom. Well, I'm actually just the neutron part. Ben is the proton and Addie is the electron.

Austrian: ...

Me: Um, I'm a golf ball.

Austrian: Oh! I see...

So in the end, we went as a mad scientist and her robot.

As you can tell by the picture, Addie's costume lasted about .02 seconds.

My argument of "Wait! Stop! But you look so cute!" was totally lost on her.

Note to self: Babies need costumes that are so comfortable that they don't even notice they are on.

So a robot costume made out of a cereal box? Bad idea.

So to swallow my grief of being a mad scientist without an evil robot creation, I helped down this tray of caramel apples. Live and learn.

First Snow

2010-10-27T08:28:00.002+03:00

We woke up yesterday to the first snowfall.

Ben walked Addie outside in her jammies, just to give her a taste. And she spent the rest of the morning with her nose pressed against the glass, trying to get out.

So finally I relented.

It started out ok. Some experimental taps into the white stuff.

Getting used to wearing gloves was tricky

But after a few face-plants, she was done.

And soon she beckoned me back into the house.

Not quite as fun as she expected. But she'll be back. We've got 5 months to figure it out.

Neugierig

2010-10-20T21:13:00.002+03:00

Last week a woman on the bus called Addie "neugierig."

In German it means curious, but directly translated into English it turns into "new greedy."

I think it sums it up perfectly:

moments before mean mom took away her amazing new discovery

Hot Hot Heat

2010-10-15T09:16:00.001+03:00

It's been getting cold around here. Not Finland cold, but more of a regular October frosty feeling.

Finally we gave in to the season and cranked up our heater.

And nothing happened.

So Ben tried again, turning the knob in our basement ever higher.

And again, nothing happened.

At first we thought maybe it was because of all the windows in our older house, or that maybe it took a while to feel the effects, but no. After several days Addie and I started wearing jackets inside, and Ben finally called our landlord.

It turns out we had been turning up our upstairs neighbor's heat all this time.

Heh heh heh. Sorry Igor.

(Stupid confusing German language heater.)

Godzilla Baby

2010-10-08T10:14:00.003+03:00

While John was here, we worked on a little project...

Godzilla Baby from Benjamin Ames on Vimeo.

Unca John

2010-10-03T11:27:00.002+03:00

For the past 3 weeks, my little brother John has stayed with us.

Addie loved having a new playmate:

Ben and I loved having a hiking companion:

To sum up, it was a great three weeks.

The Demise of Doug

2010-09-28T09:23:00.006+03:00

Once upon a time, there was a car.

His name was Doug.

Maybe he was only worth 600 Euros. Maybe he only had 3 windows that worked and a cracked windshield. Maybe he had dings and dents and rust spots. But he was a good little car who drove his owners from Finland to Austria without a hitch. And for that they were very grateful. So they decided to keep him as long as they could. Doug was happy.

He helped with groceries, driving to school and work, and getting up to the mountains. One day Doug's owners decided to go to Salzburg for an important meeting.

They went to see this castle:

And thoroughly enjoyed the stuffed falcon in the lobby:

It was a nice family outing.

When it was time to go home, Doug wouldn't start up. After an inspection, the prognosis was not good. Doug would have to stay behind.

The owners knew that this day would someday come.

They just didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Or while they were out of town.

So the owners lovingly cleaned him out, gave him a pat on the head and took the train home. It was a sad day for everyone, but it was one of those things that had to happen. You know, circle of life and all that.

The End.

Little Bookworm

2010-09-22T10:07:00.003+03:00

No pants, no worries.

Just a girl and her book.

Grammar

2010-09-17T22:20:00.003+03:00

I've started my new English teaching job. My students are great and I enjoy it, but these courses are much more grammar intensive than what I taught before. And it is painful for everyone involved.

I have to admit, the only grammar that really stuck from my school days were from what I learned doing mad libs. So when a student of mine asks me how exactly to use a second conditional with irregular verbs, call me crazy, but the answer doesn't come right away.

And so I've been doing some major review. And nothing is more exciting than reading book after book about grammar. And focusing on the structure of English more intensively than I ever have before makes me realize how messed up it is.

I mean, why are "five" and "give" spelled the same yet pronounced differently?

Why isn't the word "phonetic" pronounced like it sounds?

Read this sentence and tell me that English is not completely confusing:

With every number I read, my mind gets number and number

I am just grateful that I learned English as a child because it is tricky. Very tricky.

Visitors

2010-09-10T10:57:00.003+03:00

While living in the great white north of Finland for 2 years, visitors were pretty hard to come by. But Austria is different.

We have only lived here two months, and already have had a slew of visitors:

First it was the Jensens, a lovely family we stayed with in Germany a few years ago who stopped by for some pizza, world cup and hiking:

And just look at all those beautiful girls

Then came Ben's friend Bremen, who graciously helped us heft Addie up the mountain:

And a pair of Aunts and Uncles stopped by for dinner and conversation during their trip through Bavaria:

And my sisters came during a backpacking trip and stayed a few days to do laundry and pick blackberries.

Along with my brother and his friend Taylor.

My mom once told me that they never knew they had so many friends and family members until they lived 30 minutes from Disneyland. I've heard similar stories from friends who live in New York. In the end, living so far from home any familiar faces are a welcome sight.

So I say keep 'em coming. We love the company.

Edinburgh and London

2010-09-03T18:55:00.001+03:00

Long before we knew we were moving to Austria, my parents had planned to come out to the United Kingdom with my brothers. And coincidentally Ben was leaving me alone that very same week for a conference. So Adelaide and I jumped on a flight to meet up with the folks.

Once there Grandma and Grandpa threw a little birthday party for the baby:

We couldn't decide on what flavor of cake, so we ended up with 7 different kinds. It made for a funny looking cake. Luckily the birthday girl liked them all. The next day we toured lots of beautiful old castles, like this one:

Linlithgow Castle

And we had a heck of a job staying dry. Apparently it rains a lot here. Like every day.

The hikes overlooking the city were pretty amazing:

There was a lot to do because of a huge Scottish festival. So we saw a military tattoo (drum/band performance) and enjoyed musicians and handicrafts. All in all Edinburgh was GORGEOUS. I think it's fair to say that I liked it. Or possibly even loved it.

Then onto London. We spent three crazy busy days seeing the sights, watching street performers, touring palaces and eating Indian food.

It's tough to have such a short time in such a huge city. We didn't even get to do a fraction of the things we wanted to. But for me it's more about the company anyway:

Adelaide was pretty good in the museums as long as we walked quickly and had plenty of treats to hand back. But she escaped from the backpack whenever she could.

It was a great trip. My only regret was that Ben couldn't come.

Still, I think he was there in spirit.

Addie Turns One.

2010-08-29T12:00:00.005+03:00

The little babe turned one this week:

One! I still can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday she was a little stunned newling, completely helpless and bewitching.

And now she is a little person up walking around and exploring the world.

It's been totally amazing. We love you little girl.

Swimming in confusion.

2010-08-17T15:35:00.005+03:00

The trickiest part of moving to a foreign country is figuring out what the heck is going on. With the bureaucracy. And contracts. And instructions. With everything really.

The first few months are spent swimming in indecipherable confusion.

Like trying to understand how to use my new (used) washing machine with cryptic instructions. Or the 12 page electricity contract in complicated German. Or the other night when an alarm randomly went off in my neighborhood. What was it for? A tornado? A burgler? A stampede? I still don't know. Hopefully nothing important...

It's like living life with your head underwater. You see and hear what is going on but you just don't fully understand it all. In the end you just do the best you can, sign on the dotted line where they ask you to and hope that they don't come for your first born at the end of the month.

My question is, how did people do this before the internet? Before cell phones and Skype? Before google translate? Hats off to anyone who has moved abroad before the 1990s. I'll bet it was no picnic.

And in the meantime, be kind to your fellow immigrants. It's hard work.

Entropy

2010-08-08T15:32:00.001+03:00

Auntie M

2010-08-04T23:10:00.001+03:00

My sister Meg:

She has an addiction. To traveling. She would probably live out of her suitcase all year if pesky things like school and work didn't get in the way.

Luckily she had time to come help Ben and I move in during her travels to the Middle East.

So Meg, thanks for your help peeling this:

and cleaning that:

and watching her:

and eating this:

You've been a huge help. We could have never done it without you.

Love you MJ