PARIS

As I was lying in bed tonight, I couldn't stop thinking about Paris. Perhaps one of the dirtiest cities we visited on our trip, it was also one of the grandest (I say this after visiting only 3 cities). There were so many beautiful buildings and statues all over town; I wish that I had more time to be able to explore them. Of our 13 days of vacation, 2 of those days belonging to air travel, we spent our final 6 days in Paris.



On our first night, Eliza's birthday, we went out to dinner. I told Eliza to choose the restaurant. Being a little pregnant and sick, she chose the only Mexican restaurant in town, Arriba Mexico! I don't know how we found it, but it was the best place to start our expedition in Paris. By this time, we had already been to London and Barcelona, and Eliza was ready to go home. Fortunately, that little splash of Mexico transported us home for the evening. We spent the night in a cute little hotel manned by a wonderful staff and two cats. We had a room on the fourth floor that was right on this corner. We would spend all six nights in this hotel, but our room would change without us even knowing it.



After the activities of the second day, we arrived back at our hotel to find people in our room on our bed. Completely confused and a little upset, we asked why they were in our room. Apparently the cleaning lady let them in. So we asked them about our things, which were mysteriously not there, even though we let everything everywhere after unloading our back packs the previous night. They didn't know where our stuff was. Fuming and ready to kill, Eliza led the way back downstairs to the lobby to speak to the manager. After a very confusing French/English argument, everything was "no problem" because our stuff had been moved to a smaller, less awesome room without our knowledge. No problem. This is the room we stayed in for the remainder of the trip. Why they couldn't keep us in our room and move the other people in the other room is beyond me. But, this is Paris. There are no problems in Paris.





I can't tell you how much we loved the museums in Paris. It is so amazing to actually see the art that is in every social studies book you've read since elementary school. I'm not talking about the Mona Lisa. That kind of sucked. I'm sure I would have enjoyed her more if I was allowed to get closer than 15 feet away from her, but I just couldn't appreciate her from such a distance. Now, the Venus de Milo was awesome, as well as the Winged Victory (both in the Louvre). The thing about the Louvre, for me, was that I felt like the building outdid the artwork in most rooms. The palace is amazing.

We brought home our own little bit of art. We found a woman drawing on a bridge over the Seine, and fell in love with her simple paintings. We

bought this painting from her, and decided to eat at the little cafe on the corner just to make the painting more special for us. This was a great meal. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, and Eliza ordered a hot dog (I don't know why she had such weird food preferences ove

r there). My sandwich was a good sized sandwich, but Eliza's hot dog was huge! It actually consisted of two hot dogs laid end to end on a baguette smothered in cheese. As you can see in the picture, it was pretty awesome.

There is more to tell about our Paris excursion, but I'm really tired now and I don't want to think about Paris anymore. To Be Continued...

Fall in Logan...

Fall in Logan basically means winter in Logan. I'm just counting the hours before the snow starts to fall. I really wish I were in Mexico right now. Or maybe even Vegas. That would be nice. I guess I should enjoy it here while it's still enjoyable. Here are a couple of pictures that I took last weekend (taken in Wellsville).



So, I said that we would talk more about Europe. I'm not ready to do that yet, but here are some fun pictures.

Here is Eliza looking stunning at Parc Guell...

Here I am in front of Westminster Abby...

And this is Winged Victory from the Louvre. I love this statue.

Okay, so not much information in this post, but you really don't need information all the time.

Go Utes!

Hello again, world-wide web of people. I thought that Eliza would take a turn next before I wrote again, but she hasn't had the opportunity to yet. So here I go again.

Let me start by saying that these last few days have been surprisingly awesome. Have you ever had a day that went your way, and was even better than you could have predicted? This week has been like that for me. To start it off, I sold two of the coat racks that I've made that are on display on the bottom of the screen. I sold them to a woman in Spain. Things should have gone really bad with the transaction: I quoted her the wrong shipping price, I purchased the wrong type of shipment, and I didn't know what I was doing; but things worked out, and I was paid in full for shipping, and I got it off to her without any trouble. Lessons learned, and blessings received.

The next thing that really made my week was an e-mail from the University of Utah. Do you remember my previous blog, and how I had to drink away my emotions with a smoothie from Sonic because I wasn't hearing from any schools that I had applied to? Well I finally got asked to interview at a school, and it's one of my top picks. I would LOVE to go to the U for the following reasons: in-state tuition, close proximity to family and friends, in-state tuition, and close proximity to family and friends. And I guess they have a great program to boot. I'm pretty excited. One of my fellow pre-med peers who has two interviews scheduled at other schools (he's an awesome guy) isn't even scheduled for an interview at the U yet. Now I know I shouldn't compare myself to others, but I need a little boost where I can take it. Isn't that rad? Go Utes!

Okay, now the third thing is probably the most important. Eliza had her doctor's appointment yesterday, and guess what? She really is pregnant! I thought she might have been lying all along to get me to do stuff for her, but she wasn't. There really is an alien life form inside of her. We have the pictures to prove it. It was so much fun. We got to see the heartbeat and the little hands on the ultrasound, and it was moving around all over. As far as we know, it's a healthy little fetus-thing. We have another appointment scheduled for four weeks from now, so we'll keep you updated.

Finally, I did something about my bum-wiping dilemma. The nurse that I work with at the nursing home told me to apply for the RNS aid position. I would still work on the same wing with the same cute old people, but I would have different duties. So, I filled out an application, on Monday, and the next day I got a call for an interview. I went in, had a five-minute interview, and was offered the position immediately. My new duties include doing physical therapy type things with the residents to improve mobility and ambulation. I'm really excited to start.

As you can see, this week has been pretty awesome so far. I guess I can expect the rest of the week to go downhill. That's alright, I deserve it. One exciting thing, though, is that I'm almost finished with about 4 more coat racks. Anyone is welcome to look at them and buy them after I add them to my shop. You can access my shop via the bottom of this screen. Just click on a picture.

McDoner...McDonalds?...McDoner...

Here's something funny we ran into while in Europe. Across the street from our hotel in Paris was a McDonalds--I mean a McDoner (wow, that sign always threw me off). Honestly, I would like to know what they were thinking with this sign. Were they really trying to confuse people into thinking that they were, in fact, McDonalds? And when their customers tried to order a Big Mac, were they going to be very let down because all they have are gyros and lamb hamburgers?

If you'll notice, this restaurant serves Turkish Specialties. I guess I wasn't aware that there were Irish-Turks. Why else would turkish people name their restaurant with a Mc? It baffles me. Unless, of course, they are trying to confuse people into thinking they are McDonalds. Being confused for a famous world-wide chain should be beneficial.

What shouldn't help business, though, at least with the American tourists, is the second half of the name: Doner. Do they accept McKidneys and McLivers from people, and use it in their food? Or do they take the whole package, like the infamous Donner party? Either way, the appeal is missing.

To add to the excitement of this story, we braved a trip to the interior. Eliza, being the sick one on our trip, picked most of the restaurants we went to, and somehow she picked this one. Although it was located in a shady spot and had a bizarre name, we went, we ate, and we enjoyed. We both got grilled chicken sandwiches and fries. This was our third choice. Although they had a menu, only about three meals were available (I suppose they had run out of doner meat by the time we got there). To be perfectly honest, it was one of the better restaurants we ate in as far as service, flavor and cleanliness goes.

So here's to McDoners! May you eventually beat out your competetor with the similar name!

This is new to me...

Hello world, this is Chuck of Eliza and Chuck. I am the taller more masculine half of this duo. Let me begin by saying that we are two of the lamest people you will meet, which is why it's so fortunate we found each other. Our 18 months of marriage have flown by, and now we're expecting to add a little something more to our lives (to be discussed in further detail on a later date.)
I am currently applying to medical school, and I can honestly say that it is the most stressful thing I've done so far. Right now I'm waiting to here back from the schools that I've applied to so they can tell me that they want to interview me and accept me to their school. Many of my peers have already had interviews, or have interviews scheduled, so I'm feeling a little behind. Eliza has to pep me up about every other day. I was especially depressed on Wednesday night and had to drink away my emotions with a peach smoothie from Sonic. But guess what? I'm an average applicant and can't expect too much action in the beginning. There's nothing wrong with being mediocre--it just means I have to be more patient.
On a more positive note, Eliza and I went to Europe last month and we had the time of our lives. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment:

In front of Buckingham Palace...

At Parc Guell...

On a rowboat at Versailles...

I hope you can recognize this place...

We just got down from the very top.

We went to London, Barcelona, and Paris. More will be written on our trip at a later time. Another thanks goes out to Michelle for watching Fergi while we were gone. And thanks to Brianne for setting this up for us. You're the shiz.

Hi!!!

This is brianne.I'm testing Eliza and Chuck's blog.

Test.

Eliza and Chuck are awesome people. Probably two of my top 5 people. therefore, I've convinced them to start a blog to let the people of the world see how funny, smart and cool they are.

Welcome.