Addison Oktoberfest

I went with my sister Genny to Addison Oktoberfest. It was so much fun, although it was a little muddy (it has been raining for about a week straight here in North Texas.

First we entered the Park and, being both hungry, decided to go straight for some food. We walked through the mud, and got in line for some food a Seigi's ( I am not sure of the spelling). The only problem with this was, they didn't take cash. I had forgotten that they only take event tickets which are a dollar each. So we trudge over to the ticker tent and get in line. this is when Genny starts regretting wearing the flip-flops. I think she lost her sandal 5 times in about 3 minutes.

So we went back over to the same tent and got some food I got a Bratwurst Burger, and Genny had a Chicken sausage with cheese and jalapeño. (see pictures)

Next, we left to get some beer. They had tents set up only to serve the beer. There were three options: Oktoberfest Ale, and A nice Hefewiezen. Of course I had to get the ale. Genny had the hefeweizen I believe.

So after eating, we went to do some shopping at all the booths that were set up in the center of the park. ( I can not divulge anything about this because presents are involved).

So after shopping we went to get some strudel, Genny got a Bavarian Creme strudel (awesome), and I got the Apricot Almond Strudel (crazy awesome).

All in all, it was awesome, except the whole "Jessica couldn't be there thing."

The Scottish Thistle!

Hi!
While I was hiking earlier in the week I found this beautiful Scottish Thistle still in bloom! It was one of the only blooms left! Apparently the thistle only blooms at a certain time of the year and not for very long! If you can't tell its a beautiful purple :)

Pies and Old Pictures

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie!!! It is awesome, it just needs more Chocolate.

This recipe will make two, 9” pies.

Crust:

14 oz of chocolate crackers (I used some cheap teddy grahams, Next time I will use a premade chocolate crumb pie crust)

3 Tablespoons butter

10 oz of chocolate chips

Mix Ingredients like you are making a normal pie crust, then bake in the pan for 10 mins at about 350 degrees. Once out of the oven, sprinkle in the chips over the bottom of the crust.

Filling:

16 oz of Cream Cheese

2 Cups of Peanut Butter ( I like the natural stuff, but any should do)

1 cup sugar, (remember, this is for two pies)

1 cup Heavy Cream

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

I added about 2 tablespoons of Dark Chocolate Nutella

Whip everything together until it is light and creamy.

Topping:

I will probably just sprinkle on more chocolate chips next time, but for the pie I brought in;

8 oz chocolate chips

½ cup of cream

Put in microwave for 30 seconds, then stir a lot, until they cream and chocolate combine.

Also, I found some old pictures of the Snow we had my senior year at Tech that were still on my camera. Enjoy

This is the pie I will be making Jessica when I go visit her in Scotland!

What to get?

I am preparing to go to Scotland to se Jessica, and also to see family in the Netherlands! I am trying to compile a list of things I need to get.

Some real Klompen (Dutch Wooden clogs), my others are from Holland, MI and don't fit

A nice hand made Chess Set

A new cooking knife for me ( Sorry KV :P)

A Kilt

A University of Ediburgh Football Club Jersey

Something Made of Copper, cooking or otherwise

Anything else I will post here, anyone have any more ideas?

Getting Settled!

Hello!
So I have been in Edinburgh for 3 full days now! Things are going well. I have managed to take care of most of the items on my list! I have picked up my student id, registered/ matriculated, registered with the doctors office, opened a bank account (very painlessly too!) and got a UK cell phone/ number :) All in all a very successful few days!

I am beginning to feel settled and a little more comfortable with such a big city (even though Edinburgh only has 500,000 people, its big for me :)) I have also attended a few social events for post graduate students which were a lot of fun. I have already met some very interesting people from across the world.

Yesterday I also went and hiked the Salisbury Crags that are outside my window! It was quite a hike but very enjoyable! The top picture I took from as high as I went! That is a view of the harbor on the other side of Edinburgh!

Here is me on the trail (still smiling :))
Behind me is Edinburgh. Somewhere above my head is the castle off in the distance! And if you use a magnify glass you can see the dome of Old College where I will be taking my classes this year! :)
Here is a picture of Edinburgh without my head in the way! I am really high up :)

I can't wait to show Peter and any one else coming to visit this amazing city! I am doing my best to enjoy the experience but I wish Peter were here to experience it with me!

Tomorrow is a big day! I have a meeting for my program, and I will finally find out my course schedule among other things! My classes start on Thursday! And next Saturday I will be heading to Amsterdam to meet Peter and his family!! I am very excited about that!

Today mom and grandmother come back from York and I am going to enjoy their company for the rest of the week! I am a little lonely, being here all by my self.
We are staying in the Old Waverly Hotel which should be fun!

I love you Peter!
Talk to you all soon!
Jessica

Cooking, and Talking

Well Jessica is in Scotland. I miss her so much. She means so much to me and I cannot wait to see her in 12 days. I even got to talk to her this afternoon, (evening to her) and I realized how much I missed her smile. I also miss her laugh, her voice, her jokes, her insight, her intelligence, and her beauty. I will continue to miss her everyday until we are back together.

So, while talking to her this afternoon, I made the following things with her help:

2 Chocolate Peanut Butter Pies

24 Pork Worste Broodjes

12 Turkey Worste Broodjes

Some amazing food, and I have to practice for when I make the Pies for Jessica when I come visit her. Once I get my camera up and running I should be able to post some pictures.

Jessica,

You are so beautiful, I love you more than words can describe.

Peter

Welcome to Edinburgh!!!

The view out my window of Arthur's seat!!!! :)
My desk and closet!
My bed!!!

So I have arrived safely in Scotland with my mother, my grandmother and our 9 suitcases. Yup I said it 9, and all but 2 were mine :) Oh well! I got some very strange looks in the airport and in my defense 2 of the suitcases just held books :)

The flight went well. Nothing to exciting to report there, though the movie selection was quite good, the food was abysmal as always. Saying good bye to Peter was of course impossible and even after only being apart for 24 hours I miss him a lot. But luckily we will be back together in 2 weeks from today! In fact less then 2 weeks now!!!

For the last few days I have been fighting allergies and they have been relentless. That unfortunately made the plane trip difficult and I got no sleep! After flying through customs, we took a taxi from the airport to my flat! Its wonderful! And all of my flatmates are very nice! The flat is exactly what I expected and it is in a great location!

So after unpacking the millions of suitcases, I needed a nap desperately so I took one :) Mom and grandmother went exploring and ate lunch. After waking me up we all journeyed to find the grocery store! And you guessed it we got lost! Some how we completely over shot the street I was look for and ended up by the castle, which while not far is not close either!

We eventually found the Tesco's and proceeded to buy a lot of stuff! Since we had so much stuff we decided that a taxi would be better then the hike back to the apartment!

After putting the groceries away we headed out again! (For those of you who have never had jet lag if you stop moving you fall asleep so the idea was to stay busy! :)) This time we went in search of a Mark's and Spenzer's in order to find a curling iron for mom and grandmother. 3 stores later we had a curling iron for them and allergy medicine for me! All in all a very fruitful expedition!

When we got back I talked to my dad and took pictures of the apartment!

It is still very hard for me to believe that I am here after all this time, after all the planning. I am looking forward to my courses but I miss everyone so much! Hopefully things will settle down as time goes on! All I can do now is concentrate on the fact that I see Peter in 2 weeks! 5000 miles is so far away!

I love you Peter!

Jessica