I rarely post unprocessed images, but I have to wrap up my trip coverage quickly so I can move on with life back home! I came home with such a new mindset and focus! Things I used to think were necessary are seeming so frivolous, and little things that seemed cumbersome are looking quite a bit more important and worth while. Right now I want to spend time with my kids, and that's more important than perfect looking pictures, so you'll have to forgive the lack of zing in these shots!
Here's some Romanian countryside, and a few of the sunflowers we saw in fields and bunches everywhere.
Here's some Romanian countryside, and a few of the sunflowers we saw in fields and bunches everywhere.
This is a picture I took of Chila before we left. She's SUCH a sweetie. I will miss her.
Chrissy gets a little more TLC from Maria before we take off.
Our group
In Budapest we saw some impressive and historical sites.
Kari and Sarah in Budapest.
Sam, Sarah, Kari, Jonathan, and Matt (the Missionary Apprentice)
This is the Baptist guest house we stayed in for one night.
It was set up much like a dorm, with sitting areas and rooms with multiple single beds.
It had beautiful courtyards, but we were wishing it had an ELEVATOR! lol
We climbed these stairs a few more times than we cared to. Some of us were on the top floor, which I think was 5 or 6 stories up. Not sure.
Homeless guy sleeping in his car...
For dinner we ate at a fabulous restaurant called Rustico. They had a gourmet Italian and Hungarian menu. Jonathan really got into his goose leg.
This was Bethany's food...green Ravioli. It was AWESOME (I got to sneak a bite)
James (my James) goose leg dinner.
My own meal: duck in walnut raisin sauce. YUMMY.
Beautiful food...love the colors!
Cody polished off his HUGE personal pizza.
If it says ANYTHING about how huge it was, James couldn't finish it!
Matt and Sarah in their fedoras.
Rich got tired of walking so he called upon his two slave boys for assistance.
This street performer looked like an interesting picture until he asked me for money when I was done. I was a little befuddled...I don't often have to pay my subjects to take their pictures. lol
James being...James.
We walked down the banks of the Danube looking for our tour boat. We were hoping this wasn't it!
Thankfully, THIS was our tour boat station and the boat was quite nice.
The view was incredible. The bridge and the buildings were all lit up.
This is the Citadel, way up on the hill
The water reflected the lights from all the huge, century-old buildings. Amazing.
This is the royal palace.
Several beautiful bridges spanned the Danube.
This is the Parliament. The building itself is as old, if not older, than our country.
On our walk home we saw this gorgeous church.
I wish I'd had a tripod on me for this shot. It's not bad for a 1 second hand held exposure, but I had visions of it being a lot better.
A little of the diversity in the city.
This is what James and I had for breakfast. It was SO yummy.
Had to take a picture of the money before we changed it and left.
I can't wrap this up without adding some personal thoughts about our trip. My mind is still reeling with all that we saw and experienced. Coming home feels so strange. We had no idea how blessed we were to live in such a free country, where freedom has been our motto for such a long time! We don't realize how quickly and easily it can be snatched away from us. Other countries of the world have a much better understanding of it's fragility.
Materialistically, we are gluttons. It makes me want to come home and open the doors of my house and allow my house to just VOMIT STUFF. Sorry to be so graphic, but that's exactly how I feel. We spend so much of our lives rearranging stuff, managing stuff, earning stuff, buying stuff, selling stuff, organizing stuff, rotating our stocks of stuff, displaying stuff...it's all just so overwhelming. I want to live more freely, less addicted to my stuff. And I want to put my entire focus where it should be...on a personal relationship with Jesus because that's the only thing that matters.
I hope that each and every one of you has the chance to someday expand your world view and experience what I did. It will truly change your life.
Materialistically, we are gluttons. It makes me want to come home and open the doors of my house and allow my house to just VOMIT STUFF. Sorry to be so graphic, but that's exactly how I feel. We spend so much of our lives rearranging stuff, managing stuff, earning stuff, buying stuff, selling stuff, organizing stuff, rotating our stocks of stuff, displaying stuff...it's all just so overwhelming. I want to live more freely, less addicted to my stuff. And I want to put my entire focus where it should be...on a personal relationship with Jesus because that's the only thing that matters.
I hope that each and every one of you has the chance to someday expand your world view and experience what I did. It will truly change your life.
