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Going through the pictures I realized that I left some good ones off the first post. There are only a few pics of me in these as I am the camera person (always a great way to avoid pics being made of me!), but I actually like this one of me, with Chelsea. I think this one was taken in China town.
and Nick and Chelsea--like this one too:
Upon our return from San Francisco, which involved a looonnng wait in Denver Airport (which we weren't to have seen--United Airlines totally messed with our tickets) our next adventure was to drive to San Antonio. Nick needed to take the English comprehension test thing (can't remember what it is called) for his internship, and we chose San Antonio to take it, so we could do a road trip together. I think the drive to and from was more fun than the city of SA itself. We were there only Friday through Sunday, and Friday was spent mostly focused on getting Nick through that test. Needless to say, Nick got excellent scores--did very well. His English his better than a hell of a lot of people's, that is for certain.
Afterwards, or was it Saturday? I forget--we went to the riverwalk, and checked out the Alamo. This is Nick in front of a fountain just outside the Alamo.
And then I took several pictures for Nick's mom. Heck alot of the pics I took were with his mom in mind. :)
Looks thrilled, doesn't he?
And then of course the riverwalk! Very lovely, but very...short. There really isn't much to it, but what there is is nice. We ate Mexican food, were pretty chilly, lots of military (Air Force) kids with families. We were tired, I think, but we did get happy when we found a Starbucks. Since it is too expensive and hard to find in Germany, Nick enjoyed it alot. Oh which reminds me--we stopped near SA for a Starbucks. The Coffee Barrista who helped us gave Nick his first solid dose of true Texas accent and down-home friendlies. It was fun throughout this trip to watch my dear shy German go from hardly saying anything to strangers, to talking a proper blue streak. Took, oh, about three days? Four? LOL. I loved it! (Love him too!)
Pretty little umbrellas
Nick and I love stuffed animals. The elephant (Brian) is mine, given to me by Nick, let's see, the first birthday we knew each other. The penguins are Fred and George, and I gave those to Nick. I take Brian everywhere I go. He's been to Germany twice (Kiel, Hamburg, Berlin), he's been to D.C., he's been to Seattle, he's been to San Francisco, San Antonio, Florida. Nick and I have stayed in alot of hotels, some luxury (our preference lol), some, like in San Antonio, pretty basic. Yes, I sleep with an stuffie. MY stuffie (glares at Shelby). From time to time, a hotel maid will have a sense of humor--knowing (we assume) full well there is a couple staying in that room--and no kids. Occasionally I even remember to take pictures of the poses they end up in. This was in San Antonio.
I regret I didn't take a picture of them in Orlando, as that maid stacked them on the back of the couch.
After San Antonio, our friend from Seaside, Shannon, came to visit. And of course, Nick insisted on being creative again. :) And again, refused to hold the sign! Brat!
Shannon came to go to a Maverick's basketball game with us (even though she is of course a Phoenix Suns fan). The game was lots of fun, but it was a slaughter, which isn't so fun. No adrenaline rush, that wonderful fear of defeat. Bummer, but it was very cool to see a professional basketball game.
Poor Nick and Shannon were stuck at the house while I was at work every day because I would not let Nick drive my car. So they did things like cook and write alot, and Shannon worked on her thesis. They made LOTS of cookies--very good cookies! And we watched tons of Torchwood and Doctor Who, both of which I am now hooked on. Grrr. LOL.
We also went to the downtown Fort Worth water gardens.
Shannon walking down the scary steps
Nick being contemplative
I thought I had a picture of me and Nick, but I guess not.
After Shannon went back home, Nick and I had a few days just to ourselves. I have decided I wish we had had more of that. Smile. I count myself lucky to have found the person I want to spend every moment with--but real life has its demands and we couldn't always spend every minute together. So when we DID have time together--I loved it. I can't remember what we even did other than go to Bennigans alot, walk around downtown, hit every bookstore we could and then again and again, play with the dogs...
In other words, just being together. The simple stuff--having a thought and being able to just turn my head and say "Oh hey..." Heaven! And what I miss the most about him being back in Germany.
And speaking of dogs, Nick has fallen completely for Shelby, my red and white girl sibe. I took this picture of them, amused as every chance she got, Shelby was making Nick pet her. And I do mean make. When Shelby wants attention, she gets it, dammit.
Shelby loves Nick cuz Nick Obeys her. LOL. I can't wait until Nick comes back, as I have promised to bring Shelby to the airport to greet him. :) Lots of people bring their dogs, so I am.
Next up was another visit with Chelsea, but this time she came to see us!
And oh what fun we had! I let Chelsea use my car, so she and Nick could go to the zoo, to museums (oh yes Nick and I went to the zoo too), and just tool around town enjoying themselves. They both liked that lots I know. We also planned on having raclette while Chelsea was here, so we went to Southlake to the German Deli to get the proper German sausages we needed. We had bought some at Kube's in Dallas but it was the wrong stuff. The Deli had what we wanted. I will explain Raclette in a bit.
First though--EASTER! Of course we had to dye eggs! I boiled up lots of eggs, and Nick and Chelsea and I dipped them and colored on them.
Nick, Chelsea and Scotty beneath the table:
These are some of the eggs we painted! The first one was cracked while boiling and Chelsea got quite creative with the crack. I would've just tossed it!
Nick did this one. Seaside fans should get this one--it is Krycek and the Puppies and Dog :)
It made me sad to throw them away, but I had to eventually. But they were so much fun.
We also bought cake mix at the German Deli. This cake is known as a mole hill cake. Or was that gopher... There are bananas in the bottom. Chelsea and Nick had GREAT fun cooking. We cooked lots when Chelsea was here so that was fun. We didn't finish this cake though!
And, of course, there was RACLETTE! This is a Swiss meal (Nick having Swiss-Germans in his family) and the cheese is a special cheese, called Raclette, that melts in a certain way. The Raclette looks like this:
The cheese is expensive as hell here, though not in Germany. First, one takes the special German sausage that we bought in Southlake, cut it up and sautee it with onions and lots of cayenne pepper so it is spicey. Then, one cuts up all sorts of vegetables, slices the cheese (which of course I sliced WRONG at first--geesh) and then of course there is the pineapple to finish up with. Each person has a little tray--put the sausage onions in there, then put different veggies on there, then cover with the cheese, stick it in the raclette and melt the cheese. On top is bits of steak, baby brats, chicken, mushrooms... So, you cook in the tray and on top. It is sooo goood! And expensive to make LOL so you eat it more than one day. Oohhhhh so stuffed were we!!!! It was lots of fun and I am glad I invested in the raclette thing itself.
Oh and after cooking everything, one takes potatoes cooked ahead of time, and gently places the raclette goodness over it. VERY filling. This is Nick Preparing:
And the potatoes and baby brats:
Chelsea's visit was awesome. It didn't lack adventure *wink*, and was too short. Chelsea is Da Bomb! We hope to somehow work a visit to California when N is here next. Chelsea's mom is just DYING for us to come--and we'd love it too. It was sad saying goodbye to her. But we did have yet another trip, this time to Orlando!
This trip went very smoothly! Our airline advised us that our second flight was going to cut too close so we changed our second leg out to FLorida to a later flight, which worked out just fine. Saw the Houston airport for a bit but not too long. Made it to Florida, got my rental car, a Dodge Caliber, which was a really nifty thing. I liked it lots.
When we got to FLorida we realized Nick needed summery clothes, so we called![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katilara for advice on where to find an Old Navy. We found some cute shirts in Boys size Large. Nick is sooo small. Grr. LOL. We bugged KL LOTS--she gave us great ideas on how to spend our time. The first thing we did was go to Lake Eola, and walk around. We found an excellent restaurant that was sooo goood and we had a cute waiter, Dorian. Nick crushed on Dorian and don't let him tell you any different!
We both loved the walk around the lake, longed for our two pups to be with us to enjoy it too. Everything about Orlando was enjoyable though we do know we were there during a great time of year--i.e., cool.
Lake Eola:
Size boy's large *rolls eyes*. I really did try to fatten Nick up some while he was here, and failed:
Really liked this area but we really didn't make it back. We got happily lost around there though looking for a Barnes and Noble, only to discover we were WAAAYYy far away from it. And of course we had to check out the bookstores!!!!
Of course, our main reason to go to Orlando was to go to Universal Studios!!! We met KL and Christine, who had hurt her foot and ended up in a wheelchair which was really no burden at all, and had some fun there. SO CROWDED! But I was so proud that Nick managed the scary rides! This was in front of my favorite roller coaster, The Hulk:
Here are some more...this one is especially fun because we are in the front row, screaming our fool heads off as the ride plunges--this was the Jurassic Park ride. LOL. We got wet.
I didn't take enough pictures! I didn't get any of Christine and KL! How silly. We drove (okay KL drove, Nick and I mugged in the back seat lol) and ate at a really tasty salad place that I wish we had in Fort Worth. Kind of like Chipotle's, but salad. Very very good.
OH I forgot! KL suggested we go to this garden...the Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens. That was lovely! And very warm. Nick and I stopped often so he could read to me (something we always enjoy). There were tons of lizards!!!! And lots of cool plants and such:
It was sad to say goodbye to Orlando as we had a good time, and we were creeping closer to the day that Nick would leave. Like, the following Friday.
We do not like leaving days, but it came anyway. I took a few more pictures, but we were probably a little better than usual because we have high hopes that this internship will work out. It is well on its way to doing so, though we just have to wait for all the paperwork. Which of course is nervewracking to wait on! Nothing else we can do though is hang in there, and await our next meeting. It is hard sometimes to realize just how lucky we are--finding each other as we did, able to see each other despite the distance--but we both try to remember that. Focus on the good, the beautiful, the possibilities for the future. Looks pretty rosy, really.
A couple more (mere minutes before N left and yes that is the women's bathroom at the airport lol), and then that is all, at least for now:
and Nick and Chelsea--like this one too:
Upon our return from San Francisco, which involved a looonnng wait in Denver Airport (which we weren't to have seen--United Airlines totally messed with our tickets) our next adventure was to drive to San Antonio. Nick needed to take the English comprehension test thing (can't remember what it is called) for his internship, and we chose San Antonio to take it, so we could do a road trip together. I think the drive to and from was more fun than the city of SA itself. We were there only Friday through Sunday, and Friday was spent mostly focused on getting Nick through that test. Needless to say, Nick got excellent scores--did very well. His English his better than a hell of a lot of people's, that is for certain.
Afterwards, or was it Saturday? I forget--we went to the riverwalk, and checked out the Alamo. This is Nick in front of a fountain just outside the Alamo.
And then I took several pictures for Nick's mom. Heck alot of the pics I took were with his mom in mind. :)
Looks thrilled, doesn't he?
And then of course the riverwalk! Very lovely, but very...short. There really isn't much to it, but what there is is nice. We ate Mexican food, were pretty chilly, lots of military (Air Force) kids with families. We were tired, I think, but we did get happy when we found a Starbucks. Since it is too expensive and hard to find in Germany, Nick enjoyed it alot. Oh which reminds me--we stopped near SA for a Starbucks. The Coffee Barrista who helped us gave Nick his first solid dose of true Texas accent and down-home friendlies. It was fun throughout this trip to watch my dear shy German go from hardly saying anything to strangers, to talking a proper blue streak. Took, oh, about three days? Four? LOL. I loved it! (Love him too!)
Pretty little umbrellas
Nick and I love stuffed animals. The elephant (Brian) is mine, given to me by Nick, let's see, the first birthday we knew each other. The penguins are Fred and George, and I gave those to Nick. I take Brian everywhere I go. He's been to Germany twice (Kiel, Hamburg, Berlin), he's been to D.C., he's been to Seattle, he's been to San Francisco, San Antonio, Florida. Nick and I have stayed in alot of hotels, some luxury (our preference lol), some, like in San Antonio, pretty basic. Yes, I sleep with an stuffie. MY stuffie (glares at Shelby). From time to time, a hotel maid will have a sense of humor--knowing (we assume) full well there is a couple staying in that room--and no kids. Occasionally I even remember to take pictures of the poses they end up in. This was in San Antonio.
I regret I didn't take a picture of them in Orlando, as that maid stacked them on the back of the couch.
After San Antonio, our friend from Seaside, Shannon, came to visit. And of course, Nick insisted on being creative again. :) And again, refused to hold the sign! Brat!
Shannon came to go to a Maverick's basketball game with us (even though she is of course a Phoenix Suns fan). The game was lots of fun, but it was a slaughter, which isn't so fun. No adrenaline rush, that wonderful fear of defeat. Bummer, but it was very cool to see a professional basketball game.
Poor Nick and Shannon were stuck at the house while I was at work every day because I would not let Nick drive my car. So they did things like cook and write alot, and Shannon worked on her thesis. They made LOTS of cookies--very good cookies! And we watched tons of Torchwood and Doctor Who, both of which I am now hooked on. Grrr. LOL.
We also went to the downtown Fort Worth water gardens.
Shannon walking down the scary steps
Nick being contemplative
I thought I had a picture of me and Nick, but I guess not.
After Shannon went back home, Nick and I had a few days just to ourselves. I have decided I wish we had had more of that. Smile. I count myself lucky to have found the person I want to spend every moment with--but real life has its demands and we couldn't always spend every minute together. So when we DID have time together--I loved it. I can't remember what we even did other than go to Bennigans alot, walk around downtown, hit every bookstore we could and then again and again, play with the dogs...
In other words, just being together. The simple stuff--having a thought and being able to just turn my head and say "Oh hey..." Heaven! And what I miss the most about him being back in Germany.
And speaking of dogs, Nick has fallen completely for Shelby, my red and white girl sibe. I took this picture of them, amused as every chance she got, Shelby was making Nick pet her. And I do mean make. When Shelby wants attention, she gets it, dammit.
Shelby loves Nick cuz Nick Obeys her. LOL. I can't wait until Nick comes back, as I have promised to bring Shelby to the airport to greet him. :) Lots of people bring their dogs, so I am.
Next up was another visit with Chelsea, but this time she came to see us!
And oh what fun we had! I let Chelsea use my car, so she and Nick could go to the zoo, to museums (oh yes Nick and I went to the zoo too), and just tool around town enjoying themselves. They both liked that lots I know. We also planned on having raclette while Chelsea was here, so we went to Southlake to the German Deli to get the proper German sausages we needed. We had bought some at Kube's in Dallas but it was the wrong stuff. The Deli had what we wanted. I will explain Raclette in a bit.
First though--EASTER! Of course we had to dye eggs! I boiled up lots of eggs, and Nick and Chelsea and I dipped them and colored on them.
Nick, Chelsea and Scotty beneath the table:
These are some of the eggs we painted! The first one was cracked while boiling and Chelsea got quite creative with the crack. I would've just tossed it!
Nick did this one. Seaside fans should get this one--it is Krycek and the Puppies and Dog :)
It made me sad to throw them away, but I had to eventually. But they were so much fun.
We also bought cake mix at the German Deli. This cake is known as a mole hill cake. Or was that gopher... There are bananas in the bottom. Chelsea and Nick had GREAT fun cooking. We cooked lots when Chelsea was here so that was fun. We didn't finish this cake though!
And, of course, there was RACLETTE! This is a Swiss meal (Nick having Swiss-Germans in his family) and the cheese is a special cheese, called Raclette, that melts in a certain way. The Raclette looks like this:
The cheese is expensive as hell here, though not in Germany. First, one takes the special German sausage that we bought in Southlake, cut it up and sautee it with onions and lots of cayenne pepper so it is spicey. Then, one cuts up all sorts of vegetables, slices the cheese (which of course I sliced WRONG at first--geesh) and then of course there is the pineapple to finish up with. Each person has a little tray--put the sausage onions in there, then put different veggies on there, then cover with the cheese, stick it in the raclette and melt the cheese. On top is bits of steak, baby brats, chicken, mushrooms... So, you cook in the tray and on top. It is sooo goood! And expensive to make LOL so you eat it more than one day. Oohhhhh so stuffed were we!!!! It was lots of fun and I am glad I invested in the raclette thing itself.
Oh and after cooking everything, one takes potatoes cooked ahead of time, and gently places the raclette goodness over it. VERY filling. This is Nick Preparing:
And the potatoes and baby brats:
Chelsea's visit was awesome. It didn't lack adventure *wink*, and was too short. Chelsea is Da Bomb! We hope to somehow work a visit to California when N is here next. Chelsea's mom is just DYING for us to come--and we'd love it too. It was sad saying goodbye to her. But we did have yet another trip, this time to Orlando!
This trip went very smoothly! Our airline advised us that our second flight was going to cut too close so we changed our second leg out to FLorida to a later flight, which worked out just fine. Saw the Houston airport for a bit but not too long. Made it to Florida, got my rental car, a Dodge Caliber, which was a really nifty thing. I liked it lots.
When we got to FLorida we realized Nick needed summery clothes, so we called
katilara for advice on where to find an Old Navy. We found some cute shirts in Boys size Large. Nick is sooo small. Grr. LOL. We bugged KL LOTS--she gave us great ideas on how to spend our time. The first thing we did was go to Lake Eola, and walk around. We found an excellent restaurant that was sooo goood and we had a cute waiter, Dorian. Nick crushed on Dorian and don't let him tell you any different!We both loved the walk around the lake, longed for our two pups to be with us to enjoy it too. Everything about Orlando was enjoyable though we do know we were there during a great time of year--i.e., cool.
Lake Eola:
Size boy's large *rolls eyes*. I really did try to fatten Nick up some while he was here, and failed:
Really liked this area but we really didn't make it back. We got happily lost around there though looking for a Barnes and Noble, only to discover we were WAAAYYy far away from it. And of course we had to check out the bookstores!!!!
Of course, our main reason to go to Orlando was to go to Universal Studios!!! We met KL and Christine, who had hurt her foot and ended up in a wheelchair which was really no burden at all, and had some fun there. SO CROWDED! But I was so proud that Nick managed the scary rides! This was in front of my favorite roller coaster, The Hulk:
Here are some more...this one is especially fun because we are in the front row, screaming our fool heads off as the ride plunges--this was the Jurassic Park ride. LOL. We got wet.
I didn't take enough pictures! I didn't get any of Christine and KL! How silly. We drove (okay KL drove, Nick and I mugged in the back seat lol) and ate at a really tasty salad place that I wish we had in Fort Worth. Kind of like Chipotle's, but salad. Very very good.
OH I forgot! KL suggested we go to this garden...the Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens. That was lovely! And very warm. Nick and I stopped often so he could read to me (something we always enjoy). There were tons of lizards!!!! And lots of cool plants and such:
It was sad to say goodbye to Orlando as we had a good time, and we were creeping closer to the day that Nick would leave. Like, the following Friday.
We do not like leaving days, but it came anyway. I took a few more pictures, but we were probably a little better than usual because we have high hopes that this internship will work out. It is well on its way to doing so, though we just have to wait for all the paperwork. Which of course is nervewracking to wait on! Nothing else we can do though is hang in there, and await our next meeting. It is hard sometimes to realize just how lucky we are--finding each other as we did, able to see each other despite the distance--but we both try to remember that. Focus on the good, the beautiful, the possibilities for the future. Looks pretty rosy, really.
A couple more (mere minutes before N left and yes that is the women's bathroom at the airport lol), and then that is all, at least for now:
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:14 am (UTC)You two are an awesome couple. You obviously had so much fun regardless of where you were. I don't have but one or two pictures of my visit to San Antonio (one of course with the statue of my namesake!).
Now I have to go find that earlier post ....
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:55 pm (UTC)We have fun whatever we do, yup. Never a dull, boring moment--which makes it all the harder not to have Nick here. Pout.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 04:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 04:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 05:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 05:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:56 pm (UTC)*blush* Thanks... :) :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 05:43 am (UTC)Sounds like an awesome trip, too!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:56 pm (UTC):)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-24 01:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 05:52 am (UTC)Your description of raclette was very amusing. Many of the things I read about on LJ are foreign. So it was funny to read about something I know described like it was something I didn't know.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:58 pm (UTC)LOL well I really got in trouble with Nick for doing certain things 'wrong' (ahem, like the cheese slicing) but I think I got it. It was really really good. I plan to pull it all together for my kids and their friends sometime this summer.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 05:57 pm (UTC)Honestly, there is almost nothing that you can do really wrong with raclette. The only fault would be to fill the little pan so high that the cheese gets stuck in the heating spirals. Ewww! But you can mix anything the way you enjoy it. It's a great way to play with food and yet be able to eat it afterwards. *g* And I like it because meat lovers and vegetarians can eat together without fuss.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 06:15 pm (UTC)I've been through the Frankfurt airport, but that is about it. Maybe next time I come to Germany I can convince Nick we should go more Southwest? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 09:26 pm (UTC)Quark is expensive where you live? Really? That's not fair. I like to have quark with fruit or with honey and nuts in the morning. Yummy!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 09:51 pm (UTC)I would love to visit Frankfurt sometime. I love Hamburg and especially Berlin though--I *still* haven't seen all of the museums and such. Hamburg was a great place to walk around and just be together. I'm antsy to go back, but it will be 2009 sometime before I can. Unsure as it all depends on N's schedule. Sooo close to graduation! Whee!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-24 10:14 am (UTC)And we have already finished one third of 2008, so 2009 will come quicker than expected. What is one year in the great scheme of events, eh? :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-24 02:20 pm (UTC)Hamburg is very lovely! I love a city that one can walk about in lots. And they have a great bagel shop. Berlin though--I felt so at home there, even though we were in the heart of things and I'm sure the hustle and bustle would get to me after awhile.
I always think "too many Americans in Frankfurt." LOL.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 06:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:58 pm (UTC)Sigh.
I want your book now...should be here tomorrow I think. YAY!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-23 03:59 pm (UTC)