Day 4-5

The last couple of days have been busy doing museum interviews and observations. Last night I saw the Sex and the City 2 movie, my response is hmmmm...It was a feast for the eyes, but the lines were a tad corny. Sorry! I love Sex and the City and was a bit disappointed. Maybe I need to see it again and give it another try. Parts were really great but the karaoke scene was way dorky.

Anyways I am leaving at 5:30 am for Prague just for the day. A 4 hour train ride each way, but I think totally worth it. I will be safe and I am traveling with another girl from the program.

love
Leah

Day 3-Berlin

Why does one whisper when they speak another language they don’t really know? I know all of you have done it before. I have been cracking myself up while in Berlin because even though I know the German words for please, thank you, and your welcome, it never fails that every time I have to use one of these words I end up whispering it at the person, so they never hear it. I must seem like a rude American. I guess I just have foreign language stage freight. When Paul and I were in Italy 3 years ago we would do they same thing and we laughed about it all the time.

Anyways, yesterday was the Cold War Tour. We had a fabulous tour guide who was quite the academic and highly knowledgeable about the history of Berlin. We were able to see the Berlin Wall and the display of the death strip. I was in awe at the stories he told and how horrible it must have been for the people living in East Berlin that were willing to risk death to leave the communist reign.

I saw a poster for Rammstein (some heavy hard core German rock group that my husband likes) and they had a concert last night. I wanted to go just to make Paul proud but we couldn’t figure out where it was-sorry honey. I can only imagine how scary the concert would have been.

The city is very beautiful. The architecture is amazing-lots of neoclassical, baroque, modern, it is a fun mix of styles, but somehow it goes together nicely.

Today we had to do one of 4 museum observations. It was a lot of work. We were at the New National Gallery for over 4 hours. The Gallery is interesting. Meis Van Der Roe designed it, kind of like Frank Lloyed Wright style. The gallery is very modern art with different colored walls for different exhibits and lots of propoganda art pushing an ideal and very political. I found it fascinating and thought provoking.

I also got to go to the KaDeWe which is the Harrod’s of Berlin (think the fanciest department store you have ever seen.) It was fun but I couldn’t afford a single thing. We also went to the Berlin Philharmonic and saw an amazing concert of Handel’s Water Music (I think that is what it was called---it was in German, sorry Mom I know you will be disappointed that I don’t know what stuff Handel did). I was so tired from the past few days that I kept nodding off, the music was so beautiful that it was putting me to sleep.

I am off to bed now. I am exhausted- a big day ahead tomorrow. We have a tour of Museum Island and another museum observation.

Love

Leah

Day 1 and 2 in Berlin

Check out my photos so far.

http://picasaweb.google.com/leahstone17/BerlinDay1CityBusTour#

Today is Monday, May 24, 2010. I arrived in Berlin yesterday at 8:20 am and after a short taxi ride, made it to the Hotel Ansbach around 9:00 am. Sadly I didn’t pack a pillow and a memory foam pad (J) as the bed really sucks. It rock hard and our pillow consists of a wad of sheets folded in half. I don’t think the bed has bed bugs though (at least I hope). At least I didn’t wake up with any bug bites. I have experience bed bugs before, at a convent in Italy, and it was disgusting.

After unpacking our bags and a much-needed shower, my roommate Stella and I went down for a free continental breakfast. It seemed a bit disgusting that cod and salami was served for breakfast, but Iuckily there was other options like cheese, yogurt, and cereal.

After breakfast I went for a walk and took lots of pictures and my roommate went to the room for a nap. I followed suit a little later. At 4:45 pm the whole group met up at the hotel lobby to take a bus tour of the city. It was so fascinating. Our tour guide was this cute German guy with a hot accent so I paid extra attention. I sat in the front of the bus so I wouldn’t get motion sick and so I had a great view of the city. We drove all around East and West Berlin. We drove past the Berlin Wall for just a quick second, and later we will go back again. Seeing the wall really amazed me and brought up emotions of sadness and wonderment of what it must have been like to have lived when the wall was up. We also saw Checkpoint Charlie, Museum Island and a million beautiful buildings. I am really in love with city and I have only been here 24 hours.

We ate an amazing dinner where I had spargel (white asparagus-which is currently in season and a delicacy in Germany) and schnitzel and potatoes. It was seriously so good. I was worried I would hate the food here, but so far I am impressed. The bar tender gave us all a free round of amoretto shots and my friend was excited that I gave it to him. He got tanked very quickly as beer is used like water here and mix that with a couple shots of hard liquor and I am sure life was good for him.

I slept well last night; full 8 hours. I don’t feel jet lagged anymore. Today we are going on a tour of the Cold War and I am so excited. I will blog and put photos on my picasa album for you all to see.

Most importantly, I will not be left out on May 27.

Love

Leah

I have Arrived

I made it safely to Berlin and feel like I have ran my head through a wall I am so tired. I arrived at 8:20 am Sunday morning and am forcing myself to stay awake to get over this horrible jet lag.

I am meeting my group in 2 hours. I might take a little nap-nothing to serious.

Auf Wiedersehen

Today I am leaving to Berlin. I am leaving the husband and the pups at home. I am nervous about not taking Charlie, but I think that it would be more stressful to explain to everyone in Germany that he is a service dog. Sadly the ADA doesn't follow you into foreign countries.

I am going to Berlin for a two week school program to study the art and museum management. I plan on eating lots of chocolate and avoiding nasty sausages.

If you know what I should eat or do on my free time please comment so I can enjoy.

Much love, Leah


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Spring has Sprung

I was down at the Mall yesterday to go to the National Gallery of Art and this was on my walk. These are Dogwood trees in bloom! Beautiful.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weather update

It's now 5:30 pm and snow just barely stopped. Take a look.









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Winter Wonderland

Washington DC is in a state of emergency! Paul and Jack are in heaven! I feel like I haven't moved from Utah!

It has snowed for the last 24 hours and is suppossed to continue for another 12 hours. We already have 2 feet out there.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas Time in Disneyland

For Christmas my (Leah's) parents gave the whole family a trip to Disneyland! Charlie and I met my family at the Long Beach airport and were so excited to see all of them. Counting myself and nieces and nephews and in-laws I believe there was 16 of us total (2 were MIA as they couldn't get work off, my bro-in-law Aaron and my hubby Paul--sad for them). How do you get 16 people from the airport to the hotel if the hotel doesn't offer a shuttle from the airport and you don't need to or want to rent lots of cars? By traveling in a quadruple stretched hummer limo---that's how!

Charlie wasn't so sure about the Disney Characters.

But he was definitely positive that he was a Prince and therefore deserved his own chariot!

Charlie deserved all royalty treatment since because of him I was given a special guest pass that allowed me to get in front of all the lines on all of the rides. I could get 6 people on the ride with me too. So I did a lot of riding on rides---I would ride a ride while someone sat with Charlie and I would take 6 people with me and then I would get 6 more people and do the ride again. Some rides Charlie could go on, like all the kid rides and Pirates of the Caribbean, but definitely not any of the roller-coasters or fast rides. So if anyone is planning a trip to Disneyland or Disneyworld---you should bring Charlie and me along with you. My nieces and nephews called Charlie the "Golden Special Pass"!

Disneyland was so amazing to me and Charlie--I was never discriminated against because I had a service dog. I actually saw about 5 or 6 other service dogs in the park during the 4 days we were there. Thanks Disneyland for being awesome!

I actually ran into my bestest friend Tracy while at Disneyland and also my sis-in-law (Paul's sis) Annaliese. It was fun to see both of them as well. I think they liked running into me even more because I took them on like 5 rides in an hour.

Overall, Disneyland was a blast with my family. We rang in the New Year at Disney and just had an amazing time. Mom and Dad you guys are so amazing for planning this great trip and thank you so so much!

xoxoxoxo much love xoxoxoxo

Check out the other photos on my Picasa page!

http://picasaweb.google.com/leahstone17

Recording of Leah singing Ave Maria

As a Sutliff Family Tradition (for all of you that don't know, Sutliff is Leah's maiden name), we have to prepare a talent for Christmas Eve to perform for the family. Leah usually does something musical and I take credit, but since we are far away this Christmas and away from family, Leah made a recording of herself singing "Ave Maria". She says "It is not perfect and I am not claiming it to be. I just really wanted to share this with my family and friends who have been bugging me to sing something for them. So here you go-please don't judge." (blah blah blah, Leah could make excuses forever about her voice- she is her own worse critic. I guess as a voice teacher it is hard not to be). Sutliff family, you can listen to it if you want during the talent show part of the evening-only if you want to.

Leah also put the song to a very beautiful video made by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints called "The Nativity." It took her a really long time to figure out how to do this, so for the sake of all her hard work and the opportunity to feel the Christmas Spirit, we suggest you check it out. We do not own the rights to the video- and hope it is okay that she did this and that she doesn't get into trouble!

We are sad we wont be able to see all of you this Christmas, but we will be thinking of you-- that we can promise. We are leaving today to drive to Canaan Valley in West Virginia to stay in the mountains at a Ski Resort from Christmas Eve-Dec 27 and then Leah will be flying to sunny California on December 28-January 1 to be with her fabulous family at Disneyland.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We are grateful for our Savior and the amazing family and friends He has given us to help us be better people. Thank you for being one of our special people.

With lots of Love---The Stone Family (Paul, Leah, Jack & Charlie)

Washington Dc Tree

Paul and I went to the DC tree tonight. It was literally glowing with LED lights. I now feel very festive and patriotic.

National Tree facts:
The tree lights and display were shut down for the past 3 days due to the past snow storm. This is the biggest storm to effect the National Tree in 83 years.

The Christmas season following President Kennedy's death, the tree lighting was postponed to Dec 22 to respect the 30 days of national mourning. ( Kennedy was shot on Nov 22)









Also, Paul has been wearing this ugly snowman sweater for the past week because he says he feels festive and he thinks it is comfortable. Paul originally bought this sweater for me for a $1.50 at a thrift store cause I had an ugly sweater party to go to. I think all along Paul was planning on buying it for himself to embarrass me in public.



Merry Christmas!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Hot Baker

(I stole this post from Shari Stone, I liked it so much. All photos by Shari Stone)

The area of Herdon is a quaint place with little streets and lots of little shops. Paul makes bread at Great Harvest between the hours of 4am and 12 noon. He rides his bikes through the woods and through the dell each morning. So if you live in the area go say hi to him and his crew. They will give you a free slice of bread to enjoy.

This is the Kneading Team of Great Harvest of Herdon. Kyle, Sally, Paul and James. They knead over 1000 loaves a day. Next week with the holiday they will pick up the time and pace up to 1500 loaves.

Paul, the Baker Man and his Cinnamon Roll Bread.

Paul kneading his orange cranberry size D loaves......................heheheheh! I don't know where he gets such skill cause I know he doesn't get that kind of full sized practice :)

Feeling Crafty

Paul and I survived Thanksgiving- luckily everyone brought some yummy food to share and Paul's mom cooked like Julia Child, so the food was fabulous. We had 20 people here, I guess 24 if you count all the kids too. We borrowed tables from the neighbors so everyone could fit in our family room. Thanks Shari for all your help!

Shari, Paul's mom, posing sexily for the camera while peeling sweet potatoes

The amazing 21 pound turkey bird

My Family Room filled from one end to the other with tables and chairs- real cozy!

I think we had at least 10 people at a time in the kitchen, lots of chaos, but lots of fun too.

Also, while Paul's mom was in town we did lots of sight seeing on the sunny days and lots of Martha Stewart type things on the rainy days. I sewed these pillow covers. For all of you who are laughing that I sewed, I want you to know that yes I own a sewing machine and yes I did these pillows all by myself. I also made window valences too! I know I know- amazing right?!

Here is my Christmas Tree- I love it. It is decorated like a May Pole. Shari did the ribbons and did a great job. I decorated the tree with all these old ornaments my Grandma Blanche Richards gave me as a little girl and added some fun colorful balls and such.

Also, check out my window valence in the background. Feel free to tell me how amazing I am. I hope everyone has their trees up and are ready for the Holiday. I am listening to Christmas music right now as I type this (Kristin Chenoweth's Christmas Album, song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" to be exact) sadly I wont be home for Christmas though. I'll be partying it up at Disneyland with my family after Christmas to bring in the New Year...Woot Woot...thanks Mom and Dad!

Love and miss all my friends and family.

xoxoxo

Ah To Be Charlie

Now that it is getting rainy and colder in Virginia, I have had to come up with a way to take Charlie with me, since he has to come with me as my seizure- alert service dog. I am going for trying to keep him warm and covered from the rain. Charlie has no undercoat and is freezing all the time.

I have tried

1. Sweaters: problem is they don't work cause Charlie pees on them and then they stink-plus his feet are always cold.

2. Baby sling: I sewed him a baby sling wrap thing, problem is that he is too fat to carry when walking the mile to the metro.

3. Dog stroller: I didn't actually get him one of these, but totally wanted one until I realized people would want to see my cute baby and out would pop Charlie.

4. Rolling scrapbook supply carrier (thanks Melissa for letting me steal this from you): this works perfectly. I can put my laptop and schoolbooks in here plus Charlie lays down inside with a blanket and is covered up from the rain. He is so spoiled. This way I don't look like too big of a rich babe/Paris Hilton wannabe cause no one can actually see him when I am pulling him around outside.

This is Charlie relaxing while I am in class.












If only I can get Paul to carry me around in a big rolling case with a blanket, my life would be complete.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I am Proud to Have a Brother who is Brave

This time of year always makes me think of family and having gratitude for those serving our country, especially those who will be away from loved ones this holiday season. While organizing photos, I saw this photo of my brother and knew I had to post it if not for the shear fact of showing off how handsome he looks in his uniform.

I am so proud of Aaron for serving our country. He is a honorable man and I am so amazed by his love for his family, country and for keeping America safe and free. He was in the 82nd Airborne Unit in the Army. For those of you who don't know what that is - it means my brother is a BAD ASS.

Here is the mission of the 82nd Airborne

"Within 18 hours of notification, strategically deploy, conduct forcible entry parachute assault and secure key objectives for follow-on military operations in support of U.S. national interests. No other military unit can respond more rapidly and effectively to conflict anywhere in the world than the 82nd Airborne Division. Known as "America's Guard of Honor," the 82nd is widely recognized as one of the most powerful forces in America's military arsenal."

So yes, my brother jumps out of airplanes.

Four years ago, Aaron was off fighting in Iraq over Christmas and it was so hard to not have him home. My heart goes out to all the families and soldiers who fight and are away this season. May God keep you safe and return you home to your families, just like He did for my family.

Aaron's son Hayden, Like Father like Son

Model for a Day

Paul's mom, Shari, came in town to spend time with Paul and I and we have been having a great time. Yesterday we went to Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. Shari is a fabulous photographer and she took a couple of headshots of me and all of these photos in this posting. Tell me what you think...which one is good enough to use on my website for teaching?

Other Pictures of us at Harper's Ferry

We also saw the movie "Julie & Julia" about Julia Child and a so we had to go the Museum of American History to see Julia Child's kitchen.

Ruby Slippers Judy Garland wore in the "Wizard of Oz"

Smithsonian
White House

Obama's Body Guard

Church in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Oh by the way...did I mention that Paul and I are having 19-20 people over for Thanksgiving in Virginia. Yikes! My party got bigger than expected, but hey the more the merrier I say --as long as there is room for everyone. Thank goodness I have Shari here to help me cook, or else it would be a huge disaster or burned turkey and lumpy gravy. I will keep you posted on how it goes.