Weeks 30-33

Week 30


July 24, 2011 – This morning I made red velvet pancakes with a cream cheese glaze. Holy yum.


July 25, 2011 – I am finally packed for this ridiculous 2-week Mediterranean trip (and I think I’ve been PACKING for it for 2 weeks!), and this suitcase? 49 pounds exactly. I am a packing GENIUS.


July 26, 2011 – Today we travelled ALL DAY. I actually don’t even know what day it is at this point. Where am I? WHO am I? We flew from Dallas to Atlanta to Venice today. This is us on the terminal train in Atlanta (pretty early in the trip!) Fortunately, I got a whole row of seats to myself so I could LAY DOWN AND SLEEP for most of the trip. I mean, woah. That was fantastical.


July 27, 2011 – Today we spent as long as we could exploring Venice – we landed in the morning after having travelled for 24+ hours, so we powered through and tried to stay awake when it was light out so we could get used to the time difference. I have to say, Venice is beautiful. Traveling by water amongst the beautiful architecture is absolutely enchanting. And the hotel we’re staying in? WOW. I would love to bring Jack back here sometime. We went to a few museums today and saw Basilica di San Marco (Saint Mark’s Basilica). I could barely stand up by the time we were finished. I fell asleep at 5 p.m. and slept until 6 a.m. the next day. Now THAT was a GOOD night’s sleep.


July 28, 2011 – Today we boarded the ship (our room has a balcony! Holy wow!) and met a lot of the staff and talent with whom we’ll be travelling, including the Women of Faith ladies. They were so sweet. We had a staff orientation on the ship and some good food. It’s going to be a good trip!


July 29, 2011 – Today, Eric, Owen and I had a BLAST in Venice. It was our last day in Venice, and we did some HARD CORE exploring. We had Italian gelato (YUM), Owen bought a ukulele from a little music shop we found (and I bought a cool computer mouse with an Italian flag on it), we saw Rialto Bridge (and a lot of others!), we enjoyed an incredible Venetian lunch by the canal, and we got ourselves so lost that we nearly missed the deadline to get back on the ship. Amazing day. Amazing.


July 30, 2011 – Today we spent the day in Split, Croatia. It was a beautiful port (where they had wifi!). We saw Diocletian’s Palace, had some gelato, took a lot of pictures, and called our spouses on Skype WAY earlier their-time than they probably wanted us to.

Week 31


July 31, 2011 – Today we were at sea. First of all, I kind of have a crush on Steve Green. Don’t worry, I also have a crush on his wife. Gosh, what sweet people and oy, that voice. But my favorite part of today was at midnight, when we went “below decks” with the crew for a really, really informal worship session where Owen was asked to give a short message. And he did an AMAZING job. I haven’t been that moved from a worship session in… I don’t even remember how long. What a beautiful night.


August 1, 2011 – Today we were in Athens, Greece, and I was a bus captain! It was an INSANE day. We took the groups to the Olympic stadium, the Parthenon, and Mars Hill. The crowds were insane and it was incredibly hot, and I literally lost a couple people from my group and another lady nearly passed out. But I saw some beautiful, amazing, historical places and I’m so thankful for that.


August 2, 2011 – Today was our first day in Istanbul (not Constantinople (oh man, we have been singing that song SO MUCH)). We explored the spice market, walked from Europe to Asia (or at least, we thought we did… turns out we got the wrong bridge), and enjoyed an incredible dinner with friends on the water tonight.


August 3, 2011 – It’s day two in Istanbul! And you know what we did? We sat in a wifi area all day. I’m not going to lie… it was kind of amazing. It was great to just unwind and be a little bit connected to the world once again. (And to talk to my favorite boy again –MAN do I miss him!!) Tonight was more preaching and sound checks and shooting… I love my job.


August 4, 2011 – Ohhh, Mykonos. You are LOVELY. Today we explored and took a lot of pictures of beautiful Mykonos, Greece. I put my toes in the sand on the beach, and then we ate hummus (MY FAVORITE!) right on the water at sunset. WOW. It could not get better than this.


August 5, 2011 – Today we started the morning early and headed out to Ephesus. I was a bus captain once again, and this time, I didn’t even lose anybody! It was an incredible day – I got to see places I’ve read about in scripture and walk where Paul walked… I mean, wow. I’ll never read the Bible the same way again. Oh, and tonight, back on the ship? WE DANCED THE NIGHT AWAY. It was so much fun. See also: I am not a cool person.


August 6, 2011 – Today was Santorini, Greece. I have been looking forward to this stop since the first time I saw the itinerary. It’s just. So beautiful. We decided we would REALLY do Santorini right, and we rode the donkey up the mountain. Oh my gosh, I almost died. I mean really, this donkey was suicidal and kept trying to jump off the cliff. We spent the day taking pictures and shopping, getting lost and seeing beautiful things. My goodness I love Greece.

Week 32


August 7, 2011 – Today we spent the day in Katakolon, Greece. Eric and I headed out to Olympia to take some pictures, and it was nice hanging out with him and having some really good conversations. Eric and a new “friend” took a run from the first Olympic running block and stood on the first Olympic victory stand thing. It’s humbling seeing this kind of history in person.


August 8, 2011 – Today we spent a LONG day in Eric and Owen’s room editing our slideshow for tonight’s “farewell” sermon. It has been a long, long trip, but I am thankful that we got to do this together.



August 9, 2011 – Hello beautiful United States!!!! I’m finally home! Jack picked me up from the airport tonight and I don’t think I’ve ever been that happy to see him. It is GOOD TO BE HOME.


August 10, 2011 – I woke up with these two this morning! My goodness, I missed this.


August 12, 2011 - Today I tagged along with Jack to a testing in Sulpher Springs, where he had been invited to be a guest judge. It’s so much fun watching him be big and important at these kinds of things!


August 13, 2011 – Recently I figured out that cutting up melons and putting them in these cereal Tupperware containers is really efficient because I can just pour the pieces into a bowl like cereal. I know it’s lame, but this is the kind of stuff that gets me kind of excited.


Week 33


August 14, 2011 – Today I made Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls, and this is the amount of butter it takes. It’s really best not to talk about that, though.


August 15, 2011 – Today I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with the video boys (because they refuse to let me go to Wing Stop because I’m a girl). Owen ordered this drink, and I just had to document its girliness.


August 16, 2011 – Tonight I fried pork chops. I had never fried pork chops before, but hey, I do what the Pioneer Woman says, and she is never, ever wrong. Yum.


August 17, 2011 – I’m not going to lie, I love this view. Since I’ve been working at the taekwondo school, I’ve had the privilege of watching Jack teach more, and man do I love it. Today, he told all the kids step back into a ready stance with their weapons and say “Waaaaahhhhhhhh!” And they all did it. It was awesome.


August 18, 2011 – Now THIS is a beautiful salad. Yay, lunch.


August 19, 2011 –Jack started reading our Children’s Bible out loud to us tonight. It’s so fun to listen to him read, especially since he does different voices for the character. You should hear his “God.” It’s awesome. Heh. Awesome God. Get it? Get it?


August 20, 2011 – Tonight we went to Top Golf with the Wildmans. It was fun except that I REALLY REALLY suck at hitting a golf ball. I actually missed the ball most of my swings. I have a feeling I’m not going to the Masters any time soon.