The Acropolis

Today we went into Athens and got to walk around the city and eat a delicious authentic Greek meal for lunch. The food was AMAZING. They have this fried cheese stuff that you squeeze a lemon over and eat. Oh my goodness. I'll try to find out how to spell all of the delicious things we have gotten to eat so I can fill you in, but fried cheese works for now. We were supposed to go right from lunch to the Acropolis, but the weather in Greece had other ideas. Right before we were to start the walk up, it started POURING rain. We thankfully were right by a big overhang, so we got there with minimal rain damage and ended up spending the next two hours there waiting out the rain. There was crazy lightening and thunder and lots of rain, all of which is supposedly very out of character for Greece at this time of year. We must have brought the typical Florida weather with us. The weather finally cleared up, and we got to go to the Acropolis and see the Parthenon and Mars Hill, and it was incredible. Pictures simply cannot do it justice, but here is a very futile attempt to try. I only chose a few of the many I took because I must get some sleep, but enjoy these views of ancient history!

This is the Acropolis, and this picture was taken while I was standing on Mars Hill. Mars Hill is the spot Paul stood when he preached to the Greeks. Due to the architecture and such, when one is standing on Mars Hill, you can hear what is said on the Acropolis and down in the market place as well. Many debates took place there.

Speaking of Mars Hill, it is the rock behind me in this picture, taken while I was standing on the Acropolis.

This is what the ceiling looked like in the original Acropolis.

Here is a picture of me with my two professors who are on this trip.

This is a picture of the Parthenon.

These next two pictures show the cool sky that was present because the weather was still kind of iffy and it rained off and on.


Finally, a picture of me and the Roommate. We are having a great time getting to share this together!

Tomorrow, we are going to Andros Island and spending the whole day there. This is where we will get to see the white washed houses with blue roofs and I can't wait! More pictures and adventures to come soon!

Greek Greetings!

Hello to all of my fabulous friends and family who are nice enough to read this blog! This has been a very long day, and I feel a little delirious, so pardon any madness that may appear in this entry. :) Also, my fizzilicious professor is sitting next to me while I am typing this blog so who knows how distracted I will be. We are also watching Mamma Mia - it could be bad!!

Anyway, last night we went to a little Irish pub up the road, and it was so cute and quaint. The walk there was beautiful. It's so peaceful and quiet here, and the scenery is gorgeous. For some reason I never imagined that Greece would be as mountainous as it is. I figured the islands would be with the white buildings and blue roofs, but Athens has some mountains too. Here are a few pictures to show some of the scenery.


And here are some pictures from the pub last night. It was a beautiful little retreat kind of in the middle of nowhere.



I think we are going to go back there for dinner one night next week. I'll try to take more pictures then. Be sure and check out Nikki's blog from today because she is putting up lots of pictures of where she has gotten to spend the last 2 days. With being in class, I haven't had the chance to do much or take many pictures. But tomorrow we are going into Athens for the day, and I can't wait! Then Monday we will be on Andros Island all day, so many pictures and stories will be coming your way soon. Until then, I am going to go finish singing along to all the songs in Mamma Mia and then go to sleep. Have a great day!

Identifying The Smell

Hi everyone! I've had a really busy day today and haven't had time to download pictures to share. I still have some work to do and must go to bed as soon as possible, so this is going to be a short and sweet update today. I'll try to get more posted tomorrow after class. I just wanted to share my one deep thought for today. In a previous post, I mentioned that you can't flush the toilet paper here. I have been trying to figure out what our dorms and the bathrooms smell like for a couple of days, and it has finally occurred to me what the answer is.... Everything smells like a pet store. It's fantastic. :) I'm sure it won't take long for me to get home and start taking for granted being able to flush toilet paper, but those first few flushes are going to be amazing.

Tomorrow is my last day of class for a couple of days and then we are doing a lot of traveling on Sunday and Monday. We are going into Athens on Sunday and will see the Acropolis and other amazing sites and then we are going to Andros Island on Monday. We'll have our last classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and then the rest of the trip will be spent traveling and sightseeing. I'm looking forward to that and there will be many more pictures for me to share with you! So until the next time, this tired girl is wishing you a very good day!

Inappropriate Laughing Due to No Sleep

So.... apparently the effects of jet lag hit worse on the second day. I did not sleep hardly at all last night. Most of my classmates didn't either, so we were all kind of in a fog today. I'm hoping and praying that I will be able to get a good night's sleep tonight, which I will be attempting to do as soon as I finish this blog. The lack of sleep is your warning that when you are exceptionally tired, you might just happen to take a few inappropriate pictures. Welcome to Greece!


Hahahaha....I am amused. ANYWAY, on to other topics. I had class today and tried to get some work done. We have a lot of projects and such to do, plus a lot of journaling everyday, so I'm staying busy. I also found out that one of my closest friends from college passed away early this morning from his battle with cancer. Please keep my friend Emmett's wife Wendy and their 3 year old son Quinn in your prayers as Wendy and Quinn navigate this tough road.

Tonight after dinner, we walked about 2 1/2 miles to a place called Alma's to get ice cream. The ice cream was delicious, but the walk home got a little precarious as we tried to cross the street and not die. Greek drivers don't stop for people, so you can't get in the road and assume they will stop. They will run you over. Thankfully we all made it safely home! Here are a few pictures from tonight and last night of fun times with friends.



Anyway, I must go try to get some rest, but that was my day in Greece. Hope everything is going well wherever you are, and I'll post new updates soon!

Greece Day 1

Did you know that when you are in Greece and go to the Google homepage, everything is written in Greek?? Kind of cool.... Anyway, greetings to you all from Greece! We have finished our first day of class and will be eating dinner in about 45 minutes at 7pm. I am quite tired but feel like I'm getting close to being adjusted to the time difference. I think tomorrow will be much better. Even though getting a decent amount of sleep last night helped, my body is still getting used to that it's evening time here and still in the morning at home. Being outside helps because when you are in light, your body thinks it should be awake, and eating meals regularly helps too. I have actually adjusted a lot faster than I thought, so that is good, but it was tough to sit in a class all day. This class is going to be awesome though. I'm sure I'll have much to process about it as the days go by, but for now suffice it to say that we don't think about a lot in our culture or why we do what we do until we're challenged about it. More to come on that topic later.

For now, here is a little tour of where we are staying. We are at the Greek Bible College here, living in dorms. Here are a couple of pictures of the buildings and our room. This is the entrance to our dorm. Honeysuckle lines both sides of it, which makes the air smell quite delicious!


Walter the bear made the trip with me. He has been on every trip I've gone on since I was a freshman in high school. He is enjoying his first international experience!!

One thing about Greece I do not love so far is that you can't flush toilet paper down the toilets. I've never thought about that as I use a bathroom in the US, and it's weird to realize some of the things we take for granted. It's not that big of a deal, but for some reason, this totally grosses me out! I just think it's nasty, especially when you consider what sometimes occurs when one is on the toilet. :) This picture shows you our bathroom, and all toilet paper goes in the trashcan. Yes, we change the trash at least once a day.

It's really pretty here, and there is NO humidity, which is a very refreshing change from Florida. We eat all of our meals outside at little tables like the one below or picnic tables. The well picture is there just because I thought it was pretty.


Here are some of us earlier today...

More cute pictures....


So there you have it! Tonight we are having dinner and then going to a cute little place right down the street called Coffee, Tea, and Sympathy. Then I also have to write in my journal and read some for class. Tomorrow we have class again all day, with a few fun things mixed in. These first four days are pretty much just class and then we'll start having many adventures. I am loving being here with Nikki and I think this trip is going to be amazing. Those who are guests get to hang out and do other things while we are in class, so if you want to check out Nikki's blog, (just click on her name in this sentence) you can see her pictures and things that I am not getting to do.

Hope you all have a great day, and I'll be in touch soon!

In Greece!

Hi everyone! We have made it safely to Greece, and I am typing this blog from the lounge in our dorm. My computer hasn't switched over to this time zone, so as I write this, it is 1:11pm your time. Here it's 8:11pm, and my poor body is trying to figure it all out. We have been up for about 36 hours and are under strict orders to not go to bed until at least 9 to try to get used to the change. Nikki and I are counting down the minutes until we can crash, so if this blog doesn't make much sense, you can blame it on the total lack of sleep.

I have no pictures to share with you right now, but I'll get some taken tomorrow. We left Monday morning (I think that was yesterday) at 8:30am and drove in a bus down to Miami. Then we took an 8 hour flight from Miami to Paris. I got my very first stamp in my passport in Paris!! That was very cool. The plane food was actually pretty good, and we watched the Justin Bieber movie while we flew across the ocean. It helped kill a couple of hours and was actually kind of interesting. :)

I don't have much brain power left to share anything of significance at this time, but I wanted you to know that we were here safely. I think it's going to be an amazing trip, and I can't wait to experience the adventures! For now, I have learned that it's weird to not know the native language of the country you are in, eruo money looks cool, there is an Ikea when you land at the Greece airport, there are some quite pretty men in France and Greece, and they eat lots of yummy food. Hopefully there will be more substantial learnings to share once I get some rest. I'm off to attempt that now. Talk to you soon!

Goin' To Greece!

Well, months after first hearing about this trip to Greece and making the decision to go, the time is finally upon us! Nikki and I leave in the morning to go to Greece, and we are SOOOO EXCITED!!!! We will be arriving at school at 8 in the morning, where we will get on a charter bus and drive to Miami. We will fly from Miami to Paris and Paris to Athens, arriving at our destination sometime on Tuesday evening their time (we'll be 7 hours ahead of all of you). Mixed in this trip is of course a class I will be taking, but there will be plenty of time for sightseeing, adventures, hanging out with friends, and taking lots of pictures. Picture taking is actually one of the things I am most excited about. I can't wait to pull my camera back out and take some amazing (hopefully!) pictures of a beautiful area of the world. And yes, I'll share as many as I can. It is my plan that I will be able to update my blog on a hopefully daily basis with pictures and stories of what is happening in Greece so you can all follow along on our adventure. Since I'll be traveling all day tomorrow and part of Tuesday, this entry will have to hold you over until I have access to the Internet again. :)

To start my journal of pictures, I have a couple to share with you. Before I share them, however, I have a story to tell you. Nikki and I have known each other for 8 years now. In the early years of our friendship, we used to talk about how we wished we'd known each other earlier in life so we could have been roommates. We had so much fun being friends, we figured it would have been really fun to live together. We also had grand plans of traveling together - going as couples to backpack across Europe (something we all wanted to do) or doing stuff as families someday. Obviously our stories didn't evolve how we wanted them to. But God has shown us such great love and mercy in the gifts He has given us instead. We are about to start our 3rd year of being roommates. (Yes, it has been as fun as we imagined it might be!) And tomorrow, we will be going overseas and taking a trip together. It might not look exactly like we thought it would, but God is still at work redeeming our stories and allowing dreams to come true. And we are grateful.

With that said, here are two pictures of Nikki and me from four years ago, right before I moved to Boston.


At the time, we had no idea what God had in store for either of us - we were just trying to survive. Now four years later, we are living proof that God really does bring beauty out of ashes. Steven Curtis Chapman has a song that is called "All Things New". Below are part of the lyrics...

"Then the world was broken, fallen and battered and scarred
You took the hopeless, the life, wasted, ruined and marred
And made it new

You make all things new
You make all things new
You redeem and You transform
You renew and You restore
You make all things new
You make all things new
And forever we will watch and worship You

You turn winter into spring
You take every living thing
And You breathe Your breath of life into it over and over again.."

I am thankful that God is continually at work, redeeming and transforming and making all things new. I invite you to join us on this journey as God keeps breathing life into us in new ways over these next 16 days. Thank you in advance for your prayers for traveling mercies, safety, and an amazing time with old friends and new! God willing, my next entry will come to you from Greece!!

Catching Up, Reflections and Randomness

So as a blog writer, I am totally fired. It's been a month-and-a-half since my last blog. Since I began this blog 4 years ago, I do believe this is the longest break between entries that I have ever had. It comes with good reason, as I have just been trying to survive an intense period of time of work and school, but still. I shall try to do a bit of catch up now and for the two of you who might still read this, have no fear - many more blogs are coming in the very near future! Why? Well, 3 weeks from tomorrow, I am leaving for Greece!!!

I am soooo excited to go, and even though I will be taking a class while there, we will be doing a ton of sightseeing, and I know the entire experience is going to be incredible. I can't wait to share pictures and stories and adventures with you, so be on the lookout for those posts beginning in June (the trip is June 6-22). I'm also thrilled because Nikki is going with me, and I know that the trip will be so awesome to be able to share it with her and other close friends from school.

School is going very well, although I must admit that it is exhausting. I took an extra class during the spring semester, which meant that for the last seven weeks of the semester, I was taking 3 classes at once. I was working at least 35 hours a week, in class 3 nights a week, and trying to get all of my homework/tests/projects/papers done during the times I was off. This should explain my absence from my blog! I survived, but barely. I am still trying to recover in a lot of ways. The only problem with attempting to recover is that 3 days after spring semester ended, I started my first summer class. It's my psychopathology class, which covers all of the disorders and is the hardest class I've had to this point. I love it, find it fascinating, but the entire class is taking place in five weeks, which puts a bit of a strain on getting things done in time. A few days after this class ends, I leave for Greece, and then I start my next summer class a few days after returning home. A little nutty, but I'm attempting to balance truly not having much time for breaks if I want to get everything done to taking needed breaks. This is why I am now blogging and may take the rest of the day off from schoolwork, even though I should spend the next 5 hours reading and/or writing. :)

Along with the school and work side of life, in recent days, my parents have also accepted a job for my dad in Nashville and will be moving in a few weeks, and I am having to decide whether or not to have surgery to remove my "containing nodules with suspicious cells" thyroid when I return from Greece. More details to come on all of that at some point, but for now, let me just say that I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and balance and strength and bravery in pretty much all areas of life right now. I know I'm right where I am supposed to be, but it's also not easy. I'm in the process of learning how to extend grace to myself and appreciate what does get done, instead of fretting about what may or may not be.

For a random picture, and an attempt to break up a post with lots of words, here is a cute picture of my cat:

This was her sleeping on her pillow one morning. Thankfully she is very cute and usually makes me smile. :)

Finally, in a bit of reflection....I honestly don't notice dates much anymore, simply due to passage of time and healing and the fact that life does go on. However, I noticed what date it was today and had a kind of "oh yeah" moment. Otherwise it really would have passed me by as just another day. On May 15th four years ago, my divorce was finalized. I can't believe it's been that long. I can't believe what has happened in my life in the four years since. This blog is an amazing tale of adventures and the faithfulness of God as He has walked with me through this time. I am truly grateful for every moment.

I just finished a paper for my class that I had to write on my own pathology - what the issues are that I have battled and still struggle with and how they came to be. An exceptionally depressing paper to write if you look at it apart from Christ, but with hope...well, it changes everything. I'll share my conclusion of my paper here to end this blog because it sums up well these last four years. Thank you for walking this journey with me, for your support, love and encouragement and for praying for me. Many more entries to come soon, so stick around! :) And now for the conclusion...(the book quoted is "To Be Told" by Dan Allender)

In some ways, looking back over family history and examining your story in more detail can be a painful experience. It brings you face to face with the depth of the depravity of man. If I look simply at the sin, patterns, habits and defense mechanisms that have followed my family down through generations, it makes me sad to see how the choices we all make affect ourselves and those who come after us in ways we are unaware of and certainly do not intend. Thankfully, the story does not stop there. There is an answer that gives hope and allows for healing, and it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Because of Him, it allows for this description of life to be true in our story: "It is about how we came to be who we are (Creation), how we lost ourselves (the Fall), what it means to discover the name God has written for us (redemption), and how the ending of our story reflects the great consummation of God’s story (His coming). Our plot is an encounter with the heartache and dreams and desires related to our personal tragedies – the events of our life that occur between fall and redemption and, ultimately, glorification” (Allender, 2005, p. 15). Thanks be to God that this paper and the contents within it are not the end. Even in my own journey and the journey of my family, God is at work healing and restoring and redeeming. As difficult as the hard times have been to walk through, and as difficult as some days still are and will be in future times of adversity, I am thankful God loved me enough to introduce me to myself and let me come face to face with the things that keep me the farthest from Him. In that introduction, He is walking with me through the healing process, and I am confident that the One who started this work in me will carry it out to its completion when all things will be made new.

Tidbits

Greetings to the few of you who still check my blog for updates! I figure since March is almost over I should probably check in and let you know what's happening. I truly don't have much time to post blog updates, but sometimes you have to make time to share the things that are going on. So this post will be a random collection of tidbits of the recent happenings in the life of me.

To begin with, school is awesome! I love it and am really enjoying my classes. However, I have added an extra class for the last half of this semester, and it has made life quite interesting. I now have class 3 nights a week instead of just 2, and adding that extra night really does make a big difference. I am taking a Play Therapy class though that I absolutely love, and since that is the extra class, it makes the additional stress somewhat okay. :) I'll try to write a separate post soon about what Play Therapy is and how I hope to incorporate it with my clients someday, but suffice it to say that I'm super excited and am enjoying learning about something that I feel like I was made to do!

Work is going well. We are beginning to pick up with spring breakers and as we get closer to summer, we will get busier and busier. I got to be the baby cow on Saturday at the store and had a blast! I danced around, gave people high fives, gave kids little mini-cows and even blew some kisses. It was a fun time. Here I am as the cow:

My dear friend Jenn had baby number 2 on Friday, and I finally got to go visit her at the hospital today. As I was holding baby Mia, I couldn't help but marvel at the creation and design God has in place for new life. I don't see how it's possible to watch a baby grow in someone for 9 months and then hold the new creation and not believe in God. The way He creates is amazing and getting to hold a brand new life is one of the greatest privileges!


Prior to going to the hospital, I met my friends Liz & Tony, who are in town for the weekend, and we got to go see a Braves spring training game. It was sooooo hot (hence my wilted appearance when holding Mia - what happens after you spend 3 hours sweating!), but it was so much fun! It was great to see them and catch up some, and of course I always love watching some baseball. Liz and I bonded many years ago over our mutual love for sports, and even though it's nice to visit and catch up, I must confess I love going to games with people who love the game as much as me and like watching it! :) This was the 3rd game I've been to this spring and the first one the Braves lost, so I'm blaming Liz for that one. :) The regular season finally starts Thursday night - I can't wait! Although I won't have much time to watch any games, there is just something more right with the world when baseball season is going on.


Today is my baby brother Michael's 29th birthday! Happy birthday brother! I can't believe that next year we will all be in our 30's. I hope that this next year brings him many blessings and fun adventures.

In other random news, my dad was informed on Thursday that his job was being eliminated. That came as quite a shock, as he was just coming up on his first anniversary with this company. My parents don't know what they will be doing next, as there are many factors to continue. Please pray that my dad will find something soon that will provide for them and that will be a good fit for him and for the family circumstances that have to be considered. There is certainly never a dull moment in life, is there? If nothing else, this job allowed my parents to be back in GA for some significant family events that took place this past year, including my grandmother's surgery, so I know they are thankful they have been there. I also know they would like to stay there, but they are trusting God to direct this next step. I will certainly keep you posted.

I think that is all of my tidbits for now. I have a few things to finish up for school before I can sleep, so I shall go for now. I'll try to be better about posting but make no promises until this semester is over! :) Just know this - a lack of posts means insanity in life, and so prayers are always appreciated as I continue on this journey that God has allowed me to travel. There is definitely a sense of balance that I am trying to maintain with work, school, homework, an occasional moment of downtime and some occasional sleep. While this is just for a season, I also want to enjoy this season for what it is and not miss what God is doing everyday around me. So prayers are certainly appreciated, and I'll do my best to keep you updated when I can! Hope you have a great week!

Dreams

When I was a little girl, I remember having 2 dreams for most of my life as I grew up. I wanted to be a teacher, and I wanted to be a wife and a mommy. Well, I actually pursued the teacher track for awhile and found it wasn't for me, so I'm okay for that dream to not have come true. And as for the other dream....it has sometimes seemed nightmarish over the last five years and sometimes it still feels like a dream that could come true.

It's interesting how as we live life and get a little older and go through more experiences - good and bad - it seems easier to just stop dreaming. Or to at least pretend our dreams don't matter that much. That way if they don't come true, we won't be as disappointed. And I do believe there is a fine line to walk with being okay with exactly where God has you, whether or not your dreams come true for your life, and not being afraid to dream. For example, if I am single for the rest of my life, if I never get to be a mom or a wife again, I will be okay. I will live a full life, I will make a difference, and my life will matter. But the dream of my heart still exists.

As much as I go through stages where I think I could never do it again - I could never risk again - something inevitably happens that leads me back to awareness of what my heart is really saying. This past weekend was Nikki's birthday, and we spent Sunday at the Magic Kingdom celebrating. While we were waiting to get on our boat at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, there was a lengthy delay. We, along with the rest of the line, watched as 3 people tried to get an older lady loaded into the ride. She was completely paralyzed from at least the waist down and it was like taking a limp doll and trying to get her situated in the seat. Once they got her down, her husband sat down next to her, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and adjusted her hat. I could just imagine him giving her a hard time about how cute she looked with her hat crooked, just to ease the embarrassment of the moment. All of us had tears in our eyes as we watched a visual representation of true love play out before us.

Then today at the mall, I was passing out fliers at the stores. I went into a children's store, and they had their Easter displays out. I have always loved the color lavender and if I were having a little girl would want to paint a nursery lavender instead of pink. They had the most adorable dresses that were lavender and white and lavender and other colors. It hit me like a ton of bricks - the desire that one day I might have a little girl I could put a dress on and have a lavender nursery.

I don't know what God has planned for me, and I know I truly will be okay with whatever He has planned. But the events of the past two days have reminded me that no matter how much the thought of marriage again someday scares me or taking a risk is terrifying, the dreams are still there. And after all this, the fact that the dreams are still there and I do still have hope....well, that is a miracle to me!

So I just wanted to share what I am pondering with all of you. Perhaps you could ponder it too. What are the deepest dreams of your heart? What are you afraid of? Jesus will meet you there, wherever it is. And He will love you enough to not let you stay in your fears and to fan the flames of your dreams so that His even bigger dreams for you can become a reality. I know this from experience! :)