Fall fun

Thanksgiving is always a little different overseas. For one thing-no one has off on the Thursday or Friday so it is hard to do a meal on the Thursday. SO this year we went with Friday night-that way we did not have to rush or gorging on food! One nice thing about Brussels is that I was able to get everything I needed for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. One problem is that apartment fills us at about 6 and we were planning on 12 AND i do not have a real oven-just a toaster oven so that would make it impossible to cook a turkey! So we had the feast at my friend's Fiona and Rasmus. They have an amazing flat with lots of space and a huge table.

I went over about 12:30 and began the preparations. Fiona had already begun the decorations and they were gorgeous. We spent the afternoon, baking, cooking, chatting, looking at wedding photos! It was a fun afternoon. Then around 6:45 the guests started arriving. It was an interesting mix-of the 12 only 3 were america, and only 1 other had ever had thanksgiving. So it was fun to introduce them to the feast!! By the end everyone could barely move and had begun to sink into their turkey induced comas! here we are at the gorgeous table.

One of my favorite things about europe and Brussels are the Chrsitmas markets. Every year on the first week of advent the markets open up all over. Brussels has a really fun market with an ice skating rink and ferris wheel. So for part of church on Sunday our group decided to go ice skating. Here I am on the crowded rink. They do not have zambonies(not sure how to spell that) so the ice gets REALLY bad which makes it a fun challenge to stay on your feet:)

Here is a picture of the rink with the wheel in the back- and the market stalls are all around the rink. Again- anybody wanna come for a visit?:)

family comes to visita

Yes!! Mom, Dad, Wanda and Tori came for a 10 day visit this month!! Here they are as I found them when I got to the airport. Do you think they brought enough bags? most of them were for me!!:) I made the limo sign but they were already out when I got there.

We did a lot of traveling while they were here-on Sunday we went to Amsterdam to see Anne Frank's house, the canals and I think their favorite thing was the grocery store where they bought lots of stroop wafels and black licorice!

On Tuesday we went to a little town in Germany called Monschau. The joke the whole time we were there was that we were in Disney World. Euro's even began to be called Disney Dollars:) here we are in a cute little tea place where dad had the best Apple Streudel and we sang a few lines from Sound of Music:)

Friday we went to Paris overnight. The first thing we did upon arriving was to find the most amazing Fallafel place ever!! it was SO good we tried to go back the next day(saturday) but since it was in the Jewish Quarter it was closed. Glad we got it when we did-yummy!

Saturday we walked from the Louvre to the Arch de Triomphe-which has become a kind of tradition for when we go to Paris(isn't it nice to have traditions in Paris!!) Here are Mom and I on top of the Arch with the Eiffel tower in the back.

We also found this amazing cafe- thanks to the rick steeves book that Emi had given us- thanks Emi! We sat there for a while and enjoyed everything from our Croque monsieur's to our amazing ice cream desserts!

We finished off the trip with a day into brussels to get those last minute treats-waffles, frites, chocolates-yummy! here I am outside my apartment.

And now they have all left and my apartment is too quite so it is waiting for the next visitors-any takers??!!

Hen party in de Haan

So I have lived in Belgium for almost 2 years now but have never been to the coast.  I had heard wonderful things about "boardwalks, bikes, shops, sand" but had never experienced it for myself.  Well since my dear friend Fiona is getting married in 4 weeks time some of us decided to throw her a "hen party"- what is a hen party?  good question- it is the British version of a bachelorette party.  Usually you see them walking around town, wearing pink shirts with the soon to be brides picture on it, making her do crazy things.  Our hen party was a little more subdued.  Fiona had a meeting on Saturday morning so we didn't leave until about 1:30-when we headed to the coast.   That Fiona and I in the front and sarah and Christie in the back!

 We got there around 3, found a place to park and then hunted down the sand-it didn't take long to find- it was like 1 1/2 blocks away:)  we had packed a picnic lunch and so we laid our blankets on the sand and proceeded to dig in.  The only problem was that it was a bit windy but that did not stop us from enjoying the gorgeous sunshine! 

After we ate we went down to the water and stuck our feet in the water expecting it to be freezing cold- we were pleasantly surprised to find it actually warm!  

When our hair was sufficiently wind blown we headed off the beach in search of restrooms and a cafe for a hot drink.  We sat in a cafe and Fiona shared the stories of her past relationships(her frogs before the prince).  Then we walked a bit more down the boardwalk(not so much "board"walk as cement walk)  A kind random Flemish person took out picture.

Sarah- "walk in slow motion so I can get your pciture"

Us- "ok"

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Christie, me and Sarah

before we headed back to my place where we had a wonderful spread of baked goods, cheeses, hummus, chips and drinks!  We watched Father of the Bride(very appropriate), opened gifts, and tried to keep Christie awake:)  This was probably one of my favorite days in Belgium so far!

Grace and Wyldlife camp

As I ran/walked this morning in the forest near my flat I felt the worries, excitement, and details of the coming semester wash over me full force.  The overwhelming feeling that I got was one of heaviness.  The thought of being on staff here ALONE, of having to make ALL of the decisions, of feeling responsible for keeping up SO many relationships, of needing to raise A LOT of money to stay, of NOT being capable of any of the above-that is kind of how my thoughts roamed for a little bit.  Then it struck me- where am I putting God in all of this.  I am so quick to take responsibility for everything-which some might say is a good thing but in reality I am holding onto things that are not even mine to hold onto.  I am taking responsibility for things that God already has under control, for things he wants to take care of for me.  This led my thoughts to the word GRACE.  In my life it is something I am very free to hand out to others but I am not as willing to accept it. How often do I live outside of grace?  not because it is not available but because I CHOOSE to not to accept it.  So as I begin another school year in Brussels I am praying to live in the freedom of grace!

In other news:)  We went to Wyldlife camp last week and had such a great time.  Bonnie, a girl from Atlanta(woot! woot!) came along to check out Younglife in Brussels and to help.  Here is our group on dodgeball day-we were in England so we thought it appropriate to be Bobbies:)

 

Here we are after a water and flour fight the next day- I know it's hard to see but I DO have flour all over me- and all in my ear-it took a while to get it out!

The object of the game here was to put as many clothespins on the guys face as possible-We won!! 

Travel, visits, odd and ends

Yes-it has been a while but you are about to see why- I have been off working, traveling, visiting friends and family and all in all just living the crazy life I tend to live!
So first summer stop was Club Malibu- YoungLife's camp in British Columbia, Canada. It was awesome and here are a few pics of our head leader team. The first is us all smooshed into the "info booth." This is the place where at least one of us had to be for many hours each night in order to keep campers in camp- fun times!! The next is our version of the "family portrait" awkward style:)


After camp it was off the Seattle for a few days. My family was in Chicago for a family reunion so I needed to kill a few days til someone was in PA to pick me up from the airport. I got to hang out with Hannah-who was the hostess with the mostess and can get you around seattle like nobodies business!! Here are pics to prove I was there-first the space needle and then Julio, Hannah and I at Gasworks-cool story- when we had been in town earlier we had seen these people running with amazing race envelopes. And we were like- how cool they must be doing a local amazing race. So then we were out by gasworks later and right after we took this pic of us this team comes running towards us with the same envelopes but they had a different colored bandanas. And they were finishing the race-so we cheered them on!! and then talked to them of course. It was a church group and they had been doing it for like 5 days- all over the seattle area-and we were at the finish-pretty cool!

And what would summer be without a trip to the Shore?!!! So off we went at 6am on the 4th of July for a week of fun at the shore. The sisters got hardcore when the firemen gave us plastic hats-no one's messin' with us!

Here we are waiting outside Luigi's.

And some of us before the fireworks on the beach.

After I got back to Belgium my friend Matt came for a visit and we went off to Ireland to visit our friend Emma- here we are in Northern Ireland-rainy just the way it should be in Ireland!

Here are Matt and I at Giant's Causeway- Emma even told us the Irish tale of how it was created by the Giant Finn McCool! I mean how much better can you get-hearing the tale from an Irish lady, in an Irish accent, at the actual Causeway!

And then some of the reasons why it's great to be in Brussels in the summer. Were were sitting in Leuven and these "trash" costumes started walking around. And they would do crazy things. Like here they are standing in front of this truck so he can not get by. They then proceded to lie down in front of the truck and he ended up backing up and going the other way. Then they would walk up to people and lean on them while they walked and not let them go. One lady sat down and the soda can continued to lean over her shoulder. I don't know if they said anything but they were surely entertaining to those of us whom they weren't bothering! The one I didn't get a picture of was the cigarette butt!

Matt and I were out for a walk one night and we saw this coming down the path. A guy on a bicycle with a sofa hitched on the back and a guy sitting on the sofa. They were not out for a joy ride- but were moving furniture instead- it looked like hard work!(for the guy pedaling at least!)

The first video is from the Brussels Jazz Marathon. This was the stage on the Grand Place. I was sitting there and this lady was getting set up when a fairly drunk guy asked her to sing Amazing Grace and she sang a few bars- who'd have thought- in europe?!

This ones from National day in Brussels- I was with a bunch of friends and we got pitas and were sitting on the Grand Place near these (Again) pretty drunk people when this bagpiper man came by and they asked him to play. Well of course a crowd gathered and we ended up in the middle of them!

This is in Leuven- Matt and I were sitting at a cafe having a tea-you just never know what you're going to get in Belgium!

Daughter of a Farmer

On more than one occasion I have been told, "you are the smartest person I know." I find this slightly scary- 1-because I don't feel all that intelligent. I mean high school and college were easy for me but that is thanks to a very good memory and NOT anything I ever did and 2-If I am the smartest person they know I think we are all in trouble cuz there's a LOT I don't know.
My friend Janet is one of those people who has been awed and amazed by my knowledge:) on more than one occasion. So one day she asked me why I know so much(mostly about pretty random stuff) and I told her it's because my dad was a farmer. I mean farmers have to know a LOT of stuff. They have to know math-so they can run their business. They have to know all kinds of sciences so they can grow whatever it is they are growing. They have to be historians- so they know when to plant things or do certain things. I think the biggest thing though is they have to be good engineers because something is always breaking down and there isn't money to buy a new one or have someone else fix it.
I think I have inherited this last trait from my parents- this idea that if you can fix it yourself you don't throw it away-even if every other person on the planet would! Take for instance my computer. It is something I use pretty much every day for work. Not that I love the computer-it is just a necessary evil. So my computer has been having problems for about 1 1/2 years now. It is super slow and if you are impatient and hit more than one button at a time it will totally freeze up and requires trying to get it to shut down in order to wait the 10 minutes it will take to reboot! I have had Mike, my bro-in-law, wipe it clean and reinstall everything twice. Then while we were away in Macedonia it decided it had enough and died again. So I set out to make things right and did my own reinstall(luckily I had seen the writing on the wall in March and backed up all my documents!). My boss Paul- has been laughing at me for the past few weeks- telling me to let it die-to take it out back and shoot it if I need to:) But I am confident that it will last at least until I come to the states for the summer!
So the other day I noticed that my watch band was starting to crack(it is made out of this plastic stuff) and i thought- oh no! I love this watch and I don't want to have to buy a new one. Then the little strap thing that you put the band in once it is through the latch ripped off on Saturday. Now most of you would -as Paul says-let that watch die -but NOT me! I went to the hardware store and bought some electrical tape.
So I showed up at the office today with my 2 different colors of electrical tape(the packet came with 3 colors but I didn't think red would go with the orange band). And I asked Paul which color he thought would go best for fixing it-white or black. His response was- what are you using it for? And when I told him my master plan of restoring my orange watchband to mint condition with black electrical tape he just laughed and said- you are the daughter of a farmer:) and I love it-I am and I am proud of it!!

Mack-edonia!!!

Well the return from Mack-edonia has been a bit crazy- my computer had died in my absence and so I have spent the last few days just trying to get it to do certain things. I have been able to get it somewhat working minus a few things(like sound) but for now it will do. I think this is the 3rd time in the past year it has completely died-what fun!

So Macedonia-amazing, incredible, a blast!!! We left my apartment at 5am on the 11th. Drove to a students house whose parents drove us to the airport. We met everyone there and got on a plane for Sofia, Bulgaria. I pity the poor other people on the plane but we were relatively quiet for the first hour(most sleeping!). Here we are in the Sofia airport grabbing our bags.

Then we loaded a bus. We were told the driving time was between 3-4 hours but because of border crossing it could take up to 7 hours. Little did we know!! The drive was more like 7 hours PLUS boarder crossing. So it ended us taking us 10 hours! The best part was when we entered macedonia. They made us all get out of the bus with ALL of our stuff. We even had to pull our bags off from under the bus. We put them on these tables and then had to stand behind them. Then they brought the drug dogs and went in the bus and under the bus and to every bag! Fun times:) So that took another 2 hours-arrggg. But we finally got to the place we were staying at 1030PM. We slept and the next day just had a fun day. Here is my cabin-Hot Stuff '09!!

Here we are after the "snowball" fight(really stockings filled with flour)

Monday we got to work building a playground, fixing fencing, building benches and painting murals. Here is the yard before our hanywork.

Here we are installing benches. Yes that's me with the level in my hand. Oh the things I have learned to do on these trips!! Anybody want me to build their house?:)

Here we are on the finished product at the end of the week!

Oh yeah- on the 2nd day the camera guy showed up and said he had walked from another work site. There is something you should know- usually our sites are hours away from each other but apparently this year there was a work site within walking distance!! This was exciting new to me:) and not for the kindest of reasons! So this thought comes into my head- we should attack them!! So I put Paul and some of the guys on the task of recon and attack plans. Wednesday they headed over to the other site(in stealth mode of course) to see where the best points of attack were. They divided us up into teams and thursday we set out to attack with water balloons in hand. It was a blast but did get a little foiled when their site leaders freaked out a bit. Here are the girls- amo in hand.

We had translators that traveled with us and were on our site each day. Geri(on the left) was with us last year in Blugaria too so it was fun to see here again. Mikael was new but so much fun. They actually fought over who would get to come with Brussels each day:) YES -we are that much fun:)

So many stories to tell. But they will have to come another time- the sun is shining and it is calling my name!!

Happy days

Spring is upon us here in Brussels. We had a string of 8 sunny days a few weeks ago and we have had sun 6 out of the last 7 days! There is not much that is cheaper in Belgium than in the US. Flowers is the one thing I have found that is! So 2 weeks ago I treated myself to 10 euros worth of flowers(that's about $13.50) for those not up on the current exchange rates. Here is what I got! 60 roses(5 dozen!!!) 20 red, 20 white and 20 orange. I was so caught up in the thrill of getting them that I didn't realize until I was home that I didn't have any vases! So I played Magyver and used a crock that I had. I had to cut the stems somewhat to get them to fit but here they are. This was before they really opened up so you can just imagine!

Here are a few pics from recent travels. A few weeks back some ladies from Brussels went to London for a few days. Here are a few of us in front of Big Ben and the London Eye. It was such a fun weekend. All the other women had left there husbands and 3 kids(yes all 5 women have the same number of kids). It was so great to just laugh and play. We even went to see wicked and it was SO great! Go see it if you get the chance.

My friend Angie came to visit me for a week so we went to Paris for an overnight trip. Here we are taking our own picture in front of the Louvre.

After church Sunday while we were walking to go get something to eat they were having some kind of remembrance thing so they set the wooden word "l'innovation" on fire. It is always amazing the things you run into around town.

The problem with breaking your arm in Europe!

I hear people say all the time about how much they love the USA because everything is "easier." And to be honest it is-I mean drive thru's, bulk food shops, stores that are open on Sundays, stores where you can buy more than one type of thing(ie food AND clothing!!)- but to be honest up until now those have been some of the reasons i have loved living in europe. With a broken arm, however, i am missing a few of the "easy" things about the states:

1. Dishwashers- oh the joy of being able to stick those dirty dishes in that machine and let it go after the grime! I was getting so sick of my dishes on Monday that i washed them one handed-try it sometime-its not fun. it took me an hour to wash about 5 bowls, 3 plates and some silverwear. Tuesday night my awesome friend Fiona came and washed my new dirty dishes!! Love you fiona!!

2. Dryers-Haven't had one of those for over 3 years either. wouldn't it be great to throw your clean clothes into a machine and have them come out dry? No- i have been trying to hang them on the rack i have and then once they are dry i cant really fold with one hand so most of my clothes are just in little piles in my closet:) don't look!!

3. Automatic cars-most people in the states have automatic cars so that if you have a broken arm you can still drive with the other one. Not so here in europe-most cars are stick. Which means if one of your arms can't be used you can't really drive-lucky for me Paul has an automatic car so we have swapped for now!

I may add to this list but for now that is all i can handle typing one handed:)!

Garmish adventure/broken bones!!

ok so most of you know by now that while driving to Garmish, Germany to go snowboarding we were involved in a pretty serious car wreck. Thankfully most of the people involved only had very minor injuries but one of the students, Maria, broke her back and had to have surgery and i broke my wrist and had to have surgery. The whole thing was pretty surreal and i think we are all still processing through it. There were some pretty funny moments in it too-like when Paul thought I was bleeding to death cuz of a pool of "blood" by my feet. We found out later it was some fluid from the car but the look on his face was pretty priceless!! We got to meet a lot of great Germans along the way-and so many spoke english which was super! We had the accident in a little town-Fussen- and then headed to Garmish the next day. They are used to broken bones there since it is a ski resort town so i figured it was a great place to have my surgery. I went in last Sunday and they put in a t-plate and seven screws(at least that's what they told me they were going to do-i never saw the after x-rays).
This is us on the way down-before the accident- at a Burger King stop.

This is the morning after the accident. We only had about 40 miles to get to Garmish but because of traffic it took us about 6 hours!!

That same evening showing off my German cast and the facial scratches from the airbag-that thing was powerful!!

Sunday evening after the surgery. The doctors were trying to hold me captive in the hospital but my wonderful friends came and broke me out so I could go back to the hotel with them. When they did the surgery they put a tube in to drain blood-So yes- I am holding a container of blood in my hand

This is Monday morning-we dropped the rest of the group off at the slopes on the way to the hospital to get my tube taken out and cast on. Just showing off my blood again! Lizzy says-yuk!!

This is my arm today. The "cast" they gave me is just one of those wrist guards you would wear skateboaring so I can take it off which is nice when it itches.

and here's a little closer up.

so there you go. I am typing this one handed so sorry for the lack of details.

Traveled much lately?

So last weekend the middle school basketball team I help coach played in Bonn, Germany. My boss was also in town from the states so I decided to drive so that I could get back to Brussels earlier. As I was driving I was reminded of a previous road trip to Germany where we were making a joke about how all roads in Germany lead to "Ausfahrt." On that trip we had traveled about 5 hours when one of the people in the car-I won't mention names KATE- was like- yeah they really do- what's up with that? So to let you in on something - the word for EXIT in German is AUSFAHRT- so yes all roads really do lead there:)
Remember how when you were younger and you went on a road trip it was fun to stop at the state lines and get your picture taken with the state sign? You'd think it might be even more exciting to get your picture taken when entering a new country-right?!! well here is a picture of the sign that tells you that you have entered Belgium. Pretty anti-climactic!!!

SO tomorrow I am off the Germany with some students to go snowboarding in the Alps- pretty fun. Since I don't ski or board it should be pretty interesting. I will take lots of pics and try to come back with all my bones in one piece!