running west to escape the sun

Back from traveling. Each trip teaches me something different.

For instance, Paris was the start of something completely new. I became myself and became more firmly grounded in God than I have been in a very long time. People who have known me will affirm that.

Therefore, I was so excited to return there on my little backpacking stint with my sister and Sarah. I returned and not much had changed. I visited all our old haunts, but now those places were only special because of the memory attached to them. One time the light shined there, but now only shadows.

Paris will always be special to me, but this time I'm more attached to small pieces of scenery and people.... lavender covered in bees and butterflies, a garden in Stockholm, drained cups of coffee shared with people I love, improvision during sudden bouts of rain, pear cider on a Gamla Stan dock with new friends, hanging out and playing foosball in a Södermalm beer garden, a forgotten street in Monteriggioni looking at cumulus clouds in a blue sky while a shopkeeper plays guitar to himself, moonlight creeping its way into my room....

The confusion of self and God that I had been wrestling with was not overcome this time. No revelations were had.... except the epiphany that experiences cannot be forced, they come naturally and after they've given us something only a memory remains.

Running away was the theme this trip. Even as I admit that in writing, I am more aware of how true that is.


Instead of discovering light and truth, hiding in dark and clinging to lies.
Instead of finding who I am, I feel more like I've forgotten.


I couldn't wait to leave work and all my worries on this trip, but that attitude of escapism was uncovered as fear. God doesn't take a holiday and neither do the offices of Chapman University or the school district.

I'm back, but I'm still running. He's still pursuing. I'm not ready to stop just yet.... even though I know that I can never really escape Him.

Ifs

If I spoke a third language it would be Swedish.... or Swahili because then I could sing "O Sifuni Mungu" really well

If I played an instrument it would be the guitar

If I was an actress I would have liked to act in the age of the golden screen

If I changed one thing about myself it would be my stubbornness

Tjena snäckan!

Hej, jag tycker om Svierge!

The past 4 weeks have been... in a word... unbelievable.

There's so much to say, but not enough time! Internet is verrry limited. So excuse my lack of verbosity.

I'm currently in Slovenija. They call this area the chicken head because the country is shaped like a chicken. Weird, I know. Tim and his family are showing us all around and introducing us to amazing local wines!

We were in Sweden last week, which is truly one of my favorite countries now. Stockholm was unbelievable! The four of us (Sarah, Haley, Ashton, and I) met 4 great Swedish guys in a bar there. They thought we were Swedish and came to talk to us and we ended up staying up on the dock by old town until 5am talking, throwing uhhh oversize frisbees into the water, listening to our Swedish friend "Captain Ron"'s music and drinking the beer he gave us. Very random... The next day the boys took us shopping, to ice cream, and foosball. Gustav (a guy in a trendy Swedish jeans store) showed me that the Swedish idea of privacy is very different than ours.... I was trying on jeans when all of a sudden a big blond head pops over the top of the curtain to ask how I'm doing... Gah! Not a fan of that. He proceeded to tell us our jeans needed to be tighter after he tested the tightness by putting a finger down them... He told us many Swedish girls lie on the ground to have him zip them up to have them so tight. Pass... I like my jeans, tack. We had pear cider on the dock with the boys before we went to the bar again where we danced the night away like any good Swedes. That brief version doesn't make much sense, so I'll fill you in later...

For now it's a beautiful Sloveian day and the pool and a bbq await me.

Hejdo! Adio! Arrivederci! You get the point...

Je suis a Paris finalement!

Vive la France! C'est la fete de la bastille!

it's no problem

hello hello... hola... to a place called vertigo....

Buon Giorno tutti!

Alright I'm in Florence, Italy at the moment. About 20 miles or so from our villa. I'm struggling with what to say because so much has happened. I wish I could post more pictures than the internet photo of the villa, but I can't maybe not until I get home. Everything is incredible, better than I could have hoped. Especially after that rainy 4 hour drive from Milan to Castel D'Acone our Italian home. Days that aren't spent there by the pool are spent around Tuscany or in the always bustling Florence. Here are some highlights and lessons learned:

-San Gimignano and its medieval skyskrapers
-San Francesca's gelato
-learning Italian
-family
-my 81 yr. old Grandma is here! wow!
-lots of good food and of course, good vino
-Finding our favorite Florentine restaurant with the best pesto that we remembered from 6 yrs ago
-learning that just because someone hits on you doesn't mean he's single... hence one of our favorite Italian phrases, "it's no problem!"
-soy milk is impossible to find here
-skirts and dresses. that's all.


I don't know... this blog was so anticlimactic I'm sure. I miss you, I'm having a fabulous time, and I'm safe. That's pretty much all I wanted to say.

A più tardi!