Thursday, March 29, 2012

Greetings from Athens, Greece!
What a loud, beautiful place! We spent the day exploring our surroundings, although Andrews knee and my exhaustion made it a short day. Although, since when is 5 hours of walking "short"!?
I thought I would quickly share some pictures from today!
We found some random bath-house ruins, fascinating!


We strolled through the "National Garden", a perfect day for it!

We saw the "Zappio"

We enjoyed a DELICIOUS meal, complete with greek salad, moussaka and crepes with spinach and cheese. I cant wait to re-live that again!

We walked up to see Acropolis and the Theatre of Dionyssos.




This was called the "Theatre of Herods Atticus". It was beautiful!
We had a wonderful view from the top!

All-in-all we had a great day.
We cant wait to explore more around Athens and then head out to see some islands!
We have realized that we are both very anxious to get to Israel (Not anxious in a bad way, but in that we are eager!)
We have been praying and dreaming of our time in Israel for a long while and now that we are this close, its hard to wait! But we have enjoyed the journey so far. We were doing some grocery shopping an hour ago and I realized how blessed we are to be able to have this experience together! Grocery shopping in Greece! Exploring New York City! And then heading to Israel? God is so good to us and we will never cease to praise Him.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

After 2 flights and 30 hours without sleep (for Andrew anyway) we have safely arrived in Greece! We found a tiny (emphasis on TINY!) studio apartment to rent for a few days and are settling in nicely!
We do have internet here, although limited, so I will keep you all posted as best I can!
Andrews knee has been bothering him alot today, so please pray that it will heal quickly so we can explore our surroundings and be fully physically ready for Israel!

I will post more pictures tomorrow! For now, we are heading to bed and excited to wake up in a new place!


Monday, March 26, 2012

Well, in 2 days we have walked 16 miles! There is so much to do and see in the city! Here are a few fun pictures!
We have spent quite some time riding the subway.

Andrew got chased by some wolves at the Museum of Natural History!
While I kissed a deer!

We met a famous lady today.

The trees are in bloom and its beautiful!

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge! and had a "jumping" day!

The Supreme court was giant and impressive! (Thats me, jumping again)

We got some frozen yogurt from a food truck. It was yummy!

We visited the Chelsea Market! So quaint and hip!

We also went to see the World Trade Centre, or what stands there now.
They are rebuilding the "Freedom Towers" and its quite a site!


We also went and saw the 9/11 Memorial, although its amidst the construction, it was touching and real. It is a beautiful way to honour those who died that day. We couldn't believe the amount of security we had to go through to get in! I guess they figure it needs protecting, but it was worse than an airport!

We also went to Battery park to catch the ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty, but after seeing the 1.5 hour line up, we decided that seeing her from the shore was good enough for us!
Oh yeah! We also saw Michael Douglas! He got out of a car in front of us! I was so excited that I only managed to snap this blurry picture from behind! We did follow him but then we chickened out and didnt ask for his autograph! It was weird to see him, he is looking old!
Another grand day in NYC! We are having a blast here. Tomorrow evening we board a flight to Greece, so we will bid North America goodbye! It will be strange to know we will not set foot in North America for a while, but it is also so exciting!

Saturday, March 24, 2012


Yesterday we arrived in New York City. What a different world! We spent 5 hours walking around, resulting in a couple of blisters, some very tired legs and an early bedtime!
But we love it here. Its a melting pot of people and noise!
A friends (who I haven't seen in 5 years!) offered her spare room to us while we are here. What a blessing! We are going to enjoy our time with Danny, Christina and their 2 adorable boys (plus one active dog!). They are in the perfect location, everything we need within a couple blocks.
And now, some pictures for your viewing enjoyment :)

This is at the train station, catching the train into NYC.

I love the classic NYC feel of Chelsea (where we are staying)
Thats Grand Central Station on the left. Its a huge, beautiful place!
We found Love in NYC!
The Empire State Building!
I have always wanted to see the Flat Iron Building! Its amazing!

We strolled through Central Park. Its huge, busy and beautiful!
Times Square was an interesting experience! (You can kind of see the naked cowboy in the left side of the picture, behind us. Andrew forbade me to take picture of him!)
We are loving this relaxing, touristy week! We know there will be some intense months to come, so we are resting right now, and its wonderful!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

We are so blessed.
We had a great nights sleep and woke up feeling refreshed, sun shining and birds singing.
We spent the day relaxing, playing basketball and playing with Aaron (our friends 3 year-old)
We also got our first taste of Italian ice and frozen custard! We are hooked! :)


Its a blessing to have time to rest with friends, we are soaking it in!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I am writing this from the Seattle Airport. We are officially on our way!

We have already endured a short but tres bumpy flight from Bellingham to Seattle. Did anyone else experience crazy winds and rain or was it just us in the airplane?!

(Angela, the ginger gravol has already been much appreciated!)

We will arrive in New York this afternoon and find our way to our friends house.


I wanted to take a chance to quickly say that if you are wanting detailed updates, you will need to email me your email address so I can add you to the mailing list. You can also leave your email in a comment on this post and I will add you. We are not able to share too many details on this blog, as it is public, but we would love to share more detailed stories with you all.


Also, a giant thank you to those who have been loving and supporting us. We feel overwhelmed with all the support. We are so blessed to have this opportunity and we know we do not go alone, but with the Lord and also, with those of you who are praying for us back home.


As we were landing in Seattle, I was looking out of the window and praying. The sky was still dark, there were many clouds and you could see the city, illuminated by lights. It hit me how small we are, how insignificant. When you compare our tiny earthly bodies to this world, who are we? What worth, what voice, what opinion do I have, that can change anything? What could I, such a tiny, weak (and nauseous) body, do to glorify God?!

And yet, He has called us. He has delivered us from the pit, where teeth gnash. He has bled and died, so that I may live.


What?!


Does anyone else out there feel insignificant?

A part of me wants to say “NO! Don't do it! Im NOT worth it!”

But to do that would be to deny my beating heart. Who am I apart from Him? In HIM I live and breath and have my being! Without Him, I have nothing.

And there it is.

Yes, I am small, my life will one day end and my name will fade from memory.

But He never ends.

Because of His love for me, because HE sees me as worthy, I am! I will cling to that, when times are hard, when I feel I have nothing to bring, when Im dog-tired, sick and missing my family.

I will cling to the knowledge that when He looks at me, He sees His daughter, and thats enough for me.

Friday, March 16, 2012

This picture makes me so excited for our adventures. But this time with Andrew by my side.


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Happiness is being together.


I am in love with my nephew. Just one smile and I melt.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

How can so many things need to fit into one small backpack!
What a challenge it has been so far, but also fun!
Its hard to pack, not just for 1 climate, but multiple climates and multiple seasons!
Its takes some sacrifice (style is #1 to fly out the window!) and some patience, but my bag is ready to go!

May I draw your attention to Andrews backpack?
His is the one on the right, looking rather...empty.
Mostly because it is STILL empty and he is lying next to me, singing "No shoes, no shirt, no problem." Gotta love a mans layed-back approach!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Its getting to be that time.
A season of good-byes.
I am not a fan of good-byes.

I would rather yell "see-ya" out of the window, or crack jokes and avoid eye contact, than acknowledge that it will be a while until I see someone again.
I said good-bye to a best friend and her darling daughter this morning. It was hard. I cried, not for the last time, at the thought of not seeing them for a long time.
As I drove away, I was reminded, "You belong to me, child. Your days are determined by me, I KNOW the plans I have for you".
Having this assurance doesn't make it easier to say good-bye, but it does give me comfort. A reminder that God is the author and creator of my life, He will sustain me until I see my closest friends again, not doing the bare minimum, but helping me find ways to have joy daily. I trust that He knows my heart, my desires and my thoughts. Its hard having my heart pulled in so many directions, pieces of it attached to those who have sowed love, laughter and memories into my life. I am so thankful for each of them and would never trade our times together, even if it is painful to say good-bye.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

So, for those of you who know me well, you know that I have a reputation for getting hurt.
Its not a full year until I spend time in the hospital, it seems!

BUT all that has changed since I met Andrew!
I have not spent 1 night in the hospital!
Today he proved, once again, that the "I get hurt" reputation belongs firmly on his head!

The situation involved one Andrew, one 2 x 4 piece of wood, one rope and one tree branch.
2 x 4 attached to rope gets thrown over branch and yanked down by Andrew.
Yanked 2 x 4 hits Andrew squarely in the head.
By the time I got home (I was out thrifting!), he was laying on the couch, blood dried and face white.
I had to convince him that, yes, in fact, you DO need to go get this looked at!
All is well now, the doctor stitched him up (but not before shaving a patch of Andrews golden locks!) and he is resting nicely.

It was hard to see him in pain, to see his blood and know that it hurts.
But he is tough, he is strong, stronger than me! I would be whining constantly!

I just hope that will be the LAST trip we take to the doctors for a while!
(We definitely do NOT want a repeat while in a 3rd world country!)