The View from Our Front Porch

Feed Break

2012-02-05T23:56:00.002+01:00

Good morning! Er, it’s almost morning now. We’re now keeping a little bit of a different schedule now since the girls arrived. It’s now the time from the first ‘nap’ to the first pump/feeding, then we’ll go back to sleep around midnight and repeat in about 2 hours. Nate and I have been sleeping with the girls at night, each with one on the couch or chair. It works well to keep them sleeping for about 3 hours each time, and leaving me pretty functional, but it is early…

I am feeling really good after the arrival of the girls on Tuesday of last week. They are only 5 days old today, hard to believe, as it now feels to have been longer. I have more ‘time’ during the day that I’m home, more or less due to the fact that I’ve always worked, so being home just feels different. The time we do have goes by on a much different schedule, so it doesn’t feel like a long Sunday if we are just around the house.

We went to the doctor today to get Siena checked for her slight jaundice. The second child of twins seems to have this more as the bruising that can happen as she slides into place during birth. The midwives wait for the first to be born and then try to hold/guide to second into place from both sides of my belly so she didn’t turn and go breech, requiring a c-section. Siena did great and had gained 110gm in a day and the jaundice was almost gone. It wasn’t really noticeable in her color. She did almost poop on the doctor, which would have been great, she was not very nice and needed a good slap to the face.

Well, I suppose I should wake, change, and feed Névé so we can go back to sleep and repeat in about 3 hours. More pictures are always on the way, or you can check our Flickr sites at the right links. Nate is a little ahead of me in that, but I hope to get a few pictures up this week. As for now, I like to think of myself as a feeding machine, or a goat… sounds better than cow to me.

Coming home

Big brother Osu and 'My newborn clothes are WAY too big'

They're Here!

2012-02-01T21:26:00.000+01:00

Dawn and I will write up the absolutely amazing experience that was yesterday, 31 January 2012, in the coming days. Right now, I just wanted to provide a brief update for those that may not be able to see all of the updates on Facebook. Be assured, all three girls are doing excellent! Tomorrow, they should be allowed to leave the hospital around 11 am. However, I also have to find someone to pull the stitches out of my back from last weeks surgery tomorrow, and I'm told it could be a long wait. Once that is done and the girls are released, however, we'll finally all get to be together in our own house. I can't wait. My short visits to the hospital just haven't been enough and I really miss all of the girls. It's hard not having them here, but going through and processing the pictures I've taken so far puts a huge smile on my face. Here are a few of those pictures, along with a link to all that I have finished up to this point. I actually still have quite a few pictures to go through from yesterday, and some that I took today too. I'll share those as soon as I can!

Dawn with the girls minutes after giving birth

Siena says, "hello"

Névé (L) and Siena (R) at their four hour check-up

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE PHOTOS

The Final Countdown- Week 38

2012-01-25T22:31:00.003+01:00

We are now counting down the DAYS until our little girls arrive. Monday, January 30th is the day they will be induced if they do not come sooner. I hope they wait, just to give us a few more days to get ready. One more vacuum of the house, a little more laundry, maybe another small project as well.

There isn't much new news as of today. I have another appointment for the girls tomorrow, so we'll see what the doctor says then.

As for now, I need to go to bed, and hopefully we have a new weekly picture of me to upload soon. We will post a before and after I'm sure.

Keeping my balance...

Last situps

Last workout before the babies

Week 37- It's still okay to work out

2012-01-19T22:01:00.003+01:00

The German winter is continuing to disappoint this year. It’s raining today and melting our almost dusting of snow. So much for having winter babies. I was all set to have them wrapped up in fuzzy winter snowsuits, but it seems more like they will need ponchos and rain boots.

We’re halfway through week 37 now and everything still seems pretty normal. I am no longer working, but still doing a bit of my workout routine. I feel stopping that part will really throw my body off, and he girls seem to really enjoy the bouncing around.

We had our doctor visit today and the girls are doing great. They are weighing in around 5.5 and 6 pounds as calculated by the ultrasound machine. Siena was licking Névé’s foot in the ultrasound, so that show how close they really are. My doctor even laughed when I said I was still going to the gym.

And in other news, it looks like they will be here in the next week and a half, as my doctor doesn’t want them to hang out past 38 completed weeks. So, on January 30th I will be induced if the girls have not made an appearance yet.

Hanging out in the nursery

Osu saying hello

See the foot lick

Some Fun Pictures From Last Weekend

2012-01-10T15:21:00.000+01:00

What's more fun than wet snow, a pregnant woman, and a dog? That's right, not much! Especially when it's a woman pregnant with twins racing a dog down a long driveway while wet snow falls from the gray, dreary, miserable German sky! A few pictures that we had fun taking this past weekend. So, I just stood there pushing a button while Dawn and Osu did all the work - and it was fun to watch :) .....

Looking out from the office balcony

Heading down the driveway

Racing Osu

Click this text for more pictures

Woche Sechs und Dreissig (Wk. 36)

2012-01-09T22:21:00.005+01:00

Well, 35 weeks have now come and gone. My doctor still expects the girls by the end of the month, and they are full-term twins after this week and full-term (singles) after next. They are still putting on weight, about a ½ lb a week each, and having a merry time dancing and kicking in the evening.

I was given a doctor note last week to stop working, as he thinks I could go into labor anytime now, which I guess is partly true. I had planned to work through this week, but an extra few days would be good to finish up some things around the house, just in case they do come any day now. I still hope to sneak off to the gym this week, as I had a few really nice workouts last week. If not, I have our home gym too. That is right; I haven’t quit working out yet. The girls seem to like it and I continue to be impressed with what I can still do. Anyone else know a woman doing pull-ups at 36 weeks? I’m only a minute or two behind the guys in my class and beat some women.

On a not as fun note, I am now rocking some really tight compression socks. Tight as in put-me –into- labor as I try to pull them on tight. I would like to not wear them, but the twins have decided to give me cankles. I really shouldn’t complain, as these are just about the only pregnancy type symptoms I’ve had. I’m still quite mobile and full of energy. I hope with my time off now I can finish up the projects I didn’t want to do at night after work. Look out blanket and pile of diaper packages, here I come!

Osu hanging out in the nursery.

"I'm a giant" pose.

Story time

More Belly Shots can be found --------->>>>> HERE <<<<<<------------

Week 35

2012-01-01T15:34:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year! We somehow made to midnight, all 5 of us, and now into week 35. The girls are feeling more cramped these days, as they are moving quite a bit and stretching. They should be the size of honeydews and somewhere around 5 pounds. Plus, both girls have had the hiccups now, although Névé gets them almost every day.

As for me, I have a little less energy, but am still doing pretty well. My feet have finally, and unfortunately, become puffy. Oh, and I waddle. But, the fun part is that I can still workout and almost have no trouble putting my socks and shoes on.

I am down to having two weeks left of work and then will be off until April. We can hardly wait for the girls to get here and get no sleep. The good news is that all their stuff is put together, we know how to use the car seats and strollers and my bag is half packed. Couple more weeks to go…

The entire Belly Photo Collection can be found here:

See The Girls Grow!

Ultrasounds from the Winter Solstice

2011-12-29T20:29:00.002+01:00

Dawn will be along to annotate these later. I just wanted to get it posted up - even if a few days late! Click to see larger size.

The first picture is Siena's profile. The second is the front view of Névé's face. You can see her giant lips vertical in the middle and a big nose to the right and then eye sockets. The third is Névé's profile with her hand on her forehead.

PS - this was the first scan using the new scanner from Ma and Pa Will. Thank you!

*** Two more pictures that I might as well add in here. Dawn and the girls in that classic, "hands make a heart over the belly" preggers pose. It had to be done.

Week 34

2011-12-27T20:27:00.000+01:00

The Night Before Christmas - UPPO style

2011-12-21T18:21:00.000+01:00

‘Twas the night before Christmas, in the old German house,

Nothing was moving, not even Osu while he dreamt of chasing Alaskan grouse;

The ugly ‘made in China’ stockings weren’t dangled with any particular care,

For the crumbly German walls were too weak the weight to bear;

The babies, they were nestled all snug in mommy’s womb,

While sounds of Christmastime bounced ‘round their darkened room;

And momma in her muumuu, and I in my back brace,

Had just plopped down, thankful for the day’s slowing pace,

When out on the street did we hear such a sound,

I eased up out of bed so I could take a look around;

Up to the window I stumbled over a bump,

Stubbed my darn toe while tripping over Osu’s body lump.

The moon, partially hidden behind dark clouds dropping wet snow,

For this was Germany, land of weather expectations that are incredibly low;

When, what to my glazed-over eyes did appear,

But a sausage-shaped sleigh being led by eight flying beers!

With a toasty-looking driver, his accent so thick,

I figured it out, it was that jolly old German, the flying Herr Dick.

Faster than the fall of Poland, his courses they came,

And he belched and he bellowed and called them by their Catholic-given name;

“Now Helmut! Now Dolf! Now Heinie! Now Fritz!

On Gretel! On Uta! On Hildegard! On Frau Giggleschnitz!

To the top of the Zugspitze, to the top of the Berlin Wall,

Macht Schnell! Macht Schnell!

Vee must get beer to all!

As dry hops that before the Alps Autumn Föhn fly,

When they meet with a rock wall, turn elsewhere and say goodbye;

So up to the house these stupid beers flew,

Towing a ridiculous sausage straddled by Herr Dick in a leather Christmas tutu.

And then, a bit of tinkling, I did hear above my head,

Was it the breaking of a beer glass or Herr Dick peeing instead?;

As I moved from the window and was spinning around,

Through the ceiling came Herr Dick, having put on some pounds.

He was dressed in an FC Bayern Kit from his shoulders to his feet,

Another blowhard football fan, oh boy, what a treat;

A crate of Augustiner he held under each arm,

In his left hand a bottle opener shaped like German football legend Olli Kahn.

His eyes -- how they were bloodshot! His breath, oh so scary!

Smelling like strong egg nog, his nose redder than a Maraschino Cherry!

His toothless tiny mouth was all puckered up like an O,

the beard on his chin still containing frozen vomit mixed with snow.

The end of a bratwurst still stuck in his matted hair,

bright yellow mustard dripping to his shoulder, on to my antique chair.

He had a pudgy face and a gigantic beer belly,

That moved like wobbly head cheese at the local corner deli.

He was smelly and dirty, but still a happy ‘ol Mensch,

And I couldn’t help but chuckle, then gag, after smelling his stench.

A grab of his crotch and a creepy long leer,

Told me that this Herr Dick had had one too many beers.

He uttered not a word, but got straight to the task,

Filled all the oaken kegs and empty bottles, then he turned way too fast;

And now finding himself down on the cold hardwood floor,

He got to his knees and slowly scooted towards the front door.

Hailing his team with a burp and a fart,

He and the sausage-shaped sleigh pulled by flying beer mugs did depart

But I heard him slur as the sausage twisted out of sight,

“Beery ChristMaß to all, and I really doubt that I’ll remember much from this night!”

Week 33

2011-12-19T19:29:00.005+01:00

We are now in the middle of week 33, and I waited to do this week’s post until after our doctor appt. The girls are now 4 and 4.4lbs and still head down. I was surprised they gained about 2lbs each in the last month, but this is the time to gain all their weight. Hopefully in the next month they will gain another 2lbs each and be all ready for their début.

The girls had their first heart monitoring today and did okay. Névé kept kicking the monitor, as she didn’t like it pressing on her, and Siena rolled over and kept setting the alarm off on the machine. They are both fine, but we needed to stay longer to get more constant heart beats.

So far I have gained 30lbs, 5 have probably been in the last week. I still have a lot of energy, but require a little more sleep now. The girls get sleepy around 9 in the evening and sometimes like to sleep in until about 6. We now require pre-dinner again, but still feel great and continue going to the gym.

Tying my shoes has become a little more difficult, but I can still get them on my feet. I can still see my feet if pull my belly back. As long as I can keep moving along at about the same pace, we should be good.

Now for Christmas in the next couple days. The cards are late and few this year as we have been busy getting ready. Merry Christmas!

The Indoor Garden

2011-12-14T13:51:00.002+01:00

Here is a picture of our winter garden showing most of what we are growing indoors right now. Click on the picture to take you to an interactive photo where you can get information on each area of the garden. The only thing this doesn't cover is the small herb garden we have that is to the left, out of the picture.

Here is a closeup of the Pink Lady Apple Tree we have growing. One day, while eating a Pink Lady Apple, I took a bite and found an already sprouted seed. I had some extra soil and an extra pot, so I planted it and this is the result so far. We've been surprised at how well it's actually done!

The Cucumber vines are growing great. We have to move them each day to make sure they grab on to the right things!

Our little tomatoes. These are the same heirlooms we grew this summer - and they are good! Looking forward to these getting bigger.

Week 32- Counting down

2011-12-13T21:04:00.002+01:00

This beginning of week 32 and things are still going pretty smoothly. Unfortunately, I finally have more pregnancy symptoms that I should or could have had sooner. I guess I should be happy I have had energy for so long. As we are getting down to the last 6-8 weeks I have become tired about 9pm. This is pretty good, and I hope it lasts a while, so I can still get a few things done after work.

I have to say the worse part is that heartburn has finally found me. Most days are pretty normal with little or none, but the last few have me eating Tums like after dinner mints. On the plus side, I kind of like them...then again that might not be a plus.

For a real plus side, I am still working out and doing Crossfit three times a week. I hope to keep my arm strength, and maybe be able to do unassisted pull-ups when I return a few babies lighter. I kept up with the boys for a good workout on Monday and maybe even scared them a bit.

The baby clothes are all washed now and we are just waiting on a few last things to show up. The car seats will be coming out soon, so we can figure out how they work. It looks easy until you try to remove the seat from the base at the store and look like an idiot because you can't find the magic button.

As for Nate, he had a shot of ozone put into his disc last week. Hopefully, it will start doing it's job more each day. As of now, Nate says he feels 10% better, which I'll take over worse. We'll let you know more as that continues to do its thing.

And now it's bed time for me...

Giant Dawn or Tiny Door?

The three of them are always in the kitchen looking for food.....

Dawn's "WTH are you doing Osu?" look

Getting Osu's attention

Week 31 - Like Baby Squashes

2011-12-05T20:03:00.003+01:00

Things have been busy around our house lately. We aren't just getting ready for the babies this week, but preparing for Nate's next step with his back and his new Mac laptop.

An update with Nate's back procedure... not surgery. He will be going in this week for an injection into the disk to help regenerate and heal the disk. This came after many visits and meetings with the doctors, but should be all he needs to start healing his back. We are looking forward to less and less back pain and more mobility.

Nate has decided to make the move to Mac for his new computer. This came just in time, as his Dell has been on its deathbed. Having a laptop has come in very handy for being able to work while unable to sit at his desk for long periods of time.

On the baby front, we have been feeling very well. The girls have been moving around more and more. My belly takes one a few different shapes and gets large lumps off the sides. It is pretty amusing, they keep us laughing. They are supposed to be the size of squash this week, so somewhere around 2.5lbs each.

We have been washing the clothes now and putting the last things away. I am working on a blanket that will go on the floor under their play fence. I am not embarrassed to say our kids will be in a fence, or the 'baby cage,' as I like to call it.

We'll post the new pictures as soon as Nate's Photoshop for the Mac comes in. *Nate decided he didn't want to wait for Photoshop. Adobe is taking way too long to get it here.

Taking our Christmas Photo

Osu and Dawn in front of the Christmas Tree

Week 30

2011-12-05T19:58:00.001+01:00

Finally - pictures! Sorry it took so long. This was right in the middle of me switching computers.

Dawn in her sailor blouse in front of the Christmas tree

I'm not quite sure what's going on here.....

Week 29 - The countdown begins

2011-11-23T10:24:00.001+01:00

Yes, I realize that this title may be a bit misleading. We've been counting down the days until we have to rush to the hospital for the birth of our children since knowing we were pregnant. However, now that we are in the third trimester, everything is more vivid and more real. As in, "Holy crap! This is really going to happen!"

Dawn is still doing great. In fact, she is doing much better than I am. Her energy levels are still through the roof and her mood has been excellent. I wish I could say the same, but my back isn't giving me all that much joy right now. Hopefully this will be remedied soon, but in the meantime, I am just so thankful that Dawn is feeling as well as she is.

In just a little over an hour, we will be heading to the hospital for a checkup to see how the girls are doing. At this point, I'd say they are doing great and are showing signs that they plan on being just as energetic as their mama. These little girls like to move! If we get any ultrasounds that are worth posting, I will put them up. At this stage, however, getting a good, clear picture of the babies is not easy. I will see if we can't get some closeups of their hands or feet or something that is actually discernible in the ultrasound.

We've reached the third trimester!

2011-11-10T11:17:00.004+01:00

We have finally reached the third trimester! The time really does seem to fly when you count by weeks, or just being busy. Nate and I have been trying to get last larger projects complete, new lights and sealing up the drafty entryway. Osu has been helping by leaving the door open when he comes back in the house.

No new or horrible symptoms of the third trimester yet, always good. I do have an urge to clean, which I'm sure Nate will appreciate. It's not midnight and I'm vacuuming again...yet.

In other news, Nate is looking in to back surgery. He has waited several years and things are only getting worse, so we figured now is better than with the girls around. Hopefully, things will go quickly and he'll be on his way back to normal, if he can remember what that was like years ago. Maybe he can even be back from Oregon before Christmas.

Our pictures this week show off our new jogging stroller, which I Love. Check out our little redheaded children and their new hats and monkey toys.

Week 27

2011-11-07T21:14:00.004+01:00

We have reached the last week in trimester 2 and are awaiting the excitement of number 3, as I should become crazier and narcoleptic. I am still feeling fantastic and am undertaking more projects around the house that, of course, need to be done now. It’s only been two years, so why not finish our wedding album, right :)

Our double-wide stroller has come into my hands and will be put together right away. I love putting things together, which is good for Nate, as he does not enjoy this as much. This was one of our much awaited gifts that Osu will not get to try out first. I guess Osu can’t try out many, he would not fit in the baby bathtub, car seats, or cribs so well either. He has been subjected to hats and small things we can lay on him. I'm sure he will be much happier when there is someone else to be dressed up.

Enjoy the photos!

*Nate edit - photo. I only have the one right now! Dawn in the office with the winter garden in the background.

Week 26

2011-11-03T19:40:00.003+01:00

The weeks have been flying for us. Recently we drove to the Czech Republic to attempt camping, but found the season is over. We did get to stay in a lovely hotel at the base of some pinnacle like stone structures, which had us keep guessing how they were formed. This was perfect for our morning walk in the dark, which Osu loved. After a nice breakfast we headed back through some beautiful fall colored valleys towards home.

As for me and the girls, we have been doing well. I still have quite a bit of energy and we have been doing a lot around the house. We have been sorting out baby clothes and putting together other little parts for the nursery. We have almost completed the décor and finally do have the girls’ names up over their beds. Osu doesn’t help much, but he does like to lay on the rug in the girls’ room.

Our outside garden was dug up this weekend to prepare it for winter and next year. Our indoor garden is growing well and we have a lot of veggies to look forward to over the winter. Nate has been doing a lot of work on the garden and it looks great.

I do not feel as large as I look in my side views, which is great, as I have a lot of growing left for these last 3 months.

Week 25

2011-10-25T21:13:00.000+02:00

Week 24

2011-10-25T21:09:00.000+02:00

Week 23 - Rockin' and a Rollin'

2011-10-11T19:34:00.001+02:00

Tonight I felt the first good kick and roll from the babies. It was pretty cool! Dawn has been feeling the action for a few weeks now, but this was the first time that I was able to really feel a kick with some oomph behind it. Exciting stuff!

Well, we finally have decided on the names for the girls. They are Névé and Siena. I know there probably will be some questions about the pronunciation of the first one - and how to type it! Here is an audio pronunciation from Merriam-Webster. As far as typing the é character, just hold down the ALT key and type 130. Dawn kept busy yesterday painting the names for the baby room.

Here are the belly pictures from today (click picture to enlarge):

Dawn and Osu having a laugh

Week 22 Pictures - A Day Early

2011-10-02T22:20:00.000+02:00

Because of a work trip, we had to take the belly picture early this week. To us, there has been noticeable growth. Dawn seems to be feeling a lot more movement from inside, although we haven't felt any kicks on the outside yet.

This pregnancy has taught me more than I ever thought it would. For instance, yesterday Dawn and I were at the Real grocery store (pronounced REE - al) picking up a few things. One of those things was bacon. As usual, I asked for the Bauspeck. The lady behind the counter repeated my order back to me and I realized I had been saying the name of the type of bacon we usually order incorrectly. It's not Bau - speck, which I figured meant 'farmers bacon'. Made sense to me. However, what I was supposed to be saying was Bauch - speck, meaning 'belly bacon'. Once upon a time, I knew that Bauch meant belly. I guess I had forgotten that over the years. It wasn't until we were looking for maternity clothes in Weiden that I was re-introduced to the word Bauch, which you will often see in baby sections of department stores and maternity stores. So, thanks to this pregnancy, my German vocabulary has expanded by one more word and I now can say Beerbelly in German; Bierbauch.

Week 21 - Looking Great in the Evening Light

2011-09-26T19:22:00.000+02:00

Week 20 - The Babies on our Anniversary

2011-09-19T21:24:00.000+02:00

A picture of mommy on her second wedding anniversary. Week 20, and boy how the girls have grown (all three of them!). Dawn has been feeling more movement from the girls, but we still haven't felt any verifiable kicking from the outside. That should be coming soon, however! With the way Dawn's belly is growing, there's bound to be some punching and kung fu going on in there as the girls become more crowded and more active.

With Dawn's growing belly has also come a growing appetite. She's kind of like a Hobbit, needing first breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, pre-dinner, dinner,and post-dinner meals. I think there might even be snacks in between those meals, too.

The nesting for Dawn has also started to set in. The girls' room is almost complete, with only the cribs left to fill it out. It's pretty darn impressive what Dawn has done with it over the past week or so. She has also taken to cleaning obsessively, which I don't actually mind. I'll just have to be careful about leaving dirty socks and gum wrappers around or risk incurring the wrath of the pregnant woman!

Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife! I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-09-19T10:24:00.006+02:00

I remember our sunny day very fondly from two years ago. The rain finally broke, friends and family travelled to see us, and a little mutt with a bow tie. Who would have thought we would have gotten married in a castle? I know it was never in my plan, but what a lucky dream wedding.

I’d have to say my favorite part was looking down the aisle at Nate and knowing that I was so lucky to have found him and we’d be very happy. We had spent many years laughing together at the office, another year or so travelling and doing fun things, and now we’d get to look forward together at a new life and more adventures. I knew there was something special about him the first day we met at work, but never expected anything like we’ve found together.

Last year, we were lucky to be able to have an almost first anniversary with more friends and family in the states for our long waited reception. It was great to see everyone and be able to share a wonderful day visiting and dancing.

This year is rainy, but definitely not in spirit. Once again, we have friends and family to share the day with us. We are looking forward to our two little ones joining us in the new year and their kicks getting strong enough for Nate to feel them too.

We start week 20 today. We’re halfway if we make it all 40 weeks, but just over if we are two weeks early as expected. The babies are about 6.5 inches each and weigh about 10 ounces. My tracker says to think of them as a cantaloupe this week, but I don’t look two cantaloupes in size. I think the belly is more like half a basketball. Nate should be taking my picture tonight to add to the blog.

Ahh, the memories...

Week 19 - Growing Noticeably Larger!

2011-09-12T22:10:00.000+02:00

It's late here, so I'm not going to say much right now. I will mention, however, just how fast Dawn's belly is growing! It has definitely been noticeable over the past few days.

The Building of a Bench using Old Skis

2011-09-07T20:54:00.000+02:00

I'll put some words to this later, but right now I just want to get the pictures posted!

Pregnancy Week 18 - a couple of new pictures

2011-09-07T18:06:00.000+02:00

Dawn has been doing really well this past week, having a lot more energy and getting her appetite back. This past weekend, we met our friends Carla and Johannes in Regensburg at a Japanese restaurant near their apartment. Those of you at the wedding should remember these two - Johannes did the translation at the ceremony. Well, they are also expecting a baby, due in early December. Here's a picture of the two pregnant women before 'attacking the buffet' (and I use that phrase in the most literal sense).

Carla and Dawn showing off their bellies

A couple of shots of Dawn from Monday

Dawn and Osu playing carrot catch

2011-09-01T23:22:00.000+02:00

I'm sure most of you are aware of our dietary changes in the past 9 months (which is going great). It turns out, there is also a similar paleo diet for dogs, called the BARF diet (Bones and Raw Food). We've switched Osu over to this new diet slowly over the past month or so, and he's loved it. He has also responded very well to the change, having more energy, behaving better than ever, and losing weight. Every morning, he waits patiently, yet eagerly, for one of us to head downstairs to feed him his 1/4lb of raw beef and whatever vegetables we have lying around. At night, he does the same thing. For the most part, his excitement mainly comes from the anticipation of meat. He can't get enough of it. Like me as a child, the vegetables always come last for Osu, and sometimes, he ignores certain ones altogether. One day, he might love carrots and zucchini, the next, he ignores one or both of them completely.

Because of this, and because he needs his veggies, we've come up with a game to get Osu to eat more veggies when all he wants is meat. Basically, it's fetch with carrots (or another vegetable), except that he eats the tossed veggie instead of bringing it back. Of course, he loves this game. It's great for supplementing his diet with more vitamins and minerals, and it gets him exercise, too! Contrary to popular belief, not all dogs are good at searching things out. The husky in Osu loves to run. However, both the German Sheppard and Husky in him haven't given him a good nose or even that great of eyesight - at least when it comes to finding veggies in the yard. It's quite comical watching him run around like crazy looking for a tiny piece of orange carrot in green surroundings.

Today we changed the game up a bit when Dawn got home from work. The light was nice for pictures and it had been a couple of years since we last took pictures of Osu catching food in the air. We'll have to try this again on another day as it was quite fun! Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

There are a fee more pictures on my Flickr Site. Just click this link!

Dawn's Growing Belly

2011-08-31T21:34:00.000+02:00

Okay, so I was incorrect. We haven't been taking pictures of Dawn's belly each week, but we are trying to now. Some of the travel we were doing made it difficult to get the weekly pictures. Now, we just have to find a good place at the house to do them each week so there is some consistency. One thing is for sure, though - Dawn is getting bigger each week and more noticeably so now!

Here is the first belly picture that we took in Bandon, Oregon on July 14:

Picture number 2 taken on the 10th of August:

Picture number 3 taken on the 23rd of August:

The latest picture taken on the 28th of August.

We'll post these up each week from now on along with any other pictures we may take during the week. According to all of the books we've been reading, Dawn's belly will start growing by leaps and bounds now! One funny thing to mention is how many people are surprised that Dawn is even pregnant, let alone carrying twins. She has been doing a great job of eating healthy and working out at least three times a week. So far, I believe she has only gained a few pounds during the pregnancy. This soon-to-be papa is very proud of her! Yeah, sometimes I have to force-feed her spinach and fish oil, but it's for the better good of all involved!

29 Aug 2011 - Girls!

2011-08-29T16:59:00.003+02:00

Today we found out the sexes of the twins! We knew that whatever they turned out to be, we would be happy either way. Now, we can start whittling down name choices and decide what we are going to call these two. We have a couple of favorites in mind, but I'll wait to share that information when we are 100% sure. We did get a couple of new ultrasounds today. The babies are getting noticeably bigger now! It was fun watching them move around, kick each other in the head, and kick Dawn's belly. They are definitely active little girls!

Just like her mom, this one is a thumb sucker too! ;)

Big Head Baby Inside the Monster

Since Dawn began showing, we've been taking a weekly picture of her belly's growth. Oops! I was going to post those now, but they aren't quite ready yet. I still have to do a bit of sorting and processing on them (still in RAW format). I will get those up soon, though!

One last thought - please keep the pink for the girls to a bare minimum! I don't know if I can deal with too much of it! Thanks! :D

New ultrasounds from August 4th

2011-08-10T15:24:00.000+02:00

Apologies for taking so long to get these put up. There was a delay due to installing a new internet router at home and then trying to get the *^&%$ing printer/scanner hooked back up. What a pain in the butt! I will let Dawn write a bit more about the visit itself - which was great. I wish the doctor would have printed out some of the better views of the babies, but these are still pretty cool, if not a bit hard to see.

This first one is a view of the top of the babies heads. It doesn't show a lot, but at least show that they do indeed have heads. That's a relief!

Righty's Hand (4 fingers and a thumb present and accounted for)

Lefty's foot (all toes accounted for)

It's time to revisit the world of blogging

2011-07-28T22:52:00.001+02:00

It's been some time since we've last logged in to this blog. It's not that we haven't had anything to share, it's just that we've been pretty busy with other projects and other things. However, we now have some news that is too important and too exciting to keep to ourselves:

We are expecting! Dawn is pregnant!! - with twins!!!

Currently we are in the middle of week 12. Except for some food aversions and a slight drop in energy levels, Dawn is doing great. We are both having fun reading up on what to expect, going through baby names, looking for strollers and other baby products for twins. One thing is certain, however - our lives will be changing dramatically come next February, and we couldn't be happier!

We'll use this blog to post the latest updates, ultrasounds, belly pictures, and any other news we may have. Without further ado, let me introduce you to the twins Atwood:

For fun, here is the first picture of the babies on the 20th of June:

As you can see, they've grown quite a bit in the past month!

As I stated earlier, we are still in the deliberation stage regarding names. Of course, it's still too early to know the sex of the babies, so we're trying to come up with name pairs for 2 girls, 2 boys, and one of each. Suggestions are welcome! Please post them in the comment section!

Until next time,
Nate

PS - I'll be changing the banner picture soon.

Drive Thru Italy - Pictures from our 10 Day Journey

2011-03-08T13:43:00.000+01:00

I love Italy. The country has so many different experiences to offer and so many different faces it can show its guests. In Italy’s Südtirol, you’re as likely to hear German spoken as you are Italian. Likewise, you’re just as apt to find a plate of spaghetti bolognese as you are a plate containing jägerschnitzel and frites. That’s the Italian Alps for you. A mix of cultures and people that hold steadfast to their roots and traditions, even if it is seemingly a mixture from different countries. The state boundaries in the Alps have changed frequently throughout history, but the people living in the Alps didn’t necessarily change with them.

As you move down Italy’s Autostrada 22 and further south, things definitely do become more distinctly Italian. Stop in a few towns along the way, however, and you’ll notice some differences between the people. Verona, although a good-sized city, has a small town feel where the people are friendly and seem more laid back. In contrast, Florence has a much more cosmopolitan feel, where fashion, no matter how God-awful it looks, is worn with gusto and conversations between friends sound like two enemies ready to go to blows. I think a simpler way to put this is that the young people of Florence are just really, really in to themselves – and it’s damn entertaining to watch!

Since I’m running short on time, I’ll just get straight to the pictures. Click on the underlined portion to go directly to the Flickr gallery for the pictures.

Rosskopf, Italy - an afternoon of skiing. This is right over the Austro/Italian border. Dawn, Jef, and I hiked this area last summer also.

Kronplatz, Italy - skiing with the ski club in the Italian Alps

Alta Badia / Sella Ronda, Italy - The Italian Dolomites. This area was amazingly gorgeous!

Verona, Italy - We only spent one night here. I wish we could have stayed one day longer. A great city.

Florence, Italy - Dawn, Osu, and I feel that Florence is a bit overrated. It definitely is more of a museum city rather than a walking around city. Scooters, cars, trucks, bikes - you name it - they are everywhere! Traffic 'laws' seem only to be suggested instead of hard and fast rules. Still, a beautiful city! We planned on spending four nights here, but cut our stay short two nights so we could spend more time in Siena. That was a good choice on our part!

Pisa, Italy - Yep, had to go see the Leaning Tower.....and, it was better than expected!

Siena, Italy - I'm glad we made the choice to spend more time here. The city is nice, but you can see it all in one day. What is special about the place is the surrounding hill towns only an hour or so away.

Towns Surrounding Siena

Now, it's time to start working on the high-quality photos and posters from this trip. I have a lot of material to go through, but am really looking forward to it! Until then!

Italy, a Drive-Thru

2011-02-28T15:51:00.004+01:00

Nate's been itching for some skiing, so we decided to join the ski club and head to the Dolomites in Italy. It was a three day weekend, but we decided to extend it for the rest of that week, since I had a TON of overtime.

We headed out early Friday to ski at Rosskopf, Italy and then drive down to the town we'd stay with the club. We skied Kronplatz and around Alta Badia. Nate even took me into some powder, which was a lot of fun! i'm looking forward to more of that, although this year we may be out of snow.

After three and a half days of skiing, we were off to Verona. Romeo and Juliet, the Arena and Dante. We wandered around for some good photos in the morning and evenings, gotta get the good light. We made sure to see Juliet's balcony, passed Romeo's house, and Nate went into the Arena. Turns out not everyone likes dogs. Other than the short time there, it was a nice city. Pretty sites and much quieter than some of the other ciites we stopped.

We left Verona for Florence. Very excited to be in another large Italian city, we were thinking like Rome, or at least I was. Quite different. Not as many cool sites outside, but not bad. We saw David, Florence from high above in the catherdral's campanile, tower, and the bridge was really cool. Florence was going to be our home station for four nights, however, the overpopulation of scooters going thorugh EVERY square made it not so homey. I don't think we made it much more than 36 hours. Two night and we had already made plans for the rest of our stay in Siena.

On our way to Siena we had to drive through Pisa. It's not on the way, but it would be out of the way on any other trip, so we had to do it. Osu even felt compelled to hold up the tower as well, which all the asians thought was funny and they took pictures of us. Funny thing, as we sat down to eat a quick lunch before heading to Siena, a man from Ghana (?) came to sellus crap. He wanted to make friends first and made some connection to Germany. Then he gave us two little statue trinket things, and asked for a donation. We paid him off just to get him away form our table; I'm sure the way of many other tourists. The funny part is that Osu barked at him the entire time, as he does not like darker people, or old people.

The road to Siena from there was either the Autostrada or a drive through the hills. We chose the hills, as driving in Italy isn't always the most fun thing to do. Getting cut off is only half the battle, most is trying to not be sideswiped as you're driving defensively. Nate did an awesome job!

We passed through several small hilltop towns in Tuscany. It was sunny each day, so the landscape was wonderful to enjoy. A few stops had to be made for pictures, and we found a few towns to return to if there was time. One being Volterra.

We spent some time wandering Siena the first night, getting most of the town down. Areas were scouted for our morning sunrise, followed by next best shots and scounting eveing shots. As we finished up pictures and touring Siena, we planned for returning to Volterra and a few other towns along the way. We got up early the next morning to watch the sun rise over Monteriggioni, then Colle di Val d'Elsa, Volterra, and San Gimignano. All very cool cities, neat views and some had awesome towers and alleys to wander through.

By the end of our ten days, we were pretty spent. We went o bed around 7:30pm on Saturday night and got up at 3:15 Sunday morning for our long drive home. We beat most of the scary Italians, although we were pretty sure some of those other guys out on the road had been up all night. We got home by 1pm and were happy to get back in our groove.

Very fun trip, next time we'll probably fly into Naples and rent a car to drive around the rest of the boot. driving that far south would take quite some time, plus those crazy Italians all over the place.

A Cure for your Boredom

2011-01-13T22:31:00.001+01:00

That is, if you're interested.

I have finally done it! I am finally caught up on posting pictures to Flickr! WooHoo!! This may not sound like a big deal, but it's been something that's been bugging me for quite some time, something that has been hanging over my head and nagging me for months. You see, not only was I not keeping my Flickr page up-to-date, but I had also fallen way behind on processing photos for my professional site along with photos to be used as posters and photo art. Let me try to explain how my workflow is setup -

1) Go on a trip or take photos of a specific place. This can sometimes be upwards of 1,000 photos.
2) After getting back home, download all photos in to an organizational heirarchy that I have constructed.
3) Flag photos that I want to use later. Discard photos that I will never use
4) Process flagged photos. This means adjusting exposure and color settings of the picture and can take quite a lont time.
5) Export all photos to be used on my professional site to a photo library. This library holds all the high-quality corrected photos.
6) Go through the high-quality photos and determine which ones will be used as stock photos, which will be used as posters, and which will be used as photo art (you'll see more of this on my site soon).

The above tasks can take upwards of three 10-12 hour days, and sometimes longer. After I have all of the photos designated for different uses, I then must create the posters and photo art. On a good day, I can create anywhere from 3 to 5 posters. Sometimes, however, I can get stuck on one poster for a couple of days. It all depends on how intense the editing process is.

So, what's this all have to do with Flickr? All of the photos I flagged in step 3 are exported at a much lower resolution than the photos I use on my professional site. There are also many photos included in these low-resolution images that either didn't make the cut for my website or just weren't appropriate. These include pictures of Dawn eating food (a popular subject of mine when we travel) or Osu pooping in various locales around Europe or just fun photos that I think others might want to see.

So, without further ado, here are some links to all of the new photos I have recently uploaded to Flickr:

Main Flickr page listing all sets posted
Minnesota (Including the reception!)
Chicago
Rome
Chamonix, France
My Solo Photo Trip to Austria
Summer Trip to Garmisch, Germany
Christmas in Dresden
New Years Trip to Amsterdam

There are some other new sets in there too. So, if you have a day or two to kill, have a look at a few of these.

Now, on to creating posters and other pieces from these trips. I've started some of them, but still have many, many left to do! That's the fun part, though!

Skiing at Ochsenkopf

2011-01-13T22:02:00.001+01:00

A new video I put together after spending a day at one of the local ski hills with some friends last Sunday. I was using a new camera this day and didn't quite get all of the settings dialed in properly I apologize in advance if watching this makes anyone nauseous!

Link to Larger Video

Having a wee bit of fun the day after Christmas

2010-12-29T09:07:00.001+01:00

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas! Dawn, Osu, and I had a great time in Dresden. We now have a new favorite Christmas Market! The Dresden markets were even better than we had heard and we really enjoyed exploring the different ones around the city. We were a little surprised when we arrived in Dresden on the 23rd that there wasn't more snow in the city. What little snow there was was dirty and rotten and not too appealing. However, on Christmas Eve night, a new storm rolled in, ensuring that we would wake up Christmas morning to a new blanket of white. We had a great walk around the old part of the city on Christmas morning, but didn't stick around for too long. I knew that the drive home was going to take longer than usual due to the still falling snow. My fears were realized when the drive that would usually take only 2.5 hours turned in to a 5+ hour ordeal. It really wasn't too bad, just slow due to the condition of the Autobahn.
Pictures from Dresden

On the 26th, we all decided to go have a little fun in the snow. Here is a short video showing what we did. (the video might take a bit of time to load - be patient!)

The original video can be found HERE

A bit of a different Christmas

2010-12-23T08:26:00.000+01:00

First of all, we'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We wish we could be with everyone at this time of year. That is one of the hard things about living overseas - being away from family and friends during the holidays. Heck, we have a big enough place now - how about you all come over and stay with us next year :)

This Christmas, we are taking it pretty easy. This morning we are leaving for Dresden and are staying for two nights in this fantastic city. We only decided on this plan late last week, having heard from numerous people that the Dresden Christmas market is THE market to go to in Germany. We actually hear this about a lot of the different markets around the country (and in France and Italy and Austria), but too many people have told us too many times now that Dresden truly is one of the special ones. We've been to the Nurnberg Christkindlmarkt - more than a couple of times. We did Rothenburg ob der Tauber last weekend. We've been to Hexannager and the Regensburg markets, Salzburg, and numerous other small markets around our area. They are all great! But, Dresden is one we really want to check out. When we asked each other "if you could only go to one more market, which one would it be", we both answered "Dresden".

So, Dresden it is. We're really looking forward to it! We'll be returning home on Christmas day with plans to take it easy, eat a lot of food, and watch a lot of movies. It sounds delightful to me!

Merry Christmas!

(All of the Christmas Posters I've created this year can be found HERE)

Pictures - 2010 Favorites

2010-12-17T13:50:00.000+01:00

It's finally done. I've gone through the thousands and thousands of pictures (something like 22,000....) that I took over the last 12 months and plucked out my favorite ones. I know that I am still way behind on posting up pictures from the many trips we took over the year, and it will still be some time before I get to those. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this set of pictures. It was fun going back through them all. Wow, we did a lot over this past year and definitely kept busy!

To see the full set, click HERE. A few samples below.

Jef, Dawn, and Osu above the Mer De Glace in Chamonix, France

Dawn and Osu in Dresden

Dawn in St. Anton, Austria

Finally - Pictures of the New House

2010-11-29T15:09:00.000+01:00

Of course, when I finally get around to taking some pictures of the house, the place is an absolute disaster. See, we just returned from Rome yesterday and still haven't fully unpacked. Before we left for Rome, we hosted an early Thanksgiving with many of our friends. We never got the chance to fully clean up before heading off to Italy either. So, excuse the mess in the pictures, please. We usually are much cleaner people! On top of the dorm room-esque look of our house, we received our first big snowfall of the season last night (and it continues to come down as I type this). So, instead of seeing our nice green lawn and the various rosebushes and other plants, you can really only see a blanket of white surrounding the exterior of our place. I'll make sure to take more pictures in the spring, especially after we plant our garden.

It's probably been evident that both Dawn and I have been very busy these past few months. It's made it really hard to post much to the blog lately. It's also been hard for me to find any time to put many new pictures up from the trips we have taken. Hopefully I'll be able to get some of them up soon, however -especially for the bigger trips we've taken. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these pictures from the house - you can find them on my Flickr Site (<----- click on that link)

ps - I've created many, many new posters and placed them on my Taku Posters and Photography Site. Please take some time to look through them and tell me what you think! A lot of the posters are from trips we've taken, so it will give you some idea of what we've been up to!

All moved in!

2010-10-12T13:40:00.001+02:00

We’ve finally got all moved into the new house. It’s all setup and ready to go, except a few parts of the kitchen, not bad for a week and a half. We’ve got new rugs, since most of the house is tile or laminate, tons of wall space, and a nice big yard. Osu is adjusting well, although he wasn’t sure if he was going to be left here.

We went out exploring a bit this weekend. Nate got the bikes all ready to go, and Osu was happy to follow along. We started in our town and headed through the woods towards Mausdorf and then rounded back passed Godlricht and back to our house. Osu was pretty tired afterwards, but very happy. He is still recovering from the ride, which has made him run a little slower on our trip through the woods a different direction yesterday.

Currently, Nate is out in Austria. He’s headed down to Grossglockner, then driving the Grossglockner high Alpine road, and stopping in Hintertux to ski and head home. It is all for work, so he says J Nate will also be stopping in Innsbruck to get some cityscape pictures.

If all works out well we want to head to Strasbourg, France this weekend. The city looks beautiful and has a lot of history as well. But, you should read the history yourself; I don’t remember ANY history for very long.

The View Has Indeed Changed!

2010-10-05T16:47:00.002+02:00

Greetings All!

This past weekend we made the move to our new locale in Ursulapoppenricht (yes, it's a mouthful). We have actually managed to get a lot done in the last few days, although a lot of work yet remains until the pictures are hung, shelves are stocked, and things are organized. Slowly but surely, things are getting accomplished, however.

The picture at the top of the page was taken from the office/workout room in the new house. We don't really have a front porch anymore, so I figured the most interesting view would make the best banner for this page. Yes, that is a train that passes the house, but luckily, it is not a commuter line. I've noticed that the train comes by two to three times a day, and also luckily, not at horrific hours. You may also notice that we have no neighbors on this side of the house - just fields of corn, rapeseed plants and some other unidentified green stuff. It's quiet (except for the train passing a few times a day), peaceful, and a nice change from the 'city life' of Parsberg.

We'll start to update this blog a little more often as we get further settled in. Finally, things are starting to calm down for us. It's a nice change!

The view from our front porch will be changing very soon

2010-09-08T20:46:00.000+02:00

Unfortunately, that view won't be as scenic as the castle from our current yard, but we are both very excited about the move! Yes, it's finally happening. On October 1st, the movers come to haul our stuff 53.2 kilometers to the north. I've been alluding to the fact that a move might be imminent for the past couple of months, but I haven't been very forthcoming as to why. Basically, I am not renewing my government work contract and will be free from the constraints of a cubicle, 12 demanding bosses, irrational work demands, and performing tasks that I have found boring and unchallenging for the past 10 plus years. Instead, I will be doing my art, photography, writing, and web work fulltime from home. I have a few solid things in the bag right now, but also have 1,000 other ideas to implement and try out. I am really looking forward to these new challenges and opportunities!

As for Dawn, she has renewed her contract and will continue working at her current position where she is very well-liked and is doing a great job. The best part of all this is that she will no longer have to make the one hour slog each way to work every day. Instead, a 20 minute, very easy drive, will put her at the front door of her office. No more 4:30am alarms, no more getting home at 6:30pm after a long day, no more cramming in workouts and exercise in to her already busy schedule. We are both looking forward to her having much more free time after the move.

I will update our situation a bit more in the days to come - and when I'm more coherent. The last month of travel and work has left me a little thin on energy! The remaining weeks of September will not provide any respite either. We'll get through it, however, and very much look forward to kicking back in our new digs and enjoying our new lives starting in October. Yes, things are looking up!

In the rush of things, I almost forgot about.....Amsterdam

2010-08-13T13:55:00.000+02:00

Once things settle down in a month or two or three, I'll sit down and actually write a bit about our trips we have taken this summer. I 'think' I've got some interesting things to say about each place we've been. If not, it will at least give me something to do when the inevitable shit weather of October/November hits Germany. As for now, free time just doesn't exist. We leave for the States on Sunday, spending a week in Chicago and then a week in Minnesota. We're really looking forward to the trips. Upon our return to Euroland, we immediately depart the next weekend for Chamonix, France. The next weekend, Jef and I will be doing a CPR class. The weekend after that is our anniversery weekend which Dawn and I will be spending in the Neuschwanstein area of Germany. After that, it's down to Berchtesgaden for the weekend. We may even try to fit in a trip to Oktoberfest somewhere in there. So, yes, it's going to be a busy five or six weeks for us coming up! I can't complain one bit, though.

So, on to Amsterdam. I'll keep this very brief - I LOVE that city! Is that brief enough for you? Great, so how about some pictures...... :)

Our penthouse apartment in A-dam. Yes, that is Jef sleeping. Dawn and I had the loft above. This apartment was awesome! However, getting up to it was not easy! Five flights of very twisty stairs in an old canal house.... not easy with luggage.

(L) Canal houses in central A-dam (R) Jef checking out the view from our kitchen window

(L) Dawn on the water taxi (R) Tour boat makes a turn on to the Amstel River Canal

A lot more pictures from this trip can be found HERE

and..... I almost forgot - a few 'people' pictures from the Italy trip

2010-08-11T06:35:00.000+02:00

I don't just take scenery shots. Okay, so a good portion of my shots usually are landscapes and scenery, but I also like to point my camera at people as well. Two of my favorite subjects to shoot in Italy - Dawn and Jef. A few fun pictures that I'd like to share.

1) Dawn Above Manarola, Italy 2) Jef in Levanto, Italy 3) Dawn and Jef cooking dinner in the Val di Fleres, Italy 4) Walking along the harbor in Vernazza, Italy

More can be found HERE

A Few More Pictures from our Trip to Italy

2010-08-11T06:28:00.001+02:00

The poor weather this past weekend gave me a chance to go through more of my backlogged photos taken on trips earlier this summer. Slowly, but surely, I'm getting through them all. Below are some various pictures taken while on our trip to Cinque Terre, Italy at the beginning of July. Besides staying along the Italian Riveria, we also spent a couple of days in the Alps of Italy in the Brenner Pass region. I really liked this area. Although busy with tourists, it was tame compared to a lot of places in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. I'd really like to go back to this area in the future to do a bit more exploring. There are also a few pictures from Mutters, Austria, where we stayed the first night of the trip on the way down to Tuscany, and I've included a link to some pictures from Mittenwald, Germany, where we stopped on our drive back home. Here are the links to each set:

Colle Isarco, Italy (Brenner Alps)
Mutters, Austria
Mittenwald, Germany

More Pictures from Italy

2010-08-06T09:46:00.000+02:00

I've finally finished with the pictures of the five towns in Cinque Terre plus the city of Levanto which is just north of the Cinque Terre Region. I still have some other pictures to go through from the trip (mainly people pics) but should be done with those this weekend. I also have a lot of pictures left to go through from the Brenner Pass region in the Italian Alps. We stopped there for two nights on our way back to Germany after Cinque Terre. It will be a while before I get to making any posters from the pictures I took on this trip. I did get some really nice ones that will work very well for the art pieces, however!

To see the full set of pictures for each town, click on the name of the town below. I've also included a couple of my favorites from each town on this page.

Finally - Some Pictures from Italy!

2010-08-04T09:32:00.000+02:00

It's taken me some time, but I'm finally going through the pictures from our trip to the Cinque Terre region of Italy. Currently, I only have the pictures for Riomaggiore posted on my Flickr site. I am about halfway through the pictures taken in Manarola, the next town up from Rio. I've organized the pictures by town as it makes it a bit easier to manage the more than 1,400 pictures I took when they are broken down in to categories. I'm hoping to get Manarola and Vernazza finished tonight and should have the remaining towns done by the end of the week. After that, it's on to the Amsterdam pictures and then the pictures from last weeks camping trip to Garmisch. I highly doubt I'll get through these all before we leave for the States in a week and a half, but I'll get what I can posted! Besides these bigger trips, I also have hundreds of pictures to go through from local trips we've taken over the past month or so. So many pictures, so little time!

Here are a few of my favorites from Riomaggiore, the town we stayed in while in Cinque Terre:

View from above Rio, looking towards the mountains of Tuscany:

The boat harbor in Rio

Sunset Pictures

The entire set for Riomaggiore can be found HERE

Another quick update - camping in Garmisch this weekend, trip to the States looms

2010-07-29T08:14:00.000+02:00

Quick updates to this blog is all we seem to have time for right now Our being busy this summer, however, has not been a bad thing! I just look forward to when things slow down a little bit and we have some time to digest all we've done over the past few months.

There may be some big changes coming both our ways in the near future. We'll keep you all updated when we have more solid news. If it all works out, Dawn's 2.5 hours of commuting each day will be a thing of the past. That is a great thing!

This weekend Dawn and I will be heading down to Garmisch, Germany to do a bit of camping and hiking. The weather looks like it will actually be decent in that portion of the Alps and we'd like to take advantage of it! Jef is off for Budapest this morning for a week of travel. It sounds like he's got a fun trip planned! His first real solo journey since being here. I'm sure he'll have a great time.

Our trip back to Chicago and Minnesota is approaching fast! We're both really looking forward to it! It will be nice to get back to the US, even if it is just for two weeks.

If you've checked lately, you may have noticed that the link to my photo blog is broken. The new site should be up within the next week.

We'll write more later when we get a chance to breathe. I look forward to sitting down, going through the pictures from our trips and doing a bit of writing about what we experienced in each place. See you all soon!

Week Vacation- Cinque Terre

2010-07-22T14:08:00.001+02:00

I suppose it’s my turn to write something, and I have a few minutes while my server is down. Hope you’re all enjoying your summer. Ours has been busy, but exciting. Most of you may know that Nate’s brother Jef is here spending some time travelling with us and on his own, while looking into job possibilities teaching Crossfit.

We spent some time in Cinque Terre, Italy last week. Actually, it was a whole week of vacation, not something we usually get to enjoy. The weather was warmer than we were used to, upper 80s and humid. It seemed no matter where we walked we would sweat for about 10 minutes after stopping. We made sure to swim almost every day in the cool water to combat the heat. Time was also spent kayaking, hiking, and just relaxing on our patio.

Cinque Terre, meaning five towns, includes five small towns in the Italian Riviera. Each town has a unique ambiance and we quickly picked out our favorites. We stayed in Riomaggiore, known by locals as ‘Rio,’ and it quickly felt like home. Having an apartment to stay in was great for watching people from our balcony, and allowed us buy and cook our own food fresh from the gardens in the 5 cities. By the end of the 6 nights we were helping other tourists as if we lived there for years.

The other cities in order north were Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. Manarola and Vernazza were my favorites, very peaceful places and fun short hikes to take to beautiful views. There were a few days Nate and I thought we’d ‘take it easy,’ and found ourselves hiking high up for great sunset photos.

The quick hike to Manarola was only 15 minutes and was called the “Lover’s Walk.” We took this many times, because the view was so pretty, and Manarola was good in all light. Many people left locks with their names on them and a tunnel of spray-painted with names and messages. We claimed one, as we didn’t think we really needed to spend 8euro on a lock with people drawn on it.

We discovered the town of Levanto late in the week, just a little farther north from Cinque Terre. The town was more local and less tourists. We took a nice stroll near the beach, took a few pictures, and Jef got a beer, warm of course. It was a little strange to see them selling it out of a booth ion the street, but why not?

We left Friday to head towards the mountains. We planned to camp in Garmisch, but the weather was rainy, so we stayed in the Italian Alps. We found a few towns to wander through and continue our relaxing vacation. We left Brennero and headed home Sunday. It was nice to get in a bit early and unpack and start the huge pile of laundry.

Cinque Terre was a beautiful place to stay, maybe next time in the late fall time period. We also know Italians go to bed after 1am and get up yelling again by 6 or 7am in the morning. Did you know that Italians think driving on the middle line on the freeway is safer because you drive straight? Yeah, that’s what I thought too…

One conference and one trip down

2010-07-08T15:27:00.001+02:00

Hey all! I just wanted to write a quick update while I had a few minutes. As reported in my last post, things have been very, very busy for us. Last week saw us at a conference for work up in Grafenwoehr. Not really much to say about that as it was work after all and I'd rather not have to relive the experience by writing about it. However, after cutting out on a Thursday meeting early, we did manage to make our way up to Amsterdam for the long July 4th weekend. What a great, great, great city that is! Dawn, Jef and I all had a fantastic time up there and really hope we can go back soon.

The highlight of the trip to A-dam had to be experiencing the jubilation and utter craziness that ensued when Holland beat Brazil in the World Cup. Having lived in Germany during the WC four years ago, seeing celebrations when a big win has occurred is nothing new to me. However, this was different. The entire city went absolutely bonkers, and for the most part, it was pretty civilized. No overturned cop cars, no looting or burning of private property, and only one little scuffle that we witnessed. It was really cool to see so many people so damn happy. I'm not the biggest soccer fan, but I love the spirit of the World Cup. Quite possibly one of the coolest sporting events on the planet.

I did take many, many pictures on the trip (600+) but it's going to take some time before I get through them. I just have no time right now. We leave for the Tuscany region of Italy tomorrow evening and will be gone for 9 days total. I'm going to be so backlogged on pictures by the time this summer is over......... Well, it will give me something to do when the weather inevitably turns bad in Germany!

I hope everyone is doing well!

The Busy, Busy Summer Begins

2010-06-25T17:10:00.000+02:00

Today can be seen as the day that marks the start to our very chaotic and hectic summer. This is not necessarily a bad thing at all - we are both very excited for all of the trips and travel we have planned. It will definitely keep us on our toes! On some of the trips, we will also have an additional traveling partner. As some of you know, my brother, Jef, is staying with us for the next three months.

Here's a quick rundown of what's ahead: Next week Dawn and I have a work conference to attend. Jef may or may not join us for a night or two in Weiden. Next Thursday, Dawn and I are cutting out a bit early, meeting Jef south of Regensburg, and then heading to the Munich airport to board a flight for Amsterdam where we'll be spending the holiday weekend. Upon our return from Holland, Dawn and I head back to work while Jef does whatever Jef wants to do. At the end of the week, we hop back in the car and head for southern Austria and the Brenner Pass. The next day sees us driving to Cinque Terre, Italy. We'll be spending six relaxing days in this beautiful area, hiking, biking, swimming and simply taking in this unique coastal area of Tuscany and the Italian Riviera. On the drive back to Germany, we'll be stopping in Garmisch to spend two nights camping with friends who will be meeting us there.

In August, Dawn and I will be heading to Chicago for another work conference. After Chicago, it's off to Minnesota, Dawn's home state. We will be having a belated stateside wedding reception here. About 100 of Dawn's family members will be in attendance. Me? Only two. It should be a great time, though, and I'm looking forward to checking out Dawn's home and meeting more of her family.

Anyway, the summer is going to be a busy one! Once September rolls around, we do have some other plans including seeing a concert at Neuschwanstein Castle and also attending Oktoberfest in Munich. Then, things get interesting. I have no idea what's going to happen with my job right now and probably won't until early September.

Time for me to take it easy. Sleep did not come easy last night and the 2.5 hours I did sleep was not nearly enough! Have a great weekend!

Dawn and Osu cuddling on the couch

2010-06-07T21:28:00.000+02:00

For a dog, Osu finds some very interesting positions to sit in. This evening, he found leaning back against Dawn to be the most comfortable position and stayed this way for at least twenty minutes. Sometimes he sits certain ways that look painfully uncomfortable, but it just doesn't seem to bother him. He's our little yoga dog.

PS - Is anyone reading this blog anymore???

A fine weekend in Germany (and finally some sun!)

2010-06-06T20:55:00.002+02:00

A quick post here to share a few photos. I haven't gone through the photos from the BBQ we had at the house yesterday, but did go through the ones I took today so I could post the below photos. Basically, with it being so nice out again today, we decided to find a nice spot where we could take Osu swimming. We finally found a spot along the Schwarze Laaber near our house. Not only was it a good spot to throw sticks for Osu to retrieve in the water, but there was also a log spanning the width of the creek. Dawn couldn't resist testing her gymnastic prowess on the downed log, and surprisingly, Osu followed her. After successfully making it across the creek on the log, Dawn needed some room to turn around but Osu just wouldn't give her any space. So, since Osu was already wet, she gently shoved him off the log and in to the water. Later, Dawn decided to go back out on the log but Osu wanted nothing to do with it this time. However, after a couple of minutes of prodding, he finally did approach the log, eventually running out on to it to get to Dawn. Alas, in one of the funniest things I've seen this dog do, he slipped off of the log falling in to the water on his side. I didn't get any pictures as I was laughing too hard at his misfortune!

What's up!

2010-05-20T13:04:00.003+02:00

It’s once again been a long time since a post, especially for me. I don’t know how it seems like we got busier, but I think about posting. The last few weeks we haven’t gone anywhere far, but we’ve been getting a lot done. I’ve been going to the arts and crafts shop a few Saturdays to make frames for our new prints and paintings we bought on our ventures. Nate has been busy making posters out of older pictures he had, with a few trips in there to get new towns and vantage points. Lots of new posters to check out on the website. We counted about 104 last night!

We have a fun weekend planned for an extended Memorial weekend. Chamonix, France. I think most of you saw some pictures from last time, but we are really looking forward to this trip. We’ve been thinking about all the places we want to go back to and places we can get other good pictures. Hoping for some sunshine and pretty mountains scenes. Osu doesn’t know yet, but he’ll be excited to go too.

In other news, Nashville is not happening anymore for work. We had planned to have our wedding reception after our work conference in Nashville, but Nashville flooded. So, we are still eagerly waiting for the decision if Chicago will be happening August 23-27th. We are very hopeful, as we need these hours of flying to extend our trip to see everyone. We are supposed to know this week, but no news yet.

In other more fun news, I’m making a GIANT cake for our work SRP Conference here in Germany. It needs to feed 120 people, so it’s either 8- 8x8 cakes or 8- 10x10 cakes. They will be two layers with the logo drawn in the middle and other fun stuff around the sides. I made a tester for work this week, and it turned out really well…especially for 10 pm. Maybe I can get Nate to upload the picture for me too, the small one for now. The real test will be the last week of June when I put it together and move it from our house to Graf, a lovely hour plus ride.

I’d like to say my garden is going well, but it’s hard to tell. We’ve been having lots of rain and little sun. The strawberries are getting flowers, but the pepper and tomato plants haven’t done much. It hasn’t frozen, just lots of rain. I can’t tell much what the blueberry bushes are doing, cuz I’ve never had those before, but they don’t seem to be growing much above the ground. Hope I didn’t plant stuff too early, last year we missed the whole planting time.

One more thing before I go… We’ll have Jef out here starting June 21st. We’re really excited to have him here and do some traveling; Amsterdam for the 4th of July is already waiting for us.

Vienna, Austria

2010-05-07T12:36:00.003+02:00

Well, once again we've been lagging behind on keeping this blog updated. Both of us have been pretty busy with other things and just haven't had the time. So, here's a quick recap of our trip to Vienna:

Day 1: We drove. It was kind of a boring and flat landscape - the non-mountainous part of Austria. We were pleasantly surprised by our apartment room. Very nice and spacious. Decent location. We spent the rest of that day checking out the old part of Vienna. Even took a horse and buggy ride!

Day 2: Spent most of the day exploring the old part of Vienna some more. It's a big area with a lot to see. We also went to Prater Park and enjoyed the amusement park. The weather turned beautiful that afternoon. Dawn did a bit of shopping, I did a bit of sitting outside in the sun. It was nice. That evening, we went and saw Nada Surf in concert. Very good show and they sounded great.

Day 3: We caught the boat early for Bratislava, Slovakia and had a great hour + long ride down the Danube. We spent that day exploring the city, a very beautiful city too, and really enjoyed our time there. The weather was once again spectacular. Oh, and we found an AWESOME mexican restaurant, the best we've found in Europe, in Bratislava of all places. The boat ride back was great and we spent a lot of time out on the deck taking in the scenery. We spent the evening wandering around Vienna some more. A great day.

Day 4: All of the walking and travel from the previous days really did my gout and my back in. We ended up enjoying a nice breakfast at our hotel and then packing up and heading out early. The drive back was pleasant enough and we got home at an early hour which was nice.

Overall, this was a great trip. Vienna and Bratislava are great cities and I'd recommend seeing them if you're ever in the area. Now, we want to explore a bit more to the east and are checking in to Budapest, Hungary for a future trip.

Many more pictures from the trip can be found on my Flickr Site. Below are a couple of posters I made from the photos I took. The original photo is on the left and the poster on the right.

Many more new posters can be found on Taku Photography and Posters

My car lives

2010-04-26T20:18:00.006+02:00

Crazy how time flies. It's almost been about a week since my car incident. Last Tuesday was apparently going too well, got into work early to leave early, sunny skies, and a really good workout. On my sunny drive home, only about 20 minutes away, my car began slowing to a stop on B299. This road is like a county road in the states, frequently used by those living in the area and connecting several towns.

I managed to coast to a small break in guardrail and a lady helped me push my car the rest of the way onto the small patch of asphalt. We spoke in bad German and hand signals. She asked if I needed more help, a phone to call with or a number. I was al little confused about the number part, but told her I was okay. I have ADAC, like AAA, and would call them.

Hoping to spend more time with Nate that night, I left work early. I told him I'd be home about 5:30, so I called him right away to tell him I was stranded and I'd be starting my calls to Peter, the guy who sold me the car, and then ADAC. Peter was off in the woods cutting down trees, so I needed to get ADAC to check the car and then tow it to his house. Great. So, I call ADAC. I tell the lady I'm on B299 between two cities, but she doesn’t understand. I'm doing this all in German, but she doesn’t know how I can be by Pfaffenhofen and on B299. There are of course 2 Pfaffenhofens in Germany, maybe more, so I tell her the direction of two other towns near me. She becomes frustrated and transfers me to another woman. The second woman was much more helpful. I told her where I was and the direction I was traveling. Someone will be on the way, and I’m a priority cuz I'm in a dangerous location. Great! Have someone there in 30-45 minutes, maybe, then bring the car to Peter's home by 7 or 8, right.

I waited by the road for about an hour and a half before the first guy came. Either there were a lot of emergencies, or priority means nothing, I think the later. He checks the car out, broken fuel pump. Need to be towed. Nice, I asked for a ADAC truck that could tow to start with, but of course, no luck. The guy calls ADAC, says a truck should come in 30 minutes, okay, not too bad. I'm only starving and been walking in the dirt with my nice work shoes on, pacing at the side of the road bored.

Thirty minutes go by and I get a call, the truck is leaving now, and where am I? What? Where am I? I explain where I am in German again, I think he gets it and he hangs up. Another 30 minutes and he arrives, as it's getting dark. First he checks out the car again, then paperwork. After about 20-30 minutes we get the car hooked up to put on the flatbed of the truck. I think I'll be home in an hour, I call Nate to tell him I'm on my way through town, to Peter's, then the guy will bring me home.

The guy's GPS doesn't know where Hardt is...? I tell him I know the way to drive there, the way I always take. If he doesn’t know where it is, that's all we've got. We get into Lupburg, head down the hill, to find the road is closed, nice. No detour signs, so I call Nate ad he calls his boss. It's already about 9pm now, maybe later. We drive around forever trying to get there, through farms, back roads, several U-turns. We get to Peter's and unload the car, yay. Almost home. He didn't want to go back the same way thinking there was a short cut, so we get lost again for a long time. Half the time he's on the phone with his boss arguing. It's mildly amusing, but I'm tired and don't care. We finally get to the autobahn to drive to Parsberg. I have to call Nate to get me from the gas station because it took so long to get back. It's 10:30.

Nate comes to pick me up and takes me home. I have two hockey puck burgers for dinner and go to bed. Nate isn't a bad cook, just made dinner for me when I thought I'd be home at least an hour earlier.

I got to pick up the car after work the next day. Nate rode into work with his boss, so I could take his car. It's all better now, so I hope it stays that way for a while. What a pain and extra long day.

Car troubles and a few photos from the morning

2010-04-20T21:03:00.000+02:00

I'll let Dawn tell the whole story if she feels up to it later. On her way home from work tonight, the fuel pump in her VW Golf went out, bringing her to a standstill on the side of B299. She eventually was rescued by ADAC (Europe equivalent to AAA) and is now on her way out to her car dealer/mechanic to have the car dropped off to be fixed and then she'll be on her way home. This will end up being a long day for her. Up at 4:30 am, out the door at 5:45, work all day, then deal with this on the way home. It's almost 9 pm now and she still probably won't be home for another half an hour. I feel bad for her and wish there was some way that she didn't have to do that drive every day. When something like this happens, it just adds to an already long day leaving little to no time for relaxation for her. Thank God we've got an extra long weekend coming up in Vienna. We both could use the time off.

I also got up early this morning to go shoot some pictures of the sunrise. It was nice, but not as good as I was hoping. I also wasn't able to stay long enough to get any good morning light on the castle. I waited as long as possible, but eventually had to load the camera gear and an extra dirty dog in to the Toyota to get home and then get off to work. Perhaps I'll try this again in the summer when the sun will be up earlier. Here are a few pictures from the shoot this morning:

Osu having some fun with another dog that was out early with it's owner. Cool dog and a nice owner who was pleasant to chat with. They may look like they are fighting, but they were actually having a lot of fun playing. This is how Osu got so darn dirty. And to think, I just cleaned the RAV yesterday.....

You can see the rest of the photos on my Flickr page

Sunday at the Nürnberg Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival)

2010-04-19T21:26:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we left Parsberg fairly early, well, after a somewhat lazy morning, with the Nürnberg Fruhlingsfest as our destination. It was sunny and warm and it definitely felt like Spring was in the air when we arrived at the parking lot for the fest. Because these fests can get somewhat packed and somewhat crazy, especially on nice days, our plan was to get there right when it opened in order to avoid the crowds. We didn't have much of a plan other than ambling around, checking out the sites and enjoying a little fest food for lunch - along with taking some pictures, of course.

The festival grounds in Nürnberg are located adjacent to the NAZI documentation center, the only large structure left from Hitler's NAZI Rally Grounds, his dream for the center of the NAZI universe. The history of the area is absolutely fascinating, especially when you come to realize the immense scope of Hitler's plans for the huge tracts of land in the area. The area now is mainly a large park consisting of a few large lakes, the easyCredit Soccer Stadium, the Documentation Center Museum (a must see) and the Nürnberg Conference Center. If you're interested in learning more, this is a great site with pictures from the past and present of the area: http://www.thirdreichruins.com/nuernberg2.htm I sat and went through these for an hour or so after we returned home yesterday. Dawn and I have been to the Documentation Center museum but still have yet to explore, even after a few visits, the full scope of the park and grounds. Click HERE for a google satellite view of the grounds.

We had a lot of fun yesterday but did return home early in the afternoon. We were both beat from a long Saturday. I should say all three of us, as Osu was quite tired himself. I think he wore himself out at the festival trying to decipher the thousands of different smells emanating from the various food booths and tents. His little legs just couldn't keep up with his nose which was constantly pointed at the ground, seeking out dropped pieces of pretzel or accidentally dropped chunks of bratwurst.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

On a Bench at the Castle

2010-04-18T09:44:00.000+02:00

Just a couple of pictures from this past Friday evening. It's too nice of a day for a longer post right now. We need to get outside and take advantage of the sun - and soon!

Not to bump Dawn's only post in.....ages, but....

2010-04-16T22:03:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to mention that I have put together a newly revised site for the posters and artwork I've been creating over the past month or two. Eventually this will all look professional. Right now, it is what it is as there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I need to do with it. But, there are now a lot more different products that can be purchased through the site through two vendors.

Please let me know if you find anything confusing about the site or the links. I'm using the blog as the 'home' page right now. When clicking to visit any link off of the blog, there is a 'blog' link on each of those pages to get back to the main blog. I hope that made sense. I tried to make this as easy as possible with the tools I have at my disposal right now.

If you have the time, please check out http://www.takuphotoblog.com/ I would appreciate any feedback you may have! Thanks and have a great weekend!

Cesky Krumlov Weekend- Only a week or two late...

2010-04-16T04:30:00.007+02:00

Well, it seems I have finally made it to the computer to do something other than frantically looking for plane tickets, hotels, and recipes. I was supposed to write about our trip to Cesky Krumlov about a week ago, but it somehow slipped through the cracks. So, now that it's 4:30 in the morning and I'm making breakfast for my friend Sarah's birthday today, I thought I'd take time while the dough is rising.

Nate and I have been trying to go to new places, as Germany has become a bit stangent for us. We've been to many places, but are a little sick of the same ol' thing. I was gone to Schweinfurt for work, so Nate and I were trying to find somewhere to go over the phone. Nate told me near the end of the week he had found a cool place to go and what to pack. All I knew is that we were going about 3 hours away. I made a few guesses, non of which were right, as I'd never heard of this place before. Cesky Krumlov. I was helping with the directions when we got nearer, but there was no way to pronounce that name if you can't read Czech or haven't heard it before.

We arrived into a cool Medievil walled city. Of course there was a detour, like Minnesota, there are only so many months to do road construction. The lady from the hotel came to pick us up and take us to the hotel, as this town does not let cars in the city center. We pulled almost right up to the castle and walked down just a few stairs to our hotel.

Our hotel was just below the castle, and you could see the tower from our door. The room we had was huge, with lots of space, a table, and Osu enjoyed the little couch that was in the corner which he claimed for his bed.

We got the camera gear all ready and headed out to walk the town. It was great! Just down the steps we found a Czech version of mini donuts, a cinnamin and sugar covered dough wrapped around a wooden dowel to bake in an oven. They spin bake, then get tapped a couple times to fall into your napkin to pull and eat on the go. Yummy.

Down the street was the bridge that opened up to the river and a full view of the castle. We stopped here to tale many pictures, as did many other tourists. It was great heading through all the tiny streets, some with very few people, others heavliy traveled. We made our way into the square and found a little market and some guy making fresh potato chips. We decided to try some, since we typically don't eat out much or eat chips. They were HUGE! It was almost like half a bag of chips from the store. We did not eat them all, not even half, but a few were good. Osu was kept far from them, as oil makes him sick and he had already eaten some lost soldierson the ground which made him throw up in front of a bag stand I was looking at. And of course, you have to pick that up too. I bet Nate was glad he went to get the chips.

We continued wandering the town to find different corners and cool photo spots. The castle ended up being last on our list, since it was up on the hill near the hotel. We walked up to the bears in the moat area and only saw a cat. We figured he was dinner and walked the castle for the view from the bridge. It was nice walking through at the end of the day, most tourists had left by then and gone back to Prage or where ever they traveled from for the day. On the way out we saw the two bears, in seemlying seperate cages in the moat below--and the cat was gone. We headed back to our hotel to drop off Osu and head out for dinner.

Dinner was at a place not far from our hotel. We wandered around a little before settling at a place that had a patio haging over the river. It was quiet and nice. The protions were pretty big and it was so cheap. Nate had a rissoto and I had veal, it was good! We packed up some veggies that were left from our plates and headed back to the room to give Osu a treat and head back out for night pictures. We went back to many of the same places as we did throughout the day, with a lot fewer people. I also had a hot chocolate that was thick as pudding. How can you go wrong?

Up early the next morning, Nate and I were out by 7 to wander for morning light shots before breakfast. If you couldn't tell already, the town is small. We walked the whole thing again that morning before breakfast at 8. Shortly after breakfast we headed home, Nate's back was hurting pretty good.

It was a great weekend! Great surprise. And now we have a new place we'd definately take visitors to see. We're actually heading back in about two weeks with some friends. This time we'll take a little more time to relax and enjoy the time.

Now, time to get ready for work with the monkey bread rises. It's all rolled in the cinnamon and sugar now, almost time for hot gooey yummy!

Our weekend in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

2010-04-09T19:47:00.003+02:00

I really can't type all that well right now, so Dawn will finally have to make another post. Here are a couple of pictures in the meantime.

The first two are where we stayed Saturday night. The rest are scenics of the town. All of the pictures can be found on my Flickr Site also.

Back to the Czech Republic

2010-04-03T06:33:00.000+02:00

When foreign becomes familiar, the abnormal becomes normal and the exciting becomes mundane, you often have to push a little farther or take the path least traveled to make things exciting again. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I realized on Thursday, while trying to think of somewhere to go this weekend for a short trip, that the area where Dawn and I live has become a bit stagnant to us. Trips to Nurnberg and Regensburg have become routine, we've thouroughly checked out our surrounding area, have visited many of the quaint villages contained in the region where we live, and have done most of the things normally targetted at visitors.

After sitting and trying to think of something unique to do over this weekend, I remembered a webpage that I had stumbled across a year or two ago describing a medeival village in the Czech Republic. The village, Cesky Krumlov, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and just a little over three hours from the house. I figured it was finally time to go and check this place out.

It's been EXACTLY one year since I was last in the Czech Republic and I think most of you know how that turned out. Over the past year, I don't know how many people have asked me, "Will you ever go back to Czech or Prague?" I always answered them, "sure, why not?" Well, here we go. I'm really looking forward to the trip, especially since Dawn has no idea where we are going. I don't keep this information from her for her benefit or to not worry her, I just want to keep the destination a surprise because I do think she will love it. We're both pretty easy-going and knew that we'd have no problem going back to the Czech Republic when the time came. It would be silly to think otherwise.

We'll have a full report when we return. Frohe Oster! (Happy Easter)

The end of the work week

2010-03-26T13:43:00.001+01:00

Well, another very busy week is about to wrap up. It's a good thing, too. Dawn and I could both use a couple of days of rest and a little sleeping in. This past week I put up my new site, 'Gout and the Active Person' and I'm getting close to having it finished. This is basically a site where a tell a bit about my battles with gout, dole out some advice and knowledge based off what I have learned in my 15 years of living with the disease and display a spreadsheet that tracks my daily gout goings-on. My hope is that someone will stumble across the site, take the advice I give to heart, and be able to avoid everything that I have gone through with my gout. You can find the site here: http://goutactiveperson.blogspot.com/

I have also been working on some new poster designs that I've put up on my new photography website, Frozen River Photography. I've always really liked the look and feel of the vintage travel posters and am doing my best to design some modern ones with the same look and feel. There definitely is a learning curve involved, as I keep figuring out new and better ways to do things. So far, I'm pretty happy with the results. My plan is to make a poster or two for many of the small villages in this area where Americans are housed. I also would like to make a few of each of the bigger cities in Bavaria. Of course, I'll make as many as I can showcasing mountains and the Alps as possible! Below you will find two examples. You can see all of the posters that I have created so far HERE.

Quickly from Winter to Spring

2010-03-17T22:03:00.003+01:00

This past weekend may have been the last hurrah for winter here in our neck of the woods. It snowed nearly all day on both this past Saturday and Sunday which made for an interesting frozen-slush-on-the-road drive to work on Monday. Ah, but how quickly things change. Today temperatures reached the low 50's and there was a little hint of spring in the air. Most of the snow on the ground is gone now, the grass finally reappearing after spending nearly four months tightly tucked under a cold, white blanket. As we usher in a new season here in Germany, I'll fondly think back on this past winter, the first real winter I've experienced in four years. Yes, I do realize that most people think I'm a bit off in my longing for cold and snow, but in a week or two, when the inevitable and nearly constant rains return, I'll inwardly chuckle at the fools who curse winter when their complaints begin regarding the dampness and 'bone-chilling' wetness that marks the German spring. Ah, yes, it's springtime for Hitler in Germany, indeed.

A few pictures from last Saturday morning and one from this evening to illustrate the quick change in the weather.

Sunrise this past Saturday

Then the snows came and came hard

The front yard today (Wednesday). Good bye snow!

The Comments Should Work Now

2010-03-14T07:48:00.000+01:00

Have at it. Leave a comment to let us know what you're thinking or to at least let us know that someone is reading this! Thanks!

and Three Weeks Roll on By..........

2010-03-13T19:21:00.003+01:00

Yep, we've been a bit busy. Well, more tired than anything. Work has kicking both our behinds - and hard. A few little side projects have eaten up pretty much any spare time we've had outside of work, hence, the lack of posts on here recently. Let me assure you, however, all is well. We're just..........tired. So, here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to, that is, if I can part this haze that has enveloped my brain this evening and remember that far back.

In no chronolgical order due to the difficulty I'm having thinking, here we go:

1) Last week was spent in Berchtesgaden. We didn't ski, but we did get out for a winter boatride on the Konigsee, did a bit of sledding and were able to take a few long hikes in the deep snow. Overall, a really good weekend.

2) I've started working on a website to help out other gout sufferers who like to lead an active lifestyle. The template for the site is pretty much done, but there is still a lot of information to get down and reorganization to go through. I hope to work on this some more next week and have it up on the internets sometime in the next month.

3) I haven't done any writing or editing recently, but have been thinking a lot about it. This may sound bad, but I'm waiting for Dawn to be away on her work trip in two weeks so I can come home from my day job and really start hacking away at the manuscript. There is a lot to be done on this still and I will likely have to re-write a lot of it in order to achieve a more focussed direction and to make it more topical. It all does kind of tie in with the website, but they can be worked on independently.

4) Pictures. I'm always working on pictures, reading about perfecting the craft and doing my best to adhere to practice some of the techniques and procedures I read about. I also just started working on a photo website gallery today which took a lot of preparation time the last couple of weeks. Here is a link to the preliminary site: http://www.frozenriverphotography.com/ Many of the pictures will be changed - right now, many of them are just placeholders.

5) Dawn has done a lot of baking the last couple of weeks using her new bakeware she just received. She's made some darn good cookies and cakes as of late and luckily, she takes most of her creations to her office.

6) Dawn has also been traveling for work a lot more recently. This has really cut in to her free time and her time at home. After a long drive to and from the office and a full day at work and then cooking dinner (she refuses to let me cook - I wonder why?), it doesn't leave a lot of time for much else. Well, she has been putting in a lot of time planning our trip back to the States this summer and fighting my insurance company to get the money back that they owe me. That has not been fun.

7) We did our taxes

I'm sure I'm missing a lot in there, but I'm tired, dinner is almost finished, and we're going to spend tonight relaxing and watching a movie. We haven't done that for some time now. It sounds good to me!

The pictures from the trip to Berchtesgaden can be found HERE Here are a few samples:

Our ski carrier

It wasn't hard to find an empty seat to eat ice cream at here

A bit of ice on the shore of the Konigsee

Dawn on the trail on the shore of the Konigsee

A Little Fun from this Weekend

2010-02-21T18:42:00.002+01:00

After the long trip to and from Switzerland last weekend, Dawn and I decided to stick around Parsberg this weekend. We both needed to recover from our illnesses and we had a few things backlogged at home that needed taken care of. Still, wed did manage to get out and have a little fun. Here are a few pictures of Dawn standing in a field covered with snow and a couple of animations, something new I decided to try out for fun.

Dawn in a Field

Animations

Interlaken / Jungfrau, Switzerland

2010-02-20T09:04:00.002+01:00

'm putting this post up a bit late for a couple of reasons. Reason number 1 being that both Dawn and I have been sick for the past few days which leads in to reason 2 - a delay in going through our pictures because we've been sick. Actually, Dawn was sick on the trip to Interlaken and then proceeded in getting me sick which made for a fun week at work. While Dawn battled with a stuffy head and plugged-up ears on the trip, I whined and cried about my back and some minor to middling gout attacks that decided to pop up and say hello in a few joints over the weekend. Still, even with these setbacks, the trip was great. Neither of us skied, but we got out and about and saw a lot while in Switzerland. The weather, once we got out of the fog-magnet that is Interlaken, was spectacular.

The entire area as a ski region is an interesting one. Although Interlaken is the biggest town in the area, it isn't really considered a ski town. It is more of a summer retreat for the rich and famous and people with way too much money in their wallets. Although the locals were down-to-Earth and very nice and helpful, many of the tourists were of the highfalutin variety, noses in the air and ten thousand dollar furs wrapped around their surgically-tightened necks. Basically, the pompous assholes that I generally can't stand (maybe I'm just jealous). The ski slopes themselves sat high above Interlaken, spread out below the prominent peaks such as the Wetterhorn, the Jungfrau and the Eiger (yes, that Eiger for you Clint Eastwood fans). To reach the main slopes, one could drive to either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, each town sitting on opposite sides of the Lauterhorn, where a train would then be boarded to take skiers to the small town of Kleine Scheidegg which sits right at the base of the Eiger and the Jungfrau. Or, if one was so inclined, trains could be taken all the way from Interlaken to Kleine Scheidegg. One interesting thing to note - the ski passes for the area covered both the ski lifts and the trains, something that was entirely new to us. The trains pulled an extra open-air car exclusively for carrying ski and snowboard gear up to the slopes while the people rode in comfortable and warm enclosed cars. Not a bad way to travel from slope to slope!

On our first day, Dawn and I took the train to Kleine Scheidegg and with a ticket we had purchased in Interlaken, boarded the train for the Jungfraujoch, elevation 11,333 feet. Although this is more of a summer trip for tourists to take, we're happy we made it. The views from the top were outstanding. Many of the areas that are open in the summer were closed in the winter for safety reasons, but we still did manage to get out on the snow and ice to snap some pictures. The sun was shining brightly, almost too brightly, but it was cold and windy - oh, and did I mention cold?

On day two, we left our hotel early and boarded one of the first trains up to Kleine Scheidegg, We were very unimpressed with the breakfast at our hotel and were on a mission to find something a bit more substantial and satisfying. We hit pay dirt at a restaurant right off of the tracks in Kleine Scheidegg, gorging ourselves on fried eggs, cheese, a croissant complimented by a huge spoonful of strawberry jam and three thick slabs of country bacon (I cheated - my first meat in a month). We also received bowls, not cups, of coffee for me and tea for Dawn. It was the best breakfast we've had on the road......ever! Dawn has pictures I can post later. I'm drooling right now thinking about it. After breakfast, I set the tripod up to take some pictures while Dawn climbed a very large hill of snow next to us, proceeding to do some yodeling from its peak and then butt-sledding down in the soft snow. We had a lot of fun that morning!

Day three found us staying in Interlaken, walking around town with other ski club members, checking out the sites and touristy junk shops. We were also on the prowl for a good fondue restaurant, as the reviews received from others about their fondue experiences the night before weren't too promising. After asking a local on the streets, we eventually ended up in a fairly non-descript restaurant across from the Interlaken-West train/bus depot and enjoyed a fantastic last feast in Switzerland.

Overall, this was a great trip and I'm glad we made it. The bus trip was long, we both weren't feeling well, but it was great to get out of sleepy 'ol Parsberg and finally get back to the mountains during the winter. I don't think we'd ever go back to ski this area as it looked pretty boring to me, but during the Summer? Heck yeah.

All pictures from the trip can be found HERE

A quick update on my back

2010-02-08T13:11:00.001+01:00

A quick visit to the post clinic revealed that my back problem is not disc related, thankfully. I was really worried about this. Although not positive, the doctor is pretty sure that this was a freak accident. I did do a lot of snow shoveling over the past couple of weeks and can honestly say that I really didn't concern myself much with proper shoveling technique as I tried to clear the driveway and sidewalk as quickly as possible before heading to work each morning. I need to remember that as I get older, I need to give these types of things more consideration. My body is a mess as it is, and although slowly improving, I still need to be careful. I know that Dawn really enjoyed pushing me around in a wheelchair at the hospital in Regensburg back in October, but I really don't get warm fuzzies from picturing her doing that for the next 50 years!

So, on the doc's orders, I'm at home right now working. I wish I could do this every day. It is sooo much less stressful than being in the office surrounded by the people I'm surrounded by on a daily basis during the work week. My productivity working from home skyrockets and in my opinion, the output is of a higher quality. It's so much easier to think and concentrate when I can have some music playing, the dog lying at my feet and I don't have to hear the incessant ramblings about who won American Idol or why Obama sucks.

One other note - I'm thinking of switching from the German doctor back to an American doctor for my gout treatment. I know what I need to do now and what path I must follow. It would just be so much easier to go to the clinic on post instead of having to drive back in to Parsberg for appointments, sometimes waiting two to three hours extra to be seen. I really like my German doctor and would still see him for acute attacks and my knee problem, but as far as getting blood drawn to monitor my uric acid levels each month and refilling my prescriptions, going to the clinic makes a lot more sense. Plus, doc Warner is a great guy and a real pleasure to talk with.

Alright, the programs I need for work are installed - time to get back at it. The harder I work, the faster the time goes and the sooner I can talk to my wife tonight :)

Another Weekend has Slipped on by.................

2010-02-07T16:29:00.001+01:00

I've got to keep this semi short. After a great, very early morning of shooting pictures with Dawn and Osu in the fog and the snow on Saturday, my back went out on me. Sure, I had no problem breaking down boxes, packing up the recycling, helping dawn carry a 27" TV to the car. However, just trying to move the already placed TV a bit further back in the RAV resulted in an extremely sharp pain and me crumpling over immediately. After coming back home from dropping things off, I carefully laid on the couch in the most comfortable position I could find. Later, I tried to get up. It was nearly impossible and horribly painful. We eventually did track down a doctor on duty (rare in Deutschland on a Saturday) in Velburg, driving there quickly so I could receive a shot of something and a prescription for some weak German meds that have done nothing to really alleviate the pain or help my back. After a restless four hours of sleep last night, on the couch none-the-less because I can't walk upstairs, my back does feel a bit better today but not much. I'm going to try to go in to the clinic on post tomorrow so I can maybe find out what's wrong. The German doctor offered no exam and no diagnosis - just the shot and the prescription. I know that the problem is not muscular and it's not nerves. Been there, done that. I'm afraid this is something worse. I know pain, unfortunately all too well, and this is bad. I'm pretty bummed about it. The gout and arthritis has slowly been improving, my knee has felt better with rest the past few months - now this. I'm falling apart. I joked with Dawn that marriage has broken me :)

Anyway, we did have a lot of fun out in the snow in the early morning fog and we were able to take some nice, moody pictures. After doing some chores after our jaunt down the road, we had planned to go back out so I could take some pictures of Dawn in some specific settings I had in mind. The snow, the dark woods in the background, low hills off in the distance. It would have been nice. We may have to wait until next year now. Dawn left on a work trip just a bit ago and won't be back until Friday. Then, if I can walk, we leave on a trip for Switzerland with the ski club (I'm not skiing, obviously). The snow is quickly melting away outside as the sun has made its first appearance in some time today and it's relatively warm. It would be great to go out and take some pictures, even without Dawn here, but the three stairs leading down to the driveway look like Mt Everest right now. There will be other days.

Anyway, here are a few of the pictures I shot yesterday. The entire set can be seen HERE on my Flickr page.

Snow, Snow and more Snow...............

2010-02-02T18:37:00.003+01:00

We woke up this morning to an unexpected six or seven inches of new, unforecasted snow. It took me about an hour to clear the driveway and the street in front of the driveway before I left for work. We did have a two hour delay this morning which means, me being a contractor who works for a company who could give a rat's ass about employee safety, could either take two hours of vacation and drive in after the roads were cleared or I could brave the country roads and idiotic German drivers in order to preserve what paltry amounts of time off I receive. I chose option two and drove in at the prescribed starting time.

Tonight, we are supposed to get hit with another round of snow and wind and what the Gemran forecasters are calling a blizzard. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm sure it will snow as I can see that on the RADAR. Will it get as bad as the weather sites are saying? Who knows. I think all German meteorologists went to school in Los Angeles, learning from the best how to hype a tenth of an inch of rain and make the public believe the next Biblical flood was immenent.

Yes, this country has been getting on my nerves the last couple of days. Germans freaking baffle me. They portray an outer character of toughness and resilience and then whine and cry about going home early because a couple of white flakes are flittering down from the sky (seriously, worthelss lazy bastards). Then, they get on the roads, tailgating, driving aggressively and overly aggorantly and generally acting like a sixteen year old American teen with a new license and a shiny new muscle car. Hey, that's fine and dandy if the roads weren't covered with snow and ice and if I already weren't going the damn speed limit. Back the F off, Fritz! And, it's illegal to flip these A-holes off. They actually are offended by a middle finger and will report you to the police for using it but are just fine with 80 year old Frau Schnitzel riding two centimeters from their back bumper while driving on a sheet of ice. Makes sense to me!

Yeah, anyway............ her's a little photo montage of the snow today. I'll add more if and when any new snow does fall. At least I like the snow. It keeps the Germans inside clapping along to their favorite TV shows of 1970s classic folk songs lead by some idiotic looking douche in lederhosen.

10:00PM Update. Okay, a walk in the snow with Dawn and Osu helped calm me down a bit. What a crappy start to the week. I guess it can only get better. Here's the latest update on the snow. It's started out coming down pretty good and there is some bigger stuff headed our way. Graf is on a two hour delay already for tomorrow. Where I work is still saying things will run normally tomorrow. If the past gives any indication of future actions, this means they'll institute a delay or close post AFTER eveyone has already shown up. Working with the Army AND Germans sometimes is a bit too much even for the most patient among us..........

Here are two pictures I took tonight of the Parsberg Castle from a different vantage point in town. They came out okay, but what you can't see is the blowing snow in these long exposures. It made the pictures softer than I would have liked. We'll have to give this a go again when the weather clears up. I've never taken any good shots up there during the day. With snow, it might look nice. Bigger versions are on my Flickr page.

A Good Weekend in the Snow

2010-01-31T17:59:00.001+01:00

I'm not really in a writing mood right now but thought I'd share some pictures from the past two days instead. Dawn had a 'girl's night' Friday and a 'girl's day' most of Saturday with some friends. I managed to sleep in a bit on Saturday, being awakened only by a whiney Osu who was itching to go outside. Once I opened up the rolladen over the window, I could see why. After a week plus of snowy and cloudy weather, the sun finally decided to show itself again making for a beautiful winter scene. This gave me an idea. Knowing that Germans rarely get out in inclement weather and definitely wouldn't be out post-holing through foot + deep snow, I and Osu loaded up in the car and headed down the hill towards the Schwarze Laaber creek valley. In the Summer, this is a nice area to get out for short bike rides on warm and sunny evenings, a place where we can take Osu, let him off the leash to explore the nooks and crannies along the creek bank while following us as we pedal our bikes. Knowing that the place rarely gets much traffic even during pleasant weather during the spring and summer, I figured this would be a great place to take Osu out to let him do some running in the newly fallen snow while I snapped some pictures in the unexpected morning sunlight. It was a good morning while the sun lasted, both Osu and I enjoying the solitude and the snow.

More pictures can be found HERE

Today (Sunday), Dawn, Osu and I took a drive south of town in the Altmuehl River Valley. Again, the morning dawned sunny making for some nice picture taking conditions and it allowed us to get back out and stretch our legs with the mutt.

Okay, so the first one is from this morning at the house. Not a bad thing to see first thing in the morning.

More pictures from this day can be found HERE

A Good, Snowy Day

2010-01-28T15:10:00.000+01:00

Today didn't turn out too bad. Dawn and I both did some work from home due to the weather conditions in our neck of the woods. We ended up receiving approximately six inches of snow overnight and it has been snowing on and off, sometimes heavily, all day. This was enough to close down the post I work on and it was also enough to warrant an okay from the boss for Dawn to stay at home. Dawn got a good workout in shoveling the driveway and the sidewalk while I, of course, took pictures of her laboring. I wonder what our nosey German neighbors think about that? I'm sure these busy-bodies have all kinds of scenarios dancing through their thick skulls, probably thinking Dawn is my slave and that I make her do all of the heavy lifting. This actually doesn't sound too bad to me, but truth be told, I'm just in no shape physically at this moment to be shoveling snow or clearing driveways. I tried early this morning and my back, bad knee and other sore appendages screamed NO at me. As I get older, I think it's about time I start listening when my body is telling me something.

Anyway, we just got back from dropping the Toyota off to get the new snow tires put on. I look forward to actually having some traction tomorrow when I drive to work. This will be a pleasant change from earlier in the week.

Below is Dawn trying to put a winter hat I bought in Seattle on Osu. At first he would have none of it. Eventually, he and his ears warmed up to the idea. Click on the picture for a larger view.

It's been an interesting week

2010-01-28T06:31:00.003+01:00

I've been up since 4:15AM. It's now 5:43AM. Sleeping when your toe, ankle, knee and finger are experiencing swelling, redness and a dull pounding sensation due to gout is tough. I also have a knot in my back that just won't go away. I hope it's just strained and not a disc. Seeing as how it's getting worse and not better over the past few days is a bit troublesome, though. Oh, and yesterday? I somehow managed to twist my ankle at work when I took an awkward step and my ankle completely rolled over. I was able to save most of the lunch that I was carrying back to my desk at least. Sometimes you have to celebrate the small victories (yay...).

So, most of the above is status quo for me. I'm used to it. Yes, it sucks, but after living with pain for so long you create ways to deal with it and move on. I mean, my ankle literally rolled over at a 90 degree angle, I heard and felt two tendons pop and I really wasn't too concerned. Yes, it hurt. A lot. I'll live.

These injuries and physical setbacks are not what has made the week interesting, however. No, it's been the weather and the daily task of getting to and from work. It seems that we are finally getting a real winter here in Germany, something I've been looking forward to since I moved here. I love the snow. Love skiing in it, walking in it, playing in it, taking pictures of it..... Driving in it, however, especially on bad tires, is not something I enjoy too much. At first glance it seems that my Toyota would be fairly snow-worthy. It's got front wheel drive, axle differential locker thingies and just looks like it should be good in the snow. I've driven it on ski trips and on some sketchy roads in the past and really had no concerns driving it in winter conditions this year - that is, until this past Monday. I had one of the scariest on-snow drives of my life on this morning. I knew things would be bad when I attempted to make a turn at the stoplight down from our house on to the main drag. Instead of turning like it was supposed to, the RAV kept going straight, the turning of the steering wheel having no discernible affect on my direction of travel. I wanted to turn left, but the car had other ideas. A couple pumps of the brakes and some nifty over steering finally got me somewhat going in the direction I needed to go, which could be seen as good or bad. After negotiating the turn, I found myself pointing downhill, sitting on a a very slippery and glimmering piece of asphalt heading straight for a new roundabout that had just been completed the month before.

I generally like roundabouts, but not when they are covered in ice. I was able to get through both traffic circles - barely - and ended pulling over in a grocery store parking lot to catch my breath and settle my nerves. I was hoping that the salt truck or plow would happen by to clean up the roads a bit, but to no avail. I finally mustered up the courage to continue on with my journey and wish I hadn't. I've never white-knuckled a steering wheel more than I did while heading down from the Netto to the newly constructed bridge at the bottom of the hill. I was all over the place. If I touched my brake peal, the back end would start to slide. If I tried to steer a certain direction, the car would go exactly opposite of where I intended it to go. I was fairly positive that I would end up in the Schwarze Laaber (creek) since there were no guardrails to pinball between on the road.

Somehow, someway, I did make it down to the bridge (only realizing this when I finally opened my eyes). I now had to negotiate the uphill that would take me out of the creek valley. I barely, and I mean barely made it to the top of the hill. I was a wreck at this point. I pulled over in to the Penny Mart parking lot to once again catch my breath and to let the shaking in my body abate. I waited a good 20 minutes there, just hoping that the damn salt truck would come by. Nope. I finally did make it to work, me leading 40 other cars, being that slow guy that everyone hates. If anything at all has stuck with me through my years working with the military, it is the commercial that repeats 'Drive to Arrive Alive'. I was in full survival mode at that point, believing anything over 40kmh would ensure instant death for me.

Tuesday - a repeat of Monday.

With two horrible days of driving under my belt, I had to take some action. I never thought that my tires would be the culprit, but it turns out my 'all weather, all season radials' were in bad shape. Usually a set of tires is good for at least 50,000 miles or a couple of years of driving. Something I never considered about living in Germany, however, is the fact that doing a lot of Autobahn driving, often at speeds exceeding 95mph, will quickly wear your tires down. After a quick inspection of my tires with my manager (she being curious since she was having no trouble driving in the conditions), I found that I had absolutely no side tread left on the tires. I was essentially like a fawn walking on a frozen lake for the first time.

One of the first things I did this morning after going downstairs was to turn on the porch light, open the front door and take a look outside to see if the predicted snow storm had indeed materialized overnight. For once, the forecasters may have actually underestimated just how much snow would fall. It looks like there is a good six to eight inches of new snow out there, something I will confirm shortly after a little light starts showing on the horizon. The post I work on has posted a two hour work delay in order to plow the streets and parking lots and to let people slowly trickle in safely. I don't think I'll be going in at all, though. I'm getting brand new snow tires put on the RAV at 2PM today. There is no way in hell I am driving in to post in the worst winter conditions I've seen in four years on the tires I have now. Luckily, the place where I bought the tires and where I'm having them installed is just down the road from the house. I just hope I can drive the 500 meters to the dealership without doing too much damage to my car, fences, stray dogs, parked cars, curbs, fire hydrants, the mean old lady who lives around the corner, etc.... I won't guarantee anything at this point, though.

Long Weekend

2010-01-17T09:11:00.001+01:00

Three day weekends are a welcome respite from the regular grind, especially when you don't earn a lot of vacation. Usually, Dawn and I would be off on a ski trip this weekend, but thanks to my faulty knee, we're staying at home and trying to relax. We aren't really people who can sit around for long, though. 'Cabin Fever' seems to set in for us a lot quicker than most people. We like to get out and experience what we can and try to take advantage of these longer weekends. We did plan to go for a drive today, but the weather has halted that for now. Instead of getting out to take some pictures in the snow, freezing rain has started to fall, coating everything in a glassy sheen of ice. It looks cool, but venturing out when it is like this can be hazardous. The last thing I need is to slip and fall and break a hip.

So, we'll sit here inside, maybe find something constructive to do and hope and wish that it gets just a little bit colder so that the snow will begin to fall again.

A New Year - and a new attempt at updating this thing more often

2010-01-07T17:46:00.001+01:00

I know it's been a while since we've been consistently updating this blog. The end of 2009 was a busy one for us. Things are still busy, but hopefully we'll be able to find more spare time to keep everyone updated on our going-ons a little bit better.

Dawn has settled in to her new job well. It's a much more enjoyable office environment and the work, yes, there actually is work, is a helluva lot more interesting. The managers are also much more accomodating to her driving situation. When the weather and roads are bad, she's been able to work from home which has helped alleviate a lot of stress for her. This has been a good thing, too. Although the weather here never gets too nasty (at least not yet), the country roads do get slick and are usually low on the priority list of the snow plows. There haven't been any big snowfalls so far this year, but even a couple of centimeters can make driving conditions hazardous over here. The roads with no shoulders, the lack of maintenance, the agressive and self-centered German drivers.....it can be a bit much. Accidents are common over here in the winter for the factors I've listed. I feel bad that Dawn has to deal with this on a daily basis, but with me working where I do and her where she does and with our future timeline uncertain, it's just not worth it to make a move right now.

Speaking of snow and winter weather, it feels a bit like Christmas Eve for me this evening. I love snow. Love it. For four years now, however, the winters here have been pretty disappointing for me. The first two years barely saw any snow fall, last year we had a short stretch of wintery weather and this year has been so-so. People seem to get excited when there are a few centimeters on the ground, but I want to see meter-deep drifts. I want to see cars burried. I want to be able to cross-country ski from my front door to the grocery store. I want a blizzard to hit, immobilizing the town we live in for three days. I'm weird, but I enjoy these types of events. Finally, it looks like we may be getting hit with a storm tomorrow that could deposit six to ten inches of snow in the initial blast with a couple more inches expected the following days. Yeah, it's not Buffalo type snow, but it will do. The most snow I've seen on the ground in Parserg or Weiden is only two or three inches. If we can get a foot built up, I'll be happy. I've been watching this thing all week and it looks like it probably is going to happen. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

As for me, I'm back at work now after being off all last month. I was recovering from various physical ailments and just trying to get somewhat healthy again. While at home, I worked on some photo stuff and wrote a manuscript. The 55,000 word manuscript deals with my injuries and my suffering from arthritis and gout over the past 15 years. I've told about dealing with these ailments from the perspective of my traveling and outdoor activities. I've finished the final draft and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it next. If anyone knows a literary agent......

Because of me being all beaten up and broken, there won't be any skiing this year. I was a bit bummed by this at first, but have come to grips with it now. I'll deal, get healthy and go from there. I may be facing another knee surgery, but that still hasn't been decided. As long as I'm able to do some light hiking and biking this summer, I'll be content. If not, I'll figure that out when I get there. Dawn and I will be traveling with the ski club next month for a trip to Switzerland. Although I won't be hitting the slopes, Dawn will get up there to slide around for a day or two. I'll just be playing with my new camera and checking the town out. We're looking forward to it!

Not much else I can think of right now. I've got some stuff I need, well, not 'need', but stuff I'd like to get done tonight. Playing more with the new camera, installing a new 2 TB hard drive I just got, doing some research on the literary world and some other things. We're planning a trip to Regensburg this weekend if the trains are running to do a bit of shopping and to get some sushi. Sunday, I'm sure we'll be out walking in the snow for a few hours. This means I should get this stuff done tonight. It is nice, though, to actually have some plans for the weekend. With me laid up for the past month or so, things have been fairly quiet. It will be good to get back out in the world again.

Happy New Year!

My first picture with the new camera:

The worst looking Christmas Cookies - ever

2009-12-23T21:09:00.003+01:00

I got a bit crazy today and made some sugar cookie dough. It was the first time I've ever done this. I searched a bunch of sites for a recipe. I ended up picking the one that only needed ingredients that we already had at the house. I took a few liberties when putting the ingredients together such as adding a bit more milk than was asked for and putting a splash ov vanilla extract that wasn't in the recipe in the mix. I was actually quite surprised that they turned out okay.

For the icing, we used some Betty Crocker frosting that I think is mainly used for cakes. I always loved the sugar cookies my mom baked around this time of year and wanted to try to make some as close as possible to her recipe. The cookies came out good, but the frosting we used to paint the cookies was totally different than the icing I so fondly remember.

For a first effort, I don't think they turned out too bad. They look a lot worst than the taste, at least.

Dawn and I have been quite busy recently and apologize for the lack of posts on this blog. After the new year starts we'll hopefully be a bit more consitent.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a happy New Year!

Down time or laziness?

2009-10-29T08:45:00.006+01:00

Well, I'm sure many of you have noticed that there haven't been many posts lately. I'd like to say it has been due to lots of traveling or some crazy new project, however, the answer is no.

Since we've returned from our honeymoon we've been so busy with stuff. The stuff we like to avoid and put off. The stuff that's not exciting, but has to be done. Well, not all of it is not fun, it just takes time.

We’ve been working on all those pictures from Chamonix, the wedding and trips and the honeymoon. I know there are random ones in there too, but I’m still trying to finish the honeymoon to move onto those. Nate, on the other hand, has far surpassed my photos and been working on more posters for the wall.

I think many of you know that our wedding pictures came back from our photographer, so we’re trying to pick out which ones to print there too. There are so many good ones to choose from and then we must pick sizes and all that good stuff.

Another big thing we’re trying to do is take a break. We’ve done so much traveling up until the wedding and then afterwards that we’re tired. It’s nice to be in your own house or not far from home for a few weekends. We’re trying to do that cleaning thing, whatever that is too :) So much stuff. And for those of you who have seen our little house, it’s full, and much of it needs to go. Thanks to my brother who slept in the gear/wedding/junk room while he was here, and Jef who slept on the couch. It was a lot of fun though. We do wish you could have stayed longer.

We’re also working on Nate’s stuff. Need to keep on those doctors for notes to the insurance that doesn’t believe you need to be in the hospital. That’s a whole different can crap we don’t need to start here.

Anywho, we’re hoping to get back out soon. We have Rome coming up for us over Thanksgiving and then the Hinterbrand Lodge we head to in December.

As for now, Halloween is coming up. We’re heading to a party and haven’t decided on costumes yet. Maybe a white trash pirate, something scary with a big wig, or whatever we can find to throw together in the house. I did carve a Jack O’ Pirate.