the american tourist

i have been playing the american tourist the last few days. i don't really like being a tourist. but i am one. so i guess i just need to embrace it. does it count that i was with people that live here and aren't tourists? :)

Český Krumlov

amy, asher, hayes and i took a day trip to this beautiful town. it is a little over an hour away from where the hartmans live. we made our way up into the castle. this is the view. amazing. there are bears that live right outside the castle walls (think zoo bears) but they were not out. MUCH to the boys dismay. but they endured on. :) we meandered our way through the cobblestone streets and quaint shops. ate lunch overlooking the river. the pic below is a cool door i saw on the outside of the castle wall. 

Prague

amy, hannah and i drove into prague (an hour away) on saturday morning for our girls weekend. what an amazing city! i am not a big city girl. cities are loud and dirty and packed with people. and there were definitely those parts of prague. but the history and architecture are amazing. i haven't been in all the cities in the world - but with my limited exposure - if i had to chose a city to live in - it would be prague. wow. 

i won't bore you with the details of our two day walking tour of the city - the pictures will speak for themselves. but some highlights:

• spending two hours in a polish pottery shop. how on earth i am going to get the  pottery i purchased back to the usa when i still have three more weeks of travel - i don't know. 
• seeing the cardinal! we were up in the castle right before mass and this entourage of police and secret service types came through - they held us all back from entering the main area. these priest looking guys got out and carried something into the church and then the entourage left. i overheard a lady ask one of the guards who that was. he said, "the cardinal". so of course we looked it up - and it was the cardinal of the czech. i don't know much about how the catholic church works - but apparently the acting cardinals are advisors to the pope. so you know - he is important. so now amy and i are telling everyone that we know the cardinal. and by "know him" we mean saw him from a distance. 
• being out in old town square at night - so magical.
• walking everywhere on two perfectly sunny, fall days
• the maze of cobblestone streets. if you haven't guessed from my posts, i really love the cobblestone streets.

the outside of the cathedral inside the prague castle - check out the amazing blue sky!

inside the cathedral - one of those little people up front was the cardinal

looking out over prague from up at the castle - don't miss the st. charles bridge in the middle

cool cathedral/castle thing behind old town square - looks like disney right!

astronomical clock in old town square 

the jewish cemetery - they say there are 12,000 grave stones visible and possibly 100,000 actual grave. amazing.

the john lennon wall 

amy and me in front of the john lennon wall

locks of love - couples put locks up in different places in the world to show their undying love for each other or something :)

it has been such an amazing time here in the czech with the hartmans. i'm so grateful to them for allowing me to come and share their home and their lives with me. tomorrow i fly to italy for a week. starting point - rome. so see you in rome!

pisek - take two

amy and i have walked around pisek the last few days while the kiddos were in school. skola if you speak czech - which i don't. i have picked up "hello" in czech - but that is the extent of my language learning here. so of course i say hi to everyone i walk by since it is the only thing i know how to say. and since the czech people don't really do the whole greet people on the street thing - they prob think i'm a little crazy. they are right. 

pisek is beautiful! the architecture is amazing. its one of the things i love most about europe. there is so much history here and you can even see it in their building structure. not a whole lot of modern. i love it! the bridge in the pic is the oldest stone bridge in the czech and i think in central europe. there is cobblestone everywhere. little shops in the squares and tucked away in the ally. the colors on the buildings are so fun! you can walk everywhere b/c everything is so close. i could live here - if it wasn't for the whole language thing. :)

this week matt is gone at a conference on the other side of czech. i can't say it has been uneventful - we have had some moments this week. but we made it through day three without matt. one and a half to go! 

amy is my hero. a) being a mom is the hardest job on the planet - i couldn't do it on my best day. 2) being a mom of four kids on the mission field in a country where you don't speak their language well (YET!) and only understand what everyone around you is saying about 1/4 of the time - that's just plain ridiculous! it takes courage to get up every morning, not having any idea what the day is going to bring and if you will understand any of it. it takes guts to do everything it takes to set your kids up to succeed and encourage them as they face the unknown every day as well. it takes so much grace to allow your kids to breakdown and cry with them b/c you know the stress they are facing. amy is authentic about how hard it is. but she isn't lying when she says Jesus is in this with her. sometimes it may not feel like it - but she knows. this week we have celebrated little victories, processed discouragements and have laughed a lot! 

truth be told - following Jesus is both good and hard. i am thankful for the example the hartmans are to me of how to live out this truth well. 

pisek, czech republic

welcome to pisek, czech republic. (i got this pic off the internet - i haven't taken any pictures yet!) it is a fabulous town about an hour out of prague. super cool colored buildings and cobble stone streets. oldest stone bridge in central europe. awesome. this is where the amazing hartman family resides. 

my fav family pic! amy is mad at me for posting this one.

matt & amy and their fantastic four (hannah, caden, asher and hayes) are missionaries here in pisek with josiah venture. on wednesday i flew into prague and amy & hayes picked me up. we immediately went to starbucks. obvi. :) we stopped at the store as well to get some necessities, where amy bought me some house slippers. (just slippers - but it is really important over here to have a pair for the house - you do not wear regular shoes in the house) we headed back to pisek through the beautiful countryside of the czech. it was raining and there was fog covering some of the hills. amy says she feels like she lives in the shire. i agree. although the people don't have big hairy feet like hobbits. 

i came here to see my friends and do life with them for a few weeks. i'm not here to be a tourist (although i will probably get to see some things). i am here to just be with them. it has been great to join in. to help with kids, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. they allowed me to be a part of their family when we were in the states. they are allowing me to be a part of it here in the czech. i love that! i'm having a great time and will post more in the coming days once i get my camera out. (the reason amy is mad at me for posting this pic is b/c i haven't taken any pictures yet!) stay tuned.

new york - perspective

in new york. my plane here was supes small. our plane was full except for the seat next to me. a little blessing. on a small plane it was really nice to have the space. 

we flew over the city. from way up there it was so small. the buildings looked like monopoly pieces and the statue of liberty a lego man (or woman if that makes you feel better). i thought about how small we must look from God's perspective. to us, our lives our big. it's all we can see - so that makes sense. but from God's perspective we are small parts of a much bigger picture. our lives are important, but our time here is so short and small when you see the greater plan. "for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (isaiah 55:8-9) it's a perspective thing. this huge city, with all its bigness, craziness and new yorkness was small. but the sun was shinning on it. it sparkled. it was beautiful.

and just to add to the coolness factor - there are these ipad stations at jfk! maybe they have these all over the place but its the first time i have ever seen them. free ipad time! thus the blog post. because i can.

europe or bust!

minnesota

after illinois i made my way up to wisconsin. good ol' wisconsin! i went to hang out with dear paige wilson. she was an intern with us last fall. it was so great to see where she is at and meet some of the people in her life. and we got frozen custard! yum. truth be told we did watch an episode of sherlock. she had never seen it. which, let's be honest, is a tragedy. she makes person #2 that i have successfully hooked on my brilliant sherlock. benedict cumberbatch. sigh.

then i made my way to the west on the ever so familiar I-94 to the land of ten thousand lakes. a few of the trees were changing already so it was a beautiful drive. been hanging out here for a few days doing really important things like getting my hair and nails done. also getting so-so important things done like getting my international drivers permit so i can drive the car we rented in ireland. on the other side of the road. the irish should probably stay off the roads those few days. ha!

the day i got here i got to go to octoberfest at my grandma's assisted living place. did you know that octoberfest is actually in september? weird since its called octoberfest. there was a guy walking around playing the accordion. he was really good. lots of good german polka music. my mom was singing all the words to the famous drinking songs. who knew she had it in her. :) cute grandma. she is 90. that's a lot of life.

i've also been hanging out with this little munchkin of a dog. gabby. she is not really a dog. more like a cat with a lot of attitude. she does what she wants when she wants to do it. which consists mostly of laying on the couch. she doesn't like to be bothered. but every once in a while she can be cute and cuddly. it lasts for about 20 seconds - but you take what you can get. she actually does like my parents. she tolerates me.  she has issues - she really wants to love me but has put up walls. someday she will realize she is only hurting herself. :)

today is the day i make the trek over the big pond. i can't believe its here already! i am mostly packed - so should probably go finish that. :) czech republic here i come!!!

day 8 - indiana to illinois

after nashville i made my way back up 65, through kentucky and back into indiana. it looked basically the same - just the other side of the road. :) it did rain for about 5 minutes. so that was different. i am very grateful for the amazing driving weather i have had. only about 10 minutes of rain total in over 2000 miles!

i stopped by taylor again to drop something off for jordy. it isn't everyday (or ever) that you are passing by taylor - so that was cool. i found out that my friends that i would be staying with were actually in marion and not fort wayne - so they were supes close to taylor and i didn't even know it! shows you my incredible skills at keeping up with people. i ask them if i can stay with them and don't actually know where they live. huh.

i stole this off fb - they are so cute!

john and abi are friends from college. they are rock stars! john is a Bible professor and abs is a resident director. they have three beautiful children (which i completely forgot to photograph!). it was so great to be in their home, watching them live their busy lives and do it with a lot of grace. i am grateful they allowed me to enter into their lives with them. i got to take their youngest on a walk - we looked at flowers, waved at the construction guys, said hi to everyone on campus and looked at the water fountain. i was climbed on by their middle climber child. :) and i was able to "help" their oldest with her homework. grammar. yeah. i hope i didn't just make up what i think a compound sentence is. :) thank you both for allowing me to just be in the midst of your lives. thank you for opening your home. let me know anytime you need motivation to clean! :)

next stop - illinois. i blocked out how much i hate driving thru chicago. ahhh! two cars almost clipped the front of charlie as they were speeding by and changing lanes. a semi (which was from satan) swerved into my lane. there was a sign that said, "obey speed limits in work zones." implying no one obeys speed limits outside zones? true.


so this super cute family are the becks. heather and i have been friends since we were 5 yrs old. went to the same high school and college. her husband cory is fantastic! i have always appreciated his humor - he makes everyone laugh. i think we figured out the last time we saw each other was 8 years ago. which is sad. i got to enter into their world for a little bit today. their son tried to show me a video game he was playing - i just sat there with a glazed look not understanding anything! :) it was their middle's 10th birthday. today is the 10th - therefore it is her golden birthday. so fun! she got lots of presents and a cool cake (i had a pic - but i am having tech difficulties). she got an assortment of decorative tape - called tapefeti or tapefiti?? something like that. why didn't they have cool stuff like that when we were 10! i think i am going to get some. :)

heather and i spent a few hours chatting tonight. she made a comment about how it is so different catching up with someone you have known for so long. its true. there is so much you don't have to cover. they know where you came from and a lot of what shaped who you are. we may not see each other that often, but it is easy to just jump in. there is a level of trust there b/c they were there from the beginning. i don't have many of these friendships left, but i am so grateful for the few i do have. absolute gifts.

well - it is after midnight. i should probably get some sleep. i am not getting any younger. :) tomorrow it is off to wisconsin and then thurs to minnesota! guess what happens a week from today??

EUROPE!!!

day 5 - nashville, tn

since we last met...

i went with jordy to chapel yesterday. it was taylor world outreach  chapel. when i was a senior i was on t.w.o. staff. it was weird to think that 17 years ago i was a part of leading that chapel! being back in chapel felt different and the same. sammy morris still sits up in the same place in the balcony. where jordy's wing sits was where i sat. i am just older. it was awesome to listen to college students who are passionate about serving Jesus and impacting the world and their community for Him. I cried - of course! :)

i left jordy smiling and knowing she was where God has her. on my way to nashville i drove through the entire state of kentucky. so they say that there is blue grass in ky. i just don't see it. i tried. maybe it is that the grass along 65 isn't blue or the power of suggestion isn't strong enough in my mind - but the grass looked green to me. sorry i'm not sorry.

i crossed into the promised land of tennessee and promptly called dave strunk to let him know. :)

summer & erik

meet summer and erik. (sean, summer's husband, is at work so unavailable for a photo op) today we went downtown nashville to this cool park that had a replica of the parthenon in it. it was apparently food truck day since there were at least 20 food trucks there. erik is an amazing little guy. he is a young man with a deletion in his dna that causes him to have special needs. when he was younger they didn't know if he would walk or talk or be able to feed himself. it has been fun to see him walking around like a rock star and shovel food into his mouth like it is going out of style! he is learning new things everyday!!! he may not be forming full sentences YET but he knows his abc's and makes some pretty awesome sounds! he is so much fun!

Couldn't pass up this pic - so cute!!!

and let's talk about what an amazing mom summer is. she is so patient and encouraging! sometimes erik takes longer to do things, but she doesn't hurry him along. she knows that he needs to learn, so she waits patiently as he figures it out. i am so thankful that erik has summer for a mom. i am so thankful that summer has erik for a son. and sean is an amazing husband and dad too! its almost like God brought them all together in this family as an example for us of His love for us and how was are to love each other. its really beautiful.

and this is scout the dog. if you know me you know how much i LOVE dogs. we have been bonding. we went on a short walk and took a short nap together today. if you could see all of him, his build reminds me of doug from the movie up. i just envision him saying, "you are my master and i love you...squirrel!"


that's it for today. tomorrow back to indiana.

day 3 - upland, in

taylor university. the integration of faith and learning. a place i spent four years of my life. four really wonderful years. years that played a huge role in becoming who God created me to be. it was so strange driving onto campus - a place that has changed and expanded so much in the 16 years i have been gone. yes - 16 years have passed. yikes. i feel old. but the bell tower - it still chimes. reminding everyone that both faith and learning are important. you will have the opportunity to wrestle with both at taylor. glad some things don't change. how firm a foundation. :)

i came to visit these beauties! jordy (left) is from denver and is pretty much one of my little sisters. being that i live in her parents' basement and all. christine (right - obviously since there are only two people in the pic!) is jordy's roommate. i met her yesterday. both are gems. i'm thankful they have each other to weather the good and hard of freshman year. i'm thankful they are both at taylor where i know God has amazing things for them. they are already learning and its only been two weeks! and i am grateful for their willingness to go to ivanhoe's. taco salad and ice cream. red robin's got nothin' on ivanhoe's. YUM. 


dr. faye chechowich. she bore with me in college. :) she reminded me today of a conversation we had my senior year. she has used me as an example in a class - never good. :) she said "you have come a long way since our conversation on that bench". so true. God has given me years of life experience that has taught me much. i am grateful i didn't stay the person i was in college. that God doesn't give up on know-it-all college students. He uses us in spite of who we think we are and through that we learn who He has created us to be. so fun to catch up with faye today! 

a good day. morning starbucks. walmart run to marion. the taylor bookstore. catching up with mary, jenny and faye. running into the spiegels. dinner at ivanhoe's with jordy & christine. drive down devil's backbone. and an early bedtime. :) 

the adventure continues tomorrow. to nashville!! 

day 1 - denver to kansas city

today i spent roughly 9 hours with charlie (my car). random thoughts on the first day of my great adventure:

• it is weird to be taking a road trip without driving a 15 passenger van and not having teenagers with me
• it is a good thing that green and brown are my two favorite colors - they are the only colors i saw today (kansas)
• when you procrastinate and leave late you miss the opportunity to see amazing things such as the "largest prairie dog in the world"
• when you cross over into kansas it is like they turn on the wind - its almost immediate - and then you can't drive with one hand anymore b/c you are trying so hard to keep the car on the road
• semi trucks are from satan
• when the speed limit is 65 people drive 80 and when its 75 people drive 70
• mixed tapes from college are the bomb.com and i am so grateful charlie has a tape player
• kaitlin, the rices and wanbergs were on my heart so much today. in the midst of all the questions and uncertainty i heard a still small voice asking me "what do you know to be true?" i know God is faithful. i know Jesus loves kaitlin and her family. i know He is good. i know life is hard. i know He is present and never leaves or forsakes His children.
• Jesus' love brings me to tears
• the music i chose to listen to growing up made a profound impact on my spiritual growth. what you put into your mind matters.
• what is the deal with the big hay bails?
• the palm trees at the oasis in colby, ks, although fake, make me smile
• gas is expensive
• interstates are loud (my hotel is right next to it)
• charlie did his part in supporting the bug population control initiative in kansas 
• perspective is everything (or at least really important)
• love is a battlefield

until next time...journey on!