Girl Meets Globe

2012-01-28T22:11:00.000+01:00

I left quite a downer of a blog post hanging on there all week. Sorry about that!
In my defense I had one sick Karis-girl on my hands this week. We had our first big sickness of 2012!

Have I mentioned that we've been a part of a new International Church start? We've been meeting with about 9-10 other families at Jeremy & Kristi's home while we look for a location to rent and expand.

This past Sunday we tried out a new facility and I think Karis picked up the nasty tummy bug there. Her and 2 other kids from our group woke up during the night throwing up. I stayed with Karis on the couch all night and Monday she had a fever. I ended up keeping her home for 3 days. She was better by Tuesday, but it left her with no desire to eat. I kept her home Wednesday, to get some more food in her and build her strength up. She's good now. Her tummy shrunk so she's not eating quite as much. I'm sure my little eating machine will be back to her normal eating self soon.
Now it's Saturday and Reegan has fallen with it. Here's hoping and praying Brennan doesn't get it!!

Back to my downer post, I'm good. Don't we all have those days from time to time?

Sometimes I question if I should share such personal details, but ya know, maybe it will help someone else. I still think of a dear, now retired, missionary couple I knew in Russia. They served on the field for 30 years. She was the sweetest thing and loved on the nationals, but she hated Russia. I always admired her for her honesty and great attitude, peppered with wit and humor about life in Russia.

Our being in Vienna is not about me, visa issues, culture or anything but knowing that we're in the will of God. Did He promise us good times all the time? No. He did promise to love us and not forsake us. And even when we might feel forsaken (I'm just saying that for those who might, I'm not feeling that way in Vienna) God is there. Maybe He is trying to teach us something or wanting us to draw closer to Him. The big question is how are we going to respond? I hope I'll always use times like this to seek Him and grow through the circumstances!

And now let me leave you with a few of my favorite photos that Jerry took for Eli's party (Kristi's big boy that turned 3) last weekend!

He is sweet on Karis!! She thinks he is pretty great too!

This next one cracks me up!!

There'll be Days Like This

2012-01-21T20:50:00.002+01:00

Seems that our whole family had a missing Spain day.
It's weird how it hits from time to time. Something we see or say triggers a memory. We all sigh big and say "I miss Spain." It was one of those days today and then it puts me in a little bit of a funk.

People continuously ask how we are settling in or if we are liking it. I am going to be brutally honest with you and say, not really.

That's not to say that Austria isn't a nice place to visit and I sure hope I don't offend any of my friends here, but I have to go back to a post I wrote on perspective. So much of my perspective is based on a wonderful year in Spain. A place we love, adore and miss tremendously.

Living here has just had some unexpected difficulties. Doable, but definitely difficult. The visa process makes no sense, the lack of goods that are abundant in neighboring areas of Europe, the unreal, high prices for common, every day goods, like eggs. HAVING to learn the language because they make you! Taxes for things like owning a television or driving on the freeway! These little things add up and just make it easy to want to complain.

But, God called us away from Spain unexpectedly and brought us here to Vienna. And we are learning to live in our new place. It wasn't an easy move, but one we knew the Lord was calling us to make.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all bad!! Our team is now together, which was the whole reason for this move. We have a cute little house with a yard. We have an incredible school where our kids are learning so much and we have made some incredible friendships!! And meeting my blog friend, Kristi that has become a dear, in real life friend!

I thank the Lord for these things and these wonderful people that I wouldn't have met otherwise!

But, today has been a bit of a sad day for us. Just missing our Spanish home, just a little (ok, maybe a lot).

My First Printables

2012-01-19T20:53:00.000+01:00

I have become a lover and die hard addict to all things pinterest. If you're not familiar with this gem of a website, then let me tell you about it. For years I have bookmarked websites in my web browser to go back to one day. They were listed in chronological order and I'm not very good at getting it all organized, so rarely would I scroll through them.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard of sorts. You can categorize boards and pin website to these boards to easily browse back through. They make it simple to keep it all organized. The other part of it is you can follow friends or random people and search through what other people are pinning. It has opened up a whole new world of creativity for me! I'm wanting to sew, craft and have now tried my hand at making printables. Would you like to see?

I Corinthians 13:4-8 subway art

A while back I saw these signs on pinterest and decided to do something similar as a printable. Now looking at those signs again, I'm not so keen on what I made, so I'll be working on it a bit more.

I'm happy for you to use these if you like. I doubt there are many out there that would have lived in these same places, but you are welcome to it!

I'd show you what I've done with these, but that would require putting them in a frame and actually taking pictures. I'll get there! Ha!

To the States We Will Go

2012-01-15T22:46:00.000+01:00

It's time.

Our original plan to head to the States for stateside assignment (known as furlough to some) was going to be Summer 2013.

By about November it was becoming apparent that it was needed before that. I think it's a mixture of many things. Some things I've spoken about, like the stresses of applying for a visa.

Maybe 3 countries in 3 years, 4 countries in 4 years if you count our last time we were in the US has taken it's toll.

So it's time. On about August 8th, we'll be making our trek back to the US and planting ourselves in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for 6 months. We're still working on housing and a vehicle so we're not sure of our exact location.

The other exciting news that goes along with that is we have been asked to speak at the Alaska Baptist Convention that will take place at the end of September in Anchorage.

Can you say "GIDDY!" I am ecstatic!! My last visit to Alaska? 1996! Far too long!!

We're going to try and take the whole family. I would love to show my kids where I grew up!! We'll see how that goes with finances.

I look forward to seeing this place again. This the homestead near Montana Creek, AK that my parents and brothers lived in before I was born. I knew it to be my grandparent's home by the time I came along.

It will only be in the form of a drive by as our family doesn't own it anymore. I wonder if it even looks like this anymore.

I can't wait to see beauties like Mount McKinley, Sleeping Lady, Portage Glacier, maybe even the Homer Spit. And I can't forget the many wonderful people I knew growing up! Let the countdown begin!!

My daughter

2012-01-13T14:12:00.000+01:00

I just had to take a minute and brag on my sweet daughter!

It is so amazing to see a child transform! Karis has always been a very independent, strong-willed child. It was always very trying for me because I was not that way as a child. I never wanted to disobey or disappoint.

In the last year I have seen this girl grow and blossom. I almost don't know who she is! There's not as much arguing, pushing her point, pushing the limits, getting into things like baby powder or sneaking snacks to her bed. And yes, she has done those things. Well, the baby powder all over the bathroom was a long time ago, the sneaking sweets to her bed was in Spain.

What I've seen is a kind, young lady. A girl who is willing to give up the window seat on the bus to her younger sister, jump at the chance to carry a grocery bag and give her brother a piece of her candy.

I've also been SO proud of her hard work and determination in school.
Because she was learning to read and write in Spanish last year, it put her behind in first grade in her current school. The teacher doing the testing along with the principal felt that it would be beneficial for her to have some specialized, one on one reading. They felt she would be caught up half way through the school year.

After the first quarter, I was called in for a meeting to go over Karis' progress. In that meeting (this would have been in October) I was told that Karis had already caught up. Normally they phase out the one on one time, but felt that Karis was doing so well that they didn't even need to do that.

This girl started out in the lowest group of readers in her first grade class. And before Christmas, just 4 months later, Karis is now in the second highest group of readers in her class! Amazing!

She is also quite a little whiz at math!

The elementary part of the school does a color chart for behavior. Every day each child starts out on green. If they do something like talking out of turn, doing something to another student, etc. they will be moved down the color chart, after one warning. If they do something exceptional, they could be moved up to the highest color of orange. Karis has made it a goal to be on orange. She's done it so many times now that she has gotten a few prizes. If I remember correctly, that happens once they reach 7 oranges.

Somewhere along the way, maybe age.....maybe a bit of training and definitely growing in her knowledge of Jesus Christ, she is becoming selfless.

I thought I'd be a little cheesy and write up an acronym for Karis.

Kindness ~ One day she told me that when someone gets hurt on the playground she is quick to help. She noticed that others just stop and stare, but she stops what she is doing to help and make sure they are ok. That's my girl!!

Amusing ~ She is developing quite the sense of humor! She makes me laugh!

Righteous ~ I mean it in the sense that doing the right thing is becoming important to her. Take, for instance tattling. Now, she comes in a very humble way to tell me they are doing something they shouldn't do.

Integrity ~ I see her becoming strong and bold in her knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ. There is nothing like seeing your child love Jesus and want to be more like him. One morning I was fixing her hair, she told me that she was headed to her bedroom to pray before school started.

Strong-willed ~ She's still got this in her, but now I see her using it more in a positive way. She's learning how to tame that will and use it for the glory of God.

And you can't forget about the fact that Vienna thinks she's pretty great since they have an u-bahn stop with her name on it! Ha!

I love you, sweet girl! And I love seeing what God is doing in your life!

Austrian Visas

2012-01-05T17:43:00.000+01:00

We've heard about and been preparing for this process for months.

For the type of visas we need, there is only one time of year that we can apply.

This is now our 4th country in Europe. Russia, you can't even step foot in the country without a visa. Czech Republic requires a visit to a neighboring country to their Czech embassy to start the process (never knew why, but easy enough to drive to Vienna, Austria or Dresden, Germany) and then in a few months you show up to the visa office, sign some papers and your done. Of course, we had a Czech helping our colleagues that was knowledgeable in the area of visas to keep up with the laws. She was a godsend!

Spain was a little more complicated with every piece of paper you own needing an apostille (a special kind of stamp). Although lengthy and armed with more papers than they need, it wasn't so bad.

Austria, on the other hand, just doesn't make sense to me. Lots of paperwork was also required, but here's where it gets crazy. You are required to stand in line vying for one of 60 visa slots (or so we've heard it's 60) that are given that year for this particular visa. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Problem is, there is NO order.

Our visa has to do with the fact that we work in the country, but are paid outside of Austria and will not be working for an Austrian company, therefore will not be covered by their social care.

Seems to me they wouldn't mind these kinds of workers in their country. They don't have to pay us AND we are contributing to their economy. Right?!

In the past our colleagues have experienced some chaos in this process. It has boiled down to being whoever can throw their elbow the hardest gets in the door first.

The last 2 years have been a bit better. A lawyer representing certain clients have started a list of names of those who show up. It's a first come, first serve bases, based on when you arrive at the door. However, the visa office honored the list last year and we hoped it would be the same this year.

The line has gotten so crazy that it warrants an overnight stay.

In past years, our colleagues have shown up around 5 am to get in line. Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky. Some of our colleagues drove by the office late afternoon on January 1st and before 5 pm a line had already formed!! The plan had been to get in line at midnight. That was quickly changed when 20 people were already on the list at 5 pm. Jerry showed up at 6 pm and we were numbers 47-51 for each member of our family.

Y'all (and I don't use that term often, but this warrants it), y'all I am getting too old for this! Staying up all night!! My body does not do so well. Especially when I am required to take care for my kids the next day! Which, by the way, our kids spent the night with some colleague friends! They were not required to be there.....or so we thought. More on that in a minute.

The plan was for me to show up at about 5 am. I could do that, but the lawyer keeping "THE list" said if I didn't show up by 3 am I could be bumped for not being there in person IF a government official came by. Did I show up at 3 am? Yes I did (after 4 hours of sleep). Did a government official come by before 5 or even 7 am? No, one did not! Oh well!

Anyway, Julie and I hopped in a taxi and got there by 3 am. Insanity!!!

This is craziness! Now, I'm not saying that the US system or any other is without flaw (ha, that sounds funny)

Really? There is not a better system to standing out in the FREEZING, MIDDLE OF THE WINTER, COLD to get a CHANCE, not even a guarantee, for a visa slot?!

We did, however, have 2 cars nearby to get an occasional warm up and we did have access to bathrooms. But, wait! It doesn't stop there! Sounds so nice of them to give us access to bathrooms, right? Well, said bathrooms just happened to be located off of a HUGE foyer area!!! Were we able to sit in said foyer???? Nope!!

We sat out here.

That's Jerry under there. Keeping warm and getting updates on the Cowboy game.

Some of our colleagues. At least we could chat to pass the time.

See that BIG empty foyer in the background?!

It was somewhere between 6 and 7 that we were able to come into the foyer and line up. It was much warmer in there. We were all sprawled out on the floor, mostly heads nodding off.

Eight o'clock came. There was a bit of pushing and a bit of stress. People were walking in and not observing the line. Come to find out, many of them were there for other reasons. Oops! Things remained calm and "the list" of names were honored and we were called in order.

There was rumor that someone who put their name down before us actually turned in 15-20 applications. Grr! We have no idea if we made "the cut." We're not going to stress about it. God has a plan and we trust Him for these kinds of things. It's out of our hands. We've done what we can do.

As we were turning in the papers we learned that the law had changed and any child 6 and older had to be there in person because they fingerprint them!! Not only them, but us as well. Fingerprint a child?? Seriously?!

The workers were extremely nice and you know it's not their fault. They don't make these hideous rules! Grr!

We didn't walk out of there until 10:40 am. By the time we got something to eat......we were STARVING.....and picked up our kids, it was 1 pm. That's 20 hours that Jerry was doing this process, 10 for me. Crazy!

I updated my status on facebook describing our ordeal and an Austrian friend apologized that his country made us do this. How sweet is that?!

Do we know anything at this point? Nope! It will be 3-4 months before we hear a thing. And so, we wait......

London ~ Final Day

2012-01-03T12:09:00.001+01:00

Our last full day, we headed to the Thames River. On a previous trip we stumbled upon St Katherine's Docks and fell in love. First we stopped at a red phone booth. I'd seen plenty before, but I don't like looking so much like a tourist! Ha! Even though I am!! What American doesn't go to London and get a classic photo in a phone booth?!

I have no idea what Karis was doing! Probably being silly!

Want to see something funny? I bring to you, circa, October 2000!!

Aren't we cute?!

We've aged a bit!

Entering the docks. The buildings and atmosphere is, well, charming! Have I not said that before?! Ha!

This Starbucks has a prime location, don't you think?!

The docks have an exit to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

Gorgeous, isn't it?!

The Tower of London. We've never been in the tower. The tickets are a little too rich for our liking. Maybe another time.

An ice rink was set up next to the tower. Like every place else, it was packed!!

We had a blast in London. I already miss it tremendously! The people, the atmosphere, the vibe, the beauty! Ahh London, you are missed!
I have a feeling we may return. So I will say "See you soon!"

London ~ Day 2

2012-01-02T13:58:00.000+01:00

This is the park we walked through to get from our hotel to the underground. It is such a gorgeous walk! Nice big park, tennis, runners...

Our second day we headed to the British Museum. Across the street was this tavern. I love the look and the names of pubs here. Ok, this pub doesn't have a unique name, but it hits the category of quaint and charming!

The British Museum is massive! We thought it might be a neat thing for the kids to see and told them they could see mummies.

The inside corridor.

Brennan was a little disturbed by the mummies and didn't realize that at one time it was real people.

The place was PACKED! We haven't seen London like this before. The two other times we've come it was October. A much preferable time, when there aren't as many tourists.

Next we tried Harrods. Again, PACKED! Oh my! The kids were getting elbowed and purse punched in the face.
It is a really cool place and our goal was to get some fresh Krispy Kreme donuts, only to learn that Harrods no longer houses a KK. We were a little disappointed, but we still got us some KK in another location.

Here is the one picture I got of Harrods. Then we hightailed it out of there!

Buckingham Palace

We stopped at the palace gift shop. These are the ornaments that hang on the Christmas trees in the palace. The lady working in the store asked Karis if she was getting some practice in! Ha!

We then made the long walk down Birdcage Walk (as opposed to The Mall) and came out right by Westminster Abby.

And Big Ben! Love that structure! It is gorgeous!

The London Eye peeking through in the back.

Heading towards Trafalgar Square. Don't ya just love the names of all these British sites?!

I wasn't paying attention as to what this guard on a horse was actually guarding, but in looking at the map, it looks to be the Army's Headquarters.

We always make one of our London meals at the Texas Embassy Cantina.

This restaurant and location have quite the history! The restaurant commemorates when there actually was an embassy for The Republic of Texas from 1836-45. This was not the actual location of the embassy, but it is nearby. This building was, however, the White Shipping Line's location, the owners of the Titanic. This is where people came to find news of their loved ones.

Texas license plates line the walls.

Just 4,747 miles to Dallas!

Not "Texas" Tex-Mex, but it was good.

It was nice to have GOOD Dr Pepper!!

That completes our very full second day in London! More to come soon!

London ~ Day 1

2012-01-01T12:13:00.001+01:00

We needed to take a trip out of Austria for visa purposes, so we headed to London. I've been so excited for this trip. London is my favorite city!! We've vacationed there twice before. The old world charm and vibe of the city just fascinates me!!

We got there late Monday evening. Our flight was delayed a bit so we didn't get to bed until almost 2 am our time. The kids did so well though! Our first night we stayed at a hotel near the Gatwick airport, then Tuesday headed to our hotel near the city center.

There is a nice little Christian hotel called The Highbury Centre. They give discounts to missionaries. It's no 5 star hotel, but it's cheap (for London) and in a great location to downtown.
After dropping our bags in our room, we headed to Oxford Street.

Riding the tube.

It was crazy busy!! Look at all those people!!

First stop, The Disney Store.

The kids had some Christmas money to spend.

It was still all decked out for Christmas. And they were having some sales!

Karis picked out a robe and bag. Reegan picked out slippers and a Repunzel doll.

It took Brennan a while to decide, but he settled on Hulk!

I never tire of seeing these buses!!

We decided to get off the beaten path a bit and have a snack, or "picnic" as our family calls it.

We then headed to meet our friends and colleagues, the James, who were also in London. We ate some dinner and headed to Chinatown.

The gates of Chinatown.

The kids had fun playing in the phone booth. This is where Reegan decided to LICK, yes, you read that right, lick a phone booth! I have no idea what came over her to do such a thing. You don't think to tell your kids, "Don't lick the phone booth!"

We figured out that one of the buses that goes by our hotel went straight downtown. It was a longer ride, but we got to ride on top of a double decker bus the whole ride. Half way through the ride, we snagged some seats at the top, front of the bus. They really enjoyed that and pretended they were the driver.

We had a great first day!!! I'll be back to share more!

Big Day on Christmas

2012-01-01T08:47:00.000+01:00

Our kids have been asking for bikes since we moved to Spain last year. Because we had an idea (by Christmas time last year) that we might be moving again, we decided to wait to purchase bikes.
So, this Christmas it was time they had their own bikes.

Austrians are serious about their bikes, which means they can be costly! We decided to head to Hungary to a store we knew from living in Spain.

Our hour and a half drive to Gyor, Hungary proved to be fruitful! We found bikes for the kids in the price range we were shooting for.

I was so excited to see their little faces on Christmas morn! But we knew we couldn't just wheel the bikes into the house or they might wake up in the night and discover their gifts.

We thought through how we could make a little puzzle/scavenger hunt for them to find their gift.

We first let them open their gifts under the tree. They saw they got bike helmets, but they still weren't sure if they were getting bikes.

Next we got down their stockings. It was then that they found a little note saying to look under their pillow. They went racing to see what they could find.

Under their pillows was another note with one word.

It was fun watching them try to figure it out.

They have one red chair in their room and the other is in the hobby room in the yard, but they didn't remember that. So we talked them through it, giving them some ideas and hints as they thought about it.

Once they figured it out, they went running. It was so fun and they were so excited!!

The rest of the day was a somewhat relaxing day. Biking riding included! Kristi & Eli joined us for the evening.

I also did some cleaning and preparing, because the next day, the 26th we headed to London for 4 days!! More about that in the posts to come!

Candy Cane Christmas

2011-12-25T06:57:00.001+01:00

The Elementary students had their Christmas choir performance last week. They did such a great job!

It was called Candy Cane Christmas and it was really neat to see how they wove in the story of Jesus to the candy cane.

Karis waiting to sing!

Waving to the parents (Reegan in the far top right, Brennan just behind the girl in yellow on the right and Karis is on the front row in the middle).

Reegan loved twirling her dress.

Primary through Fifth grade singing Silent Night in English & German.

Karis' friend C had been to our house to play and the girls asked if they could wear these San Isidro costumes (C is wearing Reegan's costume....Reegan was ok with that. She had her own special dress to wear.) to their Christmas performance. Why not?? Aren't they cute?

This video is LONG, but I know the grandparents will want to watch. Feel free to take a look, skip around and even hear some German. They were really cute!!

ICSV Christmas Performance 2011 from JerryInEurope on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas to you!! May you have a blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!!

The Best Wiener Schnitzel

2011-12-24T16:07:00.000+01:00

We had some more friends living in Spain come to visit recently. Zac, Leah & little Owen, who slept almost the entire time I was with them. Ha!
I have to backtrack a little and tell you how we met. We were in Carrfour (something a kin to Target) browsing the bedding department in Madrid. They heard me speak English to the kids and we began talking. You don't hear English much in Madrid, so when you do, it can be a nice thing to hear! Plus, we had moved to Madrid within weeks of each other.

Anyway, we decided to meet for lunch, so I had to find the best Austrian food downtown. My go to girl (Kristi) sent us to Figlmüller, which originally opened as a Wine Tavern and their own defined schnitzel. Traditionally, schnitzel is pork pounded out thin, breaded and fried. It's good! I decided to get the chicken schnitzel, Zac got the pork schnitzel and Leah got the pork roast. It was definitely the best schnitzel I've had in Vienna and Leah's roast was really good too!

This place had so much character. I loved it!

Leah & I with Figlmüller behind us.

If you find yourself in Vienna, give it a try! I don't think it will disappoint!!

And it's always nice to spend time with friends!!

Cookies & Another Market

2011-12-20T21:38:00.000+01:00

The kids had a day off recently and instead of wasting the day away I decided we should make cookies. Kristi was wanting to do something that day, so we invited them over for cookie baking.

I think I've expressed it before, but the reality of baking with my kids has turned out nothing like those dreams I use to have before kids came along! Ha! I pictured myself this calm mom who doesn't mind flour all over her kitchen or a sticky table. Unfortunately, I am not that mama. I got a little stressed about them rolling out the dough. I look back on it and I think "Why did I get so stressed? It's only cookies!" It is something to do with the rolling where I just about lost it, because I could care less how messy they looked after adding the frosting. Luckily, we all survived!

Kristi wanted to check out the Christmas market at the Schloss Hof. It's located near the Slovakia border. We left the hubbies and kids behind and made it a girl's outing.

The place was beautifully decorated. I would love to have seen it at night.

A purple tree!

The grounds were beautiful!

So was the inside!

This is just some of the animals we saw.

I loved the clock on this building.

pumpkin sandwich and fresh, homemade chips!

White donkeys

I bet all these vines are gorgeous in the summer!

Camels!

Shetland ponies. What you don't see is what happened right after this picture. That little pony decided to try and take a bite out of my coat sleeve!

Kristi showing off her Christmas Market mug.

My blog friend has turned into a true friend! Aren't we cute?!

Several of the castles have kids museums where they can try on period costumes. We've got to do that!

Who doesn't love a cute pond with a boat in it?!

It's been fun to see more of Austria!

O Tannenbaum

2011-12-16T23:04:00.002+01:00

Our little tree!

Here we are, our first Christmas in Vienna!
I've been wanting to clean out the Christmas stuff and start updating it a bit. Moving across Europe seemed like a perfect time, so I got rid of a bunch of stuff when we moved this summer. We've had the same basic tree decorations for 17 years. They have gone across Europe with us!

My dream is to get a second tree and make it a more grown up tree and let our kids have our current tree and decorations. We're just not where we can do that right now. The thing I have to remember is that the kids LOVE our tree and the decorations. So it's really not about mama having a pretty grown up tree.

My tree just wasn't quite how I wanted it though. We moved with 3 strands of lights. One wasn't working when I pulled them out this season and the other 2 were looking like they didn't have much more life in them. One was a different shade of white than the other, but I went ahead and strung them anyway.

A few days later, wouldn't ya know, a second strand already strung on the tree went out! Argh! I went on a hunt through the city to locate some lights that weren't going to break us. Lights here can be expensive!! Luckily I found some. I wasn't looking forward to stripping the tree and starting from scratch again, but that's what had to be done.

I had decided in November that I wanted a new tree skirt and I wanted to make this no sew ruffled one I found on pinterest. I even found a fabric store and bought fabric!

I had already begun the process of cutting strips of fabric and was testing using the glue gun and fabric on an extra piece. I learned it was going to take me FOREVER. I am a novice at this stuff and can not whip up a project like the experts. So, the idea for a ruffled tree skirt got put off. Until I started restringing my lights and I decided to make a tree garland instead, also found on pinterest.

I had bought some burlap for another project (pinterest is inspiring me!) and decided to mix it with the white cotton strips I had cut.

It still took me several hours spread across a few days, as well as another trip to the fabric store. I wanted it really long! But I am in LOVE with it!

All the ornaments were put back on.

I found Spiderman one day. Maybe he was trying to save a snowman or an elf or something. =)

I was so excited when I found these little chalkboard plates. I had hoped I'd find something to do with them around the house (I still plan to) when I thought they would be a great addition to the tree.

You can also see our newest ornament of Vienna up there.

I love this little cabinet. The next best thing to a mantel. My hubby drew the little drawing on the chalkboard sign. I love it! It's hard to see, but it's a little girl skating on a pond.

That's not everything, but that's all I got around to photographing this year.

And I can't forget to include my little helpers!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner & The Nester!

The Weekend

2011-12-12T22:51:00.000+01:00

Vienna houses one of the headquarters for the United Nations. An annual event that the UN puts on is a bazaar. There are booths of food and goods from around the world. In our group that we went with we had food from Greece, Thailand, India and Indonesia! And I guess we have to count the Oreos we picked up at the USA booth!
The place was PACKED. This picture was towards the end of the day, so it doesn't look too bad.

I was thinking we were crazy for bringing the kids!!! But we made it through. It was a fun experience, but I'm not sure I will do it again. I learned a trick though. Go late in the day because they start marking things down. I got a variety of spices. Cardamom I haven't seen here, and I got them drastically marked down.

Sunday we headed back out on the town. First stop was for some lunch! We decided to go Mexican. Yes, Mexican. We were craving it!
On the way to the restaurant we went by the Prater, an amusement park in Vienna which houses one of the oldest ferris wheels. It's hard to tell but there are little red cabins all the way around. You can actually arrange to have dinner in one!

We haven't taken a ride yet, but we plan to!

We headed to lunch after a walk around Prater. I decided to avoid the exotic corn fungus and mole! Ha!

Love this photo, minus the fuzzy IPhone quality.

I wanted to go to Schonbrunn and check out their Christmas market. It was so busy!! I made the kids hold hands so we wouldn't lose each other! I've now learned to avoid Christmas markets on the weekend and go during the week when people are working!

So we escaped the congested crowds and headed towards the gardens. Schonbrunn's gardens are a close running to Versailles' in Paris.

Now, that's a fountain!

Family picture takin' time!

The structure at the top of the hill is called the Gloriette. Isn't it beautiful?! Although it's not visible, the Schonbrunn (Vienna) Zoo is tucked in the bottom right corner of the picture. We haven't had a chance to visit yet. Did you know it's the world's oldest zoo, founded in 1752?!

Look at that view!! From halfway up to the Gloriette.

The sun started setting and we got some beautiful pictures!

Even with a bit of moon peeking through!

Waiting for the u-bahn to come. We were tired!!

There is so much more we want to do at Schonbrunn. There is a children's museum where kids can dress up in period costumes.....the zoo.....the palace itself. So far this is my favorite spot in Vienna and I hope to get back there many more times. And soon!

Playing Vienna Tourist

2011-12-08T22:34:00.001+01:00

Our friends and colleagues, the Sparks, came for a visit from Madrid.

We had a chance to see a bit more of the city with them and take in all the Christmas markets around downtown. Each market has different kinds of goods and each one has their own Christmas mug. It's really neat and Amy collected at least 4 of them! Ha!

We started out by taking them to Stephansplatz to show them Stephansdom, or St Stephan's Cathedral.

While checking out some of the Christmas markets we stumbled upon this man and his handiwork. It was beautiful!

We then headed towards Karlsplatz to their Christmas market. This is the beautiful Karlskirche, or St Charles' Church.

This is just one of those things that makes you chuckle a bit. A krapfen is translated as donut. Although that looks a lot like a pretzel, but it may be sweet.

This is the Hofburg Palace.

After perusing some markets and sights we headed to the infamous Demel Cafe. I mentioned going when I came in April.

It's fun to watch them at work!

Our dessert to share. It was ok, but Kristi told me the name of a dessert to try next time, which I will definitely do. However, the hot chocolate is awesome!!!

Since it gets dark so early (4 pm, ugh!), the lights were already coming on.

A quaint street near Swedensplatz.

So, who is coming for a visit next?? We'll gladly welcome you to the city of Vienna!!

Thanksgiving Gala

2011-12-06T07:51:00.000+01:00

This year our kid's school is celebrating 25 years!!

It was decided to hold a semi-formal gala to celebrate the event. The American ambassador was invited to speak and other dignitaries and consulates from other countries were also in attendance.

The gala was held in the Schloss Cobenzl. A schloss in German is a castle. I would say this one is on the small side, but it sure doesn't lack character or great location! A prime spot overlooking Vienna and the Danube river!

I had a chance to take a look at the venue several weeks before our event. I wasn't on the planning committee, but I was asked to help coordinate part of the menu, the most important part, PIES! And I helped a tiny bit with the decorations. Take a look at this place! This is several weeks before the gala.

The hall where the gala was held.

The owner of Cobenzl on the right. What a character he was! I think you have to be a character to own a castle! Ha!

Take a look at some of these features!

The front of Cobenzl. The deck area in front is huge! A great place for a summer dinner party!

The view from the Cobenzl cafe, which is located next to the schloss.

The cafe itself had loads of charm! And an outstanding melange! A coffee known for it's Viennese roots.

In Cobenzl's history, some of it's visitors have been Mozart, President Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth and now me! Ha!

Then on November 25th we got all dolled up to attend the event. We even had a Thanksgiving menu of turkey, dressing, green beans and even sweet potato casserole. Pies and cranberry sauce are a difficult thing for an Austrian to mimic, so various staff and parents contributed this part of the menu. I was very impressed with the Austrian chef who prepared the meal. He was given traditional recipes, but it was prepared with an Austrian twist. Still delicious though!

Jerry was the photographer for the event, so he was up and down all evening.

We took some photos before things got started. Kristi got to come because Jeremy was asked to be part of the entertainment, along with 3 other trombonists.

We don't get many pictures of just the two of us!

Our table, complete with name cards! We got our food late and I was STARVING, so no food pictures, but it was delicious!

Our guest speaker, the American Ambassador (I don't remember his name! Ha!), on the left with our school director, James, on the right.

It was neat to hear the ambassador speak, but his speech was not relevant to his audience, so it was a bit boring.

Some of the teachers & staff. Our kid's teachers are the third and fourth pictured from the right.

Trombonists. They were excellent!

The highschool choir also performed.

It was FREEZING up there, but it sure made for a sparkly, white atmosphere outside. Too cold to really enjoy it though! But wow, isn't this beautiful?!

The whole area around Cobenzl is just beautiful and their is also a petting zoo. Once the weather warms up I hope to take the kids. Obviously, that will be a few months.

We sure enjoyed our night out! And Happy Anniversary ICSV!

PTF

2011-12-05T09:03:00.001+01:00

PTF stand for Parent Teacher Fellowship at the kid's school, ICSV (International Christian School of Vienna). I know, lots of acronyms!

Back when we visited the school in April I felt getting involved at the school would be a great ministry opportunity for me. One thing I was extremely drawn to was the Parent Teacher Fellowship. It's along the same lines of PTA in the US.

After moving here, I was approached by the newly appointed director of the school to pray about getting involved in the leadership of the PTF. I thought it would be in the role of a committee member. I soon learned that his plan was for me to be the director!! Ack! Yikes!!

I was a little thrown at first, feeling under qualified, but I had such a peace that the Lord was laying an incredible ministry opportunity right at my feet! Even though this is a Christian school the percentage of kids that come from Christian homes is at about 50%.

The past couple of years the PTF has been run by a teacher due to no one else taking it on. This teacher will be returning to the States next year, so it worked out perfectly for this year to overlap so she can show me the ropes. And I am happy for the years of notes that have been taken! It's one thick book!

A few of our colleagues are helping out on the committee and even one of the men will do outreach to dads. I'm looking to reorganize a bit because I can't keep the same format as the teacher has done. Just not enough time! Even though their is a committee, it is not a functioning one in the sense of a secretary, treasurer, etc. So I plan to change that so the work is spread out. It will help me tremendously!

I've now had 2 events. And both went well. A new parent brunch and an annual fall festival.

And we just decorated this Christmas tree this past week.

I'm learning a lot about planning, table decorating, event coordinating and so much more. I made these cute little table decorations for the brunch.

We are thinking and praying about the direction the Lord is leading us with this ministry and the many activities and services we could offer.

Rathaus Christmas Market

2011-11-26T21:55:00.001+01:00

Crossing the Danube on the U-bahn, Vienna's metro system.

A couple of weekends ago we decided to visit the Christmas market a the Rathaus.

The Rathaus, or city hall of Vienna is quite a beautiful building!

This is just the back of it. Take a look at the front!

One of the prettiest town halls I've seen!

The Christmas market was a buzz!

Lots of yummy looking goodies!

And beautiful traditional Austrian ornaments everywhere.

This was a favorite vender (below)! I think I'll be going back to get some of these pretties for my tree!

And don't forget about the Christmas punch!!

In this Christmas market alone, there were probably 10 vendors selling punch!

Beautiful!

Look at those fall colors!

Me with my punch. I got the kinder (or children's punch)

You pay a deposit for the mug. You can return it and get your deposit money back or you can keep the mug. We decided to keep one mug!

We've got many more Christmas markets to visit!! Looking forward to it!! Stay tuned!

Lovely Ladies

2011-11-15T13:31:00.001+01:00

I had a great time hosting the IMB ladies in Vienna for a brunch at my house.

I love to host and make my house pretty and have it clean for all of a couple of hours! Ha!

What a great group of ladies!

We had a great time of getting to know each other by sharing our testimonies and how we met our hubbies! I think we'll be doing this often!

Kürbisfest

2011-11-11T11:47:00.000+01:00

I was excited when my friend, Kristi, invited us to go to a Kürbisfest (Pumpkinfest) in the town of Obermarkersdorf.

Let me start out by telling you a little bit about my friend, Kristi. We actually met over a year ago, but not in the traditional sense. We met as bloggers! She's the first blogger I've met in person and we've become fast friends.
They have been living in Vienna for the last 4 years and her hubby is a trombonist for the Vienna Philharmonic. How cool is that?!

Back to the Kurbisfest. We took SO many pictures! So I made a slide show.
Just to give you a little bit of background, if you so choose to look through the slides. You will see pumpkin displays showcasing places around the world. Some of them were really good. Others were a bit cheesy.
We had SO much fun! I look forward to going again next year!

Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Kristi's beautiful family!

That one was great, but what about this one?

Ha!

Our parking spot.....a corn field!!! The kids thought that was pretty cool!

Making our way into Obermarkersdorf to the activities!

I just LOVE the Fall colors!!

Maybe I'm biased, but aren't they cute?!

The Pipi Box. Yes, it's what you think it is! This just cracked us up!!

And they even have brochures!!! Kristi decided to pick one up!

We couldn't believe there was a Texas display!! Kristi & Jeremy had also lived in Texas for a time, so we all enjoyed a bit of home!!

And I'll leave you with a family photo!!

Things got a little silly!!

Can't go to a Kürbisfest without buying a kürbis!

Oh, did we ever have a great time! Can't wait until next year!

Wiener Naturhistorische Museum

2011-11-08T14:55:00.001+01:00

I am not normally a museum kind of person. Jerry could spend hours in a museum, reading every bit of information. I, on the other hand, skim through and then go wait on a bench somewhere for Jerry. Ha!

The original plan was to go to the zoo, but it was too cold. So, my friend Stacy suggested the museum. So off we went!

It is so nice to see how the museums here are so accepting of kids. Under the age of 19 get in free!

First stop was the dinosaurs! We had no idea the treat we would get! A life size, animated dinosaur! The kids weren't too sure what to think.

We had to assure them that it was not real, just pretend! Ha!

Reegan called this a chicken dinosaur! Ha! Sure looks like one to me too!

There were all kinds of life sized animals.

I'm sure glad I wasn't around when these bugs existed. Can you imagine that thing running into you?!

This was made to look like it was coming out of the glass.

The kids pumped this lever up and down to make a volcano erupt.

There she blows!

The kids were curious if this guy was really hanging in a box.

A little remind of Alaska! *Sigh*

Checking out some worms under a microscope.

So many types of shells. I loved this one!

We had fun with our friends, Jack & Lucas and mom, Stacy.

For not being a museum person, we had fun! I think we'll have to go back again!

Schönbrunn Palace

2011-10-26T09:47:00.000+02:00

Before school started we took a little excursion with some colleagues and our 6 kids!

You can't start your day right without a trip to Starbucks first!

On our way to check out the gardens at Schönbrunn Palace.

Walking over the U-bahn tracks. The u-bahn is Vienna's metro system.

Walking up to Schönbrunn Palace. Isn't it beautiful?! And this is the back!

The gardens! There are mazes, water features, flowers...lots of beauty!

Relaxing while the kiddos run around!

Family photo op!

Look at that view!

The front of Schönbrunn. Gorgeous!

Look at all those cuties!

Me & my buddy!

U-bahn map of downtown.

It wasn't near enough time to enjoy the sites, but we'll take what we can get!

A Bit of India in Vienna

2011-10-23T12:14:00.000+02:00

Brennan and Reegan have a classmate that is from India. We were invited to her birthday celebration a few weeks ago. Yes, a few weeks ago. Don't remind me how far behind I am in the blogging department! Ha!

Entertainment! An Austrian duo.

They gave the kids spinning plates.

The birthday girl and family!

The food! Oh, the food! Yum!

With the birthday girl!

Even face painting! We had a fun time!

All Before 2

2011-10-09T14:39:00.000+02:00

We get up.
Eat breakfast.
Watch some tv.
The kids decide they don't want to watch tv, so I turn it to a channel of MY choice. How often does that happen?!
I turn it to Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
Sob my eyes out as they make a new home for a Marine who fought in Iraq (who lost a limb) and his 4 kids.
Do mandatory reading with Karis.
Read "Marley & Me" to her and Reegan and decide we need to watch the movie.
I forget how emotional this movie is at the end, thinking I can handle it, and end up sobbing my eyes out even harder than Extreme Makeover Home Edition!!!
Over a dog!!
Gotta love a blubbering cry in front of the kids! Ha!
Try to do some cleaning up of the coffee table where school papers have taken over!
Lucky I did it today and found the medical forms for 3 kids that are due at school tomorrow!!
I start lunch.
Karis tells me the form has to be turned in to her teacher.
I tell her the form says to turn it into the front desk.
She argues with me.
I pull the form out of the envelope and have here read it with me that it needs to be turned in to the front desk.
She then proceeds to lose it and tell me that her teacher will be mad at her if she doesn't turn the form in to her.
I assure her that she will not and to come talk to me if she does. That I have to follow the directions on the form.
She is still not happy, sobs herself and I get frustrated because she doesn't believe me. Her teacher's word is GOLD! That's great and I'm SO glad she wants to please her teacher, but I'm her mom! Trust me, girl!
She then comes into the kitchen as I finish up lunch, gets water, still a bit pouty where I explain to her that it is upsetting to me that she doesn't trust me.
She walks away and I get angry that she walks away while I'm talking.
She proceeds to spill water on herself sending her into another sobbing mess!
I tell her to chill (well, I didn't say that exactly, but something to that effect).
She says something mean to brother and sister and goes to her bed.
I tell her to stay in her bed until she can change her attitude.
She tells me her sister is always mean to her.
I remind her that she is sometimes mean to her sister.
We go over "...do to others what you would have them do to you..." Matthew 7:12 that she has been learning.
Hope she calms down before I come to get her.
I get Brennan & Reegan started on lunch and go get Karis.
She is found messing with the light fixture because she wants her pillow to glow (Sounds a bit crazy, huh? Nana made Halloween pillow cases and used glow in the dark thread to spell their names on the pillow).
I tell her that she is sitting in a different spot at the table because Brennan is watching a show (Yes another one. Don't judge! ;))
She's not happy about it and pouts a bit more telling me she always sits in that spot.
I tell her she won't be sitting in that spot again for awhile (we have a system at our house based on a "first day" rotation).
Make a mental note of rotating this spot (that is not the first day spot. Confused??)!
She finally calms down and eats.
The funk is fading!!
Mama is drained from all the tv sobbing and challenging morning!
Kids are now all happily playing together.
All before 2 pm!
How many days until daddy returns!!

Did I mention daddy is on a long trip??

Around Vienna and Slovakia?

2011-10-05T11:12:00.002+02:00

My new friend and colleague, Christina, took my around town one day. I should have taken a ton more pictures as she showed me some pretty cool things, but I get wrapped up in my surroundings and conversation that the pictures are forgotten.

Here we are being silly on the u-bahn (Vienna's metro)

Showing off her coffee at a great place downown!

A cute little Spanish restaurant that she pointed out to me!

We stopped at a downtown grocery store, a chain we know well, not realizing that this particular store took things to a whole new level! Christina went in to get a banana and we were drawn in by the hot food and salad bars. So, we decided to eat an early lunch!

Look at that chandelier in a grocery store!!!

She had some kind of yummy looking vegetable salad and I had a Thai Shrimp with rice. It was SO good for eating in a grocery store!

The next day Christina, Julie and I hopped in a car and headed to Bratislava, Slovakia. Sounds like we took quite a trip, huh?! No, only an hour drive! We hit a couple of our favorite stores that we (me & Julie) knew from living in Prague (Marks & Spencer and Tesco) and HAD to eat at Pizza Hut!!

We had a fun time shopping and being silly girls.....shopping!!!

This Bratislava trip might have to become a monthly or bimonthly thing!!

Our Vienna Home part 2

2011-10-02T14:27:00.000+02:00

I realized I didn't include a picture of the cellar/dungeon that we discovered last week. The entrance to it anyway.

The garden shed where the entrance is located.

So, I finally took some pictures of the inside of our little place. Come on in and take a look!

The entryway. This is a view from the kitchen. The front door is to the right in this picture.

It's a small space, so I tried to utilize the space as best as we could. The door just peaking to the left is of the toilet room. Older homes separated the toilet and bath. The bathroom is right next to the toilet room.

The toilet room with a beachy theme with things that remind us of our trips to the Spanish coast!

The bathroom. I haven't done any decorating in here and no shower curtain at the time, although the kids don't really need it right now. We'll need to do something for guests eventually.

This is coming out of the entry/bath area and into the kitchen. An extra coat rail for company. And a place to hang decor!

And stepping into the kitchen...

The downside is my washer and dryer have to be in the kitchen. One of the draw backs, but I'm learning to live with it.
It's so nice to have a kitchen with a view!!

I love the lighting under the cabinets!

These corner cabinets are nice.

From the kitchen we step into the living/dining area.

This is a dresser turned into our phone/internet box table with added storage!

The dining area.

An idea from pinterest.
(if you don't know what pinterest is, just think of it as a virtual pin board to store ideas and see knew ones)
Decorate your wall thermostat with a frame!

The living area. Complete with a 1st grader doing her homework.
The opening in the back of the picture is a second outside door and the stairs to our loft bedroom. You can just see the frame of a door on the right. That takes you to the kid's bedrooms.

This view is standing in the doorway of Brennan's room.

This is standing in the doorway to outside and to the stairs.

From the door to the kitchen.
We're still working on the space. We need to buy additional bookshelves to add to the entertainment center and pictures need to be hung.

Here is the view to our yard from the living room.

A view of the hobby room (more on that in another post) and picnic table from the living room windows.

Here are some other random pictures I took around the outside of the house.
This is the patio area. The door you see is the one I mentioned where the stairs are located.
The small circled greenery is a rose bush and mint!

This is the front part of our yard with the garden shed in view. The windows you see are the toilet room and entryway.

The view of the house coming in from the front gate.
I think it looks like a quaint little cottage!

The apartment building across the street from our front yard. The whole front yard is walled in.

Our street from the outside. This is the outer side of our wall.

Our front gate at the street.

I'll share the bedrooms when we get them a little more organized and cleaned up!

Our Vienna Home

2011-09-24T23:28:00.003+02:00

I am still in the midst of finding a norm and getting into a daily or weekly routine. I'm still fluttering off here and there to pick up this and that for the house and seeking out "the finds" in the city like graham crackers and peanut butter! Slowly, but surely we are getting there! Now if I can just finish hanging that other curtain panel so the one isn't lonely up there! This is the story of my life right now. Well, probably has been for some time with all the moving we've done since, oh, the kids were born!!

I've been meaning to get pictures of our home up, but as you can see, from my statement above, we are still putting things together.

So let me give you a little background. We are living in our very first house as a married couple! All our 17 years and we have always done apartment living. Much of that has to do with living in seminary housing or being in Europe! In moving to Vienna, I was determined to do what I could to find us a yard. I didn't care if it was a 6 x 6 patch of dirt, I was hopeful in getting the kids some kind of outside space. As much for me as for them!!

I had seen this house pop up many times in my housing search online, but it said it was only 3 bedrooms. With Jerry officing at home, we needed 4. Then I learned from a colleague who was helping us in the housing search, that this house had, what is called, a hobby room in the yard. She had gone to see it when searching for another one of our team families.

Then I began to think that this might be a perfect fit for us. I began to study the pictures and became even more drawn to it. When I traveled to Vienna in April, it was on the top of my list.

I actually got teary eyed when I saw it. Now, it has it's drawbacks. Like the washing machine & the dryer we purchased are in the kitchen. The toilet room (yes, toilets are usually separate from the bathroom, except for newer places) and bathroom are teeny tiny. But I knew these were things we could live with.

Our first week in our new home I was having some doubts. "What have I gotten us into!!!" I think the whole move was a bit overwhelming. It was freezing cold in August when we arrived and I was missing Spain fiercely. Now that we are much more settled I feel like a queen in her mansion!! It's a quaint, small place, but wow, is it oozing with character!! Oozing, I tell ya!! Nothing like waking up to see the year 1948 carved in the beam overhead!! Or seeing different years scratched in the cement of when the house or garden were added on to. Our biggest, most interesting find, after being here for 2 months, has been the 2 room cellar (or dungeon, as Jerry likes to call it) below our garden shed! It leaves much to the imagination as to what this little house has seen in it's many years of existence!

I'm sure, as time goes on we'll find more and more interesting things about our little home.
Here are a few pictures of the outside and a little peek into my kitchen!

A rose bush, blooming nicely this summer! This is located in the front of our house.

Mint!

Another rose bush on the side of the house.

The hobby room. It's the size of a small bedroom and will possible house Jerry's office (right now his office space is in part of our loft bedroom).

The kid's rope swing. This rope was left dangling in the trees. Karis & Brennan love swinging on it. It is not Reegan's thing!

Grape vine coming over from the neighbor's yard.

The is the homestead looking part of the house. The door on the far left leads to Brennan's room. The window directly in front is an entryway into the stairs and the living room.

Hanging the whites out to dry in the warm sun!

This is our garden shed. The whole area on the side there is where the cellar/dungeon is located.

The rope again. The window you see are the girl's room.

And a little peek at my kitchen. I love the work space!

Hope you've enjoyed this little tour! Stay tuned for more!

First Day of School

2011-09-04T08:55:00.000+02:00

We've been excited to start at our new school!! August 23 was our first day. They loved it so much and we're sad when the day ended!

Getting a little skateboarding in before school.

Look at my big kids!

We ride a bus or tram (whichever comes first) for about 6 stops.

Then hop on the u-bahn (metro) for 2 stops.

And walk with the throng of kids and parents to the school.

Our school!! The bottom left corner square is Karis' classroom.

Downstairs is elementary, upstairs is high school.

Walking with friend's/colleagues kids!

Karis has a locker!

Both the kids have great teachers!! It's funny, they attend an American Christian school, but neither of their teachers are American. Brennan & Reegan's teacher is from England and Karis' teacher is from New Zealand! I love the diversity it brings! And we've already had some funny conversations about the different things we say.
I'll be sharing lots about the school in the future, I'm sure! Because it looks like I will be there, a lot! I'll share more about that soon!!

Spiderman, Spiderman, Does Whatever a Spider Can...

2011-09-02T09:25:00.000+02:00

After our snack of Churros, Chocolate and Coke, we headed to Plaza Mayor. The main square of Madrid. Our first stop? To visit El Spiderman Gordo de Plaza Mayor (The Fat Spiderman of Plaza Mayor. Ha!). Madrid's own Spiderman! I mentioned the street performers in Madrid awhile back and how Spiderman was one of my favs! He STILL is!
Our friend Taryn gave us the idea of Brennan wearing his Spiderman suit to visit El Spiderman Gordo. He is a great, personable guy and speaks English well! We got some great pictures! Take a look at these!!

Getting the girls in on the action!

Bye Spiderman! We had SO much fun!

The girls could not be left out. They had to visit Minnie.

She wasn't quite as entertaining, but oh well.

It was a great final visit to the city center!

Churros & Chocolate

2011-09-01T22:13:00.000+02:00

A couple of weeks before leaving Spain we took one last trip down to the center of Madrid. I wanted to pick up a tiled name plate like we got Jerry's parents for Christmas. And we just wanted to see downtown one last time. We had to include a stop at one of the famous Churro cafes. We chose Valor. I love Churros! My favorite way is to sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, but the traditional way is with a pot of chocolate. thicker than hot chocolate, but thinner than chocolate syrup. Still yummy!

Sure! Why NOT a sugar packet!

First time to order Coke.

Karis took these pictures of us. She did a pretty good job!

Our little photographer did great on this one!

I loved seeing this draped through the street to help keep it cool!

Trying on some Spanish gear!

Next up, Plaza Mayor! Stay tuned!!

Infantil Graduation

2011-08-31T22:23:00.000+02:00

I need to play a bit of catch up of some of our last days and months in Spain. Gotta show the grandparents all the important dates!

I spoke about my trip to the US and wouldn't you know that the time I was gone was the last week of school. I obviously didn't check that very well before making my plans. So, I missed a little production/graduation that Karis' class put on. Jerry took lots of pictures for me though.

Before leaving for my trip, Karis' teacher explained how I needed to attach strips of crape paper to a shirt.

I wanted to have that done so Jerry didn't have to worry about it. Some things got lost in translation, and I learned upon my return that I didn't do it right. Oops! But Karis' teacher was so wonderful and took the shirt home herself to have it ready for the play! Wow, was she a big help!

Jerry wasn't sure what this little play was about, but evidently Karis played a bird!

After that, graduation began!

A kiss from her teacher! Awww!!

The graduating class!

Silly girl with diploma in hand!

Her teacher, Marta. We loved her!!

Family!

and friends!!

This year and the people we met will hold a special place in our hearts!!

Arrived!

2011-08-14T15:08:00.000+02:00

I hate that I've been so out of pocket, but such is the life of moving! And to a new country!!
We are still waiting for internet. It will be another week.

July 30th we landed in our new home of Vienna, Austria. We were welcomed by an entourage of IMB colleagues and what a greeting it was! One of our team members whisked our kids away to their house while we rushed to our place to meet up with the moving truck that arrived just before us. The original plan was that they would arrive Monday, but while packing our things up in Spain they told us it would be Saturday.

It was kind of a strange and funny experience with the movers. The guys in Spain who came to pack us up were Spanish speaking. However, the guys driving our things where Czech!! It was SO crazy! We discovered after arriving in Vienna that they were contracted out by our moving company. It was just so funny that they were Czech. Our language ability in Czech was just about shot after a year in Spain! Ha! We were so confused talking to them. Our strongest second language is still Russian and one of them spoke Russian, so that is how we mostly communicated with them. It was quite comical at times!

Everything seems to have made it in one piece. One cabinet seems to have cracked, but it didn't come apart all together and I do need to replace my breadmaker, but it could be it's just old. A band inside seems to have worn out.

We hit the ground running with unpacking all the boxes so the movers could take all the paper and cardboard. They helped put all the furniture back together and unwrap everything. Then the next few days after that were spent unpacking here and there and shopping for new living room/dining room furniture, setting up a bank account, getting a cell phone and all those important things that need to be done when moving.

We had a bit of culture shock in the beginning. Readjusting to Central Europe, but we are doing well! Let's just say that IKEA here is not quite like the IKEA in Spain! Ha!

We spent a few days with some teammates that were in town (they won't be moving here until December), as well as welcoming our third media team family to Vienna. We had such a great time getting reacquainted and watching our kids play so well together! It was a fun time!

We also visited the kids new school, International Christian School of Vienna! Karis will be entering first grade and Brennan and Reegan will be starting primary (they don't call it kindergarden here as that means preschool in Austria). They all seem pretty excited to get started! We have just over a week!

I was also asked to consider getting involved with the Parent Teacher Fellowship at the school, which I am really excited about. When we toured the school a few months ago I began thinking about how I could get involved. I'll have to write more about this later as it's quite interesting how this has come about, but I am really excited!

We are loving our little house!! Here is a sneak peak.

It looks (and smells) a bit like an old homestead, but we like it! Especially since the kitchen is new and I'm the first to use it!! And we have a yard! The kids are so excited about it! Jerry and I have never had a yard that we had to take care of! This is so new to us!! Ha! But we are looking forward to learning and maybe doing a bit of planting! It needs a bit of work, but it's ok as is. Just a bit overgrown with more dirt and weeds than plants and grass, but the kids are enjoying it anyway. We have a lot of trees, including an apple tree and a cherry tree that hangs over into our yard!!

That brings me to the weather! It has been rainy and cold!! I've actually wanted to turn on some heat!! Some days it's been about 25 degrees cooler than Madrid! I'm not missing that hot heat, but I do miss the summer activities of swimming at our complex's pool and visiting with the neighbors! They do have some neat happenings at the Danube River that goes through Vienna! Swimming, paddle boating, sailing! The cooler weather doesn't seem to be stopping the Austrians!!

So, there is a little update from us! I'll get back in a routine of blogging at some point. Although I have no idea when! Thanks for sticking with us!

The Big Move Week

2011-07-25T13:55:00.000+02:00

I have been quite MIA lately. We have been busy busy with purging, selling, purging some more and packing. The movers come tomorrow to pack the last of it up. We are so ready to be done with this part of it! The traveling doesn't bother me one bit! And the unpacking isn't so bad! But the packing, bleck! Ha!

We will move into a colleague's apartment (they're in the US) on Tuesday. We'll met up with a few people those days and maybe be lazy by the pool a bit. Early Saturday morning we'll head to Vienna with 5 carry-ons, 4-5 suitcases (not sure yet) and one cat! Hopefully our stuff will be delivered to us on Monday morning.

I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to update again, but I'll try to write a brief note soon after we arrive.

We appreciate your prayers for us!

Leaving the USA

2011-07-11T21:28:00.001+02:00

I had one more full day in Texas before heading back to Madrid. My dad was staying with my brother, so my mom and I took the day to do a bit of downtown Granbury shopping. It is a B&B capital complete with a beautiful city square dotted with all kinds of cute shops.

We headed to the Merry Heart Tea room for some chicken salad sandwiches and then walked the square a bit.

Even though I wasn't there for 4th of July it was a treat to see all the red, white & blue!

That evening we met up with my brother, Kerry and niece, Michelle. I was again, not thinking and didn't pull out the camera.

Tuesday morning we headed to the airport. I was to catch a flight from Philadelphia and then on to Madrid. I soon found out my plane was arriving late putting me late into Philly. The desk agent assured me I had plenty of time..........ha!! She didn't seem to take in to consideration all the extra taxi-ing the planes might do in both Dallas and Philly.

I did get this great cloud shot enroute.

While coming off the plane I learned another guy was also going to Madrid. He took off running. I tried, but I am no runner and I seem to suffer from exercise induced asthma, so there was no way I could keep up. He was a very tall, very athletic young African American man, so of course he made the plane!! I did not!! He was probably thinking how pathetic that the short stumpy almost 40 year old woman didn't make it!! Ha!

I arrived 10 minutes before the plane was to leave and it was too late!! Me and 6 other people! I remember a day when they held the plane for late arrivals! Not anymore!

It was SO frustrating to be sitting there seeing the plane, seeing the pilots and not being able to board the plane! I don't know about you, but I hate the public cry! Not other people doing it. I just hate to do it myself and avoid it as much as possible!! But, it was not to be held this time. I did the public cry! Oh my! My face and nose get beet red and it is hideous!! I don't know why really. I guess I assumed that I would have to wait 24 hours before heading to Europe. I felt so bad for the guy helping me with a new ticket. Poor guy, he really was trying to help me feel better and joking with me some. He did feel sorry that I missed the plane. Luckily, there was a plane heading for Lisbon, Portugal in just a couple of hours.

I then needed to try and find a phone to call Jerry. The ladies at the airport information desk were very helpful and when their desk phone wouldn't allow a call to a TX number (it was our Vonage-VOIP number in Madrid), one of them let me use her cell. How sweet is that?! Jerry didn't pick up since it was the middle of the night. It had been hot in Madrid so I thought he might be sleeping in the living room. But it just so happened that the airport had free internet!! I have not been to an airport yet with free wifi!! So I was able to send Jerry a message that I had missed my flight.

I boarded the plane to Lisbon and it was fairly uneventful. The seven of us that missed the flight to Madrid were almost certain we were going to miss our Madrid flight in Lisbon as well. We got held up in passport control and then in security. I about lost it in their security section where they had to recheck my bag. They had a very inefficient process and the guy checking was taking forever with another lady. I don't usually do things like this, but all the sudden I looked up and very loudly said "Can someone please help me, I am going to miss my flight????!!!!!" About 5 seconds later he got moving on my bag only to discover that it was nothing and I got an "I'm sorry for the delay." Another grr!!

Luckily though the plane we were to be on arrived late and the 7 of us all got a seat and were on our way (albeit a tad late) to Madrid and I even got a row of 3 seats all to myself!

I was happy to see the Spanish countryside! Almost home!

I was worried about my baggage. Lucky baggage, it made my Madrid plane in Philly when I didn't!! It was just a bit inconvenient that we had to drive to another terminal in Madrid to pick it up. But I was SO glad it was there waiting for me and we didn't have to track it down all over Timbuktu!

So there ya have it. My bit-o-drama on the way home.

Much happened while I was away. The kids had all kinds of fun things at school. I'll be sure to catch you up soon!

My Trip to the US of A!

2011-07-11T00:13:00.001+02:00

After our great trip to the beach I had 6 days until I was off on my 9 day trip to the US. I was on my way to a board meeting for the online Christian infertility ministry, Hannah's Prayer, which is also a non-profit organization. As a non-profit organization, we had lots to do!!

First stop though was Texas. I had arranged it to fly in and out (of Madrid) by way of Texas and purchasing separate tickets to go to CA. That way I could spend some time with my family and do some shopping. I had less than 48 hours in TX before heading to CA and I packed that time up!! My first stop after getting into the airport was for Mexican food at Abuelos where I met up with some good friends, the Vanns. Where I forgot to take a picture!! I was having too good a time chatting it up, although I did pull out the ITouch to SHOW pictures. Somehow TAKING a picture slipped my mind! Ha! It was fun, guys!!

I fell asleep in the car on the way to my parents house in Granbury. Then of course I woke up bright and early with jet lag setting in. It didn't stop my from getting going for a full day of shopping in Fort Worth!! Kohl's, Old Navy, Bath & Body Works, and Target with lunch at Chick-fil-a!! Woohoo!!

Couldn't resist a silly pic in front of Target! Ha! Couldn't see very well either, it was SO bright!

That evening I met up with my niece, Corrie. We hadn't seen each other in about 8 years! With both of our comings and goings from the US we just kept missing each other. We had a fun time!

The next morning my parents and I were up bright and early to meet my in-laws at Cracker Barrel before catching my flight to California where I had to continue fighting jet-lag with the additional 2 hour time change. That's ok though, it wasn't too bad. Simply Sleep was my friend during this trip!

I meet up with my other 5 board members. We originally were going to host a retreat as well as the board meeting, but we had to cancel. Most of us had already bought plane tickets before we cancelled, so we were all there for an extra amount of time. We had lots of business to discuss and it gave us ample time to get it all done!! We were sad to have to cancel the retreat, but God gave us the time we needed to get down to business!

We set up shop in a corner of the hotel and went to work!

With the extra time, we were able to get a bit of playing in too!

And evening out to dinner by the beach!

Karon, Rachel, and me

Sarah, Traci & Kris

I asked the girls, before coming, if there was a Trader Joe's nearby. Texas doesn't have them yet and I'd heard so much about all their great products. Not only that, but I had tried some of their freeze dried bananas a few years ago when some volunteers left a part of a package behind in Prague. I fell in love! The girls thought it was so funny that I wanted to make a trip to TJ!

I'd also heard about their chai mix! Yum!

These granola bar packages cracked me up!

I also got some good eating in!! I had 2 firsts in one day! A trip to TJ's and my first In-N-Out burger!! Don't forget "Animal Style!"

I love these Christian establishments!! Different versus from the Bible printed on every cup!

Being silly at the mall!! This is just one of the many! I thought I'd refrain from showing all of them! Lots of trying on of hats and jewelry! Fun time with girls!!

A trip to Disney......

.....Downtown that is. Have you SEEN the prices of Disney?! Something like $84 per adult and 70-something per kid! Yikes! I am but a poor missionary. I can't see us taking our kids anytime soon! Wow!

Disney Downtown was fun with all it's shops and eating places.

The Lego Store!!

Not quite in, but a picture at the gate!! So close, yet so far away!

Office supply shopping with a little break in the office chair section!

On our last day we had a chance to get some fish tacos in at Wahoos!

Shrimp for me! Oh my, yummy!!

Stay tuned for my last few hours in Texas. I had quite a doozy of a time getting home to Madrid!!

Beach combin'

2011-06-30T23:31:00.000+02:00

I am back from my 9 day trip to TX and CA. And now I am finally writing about our beach vacation!

Last year when we came to this area we fell in love with the beach. And the lady, Maria, who rented us these beach chairs for the day.

Her kindness (and prices) left an impression on us. Not only did we get a beach chair (we rented 2) for the whole day, we got sand toys and could even get a beach towel if needed. She was so sweet to the kids and her face sure brightened when the kids started speaking to her in Spanish!!

June is the best time to come to the beach in Spain. That is if you don't like people on top of you, which we don't! School doesn't get out until late June so on the weekdays the beaches are only spotted with people instead of covered on the weekends. We learned that by going to the beach on a Sunday! Crazy!! So many people!!

Compare this picture to the last beach pic! Weekday vs. weekend!

The water was still a bit cold, but it sure didn't deter Karis!! Brennan & Reegan were a bit more hesitant and seemed happy to sit and enjoy the sun or play in the sand.

Our most favorite thing to do, though was beach combing!! What a perfect area to do so! Our first day there as I was enjoying the edge of the water, I looked down to see something green and noticed it was glass. I thought to myself "how dangerous!" Upon closer inspection I noticed that it had been tumbled in the sea and was now smooth with not a hint of a sharp edge. It was beautiful! Isn't it amazing how a piece of junk can become something of beauty?! And a great illustration. A perfect example of what Christ can do in our own lives when He takes the junk we have and turns it into beauty for His glory!

It also seemed to be a landing spot for various types of shells. This is only a hint of what we found.

We found enough to take one shell back for each kid in Karis, Brennan & Reegan's classes!

It wasn't a fine powdery sandy beach, partly due to the broken shells. It was a bit hard on the feet to do much walking. We were thankful for those aqua socks we bought last summer in Altea. None the less, we still enjoyed it!

Just behind the line of beach chairs was a cute little restaurant called La Cubana. It was perfect to leave our towels and toys by our chairs while we grabbed a bite to eat at this open restaurant. We ate there just about every day we were at the beach! Good prices, decent food (we loved the french fries or patatas fritas) and great location! We loved it!

We didn't spend every day at the beach, but almost. One day we headed to a nearby mall. Mainly to get an internet connection, do a bit of grocery shopping and grab a bite to eat. Then we headed to our rental home to play in the pool.

Another day we headed into the center beach area of Benalmadena and check out the beachy, touristy shops. We ate at a little British fish and chips place and walked along the board walk area taking in the sights and sounds. We enjoyed the excursion, but it made us like the area we were staying in even better!

A popular menu item in this area...sardines on a stick!! And only 4€!

One glorious week on the Costa del Sol!

We got in some game playin'....

...as well as Karis & Brennan learning to blow bubbles!

We loved it!! Hope you enjoyed it along with us!

What a Vacation

2011-06-16T23:49:00.001+02:00

Where to start! We had such a great time!

We decided to take a return trip (from last summer) to the area of Benalmadena, Spain, which is located in southeast Spain on the Costa del Sol (Coast of Sun) in the region of Andalucia. Lots of hills and sea! It is such a gorgeous area! We liked the apartment rental we stayed in last summer, but what I did not like, at all, was that you had to clean the place yourself when you left and if it wasn't up to par you got charged a hefty fee. We cleaned it of course!

We considered staying there again, but I just did not want to clean at the end of my vacation!! We knew we loved the area and the particular beach there, so I hit google with a specific search. And I found a place! I figured I would. It is a very popular area for the British with many relocating or retiring there. The place we found ended up being close to perfect. We actually rented from a British family. The downside, we didn't have a clear view of the sea. Too many cactus and palm trees in the way! Ha! It was beautiful! I'm really not complaining one bit, I just missed having a view just a tiny bit. But, I didn't have to clean at the end of our stay!! And the beach was just about a minutes drive away. It was in walking distance, but we are talking some steep hills!

Welcome to Casa Don Juan

This cactus tree was outside our kitchen/living room window. It was huge!! I could just catch a glimpse of the sea behind it.

The view of the pool from the terrace. That's my little family you see playing at the pool. Not a shabby view, is it?

They love to dog pile daddy at the end of the day!

I introduced Karis to Instagr.am. It's a fun little app you can add to your ITouch/Phone (which I've used on all of the photos you see here). It has many different filters you can apply to photos. It's a lot of fun!

Karis wanted to take a bunch of pictures!

Silly girl! But I love the last one! So cute!

I'll be back to share more about the beach next time!

The Party of 5

2011-06-14T23:24:00.000+02:00

It's been over a week ago since our two, 5 year old's party, but thought I'd get these pictures up knowing the grandparents will want to see them.

I have a lot of fun decorating cakes. I do find myself getting lazy though. You can tell by the base on the dalmatian cake. It could have been smoother. The good thing is, my kids could care less about those little imperfections.

Blowing out the candles.

They each had the happy birthday song sung to them individually.

We had fun with our colleagues and friends!

I'll be getting back soon to tell a little about our beach vacation. Not much to share seeing as we spent most of our time at the beach! Oh how I miss that place already!

Today They Are 5!

2011-06-06T16:15:00.002+02:00

This morning as my twinks are turning 5, I began to think about the morning of June 6, 2006. I had been up in the wee hours of the morning due to insomnia. I was 37 weeks, 6 days. Somehow I managed to climb back in bed and get a bit more sleep. When I woke up at about 8, I realized I was bleeding. It wasn't heavy, but it was scary none the less!

Jerry was getting our not even 14 month old daughter out of bed and I came in crying and explained my fears. I giggle a little thinking about his response. My level headed hubby! He looked at me and with the most calm voice said "Well, go call the doctor."

My doctor, also being a very level headed lady, answered her phone and instructed me (very calmly, I might add) to get myself to the hospital as quickly as we could.

We had to arrange for someone to take Karis, but we have some great colleagues who stepped in and in no time were at our door to pick her up. While we were waiting I decided to get a shower and put makeup on. I couldn't go out of the house without it!! My hubby laughs about that to this day!

We had a taxi come pick us up (we didn't have a car). The Lord gave me such peace at this time. Even allowing me to feel my babies moving around inside me.

We got to the hospital where my doctor was waiting, somewhat chomping at the bit when I think about it now. Her and another doctor cleared the sonogram room and got me right in. I'm not sure why now, but they didn't let Jerry in with me. They saw the babies were doing ok, but needed to get them out fast. We discussed how they would take them and the three of us (me and the 2 doctors) decided
that putting me completely under for a c-section (which I was scheduled to have just a week later) was the safest quickest way.

I wish I could have been present in mind when my twins were born, but it was not to be.

The room was a buzz around me as they prepped me for surgery. So many people coming and going and in a very quick manner. The great thing is, all I felt was peace. Jerry got to stand in the doorway. He describes it as being like a cartoon. It's interesting when you think about the fact that Jerry got to experience the whole birth and didn't.

My situation was very dangerous. I had placenta previa, which means the placenta was lying low to my cervix. In my case it began to detach from the uterine wall. The blessing is we acted fast. From the time I woke up to the time they delivered was just over 2 hours!

I did not know the extent of our situation until later. My doctor told me afterward that she saw no need to scare us, but she knew that only God could do a miracle like that. It's neat how it opened the doors for us to share the Lord with her.

Reegan

Brennan

In the background of this whole story.....my parents were on a plane scheduled to land that day, June 6. Since I was out for a good portion of the day and Jerry unable to see Brennan & Reegan much, he decided to go pick my parents up from the airport. They got to come to the hospital for a quick visit. I got to wave at them from ICU and they had a chance to peek at Brennan & Reegan and take over the duties as Karis' caretakers for the week while we were in the hospital. Crazy times!!

A day that will ever be etched in my mind!! Our beginning as a family of 5!

Jerry came across this while sorting through his office for our move.

Their party last week at school.

Happy Birthday Brennan & Reegan!! We love you!!

Field Day

2011-06-03T21:08:00.000+02:00

We showed up late to the field day activities, not knowing we could be there. So we didn't get to see our kids race. Oh well! We got to see the medal ceremony though.

My big girl won out of all the 5/6 year old girls!! She told us later that she didn't even run as fast as she could! Ha! What confidence!

I think we have a runner in the family!

Birthday Time Again

2011-06-02T11:49:00.000+02:00

In Spain, the month of September and the month of June the kids only go half days, until 1:30. Brennan & Reegan's birthday is next week and normally birthday parties are done in the afternoon. So, their teacher asked if we could do it this past Tuesday, May 31st with one of the other kids in the class. We had a triple birthday party!

Email subscribers can see it here.

It was a lot of fun. The other family brought the cake. We brought little toys and candy for the kids. We showed baby pictures and the other family read a story (I think! Ha! All in Spanish, remember?).

I am sure going to miss the school and teachers. What a blessing they have been to us this year!

Looky, Things Are New Around Here

2011-06-01T18:41:00.000+02:00

I've been toying with the idea of changing the name of my blog for some time. I called on my Held peeps for some ideas and they helped me out.

I waited a long time for the title of "mom," but at the same time there are SO many other things in my life that define me. So I went looking for a title that was a bit more versatile. My friend Karon (Hi Karon, she's not a blogger....yet! Ha!) came up with "Girl Meets Globe".

I fell in love with it. I had to think on it for awhile. I am a "girl" going on 4-0, ya know! People tell me all the time I look young for my age, so I went with it!

Hope you like it! I am still changing things up a bit, but I'm liking the look so far.

It shouldn't affect my email subscribers. Just know that Life of a MissyMom is now Girl Meets Globe!

Fraud

2011-05-31T23:32:00.001+02:00

I was doing some picking up and sorting this morning when I had this nudging that I needed to check our bank account. I had just checked it at the end of last week and we hadn't made that many transactions over the weekend, but I couldn't ignore the urge I had.

This is one of those times that I truly believe it was the Lord giving me that little nudge. Wouldn't you know, there were 13 fraudulent transaction from Illinois that had popped up today!

I immediately called and reported the charges and got the visa debit card cancelled. I forget sometimes that Jerry and I have 2 different cards. When it was cancelled, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get cash out. It's not like we could head to our bank or a store with the check book and get cash.

I then had to call our credit union to work out the details of a new card. The lady I talked to was so nice and was so apologetic that this had happened to us. I asked how this could have happened. She went on to explain that some ATMs had been hit in Spain. I have no idea how it works, but somehow they are able to get your information and create a new card. She said it can take up to a year from the time they steal the info to the time they use the fraudulent card. Interestingly enough, right after we moved to Spain, in July our cards got cancelled because they discovered this. Sounds as if it was still happening once we got our new cards.

She then verified that it was only my card, so we are able to continue using Jerry's. Phew! She suggested we watch our account closely to see if fraudulent charges begin popping up on his card.

Even in this unfortunate event and feeling violated, the Lord sure has worked out some of the details. I leave for the US in 3 weeks. It is perfect timing so that I don't have to worry about having the new card mailed internationally. It's a blessing that it isn't Jerry's card as well and if it had been Jerry's card instead of mine, we would have to have it mailed internationally. Not a huge deal, but I'd much rather that card stay in the mail system in the US and I can pick it up as soon as I get to Texas.

The other blessing. We completed an expense report just last week and the reimbursement came through TODAY! Thankfully we have funds to draw from instead of sitting with an empty account until the charges are reimbursed to us. We were stressing with a vacation planned for next week, but God is working out the details!

Thank you, Lord!

Paella

2011-05-30T15:25:00.002+02:00

Paella is a traditional Spanish rice dish. There are SO many variations out there for paella (pronounced pi-ay-ya). The great thing I learned.....it's a very versatile dish. I actually had to do a bit of improvising and you know what? It still turned out great! You can change up the meat & vegetables easily. Change out the meats to your liking, add all seafood, or make a vegetarian version adding white beans and carrots to the recipe.

I used my friend and colleague, Mara's recipe as a starting point. I thought when I had checked the recipe a few days ago that I had most of the ingredients on hand. Oops! I had the basic ingredients, the spices, the rice & chicken, so I started from there.

The most traditional way to cook this is with a paella pan. I have a medium sized paella pan that I recently bought and cooked it on 2 burners. This could easily be cooked in a large frying pan as well or possibly even a wok.
This was the first time I had used my pan, so I did a little seasoning by boiling some water in it first.

What Tina Came Up With Paella

1 lb chicken breasts, cut up
2 cups of frozen or fresh shrimp (just make sure it's good quality!)
1 cup of chopped fresh green beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 small can of green peas
1 or 2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 green or red pepper (or a bit of both), sliced longways
2 cups of rice (1/2 per person)
4 cups of water (possibly more for when it cooks down)
olive oil
saffron (or a paella spice mix)
salt to taste
Lemon wedges (optional)

Cook the chicken on medium heat in olive oil.

When it is no longer pink, add the shrimp & vegetables.

Add the water and let it cook for about 30 minutes. Then add the rice, saffron and salt (or paella mix).

You may need to add more water before rice is added. You don't want it to get dry. Cook for about 20 minutes, until rice is done. Let it "rest" for a few minutes before serving. To make it pretty, the vegetables and meats can be arranged in a design in the pan like the picture on Mara's blog. I didn't bother with that step since it was just Jerry & I eating it.

Squeeze some lemon over the rice if you like (I prefer not to).

This made about 4-6 servings.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions and let me know if you try it!! Enjoy!

Apple Scone Cake

2011-05-27T12:13:00.000+02:00

I'm linking up with Kelly again and we are sharing desserts. Welcome to any who are here for the first time.

I LOVE to bake, but I haven't been doing as much of it lately. Our lives are a bit crazy right now.

I had to share a favorite. Some may think this is more of a Fall dessert, but I really like it any time of the year.

Apple Scone Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour (280 grams)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces (113 grams, 1 stick)
2 large eggs, divided
1/2 cup milk, divided (120 ml)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 lb apples (pick your favorite), peeled, cored, and cut into 1 inch
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (30 grams)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter or spray a 9 inch (23 cm) glass pie plate.

In a small bowl whisk together one egg and 1 tablespoon from the 1/2 cup milk. Set this aside as it will be used as a glaze for the top of the cake.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a separate small bowl whisk together the remaining one egg, remaining milk, and vanilla extract and add to the flour mixture, stirring just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then divide the dough in half (it may be a bit sticky). Roll or pat one half of the dough into a 9 inch (23 cm) circle and transfer to the pie plate and pat onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.

In a separate bowl toss together the cut apples, sugar and cinnamon. Spread the apples evenly over the bottom of the dough in the pie plate.

Roll the remaining dough into a 9 inch (23 cm) circle, on a lightly floured surface, and gently place the dough over the apples. With your fingers seal the edges of the top and bottom crusts. Brush the top of the dough with the egg and milk glaze, and sprinkle with white sugar. Cut a slit in the center of the dough to allow the steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 - 45 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

If you'd like to see a picture (unfortunately I have not blogged about this one), you can check out Joy of Baking. She's got a beautiful picture there!

Let me know if you decide to try it!

What Does Spain Need?

2011-05-26T14:23:00.000+02:00

My hubby is actually contributing to the blog!! He told me he wanted to write something about his experience this weekend and he gave me first dibs on putting it out on the world wide web. I feel so special. Ha!

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

These words changed the political landscape in an American presidential campaign when I was growing up. I couldn’t help but recall this when, on election day in Spain, I rode the escalators out of the metro onto the crowded square at Puerto del Sol in Madrid where thousands had camped out the past week to protest the economy. I strolled around the make-shift, tent town that had been built on this tourist location, complete with mess hall, sleeping quarters, lounging areas, sign-making station, and even a place for childcare.

Every inch was taken up by placards and signs promoting any and every cause that might be important to a nation facing 21 percent unemployment (45% among youth).

As I looked into the eyes of many, I could see anger, disillusionment and what I can only describe as apathetic rebellion. I don’t believe many truly understood why they were there. They just simply knew something was wrong, and they wanted to stand up against it.

Just a few days before, I experienced a totally different reality in another Spanish city, Seville. Granted, the economy is just as bad, maybe worse. I lost count of the number of “walled off” retail spaces that I saw. And, I was told, many youth stood in protest in the main square as well. But, I spent time with others who were discovering something that penetrated deeper than the effects of the economy. They were wrestling with truths that were beginning to shake their entire world view. They were encountering the Gospel, the good news of grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

My entrance into this world was quite different. I didn’t step into an open square where strangers were brought together by problems that they couldn’t solve. I walked into a two-bedroom apartment where young people were drawn in by changed lives, by truths they saw lived out at the university, at work, and at play.

A town wasn’t being built in that small space, but a community was, a community of believers in Jesus Christ letting their faith, peace and assurances in God protest against the problems brought on by a faltering world, not just a bad economy.

They shared this community with any and all who sought answers. Questions weren’t being averted. Truth wasn’t being defended. It didn’t have to be. Simply put, the Gospel was on display and allowed to stand on its own through the transformed and transparent lives of a few young people that have put their trust in God, not the economy.

So, as it turns out, it’s not the economy that changes lives. It’s the Gospel.

School, Housing, Sorting, Packing, Applying, Planning

2011-05-24T12:34:00.000+02:00

I can't say that I've had much to blog about lately. But, I'll let you see what is continuously cycling through my brain!

*Last week I spent several hours filling out and scanning school applications for the kid's new school in Vienna. As long as everything continues smoothly, they should be attending the International Christian School of Vienna. It is an English speaking school which is completely different than this year in Spanish. For many different reasons, I'll spare you the details, we chose this school. On my trip to Vienna I was able to visit the school, fell in loved with it and could envision my kids in the classrooms. What I most like is it is not an American bubble. Kids from all over the world attend and I love that!

*We are also in the midst of looking for housing. Our "release" date from Spain is July 30. We've been searching online and talking with a colleague in Vienna. We've been trying to figure out if and when to fly over there to look at places. "Do we go the beginning of June or wait until the beginning of July? Do we go ahead and move and find month long accommodations and look?" It is all mind boggling!

*We've decided to leave some larger pieces of furniture behind. We have a certain size truck that we can pack our things into and need to get busy selling and ridding ourselves of these things.

*American Embassy visit!! Brennan and Reegan turn 5 in 2 weeks and that means it's time for new passports! I'm sure glad I remembered before we have to get on a plane to move to Vienna!

*A week from today we are taking the kids out of school for a week and taking off for Benalmadena, Spain where we went last summer. I am so looking forward to it! Beach, surf, sun, and maybe a return trip to Gibraltar!!

*Six days after we get back from our vacation I will be stepping on a plane to America, by myself!! I am ready for a little dose of home!! I will spend 2 nights in TX with my family, then head to Orange County, CA for a BOD meeting with my Hannah's Prayer gals! Then 2 nights back in TX and then back to Spain. It is going to be a whirlwind trip and I am SO going to be jet-lagging!

*Then it's time to pack, pack, pack! Didn't we just do this a year ago? Why yes we did! Are we crazy or what?!

Have a great week!

Main Course Recipes

2011-05-20T14:20:00.001+02:00

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner and we're sharing main dish recipes. I kind of threw this post together, so I don't have photos. But, I've got three recipes to share!

First is a recipe I found at Our Best Bites for Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers with Pineapple Dipping Sauce. I even entered it into my bloggy friend, Jenn's recipe giveaway and won! You can take a look at her site to see a great step by step process with pictures!!
Here's the recipe:

12 chicken tenders
1-2 eggs (start with one and crack another if it runs out)
1/2 C flour
1 C sweetened coconut flakes
1 C panko bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder

preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Give coconut a rough chop so it's about the same size as the panko pieces.
Combine it with Panko and spices in a shallow dish. Mix well to distribute all of the spices.
Place the flour in another shallow dish, and the egg in another. Give the egg a quick beating.
Working with a few chicken tenders at a time, dredge in flour. Dip in egg, then finally coat in the coconut Panko mixture. Press in with your fingers to make sure the entire thing is well coated.
Place chicken tenders on a foil-lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. You can drizzle or spray olive oil on top for a crispier tender.
Bake in 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear. If tenders are on the small side, they could even be done in about 15 minutes. If they're big they can take more like 25. The coconut will be nice and golden and the panko crisp, but light in color still.

Pineapple Dipping Sauce

1 cup yogurt (I've used pineapple yogurt too)
1 can pineapple tidbits
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 cup coconut
2 Tbsp coconut milk

combine all, refrigerate until ready to use.

The great thing about this recipe is you can change it up a bit. I've bought pineapple yogurt and just used that. I've substituted sour cream when I didn't have yogurt. I've omitted the coconut milk and just added coconut. Play around with it until it's to your liking. The above recipe is my fav though.

Next is Mexican Chicken. I've seen so many variations of this, but the recipe below has family history. We have some great friends from our time in Alaska and any potluck, church function, you name it, Kay brought it! I love this recipe and think of our friends every time I make it!

1 whole chicken OR 4 chicken breast

10 pkg flavored Doritos (I've used anything from plain chips to spicy flavored chips. Choose what you like), crushed

1/2 or 1 whole onion or 1 Tbsp minced onions

1 cup chicken broth

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can rotell tomatoes

1 Tbsp chili powder

16 oz cheddar cheese

Start out by layering the bottom of a 9x13 pan with crushed chips, then onion, chicken and pour the broth over the top. In a bowl combine the cream soups (I've also used 2 cream of chicken soups) with the rotell (I've also mixed crushed tomatoes with green chilis when I haven't been able to find rotell overseas) and chili powder. Pour over other ingredients and top with cheese. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes

Toasted Ravioli's

This recipe was a new one to me that I tried for the first time last year at one of the cooking times I hosted for our Bridge Community outreach. My colleague and friend, Andrea was teaching us how to make HOMEMADE raviolis! I fell in love with this recipe, however, I don't make them homemade. It can easily be done by buying frozen raviolis. The homemade version is delish though!

2 tablespoons milk

1 egg

3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (this can easily be done by just adding some basil and oregano to some plain bread crumbs)

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 (25 ounce) package frozen raviolis (any flavor)

vegetable oil for frying (enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan, but you don't want too much)

grated Parmesan cheese

marinara sauce

Combine milk and egg in a small bowl. Place breadcrumbs and if desired, salt in a shallow bowl. Dip ravioli in milk mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs.

In a large heavy pan, pour oil about an inch deep. Heat oil over medium heat until a small amount of breading sizzles and turns brown. Fry ravioli, a few at a time, 1 minute on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately with hot marinara sauce.

I hope you've found some new recipes to try!

Weekend Visitor for San Isidro

2011-05-18T16:20:00.002+02:00

We wrapped up our weekend festivities by attending the local carnival in celebration of San Isidro. It's standard fare to have all kinds of food and rides, pretty much just like in the States.
We had a tag along for the weekend.

Introducing Moli!

He attended church with us.

Reegan, Moli & Me by the stage. Lots of singin' going on!

One of my favorite foods and one of the things I am determined to make before we move is Paella.

We let the kids chose one ride. I know, mean ole parents only letting them ride one thing, but whoa nellie is it expensive!! It's €3 ($4.25) a kid!! They all happened to choose the same thing, the Sponge Bob bounce house.

We splurged in the eating department though and got a cotton candy (that we all shared) and then got ice cream.

Since the rides were so expensive we let the kids play at the nearby park. Had to run off all that sugar and fat!

We were all fairly tired by days end. Especially Moli and Reegan!

You might notice Karis is missing from a lot of the pics. It is hard to get that girl to be still for a second! Ha!

Back to life as normal. Or as normal as it can be for the end of the school year, with a move in the nearby future, applying for a new school and looking for apartments with planning a vacation stuck in there!

Saint Isidro

2011-05-15T16:59:00.001+02:00

We got a note home that, once again, we needed to purchase costumes, called chulapos for the boys and chulapas for the girls for the Fiesta of San Isidro. I had no idea what that was! Since our, never to be forgotten shepherd costume incident, I've been a bit worried if I'm doing things correctly.
So, I went to Google! In my Googling, I came across Nieve's blog. I wish I had found her sooner. Nieve is a Madrileña (that is the name of people who are from Madrid) with a blog in English (she has blogs in Spanish too). And she wrote about San Isidro last year. I asked Nieve if I could post it here for you. Here is what she explained about this celebration.

Each Spanish city has its own saint patron, to honour which there holidays celebrated, ceremonial masses and festivals are organized. Spanish people still follow this tradition and saint patron days are widely celebrated not only in large cities but also in small villages.

According to the legend, Saint Isidro was born in 1087 in a Christian family that lived in the small Madgerit city, which is now Madrid. When the boy grew old, he started doing peasant work for his landowner Juan de Vargas. At the same time, he revealed an unusual ability to find sources of drinking water, which made him popular all around the neighbourhood and which combined with great devotion and kindness. St. Isidro lived a long life till 90. Little by little he became one of the most esteemed Madrid saints and in XVI century there was a chapel built on the place where St. Isidro revealed the spring. In 1610 he was officially canonized and was named the patron of Madrid.

This celebration starts Sunday before May 15th and lasts a whole week and you can participate in a lot of celebrations organized in many places in the city and you feel as part of one culture, following our (I was born in Madrid) ancestor’s traditions.

Many madrileños wear the traditional dresses “chulapa dress” (for the girls) and “chulapo suit” (for the boys). The word “chulapo” comes from the word “chulo” that in Spanish language is a derogatory term meaning someone is full of oneself….. and so, madrileños are often described as “chulos” by people from other parts of Spain. And although San Isidro and his wife, Santa Maria de la Cabeza were poor people famous for their generosity giving food to the poor, now this celebration is an excuse for big celebrations.

Thank you Nieve for this explanation!

On Friday the kids were to wear their outfits that afternoon. They would have a little party and then do some dancing.

Here are my little chulos!

Party!

Dancing! (don't they look excited? Ha!)

(excuse the fuzziness in the middle, we had to take pictures through some bars)

Here is a video that Jerry put together of all the pictures and some video (email subscribers can click here)

Stay tuned for our trip to the carnival to celebrate San Isidro!

Where's the Tooth Fairy?

2011-05-13T19:13:00.002+02:00

The kids took a school trip to a farm yesterday. I wish I could have strapped a video or camera to them to see what all they got to do. Trying to get the details out of them was like pulling teeth!

Speaking of teeth, Karis is losing them left and right. In just the past couple of weeks she has lost THREE! Both her top teeth and now a bottom tooth. We have had a couple of incidences where the, ahem, Tooth Fairy has shirked her duties. The first top tooth, the Tooth Fairy forgot to come! Oops! I convinced her that because she lost it so late in the evening, the Tooth Fairy didn't get it scheduled. Karis seemed to understand that. She came the next evening (while Karis was out to a late dinner with the family). The second top tooth the Tooth Fairy got it scheduled and made it that night. Whew!

This last one the Tooth Fairy ~~forgot~~ didn't come again. Luckily, it came out right before bed so the "not being able to get it scheduled" worked again. Saved!!

Of course, in between all this she is question who the Tooth Fairy is. A friend told her he saw his parents one night. So now she mentions that from time to time. Then she'll turn around and think through it and say "You can't be the Tooth Fairy!"

We've got lots more teeth to go between her, Brennan & Reegan!
I've got to, I mean the Tooth Fairy has got to start setting a timer from now on!! Ha!

The Royals

2011-05-11T10:49:00.000+02:00

Last Friday I had a coffee time with some ladies from church.
Half the ladies there were from the UK and of course our ~~gossip~~ talk turned to the royal wedding! We were discussing a popular British magazine called "Hello!" Last week's edition was all about the wedding. My hubby was in London part of last week for some meetings. So I had the idea to send him a quick message to pick up a copy for me!

And do you know what?!

I found out when he got home that he had already gotten it BEFORE I sent the message! Does he know me well or what?! He was a bit proud of himself! Ha!

I am savoring every page and reading every bit of info. I find the royals fascinating!

My very own "Hello!" magazine!

Pictures of the Queen's wedding in 1947!

The Spanish Royals! Queen Sofia, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia were in attendance!

Didn't know until this picture that they were expecting, a girl! Does she ever smile for pics? I don't think I've ever seen it, if so!

I've been a bit enamored with Autumn and Zara Phillips, for some reason.

The cake only gets a bottom corner of the page? It's more news worthy than that!!

And I'm only half way through!!

School Lunch in the Park

2011-05-10T15:51:00.000+02:00

If you haven't heard me mention it before, my kids come home for a 2 hour lunch break. On occasion they stay at school for lunch, but it gets pricey to have them stay every day. We are practically next door to the school, so it is easy to have them come home. Although it breaks up the day for me in getting things done, but it's just a season.
The kids had the idea yesterday to get our lunch and eat in the park, right by our house. The weather is so beautiful right now and not too hot! It's perfect! I wasn't mentally prepared for it, but I figured we could do it the next day, which was today.

It didn't take much time for me to have everything ready when they got out of school. I grabbed our handy dandy picnic blanket, which I love!

I put together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cucumber slices, Cheetos and some water and juice and we were set.

There was no one there, except a teen couple having a make out session just a few feet away. Luckily, the kids didn't seem to notice them.

I am sure they are going to being asking me every day now if we can go to the park for lunch! I must say, it was a great idea!

Online Friends

2011-05-07T10:10:00.000+02:00

Thursday I had a chance to meet up with an HP (Hannah's Prayer) friend!! I've had the opportunity to meet a few while in Europe, like my friend Sandi from Australia while she was vacationing in Europe. I've gotten to meet many more when I've been in the States and it is always so fun! And now Wendi! She is living in Turkey at the moment and was in Spain for a quick vacation before #3 comes along. I was so glad I wrote her when I did or I would have missed seeing her!!

I thought she might be craving something from the US, so I suggested Dunkin Donuts (Remember, it's Dunkin Coffee here?). I think she enjoyed it, just a bit!

It was so fun to talk about our love for ministering in the area of infertility, having kids so close in age as well as about life overseas! I don't think we stopped talking once! Ha!

It was way too short, but I had a blast! Thanks for taking a bit of your time to visit with me, Wendi!

Held: A Mom After Infertility

2011-05-06T12:48:00.001+02:00

I got myself ready for church, trying to be excited that for the first time I could celebrate this day as a mother. I had a difficult time feeling excited. I knew it was such a painful day for so many women who longed to be called "Mother" or "Mama" or "Mommy".

I knew today I would be seeing a friend of mine who was in the very depths of infertility. I ached for her. I knew it would be difficult for me to rejoice while my friend was hurting........

I am happy to be writing at Held today! Will you join me over there to read the rest?

Thank you!!

European Vacation Destinations

2011-05-06T08:28:00.001+02:00

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner today and we are talking about vacation destinations! This is a topic I L-OVE to talk about!

We have been so fortunate to take some really great vacations around Europe. Most of these happened before the kids came along.

It's fun to see all our vacation spots laid out on a map! Wow!

The first suggestion I have before visiting Europe is to pick up one of Rick Steves' book. His books are filled with practical as well as the regular tourist information. They are the best books for travel I've ever seen!

Here are some bullet point suggestions on a few of the locations.

London
*We really enjoy visiting the Texas Embassy Cantina. Great food, fun atmosphere and fun souvenirs.
*The Highbury Centre is a neat place to stay. It is run by Christians and they give discounts to missionaries and volunteers on mission trips. It's still a good price at full price as a tourist. It is basic, but has a neat atmosphere with souvenirs from missionaries all around the world and is easily accessible to downtown. You can get rooms with or without a bathroom.
* Experience a British pub. You can't visit without experiencing one. Now, it might sound strange for a missionary to suggest a pub (ha!), but it's not about the drinks. It's the atmosphere. We ate at a Seafood pub for lunch (that was so long ago though that I don't remember the name).
*The Big Bus Tours is a great way to see the city. You can hop on and hop off as you please within a 24 hour period. It's a great way to see the city if you have a short amount of time. So many of the tourist attractions can get SO expensive, this way you can at least see the outside.
*Portobello Market in Notting Hill. An awesome outdoor market! A must see!
*Harrods! This place is amazing! It's definitely a must see! Especially the food section. It is incredible and tucked away in the back is Krispy Kreme!!
*I could go on and on about London! I LOVE it!

Tower of London

Ireland
*The west coast of Ireland is where the Cliffs of Moher are located (otherwise known as the Cliffs of Insanity in the movie, Princess Bride). It is absolutely beautiful. Not an easy area to get around by public transportation, but doable. You can rent a car, but be prepared to drive on the other side. Big "yikes!" for us!

Cliffs of Moher

France
*Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower are a must.
*If your interested in museums and want to see Mona Lisa, you must go to The Louvre
*Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe
*Château de Versailles has beautiful grounds. We didn't go inside though.
*If we ever find ourselves in France again, I'd love to visit the house of Monet, in Giverny.

The back of Notre Dame (which I think is more beautiful than the front).

Arc de Triomphe

Italy

*Venice is such a sight!! A gondola ride is a must, but be prepared to pay BIG money! This was a dream of mine since I was a kid. I was discouraged to find out how much these costs ride, although some bartering is accepted. I almost walked away from a lifelong dream when my sweet hubby encouraged that we try. We set a price in our minds and went for it. The guy said no, but did suggest a ride for half as long for a certain price. We took it and was so glad we did!
*Florence (Firenze)....I don't have much to say about it except that if you love museums this is the place for you. I am not a big museum nut, so wasn't all that excited about it. I went for my hubby.
*Pisa is very interesting. Just know that the ONLY interesting thing to do there is see the leaning tower.
*Sorrento (south of Naples).....we LOVED this area and was by far a favorite! Cliffs meet Mediterranean for spectacular views! Gorgeous!
*Pompei, we only spent half a day there and it wasn't enough. I'd love to go back! Rick Steve's book gave us quite a tour with his book alone. I was SO
*Rome, beautiful and full of history, but not a favorite for us.

Venice

We look like babies in the picture! Circa 2000

Pisa

Sorrento

Pompei

Slovenia
It wasn't really for a vacation, but we enjoyed it just the same. Bled, Slovenia is such a picturesque little town. Castle on a cliff overlooking an age old church on an island in the middle of the lake. All kinds of outdoor activities nearby. A favorite place that we hope to explore again one day!

Gibraltar
Loved this place! Nothing like monkeys on a mountain! Ha!

Spain
The thing I love the most is the coast! Be prepared to speak some Spanish!

Eat lots of Churros!

I didn't mention Austria and Germany and they do have some lovely places! Vienna and Salzburg sure have their charm in Austria while Germany has such diversity with their castles and the history of places like Berlin, which we love!!

If you have any more questions about places we've visited, feel free to ask in the comments or send me an email! I love talking vacation spots!

Thanks for stopping by!

Infestation

2011-05-04T12:41:00.003+02:00

I hate to say it! I just hate the word itself!!!

L-I-C-E!

Just typing that makes me want to gag!!!

I knew it could come to this when we started school! We've had 3 notes home this school year about L-I-C-E (I told you I hate the word ). Karis has been itchy and we finally realized what it was last night! Ugh! It wasn't until after her bath, before going to bed. Luckily I had kept one of the notes that came home with them in the past and it was thorough about what to do (albeit in Spanish, but that's what Google Translate is for!!). My dh was able to find our local pharmacy still open and purchased the lotion/shampoo to rid the suckers!!

I am now educated on the disgusting little creatures (that I found still wiggling in the L-I-C-E comb when brushing through her hair). Gag, bleck!!

She was such a trooper though!!

As a kid, I use to think people that got L-I-C-E were the most filthy, disgusting people on the planet (ok, I was in jr high. I don't think that anymore, I promise!). Have you seen those things? They are NASTY!! Somehow I never got it (here's hoping and praying it's not been passed. So far the rest of us are good).

All the while Jerry has had the flu (he's a bit better now) and he was in the midst of packing for a trip. And me having all kinds of plans today, which part of them I had to change.

But hopefully all my combing and cleaning will pay off and prayerfully, we are infestation free!

Bleck!

Even if they are disgusting little creatures, I still love my girl! Poor thing!! My trooper!

On Moving

2011-05-03T09:45:00.001+02:00

I got to thinking about my kiddos' short lives and all they've experienced. Then I realized that my kids have not been in one place longer than 18 months!! Wow!

Well, except for Karis during the time before Brennan & Reegan came along.
This is what the past 5 years have looked like.

June 2006 to December 2007 - Prague, Czech Republic (during this time we lived in 2 different apartments)
December 2007 to April 2009 - Fort Worth, Texas
April 2009 to June 2010 - back in Prague
June 2010 to (roughly) July 2011 - Madrid, Spain
July 2011 to .......... - Vienna, Austria

We thought when we moved to Spain that it would be our forever (somewhat, anyway) home. Little did we realize that another move was in the foreseeable future. God has other plans.

What kind of affect is this going to have on our kids?

Good question. I have no idea!

I'm not sure how much they are going to remember, although they do talk about things that happened in Texas and that was a long time ago (in kid years anyway). Most likely, they will remember.

Hopefully they will remember it as an adventure. The times they traveled from Prague to Texas back to Prague to Spain to Vienna. Experiencing all kinds of things and meeting all kinds of people in between!

My prayer for our family in this time.....

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Amen and Amen!

The Taxi Ride

2011-05-02T10:08:00.001+02:00

I am finally getting around to telling about my taxi experience coming home from Vienna a few weeks ago.

So, I get into the Madrid airport and head toward the taxis. A guy catches me at the door saying "taxi" and I said "Si" and he starts leading me in another direction. I didn't think too much of it until we are almost to the car garage and I begin to panic. See, right out the door I was passing through is where the taxis are!

I then asked how much this is going to be. He tries to explain in broken English and some in Spanish. He showed me an official looking card that has what looks to be a taxi company. Then tells me it is a holiday weekend and a Sunday and it will be 40 euros. I was aware of no holiday in Spain this particular Sunday!

In my Spanish I tell him "No, I can't do that!" I grab my bag and head back to the taxi area. Then I got out my phone and called Jerry.

We knew from others to only use a certain company. I have no idea if this guy was legit. Maybe so, but then Jerry tells me "Probably not!" He looked nice and even wore a suit! SCARY!

I go down to the taxi area and they have quite a system lined up of getting people to taxis. I felt better. I then am sent to a guy, he puts my bag in the back of the car and in doing so I point out the address that is on my bag.

He isn't sure where it is and begins to punch it into his GPS WHILE driving. In doing so, he missed our exit and we start heading into Madrid. I live north of Madrid! I begin to get FURIOUS and he tells me we will be there in 10 minutes and in the mean time I see the counter ticking higher and higher!

Little did he know I live here and know Madrid enough to know what's going on. He then points out Alcobendas (our little burb) as we get closer.

As we approach our apartment I tell him I live here. I think he begins to get a little panicked because he has taken advantage of me!

In the end, it STILL cost me 40 euros when it should have only been less than 30!! He got my bag out so fast and sped away before I could even get on the sidewalk with my bag!

I would have liked to contact the taxi company with what happened, but well, that takes effort........and Spanish.......and supposedly I should I have gotten a complaint form from the driver.

Of course Jerry tells me I should have refused to pay, but all I had was 40 euros and how am I going to do that when I have little Spanish under my belt! This is when I hate being a foreigner!

I WAS MAD! GRR!!!

I told Jerry that Spain just went down a notch in my book! Ha! Not too much though, I still love it here!

Otherwise I made it home safely!

So there ya have it! My taxi story!

Easter 2011

2011-04-30T13:38:00.000+02:00

So this is what it's like trying to get two 4 year olds and a 6 year old to pose for the camera.

See the chocolate and dirt on Reegan's dress? That's what happens when you don't get up early to take pictures before they eat and play at church!!

Great jumping shot of B-man there!

Umm, why is Brennan licking Karis' flower? I have no idea!

At least the photos show their antics and personalities well!

Valencia Oranges

2011-04-29T23:34:00.001+02:00

The region of Valencia is covered in orange groves. I was so surprised that many of them were easily accessible to the public. Like this!

We truly could have helped ourselves. Of course, we didn't!
I think we hit this area at just the right time to see the trees laden with oranges and flower blooms! It was just lovely!!
That's it on our trip to Valencia. Stay tuned for more travels in our future! We may be headed south soon.....to Sevilla! We have been so blessed to see so much of Spain in such a short time! I'm glad for that since we're moving soon.

El Oceanográfico en Valencia

2011-04-28T22:45:00.000+02:00

Did you know that in Spanish (Spain Spanish anyway) that Valencia isn't pronounced Va-LEN-see-ya? It is pronounced Va-LEN-thia. When we got here, I had to get use to the use of the "th" sound in some instances of using the "c" or a "z," which sounds similar to a lisp. Ha!

Anyway, Thursday was rainy! Bleck! We knew we could get some rain on our trip and my thought was to visit the Oceanografico, which is an aquarium, the largest one in Europe and keep out of the rain.

We drove into Valencia and had quite a trek from the parking garage to get to it. Grr! And then we learned that a good portion of walking around the aquarium was outside. Take a look at this lovely, frizzy hair I was sporting for the day! Yuck! Ha!

The aquarium was nice, but I was expecting more. So I was a tad disappointed. The weather didn't help though!

This penguin would follow every move that Reegan made. The whole room was cracking up. It was so funny and too cute!

This tunnel was really cool for the kids. It showed what it was like for sea life that live in the "splash zone" and simulated crashing waves.

It was a bit of a crazy day. Things don't always go as planned, but we made the most of it.