Meet Me in Europe - Day 3

Friday, October 28  Chris and I breakfasted at the hotel restaurant.  I was impressed with the sheet of honey comb that was set out for us to use on cereal, toast, whatever.  It melted in my hot oatmeal.

We packed up our luggage and left it at the front desk for the day as we would be leaving for Belgium on the evening train.  Off to explore.

We had a boat tour set for 1:30 in the afternoon, so wandered around Amsterdam in the morning. I loved the architecture of the row houses, the large buildings, the canals, and the bridges.  It was all beautiful.  And I took plenty of pictures.  I'm not the best photographer always, so I just hoped they would turn out.  Seriously, when would I be back to Amsterdam? 

Since our hotel was located so close to the train station, there were bikes parked row on row.  Amsterdam is known as the bike capitol of the world, with 40% of all traffic movements by bicycle. They have created a bicycle friendly city and lots of bike parking.  And you had better watch out.

For lunch, we stopped at a little corner cafe, Cafe Wester, with outdoor seating.  Chris and I found a bench and waited to order.

The cafe was located across the street from the Anne Frank house.  The long lines were still there.  Our tour with Those Dam Boat Guys was supposed to start from Cafe Wester, so we ordered Bitterballen and hummus and bread to tide us over until later.  The bitterballen were freshly cooked, burning my tongue, but delicious.

Bitterballen (plural of bitterbal) are a Dutch meat-based snack, typically containing a mixture of beef or veal (minced or chopped), beef broth, butter, flour for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper, resulting in a thick roux. (Wikipedia)

Vincent from Those Dam Boat Guys met us at 1:30, waiting a bit for all of the passengers on the tour to arrive.  From there he walked us to our boat and tour guide, Marc.  We loaded on to a rented boat and were off for the next 1 1/2 hours, enjoying the tour and our guide immensely.

After we left the tour, we headed back to Dam Center.  We took a tour of the Royal Palace, located in the center of Amsterdam.

In our wandering back to the hotel found this cool pizza shop for dinner, De Pizza Bakkers.  We should have just shared one pizza like we did our salad, but thoroughly enjoyed dining together.

We hurried back to the Double Tree past the 100s of bikes along the way, both parked and being ridden.  We retrieved our luggage and quick-stepped it back to the train station.  It wasn't too far, but we had to navigate around the bikes and bikers.  We reached the train and car 15 and gratefully but tiredly sunk into the seats.  What a busy day.

We traveled to Antwerp first and then on to Ghent.  We hired a taxi to drive us to the Marriott driving on cobbled streets, through narrow passageways, switching one direction and back again.  I would have gotten lost.  But, we finally made it to the hotel, a modern white building in the heart of Ghent.  It was dark, so we didn't completely see the full enchantment that was Ghent.

Meet Me in Europe - Day 2

Thursday, October 27  Amsterdam.  So beautiful and green with just a few trees here and there starting to change with the season.  I was excited to leave the plane and head toward Immigration.  I got online with airport wifi to let Chris know that I had arrived.  His flight coming from Rome had been a little late as well and wouldn't you know I look up and he is standing on the other side of immigration texting me.  Look up!  He did and gave me the biggest smile.  I was through Immigration in no time to hug my sweetheart.  

Chris came down with a cold a couple of days earlier and had been suffering since then.  So just a hug and a cheek kiss to avoid me getting sick as well.  His luggage was arriving, though late, at carousel 12 and mine at carousel 16 down another long hall.  Nice that we could text now.  My luggage arrived before Chris', and I was out through customs in no time.  Chris followed on the other side of the airport and we met up at Burger King.

From there, we headed toward the train for a short trip into Amsterdam.  The ticket kiosks were up on the main level of the airport, so Chris ran back upstairs to buy tickets and then back down again as our train was about to depart.  It was a double decker train.  Our hotel was not too far from Amsterdam Centraal (Train Staion) at the Double Tree.  Unfortunately our room wasn't ready for early check in and Chris had to head back toward the airport for a meeting at another hotel.  I hung out for awhile in the Executive Lounge.  I had a ticket for the Anne Frank house at 1:30 pm, but my phone was low on power and I wanted to be able to charge it before leaving.  So I plugged in and sat down to wait, take some notes, and drink some diet Coke.

Once fully charged, I followed the Google Map directions to the Anne Frank house.  I could have never made it without Google Maps.  As it was, I sometimes made a wrong turn and then had to go back up a bit, see where the arrow was pointing on the map,  and head down another street in the opposite direction.  I am a directionally challenged individual.

I was grateful that Chris had booked my ticket ahead of time....only to find out as I tried to enter the museum that my ticket was actually for Friday at 1:30 pm.  Crap.  I didn't have anywhere else to be, and we had plans for Friday at 1:30 already.  So, here I went to stand in the queue for TWO HOURS!!! to wait in the overflow line that they allowed to enter the building at 3:30 pm.  The guy in the office said I could use tomorrow's ticket today if I waited in the queue.  Two long hours.  At least I had a wall to lean against and there was people to watch.  I checked my phone every so often, but Chris was presenting and the girls were still sleeping at home.

Finally at 3:30, the people in the queue were allowed in.  The line was forever and ever around the block.  I was just so grateful that I had gotten in the line when I did, I was only about 15 people back from the start. Photography was not allowed in the building, so no pictures.

All day long, I had this sense of Amsterdam 70, 80, 90 years ago.  What would it have been like then?  The people, the transportation, the clothes...the Nazi invasion and the upside down horror that came upon their lives?  As I walked through the factory with the hidden quarters above, I was somber.  I loved the experience, but it still weighed heavy on my heart.

It was much cooler later in the afternoon when I exited the Anne Frank house and headed back to the hotel following Google maps.  I may or may not have walked through the red light district following google directions....

Chris was delayed with his meetings, so I checked in to room 901 and took a much-appreciated shower.  So tired.  Must sleep.  Chris got to the room in time to keep me awake.  The view from our room.

We vegged for a bit and then headed downstairs to meet up with Chris' coworker and our friend, Jason Warfield.  One of the nicest, most genuine guys you could ever meet.  We hung out in the executive lounge chatting about our girls (his and ours) and snacking on appetizers.

I just couldn't stay awake after awhile, and we headed to bed.  Unfortunately, Amy called my phone accidentally at midnight.  Chris got up to answer it, but I was awake for a couple of hours. I hoped that it wouldn't keep me up all night long.  Gratefully, at some point, I fell back to sleep.

Meet Me in Europe - Day 1

Wednesday, October 26 - Kristen was missing me even before I left.  She sat on the stairs and waited for me while I exercised Tuesday evening and asked if I would drive her to school on Wednesday morning so that we would have more time to spend together.  I was happy to oblige, though I am glad that she normally rides the bus, and I don't have to do morning carpool drop off any longer.  I hugged my little girl goodbye as she bravely tried to keep the tears from sneaking out of her eyes.  And then she was gone.

Amy woke up late for seminary (on purpose) so that she could get in a little more sleeping.  She planned to come home and get ready for the day after dropping Misha off at school.  I cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, finalized my packing--pretty much passed time until I left for the airport at 10:15.

Then I received a text from Amy saying she need to have a form signed so that she could attend a choir performance, and it needed to be done before I left.  So I left a little early to head over to the school, hugging my oldest peep one more time and then off to the airport.  But wait, United sent me my first plane delayed notification--30 minutes, then 45, then 55, then back to 48. I was on the phone with Chris who checked to see if there was any other better options for me.  I originally had a two hour lay over in Chicago and felt that I would still be fine with the delay.

I parked in the garage at the airport and headed in to the United Premier check in just to make sure that there weren't any further delays that might affect my layover in Chicago.  I had checked in on my iPhone app and linked my passport to my boarding pass.  From then on, it was pretty slick.  Well, except for the fact that I couldn't remember putting deodorant on that morning.  With as much as flying on my own made me nervous, I thought it a good plan to pull off to the side of the hallway, find my deodorant in my suitcase and apply before heading through security.  I'm sure the people at the airport have seen crazier things.  I just used my boarding pass on the iPhone to get through security and to board.  And.....I got to I use TSA Pre-check!  This global entry stuff was slick.  No removing shoes.  No removing jackets.  No removing liquids from my carry-ons. Slick.  As I reached the B Concourse and headed up the escalators, the dude in front of me wasn't paying attention to the back side swing of his backpack and nearly knocked me down the escalator.  That's okay, he didn't see a thing.

I arrived at the B Concourse with plenty of time to wait in the United Club lounge.  Fortunately they provided a bit of lunch since I hadn't planned ahead too well for that.

Before I left home, I changed luggage at the last minute hoping not to have to check my larger bag.  I chose Amy's smaller case ; I had to unzip the extender to make it bigger.  So just before I boarded to Chicago, one of the gate attendants told me that I would have to check at the end of the jet way because my bag was too wide.  Drats.  Oh well, they checked it all the way through to Amsterdam for me.

Once boarded, I settled in to my seat and prepared for a short hop to Chicago.

I watched Me Before You.  Before leaving for Chicago, I asked Chris for advice on getting to my gate at Chicago since I have not spent much time at the airport.  As we landed the flight crew asked anyone with a tight connection to turn on their attendant button so that others around them could let them off the plane first.  That didn't happen and people crowded in the aisles the moment we stopped at the gate.  Fortunately I was near the front, but I felt badly for the people at the back of the plane.  Add to that, it took about ten minutes for the gate crew at Chicago to attach the jet way so that we could deplane.

I still had time to spare even with the late departure and the jet way snafu.  I took off down the B Concourse, down the escalator to C Concourse, and along the moving walkway.  I got to board in boarding group 1 and settled in to my lovely first class seat (Thanks Chris!) ready for a 7 1/2 hour flight to Amsterdam.  We then sat and waited for passengers connecting from other flights whose planes had arrived late.  No need to have rushed.

My seat mate pretty much kept to herself which was fine. I took a few notes and then spent the next couple of hours watching movies--My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and Miracles From Heaven. I put my bed in to the sleep position, which was fabulous for flying, but never really fell into a deep sleep.  I probably dozed here and there, but not too much.  My seat mate seemed to have zonked but that was not surprising since she started off the flight with two glasses of champagne and just kept on drinking every time something was served.

It was 8 am when I asked the flight attendant for the local time.  Happy news since my flight landed shortly after 9 am.  I got to watch the sunrise through the clouds.  I also took the opportunity to brush my teeth in the bathroom, fix my hair (though I realized at this moment that I had a lame hairspray sprayer that just glopped spray on to my hair.  Poop.) As we neared Amsterdam, the clouds cleared out, morning dawned, and I spied a windmill farm in the ocean.

The pilot made up time in the flight over and we pulled in only 25 minutes late.  As we taxied to the gate, it seemed as though we were out for a Sunday drive.  Twenty minutes to the gate.  And then another ten minutes to connect the jet way.  Amsterdam was beautiful and green.

Amy's Brain Project

I thought it pretty clever how Amy had a project to complete in Psychology--a model of the brain--and she used Rice Krispie treats, brownies, and candy.  Perhaps the extra credit for bringing treats on Monday inspired her creations.  A little brain food...

Stay Little

I updated Kristen's school photo this morning, adding the newest photo to the stack of school photos in the picture frame.  My heart gave a little lurch as I looked back through the years as my little peep has grown.  Stop growing up!

Miracles and the Goodness of God

A couple of nights before Chris came home from his last trip to India and Japan, he texted me that he thought he might have another kidney stone.  Oh, my heart sank.  Chris was getting ready for bed (about 7 am Colorado time), and mentioned that he was experiencing a lot of the tell-tale signs. After watching him experience a kidney stone last year and taking him to the ER, ahhhh, my heart was so overcome with worry, and prayer, and wishing that I could do something more. While Chris slept through the night in Japan, I asked family to pray for him. I prayed for him. I had a prayer in my heart throughout the whole day. I finally heard from him at 2 pm Colorado time. He woke up feeling fine. He handled his meetings like a rock star and returned home without any of the effects and has had no problems since.

His next trip to Europe had him leaving home four days later.  His body was so messed up.  He arrived in Manchester after a couple of days in London.  Most people like to think that Chris' travel is glamorous, but when he talks to me after finally arriving to his hotel room after 9 or 10 in the evening, exhausted, having missed lunch, and now waiting for room service to bring food, I know the traveling life is not so glamorous.

After I chatted with him for a bit and then said goodnight, I got a text a short time later, "I just threw up!"  He had just taken a sleeping pill, and didn't even remember half of the experience.  He said he felt better and then was asleep for the night.  Sometimes he gives me a lot of cause to worry.  The miracle was that the next morning he woke feeling refreshed and ready to go.

After a flight to Lisbon, Portugal a couple of days later, I received a text from Chris that went something like this:

Crap!!!!!
I left my iPad on the airplane.

Sometimes I just have to ask God to take over because across the ocean, there's so little that I can do.  Except I prayed.  My girls prayed.  Chris prayed...and made phone calls.

Chris Kline:
    they said they have it!
    I’m headed back to airport this morning to pick it up.  Cross fingers
    I got it!!
    Yay!  A good day
Jolayne Kline:
    I'm so glad
Chris Kline:
    me too
    blessing
Jolayne Kline:
    Lots of answered prayers and miracles for you lately.
Chris Kline:
    yes, for sure
    It’s been on my mind
 

Miracles happen.  God is good.

Makeup and Misha

It was Friday night and Misha, Amy, and I were home.  The girls were bored; Amy announced that she was going to put makeup on Misha.  Misha protested.  I urged her to let Amy have some fun.  I then listened to the complaining and the "hold still" comments for the next thirty minutes while Amy worked away.

Misha came down to show me the results.  Not too shabby girl!

Misha can do a great grumpy cat face.

Morning Fog

I postponed getting ready this morning so that I could get some pictures of the sun rising and the fog lifting from the river and creeping up over the bank to the lake.  It was pretty amazing.

Before sunrise

After sunrise

Misha's Final Brace Removal

To say this girl was excited to go to the orthodontist was an understatement.  She was so ready to have her braces removed.  I picked her up and signed her out of school in the morning and headed to the orthodontist's office.  We arrived a little early, but it was quiet in the office so they got started on her right away.

While she sat to have the braces removed, I went for a walk along the Firestone Trail and then back around Milavec Lake.  I was just about back to the office 50 minutes later when Misha texted me that they were done.  Actually, they were still finishing up her retainers, but she was now braces-free and all smiles.  Isn't she stunning?

Happy Birthday Chris

One of the blessings this weekend besides the Fort Collins Temple Dedication and Cultural Celebration was having Christopher home to celebrate his birthday.  I can't begin to tell you how grateful we are to have this giant of man in our lives.  He is exceptionally talented in his career, but equally talented at being Dad and Husband.  Those are roles he excels at the most, and the girls in his life are thankful for him.

Kristen began the morning by sliding this sweet note under our bedroom door:

She tried to dye the frosting for the orange rolls purple.  Hmmmm.

And yes, it does look as though he has a chandelier growing out of his head!

He makes 41 look fantastic.

I made a pumpkin dessert for his "cake".  It is a favorite for all of the family and some have wanted to dig into it all day long.

Misha made soft pretzels.

Happy Birthday sweetheart.  You are loved.

Fort Collins Temple Dedication

After a busy, beautiful weekend, it was wonderful to be a part of the Fort Collins Temple Dedication.   The sessions today were at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm.  We chose the 12 pm session to give the girls a chance to sleep in a little from their busy day yesterday.  We left for the Stake Center around 10:30 am, arriving a little before the doors were opened at 11 am.  Such a beautiful meeting and I was grateful that my daughters were again touched by the spirit of the temple.

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased these white handkerchiefs from Etsy.com.  The girls were thrilled to have them, Kristen asking, "Do we get to keep them?"  I hope they do keep them as mementos as well as always remember the spirit of this day.

Cultural Celebration

Chris, Kristen, and I drove up to Fort Collins to watch the girls and the youth of the Fort Collins temple district perform in the Cultural Celebration at CSU's Hugh Stadium.  The girls left the house at 7 am earlier in the day and had been practicing all day long.

We were excited to get seated.  We tried to pick out the girls in a sea of white shirts but let it suffice to text back and forth with them.  President Uchtdorf from the First Presidency and Elder Renlund from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were in attendance.  The youth were enthusiastic in their cheering as the men entered the stadium with their wives.

The first group of youth waited patiently on the field to begin the celebration while the rest of the youth waited in the stands.

Our stake's dance and performance was stellar and the kids did a fantastic job.

Lunches for HOPE

Our church ward and stake participated in a service project collecting donations for HOPE (Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement) for Longmont.  Our goal was to gather food for sack lunches for the homeless.  

 Annual Stake non-perishable food drive for HOPE for Longmont.

Each ward has a goal to collect and assemble 300 non-perishable meals for HOPE 

who delivers meals to the homeless in Longmont. WE can totally do this!! 

Our stake has supported this community outreach organization for the past 4 years.

Please sign up to contribute single serving items that include:

 protein, granola bars, fruit cups, and dessert. 

Amy and friends, many of them students who need service hours for the National Honor Society, gathered on Friday morning (Fall Break) to help assemble the meals and were finished in about an hour.  These were only a portion of the lunches.

Cowshed Smells

When Chris flies business class on United, he receives a pouch full of items to make the flight a little easier:  socks, eyepatch, travel-size toothpaste and brush, lotion, lip balm, ear plugs, etc.  It used to be that United provided products through Philosophy.  They changed a while back to a company called Cowshed.

Chris had a small lotion and lip balm on the counter from his latest trip to India and Japan.  Without realizing what I was saying until after I had said it, I commented, "I'm not really a fan of the Cowshed smell."  Chris looked at me and laughed.

Fall Break

Can you tell by the state of the mud room that my girls are grateful for a Fall Break?  Everything was dumped, no lunch bags or water bottles were removed, and it still looked like this today.

She's Taller

I measured Kristen last night and much to her delight, she was finally taller than her mom.  Ah well, I knew it was just a matter of time.  She grew three inches in the past year.

Pink Envelopes

Amy's favorite postal delivery of the month showed up yesterday in our mailnox--her Ipsy.com package.  She signed up for it about a year ago and loves the makeup samples and bag that come every month.  She might just be a little addicted to makeup.  Just a little bit.

Most Hated Change with iOS 10

I upgraded my iPhone when the new iOS 10 change came out and instantly wished that I hadn't.  Prior to the update, I could login by pushing the HOME BUTTON and holding my thumb on the home button for Touch ID.  With the update, I would also have to push the home button a second time.  It was annoying!  What was the point of fingerprint recognition?

Last night as I was scrolling through Facebook, I came upon an entry on How To Fix the Most Hated Update to iOS 10.  It gave a step by step guide on how to fix the problem.  So, I am going to tell you as well, so you can stop hating on iOS 10...at least that part of it.

Unlock your phone with the annoying press, touch, press routine.  It will be the last time...I promise.

Go to your Settings Icon and then select General

 
Scroll down to Accessibility and select it.

Scroll down until you see the Home Button.  Go ahead and select it.

And finally slide the toggle next to Rest Finger to Open to enable it.

So I had mentioned to Chris a number of times how much I disliked this feature.  When I mentioned to Misha last night that I was able to fix it and thinking I could help her fix her phone, she nonchalantly said, "Oh yeah, I fixed that last week."  Grrrrr.

Amazing Turn of Events

A couple of months ago, Chris had me apply for Global Entry and a Known Traveler Number to make travel easier.  It never seemed to fail that everyone in my family would get TSA Pre-check except for me on all of our trips.  I would end up waiting in line while the rest of the family breezed through security.

The application for Global Entry was under the direction of US Customs and Border Protection, through the Global Online Enrollment System.  It cost $100 to apply and if approved, the status would be good for five years.

Once I submitted the application, I waited for a conditional letter of approval which then prompted me to sign up for an interview where applications were approved or denied.  There were interview locations throughout the country; I chose Denver.  The earliest interview times, when I first looked, were scheduling in to February.  So I chose a time and set about to wait.

Chris suggested that I check back to see if there were any cancellations.  I checked at least once a day for a week, until finally there was a cancellation on October 13.  Without consulting my calendar, I accepted the 12:15 pm time.

You can imagine my amazement and surprise when I looked at my calendar to input the new time and realized it was also the exact time when Chris' flight from Japan was landing.  I would have been at the airport anyway to pick him up.

Yesterday, I left for the airport around 11:15 am.  It was about the same time Chris was texting me that his plane was over Mead, then Longmont, then our house.  I must have gotten outside too late, because I couldn't see his plane at all.  I didn't have time to run around to the back of the house to see if I could see him.  It would have made a great picture addition though, don't you agree?

Chris' flight was a little earlier getting in but the plane sat on the tarmac for awhile before people were allowed to deplane.  So as I was outside of the Federal Offices door next to the International Arrivals gate at Denver International Airport, Chris showed up having just retrieved his luggage.  He waited for me for less than ten minutes. My application was approved; I now have a Known Traveler Number which is linked to my passport and am set to go for my next trip.  I'm almost as cool as my traveler husband.

He Came Home

Chris arrived home from Japan. His flight left Japan around 5 pm on Thursday afternoon and he arrived in Colorado at noon on Thursday.  It was fortunate that he slept for most of the 9 1/2 hrs flight, falling asleep even before the first meal service was finished.

As we left the airport, he said to me, "I only want American food this weekend.  No noodles.  No rice.  And I want a gourmet burger tonight."  He had just spent the past week and a half in India and then Japan.

So, we went to Smashburger for dinner.  Not sure that I would classify the burgers as "gourmet", but it seemed to satisfy his craving quite nicely.

Amy had to work, but she was quick to give her hamburger request.  We detoured to the Rec Center to drop her dinner off on our way home.