More Greece

So I haven't been quite as diligent as I thought I would be about cataloging and sharing this wonderful vacation we're having. We've taken literally hundreds of pictures (yes, literally, not figuratively), and when we get home at night I'm so thrashed from the day's activities, the thought of blogging is a bit overwhelming. But today has actually been quite relaxing and I think I might actually be able to write a blog post or a couple of blog posts about this incredible adventure we're having. So, enjoy!

Day 3

So, last Saturday was quite the day for adventures. Dad's friend of the British embassy invited us (and others) on a trip through the Corinth canal on a British Navy destroyer (the HMS Manchester). The Corinth canal was apparently a project of a long-ago tyrant named Periander (doesn't quite sound tyrannic, does it? Only goes to show...), and was fruitlessly picked up by other more aptly named tyrants of later centuries, but was not finished until the late 1800s (for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal). By that time, most boats were too large to fit in it and it wasn't quite the strategic shortcut it was always meant to be. Nonetheless, our brave British destroyer, on its way home to merry England, was just small enough to fit--and one of the few modern ships that can (tugboats and day-cruises aside). It was terribly exciting and the navy, er, people (officers? I don't really know) we met were very friendly and informative and just really nice, actually. They fed us a really delicious lunch of pasta and stewed meat and then a ridiculously amazing cake--too ridiculous to believe it could have been made on a navy ship (but it was!). It was chocolate and then they had actually cream, just straight cream, to pour all over it... anyway! We went through the canal, with the artificial cliff-sides so close we could almost touch them. Our guide told us we had about ten centimeters to spare between the ship and the bottom of the canal. We think he may have been exaggerating... but it was a really tight fit. After the trip through the canal, they let us "muck about" on the deck and even play in a helicopter (a "helo" named Sting according to its pilot). Then, once that adventure was over and they kicked us off with a friendly sort of kick, we went to the city of Corinth (the Roman one, anyway) and saw where Paul preached against the whore-mongers (apparently there was a temple of Aphrodite... I won't go into the details, but let's just say this temple wasn't exactly a holy place). We had a snack there--enjoying fried cheese (saganaki) and pita bread with spicy cheese dip (tirokafteri), then went up to old Corinth (the Greek one) and just took a few pictures, because it was closed. All, in all, a pretty amazing day!

Mom and Dad's House

Welcome to Mom and Dad's house! Please forgive the bizarre format of this post: I just wanted to get the pictures in somehow, and they all ended up pretty haphazard. I love that word. Anyway. Mom and Dad have a beautiful apartment on the third floor of a building. Their apartment takes up the whole third floor, by the way, so it's not like it's a huge building. Anyway, it is absolutely beautiful. Not only does it have the most amazing view, but I think the interior is charming and relaxing and absolutely conducive to the social life demanded of a U.S. attache. So, please enjoy this tour. I think it's pretty obvious what each room is, so I'll let you do the exploring on your own.

Greece - Day 2

The Acropolis

Day 2 of our Greek adventure began with a walking tour of the Acropolis (Actually, every city has an acropolis, because acropolis just means "top of the city" and, well, every city has one. But this is the most famous one and the one we all think of as the Acropolis). We didn't actually get to go to the Acropolis, because they are currently excavating and moving all or most of the artifacts to the new Acropolis museum, but we went to the theater of Dionysus, considered to be the oldest theater in the world. We also went to another nearby theater--the theater of Herod Atticus (not the infamous Herod we often hear about, but another Herod). After that we walked through Hadrian's gate, which he built to separate old, Greek Athens from new, Roman Athens. On the Roman side, we saw the temple of Olympian Zeus, and after that we took a walk through a picturesque little shopping area and ate lunch with Mom--gyros and souvlaki all around! :)


Mom and me at the theater of Dionysus.James and me at the theater of Dionysus.
Panoramic shot of the temple of Olympian Zeus.
Hadrian's gate.
James and me at lunch with Mom.

Greece: Day 1

Well, we made it! We're here in beautiful Athens, Greece getting ready to go to bed after Day One of our amazing vacation.
Day One actually ended up being an incredibly long, but interesting and fun, blend of two long days. We left SLC at 8am Wednesday morning and arrived in Athens at 8am the next morning, local time. So today has been spent trying to stay awake while taking in sights and sounds around Mom and Dad's house.
After arriving, getting a tour of the house, cleaning up and unpacking, we were off to the local market for some fresh produce and a delightful (no seriously, I was so delighted I was jumping up and down) display of colors and culture.

Well, I was going to put up a bunch more pictures, of us in the market and us eating souvlaki (yum!), and then pictures of the house to give you a virtual tour, and then night pictures from a sightseeing spot we went up to this evening, but the pictures are taking SO LONG to load and I am getting frustrated and I'm exhausted (we've been up for so so so many hours). I will probably be able to put up more pictures tomorrow and fill in a few more details. Greece is amazing, though and I am already having such a wonderful time. So thrilled to be here.

Here's James!

In Relief Society we were given little "spotlight" sheets to fill out about our husbands. I thought this was pretty neat, that the elders were doing the same thing as the sisters and getting to know each other in this sort of interesting and unique way. I later learned from James that they don't actually do it, and me having the form was the first thing he'd ever heard of it. So, I thought it would be fun to go ahead and "spotlight" James for all of you, instead. So... enjoy!

Husband's name: James Patrick West

Where is your husband from? Born in New York, then moved to Texas, North Carolina, France, and back to North Carolina. So... not really from anywhere, I guess.

What is his major? Nerdliness... I mean Computer Science

What is the most romantic thing he's ever done? James is pretty good about surprising me every once in a while with flowers or making me breakfast while I'm sleeping in on a Saturday morning. He's a charmer.

What is your funniest memory about him? James makes me laugh pretty much every day, but one of my funniest memories is of him trying to ask me out a few weeks before he actually got up the guts to do it. We were with a group of friends, and he started telling me about this great idea he had for a date--making homemade chocolate candies. I said that sounded like a lot of fun, and then the conversation shifted and we were on to other things. In a few minutes, James left and another friend leaned over to me and said "I think James just asked you out." Well, apparently he hadn't gotten the enthusiasm he was hoping for, 'cause he chickened out and asked another girl.


When/Where did you get married? August 18th 2007, Provo UT Temple

What are his hobbies and talents? James loves programming, playing video games, reading up on how to build robots, learning new things in general (from Wikipedia!), making homemade candies and treats (best brownies ever), and of course the Wilton cake decorating is a big thing around here--though he has yet to make me a birthday cake.

What is his favorite food? He likes my curry and he loves meatloaf (weird, I know)--but he'll pretty much eat anything you put in front of him as long as it's not broccoli or a tomato.

Tell us a funny or an embarrassing story about him. James does not embarrass easily: he's just a pretty chill guy, so I guess I'll go with a funny story. We met because we worked together doing early morning custodial work at BYU. While working there, we used to pull a lot of pranks on each other and do some pretty odd things. One day, James and a group of our coworkers attacked me and my cleaning partner while we were cleaning the bathrooms (it was part of an ongoing war). They brought a giant roll of plastic wrap and were attempting to wrap us up in it. Well, we held our own and managed not to get wrapped up, and then in the midst of the attack one of his teammates turned on James and helped me wrap him up in plastic wrap. James, being the chill guy he is, pretty much let us do it, and by the end he was so tightly wound in plastic that he couldn't move and had to be cut out.

Fun Stuff

So, another week has gone by--things have happened, but I won't overwhelm everyone with all the details. Instead I'd just like to throw out some fun stuff I've stumbled upon recently.

#1 Gloria's Little Italy
My awesome sister in law recommended this restaurant to me and I've been dying to go. So when my best friend decided to abandon me and go home to Washington, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and dragged her out for some delicious Italian food. The restaurant is only a few blocks from our house and the walk there is just delightful, looking at all the sweet old houses around Provo. They have a "Mormon" tiramisu with no coffee, delicious pasta, and gelato I've heard is delightful--still gotta go back and try that.






#2 Mormon Chic
Today while looking for something completely different, I stumbled upon this website which, whether you're Mormon or not, is a delightfully useful and wonderfully girly site with tons of ideas for the modern woman. Check it out--it's super sweet. http://www.mormonchic.com/

Week-so-far in Review

The week's not over yet, but here it is already Thursday and I haven't really posted anything all week. I hope you enjoyed Monday's video—it's one of my favorite commercials ever. I just love the little bunnies hopping around with their colored feet. Anyway, even though the week's not over I thought I'd give you a review of what's been going on this week.

Monday – ok I'll just admit it. Monday, I got home from work and called a friend to go with me to the store so I could buy a pregnancy test. I AM NOT PREGNANT, but I thought I might be based on varied biological evidence that all turned out to be maliciously deceiving me. I don't think I've fully processed the experience yet, but it sure caused a range of emotions as I went through the entire experience. I was nervous and terrified, but also excited at the prospect. I mean, James and I want to have a baby in the near future, and even though "the near future" was still months away, it was sort of thrilling to think about. But terrifying. Definitely a rather sobering prospect—becoming a parent. I guess part of the disappointment of not getting the little plus sign on the test was that now I don't have a good explanation for the varied biological evidence that led me to the hypothesis that I may in fact be pregnant. Maybe it was just stress. I don't know but it was definitely an experience that has changed the way I look at things in general. Odd, and maybe I should explain it, but maybe you all get it already. I'm gonna go with you guys getting it already.

Tuesday – was a long day at work. We're doing workshops, so I'm in early to set up and out late because of clean up. So it usually ends up being a ten-hour day for three to four days of the week. This week it's only three days. But it's fun and a change from the norm, plus I get fed breakfast and lunch, so it's actually really nice. The only downside is that I'm so tired by the time I get home. We were supposed to have Allison over for dinner, but I didn't get home until so late and she had already eaten. So instead we went out for shakes at Burger Supreme. It was really fun though—I just love spending time with my sister in law. She's really funny and agreeable and fun to be around. We told lots of riddles and silly stories (James ruined all mine though). Then we went home, played a little Guitar Hero (of course) and then Allison was kind enough to play cards with me. James doesn't like to play games with me, so when Allison comes over she satisfies my craving for a good game. Plus she's a blast to play with. And even though we have yet to finish a game of Spit we always laugh enough for several games' worth.

Wednesday – there is really nothing to say about Wednesday. I got home, took a bath, then got in bed. I'm looking forward to not being so dang tired.

Also this week, I can't remember the day, Mom sent me a package with some beautiful things from Egypt. I love knowing that Mom and Dad still think of us when they're off on exciting journeys around the world. And soon we'll be on our own exciting journey around the world! We'll take lots of pictures for everyone, but I can't promise any souvenirs—we'll be thinking of you though! J

Well, until something else exciting happens, it's ta ta for now.

A Little Treat for Monday

Lucky Me

I have the sweetest husband in the world. (I know you all think you do, but sorry, you're wrong. I do.) So, this morning James had a final at 7:00 so he kissed me good bye and I was happily back in sleepland within seconds. Apparently he came home around 8:30 and saw I was still asleep so he left again. I woke up the second time he came back, but he didn't come in to check on me just started making a lot of noise (trying not to make much noise) in the kitchen. I finally woke up around 9:30 and came out to find flowers on the kitchen table (which was set), bacon frying on the stove, and biscuits ready to go in the oven. I was so charmed. He even had everything ready to make omelets, and we cut up strawberries and James showed me a fun new way to eat them (dip them in sour cream and brown sugar--try it, it's good!). It was just the perfect way to start a Saturday. I really really really really really really love my husband.
After our lovely breakfast he took me to the temple, then we went up the canyon with some friends to hike up inside snow caves at the top of bridal veil falls. (Super cool, by the way, even if my paranoid mind went overboard imagining avalanches etc. etc.) It was a lovely day finished off with (what else?) Guitar Hero on the projector that Brad and Shelly brought over--thanks guys! :)
And again, the cool breeze is wafting in the window of my--still clean!--back room and I'm just thrilled to be alive. And all because I had the wisdom, foresight, and talent to marry the greatest man alive. It's all me. :P