August was full of traveling for me. First, I went to Brock University in St. Catherine's, Canada to meet with a colleague. I flew into Toronto and stayed in Niagara Falls. The university was about 20 minutes from my hotel, but over an hour to the airport. Trips like these make me love my job. The first morning I was there, I went for a jog along the North end of the Falls...those are the pictures of the falls through all the trees/brush. After my meeting, I went for a long walk along the main part of the Falls, on the Canadian side. I used to come here often when I was an undergrad in Buffalo. It was beautiful. I even caught an amazing glimpse of a rainbow over the top of the Falls. After I checked out of the hotel, I went to the Botanical Gardens and a Butterfly Conservatory. They have a huge horticulture school there, so the students are in charge of designing and maintaining the gardens. Sadly, on this trip, I got a call from my sister letting me know that my grandmother had passed away after having a heart attack. She lived a good, long life though...88 years!
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Conference in Madison, WI
I had to present at a conference in Madison, WI from August 19th-22nd. Once again, I had the opportunity to mix a little business with pleasure. There are pictures I took from the plan, and from my walk by the Marina. Madison is such a cute little town.
Elsie Taylor's Funeral
And sadly, we had to travel to New York for my maternal grandmother's funeral in Long Island on August 24th. It was a sad reason to go home, but it was great to see my family, especially my cousins who I haven't seen in over 15 years! They all still look the same!!! I'll post some pictures of my grandmother once I get them from my sister. She was an absolutely stunning woman. She even wore spiked heels until a few years ago. My aunt convinced my grandmother to wear flat shoes in her older years, and much to her chagrin, she relented.
My 33rd Birthday
And the final day of August was my birthday. Anthony took me out to one of my favorite restaurant's in town, a Korean BBQ. We had way too much to eat and ended with dessert at Rita's Italian Ice...mmmm. Not sure why he's making that silly face.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Long overdue pics from Sweden
I realize that the pictures that I posted from our Sweden trip disappeared into cyberspace, so until I can figure out an easy way to post to my blog from our Mac, feel free to see all the pictures from that vacation at Anthony's online photo album site (www.flickr.com/anthonystauffer). The albums are listed on the right, and I think "Sweden Vacation" is one of the first listed. There are LOTS of pictures, just to warn you.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Sweden
We are closing in on the end of our Sweden vacation. I had a conference in Norway at the end of June, so we decided to tack a vacation on the end of my conference to visit with Anthony's sister and her family in Sweden (next door to Norway). I was in Oslo, Norway for a week and then head over to Vannasby, Sweden at the end of the week (June 24th). Anthony arrived on the 25th. We spent a week with his sister Miki and her family (see pictures below for more info on them). Miki has lived in Sweden for 17 years...she met her husband, Kris on a missions trip 17 years ago, and she stayed!
We left their house yesterday (july 1st) and head over to Stockholm for some sightseeing for a few days.Stockholm is beautiful, and we couldn't have asked for a better day! It was warm and sunny...perfect! We have a few more places we want to see tomorrow, and then we're off to Pennsylvania on Wednesday. The pictures below can tell the rest of the story.
We left their house yesterday (july 1st) and head over to Stockholm for some sightseeing for a few days.Stockholm is beautiful, and we couldn't have asked for a better day! It was warm and sunny...perfect! We have a few more places we want to see tomorrow, and then we're off to Pennsylvania on Wednesday. The pictures below can tell the rest of the story.
Late evening ride
The sun doesn't fully set in Sweden during the summer...these pictures may have been taken around 8 or 9pm. We took quite a few walks and bike rides...I want a motorcycle after riding the hog!
Midnight ride
What should have been a midnight motorcycle ride turned into a midnight drive to see what midnight in Vannasby, Sweden looks like...ahhh, beautiful. This was actually our last night with Anthony's family, so I guess I'm working backwards.
Stress-free, if only for a little while
We've been soooooo relaxed here, staying up late and sleeping in...can you tell by the look on our faces? That second picture is cool, huh?
Favorite times
Some of our favorite times were hanging out on "outdoor furniture" like red necks in Kris and Miki's nice backyard. And of course, playing with sweet little Jackie, the dog...she went crazy over soda bottles.
Our hosts for the week
Our hosts...they fed us well. Bjorn is in the first picture, being silly, as usual (he wasn't really drinking). Katrina, looking beautiful, as usual. Kris and Miki, in the next set of pictures, laughing as usual.
Food and Fun!
These pictures sum up our past week...food and fun. Anthony's sister Miki, her husband Kris, their kids Katrina and Bjorn and their Jack Russell Terrier, Jackie, were excellent hosts. We ate a lot, drank a lot and laughed a lot. We had a blast.
Moose Farm!
Sweden is known for its moose. The male (bull) in the first picture is 9 years old. The calves in the other pictures are just a few weeks old. They were so cute!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
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I found this picture of Anthony from last year and I'm trying to figure out why he looked so angry! It must have been hot outside....or he was hungry...low blood sugar, yeah, that's it!
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I forgot to post pictures from our 4th anniversary. I remembered that all I had before was pictures from our wedding day!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Graduation parties
We went to 2 graduation parties this past weekend, one was for our Pastor's daughter, Joi , and the other was for Anthony's drummer's son, Devin.
Amazing yard
Anthony's drummer, Bennett and his wife, have an amazing backyard - 4.5 acres! It takes him 4 hours to mow it.
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Originally uploaded by anthonystaufferholysmoke
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Originally uploaded by anthonystaufferholysmoke
Horseshoes
Anthony played horseshoes for a while.
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Originally uploaded by anthonystaufferholysmoke
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Originally uploaded by anthonystaufferholysmoke
Dad and grad
Bennett gave a heartfelt speech about his son before they cut the cake...it was touching.
Joi the grad
Our pastors' daughter, Joi. She received a full athletic scholarship (volleyball) to attend a university in Michigan.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Back Home Again
I absolutely LOVE traveling, but I hate the process of traveling. I left Chile last night at 8:50pm and arrived in Miami around 5:30 this morning. After a 5-hour layover in Miami, I finally got on my plane to Philadelphia (which was delayed by about an hour). I almost missed my connecting flight to Philly, but by the grace of God, the plane hadn't arrived yet, and was delayed by about 30 minutes. It's good to be home! Anthony and I will be off to Sweden again in about 2 weeks to visit with his sister Miki and her family. We're really excited about that trip.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Pictures from Chile
For some reason, I couldn't post pictures to the blog yesterday, so you'll have to go down a few entries to see what I wrote about my trip to Chile.
Santiago, Chile
This is the husband and wife research team on the right, their 13-yr-old daughter in the middle, and me and Sharon on the left.
This is for Anthony...it is the major telecommunications company. Any idea what look they were going for with this building?
I should have known I was in the right country when I saw this. This is the warning that comes on all cigarette packs. It translates as "Caution! These cigarettes are killing you."Big Mary, Little Jesus? Hmmm...
Catholicism is central to the culture here. When we got to the top of the mountain (by the national park), we saw this huge statue of Mary. You can get an idea of the scale by looking at the people at the bottom of the statue. There were huge stairs leading up to Mary.
This statue of Jesus was like a tenth of the size of Mary, at the bottom of the stairs, and off in a little cove. Completely different from the way I see things! They have mass here on Sundays.Santiago views
There are breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains here.
I love this picture, because it looks like the sun is trying to burst through the clouds. The cloud cover was so thick, which is typical for Santiago because of the surrounding mountains (no ventilation). They only get relief when it rains, which it did this day. The rain clears up the sky and the result is...
THIS! Amazing views of the snow-capped Andes mountains.
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