Friday, November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family and then a successful shopping at the Midnight Madness for Black Friday! I finally invested some money in a Kitchen Aid machine...which will make many yummi Christmas cookies this year. We also bought a fire pit to have our own little camp fire in our backyard. Since our TV's sound isn't the best, Josue invested in a Soundbar that converted our little living room into a Surround Sound Theater! ;)
I enjoyed being off from work for 2 days, and even got to put up the Christmas tree. Enjoy the pictures!


The Bird

Stuffing

The Beans

The carrots

The gravy

The Mashed Potatoes

Chicken for "Pan con Pollo"








Pan con Pollo - Chicken Sandwich

Horchata



This is how your plate has to look like when you are done! 


Apple Pie

Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie

Fruit Pie





Merry Christmas Time! :)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The first thing is to admit that you have a problem ;)

Hello, my name is Nina and I have arachnophobia...





But I strike back...this is kinda making me feel "safe", but however it does not guarantee anything! :( Even though I sprayed the house the creepy crawly stuff still comes in. Glad that I am married now and I have my personal hero to kill anything that has more than 4 legs and walks up a wall.
I do love fall, with all its colors, but I despise the unpleasant visitors it brings into our house.

Golden October in Pittsburgh

The third weekend of October (did you know this month has 5 weekends!) we went on a weekend trip to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania to celebrate the wedding of Melissa Lyden and Gabriel Albanes. Melissa is Josue's co-worker at Circle Solutions and also a friend that we cherished to have in our lives. We left Northern Virginia at 9:30am on Friday and had a beautiful 5 hour trip through the colorful range of the Appalachian Mountains. 
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Am 3. Wochende im Oktober (wusstet ihr das Oktober 5 Wochenenden hat!) fuhren wir auf einen Wochenend Trip nach Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania um die Hochzeit von Melissa Lyden und Gabriel Albanes zu feiern. Melissa ist Josue's Kollegin bei Circle Solutions und unter anderem eine Freundin die wir sehr zu schaetzen gelernt haben in unserem Leben. Wir fuhren um 9:30Uhr in Virginia ab und verbrachten eine wunderschoene 5 stuendige Fahrt durch die farbenfrohe Kette der Appalachischen Berge. 









The wedding took place at the Timberhouse of the Rolling Acres Golf Course in Beaver Falls, PA. Winded roads brought us to this very hidden but beautiful place. The Timberhouse is indeed totally made out of wood. I had to think of my dad, he would have loved it there. :) This was the first wedding I attended which started exactly on time! I was amazed, lol. Unfortunately we just got there a few minutes before the start, so the best seats were taken already, which resulted in not many pictures of not so well quality.

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Die Hochzeit fand im Timberhouse (Baumstammhaus) des Rolling Acres Golfkurses in Beaver Falls, PA statt. Gewundene Strassen fuehrten uns an diesen versteckten aber sehr schoenen Ort. Das Timberhouse ist tatsaechlich komplett aus Holzstaemmen gebaut. Ich musste of an meinen Papa denken, dem haette es dort gut gefallen! :) Dies war die erste Hochzeit auf der wir waren die puenktlich anfing, ich war erstaunt! Leider kamen wir nur einige Minuten vor Beginn der Zeremonie, weshalb wir nicht die besten Sitzplaetze bekamen und somit die Bilder nicht reichlich sind und weder eine gute Qualitaet haben, weil wir so weit hinten sassen.



 Here are some pictures from the reception.     ****     Und hier ein paar Bilder von der Feier.











The next day, Saturday, we decided to stay the second night and discover the city of Pittsburgh. Before that we went to the town of Beaver to get some of that awesome cinnamon bread at the local bakery! OMG, if you are ever in the Pittsburgh area and you have time left go the Kretchmar's Bakery in Beaver, they sell THE best cinnamon bread ever! They also have a lot of other yummi stuff from all around the world.

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Am nachsten Morgen, Samstag, entschlossen wir uns eine 2. Nacht zu bleiben und Pittsburgh anzuschauen. Aber zu allererst einmal fuhren wir in die Stadt Beaver um dort das genialste Zimtbrot in der oertlichen Baeckerei zu kaufen! Meine Guete, wenn ihr je einmal in der Pittsburgh Gegend seid und Zeit habt, fahrt nach Beaver und geht dort in die Kretchmar Baeckerei. Die verkaufen DAS beste Zimtbrot! Und die haben auch noch ganz viele andere leckere Sachen aus der ganzen Welt.



And then we went to Downtown Pittsburgh - love the city already! I guess I love all cities with skyscrapers, lol!

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Und dann ging es in die Innenstadt von Pittsburgh, in die ich mich ziemlich schnell verliebt habe! Ich liebe alle Staedte mit Wolkenkratzern, lol!




What is a cell phone disco?  ** Was ist eine Handy Disco?


Love the architecture! 


They have a lot of bridges here! ** Die haben viele Bruecken hier!

It was so windy and chilly I had to buy a scarf! ** Es war so windig und kuehl das ich mir einen Schal gekauft habe!


PNC Baseball Stadium

Interesting Architecture  

This was at the headquarter building of PNC Bank. This is completely made of  different greenery. ** Dies ist die Hauptzentrale der PNC Bank. Dieses "Bild" ist komplett aus verschiedenen Graesern hergestellt. 

So many different architectural styles in one picture! ** So viele verschiedene Architekturen in einem Bild! 

Market Square

Heinz Field Football Stadium

Grand View over the city



At the end of our day we had dinner at "Big Jim's", where the portions are big, but the prices are little and the taste is yummi! This restaurant is featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, that's why I wanted to go there. The portions were so large I had the left overs at lunch for the next 2 days. :)

Am Ende unseres Tages gingen wir zum Abendessen zu "Big Jim's" wo die Portion gross sind, die Preise klein und der Geschmack hervorragend! Dieses Restaurant wurde im US Fernsehen in einer bekannten Show vorgestellt, deshalb hatte ich es ausgesucht. Die Portionen waren so gross das ich die Reste noch 2 Tage zum Mittagessen hatte. :)