Officially in the Christmas Spirit!!!

Finally, I'm in the Christmas spirit!!! I've been in a bah-humbug mood this holiday season, but I finally feel "ready" for Christmas.

Last night my mom and I went to the Trans Siberia Orchestra concert down in Des Moines. We were hoping the nasty weather would hold off and thankfully it did. The concert was amazing. The Christmas music really had an ecletic mix of what seemed like 80's rock and then there'd be a softer sung "new age" type of song. Probably the most impressive part of the show was all of the lighting. I took a few pictures with my blackberry, which is why they didn't turn out as nice.

Mom and I joked that if you have issues with possible seizures from bright/constantly moving lights; this show is NOT for you. ha! There were times where the lights were a little overwhelming and I had to look away. ha!

Towards the end of the show (which was nearly 3 hours long!), they started using a lot of fire as a part of the stage show. That was all fine and dandy, but my mom still gets anxious with the thought of fire. So, as we were leaving our seats to go, the fire alarm starts going off in Wells Fargo. I'm sure it was just from all of the smoke, but Mom was about to have an anxiety attack! We got out of there as quickly as possible. Hopefully she can look back at it and laugh as there was no reason to basically run out of the building.

Before the show, we had dinner reservations downtown at Django. The food was great and the bottle of wine was even better! Definitely recommend it :)

Christmas presents are all bought and finally wrapped (24 people this year!). Actually, I've already given out two of my favorite gifts this year. My step-mom asked for Sperry rain boots a while back and was shocked & very excited to receive them. (Brownie points!! ha!). Then I found a "hard to find" plane magazine for a friend; and I framed & matted it. His plane was featured on the front cover of this magazine back in Jan 99. Pretty sure he was shocked and also pretty grateful. Hopefully the rest of the gifts I've bought will go over just as well as the two I've already given out.

May everyone have a very Merry Christmas! Travel safely as the weather isn't looking very promising. It'll be a long/slow drive back to Carroll tomorrow afternoon... but it won't ruin my Christmas spirit :)

France

I can't seem to get France off my mind, so I've come up with a list of places that will be a must see. Of course, as fun as it is to be spontaneous and go with the flow, there are a few places I can't miss while in Paris.

1. Eiffel Tower

2. Mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame

3. Museums (Centre Pompidou, Louvre, Orsay

4. Arc de Triomphe

5. boat ride on the Sienne River

6. Sacre Coeur (basilica)

7. (Outside of Paris) Chateau de Versailles with the Garden & the Hall of Mirrors

There's also this older Parisian man, Jim Haynes, who has invited people from all over the world to have dinner at his home every Sunday evening. I ran across his website last year and find his view on life very interesting. Every Sunday night he has anywhere between 60-80 people in his home. All you need to do is email him ahead of time, and you're on the list. What a great way to meet people from all over the world. This will be one of my top must-do's for a trip to Paris. (www.jim-haynes.com)

Of course there will probably be plenty of shopping and lots of wine. Speaking of wine, I would probably need to head to the Bordeaux & Champagne area after Paris.... my trip just keeps getting longer and longer ;-)

Where to go next??

To get me through the day to day grind of work, eat, sleep, repeat; I am always dreaming of where my next vacation will be. In 2010; I know I'll be going to Las Vegas for Hope's Bachelorette party. That will be an amazing trip with the girls, but I want to plan a trip for me. A "me" trip will involve another trip to Europe.

In 2004, I visited a friend in Italy and absolutely loved it. We were in Rome for half the trip and on a small island (La Maddalena) for the other half. To say I fell in love with the country would not do it justice. The culture was beautiful and the people were very polite. With my love of design, I could have walked through Rome for weeks longer to stare at the architecture. If I could have done anything different for that trip, it would have involved traveling through more of Italy. There's so much more to see; Tuscany, Florence, Sicily...

As much as I want to return to Italy (and I will...), my next European trip will be to France. Ever since I took French in high school, I've wanted to go to Paris. The romance, the architecture, the museums, the food, the wine, etc. I could go on and on. And when I get to France, if my friend Cedric isn't back to the US by then, he will definitely receive a visit from me. I'm crossing my fingers he'll be back to the US by then :)

Every year for Christmas I ask my mom for a trip to Paris. One of these days, I know she'll just give in ;-) I'm not sure if France will be in this years budget, but I'm saving every bit I can. It'll all help the final goal of making it back to Europe. Now, if only I could get more vacation days at work... (there's always something!).

As much as I say I want to be adventurous and just travel the world, there are responsibilities that have to be met. Bills to be paid and hours to be put in at work. My friend Chris told me about this guy who's blogging about his adventure driving his Land Rover all the way around the world. He's taking the whole year off work and has saved a lot of money to do so. How cool is that?! (http://transworldexpedition.com/). Every few days I'll check his blog to see the new adventure; and as many "bad" things that are happening to him during this trip, he still seems to feel truely blessed to be doing it. Meeting the unique people of each culture would be reason enough to do a trip of this size.

So, here's to the next trip. I'm dreaming of the Eiffel tower right now...

Happy Holidays!

This is my first blogging experience and I'm still not too sure what I'll write about; but I feel compelled to spill all my thoughts out onto the screen. It'll be a good way to keep people up to date on my crazy, yet seemingly uneventful life!

Christmas is coming up and unfortunately I haven't given much effort in getting into the Christmas spirit. The holidays are traditionally very crazy for me; running from one family to the next all with-in the same day. But, I wouldn't take it back for the world! I truely enjoy seeing all my extended family; seeing all their pretty faces and hearing all of our laughter. In the next week, I promise to do my best to get out of this "Scrooge" attitude and enjoy the Christmas music, peppermint hot chocolate, and Mr. & Mrs. Santa Clause in the mall :)

The year flew by, but there is a lot I'm thankful for:
-Family!
-My mom, sister, brother, Howard, and Nick all made it out of the fire OK. It's a miracle to have them all here! Very thankful for the new house to be complete. It'll be our first Christmas in the new house!
-Friends... newly acquired and all the "old" ones too :)
-My job! It's been rollercoaster of a year in the industry. Thankfully, Swan Creek has made it through and we're starting fresh Jan 1. What recession?!

Favorites of 2009:
Vacations!! JAN: skiing at Copper Mtn, Colorado. APRIL: wine trip to Hermann MO. JULY: sun in Cancun, Mexico NOV: iowa football game in Columbus, Ohio DEC: downtown Chicago

Here's to having a very Merry Christmas!
Jennie