The Kaziows - thekaziows

7/14/2011 9:17:27 AM - 002064833188
@ Barbara- I wish Shutterfly had a 'like' button. Glad you enjoyed it. MUAH!

7/9/2011 5:26:29 AM - 004025804271
Loved spending my Friday night with virtual Katrina and Mike! Wear your sunglasses on your head girlfriend! (big hugs)

6/6/2011 9:59:19 PM - 002064833188
I know, right? It makes me feel a little insignificant. What are my few years on this earth compared to entire civilizations rising and falling? It can be a little eerie.

6/5/2011 9:30:55 PM - 003039510018
Whenever I've visited Europe I realize how young the US is. There is such a sense of very old history in Europe.

9/25/2010 12:14:56 PM - 002064833188
Thanks! Glad you finally saw it!

9/23/2010 4:56:03 PM - 003057729250
Love what you've done with this

Holy cow! I haven't updated any of this in quite some time. We've been B-U-S-Y. More travelling (of course), starting a new job, exploring new hobbies and making some life changing decisions. 2011 ended with a bang and 2012 promises to have more in store. Over the Christmas holidays we visited Bochum, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Lambsheim and Mannheim, Germany. Mike has family in 3 of those places: Bochum, Lambsheim, and Mannheim so we were able to spend the holidays with family, which was nice. We went to the Christmas markets in Dusseldorf, Cologne and Strasbourg, France. January and February we took some down time - while I finished my paperwork to start working at the hospital here and because the weather was so nasty. It didn't snow much this year, but it did rain a lot. Recently we visited Metz, France (gorgeous city) and back to Mannheim. They have a Polish store there that sells honey vodka and Mike is in love with it. He bought 5 bottles on this last trip. Soon I hope to go to Heidelberg, Speyer, and a couple of castles not too far away. 

This has been a busy summer. Besides settling into a new house and everything that entails we've been travelling, too. Only locally, really, but we've seen and done a LOT. A couple of weeks ago we went to Paris for the day - our first longer trip. 10 hours is NOT enough time to see Paris. I think we will probably go back for a long weekend sometime. There's just too much to do and see. We barely stopped all day long and we saw Notre Dame, Chapel de St. Severin and the Eiffel Tower. We didn't even touch on The Lourve. Paris is a magnificent city. All the stereotypes are true- it really is very romantic and the French really are well dressed and the subways really do smell like pee. It's pretty fabulous. 

Freinsheim is a little village about 30 minutes from us, along the A6, in wine country. I thought our village is picturesque until I saw wine country. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's more than gorgeous. It's breath-taking. Rolling hills, grape vines, rambling roses, walled cities.... Imagine every story book you ever read as a child. You're not close to how perfect this region is.

I'm here! Ok, well, I've been here for almost 3 full days now and so far it's pretty great. The house is adorable! Actually, right now it's a man-cave. Seriously, Mike only set up a small area to watch TV and play on Facebook so I have my work cut out for me. Of course, I enjoy this stuff, so I shouldn't complain. Plus, it will keep me busy until I can get my drivers license. Speaking of licenses, I'm officially an RN! I passed my exam and my license came in the mail a few days ago. Some of my classmates received their degrees in the mail today, so maybe mine will be here soon.  Germany is great. Today we visited a local castle and tomorrow Lola and I will be exploring our village on our own since Mike will be working all weekend. I'll get some pics posted! ;)

I'm a little late on this, but I hope each of you is having a wonderful holiday season. I got to spend some much wanted time with my sister (miss her!) and all of my families. Yes, plural. When we're in Memphis we have Christmas celebrations with all of the following: my father's family, the Pierce's; my mother's family, the Coleman's; my step-dad's family, the Hughes'; and my in-laws, the Kaziow's. That's a lot of food to eat! Add to that the cousin's dinners out - this year I ate BBQ with Bryan & Julie and Jessica & Kevin, and Italian with Paige, Jeffrey, Melissa, and all the babies. And I still have birthday dinners to go to! So now you know why I never even attempt to diet during the holidays: it would be pointless.

As of this moment, I am sitting in a rented room in my friend Luke's house which will be my home until the end of February. Mike is in a class in Texas for the next two weeks, after which he will be going to Germany, without me. Life is a little tumultous for us at the moment, but then again, when isn't it? A military career has a lot of ups and downs, but I think it's been worth every tear, smile, laugh, argument, and fear. We've grown closer as a result of all of the changes we've endured. There is something solid between us that I'm pretty sure neither of us would get with someone else. This life is not for the faint of heart or the weak minded.

 

We have tons of good news too- Mike's baby sister is getting married! Her fiance is a wonderful guy, and we couldn't be more thrilled for them. We've been able to spend the last few weeks with tons of family- most notably Dani, of course- and I'll be spending the holidays with my family back home. I only have a week and a half of school left and very soon I'll have my nursing license (still praying for a job in Germany), and Mike & I will be together again- ready for a whole new adventure.

 

Ms. Lola is doing well. We thought I would be moving into a hotel, so she went home with my in-laws for a while. I'm sure she's loving it because she gets to go on daily walks.

 

So that's our lives in a nutshell. Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season! Be safe!

I used to think September was my least favorite month, but now I'm not so sure. It's been really beautiful here lately. Great weather (though some days we still get above 100 degrees- what's with that?), lots of festivals are starting up, and it's cool enough in the mornings to run & take Lola for a walk- she's loving it. I'm halfway done with OB/Peds and YAY!!! for that. The class isn't hard, it's just disorganized. If you know me at all, you know I hate disorganization. I just can function with it. Also, Mike is back on night shift but only for a month. In November he will switch back to days to out-process. I feel like the move is coming at me like a speeding train. It will be here before I know it. But I've gotten a few things checked off of my To-Do list so I'm starting to feel better about it all. Coming up, a friend and I are going to the Seafood Festival downtown today. Yummm.... In October, Mike's parents are visiting and then on October 30th McGuire's is having a Halloween 5K, which I'm really excited about. I've actually been training for it! I won't be fast, but I can easily walk the 3.2 miles and I'm running everyday. Then in November, besides the move, Patrick & Stephanie are coming to visit!!! I can't wait to see those guys. I've warned them we may be sleeping with mattresses on the floor among boxes, but they are good sports. So, lots of activities to keep us busy and out of trouble... mostly! ;)

This is my last weekend of freedom. :(  Blah. I thought I had until Thursday off, but I got an email yesterday saying to be at the hospital on Monday. Eh. Whaddya gonna do? Mike's birthday was Thursday but he was working and my grandparents were in town so we are celebrating today. Mama Jean & Papa took us to dinner at Frank & Lola's on the beach on Thursday night where we shared a delicious Key Lime Pie. Friday I shopped with my grandmother, which was a wonderful blessing because I don't see nearly enough of her. AND I learned something interesting- my Papa loves to read, too! I never knew and I always wondered where I got that trait from because very few people in my family like to read. My grandmother also brought me copies of some of the genealogy research she's done on our family. As it turns out, I could be a DAR if I choose to do something like that. So far it's been a great weekend and I'm looking forward to spending today with Mike. Maybe I'll have some good pictures to post later. :)

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Summer Semester is OVER! Did you hear that- THE SUMMER SEMESTER IS O.V.E.R.!!!! I'm a little bit excited, can you tell? ;)

 

I passed Adult Health 2- our class that covers Cardiac & Respiratory problems. It's one of our hardest classes and I'm very happy to be done with it. Now I have a 3-week break before taking Maternal & Child Health and Adult Health 3 (ICU, ER, Trauma). Mike is still working his usual schedule, but he is back on days so we see more of each other. I'm getting ready for the yard sale and the moves. Nothing new there.

 

My parents came down for a short visit last week. We enjoyed spending time with them, and, yes, we really did drive all the way to Panama City to buy a T-shirt from Margaritaville! Gotta keep Mama happy! :)

Nothing special is going on this week. I'm studying for a very hard test and Mike is working a lot. We haven't had much down time. Yesterday I went to the farmer's market with a friend, Tamara, and found some great things... maybe next weekend I can take Mike; I know he'll enjoy it. It's in the cutest little park downtown that runs right down the middle of two streets. I'll take pics if we go back. After that, I convinced Tamara to dye her hair brown! It turned out great, but she was terribly nervous- lots of giggling!! I guess the biggest news this week is that Lola got a hair cut- we buzzed her and now she has a mohawk. It's her summer 'do. She seems much happier.

This weekend we went to Art in the Park in downtown Pensacola. SO much fun! Artisans from all over the country were there peddling their goods. We saw so many beautiful things, but with the move coming up we're on a big of a shopping hiatus. We did get Dani two adorable little necklaces and cannot wait to give them to her. Some of the artwork was simply amazing; I am completely in awe of talented & creative people. I would love to one day have some of those beautiful things in my home. My friend, Tamara, from school came out to meet us, and after we browsed the tents, the three of us took a walk down to the bay. Some pics are posted.