well we have internet for the time being so I thought I'd write a little. Its Monday and we have just arrived in the Netherlands. We get to go see an old Battlefield today which should be awesome! Paul as been doing a great job posting about the details of our trip so I'll just leave that task up to him. Overall, this trip has not been at all what I expected and I believe that if I had to do it again (pick a trip) I would choose a tropical destination. I'm glad to have been able to see these beautiful parts of Europe b/c I will carry away with me an intense appreciation for the history and beauty of this place. However, it has also made me aware of a fact that I was already fairly certain of....I really don't like to travel. I knew I needed to see Europe and I'm sure someday down the road I will be back. But if I am being completely honest with myself...I like familiarity and comfort, friends and home. Some people are not this way and I wish them many happy trails but I'm just as happy to be sitting on my back porch with my pup and a good book then galaventing across the world.

I know that some would argue that the experiences that one gains while being in uncomfortable, unfamiliar surroundings are priceless in shaping your outlook on the world and who you are as a person. I agree with that to some extent and for some people I am sure that it is priceless. But, I will be the same person that left Boulder when I return to Boulder...only maybe with slightly less patience for old people!

and a craving for Good Times!

today we are in heidelberg germany. the trip is not going so well. paul and i are having a great time together but all the other aspects of the trip are...well, sucking! neither of us can sleep for some reason, i think i am getting sick, and the internet on the boat is out indefinitely. we get a total of 7 channels and 4 of them are in french or german. the tours have been ok but like i said before, they go at such an agonizingly slow pace that its difficult to get much out of them. paul and i briefly discussed ditching the boat and spending the rest of our time in europe doing our own thing. i dont think that it is actuallz going to happen but we were close this morning. i really hope the trip gets better. anyways, because we have no internet on the boat im not sure when ill get to post again. i miss boulder!!

We Made It!!

We got to Basel, Switzerland yesterday afternoon. We were driven to the boat which was docked on the Rhine River. We ate a quick dinner and hit the hay. We were both exhasted! One thing that Paul and I noticed immediately while eating dinner with the other 170 or so other guests....we are the youngest couple on this boat by about 35-40 years! We stick out like no body's business. I am actually quite bummed about this.

This morning we took a guided tour through Basel but because the avg. age of everyone in our group pushing 80...it was very, very slow. We really have nothing in common with anyone on the boat and the whole theme of the boat is most certainly catered to those who lead a "mature" lifestyle. O-well, even though I was informed by Paul that I am no longer allowed to pick vacations for the two of us, we are going to make the best of it.

Our room is nice and it is the last room at the end of the boat. We have a large window that opens up to the river. The top of the boat is a sun deck which I used a little bit today. Our purchases today: a very nice can opener, a scrub brush for the kitchen sink, and lemon zester. All three are very nice :) We will depart Basel this evening and arrive somewhere else that I can't pronounce tomorrow. I also have some pictures I am going to attempt to put up soon. I'm using Pauls Mac so I'm happy if I can figure out how to check email! :)

Don't Laugh

Seriously! The reason I haven't blogged much lately is because I am absolutely engrossed in a somewhat cheesy series of novels written for teenagers. But who says a 28 year old gal still can't appreciate the delicate dramas a young girl goes through in high school....with a few added twists ;) I'm not going to tell you the name of the saga but I'm sure most of you can guess....and remember, don't laugh!

Is this Hell? I'm incredibly hot, I have one bottle of water but it's also very hot, all the people around me are being tortured, every time I look up I see a horrible display, orders are being given and the heat...unbearable. Could this be...? Oh no, this is Bikram Yoga and I tried it for the first time today.

Let me tell you how excruciating it was but also how very awesome it was. I have never put my body through something like that before and I'm so happy I did. There are very few things that can compare to a "runners high" without actually running but this is one of those things. When you are done you feel like you have accomplished something. I felt like I pushed my body beyond it's comfort levels and that's what working out is all about. I probably left about 5 gallons of myself back there but it was an amazing experience. Many times I wanted to run out of the room just to feel the cool air on my very hot skin but I didn't. The instructor told us noobs that our only goal should be to stay in the room for the 90 minutes. Goal achieved!

I also really loved the comradery of all the yoga people. We all clapped at the end and I was congratulated by more than one person on my way out for sticking with it, being that it was my first time.

All in all, what a fantastic experience and I never would have done it ( at least not anytime soon) without Desirae there to coax me along! (sorry if I spelled your name wrong ;))

Tomorrow the plan is to do a little snowboarding. I tried snowboarding once in high school. I tried skiing the very next day. Let's just say, I chose skiing and got 31st in the state of CA in G.S. the very next year .... maybe tomorrow I'll get to find out what is so appealing about knuckle dragging :)

Hilarious!

Thanks for making me laugh Candice...I thought I'd share it with some peeps!

What a gorgeous day! I'm kind of bummed that I won't be here for the weekend. I'm flying home for a few days but I'll be back on Monday. I hope the nice weather holds up!

I'm very excited about our first co-ed softball game tonight! It's weird how much I miss it when we don't have a game for two weeks. Hopefully we can break our streak of never winning the first game of the season. I have a feeling we will crush!

I just ordered two books from Amazon. The first is called Wild Justice. It is a non-fiction book about the moral lives of animals. The second book is actually a series. I rented Twilight and really liked it so I ordered the whole four-book series. Apparently the books are way better than the movie, as is generally the case.

Well, I'm going to get out and enjoy this beautiful day!

Aerophobia?

I have this vivid memory of my mom and me flying to Oklahoma. I was about 8 or 9 and had only been on an airplane a handful of times. I remember being really excited. At some point during the flight we started to experience some turbulence. I thought this was the greatest thing ever! It made the flight so much more fun! The turbulence got so bad at one point that my soda slid off of my tray and landed in my mother lap. She was not happy about that and seemed even less pleased with the bumpy ride we were having. As I think back on it now, I realize that my little nine year old brain could not process the idea that turbulence, it rare cases, could lead to disaster. My mother, from the look on her face, did.

As I have begun to use air travel more and more I have developed a fear of it more and more. I'm not sure why this is, but it seems as though it is getting worse not better. I have never even had so much as a minor mechanical problem on an airplane that I have been on so I am not sure where this fear is stemming from.

Paul and I are flying to Switzerland at the end of May and I am seriously dreading the flight. On more than one occasion the anxiety of the impending flight has made me want to cancel the trip completely. At times I have an overwhelming fear that something is going to go wrong. At other times, I laugh at myself for being so silly.