another day at the office

i have decided that i am going to post a picture everyday. 

these pictures are going to show you how i roll... by roll i mean live/hangout everyday. 

they are just little things about me that i have captured and decided to share with you :)

the office... while watching "the office"...

brugge, belgium

this is what my name would look like if i was born in belgium.

belgium beer wall

old lady making lace

Brussels, Belgium pictures

eating escargo...

the reason why i think i gained 11 pounds:

mjrn

They sent me home from work today. I feel like there is a bag of bricks on my chest and my throat is dry. And my sides hurt. So I thought it was appropriate to catch up on a few things while I lay in bed. 

This past weekend we went to Belgium. Mama, you were right... I LOVED it. I loved the food, the buildings, the feeling there. I can't explain it, it was small but big. We got there Saturday morning. I'm glad we didn't leave right after work on Friday. We walked around, trying to find the hostel, which ended up being a renovated house into a hotel. The gentleman running it was very nice. When we got there he let us put our things in the room and gave us a map, highlighting what to see and where to go. He was our very own personal tour guide, without actually going with us. It was really convienent because he told us where to go and how we should go about seeing everything. Very helpful. We began our Brussels voyage by eating at a chinese restraunt. Then watching a bunch of men in Hawaiian shirts walk by (Irish or English and in a pub crawl I am assuming) We wandered/walked/explored/meandered through the city stopping at pretty much every church on the way. My favorite was the Place de la Chappelle Kapellemarkt. The ceiling was perfect. The lighting was even more so. We hit the Grand Place Grote Markt, headed to the St-Hubertus galleria (where we bought the most amazing Belgium chocolates), went to St. Micheal Cathedral, walked through the Parc de Bruxelles, walked around the Royal Palace, stopped at another church, headed towards the Place Poelaertplein, looked at the weak veiw of the city, headed to a square where there was no market, headed to the Mannekin Pis (where we ate escargo), walked back towards the Grand Place where we ate the best waffle i have ever had in my life, bought some belgium beers and headed back to the hotel to rest our tired feet. That night we drank out Belgium beers, bought french fries with mayonnaise(a common delicacy in Belgium), headed to a huge bar, took some night pictures and went to sleep. 

The next day we woke up and headed to Brugge. It is a smaller city, but filled with tourists and the English language. The train ride was only an hour. It was well worth it. We aimlessly wandered around the city, looking for things to see... which we found. We stopped at a basicilica; it held two drops of Jesus' blood, I think Megan cried. I though the ceiling was perfect. The waffles and chocolates weren't as good there though.  We still had a great time.

I want to know how lace-makers make lace. They do it so fast and perfectly. I gave her 50 cent euro. She had been practicing for a while I think. 

So half way through this week, I only have 2 and a half more here....

I have decided to clear the clutter out of my room when I get home... I will need a week or two I think...

hunter

i want to go to a few more places while i am here... 

i hope i make it there...

munich?

garmisch?

cologne? or should i say koln?

frankfurt?

cologne and frankfurt could be day trips... if i ever got a day off.... id go there....

turns out i have to be packed up and cleaned up a week before we leave... so thats in two weeks... eek!!

one more thing...

do they even have art teachers in the state of washington?? i cant find any postings at all... ever...

tacky outfit day '09... you should have seen my socks.

it was trents birthday yesterday. i made him cupcakes.

love it.

megan's weak cotton candy wad.

phil... on the autobaun

frankenstein castle; by phil

prague pictures

from the clock tower

Charles bridge.

phils favorite clock

it took me 4 tries to make this perfect

jewish cemetary, thanks to phil

jewish quarter

easter (mass?)

in our hotel room.

Amaya

Hi! It has been a while. I'm tired. CAN YOU BELIEVE I COME HOME IN 3 AND 1/2 WEEKS. HOLY MOLY. 

Anywayss... Here are a few things I've been up to lately....

• phil visited.
  
• we went to prague.
  
• we went to the frankenstein castle. 
• sent postcards... FINALLY.
• erin... I need to be done buying you things!! i have bought you something everywhere I have gone. phil is jealous. 
• i have been reading the Twilight series like it is my job, I am on the fourth and final book.
  
• heading to belgium on saturday.
  
• my friend crystal's last day of work was today. but shes not leaving until may 2, so i am ok with that, besides the fact that we are getting a new lead teacher in our room. its a man. i wont be able to tell the kids to 'get over it' anymore. 
  
• got the package from mama! 
  
• got the other package from american eagle! (yay for new underwear)
  
• applied for an art teaching job at upper saint clair... hopefully...  it is so hard because i am so far away and all of my papers are old and they all need to be updated. oops.
  
• friday night I made my first, and probably last, cotton candy puff. or whatever you want to call it. 
• the little girl with my name keeps peeing and pooping in her pants and I AM COMPLETELY OVER IT. 
• my hair is the longest it has been since high school.

Prague was fantastic. Definetly beautiful and awe-striking.. erin is that a word? Our hotel was AMAZING.  We didn't do anything for Easter, except take a picture of a church and eat chocolate.  We took the night train Thursday night and got in Friday late morning. It was a LONG train ride. I was hoping we would have gotten a bed car, like in Venice, but no, we got regular chairs that tilted back a little more. ICK. andddd to top it off, I was sick the whole time, not puking, just coughing and sneezing and not being able to breathe, which just got worse as the weekend went on. 

So we arrived Friday, walked to our hotel and crashed there. for basically the rest of the day. We eventually walked around a little, but it was really nice to just relax and sleep in a nice big bed for once. For dinner Phil had some really great duck and dumplings, I wish I odered that, instead, I got pesto pasta, still good, but not as much as the duck. On Saturday we did all of the tourist things. Phil's favorite was watching the astronomical clock in the square. He was thrilled to watch the hourly display. Eventually we hiked up the tower and the view was pretty great. Defintely worth the 200 krons... 

We went to the Charles Bridge, where I bough some art and headed up about 473289 steps to the palace, which was pretty boring. It is the beginning of tourist season and I can def tell the difference, there are lines and crowds everywhere, it was kind of annoying. 

The rest of the day we wandered and I took pictures. Met up with Trent and MEgan who came with Trent's family. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe. Walked some more, stopped for a guinness. I wasnt feeling well so we didn't really see any night life, besides just walking around. 

Sunday our train didn't leave until late afternoon, so we just walked around Old Town and wandered the streets of the Jewish Quarter. We had considered going into the cemetary, but the line was a block long, so I had phil peek over the fence and take a few pictures so I could see it. We walked passed a church , during mass, and peeked in, the lighting was perfect, we snuck a picture of that too. Eventually we made it back to our hotel, checked out and headed to the train station. 

The rest of the week, I worked, phil made me dinner. He ended up renting a really nice BMW. I think he should get one of the those instead of some lame charger. One night, we decided to be spontaneous and head to the castle that the frankenstein castle was based off of. It was about a 30-40 minute drive... if that. No one was there when we got there, it was locked and pretty dark. A german man checked it out while we were there too, arriving not long after us, said something, laughed and drove away. He was hoping it was going to be unlocked too, but it wasnt. So I took a few pictures using megans camera and we headed back. Phil ended up going back the next day and taking some pictures with my nice camera. 

I had to work until 8 on Friday night. It was a spring fest for the kids. We set up everything, basically, and were in charge of cotton candy. I ate too much cotton candy and hot dogs. I didnt feel well. Saturday we had to work. It was kind of nice because Trent and I were in the Preschool room, so I didnt have to change any diapers and they are all pretty self-sufficient. I didn't have to do too much work. Later we went out with my friend Crystal. She is silly. 

He ended up leaving Sunday. The week went by so fast! It was nice to be in the same time zone as him, now we have to go back to not talking for a while... ugh.

We have themed days this week. Yesterday was "tacky outfit day" and today was "favorite shirt day," so I felt it was appropriate to leave my uniform at home and dress for the occasion. I looked pretty tacky yesterday, and today, I wore my Pittsburgh Penguins Crosby shirt obiviously.

My head hurts, I have been staring at this screen for too long. I hope I didn't bore you. I hope your eyes don't hurt after reading this either. 

3 and a half more weeks! it is going to be bittersweet. I am already dreading my return. but I cant wait to hug each and every one of you upon my return. 

I miss you all dearly. xoxoxoxooxoxoxox Kusse.

Pictures from berlove

Checkpoint Charlie

Getting my passport stamped

Legalized

a piece of the wall still standing

he tried to jump

Holocaust memorial

Here are just a few from the East Side Gallery to satisfy you for now.... I will do more tomorrow. Promise xoxoxoxoxoxox