Catching up at last

So now that I've officially gotten married here in Blogsville, I'll finally finish catching up on my past photo postings and be ready to enter into the normal day to day excitement of life in Moscow. Ha ha ha. No, really, that was a VERY funny comment. You see, life in Moscow (Idaho that is) doesn't exactly have a lot of chills and thrills to report. It'll just be more about how exciting it is when someone has explosive, eh hem, issues in the bathroom that I get blessed to help clean up. Here I thought I'd given up on life as a maid after three miserable attempts in the past, but it seems there's always a chance that I'll be called back to the front lines or hygiene duty. But that's definitely enough of that.
After the wedding Mark's parents stayed with us for another week. While this sort of cancelled out the idea of a traditional honeymoon, it really did make the most sense. The week before the wedding was so hectic that about all I did was drive them to shopping malls while I got more work done. So after a night to ourselves we came back and were able to say goodbye to my family and spend some quality time with his.
We bandied about lots of ideas where we could take them, but in the end decided on a trip down the Pacific Coast. Funny that my parents and my sister Julie and her husband both had spent their honeymoons on this same stretch of highway.
I've always loved the Pacific Ocean, and it was great to be able to share it with my new family. We drove all the way from Lincoln City, Or to Crescent City, CA. We were actually there just a week before the Japan earthquake, which sent harbor destroying tsunami waves into the little town.
Everyone enjoyed time spent at the beach. One afternoon we were walking on a beach just south of town and we discovered dozens of complete sand dollars. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of them, but we collected over 30. We also spent a day visiting the Redwoods. Mark's dad is a big nature enthusiast, and really loved these massive trees. He was so cute using the new video camera we got for them, and trying to get quiet shots of the towering giants.


Our drive back up coastal HWY 101 took place on a day of insane weather. We had blue skies, rain, and, believe it or not, snow! I'd never seen snow falling on the ocean. It was fascinating, but made the drive a bit stressful as I was trying to be really good for my in-laws.
We made a stop at the Sea Lion Caves, just as my parents also did on their honeymoon trip back in 1962. After almost 50 years, I don't think the place had changed much. This was apparently a good time of year to visit, because during the winter they spend most of their time inside. There were over 200 stinky barking sea lions in the cave. It was definitely a memorable experience.


It was here that we watched the storm clouds sweep in, dropping a flurry of snowflakes right into the ocean. Just craziness.
After a lovely trip, we returned the Jindrich's to the airport and sent them back to Czech land. I'm so thankful that they were able to come here and experience this place. It helps everything seem more possible, somehow.
Mark and I did end up with a few days of honeymoon, again at the Oregon Coast. Thanks to my parents we got to stay in some really nice timeshare places right near the beach. Then we had a little while in McMinnville before heading back to Idaho to try out married life.
And here we are, pretty much caught up to the present. I just wanted to add one more thing here before I end my catch up posts. I finally had the chance to finish up a wedding blanket for my friend Laura and her husband Dan. Managed to get this one done before their two year anniversary, so that was good. It actually took me about three weeks to complete I think. I found the directions here and just had to adapt it a bit to my own desires. There was no explanation for how to attach the sunflowers together individually, so I just had to figure that bit out for myself, but I think it worked out pretty well in the end. When she opened the package, Laura was able to recognize that it was designed after her wedding. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.


Maybe some day I'll do a post of all my wedding/baby blanket projects. I've been trying to archive my pictures recently, and have found quite a few of my projects there. Could be interesting.
For now, however, it's time to relax a bit after a long day of work. Tomorrow we're off to Spokane, and hopefully we'll head out to Montana for the weekend, so I'm sure I'll be able to post fresh photos soon.

Oh Yeah, I Got Married...

Life changes some times in the most startling ways. Okay, it's not like I didn't see my wedding coming or anything like that, but in a sense, it still all took me by surprise. Some of the changes are subtle at first, but as time passes they become more obvious. When you're single for the first thirty years or your life, you tend to form some habits. Most of these habits have to do with the fact that you're responsibilities are few. I'm not talking about what you do for work, or what you have to do to survive or anything like that. Obviously, you could be single and still be doing something that requires you to act responsibly, like taking care of babies alone on a night shift. However, ultimately, you're only responsible for yourself. Your decisions are your own. You can go where you want, when you want (within reason of course.) Being in a relationship starts to change that gradually, but once you're married, it's a whole new ballgame.
I find myself now living a life in which I'm really not in control anymore. Not only is God in control, a fact which I've long had to wrestle with, but I have to think of someone else too. I can't just make up my own mind about what I'm going to do or where I'm going to go. I have to take into consideration the thoughts, feelings, and needs of someone else. And after thirty years of getting all set in my ways about how I want to do things, that's a pretty big adjustment. It would be great if I could say this is something that comes joyfully and easily to me, but that would be a lie. I can be pretty selfish when I get right down to it. I like to do things my own way, and when another person comes up with a whole new line of thoughts and opinions that aren't exactly in tune with my own? Well, I have to adjust.
Living cross culturally has often forced me to learn how to "be flexible." When I joined ESI (aka Teach Overseas) they pounded into my head the importance of living with ambiguity. It would appear that this is exactly what I've chosen as my life style. It should fit in rather well with the transient world I've called my home, but it still makes me stop and force myself to think on a regular basis. No more lackadaisical running around for me anymore. I'm a wife now.
That all being said, I'll jump right back into the big photo share I started working on lately. Along with the collision of friend worlds, I also was so happy to have my entire immediate family involved. To my knowledge, this was the first time all of my siblings, their spouses and their children have been in the same place at the same time, because the last big get together we had was before all the kids were born. So cool.






Sadly, not many people from Mark's family were able to come, but we were so thankful that it worked out for his parents to be there. His mom was really sick the week before they were supposed to fly, and since they're not used to flying, and don't speak any English at all, we were really afraid they wouldn't be able to make it, but thankfully God had other plans and knew just how important it was for them to be there with us.

Having these people, my friends and family, all together to celebrate was really such a miracle. Just look at how great they all looked :)



We also had the usual sorts of things like a cake that ended up a bit sad looking, but at least tasted good.

And these beautiful mints that my sister Janet made. They were just like the ones we had at her wedding only those were sea green and pink and there was such an overabundance that we had to freeze them and continued to eat them for years. She was much better at calculating this time around.

I had a lot more photos I thought about putting in, but for now I think this will have to suffice. It's at least enough to make it pretty obvious that a wedding did, indeed, take place. After years of being more than certain that it would never happen for me, having failed to get my MRS. while attending Simpson Bridal College (funny, they didn't give me my money back...) I at last have it in hand.

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.

Retail

When you work in a retail store there are certain things you have to do in order to keep your sanity. Today I spent about 6 hours hanging clothes. That's not normal. And it's not like they just come all ready to put on the hangers either. They're often wrapped in one or two plastic bags, and may even be hung on hangers that have to be thrown away because they don't conform to store standards. (Note: it is impossible to understand why people can't hang clothes back in the right place since they are all so clearly marked and organized. This could come under the heading of "rant" as well.) In order not to succumb to the monotony, or get positively irritated every time I stick a hard tack in my finger, I tell myself that processing clothes, or household items, is like Christmas.
I'm a bit of an odd duck and I've always loved opening plastic. I love the feeling of pulling off the crinkly clear coverings of CDs, DVDs, or anything else that is trapped inside the stuff. So I just try to convince myself that it's just as much fun to pull it off when I know it will be going to the home of someone I don't even know, as when it's coming home with me. Besides, I don't have any space of my own for more stuff anyway, so it's better to be able to find a little joy in these moments, rather than cluttering up my life any more than necessary.
Had a nice past week with my parents around. Kept us extra busy. Mark and I got a lot of painting done in my Dad's shop, so hopefully when they move back here in a couple of weeks it'll be more workable.
Now I'm just so thankful it's the weekend and that I'll finally have a chance to sleep in tomorrow. Rumor has it there will be sun and temperatures as high as the low 70's. I know that sounds rather tragic for the beginning of June, but in contrast to what it's been that's basically amazing. Here's to hope that it all turns out and manages to stick around for a while.
And now let us usher in the weekend together!

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.

The Year of trips with Laura

Okay, so it might be a slight overstatement so say that all my trips were with Laura, but most of them were, and she shows up a lot on my favorite pictures, so this is definitely a highlight of her.
It's been so much fun going over these past photos. Makes me want to go back and reread all my blogs. (They're a LOT more user friendly than my journals after all.) It was so hard to narrow down the photos for this post, because there are just so many that I absolutely love. I'll confess, this also is a bit of a poser post. There's no denying that I enjoy it. It's hard to explain why, considering the fact that I wouldn't generally consider myself even vaguely photogenic. There's just something about trying to capture the look of the moment that I can't resist.
I've been pretty remiss on posting photos of my actual life in Czech. Perhaps we'll get a post to close things off where I highlight that as well. But this time we're going to cover top trips of 2008/2009.
The first stop on our tour? Vienna, Austria where I got to rock it up with old Hong Kong friends from Memphis, Rebecca and Rachel. Funny where you find people, eh? Note: no pictures of Laura in this section...



Okay, so it might be a slight overstatement so say that all my trips were with Laura, but most of them were, and she shows up a lot on my favorite pictures, so this is definitely a highlight of her.
The trip was for over my birthday weekend. Nice to live in Czech where my birthday is a national holiday so I had three days to have the crash course tour. Check out my November posts if you want to see more.
My next stop on the tour was a whirlwind trip through the south central countries of Hungary and Slovakia, where, thanks to other ESI teachers, we were able to take in the sights of Budapest (where Laura and I were aided by Joanna)


where we learned that culture shock is still possible thanks to the fogadunks one can fall into when railway workers go on strike and pizza parlor workers think they can comment on your portion sizes.
Next up, a quick stop in Bratislava for a Christmas Eve celebration with other ESIers.

Since we were only there for one day we'll limit it to one picture.
After a brief stopover in Prague for Christmas with Kelly, we move right along with the tour to Florence, Italy. Trains are pretty fabulous, although chatty Naples guy didn't seem to get the fact that we were in a sleeper car for a reason...






Maybe I went a little overboard on the photo parade here, but it was sooooo hard to cut myself back. Seriously. Fabulous. Country. I'll never forget the time spent staring at the David. Not because he was a massive naked guy, but because of the incredible awe inspiring detail. To imagine some man looked at a big old slab of rock and was able to find a work of art inside. Truly astounding. Not a sight to be missed. Of course, it's also not a sight to be photographed, so you'll just have to put up with more pictures of me and Laura posing. I had a rather powerful influence on her as you can see :D
From Italy we scurry along to Berlin for a fabulous week long stay with Ben and Sarah. As a special note, it was during this week of trekking about the incredible city by myself, that I spent time trying to figure out just how life might be if I got to know Mark better. Never did I guess what was coming.





Did I mention how hard it was to narrow down my photo selections. And, well...um...just what a poser I've become? It can all be clearly evidenced here, even without my written description.
The next stop on this tour is Poland. This last excursion with Laura and our boss Kelly, was a quest for the marvelous pottery that is hand crafted there. We even rented a car for this trip. Seeing how much I love driving, and how living in Europe means very little opportunity for this pass time, I was overjoyed by the fact that neither of these lovely ladies know how to operate a standard transmission, thus making my driving skills essential.


Last but not least, I had the chance to travel to Nurnberg with Laura and her family when they came to visit. Being the most well traveled amongst us, and having been there at least twice before, I was in charge of making sure that everything went smoothly. Not to let this get to my little tour guide head, I naturally made a massive mistake that left us stranded in several wrong cities, only to have to take a very expensive taxi in the end. Not a mistake I'll make again let me tell you!

It's true what they say, Czech really is in the very heart of Europe. Making it an ideal starting off point for all your European travel dreams. If you want my advice, just go.