It's a Small World After All...

I am going on vacation again....I know, rough life, huh?!? And no, I'm not going to Disneyland as the title of this post may suggest. I am going on a cruise to Mexico with my mom, my mom's parents, aunt and uncle, cousin and wife, and brother and future sister-in-law  his girlfriend. We traditionally take a family trip every other year. I won't complain. :)

So, why the lame song (It's a Small World After All) that's now stuck in my head, you ask? Let me take you back a couple of years...

Two years ago, the fam and I boarded a Princess Cruise ship to Alaska. This had been a place on the bucket list, so I was quite excited. Being as it was a trip to Alaska on a smaller cruise line, there were not many young people on the boat ship. My brother, cousin, and I almost instantly met and befriended the few people that were our age on the cruise. We met two wonderful sisters, Kasey and Krystal and their grandparents and a guy named Bob and his family. The six of us basically hung out the entire trip and we had a blast.

(Krystal and Kasey--aren't they just great?!?)

We were sad to say goodbye at the end of the last cruise, but we kept in touch over the last couple of years. We've even visited each other a bit. So here, my friends, is where the world is about to shrink...

Krystal texted me a couple days before I left for Europe. It went something like this:

K: Hey girl! Are you guys going on a cruise this summer?

Me: Yup!! In July!!! You going on any??

K: Me, Grandma, and Sis are too in July! :)

Me: No way! Which one???

K: A 7 day Mexico cruise with Carnival. What about you?

Me: No way!!! We're doing the same one!! What date?????

K: HAHAHA are you serious? I think we go out of LA on the 17th

Me: OMG!!!!!! SO do we!!!!!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!

K: WHAT!!!!!! are you serious??????????

Me: I can't believe this!!! I'm so excited!!!!

As you can see, the girls and their grandma will be joining us on this cruise as well. I am so stinkin' excited to see them again and make more cruise memories. We certainly do have a small world. Too bad Bob couldn't join us--he has a wedding to go to this weekend. Perhaps two years from now we'll all be together again. 

For now, there may be a bit more of this happening this week... 

I must say bon voyage to myself and my family and farewell to you all for now. I'll be back with lots of stories and pictures upon my return. For now, scroll down the blog and enjoy all the posts about my European adventures! 

Adios!

Chapter Unknown

This is something that I wrote a few months back, but it's been on my heart a lot lately, and I thought I'd share it here...

Chapter Unknown

Those two words explain my thoughts and feelings about life right now.

Part of me is extremely excited about it. I have this hopeful expectation about what God has planned for me. I completely and confidently trust that He has had each of my days written out before one of them comes to be. He has shown me His sovereignty over and over throughout my life. I know His plans are perfect and I know His ways are good.

However, His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are not my thoughts…

That leads me to the other part of my heart—the part that feels “stuck” for lack of a better word. As we grow up, the next “step” or “chapter” of life is fairly clearly placed before us. We start Kindergarten at age five, we finish Elementary School and go on to Junior High, we begin High School and spend four years there—all the while knowing and celebrating the year we will graduate (2004, thank you very much). Then, although it may be unknown for a time, we go on to college, decide on a career path, graduate college, and start a job (praise the Lord I have a job).

And this seems to be the last “step” or “chapter” that is really set out for us….

What now? What do I do? Where do I go? I wait…

Never would I have imagined that I’d be living at home at the age of twenty-five, teaching Junior High, and waiting…

I feel like I’m living this chapter of my life that God has written long ago, but it’s not an ordinary chapter—it’s the chapter of the book that you’re in the middle of when you say to yourself “oh I’ll set the book down after this chapter” and it just keeps going on and on and on.

It seems like there is no end in sight. Of course, you know the chapter always does come to an end, and a new one will inevitably begin with it’s adventures and challenges and joys and heartaches. But, as you’re anticipating the next exciting chapter, you struggle to enjoy the seemingly never-ending chapter you’re currently reading.

Stuck.

I’m struggling to not feel stuck. I’m struggling to embrace this time of life and the lessons that God is teaching me now. I’m struggling with patience and making the most of every day. I’m struggling to make the most of this chapter of my life. I want to enjoy every word of every sentence of every paragraph of every page without peeking ahead.

I normally love surprises. I’m not one who likes to find hidden presents around the house or peek ahead to see what happens at the end of the book…so why is this so different?

Why do I so desperately want to know what’s next?

Perhaps because I’ve been waiting for this particular chapter since I was a little girl?

I don’t have the answers. Praise the Lord that He does. As I struggle to embrace this chapter of my life and wait in hopeful expectation of the next, may this song be my anthem:

While I’m Waiting

By, John Waller

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am hopeful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it is painful

But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting

I will serve You

While I'm waiting

I will worship

While I'm waiting

I will not faint

I'll be running the race

Even while I wait

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am peaceful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it's not easy

But faithfully, I will wait

Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve you while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Packing... Unpacking... Repacking...

I JUST finished unpacking--yup, I got home Tuesday night and I just finished unpacking. This is how unpacking makes me feel:

(photo credit)

And now....drumroll please.... I have to re-pack TOMORROW. Simply thinking about it makes me feel a little like this:

(photo credit) 

Just looking at my suitcase right now causes quite the anxiety--perhaps partly because I just lived out of it for three weeks, perhaps because I simply loathe it. In my world, it is not a good activiny (thanks Brian Regan). 

I'm trying to take it in stride because the result of the packing will be quite enjoyable (a week long cruise to Mexico thanks to my wonderful grandparents). I know, I know, you feel terribly sorry for me--not! It's just hard to believe that I just returned and now I'm turning around and leaving again. My head is still a bit foggy. A few more nights in my own bed would have been nice. I guess I'll have all the nights I want when I get back--more than I'll probably want actually. :) 

Upon my return, it will be back to work all too soon. I have to tear down my room, pack it up, and move it to a new school... but let's save that story for another night.... 

European Chronicles July 10-12, 2011

After saying a tearful goodbye to Nicole, Sam and I headed for Paris...

Our flights went well and the shuttle was there to pick us up as soon as we got our luggage. Our driver was a bit chatty and really difficult to understand, but we did get to see some neat things from the car--the Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower. The first sight of the Eiffel Tower literally took my breath away--it was completely unexpected and I was so excited to see it!

We checked in to our small, but sufficient, hotel room, and went to find some dinner. After dinner we wandered over to the Eiffel Tower and waited in a LONG line to venture to the top--how could we not? The whole experience took about 2.5 hours, but we met some interesting people in line and it was so worth it! I planked at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Again, how could I not?

We also got to watch the sunset from the top...

And when we got back down to the bottom, it was beautifully lit up...

We wandered back to the hotel and got some much needed sleep.

The following day, we ate breakfast, got some directions from the hotel dude, went down to the metro, and rode to meet another FREE walking tour (our fav)! Our tour guide's name was Linda and she was awesome! She was quite animated and we got to see some incredible sights: Notre Dame, a bridge with locks all over it, a building with WWII bullet holes, a bridge with heads of rich people that the commoners made fun of, statues of all the Henry's, river firemen, the Louvre, Napoleon Bonaparte everything, Phantom of the Opera house, some gift from Egypt, etc. Check out my FB for all of those pictures. 

Following the tour we ate some duck (yum!) and caught the metro back to Notre Dame.

The details on that building are simply incredible. We shopped for a bit after that and rode the metro back to our hotel. We found a cute cafe near our hotel and enjoyed a crepe (so Paris!) and randomly decided to figure out where the Moulin Rouge was (we still had a few hours of daylight). We got back on the metro, rode across town, and walked out to the lit up Moulin Rouge--beautiful. We wandered around that side of town, went up to Sacre Coeur, and enjoyed the incredible view!

As we began to wander back down the hill, we caught sight of the twinkling Eiffel Tower...

We asked for directions from about three different people to find the nearest metro station and ran into a whole group of scammers on our way down. Good thing our trusty tour guide warned us about them. We swiftly walked past them and got back on the metro to head back to the hotel. Goodnight for the last time in Europe...

The following morning we enjoyed a breakfast of French baguettes and pastries before the shuttle picked us up (a bit late). The morning held quite a rain storm (we are SO grateful it was nice while we were there). We got to the airport without incident, checked our bags, and waited. We had a short flight to London (pre-game for the flight of death). 

On the long flight home, I watched four movies and two TV shows, ate two meals, read a book and a magazine, and DIDN'T sleep--that was my plan to kick jet lag in the butt. When we FINALLY got back to LA, customs, baggage, and security seemed to take forever, but my mom and Sam's dad were waiting for us when we emerged (but they didn't have a cool sign for us like Nathan and Nicole did). I stayed awake on the ride home to Bako (surprisingly) and even unpacked some when I got home. 

I slept well last night and felt great today--take that jet lag! Mom treated me to sushi for lunch today and we met the Jensens for Baja Fresh for dinner--my favorites! It's good to be home. I had a great time, but it was really nice to see my bed last night. I must go meet it again now. 

Goodnight!

European Chronicles July 9, 2011

Our last day in England... on one hand, it seems like we've been in Europe forever... and yet, the end has suddenly creeped up on us and we'll be home in a few short days...

This morning we slept in again and prayed that Nicole was feeling better. Thank you, Lord, she was! Sam and I got ready and headed into town to make a booking at the library to use the computer to print off our shuttle confirmation for Paris. If this little shuttle trip is any indication, our super short stay in Paris may prove to be quite expensive. But, you only live once, right? 

We grabbed a quick lunch at Bell's because we had heard that they have the best fish and chips (and that's pretty much all England is known for). Guess what folks? We heard corretly! The fish and chips was delicious!!! Good choice for sure. There was a big parade in town today, which we didn't catch, but we saw all the pre-parade festivites in the town square during lunch. The weirdos were out in full force--too bad it was difficult to snap candid pics from inside the restaurant. As we started walking back to the north barn, (wouldn't you know) it started raining. Good thing we brought along our umbrellas!

We read for a short bit when we got home then headed off with Nicole to attend a Ladies' Afternoon Tea with her church. We drank tea and enjoyed scones with clotted cream and jam. Delicious. A lady spoke for a bit and shared quite a touching story. A few observations here: no one shed a tear, not even the speaker (in America, most of the ladies would have been crying); I can count on one hand the ladies that were wearing make-up; no one applauded after the speaker finished. Different cultures are fascinating to me. Anyway, we quite enjoyed ourselves and came out with a good piece of encouragement: just keep swimming.

We packed and read for a while this afternoon (Nicole was playing on my Kindle, so I read Stephanie's blog), I skyped with my parents for a bit, and then we helped Nicole with dinner--chicken enchiladas--my favorite! They were DELICIOUS!!! I'm going to miss me this here home cookin when I get back. Mom, I've learned a few tricks though--I think we can do it! :) 

After dinner we skyped with the Sampley clan back in Bako and watched Family Man on VHS. :) I got a proper Nicole hug before she turned in for the night, and here I sit. Now Sam and I will enjoy our last night sleeping on the pull out couch together. We've double and triple checked our flight times for tomorrow, so Lord willing, there shouldn't be any problems. Let's just hope (and pray) the whole quick transfer in London goes well, the getting our luggage in Paris and finding out where we are and finding a phone to call the shuttle service goes well, and the checking into the hotel goes well (I know that last sentence was incredibly awkward--I kind of planned it that way).

If we have internet in our hotel in Paris, I'll be sure to keep you updated on our adventures for the next couple of nights. If not, it's home sweet home on Tuesday.

European Chronicles July 8, 2011

Today began with a bit of sleeping in and reading in bed--quite an enjoyable way to start a day if you ask me. :)

Nicole was slightly under the weather (wah!) and Nathan went off to gather some shtuff from some people that were moving, so Sam and I decided to head into town to hang out a bit.

(As she's reading this, Nicole says, "Slightly under the weather? WHAT? If you count ****** and ****** slightly under the weather! I thought I was going to die, ok??!? Just give me a bit of credit so they don't think I'm a wuss that stayed in bed and whined all day.) 

Back to my story.... 

We decided to eat lunch at a "Mexican" place and try to stave off a bit of our (my) cravings for a time. There was only one other set of people in there--perhaps because it was like 1130 and folks here don't eat until about 1300. The food wasn't bad--more like TexMex than the usual Mexican food we are used to. I'll look forward to some Baja Fresh (and some hole in the wall Mexican upon my return). 

We wandered around town a bit after that. We sauntered through an underground/indoor market thing that resembled those of a third-world country. It wasn't dirty or anything, just set up a bit differently than you'd normally see here. It reminded me of a lot of the market places around Romania. We didn't purchase anything, but we enjoyed it. We spent a bit of time browsing the other shops around town and found a few neat things. Sam got a super cute handbag and we purchased a couple little "thank you" gifts for Nathan and Nicole. Then it was on to a cute little coffee shop for a drink and a lemon cupcake (that we split). We wrote in our cards and put together our girfts (the people in the coffee shop shot a few strange looks at us, but we didn't mind a bit).

As soon as we left, it started raining--a lot. Awesome. Good thing we brought our umbrellas! I tried to cover the giftbags as best I could, so I was holding them precariously close to my face, which made for an awkward walk home. We got a bit wet--or a lot wet, but I kept the bags fairly dry. I was not a complete fail. 

When we got home, Nathan, Sam, and I watched a spot of Seinfeld--about three episodes--and laughed...a lot. Nicole listened in from the bedroom. We read for a bit ater that while Nathan slaved in the kitchen making bangers and mash--delicious!!! For those un-English out there, that means sausage and mashed potatoes. Yum!! After dinner we got into quite the interesting theological discussions about baptism and end times and church and denominations. Fascinating. We ended up the night with YouTube videos-- we probably should have stuck to theological discussions, but we had a few good laughs. 

Let's hope Nicole feels chipper in the morning. We have a tea to attend tomorrow if all goes well. And sadly, tomorrow is our last day. Weird. I will be sad. :::tear:::

European Chronicles July 7, 2011

York. ...the place...not the peppermint patty. :) 

Today was a girls' day. Nathan wimped out and decided to be diligent with his studies. Wah. Anywho, we (after a yummmy breakfast Nathan made) got into the car and drove about an hour and a half to York. Nicole is quite an excellent driver here. :) 

When we got to York, we compiled random bits of change, paid for parking, and walked into the city (through the WALLS). Another first for me today--I have never been to a city with walls. It was neat. We decided to eat first and stopped at a little place called The Punch Bowl (mainly because it had a cool name). Sam and I realized that it was owned by the same people that owned the pub we went to in Edinburgh, but it was quite good, so we didn't mind at all. Fish and chips was the choice for today--how can you not when you're in England??--topped off with a little Elderflower juice. YES! I love that stuff! Anyone know if you can get it in the States?? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? 

After lunch, we got to do one of our favorite things--go on a FREE WALKING TOUR!! What? What? I actually stumbled across it in the England book I was browsing on our way to York and we were all quite excited. As we began our journey over to the starting point, it started to rain. Typical. Good thing we had umbrellas! They shot right up and we were protected. Phew! We met up with our tour guide (a sweet older woman who had been doing this for 22 years!!!) and we were on our way. I saw a lot of neat things and heard a lot of history. The whole time I kept thinking--I wonder where my family is all from? (I know, don't end a sentence in a preposition--sorry, it's summer). It'd be interesting to dive a bit deeper into my geneology after hearing about all this European history.

I'd have to say my favorite part of the tour was walking along the city wall. Really? People just get to do that? Super cool. 

Or perhaps it was the part where some English teenagers were laughing about America and how young it was (Lame sauce.). Or maybe it was walking down the Shambles (GOOGLE IT-seriously!)--a street that looks like toon town. Literally, the buildings are all warped and coming together at the tops so that they lean in toward the center of the street. Crazy! That's what happens when your Oak isn't mature enough. Didn't these people know that? Seriously. 

After the tour, we happened upon a Starbucks and got some delicous treats. As we well know, coffee is not a part of my life, so I ordered a mango passion tea smoothie thing--now this, folks, can become part of my life. IT. WAS. AWESOME. We dabbled in a few shops before heading back to the car and on home. Nicole did a fabulous job driving once again. I don't know how she does it--I'd be scared out of my little mind! :)

We had leftovers for dinner when we got home, YUUMMMMY!, and headed over to their neighbor Francis's house for drinks after. I had some more Elderflower juice (delicious) and some crisps (chips). We chatted and visited for a bit and I watched the beautiful sunset outside. As soon as we got back home into the North Barn, it started POURING outside. Good timing!

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Maybe just a day to relax? I'll be sure to keep you posted.