Wordless Wednesday...some day soon I'll update for real

Working at LUSH for the Holiday season!

In transit: UK to USA

It's Sunday evening and we're five days away from an airplane flight to Boston. I can't believe two years has gone by this fast. When I look back at all the things we've done, it amazes me. The people, the countries, the roads, hours in the car, on a train, in a plane: how do you measure two years? It reminds me of the song in Rent; 525,600 minutes, moments, laughs, breaths, sighs, cries in a year. How do I measure two years? Where do I begin to express the friendships I've made or the place I called home? Leaving is never easy but it seems that this time is so very different than all the others. This time I'm leaving with my best friend, my partner, my husband and unlike other leavings I don't go alone. When we left Albuquerque we were freshly married and still getting to know each other. There have been so many learning moments over the past two years that would have been so different had we lived in the USA. How do you help your husband order food from the French menu when it's only in French? When do you get to bring your wife on a ski trip to Italy and when do you have to leave her at home?

There are too many things running through my heart at the moment that I'll have to get it all out at another moment in time. Maybe that's why I've been putting off my blog posts. Too many things to write.

Wordless Wednesday (sorry that I keep posting on a Wed)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Home and away

I just got home on Saturday from a trip cruising around Southern Croatia and then leave again for London to pick up my Aunt Connie and Uncle Steve for another adventure that also spans to Paris. Of course, it doesn't stop there. But rather than drone on about travel I would like to share a story that happened to me last week.

So on the boat there were a hand full of Aussies and most of them at the retired age. However, there were two other couples our age that we ended up hanging out with over the course of the week. They were from Australia and New Zealand both on their honeymoons. It was a great week and we really enjoyed seeing the sights and meeting new people. Of course everyone wants to know, "what do you do for a living?" and I was never sure what to say. Well, I came to the conclusion of telling people that I studied to be a pastor and that went well. I got asked a few questions, since it's not quite a job that many women take I also got a few strange looks.

Now Victor and I are not quite the partying type or real night owls so we usually went to bed before the other couples and we sort of gained the reputation of being rather lame when it came to night time revelry. On our second to last night on the boat we were convinced to head out on the town of Hvar with our new friends. I'm usually not a big drinker since one sip of wine will make me fall asleep and I really hate the taste of beer. (Yes, most, if not ALL beer is disgusting to my taste buds) However, I will admit I love Malibu rum. As in it is so yummy even if it does taste like the smell of sun tan oil. Ah, Malibu! We started out at a little bar with sofas next to the water where I proceeded to love two Malibu and cokes. After that we headed over to a small dance club where we shared drinks with big straws. Good times. So by the end of the evening I was feeling good and having a great time dancing and laughing with Victor and our new friends. Since I'm not a big drinker, I have always believed that I can tell when I need to stop before I feel like crap and therefore I begin to drink water and get to bed at a reasonable hour. We left early, of course, and were the first to leave the bar at 2am.

However, the point of this story isn't to tell you about my only drunken evening in a few years but something that was said to me during our night out. While dancing with the two girls from our new friends one of them decided to tell me that she was proud of me for staying out late and having a few drinks. Then she proceeded to let me know that I was the kind of pastor she liked: the real kind. They both agreed that if they went to church, they would go to my church.

That's actually just what I needed.

Today is amazing

I've been getting up early every morning sans alarm clock and it's been great. Back in the day I used to practice yoga and I say practice because I believe it is something I will never truly master and I'm ok with that. I even bought my own mat and everything! It's been collecting dust for the past few years and this week I brushed it off and started a routine. Even after one week, I'm feeling great! I have yoga flash cards that I lay out in a sequence for the work out and even put together a play list. In fact, the workout is so great that I want to extend my playlist another few songs to make it longer. Right now from start to finish it's about 30min but I think more would be better. Now that I'm starting to loosen up, I have the confidence to do more positions that were strenuous at the beginning of the week. I just wish that we had a place in the house that Victor and I could have a go at the same time. It's a bit cramped around here.

Speaking of cramped around here....we're officially moving to Boston in September! Which means I get to look for another place to live. And this time it will be for at least four years. Crazy. This two year assignment is the longest I've lived in one house for about 10 years. However, I am really looking forward to seeking out the new place. So if you've ever lived in Boston, heck, if you've ever visited Boston and have any suggestions, I'm open!

And since I haven't posted any photos from the European adventure, here is a foretaste of the feast to come:

Back online!

Our router went out a few days ago...ok more like two weeks ago...and today I got a new one in the mail and guess what? We're back on the world wide web from the convenience of our own home. Remember when I went to the library to check my email? What decade was that? Ok, that was in 2001 but still, I was living with my sister and her internet was so slow! What am I talking about? Her internet is still slow. I live in England and she calls me to help her book plane tickets and hotels.

So now maybe I'll blog more. Right. I have some catching up to do.

It's been a while since my friend Jenny came to visit but I was just reminded of her trip the other day. I was explaining to someone this weekend that when I go to London, I tend to go to the same places every time because most of the time I go, I'm taking a friend or family member. Most of these people want to see the same things. For example, I've been to the Tower of London about 5 or 6 times. I could be a tour guide! Of course, it's not really the place for me, it's the people. However, the next time I go to London I'm going to CHIPOTLE!!

Take a closer look

I'm all for Jesus, don't get me wrong. However, there is something about putting Jesus in modern times (or in this instance modern times in Jesus) that sort of freaks me out. What if Jesus were to be alive and kicking today? I'm not sure I would believe anything he would say. Well, of course I wouldn't be seeing him through the Christian lens. I don't mean if Jesus were to come back, I mean say there was never Jesus back in the day and he really came now. Because let's admit it, we're pretty messed up as it is and he DID already come. I'm not sure if this makes any sense but maybe one day it will.

Back home again

It's going to take a while, but I should be uploading photos soon!

On the road

It's hard enough to keep up with the blog at home, let alone the road. We are currently in the Czech Republic on our way to Austria. It's a road I've traveled before but I can hardly believe it was 10 years ago. That may not seem like a long time if you're a bit older but at my age, 10 years is my nephew's lifetime.

The trip has been pretty good so far. I was quite a bit under the weather for the last few days (ok, week) and now that I'm feeling better, Victor and Nicki both start going down hill. Well, I guess we all can't be healthy when living in such close quarters.

Time to get going again!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

"There you are in a room that's full of incredible grief. People crazed with grief. People drunk with grief and the minister is the designated driver and you take people where they need to go saying the old words about death. There are no new words to be said about death."
Garrison Keillor

Family Visit!

I am so tired but it's GREAT to have my sister here with her family. And that's all I can write about that:)

Happy Spring!

I was on Skype with my grandma today and I told her about standing an egg upright on the Vernal Equinox. So rather than just talking about it I did it! The photos might not be so great but I think you get the idea. I owe this great feat to my high school physics teacher, Mr. Fowler. He was one of the best teachers I have ever had.

Two more days of lazing around!

Monday begins the crazy time of family visits. I'll be traveling to London to meet up with my Dad, step Mom Martha and Nana. Tuesday Nana and I will head back to my house for a short visit to see where I live and hang out with Victor. Then on Wednesday back up to London to meet up with Dad and Martha. Thursday say goodbye to those three family members and hello to cousin Marta and friend Jenny! Stay Thursday night in London and then bring Jenny back to my house. Either on Saturday or Sunday I'll travel back up to London to pick up my sister and her family. We'll spend three days at my house and then go back up to London on Wednesday (that's the 31st) until Friday when we go to Paris. We'll stay at Disenyland Paris until Monday (that's April 5th) when I take the train back up to London and meet up with Victor and his sister at Heathrow Airport and fly to Sweden. There we will meet up with his brother and family for seven days. Fly back to London, drive home and hang out for a day before we take the car train to France and start to drive around Europe until the end of April.

Does this sound crazy to you? Because it sure as heck sounds crazy to me.

And with all this crazy travel going on, I am most excited to see Curtis and Callie. Oh, and my sister and brother in law... I just hope Curtis is more excited when visiting me than he is in this photo:

My comments have been hacked

So if you want to leave comments now you'll have to prove you're a person.

I never thought about who was reading my blog but I definitely don't want any hackers perusing the pages of my life.

Actually, I set up this blog for my family to see what's going on where ever I'm living but I'm not sure if any of them ever visit it. And I've never followed a topic intentionally. It's sort of a mish mash of what's going on in my life whether it be knitting, traveling, sewing, thinking, nothing or something. I'm glad that I amuse you some of the time, confuse you part of the time and perhaps entertain most of the time.

Union Jack Pillow!

On to a new project! I've always wanted to make one of these pillows and I didn't have a pattern so I just make one up. I think it turned out ok! I think I'll give this one to a friend for her new living space. Hopefully she doesn't read this before I see her today!

Lambing!

One of the ladies at our spinning group lives on a farm and on Wednesday we all went out there to see the new lambs. They were so cute! Yes, that sounds very cliche but it was true. It was great to get outside on a nice warm day and I even bought my first pair of Wellies!