New Tattoos

Jason and I have been talking about getting matching tattoos since we lived in Singapore last year. And by talking, I mean me begging and Jason saying no. A couple months ago, Jason finally agreed and we went to the tattoo shop to get it drawn up when we were home for our wedding. Mind you, I thought I would get something small to medium sized so I could get it on my foot. We asked Mike from Inksomnia to draw a phoenix and a dragon holding a sphere. In the Asian culture it is the symbol for marriage and eternal love. We decided that this would be perfect, as we just got married and it will always remind of us our time in Asia. After seeing Mike's drawing, we both loved it and had to get it.

Yesterday, we finally got them. We both spent 5 hours in the chair while Mike worked his magic. We were at the shop for a total of 10 hours but it was totally worth it. In December, we are getting them finished off with some color. It's amazing how great they look and we still have one more session to go. I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like.

Until then, here is what it looks like after session 1:

Although it is bigger than I had first anticipated, I love it and am so happy with it! Is it December yet?! ;)



Stiegl Brewery

On Sunday, a whole group of our friends went to Stiegl brewery. Although I forgot to take pictures of the whole group, here is one of the group that stayed the longest. There were about 15 of us and we had a blast. We are so lucky to have such a great group of friends in Salzburg already!

Per usual, Jason was being difficult when I wanted to take a "nice" picture with him. I had to get him in line.

Worked like a charm. ;)

My Very First Dirndl

I finally got my very own dirndl. It's funny because when we first visited Salzburg last year, I saw so many people in dirndls and lederhosen and thought to myself that I would never wear one. But, we are locals now and there are so many events that I will be able to wear it to- carnivals, festivals, weddings, and so much more. 

When I first went shopping, I was by myself. I didn't see any that I liked and began to question if I really wanted one. Perhaps it was the shop that I went to, where I felt extremely uncomfortable and didn't even know what I was looking for.

A few days later, Sego and I went shopping together and not only did I find one that I loved, I found two. It was very tough to pick between them, but this is the one that I ended up with. Perhaps I will go back and get the other sometime.

My next mission is to get Jason some lederhosen. I can't wait! He's going to look so hot!!

Severe Climbing Accident

Saturday, Jason and a couple of his friends decided to wake up early and go mountain climbing. They left at 7:30am and were expected to arrive home around 1:30pm. I'm not sure the exact name of the climbing, but it is where you wear a harness and climb attached to a cable on the side of the mountain. Since the guys were off doing their thing, Segolene and I decided to go dirndl shopping for me. Everyone was happy.

At around 12pm, Sego gets a phone call from her husband, Tait, while I was in the dressing room. I heard her get serious and asked if he was okay, something about a helicopter, and her saying "oh my gosh!" I poked my head of out the dressing room and immediately asked if it was Jason (the most injury prone person I know). No it wasn't, thank God!

When she got off the phone, she said that she didn't know much but that Mark had taken a serious fall off the mountain. He had separated from Jason and Tait and when he didn't meet them at the meeting point, they knew he must have been in trouble. Jason and Tait went back and climbed the way that Mark had gone, only to find him beneath a waterfall on an embankment. He said that they thought he had broken both of his legs and possibly an arm.

Sego and I immediately thought of Julie, Mark's wife (and our friend) who just had a baby 4 weeks ago. We asked if they had called her yet and they said no, since they didn't know the severity of his injuries. Sick to our stomachs but knowing there was nothing we could do but wait, Sego and I continued shopping. I ended up finding the prettiest dirndl (which I will post about later). Finally, a couple hours later, Jason and Tait arrived home. This is when I found out the severity of Mark's fall.

On the way to the hospital (we had to bring Mark's wallet with his insurance card and his phone to Julie), Jason explained that he and Tait had started to climb part of the mountain. Mark decided to go a different route but would meet at the top at a certain meeting point. When Jason and Tait got there, they waited a while but Mark was no where to be found. They decided to go back and to retrace his steps. Upon climbing, they noticed Mark on an embankment beneath a waterfall. Jason climbed down to help him and noticed that he was soaking wet, cold, and badly injured. Tait climbed towards the top of the mountain so he could get reception to call the paramedics.

Jason explained that Mark was climbing and is afraid of heights. He got to a point where he needed to climb over a canyon and decided he wanted to go around. He unhooked himself from the cable and tried to walk around but the ground beneath him gave out and he fell several meters onto the top of the waterfall. The water then pushed him over the edge of the waterfall,  falling 30 feet onto the rocks and pool below. He never lost consciousness (thank God for helmets!) and pulled himself out of the water and army-crawled several meters off the embankment and up part of the mountain, so the guys would see him. When Jason got there, he said that it looked like he had broken both legs and possibly an arm. About an hour of waiting later, the helicopter finally arrived. Since they were near the top of the mountain and a beer hut was nearby, there were power lines directly above Mark. With pinpoint accuracy, the helicopter swooped down in the valley, under the power lines and between trees, and lifted Mark to safety. They brought him to the Salzburg Hospital. Jason then had to make the tough call to Julie and tell her about the accident and to meet Mark at the hospital.

When we finally arrived to the hospital and saw Julie, she was very composed. She explained that the doctor told her that he had broken a foot/ankle and that the other leg was severely bruised and the knee dislocated. She said that he was beaten up pretty good but that he would be okay. Praise God!!

Mark is still in the hospital and will have surgery on his foot later this week. After surgery, he will stay another 5-7 days.

Today, Jason emailed me and explained that Mark had made the newspaper. If you are interested, HERE is the link. Feel free to copy and paste the text into Google Translate, since it is in German.

Here are some pictures that Tait took on his cell phone:

If you look closely, you can see the cable Mark should have gone across. He fell from the point on the right above the waterfall and then into the water at the top and over the edge of the waterfall.

Here's another view of the waterfall.

Here's a picture of Mark getting loaded up onto the stretcher.

Thank God that Mark is okay! Things could have been much worse and we thank God that Jason and Tait were there and that the paramedics and helicopter pilot were so great. Truly a miracle!!

P.S. If you look at the picture at the beginning of this blog, you can see Jason (with a backpack) to the right watching Mark getting loaded up. This picture was from the newspaper article.

Good news!!

After nearly a month, my eyes are FINALLY back to normal from my little mask squeeze incident! Perfect timing since I will be going back to the US next week and will have to get a new driver's license with my new name. Also happy for the fact that I don't have to choose between sunglasses and people staring at me! :)

Austrian Proposals, Rings, and Wedding Things

As I was showing some of our wedding pictures to a few of the ladies in Jason's office, they were astonished that Jason and I do not have matching wedding rings. This was not the only thing in the wedding department where Austrians differ from Americans.

Apparently, it is very uncommon for Austrians to get engagement rings which means they usually skip the whole engagement thing all together. As soon as I heard this I asked, "Well then how do you know you will get married?" They explained that the man usually talks to the woman's father (traditionally) and then the couple talks about getting married and pick a date. Some ask their future wives in a romantic way but it is not frowned upon if they did not.

When they finally make it to the alter, the husband and the wife have matching wedding bands that are worn on the right hand. They are usually engraved on the underside with their names and the date.

I'm sure there are many other Austria wedding traditions that I have yet to learn. Hopefully while we are here in the next couple of years, we will be invited to a wedding so I can see what a true Austrian wedding is like.

Missing!!

Salzburg is known as being a very safe city. There is really no crime here and is pretty quiet. That is why, stupid me, decided to leave my bike unlocked in the foyer of our building when I went home for our wedding and honeymoon. Now, I must say, I thought this was okay because the only way you can get into our building is with a key and the door shuts right behind you. Oh yeah, and there are also several other unlocked bikes in that area as well- mine being the oldest. Surely one of my neighbors wouldn't steal it since we all live in the same building. I did not, however, think that the foyer would be repainted the very time I decided to leave the country for 5 weeks.  It's funny because I have left my bike in the foyer unlocked since I had gotten it in February and almost locked it when we left and then thought to myself "Hey, it's been unlocked this long... what are the chances?" Good, I tell ya! Well, long story short we called the hausmeister (house meister) who told us to call the painting company who said they would call us back. Ugh! I still can't come to grips that someone actually stole the bike, especially since the area had been repainted. Perhaps they moved it out of the way to paint and I just don't know where? Oh well, at least it happened to an older bike that we bought used. If we end up not finding it, I will get a new bike and make sure to lock it wherever I go. I will keep you posted.

UPDATE: The painter said that he didn't move a bike in order to paint the area. Looks like it was stolen. Bummer!

Die Salzburger Dult

I love this time of year. The weather is getting nicer (as in not snowing) and there are plenty of activities and festivals.

On Saturday, our friends Segolene and Tait invited us to join them at die Salzburger Dult. It is an annual folk festival/fair. There were plenty of rides and games and of course beer and pretzels. We had so much fun! Festivals here are amazing to go to, especially since people usually wear their Dirndls and Lederhosen.

Here are some picures of our day:

Today I went shopping for my very own Dirndl so I can wear it to Oktoberfest in Munich. No luck today but I will definitely post when I get one. Oh, and someone please tell Jason he has to get Lederhosen! ;)

Work Needed

The most common question I get about living in Salzburg is "what do you do?" Well, when we moved here I was busy with unpacking and wedding planning. Throw in the occasional girl's lunch and exploring the city and there ya had it. I was content.

Now that we are back and the honeymoon is over, I'm ready to get down and dirty into some work. The only problem is, I have no clue what to do. I thought about teaching English (and still am) but I want something flexible, as we travel a lot. I love to write so I thought about maybe doing some freelance work (and still am). Obviously, I have no clue what I want to do or what I even CAN do here.

So, I am asking you if you have any recommendations or suggestions as to what I can do in Salzburg, Austria. Or, maybe you know of a sweet work-from-home gig I can get into. Please keep in mind that getting a work Visa in Austria is difficult and that they speak German, which I don't. Better wish me luck!

Airport Fiasco

Jason and I arrived at the airport on Sunday evening to fly home to Salzburg for a couple of weeks. We dropped off our rental car and proceeded to check-in. Jason checked in just fine. I placed my passport in the kiosk and an error message kept coming up saying that there was no flight booked under my name. Weird. We waited in line and went up to the Delta counter. The man that assisted us was very helpful but told us that I was not booked on a flight and that there were no seats available on Jason's flight. Ughh. Most of our travel is booked through Jason's company's travel agency. The agent accidently forgot to book me. I'm actually suprised this is the first time this has happened, being that we travel so much and have a hectic schedule. Anyway, I was starting to get upset because I was pretty excited to go home after being in the States (and Mexico) for nearly 6 weeks. Jason changed his flight until the following day, Monday, so we could figure things out. In order to get home, we had to rent another car from Budget. Go figure- the only car they had available in such short notice was a new Mustang convertible. Usually I would be ecstatic but we had so much darn luggage, I wasn't sure it would all fit. Well it did, but barely. I'm sure we looked pretty funny driving all the way home. We definitely got some looks.

The good news is we got everything figured out and Jason and I flew home to Salzburg on Monday evening. It feels so good to be home and back to some normalcy. I am, however, looking forward to being back in Atlanta at the end of this month to see family and friends while Jason is home for meetings. Yay!

Honeymoon- Where He Learned He Married A Little Devil ;)

Well, the actual honeymoon is over. I say actual because our trip may be over but things have never been better. I guess that's what a little R&R does for ya. Oh yeah, and the whole wedding thing too. ;)

On our honeymoon, we went to Riviera Maya (near Playa Del Carmen), Cozumel, and Cancun. You may be asking yourself why we chose Mexico out of the whole world that is our playground. Well, for one, I have never been. Jason loves Mexico (probably due to his love for tequila) and the diving is amazing. Add that to his parents giving us a week (out of two) at a fancy resort and being close to Atlanta and there ya have it. Overall, it was the best trip/vacation we have ever been on. Although, there were definitely some *interesting* events.

If you read my blog, you know that the week of the wedding I decided to get scuba certified so Jason and I could go diving together. If you haven't read it, HERE is the blog I wrote.

On the first Wednesday of our honeymoon, Jason and I decided to have the photographer at our resort take some beach honeymoon pictures of us (as if we don't already have enough pictures of us). Looking back, I am so thankful that we did this. You will understand why in a moment. But first, here are some of the pictures that were taken. I love them all!

The day after we had our pictures taken, Jason and I decided to finally go diving. I was super excited, as it was my first time diving in the ocean and diving where I could actually see things (Lake Lanier just didn't do it for me!). On my very first dive, we went down 90 feet. On my way down, my mask felt like it was suctioning to my face. I was struggling the whole way down to get it off my face (later I learned that Jason thought that I was trying to get hair out of my mask). Not knowing that there was an acual term for this- mask squeeze- I tried to make due and finally got it to fit properly after we got down to the bottom. Well...too little too late! As soon as I got up from my very first dive, I got some very strange looks from everyone on the boat. Then Jason calmly asked me, "Um Lauren... Are you ok? Does your face hurt?" Not things that you want to see and hear after your very first dive, I assure you. I felt super dizzy and had a pounding headache. I'm surprised I didn't pass out. As I reached for my aviators and turned them around, I gasped in horror. Oh.My.God!! What the hell happened to my eyes?! I found out too little too late that I had obtained that darn little term that I didn't know about- mask squeeze. Now, I am only going to post pictures in hopes that this won't happen to you because you learned from MY mistake. And don't worry, they don't hurt and will get back to normal eventually... they just look awful! Tomorrow will be 3 weeks and my eyes are STILL red! (But thank God they are getting better!!)

When it first happened, it didn't look so bad. Just a little dotted, swollen, and on the verge of two black eyes. And yes, I cried... a lot (not in pain but because I looked horrible the rest of our honeymoon).

They say that the 4th day is always the worst. I would have to agree.

We had two dives scheduled that day, and obviously I wasn't feeling up to diving again that day. Jason was scared that I would hang up my goggles for good, but I decided that I learned my lesson and would try diving again. You may think I'm crazy, but we went diving 5 more times after this incident. I assure you, I will never make that mistake ever again and we had a total blast! In Riviera Maya, we dove the cenotes, which was the scariest thing I have ever done but was amazing! Basically they are underwater caverns that are super dark and have stalactites and stalagmites. The natural light reflects in the water and it feels like you are floating in air. It was super cool! Please excuse the terrible underwater pictures, as they were taken with a cheap underwater camera.

While we were in Cozumel, we also went diving. I can't remember the name of the reef, but it was located off of the infamous Wall. The dives in Cozumel were my favorites!

While honeymooning, we also went deep sea fishing. We caught a couple of different things. I say things because somehow we managed to score a large sea turtle, as well as fish. We had a sailfin on the line but unfortunately it got away. Sad!

Here are some other photos that were taken during our trip. Please excuse pictures where I look like a little devil. ;)

This was seriously the best trip of our lives. I can't believe how fast nearly 2 weeks went by. I am so sad that it is over but the memories will never fade. Jason, I had so much fun with you on the honeymoon and can't wait to start "real life" with you. I love you!! x