Random Photos from Home 2009

Here are some random photo highlights from our Homestay 2009 trip this Fall. As you will see, we had an awesome time!

Just another typical Sunday dinner at the Behrens' with 1 liter of beer. . . just kidding!

Mark decides to take a morning jog in Suttons Bay searching for a bicycle rental shop . . .

Finally, we found some bicycles and we're off on Rails to Trails in the heart of wine country in Northern Michigan.

A shaded path . . .

Idyllic farmlands . . .

Tractor X'ing . . .

We left Suttons Bay and travelled North to Mackinac Island. Here is a view of the Island as our ferry pulls into station.

We took a tandem bicycle tour around the island this afternoon. Here Paul sits and contemplates while staring out at Lake Superior.

Ah...The Great Lakes...

Gross! No, we did not go in to see ...

Royal Oak Brewery happy hour with Molly, me, Matt and Alina.

Even Schweitzer showed up, but I couldn't get his photograph. Just wait until we visit you in Thailand next year, Roy!

Matt and his Pops...

Daljinder, Paul, Melina, Rob, and Ed...

Mom B., Marten, and Joke...

Jill and Mark with Alina ... Alina is the social butterfly of the family ... Hahaha!

Molly and Dan...

Richard's wedding at The Henry Ford Museum. Erik, Richard, Christina, Paul, me, Leslie, Greg, and Jessica...

Unfortunately, when the cousins and I decided to take our museum tour after the wedding, we found the Wienermobile. So yes, we had to take lots of photos with it before moving onto view the much more insightful exhibits.

Yes, this is Jessica posing as a wiener in a bun...only you J!

Back to India!

Home Sweet Home . . . Finally!

I have finally posted some photos of the flat on the blog. I have taken them throughout the day. . . . and used different flash/shutter speeds, however the fact is that some of the photos look odd due to the sheer amount of light that we receive in the flat. We have done the best we can! I also was going to de-clutter the house a bit, but then I realized I was acting like a real estate agent, so you get to see the house as we live it day-to-day! I did wind up buying some fresh jasmine for the vases--it makes the house smell so good! Here are the photos of our little "Home Sweet Home."

The foyer --

The living room/dining room with doors to the terrace (Paul and I furnished the entire foyer, living and dining rooms from FabIndia (Fab, Indeed!). It's very Asian, but we like it! Everything is made out of solid mango and sheesham wood.) --

The living room up-close --

Another angle of the living room --

The dining room --

The kitchen (If you look closely you will see the 2 dozen mangoes--a friend of mine and I bought 4 dozen and split the bundle in half--I bought them at Gultekadi Market earlier in the day, along with a pumpkin and mango!) --

Another view of kitchen (with better view of the mangoes!) --

Terrace from dining room (I had fun getting all the plants for the terraces. I bought palm trees, green trees, rose bushes, dahlias, and other green plants to fill it in.) --

Another view of the terrace --

A view to the 8th floor where the pool is located --
The guest room (the bedspread is really a lovely sage green, not the pea soup green you see here!) --

Another view of the guest room --

The family and television room (This one photo turned out a little dark, but there are cranberry colored curtains . . . and the green stuff in the corner is some yarrow I bought earlier in the day for a vase.) --

Going upstairs . . . Here is a little reading nook with doors to another terrace --

The other garden on another terrace . . . along with our bicycles! --

The office --

Our bedroom (Yes, yes. Everyone that sees the furniture makes fun of our oversized American bed! And it's only a Queen...not a King!) --

Another view of our bedroom --
It's our little oasis inside the city. I just realized that there are no photos of the 4th wall in any of the rooms! The photos do not give the place justice, but at least now you kind of know where we are living.