Coming home

We are on our way home! It feels like we have been gone for awhile. There are so many things happening back at home. My parents are moving to Murrieta from Ontario (this is huge). They still live in the same house I grew up in. I can't believe it's really happening, I am so excited for them! Jakes senior year of high school is gearing up soon and Kailee will be starting the 7th grade. Moms By Grace ministry starts up in September and I am also doing a ladies Bible study through the book of James on Wednesday mornings. Jeff also has a new position at work that will allow him to work from home all week and cut out at least 3 hours of commuting time to do what he loves most... minister to others. I am excited to see what The Lord has in store for us this year. 

As we woke up this morning and had breakfast Jeff and I talked about our time away and all that God has done in our hearts and in our family and we are thankful. 

We are tired but thankful. 

And our hearts are full. 

Our first flight today was long but went really well. We had a 3 hour layover in Canada and then boarded the plane as the airport was under storm watch. There was thunder and lightening and rain so we waited for the ok from the tower to take off. After an hour the pilot informed us that we would have to move planes (due to another issue: one of the toilets was full). So we grabbed our stuff and headed to another gate to board another plane. We waiting about an hour and finally we were able to take off. We landed at LAX around 1:45 am. Our wonderful and sacrificial friend Glenn picked us up and drove us back to Chino Hills to drop him off. I had slept the last flight and was wide awake so we decided to drive home. After getting home I couldn't sleep so I started laundry and around 4:30 am I made myself lay down. A couple hours later we were up and running. Feeling like we had been hit by a bus but running. 

We are glad to be home. Our beds felt like a little piece of heaven. 

Our last day in Greece

We have learned many things on our trip to Greece...

if you want to travel to countries that don't speak English, learn some of the language, it will take you far

patience is a must

when at all possible don't use public transportation it will cost you a fortune

travel light

be flexible

pedestrians don't have the right of way... ever

if there are any laws at all no one obeys them

when it says free wifi that doesn't mean you will actually have it

when all else fails, pizza and ice cream are always a good option

you can never bring too much vitamin C

two double beds in Greece on Expedia actually means two twins

and so many more!

Today we left our Corinth hotel around 10:30 am today to make a 10:39 am train to Marathon. The hotel driver was going so fast I closed my eyes and prayed that The Lord would get us there safely but that I would be ok with whatever happens. We would have been ok with waiting for the next train but I guess he thought we needed to make that one. We got there at 10:35 am, Jeff bought the tickets and we (the boys) carried our bags up 2 flights of stairs. We made it! It was stressful but I'm sure we will laugh about all of this crazy public transportation experience later. We got on the train and as usually we were hoping we were headed in the right direction. Like I said before, through all of the stress of trying to be in the right place at the right time, God has given us peace. There have been moments of our flesh rearing it's ugly head but as I was traveling on the train today I remembered James 4:1-2 "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask." We wanted comfortable, and things were uncomfortable and there was no way out so we got angry with each other. I am thankful to The Lord for these moments we get to learn to love each other more deeply and sacrifice our desires to lift each other up. There have been many laughs and special moments but there have also been trials. And we have learned from them all. 

Today I had a panicky mom moment... We were walking back to our hotel from lunch and jake was a little ways in front of us, Jeff and I and Kailee stopped into a store really quick to see if they had snacks for the plane. I expected jake to turn around and walk back but he must have kept going and eventually made his way to the hotel. We bought some snacks and 15 minutes later started our walk back to the hotel again. I was doing a slight worry walk just wanting to make sure he made it back to the hotel safe. Even at 17 he is still my boy and we are in another country so that's my excuse. ;) we got back to the hotel and went to the room, we all knocked on the door and no answer so I rushed down to the pool to see if he was there. I didn't see him anywhere and now my mind starts running wild... like maybe he went back to look for us and he's lost and on and on my mind goes. I know that sounds ridiculous, he's 17 but in the moment all things are possible especially in another country. (And the pictures have been beautiful yes, but I haven't taken pictures of the back of the hotels and where we walk to dinner.) I went back to the hotel room door (Jake had the key) and Jeff came around the corner to tell me he is there. By that time I wanted to kiss him and kill him at the same time. The mind is a crazy thing and I must work at controlling mine. 

The rest of the afternoon we hung out by the pool and played cards. And we are still smiling!

Tomorrow morning we head for home. 

I want to go home because comfort is all I have ever known and yet my heart longs to be in a place where comfort in not the norm. 

Y

Ancient Corinth

I have felt an amazing sense of God's presence being over here (Albania/Greece). I feel like His loving hand has guided our every step on this trip. For those who have prayed for us... Thank you! 

Today we enjoyed our outdoor complementary breakfast and ordered one of those amazing waffles with bananas and carmel sauce topped with vanilla ice cream. 

After breakfast we decided to ask the hotel if their driver would take us to Ancient Corinth. They told us he would and he would also drive us first to the top of the hill where there was a 4th century B.C. castle we could hike up and take pictures and he would then drop us off in the town and pick us up later. 

As we started on the route we can see this massive hill with a little castle looking building on top. We drove until we got to the base of the castle and it was all walking from there. This castle is huge. The walls run for miles and there are secret places everywhere you turn. We didn't get all the way to the top of the castle but what we saw was amazing. Jake found a pretty creepy spider too. After our hike, the driver dropped us off at the Ancient Corinth museum. We decided to take pictures from outside and walk around the shops instead. An hour later we were all exhausted from the 100 degree weather and decided to go back to the hotel for a swim. 

By the way... in Greece there are noises you have never heard before. The trees sing all day long and we could never figure out what was making the noise. Kailee thinks it is the most annoying noise. I might have to agree because it never stops. But I'm a mom, I have learned to block things out when needed. ;) Well finally today we found out what these things look like. When we arrived at the shops the noise was so loud you just had to look around to figure out what was happening. I spotted something large hanging onto a fence and all of a sudden it shakes its butt and the noise was so intense (check out the pic). I took video but I can't upload video to the blog so you will just have to trust me. I haven't looked up their name yet but they are one crazy looking flying thing. 

The rest of the day we swam, layed out by the pool, played cards and some chess.  

I met a woman here named Renee. They live in Boston. She is Greek and her husband is American. As we hung out by the pool we were able to talk about why we were here, about Albania (Greeks don't like Albanians), and missions. She has helped us find things and order our dinner, we played it safe today: pizza and Caesar salad. She asked me if I could move anywhere, where would it be (strange question from someone I don't know)... my answer... Albania. She looked perplexed like she was thinking "why would anyone want to move to Albania". Today the girl at the pharmacy told us "we have never heard of someone vacationing in Albania". I then got to explain that we were not vacationing :) 

Greeks don't like Albanians because they work in Greece and give the money back to their own economy. I was thinking that is similar to our country. We have a lot of people who do that but nobody hates them for it. Maybe there is more to it. 

Tomorrow is another travel day over to the city of Marathon (closer to the airport).

Athens to Corinth

I feel like a nomad... A couple days here, a couple days there. I think relying on public transportation makes you feel slightly helpless. You are at the mercy of what people tell you and your best guess on where to go. I've always wanted to do something like this but it definitely is something to get used to. Most days are an uncomfortable adventure but an adventure none the less. I wouldn't have it any other way.

We are comfortable in Murrieta, we know every street and every back alley in the valley. Like I said before this trip has really caused us to trust in The Lord and not our own knowledge or know how. 

I still think about going back to Pogradec every day. I think I left part of my heart there. 

Today we left our Athens hotel and took a taxi to the bus station. Buses leave every hour and we arrived 10 minutes too late so we had to wait for the next bus. Four Americans in a foreign country must be a site to see because people stare at us like we are animals at the zoo. 

Our bus rides have always been exciting... are we going to make it to our destination alive? America would be a mess if we could drive like they drive over here. They are amazing drivers though. I have not seen an accident or even a scrape happen to another car since we have been here. And that's saying a lot. 

We made it to the bus station we thought we were supposed to get off at in Corinth and stood around in the middle of the city looking for the hotel taxi that was supposed to be here waiting for us. Jeff called the hotel and tried to figure out where we were. The taxi was at another stop he thought we would be dropped off at. After my clothes were drenched with sweat the taxi driver arrived and we piled into the car. As we drove to the hotel you would have thought there was no way we were going to any place good. We pulled into a dirt parking lot and crossed the street to a little brown door where we pushed a button and the door opened. The Enalio Suites is like a diamond in the rough. It is a little family owned hotel and it is awesome! Before we arrived I just kept telling the kids "it's an adventure!" 

After we got settled we were really hungry (it was already 2:30 pm) so we sat down at their little outside patio cafe and ordered some food. The food was simple but amazing! Kailee and Jake were so excited about their lunches (they had breakfast). After lunch we got our swimsuits on and layed out by the water and fell asleep on the loungers. 

Dinner was another story... there is nothing here. A couple private places to eat but all of them are houses with people just making food, nothing official (the pictures make it look amazing). The lady at the hotel said a couple places have really good food so we walked a couple houses down and took a seat at one of their tables right on the water. It's beautiful! There has been an ongoing joke that everywhere we go some of the options is Beef Steak and Pork Steak on the menu but everyone says no we have Pork Steak so the boys ordered that and Kailee ordered fried potatoes and I ordered fried zucchini and grilled veggies. Jeff and Jake had great pork but Kailee's food arrived and it was a plate of French fries and there was not much to be desired on my plate. "It's an adventure" I said. We laughed, payed the bill and walked back to the hotel. 

The rest of the night we sat outside on our balcony and played cards. In Albania we learned two new games... Mulan and King in the Hand (Old Maid). We haven't stopped playing them since. 

Kailee is still sick and we think Jeff is getting it too. We have run out of most vitamins we brought so we are heading to the pharmacy. :(