Christmas...

this year has been so different than any other year. First of all, it is the first Christmas I have been away from home. I am really far away from home...was in Finland for Christmas eve and day. I had the privilege and honor to experience a traditional Swedish Christmas, in Finland. I ate the most expensive thing I will ever eat in my life...CAVIAR!! I was scared, but always enjoy trying new foods. And it wasn't bad because we ate it on top of toast, mixed with sour cream and onions...so those two things help mask the taste of the fish eggs. good thing too. I also ate Salmon and Salmon pate, not sure if that is spelled right. anyways, now I'm in Stockholm, Sweden at Christina's house. Her mom flew in today also and tonight we went into the city to walk around. It was very beautiful with the city lights reflecting on the water. It was much colder than I'm used to in Spain, but much warmer than the frozen tundra of MN! So, the next 3 days we will be exploring Stockholm and eating yummy Swedish food. One thing I was dissappointed in was the Christmas porrage had an almond in it and whoever got it in their bowl would have the luck of getting married next. I didn't get it. Neither did Christina. I think Alex, the 2 year old did. He's darling, he won't have problems getting a lady when he's old enough. Oh yeah, I also really enjoyed playing with the kids...there were 6! My favorite of course were Christina's 3 kids that she nannys for. I got to be auntie Crystal for a while and hold baby Amanda and play with the boys. What a great treat!! okay, I better go. Maybe before we leave for Germany on Tuesday I can write, if not, you'll hear from me next year!!
Happy New Year!!!! I can't believe 2009 is almost here!

Christmas Vacation...

this year has been so different than

Brand new YouTube Videos!!

Yes, I finally have some videos that I made especially for Christmas for my friends, family and supporters! Check it out...www.youtube.com/user/CrystalLeigh7

Christmas Decor!

This is what I came up with for decor during the holidays. My lights really make me happy when all the other lights are off. It's so pretty and festive!

Sad...

because the strength of the DOLLAR continues to weaken! In the last week or so, it has gone from 1.28 to 1.409! That's a loss of over 10 cents per euro I take out or spend! Man, this means my Christmas holiday vacation is going to be more expensive for me! Sadness. I pray the Euro gets weaker and the dollar gets strong, like it once was!

Happy...

Wow! It's so hard to believe that today is the 16th of December! Where have the days gone? I'm happy to be in warmer weather right now. I have Minneapolis' weather on my desktop just so I know what I'm missing, and just to give you a feel of the difference in weather, this Saturday shows it we will have a high of 56 degrees and Minneapolis is 11 degrees! And right now it's -10 degrees (although it's in the middle of the night) in MN and 37 here!! It does get chilly when the sun goes down...but not so cold that my nose and boogies freeze up! :)

I am also excited to have a WHITE Christmas, at least, I'm assuming Finland and Sweden are going to have snow! I want to go sledding with the kid's Christina takes care of! 

Red, Hot, Holland Shoes!

Okay, so I know I've made many posts today, but while I remembered I wanted to post the pics of my new shoes! Yes, I got them in Amsterdam! They had my size (it's harder to find my size in Spain, and they were a good price!) I wore them on Sunday and felt so good in them! What do you think?

A picture is worth a thousand words!

It's true...check out my three new photo albums at the links to the right. I posted Holland, Romanian wedding and Bethany's visit pictures.

Letters are ready...

This week I've been working on getting my newsletters and Christmas cards written, typed and printed. I'm finally done! My hand is sore, I hate writing and I have horrible penmanship! Plus, lately my pointer finger on my right hand has been sore. I think something with the joints..I don't  know. I hope it gets better before too long. I have a lot of traveling coming up, which means lots of pictures to take! I also have Christmas gifts ready to be sent with someone who will be able to fit them into their luggage. I know the load for my family is going for sure with Kerry this Saturday, but I don't know about the packages for my friends. Sorry guys, some may not get sent until the end of December. I hope at least I can have them all sent with Michael by then. If not...we'll see. Shipping things from here is ridiculously expensive (I hear) and would probably take awhile. 

New Header...

who likes it?! I took the picture last night at our IMM Christmas Party! Yeah for Christmas! Thank you God, for sending your one and only son to be born and die for us. We so do not deserve it! (But are more than happy to accept it and hopefully live our lives to glorify you in all we do!)

Memories of the past 2 weekends!

Me in the Dam Square.

In the Dam Square, there were sooo many pigeons/birds and as Alicia and I ate our fries, they seriously hovered us. I felt attacked. They would fly up close to our heads...I was freaking out! 

Typical Holland architecture, buildings and city layout.

We took a ferry to a Windmill Park. It was super cold (not freezing like MN, but much colder than Spain), as you can see we tried to stay warm. 

Working it with my cute, new hat in front of the windmills!

LEKKER!! Stroopwafels! Or in English, syrup waffles...so yummy! I ate 2 that day!

Two weekends ago my friend Bethany flew down from Ireland. We took her to Segovia. Below is Moises and Tiffany, my friends here.

Segovia is famous for it's suckling pig, pictured below. Moi ate it for lunch. I tried a bit, it was actually good.

Me and Beth in Plaza Mayor in Madrid.

4 months!!

Wow! It is hard to believe that I have been working at IMM and living in Spain for 4 months! This means I only have 20 months left! Time flies when you get old and are trying to have fun. Well, I have had fun here. I enjoy the peeps I live and work with. My friends from church are nice. I'm going to be in a Christmas play with the young adults at church....I'm kind of nervous...I hate being in front of people and we haven't even practiced yet (not to mention I am not fluent in Spanish, and I need to memorize lines)!! I was blessed to go to Holland for Thanksgiving weekend to be with family friends. The weekend before my friend Bethany flew down from Ireland! I got to show her around Madrid and we went to Segovia with two other friends of mine. It was a great weekend! I'm tired now. By the way, stay tuned for pics of my weekend with Beth and Holland, I will try to get them up here this week. I have so much to do though: unpack, laundry, clean, decorate for Christmas, get ready for the IMM Christmas party this weekend, work on a family Christmas letter and picture collage, try to plan and book hostels for my Christmas break travels with Christina, finish buying Christmas presents and package them to get ready to send with my friend to mail in the states, etc. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...it was snowing this morning!! It wasn't much and didn't stay, but it was hard to believe snow flakes in Spain! Welcome December!!!