Nan and Mal Visit Europe - Innsbruck - Day 4

Today, my mom and I woke up very early (5:30 am our time to be exact) and hopped on a train to Innsbruck, Austria.  Innsbruck is a neat little town about 2-2 1/2 hours from Salzburg via train.  It was my mom's first time on a European train so it was definitely a fun experience for her!

 

When we first arrived in Innsbruck, we were walking down the streets and we could not get over the fact that we were seriously the only people out.  It was a very strange and almost eerie feeling.  Fortunately for us, that meant that we could get all of our "touristy" things out of the way before everyone else showed up!  Nothing started opening up until 9:30 (it was a national holiday today) so it really was empty.  We walked around, saw most of the big sights and even got our panorama photos in (:  This is a picture of us in front of the Triumphal Arch.  The arch was ordered by Empress Maria Theresia to celebrate the wedding o her son on one side and to honor her husband who passed away on the other side.

After the Triumphal Arch, we headed to the Imperial Palace.  It was absolutely stunning!  I love all of the Hofburg palaces throughout Austria! They are all so pretty!  Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside so I have nothing to show for that part of the trip!

Next we headed up to the high plateau of the Hungerburg.  It was an absolutely GORGEOUS view of Innsbruck.  First, we rode a tram up about halfway and then we had to get off and get on a  gondola cable car the rest of the way!  The whole way up (or down) there are little trails and paths for hikers, bikers, etc.  On the tram with us, there was a family of 3 men and a high school aged boy all with their mountain bikes and mountain biking gear because they all RODE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!! Obviously it wasn't their first time doing any of that but holy moly, no thank you!  - We did see them after we made our way back down and they all made it down alive! (:

The view!

The last thing that we did while in Innsbruck was ride a horse and carriage.  Neither one of us had ever done this so we were excited about it!!  One thing that I loved about the people who run these carriage rides is how amazing they treat their horses.  If you go to New York or another big city (even in Vienna), they don't treat their carriage horses very well.  But don't worry, these horses were treated VERY nicely!! Haha 

The horse that took us around was named "Super."  He is 22 years old and a former race horse whose owner saved him from being put-down.  He was so sweet and definitely still had a little bit of his race horse instincts.  He kept trying to speed up and pass cars or other carriages that were too slow for him - he knew we were the last trip and he was ready to go home!  My favorite part about our ride was that our carriage driver let me drive the entire trip! So good news! If speech path doesn't work out for me, I have a promising future in carriage driving! (:

Only one more day left in Austria and then we are headed to Germany for part of a day and then the UK for the last week!  What will we get in to next?

Xx

Nan and Mal Visit Europe - Day 3

Today was a very fun day for my mom and me.  We woke up early, had a great German breakfast and headed out in to the cold cold rain for a day filled with the Sound of Music.  Now, if you know my family at all then you know how obsessed we all were with this movie while growing up.  I mean, who in their right mind goes on vacation and only answers to their parents if they refer to you as the name of whichever child you chose to be for that day and only called your mom "Maria?"  - We also did other things that prove that we weren't in our right minds, and still aren't, but that's for another day.

We were about 45 minutes early for our tour this morning so we just hung out around Mirabel and we found our tour bus.  No one was around (like that would have mattered anyway) so we decided to get a picture with our tour bus! The best part about this photograph (and others where we are standing apart) is that we actually took this photo ourselves.  Thank you Apple and your ingenious, easy-to-use panorama option while taking photos. 

One of the places we went on our Sound of Music tour was the village of Mondsee.  I really enjoy going to the Lake and Mountain District here in Salzburg.  Even on the coldest, rainiest, and cloudiest days (like today) you really can't beat the views.  That goes for all of Austria, actually. 

Anyway, Mondsee is a neat little village which holds this beautiful cathedral right in the middle of the town.  The most special thing about this cathedral is that it is where the wedding scene from the Sound of Music takes place - not at the Abbey where the movie makes you believe it is at.  

Austria had chevron before chevron was cool! (:

Out of all of the cathedrals that I have been to all around the world, this one is probably my favorite.  I love all of the pink and white and the gold.  It's absolutely breath taking when you walk in the door.  I have seen this cathedral 2 or 3 times already and it still amazes me.

One of the first places we went to on our tour was located at one of my favorite places in all of Salzburg.  Helbrunn Palace.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to go in to Helbrunn but it still made me happy to be on the grounds! (I did a post back in June of 2010 about Helbrunn if you want to see what it is).

During the filming of the Sound of Music, 3 gazebos were used.  This is the only one that was "real."

After Helbrunn, we headed to Schloss Leopoldskron.  I absolutely love this place.  It is only a short walk from the home that I lived in while studying abroad here in Salzburg and we came here many times!  This is now privately owned so you can only see it from across the lake, which is probably the best for tourists because you get to see the entire home.  This is the home that was used during the filming for the terrace and the lake where all of the kids fell in when they fell out of the boat after their day out with Maria.

This is my mom and I at one of our stops through the Lake and Mountain District.  Behind us you can see Lake Wolfgang.  This is my favorite lake/village (St. Gilgan) to visit.  It is absolutely beautiful and it has so many neat things to see.  Unfortunately, this is as close as we got but it was still a beautiful "visit." (Another shot taken by us!) (:

Needless to say, it was a cold and rainy day today for our tour but it was still fun and definitely worth it!  Tomorrow we are headed to Innsbruck, Austria for the day!  I am really excited about it since I have never been to Innsbruck and my mom gets to have her first European train experience!

Xx

Nan and Mal Visit Europe - Days 1 & 2

We are finally on our European Trip!! It has been so much fun already and it's only Day 2!  I am so happy to finally be able to share one of my favorite places with my mom!  I just wish my whole family were here with me!  Especially you Erin - since we both share our study abroad love for this gorgeous city! (:

We got here yesterday around 11:30 am.  It was a LOOONNNGGGG trip!  I think we calculated it to around 20 hours total - including an 8 hour flight from Chicago to Frankfurt.  Unfortunately for me, I do not sleep well on airplanes so the sleep was minimal.  Thankfully Lufthansa had WONDERFUL movie choices - I got to watch 3 of the Bourne movies and A League of Their Own (and if you know me well you know how happy the latter choice made me).  Once we finally made it to our hotel, we decided to take a little power nap (aka 4 hours).

 We finally woke up around 4ish and decided to get up and go out and about since it was not raining and there was even some sunshine!!  Here is one of my favorite views of Salzburg.  You can see the fortress all the way up there!

After I took the photo above, we decided to walk up to the fortress!  The forecast all week is supposed to be rainy and a little cold (just like it was last time I was here).  Unfortunately for my mom, I decided that we should walk all the way up to the fortress rather than spend 16 euros on a ticket to take the tram up.  Well, I guess my memory was a little fuzzy because the trek to the top was BRUTAL.  If you look at the square in the photo, you can see little dots - those are the people.  I think that should give you a pretty good idea of how far up it is to the fortress! And if you look to the left, you can see tracks - that's the track for the tram; we took it down from the fortress! (:

But in my opinion, it was all worth it.  I got my exercise in and I got to have this view.  I mean, look at that!  I don't know how anyone could complain about having to walk a ways and then get this kind of view.  I just love Austria!

This is my mom and I at the top of the fortress with the gorgeous city of Salzburg behind us!

This wonderful building behind me, built in 1558, is where I spent every Monday-Friday at while I was studying abroad here in Salzburg.  It is sad to think that students studying abroad now are experiencing something different - although I am sure it is equally as wonderful!

Today (Tuesday), my mom and I slept it late (I think we're recovering from yesterday's hiking).  When we finally awoke there was a gap in the raining and we decided to head out and see Mirabel, which is right down the street about 2 blocks from our hotel.  I love Mirabel.  It is one of the prettiest (man-made) locations in Salzburg, in my opinion.

Who needs a photographer when you have an iPhone and can take a panoramic shot? (:

Well, that is all for days 1 and 2!  Can't wait to share what happens next as we are currently deciding what cities to see after this!  

Xo

I Did It!

 What an exciting weekend it has been!  I finally graduated from the University of Tulsa with my Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology.  It has been such a long journey and I can not believe that it is all over with!

As a graduation gift from my mom, I got a brick with my name and graduation year on it!

One thing that I am going to miss the most about TU is the GORGEOUS view of the McFarlin Library.  This building was the final point of persuasion when I was trying to decide where to go to school.  It is so gorgeous and I love looking at it!

Sarah and I went to the Final Bell Ringing in the middle of campus.  The ringing of the bell is one of the oldest traditions at TU (you can see the bell behind me).  Once you take your last final and are about to graduate, you go ring the bell as a way to show that you have finished.

We did it!! We finished!!! This is Sarah and I at graduation!  We were so proud of ourselves for making it through and getting to wear our hoods!

These two people are the reason that I am where I am today and who I am today.  I am so thankful for my parents.  They do so much for me and have been through so much with me.  I am more thankful for them than I could begin to describe! 

 Now I can say that I am a University of Tulsa alumni!  Go Canes!

New Adjustments

On April 29, I got a new man in my life, and he sure is something!  Sweet Turner graced us all with his presence after teasing us with his arrival for about 2-3 weeks!  I am so glad that he is finally here!  He is so sweet and Mackenzie is so proud of her baby brother!  It's so adorable!

The first weekend in May was a big one for my parents and me.  We moved all of my stuff out of my apartment in Tulsa and into my new home in Russellville.  I am so excited about my new place!  I love everything about it!  I even have my own office! (:  Penelope has been with my parents for the past few weeks while I have been in the moving process (it has been a long one) and she gets here tomorrow.  I can't wait for her to check out our new home!  There will be so many windows for her to look out of and birds to chatter at.  I love visitors so anyone and everyone are ALWAYS welcome to pop in to say hello!!

Last night we had a party with all of the girls in my program to celebrate the end of our graduate school experience.  It was so much fun!  One of the girls is from Tulsa so her parents graciously welcomed all 19 crazies in to their home to eat, drink, play croquet and badminton, and talk about all of the fun times we have had over the past two years.

One person that I am beyond blessed to have met in graduate school is my best friend, Sarah.  I honestly don't know how I would have survived graduate school without this amazing friend.  We spent so many hours studying, preparing, planning, and it is all over with!  I can't wait to see the next chapter!

Brittany was the first friend that I made in my program and I am so thankful for her!  We both would not have made it through our first semester without each other!

I can't believe that graduate school is already over!  The past two years have been a busy, stressful, and crazy two years but I wouldn't change any of it.  Well, other than maybe studying a little bit more and procrastinating a little bit less! (:

Xx

Egg Dying

Today has been such a fun day!  My sister, mom, and I dyed Easter eggs with my nephew this morning!  We used vinegar, food coloring, and shaving cream and they turned out so great!

 Watching Papaw grill hot dogs and hamburgers!

Exciting News!

I have some very exciting news!  Starting in May, I will be living in Russellville and working in the Russellville/Clarksville area as a contract CF speech pathologist.  I am so excited to have the opportunity to be doing what I love and with the population that I love.

This past weekend, I bought my very first vehicle!  My parents and I went to look at possible cars since I would be needing a good, reliable one come this summer.  One thing led to another and I ended up signing the papers before leaving the dealership.  I bought a 2014 Toyota 4Runner and I cannot even put in to words how much I love it!  I find myself just staring out the window at my car - I'm not even kidding...I found myself doing that today at work during a meeting! Haha!  But seriously, the car is AMAZING and I am so happy with it! I definitely could have purchased a more gas-friendly vehicle but I fell in love with it!

I hope that everyone is having an amazing Spring so far! The weather has been amazing here in Tulsa and I am so happy about it! Penelope and I love the winter, but boy are we enjoying the sunshine!

Xx