Autumn Days

au·tumn

Webster's Definition: The season of the year between summer and winter, lasting from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice and from September to December in the Northern Hemisphere; fall.

Erika's Definition: Perfect time for hot chocolate, pumpkin pies, beautiful changing leaves, football games (not that I watch many of them), warm apple cider, Halloween and pumpkin carving, Thanksgiving day Parade, family birthdays and celebrations, mums, hay rides and corn mazes, apple picking and pie making, long handmade scarves, no AC and open windows, harvest and fresh produce, swimming and diving season (WSU Alumni Meet...woohoo!), sweatshirts and cardigans, cinnamon potpourri, Black Friday, homemade chex mix, costume parties, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes, colorful front door wreaths, jumping in leaf piles, trick-or-treating and an excuse to eat an abundant amount of candy, candy pumpkins, stuffing and gravy, and Christmas just around the corner.

Looks like we have a lot to be thankful for this year!

I have been lucky enough to spend some time in Texas with my sister, brother-in-law, my new nephew and of course their dog. Brenner is now 10 months and is such a character. Just during my first week here, he has started crawling all over the place and loves to help me type on the computer.

It's Boo!

My sister and I LOVE baking and can always come up with an excuse to make something sweet and delicious. In fall fashion, we whipped up some Pumpkin Mini's with Cream Cheese frosting.

As you can see, someone already stole one!

Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 eggs, beaten

1 16-oz can pumpkin

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 cup cooking oil

Method:

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

2. Combine eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil.

3. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat until well combined.

4. Spread batter in an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan and bake @ 350 for 25 minutes

or

Drop spoonfuls of batter into mini cupcake pan and bake @ 350 for 10 min.

5. Let stand and cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

3 of cream cheese

1/4 cup of butter or margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla til light and fluffy.

2. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

3. Spread over cooled bars or muffins.

Happy Fall!

Starting New

I guess now its time to start blogging about some new stuff. Our trip is over, just a wonderful collection of crazy memories and now we are trying to get back into the swing of things.

WSU Swimming and Diving season began last week and AJ is back to waking up early to coach the distance program. Throughout the entire trip he would talk about and plan things for the upcoming season. Here is the entire team from the 2008-09; both teams places 2nd at the NCAA Division 2 National Championships in addition to donzens upon dozens of individual academic and athletic accolades.
I am back on my mission towards leading a less conventional, more creative life! I am currently in Houston trying to write a book about our adventures in Europe. I am getting plenty of distraction with my sister and my adorable nephew Brenner. While traveling, AJ and I were always on the lookout for new ideas and things to make. I have a whole notebook of sketches and notes of things from jewelry to stained glass cows to try and make. Here is one of my new creations just in time for cold weather.
With the Christmas season fast approaching, I have been trying to find new ways to market my Etsy store, EBBeautique. I've also been trying to find different types of craft and holiday shows to participate in.

Stay in tuned to see what happens next in our lives!

Final Days

We know we haven't blogged in quite awhile, but both of us have been busy trying to get back into the swing of things at home. Knowing we can't leave trip unfinished, we are finally posting about the final days of our three month trip. Please don't think that this means we are going to stop blogging. Both of us want to continue to share our lives and adventures with as many people as possible.
There is so much to do in Rome, every which way you look is some form of ancient ruins or a famous monument. Here is what is considered the oldest lie detector in the world. It is said that if a liar places his hands within the mouth of the statue, the statue will bite his or her hand off. Fortunately for the church who requests an offering for entering, nobody fears losing a limb and hundreds of people visit the statue everyday.

The Pantheon was just as impressive as we expected it to be. Although it is around 2000 years old and the open occulus in the center has exposed the inside to the elements for just as long, the inside is imacculate.

Here is AJ in the fountain in front of the Spanish Steps where thousands of people gather to hang out. We had heard so much about the Spanish Steps and were excited to be there but there really isn't anything to do but sit down. So we sat and relaxed in the shade of the evening. Many people have asked us upon our return if we had any problems with the water and our digestive tracts. We drank water out of hundreds of different fountains in almost every city we went to and not once got sick from it. Of course, shortly after our return, both of us caught a cold.

Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly where this was or what it is. But I do know that it is a tomb monument created by a famous Baroque scultpure and we were quite impressed with how the stone was made to look like draperies billowing in the wind.

In the Piazza Navona, there are two amazing fountaints and the beautiful St. Agnes. It was once the Stadium of Domitian which is evident in is elongated oval shape. This fountain is of Four Rivers by Bernini and the city has hired a security guard to walk around it all day to make sure no one gets too close. All throughout the piazza are artists trying to sell paintings and watercolors and we enjoyed walking through their masterpieces.

On the last Sunday of our trip, we went to Vatican City. We were so lucky and delighted to find out that the Vatican and its numerous museums are free to everyone on the last Sunday of the Month. The enormous line continually moved as people were being shuffled through the metal detectors into the museums. The Vatican owns one of the best art collections in the world including ancient Egyptian artifacts and ancient Roman scultpures. Here is a painting by Raphael in what is known as the "Raphael Rooms." The artist painted the walls and ceiling of two separate rooms and are such masterpieces that they are studied in art history classes today.

This is one of both of our favorite sculptures and you wouldn't believe that it is almost 2000 years old. This sculpture, known as the Lacoon served as inspiration for one of the greatest artists, Michelangelo. We were lucky enough to enter the Cistene Chapel twice and marveled with sore necks at what is considered one of the greatest acheivements of man. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos but we will remember standing in the small chapel forever.

AJ couldn't resist taking a photo of the goofy Swiss guard and their colorful uniforms. I am sure it is considered an honor to be one of the Vatican guards but we couldn't help laughing at them.

The Vatican holds another of our favorite sculptures, Michelangelo's Pieta. It is one of his most finished sculpture (Michelangelo was notorious for not finishing a work) and was completed by the time he was 26. It is utterly breathtaking as Mary holds the body of her dead son. This piece served as an inspiration for mothers during the 15 and 1600 hundreds as they too were constantly dealing with tragedy and the loss of their children. Mary taught them to be strong and stoic in times of pain.

This is us in St. Peter's square with St. Peter's basilica behind us. I think we look happy but ready to come home.

Our adventure home was one we will never forget. Because our flight left at 7am, we had to travel throughout the middle of the night to get to the airport 30 miles away. In a nutshell, we took a wrong bus and ended up stranded on the outskirts of Rome at 3:30 in the morning with no money and no phone. Luckily we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare after a $100 crazy taxi ride!

Please continue to check in on us as we continue to share our lives!

When in Rome.....

So we have finally made it to Rome! Rome is amazing...to say the least. Everywhere we go there are ruins, literally everywhere! Some random column standing in the middle of an alley, a new building built side by side with a really really old one. Not only are their ruins everywhere, but there are also churches, vespas, and of course tourists!

Our days have been absolutely filled with things to see. We have taken the opportunity to sleep in every morning, but from 11 to about 7 everyday, we are walking through the streets of Rome.

We started out with a bang with the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. We spent hours going through each site reading everything that was offered. The Colosseum was incredibly impressive, but also depressing. While you can imagine the noise and energy it must have had in its heyday, the building itself is in ruins.

Some of the most impressive ruins we have seen were the Baths of Caracalla that could hold 6000 people at one time. The structures were composed of massive domed vaults of which every inch would have been covered in marble with mosaic floors. The Pantheon was another impressive site to see. The dome is amazing and in amazing condition especially since the open oculus has allowed the interior of the building to be open to the elements for 2000 years!

We made sure to throw in tons of pennies for our families and friends into the Trevi Fountain! The fountain was one of our favorite sites despite the crazy amount of tourists. At one point, a woman next to us got pelted with a penny someone was trying to throw in!

We have been to an incredibly amount of churches off all different sizes, shapes, and styles. We have been in round churches, oval churches, classical cross shaped churches, churches with Michelangelo statues, Raphael and Caravaggio paintings, Bernini sculptures, old mosaics, and of course gilded everything! Some of the smallest churches are the most ornate while some of the larger ones are much more simplistic. No matter what church we enter, we are sure to find an amazing piece of art.

Of of the best surprises so far was an art collection from a single family, the Doria-Pamphili's who have been collecting art for the last 400 years. Their family was incredibly powerful, had a pope and several princes and princesses as well. Their collection was extensive and amazing with works from all of the great Renaissance artists.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Vatican! We have heard that the pope usually addresses the public on the last Sunday of the month, but then we have also heard that he is at his summer home during these unbearably hot days. But no matter what we will be able to see some of the greatest paintings, sculpture and architecture in the world!

Another amazing day!

Unfortunately our photos from climbing Mount Vesuvious were deleted from this computer before we were able to load them. But we were able to load some photos from exploring Herculaneum. The ruins at Herculaneum were found much more recently than those from Pompei and have been kept in better preservation than the famous Pompei.
Pompei and Herculaneum were completely covered in ash and other volcanic materials when Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. The towns were wonderfully preserved in the volcanic ash and now show what life was like 2000 years ago!

Roads were lined with covered porticoes so pedestrians could walk protected from the carts and weather.

Although the town appeared pretty small, it was quite a network of streets and walkways. Herculaneum was known as a vacation retreat where many of te wealthy business families had summer homes.

What we believe might have been some sort of kitchen with beautiful countertops made from various pieces of marble. The large pots are now filled with pyroclastic flow rocks from the volcanic explosion.

An amazing mosaic that is still vibrantly rich in color. The craftsmanship back then was absolutely superb and stunned us! Mosaics were found in the richest of homes while every wall and ceiling was decorated in colorful frescoes.

The very sunburnt couple in a small piazza in front of a very famous relief sculpture in the background.

Half of a statue preserved that was on an incredible 2nd story piazza that would have overlooked the ocean. The shoreline has since moved 200 meters out and you can't even see the water from this point!

A shot of the ruins of Herculaneum with the newer Ercolano in the background with the volcano Vesuvius in the far background.

Mission Impossible!!!

So yesterday we decided to go to Capri which is an unbelievably gorgeous city. I know we have said that many times before but this one may take the cake. It is a relatively small island set amongst a mountain in the ocean. It is where very rich people live and tourists go to see the amazing sites. Most people who have heard of Capri have heard of the Blue Grotto. It is a tiny little cave set in the rocks and would be very easy to miss as the opening is about 4 feet wide and 0-5 feet tall depending on the waves.
Anyways, to start the day off we knew we wanted to visit this island paradise and looked up the times to leave. To get to the Blue Grotto you need to take a ferry from Sorrento to the port in Capri, a funicular to the top which is actually Capri, a bus to Anacapri and then a bus down the other side of the island, and then you finally walk down a flight of stairs which leads you to an impressive "beach" and the Blue Grotto.
So we started the day out running down the hill of our hostel to catch the tram which takes us into downtown Sorrento. From there we booked it to the marina which is down a cliff, no joke, Erika just happened to find a flight of stairs, to race to get a ticket when we find a long line of people doing the exact thing we are. We had less than ten minutes til the boat left, as the next one was 4 hours away, to buy our ticket and then board the boat that was at the end of the dock quite far from us.
After running there, while sweating profusely, we make it on the boat just moments before they closed up. Naturally we high fived our good fortune. Thinking we had made it easy for ourselves we realized how much more was involved before we got to our actual destination. We took the funicular up just before it had filled up completely and we would have waited 15 minutes. We then followed the rest of the busses to our destination and found it was more than worth it. The beach is set on the rocks and you have to take stairs down to the water, or you can jump off the sides of the 1-7 meter cliffs. Either way you are in extremely blue, refreshing water where it is easy to see the hundreds of fish swimming around you.
After spending hours there enjoying the sun and jumping into the water we headed over to the Blue Grotto. You have to take a small boat that fits four and the boatsman. To get into the cave, which I mentioned how big the entrance is, you have to lay down on the floor of the boat. Then boat by boat a group is rushed into the cave before the waves get too big. Once inside we were treated to a phenomenal display of glowing water. Because of the way the sun shines in, it looks like neon blue lights are shining deep below us. We could see amazing fish, some striped like leopards, and the eerie glow all around us. Very cool but unfortunately we couldn't spend very long in there as we were taken out just minutes later.
All in all a wonderful day and that alone was worth the trip to Europe! We will post tomorrow about our trip up the mountainside of Vesuvius, yes we walked part way, and to the amazing ruins of Herculanium.
Ciao!

A day in the life of a Greek

After a very long and hot train ride, we arrived in the Almafi Coast in Solerno! Our hostel is well....different. But have really enjoyed the past two days and have spent plenty of time at the beach under the sun! The hostel is really open and has an unusual amount of older people hanging around.

Today was absolutely magnificent! We headed to Paestum where ruins of an entire Greek/Etruscan/Roman city are including three gigantic Doric temples. We got off at the train station that was nothing more than a small waiting room and a tourist information office and set down the road in front of us. After about 10 minutes, we emerged in front of a giant field and there were these huge ancient buildings in front of us!

The largest was by far the Temple to Neptune but the others, the Temple of Hera and the Temple of Athena, didn't fail to impress us as we walked around the ruins. In between and around each temple were remains of homes, shops, pools, markets, arenas, political chambers and an ampitheater. The site was rather large and we spent well over 3 hours wandering around, taking pictures, and of course, finding some rest in a few shady spots.

We were so glad to have an air conditioned train for the ride back, but the sun had completely drained us! After eating dinner rather slowly, we put on our swimsuits and headed to the beach to relax. From the beach, the views are amazing of mountains all around us. Last night, during a walk, AJ pointed out some lights way far out in the distance that couldn't be stars and today, we saw in the haze a mountain at least 30 miles in the distance.

Tomorrow we are heading to another coastal town, Sorrento where we will be spending 4 nights before we go to Rome! As usual, we don't know about internet access. This might be our last post before Rome where we can hopefully catch up on photos!

Miss everyone! And can't believe the summer is almost over!

P.S. We are glad everyone enjoyed our Pisa pictures!