London and Germany with the Eichelbergers!

After my parents and aunt left to go back to the states, we had the super fortune of having our great friends Jon and Charmian, who live in Germany, come over to join us in London!  After a few days there, they took us back to their home in Dusseldorf before a beautiful road-trip through Germany to find some really cool towns filled with castles, great beer, beautiful fall colored leaves and life-long memories. 

Enjoying some food and beverages in Bamberg, Germany

Strolling down the streets of Portabello Road

Me with my strange fascination of imitating art/nature

The Eichs making our way up to a castle, by all means necessary :)

 Miss Alessandra singing her heart out

A nerve-racking but funny night when Miss A locked herself in the bedroom, which we had no key for.  We were trying every way to get to her, including through the attic!  After an hour, a locksmith helped get her out, and she came out of the room with a few tears on her face, but still smiling

Charm and I on the London Eye

My favorite picture!  Charmian's dream umbrella

We stopped by Ace Cafe in London, who is featured several times in Ben's favorite adventure series "Long Way Around" and "Long Way Down".  And, perhaps a model for our future expansion of our business??? :)

Even though it was November, the climate over there allowed for the trees to still have their beautiful fall colors!

Got to experience the Autobahn!

So fun to see all the places we've heard about from them, and then go with them to hang out in!  This is one of their favorite places to eat and drink - Moskito

The steps leading up to a castle in Bamberg, Germany

Such a great adventure with our dearly missed friends, but great to see what their life and home and surroundings are like.  Hope to see them soon again!

For more pictures from our trip, click the picture below to visit the webalbum:

London and Germany with the Eichelbergers

Europe Trip with the Family

In late October, Ben and I buzzed over to France to join my parents and my aunt on their trip in Western Europe.  They had already spent about 2.5-3 weeks trotting across France and parts of Spain when we arrived. Initially we were going to visit another area of France, but we sensed they were a bit "over-Franced" by the time we got there.  So, since this part of the trip was up to Ben and I of what we did, and since Ben and I have learned to not plan too much so as too pigeonhole yourself into a less than desirable situation....we decided to head to London! 

Of course we had to visit the Eiffel

My French husband :)

At the top of the Eiffel!

At the Marie Antoinette gardens in Versailles

My parents and I in front of Versailles

Having some good laughs on a tour boat up the River Thames

So cool to see Parliament and Big Ben in real life!

In front of Windsor Castle

Stonehenge!  Something I've always wanted to see

We stopped by Buckingham Palace, and they were awaiting our arrival! :)

Good ol' Bangers and Mash - at a particularly SPECTACULAR neighborhood pub we visited quite often 

Takin a stroll through Hyde Park

 If you'd like to see more pictures from our adventures, click the picture below to go to the webalbum:

Europe 2012 with the Family

......and, we're back!

I've been following blogs for years now, but over the last 2-3 years I tended to skip over a lot of the ones I religiously followed, because of.......I hate to say it.....but because of Facebook.  It was so easy to have all the feeds in one page and just scroll through and pick out the highlights.  However, recently, I've been drawn back to my "old friends", my "old stories", all the blogs that had basically become like a friend talking to me about their day, their jobs, their family, their lives.  And I realized, this is what I'm missing in Facebook.  Don't get me wrong, I still love to just swipe through my NewsFeed to see what my friends, family and pages are saying, linking to and posting.  But blogs to me are so much personal, where you can type your feelings and dreams and concerns without being nervous if your post will be swiped away because its too long.

I'm excited to start this blog in the beginning of a year, because I used to use this blog as a diary of our lives - where I could go back and relive our year's experiences by pictures and words.  And whether someone wants to read it or not, they can decide if they want to visit here and see what we're up to, its not shoved in their face in their NewsFeed.

Blogging like we did over 2 years ago had been getting harder as I kind of felt as though our lives weren't as exciting or interesting after having moved from Hawaii then Alaska, back to "the states" to Colorado.  Since I grew up in this state, things weren't as ooooo and aaaahhhhh to me like they were in HI and AK - so I just figured people wouldn't read it anymore.  But recently I've heard from several people how they followed us religiously and really missed it - even though we do have FB, but they missed the deeper stories and the more personal connection.   And I agree :)

So, after almost 2 years, Ben and Lisa's blog is back!  Whether we have followers or not, it will be good to have our experiences, trips, thoughts and life right back here in one personal place!

~  Ben and Lisa

A return to Christmas

I just recently got this picture sent to me....it was from Christmastime just last December. The great story is that we were taking this picture to make a Christmas ornament for Vanessa and Brian (long story, but basically they needed an ornament with a story behind it). Well, as we were setting up for this picture to take, as Vanessa was running from the timed camera to the couch.......CRACK! The couch broke with all our weight on it.

Now THAT'S a story!

Another great thing about CO.....

.....is it's sunrises!

And what's better in a sunrise than some amazing wave clouds atop the Flatirons!

Skiing with a long lost friend

The day was beautiful for some weekday skiing.....

Bluebird skies.....

A few clouds that played in the sky looking like they were painted....

And a friend to ski with that I had not seen in over 2 years! Becca, a great friend from my college days in Arizona, had finally meshed an off day in our schedules to go skiing. We already have another date set for this coming Friday - its so great to hear her laugh again!

A bike through town

I love how you can go biking in the middle of February in Colorado!!! That's just what we did last weekend when the temperatures soared to near 60 degrees.

On our bike ride through the town of Boulder, we came across an amazing neighborhood, with just enough crazy to be fun. We stumbled upon all these great birdhouses made out of the most random things.

Valentine's Day 2011

For those of you who really know Ben and I, we have a beautifully arranged deal at the home....he cooks, I clean. Its magic, especially since he is an amazing cook, and I'm a little OCD when it comes to cleaning :)

So for this years Valentine's Day, I thought I would surprise him with a fancy meal when he came home from work. It turned out great, even though I was a little stressed and over worked by the time he came home!

Appetizer: Savory stuffed figs

Appetizer/side dish: Artichoke and crab dip

Main course: Honey glazed salmon with basil

Dessert: Black Russian Chocolate Fudge Cake

Thinking I was the Most-Awesomest-Vday-Gift-Giver this year, Ben surprises me with this:

Holy excitement Batman! I've always wanted to do this, and cannot wait for our ride! Just have to wait for a nice weekend day, when I'm not working. Will post pictures when we do though!