The Journey

Ok, it's that time of year again! It's Country Christmas time! If you live in Ohio and have never been to a Marmon Valley Country Christmas, all I can say is: "WHY NOT?!" I mean, seriously! If there was ever ANY activity that can get you in the holiday spirit, then this is it. Do me a favor- close your eyes. No, wait. Hmm. That won't work. Ok then, just imagine this- it's a dark, star-filled night. You are outside, wrapped in blankets, sitting close to the people you care about, and watching Christ's story unfold- LIVE- before your very eyes. Afterward you find your way to a toasty room where you can warm up and enjoy chili, hot dogs, and free hot chocolate, cookies and more live entertainment. Then, if you have young children or enjoy real Christmas trees, you can brave the cold once more to visit the tiny critter petting zoo/pony rides/tree sale. Doesn't that sound like fun? Roman soldiers riding draft horses, Mary riding a donkey, ange...

Hey, guys! Ok, so Thanksgiving is officially over. Whew. And by officially, I mean that OUR Thanksgiving is done. Here in Romania they don't have Thanksgiving (if you don't know why, then think back to your middle school days and read this ). Village churches usually set aside a service for thanking God for the harvest, but they don't have an official day, nor is it a national holiday. Anyway, moving on. My family celebrated on Saturday instead of Thursday because, again, Thanksgiving isn't a Romanian holiday, so they don't have the day off. It was interesting trying to explain about how we choose the day to celebrate (third Thursday of the month) and what are the essential foods. Honestly, I think they think we're kind of weird for not setting a specific day, like the 25th or something, but they thought the food was pretty amazing. And it was. In years past we have made dishes that require American ingredients, which we import. But this year we managed to...

All we could do was look around us in awe as the elegant streetlamps escorted us past tall, beautiful high risers on the right and the ocean on our left. A giant ferris wheel brought Alyssa's camera out (which, if you know Alyssa, is a regular occurrence). The rest of that trip was fairly uneventful. Close to 1:00 AM, we were dropped off, ready to enjoy our beds. For the next three days, I was bookin' it. I still had things to put in storage, three hours of work, plates to renew, power of attorney form to get notarized, and vote in a city 15 minutes away before we packed our bags for the plane and went to Singles' meeting at church. But, somehow, I made it. On the third day, we didn't sleep because we would be leaving the next morning at 3:30. Our ride picked us up and we arrived at the airport a mere 30 minutes before our flight. And guess what- lucky ducks, our line was the longest we had ever seen at the little Columbus airport! We fidgeted. And waited. And fid...

"Life is a journey, not a destination." -Ralph Waldo Emerson The first leg of our journey is finally over. Life is settling down, and we are trying to adjust to all the strange, yet familiar things around us. Romania is a land of contrasts: the old mixed with the new, the liberal with conservative. A cold wind sweeps across our little city, bringing with it dark clouds and an increase in activity. Everyone must get something done before winter sets in. For the men outside our house, it is to finish replacing the road they started too long ago. For others, it is to gather the last of their crops or gardens. Me? I'm just hoping the boxes come. Which encourages me to recount our little journey, starting with the boxes. Boxes, bags, containers, oh my! They were everywhere. We took over the living room. Boxes and bags of Alyssa's things, bags of mine, boxes of our parents'. We took those little containers and relocated their contents to four larger boxes. Ye...