What Happened At Christmas?

Well, it wasn't very exciting, believe you me. I was heading to the Christmas Eve service at my church, but I had started feeling a little bit nauseous. Not good. So, I didn't stay until the very end, but only long enough to hear the Christmas Eve "talk". Then, when I came home, I experienced flu-like symptoms for the rest of the night. So, I spent Christmas sick with the "flu", or whatever you want to call it. I was nervous, tho' cause they had put me on call to fly. They never did end up needing me. I was thankful.
The next morning, however, I got a phone call at 3 a.m. to fly to Frankfurt again. So I just got back from there for the second time with only 3 days since I last got back before I flew again. This time mom and dad joined me there. Here's my mom and I in front of the hotel.
This is another pic of the "Messehalle" or Fair hall across the street from where we stayed. We thought the wreaths in the window were pretty spectacular.
Oh, the things you can do with "marzipan" or almond paste. This was a display at a candy shop.
And a very authentic little hand-made stable. Germans are good about giving credit where credit is due for the real meaning of Christmas.

A Missed Christmas Celebration. . .Barely!

You'll never guess what happened. . .ok, maybe you will. I got to go to Germany on a trip from December 20-23, and I was able to go home for one night!!! I was very happy to be able to do this so close to Christmas. This is my "Christmas vest" made by a dear friend in Glasgow. I got to wear this festive piece all during December.
The proof is in the picture! So, this was the 23rd, when I was getting back on the train to head back to the airport. We met some friends on the same train, and they took a picture for us.
Unfortunately, the family gathering in Germany happened two days later. Here's the picture anyway, 'cause I got good lookin' family members!

Going Down Under!

Yet another trip down to Sydney! And what a great time it was. This is the view from my hotel room.
I know I've sent pictures of the park across from the opera house before, but its just amazing that there is such a beautiful place right in the middle of the city. This picture is taken from the upper platform of the Sydney opera house.
While I was there, I went for a walk along the coast of Manly, which is 1/2 hour ferry ride away from Sydney. For those of you who don't know, Sydney is actually a little bit inland on a harbor, and so you have to go to Manly (among other places) to actually see the ocean. There's a lizard hiding in the picture. Can you find it?!!
Another little one I saw on a rock. This one was tiny.
This is the view from the path I was walking on. It was really incredible at times.
And this particular gentleman/lady was right in my pathway. I'm not too keen on reptiles so I had to stand here quite a while for him to get out of the way.
I then came to this little "wetlands" area. It was on top of the cliff, so that was pretty cool. There was a small sign that explained what kind of wildlife lived there, and how it was made, etc. I was reading calmly, and then my heart almost stopped. For, the very last thing mentioned about the surroundings was that SNAKES lived there! I'm not sure you're aware of this, but 10 of the 12 most poisonous snakes in the world live in Australia. In other words, you NEVER meet a nice snake there. Here I was, all by myself, and only God knew where I was! Needless to say, I hurried off that trail REAL fast!
I then found a road leading down hill. And had to watch out for Bandicoots.
I took a wrong turn somewhere, but it landed me at this catholic seminary. It was a beautiful place.
Ah, finally back to the beach. The far left corner of "park-ness" is where I was walking. Then I walked along the beach until it ended at a hotel. So, I walked an awful lot that day. And got a horrible sunburn. And got blisters on my feet from my sandals! But it was worth it to see this beauty there.
When I went back to Sydney, I got off and found this Christmas tree in the main square. It was VERY warm out, and I was in shirtsleeves, but they had a Christmas tree up. They actually had more decorations up in Sydney (where it was summertime), than they did in San Mateo and Burlingame where I live. Sad.
I ended my day on a ferry ride to Paramatta, another destination by ferry ride. I couldn't resist yet another picture of the bridge and opera house as we scooted past the city.

Montana friends

What a treat to visit the dear ones I used to live and work with. I had a great time, but didn't take a whole lot of pictures because I was talking too much! Here's a couple I did sneak in.
My dear friend, Kyla Lydia, and myself. What a great woman!
A little visit to grandpa Doyle's and Grandma Yvonne's. This is Noah Runner, and Cheyne.
This is Gage and Noah.
And this is all three little friends together. Kind of hard to get a shot of them, because they're all a little busy!

Locks of Love

It's that time again to donate hair to locks of love. Here's the before shot.

And the after shot!

I told my friend, Jon, who did this two things: When I wake up in the morning at 2 a.m., I need to have an easy haircut to get out the door looking good by 3 a.m. Also, I like the color of my glasses. Can you do that in my hair? I think he followed it all to a T!

A Trip to Colorado

Did you know there is a volcano (inactive) in the south west corner of Colorado? Actually, its two peaks. . . and I learned this from my cousin when I visited Two Buttes two weeks ago.
Not far away from these "two buttes" is a canyon. That's where we headed next. This is truly in the middle of NO WHERE! You would never know it exists.
My cousin, Rachel, ever the patient Taxi-driver!
This is the view from the top of the part where we were standing before. People jump off the ledge behind me into the water down below. BRRRRR!!!
A beautiful sunset on our way home. . . just for me!

When we got back from exploring the volcano area, we had a family dinner. There's always plenty to eat when I go visit!

This is all of us, minus Sharla. It makes it fun this way, 'cause we all get spoiled!

This is my dad's sister, Etta, and brother, David (middle and right) and his cousin Paul (left).
This is where my dad grew up. I love the lone tree. What a picture of stamina. Also, you can see one of the two buttes in the distant right of the picture.
I left the following morning at 6:00 a.m. I got to enjoy this beautiful sunrise.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't put a lot on here recently because I haven't done a lot of flying. I was supposed to go to Newark for 3 days, but got "stranded" in LA for the night and came home the next day. After that, I did a Denver, San Diego, San Fran trip all in one day, and since then, I haven't flown anywhere.
BUT, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
May you all have wonderful times with someone, whomever you might be with. Before the actual day of Thanksgiving, my roommates (Debee and Wendy) and I went to the city to enjoy an afternoon of browsing. We had lunch on top of Macy's on Union square. It was a beautiful day, and I was dressed WAY too warm. I still can't get used to this California heat. . .and in DECEMBER!!!

The actual day of Thanksgiving, I celebrated with some friends from Germany (Becky Portman Schultz and Leah Hoard, and their husbands, of course!).




Becky, myself, and Leah were Residence Assistants at BFA for a year or two together. It was great to be with them!

Another country added to the list. . . . .

Yes, I added Taiwan to my list of countries. . . and the city of Taipei was my destination! The tallest building in the world is pictured here (but it will soon be surpassed by another one. . . can't remember where).

I always like to put pictures on my blog of things that I've actually seen in the city. If I haven't seen them, it doesn't seem right. WELL, I saw this bridge, but not at night. (Does that count?)
And this is the hotel I stayed at. Nice, huh?!!
Ok, I really didn't stay there. This is the "Grand Hotel" of Taipei. I did see it on the way to the hotel that I stayed in, but I didn't stay here. I just thought I'd make you look! Tee-hee!

This is what Taipei looks like. . .its quite pretty actually. Rolling hills, lots of trees, and not too crowded in some areas because of the terrain. I liked it. It was sticky, tho', which I guess is NOTHING compared to what its like in the summer time. I actually was able to visit the city at the best time of the year, or so the tour books said.
And THIS is the place I actually spent my day. This is the national palace museum. It was an eye-opening experience to be there. They had things displayed that dated back to 6,000 B.C.E. That's OLD! And, they had some beautiful carvings in ivory of the TINIEST things. They seriously needed magnifying glasses in the display cases so you could see what was there. So detailed and so intricate. Unbelievable talent. Uncle Tim, I thought of you and your tiny things phase you were having when I was growing up. You would have been awed by these!


This is me standing on the large balcony in front of the main building.

And this is the view across the way from that same balcony.
Oh, and one more thing. . . . .

Italy beats US 6-2 Baseball World Cup
The Associated Press
Published: November 9, 2007
TAIPEI, Taiwan: Italy overpowered the United States 6-2 Friday in a Group A clash in the 37th Baseball World Cup in Taiwan.
The lost left the U.S. with a 2-1 record after three games in the tournament.
In other Group A action Spain beat South Africa 7-4, Taiwan defeated Japan 6-1, and Panama nipped Mexico 3-2.
In Group B contests Korea overwhelmed Thailand 18-2, Australia beat Venezuela 7-4, Cuba prevailed over Canada 6-3, and Holland battered Germany 15-5.

Can anyone guess why I put that in there? Well, I'll tell you. The U.S. team and the German team both stayed in the same hotel as I did, and I saw a bunch of these players as I was coming and going throughout the day! Had I known what was going on, I would have inquired about trying to go see it. But, I probably couldn't afford tickets anyway. Oh, well.

Another Frankfurt Trip

I just got back from Frankfurt again for my 5th time. This time I had no visitors, as my parents were in Rothenburg for the weekend, and no one else could make it. That's ok, tho'. I slept pretty rotten and sporadically, so if someone had been with me, we would have had to overcome that.
I've been doing the German language announcements now for 2 flights, and I HOPE I'm getting better. I really need to improve on my PA skills and comfort levels when my voice is carried over the whole airplane. It's very intimidating. Please pray for me in this area. Other than that, we'll see where the next trip takes me!

I'm going to be an AUNTIE!!!!!

Some of you have been questioning why I didn't take more pictures when I was with my WHOLE family. Well, the day I arrived home from Frankfurt with mom (see previous post for the story), I called Sharla, who was supposed to be arriving in San Francisco 2 days later. Unfortunately, because of her morning sickness (pray for her!), we decided to postpone the trip to San Fran for another time when she could actually enjoy it. So, we all went up to Seattle, and I only took one picture of all of us while I was there, in consideration for the future "Mum" who wasn't feeling well the rest of the time. That's why I don't have more pictures! :o ) And I'm ok with that, especially for such an extraordinary reason.
Oh,and I just flew to London and back for the 3rd time, but that's not NEARLY as exciting!

Back to Work. . .to Shanghai!

The next day I had to work. Guess where I flew?!! Frankfurt. Again. :o ) This was the view from my hotel window.

Meanwhile, mom and dad left California, and headed to Colorado for a quick visit with Dad's family. I had two days off after returning from Frankfurt, then was chosen to fly to Shanghai, China. Now, those of you who have kept up with my flying know that so much international flying does NOT happen all the time. I don't even know why it happened to me so much these last two months, but I'm thankful. The hotel in Shanghai was an hour and 1/2 drive away from the airport, which was not too nice after working such a long flight (around 12 1/2 hours). I was so ready to sleep after that, it was incredible. The next morning, I met with two flight attendants and went to the international pearl market. I bought some beautiful pearl necklaces for $30. The prices were incredible. Not all stores were like that, however. I also looked at buying a cashmere sweater from a store. The girl there quoted me the same price that I buy one for here in the US. I left that store quickly, even though I could bargain with her. I just didn't want to do that.
I didn't take that many pictures of Shanghai. . .just two from my hotel window. To be honest, the city really wasn't that pretty to look at. There were so many highrises. To give you an example. . . .
I read in a magazine about Shanghai. Every 12 days a newly construted highrise is completed. That's a lot. BUT, this statistic has been happening for THE LAST 30 YEARS!!! So, if you do a little math, that's 30 highrises per year, and 900 for the last 30 years!!!! And that's just in one city. I'm telling you, if you've never seen that before, its almost overwhelming. Makes me thankful that I've had the pleasure of living on the wide, open spaces of the Prairies!

Family Vacation

When I got back from Frankfurt with mom, I still had to work for a couple days. I was able to fly to Orlando, Florida for the first time, which was pretty exciting. I was going to do some touring, but we got a thunderstorm right when we came in. I stayed at the hotel the whole time. Although, when I was waiting for my supper to be finished to take up to my room, I stepped out to the "garden" area of the hotel. The bartender was sure to warn me to "Watch out for 'gaters. We have some out there!" Needless to say, that kind of freaked me out from any real walking. Plus, I was so scared to walk by any bushes that I didn't stay long!
After returning from Orlando, our long awaited family gathering took place.

Then Dad, Mom and I went down to Watsonville, CA to visit a work team that had come to help at BFA this past summer. On our way there, we drove along the coast and got some fantastic pictures. I, of course, took my shoes off and waded in the water. Dad, however, decided to keep his shoes because he didn't know how to clean his feet. Well, long story short, he should have taken them off. He was taking a picture, and a wave came up higher on the beach than he expected, and he got soaked!! :o ) I was laughing quite hard!!





Anyway, we had a wonderful time with the work team. The most fun was playing with three triplets: Jennifer, Hannah, and Heather. They were 4 years old and definitely the life of the party. This is dad playing horsey with all three of them at the same time . . . not an easy feat! I told him he was practicing his "Opa-ness" for when Shar's baby(s) comes.

We went to the Montery Bay Aquarium and were blessed to have some free passes that the people we stayed with had. We also went to see this little area where we went for a short walk for an hour or so. This was not far from their house, and had some fun places to see.
Here's mom and our hostess, Claudia, on the path. You can see dad in the background looking through binoculars, which we were able to borrow from the lodge. He liked that!

Here's mom and I sitting on one of the benches along the path. Nice view behind us!

We ended the day driving along the coast by Montery. It was beautiful.