We had our first house guest last night.  It was a rainy yucky day, but our plans turned out better than we had hoped.  A nearby town of Mainz was hosting its own Oktoberfest so we decided to check it out.  It was a real authentic mini-Oktoberfest.  It was only one tent, versus the many of the Munich celebration, but it was perfect for being just a short drive away.

I included a short little video that I took above showing the usual Oktoberfest merriment that you can expect.

Also we just booked a beach vacation to the Canary Islands for Thanksgiving with our friends in Oxford.  I can't wait!

As mentioned, we had a wonderful trip to England.  I can't wait to go back!

We spent our first day in London, and then spent the rest of the trip in and around Oxford.

Get ready to scroll because there were so many beautiful things to photograph, I found it hard to narrow down what photos to share :)

I've been in Germany for 2 months as of this week.  It has gone by fast, but honestly it seems like its been more than 2 months.  We're continuing to get settled into our house - something that I had hoped would be done by now, but now I'm just hoping it'll be done before winter - and get more comfortable in our surroundings.  

Jason has dove into work and is still figuring out his role and future, so we're "adjusting" all around :)

We spent the past 5 days in Oxford with our good friends that we met while stationed in Kuwait, and had such a great relaxing trip.  Oxford and the surrounding areas are as cute and quaint as you'd imagine and spending time in an English-speaking country was such a nice break.  More importantly, we haven't been able to spend that much time with our friends since we moved from Kuwait.  Hanging out with them helped give me a little taste of home and helped abate some of my homesickness.

I'll post more photos from our trip soon.  My laptop is still out of commission from the tea-spilling-incident.  We ordered a new keyboard, which we received today.  Hopefully I can convince Jason to install it tonight.  I'm anxious to get my computer back.  I feel a little lost without it!  

During our tour of New England we visited The Breakers mansion in Newport.  I had been before in college and just thought it was very cool to see.  The house is the former summer home of the Vanderbilt family.  It's an example of America's "Gilded Age". 

They don't allow photos inside, so you'll have to check out the link above if you're curious.  Before we went this time, I told my husband that it reminded me of the Beauty and the Beast Castle with its huge red carpeted staircase as a center piece to the layout.

I listened to the tour a lot more this time than I did when I visited on my school trip.  I found their description of the role of women in society during the Gilded Age very interesting.  They were the trophies of a man's wealth and the lavish clothes (up to 7 outfit changes a day), homes, and parties were a way to show status.  We see this in movies, but it was interesting to hear it discussed as essential to the time.  It reminded me of Downton Abby :)

The day we visited was dreary and rainy, which was a little disappointing for our overall Newport experience but seemed to fit the atmosphere of the gardens surrounding the house.

I've not been very good at blogging lately!

The above photo is from my weekend in Virginia.  I went to visit with friends and had a great, low-key weekend.

I was unfortunately greeted with snow when I came back to Denver, but it's probably good it wasn't beautiful outside because it would have made it harder to focus on the mounds of stuff I need to get through.  I plan on locking myself in my office this week and only coming up for air to walk the dog (and maybe run myself!).  

Have a good week!  Only 3 more days until the weekend!

Just got home!  So tired!  Glad I got to see my friends just before baby #3 arrived though!

Its way to early to do anything in the garden here in Colorado.  I've been told by my wise neighbor to fight the urge until May at least, despite the tempting garden displays that start to pop up at every store as soon as the weather starts getting pleasant.  

Even with this in mind however, I am starting to look at my sad cold garden as the snow starts to melt on top of it and am starting to think about our last season here before the big move to Germany.  We rent, so there aren't any major landscape overhauls in my near future (plus my gardening needs some work), but I love gathering ideas for our "One Day House"

Here are some images to inspire!

I'm off to Texas for a couple days.  Be back soon!

I've been in Nebraska the past couple of days visiting our friends from Oxford.  It was a long drive, but it was so worth the trip.  I've missed my friends! 

I have my last photography class tomorrow, so I'm busy uploading and editing.  I'm sort of sad and sort of glad for it to be over.  I'm going to enjoy taking some time to practice what I've learned before signing up for the next class.

I head to Austin on Monday, so my weekend might have to involve some serious hibernating to make up for all this travel! :)