Bremen, Germany

So here I am in Bremen, Germany!

This is a picture of Bremen from the Weser river. It is windy and cold but at least kind of sunny! I got to walk around a little before heading to the office for all the meetings.

This a statue of the donkey, dog, cat, rooster from the childhood story (which I can't remember the name of!!). It is a Bremen lankmark so I figured it was a good spot to get my picture taken :-)

Yes - windy. Just look at my hair! Speaking of my hair . . . If I don't talk to anyone and pretend that I know where I am going then I kind of blend in. That is not true for blondes in most of the world.

Ice Princess

Saturday afternoon was Katie's first time ice skating. It was so much fun watching her and she did amazingly well too! When she fell it was usually slow motion and she always had a big smile on her face. She got right back up (by herself) and off she went again!

Laura, David, and my parents were there too. David had fun slipping around on his boots and of course we all had fun just watching the kids have fun!

Pear-tinis and Molten Chocolate Cake

Well, since I was forced to spend 10 days in Boston for work I made sure to make a trek down to Hartford where I was able to see Heather Wilson, her husband Jeremiah, and their adorable puppy Raleigh.

We enjoyed a nice dinner and stroll through West Hartford and most especially chatting and catching up in person! Mitch is a great hostess! I also really liked visiting their church and was so glad to see that they have such a nice fellowship to be part of. (Picture of Mitch with her Pear-tini and me with my ??? I forgot)

Raleigh is now officially my favorite dog - if he had a brother then I think I would adopt him myself. I have my mind made up that when I don't have to travel for work anymore then I will get a red toy poodle just like him. And maybe I will even purposely get him "the bad haircut" that Mitch kept complaining about. I thought it was adorable!

So that is a picture of me with Raleigh.

I was also able to spend a nice lunch with Leslie Kjosa Sutro. I have some of my earliest memories playing with her when my family first moved from MI to WI when I was 2 1/2. She and Laura were the same age so growing up she was considered my "sister's friend" but it is a good thing I have such a nice big sister who is willing to share everything even her friends! Leslie and I had a nice time catching up and she was happy to have an excuse to escape the pile of boxes from their recent move. I didn't get to meet Madeline (who is already 2) or see Andrew but hopefully next time I'm in Boston that will work out.

Last but not least I got to spend an evening and dinner with Janice and Jeremy John. Little Micah is so cute and warmed up to me immediately! I didn't get my camera out before her bedtime so I missed my opportunity to get a picture with her . . . but Janice wasn't too upset since Micah has two black eyes from bonking her head on the coffee table. Jeremy made us a fantastic dinner and also gave me a good lesson on caring for houseplants - especially my orchids. Janice too is a great hostess and made an amazing Molten Chocolate Cake for desert - definitely memorable. It was so fun catching up with both of them. I was bugging Janice to send out an update soon too but it was such a blessing for me to catch up with her in person.

The blog is on

Well, I am finally sitting down to set up my own blog. Not sure if anyone will read it or if I will even get the chance to update it but at least now I can say I have one! Pictures and real news to come soon.