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365 Czech Republic

Mail and More

Rejoice (8/22/14)

Two things came in the mail today: 1) Our very first letter from one of our friends and 2) A slip to pick up what we think may be our very first package! The letter above is from a good friend of ours and was really encouraging. As much as I love the digital age we live in, a hand written letter can be special when it travels over 6,000 miles to get to you! We weren’t able to make it to the post office to get the other mail because I had the car and didn’t make it back before it closed. Hopefully tomorrow we can head over and pick it up.

As I left our place today it was raining. It wasn’t a hard rain but it wasn’t a soft rain either. Rain had been falling for a while because the roads were pretty wet. As you can see in the photo below it was a very wet and gray day. For the most of the day it stayed this way but late in the afternoon it cleared up and became a beautiful day. Check out the scene below in the second photo. You wouldn’t even think it was the same day.

Rejoice (8/22/14)

Rejoice (8/22/14)

Later, with the sun shining brightly in the background, I got this photo of an amazing spider web hanging on the JV office.

Rejoice (8/22/14)

Tonight we had a little dinner at a friend’s house and Titus got all dressed up along with their sons. Good thing he had his Superman shirt on because with the mask and cape (and sword?) he was looking good.

Rejoice (8/22/14)

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365 Czech Republic

How Much is That Kitty in the Window?

A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

Both Bethany and I woke up today just not feeling that great. I think we’ve been pushing ourselves every night and we’ve been staying up late to get stuff done, but this morning I had a pretty bad headache and Bethany had the same and also felt achey and sore. So for the first time since we’ve arrived we didn’t make it to church. I made an effort to get up and get going but my head was just pounding so I took a few Advil and laid back down. Finally in the late morning we got going but it took a while for the Advil to kick in so we just rested at home.

I wrote about this in early July, but our Bible study in the States put together an annual project for us where we open a new envelope full of goodies at the beginning of each month. This afternoon we decided to open up August (photo above). Inside we found earrings and a scarf for Bethany, real fruit snacks for the kids, an iTunes gift card, and hand written notes from our friends’ kids! It was a treat to read the little notes and see the crayon drawings. Thank you to our Bible study for your kindness and for blessing us in this way!

A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

Even though we weren’t feeling great we had to make a run to IKEA today. It’s pretty difficult to make it there during the week because IKEA is about 40-45 minutes from our place so it’s not like we can just run down the street to pick up a few things. If we go we have a list and we try to be efficient while we’re there (especially with our kids). Thankfully, it wasn’t super busy today which made it easier to navigate and helped us get in, get what we needed, and get out. Now we have a shoe rack, a new light in our living room, a chair for Bethany’s desk, and some new storage containers for our recyclables. I’m hoping that we might be nearing the end of our “big” trips to IKEA. Here’s a couple photos from our IKEA run today:

A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

There is a mall next door to IKEA which we found out has a Starbucks! This kind blew our minds so we treated ourselves to our first Starbucks since moving here.

A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

It was sunny and stormy today. The weather can change so rapidly here so here’s an example in photos of what a day may hold in terms of weather. First this:
A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

And then this:
A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

From perfect sunny weather to deluge in no time. We are definitely still getting used to that!

A Little Under the Weather (8/3/14)

As were eating dinner at home tonight a cat jumped into our window in our dining area. I had been reading to the kids at the dinner table and the “Contentment” page had a picture of a cat so that’s the best photo I could use. The window the kitty came in is behind the book. Screens on windows are pretty rare here and our place doesn’t have any at all, but once the cat realized we were right there it scampered off. Later we were in another room as a family and then I came back into the dining area and found the cat on our table licking the plates! Again, as soon as it saw me it was gone. We may just have to keep that window closed or we might end up adopting a little Czech kitty.

Like that little kitty, I’m scampering off to bed. There’s a lot going on this week but I’ll save that for another day and another blog.

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365 Czech Republic

Bananas and Gummy Bears

On my way out the door this morning Bethany handed me two things: a banana and a package of gummy bears. Why? I’m pretty sure she was just anticipating my needs. I had to get a little bit of work done today at the JV office so she knows I’ll probably need something to snack on when I get hungry (banana) and then something sweet when I get tired (gummy bears). Only the best wives can anticipate those kinds of needs. She’s a great wife.

Frydlant (7/22/14)

There’s a little restaurant near the JV offices which offers very affordable lunch specials so I went there today with a Czech named Dushan. He’s a quieter guy, but really nice. He works doing IT for Josiah Venture and he speaks pretty good English so we had a good time together this afternoon. He told me he was “alone” this week because his wife and kids were away for a few days with family while he’s working, but that he was going to see them again soon. I was glad to join him so he could have a little company at least for one meal.

We did one of those American style trips to the grocery store tonight. By that I mean we tried shopping for multiple days worth of meals. It seems that culturally they shop daily or every other day, but I guess we’re just used to shopping for more at once and since we have a larger refrigerator we can basically make it work. The only problem is you have to bag your own groceries and people don’t like waiting for you, so Bethany and I begin the mad hustle of trying to bag everything and keep it going in the cart while the kids are playing with everything and talking louder than the other kids…it feels crazy. And maybe it is? Maybe we’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and we just need to adjust. Definitely something for us to think about.

Outside (7/22/14)

Outside (7/22/14)

Bethany and the kids enjoyed a little picnic outside today. The weather was very nice and comfortable. Not too hot, but not cold. We had the windows open tonight and a nice breeze was blowing through our place. I thought it was supposed to rain today, but I didn’t feel a drop. Rain or not, it was nice to have a little break from the recent heat.

That’s it for me tonight. Time for bed and we’ll do this again tomorrow!