holy crap! We almost missed our London to Seattle flight...we were literally escorted from our first flight to our next flight by two British Air employees. We had to go through a security check just going between flights! We politely slid past about 50 people to get into the fast track line and then followed the BA guys right to our gate. One lady told us we would never make our flight then the next lady said we would be fine...I was a bit nervous!!! The BA guys could have walked a little faster...but they got us here. Jacob is mad because we did not have enough time to get a soda and I really wanted a Starbucks Iced Tea. See you all soon! Michelle

Last Day in Rome

Today is our last day in Rome and we went to the Trevi fountain and ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe.  We are getting pretty good at the public transporation getting to and from our hotel.  Yesterday evening, we had our massages and Jacob's first comment was that I was never allowed to get a massage again...without him.    This massage was a little different in the fact that the door was open and the only thing covering me was a medium size towel that was moved to different parts of my body to cover what was not being massaged...I could hear the lady next door beating on Jacob and a few cracks now and then.  We have had an amzing time in Italy and are sad to have to come home and get back to work, but we are really excited to see all of you!  And share our stories and pictures. Gotta go for now, but talk to you soon

Rome day 2

Here we are at the Coloseum! Don't we look refreshed? The spa at our hotel was very nice last night and we scheduled our massages for tonight! there is a lot of construction/restoration going on here.

We made it to Rome!

we made it to Rome and have already been through the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel, climbed the cupola and now we are headed into St. Peter's Bascilica. Ciao!!

Heading to Rome

To answer Aunt Debbie's question, we decided to climb the Campinile (?) rather than the Duomo so we got to look down on the Duomo in Florence.  Pisa has been great and we got some rain during our trip to Cinque Terre, but we survived and had a nice long pause at the end for drinks and a view!!  We bypassed Siena yesterday and instead went to Bologne to the Ducati Motorcycle factory and museum.  The town itself was much busier than the other towns we have visited and it probably did not help that we went there without a map or knowledge of what there was to see there.  The factory was pretty cool and the museum had bikes back to the 40's!!  And now...we are getting ready to go to ROME!!! 

Pisa

We had an amazing last night in Florence with a trip to Piazza Michaelangelo overlooking Florence at sunset and a very nice dinner...followed by some gelato and a moonlit stroll back to the hotel!  We arrived in Pisa this morning and have had a lovely day at the Leaning Tower.  Our hotel view is a perfect viewing of the leaning tower and the Duomo.  We are going to post more pics once we find an internet cafe...the hotel computer does not give me access to the usb ports...bummer cause we have some cool pictures to share!  Siena and Cinque Terre are on the menu for the next few day..tata for now.

Florence - Wine Tour

Venice

Sorrento Amalfi Coast

Sorrento  PompeiTop of Mt.Vesuvius

 Positano

London Pictures

Absolute Ice Bar

Getting on City Cruise with Big Ben in the backgroundTouring the HMS BelfastView from the London Eye

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Will the road just straighten out?

We are on our Tuscan wine tour and have bought a few bottles of wine and some Olive Oil...we visited a different Castle...better wine but not better olive oil. Then we went to Greve and there was a wine festival going on...we found gelato instead! Bummer though that we never get close enough to the grapes to get pictures. I am looking forward to dinner!! I am ready to stop taking big bus tours on small winding roads...car sick at least once a day since we have been in Italy. On a positive note Venice was great and our Gondolier was nice enough to take our picture! It was a lot of fun walking the streets and shopping. We had a lovely time in Murano and saw some Amazing glass sculptures and lunch on the water's edge. We could have spent much more time there.

Sorrento Italy

We just had a lovely dinner at the hotel overlooking the Bay of Naples in Sorrento.  Today we went to pompei and climbed up Mt Vesuvious.  Tomorrow we will visit the cities along the Amalfi Coast. We are having problems uploading pictures but we will post some as soon as we can.

We survived London and miraculously made it to Sorrento. Very Beautiful and we are heading to the city center to find dinner...can't wait for some spaghetti bolognese and gelati...and maybe some limoncello! We took lots of London pics but not much time to upload. Happy Labor Day! Jacob & Michelle

We made it! We are utilizing London's extensive transportation network to find Hard Rock Cafe. Goodnight!

Hours to go!! We are all done with work and now just finishing up with all the little details!!! Having a nice Dinner with friends and then a good night's rest...cause tomorrow night is on the airplane.

Bread Pudding

So, the bread pudding I made was not quite like I remembered the bread pudding in Loiusiana, but better than I remember from the buffets my parents used to take me to. It was super easy to make and I also made a Hard Sauce to go over the top. Instead of being in a big pan, my recipe had me use ramekins for individual serving. Next time I will make it when I have more time and serve it fresh out of the oven! But first I need to clean my kitchen before I start any new projects. MMM! I am going to the Farmer's Market in the Morning so we will see what kind of fresh fruit I can get to make another recipe or two from my book!

A few new desserts

I heard from a few faithful blog readers that I hadn’t been blogging in a long time so here is a new post for you!

Status Updates:
 Cooking challenge…I am not going to meet my deadline and I can blame it all on meeting Jacob. Hahaha maybe not fair to him, but I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything. I have completed about 33 recipes of the 200+ recipes and I lost 30 of the 50 lbs I was hoping to lose…and I am still working for the other 20!!! I can do it!!! I did make Cherry cobbler this weekend and it was pretty good. The recipe called for unsweetened chocolate and I think it could be left out and the cobbler would still be good. Next on the list is vanilla bread pudding! When I was in Louisiana a month ago, I had some bread pudding that was sooo delicious! A co-worker and I went back later one evening for a second helping and the owner told me one of the secrets to his recipe so we will see how it turns out!!! The Caprial recipe is basically the crème brulee custard recipe except that the mixture is soaked up by bread…and then drizzled with the special sauce! I have never been a fan of bread pudding, but the stuff in the South was just to die for! We shall see!! On a side note, I was looking to get the same cookbook for a friend and I read some of the reviews on the book. Surprisingly, there were more negative reviews than I was anticipating. For the most part, the recipes have turned out really good…and even when they don’t look so great, they still taste great. I think some of the recipes call for a baker’s touch or practice and I have had a few instances where things turned out better the second time because I understood the recipe better! So many good things still to come! Maybe I should get going on the ice cream and gelato and more fruit items since things are coming into season!!!

 30th Birthday…we are planning a birthday bash in Spokane for a whole weekend! We are going to Silverwood and a Spa and to dinner at a nice restaurant. I am excited to have some fun and relax a bit, but even more I am excited for my 30s. Life is pretty darn good and I wake up wondering what the day will hold!.. and then stretch my muscles…which feel much older than 30! I am golfing more these days and loving it…sometimes it is frustrating that I am still not very good, but I enjoy the time I spend golfing with others! One of the most exciting things right now is planning my return to Europe. Jacob and I leave on September 3rd and all the planning is too much and I just want to be there now!!! This isn’t another backpacking adventure, but we are taking our backpacks so we don’t have to roll our bags over the cobble streets between the train stations and our hotels!! We are looking forward to seeing what we can see while still relaxing and taking in the beautiful countryside and cliffside views!

Still a blogger...

Hey everyone! A quick blog update...I cannot believe it has been almost 6 months since the last time I posted anything here...so much has happened in the last 6 months in quite a few areas of my life! I met Jacob in September and we have been dating ever since...such a blessing to have someone like him in my life. If is fun to get out and do things with someone who shares the same interests and is willing to be adventurous. We have been camping three times, ran in the Turkey trot (getting ready for Bloomsday next month), made a trip to Reno, survived four holidays and lots of family gatherings and new introductions. Other things in the last few months include a trip to Las Vegas for National Finals Rodeo, Christmas in Phoenix, Isaac and Sophie, my twins, turned one a few weeks ago!, finished a quilt...working on finishing another one this month, got back to playing competitive volleyball, coached 1st & 2nd grade boys basketball, celebrated Jacob's 30th birhtday (with yummy cupcakes and brown sugar buttercream frosting from the challenge cookbook)and I put the baking challenge on hold...I am still baking, just not as much...with my crazy life, some priorities had to change to squeeze time in for Jacob...hahaha and 5 recipes a week was getting pretty darn expensive!! I will make every recipe in that book!!! Also, I think I did prove that you can lose weight and bake...I lost 23 lbs at the end of last year...I will reach my goal of 50lbs by August!!!












Cheesecake with homemade caramel sauce...yummy!!!

Sometimes going through the garage requires a little more mess before the organization comes...I can park my car in my garage and I continue to get rid of more stuff each week!