1st Anniversary

We are celebrating our 1st anniversary already today! One year has gone by quickly and although I've heard the first is the hardest, I'm not quite sure that was true for us. Oh there were challenges for sure! There were tears and anger, joy and happiness, and a wide variance of other emotions, but still I would say it was a good year. We're so thankful for a faithful God who grew us together this last year and faithful family and friends who continued to love and support us.

Here's a few memories of our special day. I also finally posted wedding photos on facebook for those of you who are on there!

I'm Getting Married This Year

At the start of 2010, just one year ago today, I had little to no idea of what the year held for me. It is almost mind blowing to look back now--just one year later--and see how God worked in my life and brought things about in ways that I never would have expected or planned on my own. 2010 was full of adventures, joys, and challenges and I have to look back and say that it most definitely was a good (although crazy) year!

2010 stats:

Traveling:

*Traveled to 7 countries--4 that I had never been to.

*Traveled to 6 states--1 that I had never been to.

*2 road trips to California.

*2 day trips to Canada.

Relationships:

*Met the man I am going to marry.

*Was courted by the man I am going to marry.

*Became engaged to the man I am going to marry.

*Added a new little buddy to our roadtrip crew when Luke was born in May.

*Joyfully witnessed two dear friends get married to each other.

*Also witnessed two other friends get married--not to each other, but still joyfully both times.

*Met several new and amazing people who very quickly found a special place in my heart.

*The blessing of counseling a group of girls at camp who love the Lord--I was blown away by all the verses they hid in their hearts and recited to me this year!

School:

*Studied Abroad--found myself in one of the hardest academic situations of my life. Have no desire to ever study German again...

*Finished! Although I didn't know at the beginning of the year, 2010 became my graduation year as I finished up my bachelor's degree in December.

Home and Family:

*No new nephews/nieces arrived, but 2010 brought the news that we will add 2 or possibly more in the coming year.

*Enjoying spending time with nieces, nephews, siblings, and parents through many family gatherings.

*The blessing of a wonderful new home!

*The only kid at home while Ben was off at college.

Challenges:

*Learning to trust God's strength and purpose before my own in uncertain situations.

*Being away from my family and friends for the month of August.

*Saying goodbye to my childhood home forever--I know it's just a place but it holds a lot of memories.

*Seeing my faults magnified through a closer relationship with my Love--ahhh Sanctification is not always easy!

*Trusting God through Chris' deployment soon after we were engaged.

Those are just a few of my reflections of the highlights of 2010. 2011 is the year I get to marry the most wonderful man I know! Beyond that, I again have little to no idea of what is coming my (our) way in the next 12 months, but I am excited to see what God has planned for me. Ultimately, it is comforting to know that as I desire to serve Him, I can have the trust and confidence that His purposes are good and I can say with certainty that 2011 will be a joyful year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~photo by Pue Fisher-December 30, 2010~

On Our Way Home

A Year Ago Today...

March 26, 2009

Itinerary:

Thursday, 3/26 flying
US Airways London to Philadelphia Flight:US731
Depart: London Gatwick Apt Time: 11:15AM SOUTH TERMINAL Arrive: Philadelphia Intl Apt Time: 4:00PM TERMINAL A
Journey:8 hours 45 min.
Flight: US753 Philadelphia to Seattle Departure:Philadelphia Intl AptTime:5:55PM Terminal:TERMINAL B Arrival: Seattle-Tacoma Intl Apt Time: 8:59PM
Journey: 6 hours 4 min.

Our last day was a travel day from London to Philadelphia to Seattle. What an amazing journey we had but boy were we ready to get home! We were so blessed with safety on our trip, great weather, and the opportunity to see so many things from history and European culture. Our Heavenly Father was gracious to us to provide such a wonderful trip and it opened our eyes to His mercies in our lives. We were also able to do it all on about a $2000.00 budget so if you think Europe is out of your reaches, just start saving your pennies and you'll be there before you know it! Thanks for following along with my reminiscing over the past couple of weeks. Let me know if you ever need me to come along as a travel buddy or even your nanny so you can have a European adventure as well! :-)

Also, March 26th is my beautiful Momma's birthday. So happy birthday to you, Mom! You are such a blessing in my life and a joy to all who know you. I love you!

Last Stop: A Visit To the Pope.

A Year Ago Today...

March 25, 2009

Itinerary:

Wednesday, 3/25 Rome/London

-8:00 breakfast at hotel.

-24 hr. Rome Metro: €4,00.

-Circus Maximus.

-Bocca della Verita: Mouth of Truth.

-Vatican City.

-Vatican Museum €14,00.

-St. Peter's Basilica.

-Get gelato €3,00

-People watch at Spanish Steps: sunshine and gelato.

-Train to Rome Airport €12,00.

-Rome Fiumicino (Terminal B) To London Gatwick(South) dep. Wed 25 Mar 20:55 arr. Wed 25 Mar 22:30 ($58.98 each).

-Shuttle to Hotel.
Lodging: London: Skylane Hotel

March 25th was our last day to see a few more sites and our last day to add another European country to our list. We began the day by heading to see the Circus Maximus where the ancient Romans had their chariot races. There is not much to see here today, but you can faintly make out the chariot marks in the grass.

Our next order of business was to visit the Bocca della Verita. If you have ever seen Roman Holiday, you will recognize it from the movie. I love it because the shot they used in the movie was actually just Gregory Peck messing around with Audrey Hepburn so her response to him is completely natural. If you've never seen the film, I suggest that you stop what you are doing and go watch it right now!

The story goes that this little ancient guy is a lie detector. If you put your had in its mouth while telling a lie, it will bite it off!

After our morning jaunts in Rome, we headed out to Vatican City. It is its own city-state so we added another country to our list by stopping here.

The Swiss Guard in their fancy clothes have been the traditional military of the Papal city-state.

We toured the Vatican Museum while we were there. I had no idea it was full of so many artifacts--tons of artwork and sculptures and mummies to boot!

And of course we saw the Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo spent years painting the ceiling.

This photo reminds me of a Where's Waldo or something of the like:

After the museum, we went into St. Peter's Basilica. It was the largest church I have ever seen--actually I think it is the largest in the world, but you definitely notice the mass of it when you are inside.

Getting close with the Pope.

After spending a few hours in Vatican City, we headed back to Rome to take in the Roman life. The storm from the night before had blown over and it was a gorgeous day! Harmony and I spent our last few hours back on the Spanish Steps with guess what: more gelato! It was an enjoyable time of people watching and soaking in the sun before the conclusion of our journey. We had done all the site-seeing we were going to do, and all that was left was the flights back home so it was nice to be able to rest and reflect on our amazing journey!

That night we flew back to London and stayed in a quaint little hotel near the airport. Our stop was just long enough to get some sleep before our flight home in the morning.

And I can't forget to mention what else happened a year ago on March 25th, 2009. My niece, Greta Grace was born! She didn't quite wait for her aunty to return home to arrive, but it was a great welcome home to see her on my way home from the airport. Happy 1st birthday today, Greta!

Ostia Antica

A Year Ago Today...

March 24, 2009

Itinerary:

Tuesday, 3/24 Rome (Charissa and Harmony)

-9:15 breakfast @ hotel (included in room price).

-24 hr. Rome Metro: €4,00

-11:00 Day Trip to Ostia Antica. €6,50.

-Outside of Rome, 14 mi by subway (about 1/2 hr). Roman ruins of port city.

-Continue on metro to Lido di Ostia(Known as the "Roman Rivierra"): touch the Mediterranean.

-Grocery Shopping for dinner €6,25.

-Rain downpour while going to Bocca della Verita.

-Get Gelato €4,20.

-Spanish Steps.

Lodging: Prime Hotel Saint John.

On our second day in Rome, we made a day trip to the nearby ancient city of Ostia Antica. It was a port city outside of Rome with lots of old ruins to explore.

It was fun to imagine how the Romans would have lived when you can still see the remains of their houses and public buildings.

We also found a way to integrate ourselves into the ancient decor.

We had lunch on the steps of the amphitheater.

And couldn't leave without putting on a little dramatic performance...

Harmony found she really fit in with the locals.

And I really enjoyed seeing the Mosaics. Can I get that in my house?

Harmony looking quite regal.

After running around Ostia Antica, we hopped back on the metro to go one stop further to the modern town of Lido di Ostia. Here we were able to see and touch the Mediterranean for the first time in our lives!

The day we visited was an overcast day, but in the summer it is a popular vacation point for many Italians.

Once back in Rome we decided to look for the Boca Della Verita but found that it is not accessible at night. Meanwhile we encountered our first and only downpour of rain while in Europe. We were really blessed with beautiful weather our whole trip and this quick storm definitely caught us by surprise. It was so sudden and raining so hard that all we could do was try and dodge the raindrops as we ran back to the metro with little yelps. The storm did not last long and we went on to see the Spanish Steps and enjoy our daily gelato. You can't really see the steps in the photo below, but at least you can see how happy we were with our gelato! The steps were beautiful at night and it was such a great place that we even returned the next day before our departure from Rome.

Rome

A Year Ago Today...

March 23, 2009

Itinerary:

Monday, 3/23 Florence/Rome (Charissa and Harmony)

-Breakfast provided by Hotel.

-Train: Reservations: €15.00 (made in Florence) 9:33 a.m. Firenze S M N (train9463) arrive 11:10 a.m. Roma Termini (1 hr. 37 min)

-Walk to Hotel, check in early. Walk to Colosseum (less than 10 min. from hotel)

-1:45 Colosseum tour €13.00 (admission and tour. Ticket includes entry into Roman Forum and Palatine Hills).

-Arch of Constantine (free): right between the Colosseum and Palatine Hills

-Forum

-Palatine Hills

-Mamertine Prison: Paul/Peter jail cell (free but gift is expected on entry).

-Pantheon (9-7:30, free).

-Dinner: pizza/pasta/potatoes/rice €8.50

-Gelatto: €5.00

-See outside of Presidential Palace

-Search for Trevi Fountain

Lodging: Prime Hotel Saint John. ($267.46 for two nights = $133.73 per night = $66.86 per night per person.)

As our trip was coming to a close, we had one more stop to make and it was a big one: ROME. We caught a quick train in the morning from Florence to Rome and once there, had a short walk to our classy hotel. While planning the trip, we had found that in the big cities it cost about as must to rent a bed in a youth hostel (where you pay per person) as it did to get a room at a hotel (where you pay per room). Thus we ended up at a really nice hotel for a good deal. After dropping off our bags, we headed out to see the Colosseum. Once there we were hounded by people from many different countries who were trying to get everyone to come on their tours rather than the official Colosseum tour. We decided to ignore all of them and got regular tickets for the Colosseum tour. (Another tip if you plan to go, we skipped long lines by deciding to go on the tour rather than general admission--it did not cost much more, and I thought it was worth the extra information).

I loved being there. It was a place that I had always wanted to visit and is almost a surreal experience while you are there.

The stage at the far end has been recreated to show what the Colosseum floor would have looked like.

The Colosseum is nextdoor to the Forum and Palatine Hill where all the wealthy Romans used to live. So after our time at the Colosseum, we were able to meander around there on a beautiful Roman day.

While we were on our Colosseum tour we met a couple of American guys from Colorado who ended up joining us for the rest of our day. They had some great stories to share and besides the good company, we were thankful for the male presence which warded off the continual streams of "Ciao Bella" that was called at us when we were alone.

Part of the city behind us.

Next we visited the Mamertine Prison which is the traditional site where Paul and Peter were imprisoned while in Rome. It was a small cell we could go into and is decorated with Christian shrines today.

We also made it to the Pantheon.

And what's a day in Rome without Gelato? We had it at least once a day while in Rome. yum!

We spent our evening searching for the Trevi Fountain. The thing is we never found it! First we found this fountain and thought we were there--but it turned out to be a fountain outside of the presidential palace. The cool thing was that we got to see the changing of the guard at the palace while we were there.

We continued our search for the fountain and found this one which I have definitely seen in movies so I thought we had made it to the Trevi. It wasn't until we came home and I googled the Trevi fountain that I realized we never made it there after all...oh well.

The tradition is that if you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, you will be sure to come back to Rome someday. Well, hopefully the one I through in this fountain worked because I definitely would like to go back someday!