Switzerland

This past weekend I took a short trip to Switzerland, one of the top three places in the world I want(ed) to see: 1. Fiji 2. Africa (check) 3. Switzerland (check). Don't ask me why these are my top three, although it is probably because I was looking through a "places of the world" calendar ten years ago and thought the pictures looked nice.

Anyway, it was an ideal time to go because it was the last weekend my friend Ken would be living in Geneva before he and Rachelle flew back to California.  Jumping on the opportunity (and a plane) I took off to see what being 'neutral' was all about.  Yes I left Jill behind and yes she was 35 weeks pregnant but there were still 5 weeks to go; we had plenty of time, plenty of time.  Don't judge me.

Ken and Rachelle were great tour guides.  We rented a car and drove out to Montreux (Mon-troe) which is a really nice city at the other end of Lake Leman (the largest of the alpine lakes).  The whole region was beautiful with acres and acres of vineyards, but in Montreux the mountains come right down to the lake. 

Another important fact about Montreux is that it was the home of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, my favorite band! Here is a statue and plaque commemorating his life's contribution to awesomeness.

Our next stop was Gruyeres (Gree-air).  This place is famous for Gruyeres Cheese (Which I had never heard of until we got there).  It also had a really cool Medieval Castle overlooking a valley in the Mountains.

Finally, we went to Bern where the LDS Temple is.  It was the first Temple built outside of North America. 

The last day of my trip I went to the UN and Red Cross Headquarters.  Both were pretty good although I must admit that I am not a fan of the UN overall.  Thanks Ken and Rachelle for letting me sleep on your couch and to Jill, thanks for not having a baby while I was gone (I love you babe). -Justin 

Baby Shower

Last week a few of my friends threw me a baby shower.  Baby was truly "showered" with gifts. Thanks to all!!

The progression of the night's events:  visiting and eating, games, presents, moms sharing their labor/delivery experiences.  Clearly this picture is my reaction to the last event of the night.  My hat is off to EVERY woman who has EVER given birth.

 A group shot, minus a few who had to leave early and the lovely Amy who is taking the picture.  Love these Oxford gals!

Paris

 

Snow Day

Thursday morning, 7:45 a.m., phone rings:

Justin: Hello?

Teaching agency Jill works for: Good morning.  Is Jill available?

Justin: She is.  May I ask who's calling?

Teaching agency: This is so-and-so, just calling to let Jill know that school is cancelled on account of the snow.

Justin: Snow?  Okay, I'll let her know.

Teaching agency: Cheers.  Have a brilliant day.  Bye (said in a high-pitched tone, always).

We had yet to open our curtains, but when we did we were shocked to see a blanket of 4-5 inches of snow covering everything!  It was beautiful.  As mentioned previously, it is rather uncommon for Oxford to experience this kind of weather, so we decided to jump on the unique photo opportunity.  We headed to the Observatory at Justin's college, the highest vantage point with free access, to see if we could get a good shot of the entire city.  The view from the observatory wasn't great due to the dense cloud cover, but we had fun along the way.  The pictures show: walking through town, the observatory, the beautiful architecture inside the observatory, view from the observatory. 

The following day we woke up to the same snowy situation, except with more ice.  I'm sure it's been quite a sight to watch me try get my enormously pregnant self down incredibly icy sidewalks, but I haven't fallen...yet!      

       

  

     

Large and in Charge

Pregnancy is still treating me well for the most part.  It's becoming a bit more difficult to do things that I know are supposed to be simple, like getting out of bed or standing up from the couch, but Justin's good about giving me a shove in the right direction.  We're growing more and more excited everyday!  Countdown: 7 weeks, 1.5 days      

Crafty Carol, or not

So now that I'm having this little baby girl I feel pressure, and admittedly a bit of desire, to join all the other trendy and talented moms with daughters I know in adorning my child in adorable accessories that I, of course, make myself.  There's only one problem:  I am like the most UNcrafty person to ever walk the earth!  I recently completed this hair bow:

Maybe it looks cute enough, but if you knew the agonizing amounts of time and effort that went into making that dumb bow you would know how NOT worth it it was.  It was the first one, and I venture the second one would probably be a little easier, but you know what would be even easier?  Paying some other Crafty Carol to make the cute accessories for me.  Now that's more up my ally.  Any of you crafters interested?   

We won!

A couple weeks ago we bid on a sofa on eBay and WON!  It's the first time I've ever been the highest bidder in all of the (three) times I've bid on eBay.  What a thrill!  We now not only have a cozy rocker, but a comfy little couch as well.  The two together have brought a much more homey (as in Sunday night casseroles, not gangsta') feel to our flat--no more of that dentist-office-waiting-room feel.  *Big smiles*    

The sofa...it matches the plain, off-white color of our walls perfectly, don't you think?  Ha.  Color isn't as important as getting to cuddle during movies.

The photos above the couch are hung with these darling little clothespins.  I love them.  We're not allowed to hang things on the walls, so we've had to get creative with our decorating.

Justin is great about keeping me stocked with a fresh bouquet of flowers.  Love him and them.

To top off the charm of our little abode we have this guy sitting on the stone wall outside our window...picturesque, no?