Game Night at the Eichenberger's

(from left to right: Kristin and Doug from New Jersey; Heidi and Mark from South Africa; Robin and Bob from Scientific ATL; and Scott sporting his Thrasher's hat)
What a lovely buffet of food we had. There wasn't a Kroger down the road so I was forced to make my 1st veggie tray. Scott was proud of his artistic display of Rice Krispy Treats. See the pretty tulips. That's one good thing about living near Holland!

Scott had a conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday so we drove up Tuesday night and celebrated Valentine's early. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and it was wonderful. On Wednesday while Scott was at his conference I went exploring Amsterdam....at least that was my goal until it started raining. It didn't stop all day so I only made it to the Van Gogh museum. It was fabulous. Seeing his paintings in text books does not do it justice. His art has so much texture, colors, and blending that it was breathtaking to look at. Looking back I'm glad I came to Europe at this age and not as a child because I appreciate things like that more. I'm still in love with Amsterdam. Every time I go back I find something else to like. Amsterdam wasn't love at first site but I finally understand what I like about the city: it's classy, picturesque, old yet modern at the same time and little sultry.

Then the best part of my Valentine's day was a call I got at about 2am our time. John and Nicole had a little baby girl - Allison Avery Eichenberger. Isn't she adorable?

I leave for the U.S tomorrow. I'll be there until Tuesday then Shannon and I fly back for our 10 day whirlwind tour of Europe. (Dublin, Vienna, Milan, and Rome) I'll try to update the blog while I'm away but I'm not taking my computer so we will see. Don't worry there will be lots of pictures taken and put on Kodak as soon as I get back!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

I know, it wasn't a lot of snow but it was just enough to make it look pretty (and for me to stay inside all day.) It's really not too cold here. It's been around the lower to mid 40's.

We have had the worst few weeks of travel planning. All we were trying to do was use our skymiles to take a vacation next December. We have been on the phone with Delta 2x/day for at least the last two weeks trying to finalize each leg of the trip b/c there is a 331 day window for booking in advance. Our conclusion is every customer service rep that we spoke with at Delta is not properly trained. The level of training of each employee differs drastically. You would think their knowledge of their programs would be the same so each customer would be given truthful and adequate information. Finally, after "patient" Scott and "fiery" Lacy could do no more as silver medallions we called in for back-up. Shannon's dad is a multi-million miler and he has a special number he can call and let's just say - "We're going to Hawaii!" I can't wait to go back. We were so rushed the first time around that now I'll be able to see everything on Oahu. Plus, we going over New Year's with Shan and Josh so it should be a good time. Aloha! I just threw in this picture since it was taken in Hawaii. Can you believe it was almost 2 years ago? My how time flies!

Not too much going on this week. Scott has a conference in Amsterdam this week and I'm tagging along. Happy Valentine's Day to me! I'm such a nerd - I'll probably go back to the Anne Frank house!

Oh, we're holding our first official party this weekend. It's suppose to be a Bunco party but depending on how many people show up it could just be a social gathering.

We planned ahead for once - we bought an external hard drive. I have this sinking feeling my laptop is on it's last leg so now everything is safe.

Happy Birthday Dad! (on the 13th)
Hope you have a wonderful day. See you soon!

Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian region of Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle
Me and Shanell at the waterfall
Too bad Christmas has past..this would make a good Christmas card photo.
Making our way up to Neuscwanstein
Making our way up to the parents castle

We visited southern Germany this weekend and as you can see it was a tad on the chilly side. I promise one day I will accept the fact that winter means cold and quit complaining about it.

Fussen (where the castles are) took about 3 hours to get to from Heidelberg (where Shanell lives.) We left early in the morning and arrived about 11am. It's a full day of castle seeing there b/c they only give guided tours. I'm not big on guided tours b/c there is always someone in the group that asks too many questions and ends up annoying me. This one wasn't that bad - we did have the annoying guy but each castle tour was only 35 minutes. I think that's my limit.

Here's my abbreviated version of the history of the castles. King Ludwig lived with his parents in the yellow castle when he was a child. When he became King he wanted a different castle and had the Neuschwanstein Castle built. He was a little on the crazy side and he died before it was finished. Some say he was murdered, some say suicide but which ever the case it's ashame b/c the inside of the Neuschwanstein Castle is beautiful. By far the best castle I've been in. You've actually seen pictures of the castle before you just didn't know it. The Disney World Castle in Orlando, FL is constructed to look like the Neuschwanstein Castle. Lots of walking up and down hills and stairs but it was worth it.

I must give a "shout out" to the U.S Army again...we thought we had hit the jackpot the first time we went to the commissary. This time we went to the PX (military wal-mart) and the military food court. Scott finally got his Taco Bell after waiting 8 months. No need to worry about us....we are stocked up on American food for a while. The bag boy said, "that must be one big super bowl party your having." Little did he know it was just for the 2 of us. Thanks again Shanell!

Scott and I booked a trip to Scotland this week. It's going to be pretty cool b/c we take an over night cruise that leaves 10 minutes from Brugge and docks in Edinburgh, Scotland. We'll put our car on the ship to so we'll have that to tour with. (they do drive on the other side of the road however) Scott's super excited b/c he'll get to go to the St. Andrews golf course and shop for souvies. We're going over my birthday in May so....Happy Birthday to me!

February and March are big travel months for me. I'll be in the U.S. toward the end of the month and will pick up Shannon and come back to Europe for two weeks of non-stop traveling. Lots of pictures to come b/c we are making stops in Dublin, Ireland/Vienna, Austria/Milan, Italy and Rome, Italy. Then Scott will get the chance to go to Dublin because we're going to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day over our anniversary. Should be interesting so stay tuned!