Beach Day! Jaz!

Now that we're all happily together and in the beautiful Montenegrin coast, we decided we needed a totally relaxing day!

So we took the suggestion of our house hosts and we went to a beach about 20-30 minutes up the coast in Ploce at a beach called Jaz.

First of all, I can't even describe the massive mountains were staying in and driving through, and then you get down by the Adriatic Sea and you're just surrounded by these peaks!  And you can see their blue shadows miles and miles away in the distance as they go on and on!

So the beach itself - very crowded with restaurant after restaurant hosting a multitude of beach chairs and umbrellas and people upon people piled up in those chairs.  So we walked way down to the end of this beach area and went to an open beach area that was more gravel than sand.  But the view as you laid there looking out was amazing!

So the picture above is Mel and Ioana standing looking for a beach area for us...

And the picture below is what I thought was a really cute zoom in of the two of them...

However as you can tell there are three of them and none of them look like Mel and Ioana... It's called - the sun is so beautifully bright that I can't see what I'm actually taking a picture of!:)

And here's brave Ioana out in the water!  It was seriously the most frigid water I've ever felt but everyone was out swimming around!  I don't think Melissa or I got past our waste!

But even though the water is cold - it's as clear as glass!  You can see right to the bottom with these beautiful blue hues!

This was my basic view almost the whole time:)

So relaxing! And then we went later on the way home and walked around old town Budva which was quaint but very small.  So what I have gathered is that Dubrovnik (where i was last year) is this giant fortified city on the water.  Kotor is a smaller version of Dubrovnik and then Budva (where were staying) is a smaller version of Kotor.

This was our drive back to Budva.  A look out that let us see where we were!

And here's the outer walls of old town Budva.

And inside the walls - yet another beach!

Stopping for a drink on the walls!

My very Euro looking friends as they stroll through old town.

And then back home for Mexican food that Ioana requested!  We have all the fixings for authentic including chips and taco shells and guac and all that stuff!  Bet not a typical local meal!  But a great way to end a relaxing day!  With bellies full of Mexican food!

Landed! Stop Two!

The next morning we got up quite refreshed!  And after some breakfast on the rooftop in the executive club we got dressed and packed some bags to go and headed back to the airport.

We got checked in and through security and had time for a quick coffee and the boarded another plane - first stop Vienna!  But that was for a quick plane change - and then onto our real flight for ...

Podogorica, Montenegro!

We landed in Podogorica around 2 pm and got off the plane on the runway and headed for the small terminal.

Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the Avis rental car counter and got all signed in and then went and got our junky little worn out car!  Seriously this thing is beat up and sad and we can do almost anything to it and they'll never notice!:)

About an hour later, our drive took us to our house in the town of Budva.... And what an amazing house it is!

Nestled in an old olive grove.  With everything electric!  The whole house is controlled by this iPad!  Amazing!

And even more amazing is the view...

We can sit ...

And look out over the Adriatic!

Such a great house and such amazing hosts!  This house I would LOVE to come back to!!

Anyways - we were waiting at the house until about 8pm for my beloved friend, Ioana, to make her appearance!  Which after a grueling trip... 6 hour layover in Belgrade, 4 hour wait for bus in Dubrovnik, 2 hour bus ride to Kotor and 30 minute taxi ride to the house... She finally got to us!!!

And now we're set for a nice couple of days girls vacation!!!!

Landed! Stop 1!

I'm sure you're not surprised when I tell you our destination was Budapest!

However it's not our final stop!

But for today we'll just say - we landed in Budapest!

It took about an hour total to get our bags and then get a taxi and get to our hotel.  Once we got there we ran up to our room, grabbed our swimsuits, ran up to the executive lounge and grabbed a quick light dinner to go.  And then - I'm so excited!  We went to Gellert!

Gellert is a fancy old hotel in Budapest, but it also has one of the many famous baths in Budapest.  Last year, for the first time I went to one of the baths, Szecheny.  But Flora, my Hungarian friend, said that she and Atti thought Gellert was the most beautiful.

We got to Gellert, bought a pass and a locker and found out way down and changed into our swimsuits.

The way these baths work is that they're a labrynth of halls and locker rooms and then different pool.  All of the baths are mineral water and they'll say somewhere a.   in them what they're temperature is, usually anywhere from 27 to 40 degrees Celsius.  You'll do the hotter pools and then the cool pools and they're usually always larger plain old swimming pools .  The mineral baths are usually gorgeous with tiles and statues and glitter and lights.  I had seen pictures of Gellert and you can bring your camera in and take pictures but I don't like carrying my phone around water... And it's awkward taking pictures when people are in them that you don't know.  Weird:)

Here's a link to Gellert so you can see pictures yourself!

Here's one of the pools ...

Ok a photo of it!:)

At Gellert they had these two wings with pools and then showers by the saunas and steam rooms.

They also have all these cubicles all over where they do massage.  And during prime times in the day they'll just have people walking around asking if you want a massage (which you do have to pay extra for).  But the mineral waters do help!  As Mel testifies, her back was aching and after the mineral baths it felt totally better!

The baths are definitely worth it if you're in Budapest.  And I would agree that from my experience so far, I prefer Gellert.  It's usually more convenient and it's brighter and more open feeling.

Anyways - we walked back to the Marriott...

 

...and then went back up to the lounge for more free food and drinks:)

This is seriously my favorite place in the city - it's so quiet and the view is so fabulous!

The beautiful "Castle Hill".

Good night Budapest!!!!!

Off to sleep the sleep of the weary traveller!!!!

Stop One - Day One

There's nothing like big old sausages and pretzels when you're in Germany!  Especially Munich in September - the wonderful month or Oktoberfest!

Still not at our destination but we'll be there in a few hours!  Well our first destination stop!:)

Thelma And Louise - or not....

We're off on our big adventure - me and my bestie!!!

Stay tuned to see where we're going!!!

Day 1 - leaving Chicago....

A Great Week End

I suppose it depends on how you view it - it's either a great end to a week or a fantastic beginning to a week!

Either way - what a nice Sunday evening!

Itzhak Perlman and the CSO 

At Ravinia

 Crowded but... With friends and a picnic 

With a glass of wine 

If I'm ever ready for Monday, it would be now!

A Perfect Story

Ok - I'm back!  Sorry the long lull but I'm here and I have a post...

And it's all because of a perfect story that God wrote a long time ago.

And like so many perfect stories, it starts with...

Once upon a time there was a boy and there was a girl...

This boy was pretty special because he actually won the heart of a girl that had kind of thought she was would be single forever and was starting to be acclimated to that thought!  But like a true Prince, he came in and was kind and patient and gentle and treated the girl with so much respect and so much honesty and so much care that she started to like him .... a lot!  And then one day she liked him so much that, like a true fairy tale, she couldn't help but fall in love with him!

So there they both were, in deep like and finding love growing.  And they started exploring doing life together in little ways, and really liked it.  And then started diving in a little deeper, and some of it hurt and some of it was fun, and overall - it was pretty great!  And then a year or so went by and great turned to amazing and the boy and girl kind of started feeling like,  when one went away for a week or a day, things just didn't feel right.  The boy and the girl started spending more and more time together and all their friends and family and even people that were just acquaintances started asking the boy ... So when are you going to stop saying goodbye to your girl(friend:) every night?!

Poor Prince Charming!  How much he endured from so many of you!:)

And then a week ago, on a hot and bright Monday, early evening in Florida, while visiting the boys home and family - a surprise trip was planned for the girl.  They both got in the car and drove from Ponte Vedra to Amelia Island and the only information given to the girl was "bring water shoes!"

So she did...

And as she sat holding her water shoes they drove up to a boat ramp in downtown Amelia Island and saw a truck loaded with kayaks!  The girl was pretty excited:)

The boy said "I have a private kayak excursion planned for us!"

So they met Amber and her dad and they were fitted for kayaks and life jackets ...

And then they set out....

And they paddled and paddled, and then Amber pointed to one side and said - "do you know what that house is?  It's the house they made the Pippi Longstocking movie in!"  And the girl got really excited - and the boy - not so much ... :)

And they paddled some more and almost an hour after they left the boat launch they got to a little uninhabited island and Amber and her dad said "hey!  Why don't we go over to that beach and you can look around on Tiger Island!"

So the three kayaks pulled up to the beach...

And the boy and the girl got out and Amber said "you should just walk down the beach there and see if you can see the wild horses."

And so the boy and the girl walked down the beach...

And then they couldn't walk any further and so they turned back.

And when they got back by the kayaks, Ambers dad said "you should look over by that stick, I think I saw a horseshoe crab over there."

And so the boy and girl walked over to look and the girl thought "what's that in the sand?  I wonder if the horseshoe crab was kicking up a fuss in the sand?"

And then they walked closer and the girl thought "wha?...."

And as she was trying to figure out what was in the sand, the girl turned to look at the boy, and the boy was down on one knee in the sand...

And then all of a sudden the girl saw a word in the sand - just one word...

And the girl started to cry...

And the boy asked her the question in the sand...

And of course she was so much in like and so much in love with the boy that ....

She said yes to his question!

And they immediately started to plan to live happily ever after!!!!:)

And as they kayaked back to their car, the girl tried to act indifferent but every time she looked over she saw the boy smiling at her with a huge smile... And she had to smile back bigger than she's ever smiled!

So there you have the perfect engagement story topped off by the setting sun ... And the most memorable evening ever!

Thanks to Amber and Mark at Amelia Island Kayak Excursions (whose Facebook page you can look up and go to July 18th "She Said Yes" album to see a plethora of pictures!

And thank you to every single one of you who have prayed for us and encouraged us and loved us and have shown us how to love God and each other!  You are examples and lights to us and we're so excited to share this part of our lives with you!

We're planning on having a smaller wedding down in Florida in April and then we'll come back up and have another wedding party a month or so later to share with so many many of our friends/family in IL and other places!