What I've Been Up To

Last week when I went to Amsterdam with Jay's parents to be tourists and see them off on their plane, I came across a gold mine.

Seriously.

In one of the shops at the airport, they had magazines...in ENGLISH! 

I was so excited. I've always, always been a magazine junkie, but I've slowly weaned myself over the years. At one point, I think I subscribed to 8 or 9 magazines at the same time. When I left Wyoming, I was down to 3. That's not to say, of course, that I didn't buy a magazine every time I was at Wal-Mart, though!

Here's what I came home with...

I didn't realize until I went to check out that my find would cost me dearly, but it was worth all thirty euros I had to spend! I slowly have been working my way through my treasure and enjoying every minute of it.


Tot ziens!

Love Can Build A Bridge

Is the Judd's song going through your head right now? 


So, on our first trip to Cologne we noticed something unusual on the bridge over the Rhine River as we rode the train into downtown.

Apparently, there is a tradition for people in love to fasten a lock with their name or initials onto a bridge. Once the lock is on there, you throw the key into the river. The idea is, the lock can never be removed since the key is long gone, and therefore, your love will always remain. 


I know, it's just a tad cheesy, but we decided that since we were going back to Cologne when Jay's parents were here we would surprise them and do it too. So, we both locked our locks onto the bridge and threw away the key. 

If you're ever in Cologne, our locks are on the 14th panel on the more congested side of the bridge {Probably should have paid attention to an actual direction}. Look us up.


Tot ziens!

Double Drakes-The Rest of the Story

Let's see...I don't think I've fully covered our trip with Jay's parents yet. Some of the places we visited (Cologne and Trier 1 and 2) we had already been to so I won't repost pictures. I talked about Luxembourg and Bastogne here, so that leaves the drive down the Rhine River with beautiful views of castles and the city of Worms.


The drive down the river is about fifty miles and contains 30 castles or remains of castles. There are boat trips you can take that will let you off at different castles so you can tour them, get closer, take good pictures, etc. We decided we could do all that on our own. Well, not so much. The road is two-laned with hardly any places to stop, so most of the castles we saw we couldn't even get a picture of...lesson learned. Take the tour!

Trying to figure out which castle we were looking at...and wishing we had taken the dang boat tour!

That same afternoon we arrived in Worms, Germany. As I mentioned earlier, Worms is kind of a big deal historically...like as in it played a pretty big role in the Protestant Reformation. 

These three pictures are from the beautiful Cathedral there. The following is the Martin Luther Memorial.

Worms was also known as Little Jerusalem prior to World War II because for centuries it had one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe. The Jewish cemetery there is just fascinating. We got there right after closing and the caretaker was kind enough to let us in for just a few minutes, but I would have loved to get to spend some more time wandering around. It dates from the 11th century!

Worms was a lovely little town. There was so much history to see, but it wasn't as full of tourists as some of the other places we went. 

Tot ziens!

Proud To Be An American

Last week when Jay's parents were here we had the chance to visit two special places on our whirlwind loop through neighboring countries. The first was the American Military Cemetery & Memorial in Luxembourg.


This cemetery is the final resting place of 5,076 American soldiers, most of whom died during the Battle of the Bulge. Among those interred here is General George S. Patton. The Cemetery was an amazing sight to behold. The grounds are beautifully tended, and it was very humbling to look upon row of row of tombstones knowing the sacrifice that not just those soldiers had made, but the families of those soldiers as well. Inside the Memorial is a small chapel and the bells chime every quarter hour. The music filling the serene landscape was very moving.

The other location we visited was Bastogne, Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge occurred. The Mardasson Memorial was  placed there by the Belgium government to honor the American soldiers who fought to liberate Belgium. Inside the stunning star-shaped memorial, the story of the battle is carved into the walls. 


One quote in particular really captured the honor and dedication of the men who served. If you can't make out the entire inscription from this picture it says, "The uniformed ranks of the United States fought for this soil...as if it had been their homeland."

               
Right down the road from the Memorial is a place called La Bois de la Paix or Woods of Peace. Four thousand trees were planted on the 50th anniversary of the battle. The trees commemorate the units of the American military that served there. Some of the trees are dedicated to specific veterans who were able to make the trip in 1994 to the memorial.

We visited all of these places on the same day, and it was probably my favorite part of our tour. It was such a nice reminder of the great country I had the privilege of being born in. A great reminder of the thousands upon thousands who have made (and are still making) sacrifices, not just for the freedom of our own country but for others as well. It was a stark reminder that no matter how crazy our government and politics can be at times {and we were visiting on the eve of the budget deadline...craziness of politics at its finest}, I'm so proud to be an American.


Tot ziens!

My Latest Addiction

Have you heard of Pinterest? I'm sure I'm one of the last to get into this craze, because, well, that's usually how it works. But, oh my. I'm loving this site. A hundred, million thanks to my cousin Britany for inviting me and getting me started. 
{{Funny side note, I was just about to publish this and decided I better check my links to make sure they worked. Well, I forgot the word "the" before Brit's blog name, and I had linked up to some totally random Schmidt family! Brit, did you know there was a blog with such a close name? They look like really nice people! haha}}


For those of you not in-the-know yet, here's what it is. Basically it's a website where you can "pin" images to different bulletin boards you create. You know how lots of people like to tear articles, pictures for inspiration, recipes, hairdos, etc out of magazines? Well, with Pinterest you can keep all those images and ideas organized in one place without having hundreds of loose papers everywhere. It's genius. Pure genius. And 100% addicting.


Here are some of the images I've pinned recently.

I can think of several outfits of mine that just need these shoes.

I think even I could make these and they turn out ok. 

Really?? Doesn't this make so much more sense than the long deep closets usually under stairs?

I'm ready for fall and this would make me so happy to walk by every day on my way to and from work during the fall season.

I could go on and on for a long time about how great this site is. I have boards with school ideas, holiday ideas, food ideas, books to read, quotes I enjoy, clothing ideas, decorating ideas, gift ideas...anything that catches my eye I can pin it and refer to it later. 

I'm loving it! (And wasting a good amount of time loving it...be warned you will get sucked in...).

Tot ziens!

Drakes Going Dutch...Doubled

Watch out Holland. It's Double the Drakes. 

I rode the train to Amsterdam last Thursday morning to pick Jay's parents up from their flight. We walked around Enschede and enjoyed the scene around the city center that night.


Friday we were up early to head on a four day outing: Cologne, castle tour along the Rhine River, Worms, Trier, Luxembourg, and Bastogne. Lots to see and do. We were delayed a little in our departure because of a little passport mishap, but all's well that ends well, right?!


Cologne was wonderful. Jay and I had already made a quick trip there. It was just as magnificent this time, but we were able to spend some more time there and take it all in a little better.


The next morning we woke up and drove along the Rhine River along a stretch of road about fifty miles in length with over thirty castles or ruins of castles there. We ended up the day in Worms. As in Edict of Worms...as in Martin Luther getting kicked out of Catholic Church...as in pretty big stuff happened here. 


Sunday we trekked to Trier. This was a return trip for us, but it really is one of my favorite places I've seen so far. We ended the night in Luxembourg.


Monday was a busy day. We started off with the American Military Cemetery there and then headed to Bastogne, Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. 


Today we ventured out and about around town and will do more of the same tomorrow. On Thursday we're heading over to Amsterdam, and they fly out Friday. It has been so nice having them here.


I'm still working on sorting through all the pictures, so I'll post some of them in separate over the next day or so. I'll leave you with a couple pics from our evening: a windmill underneath the setting sun.

Tot ziens!

Never Say Never

I can't believe I'm about to say this. 


I am now the owner of a pair of Crocs. I have never been a fan of the shoes. I mean, unless you're gardening, working as a nurse, or in a kitchen I could never really see the need for the rubber clog. I know some people love them and that's fine, I just always said I would never own a pair.


So, I guess as the old saying goes, never say never. Before we left on our trip with Jay's classmates, I knew I would need some comfortable shoes since we were going to be doing so much walking. Well, in my packing and planning back in May I didn't really think about comfy, touring shoes. {In my defense I did have a lot of other things on my mind.} I have several pairs of way cute shoes here, but they definitely aren't good for hoofing it all day. The only comfortable pair I had over here were my tennies, and nothing ruins an outfit quicker than having to wear socks and tennies where they don't belong. {So vain, I know.} Anyway, I was out shopping one day and came across the Crocs store...There was a really cute pair of shoes on one of the advertisement posters so I ventured in.


It smelled like rubber. BUT, oh my goodness. There are some way cute shoes in there now! They have come a looooong way from just the brightly colored clogs. A looooooooooong way. I ended up getting this pair, but I would have bought another of their jellies if they'd been available in my size. 

I wore them our entire trip. No blisters, no tired aching feet. And no ruined outfits with my sleek black flats. I'm now a believer and I can sort of, kind of understand why people were so willing to wear the ugly clogs. They are heaven for your feet. (Notice I said were willing. With all the cute styles out there I am still not getting the rubber clogs).


Tot ziens!