The One with Crop am Rhein 2014!

I got back late last night from my first Crop am Rhein and it was SO MUCH FUN!

I packed up Friday morning and said sayonara, love you bye, to Chris and the kids.

The 4 hour drive to the Hotel Haus Oberwinter in Bonn/Remagen Germany was B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. 

Every single second of the entire drive looked like it could be on a postcard. Germany is so beautiful. I hope I never "get used" to it and it always takes my breath away!

I drove right past Würzburg and could see the Marienberg Fortress way up on the hill. That was a fun day when we explored all around Würzburg.

The day we moved here we flew into the Dusseldorf airport and missed our connecting flight to Nuremberg because our flight took off 3 hours late. We hired a taxi (nearly $1000 later... oh my gosh getting here was such a nightmare...) to drive us all the way to Nuremberg. The route I drove was the exact route we drove in our taxi. I was so out of it from exhaustion in the taxi, but I remember some of the things and scenery and it was fun to see them once again. Not so fun to remember that day of travel though :) I stopped about halfway to get some gas at Esso. We get the military discount at Esso gas stations and what would cost 75 Euros only costs 40 dollars. Nice.

I saw many things that I DESPERATELY wanted to stop at and take pictures of, but I'd rather come with Chris and the kids so we can all enjoy it together. For example, the Limburg Cathedral:

And the, quote, "Chic Outlet Mall at Wertheim Village".

 
I listened to Ender's Game and then Warm Bodies on the iPad (didn't watch, just listened) to help pass the time and I arrived at the hotel around 12:30pm. Perfect! An online scrapbook store (der-scrapbook-laden.de) brought an entire store worth of supplies to sell to the class participants.  It's been so long since I've seen and held and touched scrap supplies in a "local scrapbook store" setting! Usually I just see pictures and order online, but oh to hold them is such a different and rewarding experience! Am I weird? I found Barbara right away and she helped me check in and get settled in my little cozy room. Perfect for my needs!

Nice bathroom!

My bed. My desk. My plant. For a day :)

Time to go outside and take pictures of the amazing scenery!

The hotel is right on the Rhein River, hence "Crop am Rhein". 

Picturesque churches and houses and homes and stores and boats and barges as far as the eye can see! The event goes from Friday to Tuesday. My classes were on Saturday.

I walked all around the hotel and found the empty classrooms, took pictures of people's creative spaces, and there's also a pic of one of the filled classrooms for my collage's sake but I'll talk about the classes in a bit.

Dinner at the hotel was delicious - potatoes, rice, meat, cous-cous! So good.

After dinner we had an official opening/welcoming ceremony. Olga Heldwein and I were introduced as the teachers and it made me blush :) Barbara "cut the tape" with these blinged out scissors!  Everyone creates about 90 of these little "me" cards to exchange and then they put them in books to remember everyone through the years. So fun! Wish I had known so I could have made my own to exchange. Like Valentine's, but for adults!

Someone's awesome mini album made earlier in the day. Then it was off to bed! I'm not a night owl, and actually woke up out of habit at 6am and couldn't go back to sleep so I had a date with Jillian Michaels. (Trying to get back in shape, but that's another post for another day.) Barbara made this photo and posted it Saturday morning on her instagram. I just think it's lovely. Sure the weather could have been nicer, but that's what scrapping indoors is for! We ate breakfast at 7am. A concoction of bread and cheeses and cereals and good stuff :) I met some new friends and chatted away for a bit before I had to go set up for my first class. These are the two layouts that I made using the Studio Calico Sugar Rush kits that they donated 80 of. They are so so so generous!

ME & YOU by Paige Evans

THE PINK BIKE by Paige Evans

At 9:30am my first class began! I introduced myself, "Hallo. Ich heisse Paige Evans. And that's the extent of my German." I got a chuckle from the crowd. I was really worried about the language barrier but nearly all of them spoke English so it was actually a-ok! They were so nice and welcoming and asked me a bunch of questions and it was just oh so fun.

First group of ladies! Say cheese!

After class we quickly ate lunch and then Barbara wanted to get a picture of every one blowing bubbles. Oh the things we do for pictures :) I felt like a kid again blowing bubbles! My second class started at 2:30. Hallo ladies! Every time someone instagrammed a picture of their layout or work in progress and tagged me it made my heart skip a beat.  I took lots of pictures with people and hope I get emailed them cuz I only got a few with my camera!

Thank you so much to Katharina who suggested I teach at CAR since Shimelle is having her baby any day now. Big shoes to fill, I hope the ladies liked the class!!

If you're noticing my hot pink shoes - I wore high-heeled wedges to my first class which about broke my feet so I changed into my workout shoes for my second class. Me and Barbara and Sabine. CAR 2014! After my second class I booked it home so I could be in bed by 10pm. Like I said, I'm not a night owl :) So so so so so much fun! I can only hope to attend again next year!