Tag: shopping

“I Gotta Go Work on the Blog”

Post author By Shay
Post date April 19, 2015
No Comments on “I Gotta Go Work on the Blog”

We had lunch this afternoon at home and Titus was the first one done. The kids know they need to ask to be excused from the table to take their plates and silverware to the kitchen sink. As Titus got down from his chair, he said, “I gotta go work on the blog.” I began laughing hysterically, but Bethany missed what he said the first time, so Titus repeated himself and then we were both cracking up. It was in that moment that I realized just how many times he has heard me say that since we moved here. Actually, it’s possible he’s heard that a few hundred times.

Today marks our three hundredth day in Czech which means there have been as many blogs. Although I don’t usually start working on the blog until we’ve put them to bed, not all nights are the same so no doubt the kids have heard me say, “I gotta go work on the blog” more than once. It has become such a part of our lives that even this morning I said to Bethany, “Wait?! Did I write a blog last night?!” I genuinely couldn’t remember. It’s like when you can’t remember if you brushed your teeth or put deodorant on (maybe that only happens to me?). It is just part of the routine and some things get some routine you have a hard to remembering if you forgot to do it! We ended up letting Titus go over to my computer and “work on the blog,” so I got this photo of him in front of the computer this afternoon (shown above). This is spot where the blog happens every single day. It’s a joy for the whole family!

We’re preparing for Titus’ birthday this weekend and we needed to go to the store to get a few supplies and try to find out if they have cupcakes. Instead of shopping in Czech, we actually went to Poland because they have a big store there with a ton of variety, and we also knew they had party supplies. Titus has been really in to Hot Wheels for some reason, so we tried to find some themed items there. They did in fact have Hot Wheels plates and even some of those noise makers that you blow air in to so we picked those up. Unfortunately they didn’t have cupcakes, but we’re going to try to figure out another solution to that problem. We’ll be joining up with our friends, the Stephens, whose twin boys turn four the day before Titus. All of us are going to the zoo on Saturday and hopefully some other people will be able to join us!

As we walked in to the Polish store late this afternoon all I could see were people holding ice cream cones. You would’ve thought they were handing them out for free by the sheer number of people eating ice cream. Then we saw the line! There were a ton of people waiting for ice cream at this little pop up style store just before you walk in to the store. I told Bethany we needed to see what all the excitement was about when we leave the store. We did just that and above you can see the photo I took of the place, complete with American flags. It was called “American Ice Dream” and I have no idea why it was named that. We were trying to figure out the Polish words for vanilla and “mixed” when the guy behind us said, “Do you need some help?” We were very thankful for him and we chatted for a few minutes in English which was nice. In the end we spent $2.68 (USD) to get all four of us ice cream! It was awesome and check out my “large” ice cream (below).

Since we didn’t want to eat in our car we settled down in a bench near a little kids play place in the mall and enjoyed them as a family. The kids wanted to play so we let them for a few minutes, but right next to was this little merry go round that Avery was excited about. I’m guees I’m a bit of a softy when it comes to Avery, so I ended up spending the fifty cents to let her and Titus ride around. She loved the fish she chose to ride and when they were finished we left for home.

It’s gonna be a full week with one of our pastors from our sending church and his wife coming to visit, Titus’ birthday, a doctor appointment for Bethany, and final preparations for the upcoming Josiah Venture spring conference. I’m excited for whatever the Lord has in store for us this week and look forward to telling you all about it right here on the blog. It reminds me of the classic line from Pinky and the Brain. “So Brain, what do you want to do tonight?” “The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try and take over the world!”

Tags 300, blog, family, Poland, shopping, writing

365 Czech Republic

Church and Exploring Poland

Post author By Shay
Post date February 22, 2015
1 Comment on Church and Exploring Poland

Everyone was up early this morning to get read for church, including these two rascals you see in the photo above. I was enjoying a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee before church and we were having fun hanging out in the kitchen. “Dad, take a picture of us!” Done.

We had a good morning at church. It was the first time we have all been as a family in three weeks and the kids did pretty well in their classes. Bethany went with Avery to her class and I stayed with Titus in his. Titus’ class read from a book which was an illustrated version of the parable of the lost coin. Both teachers in his class could speak English so they would ask the kids questions in Czech and then turn to Titus in English and ask him. They also celebrated one of the kid’s birthdays and sang to him “Happy Birthday” in Czech. Then I heard the kids saying, “Anglicky!” or “English!” They sang “Happy Birthday” again in English which was fun for Titus…and me!

We were thinking over dinner last night of what we might be able to do this afternoon and one thing we’ve wanted to do is check out a few stores we’ve heard about it Poland. One is a grocery store and Bethany also wanted to go back to “TK Maxx” (or TJ Maxx in the States) which she had visited back in August. The grocery store was amazing. It was kind of like a Super Wal-Mart, at least that’s the best way I can explain it. They had a wide variety of items and they are only store that we know of that carries flavored coffee creamers (a favorite of Bethany’s). Not only that, check out this meat selection (photo below)!

Bethany and I were pretty focused on trying to scan and see all that the store had, but apparently Titus had a little time on his hands because at one point we looked down and he was applying tiny stickers to his face. Here’s a photo I got of him.

After the grocery store we headed over to TK Maxx which wasn’t far away. That place turned out to be our golden ticket and we found a ton of things. Some of the best finds were two little books we got for the kids because most of the kids book they had were in English! This might not be a big deal to some people, but for us it was shocking. Another huge win was that they actually had shoes in my size which I haven’t been able to find since we moved here. I didn’t end up buying any today, but we plan on going to back at some point and spend more time.

We actually had a really fun day together even though we were most just walking around and exploring. There is so much to see here and we’re enjoying the search for new things.

Titus is off school this coming week because it’s “Spring break.” He’s excited he doesn’t have to go to school, except I’m concerned he thinks he never ever has to go back. One week feels like forever when you’re a kid, I guess!

Tags church, Polands, shopping

365 Czech Republic

Small Town Fun

We woke up this morning to what I was calling powdered sugar snow. There was the lightest dusting of snow overnight that was still on the ground when the sun came up, but it was mostly gone by the afternoon. For the kids it really didn’t matter–it was snow, and as Titus put it, “It’s Christmas time!” Tomorrow we’ll be celebrating Christmas here at Bethany’s parents house in Yakima so that meant we were doing some last minute Christmas shopping today. I realize this is December 29, but we’re doing our Christmas together on the 30th because of work schedules and everyone being able to be together.

As has been true all week, we were up early with the kids this morning and out the door by 8:00am ready to hit the stores. What we found out quickly was that most stores aren’t even open until 9. After the third place we tried to go to was closed we decided we would try and get some breakfast out. Bethany’s dad directed us to the place in the photo above, but when we arrived we found out they had no power. Apparently the wind hand blown down some power lines nearby so all of the part of town we were in was without electricity. At this point the morning was a bust, but we trekked on.

We ended up finding a classic down with power down the road a bit and enjoyed a really great American breakfast. Just being able to order biscuits and gravy was ministering to my soul. Titus got the kid’s pancake and when it came it out was a happy face with a piece of bacon for a smile (shown above). They also had classic car benches that the kids thought were great. Here are they are playing on one that was near our table.

After breakfast and after all the shops opened, we did finally get some shopping done. One place we went to is actually 114 years old and has been owned by the same family for five generations! It was a really fun store and the people who worked there were really helpful. It was full of paper goods and speciality office supply items, including some archival ink pens that I was needing for marking in my Bible. If you ever find yourself in central Washington, head on over to “The Bindery” (as the locals call it) and get yourself some small town charm and a nice pen for your Bible reading!

On one of our other stops, we hit a jewelry store to have my wedding ring sized down. It has gotten really loose and we finally decided it would be best to have it resized to fit more snug. When I bought the ring nine years ago, it was a little big and they were telling me that it would eventually fit. The jeweler said to me then, “You will get fat!” Well, some time has passed and it’s flying off my finger! So we found a place today that we resize it and when we were walking in the door I loved the hours that are listed on Sunday (photo below).

Tonight we had a fun and kind of wild dinner with the whole family. Mostly we were just eating leftovers, but the scene in the room with seven adults, three young kids, and two dogs running around was something out of a movie. Later, when things quieted down, “Papa” (grandpa) read The Night Before Christmas to our tired kids (show below). It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the whole story read and the first time our kids had heard it.

Tomorrow Papa will read Luke 2 before we open gifts and we’ll have a traditional meal on the floor by the tree. I look forward to celebrating with everyone and enjoying the time with family here. Until then, “Happy Christmas to all! And to all a good night.”

Tags errands, fun, shopping, Yakima

365 Czech Republic

A Sick Day and a Date Night

Post author By Shay
Post date November 25, 2014
No Comments on A Sick Day and a Date Night

Don’t be fooled by the title of this post. Usually when someone says they had a sick day they really mean they didn’t show up to the office and laid in bed. That’s what I should’ve done today, but thought I could plow through the day despite my sore throat and lack of a voice. Now I’m sitting here tonight really tired and just not feeling well.

This week is a shorter week because the Josiah Venture family will be together at our training center for two days at a big Thanksgiving event. Lots of missionaries from around Central and Eastern Europe will come and we’ll celebrate together and talk about what we’re thankful for. All the festivities start tomorrow night so I figured I would finish up some work at the JV offices, but alas I should’ve stayed in bed. I guess I did get a few things done today but now I have my first doctor’s appointment in Czech scheduled for tomorrow around 4pm. Hopefully I can get some medicine to help figure out why I have been so sick for a few months now.

Despite being sick, Bethany and I had a date night scheduled tonight that we enjoyed together. Our friend Rachael came over and graciously watched our kids for the evening in exchange for some photos I did for her a few weeks back. Bethany and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at a local restaurant near our apartment and drove to a new shopping center to try and get some gifts for Avery’s actual birthday this Saturday. The photo above is of the bathrooms there…so strange. The night went relatively smoothly, but while we were in one of those stores shopping a lady who could speak a little English said to us, “We’re closed.” This after a few minutes of the employees trying to communicate with and us not understanding. We laughed and apologized and out we went. Thankfully we got Avery’s gift purchased before that so we’re excited for her to open something on Saturday when she turns 3.

Shortly after we left for our date tonight, Rachael texted us this photo (below) of Titus asleep on his bed (around 6:15pm). Apparently he cried after we left and went to his room to calm down (on his own) and a few minutes later this is how Rachael found him. I guess he calmed himself down alright.

Tags date night, shopping, sick, tired

365 Czech Republic

A Reunion With Friends

I slept for eight hours last night. That’s a rare feat, especially this week when I was averaging around five of six. It was so nice to sleep in a bit today and Bethany blessed the whole family with another round of Swedish pancakes this morning. After breakfast we picked up Cory and Kristine Cramer (and baby Shiloh) and headed for the Ostrava mall. They have been in Czech this past week for the conference and are waiting on Kristine’s parents to finish up some meetings here so they can spend time together with them in Prague early next week. Life in Albania is much different than here in Czech, and I think going to the mall here was really relaxing for them.

At the mall we met up with Daniel Reimer and Jenny and Landen Llamas. Daniel and I work together on the JV Creative Communications team and Jenny and Landen literally just moved here a few weeks ago, but we have known them for some time now. We all had a fun time shopping and hanging out and even enjoyed an extended lunch this afternoon at a place in the mall. After lunch we all got a photo together. As we were taking the photo I was thinking to myself that it felt familiar. It wasn’t until later that night that Cory and Kristine realized we had taken a similar photo almost a year ago. Upon a little checking on Instagram I realized that it was almost exactly a year ago to the date that we all took a photo. Here’s the photos:

This first one was on October 1, 2013. We all had dinner together (minus Daniel) in Santa Clarita, California.

And here’s the photo from today (with Daniel now) in Czech Republic and it’s almost exactly one year later. Isn’t that awesome?!

While at lunch there was a helicopter literally hovering outside of the window where we were eating. The restaurant is on an upper level and outside some medical guys were doing drills jumping out of the helicopter on ropes. I grabbed a quick photo and even though it looks further away, this helicopter was so close to us.

We have been slowly trying to find more clothes for our family and so doing some shopping today was great. There were a few sales going on, and we found some warm things for winter, but Titus and Avery tried to sneak in some hats. Here’s a photo of how we found them today while they were doing some shopping of their own.

With lots of shopping and a nice lunch, Avery got a little sleepy at the restaurant. Here she is laying on the bench while we all were still talking and enjoying time together.

Our little reunion ended around 4:00pm today and we headed back to our town. Cory and Kristine are staying in a hotel near us so we dropped them off and all of us got a late afternoon nap. Tonight the Cramers came back over for some dessert and we said our goodbyes. It was fun to spend time today and last night with them and a privilege for us to call them our friends. If you think of it, pray for the Cramers as they return to Albania and begin to settle in. They have had a very full summer with ministry and lots of things going in their house so now will be the time where they can begin to find their new normal. We’re thankful for their friendship and will continue to trust the Lord to use them mightily in Albania.

Tomorrow is Bethany’s birthday! We have something special planned, but I don’t want to give it away now. I guess you’ll have to tune in tomorrow for all the details. Until then, from Czech Republic I’m Shay Thomason…back to you.

Tags friends, mall, reunion, shopping

365 Czech Republic Videos

Czech Swing

It was beautiful day in Czech. The weather was amazing, not too hot and not too cold, and the sun was out. Bethany went to Poland this morning with a friend to do some shopping there so I took the kids for a walk to the park. There were a lot of people out jut walking and I could see many of them carrying shopping bags, including one couple that was carrying a little table and chair they had just purchased. Although, I’m not exactly sure where everyone was doing all of this shopping? Above is a photo of a building next to the park. I think I take photos of the buildings to remind myself how amazing some of this old architecture is.

Do you see anything familiar in the photo above? You ever heard of “TK Maxx?” Now I’m sure you’ve seen “TJ Maxx,” but in Poland they call it “TK” and it’s the exact same store we have in the States but with a different name. Apparently there’s another brand in Poland with the name “TJ” so they didn’t want to be confused so they changed the “J” to a “K.” That’s where Bethany went this morning and did a little shopping. She got some great deals on winter clothes for the kids and a nice, small purse for herself. A lot of women wear smaller long strap purses as opposed to a hand bag. Some of that is for security, I guess, and a lot of ladies have recommended she get one too. I’m glad she was able to take the morning off and just enjoy some shopping.

Below is a video I took of Titus at the park. I had never seen him do this until today but he’s figured out how to pitch to himself. This is both amazing and depressing to me. Amazing because I didn’t know a 4-year-old could do that and depressing because I don’t know if he’ll still need me to pitch to him anymore!

Unfortunately for me we tried the same video again later this evening and I forgot how close I was (below). For the record he got me square in the chest as I was squatting and it stung for about 10 minutes. Had it been any lower I think we would’ve been making our first Czech hospital run and you would be seeing us on Czech’s Funniest Videos. Hey, “If you get it on cam, you could get it in crowns.”

A few weeks back we had seen that there were a few tree stumps left in the ground and that they had removed a couple larger trees. I was definitely confused by this until today when I realized what became of those stumps (photos above). Now standing beside the park is a wood carved jester, a squirrel, and what I believe to be a large snail (not pictured because it creeped me out a little). I don’t know if they are permanent installations or for something else, but they are pretty good size and I guess a mystery solved regarding those trees.

As I write Bethany is baking fresh bread in the kitchen. I joked that we’ve “gone full on Czech” with Bethany baking bread because they love fresh bread here. She’s making white bread I think mostly because she misses it. They have lots of different kinds of bread here, but I feel like everything we’ve tried has a distinct sourdough type taste to it. We probably haven’t exhausted our options but Bethany had yeast and dough so she’s giving it a try. It looked really yummy as it was rising in the bowl (photo below) and I hope it turns out great.

Early to bed, early to rise (bread pun intended) is how the old saying goes. Tomorrow is Sunday and we’ll be back in the pews at church doing our best to listen through a translator and hear God’s Word taught in a place that doesn’t have a lot of it. Sunday is always a reminder of the great needs for the gospel here. Even though we go to a great church, it’s the exception, and we will continue to pray for God to do a mighty work in the lives of millions in this country

Tags baseball, bread, fun, Saturday, shopping, TK Maxx

365 Czech Republic

Paying Rent and Still Learning How to Shop

Post author By Shay
Post date August 8, 2014
1 Comment on Paying Rent and Still Learning How to Shop

I’m proud to say that I didn’t forget to pay the rent this month! Now don’t think that means it’s easy. Bethany and I started putting our plan together about it last night with notes, account numbers, amounts, phrases, what to do if we don’t understand what they’re saying to us, etc. I even got an email from our Czech friend Katka with the phrase “I need to make a cash deposit into someone else’s account” translated in Czech just in case I needed it. And I did! The bank teller could say a few numbers in English but for the most part she spoke a bunch of Czech that I just didn’t understand. I was looking around the room like a baseball pitcher checks the runners on first and third for anyone to help me and even though my American friend John was there we were still struggling. I tried showing her my phone with the amount I was trying to deposit which helped, but I still didn’t feel like we were on the same page. By God’s grace it all worked out in the end and the rent is paid!

Trust me…I realize that my victory at the bank may seem small, but I’m telling you for us this is a big win. It’s bad enough not being able to say anything more than “good day” to our landlord, and me forgetting to pay the rent on time last month just made me feel terrible. So actually getting it all done at the right time was especially encouraging. As it was, I found out today that I overpaid last month’s rent…yikes. Two steps forward, one step back.

We’re still learning how to shop here. Bethany usually goes to the store by herself because that just makes things easier. Finding things in an unfamiliar store in an unknown language is not easy. Add to that a few kids and a mom could have a mental breakdown just trying to find the butter in the mildly cold section. Tonight we decided to go to Kaufland as a family. Basically this means I take the cart and the kids and find random things (like a mouse pad, batteries, and windshield washer fluid) and Bethany goes on the hunt for the necessities. There’s a lot of picking things up, trying to read what it is, and then putting things back (at least for me). At one point Bethany said, “I need to get some meat” and we walked by a huge refrigerated section of red colored meat and Bethany just kept walking. Thinking she just missed it I said, “Hey, we just passed a ton of meat!” She said, “You mean a ton of pork.” Oh. The pork section here is like the entire meat section at an American store. That kind of tells you what they like to eat here, I guess? In the end we get what we need, but no doubt it’s still far from feeling natural.

Tomorrow we have a guest coming to stay with us, but I won’t spoil it on tonight’s blog. You’ll just have to wait in suspense. So tune in tomorrow: same bat time; same bat channel.

Tags bank, groceries, learning, shopping

365 Czech Republic

Getting Our New Home Ready (Pt. 1)

Post author By Shay
Post date July 5, 2014
1 Comment on Getting Our New Home Ready (Pt. 1)

For the first time since we arrived I’m actually tired, and it’s not because of jet lag. It’s been a very full day as we did a good amount of shopping in order to get our new home ready. We got word this week that our container is scheduled to arrive on Thursday (July 10)–praise the Lord! But with our container en route we knew we had to hussle to get everything ready for us to move in.

One of the things included in our “startup costs” (costs for relocating to Czech) was to buy appliances for our apartment. In our situation, we needed a washer, dryer and a refrigerator. We made a decision back in the States to not bring those appliances over simply because the American appliances are just too big to fit in European apartments. So today, with the help of our good man Mel Ellenwood, we hit the stores to see what we could find. I believe the Lord was very gracious to us today and we got some good deals and Mel really helped us get what would work best for us long-term.

The above photo is simply for scale. Avery is 2 years old and she was a head taller than the smallest washing machine available. To be honest, it looked like a toy. That wasn’t our final purchase, but in general everything is much smaller when it comes to appliances over. Oh, and don’t be fooled by the price listed on top. That’s 7599.00Kc (roughly $380 US). Not bad!

Believe it or not this (above) is the first refrigerator Bethany and I have ever purchased as a married couple. Our previous fridge (we’ve only owned one) was given to us by another couple when we moved into our first apartment. Today we actually purchased the floor model which gave us a HUGE discount and even Mel was super excited because it is a side-by-side which are kind of hard to come by at such a good price. We’re definitely excited about it, but I realized it’s impossible to buy a fridge without thinking about Brian Regan.

Another thing on our agenda was to look into maybe (let me stress…maybe) doing a little painting of our new place. We were just curious to know what it would take and much to our surprise Czech has it’s own version of Home Depot called Hornbach. It’s actually a German store, but it’s virtually identical to Home Depot. Everything from the orange coloring to the hand written, black marker signage. It’s Home Depot in Czech! We genuinely had no idea this kind of place existed over her. I was just laughing as we walked around…it’s identical! We really didn’t buy anything at Home Depot, I mean Hornbach, but it was fun to look around and see what they had.

Our last stop took us to IKEA which was just down the street from Hornbach. There really isn’t much difference between the IKEA in Burbank that we usually go to and this one. We’re looking for a new kitchen table and a few wardrobes. Most Czech houses don’t have closets (including ours) so we’re trying to get creative with what to do with our clothes. Bethany snapped some photos and we bought some small things. Mainly it was an exploratory trip to see what our options our. We should be back in a few weeks once we get officially moved and settled into our new place.

I wasn’t the only that was tired though. As soon as we got back from shopping Titus ran and laid in the window of our room (photo above). It’s still weird to me how much light you can see outside. I took this photo of Titus around 9pm and you’d think it was still early evening by how much light there is. I didn’t let the little dude sleep there, but I thought it was hilarious to find him squished in there.

We know that things like appliances are luxuries in many ways. For us, these are tools to serve the Lord and take care of our family. God is good to provide all that we need and then some. Praise the Lord for His abundant kindness and grace. We are so thankful!

Tags appliances, home, shopping, stores