We are back!

Europe was absolutely amazing!!! I can not believe how quickly a month goes by...and how much junk mail collects =) This is the bus we rode for 27 days...won't miss the bus!


London, England. In front of Buckingham Palace. And no the queen did not invite us in for a spot of tea.
Innsbruck, Austria. We took a horse carriage ride right through the field from Sound of Music.



Burano, Italy. This was the coolest island! Every apartment was painted a bright color.


Biarritz, France. If we ever hit the lotto our vacation home will be here!!


Barcelona, Spain. We went to a flamenco show and saw Lara!! YIPEE!



Rome, Italy. The Colosseum was absolutely amazing!!!


Madrid Spain. We went to Casa Botin which is the oldest restaurant in the world. We went with our buddies we met on the bus. Aussies rock!

Venice, Italy. I want to go back on the gondola already! It was awesome

Paris, France. The Eifel Tower was so beautiful!! I made Steve take me back 4 times to see it =)





Our new obsession is crepes with Nutella!! If you have not tired Nutella, go to the grocery store and get some (it's near the peanut butter). Oh it is so good on toast too!!




Monte Carlo/Monaco.

We have so many pictures, but I won't bore you all with them =) Until the next adventure...

We are off!!

Well we are off in just a few hours. As you can see we were not able to bring much luggage. One bag each at 50 lbs or under!! 30 days in one suitcase...this should be very interesting. We leave LAX at 7:50pm and land in Heathrow London at 2:15pm Saturday. I just pray my zanax does not wear off OYE!! I will update when we are on the Big Red Bus tour in London. CHAO!

Caper of the month....finally

Steve has been nominated for "Caper of the month" at work for several years and he just brought home the mug of envy. Yes, Mandi there is actually a mug!!

Photo Shoots

I had such an amazing day working with Erin! I feel so blessed to be learning from her =) This morning we went to go meet Ms. Tegan, what a dolly!! Then this afternoon we went over to see Heather and Cody who are here visiting. What a great day!!

14 more days!!

Here is the map and the locations of where we are going. I am hoping I can update my blog while I am there, unfortunately I can not add pictures from my blackberry. However I will be uploading some to my fliker account http://www.flickr.com/photos/30825334@N02/

John Alan Wine Dinner

Last night Steve, my parents, and I went to WineStyles to attend the John Alan winery dinner. They were filming the TV show called "Out to Eat" which will be airing on PBS in about 7 weeks. We sat at a table with 2 other great couples! The photo is of one of the other wives (Courtney), the host of the show, and the sales manager of John Alan winery.

Helen

We lost a wonderful family friend today. As some of you know Helen is my dad's best friends wife. She suffered an aneurysm a little over a week ago and remained in a coma ever since her brain surgery. Please say a prayer for the Green family.

Europe!!

It's official we are going to Europe!! We are so excited!! We leave May 8th and will visit England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Leichtenstein, Austria, Italy, France, Monaco, and Spain. We will be gone for 28 days. What about our zoo you ask? My dad has volunteered to take on the duty :) WOW! I will make sure to leave enough beer to get him through it.

Some of you know that I made a vision board last year and it included a picture of Italy and now we are going!! Read the Secret, it's awesome! PS I know I used to many !!! but I am so excited!!!

Crafting

My friend Misty came over today and we made bulletin boards for both of our offices. She had a great idea for using a frame and taking out the glass to create it.

I think I like this new life

I didn't think that I would have enough to do during my "new" phase of life, but geesh 7 weeks have flown by!! My aunt Jan came over Wednesday and I finally unveiled the sewing machine Steve bought me for Christmas 3 years ago....I know I know!! She taught me a few basics, so today I decided that Toby needed some new attire. After the success of Toby's, I made Tink one too =) And no she does not like it!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

I am so excited to be learning about photography from Erin...I have sooooo much more to learn, but I am noticing that I have improved! YIPEE!! My cousin Leslee, her hubby Frank, and 3 kids Carissa, Lauren, and James came to visit this past weekend from Texas. Great to see you guys!! We did a mini shoot with beautiful Baby James on Sunday. Here are my favorites:

Welcome to Blogging with the Bazes

Thanks to the mad computer skills of Erin we are up and running. I am looking forward to sharing updates about family, friends, vacations, and the exciting things I am learning while on my temporary retirement. Most of you know who lives in the Baze zoo, but here is a re-cap....Tink, Simba, Bear, Zazu, and Toby.