Homeward Bound

Well, after a bit of jet lag and the idea of large cars….Ag and I fell back into the “US” way of life. As most of you know, we were home from Dec 23rd till the 5th of January. Two solid weeks on our homeland soil! We did have lots of family fun, visits with friends and even a few out of town trips in between. It was a complete whirl-wind but we had a great time and were very happy to spend some quality time with everyone.

We got into CVG on the 23rd of December around 3:30pm. My whole family was at the airport because Josh was arriving around 4pm that day from DC. Our flight from Luxembourg to Paris was fine, and we didn’t have any problems once we finally got on the plane from Paris to Cincy either….I have to say though, I almost had a breakdown in Paris at Charles de Gaulle. Let me explain…..

We were supposed to leave Lux at 7:30am to arrive in Paris at 8:15am for a flight that then left for Cincinnati at 11:50am. Okay, we didn’t leave Lux till almost 8am or so and got to Paris around 9am. Unfortunately, when we checked in at Lux, they could check our bags all the way home, but they could not check us through for security reasons. Therefore, when we got to Paris, we basically had to recheck in, just without our bags.

When we got to Paris, I was feeling confident because we had 3 hours till our flight to do everything. We found where to check in again and started to wait…and wait…and wait. We were waiting in a line that had people checking in for NY, Atlanta and Cincy. We came to learn that the NY flight left at 11am, the Atlanta at 11:30am and ours at 11:50am. So, when it was about 10am and we were still a ways back but at least getting close, the security people started letting people for the NY flight cut in front of everyone so that they could get the people on board in time. I started to get a bit annoyed considering we had been there for a whole hour before.

Eventually, it got to be about the time the NY flight was supposed to leave and I could tell that they were telling people “We’re sorry, but you’ve missed your flight, and let me add, by no fault of your own…we’re just that slow” and offer them hotels, etc. Well these people were obviously upset and arguing, which just slowed the line down even more. I started to get frantic and jumped out of line to try to use the E-Check-in machine. “Please see an attendant” was all it kept telling me. Drats!

When it got to be the time that the Atlanta people were going to get to cut and still miss their flight, I got really upset and boxed out a couple of people from the already-missed NY flight who were going to be afforded the opportunity to cut in front of Agnes and I (we were next in line). To check in for what? The next day’s flight? They could wait…we weren’t missing ours. Luckily, they were put off by my wild-animal-trapped-in-a-steel-cage look I gave them and backed off. We were checkin in!!

But as I mentioned we finally got home and the flight was fine. That evening Ag came over to hang out with my family for a bit. Granted we had just gotten in that day, but my mom really wanted to have the family together considering the next few days would be crazy! Katie, Zach’s girlfriend was there as well and we all had some pizza and played the board game, Apples to Apples. It was an early night for all (especially Ag and I!) but a nice time none the less.

The 24th and 25th were typical Christmas days….watching football, eating lots of delicious foods and desserts, hanging out like old times with the family, etc. One thing that was a bit out of the ordinary is I proposed to Agnes on Christmas morning! Of course, I was trying to be all romantic and think of unique, fun ways to propose….in Chicago on a carriage ride, in Seattle, in Europe….no, I decided to just do it while we were doing what we love to do, working out and jogging!

I went over to her house on Christmas morning and we went for a jog in the park down the street from her house. While we were on the jog, I said I had to tie my shoe and went down as if to do so. As Aggie was waiting for me, I was getting the ring out of it’s hiding place in my glove. She turned around to be like, “What the hell is taking you so long, dude??” and there I was on one knee with a ring! Ha, ha! Just the look on her face was priceless and after a few tears and a big “YES!!” we were walking back to the car with a couple serious cases of perma-grin.

On the way back to her house, she was going on and on about how we should call our Chicago/Denver friends, Steph and Pete, Europe friends….yeah, everyone pretty much already knew! My family knew, and her whole family knew too because I had talked to her parents the day before. So every time she came home from being with me, they were waiting for her to just be like, “WE ARE ENGAGED!” Well this time it got to happen!

The rest of the week, the 26th till the 31st we continued to visit with family and friends. Plus, we went to see many reception sites. Considering we had about 4 days to plan the “big things” for the wedding it was a bit nuts. Then, on the 31st Aggie and I hit the road, destined for our home away from home…

We were going to Chicago for New Years and to visit with a few of our friends. We got to Chicago with no problems and actually arrived earlier than we had planned (traffic was awesome). So, we decided to drive into our old neighborhood and grab a drink at one of the neighborhood pubs….just for old times sake! After a Bud we went to Em and Nimesh’s condo. There we met up with our other good friends, Abby, Alison and Justin. We chatted, had some yummy food and drank some delicious drinks. The group then headed to Darren and Nicole’s (see Cinque Terre blog) place downtown to continue the party. Other guests present included our friends Pete and Liz and even Big Fred and Andrea made an appearance (Fernando and Andre stopped in for just a bit since they were in Chicago to see Mama Mia in the theatre district). The evening was wonderful and at midnight we went out to the rooftop to see fireworks at the lake!

On the 1st, we flew out from Chicago to Seattle. We were going to be in Seattle till Friday and were very excited to visit with our good friends, Stephanie and Pete (see Tuscany Tour blog). When we got in on that Monday, Steph, Ag and I went right to a bar to watch football and grab a late lunch. Pete was actually out of town for a few days and was arriving around 5pm that evening (we landed around 2:30pm). So, after we ate and picked Pete up, we just went back to their place and crashed.

The next day, we drove around Seattle and all I have to say is it’s a great city! The city is surrounded by water and mountains and there are little towns or sections all over. Seattle is actually pretty hilly and everyone lives in these really small, quaint homes that are the perfect size for a couple….seriously, it’s just a neat set up and a very pretty place.

That morning we went to Queen Anne for breakfast at 5-Spot. It was delicious! Then we went to the REI headquarters and dropped a few (well maybe more than a few) bucks on some great gear. After that mini-shopping spree, we went to Woodenville. In Woodenville, we did a wine tasting at Chateau St. Michelle and a beer tasting at the Red Hook brewery.

We made a pit stop at the grocery store later that afternoon because we were going to grill and tailgate for the ND game the next day. After the store we went out for wings! This was a wonderful experience for us…considering the 4 of us went out to wings in Chicago all the time and we were at the WING DOME. Our friend from the Lux office, Ryan, (he is originally from Seattle and was home for the holidays) met us, as well as Steph’s cousins. As always, good times, good times.

On Wednesday morning Pete cooked up a few deadly egg sandwiches and off we went to go snowshoeing! The beautiful thing about Seattle is you can drive for 45min-1hr and be in the mountains. It was a ton of fun and definitely a workout. After a few snowball fights, (I like to think Pete and I whooped up on the girls!) and a short picnic (we brought some snacks and hot cider along) we headed back….the weather kind of took a turn and it was getting pretty snowy.

We then drove to see the Snoqualmie Pass Falls which were huge and very impressive. But after staring at so much flowing water, I kind of had to pee, so we left. Afterwards, we started getting ready for the Notre Dame game that was starting at 4pm. There is no reason to recap or talk about that game, but I do have to say that the steaks, salmon and snacks we ate during the game were wonderful!

On Thusday we went into the downtown area for breakfast. We went to the first ever Starbucks and ate in the diner where they shot a “Sleepless in Seattle” scene. Of course, I can’t remember the name of the place! Anyway, we walked around a bit, shopped, saw a movie and then headed back to their place to finish packing.

Unfortunately, we left that night on the red-eye back to Chicago. We left at 11:30pm Seattle time and arrived in Chicago at 5:30am. We jumped in our car and headed straight back to Cincy.
The rest of our time home was really nice. Ag got to visit with Maggie again and her other friend, Sarah Meyer. Plus, she got to hang out with her sisters for a bit. I got to hang out with Zach, Freddie and big mama for the last days, which was nice (Josh headed back to DC on Christmas night, actually).

We left Saturday night and got back to Paris on Sunday morning at 9:30am….if you saw the blog: “Back on line, folks!“ you know the rest of the story. If not, go back a couple of posts and read it now!

Nothing too crazy is going this weekend. Agnes is out traveling with her cousin Theresa (who just came over for a visit). All week they had been hitting up various places in Germany and France and then Thursday night flew out to Pisa (Italy). Now they are in Sienna and word has it that the economy of Florence got a big boost recently. ;-) They are heading to Rome tomorrow and from there flying to Budapest (Hungary). I will get my fiancée back on Tuesday evening…

So this weekend as a bachelor, I’ve got lots of fun stuff lined up. I’m going to jog, work a ton, and watch rugby with the “lads.” Nothing major, but if I can get a good bit of work done this weekend, things will really start to ease up for me soon. I hope…

Anyways, have a great one to all of you and check back in next week…I’m sure Ag will post some good stuff about her and Theresa’s trip!