Bonjour!

Here's my weekend in France summed up.

- If I never see another set of stairs in my life, it will be too soon.
- The French Riveria is gorgeous!
- The food in the French Riveria is expensive, much more so than what I am used to in Italy.
- That being said I had some of the best seafood of my life and an amazing home-made peach cake that I'm still drooling over.
- I enjoyed a peaceful evening with my husband and dog sipping wine on a wall overlooking the sea. It was memorable!
- If you ever go to the French Riveria, I highly recommend using the beaches at Villefranche-sur-Mer. They were the least crowded that I saw and not covered in rocks.
- I have the desire to now learn French after I learn Italian. I'm guessing this will take a long time!

I've been editing pictures of the trip, but it's a long process. Plus I haven't even edited pictures of Greece yet. I've been having issues with my external hard drive and so I've been dealing with that instead of editing pictures.

I'll leave you with a few though.



Lonely umbrella in Villefranche-sur-Mer



Sea view in Villefranche-sur-Mer



Harbor view near our Hotel



Russian cathedral in Nice



Me with Antibes behind me



Beach view in Nice



Back alley view in Antibes

Anniversary Weekend

This weekend is not only Sean and I's 3rd Anniversary, but also Sean's birthday(on the 4th). We are taking advantage of the 4 day weekend and going to celebrate in France.

Specifically Nice, Antibes and Villefranche-sur-Mer. Maybe even with a stop in Monaco and possibly a meet-up with a fellow blogger.

I'm thinking it's going to be a wonderful weekend and I'm excited to see France.

I'll catch you guys late Monday, hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Austria in Pictures

Here are a lot more of the pics I took while on the trip. I still don't have them all edited, but these are some of my faves.



Boomer enjoying the room



The decorations in our bathroom



The random no camping sign down from our hotel. I thought it was kind of random.



I loved the mountains around us. So beautiful!



This was one of the more famous landmarks in Innsbruck, supposedly the emperor used to sit out underneath it and watch the people below.



Kebabs. Sean and I probably had three of these while in Innsbruck. So delish!



One of the pubs we visited.



Sean modeling the local hats



My baked potato with parmesean, tomatoes and rucola.



No joke that this was five minutes later. I was STARVING!



A bar we passed. I thought it's sign looked like the one in the Cocktail movie.



One of the main streets in the historic center



Lamborghini I spotted from our hotel window



I love the style of the churches



Odd display in one of the windows



My amazing Chicken Shai Korma at the Indian restaurant



I showed you guys a pic of this church the other day, but here's a shot of it with my wide angle lens.



This was the beautiful organ in the back of the church



The interior of the church.



More mountains...couldn't get enough of them



My first attempt at a panorma with this camera. It still needs to be tweaked a bit.

Anniversary in Austria

Originally Sean and I had planned on staying in Austria for Friday and driving back late Saturday evening, however, as I mentioned in the previous post, we were stupid American tourists and left our car in a garage that was closed all weekend. It turned out fine though, because we really enjoyed the extra days we stayed in Innsbruck.

Once we got to Innsbruck, we checked into our hotel: The Romantik, which I really liked. The first night we stayed there we had a much nicer room then the second and third nights we stayed there. The hotel had an AWESOME breakfast. In Italy, the breakfast consists of coffee and a something like a crossiant. In Austria it was meats, smoked salmon, cheeses, fresh fruit, assorted rolls and breads, cereal, yogurt, juice, champagne, etc. I was in HEAVEN!

Most of the weekend we walked around the old town, looking at the historic places, popping into shops and eating at restaurants. I ate so much this weekend. So much in fact, that it's not even funny. Sushi, Indian food, two or three kebabs, apple struedel....the list goes on and on. Don't worry, I took pictures of all of it so you guys don't feel like you're missing out on anything.

I LOVED Austria! Now don't get me wrong, Italy is a cool place to live, but Austria is awesome. Everyone was so friendly and food was to die for. I loved the mountains too. Breathtaking!

The only thing we didn't do that I was wanting to go see was the Alpenzoo, which is the highest altitude zoo in Europe if not the world.

Overall it was a wonderful place to celebrate Sean's birthday and our anniversary. I highly recommend it.

Look for pics soon!

Quick Update

Just a quick update for you guys. Sean and I are in Innsbruck, Austria. We planned on coming home yesterday, but made the mistake of parking our car in a parking garage that closes on the weekend. Hence, we are here until Monday morning when it opens.

We are having a great time and celebrating our 2nd anniversary today.

Pictures, stories to follow.

What a weekend!

I meant to get on here and blog several times this weekend, but it was so hectic that I never got around to it.

We had a great holiday weekend. Friday we spent the day grilling and hanging out at a friend's house and later that night walked over to Freedom Fest to enjoy the fireworks. We also happened to enjoy the homemade tamales and funnel cake. Sean swears he had a wonderful birthday, so as long as he says it was great for him then I'm satisfied.

Saturday was our anniversary and although it wasn't a grand affair we still had a lot of fun and enjoyed our day together. We started out in Natchitoches and planned on staying there the entire day, but due to the heat and the both of us not feeling well we headed to Alexandria for an early dinner and then back home to just relax and watch movies. Natchitoches was awesome! I'm going to have to go back there when it's a little bit cooler and I don't feel as if I'm going to pass out in the heat. I found the cutest magnets in one of the shops there. They are Cajun magnets and have things like an alligator, houseboat, accordian and other things on them. I'll have to take a picture of them to show how adorable they are. I did get to take some pictures there, although not as many as I would like. It's definetly a town worth visiting again though.

Here are a few pics from our fun-filled weekend




Sean and I at FreedomFest



An example of the fireworks



Me enjoying one of the neighborhood kids toy-four wheelers. It was so much fun to ride!



Trolley in Natchitoches



Beautiful flower at one of the gardens by the Cane River



One of the many houses in the Greek Revival tradition in Natchitoches



Beautiful church close to Front St.

Reflections

I have a online ticker for Sean and I's anniversary on my computer and today it reads 1 month and six days. (This would be for our Justice of the Peace wedding, not our ceremony in case anyone is confused) I look back over this past year and marvel at where I was then and where I am now.

This time last year, Sean and I were dating (as best as you can 9 hours apart)talking on the phone all the time, constantly texting each other and talking from time-to-time about marriage. I knew at this point last year that I was going to marry him, although I didn't know that it would be quite so soon. I remember being a little bit scared about how much my life would change, but also being very excited about all the new opportunities that would come with it as well. All I knew at that time was that I loved this man and it didn't matter where he was going, I was going too.

Now, almost a year later I look at the good times and rough times we've had. I am an Army wife, something that I never planned on being as I was growing up. I was never one of those girls that had a thing for those "men in uniform" and I never had a favorite branch of the military. I had some friends like that, but I was never one of those girls. I didn't know anything about the Army before I married Sean. I couldn't tell you what someone's rank was just by looking at their uniform, what unit they were in and forget all those acronyms that come with being in the military lifestyle. I was a newbie and I still am. I still have to ask Sean questions everyday about things he tells me or things I hear.

I love this life. I don't love the deployments that inevitably will come, I don't love the long hours or the whole "hurry up and wait" menality, but I love our life. I love coming home and seeing Sean in his ACU's, looking so handsome and in charge. I enjoy the people that I meet and the opportunities that this lifestyle will provide with me being an Army wife.

I think about this past year and the things Sean and I have gone through, being apart for the first five months of our marriage and how that is going to prepare me for future separations. I think of us as a strong couple, even though we are still growing and learning how to be married. To me that's not something you can learn or even do in just a few months time.

My husband may irritate me and frustrate me at times and sometimes I think I hate the Army and some of the things that they do, but I would never want to be anywhere than where I am right now, with any other man in the world.