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

Globe-Trotting

Ok, so I know I haven't posted the Ireland pics I promised (or the Scotland pics from before that), but in my defense, this was a really busy academic week because two of my classes are ending now to make room for the internship I'll be starting when I get back from fall break. I promise I'll make it up to you blog-followers once I get home from fall break with a plethora of photos and anecdotes from the last several weeks. In the morning I embark on a 10-day whirlwind trip through Italy, Austria, Germany. My flatmate Mallory and I are flying to Milan, then going to Rome by way of Pisa, then north to Vienna and Berlin. We'll then head to Hamburg, from whence we'll catch our flight home on the morning of Sunday, November 1st. I should be home in time to make it to church that Sunday evening! There's not a lot of details planned in between the flight there and the flight home, so we should have plenty of adventure (code-word for lack of planning!) and hopefully really awesome stories and pictures and memories from the trip.

A seven-fold smattering of thoughts on my mind as I tie up the last loose ends before fall break:

1) I can't believe I've already been here 7 weeks and the semester's already half-way over. NO!!!

2) I can't believe how blessed I am to have the opportunities to travel so much. This week's trip will bring the country count for this semester up to six (and push the photo count for the semester over the 1000 mark, probably).

3) I've been running a bit of a math experiment and I think I've effectively determined the following to be true:

Let productivity = p
distractions = d
coolness factor of London = L
family in town = f
trip to Ireland = t

where d = (f+t)^L

as d --> infinity, p --> 0

Let's just say there have been very large values of f, t, and L lately.


I think this week would have been so much easier (and have included a lot more sleep) if I had not put off some of this academic work until the last week. However, I suppose procrastination was aided by the fact that I went to Ireland last weekend and my parents were in town the two weekends before that, so I have had really good reasons to not be spending my time studying and writing papers. Now, though, is crunch time. Another essay to write before I can leave the country in 10 hours...

4) God is so, so good. I'll elaborate on this in a future post, but He faithfully led me to a good church about 10 days after I arrived in London. The first 10 days were pretty lonely spiritually, but He clearly pointed me to this church and really answered my prayers for a strong, welcoming community where I can worship, fellowship, and grow this semester. I'm pretty sure that Sunday evening service and Tuesday night students Bible Study are the highlights of my week!

5) I'm growing a lot. I've learned a lot about being independent and about relying on God. I've been spending a lot of time just by myself running in Hyde Park, exploring London (or another country like last weekend), and relishing the time to just process life and chat with God.

6) I love fall--the leaves are changing colors here and the weather's been remarkably good and non-rainy, which it seems is rather unusual for autumn in London. I've been spending a fair amount of time outside since I walk or take public transport everywhere and since I've been running in the park regularly.

7) Speaking of running, I've been lengthening my running distances significantly as of late. Today I ran about 7 miles, which I think is the furthest I have ever run at one time. And I still felt really good at the end, except my feet were aching somewhat. Even better, I managed to do that at a pace of approximately 8.5 min per mile, which I was pretty excited about (not sure if that's good or not in the big scheme of things, but I was pleased with it).

Ok, enough for now...I'd better go finish that paper since I'm supposed to catch a flight to Italy in 13 hours!

Ireland, here I come!

First: I'm so sorry for not posting for the past two weeks. I shall hopefully get things a bit more caught up when I get back in London...which leads me to my second reason for this post.

I'm leaving for Ireland at 06:20 tomorrow and will be traveling around the country until Sunday afternoon. I'm really excited, but I'd also appreciate prayer since I am going to be traveling by myself.

Lots of pictures and anecdotes (including, likely, a narrative of my first encounter with Guinness) to follow upon my return!