Snow Day

This morning we put trust in Andy's hands as we got in the Vectra and headed down to Geneva for a snow day in the city. Although we've flown in and out of the airport and we'd hit up L'Escalade in December, Andy and I had yet to bop around this beautiful town in the daylight. Apparently it only snows in Geneva two-ish times a year so we were super lucky to get the weather we did.

Along the way, we...

Had a snowball fight.

Caught up on some reading.

Helped Evan make his first snowman.

Enjoyed the scenery.

And saw the Jet d'Eau.

It was a snowy, blustery and perfect day. Thanks for the outing, husbands.

on to the next one...

LNA Wildcard Race

It's been a quiet week 'round these parts as we recovered from the birthday weekend, subsequent sniffles that resulted from said celebration and the fact that the boys have been hard at work in the gym preparing for their final regular season match. The winner of this match will secure a spot in the Swiss League playoffs. The loser...won't.

The opponent: Nafels
The issue: The last three match-ups have gone to five but have had less than desirable outcomes
The (ONLY) solution: KICK. THEIR. SWISS-GERMAN. BUTTS! (preferrably in three)

The match is at 17:00 local time tomorrow (meaning 8 a.m. west coast and 10 a.m. middle coast time) for all you die-hard fans interested in staring intently at the miniature video on your computer screen while tallying points on a piece of paper next to you because the Swiss don't know what "Live Score" is.

In all seriousness, the LUC guys have worked way too hard to have their season come to such an abrupt end. Send all positive thoughts, prayers and winning vibes our way.

ALLEZ LUC!!!

on to the next one...

Birthday Weekend of Life

Another birthday has come and gone. While I'm not exactly happy to be past the mid-point of my twenties, I did find "I'm old" to be a convenient excuse when asked why we were leaving "so early" from the bar Saturday night (in my defense, it was nearly 3 a.m. and my Santa Clara college experience prevented me from learning how to stay up much past the 2 a.m. bar close).

Friday morning I woke up to homemade banana pancakes and presents, including some new clothing items and some CHF coins sent all the way from the USA (weird but appreciated, mommy!). That night we went to dinner with the Stewarts before continuing the party with Shawn and the Patchell kids for cake and ice cream. Sage wins the rock star award for preparing her Swiss specialty cake with - what else - Nutella frosting.

Happy Birthday from the states.

Sage's creation - so tasty!

Awkward - standard.

Per usual, things got a little crazy.

Because one cake just wasn't enough - and because I have an incredibly loving and culinarily (it's that a word?) talented husband - we celebrated again when we got home from Celebration One with Andy's cake.

Andy's creation, with a little help from Betty Crocker in the frosting department.

Harry was a spectacular helper.

The boys had their last home match of the regular season on Saturday. I met a friend for a glass of pre-game wine before heading to cheer on LUC. The guys won in three and we quickly found ourselves back home preparing for the night's festivities.

They kind of smoked 'em.

The best looking volleyball team around.

We had a slew of friends over for snacks, a Space Jam viewing and one or twelve two drinks before hitting the town. I failed in the picture taking department but Timi came through in the clutch with some amazing documentation.

 Harry's newest accessory.

 Husbands.

 Me and T.

The start of our evening at Buzz thanks to Richie. While there were many other pictures, I reserve the right not to embarrass myself any further.

Such a fun weekend. Thanks to all for celebrating with me!

on to the next one...

26

It's not just the number of miles I hope to run during the first marathon I complete (knock on wood) sometime in 2012, but the number of years I turn in just a few more minutes.

25 was a doozy. In the last calendar year I...
- Packed up the San Francisco apartment I worked so hard to get
- Quit my dream job
- Took a huge leap of faith and headed to Russia for nearly a month on the first (of many) volleyball adventures with Andy. Along the way, I learned more about Andy and myself than I ever thought was humanly possible in just 25 days.
- Packed up and moved to Orange County
- Planned and executed (and might I add, nearly flawlessly) KAWOL
- Packed up and moved the majority of our life (and shiny, beautiful wedding gifts) into storage
- Tended to the most perfect miniature human being in the whole world, Ellie Anne Dranka
- Packed up and moved halfway across the world to reunite with my husband (still kind of weird to say that) in Switzerland
- Stepped completely out of my comfort zone by meeting new people, exploring new cities and learning to live the Euro life

While it's safe to say my 25th year had it's unfair fair share of ups and downs, I'm a better person because of it. I've rediscovered my love and passion for God, fallen head-over-heels in love all over again with my husband, family and friends (okay fine, you too Harry Winston), and have learned too many? so many valuable lessons.

So cheers to you, 26. May this next year bring the very best of happiness, health and less of a hangover than this night did...

LMK Mexican Fiesta a la 2010.

on to the next one...