Picture of the Day Catch-Up: June 28-July 9, 2010

Well, I think I'm finally about caught up, at least until yesterday! I'm really pleased with some of these Pictures of the Day, so I hope you like them, too. Without further ado:

June 28th: These are some letter dice I occasionally use in my classes to play a "bootleg" version of the game Scattergories. It's pretty fun and it gets students' brains going. Until someone rolls an "X" or "Y"... those are like brain poison.

June 29th: The dial on our exercise bike. It's a recumbent bike, which is great because it means you can comfortably watch TV, read books or magazines, or even play video games while "exercising."

June 30th: This is a poster sort of thing that Angela and I had to design in our pre-marriage classes a few years ago. I have it hanging on my office wall. Note that they didn't give us many materials to work with, but I still managed to find three squirrels.

July 1st: A cow's nose. I saw it walking from our house to my in-laws' house.

July 2nd: It was a pretty busy day. My family came on the 3rd and I had to teach classes all day, so on the 2nd I was planning. This is my desk, even AFTER I'd tried tidying it up a bit.

July 3rd: A "pipa," which is basically a coconut that you can drink the watery milk out of. They're tasty, especially on hot days. Plus, according to local folklore/witchcraft, they're also supposedly a contraceptive (Note: HA HA!), so that's an added curiosity.

July 4th: A pepper growing in Lucy and Wilson's yard. It looks really spicy, but it was just like a strange-shaped bell pepper.

July 5th: The "Hotel Los Héroes," a Swiss-themed hotel in La Fortuna, in the northern part of Costa Rica. We went there with my family.

July 6th: This picture cracks me up, especially since Angela's got two aunts who used to be nuns. In any case, this is Angela wearing one of the disposable towels that they give you at Termales Del Bosque. We went there with my family.

July 7th: This is a picture of my sister Di's hands, after Angela had given her a manicure. I think one of Angela's dark, secret dreams is to run off to the US and become a filthy-rich manicurist.

July 8th: A sunset, as seen from the back corner of our yard. You can see some clouds, mountains, and even part of the Gulf of Nicoya. I really should go back to that part of the yard more often.

July 9th: Our new camera, which I got for Angela and myself as an anniversary present (our anniversary was July 7th). Her old camera was eating through batteries after only three or four pictures, and this one came highly recommended from Brad (plus I'd seen great results from Hayley's camera!). So, I still have the old cameras, but I'll likely take some pictures with this one, too, since it's more portable.

Well, we're caught up, at least until today ends! I'll also probably try to post some extra pictures from the family visit, since that was a nice little photographic event. Until next time, please check out the links below if you want to see more pictures.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Picture of the Day Catch-Up: June 21-27, 2010

Well, my mom and siblings were just here for a few days, so I got behind on uploading my Pictures of the Day. Let's see if we can get caught up now, eh?

June 21st: My friend Mike, in the Armadillo parking lot. I'm glad we got to see him, although I wish we could have spent more time with him. I feel that way about all the other people who I wanted to see on our trip, but just weren't able to visit.

June 22nd: Denver International Airport's terminal. I really like the airport, and once my friend Mike and I spent the night there... and we weren't even traveling anywhere. It just seemed like an interesting thing to do. And I guess it was, since I'm telling this story now.

June 23rd: While we were happy to see Costa Rica again, we quickly realized that we had no food. This is our refrigerator the day after we got back: a can of Coke, a little bit of coffee in a brown bag, a pair of tamales Angela's mom made us, a pitcher of stale water (guess I forgot to empty that, but glad it didn't have mold), some random liquor (triple sec?), and a little rice Angela's mom made and left for us. As I write this, a day later, it's even more drastic, since we ate or drank the rice, tamales, and Coke.

June 24th: No, this isn't the famed Chupacabras. It's my Father-in-law Honorio with a headlamp we gave him as a thank-you present for looking after our house while we were gone.

June 25th: I'm not sure why, but I liked this picture I took of the hotel I was staying at in Liberia. I had to go up there to sub for another teacher. Somehow, it was the first time I'd been to Guanacaste in the nearly four years I've been living in Costa Rica. I still have yet to go to a beach in Guanacaste, though. They're supposed to be the nicest in the country, although so far I've really liked the ones in Limon, Costa Rica's Caribbean province.

June 26th: An old, sort-of busted marimba. I guess that's the official instrument of Costa Rica.

June 27th: This picture is a bit boring, but it was a pretty busy day. What do you want?

So! I'm gonna keep uploading pictures tonight until I fall asleep or until the enormous rug in our dryer catches on fire... whichever comes first. Thanks for reading, and I'll hope to get more pictures up ASAP! Have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Picture of the Day Catch-Up, June 11-20, 2010

Here are another 10 Pictures of the Day:

June 11, 2010: Trail Ridge Road, in Rocky Mountain National Park. I guess it's something like "the highest continuous paved road in the continental US." Whatever its claim to fame is, it seems to have quite a few qualifiers. It's a great drive, though, although when it's foggy the view's not as great (save for the snow, this could actually be a picture of Berlin, Costa Rica).

June 12, 2010: The top of an onion plant from my parents' garden. Or maybe it's a leek.

June 13, 2010: This is my dad, whose 60th birthday we were celebrating on this day. His actual birthday is the 17th, though. Still, happy birthday!

June 14, 2010: This girl and her mom found this couch on the side of the road just as we were driving by, and I thought it might make an interesting Picture of the Day, since Craig and I picked up a couch off the side of the road 15 or so years ago. They weren't able to move it in their truck without it sliding off the tailgate (see Leftover #2 for this day), so I jogged behind them and held up the couch while they drove it down the street to the daughter's house. Good times.

June 15, 2010: A statue in the park next to Speer and the Convention Center in Denver. Angela and I went to meet Paul at Domo Japanese Restaurant and walked around downtown a bit.

June 16, 2010: A stained-glass window at my aunt's family's church. We went there with them to watch the youth band practice.

June 17, 2010: The Drive-In! The one in Fort Collins is one of the few left in Colorado, and it's always a fun time. Angela and I went there with Dustin and Sam.

June 18, 2010: My sister's dog The Other Dog. He's really slow and doesn't move much, plus he has a tendency to stare at things that aren't moving. In other words, he's an ideal subject for a photo.

June 19, 2010: A flower. Today we went with my mom and looked at a garden show in Fort Collins that she had won tickets to. It was nice, with lots of flowers and garden-y things.

June 20, 2010: A T-Rex claw at the Denver museum. We went there with my family to see the Body Worlds exhibit, where they have the plastified bodies on display. It was really interesting.

So, that's it for the moment, but I'll try to get caught up until today as soon as possible!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Pictures of the Day, June 6-10

Well, I've gotten quite behind on posting my Pictures of the Day on this blog, so it's time to get caught up. They've been on flickr and the links at the bottom of this post, but I've just not uploaded them here. Remember, many of these pictures were taken during our trip in Colorado, so there are also lots of Leftovers. Be sure to check them out when you have some time.

I'll be posting the Pictures of the Day from June 6 till June 27 in a few separate posts, so enjoy!

June 6, 2010: To Ashley and Aaron, we all wish you a happy life together filled with love!
And nothing says "love" like his and hers machetes.

June 7, 2010: A windwheel--is that what this is called, or am I completely making this up??--at my grandma's house.

June 8, 2010: Angela walking near Horsetooth Reservoir, in the mountains above Fort Collins.

June 9, 2010: A statue in Grand Lake. I think I may have seen who it was a statue of, but if I did, I've completely forgotten who.

June 10, 2010: The pine bark beetles have torn Mother Nature a new one in the Rockies, especially in the National Park. This picture reminds me of the movie "The Road."

So, I'll try to catch up with the other Pictures of the Day today or tomorrow. In the meantime, be sure to check out the links below. Thanks, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Lots of Pictures!

Well! It's taken quite a lot of time today, but I've finally caught up with my Pictures of the Day...well, up until June 23rd, at least.

Nevertheless, there are now many, many more pictures to look at, if you're interested. I'll eventually put the Pictures of the Day up on this blog, but if you want to see any of the other pictures from our trip, you can see them right now on flickr.

I know that some of you (myself included) have said that flickr is a bit confusing to use, but if you follow the links on this post, it shouldn't be too confusing. When the new page opens, there should be a lot of little square icons. You can click on any of those to see that picture, or there is an option to see the set as a slideshow (near the top right... and you can turn the comments on and off, too; once the slideshow starts, click on the option that says "show info"). If that's too confusing, tell me and I'll try to work something different out. Good luck!

So, click on the links below to see pictures from:

Germany - Regensburg
Austria - Salzburg
Germany - (The Real) Berlin
Germany - Hannover and Neustadt am Rübenberge
Germany - Munich
Spain - Madrid
Portugal - Lisbon Area and Porto
(Note: these links are in the order we visited the places)

Complete Europe Trip Picture Set (Warning: It's pretty large, and contains the same pictures as the above sets... only if you've got major time to kill or you don't like the idea of seeing the pictures in smaller groupings, for whatever reason)

And, of course, you can see our pictures from the time we spent in Colorado:
U.S.A. - Colorado


So, thanks so much for your interest, and thank you for reading and checking out the pictures! Have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Pictures of the Day, May 29 - June 4, 2010

Here are the rest of the Pictures of the Day from our trip in Europe. I've also nearly got the other pictures from the last month or so sorted out, and I'll hope to be posting them in the next few days. So, take a look at these, and I hope you enjoy them!

May 29, 2010: A peacock at the Sao Jorge Fortress in Lisbon. It seemed to reflect Lisbon in general, with its combination of the old and run-down with the beautiful.

May 30, 2010: Some sort of plant I saw near the shore, near Cascais.

June 1, 2010: This is one of those pictures where, when you see it on the computer, you say, "Hm, that looks a lot cooler than it seemed when I took it." I'm still not entirely sure how the stuff right next to these pots got so artfully blurry. In any case, the flower pots were in the courtyard of our hotel in Porto.

June 2, 2010: The sheets hanging out in the sun to dry at our hotel in Porto. Just seemed like a nice, peaceful scene.

June 2, 2010: This is my Picture of the Day for the 365 project, although I also took a "Portugal" picture for this day, since we went from Portugal to Spain in the morning. It's of the railing on our Madrid hotel room's balcony.

June 3, 2010: A cat on the sidewalk that looked just like Cucho. His owner was asking for change, so I gave him a few coins and asked him if I could take a picture of his cat. I suppose it really could be Cucho's long-long Spanish cousin that never immigrated to the New Country.

June 4, 2010: A BB seems to have hit the glass at Barajas International Airport, in Madrid.

And so ends our photographic tour of a few European countries. As usual, there are many, many Leftovers, so please feel free to check those out. I'm hoping to get all the trip pictures organized into a folder in flickr, and when I do that, I'll tell you.

In the meantime, thanks for reading, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Pictures of the Day, May 24th to 28th, 2010

We're back with five more Pictures of the Day from our Eurotrip. These will take us through the end of our Germany visit and into Spain and Portugal. As with the other days, there are plenty of leftovers, so be sure to check those out, too!

May 24, 2010: A girl walking in a subway station in Munich.

May 25, 2010: A church in Munich.

May 26, 2010: An entrance to the Plaza Mayor, in Madrid, Spain.

May 27, 2010: Some balloons that were being prepared in front of the royal palace, in Madrid. I'm not sure what they were being prepared for, but there you go.

May 28, 2010: This picture was taken in Lisbon, where there was an abandoned building with these angels painted onto the empty spaces. I thought it looked cool.

So, that's it for today. Be sure to check out the other pictures, though. Highlights include:

A Spanish Guns N' Roses tribute band! Fake supermodel nipples! Donald "Don" Quixote! Eating Snails! A Rathaus! Naked people! And, of course, Bears!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Pictures of the Day - May 19th to 23rd, 2010

I've gone through a few more days' worth of pictures, and I've got five more Pictures of the Day for you. I hope you enjoy them, and if you do, be sure to check out the rest!

May 19, 2010: These are some neighborhood kids that live near the Reischauers. They came over to talk to Dirk, and also asked us about animals in Costa Rica. I thought it was funny how the boy looked so serious for the whole 20 minutes or so.

May 20, 2010: This is a puppy and its owner at the Hannover train station. Really cute. On this day, we went from Hannover to Neustadt am Rübenberge, the city where I spent my exchange year in 1998-99.

May 21, 2010: Here are some boats at Steinhuder Meer. Henni took us there for a nice afternoon at the lake.

May 22, 2010: This is the Neues Rathaus, in Hannover. I like this picture because it reminds me of some good times hanging out here in my exchange year. This picture was taken pretty late in the day, around 9 or so. It's great to be in a place where it doesn't always get dark at 6 p.m.; that's something I miss in Costa Rica.

May 23, 2010: Today we were invited to "Spargelfest," which is an asparagus-eating party the Reischauers have each year. It was great fun, great people, and great food! Here Tessa grabs some asparagus in order to peel it (I like the drip splash at the bottom of the picture).

As I said, there are quite a few more pictures that you're welcome to check out by following the links at the bottom of this post. Some highlights include:

A ridiculous cat! The writing on the wall! More Spargel! Ice cream shaped like spaghetti! And Henni!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Pictures of the Day From (The Original) Berlin: May 17 and 18, 2010

Here are the Pictures of the Day from May 17th and 18th:

May 17, 2010: A field of rapeseed (aka "canola"... seriously, who named this crop?) blooms in beautiful yellow. During our visit, these fields were blooming all over Germany. This picture was taken from the window of a speeding train, going from Regensburg to (the real) Berlin.

May 18, 2010: A girl jumping from one block to the next at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Probably a little light-hearted for a Holocaust memorial, but nevertheless I thought it was an interesting picture.

There are also quite a few more pictures from Berlin, so you can check them out on the links below, or by going directly to my flickr account (where I'm continually uploading more trip pictures). Some highlights include:

Delicious eats and meats!
More memorials!
And, of course, Bears!!

By the way, this is my blog's 500th post, so that's also a pretty cool thing! Thanks for reading all this time, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook