For the Record

     Just for kicks and grins (and in anticipation of our upcoming move to South Korea--Camp Casey and Dongducheon), I decided to make a list of which states and countries I've visited (and when/why--if I've been there more than two or three times, I'll only reference the main or most memorable trips), which I can return to and update as we travel more in the coming years.

US States:
Alabama--2000--cousin's wedding
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California--2007--cousin's wedding
Colorado--1990s-2011--camping, skiing, youth group trips (summer and winter), DCC (x4)
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida--1987-2011--regular visits (starting pre-birth) to grandparents' home
Georgia--2005--college visit
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois--numerous trips to Chicago...
Indiana--2005--college visit
Iowa--1987--born there.
Kansas--far too many cross-state roadtrips from MO to CO
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan--2005, 2011--college visit, catching up with a friend from the other side of the world who was meeting her future in-laws in Michigan ;)
Minnesota--many regular visits to relatives
Mississippi
Missouri--lived there. :)
Montana--2010--cousin's wedding
Nebraska--2010--roadtrip to cousin's wedding
Nevada--2007--cousin's wedding
New Hampshire
New Jersey--2004--choir tour
New Mexico
New York--2004--choir tour
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma--lived there in 2011-2012
Oregon
Pennsylvania--2004--choir tour
Rhode Island
South Carolina--2002, 2006--youth group trip, choir tour
South Dakota--2010--roadtrip to cousin's wedding
Tennessee--2005--college visit
Texas--2006, 2011, 2012--mission trip, grad school visit, visit to in-laws' in Dallas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia--(hope to visit later in summer 2012)
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin--drove through on way to MN more times than I can count...
Wyoming--2010--roadtrip to cousin's wedding
Washington D.C.

Other countries:
Austria--2009--fall break trip (Vienna)
Canada--multiple times for family trips (Thunder Bay, Ontario)
England--2007, 2009, 2010--family trip, study abroad (fall semester), visiting friends on way to second study abroad trip
France--2007--family trip (Paris)
Germany--2009--fall break trip (Munich, Berlin, Hamburg)
Ireland--2009--weekend visit to Cork, Blarney, Limerick, tour of Galway Bay area, and Shannon
Italy--2009, 2010--fall break trip (Trieste, Venice, Pisa, Rome), summer study abroad (Florence, Rome, Naples, Caserta, Verona, Cinque Terre)
Mexico--2006, 2011--mission trip (Juarez), honeymoon!
Scotland--2009--weekend in Edinburgh(Riviera Maya/Cancun)
South Korea--2012-2014-- PCS-ing with Army to Dongducheon/Camp Casey in summer 2012! :)
Japan--2013--stopovers flying between South Korea and US

And hopefully I'll get to add a few more states and countries to this list by the time we're done with the Army in a few years! :D

Here we go again!

After a several-month-hiatus, it's time for this blog to come back into active use! For anyone who hasn't heard yet, I'm spending 7 weeks abroad this summer. I fly to London on Thursday, May 13th, to visit friends. On June 1st, I fly to Pisa, Italy, then take a train to Florence (Firenze), where I will be studying opera for the month of June. On June 30th, I fly back to London, where I will stay with friends until I fly home to the US on July 2nd.

I am extremely excited and also nervous about this trip. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study opera in Italy, surrounded by the history and the language (more on those in a future post).

It's also wonderful to have a chance to catch up with the dear friends I made last semester. It's been just under 5 months since I saw them, and I've definitely missed them. I'm excited to see what God's been doing in London since I left, excited to go back to HTB for a few weeks, and excited to have a chance to do a bit of sightseeing that I ran out of time to do when I was there last fall. I'm also planning to visit a couple of grad schools while I'm there (more on that later, too).

At the same time, as departure draws closer and closer, I find myself getting nervous. I'm not at all nervous about London, but I am nervous about Firenze. I'm nervous I'll have trouble picking up the language, getting around, and making friends. I'm especially nervous about finding an English-speaking community of believers to worship and fellowship with for the month. God's been gracious already to me in this regard, though, because at least one other student going on this study program loves Jesus, too. Finding that out was really an answer to prayer. But I must admit I still have to remind myself of God's past faithfulness to me to calm my fears as Thursday gets closer.

I intend to keep this blog much more up-to-date than I did last time I was 'cross the pond. The posts may be less thought out or less carefully crafted, but hopefully they'll be a genuine representation and record of what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and God's constant faithfulness to me.

To-Do list before I leave:
-finish unpacking from the semester
-laundry
-repack for seven weeks
-buy an English-to-Italian phrase book
-get a haircut
-finish making my best friend's birthday/graduation gift
-have lunch with my best friend and give her the gift

Thanks again for reading!
Cheers!
-Emily

Joshua 1:9 (NIV) "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."