Scandinavia Trip (In Pictures)

Richard and I just got back from a great trip to Europe! We spent 4 days in Stockholm, 2 days in southern Sweden, and a few days in Copenhagen. I just downloaded 300 photos, but here are the best ones that best describe our trip:



One of the first things we saw were these buses full of students who just graduated. They rode around in trucks with branches and music blasting. It was very interesting!



Me and my mom at the royal palace for the (small) changing of the guard.






Buying dinner from Mom's friend, Esau!



Family Home Evening at the Institute building.



Me and Dad overlooking Sweden at dusk (which is at like 11 pm).




On the metro!






On our Stockholm Archipelago boat tour


I love this picture - it makes me think of a desktop background photo! Maybe I should sell it to Microsoft.



At the Stockholm Temple



The top of City Hall



Mailing a postcard back to the States!



We went to a really cool concert in Stockholm! They played only music from video games (like Super Mario Brothers and Zelda). We had pretty cool seats - right above the orchestra.



The only squirrel in Sweden...



All of the kids were wearing these jackets - it made them look like mini-construction workers!




At the Hard Rock Cafe - they had ABBA stuff!






The ORIGINAL IKEA in Almhult, Sweden.



At the Copenhagen Temple



At the Puckelball Pitch in Malmo (more information here).



We played a lot of Hand and Foot!!




Riding bikes around the University of Lund in southern Sweden.



At the Round Tower in Copenhagen.


EVERYONE bikes at Copenhagen. Check out the "bike rack" at Central Station.



At The Little Mermaid statue.


We went to the Christus Church - it was beautiful!



We rented bikes for a day to fit in. Here's Richard at an awesome cemetery right outside of Copenhagen.

Okay, that's all folks! It was a great trip!

Anniversary Trip 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I had my first Spring Break since high school (huzzah!). It was great to have a few days off of work and to relax with Rich. Our anniversary fell on the Tuesday after break, and so we decided to end our break with a mini-vacation, as we fondly remember as the Tour de Virginia.

First, we visited the Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia:



Richard making sure that the area was safe for us to walk through.



The first major battle of the Civil War.



Trying to take some "artsy" photos.



Stonewall Jackson statue.

Next, we went bowling in Manassas. Check out my score: 130!! I think that's the best score I've ever gotten in bowling.



Richard in action.



130!!



Richard's reaction to losing to a GIRL at bowling.

Next, we went to dinner at a great Pakistani restaurant. Num, num, num. It was really good!




Then, we settled in at our bed and breakfast in Casanova, Virginia. It was sooooo cute! The best part was that we got there just in time for the BYU game (Go Cougars!), and we had the hot tub all to ourselves. The next morning, we had breakfast on our private porch, spa treatments (I had a pedicure, and Rich had a massage) and headed out to Charlottesville!





Poplar Springs gets a "thumbs up!"

In Charlottesville, we ate lunch at the outdoor pedestrian mall, drove around University of Virginia campus (BEAUTIFUL!) and took a tour of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Funny story there - while we were going through the tour, Richard and I kept on checking March Madness scores (GMU was playing). Finally, the person giving the tour asked us to stop and to put our phones away. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn my ringer off and it went off (extremely loudly) about 5 minutes later. It was Jenny calling to talk about the GMU game (they won, yay!). I don't think our tour guide liked us very much...





Hardee's still exists!



Our last stop was Richmond, to visit Heather and Rich S.! We always have a great time catching up with them, and we spent the night eating pizza and watching MORE March Madness games (we couldn't get enough). Rich S. goes to VCU, and we will be cheering for VCU on his behalf tonight!



It was a GREAT trip with beautiful weather. With work and night classes, Richard and I rarely get to see each other during the week, so it was so fun to actually get to spend quality time together. We're so lucky to live in Fairfax with so much history and gorgeous scenery close by. Three cheers for Virginia!

Sweeeeet Home Alabammmaa!

After watching Sweet Home Alabama, I made the completely rational decision that I wanted to move to Alabama. Immediately.



Unfortunately, Richard had other plans...

1:07 PM me: I want to move to Alabama

or 'Bama, as we call it

38 minutes

1:45 PM me: do you approve?

6 minutes

1:52 PM Richard: what??

why?

1:53 PM me: I just watched Sweet Home Alabama

Richard: From what I understand, it is near the bottom of the list in a lot of quality of life indicators

oh

ok

me: Reece Witherspoon

Richard: i do not approve

I am not Patrick Dempsey

1:54 PM me: swoon

Richard: nor am I Josh Lucas

blurg

me: are you looking this up on IMDB?

Richard: possibly....

i was

now it is closed

1:55 PM me: bah, fine we can stay here

but you have to talk to me in a Southern accent


I guess we're staying in Virginia, y'all!