My Return Home

Leaving Romania for me wasn't that hard. My kids didn't know I was leaving and my schedule was a little hectic the last couple of weeks. So I think that made it easier when it was time for me to leave and I knew I was stopping in Holland to visit Rachel which was something for me to look forward too. 

I got to spend some extra time with my roommates before I left. We visited Peles and Bran Castle. It was pretty awesome and it was on my bucket list of things to do. 

While in Amsterdam with Rachel, I visited the Anne Frank House and got to spend some time with her family. Which was nice and relaxing transition on my way back.

I am not going to lie was a little disappointed with Anne Frank's house. It was just a whole bunch of quotes on the wall. My recommendation is to just read the book.

My transition back home has been a little rough. Not starting my job as soon as planned, not having a car, and lack of money. Has left me at home with not much to do these past few days/weeks except think about Romania and all my kids. But I promise to blog about the little things like new recipes, cute kids, and exciting new movies? And if I get any news on my kids in Romania I wont hesitate to inform you too. 

Hope your week is more exciting then mine!

I'm not Ready.

I am not ready to go to bed. I am not ready to finish my Romanian homework. I am not ready to leave and say good-bye to all my kids yet. I brought my ticket home this week. And I am looking forward to seeing my family and cuddling with my dog and cat. Spending time with my friends. 

But I am not ready to say good-bye. 

Week-end by the Sea

Last week-end I went to the Black Sea with the Guess'. To enjoy a little get away while the girls were gone. 

It was beautiful. 

We ran across a 630 BC City of Ruins outside of Constansta. 

We ate a few times and visit a navy museum. For it to be a rainy week-end it was rather wonderful.

My time in Europe..

My time in Europe is slowly coming to an end. I got a message from the Stoner's yesterday informing me that they are leaving for the states tomorrow due to medical problems Dan is having. So I am going to enjoy the rest of the time I have here in Romania then start heading my way back home. I am hoping I will be able to stop in Amsterdam to visit my dearest and best-est friend, Rachel. I know God has a plan for all of this. We might not be able to see it now but it will all work out in the end. 

Through this information I have learned to reflect and enjoy the moments and memories I have had here in Europe even more. My awesome roommates took me to go see Dracula's house on the way to camp. It was pretty awesome. I sorta want to read the book now. 

I have spent the last two weeks in the beautiful Transylvania mountains for camp. It is so refreshing to be here in Romania. Not that Romania has a lot to offer but it's the little things. Like people speaking English to me or being able to stop at Pizza Hut, KFC, or Mickey D's to eat. Who would have guessed fast food would be a blessing?!

It was pirate week at camp. Arg! It was so much fun.

This blog post like my train of thought right now is sorta random so please think of me and keep

 the Stoner's and the Guess family in your prayers as they are both in the states for medical reasons. 

My Week in Bucharest

As I wait going on midnight to put my last load of laundry in the washer. (That what happens when five girls are living together getting ready for camp.) I thought I would put a blog post up considering I don't know when the next time my internet connection will be good enough that I can blog.

This past week has been fun. Learning how to live in the city was an adventure. I rode the tram (public transportation) not once but a few times by myself. Woah. It might have only been down the street to the Guess'house but it was a start. 

The first few days consisted of me hanging out by myself. I ventured out to the grocery store. Went on a few runs. Started watching the "Office" recommended by Jenny.

But Tuesday I went to the new water park with Jenny and Christina. It was pretty cool. 

Wednesday is when I learned how to ride the tram. Thursday I got to go to the baby hospital with Christina. Christina use to be a short term missionary herself so it was neat to see all the things she use to help out with. I was so happy I got to go to the baby hospital. Most of these kids are abandoned by their parents. It's a really sad situation and the nurses just do the bare minimum to take care of them. 

Then Thursday night we headed out to the movie theaters to see "Despicable Me 2" with the Postemas Kids. Highly recommended movie, it was hilarious! 

Friday consisted of babysitting the Guess kids, eating my first Shaorma, resting up for camp, and packing. Which is what I am still doing right now early Saturday morning. Only a few more hours till we leave for camp. Woo. I also got to skype my family and friends (A little shout out to my mom, sister, Andrea, and the Stoner's.) It was so nice to see the kids today over skype and them telling me what they have been up too. My heart is happy they haven't forgotten me yet. 

p.s. Please keep the Guess Family in your prayers. Mihi is having to fly back to the states this week for a surgery. She just found out this morning. They are an amazing family, who have been through a lot these past two months. 

Pictures From Ukraine

23 hours  total in the car. Yah... It was a long trip. 

Anca is one of my roommates. At camp and in Bucharest, she is stuck with me all the time. I don't know if she was ready for that ;)

We went into town the one night while in Ukraine. Downtown was actually really cute but not many of my pictures turned out very well cause it was pretty dark. But in the picture of above is of me downtown with the Romanian camp counselors. 

The kids are pretty silly. 

And I got to meet some amazing people! 

My Favorite Things About Ukraine.

I am back! It's been pretty crazy whirlwind here. I arrived in Bucharest for me to leave a week later to go to camp training then to head to camp in Ukraine right after that... So three weeks total I have been gone. 

1. Before we had left, they had described the camp making it sound like a communist jail. Even though we did only have three showers to 40+ girls, only one real toilet (the rest were squat-y potties), and veggies and fruits were served limited. It didn't seem too bad. Which was a huge relieve. 

2. Before I left for Ukraine I was told none of them knew English. Which was true a lot of them didn't know any English. These Ukrainians were actually Romanians because after World War II when the border line of Ukraine and Romania moved, leaving a lot of Romanian families in Ukraine. So all these kids know Romanian, Ukrainian, and Russian (cause Ukraine was under Russia during their communism period) but no English. So the first week or so of camp, I was rather lonely with no one to talk to but I met two of the Ukraine camp counselors who knew English and I was so thankful for them to take some time to talk to me. 

3. You can imagine that it was little tough for me. And I was questioning how much I was really helping out throughout all of camp. But the last night of camp 22 campers rededicated their lives to Christ. And I was reminded that if I hadn't been watching the kids. One of the leaders would have missed out on the opportunity to speak to one of the kids. Through out it all God really has a purpose for my life. Lesson learned. 

4th of July!

Happy 4th of July as most American refer to it as or the real patriotic ones, "Independence Day", and my favorite one heard the most in Romania, "Happy America Day".

Yay for holidays and celebrations. It was American week at Lidl (the local grocery store) this week so the Romanian team tried to stock up on pretty much anything American they could. 

We had a great all out American cookout to celebrate the fourth. Hope your holiday was as fun as mine. 

Happy 4th of July! 

See ya later, France! Hello, Romania.

Definitely not in the french Alps anymore. 

This is a view outside my window, completely different from anything in France or the US for that matter. No worry. It's not that I am living in a bad part of the city; it's that the entire city looks like this.

But I am having a great time so far. I got to go to a village and help out with a VBS. Met some college kids from the states on a mission trip. And that an opportunity to catch up on my sleep today. Life is good so far in Romania. 

I Need a Break

I need a break from packing? Or that's what I keep telling myself. So blogging sounded like a pretty legit excuse. 

I went out with the ladies last night. We decided we wanted a real french experience before we all went our separate ways so at 9 o'clock (french dinner time), we headed out to a local restaurant hoping to have some bread and cheese. 

We definitely had a french experience. The restaurant owner thought we were American tourist and sat us down at the bar and let us taste some of the appetizers. We didn't know exactly what we were trying but it was fun and the owner gave us a really good deal for such a great experience. 

I am gonna miss these ladies when I am gone. It's crazy to think we might never see each other again. I thank God for the high speed internet more and more. 

Paragliding

I finally get to share with you my paragliding pictures. I am so excited! This was one of the best experiences of my life. And I would do it all over again in a heart beat. 

So last week, Lee got a group together from campus and we headed up to Annecy to go paragliding. A couple of people in our group had difficulties and heading up running off the mountain. It sounds horrible but it didn't seem that big of a deal at the time. Consider I still chose to do go paragliding after that happened. 

Sadly my video won't upload correctly so you won't get to experience through the video with me. But I would definitely recommend paragliding to anyone. It was so much fun. And it's definitively on my bucket list to do again. On a higher mountain in a different country :)

"The Waterfall"

Sunday Rachel and I decided to be rebels and skip church. The Stoner's had given me the day off to spend with Rachel and we had heard there was a waterfall up behind Conflans. So Sunday afternoon we headed up to find this wonderful waterfall where we were told we could get in the water. 

We hike up to Conflans and followed the creek all the way up to where it ended on the trail to find a tiny little creek and a little run off. Thinking that couldn't possibly be it we continued to hike up till we ran into a little town ask for directions. Having all the french inform us that such a waterfall didn't exist. 

Luckily at this point, we had ran into Eric and Carlan from the Burundi team who lived at campus with us. They happened to also be looking for this magical waterfall. 

After about three hours of hiking. We finally got a hold of someone from campus to tell us where this waterfall was.... she informed us it was right up the creek and even was kind enough to hike up and point it out to us. And yes, it was the little run off going into the creek. I was very disappointed that I had been hiking for three hours just for this little thing. I am pretty sure we have run offs bigger then this in Wayne county. 

But I got to spend the day with my friend and come away with a decent story. And feel guilt free about eating half a pizza for dinner Sunday night. :)

French Alps

There is a lot benefit from living near the Alps. It's beautiful, peaceful, and just amazing. 

I think all of us were having fun. Enjoying the fresh mountain air and humming the Sound of Music to ourselves. 

Abbaye De Hautecombe

Yesterday was Wednesday so naturally we had it off but it was also a holiday. Celebrating the end of World War II. So yesterday we went out with a couple of the other missionary families, went to go check out a local Abbaye. 

To get to the Abbaye, we had to ride a boat across a lake. 

The view was so pretty.

This abbaye is considered a historical abbaye in France. It has been around since 12th century and was build by a Queen and King of France. 

Even though this abbaye is home to many monks and studying students, we didn't get to see any. We did meet a young American who was taking her vows later to become a nun. I guess that is pretty cool. 

This abbaye mark church number 20 for me here in Europe. I only have 80 more to go to reach my goal of 100. 

Spain!

While on vacation we had a few rainy days so we decided to go a little farther south and head to Spain.  I was super excited to get to see Spain and add another country to my list. 

We ended up eating lunch in a little local restaurant in the town, Cadaques,Catalonia. I tried to go with something original for Spain and chose a Spanish omelet which was rather yummy and went well with my tiny strong European coffee. 

We finished off our trip to Spain by driving up into the Pyrenees Mountains checking out a local lighthouse. 

It was an amazing view and getting the opportunity to stand on the Pyrenees mountains looking over the Mediterranean sea was an amazing opportunity. I am truly blessed!