Cards, Packages, Presents & A Coffee Maker.

Thanks a bunch to everyone for Easter & anniversary cards...it's always nice to open the mailbox to pretty bright envelopes with handwritten messages. Plus, we have been getting quite a few packages in the mail of late, from a Switzerland book, to shower gifts & my personal fav ---- BISCOTTI & Easter chocolates. The way to this girls heart, food, of course.

Now that I got biscotti in the mail, it made a coffee maker imminently more important. For those of you who don't know, biscotti & coffee are like sonny&cher, mr. rogers & the neighborhood, or switzerland & chocolate. They just go hand in hand. One without the other, it's just not right. So, we went yesterday to purchase one. Feel free to make fun of me/us after you look at it. I know, it looks a bit like Wall-E or some sort of hideous lil' bug. The ads bring even a higher level of shame to the purchase. However, it has the ability to make both hot & cold bevs, milk drinks like latte macchiatos & cappuccinos, and of course, the price was as close to right as one can get here. So, I am excited to say the least.

Also, Joe gave me my anniversary present early because the suspense was making me nuts. I had no idea what he could be so excited to give me. Check it out here. I know, I know it's in German, which was basically the exact response I had when I opened it. "Oh, it's a book. And, it's in German." But, the general concept is: 12 restaurants are included in the book & we can go eat at each one once during the year & get a buy one get one free entree! Eating out here is beyond expensive, so this will definitely encourage us to get out & try some new places that we normally wouldn't go to. Luckily this present is for him too since everything I considered getting Joe was a bit too expensive. In Joe's mind though, my frugality is just as good a present as if he actually had one in hand ;)

All of a sudden, the weather is cooperating, the sun is shining, and we have a lot of exciting trips on our horizon. Such as this coming weekend a hike with some friends. We hike up on Saturday, stay the night at a 'hut', then hike back down the next day. May Day (the 1st of May) both Joe & I have the day off work, so we are going to rent bikes and do a ride around Lake Geneva (bottom left hand corner of the map) over 3 days, stopping to sight-see, check out some towns & hopefully find a winery or two. And, we just booked our flights & hotels for our next bigger trip which will be to Russia at the end of June/beg. of July. Our parents are planning their trips out here during the summer as well, so we have a ton to look forward to & plan! We hope the onset of summer is lifting everyone's spirits as much as it is for us here! Thanks again to everyone that's been thinking of us; we truly appreciate it!

(Note to readers: clearly I just figured out how to imbed website links into the blog, and wow, am I ever stoked with myself, hence the excessive amount of times I took advantage of it during this post)