Okay, so there's actually more than Alissa L. on the Wheeler Team now.

So...we've moved our posting (don't laugh! we are going to try to be better...) to another blog address: www.ajwheeler11.blogspot.com

We've had a tremendous 2008 with so many firsts!

Wishing you all the best...

aj&e

emmeline with grandma and grandpop enjoying some christmas goodness from santa.

home, sweet home

we made it back safely late tuesday afternoon. the honeymoon is officially over....but, what an incredible time it was.

we flew from athens to paris on easy jet. a uk company much like the us domestic based jet blue. they failed to get my bag on the flight, so we missed our chance to go to amsterdam... BUT that meant two extra days in paris!!!

aw, paris. the boutiques, the history, the beauty. joseph wants to return to live in paris. as long as we have enough money for me to shop and wear the fashion that city affords...i am ALL game. :)

we flew from cologne/bonn to london, stayed monday night and then finished the trip on tuesday morning.

i'll have joseph contribute the honeymoontripwrapup post.....so that's all for now.

naxos, greece

ugh!
we traveled by train, boat, boat, and taxi for 48+ hours, arriving at our AWESOME hotel in naxos last night..grateful to lie down! we are staying at hotel spiros (maybe it's online...) for two nights. today we scooter'd all over the central part of the island. tomorrow we are going to rent a dune buggy!! we've always wanted to do that!!! the prices in greece are a completely refreshing after mainland europe. we paid 10 euros for the scooter for 24 hours. absolutely reasonable!

the sea is MUCH warmer here than it was in italy and france. and we found a sandy beach. unfortunately (and of course!) the weather did totally cooperate with us...windy, windy, and during our lunch break there was a brief rainstorm.

we introduce the chefs in greece to the chefs we met last week in italy and we invited them all into the kitchen in an european iron chef-off. joe stands by the italian food being more delicious, but alissa is not totally convinced...

tomorrow night we head to athens to confirm that alissa's elementary school education regarding greek mythology was based (somewhat at least) on fact.

Update from France to Firenze

We have not been great at updating the blog...internet is not that easy to find plus we are just really really tired/lazy.

We spent last week on the Mediterranean Riviera in Nice, France and San Remo, Italy. We did not like Nice much and failed to go to nearby Eze (a Medieval city where there is cliff jumping and cave swimming)....OOPS!!! So, we moved on to San Remo for two nights. We discovered 'happy hour' which is basically two plates of an Italian buffet spread and a drink (whatever you want, so we ordered this delicious strawberry pineapple concoction) for €5 (about 7 bucks) each. The moment we entered Italy, it became obvious that the best food in the WORLD is Italian. Everything tastes better here...fresh, cooked, cured, WHATEVER! The tomatoes are intense bursts of flavor that involuntarily (for alissa, anyway) produce verbal assent of their taste worthiness. We discovered foccacia...each region, each city has their own flavor, their own twist on the delicious bread wonder. However, we retain that the best milk is from Germany...and you know Joe is the expert on milk.

There have been several attempts to lay on the beach all day, but the weather will not cooperate. It is too windy...sand pelting our inner ears...or rainy...or..... So, we left San Remo with happy tummies and moved around the cost to Cinque Terre, an Italian National Park.

Basically it is a stretch of coastline that connects small little villages...very very old villages...together by train, boat ferry, hiking trails (through olive groves and vineyards on paths defined by stone walls built WITHOUT mortar hundreds of years ago). There are not too many beaches, rather rocky cliffs and spectacular views and stone launching ramps for boats of all shapes and sizes. The food is unbelievably delicious, fresh, local, and healthy (except for the desserts...crepes and gelato!!!!). We spent Alissa's 31st birthday hiking through the mountains of olives and grapes and deseret flora and lush foliage. Our market lunch that day of cheese, bread, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, peaches, apricots, cherries, ham and prosciutto. Neither one of us has ever tasted anything so delicious and timely. On a side note, we love every gaget from REI that we received as gifts...especially our hip camel bak. The tap water is natural deliciousness that comes out cold enough to quench even the most fierce thirst. Our birthday lunch was feast indeed.

Our hikes yielded the most amazing vistas we could ever imagine. Seriously. It was like sitting inside a fairy tale illustration, but you can feel the sun on your skin and the wind cooling you off and your holding hands with your life companion. We both really love this place. We spent four days in this beautiful place, meeting people, watching the weather change...pretty much under spell.... and so happy.

Unwillingly, we said goodbye to Cinue Terre and headed to Florence to visit David (all three of them!!!) and of course Charity Sunshine! We have been here in Florence since Friday. Our first night was our first camping experience...and it was wonderful. We camped in the hills of Florence overlooking the Duomo. Saturday we bussed to Fiesole, just outside of Florence, but still within eyesight, to spend three lovely days with Chari and her momma, Annette. Just up the hill from their beautiful farmhouse flat is an 11th century castle their friends own. So, we are heading to Rome this afternoon and then on to Greece, determined to find some sunshine and beach time.

Hoorary for being married!!! Hoorary for honeymoons!! Hoorary for happiness!

Europe!

Joseph and I have made our way down the Rhine river in southern Germany by train, boat, chair lift, and foot (hiking through the 'Wildpark'), overnight trained from Frankfurt to Paris, spent time in Paris, Rouen, and Caen (to see the Caen Memorial largely dedicated to D-day), got caught in a TORRENTIAL downpour at Versailles, and are now resting our very abused feet on the French Riviera in Nice. This hostel has internet....so we will post some pictures tonight when we get back.

on the road again

i love traveling. you know that, though.

my holidays were busy at home hosting family and fun! NYC! broadway! santa and his reindeer on the potomac! urban vistas! holiday cheer! a whirlwind!

and now it's time for snowboarding in utah powder, family dinners, a week-long work trip to long beach california, then more utah powder and neice and nephew spoiling.

i am looking forward to heather's visit this month, my choir concerts in the kennedy center and lincoln center with russian baritone dimitri khovorotovsky, a visit to the biltmore mansion next month, the start of a new semester, and a focused effort to master some ballroom dancing.

waves and leaves

the end of my summer has come too quickly. i spent july and august exploring the beaches between delaware and florida and traveling across the country. my favorite spot is hilton head, south carolina. that place is so peaceful. there is, however, NO beach like a west coast beach. the east has its flavor and its appeal, but i am a california dreamin' betty. my skin is finally the color i was born to be, all post-mission whiteness terminally resolved.
the season is beginning to change colors now and i am going to boston in october to see the sight in panorama.
this world is a beautiful place.
school has begun and this may it will be done. come celebrate my graduation if you can!