Take your wife to work day

So yesterday Christian told me it was "Take your wife to work day." At first, I thought it was actually called that day because they do have "take your kids to work" day, but under further investigation, it was just Christian's way of getting me to his office to help him out. I was all for going with him because he had a couple projects that were right up my alley; I photo copied, organized, filed and labeled things. I LOVE doing that stuff; anything that has to do with organization, I'm there. It was a lot of fun to be back in the "office" atmosphere and to spend some time with Christian where he is at his best (not true, I'm at my best - elsewhere. CG)

Here are a couple pictures of where Christian works, AMCI Brussels"

P.S. Happy Halloween to all

Chili

Well, Fall is definetly upon us and the best thing to have when it starts to get cold is chili. Ever since we moved here I have been on the lookout for spices, they seem to be hard to come by or we've just been missing them but whatever.... About two weeks ago, at the Sunday market I finally found chili powder, Yea!! Sooooo today I set out to make a big pot of hearty chili for us since the temperature was dropping like Kwame's reputation. I made the chili like I always do, adding 3 Tbsp's of chili powder & splash of Tabasco sauce for some kick; then I sit back and let it cook for a couple hours before tasting. When the time came to give it a try I got a spoonfull and the next thing i knew my mouth was on fire. Seriously, I was fanning flames from my mouth for 25 minutes, I have never in my life tasted anything so hot that my eyes were tearing up.

I can't figure out what happened so I look at the bottle again to make sure that it is in fact chili powder - and at first it looked like it was. Upon closer inspection it was labled "red hot chili powder" use sparingly. Simply put - I added 23 times what the recipe called for...Nice.

In a panic I call Tiffanie and we get online to figure out how to calm the spice. I add some potatoes, sugar & honey like Tiffanie says hoping this will help but the true test would come when Christian gives it a shot.

A few hours later, Christian gets home from work and says he can smell the chili all the way in the garage 5 floors below! He takes a bit, throws the spoon down and grabs the water and starts chugging it like there is no tomorrow. He says there is no way anyone can eat this, but I have faith. 5 hours later, the chili is (miraculously) manageable to eat!!

Well, I guess the next purchase I will make in the US is a big bottle of chili powder to bring back here - lesson learned!

For Jenny

October 23, 2008, the Smurfs celebrate their 50th Anniversary. Ever since we moved here in July, Belgium has been Smurf crazy. When you go to the grocery, depending on how much money you spend, they give you these smurf collector cards. I think we have about 200 cards now...love them.

Thursday (Oct. 23) we went out for the night and look what we ran into, life size smurfs all around the city. Jen, you would have loved it so I took these pictures for you:

The story on the Smurfs is quite interesting; if you feel like reading it go to this website http://www.smurf.com/home-en

Happy Smurfday!

Madre and Padre

Not many people can say they went to Europe for the weekend - but Mum and Dad proved that age is just a number and they each toughed out a long journey to Brussels this past weekend.

Not long after their arrival and after a quick power nap we all journeyed out to the Grand Place for what's becoming a ceremonial Beer for all new comers to the city. After a fantastic Lebanese dinner, a good nights rest was well deserved and appreciated. Pops had brought his walking shoes and man was he getting ready to use them!We Gani's believe in Democracy and held a vote to see what lovely Belgian city we would visit and Pops was outvoted 3-1 with Gent emerging as the top choice (he wanted to see Bruges). His veto went unanswered so off we went to Gent - the city of Churches. When I'm 72 I'll consider it a miracle if I just get up in the morning and know which hand is my right and which ones my left, so the fact that Dad hung in there all day while walking up hundreds of spiral steps and cobblestone streets is commendable. Well done old man.

Before we left Gent we went back to the Castle of the Counts as Dad had prepared a surprise for me. Once we entered the main courtyard three guards in full gear pulled me aside and accused me of treason against the queen - the penalty was death by beheading. Good thing he missed...

One of our special guests was celebrating a birthday on Sunday so in her honor we bought some flowers at the outdoor market that Meg and I frequent each week. In addition, Dad's love of cheese was on full alert with the purchase of what can only be called a caldron of brie and a brick of gouda that we enjoyed for lunch with some rather tasty bread. Lets just say that it took a while for my system to "regulate" after the plethora of cheese we consumed.Our trip finished with one last trip the Grand Place this time at night when its at its most beautiful. Meg and I couldn't think of a nicer way to end a lovely visit from two special people. Love you guys - thanks for sharing your time with us here in Brussels, it was a pleasure having you here and can't wait to see you at Christmas.

Love,

Christian & Meghin

The Main Attraction

So when you come to Brussels, there is one thing that everybody wants to come see. What might this famous landmark be, well Mannekin Pis of course. Who knew that the primary thing that someone wanted to see in Brussels was a statue of a 4 year old boy taking a leak?!

You all know the world we live in today, women have to have equal rights. So the women put up a fight and they got their own statue, Jeanneke Pis.
Isn't it funny that the woman is locked up behind a cage?!

Miracles Really Do Happen

Last night we had a dream come true, we had a hail storm. Some of you might question that theory - how could a hail storm be a blessing? Well if you live without the goodness of one of God's gifts to humanity - ICE - you'd be praying for a hail storm everytime you poured yourself a Gin and Tonic. So there we were, out on our terrace dancing around like Jo Jo the idiot circus boy gathering up all the free ice we could get our greasy palms on! Safe to say at this point we've got our shoe-box freezer full of Belgian's finest natual ice. Below is a picture of the watershed moment to which we referenced...try not to shed a tear!
Therefore if any of you come to visit in the next few weeks, we'll actually be able to serve you something cold. Call Northwest, get your ticket and trust me when I tell you there'll never be a better time to come to Belgium.

Back Home in Michigan

To all of our loyal readers...sorry for being gone for so long, but I went back home to Michigan for a few weeks for visit family & friends and for a dear friends wedding and dragged Christian back with me for all of 92 hours - but these days i'll take what i can get!

My first order of business was to go and see my darling little niece, Laila.Besides being the cutest thing on the planet, she's getting so big already and can finally almost say my name (she calls me Meggie) but still can't spell it...neither can most people! I just love spending time with her.

Next was a fun night with the girls for Jenny's Fiesta Bachelorette party. We had a great Taco bar set up, made buckets of margarita's and had lots of fun (read: Got hammered and danced in Kim's basement). It was great spending that time with all my favorite ladies and after seeing the pictures Christian was jealous that he wasn't invited to personally inspect all the lovely lingerie.

Some other fun things I did while I was back; I went to about every restaurant around town and had lunch or dinner with someone. I was so excited to eat some of my favorite things from a Miller's burger to Senate for some Coney Chili Cheese Fries. I think I gained about 10lbs while back in Detroit. (Christian: More like 10 ounces)

On Saturday, my mom, Mike, Julie, Rob, Laila and I went to the Plymouth Cider Mill for some cider and donuts. Nothing reminds me more of fall than a trip to the mill. Laila was her usual playful self...(see below)

Next was the week of Jenny's wedding - so many things going on from Rehearsal to drinking to dress fittings to drinking to the wedding.

The wedding was on Friday the 26th.

Jenny loves her Captain!! Congrats to Jenny & Darryl and years of happiness to both of you!

All said, it was a fantastic trip home to see all my friends and family, check up on the house and eat some good old Michigan fast food! Thanks to everyone who made my trip so much fun and I'll see all of you in December!

GO BLUE!

Lexus Live

So this past weekend was Christian's first big event in Luneburg, Germany. We set out for Germany on Thursday morning expecting a 6 hour drive. A 6 hour drive turned out to be around 9 hours due to construction; for a moment we thought we were in Detroit except for the beautiful scenery. We arrived in Luneburg at the race track and got right to work. Christian and Dennis decided to see if Christian was longer than a SmartCar...Pretty close, but I think the SmartCar wins Christian! After a long day of driving and setting up for the event, Christian, Dennis and I went out for a well deserved beer & chips.

Then Christian and Dennis shrank after drinking all of that German beer.

For the next two days, we attened the Lexus Live event held at the ADAC in Luneburg, Germany. Some of you don't know what Christian does, well here is part of what Christian does. This is one of the events that Christian has been putting hours and hours of work into.

The pictures below are pictures inside this huge structure that the crew built. (I was able to get pictures before all the guests came in.)

These are the pictures of the drive courses outside.

After two days of hard work, yes I got involved and worked at the event all weekend, we set out for home in Brussels. We did come across this cute little town in Germany...The event for Christian and his team at AMCI was a huge success. Let's hope the next event next weekend in Hockenheim goes just all well. Christian you have put hours of hard work and dedication into this event and I'm very proud of you!

Love, Meghin

Oven

People, here is my oven...

Still can't figure the darn thing out!

Christian jumped out of his seat when he saw these not realizing they were cookies...he thought it was more like road kill.

C & M

Random Sausage

Found in Bruges, flavor unknown, possibly a sun-dried tomato and pepper variety. Not German, possibly Turkish.

After Work Snack

Christian works very hard every day at work, 16+ hour days. When he gets home at night sometime between 6-7pm, he is always really hungry. So what would a housewife living in Belgium do...you got it, make him his Belgium after work snack. The only normal thing to make him here in Belgium since they are crazy about thier salami, cheese and tomatoes are:

Salami & Cheese Plate

or

Tomatoes, Mozzerella & Basil

Here sure does love when he comes home and there is a plate sitting out for him.

Love, Meghin

That's right boys, and she serves it in little shorts and a belly shirt. There is a God...

Cheers, Christian

Another Visitor

This past weekend was filled with fun and laughter. Dennis' wife, Helen, was in town visiting him for the weekend. So Saturday night, we headed out with both of them to the Grand Place for some drinks and dinner. While at the Place having a beer, we saw some really weird events taking place. There were three seperate bachlorette parties going on; the first one had the girl dressed up in a maid's uniform, taking people's orders and then dusting them with a feather. It was very strange; I couldn't get my camera out fast enought to take the picture; Sorry! The second one looked to a goth bachlorette party - way too scary to even look at or take a picture of. We are just going to leave that one alone! :) The third party that walked through was also strange in it's own way. They had a piggy bank, like the ones pictured below that they were collecting money in for her wedding dress. Why in the heck don't we think of these things in the states.

After our drinks in the Place, Eva met up with us and took us to one of her favorite restaurants, Tasso. We sat down to dinner for the next 4 hours and enjoyed some sucking pig (no joke), vegetable pie and ray fish. It was an excellent meal with excellent company.

Thanks to Eva for picking our a wonderful place for dinner and thanks to Helen for coming to visit and spending sometime with us. We will see you soon.

Thank you!

We have to thank everyone who is supporting us here in Belgium. Things have been rough here and there, but having people call, send letters, email and send us our favorite things makes it all the better.

Just wanted to make a special thank you to the following people for sending us some nice care packages. We can't thank you enough!!

From my Mom & Julie~We are addicted to this dressing now. It is so nice to have a salad with Italian dressing. THANK YOU!!!!

From Tiffanie~

We have taco mix, sloppy joe mix, gravey packs, Ranch dressing, Lipton Onion Soup mix; so many different things for us to use. Thank you for your kindness.

From Paul~

Christian's favortie:

Thanks Paul for the cereal and for some U.S. magazines. It has been so nice to sit down and read them.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

Love,

Christian & Meg