California Pictures Up!

Earlier this summer, Grace and I celebrated our six year anniversary by vacating to California for a week. Grace wrote a blog about it, so go read it. However, I'm just now getting around to posting the pictures of the trip. Check them out at our pictures site, HERE. Bookmark the page for quick referencing in the future.

Cheers,

Cody

Cody's European Vacation

Earlier this month, I had an amazing opportunity to take a quick one week trip to Europe recently, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I got to go over for some shows with a couple of artists that graciously (no pun intended) took my wife and I to Australia and New Zealand back in April. Hopefully, this is a new trend for my music career.

Pictures of this trip can be viewed on our picture site HERE

So, I say Europe, but it was really only two countries, Holland and Norway.

We started the trip after an all-nighter flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, sleeping an hour or so, but luckily getting to Amsterdam at 9am. We drove our group to a smaller city, an hour or so outside of Amsterdam, called Deventer (pronounced DAY-vent-er). Once we grabbed a quick nap, we headed by foot to the town center. About fourty minutes into the walk, we started to waiver on the whole notion of finding this place, even though its a small island of a town no bigger than 10-20miles in diameter. Luckily, I watch CBS's Amazing Race, and I know that if you ask a local in a foreign land for directions, they'll usually take you by the hand and walk you to your destination. Sure enough that happened and we were lead across the street in the opposite direction was the majestic old historical downtown that we expected to see.

Regrettably, I did not carry my camera or phone to take any pictures of the city, which I will always kick myself over. This place was amazing. Cobblestone streets paved the way through town, which was lined with old three story buildings which had shops on the bottom and apts/flats above. The street was barely wide enough for a car, a rarity to see. People got around on foot, but mostly by bicycle. Bicycles were everywhere.

As we turn a corner, there it is, the Centrum. A beautiful stone water fountain at the center, and then the rest of the city seemed to circle around and take off from there. One way lead to more streets of shops and eateries, but mostly to hordes of people eating ice cream cones! Everyone! Except us, that is. So after being forced to getting Euros out of the ATM (thanks for being everywhere we wanted to be Visa...) we made our way to the gelato stand and came back with smiles on our faces. I ended up spending the evening with several friends walking around doing some shopping and eventually partaking in some amazing food and taking in all of the sites. What a great little gem of a city. Sadly, that was my only trip there...until I bring Grace back, that is..

The next few days were spent back and forth between a music festival that we performed at and our hotel. Oh, and the McDonalds that sat in our hotel parking lot. What a completely different McDonalds experience than I've ever had here in the states. I actually made it to the end of the meal without hating my life. Well done Holland.

So after a couple of days in Deventer, we packed up and headed for Amsterdam. We made it to the hotel next to the airport and check into our rooms. By this time it was starting to get late, around 9ish in the pm, but I still had to take a shot at getting to see what I could. Needless to say, my buddy Greg and I caught the hotel shuttle to the airport and then caught a train into downtown. Good choice Cody, good choice.

Greg had been there before, but only for a day on his honeymoon a couple of years back. So once we made it, we just started walking (think Forest). We grabbed a map, asked a hotel concierge where the locals hung out, and headed straight there. We wanted to see the city nightlife from the local perspective, and maybe hit a few touristy spots before calling it a night. So we started walking, crossed a few canals, stared at some amazing scenery along the route (think the San Antonio Riverwalk but then have it blow your mind....thats it) with streets lined with those same style three story buildings, shops on bottom, residents on top, for what seemed like miles. At this point, Greg and I are the only people walking around, which seemed strange. But then we get to a corner and find a pub. Just a quaint place with a handful of people there. We grabbed a drink, and at the advice of a fellow patron, headed down the street where all the locals hang out. Then, BAM!, 50-60 people hanging outside of a couple of pubs on a street corner. What a beautiful city. Just a few miles from the hustle and bustle of the tourists and people pining to catch a glimpse at the Red Light District or whatever else they envision of this place, resides just a great, warm atmosphere of people having a great time. We spent an hour or so chatting with people, one of which was the bar owner of the bar that we were at, and then decided to walk for a bit more before heading back. This is a city definitely worth spending some time in, so much history, so much culture to embrace. I will add though, before our trip back, we did walk past the Red Light District, and I thought Vegas was wild...

Next stop, Bergen, Norway.

Our entourage was greeted by our hosts (friends of the artists/promoter) and we headed for the Austevoll Islands. I didn't realize that this country was made up of mostly finger-like archipelagos (thanks Geography class). Getting around anywhere other than the major cities requires frequent ferry or smaller boat trips.

This leg of the trip seemed to last forever, in the most perfect way. Over a span of two days, which seemed like four or five, we relaxed, had carafe after carafe of coffee, talked, ate, and repeated the cycle. The family that we stayed with lived up on top of this one island and the view from every room was breathtaking. The pictures don’t do it justice, but the view was that of more islands and the inlets of the surrounding seas. (Pics available from my Facebook page www.facebook.com/codyspriggs or from our online albums HERE)

That day we were taken aboard a multi-million dollar fishing vessel that belonged to a good friend. This ship alone caught and distributed several thousand tons of fish each trip. This was quite an experience, as we were shown the ins and outs of the ship, from the amazingly intricate control room, to the game room, and finally to the engine room which housed a 6,000 horsepower Rolls Royce engine. That translates to a bad-a@# machine.

Later that night, they treated us to an amazing salmon dinner (the family owns a salmon farm as well, why not) and the freshest and most flavorful shrimp that I’ve ever had.

The next day we traveled to Bergen, one of the bigger cities in the country. The streets and buildings of this place were so rich with character. I could’ve easily spent all day wondering around, but we had a show to do. Much to our surprise, with rain that night, the temperatures dropped to upper 30s, which they said was normal for the end of summer. Wow.

Sadly, that brings us to the end of the trip. Overall, I have now been teased by what Europe has to offer, and I am only left with wanting to return. Next time with my Grace and for much longer. I highly recommend both of these countries for their gorgeous scenery, super friendly and warm people, amazing food, culture, and history.

Till next time...

Be sure and check out pictures from this trip HERE

AutoTune the News

I head about AutoTune the News on Studio 360 on NPR yesterday. It's amazing and funny! I couldn't get a video up here, but just google or youtube AutoTune the News or go to their website below and get ready for hours of enjoyment!

http://autotunethenews.com/

Gluten Free Diet

started a gluten free diet a little over a week ago. I have back and neck pain that has been bothering me for a few years now. I went to a dietician and went through an elimination diet and found out that a lot of my pain was triggered by gluten. I tried it to awhile, but I was 19 and wanted to eat whatever I wanted, so I didn't really pay attention to a diet to control my pain. However, over the years I found the correlation between my pain and pasta and bread. I also noticed the pain when I am stressed or on my feet a lot. Being a teacher, and just ME!, includes both of those things. My neck and shoulders would hurt so bad I could hardly stand it. So, I thought I would try to control my pain through my diet (and getting back to yoga and working out!) So, I'm going gluten free! YEAH!

I started cooking at home and making meals on my own. The other night, I threw a dish together and it was great!

I grabbed my pan and covered the bottom with chicken broth, two talapia filets and some veggies, salt, pepper, dried thyme, fresh basil, fresh parsley and baked it at 350 for 10 minutes. Served with some brown rice and it was awesome!

Tonight I am making my gluten free flax muffins that I have been known to eat regularly from breakfast! I love them! I used to make them with whole wheat flour and , but just changed it to brown rice flour and oat bran flour. Tonight I forgot to buy apples and nuts, so those were out. Instead I put bananas in, so we will see how that goes!! They are cooling as we speak, so I haven't tried them.

While Cody is Gone

Here's a pic of Cody in Holland. They were on a boat taking a tour. He'll be able to tell more when he gets back. Just a quick update.

gracie

Our New Home

This is our office and living room. Yes...we know. How can we be so luck as to have them combined? I know, folks, we don't know how we are so blessed, but we are! Our new place is small, but we love it! Read the post a few down for the whole story. Pics of the kitchen wouldn't come up, sorry.

Grace's Saturday

Long time, no blog. Haha, I'm sure that's a first. No, this thing is new for me and I'm a little lazy of a blogger.

This is a picture of my Saturday today. Cody got picked up for his gig this weekend at 5:30 a.m. and I got to sleep in until 9! That was much needed. The first few weeks back to school always kick my butt and I was exhausted from waking up at 6 and having all this new school/district information thrown at me. After I woke up, I loaded up my bag with our laptop and two big teaching resource books that I have been craving to read for a year! I finally found them at my school and took them home. They are Guided Reading by Fountas and Pinnell and The Teacher's Guide to the Four Blocks by Dorothy Hall. In my opinion, essential literature for all teachers. I went to Bongo Java, a very popular coffee shop here in Nashville and as usual it was packed and blaring with music. It's not a coffee shop to do reading or relax....it's social. So, I headed over to Portland Brew and found a comfy booth, calming music, and a large latte. I spent the next 3 hours reading and taking notes. Ahh...takes me back to my nerdy college ways that I love and miss so much! I've learned so much and am excited to teach this year!

This will be a favorite place of mine, Portland Brew. It's local, Fair Trade, Organic, and supports a good cause!

Now, I'm off to my other favorite place in any city.....the public library! I'm going to get my card today and check out as many books as I can carry. It's a great place to spend a weekend afternoon.