Europe 2016 - Brussels

I spent approximately the last two weeks of May 2016 in Europe. I started to consider the trip when I found out my cousin was going to Malta for Memorial Day weekend and "did I want to go?" Of course I wanted to go, and the timing ended up working out extremely well.

I left on Friday night, May 20th, and did the British Airways flight direct from Phoenix to London Heathrow. I ended up sleeping the majority of the flight, so landed after what I felt was no time at all. I had about a 4 hour layover at Heathrow before flying to Brussels. When I landed in Brussels, the airport was extremely empty and a little eerie. Scott picked me up from the airport, but I had to meet him outside and across the street as they still hadn't fully opened the airport since the March terror attacks. I spent two days with Scott and Julie in Waterloo before their European living comes to an end.

Reagan and Addy at a fair at Brady's school on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday night Scott, Julie and I went to Leuven, a town about 20 minutes from Waterloo, for dinner. 

Dinner at Kautoubiya, a Moroccan restaurant.

We all had the prix fixe dinner. This was the tiniest tea cup I had ever sipped tea from.

Monday morning I woke up and went to crossfit with Scott. I had never done crossfit before so thought it would be fun to give it a try. It wasn't like what I am used to at BODI, but it was still a good workout...never miss a Monday, even on vacation.

For lunch Monday, Julie and I went to a Belgian brasserie and we both had an excellent goat cheese salad. Julie had been before, as this was a place they had done some of their culture training when they first moved there.

This is Nala and the first time I had met her. She is a lab, and definitely thinks she is a lap dog :)  Really sweet dog and fits in well with the Cripps' family.

My one picture with the kids before I left. Addy didn't feel well while I was there so she spent a lot of her time watching movies on the couch. Hopefully I can see more of these kiddos once they are back in America.

Monday afternoon my cousin came to pick me up from Waterloo and we headed to Münster, Germany. Thanks Scott and Julie for allowing me to be a returning guest in Belgium :)

5 Glorious Days in Arizona

April 15th:

• Arrived at Sky Harbor at 9am
• Dad picked me up and we went to Tonalea to say hi to mom. I got a hug from every kid in her kindergarten class.
• Walked to Grandma Hazel's around 10am. I turned the corner and this is what I see - I guess she was so excited to see me that she forgot she was outside with her walker. She doesn't want to neighbors to see her "like this" and she would not be happy with me if she knew this was posted on the internet.

• I drove my Grandma to Whole Foods in north Scottsdale because she loves to buy the same food that I buy.
• We went to lunch at La Grande Orange.
• Layed out in the sun and took a nap in the afternoon.
• Went to the gym with mom and ran 3 miles.
• Met Scott and Julie for dinner and then went to Oregano's for a pizzookie.

Brady looks just like his dad.

April 16th:

• Got up early and hiked Camelback with mom and dad.
• Got a little sweat on my phone during the hike and the buttons stopped working. Went to the Verizon store to try to get a new phone but they could not give me a new phone that they had in the store - it had to be shipped since it was still under warranty. It was quite nice not having work email for 4 days :)
• Stopped at La Grande Orange and picked up lunch.
• Went to Kellyn's class and gave them a geography lesson. Here is Kellyn with her 1st graders - she is a permanent sub for the remainder of the year.

• Met Kathryn at The Gelato Spot. She had never been before.

• Met Tim for coffee at Starbucks (although neither of us actually had coffee).
• Went to dinner at Marcella's Italian Kitchen for mom's birthday (which was the previous Monday).

This picture made me laugh - they were all waiting to cross the street. Dad was on crutches because he had dropped an old TV on his ankle earlier in the day, Kellyn was leading Grandma Lois with her walker and Coby was holding on to Grandma Hazel. Ready, set, go everyone!

• After dinner we came back to mom and dad's for dessert (Kellyn made brownies).

April 17th:

• Total body conditioning class at the gym at 9:45am.
• Went to Christine's to get my hair cut and highlighted. I still have not even looked for a hair person in NYC.
• Stopped at Montana and Aubrey's for a short visit. I also needed to meet Charlie (their new puppy).
• Took Lauren to dinner at Culinary Dropout for her 30th birthday. We then walked to The Gelato Spot for dessert.

April 18th:

• Got up early and met Jenn and her friend Katie at Camelback Mountain for an early morning hike.

• Went to church at Scottsdale Baptist. The picture below is with Mr. Mericle. I had him in 3rd grade as my Children's Church teacher, and my mom says he asks about me every week. He will be 90 in a few weeks.

• Layed out in the sun for an hour.
• Went to Nikki and Steve's wedding (the main purpose of my trip). The wedding was in Fountain Hills - it was so nice outside.

April 19th:

• Went to see Dr. Deroin.
• Met Jenn, Jaime and little Blake for lunch at True Foods. It was so good and we had a great time - it is great being able to pick up right where you left off.

• After lunch, Kellyn and I went to the gym and ran for a half hour.
• I mowed part of the yard (something I miss in NYC).
• Mom had the grandma's over for dinner.
• Left PHX for JFK at 10:20pm.

It was a great trip home and I never feel like I have enough time. I think that means I am meant to live in the west :)

La Jolla Rough Water Swim

I went to San Diego the weekend of September 5-7 because Scott and I had signed up to do the La Jolla Rough Water Swim. We left for San Diego On Friday morning. The package at the hotel was a "No Gas Getaway" so the hotel car picked us up from the airport.

This was the view from my hotel room.

After checking into the hotel, we walked around La Jolla to find somewhere for lunch and then we headed to the beach.

Scott and Julie

Julie and I

In La Jolla Cove

After the beach we walked back to the hotel. Scott and Julie took a nap and I layed out by the pool for a while. That night we went to dinner at Sante (an Italian restaurant recommended by one of the partners at work). They had spelt noodles so I liked it :)

On our way back from dinner, we walked by this yogurt place called Apple Green. It looked just like a Pinkberry but not as good :(

On Saturday morning we went and checked in for the race. After you checked in, they put a colored wristband on your wrist with your event as well as your "wave" for Sunday. It was fun walking around La Jolla after that and seeing everyone who was swimming. We then headed ot the beach - Scott and I did a practice swim (along with hundreds of other people who were also swimming on Sunday).

We probably swam about 900 yards on Saturday

After we swam, we stayed at La Jolla Cove for a while and then went to Shell Beach. Julie was burned by the end of the day.

Our hotel - The Grande Colonial

Sunday morning was RACE time! I swam at 11am and Scott swam at noon. We arrived at the Cove about an hour early so we could get a good spot for Julie as well as get our numbers written on us. They put our numbers on our arm, back and leg.

I was in the first wave, which consisted of 19-39 year olds. We all stood on the beach and then they shot a gun and that is when everyone ran to the water and started swimming. The race course was a one-mile triangle - you swam out 800 yards, made a left turn and swam 460 yards and made another left turn and swam the final 500 yards to the shore. I thought the first 400 yards was the hardest part of the entire race - it was very difficult to swim with a big group of people and I was just trying not to get kicked in the face. After the first left turn, you were swimming into the current and by the final turn you knew you were on the home stretch. My final time was 26:52, which placed me 85th overall (out of 370) and 17th in my age group (out of 43). We had a blast and are planning to do it again next year!

Waiting to start

This was difficult swimming all together like this

Finished - now the pressure is on Scott

Scott (blue cap) running to the finish line

We both made it - with our medals

Everyone who finished got a Survivor medal

Who's in for next year???