We're not in Kansas anymore...

Well, we're finally here in Florida.  After months of preparation and anticipation we finally made it back to where I served my mission in South Florida.  We are at the half-way mark now and wanted to post a few pictures to catch everyone up on our travels.

Here we are in the Twin Cities airport trying to get internet access so we could watch episodes of Lost while we were waiting 3 hours for our flight.  This picture depicts the frustration and anguish we felt for having to pay $10 for 24 hour access or $5 for 1 hour access to the airport's WiFi network.  We were too cheap to succumb to such outrageous rates and instead Karen read a book and I worked on some family pictures I took on Monday evening.

As part of our vacation package that we already paid for, we were given an economy sized rental car with unlimited mileage.  Little did they know that I knew the area like the back of my hand and that I would take advantage of the unlimited miles.  When we got to Alamo to pick up our rental car, the guy was very impressed by Karen's binder with all of our vacation information neatly organized and gave us a free upgrade to a mid-sized rental car.  We had pretty free reign on our choice of cars and the guy said that I should let the wife choose the car.  Leave it to Karen to choose (with some subliminal encouragement from me) the only Toyota Prius that was parked away in the corner.  We found the keys on the dashboard but were very puzzled for the next 5 minutes as we tried to find where the key was, where to put it in, how to turn the car on, and make it go.  We discovered that the key fob WAS the key that we inserted into a small slot, the big button that closely resembled a computer power button was how we turned it on, and the small joystick looking thing was the shifter that eventually put us in drive and sent us on our way.  We didn't feel too bad about our brief troubleshooting because several valets looked just as puzzled and took almost as long as we did to get things going.  Considering we are driving more of a computer than a car (just to prove my point, whenever you have any problems with it, just shutdown and restart.  All we're missing is the nice startup noise we get on our Macs.), we get excellent gas mileage.  55 mpg average on our last fill up.  And we've only made one on our 740 mile journey thus far. :^)  This picture is Karen looking confused with the key fob/Key thingy in front of the computer car.

In order to get such a good "deal" on our vacation package, we were roped into sitting through one of those presentations where they try their best to overcome all of your objections and get you to sign the dotted line on one of those exclusive time shares.  When we went to our presentation we were paired up with our own personal guide that was going to sit down with us for breakfast and then sell us a condo.  Seemed pretty straight forward.  As we were being seated for breakfast, the interrogation began.  It started off with an innocent, "So, where do you work?" and evolved to, "What do you mean when you say you're BOTH full-time students and you work part-time?", and finally escalated to, "Let's talk numbers here, how much do the two of you make every year?"  Our fully trained and licensed personal real estate agent/guide was reduced to a "Let me talk to my manager real quick to see if we can get you guys out of the presentation.  I mean, let's face it, you two could be my grandkids and you don't have the money for this anyways," within 5 minutes.  Once we got that awkward bit out of the way, we had a delightful breakfast with Janet.  She began asking about why we were in Florida which led to the discussion of my missionary work in Florida.  We had a very open discussion about religion and family  (Janet is a strong Catholic) and learned a lot from each other.  After saving about 2 hours of our morning, we decided to take a drive along the beach and stopped here at a public beach in West Palm Beach for a nice stroll along the sand.

Later that day we found some time to actually go swimming in the ocean.  This was taken at a beach in Hollywood (Florida).  Gosh, ocean water does NOT taste good.

This picture was taken in Tap Tap, a Haitian restaurant on South Beach.  Those of you who follow Wyclef Jean would recognize its name being incorporated in his songs.  I have wanted to go here for so long but never was able to go until this trip.  It was pouring down rain outside but we were undeterred.  We had some excellent Haitian cuisine and live music.  Karen ordered Griyot, which is a deep fried pork dish with Banann Peze (fried plantains) and Diri Kole (mixed rice and beans).  I ordered the Kabrit nan Sos (Goat Stew) which also came with Banann Peze and Diri Blan ak sos pwa nwa (white rice with black bean sauce).  The best thing was the Ji Papay (Papaya Juice).  You can see it on the table in front of me.  The way Haitians make it is with Carnation Milk, which may sound gross but it really makes it the best thing in the world.  We ordered two.

After a full day of visiting old friends from my mission, we headed up to Orlando.  Before leaving southern Florida we made a quick trip down to Ti Ayiti (Little Haiti) in Miami.  While on my mission I sent pictures taken here to Karen and we decided to recreate some of them here.  Karen looks way cuter next to the road sign than I ever did and she's even giving Churchill some lovin' too.  Who would ever thought a double decker bus could be found in Miami, Little Haiti no less.

After driving 3.5 hours from Miami to Orlando, we went to the Temple and had a great time there.  Pretty, huh?

Many of you may remember our trip to Chicago and my excitement in front of the Apple Store.  This doesn't even hold a candle to the excitement that Karen had for finding an IKEA in Orlando.  It was a pretty cool place that has space efficient stuff (Karen interjects: "And looks cute too!") for affordable prices.  Kansas better get one by the time we move into a real house!  Check out their stuff here.

Tomorrow we are going on our cruise to Nassau, Bahamas and will wrap up our trip on Wednesday.  We will post the other half of the pictures next week.  All I gotta say is, we love vacations!

Not our typical Sunday...

After church on Sundays, Adam and I typically go home and enjoy a much needed Sunday nap. It is pretty much the one thing that gets us through the rest of the week! This Sunday was a little different. When we got home, we realized that we had a kitchen full of dirty dishes from the night before. Instead of leaving them for later, we decided to just bite the bullet and get them done before our nap. Adam chose to wash and I was the dryer/put awayer. As I was waiting for things to put away, I called my dad. While I was in the other room talking, I heard something break. I looked in the kitchen and saw that a glass had broken and Adam didn't look too happy. I planned on ending my conversation quickly with my dad so I could help Adam clean up the mess. I looked back again and realized that Adam had been cut pretty badly (it was bleeding a lot) on his finger, so I went to get the Band-Aids. While I was doing this (still talking to my dad), Adam came into the bedroom, leaned against the dresser.........and then collapsed onto the floor. I threw my phone and tried to figure out what was going on. Adam came to pretty quickly, but we were both pretty shaken. Once we got him to the bed, we realized that his shirt had ripped when he had fallen. As we were looking at the rip, we realized his shoulder was cut too. Then, we realized the cut went all the way to his back! We think he was cut either by the dresser corner or the metal handle on our closet. Luckily, all our throw pillows softened his landing, so those were his only injuries. I played nurse the rest of the day and we made sure to get our much needed nap....just a few hours later than usual.

The Injury (as a result of the other injury):

I really don't think these pictures do it justice...but you get the idea. And yes, we did stop to take pictures before cleaning up his wounds. As he was resting, I finished the dishes and made sure to let him know that if he really wanted out of doing the dishes...he could just tell me.

Picture Version

So, Adam summed up our summer so far...and I have the pictures to go with it!  Here you go!

Girl's Camp - It was awesome!  We're already planning for next year.  There were quite a few Christensens there, so of course we had to get matching outfits.  Here's a Christensen totem pole:

Nelson-Atkins - It was pretty cool.  They closed at 4:00, but we thought it was open until 5:00...so we explored the Plaza a bit.

What we found at the Plaza....Cheesecake Factory!  We each ordered a different kind and shared a bite of each.  There was Key Lime, Strawberry, Tres Leches, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Coconut Fudge (? I can't remember the exact name), and another chocolate one (it was good...I just can't remember the name of Adam's).  So, this is totally a self-timer picture, which became awkward because as we were taking it, the waitress came...we're nerds.

Fourth of July - Adam was working, my family was in California, so I spent the day in Topeka with Debbie, Holly, and my dad.  We kept getting peer pressured into playing with the band, but we resisted.  However, we gave in when they asked us to carry the huge flag in the parade.

Kristen and the boys got in town, so we headed over to the Topeka Zoo.  It rained.  A lot.

Family pictures...not sure if we got one where everyone was smiling and looking at the camera...but this one turned out nicely!

"We look like we're stealing their kids!"

The Buhler Siblings!

We watched the boys one evening...complete with sidewalk chalk and a wagon ride around the neighborhood!

A summer isn't complete without concerts!  That's right...Adam and I went to Nicole's and Kevin's housewarming party, complete with a live band...let's just say we had good seats.  Lacey and Brooke came right as the band stopped playing, but we figured we should pose for a roommate picture (nice smile, Lacey):

Oh yes...we're going on tour as the band's back-up dancers.  I promise Adam is more excited than he looks in this picture...

All in all, we've had a pretty awesome summer.  We've been able to spend lots of time together...especially as we have started watching "Lost" online.  We're definitely hooked...and we still have three and a half more seasons to go through!  We leave for our Florida trip in less than two weeks and we are getting so excited!

Yeah, it's been my turn for a while now...

I figured it was about time for me to make a post on the blog.  A lot has happened since the last post:

• One of the benefits of living if Stouffer Place is that almost all of the residence are from another country.  When they leave, there isn't much they can take with them back to the mother land so we reap the benefit.  A nice Asian family left two air conditioning units by the trash so now we have AC and so do the Trunells!  Hooray for dumpster diving!  Summer is so much more bearable now that we have AC.
• Karen went to Girls Camp and went almost the whole week without any bug bites.  The last day when they were cleaning up and tearing down tents, several sinister mosquitoes found a tender ankle or two and left her suffering for a week.  Karen had to take Benadryl and used up the better part of an anti-itch cream bottle until the "venom" subsided and stopped irritating her.
• While Karen was off at Girls Camp I made a long awaited purchase of a new camera lens.  Ever since its release 7 years ago, I have longed for that lens and finally have it.  I fully understand how much this makes me look like a nerd but any of you photo buffs out there would understand what a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM can do for your photography.
• My recent photographic activity and large investment in equipment has led me to buying business cards and putting up a website for my photography business called "Captured".  The website is www.thecapturedphotos.com.  Recent updates to Apple's .Mac service and migration to the new MobileMe servers has taken my website down periodically so if you don't find anything at first, check back later.  I just got it set up recently so not everything is up to snuff, but it's a work in progress.
• My family was in for a few weeks at the beginning of July.  Amelia and Joel Karpowitz drove all the way from Brunswick, Georgia with their rambunctious dog Finn and we had a blast.  We went to the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City and had an interesting experience with Joel's GPS.  Those involved will remain nameless to protect the innocent.  We also went on a double date and saw Kung Fu Panda and loved it.  Great movie!  We also played several heated card games of Nerts and Kanasta (Hand and Foot).  Rebecca Black, an old family friend, came in and creamed us all in her second game.  Mad props for that one Becca!  Kristen and her two boys Jamen and Jace came too and on Tuesday we went to the Topeka Zoo for a very soggy experience.  We were completely soaked to the bone after 20 minutes of running between buildings and trying to stay dry under large trees.
  

Overall, summer has treated us very well.  We both love the time off from school and our more relaxed evenings.  Summer's not over yet and we still have our trip to South Florida and Nassau ahead of us.  Can't wait!  Now we're eagerly awaiting the start of the second season of Burn Notice on USA.  It's probably one of the best shows ever.  At least that's what we think.

Summer time!

It officially feels like summer in the Buhler household.  Adam got sunburnt, we both have tons of mosquito bites, and our bedroom feels like a sauna (okay, the entire house does).  Despite this, we are having lots of fun!  Some highlights:

• Outside games at the Campanile - we played German tag, which evolved to KGB...it was pretty intense.  Fun was definitely had by all, despite the bugs and mud.
• Indoor games at NaeNae's - For a beginning, I pretty much rocked Nerts.  True, Janae won over all, but my score wasn't too shabby either.  I call for a rematch.
• Henry's and Amanda's wedding - it was one of the most beautiful weddings we've been to - gorgeous music (we sang "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," one of our favorites!), beautiful scriptures, and an amazing couple.  Yay for weddings!
• DVDs from the library - we borrowed six, but ended up with seven total after visiting Adam's parents.  And yes, we watched them all within five days.  We have now experienced Rocky I and II - we're fans.  "Yo Adrienne!"
• I cooked shrimp for the first time in my life.  After five months of getting grossed out at the thought of deveining and shelling those creatures, my love for Adam prevailed and I made Shrimp Creole.  And, surprisingly, I actually kind of liked it!

My husband, the photo-grapher

We all know how sweet Kansas summer thunderstorms are. Well, Adam Bear took some awesome pictures before it started raining and has his own photo gallery on the Journal-World website...check it out!

A New Chapter

Well, school is out now.  For the first time since our marriage we can spend time together every evening without worrying about homework.  It's great that we have time to watch more movies and relive our favorite parts of Season 2 of The Office (it's the only season we have on DVD).  Karen has a new job now and we are both excited about that because she doesn't dread going to work every day.  Karen also has the wonderful benefit of an hour long lunch break.  That's a luxury that I've never been able to appreciate and I'm a little jealous.  Karen takes 10 minutes to eat and the rest of the time she watches episodes of The Office.  It is nice that I can pick her up on my days off and spend a little bit of time together in the middle of the day.  I've become a lot more helpful around the house now that I have days off.  I've been able to take up the laundry and grocery shopping and the occasional cleaning/organizing project in our small apartment.  It's great that I can help out now.  I also really love the time off to work on my photography.  I'm trying to keep myself busy and productive on something while Payless isn't using my time.  If anyone reading this needs pictures taken for anything from weddings to eBay auction pictures to sports to portraits, I'm your guy.  It's great to be taking pictures again.  I love exercising that part of my creative mind again.  It invites my OCD tendencies come out and play.  I'm very particular with my details and that's very beneficial with photography.  I'll let you see some of the pictures I've been working with lately.  I'm very excited about my new camera and lens because of the great detail I can capture in my pictures now.  The first picture is the whole thing and the second one is a close-up of the detail.  The color and detail isn't the same after I posted the pictures but you get the idea.