Vacation Pictures are Posted

I finally uploaded some of our vacation pictures. This is only a small selection, but they'll give you a sense of what we did and what we saw on our trip. Enjoy!

On a photo-related front, Markus' new zoom lens finally came in, after a three month back-order! We're bummed we didn't have it for our trip to Ireland, but are thrilled that we'll have it for our next trip - we're heading to San Diego for a week over Thanksgiving. Sunshine and warm weather, here we come!

Catching up

It's been a month since our last post, so of course lots has happened.

Vacation
Markus and I were in Ireland from August 24 - September 3. Route: Dublin - Belfast - Slieve League - Donegal - Dad's Cottage (a few day trips from there) - Doolin/The Burren - Limerick - Shannon - Home. We had a great vacation, saw several places that we hadn't been to before, and of course, it was wonderful to see and spend time with Markus' dad. I hadn't been to the cottage since 2002, so there were many changes both inside and out (he's done a nice job with his perennial garden). My favorite site was the Slieve League, which is the highest European cliff, if I recall correctly. It's not as much of a tourist site as the Cliffs of Moher, but the scenery is just as picturesque. When we upload our pictures, you'll see it. It's quite amazing.

My favorite vacation story? We arrived in Dublin in the morning, after an overnight flight. We were trying to drive to our hotel, but Dublin's streets are confusing - even with a map. The city certainly wasn't designed on a grid like most of our cities were. I was navigating and kept us going in circles (reminiscent of National Lampoon's European Vacation - look kids, there's Big Ben). At one point, I told Markus to go down this street, which ended up being a pedestrian street meaning it was closed to traffic. Only delivery trucks were permitted. A kind pedestrian came over and told us we shouldn't be there and that the police would ticket us if they saw us driving down the street. We didn't know what to do. Luckily, a delivery truck zoomed in front of us and we took our shot - we followed him very closely and he lead us out of the pedestrian street. I think he knew we were kind of stuck, or he was using that street as a shortcut. Either way, we were grateful that we were able to follow him out! We were so stressed after that...Poor Markus, he was the one driving. We took a picture of the bollard that should have blocked us, but didn't because it was broken.

Markus and Christie - 2 years
The day after our return (September 4), we celebrated our second wedding anniversary and our fifth year together. The second year was better than the first, a little easier, too, and we're both looking forward to our third year of marriage. I can't believe it's been that long already...

Markus Graduates
On September 8, Markus participated on his diploma ceremony. He earned his Master's degree in Management Information Systems; it was a long three years of juggling work and school, but he's finished! Now he has to figure out what to do with his nights and weekends...I'm thinking house projects, but Markus may have other ideas.

House
The house is dry!!! That's our biggest accomplishment. And now that Markus is finished with school, we're both looking at what to do next. We went appliance shopping this past Saturday and were overwhelmed by the number of choices - and the prices. We decided to hold off on appliances until the spring since our current appliances are functional, though old. We're now planning on redoing our master bath and the basement floor this fall (well, hiring someone to redo them), so we're starting to look at floor materials. I found a software program that Markus is going to use to spec out our bathroom design so that we can get bids from contractors. This weekend, we're going to the paint store to pick out paint colors for the rest of the house (our bedroom, and the third floor den, and the doors). We ordered a door handle that we'd like to use throughout the house, just to make sure we like it. It arrived today, and I love it (and think Markus will, too), so we'll be replacing all the handles in the house (after we paint the doors). So, while we'll be using an experienced professional to complete some of our projects, there are plenty (painting, replacing door hinges and 3 doors, installing new handles) that we'll be working on ourselves. Ah, the joys of buying a "project" house, as we affectionately (and sometimes, not so affectionately) call it.

Christie Turns 30
So I turned 30 on Sunday. Woo hoo. Actually, Markus was a great sport and did pretty much everything I wanted to do this weekend (movie, sweet treat at the Naked Chocolate Cafe - divine!!!, brunch, buying wine at my favorite wine store in NJ, appliance shopping). The highlights - Naked Chocolate Cafe (of course, food is always the highlight, and then I wonder why Markus thinks I'm a food addict...). This is a new place that opened a few blocks from us, and it just might beat Capogiro, if that tells you anything. They make chocolates, cupcakes, nudos (kind of like brownies), and serve teas and drinking chocolates. Those drinking chocolates are amazing, it was a tasteful reminder of European cafes. Mmmmm. I'll write about brunch another time, but it, too, was decadent and delicious. Markus bought me a Le Creuset Dutch Oven, which I coveted for about 2-3 years. I'm ready to get started braising meats and making stews!

That's all I have time for at the moment. I also did some serious baking, which I'll report about later, took a beading class the week we got back, and we attended the 5th birthday party of our niece, Emma. (September is a busy birthday month for us - my dad is the 15th, Dennis is the 16th, I'm the 17th, and Emma is the 18th - whew!) I'm looking forward to working on some beading jewelry projects (I made some cute bracelets for the girls at Emma's party), but not tonight - I'll be watching the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy!