The Christmas Capitol...Strasbourg

Christmas time is here!  Here is our tree we brought from home.  You have to enjoy the pictures here because a few days later I was sitting on the couch and the lights got brighter, brighter, brighter and POOF...they all blew out.  Even though we had a converter, I guess they just freaked out and couldn't take it!  We had a few nice nights with the lights and a couple dinners, including Thanksgiving with the glow of the tree.

The day after Thanksgiving we took a train to Strasbourg, the Christmas Capitol.  There were 9 Christmas markets and we lucked out and missed most of the crowds.  We went around and saw most of the booths before it officially opened so the crowds were at a minimum.  The decorations were awesome and when they put the lights on at night it was even cooler.  We had a great time and loved exploring the city, especially the Petite France area (which looks like Germany oddly enough.)  I would recommend going, but make sure it is before the crowds all converge on the city.

It was cold!!!

There were little train stands that sold roasted chestnuts.

The famous Strasbourg cathedral, especially ominous at night.

Jeremy bought me a lovely little vase from this booth for Christmas (though I should be forgetting about it until one week from now.)  The artist was there and it is fun to have a one-of-a-kind piece of art.  He also bought a beautiful little painting of Petite France in the snow for me for Christmas...guess I have to forget about that too!

Anyone want to meet me at this restaurant in the summer?  Not the big one on the left but the little tiny one on the bottom right of the picture.

Welcome to Miami

Jeremy and I got to stay one night in Miami and it was our favorite part of our little vacation!  While it was starting to freeze in Paris, we donned flip flops and smiles!  The beach was beautiful, of course, but what we really loved was renting a car and getting to drive around.  (The things you take for granted...a car!)  We also had to take care of some business...like buy our 4th suitcase in one year, hit the outlet mall for clothes and shoes, grocery shopping for the things you can't find in Paris very easily and a stop at the Ft. Lauderdale temple (still being constructed!) 

The glory of traveling...the constant "repack" and trying to shove all of our American loot into already full-when-we-arrived suitcases!

Jeremy's attempt at a picture....

My slightly straighter attempt at the same picture!

Dinner al fresco, my favorite!

For my b-i-l Michael...we figured he could figure out its meaning!

Remember the new suitcase that I just mentioned...yep, already cracked and dented in one trip..ugh!

Jeremy and I have decided..we love Florida, who knew!

Cruisin'

Jeremy and I are very aware that we live a pretty fortunate life right now...and that as soon as we have children it will come to a screaming halt...but until that happens, we are grateful for all the places we get to go and beautiful things we get to enjoy.  Last month we were able to go on a cruise as part of Jeremy's work.  We felt ridiculous having a driver meet us at the airport and then ordering room service..who are we? No one important, that's for sure!  But it was fun pretending to be so important!

This is us catching up on our favorite show "Parenthood"

The view from our hotel balcony (the night before we left for the cruise in Florida)

Our ship was the biggest thing I have ever seen.  There were different "neighborhoods" to look like a boardwalk, NYC Central Park, a shopping area, Casino...there was an  ice-skating rink, zip line, wave-riders, 4 pools, mini-golf, basketball courts, etc.  It took 30 minutes to walk from one end to the other (ok, only a slight exaggeration!)

Our room balcony

There were three ports...this was Haiti in the morning as we were coming close.

Jeremy and I took some of his French distributors on this zip line...a little scary jumping off, but after that it was really fun!  Here is the platform where we began and then where we ended up:

 After we were done, we got to go swimming and hang out at a private beach..owned by the cruise ship, of course!  In fact, the entire town was property of the cruise line, so it was really like fake Haiti!

The one element that I loved and hated was the artist community.  There were native Haitians selling their handcrafted items in these little stalls, but they haggled the heck out of you to buy everything you looked at...so I bought nothing.  I probably would have purchased something as a souvenir, but it made me crazy!

The next port was in Jamaica.  It was still fake Jamaica, again owned by the cruise ship.  Jeremy and I just got off the boat to eat some Jerk chicken.  All of the shops were diamond stores and we just weren't into that kind of shopping.

The last port was Cozumel and it was the best.  I don't know why I didn't take any pictures there..oh yes, I got sick.  I got sick on the ship the night before and it literally took me three weeks after to get better.  I don't know what it was, but my throat hurt for three straight weeks.  We had a nice time on the cruise, but I am pretty sure we wouldn't choose to go on one again.  It just wasn't our style, but grateful to have had the chance to try it out!