Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Place Wiener & Wyldlife

I have not put any Wyldlife Photos on here yet because I have not gotten any good ones:) I am usually either in the midst of the chaos or organzing it so I gave my camera to one of the moms last time and got a few pictures. This is the room where we have Club. Behind where all the kids are standing is a little cafe area where we eat before we start. And behind where the camera person is standing is a small stage where we do our skits.


Place Wiener is the square that I live off of. So the other week I took a few pictures of my little part of town. This is the street that I live on- this is the walk up the street that I get to take most every day- not bad huh!? My house is not brick- I am sad- but I am surrounded by the beautiful red brick that is so common here.

this is a picture of my Tram- the 94 tram that is. This is what I take to get to the Metro. I ride about 4 stops on this and then get on the underground metro. I LOVE public transport so that fact that I can pretty much get it right outside my front door thrills me to no end!

This picture is taken from the metro stop and looking toward mt street. My street is just behind the "smart car"-between the white and brick building. That brick building is home to an awesome italian restaraunt called Via Rome- mmm magnific!! The white building is home to the GB which is a small convenience store. This is my friend on Sunday's because it is one of the only things open. The problem is that means it is closed on tuesday's and when I forget that it really stinks!

So I LOVE living where I do- I can walk to restaraunts, the small grocery store, the tram, the bank, the office and pretty much anything else I need.

But it is also nice to have a car!! yeah for wheels finally! I use that to get to the gym and to one of the schools where we do a lot of ministry. It's also nice to be able to go to a real grocery store every once in a while and get everything I need. My station wagon is great! Here is the spectacular mom mobile!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Is February really almost gone?

I know! I know! it has been a month- but really? How often do the rest of you actually update your blog? That's what I'm talking about!! So i am including a variety of pictures here- starting with my apartment. Here is my living room with my stuff all in it- I have actually rearranged
since taking this picture but you get the idea.


Here's my kitchen- again I have gotten a few more pices of furntire in here(so the micorwave is no longer on the floor-yippee) but you get the idea! Yes- those of you who sent me christmas pictures you have made the refridgerator and those that didn't- there is still time so send em in!


These are some pictures of the fun I have been up to lately. Last month at church I met some great girls from England and the next weekend they invited me and Liesl over to celebrate "fat tuesday" on Sunday. Here are Joanna and Fiona in their kitchen cooking us up some pancakes!! the next picture is from a day trip Liesl, Janet and I took to Amsterdam. We went for a few hours, got to see Ann Frank's house and ate some lunch. It is a beautiful city!
This past weekend the middle school basketball team I help coach went to Bonn, Germany to play against a school there. Here we are hanging out, waiting for our game to start. We won all the games that weekend so it was a lot of fun.


Monday's are our day off here in Brussels. Up to this point I have mostly slept and hung out around home on those days- trying to get things organized. This week I decided to go explore the city a little more. Liesl and I headed across town to the Atomium which was built in 1958 for the world's fair. It's a pretty cool "building" to look at. We did not go in it because I figured mom and dad might want to do that when they come and I wanted to save a little fun for them! But i took some cool pictures. You can go into each one of the "balls" and walk from one to the next-pretty cool! sorry the picture is on it's side but again- you get the idea!

Hope that gives you a small glimpse into the past month. This week is a bit crazy with service projects, club and leadership. It seems that time is at a full out sprint and I am trying to keep up. The days are getting longer which is wonderful and people are starting to come out of hybernation. I can not wait to see what this place looks like in the spring!

Monday, January 21, 2008

ASC 2008

So every 4 years Young Life has an All Staff Conference-which means that all the staff from around the world get together for a week of fun. There are only 3 places in the US that have hotels big enough for us and lucky for me one of them is in Orlando Florida! So right after my family vacation to Florida they dropped me off at the Marriott World Center in Orlando where I spent the next week hearing amazing YL stories, catching up with friends, relaxing by the pool, and just having an incredible time. YL is awesome for putting this on- we are given the 1st class treatment!

The first 3 days were just International Staff. My favorite part was hearing the stories from around the world. There is so much happening and it's hard not to get caught up in your own little "bubble" and not look outside of it. At the end of those three days we had and afternoon and evening off to do whatever. Since we had some days left on our disney pass Jessica and I decided to go and see how the Magic Kingdom and MGM were doing without us. Here are pictures of us on the the Rock 'n Rollercoaster and in front of Cinderella's castle.



Then all the staff from around the US joined us in Orlando-there were over 3900 of us there-pretty crazy! There were awesome speakers and classes we went to and they brought in lots of fun surprises for us. One of the surprises was a Jars of Clay concert. Here are Jessica, Tiffany and I jammin' at the concert.

Nicole C Mullen was another suprise- she was amazing- nothing like hearing "my reedemer lives" sung live! The last night Jack Hanna was there and brought some craqzy animals out for us-including a python which led to some crazy laughs- wish I could have gotten it on video cuz you can't script what the animals will do!

The last night they also had a really nice dinner for us and we got all decked out. At first I was quite annoyed that we had to get dressed up- it is not my favorite thing. But it ended up being a lot of fun. The African contingent taught us a new song and got us all up and dancing and waving our napkins!

It really was an awesome week- I have not laughed so hard in a long time and it was so much fun to share the whole exprience with all those people.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Disney 07-08

So for those of you that know or don't- my whole family went to disney just after Christmas. We spent 7 days in the parks- and yes we went all 7! I mean who can get enough of disney?:) The trip started with a 12-which turned into 15-hour drive to Altanta. We spent 2 nights at my friend Dawn's house-she wasn't there which stunk for me but she is the best and let my whole fam crash there anyway- thanks a bunch McDowell's! Then on Saturday the 29th we drove the last 7 hours to florida.
We figured we would start out with the Magic Kingdom- since that is what most people think of when they think of Disney. Here we are on the first morning in front of Cinderella's castle. This picture has the whole family except mike in it- you gotta love having professional photographers in the family:)

We LOVE rides and the kids were at teh perfect age to enjoy them! here we are on a roller coaster in animal kingdom(if you get a closer look at Alexis' face it is hysterical!) and then coming off of Space Mountain-a classic!

Another great thing about disney is getting to meet the characters. Here are Trish and I with Goofy and trish, me, cinderella, wanda and mom- yes we ate with the princesses- it was so fun to see Alexis and Kari's faces when they came over and talked to them.

Now if you have ever been to disney you know there is a lot of time spent waiting in line or wating for parades. Here is the fam waiting for the parade in Animal Kingdom. The picture on the right is what we did to kill time while waiting for the safari-it was a 90 minute wait so we started being outback people looking for the rarest creatures of all(martindell and landis kids) It was hysterical- we are going to watch the video next year!:)

So it was New years while we were there. It rained on and off most of the evening but after much coaxing a few of us made it through and rang in 2008 at the Magic Kingdom! They handed out hats and noise makers and had tons of fireworks behind the castle and all around us-it was a long day but well worth it!

And one final pic of me and tigger-it had been a few years since we saw each other but when we did it was just like old times:)

It was a crazy and fun trip- as it always is when my family gets together. The kids were great and it was fun to experience it through their eyes- they didn't remember when they were there 9 years ago. SO thanks mom and dad for antoher trip of a lifetime! Next Christmas it will have to be Belgium!!!!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Fall craziness

So i know it has been a while- I have been settling into my new country, job and apartment. Wow- so what are the big things that have happened in the last few weeks? I have officially moved into my new apartment. None of my "stuff" has arrived from Norway so it definately does not feel or look like home but my bed is comfy and the showerhead is on the end of the shower- ask me about that one:)!!
As for Younglife/Wyldlife- things are going really well. There is SO much going on right now. Lots of early mornings and late nights! Wednesday mornings at 7 we have pancakes and Bible study at one of the schools. Thursday mornings at 7 we have another campaigners group at Liesl's apartment. In between that I am trying to get things organized for wyldlife which is going to kick off January 26! Craziness!
I have been able to accomplish a few things in order to feel more settled- I have a bank account, a cell phone, internet is supposed to be coming today(I am using someone else's right now- thank you unknowing neighbor!).
Thursday was thanksgiving- my FAVORITE holiday of the year. And once again I was able to celebrate in another country. We had a big meal and Janet and Paul's house- all the YL crew and some of their local friends who had never been a part of thanksgiving before. They had only seen it on TV so it was so much fun to see them experience it for the first time. Here are the adult sitting around the table. Janet and Paul made the turkey and stuffing and everyone else brought something else. I was in charge of the mashed potatoes but I had to go to Janet and Paul's to make them cuz I do not have any kitchen supplies, not do I have an oven to keep things warm in! It was fun hanging out and cooking with Janet and the final products were great!

This is me and Jessica- she is an intern working with french nationals here- she is so much fun!

After dinner we sat around for a bit and watched Green Bay play the Lions- not a great game but hey- it was live so we'll take it!

Friday after thanksgiving we took about 15 students to a refugee center downtown and we cooked and served the residents a thanksgiving feast. It was really a lot of fun we served them and then we sat and ate with them. The table I sat at had Armenians so we couldn't communicate very well but it was still a great time. Here is a pic of some students and leaders making pretty napkin art!

We also taught them how to make hand turkey's and Native American headbands. Here are some leaders and kids getting into the art. Even some of the adult table really got into it- it was great!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

New apartment and halloween

Ok so as you know I found an apartment that I will be moving into on Nov. 15! It is in a super location. Right near this HUGE( and by huge i mean miles long) forest. and on this little cobblestone street, right near cute restaurants, a 7 minute walk to Liesl's(my friend and co-worker) and maybe 15 minute walk to the office. anyway- I am so excited and God is so good. so here are some pics of the new place. Keep in mind that the furniture is NOT mine- it is the current renters. I went over tonight to figure out some logistical things- like transferring electrical and stuff - so I got to take some pics.

Here is the bathroom and my terasse(beyond excited about that!)

The kitchen and 1/2 of the living/dining room

More views of the living room- the fireplace is not real but it looks awfully cute!

and the bedroom- sorry the pictures not better

So for this week I am staying at Liesl's apartment- which has been great-we had a little adventure on Monday. We were supposed to drive down to Paris just for an overnight. We got up really early to get a jump on it and were on the road by 6:30 AM. We made it about 5 km into France and Liesl's car just died. We were 2 women stranded on the side of the highway with these big semi's blowing past us. So we called everyone we knew but no one could really come get us so we called a towing company. It was POURING down rain and we were all kinds of wet(we were under the hood in the rain trying to figure out what was wrong with the car-like we know anything about cars!) So after we called the towing company we decided to try the car one more time- and it started right up!! so we turned around and headed back into Belgium. We stopped at a gas station and filled the oil(it was crazy low) and the car has been fine ever since. SO we never made it to Paris but I have now been to France for the first time since '99.

Yesterday we went for a walk in the forest near my house and here are a few pics - the leaves here are gorgeous!!

Last week in Overijse(where Janet and Paul live) they had their trick or treating night. We all dressed up and met a few students and had a blast. Here are me, Liesl and Janet- can you guess what we are?

Answer- I am a Black eyed pea, Liesl is mother nature and Janet is one cool mom.
Here is the group of girls

This past Friday night we got to Chaperone a school dance at one of the school's where we do YL. Here's the team being oh so cool!
Here's all of us- Paul, Tebo, Liesl, me and Cassandra- we are all on staff here except Cassandra is one of our awesome volunteers!
Well that's all for now! enjoy

Monday, October 22, 2007

The move to Brussels

So I am officially moved to Brussels as of Thursday, October 18! It was a whirlwind final week in Norway- getting everything packed up, picked up, saying goodbye, making sure all paperwork was in order, and not getting any sleep!! By my final day in Norway my apartment was completely empty except for some trash and my computer and phone. I spent Wednesday sitting on the floor making phone calls to apartments in Brussels- I have mastered the phrase "par le vu angles?" I have no idea if i spelled that correctly but it means "Do you speak english?" The joys of once again being at square one with a language:) But it was fun to set up some apointments to go look at apartments. Then for my final dinner Kate and Thor took me out for some Komler- a traditional norwegian potato ball meal. Afterwards we walked around town and I got a few pictures of things that would remind me of Norway. Here I am sitting on my floor making calls and me and Kate in front of the Narvesen- my favorite place to get "polse"

I arrived to Brussels Thursday night and Janet and the kids picked me up. The next day we went to a french cafe for lunch- here are the coolest people living in Brussels-Janet, Liesl, Me and Jessica-all Young Life staffers!
Sunday was my birthday-yes I am another year older-the big 31!- and the Phipps were so great- they made sure I felt special on my bday! Even with late notice they got me some great presents- Here is Braden with the blanket they gave me and Brooks with the candle and turbie towel! They even knew my favorite color was orange- check out the candle!!

MMMMMM cake!! imported from the USA- we love BETTY CROCKER!! They improvised a little on the candle- tealights are multi-purpose!

Today after we went apartment hunting- By the way I got a great one- I will move in on Nov 15!! so afterwards me and Liesl went to enjoy the gorgeous fall day and took some pictures in one of the many parks around my new apartment!!
Brussels is gorgeous this fall. And I am LOVING my new team. They are really awesome. I was sitting at the Phipps house last night and we were having a conversation and in the middle of it I was again struck with how blessed I am and how amazing God is to have brought me to this place to be on this team. I am SOOO excited about what is and will happen here. I hope you all will come visit soon!!