Hey everyone! I wish I could be one of those people that kept up with their blog more frequently, but I never feel like I have many important news-worthy things to say!

Well, except for today:) So, I've been planning this for at least a month, but I've made a HUGE decision. I am moving back to the U.S. on June 12th! After talking with a few people here, and doing a lot of research, I decided to move to Boston:) It was after that, that I met my boyfriend, Aaron...who lives there.

So, I made another huge decision....I'm moving in with him as soon as I arrive. There are many advantages to this. For starters, we have been 'going out' over Skype, MSN, and the phone for 7 months now! So, it will be a nice challenge trying to find out if we can handle each other for long periods of time, in the same space...lol! I think moving in together is a difficult thing for most couples, so I'm sure we'll bump heads more than once as we try to strike a balance. I know that I will go through a rough period when I get there, since I'll most likely feel like a foreigner in my own country. Then I will have to do big, grown-up things that I haven't ever had to do in my life...like buying a car (my dad bought me my only car when I was 16, and I drove it for 7 years til I moved overseas!). Then I will be hunting for a professional job for the first time in the States. I imagine it will be quite different compared to Europe!

My first weekend back will be the toughest, though. I arrive at 6.30 pm on Thursday June 12th. Then less than 24 hours later I will be in a car driving down to Pennsylvania to visit my grandparents, whom I haven't seen for 6 years. Also, my sister and her family will be, hopefully, driving up on the 14th, from Richmond, VA, so that we can hang out before they move overseas to Japan to begin their missionary work. They are told that they shouldn't come back to the U.S. until they've reached a certain level in the language exams, so they will be gone for at least one year before coming back for a visit :(

And, on top of saying hello to my grandparents and goodbye to my sister and family, I will be attending 2 of my good friends' wedding in PA, north of Philly. They are good friends from Switzerland, but met at college in PA. So, I will drive up to that on the 15th, and have to say first, congratulations!, and second, goodbye. I imagine that by the time I arrive back to Boston on the 16th, I will be a mess!! Poor Aaron will most likely have to endure an on-the-edge me for awhile, I think.

I will take a week to fly down to TX to visit my dad and family. And then I will fly my little bro, Tom, and his daughter, Madyson, up to Boston to hang out with me for a week. They haven't been out of TX for a long time, and he has been working so hard that I want to be able to do something for him and his family. Their second little one is on its way, and will be here late August. So, it'll be a nice break for everyone before the chaos begins with the new baby:)

But after that, I'm back to the real world. I will be contacting someone to help me with my C.V. and putting my resumé into the right hands. And, fingers crossed, I will be able to find something by mid-August, early September. Everything happens much more quickly in the States, in terms of jobs. Here, minimum wait before anyone responds to your resumé is 2 months....and that's minimum! After you get accepted, if you are, then you might have to wait another month or 2 before you start....I'm very grateful that this is not the case in the States!

Well, apart from all of that, we're still stuck in winter over here. I love the cold weather and snow thing, but it's just been cold and rainy up until yesterday, when we finally got enough flakes to blanket everything in white! But, after more than 9 months of cold weather, I have had enough! Bring on the Spring!! We still haven't even changed our clocks yet.....this Sunday is the big day. So, it's been slightly depressing here with the weather, but what can you do? I'm sure I will be complaining about the heat when I fly down to TX for a week!

I'm planning 3 trips between May 1st and June 5th!! First one is for 4 days in Normandy, France. I've always wanted to see Omaha beach and the American cemetary, as well as Mont St. Michel, which is not too far away. The second trip is to Salzburg, Austria for 4 days. I've never been to Austria, and it is literally next door! So, Kim and I will hop on a train and go take a Sound of Music tour! Then I will go to Rome for 2 days, by myself, just to eat and shop:) I LOVE ITALY!! And if my good friend, Heather Perry, ever decides to answer my emails, then I might have someone to go to dinner with while I'm there:) But, she's from the 'other side of the tracks' of Abilene, so I don't expect much....LOL! Love ya, Heather....you're my favorite Abilenian-turned-Roman:) Go Coogs!

Anywho, I have a lot on my plate for the next 2 1/2 months. I'm sure it will go fast, so I will try to enjoy it as much as I can!

So, last weekend I finally made it out to Chamonix, which is in France. My friends, Mira and Arnaud, suggested we get out of stuffy, polluted Geneva and head up to the mountains for some fresh air. It does so much good to get that mountain air into your lungs, I tell you! It only took us about an hour to get there, and then we walked around the village for a little while before heading over to the telepherique (I guess the translation is a cable car?). It cost about $55 just to go up and back down, but it was so worth it. We couldn't have picked a better day to go up to the highest point one can go before reaching the tallest mountain peak in Europe, the Mont Blanc.


The ride itself was extremely nerve wracking for me since I'm terrified of heights. Once we got into the cable car, it took 8 minutes to get up to the next stop. I was thinking, well that's not so bad! But then we had to get off of that one and get onto the next one, which was even higher and steeper than the first! I held onto the bar so tightly that when we got off (of both of them actually), I couldn't unbend my fingers...they were stuck in the same position as if they were holding onto a pole. Mira and I could not look out for fear that we would pass out, as you can see from the picture below.


But when we finally made it up, the view was totally worth all the stress and anxiety! It almost looked as if it wasn't real...like I was just looking at an amazing backdrop or a huge postcard! It was such a great day to go up, so I made sure to take a ton of pics. Of course, they all look relatively similar...but I took pictures from all different sides of the terrace, which means that some of the mountains are in France, some in Italy, and some in Switzerland. In fact, we had an option of taking another telepherique that lasted 5 kilometers and took you to the Italian side of the Mont Blanc for some 360 panoramic views. But we opted for just one trip since it was already pretty pricey. The pic below is of the Italian Alps...


This one is just part of the French Alps...since we were in them it was difficult to take pics of their entirety. The peak that's almost directly under the sun, to the left, is the Mont Blanc.

And this is a pic of the view of part of the French Alps, with the Swiss Jura mountains in the background. When I first moved to Switzerland 6 1/2 years ago, I lived with a family in a village in the Jura. I cannot believe it's been that long already!


So, we were up there for a couple of hours, and made our way down to the village to do some shopping. We all splurged a bit at The North Face store, and went home happy campers:)

Other cool news: I signed another 3 month contract at ITC! So, I'm here until end of May, and then, once again, we see where everything goes.

Hopefully, I'll have updated my blog before the end of May;)