Chocoholic Rage

Guten Tag

I have consumed so much chocolate that I am on a constant chocolate high. I am not over-indulging, but feeding myself tiny morsels every few hours or so. Oh the bliss.

Here are some quick thoughts about Switzerland from the last two days:

* The toilet paper is so hard everywhere. Obviously, Charmin is not a Swiss brand.

* I wish all menus were in English (I know, selfish) because Andrew thought he was getting a hot dog and fries, but ended up with pork cutlets. Jokes on him.

* We are so spoiled because Switzerland has the best public transportation in the world. How will I do without my #9 and #76?

* Why can't our park restrooms have automatic sensored faucets and be clean?

* Today, we had to stop in a Starbucks to see what it was like. Ick. Pepper in cream cheese? What's that about? We bought: two bagels and cream cheese, one small coffee, and a banana chip frappacino. The grand total for our breakfast = $17. Got to love those francs!

Okay here are some pictures:

I LOVE THE BUGS

ISN'T THIS THE CUTEST BOAT HOUSE (from our Lake Zurich boat ride)

ANDREW AT CROSSROADS (We trekked over a wooden bridge in Rapperswil)

NOW I KNOW - Everyone is thin around here because you always walk everywhere and when you are walking, you are usually climbing stairs. These are the stairs we climb to get to our apartment. We climb 6 flights of really squeaky, wooden stairs. Thank goodness with all this chocolate eating. But to our defense, we barely eat anything else all day because the restaurants are so expensive and we order simple things we know how to say.

Check out more pictures on our gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/hurstdog/EuropeTrip

Switzerland from Shannon's eyes

Andrew spends most of his days working at Google so I thought I would share some tidbits with you about how I view Zurich. First of all, someone send me some designer clothing. The saying goes that the fancy restaurants in Old Town are there for the Bankers to take their fur-clad wives to so they can fret over where the next designer purchase will be made. I haven't seen any fur, but every mother is pushing a Bugaboo stroller (I mean every) and the older the man is, the younger the woman. Needless to say, I am searching high and low for a pair of silver ballet flats (a Zurich staple) costing less than $70. I have been searching for two days now and still can't find a resonable pair.

Now for the dogs. The dogs go in the CoOps (stores), the buses/trains, and in all the shops and stations. These aren't pampered dogs, but well loved ones. No one fusses over their dogs, but they definitely live right alongside their human counterparts.

It rains all the time and I love it. Half of the population carries umbrellas, but the rest of us just grin and bear it (I do with a smile).

In five minutes you will have ridden two bus lines, a train, and if you are lucky a trolley.

The chocolate is fabulous. They are really into chocolate shaped bugs. Oh, and I saw bug shaped bread too. The flies here are bigger than any I have seen before. I have only seen two though.

Andrew and I both need to lose weight so we can both wear the same skinny jeans and skinny sneakers. European men sure do know how to dress.

Everyone stares at me as if I have the plague. I have not seen one other person wearing flip flops. People kept staring at my exposed toes. Let's just say I now wear jeans, a cute top, and my black flats that Andrew almost made me leave at home.

That is my take for now. Keep checking out our picture gallery (link posted below) and I will add more "Shannonisms" later (I hope someone cares).

P.S. Happy Belated Mother's Day Mom. I forgot to say that on the phone.

Traveling in Europe

Well Shannon and I have been here for almost 2 days now so we figured it was time to post a story and upload some photos.

I've put all of the photos that we've taken so far up here in my gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/hurstdog/EuropeTrip.

So far I've been working and Shannon has been running around town through some super-expensive shopping districts, planning out the rest of her week, and trying to find a fondue shop. We were worried that she wouldn't have enough to do while I was at work, but she's found tons to do.

When a place has a wax museum of skin diseases, you know Shannon is going to have a good time.

We'll post new stories as we take more pictures, and we'll put the photos in the album.

Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Hoffman

Andrew's parents threw one heck of a wedding last weekend for Andrew's cousin Erin. Cliff and Erin met in the Police Academy and are now Stockton police officers. I was lucky to hold the title of "Maid" aka Matron of Honor. I did end up ironing blouses the morning of! The wedding was held at Andrew's parent's house in Oakhurst. Everyone worked so hard to pull together a fantastic wedding in less than 25 days. Sandy (Andrew's oldest sister) made the food with help from a culinary school student. They did a fantastic job and I wish I could eat more of their yummy rice. Enough chitter chatter, on with the show.

By the way, I am a brunette now.

THE GIRLS

GETTING READY TO HEAD DOWN THE ISLE

DOWN THE ISLE WE GO

GETTING MARRIED

EVERYONE INVOLVED

THE WEDDING PARTY

THERE WAS A MAYPOLE

THE CAKE CUTTING

SHARING THEIR CAKE

NOTHING LIKE A TRACTOR RIDE

MYRON DANCING WITH HIS DAUGHTER

THE HAPPY COUPLE (AFTER DANCING TO THE THEME OF COPS FROM TV)

COVERED IN RICE

THE GETAWAY

Like I said in my "Maid" speech, Peace-Love-and Happiness

Our New Eco Friend

Meet our new Prius. We love her. Jessica (Andrew's sister) bought my old car so we could get something that could haul car seats (for future use) and dogs at the same time. I really wanted the Dodge Magnum station wagon so I could make a bumper sticker that would read, "Hippies Love Hemis Too." We sacrificed the space for better gas mileage and hopefully a smaller impact on the world.

Today, we wanted to show our new Prius the beach so we drove to Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. Great day with great weather. We are averaging about 47.5mpg and on good days I average 51mpg on my commute to Livermore.

Peace, Love, and Hybrids

P.S. I am going to get a license plate frame that says, "Save the Earth, It's The Only Planet With Chocolate."

Barley - Take 1

We are the most fortunate dog sitters in the world because we get to pet sit for Barley Balland. She is the sweetest dog and we get to play with her for 3 whole days. I promised her Mommy and Daddy that I would post updates of Barley's adventures on our website so they could fly to Arizona knowing their doggy is happy. Well, okay maybe a little tortured, but she will bounce back.

Here is Barley relaxing on the couch with some iTunes. Her favorite song right now is "G Bedtime Stories" by Snoop Dogg.

Have a great flight!

So I Am Crazy...

because I have decided to take on a barn job on Tue/Thurs. I now officially work 48 hours a week. All of this just to try to get into shape. I really had no idea it would be this much work? I can't quit now, for I actually have biceps.

The barn I work at is called NCEFT (www.nceft.org) and is a wonderful place where magic happens. This barn is different from the one I volunteered with in Sacramento (Saddlepals) in that they are a registered facility where they do hippotherapy. So instead of doing therapeutic horseback riding, they are licensed physical therapists/occupational therapists who use horses as their therapeutic tools. The barn is their medical office.

Here are some photos that Andrew took when he visited the barn this last weekend. There are a lot, but each of these pictures represent the barn to me:

P.S. The barn is located in Woodside, CA. A beautiful place to be!

THE BARN

THE ARENA

THE BARN BEING USED BY A CERTIFICATION CLASS

THE THERAPY ROOM

GETTING JACK READY TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED

JACK IN ALL HIS PONY BEAUTY

JACK GRAZING

WALKING JACK BACK TO THE BARN

NOW FOR MORE HORSES

BEN (body shaved for the saddle)

ROSIE (The mama miniature horse who is 30 something and such a doll)

ROXIE (Rosie's twenty-something daughter who is all mini!)

DAN AND ME DOWN BY THE POND

SUGAR WITH SOME HAY

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST IS HEIDI THE FJORD WHO ALWAYS PUSHES ME SO SOMETIMES I HAVE TO PUSH HER BACK

Cheers