Blizzard 2010: Total Letdown.

"Wishing is good for us. Daydreams, fantasies, castles in the air, and aspirations all drive us forward, impel us to make things happen. They also tell us a lot about ourselves. Our wishes come straight from our core, and they are loaded with vital info."
~Author Unknown

Sometimes, when I feel bogged down by life, I dream about being snowed in or having a mandatory snow day from life. Seriously, I do. It's kind of like how my brother and I used to "pray" for a little earthquake, when we were little. You know the kind that made buildings topple, rendering it impossible to get to school, but not killing anyone.

Sometimes the (day)dream has me snowed in, in some remote village in Siberia where no one can reach me (although, for my sanity, I DO have internet access) and I live in a little house and can't get out ALL winter (darn). But luckily, at the time I've been snowed in, I have all the projects I've ever wanted to work on (photo albums, mission scrapbooks, writing, quilts, etc.) and all the books I've ever wanted to read, and of course, I have my year's supply of food and other resources, so I want for nothing. Doesn't that sound delightful (maybe, maybe not...)?

So today, I thought my dream was going to come true for at least a day. You know, the "storm of the decade" was supposed to hit with a vengeance today. Businesses all over town were sending people home early and schools were cancelling classes. All in preparation for the blizzard that was going to steadily and heavily drop snow for four hours.

We got TWO INCHES!

I suppose the warnings did do something... it got most of Utah's residents off the roads. But really, does TWO inches of snow merit such a warning?!?! Totally disappointing when you have dreams of being snowed in. Sure it's freezing outside, but we got twice as much snow in 30 minutes on Saturday night! Apparently, there is supposed to be a little more tonight, but who believes them now?!? Haven't they heard of crying wolf?...

Such a letdown.

So my dream of being snowed in hasn't really happened yet, but a girl can still dream right?

And since, I don't really like posts without pictures, here's an entertaining one for your viewing pleasure. (I'll have to upload it later because Blogger seems to be having problems...)

Shep, me and Marina. I'm guessing this was Winter of 1991 or 1992? Help me out, family.

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Ascending the Laber Peak in the Ammergauer Alps.

"We must get beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey."
~John Hope Franklin

On our last full day in Oberammergau, we all took the Laber Bergbahn up the mountain to eat lunch and take in the beautiful scenery. Just look at these pictures below! At the top, I ordered schnitzel because I wanted to eat something authentically German. It was surprisingly good, especially since I typically don't eat much fried food. I didn't even take any pictures... I guess I was too hungry.

Picture taken by budding photographer, Andrew.

Looking back down.

On the way up.

THIS is us.

This is not us.

Do you see the Fall colors peeking through?

The NATO School buildings are in the foreground.
Then you can see the church on the left and the Passion Theater to the right of that in about the middle of town.

Andrew found a perfect little "window" all to himself.

Andrew and his "Papa" (Fred) at the top of the world.

Just stunning. This one of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen.

KDJ, Andrew, and I at the bottom.

Me with one of my goofy faces.

This small one room church was nestled in the trees near where we got on the Laber cable car.

Remember the wood piles I mentioned?
This family, situated just next to the small church, is clearly storing up wood for the winter, as well.

What a beautiful day! Thank you Fred and Linda, for making it possible! It will be forever etched into my memory.
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Ludwigsburg: Of Brides, Gardens, and Pumpkins.

On Saturday, October 2nd, we drove north to Ludwigsburg, which is a city in the same state as Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, to the Ludwigsburg Palace. (Get ready for a lot of pictures.)

We parked our cars and walked toward the palace, which really was everything you'd expect a palace to look like: a beautifully edged green lawn, a gated entrance, a fountain, a beautiful expansive courtyard. As we walked through the palace courtyard, we saw at least five brides. It felt almost like walking on Temple Square in Salt Lake City during the springtime where the brides nearly outnumber the flowers. I'm not sure why, but I only took a picture of the first one I saw. Old news, I suppose, by the time I saw Bride #2, and #3, and #4... and so on.

Bride #1 and her entourage.

But what a beautiful setting in which to get married and take pictures!

Even though we weren't there to celebrate wedded bliss, we stopped to take a few shots of our own in that massive courtyard. To be truthful, the grounds of the castle, both in front and in the courtyard are quite large, so as each of the five (or was it six?) brides was not stepping on the heels of another. I don't think we ever even saw them cross paths.

Emery, Fred, Linda, Sarah, and Andrew. Ludwigsburg Palace. October 2010.

As soon as we exited the courtyard on the opposite side, I felt like we were walking into a forest. Almost like we were suddenly transported to the setting of one of Grimm's fairytales.

The palace has such exquisitely manicured baroque gardens, which we wandered through finding statues, bridges, beautiful tree-lined paths, ponds, Rapunzel's castle (duh, Emery... Rapunzel IS a Grimm brothers fairytayle), and finally the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival (Kürbis-Ausstellung in German), which was to be the main event of our day.

Can you see Rapunzel's hair?
It was SO fun to hear the little German children
calling up to Rapunzel to let down her hair!

Fred, Sarah, Linda, KDJ, and silly Andrew near Rapunzel's Castle.

I love this pathway.

Here I am, loving the stone archway under the bridge.

Just one librarian to another.

The theme of this year's Pumpkin Festival was "Under the Sea," which, as you'll see below, inspired some very interesting creations.

Shamu in pumpkins.

Ariel.

I loved this sea turtle's face up close.

Are you getting the full perspective of the palace gardens?

I also enjoyed looking at the various species of pumpkins (Kürbis auf Deutsch) from all over the world. Most of them originated in the United States, but many species were from parts of Europe, South America, and Africa.

My favorite is the one with the pink scarf.

There were hundreds of them, lining the walls of the Kürbis store, which sold all sorts of pumpkin flavored goodies. I still wish I would have gotten a small bottle of Kürbis oil. It was so tasty as a garnish on the pumpkin soup we had. It was undoubtedly the best pumpkin soup I've ever tasted.

We all had an afternoon snack of Kürbissuppe. Yum.

Andrew wrestling down one of the bigger ones.

What a wonderful outing and a great way to help us feel the fall flavor of Germany.

Next, we're on our way to Oberammergau! What a treat! You certainly don't want to miss this.
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Stuttgart Sheep and Other Fun Photo Ops.

"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away."
~Eudora Welty

The day after I arrived from SLC, KDJ arrived from D.C. (Do you need anymore abbreviations?) We went straightway to get our military visitor cards so we could easily get on and off post both in Stuttgart and down in Garmisch. My fingerprints and photo are forever "in the system." KDJ told me that I can bag those plans of having a criminal streak in my future. Darn.

We drove past the popsicle stick roundabout, where I quickly fumbled for my camera, as you may be able to tell. I look at things like this and wonder why I on earth I never decided to be a modern artist. I could be a millionaire. :)

Before we even took KDJ home, we made several photo op stops along the way. We couldn't resist...

It's fall in Germany.

LOVE this!
This is a field where you can come to cut your own Blumen (flowers).
Cut whatever you'd like. They even provide the scissors.
Just drop your money in the bucket to pay.

Beautiful German Wolken.

KDJ and Andrew. October 2010.

Andrew and Emery. October 2010.
(Don't ask me what Andrew's doing with his hands--he was being silly.)

Andrew and Sarah. October 2010.

I loved this little shack on the hill by the sheep. 

Baa, baa, black sheep. Have you any wool?

We couldn't seem to get enough snapshots of the sheep. Trust me, I spared you from seeing a blog post of thirty pictures of sheep. They were quite enchanting, actually, just grazing in their own little world.

I love this picture!

The next day we were off to Ludwisburg Palace...
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Two Black and Whites.

"The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children's children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future."
~Charles and Ann Morse

The other day my mom started laughing when I was telling her a story about a bold and honest conversation I had had earlier in the week, marveling at how much my personality is like her mother's. Nedra was a feisty lady who got away with saying things that other people wouldn't dream of and I suppose I am kind of like her. I think about that every once in awhile.

Grandma and I didn't always get along. We apparently butted heads a lot, probably because we're so much alike. Neither one of us likes to be told what to do and both of us like telling other people what to do. Didn't always make for a smooth match. But before she died in 1992, we made amends and to this day, I honestly don't remember the butting of the heads that much. I remember the feisty nature of our conversations, but that's something that I think of fondly. Selective memory, I suppose. I think we'd really get along today. Likely, we've both grown up a bit in the last 18 years...

Her picture has much better quality because mine was taken in the mirror. :) Remember, I said it was a self portrait session.

It's kind of bizarre... but compare our eyebrows. They are exactly the same!
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