Blast From the College Dayz

It's September and school is back in session pretty all over the place. Every day on my way in to work I pass through the city of Newberg, home of George Fox University. As I watch the signs welcoming back the students, it has me remembering my college days. Those epic moments like the ice breaker get to know your new classmate games where they throw all your shoes in a pile and you freak out because you're not wearing cheap flip flops, but instead your expensive sandals that you can't possibly live without, so you make a new best friend as you bond to protect shoes that matter.
Then there's the classic car memories. When I was a freshman I was blessed by my oldest sister and her husband giving me their old 1981 Mercury Cougar. They had inherited it from his grandma. Yup, cool like a grandma even back then. Of course, the best thing was when said car would die at the school entrance, leaving me to embarrassingly wave the traffic around.

So I dug around through some old photo albums tonight and retook a few photos to help relive those epic college days and all their glory.

From freshman year we have a couple classics. What college experience would be complete without a dorm room. Naturally, it's important to be sure to decorate...

Somehow I didn't get the shot of my classic room set up, but this shows how many people we liked to squeeze in for the evening.
Then there were those random trips where we dressed up and took photos, just because we thought we were cool like that.

Not to mention the, we go to a Christian school where the girls outnumber the boys by, well, a lot, so we throw all single girls Valentine's dinner parties.

Sophomore year I lived off campus, which meant we got some really classy furniture like this papasan couch...

It's getting late and I'm a bit distracted so I'll just toss up a few more epic pictures from back in the day for kicks.

Yeah, those were the days...

What a Wonderful Weekend With the Wendels!

Subtitle: The joys of Great Coffee and Cuddles with Cuties :) After three years (hard to believe it could possibly have been so long ago) I finally had a chance to visit with the Wendel family again. They had to move back to the US for a while, so I missed out on seeing them my last year here, but they have been back in Czech since early summer or so last year, and were good and prepared for visitors. The fat squishy baby I enjoyed cuddling with the last time I hung out with them now prefers sword fighting and keeping his toys away from his younger sister. He has been replaced as the baby times two, but maintains the opinion that he should still have his fair share of time in center of attention land. I headed out of Marianske Lazne on Friday morning, and enjoyed the nice long train ride. There is just something about the train that speaks of foreign lands and promises of interesting sights to me. I must confess, I'm reading Anne of Avonlea right now and it has definitely affected me to a certain extent. I'll have to watch that I don't get too flowery as I work on my book editing process. I'll just have to leave it for the blog. Anyhow, my heart has been craving artsy-ness, and the train provided me some chances to play.

I arrived in Ceske Budejovice with no problems, and was happy to meet with my fabulous family of friends once again. There are now six children in their family: Erica 8, Claire 7, Elisha almost 6, Gavin 4, Adelaide 1 1/2, and Jonas 7 months. Yes, that spells busy. The oldest two girls are in Czech school for part of the day now, so they were there at the station with their dad to pick me up. We headed back to the house where I was instantly greeted by little Adelaide. Can we say, spunky? That girl's got plenty of sparkle, and was eager to have someone new to tote her around and do her bidding. I was instantly smitten.

And then there was the sweet squishy baby Jonas. Seriously, so sweet. While he did have a propensity for regurgitation, I was more than willing to sacrifice a sweater or two to the laundry.

Gavin the Brave (better known by his chosen name of Darth Vader) is also quite a little poser. He was more than happy to smile for the camera. Just don't let little sister touch his dinosaurs or his swords or try to join in the game :)

Claire was shy, and all the pictures I tried to get of her ended up blurry, and Elisha was sick quite a bit, so he wasn't around a whole lot. It's amazing how when you just go for a normal visit it's easy to miss out on photo ops, but I did get at least one of Erica working on her Mario game. She's quite obsessed with Mario, and created 9 levels of Mario world. She and I played her game at least 4 times. Let me tell you, games created by 8 year olds are pretty fascinating :)

This was taken on my last morning there, when the girls were already at school, but I got the rest of the crew in it.

Besides all the great kid time, I also really enjoyed having the chance to visit with Cari and Steve. They're just so great and relaxed. It might seem hard to imagine how hanging out in a little house with 6 kids could be relaxing, but their parenting style is just so easy in a comforting kind of way. Sure, there was occasional screaming, not to mention a little whining, and a dose of instigation, but there was no animosity in any of the interactions. It was great to share about my mixed cultural life, and to learn about the ups and downs of their ministry and life in the Czech Republic as well. Just all kinds of blessings. Not to mention the amazing coffee. Wow. Big shout out of thanks for that one. I've been drinking lots of instant cappuccinos around here, and they just don't compare. (sigh) The time flew by quickly. The kids usually started waking up around 5 AM, which meant they went to bed around 7:30 or 8, leaving me with plenty of time to catch up on some movies in the evening. I got a few phone calls in with Marek, who stayed home to work. While I think the kids might have thought I was there forever, it was over before I knew it, and I was headed back to the station for my return trip. I had about 25 minutes to wait for my train, so I did a quick spin through the nearby part of the city. I only breezed in and out of H & M and didn't quite make it all the way to the old Square, but I got in a couple pictures just to make sure it looked like I was traveling in Czech and not just hanging out in America with an American family.

I had to rush to get back to the train, and somewhere in all of that rush, I had a little mishap. There are many things I love about the Czech Republic. Obviously, I'm quite attached to it's citizens, but there are somethings that just don't compute to my American way of thinking. In the process of walking to the train, my backpack came open. I have no idea when or how, but I do tend to cram it pretty full. When I set it down on the train seat things were about ready to fall out, and I discovered that my little gray Roxy jacket was gone. The entire time I was walking there were people all around me, but no one thought to point out that my bag was open, or to pick up my jacket and hand it to me when it fell out. There was no time to go back and look for it, so I just had to remind myself that it was just a thing, and that I have more than plenty of jackets in my closet to make up for it. (sigh) But I really liked that little jacket, and it did make me sad and frustrated that people here can be so self focused and uncaring. (bigger sigh) Thanks to the lunch and dinner prayers of Elisha, my trip home went well. There was the part where I was delayed for an hour due to electrical difficulties, but at least they noticed there was a problem, and we didn't get into any sort of accident. I made sure to get in a couple shots of Hluboka as we rushed past. It's a really beautiful castle, and there is a great view from the train. Too bad they aren't clearer, but you can at least get a feel.

These next shots are just random ones along the way that I thought turned out rather nicely. They show that bit about how you're just going along and, Whoop!, there's a castle or cathedral, or something cool.

The next one is thanks to the train delay right outside of Plzen.

And last, but certainly not least, I have always enjoyed the view of Stribro when traveling past, whether by train or bus, but have never captured it. At the beginning of this post you can see one blurry shot where I made an attempt, but on the way back I got this little beauty. No filter or doctoring done on this one. It is just purely the effect of a dirty train window on the move.

So, as promised, a healthy dose of pictures and plenty of cuddly baby fun.

The Ways of Our Lives

It is so interesting to see the way that things play out for different people. None of us have the same life to live. Whether you believe we were all born for a specific destiny, or that life is a set of chances, predestined or just random, the truth is, no one can say what is going to come in the future. Sure, there are plenty of people who try, but there is no way to predict what is to come. In all my wildest, craziest dreams, I never would have imagined myself married to a younger Czech man. I always wanted to travel, but had no clue that I would end up with passports stamped in so many different lands, and a family stretched over continents. But here I am, and this is the world that I inhabit. Over the past couple of days I had the opportunity to visit with a couple of American friends. One of them has come to the point that Czech is so much her home that she has no desire to return to America at all. Visiting family is fine, but Czech is the place she has set down her roots. The second girl also married a Czech man, and currently lives in a small, remote Czech village with her husband and baby girl. I am sure that neither one of them ever thought their lives would become so centrailzed on a country so far away from their beginnings. As a new year is about to begin, it's always tempting to start making resolutions and plans and trying to figure out what the next year is going to hold. There are those certain this year is going to be the last one for all of us, but they thought that right before the year 2000 as well, and look at how many people are left with rusty generators, and cans of food they have no desire to ever eat. Life is unpredictable. That's just the nature of things. There are always things in life I would like to change. There are personal things, and societal things, and so many things in between. 2012 is going to be another year of fresh starts and new beginnings. I have no idea how it will start, and even less of an idea how it will end. Sometimes my life feels mundane to me. If not predictable, it is at least some sort of normal. Regardless of the fact that I live a life quite unlike anything I ever dreamed that it would be, it is just the life I live. I think the main thing I need to remember that each day, whether full of new adventures, or spent in quiet repose, is a gift. That day will never return. I hope that in the next year I will take more advantage in that truth. I might not have the chance, or the financial means, to run all over the place, but I want to appreciate the days that I am given, and really live in the year to come.

HK in PDX

Well, I've managed to get in a few minutes of time all alone. Mark is watching Czech TV, my parents are napping, and Julie took the kids to the pool. Seeing as how I'm allergic to chlorine, I only like to go swimming if it's REALLY hot or I'm in the mood. By the time they got out it was so late that paying just didn't seem worth it. It's about 80 degrees (hallelujah at last!) but according to my phone (which supposedly knows all since it's smart) it's going to be in the 90's next week, and I'd rather save my swimming time for days when I really need to beat the heat.
Last weekend I had the amazing chance to catch up with some of my old HK friends. There have been a few transplants to the Portland area, and our friend Ann, who I met up with in Prague shortly before heading stateside, was here on a business kind of trip, so I decided I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to see everyone. Nothing like a nice long road trip to help me mellow out and process life. I was pretty ready to arrive after 7 1/2 hours of driving, but for the most part, I just enjoyed having the time to watch the world fly by and to think about this period in my life, at least when I wasn't singing at the top of my lungs. It's so different traveling alone than it is when you have a passenger. Don't get me wrong, I totally love having the company, and would have been happy to take Mark with me, but he had work he needed to do in a nice quiet house, and so it was just me and the road this time around.
I actually stayed at Jessie's house, which was also lovely. Nice to catch up and see how much her little beauty is growing. Hard to believe she's two and a half already. They grow up so fast. I was also there on Sunday and got to celebrate Father's Day with their family. I didn't feel like I was letting my dad down too much since I'd been up to visit him just the weekend before. It was just nice to have a sort of family time on the day.
Anyhow, on Saturday I got to go and see some other transplants. It was so great to have a chance to be around other people dealing with crossing cultures. One of my friends is currently feeling a little stranded as his wife was detained in Canada and not allowed to continue back to where they're living in Portland. She's Canadian, and they're making them jump through all sorts of hoops in order for her to return to the US. Not fun. In the meantime, it's their two year old who has to deal with all the complications. So frustrating, but he's super cute and it was great to meet little Ethan who was born after I was back in the US.
It's always so surreal to run into people in different countries, out of context with how you originally knew them. I've now spent time with Ann on three continents. How crazy is that? Next time I'm probably going to have to visit her in Australia.
In the afternoon we spent some time looking around Saturday Market. There were various and sundry people wandering around down there. Lots of costumes, including people with tails or furry ears or even wings. Hmmm... But in the midst of the crazies we did find an amazing little Vietnamese restaurant that served some of the best bubble tea I've ever had. While most places provide flavoring in the form of a sugary artificially flavored syrup, this place clearly used real fruit. While it might have only been canned fruit, it was still positively delicious. Yeah for Bubble Tea!


We really made quite a day of it, just wandering around and exploring different things in Portland. We hung out at a mall for a while, and then went to a Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Sadly, my Love is not the biggest fan of Mexican food ever, so I was glad he didn't have to feel miserable as I enjoyed both the flavor, and the messy, gooey, drippy juice that ran down my hands. Okay, so maybe I don't really enjoy being a soggy mess, but you just can't eat tacos with a fork. Totally doesn't work.
Next stop on our list: Voodoo Doughnuts. Apparently this place is legendary. In truth, I'd never even heard of it. But they'd been talking about it all day, so I definitely wanted to give it a try.
The place really is pretty cool. There was a line that twisted through the store and was backed up out the door, despite the fact that it was after 11 PM. It's an all night store, and apparently is always crowded. Going slowly through the line gave us plenty of time to contemplate the bizarre doughnuts and the fascinating decorations.



If you want a large order for a party you can get them delivered in a coffin box. Seriously, how cool is that?

According to the signs on the wall, they even do weddings. Too bad I didn't know that a few months sooner.
After finally making it through the serpentine, we sat on this coffin bench

and enjoyed our Voodoo Dozen.

Thirteen doughnuts that were chosen for us. No worries, we didn't just sit there and eat all thirteen. We just split a few for sampling purposes before heading back to Brooke and Ephraim's place. It was a bit late and they convinced me to stay the night rather than risking an exhausted drive back to Salem.
Everything worked out for the best, and I just had a glorious weekend. Probably can't afford any travels like that again for a bit, but it was great to see old friends and just get out and move around a bit. Now time to enjoy more fun with the nieces.

Six Months Stateside

I think I've been living in some strange time vacuum. In some ways, it's hard to even fathom life back in Czech. It's such a different world from the one I now in habit that it's difficult to compare time here with time there. On the other hand, I find myself wondering just what exactly I've done for the past six months. Sure, there was the whole wedding business, then the job search, and all that time spent just trying to figure out where I'm at and how my new life is going to look. There has been culture shock, and being a wife shock, and a boundless number of questions about where and when and how. I'm still reeling, trying to figure it all out. I'm ready, just not sure exactly what it is I'm ready for.
In about two weeks my parents will be moving back here to their home, and then it'll be yet another time of transition. I must confess I'm beyond ready to have space that I can really call my own. I love decorating, settling in, putting everything into it's place, and I haven't really been able to do that, well, for about three years now. I put my special spin on the Skalka flat, but the city center flat in Cheb was so fresh and new that there wasn't a whole lot we could do to really decorate. I had a cork board of photos, and a little window sill full of nick-knacks from around Europe, but it's not the same as really claiming space and making it my own.
I have some things hanging in a closet, a few things in drawers, but even the majority of my clothes are in big plastic bins or a trash bag shoved in the bottom of a closet. Not exactly homey, if you know what I mean. My parents house is just beyond full of their things and spill over from my grandparents, not to mention all that stuff of mine that sits around in boxes collecting dust. It's not that I don't want to have it out where I can enjoy it, there just isn't any space, and out time here is always a question mark.
Anyhow, the point of my post is actually supposed to be a bit of a review. I think I set out more than thirty photos, so I might have to make this one a double in order to prevent an overload. I guess the wedding can have it's own post. Hard to believe it's already been three months since then as well. Did I mention time warp?
So here are a smattering of photos to represent time that has passed.
Okay, so I thought I had actually put in some pictures from before the wedding, but then realized I didn't have anything very interesting to show from before that time, so we'll get right into it. Planning a wedding in three months is a bit crazy. It can totally be done, but there were several things that complicated it. One, we were living in Moscow, ID and planning the wedding in Blodgett, OR. Not really all that practical. Second, it was pretty much all up to me because it was in my part of the world, the people attending were my family and friends, it was basically my day, rather than being a celebration combining our two worlds. I was disappointed that it had to be this way, but it was either here or there, and whichever location we chose one side would have been totally empty.
I know that for my sweet shy husband, of whom there will be very few photos because he prefers not to be pictured, it was all overwhelming and insane. He would have preferred a private ceremony with fewer than twenty people (a number so small that it would not even encompass my immediate family comfortably) which is more in keeping with Czech tradition. I, on the other hand, had been dreaming of my wedding being a grand event for as long as I could remember. I wasn't one of those girls who had already planned everything out, but I wanted to be able to invite all the people I could think of. My guest list spanned the world, literally. Obviously, I knew that not everyone would be able to make it, especially on such short notice, but I was blessed to have a combination of my worlds collide for one special day. Of course, it's always a bit crazy at weddings, so I wasn't able to give them each the devoted time I would have liked, but it was still just amazing to have my family and friends from every stage of my life present to witness my entry into marriage.


Bowen Girls Unite! We had a little mini Mother's Choice reunion. While several other HK friends have settled in Portland recently, none of them were able to make it, but Malin flew in from Sweden, and Rachel came with her daughter Lizzy from Memphis.
Some how I didn't end up with any photos to prove it, but two of my friends from elementary school, Savana and her mom, Diane, and Nicole and her husband BJ were also there. There were people from all three of the churches I grew up in as well as Laura and Kelly who I served with in the Czech Republic.

I'm going to cut this post short for now. I suppose this will suffice to at least get things started and maybe I'll have a chance to finish it up tomorrow.

Chebicek :)

So Cheb doesn't exactly have the best name in the Czech Republic. It's a border town. When "freedom" came, naturally quite a lot of garbage came with it, and there are shady businesses with a strong foothold in the town. But there is also an ancient history and a collection of beautiful ancient buildings. I've got a number of past posts that go into issues about the town and the culture that is amassed there. No doubt plenty of pictures litter the pages of this blog as well, but, in the name of preserving the past, I thought it only right to write a little tribute to Chebicku where I spent three years of my life. From the ancient square with it's charming cluster of "bizarre" buildings known as Spalicek, to the spires of St Mikolas cathedral and peaceful monastery gardens, down to the ancient castle and the peaceful river walk, Cheb has a lot to give beyond those shady issues.





I'll let you try to match up which pictures go with which titles above. I've had trouble getting them to download in the order I want them if I don't put them in one at a time, which is a bit of a time waster, so it can be a matching exercise instead.
I won't take the time to put in pictures of all the amazing people that I got to work with, the staff and students that made it such a joy to be there, but I'll share a few of the blessed faces of those I was privileged to celebrate life together with during my time in Cheb. I explored these city streets for many hours with these ladies and I thank them all for the conversations we shared in this special little Czech town.





I think this is where I'll end my little trip down memory lane. All the posts from my last year in Czech are still pretty fresh and easy to review if people are interested. Now I guess this means I'll have to get back to posting about the present or something crazy like that. It's been good for me to reminisce, and I hope you've all enjoyed it as well. While living in the past isn't a healthy life choice on a daily basis, there is beauty in reliving the moments that make life unique and special. And it is always good to pay tribute to those who have brought joy to those moments as well. With one last pose the transient drifter will now transition back to the recent past.