sorry for no updates...

Sorry everyone that I told you I would update my blog to keep you posted on what I am doing overseas here...but I am too addicted to facebook now...I will still update once in a while, but I know I am boring-I am not keeping up with it very well!

School is crazy...in one week, I got 3 new students!!!...thank God two of them were girls!...one is a boy but he is not as crazy as the other ones I have...but still that gives me two classes with a total of 33 kids! agh!...I am ready for June!

Thanks to globalwarming we are having like hurricane wind storms here in Austria...all coming from the atlantic ocean this whole weekend!...its pretty scary when you live in an apartment building high up and the wind is blowing so hard that the glass sounds like its about to break and the air actually comes through the side of the window!...now I know a little more about what the people in the south experience when hurricanes come! it is really scary! I mean we had 75mph winds, which is a lot for here, but nothing for a hurricane...but that was even unbelievable! Everything flies around in the air and our balcony furniture was moving!...I mean that is heavy metal furniture!...so we had to take it in to our living room because if the chairs smash against the balcony doors-they will crack the glass...
so here goes the next storm today, but for some reason the electricity never goes out and we never lose our internet!

Two weeks is spring break, and we are taking a daring trip to Egypt! We are sooooo excited!...we are going on a Nile River cruise...through the pyramids and to see some of the cities...we are going to be on an organized tour with police escorts due to the terror attacks against tourists in the past...but nevermind all that, we are excited to explore a totally different world!

off to Italy!

Christian and I are heading out tomorrow morning for a much needed vacation! It is semester break from school...and normally in Austria, everyone goes skiing...but we need some sun and ocean!...so we are going way down south in Italy to Naples along the coast...and will be hopping to the little island of Capri.....so excited!....pictures will be coming when we get back after next week!...

Cheree's music

I think my friends are all going to be famous one day...
Stacy models...
Cheree sings...
who is next!!!


Anyone who loves listening to beautiful music should listen to my friend Cheree's music....beautiful!!!.........

type in this address and u will hear beautiful cheree singing!

she plays the piano, writes her own music and sings!!!....ENJOY!!!

www.myspace.com/chereemusic

and one more time!!!

same slideshow, but u can see the pictures better!

Innsbruck, Austria!

Christmas 2007

I guess I have become more addicted to facebook lately and I have neglected my blog...I haven't had much free time on my hands, and the free time I do have, I use it on facebook...

We had a great time in Maryland for christmas...very busy though!...and we spent 3 days in NYC over new years...always a fun time! I love staying in Queens-Astoria every year and going to the bagel shop every morning to eat bagels with cream cheese and coffee! yummmo!...and it is so close the subway station that goes directly to Times Square! It was the first year we went without my brother and sister in law...and the first year we didnt stay in the apartment from Melissa's grandma...we had our own hotel which I was a big nervous about!...but it was great! Great room, great service and soooo cheap! So I had to be the tour guide for the austrians...christians mom and his best friend thomas was with us...I have to say that it all worked out pretty well! The buildings for europeans are amazing to them! They have never seen such tall buildings in their entire lives! I love going to NYC more now because Christian and I have seen everything there, so we are not stressed running around trying to do all the sightseeing. Now when we go, we just relax, enjoy the city and take in all the life!...my favorite part is going up the Marriott lounge overlooking times square for a drink thats super expensive but worth the view!...haha!...I dont have any pictures because we didnt take any! We were so relaxed that we forgot even to bring our camera! (that is very much not like me!)...

so now we are back into the groove of things here...the first week back to work was horrible...i was so tired everyday at lunchtime and then up all night not being able to sleep!

We went to Innsbruck for the weekend...we flew by plane and thought it would crash! the wind was soooo bad, it felt in control of the whole airplane....scary!...plus we were right in the alps, so the airport is like a little runway inbetween huge mountains!...it was as if the wings could almost touch the mountains!...Innsbruck is a little ski village! sooo cute with breathtaking views! People walk by with their ski boots on carrying their skiis in hand!...I made a little slideshow of Innsbruck, so I will post that next......also, Innsbruck has good memories of when I was there years ago for the first time, and I ran into KELLEY and ADAM on their honeymoon at a laundromat in the city!...craziest thing ever!...I think I almost fainted when I saw them!...it kind of gives me chills still when I think about how strange that was!!! but a good strange :) haha!...

pathetic that my last post was more than a month ago!

I hope that soon I can stay on top of things!!! You would think having a 2 week break would allow me to catch up, but honestly I think it set me back even more...

updates will come soon...I am still jet lagged...

busy holiday time...

Christmas time!...oh its so beautiful in Vienna...words cannot describe the christmas markets in Vienna...and pictures dont do justice either!...u just have to come and see them for yourselves!!!

Time is flying by!...at school we are all getting our kids ready for their big christmas show performance! We are doing 2 plays- A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Hawaiian Christmas! Should be fun with this class of energetic actors!...

We will be in Maryland for Christmas December 22-January 5th...
and in New York City from December 29-January 1st! We will also be taking Christians mom with us and our best man for the wedding Thomas will be coming too! We are excited! But with so many guests, I dont know how much time I will have for visiting friends!...save it for next summer! I dont want to make promises if I cant keep them, so I will just say that we are VERY busy when we are home for Christmas...I have to be realistic and know that in 2 weeks time I am just not going to see everyone I want to...

I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season!...

Beautiful SNOWY weekend in Gutenstein!

This weekend was a much needed getaway in Gutenstein for a cell group retreat!...we stayed in the guesthouse that the church owns and we woke up on saturday morning to SNOWW! it was like christmas!!!...it was so beautiful in the mountains! we played in the snow, went for a walk in the woods with torches and had a great weekend of fellowship and fun! What a snow dream!...I luv snow..........and hopefully we will get some big snow in Vienna this weekend just in time for the christmas markets to all open up!

a fun weekend with Charissa and Libby!!!

What a fun weekend it was! Charissa Ellis and her roomie Libby came to visit from Budapest! We had a blast together...touring around Vienna, enjoying the beautiful colors of fall, going to a mozart concert, exploring the wine gardens and fields of upper Vienna, visiting palaces...eating pumpkin soup and other Viennese specialities........and then of course our daily routine of tea, pretzels, cookies and a movie at night in my apartment:) I luv u girls and had such a blast!...hopefully they will come and visit again to see the Vienna Christmas markets!!!...break time is over...and tomorrow its back to school...

new car thoughts...

just another thought about our new car.........I think God blessed me for all those years of driving my ugly old grandparents oldsmobile......now my suffering is over!...and I can drive in a bmw...like all those other potomac snobs I used to know!...

Auschwitz, Poland-concentration camp visit

We had a fabulous time in Poland-riding the train again was fun since that is where we met eachother...but no doubt our train adventures have not ended yet! We always have something go crazy!...our train was leaving at 7:10am monday morning...we got a super cheap price too for taking a train that early......well we were out late the night before-and the next morning I woke up at 7:37...i guess i turned off my alarm in my sleep!...arrghhh...so we freaked out because the next train wasnt going until the evening and its a sleepover train which is expensive!...so we started blaming eachother whose fault it was and blahblahblah-then we just looked at eachother and started laughing hysterically..............christian ran to the train station from our hotel and found out about the next train, while i was in the room packing up our things and praying for God to help us!...I was off work the next day, but Christian had to go to work and we were 8 hours away from Vienna!......so finally he comes back and says that the next train is at 11:45 but that is the last one during the day and we have to pay for another ticket.......well it was our own fault, so we just paid for new tickets and off we went back to Vienna......we had to transfer one time in another city-and didnt see the time for the train goign to Vienna so once again we freaked out.........it turns out the train was delayed...but atleast it came...and we got home finally......

so we enjoyed traveling around the city, enjoying cheap drinks and food (about half price of Vienna!!!)...shopping and seeing the culture. We took the public mini bus to Auschwitz which the ride itself was crazy enough! we were packed in so tight that people were practically sitting on top of me!...hmm kind of like south america I guess...the concentration camp was unbelievable...everything was still there in its original form...it was such an eary feeling...the weather was also so dark and chilly and it made the place look even more gruesome. But it was so interesting and I have always wanted to see it for myself.

Our new car :)

I always wanted a BMW...it was always my favorite car...but I never thought I would own one...it was only in my dreams!....now I cant believe my dream came true...but then again Christian makes all my dreams come true!...

Our trip to Poland!

I JUST LOVE POLISH PEOPLE!

Christian and I in the main city square in Krakow, Poland!

ahhh there is nothing in the world like being off of work for a whole week!...not thinking about school, kids...nothing!......Christian and I took a trip to Poland for a few days...we went to the city of Krakow and then we took an excursion to Auschwitz and Birkenau to see the concentration camp...I will post more pictures tomorrow...

I am getting really bad at keeping up with my blog here!...thanks to facebook-it has taken over my time!...

Our finally finished Apartment pictures...

the kitchen bar looking in from the living room...

our kitchen..............right side....

our kitchen on the left side....breakfast table....

...breakfast table...

our movie theatre in the bedroom...christians anniversary present for me...

our bedroom...

our living room........................

our dinner table.....in the living room....

our living room...view from the hallway foyer...

blind experience...

Today I went on a field trip with my class and we experienced what it is like to be blind. It was one of the craziest experiences in my life...and I am shocked that 7 year olds managed to go through a pitch dark maze for 1 hour! I have to admit I was a bit scared at first and also feeling a bit clusterphobic when I realized we were entering a dark place and would never find my way out!...when I say dark I am talking D A R K!...I mean I could not see the child in front of me or anything for that matter!...really absolutely nothing!...there was not even a hint of light coming into the room. NOTHING!...we had a blind walking stick to feel our way and then we had to follow our guide...she was a real blind woman but for her it was completely normal. I talked to her a lot but I have to say that I have never had a conversation in the dark before with a person and could not see her...we went through a grocery store, walked over a hanging bridge, went in a bus, in a telephone booth, and in a restaurant where we could buy drinks!...but to figure out the right euro coins was interesting too!...the kids were pretty brave I have to say...I think I would have cried and screamed if I was a kid. They kept asking me if I was still with them and when they heard my voice, they were rest assured that they were safe!...pretty interesting and you really appreciate having sight when you get out of there!

Congratulations Hannah and Enoch!

Congratulations Hannah and Enoch for the arrival of your baby girl Naomi!!!....I can't wait to see pictures of her!!! :)

facebook!

If you have facebook let me know.........although I am still a bigger fan from MYSPACE, I gave in to all the requests for facebook...so I will try it...but let me know so I can add you to my friend list..............