getaway

 in t-minus 24 hours I will be here

but without these fools :(

It's my Grandpa's birthday on Wednesday. What do you get a man who can buy himself anything? I'm stumped.

I packed all of my stuff into a carry on. I'm so proud of myself.

This trip couldn't have come at a better time. I need a break. I've been in the worst funk the past few weeks and I'm in desperate need of some family time. The only thing that would make this better is if Andrew and Aaron were really coming with me. That would make me the happiest girl in the world.

But I have a feeling that I'll manage without them.

What?!

We love Psych, What?!


but now we're watching...

The West Wing

I've been working a ton the past few days so today we have done a lot of nothing today and it feels awesome! I love Sundays. Andrew still does stuff (homework) but writing this is about the extent of my activities for the day.

I did make breakfast though! And it was delicious!

a Pioneer Woman specialty

The rest of our day looked a whole lot like this

you're probably going to get sick of Kipling photos but we still can't get enough of his wrinkly little face. We took him on his first walk this week (he walks like a bear, it's great), the sleeping photos are the aftermath. He loves his little bear and does everything with it. He is currently laying next to me ripping off what is left of his nose. He just learned how to climb the stairs and we gave him his first bath because he smelled like pee. He is really good about going on the wee wee pads but hasn't quite figured out how not to step in it after, that part is not so cute.

We are hosting Andrew's group from school in a punkin carving party on Friday. We also have another Halloween party to go to that night. It's almost Halloween people!!! Get excited!!!

busy busy

The days fly by here in the Cleve. Half of the time it gets to Sunday and I realize that I have no idea what I had done that week. This week we did a few fun things in between Andrew's midterms and my job hunting.
Andrew did well on his midterms and I fell for some stupid pyramid scheme and ended up job shadowing this door to door salesgirl for an entire day. It was ridiculous. No wonder I'm unemployed.
To keep my spirits high I forced Andrew to go to the Botanical Gardens with me. I brought the camera but forgot to bring the SD card (oops!) so all of our documentation is in video form.



I also hosted game night for the girls in the ward. It was super fun even though there were no games played. Although, there was a whole lot of Newsie's being sung.

But of course, our week wouldn't be complete without testing another local restaurant.

We cheated on Captain Tony's and I've never felt so alive...joking. I got the Milanese pizza with chicken, sun dried tomatoes, red peppers, garlic cloves and spinach (yes, all on one pizza!!! I'm in heaven). Andrew went traditional and got the supreme pepperoni. I know what we're eating for dinner every night next week...

Speaking of fabulous we got our pup this weekend!!!

top- left: look at that belly!      right: loving his daddy

middle- a proper gentleman pup

bottom-  left: cuddling with his mom      right: gchatting with Abby and Scot

That night we fed the missionaries and b-lined it out of our apartment immediately after because we were so excited.  His name is officially Kipling, after Rudyard Kipling, and he is a gentleman pup (notice the derby hat). He is 6 1/2 weeks old, 9.5 pounds and utterly adorable, even though he keeps us up the entire night. He loves his daddy more than me and has more rolls than a bakery. He is hyper and happy and loves to bite my fingers and Andrew's toes. He loves cuddling but hates being picked up and goes stiff as a board if you try. We're struggling on the crate and potty training end though. Help me Rhonda.
Since we live in an apartment with no private yard we can't take him outside until his 8 week shots. The wee wee pads just aren't cutting it. But we can't get mad at a face like that.



In other good news I got a job finally. (Not a creepy pyramid scheme job but an actual legit job) I'm the new cashier for the Nordstrom Women's Shoe department. So much for actually bringing home any money. Even after I told them that I'm going to be gone for a lot of the next few months they were still interested in me working there. I got offered a job at Restoration Hardware too that I really wanted but I would have to work on Sundays. boo hoo.

Oh and just fyi after church today we were all barricaded in the church parking lot only to be informed that the Presidente himself would be driving past along with his small posse of 100 other official vehicles. I got video footage on my phone but don't know exactly how to post it on here.

Our Weekend

Autumn here is amazing. Crisp morning air, warm afternoons and cool evenings.

This weekend has been a busy one. We had dinner with friends and the missionaries, bought a crate for Kipling, saw The Social Network, I went for a long overdue autumn jog while Andrew slept in, weekly Farmer's Market, autumn drive to Amish country and dinner with friends from Andrew's program. Overall it was successful and I managed to put off cleaning our apartment once again. That's just how we roll.

Farmer's Market

top: our strawberry/chocolate/amazingness bfast, our apartment, us @ said market

middle: dahlia's, love them!

bottom: humane society booth with kitties, punkins!, Andrew and his apples

 our loot

then we hopped in the vehicle and drove

if you look close in the bottom left photo there are two Amish girls playing in the back of the buggy,

I want one

We drove about 2 hours south of Cleveland to Holmes county where there were rolling hills filled with corn stalks, pastures and autumn trees.

We ate at the Amish Door restaraunt which doesn't even compare to Mary Yoder's.

No cranberry sauce for Andrew's turkey dinner, sorry love.

We also went to an antique store and a used book store.

we love books

I recently purchased another bookshelf for our addiction.

Andrew just bought the online NBA package so we can watch all of the Jazz games, get ready people...

tis Autumn

If we were back in Utah we would probably be doing a lot of this...

and this...

before it gets too cold and we have to resort to doing this...

but for the moment we have to be content with this...

Andrew studying for midterms, boo!

and this...

Come soon fall break, come soon.

stealth

Don't fret, I'm still not done with the summer vacation photos... I know you're too excited!
This will be quick.
After the cruise Andrew and I along with 3 brothers, 1 sister and 1 brother in law parted ways from the rents and took off into the great unknown all by ourselves. We each had one large backpack (or side bag in Phil's case) with supplies to last us 10 more days. We were stealth. I felt like the packing queen when I had extra room in mine. Who would have thought?
Any who, We started in Rome where we found out that our train to gay old Paris was booked. We were stuck in Rome so decided to take a train to Milan, stay the night and catch the first train to Paris. (We really wanted to go to Normandy) First of all, it was July. Second of all, the train ride was 7 hours. Last but not least...no A/C. It was a great train ride.

So we got to Milan, found a cheapy hotel (with no A/C), ate at a pizza place/discotecha, I got 9 mosquito bites in about 2 hours and couldn't sleep because our hotel room was so bloody hot. Lovely.

The next morning we all gathered with bags under our eyes to discuss our next step. We decided to ditch the 9 hour train ride to Normandy and head to where you may ask?

SWITZERLAND!!!

That was possibly the best decision that we have ever made. We stepped off of the fully air conditioned comfortable train into this

It was still the best decision we have ever made. I think we shed a few tears of joy at that point.

Here are a few things we did in Svitzerland

Interlaken
stayed at the Funny Farm (they had the cutest Saint Bernard), ate at the Coop every morning, met up with Dennis and Martsie to celebrate Andrew's bday, went to a chocolate demonstration conducted by Chef Jean Pierre of France (he's so legit), wrestling, tight rope walking, sits and journal writing.

Gimmelwald
gondola ride to mountain hostel, journal writing, more wrestling, little hike, chickens, cute swiss homes and cow bells everywhere.

Grindelwald
train ride to Grindelwald, gondola ride to alpine slide, great sit, sviss cows, shopping and 2 incidents: Abby spilled Coke on Scot's crotch and John stepped in fresh cow manure. yummy

 

Grimsel Canyon

canyoning, you don't know what canyoning is? Neither did we.

Pretty much you put on neoprene suits and helmets and jump off of rocks into a river. They also had zip lines and repelling. It was 2 hours of adrenaline and water up my nose. We were feeling it the next day that's for sure. The guides kept telling us not to eff it up or else we'd die. Thanks guys.

Verzasca
largest bungee jump in the world, featured in Goldeneye, all of the boys had great form, I'm so proud.

After the glorious bounty Svitzerland provided us with we felt rejuvenated enough to rejoin the bustling cities of Italy. Did I mention that I want to move to Svitzerland. I even adopted their accent to fit in better. (change your w's to v's) I'm just that cultured.

Any who, back to...

Italy

Siena
I did a study abroad in Siena and ever since I've been dying to go back. The terra cotta rooftops, Piazza del Campo, the Duomo, the shopping, pizza, pasta and gelato, my old school and just the memories. I mean it's Tuscany, seriously.

Florence
shopping, museums, walking around, eating amazing pizza and everything else you do in Florence!

I want to go back right now.
Cleveland vs Tuscany...tough decision.