Goodbye to Europe!

As our time in Europe comes to an end, I want to look back at the amazing places we have been able to see. I don't in anyway mean this as a bragging thing, but rather as a chance for me to look back on the last 3 years. If you are moving here- start it off right! Try to get into the habit of going somewhere every month and you won't regret it in the end. Our goal was 20 countries, and we met it! (And, in case you are curious, we met it while accumulating no debt, purchasing a house in the states, and saving a lot. Thanks Dave Ramsey!) We have loved our time in Europe, and traveling is one of the main reasons why!

Where have we been?

Germany: Berlin, Rothenburg, Fussen Castles, Rhine Castles, Mosel Castles, Krov, Koblenz, Heidelberg Italy: Rome, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Sienna, Venice, Cinque Terre, Sicily, Sardinia France: Paris, Starsbourg, Metz, Forbach, Nice, Villa Franche Spain: Barcelona, Mallorca Ireland: County Kerry, Dublin, Wicklow Mountains Egypt: Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu Greece: Mykonos, Patmos, Santorini Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal, England, Turkey, Monaco, Vatican City, Luxembourg And in case you want to know... My Favorite City: Paris My Favorite Place: Santorini My Favorite Trip: Egypt J's Favorite City: Rome J's Favorite Place: Santorini J's Favorite Trip: Greece/Turkey Costa Cruise  Are you going one of these places? Want more info on what we did and where we stayed? Just let me know! I hope everyone enjoys Europe as much as we have. Hard to believe we only have 2 weeks left!

Not So Great

I had many plans to post about my new gadget, smelly movers, and our time in Germany, but things have been turned upside down.

Yesterday we woke up to an email about my husband's Grandmother back in Texas. She had a sudden and massive stroke, and was on life support. Of course, we began doing anything and everything to get ourselves home. 3 hours later we had a Red Cross case number and were at the PAX terminal on base waiting for a flight. Since my husband works in the APS, they took very good care of us. His commander met us to sign paperwork and everyone pitched in to get it done quickly. 10 hours later we were in Charleston.

His grandmother was removed from life support while we were flying, and while we knew it would happen, it certainly doesn't make it any easier to hear. Losing a grandparent is tough, especially when it is out of the blue.

So now we are in Charleston (and I'm up at 4am, thanks jet lag) waiting to fly to Houston. With any luck we will make our quick connection in Atlanta and be in Texas by this evening.

We have been truly blessed throughout this process, from our sweet Air Force family to God's provisions allowing us to be ready and have all arrangements done in 2 hours.

Now, we are ready to be with family. Please pray for us and my husband's family as we deal with the loss.

The Easy Life

After 3 years (and 20 countries, more on that later) of busy traveling, we were looking forward to a weekend of relaxing, especially since the husband was gone for a month and the movers were coming the day after we got back! We looked up cheap tickets (Ry@n Air of course) and saw that we could visit Portugal for next to nothing. Add that to a Rick Steves (our fave guidebooks, politics not included) recommendation of Salema, a small fishing village on the coast, and we were off!

The town really was tiny. It only took 10 minutes to walk from end to end, and by the 2nd day, we knew everyone! No ATMs and only one internet place that was open whenever they felt like it. We were disconnected from the world and it was NICE! We stayed in the house on the right with the pink balcony. At 35 euros a night for a room with an ocean view, Portugal was so much less expensive than other places we have been! It didn't take us long to change into our suits and head to the beach...

The beach was perfect, very clean and quiet. The water was like an ice bath, so we didn't get in, but we enjoyed our time in the sun. We spent the next day doing the same thing. Trying to catch up on all the sun we have missed living in Germany! Of course we did have to stop and eat...

Me with no make up and a lovely sunglass tan line.

Mmmm. Sangria. 

We spent some time walking around the town and enjoying being together with nothing on our to-do lists!

We even saw the fisherman bringing in their catch of the day in clay pots. The octopus go in the pots thinking it is a shelter, then the fisherman pull them up and use bleach to extract them. Once they bring them in you can go an buy one. All you need is a plastic bag to take it home. Ew!

On our last full day we headed into the larger town of Lagos (on the way back to the airport) and signed up for a boat tour of the grottos along the coast. We found the boat and waited for other people, but none came! We had a private tour (with Sangria!) for just 15 euro. Amazing. It was just perfect!

It was a wonderful trip. It was pretty hard to come back knowing the (smelly) movers were coming the next day. Overall, I highly recommend Portugal (Algarve region) for a nice relaxing trip. I came back with a magnet AND a tan, how can you beat that?

Back From the Dead...

So in the last week I have...
- Packed out our HHG (household goods, aka all our stuff)
- Shipped our car
- Finished a 3 week grad class (with an A!)
- Gone to Portugal
- Eaten out every single day

I have not...
- Blogged
- Done blog designs
- Accomplished anything on my to do list

So before I post all about this...

Let me finally announce the winner of the US or Military flag! The winner is....
Stephanie!!!
Congrats Stephanie! Email me your address and your final flag choice and your prize will be on its way!

Now it's time to get busy on some designs for some VERY patient people!