Day 51 of 364 - Fri 9/23: Date Night

Word of the day:     Eten en Drinken     (Eating and Drinking)

Yay, it is date night!!! And it is Absolutely Gorgeous out!!!  (Note: we are in Maastricht this weekend)

Steve and I headed out on the town for drinks and dinner around 6pm. I was actually a bit worried we wouldn't find a table outside on a patio bc it was so perfect out! But we were in luck!! We had a few drinks and appetizers at Gauchos (a chain steak house here) and is on the Vrijthof Square, so perfect for people watching.

Then we headed over to Grand Cafe 043 for dinner, again sitting outside along the Vrijthof Square. Steve ordered the Sate and I the steak.

This is also when the night took an interesting turn!  We noticed a drunk guy down the block yelling, and then all of a sudden threw what looked to be a bottle of Jameson into the air and came crashing to the ground into a million pieces. This man then decided to head toward the restaurant, and then proceeded to lay down on the ground in front of our table and moan and say what I think sounded like, "I want my pillow," over and over again.

Well, let's just say the Dutch seem to be a bit more tollerant, or maybe have stricter laws when dealing with incidences like this, bc no one, not even the servers seemed to do anything but stare. Well, it turns out you can't do anything but call the cops. So about 10mins later the cops arrive, but they too just stare at him, and kind of make sure he isn't truly bothering (more like touching) anyone else at the restaurant. Again, slightly different law, but these cops were the community patrol, who then must call the real cops, who didn't show up for another 5mins. Once they came, they asked him a question or two, with not much response, so they cuffed him and put him into their van and drove off.

While all of this was going on, a small crowd was forming and everyone was filming him and few ppl took pictures. I guess this is not a normal occurrence after all?!?!  While we ate, some of the other tables watched their videos of the guy, and then showed them again when a new friend would show up. Strange and funny all at the same time. Poor guy!

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 50 of 364 - Thur 9/22: What is Going On?

Word of the day:     Nieuws en Informatie  (News and Information)

So I am always looking for more information that can be useful during my stay here in the Netherlands, and during my travels of Europe. I have found this site to be an interesting one. It is an outlet for news and information for the international community.

http://www.expatica.com/nl/main.html

(Note: The news is actually one of the few things broadcast on tv in Dutch. Most everything else is in English, and Dutch subtitles are provided.)

And just like almost everyone, and everything else, it too has a FB page!
Have a look if you are interested to see what is going on over here... similar or different from in the states???


Till next time...
Sarah

Day 49 of 364 - Wed 9/21: Riding in Style!

Word of the day:     Mand    (Basket)

So if Steve and I ever get bikes, this is what I decided I would like to have!!

http://www.defietsfabriek.nl/nl/nl/81/modellen

Which actually means we only need 1 bike!! How fun?!?!?... to just have Steve cart me all over the city in this? My own personal chauffeur, Dutch style!  And I WILL follow thru with buying him a chauffeur hat!! Just as he always said he would when we were in MI and only had one car, which usually meant me driving him around.

This will be on the xmas wish list ;)
last chance for 35% off... http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/community_focus/Pedal-Dutch-Style-with-a-Babboe-Bakfiets_171277.html

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 48 of 364 - Tues 9/20: Just Walking Around This Town

Word of the day:     Wandeling rond het blok    (Walking around the block)

Just Great... as I decided what to write, this is now in my head!!!

I been hangin around this town on the corner 

I been bummin' around this old town so long

I been hangin around this town on the corner

I been bummin' around this old town for way too long 

Yup, you guessed it... the Counting Crows song, Hanging Around.   Not the worst song to have in your head, but really?!?! I can't decide if I like getting songs stuck in my head or not? ... Guess it really depends on the song.

Anywho... This is exactly what today was like... just walking around the town, aimlessly. Of course we pop into a few shops here and there, and always our last stop since it is on the way home (btw.. our favorite) the grocery store. :) 

Thankfully this week the weather has been perking up... less rain!! 

Till next time...

Sarah

Day 47 of 364 - Mon 9/19: Starting on the Right Foot

Word of the day:     Training    (Workout)

Weekdays here really are no different than they were at home. I aim to get my butt to the gym to start the week out on the right foot. If not, I tend to slack the rest of the week. Why??? ... I don't know, but I do. So to the gym at 9am I went, then did some work and then cooked dinner. Wish you were me, huh? ;)

We will be heading to Oktoberfest in a couple weeks, so I better get the schedule planned. ...We don't want to have a re-occurrence of the parking situation. Good thing Oktoberfest is in Germany, so we now know to watch the Germans' tricky signs!!   What is the saying... "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." .. or better yet fool me twice, wow am i an idiot!

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 46 of 364 - Sun 9/18: Take It Easy

Word of the day:     Ontspannen    (Relax)

Typical Sunday when we are "in town"... day of relaxation! Here, majority of EVERYTHING is closed, except for some restaurants and a few other things. But don't plan to run and errands, bc most likely the store will be closed, especially the grocery store. Strange to me, but I guess the Dutch have better things to do than grocery shop :)

Back to relaxing on the couch and waiting for the Bears game.

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 45 of 364 - Sat 9/17: Day of Wine

Word of the day:     Wijnmakerij    (Winery)

This weekend we are staying in Maastricht, but there is still plenty for us to see and experience! Afterall, I am sure everyone can picture European cityscapes, with the close buildings on all the winding roads... plenty of nooks and crannies still to check out!

Today, we went to a local winery in the heart of the city center. The wine caves are all below the streets of the city and are the city's oldest, dating back to 1740. They have since updated the cellars and are now able to accommodate events/parties of 100+ ppl.

And of course... we preferred the reds during the tasting! (** But none even came close to our favorite Raymond from Napa!) Cheers!

                           

                                  I need a barrel like this!! 

patio surrounded by city buildings

Till Next Time...

Sarah

Day 44 of 364 - Fri 9/16: "Honey I'm Home"

Word of the day:     Terugkeren    (Return)

Steve is back!!! Yay!

No trips planned for this weekend, since we didn't know how the time change, again, was going to effect him.

Sorry this week has been a bit boring to read about! I still lead a pretty basic, normal, boring life here. But donations are welcome to fund my travels, which will surely improve my blogging stories :)
Send to: ....   ha ha!!

Till Next Time...
Sarah

Day 43 of 364 - Thur 9/15: Dinner and a Show

Word of the day:     Gek, Dom, Liefde    (Crazy, Stupid, Love)

That is what we went to see at the theater after grabbing some tapas at a local restaurant/bar, Cafe Zondag.
And yes, another somewhat chick flick. Gotta get these out of my system before Steve returns. Can't say that he is the biggest fan of the genre ;)

And only one more day till Steve gets home!!!

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 42 of 364 - Wed 9/14: Carrefour

Word of the day:     Provisiekamer    (Pantry)

Carrefour is a supermarket that is right over the border in Belgium, so about a 15min drive. We went here today so that we could do a big stock up trip, and is a place that carries more American brands. It is also a larger store format, kind of like Meijer, WM or Target. I feel soooooo much better now that I have done this!!!

I bought a bunch of meat to keep on hand in the freezer, and a few more shelf-stable staples.So we should be good on dinners for a while.  I think this is what I was lacking, and hope this cures me of having to go to the grocery store every other day!

Otherwise, day was normal... and capped off with a chick flick Something Borrowed.

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 41 of 364 - Tues 9/13: IWC

Word of the day:     Vergadering     (Meeting)

So night #1 of Girls' week went just fine. Kim and I whipped up an easy dinner, and were able to enjoy it out on the patio. Then it was off to our welcome mtg with the IWC (International Women's Club).

The International Women's Club of South Limburg in the Netherlands was founded in February 1985 as a non-profit organisation. The primary purpose of the Club is to bring together women of all nationalities living in the area of South Limburg, promoting friendship, sharing mutual interests and extending support and information to newcomers.

Here we met around 10 other new members, some of which I was taken back by bc some have lived in the area for over 10years, but were just joining now! I guess the only rule is that you can not originally be from the area.  There were all sorts of backgrounds, age (early 20s to 50s), different nationalities (irish, hungarian), some working, some stay at home moms, etc...

With this group there are monthly mtgs, interspersed with different activities throughout the month (crafts, nature hikes, running, baking, etc), and then there is even a junior member group within... those who like to "socialize" a little more often, and maybe later into the night and weekends.

Today, was a little less exciting... gym, work, dinner and tv.

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 40 of 364 - Mon 9/12: Back to the Daily Grind

Word of the day:     Werken    (Work)

No, not for Steve, but for me. Yes, I am starting up work again today! Lucky for me it is part-time, and hopefully flexible enough with the time difference. It will be a nice thing to add to my routine ...gotta keep somewhat of a schedule for myself!   And I hope it is like riding a bike, bc not gonna lie I am not sure what I remember and the past 2 months that I have been off I have not missed working at all. I kind of feel like all has been wiped from memory.   Anyone ever experience the sensation of memory loss right after a test you just took? The feeling that if I were given the same thing again, I don't think I would pass?!?  

But before we get back into the swing of things Steve is off to MN today, as is Jamie, so it will be Kim and I on our own over here in the Netherlands this week! Yay, girls' nights out, or in!!


Till next time...
Sarah

Day 39 of 364 - Sun 9/11: Proud to be an American!

9/11  We will never forget. God Bless America, and our Troops!!!
___________________________________________________________________


Word of the day:     Voetbal    (Football)

Not sure if that is the real translation the Dutch would use for football, but voet is foot and bal is ball. I'm guessing some Dutch don't even know that football even exists?!?

Anywho... Steve woke up to news that Michigan won last night! And we got to see a full game replay this morning on ESPN. What a game!!!   We are also all set to watch the Bears game!!! There was absolutely no way I was missing out on the football season, so again trusty Sling Box will be coming in hand! In the states a noon kick-off will be 7pm here, so a nice end to the our weekends, especially if we traveled and walked all weekend! We were also sure to not miss out on any pools, so I joined two again this year and steve joined one. And you betcha ;) I am wearing my bears t-shirt here every Sunday!

BEAR DOWN!!

Um... a few retractions... we were only able to watch thru the 2nd quarter before getting kicked off sling box. few ideas why...
1. too many ppl trying to access during NFL sundays! urgh! (we saw a notice but were already on so thought we were good!)
2. I videoed a portion to show my dad and Wes how good sling box WAS... jinxed!!
3. Wes decided to f' with us and changed the channel mid-game, and scrambled the signal... like i said we already were notified that the site was having issues. (no worried Wes.. we don't blame you!)

I am going with a combo of all 3... all is good though and I can go to sleep... BEARS WON!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 38 of 364 - Sat 9/10: Trip #3 - Cologne, Germany

Word of the day:     nippertje    (close call)

Today, we headed to Germany... the land of Wurst, Potatoes and Beer! ... Bring It!!   It can be a tiny bit confusing when heading out on these trips bc often the spellings are slightly different than the English version (what we see in all the books and have heard of over the years). So one must sometimes do a bit of research before driving or heading to somewhere to make sure it is the right place :)   We were heading to Cologne, or Köln as it is spelled by the Germans, just like Germany is Deutschland. (I wasn't sure why there were so many different names for the same place, but this may help... Names of Germany.)

Once there, the first stop was the Cathedral, only another 500+ steps to the top for a view of the city! (my calves hurt today!!) Then it was time for lunch... Lots of wurst!! Followed by a gelato stop, and then on to the Museum Ludwig, which houses modern art collections. We finished out the day with a walk around the area, and then dinner at Lommerzheim. Here we all chose the kotellets - HUGE pork chops, I mean HUGE! (sorry didn't get a picture) They were delicious and we all left with completely stuffed bellies! (but Kim and I had room for one more gelato cone :) )

                   

                     us in front of the cathedral

view from cathedral over the locks of love bridge

                   

                       at Lommerzheim on the patio

night view

This is where the night took turn for the worse (it was about 9pm)... Back at the parking garage we were SHOCKED to find that it was closed! Gates were down, lights were off, and our car was inside. You should have seen all of our faces....wtf?!?! Now what?!?

          

                sign we saw when we pulled in over where you pay
notice closed gates!

closer look at the sign.
 um... this is how we write prices in the states!
and I think is what may have caused the confusion 

We all looked at the same sign we saw when we arrived and realized that what we thought was the price of parking, actually was the time that the garage closed! 14,45. (See pic below.) It was not written as time, and it did not have an open time, so that is why we assumed it was the price! Who in the heck closes a machine operated garage at 2:45p on a saturday?!?

We finally spotted a phone #, but no luck. We tried lifting the gates, no luck. (Oh and I should mention once we re-read the signs, we realized the garage wasn't going to open again

until Monday!.. Double Sh%t!!) so we weighed out our options...

1. Get a hotel for the night. ... That wouldn't really help bc garage was still closed Sunday, and the guys are going to MN Monday for training)

2. Take a train home, and the girls come back to get car Monday. ... That wouldn't work either bc the keys to our apt and our car were in the locked garage. And we would have to take 3 different trains to get home at 3am.

3. Try finding someone to help us.

Option #3 is what we went with.... I walked up to 3 police officers and explained our situation, showing them the name of the garage and ph#. They called and were able to get thru!   The garage owner would be there in 30mins, and it would cost us €50 to get our car out. We said, "WE WILL TAKE IT!!"   **I mean €50 was steal in our eyes! Think about it... back in the states it would easily cost at least $200 or more! I also think at that point we were willing to pay in excess of €200.  So it was a bargain!

Crisis averted! And within an hour we were on our way home! Whew... Close one!   Ok so maybe not a crisis, but it was not an ideal situation. (Sorry to worry anyone that stumbled on my fb post yesterday and thought the worst. I may have been a little dramatic.)    And lesson learned... Learn all foreign languages.. Ha ha. J/k. But really read all signs a bit closer when posted in another language!

other sign we did not see until later.
notice this one tells you the open time

Till next time...

Sarah

Day 37 of 364 - Fri 9/9: Make it a Slingbox Night

Word of the day:     Divan    (couch)

Tonight Steve an I stayed in, ordered a Domino's pizza and watched US tv on sling box.

Earlier in the day I finally set up our tv viweing situation.  I think I have mentioned before, but honestly I am a tv-a-holic! (I honestly don't know what I would do without my sling box, even if it doesn't work 100% of the time. I think the European living would possibly have been in jeopardy... Ha ha jk.)


Our flat screen is downstairs and the one that came with the place is now in our room upstairs. Who knew catching up on old tv shows on Dutch channels would be a good thing before hitting the hay... Friends, Married w/ Children, Dharma & Greg are a few. Steve actually had never seen Dharma & Greg before, and was against it at first, but I now find him laughing at it quite often :)

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 36 of 364 - Thur 9/8: Hagelslag Everywhere!

Word of the day:     Hagelslag    (sprinkles)

So i have been meaning to mention the following... One of the strangest things to me, food-wise here, is putting sprinkles on bread and eating it as a sandwich. These are the same things we in the U.S. would put on cakes/cupcakes for decor. (Why? Where is the nutrition in that??)

And they have a huge section of the aisle in many of the stores! ...more than their fair share in my eyes! Those of you in the CPG world reading this, what do you think the velocities are? Margins? Does the shelf-space allotted really bring the retailers the big $$? Hmmm??

... Actually, the only other person I have ever seen do something similar in the U.S. was my neighbor in the dorm. She came home drunk one night, barged into my room demanding food. The only things we had were a loaf of bread, Hershey's choc syrup, and sprinkles. Well, she didn't care and made herself a sandwich of all 3. I thought it was gross and not normal. Well, low and behold, this is a common here. (*note: I don't think she was aware the Dutch did this either.)

Here is a little history...
In the Netherlands, chocolade hagelslag is used as a sandwich topping (similar to muisjes and vlokken); this is also common in Belgium and Indonesia, once a colony of the Netherlands.[11] These countries also use vruchtenhagel and anijshagel (made of sugar and fruit/anise-flavour respectively) on sandwiches (mainly at breakfast).
Dutch hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) was first invented in 1936 by Gerard de Vries for Venz,[4] a Dutch company made popular by said treat. Hagelslag is used on bread. Most of the time butter is spread out so the hagelslag does not fall off. Several letters to Venz from a five-year-old boy, H. Bakker, asking for a chocolate bread topping, inspired and prompted de Vries' development of sprinkles.[citation needed] After much research and venture, de Vries and Venz created the first machine to produce the tiny cylindrical treats. They were named "Hagelslag" after their resemblance to a weather phenomenon prominent in the Netherlands, hail. Only hagelslag with a cacao percentage of more than 35 can bear the name chocolat hagelslag. If the percentage is under the 35%, it has to be called cacao fantasy hagelslag.

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 35 of 364 - Wed 9/7: Rain, Rain Go Away!

Phrase of the day:     Regent katten en honden      (raining cats and dogs)

Not much going on today here in Maastricht. It is raining again. I am 99% sure it has rained everyday for the past 2weeks :(

***Happy birthday Dad!!! We love you and miss you!***

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 34 of 364 - Tues 9/6: Where does it all go?!?

Phrase of the day:     Opnieuw en opnieuw en opnieuw en    (Again and again and again)

Try saying that one over and over again... listen here.  I don't think I can, or ever will be able to for that matter!

Grocery shopping again! I seriously can't seem to stay away from the store for more than 48 hours. Actually it is probably 36hrs! And where does the food go that I buy each time?.... this is absolutely insane!!

Still needing to get used to small shopping trips, not large stock up trips.

Otherwise, I went for lunch at a local bakery and had an amazing bowl of Minestrone soup and a Caprese sandwich. I will be going back often throughout the year! And the baked goods are quite delicious as well!! 

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 33 of 364 - Mon 9/5: Just Another Manic Monday

Phrase of the day:     Schoon Huis    (Clean House)

Can you believe we have been here for over a month already?!?!? .. crazy stuff! 1 down, 11 more to go!

Today I went to the gym, hoping to put a dent in all the calories I feel like I consumed this past weekend, and month for that matter! I think I am still at plus 1million, even after a 20 minute run :). How to get into the negatives... and fast????

Then, I did laundry and continued straightening up after our delivery last Friday, though I still haven't managed to find homes for all the stuff that came in the crate...work in progress :)

**Oh and Steve had to go to work. NO Labor Day celebration for him. He is to honor the holiday schedule here. Not sure how that is fair, but oh well... "no one said, life was fair." (One of my favorite sayings!)

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 32 of 364 - Sun 9/4: Trip #2 - Bruges, Belgium

Word of the day:     Rijden met de Auto    (Car ride)

Kind of gray and drizzly today when we woke up :( but a good thing the only real plans we had were breakfast, quick walk around the town and then ~2hr drive home.

Just as our first trip, breakfast was delicious and at a cute little cafe Bitter Sweet. Not quite on the same scale as the first place in Amsterdam, but still a place I would recommend and return to! (Breakfast is definitely going to be one of my favorite parts of each trip over the next year! I think it has been decided to do "quicker" breakfasts on Saturday mornings, and have a nice sit-down brunch on Sunday.) 

                   

 

**Also, if you have been to Bruges, but have not yet seen the movie In Bruges, with Colin Farrell, I suggest you do. Even if you haven't been to Bruges, it is worth a watch, and hopefully a visit one day. Both Steve and I enjoyed this dark comedy.

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 31 of 364 - Sat 9/3: Trip #2 - Bruges, Belgium

Word of the day:     Klokkentoren   (Clock Tower)

We actually arrived last night at around 7pm and headed out to grab some dinner and drinks right after checking in :) We found a little spot called, Café Vlissinghe. It is the oldest pub in the town, dating back to 1515. (Another great recommendation by trust worthy, Rick Steves.) Good food at a really decent price!


Also upon our arrival, I posted to FB our location, and to my surprise a few friends have been here and made a few recommendations (thanks Lindsay!) Some were on our to-do list, while others were a great addition!

 

Saturday morning we rose bright and early to get the day started, and headed for a quick breakfast at Het Dagelijks Brood (The Daily Bread), and then took a canal boat ride, followed climbing the Bell Tower's (Belfort) 366 stairs to burn off all those croissant and chocolate spread calories consumed at breakfast!

After the strenuous climb (j/k), we found a small authentic pub, De Garre, to grab a drink and maybe a snack. (This later became everyone's favorite spot/activity of the trip!) Then it was off to our 3pm brewery tour at De Halve Maan brewery.

For dinner we ate at Restaurant Peter Pourbus, which had been recommended by one of Steve's Belgian co-workers. Dinner and drinks were then followed by a late night walk back to the hotel in the rain... Yes the rain continues!!


All in all... it had been actually a warm, fun, food and drink filled day! Maybe one too many drinks ;)

           

Till next time...

Sarah

Day 30 of 364 - Fri 9/2: Christmas in September!

Word of the day:     Vakantie/ or Feestdag     (Holiday)

OUR STUFF FINALLY CAME!!! ... so it totally felt like Christmas morning as I unpacked all our boxes... food, candles, a few things of bedding and the rest of our clothes!!!  (I was getting sick of wearing the same 3weeks worth of clothing, especially seeing I mainly packed Summer stuff and has seriously been Fall since we arrived!  And I REALLY couldn't wait for my buffalo potato chips to arrive! and brownies, and coffee, and gummies, and steel cut oats, and... ok you got me... I couldn't wait for ALL of it to get here!!!!!!)

Honestly, a "White Elephant" Christmas morning would be really nice if done correctly... wrap up all things you haven't used in while, but aren't old and shabby, outdated or broke. Things you just simply forgot about for a few weeks, months, maybe even years! Maybe "White Elephant" isn't the best term, but can't figure out what else to call it. Do you have a better name???

***Btw... we were told it could take up to 3 weeks for our stuff to arrive, um yeah... I HAVE BEEN HERE IN THE NETHERLANDS FOR 4wks AND WE PACKED THE STUFF UP WITH THE MOVERS 2wks BEFORE THAT!   So if I can still count correctly, that is 6 WEEKS!... really all I ask for is honesty! :)

After a couple hours of unpacking the crate, it was time to pack and head out for trip #2 -- Bruge!

Till next time...

Sarah

Day 29 of 364 - Thur 9/1: Retail Therapy and Dinner

Phrase of the day:     Laten we eten op het terra    (Let's eat on the patio)

Two things on the agenda for today.... 1. Shopping  2. Dinner
Kim and I are both in need of some retail therapy, and in need to get outside our couple mile radius that we have been going around in circles in during the work week. So we finally got one of the cars from the guys for the day... FREEDOM!!!

It was my first time driving in this crazy place, with all their crazy road signs (or lack thereof), but I did good if I must say myself. We had heard about an outlet mall in Belgium about 20 mins away so we decided to check it out. It had some decent stores, and we both bought something :)  .. Me a fall jacket, Kim a wallet and blazer. (btw... she too is a shopper just like me, so not sure if that is a good or bad thing for the next year...hmm?!?! )

Once we returned it was time to get dinner ready. The four of us decided that Thurs nights should be a joint dinner outing and if possible eat out on our patios. As we move into Fall it will probably be followed by some tv viewing, especially since all the shows will be starting over the next few weeks and as of now we are the only ones with slingbox.

Tonight, I made a new pasta sauce recipe, which was actually pretty good. Nice light and fresh!
Here is the recipe if you would like to try. I added the sauce after I drained the pasta, and then tossed in sauteed zucchini, steamed broccoli, and quartered roma tomatoes. Yum!!

Creamy Avocado Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized ripe Avocado, pitted
• 1/2 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish (or toss in)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, to taste
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• ~1/4 cup Fresh Basil, (probably optional or use less)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The original recipe says to put all in a food processor, but I didn't have one here so I just mashed it all together as if I was making guac and tried to get it as smooth/creamy as possible.

I accompanied the dish with garlic bread and caprese salad. 

**Steve and I even had the leftovers on Sunday and it was still just as tasty!

Till next time...
Sarah 

Day 28 of 364 - Wed 8/31: Beach Day... kind of...

Word of the day:     Strand    (Beach)

Yoga on the Beach!

Till next time...

Sarah

Day 27 of 364 - Tues 8/30: Blogging...

Word of the day:     Dagboek    (Diary)

Not gonna lie.... this blogging is not exactly me! I have never been one who likes journal/ diary entries. Remember back to grade school when you had to have a daily journal and turn it in every so often. Yes, I think I was that kid on many accounts who did multiple entries the night before. (Thanks Mom!.. he he.)

Nothing else to report today.

Till next time...
Sarah

Day 26 of 364 - Mon 8/29: Face Time

Word of the day:     Technologie    (Technology)

Today we started playing around with Face Time on our iPhones and iPads. It actually works really well and is super easy if you have one of these devices. All you need is an internet connection. My understanding is that it must be via your internet provider, and not your 3G connection, but I could be wrong.

My first guinea pig was Jennie... I was able to connect with here for a few mins while she was at work!

Another great use I have stumbled upon for while in the apt here, is to have it act as my phone when I want to reach out to Kim and Jamie. We don't have land lines here so the only other way of connecting is walking over to their place. (Sometimes I love technology!!)

If you have one of these, let me know so I can be sure to have you set up in my contacts correctly. Can't wait to SEE everyone!

Here are simple instructions for those who may have not set it up/used before...
From your iPad... There is an app on your screen for it already.
If you call one of our phones you push our phone # via contacts
Or hit our email addesses and it will call our iPad.


From your phone: you just go to contacts and open our name and you will see face time as a button to push.
If you call one of our phones you push our phone # via contacts
Or you can call from your phone and hit our email addesses and it will call our iPad (i think)




Till next time...
Sarah