Merry Belated Christmas!!

I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. Where does the time go? We've been back in the States for a week and a half now, which has been wonderful so far.

When we first arrived, we flew into Missouri to visit with Jason's family. We spent time at his parent's ranch. We went shopping, watched football, celebrated Christmas, and just hung out. It was so nice to relax, spend time with the fam and not have anything really planned. What a blessing.

After the 11 hour drive, we made it back to Alpharetta on Wednesday. We had a million errands to run on Thursday before we took engagement pictures with our awesome photographer, Chris, from Graceology Photography. We had a blast and the pictures turned out amazing. See for yourself...







Then for Christmas Eve and Christmas we spent time with my family. We ate too much food, opened tons of presents, watched the snow fall, and laughed a lot. I was so happy to have a white Christmas, which reminded me of all those I had as a child. This year was the best Christmas yet and I just know they are going to get better and better.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and did not forget that HE is the reason for the season today and everyday. Happy birthday Jesus!! :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another Chapter Closes...

Well, this is it! The movers are coming today to pack us up and ship all of our stuff to Salzburg, Austria. I have spent all morning preparing for the move. Tomorrow, we are doing the walk through with our real estate agent and sales rep. Then on Thursday, we are off to the States.

It is amazing how fast these past 8 months have gone by! It seems like yesterday I was just unpacking all of our things and shopping for our new place. We get to do it all over again next month for our Salzburg apartment.

I sure am going to miss the sunshine, the beach getaways, the cheap prices (outside of Singapore), and the few close friends we've made here. But, I am looking forward to being more settled in a place where we will have many more visitors, our own car, and an apartment that feels more like home. Talk about bittersweet!

So Southeast Asia, I thank you for being so kind to us and we will see you again real soon! Ciao!

The Island Of The Gods

Jason and I just got back from Bali. *Sigh* Boy was it a nice, relaxing trip before the craziness of our lives and the holidays mesh together. We sure did need it too!

We arrived in Bali at around 10pm on Friday night. Jason worked a half day before we were off to the airport so by the time we arrived, we were pooped. We checked into our hotel around 11pm, grabbed a drink at the bar and then were off to bed early.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and had a great breakfast. After we ate, we took a nice, long stroll on the beach to walk off breakfast. We got back, threw on our swimsuits, and were off to the pool. The pool was awesome, with a swim up bar. Since it isn't tourist season yet, we were the only people there which made us feel like the resort was ours.

After we were at the pool for a bit, we decided to go snorkeling. Oh my gosh, was it fun! Our boat driver gave us some bread to feed the fish so they could come close to us. As soon as Jason gave me some of the bread, I was throwing it away from me so they wouldn't come near me. Jason thought this was funny (and no longer gave me the bread). After snorkeling, we road to Turtle Island which was actually right around the bend and isn't an island at all. There, we got to see all kinds of cool critters including sea turtles, monkeys, and snakes (ewww).

I was scared at first...

Then dug right in...

I was petrified of the snake, though. This is the closest they could get me to it...

And I didn't even think of going near the ginormous bat...

After our little adventure, we headed back to the resort and indulged in full body massages. Let me tell... I could get used to those! I thought about booking one for each day we were there. 

Then, to top off our day, we ate a wonderful seafood dinner right on the beach. I ordered crab (not the best choice since I hate getting my hands dirty when I eat) and Jason had some fabulous red snapper. There was even a little band that sang to us at our table.

The next day, we decided that we wanted to spend the day sightseeing since we spent the day before by the pool and at the beach. Our taxi driver from the night before took us all around the island, showing us the major tourist attractions. In one day, we covered a Batik factory, a silver factory, a random temple, a Balinese art gallery, rice paddies, the Batur Volcano (including lunch with a great view), Gunung Kawi, and Goa Gajah. What a day it was! Here are some of my favorite pictures since I took way too many to post!

Rice paddies on the way towards the volcano...

The Batur Volcano...

While driving, we passed a Hindu ceremony...

Gunung Kawi...

Goa Gajah...

What an exciting and full day!

This morning we laid out at the pool for a couple of hours before catching our flight back to Singapore. Our trip was truly amazing. We now know why it is called The Island Of The Gods (although no gods were worshipped on this trip besides my awesome God!). It was nice to relax this weekend before the movers come tomorrow to pack us up for our move to Salzburg.





Universal Studios Singapore- Sentosa Island

Jason's company invited us to the Singapore office's end of the year shindig. It consisted of a fun day at Universal Studios Singapore and then dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel, both located on Sentosa Island.

At the park, we enjoyed a bunch of rides. My favorite was the mummy ride. There was also an awesome 4D Shrek movie that was so much fun. The funniest experience, though, was at the Jurassic Park water ride. Being an amusement park goer since I was a kid, I thought it was hilarious that most of the people in line for the ride bought ponchos at the vending maching in front of the water ride. Now, this is funny for two reasons. One, it is super hot so the water is a nice way to cool off. Two, what is the point of going on a water ride if you don't want to get wet? If I had to guess, I would say that about 75% of people bought them. I thought this was hilarious, so I had to have Jason take a pic with his camera phone (sorry for the poor quality).

Dinner was a good time. Everyone at the Singapore office is super nice. We sure are going to miss that bunch when we move to Salzburg next month. Overall, yesterday was a huge success and we had a blast.

The office also presented Jason with a plaque for us this week, commemorating our time in Asia. So kind and a great memory! It is a picture of Southeast Asia. At the bottom, it says Jason & Lauren 2010. I love it!

The Clinic

Jason and I went to the Clinic this weekend. No, we are not sick. We went to the fun kind of Clinic. The Clinic is a cool bar concept that is in Clarke Quay, right in the heart of Singapore. When you walk in, there are hospital beds and golden wheel chairs to sit in. You are greeted by doctors and nurses, dressed in scrubs with all things clinical around you. Instead of glasses, you can order drinks served out of hospital drips, test tubes and syringes. Sounds fun, right? The only downer is the price of the drinks. My lovely green drip cost S$50 ($38.35 US), which is very pricey even for Singapore but it sure did taste good. Jason and I had a blast. Out of all the bars I have ever been to, I must say that this was the most imaginitive.

Cheers!