Spotlight on Laura Valle

My name is Laura Valle and I cannot say I am from anywhere. My father was in the USAF all my life and we moved every 3-4 years. If I have to nail down a place I claim New York, where my father's family is from as my mother's father was also career USAF and her family is spread out throughout the United States. So, basically, I am a nomad. :-) Since this is all I know (and love!), I also married a man in the Air Force and we are currently residing in Germany after meeting, marrying and living on Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. We do not have children as of yet as we are trying to do and see all that we can before we settle down and have a family. We both love to travel and learn new languages, so in our free time, we visit as many places as we can in Europe. Now that we are on a countdown of having only 1 year left in Germany, we are trying to squeeze every thing in. We cannot believe how many places there are still to see. It seems like the list grows after each country we visit! Besides traveling and learning new languages, my other passions/interests are Ashtanga yoga, my dogs, cooking/baking, reading, organics, green living, integrative medicine, vegetarianism, meeting new people and helping others. Between travels, I can be found at home working on my Master's in Midwifery and providing birth support to those in the local Triborder area.

The 3 things I need to be happy are:
1. Coffee
2. My yoga mat
3. The internet - in order to keep in touch with great friends and family and do my homework!

If I could live anywhere in the world right now, where would I be and why?
I would be in Paris, France. Why? The food, the language, the people, the ambiance, the dear friends I have made there through yoga... It is my most favorite place to be at any time of year! I definitely wish I could live there year round.

The craziest thing I have ever done is...
Hmmm.... there are so many. Ha ha! Probably sky diving was the craziest thing I have ever done (and scariest!)

The top 5 places I like to go or things I like to do around GK are:
1. Walking our 2 dogs through the farm fields in Hongen
2. Going to Aachen for Starbucks and a casual stroll around town
3. Visiting Maastricht monthly for the Aveda salon, shopping and lunch/dinner
4. Shopping at the bioladen and DM in Gangelt (or the bio store in Maaseik, Belgium - it's a good one too!)
5. Finding vegetarian restaurants around Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Our current favorite is an Ethiopian restaurant called House of Lalibela in Leuven, Belgium. It's beyond scrumptious!

Laura