Daydreams and Passports

I am definitely looking forward to summer break.  Not that I don't love my job, but one of the *perks* of working in schools is getting my summers off to spend on things *I* want to do!  Like crafting, writing more, catching up on a million and one projects, reorganizing the home, etc.  One of the top things on our to-do list this summer is travel.  Of course, with no savings to speak of, travel has to be modified.  Thankfully, we live in Indiana, where clearly residents always wished to get out and see the world even though they were always poor farmers and couldn't travel.  How do I know this?  Look at some of our city names:

Peru
Morocco
Mexico
Lebanon
Brazil
Ireland
Scotland
Warsaw
Versailles
Manila
Mecca
Paris
Rome

Clearly the "crossroads of America" really means this is where you have to pass through to get to the good stuff.  ;)  Just kidding.  I'm actually a little in love with the idea that I could actually afford to visit all of these places in a matter of weekends and we could talk like posh people who've seen the world.

SO.  Paul and I have decided that this summer we are going to do a "staycation" of sorts and travel to each of these cities, a few at a time.  We will stamp our own fun little fake passports, and do one fun thing in each city to remember it by (if you know of anything in any of these small towns, let me know! I've gotta start researching NOW).  We'll also take a picture by the city sign as proof of our adventures and compile it all into a scrapbook.  Sounds like fun, right?  :)

If you're in Indiana this summer and you want to join in the fun, let me know! 

If you aren't, but want a fun fake passport to download and modify with relatively little hassle, there is a cute one HERE. 

You can use it for your own travels around your state, or for homeschooling purposes (read about different cultures and stamp as you go), or "Around the World in 80 Days" youth/YSA activities, or whatever your heart desires.  :)  They even have some stamps included (to print off and tape, of course) and all you have to do it print, cut, laminate (optional), and write in the details.  I love not having to reinvent the wheel!  And I can't wait for our summer staycation to begin!  Daydreaming about it is really what's keeping me going through the sometimes LONG work days.  :)

Boston!

I love getting to tag along with Paul on his business trips.  Boston in February wasn't *quite* the relaxing break that Tampa in July was, but it was still really fun.  ;)

We flew on Southwestern out of Chicago Midway, both of which we will probably never do again.  Look at this crazy line just to get to security!

Look carefully...it goes all the way back!

And trying to find two seats together was more stressful than it should be.  I don't really love the no-assigned-seats policy, especially when traveling with other people.  And it caused some drama for other people when they were overbooked.  Entertaining though THAT was, I think we'll stick to other airlines in the future.

ANYWAY.  Once we got into Boston, we had to travel about half an hour out of the city to get to the hotel.  So basically it wasn't really anywhere I could go walk around in during the day.  Which was another bummer.  HOWEVER.  If you are ever in Boston and need a thoroughly entertaining and genuinely nice driver, I *highly* recommend Dimitri from Accessible Transport.  When we called and said we wanted to go to the North End for dinner (in almost a question), and he asked where in Little Italy we were going and we didn't know how to respond, he said, "Be ready at 6, I'll take care of it."  And boy, did he!  Not only did he come pick us up from the hotel and drive us into Boston for a low, flat rate, but he gave us a FREE hour-and-a-half taxi tour of the city.  Being a cab driver, and living here since his family fled from Chernobyl, he really knew all the best places to go and see and do things.  He even let us get out regularly and take some pictures, etc.  And THEN he recommended this really great little restaurant (Ravia's) and pastry shop (Mike's, just a block away)...it was *amazing*.  I had this honey butternut squash ravioli that was SOOO good, and Paul's salmon was good enough to even make me salivate.  And, thanks to Mike's Pastries, I now understand the famous line from the Godfather about leaving the gun and taking the cannoli.  ;)  We had a blast, and I think he did, too.  I love being around people who just love what they do.

Here are some pictures from the night...since it was nighttime, and this was on my camera phone, a lot of the pictures didn't turn out.  :(  But the memories will live on.  Hahaha.  :)

Chinatown.

 The theater district, including a theater called the Majestic (made me happy even if it wasn't the same as the movie) and the Blue Man Group theater.

 The Cheers bar!

 A super-SWEET old-and-new library...some parts were from the 1600s and others were much more recent.  If you know us, you'll know how bummed we were that we couldn't go in!

 The USS Constitution...from afar.  Guess who jumped up and down like a little boy when he saw this?  :)

 A cool monument at Bunker Hill.

 Check out this awesome suspension bridge!  

 Driving over a certain bridge...ever heard of the Boston Tea Party?  :)

 Old North Church...

And this is where my camera died for the night.  :(  We also saw (right around the corner) Paul Revere's home, Boston Commons (kinda like Central Park, but in Boston), a cool old cemetery from the 1600s, the old city hall (or something) that was the site of the Boston Massacre, a SUPER-expensive hotel where rich people can pull their yachts right up, dock, and walk right in, an aquarium that we really want to go to someday, the New England holocaust memorial, and lots of cool little boats and whale-watching tours. Quite a lot to take in in a couple of hours! 

Anyway, the rest of the week was mostly Paul working during the day while I stayed in the hotel room and read or watched movies.  In the evenings we went out to an outdoor mall for dinner and just to get out of the room for a while.  Here are a couple of pictures of our last night out:

P.F. Changs...Paul's first time!

Some of his coworkers/boss on the boot!

Pretty orchids, even if they are fake!

Check out this end table!  I SOOOO want one for our library someday!!!

We were both getting over colds, so we didn't really have the energy to do much more than that, but that was okay.  We did what he came to do and then some.  So it was a good time. :)

It was a sweet little trip, and I'm SO glad I got to tag along, especially over Valentine's Day!  But I think we saw everything we really wanted to see there and we were both ready to come home by the end of the week.  Maybe someday we'll go back and go whale watching.  :)  Wouldn't that be grand?

Honeymoon (better late than never?)

I had to make this TWO posts...and I ran out of my google storage for pictures in between and had to go buy more.  It's only $5 for a year, for 20 GB, so it's worth it.  Especially considering how much I blog now!

Back to the fun stuff.  As if the wedding in D.C. wasn't fun enough, we traveled to the other side of the continent for our honeymoon. Paul served his mission in Vancouver, B.C. (Spanish speaking). So we got to go and visit his ward (that he served in for 18 months...yeah, there aren't many Spanish speakers. Lots of Chinese and Sikhs, though...). We got a little sight-seeing in, although we were pretty much broke by this time. :) Some highlights:

all the Native art around town...

 ...BEAUTIFUL mountains and delicate rain...and the ease of a well-thought-out public transportation system...

 ...the LIBRARY!!!  If you know me, you know that this alone made the trip worth it!...

...the aquarium... 

 ...the beautiful Sutton Place hotel...

 ...our amazing view of the unique Vancouver architecture...

...and of COURSE visiting lots of families (who kept us well-fed and busy!) like this one.  Of course, I don't speak Spanish, so I spent a lot of our honeymoon concentrating REALLY HARD to pick out the words I could using my basic French skills...but it was still awesome.  And they fed us A LOT. 

 We also got to travel on the smallest plane we've ever been on...

...and I got to use my passport for the first time!  (And last so far...but we're working on it. :) 

We got round-trip tickets from D.C. to Vancouver, so we had to take the bus back home to West Lafayette.  Here's one of the interesting things we saw (I think in Columbus, OH?).

GREEN!

It was a really fun first trip out of the country for me, and it was nice to see Paul's eyes light up as we traveled the streets of his mission.  Everyone was SO kind, and even though I had no idea what was going on half the time I managed to get through conversations decently well.  It was a really nice, if not way too quick, vacation, and if we end up in Seattle, we'll definitely be visiting Vancouver LOTS!



Wedding (better late than never?)

Just to sum up the traveling (because it WAS a year and a half ago...and then some...and I already forget a lot of the details...)...

Our wedding was in Washington, D.C.  My stepmom, her best friend, my best friend/maid of honor, my niece, and my brothers drove out to D.C. a few days beforehand to sightsee, etc.  I got sick for at least some of it and had to stay in.  Paul got into a fight with his dad and uninvited him to the wedding.  It was awful, at least for me.  But being married totally makes up for it.  :)  Anyway, there are some REALLY cool things to see/do in D.C., and almost all of it is FREE.  I love that city.  I can't wait to go back and really see everything...we didn't make it to a single Smithsonian OR to the National Gallery of Art!  But we DID get to see:

pretty scenery and random rest stop wonders along the way...

 Arlington National Cemetery

Some really impressive buildings on our bus tour:

 and the temple! (of course)

 Afterwards, Paul, Lindsey, and I took the train to Bethesda (where our hotel was) to drop some stuff off, and then we hit up the town for a few hours. 

 We did our own walking tour, starting at THE INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM!  I'd show you pictures, but then I'd have to kill you.  Just kidding.  But seriously, if you're ever in D.C., especially if your kids are a little older, you HAVE to check that place out.  We got to play spy for an hour.  It was SOOOO worth the expense.  And it was an awesome first thing to do as a married couple.  :)  We also:

posed in front of our future home (hahaha)...

...visited Mr. Lincoln and caught a beautiful view of the Mall...

...visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall...

 ...encountered the local wildlife...

 ...and THIS!  Gigantic Einstein statue.  Lindsey was in heaven, and we had fun, too.  :)

 D.C. was AMAZING.  I'd wanted to visit it since I was a kid, and now that I've been there, I just want to go back.  If we don't get to settle in Seattle (long-term goal), then I hope we settle in the D.C. area.  For real.