Christmas in Ohio

Another plane trip! :) I should've said 2008 was the year of flying. I'd never been on a plane until July and now this is going to be my 8th plane ride. I flew to Pittsburgh on the 24th and arrived around 11am. Dad and Terry picked me up from the airport. We went back to their place and hung out until it was time to go to Terry's parent's house. So, technically my step-grandparent's house. Terry has a small family, just one sister, brother-in-law and 2 nieces, one of which wasn't there. It was just the 10 of us. We ate dinner and then opened presents.

I thought I was going to feel extremely awkward the entire time. I just had fun with it and enjoyed my time. (I forgot to mention this was the second time I've met her family... the first time was their wedding years ago.)

When we were getting our presents, Jenny was the Santa. Terry's father is really funny. He wanted to use his knife to open everything, even if he didn't need to.  I was very thankful of how welcoming Terry's family was.

On Christmas, we stayed at my dad's house all day. In the morning, we opened our presents. 

Kristin and I had to open ours at the same time. We called each other and opened the gift. We both got Garmins! That would be my father, getting his daughters GPS systems. I'm actually very excited about it! I love having one. They make life so much easier. Terry knows me pretty well. She got me a lot of stuff that I really like.  My poor dad, he tried to get Terry stuff that she would want. Everything was too small. She liked the stuff... if only it fit. I made my dad a book with pictures of the three of us when we were kids. He cried. It's like the Thom Carter family... who can make mom cry. 

Side note, Kristin's dog ate dad's present. 1/2 the bag of coffee beans. How that dog is still alive I have no idea. After we finished opening presents we had lunch and then played Bookopoly, Terry got it from her parent's for Christmas. Terry went out first and I got all of her properties and money. Then, dad and I played FOREVER! We were about even. We are both stubborn and have to win. Finally, I said we could just call it even and he said no. We had to roll to see who had the highest number and that person won. Yeah, that's right... I won! I always win! :)

The next day, Dad and Terry both had to work. I talked my aunt Sue into driving to Jen's to see 

me and the baby. Aunt Beth came and picked me up and brought me back to Jen's. The baby is so cute! He was only 3 days old. Jen did not act like she just had a baby!

Aunt Sue, Missy, Stephanie, Bobby and Violet showed up a little later.The baby definitely has red hair. Those Butcher traits run strong. I wouldn't be surprised if I have red headed children.  I was very excited to see Tucker! He has gotten so big, as in thick. He laid on/beside me the majority of the time. I hope to have a dog like him again some day. Look how cute he is! I'm so glad that Jen really loves him. He's definitely in a good home.  I'm also excited that he's going to have a little boy to play with. 

The trip ended up being a really good one. I was there a short time but enjoyed the time I had to spend with my family. I definitely ate too many cookies. Buckeyes and Peanut Butter Blossoms are a weakness of mine! Hey, it was Christmas!

I forgot to add.. Baba gave me a Christmas card with $39.50 inside. We're not sure why it was that much... she is a funny lady.

Hanukkah Crafts

I have about an hour until my plane boards... in the meantime I will write a blog or two. How hard is it to come up with 8 Hanukkah gifts? HARD! It may seem like the crafts are all easy or shouldn't have been hard to think of... but they were! Two are pushing it on being too Christmasy. It was fun to do them and the kids enjoyed it. 

A wreath made with the kids' hands. Gab's first, then Joshua's are white and Ethan's are in the middle. Ethan's and Joshua's hands are almost exactly the same size.
Yes, I know, this is Christmasy! You come up with 8 gifts! ;)
Hanukkiahs made with their hands. These would not be Kosher.
Magnets! Yes, they're candy canes... BUT they're blue! 
These are picture frames made out of salt dough. I think they're cute.
SNOW GLOBES! These were EXPENSIVE! It was so hard to figure out the snow material and liquid combination. I ended up using glass shavings with water and glycerin. 
Star of David candle holders. There were 3 of them. 
Hanukkiahs! These were fun to do also. It goes from top to bottom, Ethan's, Gab's and Joshua's. 

Who knows if the parents actually like the gifts. They were fun to make, even if they were hard.

2008 to 2009

Baby Steps to Leaps and Bounds

The Year of Alana: Leaps and Bounds

2008 was an interesting year.  I can't believe, I was living in Florida at the beginning and now, in New Jersey! So, I made my motto for 2008 Baby Steps.  Looking at life, trying to change things but not anything huge (except picking up my life and moving a few miles away).  My motto for 2009 is going to be Leaps and Bounds! There are things in life that I want and I think 2009 is the year! I'm being positive! 2009 is my year! I'm jinxing myself...

To be honest, I can't remember what I was doing last New Years. Must not have been anything exciting. I had to have done something. I looked at pictures, I went to Naomi's parent's. It was a lot of fun and was glad to have brought in the New Year with them. Grandma even banged on the pot! 

My birthday was good! I've never thought of it before, but I'm the same age all year.... ok ok ok Meaning... from the beginning of 2008 to the end of 2008 I was 24. So, I recall the year with my age, now that I'm out of school.  If I was born in June, that would mean 1/2 the year I was 23 and the other 1/2 24. Give me feed back, does anyone think of the year and their age. Ok, it prob. doesn't make sense to you... in my head I understand. :)

Anyways, there was a party at Dave's. I miss all of my friends from FL. Kellie got me an interesting birthday cake... was filled with some fruit stuff.... :) Everyone knows I'm picky! We played games, I'm sure my team won! :)

Valentine's Day always stinks. Fingers crossed for 2009!!

What's next?

In April, my mother came to visit and brother, Matthew, was living in FL. We went to St. Augustine.

 

My sister,Kristin, got married! Therefore, Mikiel became my brother-in-law!

Then, I moved to New Jersey. 

Those are the biggest happenings from 2008.

Now buckle up and hold on tight for 2009! :)

My Goals for 2009 will be coming...

Hanukkah

Making 8 crafts for one holiday is hard as it is. Making 8 crafts for 8 days of Hanukkah is 1,000 times worse! That is what I have been stressing over.  The internet should have more crafts for Hanukkah. I would like everyone to pay attention to the Hanukkah sections compared to the Christmas section(s). Yes, I know they are of the minority but you would think that they would at least have two shelves. 

I finished all of the crafts today and it ended up being very expensive, due to the snow globes costing over $50. How ridiculous is that? I had Josh decorate brown paper bags to wrap them in. I forgot to buy wrapping paper and I just wanted to be finished with them! I also wrapped 6 of the presents before I realized I forgot to take pictures of them. You will just have to use your imagination.

Gift number one, since I already mentioned it, snow globes. I was way excited about these! Unfortunately, they did not turn out as planned. I had the worst time trying to create the snow. My first try, I used egg shells. I had to boil 9 eggs and peel the thin layer of film around the shell. It was not fun. The directions also said to fill the jar with mineral oil and add the egg shells. Guess what, it didn't work. I read all of the "How to make a snow globe" articles and tried EVERYTHING! For the liquid, I tried the mineral oil, distilled water, distilled water and mineral oil and distilled water and glycerin. I ended up using distilled water and glycerin. Now, for the snow I tried egg shells, wax, glitter, two types of glass beads, fake snow, pipe cleaners, glitter glue, slivers of glass and more that will come to me later.  I used the slivers of glass that cost 9 dollars! As if I will ever use them for anything else! I used a Gerber baby food jar that was the perfect size. The object, I used a sled with their name on it.  They are pretty cute, if only the snow was better.

Gift number 2 is a wreath made out of their hands. Gab traced her hand on blue paper and cut it out.  I did Ethan's and Josh's for them, Ethan's was also on blue and Josh's was on white. Then, I layered them in a circle. Gab's, the biggest, went first. Josh's, in white, went second. Ethan's went last.  Then I cut out a dove and put it at the bottom.

Gift number 3 is a bear with a clear jar stomach that I put chocolate coins in. It is Christmasy but will just have to do.

Gift number 4 is a Hanukiah. Well, actually 3 Hanukiahs. A Hanukiah is what you consider a Menorah. A menorah was used in the past. It only has 7 candles. A Hanukiah has 9 candles, one for each day of Hanukkah and one for the candle to light the other candles. They each panted a wooden board and then wrote Happy Hanukkah and drew pictures on them. I glued nuts (nuts and bolts) to hold the candles. These also turned out really cute.

Gift number 5 (only half way done!) is a Hanukiah made with their hands. I panted their hands and put them on a piece of paper with their thumbs over lapping. It was a quick and easy craft.

Gift number 6 is a heart magnet made out of BLUE candy canes with their picture in the middle.  Yes, I know candy canes are a Christmas thing. I told you it was VERY difficult to come up with ideas.

Gift number 7 is a picture frame I made out of salt dough with a Star of David, Draddle and Hanukiah glued on. There are three, one with a picture of each kid. I was also very excited for these and they came out rather cute.

Finally, gift number 8 is... it's hard to remember them all... still thinking... OH! a Star of David candle holder. I glued popsicle sticks together and layered the triangles in the shape of a Star of David. I stacked them 9 high and spray painted them silver. Then I bought blue candles for the middle. These also came out very cute.

Now, that was a lot of work and a lot to remember. It is now time for bed! G'night!

Ok, here are pictures from my trip.  I wasn't in the picture taking mood... which is beyond weird for me.  I spared you all of the "American" pictures I took.  Ethan, while looking through my pictures, asked, "Is it always dark there?" Just when Alana visits. I even enhanced some pictures and you can't tell. Enjoy!

Here is a picture of New York City.

I forgot to add this picture, and the one above this, the first time I posted... a little below the center of the picture is the statue of liberty.  I didn't realize that's what I was taking a picture of but was hoping! I was excited when I zoomed in and it actually was! :)

Chicago.
Arriving in Dusseldorf.  Say it with the accent.  It's fun.

It was just a little cold!

This are the DANGEROUS stairs I would definitely break my neck on if I lived there. They are seriously about 5 inches wide.

At the very large costume store, which reminds me that I have something at 1 to go to.  It's 12:10. This is Sinterklaas, a holiday on Dec. 5th. The Black Peter's are like our elves. Their faces would be painted black.
Ok, I couldn't help but take a picture of this and the kid makes it even better! I was in the Netherlands! 

Maybe we were hungry! 
Ok, some things in Holland are small, whiles others are gigantic! What you see is an egg roll! If only I liked egg rolls.
I'm writing these starting with the last one and going up, so if I say, "I told you everything is small there" and you're thinking I'm crazy, it's because you haven't gotten to it yet.  So, with that being said, I told you their houses are small! Look at the size of the fridge, and all of the left overs from Thanksgiving and Chinese food! Speaking of fridges, they do not refrigerate the milk and eggs in the grocery stores. Above the fridge is the microwave. The freezer is out in the shed.  (In case you were wondering.)
The building in the background, to the right, is the world's largest indoor sky resort. I'm practically standing in front of my mothers house. I should've hit the slopes.

Where my mother lives.  Hers is the very last one on the right.  They houses usually are set up with three homes connected.  Let me tell you, I could NEVER live there because of how small the living spaces are. I should've taken pictures of different doors. The first thing you do after buying your home is go and buy a front door. They had some beautiful ones. Of course, in this picture you can't see any.

A lot goes on at this intersection.

As you can see, they obey the law... and if you can not see... that is a long line of taxis. 

Amsterdam's train station, it's the largest something train station.

This is the harbor in Volendams. 
If you look VERY closely, you can see a ferris wheel.  This is in Maastricht, my favorite town.

Belgium from the bus.

The oldest train station in Holland. It's made out of Limestone and is so soft you can carve into the walls by using just your nail.  I do not suggest vandalizing it like others have.

Cute little town.

My mother and Paul.

You have to have your picture taken in a wooden shoe at least once in your life.

One of the smaller windmills.  Look at how crooked the trees are.

Looking down a canal with 7 consecutive bridges. We were inside a covered boat, there is a glare from the window.

This is walking back to the train station in Amsterdam, after getting frites. 
This was on my flight back to Chicago.  I got the VERY LAST open seat on the plane because I was so late. It was not a window seat, but the two across from me were saved for the flight attendants.  I just warmed the window seat up for them.

Visiting Mamma Cita!

It's been FOREVER since I've posted a blog.  Of course, this will be a long one.  So, for the week of Thanksgiving, I went to visit my mom and step father in The Netherlands. Let me tell you, they definitely packed in as much traveling as we could've possibly done.  I Left Newark at 11:30 and flew to Chicago.  There, I had a two hour lay over.  I had an overnight flight to Dusseldorf. BTW I really enjoy saying Dusseldorf with the accent.  I got there at 7:30 in the morning.  My mother and Paul were there to pick me up.  We had an hour long train ride and then took a taxi to a bus and then finally made it to my mother's house.  We used so many different types of transportation!  This was only my second time in a taxi and the first time on a public bus.  There were plenty more trips on busses.  When I got there, I pretty much went straight to bed.  When I woke up, we had Thanksgiving dinner!  I LOVE mashed potatoes!  

Day two, nothing was planned and thank goodness for that!  I ended up being sick and puking all over the bathroom.  I slept for the majority of the day.  Oh yeah, I guess it only snows, on average, 16 days a years there.  Guess what, the first three days it snowed for me! The rest of the time it was FREEZING! 

Day three, I should've really written this down as the days went by.  I've also waited a week to write about it.  I'm pretty sure we went to Haarlem and then another town to find wooden shoes.  In Haarlem, we went to stores and my mom just showed me the town and places she goes.  I went to the largest costume store I've ever been in. OK, if you didn't know, I always have to use the restroom.  That is a problem in The Netherlands!  There are no bathrooms for the public and if you're lucky to find one, it cost money!  Yes, it cost money to use the restroom in The Netherlands.  It was usually .50 Euro. Even the outdoor restrooms at parks have a turn style that you have to pay.  How crazy is that! 

Day four, we went to Aachen Germany.  We went to a Catholic church.  It was beautiful.  I would've loved to tour the entire building. I love architecture.  We also went to the Christmas market and the regular town market. After a long day, we headed back home.

Day five, this was our longest day. We had to be at the store at 8 to buy our train tickets.  Then we caught the bus at 8:20 or so. The bus took us to the train station.  We took the train to Amsterdam, 3 hours.  Then, we took a bus to Volendams. This was a cute little harbor. We had our picture taken, dressed up in Dutch outfits.  It was funny.  I looked hot, of course. Who could resist a girl in a skirt up to her boobs and plastic bonnet with wings? Don't forget the wooden shoes and basket full of cheese. Good times, good times. We looked around at the stores and by the time we were about to leave it started raining.  We went back to Amsterdam and took a tram to the Anne Frank Museum.  It was the building where her family went into hiding. Her father's factory was in the bottom and they ended up hiding in the annex.  I really enjoyed being able to see exactly how it was set up and just could not imagine anything like that happening to me or people I know. I could not stop thinking about the girl I nanny for because she is Jewish and the same age Anne was. After the museum, we took the tram back to the train station, which is beautiful, and a train to Haarlem.  Then, a bus back home.  

Day 6, we went to, my favorite destination of the trip, Maastricht.  It was a college town and I loved it.  I could see myself living there. We went to different shops and then took a bus to Belgium.  We were going to go to Brussels but didn't have enough time.  The bus went into Belgium so we figured we would go to whatever town it took us to. We ended up not getting out of the bus and just going back to the train station.  The town was small and had the same shopping as the other towns. Hey, I can say, I've been to Belgium.  We then took the train to Valkenburg.  It was a very cute town. The train station was the oldest in the Netherlands. There were the ruins of a castle. It was so cold that I just couldn't take it. We ended up only staying a short time and going back to the train station to go home.

Day 7, this was another long day.  We took a bus to another bus, which took us to the train station.  We took the train to Amsterdam and got off to take another train.  We went to Zaanse Schans. We had to take a ferry over to the windmills. There were around 6 large windmills and various other smaller ones. There were patches of grass surrounded by water to keep the animals in their areas. After we walked around the town, we went back to the train station where we had to wait about an hour for a train.  There was a derailing and technical problems. When a train finally stopped for us, we went back to Amsterdam.  When we were getting off the train, I saw the Elders and talked with them for a couple minutes as we walked through the crowd of people. I get so excited when I see the elders. We took a boat ride through the canals. I really enjoyed this. I got to see so much and wasn't out in the freezing cold! Our captain seriously looked like a pirate. His navigational skills weren't the greatest. We slammed into a wall at one point. I got to watch the sunset as we road through the canals. It was amazing. When we finished, we walked through the town. We watched an old man buy a ton of weed in a head shop. I feel bad for the missionaries who have to serve in this area. I'm surprised they don't have to walk around with blinders on. We didn't stay long. Paul bought us french fries, we ate while walking back to the train. I guess it's a big thing for the dutch. He was disappointed I didn't put mayonnaise on top of them! When we got to the train station, we ran to our train because it had been delayed. It was jam packed! There were 30 of us standing in the little area you first enter. It was about an hour before anyone actually left the train. It was a major stop though so we were able to get seats. 

Day 8 was my trip back home. This was the craziest day ever! We left at 7. John, Paul's neighbor, brought us to the train station.  We got on the train and Paul said, "Is this the right train?" He then said, "Yeah." A little over an hour later, he said, "I've never been to this train stations before." Ok, I should've been in Dusseldorf already! We took the train to, I think, Dussel. Thank goodness, it was only an 8 minute train ride to the airport! The train came at 9:42. We got to the airport and took a sky tram to the checkin. I tried the self checkin but messed that up and I told the lady that I couldn't wait in the FOREVER LONG line because my flight left at 11:30. She looked at the clock and said, "Oh, go in this line and tell the girl I told you it was ok." The line was going fast. I checked my bags in and headed to security. I said a VERY fast good bye to my mom and Paul and stood in another line. My mom and Paul watched on the other side of a glass wall. Just my luck, my carry on was searched. I got through security and had to go through customs. Finally, I made it to my gate.  10 minutes later, we boarded the plane! Whooo. I flew into O'Hare and had to go through customs. Of course it was a long line. I was already scared I was going to miss my connecting flight. I had until 3:40 and it was 2:00. After customs I had to get my luggage and go through a different customs. Then, I had to take my luggage and drop it off at the baggage claim. Then, I had to go through security again. I then had to take a tram over to Terminal 1. Then I had to get my boarding pass. I went to a machine, it asked, "Did you check in any baggage?" I clicked yes, wrong answer.  I guess I didn't because it was just being transferred.  I asked a lady and she told me I had to wait in another FOREVER LONG line! I went back to the machine and tried it again, this time pushing no. It didn't work. I asked a guy working and it didn't work. I called information and she fixed the problem. I went to print my ticket and the machine was out of paper! I had to go to the next machine, which a lady was using. Finally, I printed my ticket and headed to security. I waited in, you guess it, a FOREVER LONG line. Finally, I made it through security, hoping I was good on time. I got to my gate and my plane was delayed until 4:20.  The Steelers were on so I was fine with that. Then, it was delayed until 5, then 5:30, 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8. One plus, I got to watch the entire game! We boarded the plane and it left the terminal at 8. We taxied for an hour! Finally taking off at 9. The turbulence was terrible! The flight attendants had to be seated and buckled the last hour. When we were landing, we were reminded that if we had an emergency evacuation we were to leave all of our carry on and exit the plane at the nearest exit! We landed safely and I made it home by 1! Now that was a day!  I will get a flight straight over next time.

After reading this blog, the majority of writing is about transportation. I just didn't elaborate on the different cities.  It was a really great time and interesting to see where my mom lives and how different some things are. I can't wait to go visit again, my mom thinks next time I'll be engaged or recently married. Paul said, "I guess you won't be coming back for a long time." OUCH! I'll put pictures in another entry.