All I Want for Christmas...

Every year for Christmas I make 2 lists. One of material items such as clothes, books, etc. and the other is of non tangible things. Here is just a little list of some of the more important and non tangible things that I want for christmas this year. Enjoy:)

1. For Political Extremists to calm down a little (yes on both sides).

2. More people (including myself) to become less close minded and judgmental of those who are different.

3. For everyone in the world (who can) to step outside and look up at the snow falling and realize that not only is it a pain it is beautiful too.

4. A closer relationship with those that I love.

5. For people close to me who are struggling to talk with me and let me help.

6. To get back the way everything glittered and felt warm on Christmas when I was younger.

7. (I know everyone says this but it honestly comes deep from my heart and is so important to me) Peace.

What are somethings on your list? Merry Christmas and I love you all:)

Winter Wonderland

Fist of all I wanted to apologize for being such a crap blogger lately. I have not been posting recently and commenting on other people’s blogs. I am oh so sorry and hopefully I can be forgiven now that I have decided to become fully committed to dear relationship with the internet and blogging world (again).

Now, most people, as the weather gets colder and the nights darker become grumpy and upset about the winter. I have a tendency to be cold, and tend to bug the ears of those around me for being this way. For which, I apologize and plan to not do as much this year. But, besides the cold that I, like everyone else, have to suffer through, LOVE winter. It has always been so nostalgic and beautiful to me. I love the snow falling down onto my face (however polluted it may be). I love bundling up in large coats, jackets, hats, scarves and all sorts of other winter clothes that no mater how cute they are make you look silly with the whole extra ten pounds of fabric around you protecting one from the cold. But most of all, I love the warm things that bring people together and closer during this cold season. Food out the oven, hot chocolate, fires in the fire place, huge blankets that can cover 10 people, all of these are things that make us warmer along with bring us closer. It’s so easy in the summer to be headed off in one direction or another to go do an assortment of outside games, activities and just about anything. In the winter, it’s a lot harder and there is less to do and it’s more frustrating to go out into the snow and cold so people stay close. I always loved when my father would build a fire and we would both sit and read our books in front of it. After a while, my dogs would come cuddle with me and my mother and sister would make there way down stairs and circle around the fire with us. We would sit like moths staring and enjoying the warmth of the fire (of course not actually diving in and dying as I assume moths would do) until the silence was broken, normally by a dog eating someone’s cookies or drooling on a book. We would sit talking and laughing and enjoying warmth. As Mary Hopkins would say “those were the days my friend. We’d thought they’d never end”. But unfortunately the eventually did end. As we became busier etc moments like that don’t happen often. But this year I can try to create another moment like that. So what about you? How do you feel about winter and is there any great moment that sticks out in your mind?

Some of My Top Songs of 2009 (so far:)

Here's the list! Want to know the best thing though?! Click on each one and it will take you to the youtube video. I figured I'd make it easy if you wanted to check them out because you should! Yet again it's really in no order.

1. Love, Save the Empty- Erin McCarly
2. Days Go On-Greg Laswell
3. Everytime-Lincholn Hawk
4. Somebody More Like You-Nickel Creek
5. She Doesn’t Get it- The Format
6. Your Call-Secondhand Serenade
7. Let it Rock- Kevin Rudolf ft Lil Wayne
8. One Last Song- Josiah Leming
9. Down-Jason Walker
10. Stand in the Rain- Superchic(k)

Crying Men

"The photographer (Taylor Wood) asked the actors to produce real tears for a series of images which she hopes capture the vulnerable sides of the movie stars. She is particularly proud of pictures of the Cold Mountain hunk weeping in a fetal position and a portrait of Reservoir Dogs star Michael Madsen betraying his hard-man image by crying hysterically.

Taylor-Wood explains, “Some of the men cried before I even finished loading the camera, but others found it really difficult. People can decide for themselves which they think are the authentic tears and which they think are fake. It’s about the idea of taking these big, masculine men and showing a different side"

Ben Stiller

Woody Harrelson
Steve Buscemi

Sean Penn

Sam Shepard

Ryan Gosling

Tim Roth

Robin Williams (one of my fav)

Michael Pitt

Paul Newman
Michael Madsen


Laurence Fishburne


Kris Kristofferson

Judd Law

John Leguizamo

Hayden Christiansen

Gabriel Byrne

Forest Whitaker

Ed Harris

Robert Downey Jr.



Dustin Hoffman
Daniel Craig
Willem Dafoe

Benicio del Toro

My Photo Shoot

Hey! I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog for a while! I've been pretty busy job hunting lately. Yesterday/today Warren came over with his new Cannon 50D camera to take some pics of me for possible model and spokesperson jobs that I wanted to apply for. I just loved them SO much I wanted to post some of my favs on here.

What Obama Said About Winning the Nobel Peace Prize

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Clip From My Life

Warren: I always mess up those words; sarcophagus and esophagus.

Lindsay (me):What does that mean again?

Warren: Esophagus? You know, it’s the gullet. The entrance for eating that...

Lindsay: No sarcophagus. I can’t remember.

Warren: Serious? It’s like a tomb or whatever where people are buried when they die and...

Lindsay: Oh yeah! I remember now. I just forgot because I’m not used to hearing it aloud, because I read it all the time.

Warren: (Laughs at me for at least 5 min and finally regain voice between fits of laughter) What kind of books to you read that sarcophagus is mentioned frequently?

I am still wondering that to this day and also why that was my response.

Mix Flour, Sugar & World Wide Web

Due to my extreme love of food I find myself frequently browsing the internet and finding amazing food websites. Here are just a few from my very often visited list. Just click on the title and you're there! Enjoy:)

1. Foodgawker.com
2. Cooksillustrated.com
3. Lottieanddoof.com

Randomly Delightful

Tonight wasn't exactly one of my favorite nights in the world but it had it's moments.

1. It started out helping Warren make a Korean dish called 김치보끔밥
   (Korean provided by Warren who says there is no English way to spell it) . I have never made Korean food before so this was an awesome experience.
2. We headed over to Grandview Elementary to play Ultimate Frisbee. Only 3 other people showed up besides me and Warren but I was so excited to see my friend Heather. She's an amazing person and it was just great to see her.
3. We started throwing the frisbee around and the color of the sky made everything look like it had a tangerine pink glow to it. It was beautiful and felt amazing mixed with the soft sprinkling rain.
   
4. Warren and I met up with a bunch of friends (Rich, Owen, Aaron, Presten, Gib, Bonny, & more) to play poker. We all had a really fun time and enjoyed ourselves.
   
5. Presten gave me 3 bars of fancy chocolate! It's so good and made from coco beans found around the world.
6. Spent the rest of the night helping Warren clean silver (from 12-3:30). It can be a very great way to get some instant gratification. Well, except for the one mishap and the really hard stuff to get off.
   
7. It's such a great feeling to come home to a whole basement to myself.
   

This was such a normal night but I just thought I might share. I feel so blessed to have such simple pleasant nights all the time and be able to always enjoy myself.

You are...

Beautiful.





I just wanted to remind you of that.



<3

Happy Birthday Warren Daynes and Marie Daynes Burt!

Earlier this week was Marie’s birthday and today is Warren’s birthday. They are both just great and amazing people that I just wanted to dedicate a blog post to them. Here are just a few facts about the both of them...

1.Warren and Marie are amazing siblings. They are super close and love each other a lot. They love to hang out and talk to each other all of the time and keep in close contact. It really is incredible to see how close they are and inspires me to become closer to my family members.

2.Warren and Marie are both very passionate about things. Warren is really passionate about everything he loves and he loves sharing it with people around him. Because of him I have been to Zion, Yellowstone, Escalate and more. I have a orange tree that I am attempting to bonsai and more. Marie loves money saving and using coupons along with gardening and more. Whenever she goes to the store she normally always saves more money then she spends. This is so amazing to me!

3. Warren and Marie both have iPhones. It’s so great to see the both of them with them and checking out different things. Marie is always reading classic books and Warren is always listening to music, checking out stocks or facebook. It also makes for a great pic to see them on them sitting next to each other.

4. Warren is an awesome driver. Some people may thing that Warren is a crazy careless and super fast driver but this is pretty much not true. The reason that Warren can drive so fast is that he is the most aware person on the road. He always has complete control over the car and always knows exactly where everyone on the road is. Plus, he knows where every cop hangs out.

5.Marie is an amazing cook. She makes the most amazing banana bread, sour dough bread and many other things. She’s very talented and creative. She also made an amazing and fancy dinner for a New Years/Christmas dinner party. It was wonderful from appetizers to dessert!

6.Warren is really funny. He ALWAYS makes me laugh. I can be crying, yelling at him, in massive amounts of pain or he could just be making fun of me, but he always gets me to crack up. He’s a really funny person and full of witty remarks.

7.Marie is the most loving person in the world. If you know Marie (which I am assuming you do if you are reading this post) then you know how much she loves everyone. She is so sweet and kind to everyone and she always let you know that she loves you and that she is there for you.

8.Warren is a great person to talk to. I am a very emotional person and sometimes when I am dealing with things I get too caught up in it and Warren is the perfect person to get me to cool down and help me realize what is really going on. He is a very rational and logical person.

9.Marie is an amazing mother. If you have met Marie’s two kids then you know that they have such a good mother. Marie loves her kids so much. She is also a very good teacher to them. They are both very sweet, kind and great at sharing (most of the time:). This is very impressive to me. It’s so easy to see her love and kindness towards them.

10.Warren is a great friend to everyone. When Warren gets a friend he keeps them. He is constantly doing nice things for all of his friends. He loves to leave candy and notes on their doors, buys new plants for friends when theirs dies, tapes huge funny pictures on garage doors and much more. Anyone who wouldn’t want Warren as a friend is a fool.

I could continue with this list forever. I love Warren and Marie, and I hope they know that, and have had (and are having) the most amazing birthday in the world. Thank you so much for being my friend! You guys are really great! Any comments on their awesomeness are totally welcome. Thanks for reading.

In Memory of Cathleen Washburn

~Cathleen Washburn~
(1969-2009)

When I was 2 years old my brother and I were adopted into my current family. My birthmother and father were very young and not able to take care of us. They let us go and gave us away to a family that would be able to support and care for us. My birth mother’s name was Cathleen Washburn Thurston. She had named me Jade Ariel Thurston and my brother Forrest Richard Thurston. Our names and lives changed when we were adopted and sealed to our currently family, but not one day goes by that I do not think about Cathleen. He willingness and bravery made it possible for me to have a happy and great life. She hadn’t really been in my life until about 8 months ago when she found me on facebook. I wasn’t sure what to do but I am very glad that I reached back out to her, and we began to learn and share things with each other. Unfortunately, she has been suffering from diabetes since she was 9. She had both legs amputated, open heart surgery, dialysis and lost the battle with diabetes last week. I am so glad to have been able to talk to her and learn more about her the last 8 months. She was a very enthusiastic and sweet person. I know that she is happy and glad to be healthy now. Although I don’t know her that well, I will always love her and be so grateful of the life she gave me. Thank you for everything Cathleen, rest in peace.

Greg Laswell Concert

If I could go through all of the millions of songs I have on my computers to see the most played ones, Greg Laswell’s songs from his C.D., Three Flights from Alto Nido would top the list. I was introduced to Greg Laswell by an awesome friend (Tucker) who for every birthday and christmas buys me a C.D. from a band I’ve never heard of before. When I first listened to his music I was drawn in right away. Greg Laswell’s voice parallels the the emotions of his lyrics perfectly. It was so great to see him in person tonight. This was the first time that I had even been to a concert where everyone was completely silent when slower and more emotion packed songs were being played. It was almost a respect for the power of his lyrics and his piano/guitar. It was a great trip and a really fun experience. It’s so much fun to see the music of a band you love playing in front of you. You can feel the passion that the musician intended everyone to hear originally, but is not as effective when recorded, and played on a C.D. or as a MP3. So thanks Greg Laswell and the awesome band that opened for you, Elizabeth and the Catapult. I had a swell of a good time.

Simple Moment in Life

A little girl game up to me about one week ago and asked if I could play with her. I told her I couldn’t to which she asked “Why?” She continued to say why over and over again until finally I ran out of answers and ended up telling her, “Just because”. She jumped back on her bike and said, “Okay, I’ll stop by tomorrow”. I stayed on my porch finishing up the blog post that I was working on. No more than five minutes later she drove past again on her bike and parked in my driveway. She asked if I could play just for one minute. I had no idea how to answer this very persistent redheaded blue dressed girl. I had to leave and I didn’t know if I had a daughter of my own would feel if I saw some stranger playing with her, so I told her no again. She gave me a very angry look and said, “Well fine. I’ll play with someone else”. She jumped on her bike and then shouted back “I’ll see you tomorrow”, and zoomed around the corner before I could say anything. This was so great I decided I needed to share.

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie

I know I posted this on my other blog but I love it so much I decided I needed to post it here too. This is such a amazing video. Please take the time to watch it:)

Anime

Many people have very different opinions about Anime. Most people when they hear the word Anime the automatically think of some weird nerd who collects swords and spends his day playing World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons and watching tons of anime movies. I have found that Anime is a very beautiful and great art. In fact, it originated in 1917, and not only did japanese film makers play with it but so did film makers in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia. Anime movies can be very strange and silly but the art in a lot of them are amazing. What do you think? Do you like Anime?

A old friend of mine drew this picture of me and Warren about 8 month ago

Great Piano Songs

There are so many things that really move me. I think from dance and learning to express my emotion through movement I have really come to depend on and appreciate music. For some reason the most powerful music to me is just someone playing the piano. So I just wanted to make a short list of powerful piano tunes for you. Some have lyrics and others don't. I suggest you check out a couple of them because they are amazing. They are also in no particular order.

1.Max Veron- Pastels. This is a very beautiful song that talks about the hardships of life but how you don’t have to be alone.

2.Yiruma-The River Flow in you. This is my favorite song ever played on the piano and I hope one day to be able to play it (even if I can’t play anything else).

3.Before Cologne-Ben Folds. Ben Folds is an amazing Pianist and this piece shows he doesn’t need any vocals to improve it.

4.Dijurido-Artist Unknown (on cowboy bebop soundtrack). This is a soft and sweet piece that makes me so happy.

5.Almost Lover-A Fine Frenzy. This is a very melancholy. It is my favorite song to play when I’m blue.

6.Everyday-Carly Comando. Warren introduced me to this song and I have been in love with it ever since. It is so stunning in it’s simplicity and elegance.

7.Clair de Lune. This is song is so beautiful and touching. No wonder it's famous.

8.Leaving Netherfield-Pride & Prejudice Soundtrack. This is one of my favorite soundtracks. It is so exquisite and there is no way to describe it.

What it Means to Me to Believe

Frequently I have been having a hard time with things that I believe in. This is not because I have a hard believing in certain things, but because I sometimes it makes others upset, mad, or they look down on me for these things. Now, I’m not going to tell you what my opinions are on these matters (you can ask me later) but, to be less vague some of these things include homosexual couples adopting, global warming, gay marriage, gun control, and more.

I was having a conversation with one of my friends a while ago and was telling him how I felt guilty for the way I felt in my heart. Everyone around me feels so discussed and angry at something, and in my heart, I know that it is not what they think. He told reminded me (as he always does) not to get upset and emotional because it’s okay to think the way that I do. It’s times like these that I know how it feels to be overwhelmed by the world and give up in what I believe. I know that this is not the right thing to do though.

If all of us gave up on what we believed in, no matter how small, nothing would be great in this world. No one would ever be happy, or enjoy life. There would be no passion, art, books, good food, love, and more. It is this that keeps me going and makes me continue to believe in the things that are hard. Someday, I know that I will be glad for listening to my heart and not falling into the world. I encourage all of you to continue to believe in the things that you do. It makes us all who we really are.

Habitually Beautiful

Hello amazing readers! I just wanted to remind you all of my second blog Habitually Beautiful. Check it out here. I haven't been posting a lot of pics on it recently because I've been very busy lately but I promise that has changed! It only takes ten seconds to look at and i'll be updating it about every other day. I just want to show you things that I find beautiful, inspiring, life changing (at least for me) and more. I would love to see what you think too, so leave a comment! Thanks a ton.

~Lindz

The 4th of July

Reasons I love the 4th of July

1.Camping out- Every year I get a group of my friends together and camp out for the 4th of july parade in front of Provo High School. We spend all night playing games, reading books out loud to each other, eating thousands of pixie sticks and then leaving in the morning before the parade starts to go home and watch it on T.V.
2.Jake coming down- My cousin/brother comes down every 4th of July no matter what. I love him so much and spending time with him is always the best thing!
3.Seedless Watermelon- Do I need to say anything more?
4.Watching the fireworks from my grandmother’s house above the temple.
5.Tons of people coming into town- although the traffic sucks I love seeing new faces everywhere!

Reasons I hate the 4th of July

1.Political Arguments- Whenever you get my father and his brother’s together they spend about 8 hours a day having different versions of this conversations...
“Dave, Bush is a moron! Did you even listen to what he said about ______?”
“Rick, you know Bush is right! Glen Beck said _______!”
2.Jello Salad-I believe only certain things should be put into multi colored gelatin and that does not include the entire contents of your fridge.
3.The tinny boppers that come to sing at the Stadium of Fire in Provo. Do we really need to give pre-teen girls more reasons to freak out and scream?
4.Flags everywhere- I think it’s great to be patriotic but do you need flags covering your windows so you can’t see when you cut me off? Do you need them in paint all over your body? Do you realize paint just makes your skin a different color and it doesn’t actually cover things we don’t want to see?
5.Not being in town for the fireworks- I’ll miss it this year.

France Log 3 (The last of my travel posts)

Sorry It's messed up some how it will only paste all messed up.

Day Ten-Isola 2000

7/1/2009
Wednesday

Another day spend hiking. It was so amazing. I climbed almost to the top of a huge
mountain and sat there breathing in the fresh french air. I brought my note book and
wrote down a ton of great ideas and things that I’ve been thinking a lot about on this trip.
This trip has been a great way to figure a lot of things out. And somehow it also has
made me feel a lot more confident about feeling confused and scared about the future.
I have now been converted to going to the mountains to think. I’m glad that I’m
surrounded by them at home. I keep looking up at the mountains and think that I
am already home. Good thing I still have 4 more days:)

Day Eleven-Nice and Monaco
7/2/2009
Thursday

Nice (pronounced Niece) one of the best places to visit in France. It is located on the
Mediterranean coast and super beautiful. It’s kinda over populated, full of miniature
poodles, and run by the mafia but it’s once you get there it’s flaws turn more into cute
perks because one is overcome but the awesomeness of it. The street that parallels the
coast is called the Pramenad de Englaise and is full of all the french who are not skinny
and feel no need to cover any of their bodies with any kind of fabric, unless (and only on
occasion) it is spandex, bright and very very small. The shops by the coast are all a
tourist trap but if you go back a few blocks you can find amazing small little cafes. We ate
at the X Treme Cafe and had an amazing meal while MJ played softly in the background.
After, we went to the Musee do Beaux Art or the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a blast to
see great works of art by hundreds of french artists. After that we headed towards
Monaco to see that famous Monte Carlo Casino. My father was slightly disapointed to not
see any of the hundreds of Tour de France bikers there, because the race starts from
there on sunday. We drove around enjoying the view for a hour or so and then headed
home. It was great and fun and I plan on spending at least a week there next time I come.

Day Eleven-Isola 2000
7/3/2009
Friday

Today was another day spent in Isola 2000. I hiked around a little bit but the weather
allow much exploring so I spend most of the day inside. I’ve been packing things up,
organizing souvenirs, and bonding with my mother and sister a little (which means
watching Gilmore Girl’s on my laptop). It’s been a nice day and a nice way to wrap up my
trip. We are leaving for Frankfurt tomorrow, a 8 hour drive and then staying at nice hotel
for the night until our flight on sunday. I’m excited but sad to be coming home. I’ll be really
excited to see my friends again, bake and cook some amazing food, eat meat (my sister
and now mother are vegetarians which makes every meal meatless), play cards and wear
shorts. I’m also kinda excited to go back to a messy room. It’s kinda sad to leave too
though. I’ve learned so much and experienced so many great places, people and things.
Two weeks was a perfect amount of time to be gone but later in my life I want to come
back and experience more. France and Germany are two great places that I hope
everyone can one day go to and experience.

France Log 2

Day Nine-Isola and St Saveur
6/30/2009
Tuesday

Driving around in France is amazing! I am so glad that we have decided to stay up the the alps. Although we may not be near enough to Paris to visit (one of the things I want to do in my life is to there) we could have not chosen a better place to stay. It is so beautiful here. The streets are tiny and every building is so old! The thing I love here is that people do not change there house and rebuild it they just do things to accent the beauty of it’s age. We stopped at St Saveur and walked around the small town (population 200) and went into the old churches one was completely dedicated to St Anne (Mary’s Mother). After we drove up to Isola (not Isola 2000 where we are staying but a town down below it) to have lunch at a little local cafe. Although it was very small, slightly dirty and smelled a little odd it had one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. It was just a 3 cheese sandwich, but it was three cheeses that I can’t pronounce, have ever heard of or will ever forget how good it was. They melted it in a piece of french bread (panini style) and it was amazing! We also ordered a salad and it literally looked like it was a sandwich without the bread. Whole pieces of cheese tomatoes and more. After we drove up the highest drive in Europe. It was so beautiful! It was also raining with tons of lightning and thunders. In fact, it was striking so close we could literally smell the smell of fire and burning when ever it struck. It was incredible and surprisingly not very scary. I was more awestruck than anything. Oh there are so many people I wish could have experienced this with me!

France Log

France-Alpes-Cote d'Azur,

Day Seven-Isola 2000
6/28/2009
Sunday

After a long 13 hour drive our family decided (well everyone but me) to spend a day relaxing and resting. I took a few walks around enjoying the amazing mountains. We are staying in small resort located in a small ski town. It is all mostly just hotels and restaurants here but I can’t imagine more than 50-100 hundred people living here. The mountains take my breath away and I can’t wait to hike them tomorrow!

Day Eight-Isola 2000
6/29/2009
Monday

I slept in until eleven after having a crazy dream. I hadn’t slept in so late since this trip. I woke up took a quick shower and didn’t even put on make up or let my hair dry before rushing out the door to hike the amazing French Alps. I searched around the mountains forever finding tons of trails but one caught my eye. It was mostly covered in grass (which is very odd for a mountain trail) and decided to follow. I had brought my iPod with me and was listening to classical music as I hiked along looking at all the beautiful trees, failing to name which kind they were. I guess the tree tour and I did early this summer with Warren didn't stick. Anyway, I climbed over 3 fallen trees and on the last one looked up to see an amazing waterfall. About 75 yards away from that was this amazing stone bridge covered in moss that crossed the beautiful stream. It was so remarkably beautiful. It was a place I will never forget. I sat there for almost an hour just thinking and basking in it’s glory. I love France.

Germany Log 3

Day five Trip to Nurnberg
6/26/2009
Friday

Day five of our trip was my birthday! We decided to go to Nurnburg. When my father was 17 he took a trip and stayed with a family in Nurnberg as a exchange student for 3 months and was very excited to return. He felt that this place held a lot of great memories and is where he really learned to love to travel, which is now such a major part of his life. The Hauptmarkt is a market in front of the amazing church, Frauenkirche, and the Gothic Schoner Brunnen (beautiful fountain). The fountain was originally supposed to be put on the church as it’s steeple but the architect was never paid and so he left it in a square and turned it into a fountain.
After we went to Albrecht Durer’s house. I was extremely excited for this because I have wanted to go ever since my freshman year german class when I did a huge project on Albrecht Durer. I love his work and it was great to see his house. He lived in this house from 1509-1528. On the three-hundredth anniversary of his death the town bought his house and it has been slightly reconstructed. It was still great to see a printing press from that town and a woman who demonstrated how he would have engraved things.
While in Nurnburg we also went to Kirche St Sebald, one of the oldest churches in Nurnburg built 1230-1273. We also drove past Dkumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelande (say that 3 times fast) a unfinished building from the Nazi era. Nurnberg was beautiful fun and for the first time since i’ve been here warm!

Day six car ride to France through Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.
6/27/2009
Saturday

On our way to France we drove through many places. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop long at any of the places such as Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein is the magnificent fairy tale castle built in 1i869-86 by the crazy Bavarian Kin Ludwig II. It is located halfway up a amazing mountain looking out over the Schwansee (Swan Lake). I’m glad we were able to see it but I had really wished to go in.
We also drove past Dachau the concentration camp. It brought up a long conversation about how the Germans reacted to Hitler and WWII and such. Dachau was hardly on the outskirts of town and people would have walked by it everyday. It’s hard to think how it would feel to live so close to something so horrible and not know how or what to do and believe.
We also drove through Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. It’s so beautiful and here. The mountains remind me of Utah and the forests remind me of New Hampshire. I love it here and the drive, although very long, was miraculous. It felt as though two weeks was plenty enough time here but it feels as though I’ve hardly seen anything. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to see it now even if it feels like no time at all.

Germany Log 2

Day three trip to Strabing
6/24/2009
Wednesday

This day my mother’s hip was hurting her a lot and so we decided to go the the Staubing Zoo. It was lots of fun. As we went through my mother was very excited to see the tigers. We were about 3 feet away from them and when they went inside to eat one put his paws up on the glass and pawed it at us. I got to pet some of the goats and do the falamaco with the flamingos. It was a good relaxing and fun day.

Day Four trip to Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen.
6/25/2009
Thursday

This day my mother and sister were feeling sick and so my father and I decided to head out by ourselves and go up to Wurzburg (one of the three places on my list to go). Unfortunately, we never quite made if because we spent too much time im Dinkelsbuhl but it was still a great trip. Dinkelsbuhl is a old Fraconian town and one of the best preserved medieval urban complexes in Germany. There are walls that surround the whole city. They have many towers but the 4 most famous are Wornitzer, Nordlinger, Seringer and Rothenburger Tor. Dinkelsbuhl also has an amazing house called the Deutsch Haus which is across from St. George’s Church dating back to 1500. This is an amzing and picturesque town. Before we left, my father and I stopped into a small cafe for lunch and a street dog ran in and came running up to us. Eventually the owner came over and took him out, but not before we could give the wet beast some love.
On our way home we decided to stop at Nordlingen. It was a free town during the Middle Ages of the Holy Roman Empire and is in the Reis Basin, which is an immense crater formed millions of years ago by a meteor strike. My father and I walked around the intire fortification walls that surround the entire city. It was 15 towers, dating from the 14th to the 15th centuries. It was a blast but I especially loved spending the day alone with my father.

Germany Log

I am going to be updating my blog about everyday with the places I've gone and things I've done in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. It's more of a travel log than blog posts but I really want to share it with you guys. Some are kinda long and most are dull and I do not expect anyone to really read them all. I'm more posting them more for myself. I'm going to start with the first couple of days and move from there to now. I hope you enjoy!

Germany-Bavaria

Day one trip to Passue
6/22/2009
Monday

Passue is surrounded by tons of old Gothic walls. It includes and amazing tower called Schaiblingsturn, build in 1250. The town of Passue, like most european towns, are busy and modern, but everywhere you go you can see remainders of old churches, houses, bridges and more. My family spent the majority of our time at the amazing Dom St Stephan, or St. Steven’s Cathedral. It was built by and amazing Italian architect Carlo Lurago to replace the original Gothic structure that was destroyed in the 17th century but a fire. I find it very sad that many of these great buildings were destroyed, at least partially, by either fire or bombs. We also visited Altes Rathouse, the old town hall dating from 145h-15th century with it’s large Neo-Gothic tower. It was a great town to start my trip with!

Day two trip to Bamberg
6/23/2009
Tuesday

Bamberg is amazing! Our day started out at the Bamberg Cathedral. It was very large and very early French-Gothic. It was built in 1211-1237 but the cloisers were built between 1399-1457. It holds the only papal grave in Germany, where Pope Clement II (who had be the local bishop) rests. This cathedral holds a very famous statue the “Bamberg Rider”. It is a very simple statue of a man on a horse but is famous for being the first statue in German cathedrals to be 3 demential, an accurate size, and it was nature and realistic looking. The Bamberg Cathedral also housed the amazing Tomb of Heinrich II and Kunigunde. It has stories from their life carved on the outside of their sarcophagus. One tells of a time Kunigunde was giving wages to workers and one took more than he earned and it burt red hot in his hand and he was forced to give it all back. The Marian Altar by Veit Stoss and the Marienpforte (stonework that adorns the main enterance with images of the Last Judgement) are also amazing things in the Bamberg Cathedral.
In Bamberg there is the amazing Neue Residenz und Staatsgalerie built in 1695-1704 created by Johann Leonhard and holds amazing artwork by Melchior Steidl. It also has one of the most amazing rose gardens I have ever been to.
Bamberg also has many great ice cream resurants that have odd flavors like cinnamon and chili truffle. A great day and beautiful place.

Bamberg

I was born in Bamberg Germany on June 26th 1989. It has been 20 years since then and revisiting it was an incredible experience. As we entered the town I felt like I should experience some sort nostalgia or anything. I guess I wasn’t so surprised when I got there to feel nothing but excitement (as I do with every new European town I visit). In fact, it was probably my father, who has been to Bamberg before, who was the most excited and nostalgic. We had a hard time finding our way around (mainly because our GPS sucks) but we were able to make it to see everything we wanted to see. The Bamberg Cathedral beautiful and full of amazing sculptures and wood carvings. The most amazing thing to me was that there was history popping out everywhere. For instance on our way to find myself a necklace (a token of remembrance) we passed Hegel’s house surrounded by 3 churches. I’m so glad to have gone and checked off one thing off my list of things do to in my life time.

Woman vs World

(Thank you Warren for the title)

As most of you know right now I should be on a flight to Germany right now, but due to weather problems I was not able to make my connecting flight because my plane from Salt Lake to Chicago was 6 hours late getting into the air. I have been so stressed and freaked out (mainly because I don’t have a way to get in touch with family in England that I’m supposed to meet at the airport) but I think it will be okay. Thanks to a very nice travel agent I am staying in an amazing hotel instead of sleeping next to the hundreds of people sleeping on cots in the airport free. Also, thanks to Warren I am still going. Warren has been so much of a help and has been talking me through this stressful time. After my flight was delayed he stayed with me in Salt Lake for hours and made sure that my flight and everything was correct. He is my messenger to my family with all of my flight info and everything and really is my hero forever. If it wasn’t for him I think I would have got the next ticket to Salt Lake and come home. Thank you Warren and wish me luck tomorrow! I now have to go from Chicago to LaGuardia NY, to JFK NY, to London Heathrow and then finally make it to Germany on Sunday morning.