Christmas Surprise!

We’re ENGAGED!

That being said, you can imagine we had a great Christmas! We woke up on Christmas morning and went over to Kevin’s parents’ house. We had a delicious breakfast and then opened gifts. It was a great and relaxing morning! We followed the annual tradition and went over to the house of some great friends of the Branford’s for turkey lunch, and then Kevin and I went over to my Mom’s house for Christmas dinner. It was a long and extremely busy day, but we had a great time.

Christmas morning: pre-engagement

We got home around 10pm and got into our warm PJ’s. We were standing in the kitchen when he told me he bought me a gift – even though we decided not to buy gifts for each other this year. He pulled the box out of his jacket pocket (which he carried around with him all day!) and got down on one knee! I was completely surprised and overjoyed! I am not sure if I ever said “yes” but I am pretty sure my crying and jumping up and down gave him the answer he needed. It was the best Christmas surprise ever!

About 5 minutes after he "poped the question". Making the first phone call to my mom!

A close up of my gorgeous ring! He did good!

This was taken in November at the White Lights Ceremony at the Broadmoor. I just thought this post was a good place for it!

It was the best Christmas ever, and I look forward to the rest of our Christmases together!

Christmas in the Tropics

I will appologize ahead of time, that this post is extremely long! You have been forwarned. 
 

On Wednesday, December 16, Kevin and I began our journey to Singapore. We left Colorado Springs around 1pm and got to JFK around 9pm. By the time we got our luggage and caught the shuttle to the hotel, it was 10pm, so we quickly dropped off our bags, put on our warm jackets, and went into the city. We took a taxi to the subway station and made it to Rockefeller Center around 11:30pm. We met Ryan and Kat at the tree and then met Nick and went to grab a bite in Times Square. We left the city around 1am and got back to the hotel at about 2. It was a quick journey, but well worth it!

The Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. SO beautiful!

We left JFK on Thursday morning and flew 13 hours to Dubai. What a cool city, well airport! I look forward to actually spending some time in Dubai one day…they have a ship that is based out of there next year, so hopefully we will get our chance to visit! We had about an hour layover and then flew another 7 hours to Singapore. With the time change, we got to Singapore around 9pm on Friday evening, so we lost almost 2 days during the process. It was a very long 2 days!

On Saturday we began at Merlion Park. The Merlion is a cross between a lion and a mermaid and is the logo of Singapore Tourism. The park was extremely small, so we didn’t spend much time there, but it was very cool to see.

The Merlion with the CBD in the background.

 

Mandatory self-portrait

Being goofy! I love this picture. Kevin is a very clever guy!

When we finished at Merlion Park we decided to wander through the Central Business District (CBD). It started to rain, and we just happened to be near the Raffles Hotel, so we found a seat in the famous Long Bar and sipped on a Singapore Sling and a Tiger Beer. It was a great way to wait for the rain to pass, or not pass. It continued to rain, so we took a taxi back to the hotel and rested for a while.

The Raffles Hotel - decorated nicely for Christmas

YUM! The Singapore Sling is to Singapore as the Hurricane is to New Orleans.

On Saturday night we wanted to go see the Singapore Night Safari so we set the alarm to wake up around 7pm and finally got out of the hotel around 8:30pm (waking up was not an easy task). We took the subway and a city bus and reached our destination about an hour later. The Night Safari is like a zoo that features nocturnal animals. Usually when you go to the zoo the animals are sleeping during the day, so the Night Safari allows you to see the animals when they are awake and active. We went to see the Creatures of the Night show and then took the tram around to the different exhibits. The tram was the only way to see certain animals, so we decided to go for a ride instead of walking through the park (it was also a much faster way to see everything in the park) They kicked us out of the park at midnight and we took the last city bus of the night back to the train station. When we got to the train station, we realized we had missed the last train into the city (by an hour!) so we hopped into a taxi and went back to the hotel. We had a great first day!

Sitting on the tram

Mandatory tourist photo :)

On Sunday morning we started out in Little India. There was a grocery store that Kevin was hoping to buy some new cooking ingredients at, but they had gone out of business, or moved locations, so we were slightly disappointed. It turned out that most shops were closed in that area on Sunday morning, so we didn’t stay long. Instead, we started our journey to Suntec City for the massive book fair! I looked online to see what events were happening and stumbled across a gigantic book fair, with many English books, so I had to check it out. On our way, we stumbled across a huge outdoor market with fresh food, clothes, gifts, and junk. We meandered through there for a while and found a durian stand. If you remember from the last time we were in Singapore, Kevin and I chickened out and didn’t try the durian. This huge stand seemed like our calling, so we cashed in 5 Singapore Dollars and hunkered down! The flavor was fairly bland, with a stringy, custard-like texture. It was not the worst thing I have ever tasted, but it is definitely something I do not feel the need to ever try again! Kevin felt the same way.

The durian stand

This is how they are packaged.

Tasting the durian for the first (and only) time!

We finally made it to Suntec City for the book fair and I was in heaven! The book fair covered 4 ballrooms and at least half of the books were in English. Kevin gave me a time limit and I walked away a very happy lady, with 3 new books for my library! We had delicious Pho Bowls in the food court for lunch and then went to see the Fountain of Wealth – The World’s Largest Fountain. We saw the fountain the last time we were in Singapore, but since we were right there anyway, we decided to go take one more peak.

The incredible book fair!

The Fountain of Weath

Self-explanitory.

We went back to the hotel for another rest, and woke up around 9pm to go see Orchard Road. Orchard Road is a street full of shopping malls – many, many gigantic malls! Every year at Christmas time, Orchard Road is decorated with lights, trees, and Christmas statues. They also have special performances every night leading up to Christmas. It was very neat to see how other countries celebrate Christmas – especially Singapore since their Christian population is only about 13%. We didn’t stay too long because there were people everywhere! It was insane, but it was a great experience.

Christmas All Decked Out was the theme this year.

One of the many decorations on the sidewalk.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.

On Monday morning we went to the ship. We worked for a few hours and then went back to the hotel around 1pm. We were leaving Singapore around midnight, so instead of checking out of the hotel early, going out and getting sweaty, and then going to the airport, we decided to reserve one more night at the hotel, so we could take our time checking out. This was so nice to be able to enjoy the day and go to the airport feeling clean and fresh before our 13 hour flight to Europe.

 Before we went to the airport, we went into Chinatown to do some last minute shopping and have some lunch. Singapore is well known for Chili Crab, and we left last year without ever trying any. So this year Kevin was determined to eat some. We found a restaurant in China Town that served Chili Crab so Kevin jumped on the opportunity. He was very pleasantly surprised – as was I! After lunch, Kevin decided to get a massage so that he could be more comfortable during the flight later. While he did that, I shopped! What a great way to spend the day!

The whole Chili Crab.

Delicious lunch in Chinatown.

Overlooking some of the shopping booths in Chinatown. It was a great shopping day!

That night we flew from Singapore to Frankfurt, and then Frankfurt to Barcelona. It was another long flight. When we got to Barcelona, late might I add, Kevin was missing a bag. We dealt with that and then went to the hotel and slept for about 8 hours. We woke up and went out for dinner and then went back to the hotel and tried to sleep through the night. We woke up bright and early, packed our bags again and went to the ship. We spent a total 26 hours in Barcelona, and then began our journey back home. We flew from Barcelona to Munich, Munich to Chicago (with a complimentary upgrade to business class!), and Chicago to the Springs. We got into Chicago late because of weather, and then our flight leaving was delayed (thank goodness it wasn’t cancelled). On December 23, we finally made it home and only about 2 hours late.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we had a great time! We have been home now for almost a week and we are finally going to the airport to pick up Kevin’s bag! I am so glad it wasn’t mine! No big trips planned in the near future, but I will keep you all posted on what is happening in our lives! Thanks for checking up on us and sorry this post turned into a novel!

The Land of OZ

As most of you know, Kevin and I were down in Sydney last week and we had a blast! This was the 3rd time we were down there together so we had already seen alot of the "tourist" attractions, but we were able to find some new activities for this trip. Here's the layout:

After a 14 hour flight, we arrived in Sydney around 8:30am on Wednesday morning. We were able to check into the hotel around 10 and then we went out exploring the area. We stayed in a new hotel that was right near Darling Harbour and Chinatown so there was plenty to see and do. We had some great food and did some shopping and crashed around 5pm. We slept through most of the night and woke up bright and early on Thursday. 

A sign of all of the nearby attractions in the Darling Harbour area.

On Thursday we went to the Sydney Aquarium right in the middle of Darling Harbour. We have always wanted to go to the Aquarium, but the other (non-marine) wildlife interested us more. This time we decided to go to the Aquarium and it was so much fun! We were able to see not only one, but two, Dugongs! What is a Dugong you ask? A Dugong is a mammal that looks mostly like a manatee, but has the tail of a dolphin. They are mostly found in the northern waters of Australia and are near extinction. There are only 6 Dugongs held in captivity in the whole world, so it was quite the treat to see two of them! We also saw a huge saltwater crocodile, sharks, octopus, jellyfish, and many more - the platypus chose not to show his face
:(.

They say that dugongs are like mermaids.

About to go into the Sydney Aquarium

Just being goofy at the entrance.

Lunch time!

WOW! They were pretty cool creatures!

Just eating some dinner.

Real or plastic? Could have fooled me!

They had an awesome Great Barrier Reef exhibit.

The rest of Thursday we spent walking around the area some more. We ate more great food and did some more shopping. We even went back to the aquarium later in the evening to try to see the platypus, but still no luck. We fell asleep pretty early agian.

On Friday we went to Sydney's Wildlife World - we ended up getting a deal if we bought this ticket with the Aquarium ticket. We saw all kinds of creatures! We saw the world's most dangerous spider, the world's largest cockroach, the worlds most venomous snake, the worlds most dangerous bird, and of course some Koala's and Roos! It was another great day!

Just being goofy again.

Kevin got to hold a stickbug.

The world's most dangerous spider - The Sydney Funnel Web (only the males are lethal!)

The world's largest cockroach - Australian Giant Burrowing Cockroach

And the world's most venemous snake - the Inland Taipan.

On Saturday we went to the ship. There was not much work to be done so we were on and off the ship within 2 hours, and that was stretching it! We saw that there was some kind of outdoor concert going on at the Opera House, so we quickly took a ferry back to the hotel and then went back to the Opera House to see what was going on. When we got there they told us that they were setting up for the finale of Australian Idol to take place on Sunday night. Unfortunately the tickets were sold out, but we were able to watch it live on TV - more to come on that in a minute.  After we left the Opera House we went to the Rocks Market and then went out to Bondi Beach.

The view from the ferry.

The Australian Idol stage.

The view from the other side - right outside the Opera House

On Sunday we went down to an area called La Perouse, just south of Sydney. This was a new adventure for us and we had a difficult time getting there because the buses were not running a normal shedule on the weekend. It took us about 2 hours and many road blocks, but we finally made it down there around 1pm. We went there with the intention of seeing an Aboriginal named Laddie Timbry, who did some boomerang throwing instruction, but ended up having a slightly different experience. Laddie left early in the day because it was so hot (close to 100 F), but there was another Aboriginal man there named Vic Simms. I was able to catch him right before he left and buy a beautiful, hand-crafted, boomerang. Come to find out, Vic Simms is like the Johnny Cash of Australia. He was sent to prison for robbery and while there was contacted by RCA records to record 10 songs. He recorded 10 songs in an hour and created a classic album called The Loner. He then toured around other prisons in the Australia area, and was one of the first people to ever perform in the Sydney Opera House. It was an awesome experience!

This boomerang is beautiful and huge! I can't wait to try and throw it!

When we got back into the city we did some last minute shopping and then went back to the room for the rest of the night. We were able to watch Australian Idol live and it was so cool to see the show, since we saw them setting up for it the day before. It was pretty spectacular! Here is a clip from the show - Michael Buble singing Cry Me a River, with an unbelievable fireworks spectacular in the background! I wish we had thought to go watch the fireworks live, but this is second best.

A photo of the fireworks over the Opera House.

We flew home on Monday and are so glad to be back, and finally with ALL of our luggage (my bag got lost in translation, when Kevin recieved both of his bags, and finally arrived 36 hours later). Sorry for the lengthy post! I hope you enjoyed it!

A little Peace and Quiet...

Mom and I went up to our cousin Wynn's house in Broomfield for Halloween. We got there around 6pm and helped out in the haunted house for a couple hours before the "adult" party began. Wynn made a haunted house in her garage for the kids to go through and get their treats. They had to find gold coins at the bottom of 3 cauldron's - spiders, monster eyes, and zombie guts - and then cash in their coins for prizes. It was adorable!

Mom the Mime manning the prize table


Replacing the coins in the Zombie Guts.

It was a great night and I was very happy to spend it with mom. Not many people got the costume but we liked the idea (as well as everyone else when they finally understood it)! We left around 10:30 and got home after midnight. It was a late night but well worth it! And so nice to spend some time with family!

With the lovely, creative, and beautiful host, Wynn - our cousin!

Oh, and the rice krispies, from Halloween Eve were a big hit! I hope everyone else had a fun and safe Halloween!

Kevin and I will be leaving in about 2 weeks for Sydney so keep posted!

Halloween Eve

Tonight, Mom and I made rice krispie treats and decorated them for the Halloween Bash tomorrow. It was such a fun way to spend the evening!

Before....

During.....

And after!

Thanks for an awesome night MOM!