Sappy Mother's Day Post

Today America celebrates the most wonderful women in our lives, our Mothers. 

My mother is a particularly amazing one. This lady has dreams of her own, and she installed in each of her children the desire to follow our own dreams. She raised us to be independent and free thinking in a small, conservative town. With her guidance, each of us went off to college, then to graduate school (one of us farther than others) following our hearts to do what we want with our lives. From being professional wake boarders, playing a band or running the high school student government, she was there to offer guidance and opinions. Not that she didn't let her own thoughts out. If she thinks we're wrong about something, she lets us know immediately. When I decided to take this journey to the CZ, she was my number one supporter.

Mama is grace under pressure, with a strong heart surrounded by a soft hug, a true Southern lady. The smartest person you'll ever meet, even though she won't take the Jeopardy try out.  With a love for jewelry, fine furnishing and a designers eye, where ever she is, is our home. She is the rock that we stand on and the support we need to face our futures. 

Without her, my family would be nothing.

Halloween

Mama being an Alabama traitor, wearing Gator colors with me and Val

New Years

A recreation of an old birthday picture.

If you ever despair of our actions...

...just remember you raised us!

LOVE YOU

Birthday in Brno!

Renee, Alex, Me, Val, Tonje

We officially celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago, when Val and Alex were in Brno visiting. It was a party we'll never forget.

At 12:01

Birthday Breakfast with Tonje. That was a glass of "fresh squeezed orange juice" that was nothing like Florida OJ.

Birthday ice cream in the center

After I saw Tonje off to Amsterdam to visit her sister, I did a little birthday shopping and went and saw The Avengers by myself. I ended the day with some takeout and a new book.

It was a wonderful way to spend my birthday and I appreciate all the good wishes!

Can't wait to see what 23 brings me!

Taking a break from writing a huge paper to tell everyone how much fun I had when Val and Alex visited me. I'll upload some more photos soon. As you can see, we were well behaved and fully embraced the culture of Vienna. Here we are in the Imperial Apartments, acting our age and making Mama proud of us.

Only a month left of my second semester here. The weather is beautiful so of course I'll be stuck inside studying. See everyone soon!

Spring was here...

...for a few days. Then it got cold again. I saw snow flurries on Easter Morning!

I'm ready for warmth and sunshine, but unfortunately I didn't bring any clothing meant for warm weather. So we'll see how that goes.

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine and nice temperatures in Florida!

Meet Rex!

Rex is my parent's newest addition.

After I left for college in 2007, my parents were faced with a big house with only one small dog and 2 cats to fill it (a tragic case of empty-nest syndrome that I diagnosed them with) and they got another dog to fill the void.

Luca and me breaking the rules

Luca was the most intelligent and loving German Shepherd my parents have ever had. His ability to understand us was unmatched by any other dog. He doted on Dolly, my parent's Boston Terrier, and his lady, Sela. He loved nothing more than to be with you. I remember once I was cleaning the cabinets in the kitchen and all he wanted to do was sit on my lap and get attention. Where ever you were, he was there. Luca was fearless, unfazed by loud noises and strange people. He didn't like other dogs but he loved people. And he was so protective of everyone around him. Once I was on the dock with just the dogs in the middle of the day, laying out, enjoying the sun, when a strange boat pulled up. Luca could sense my apprehension of the strangers and immediately came next to me, hackles raised. With his scary presence by my side, I was able to get those strange men to leave me alone.

Unfortunately, we were only able to spend 4 short years with him. He left us to go join Dolly and Abagail in pet heaven, where we will see them again.

Luca, Dolly and Abagail

Now we have a new puppy to love on.

We'll always remember Luca, Dolly, Abagail, Duke, Queenie, Liesel, Lady, Barron, Bodo and those that came before.

Sunshine and Ice Cream!

St Patrick's Day was a beautiful, warm, early Spring day. Tonje and I celebrated by walking to the center to get some ice cream.

Blackberry and Mango Sorbet

Brno Lake

Then we joined some friends out at Brno Lake. A nice afternoon of laying in the sun, snacking on fruit and reading out of magazines. I can't wait for more beautiful Spring days!

Spring has come to Brno!

Such a difference a couple of weeks make!

Beginning of March in the Botanical Gardens

Yesterday.

Spring is here and bringing with it Sunshine and Warmth!

Looks like I'm going to have a new "hobby" aka "thing I'll force myself to do until I like it".

I've been looking for something new to do, outside of school, and swimming fits the bill. This way I can get some serious exercise without hurting my feet any more.

Brno has 3 very nice swimming facilities and lane rental is very cheap.

So here is to a new hobby and whatever else it might bring!

The Student in her Natural Habitat

Lots of stuff to read, very little motivation.

Vienna!

Scott and Jen surprised me about 2 weeks ago with an announcement that they were coming to visit! It would have been too hard for them to make it to Brno, so I just hopped on a train to Vienna and met them at the airport! We stayed in a hostel that some friends of mine had recommended to me.

Saturday was spent walking around the city and seeing all of the beautiful buildings. We then ran into some other friends of mine who told us we had to go have the original Sacher Tort in Hotel Sacher. Nothing like a cappuccino and chocolate cake for a snack!

We had a great time together and I can't wait for my next visitors! (Hint, hint)

Lužánky Park

Lužánky Park is a nice place to take a walk in the afternoon. People bring their dogs and walk with their strollers. Everyone lets the puppies and kids play together. Sadly I haven't been able to play with either a pet or a child. But soon.

It will be a nice place to go in the spring for picnics and fun!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was spent on the couch, due to an injury sustained while Ice Walking. Or probably just me being my normal klutzy self.

Anywho, Tonje and I hosted a little get together last night, so that we could meet some new ERASMUS students. It was fun but exhausting. There are going to be some new faces around here. One of the new guy's parents actually live in Pensacola! Small world!

Tonje was super sweet to me today! She surprised me with a Coke, Kinder chocolate, a small wallet and the cutest little ring (that she has the match for)! She is the best roommate I could ever ask for.

How I spent my day.

My cute ring!

My bum foot.

After RICE'ing all day, my foot feels a lot better. I'm still going to take it easy though. It's hard to live in Brno if you can't walk!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Walking on Ice

Today I went walking on the frozen Brno Lake. 4 hours of walking, sliding and falling on my rear. Walking on ice is not as easy as I thought it would be. It didn't help that my friend kept making little jokes about gas bubbles in the ice and pointing out the cracks as we walked over them. I took some pictures but they weren't that good, so I grabbed some from the internet.

Brno Lake

Hockey on Brno Lake

Map of Brno Lake. Brno Lake is a 10 km long water reservoir. We walked almost all of it today.

(my picture)

This bridge spans the smaller part of the lake. The large rock in the middle has a statue of a cross on it. During the summer all of this will be under water.

(my picture)

Veveří Castle overlooks the smaller part. We plan to visit there when it opens back up for visitors.

SNOW!

It's COLD outside!

I'm wearing wool longjohns, jeans, wool socks, wool undershirt, sweater, fleece jacket, overcoat, wool scarf, Norwegian mittens (thanks Tonje!), boots and Dad's awesome hat.

Now, I just need to figure out how to prevent my eyes from freezing!

Cooking fun

Our apartment has a full kitchen, so Tonje and I have been playing around, showing each other how we cook in our respective countries. I made pancakes one morning. They weren't as good as Dad's, but I'm pretty proud of them. My Garlic soup is even better here, Czech garlic is the best in the world. They put it in everything!

Czech Garlic Soup

Pancakes

Superbowl Sunday in the Czech Republic

Last night Tonje and I hosted a "Superbowl Party". Basically there were 3 Americans and a Spaniard watching the game and everyone else played with popcorn. I donn't care that much about either team, all I knew was that there were 5 former Gators playing for the Patriots, so I supported them. This week will be spent getting ready for the semester to start, and hopefully some snow!

Kawa, Tonje, Claudiu and Me

Streaming the game

New Semester, New Apartment

We're back! Tonje and I moved into our new apartment last Friday and had a housewarming party Saturday night. We finally got internet this afternoon, so I'm trying to catch up on all the internets I missed this past week. I'll post pictures of our amazing place soon and expect a more regularly updated blog this semester.

We got a map so that all of our friends can mark where they are from. We've had visitors from Tasmania, North Finland and Wyoming! I'm excited to add more little red dots over the next few months.