Journaling reads: World travelers that we are, we’ve been out of the United States exactly once, and that was in 1998, the summer before our Jonathan’s senior year in high school. We traveled to Europe with the Southeastern Minnesota Honors Choir. Many people’s reaction was, you’re going to Europe with a bunch of 9th through 12th graders?? Yes, we are, with some of the best singers in southeastern Minnesota. Before that, I’d flown exactly once in my life for one hour. Needless to say, I was more worried about the flight than I was about going with 9th through 12th graders. The itinerary included the Czech Republic, which is where my great grandparents all emigrated from and Austria, which I had wanted to see since the first time I saw the Sound of Music and the 500 times after the first time I saw it. But I digress, since the point of this page isn’t the trip, but the present my Jonathan gave me the Christmas following the trip. While in Vienna, he got me my first of what is an annual Swarovski Christmas Ornament & I have been collecting them ever since. Swarovski began them in 1991, and alternating years are snowflakes and stars. Over the years I managed to find a few of the earlier ones on eBay, but the first couple were as elusive as unicorns and pricey. Three years ago, Wendell told me to find the last 2 and get them. I was positive there had been an alien invasion and one had taken him over, but he said, “You talk about them every year, you might as well get them.” It seemed a shame that they only saw daylight at Christmas time, so for our 25th wedding anniversary in 2003, I asked for a curio cabinet so we could display them year around. They do magical things with light.
