Living Blossoms

E - Espresso. I just got an espresso maker (thanks, Swagbucks!) and I love it! Espresso is so yummy, better for you than drip coffee, and there are so many awesome flavored (and sugar-free) syrups to go with it. And even though I'm sure it's just a placebo effect since caffeine doesn't usually affect me, I have been getting a lot done in the past few espresso-fueled days.

F - Florida. I was born and raised up north, which, for the most part, I did not like. I get cold easily and thus hate cold weather, and I really hated how winter dragged on forever with gray skies and brown earth. I always knew I wanted to live somewhere warm, and every time we would visit Florida, it felt like where I belonged. Well, when I was almost 19 years old, my mom got a job in Jacksonville, FL. Finally, I was home. A lot of people here get on my nerves saying how ugly Florida is (because apparently they don't use their eyes?), and they complain about gorgeous 80º days in November. Not me. Not ever. I think sprawling live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, gorgeous white sand beaches, the sun setting behind palm trees, Spanish architecture, fields of wildflowers, etc., are beautiful. I would rather have a beautiful, swimmable beach nearby than mountains any day. (Although of course I do like mountains - just not as much as I like warm beaches.) And you will never find me complaining about a sunny, 80º day, no matter where I am or what time of year. I love Florida. It is my home.

G - Grace. As a pastor's kid I've heard a lot about God's grace during my entire life, but much of my understanding of it (as a human can) has come since we started attending WCFC. Ken's emphasis on it as it comes from passages he's preached on has really taught me a lot. Praise God for His grace, without which we would be helpless and hopeless. Listen to "Grace Unmeasured".

This is not how I intended my last night in Europe to be. I woke up at 5:30am having to pee, and then could not fall back to sleep. We didn't have to wake up till 8:00! GRR. Well, hopefully this will just help me sleep more on our first flight, which is 12 hours long. (What's crazy is that I've been on a plane for twice that long four different times in my life.) Isaac said he just thinks it will make me more irritable. He's probably right. Poor him. But hey, at least we had our own room last night! We were in the same room we've been in in Athens, but with no roommates!

I hardly bought any real souvenirs from anywhere, but I have managed to pick up 2 pairs of earrings here in Athens. One pair is rectangular, made of chips from a beautiful blue opal, and the other is mother-of-pearl with silver viney-looking things. Those + my two scarves (one from England because I was freezing, and one from France because it was so pretty and I was tired of wearing the one from England) + the requisite postcards/Christmas ornaments/keychains are all we got. Well, those things and who knows how many photos I've taken. My grandma gave us some money for the trip and I decided we'll say that the amazing Tuscany tour we took was using that money. I'm going to get some pics from that printed out and mail them to her with a thank you note.

Last night we had dinner at a place recommended by some dude on the internet, and it was really good. The server stormed out halfway through the meal though, yelling something in Greek. I am a nosy person, so I must say I'm still curious as to what on earth was going on, since prior to that she was very sweet and calm. I ordered grilled mackerel, and it came in the whole fish body. Isaac tried to get me to gross out by making it talk to me and say things like, "Why did you eat me?" I told him I am not his mother (once when we were in CT his mom realized the chocolate chunks were in the shape of bunnies and then she couldn't eat the rest of her ice cream. LOL!) or his sister, and that sort of thing doesn't work on me. Didn't stop him from trying though. In fact, we made our own version of the "Llamas in Hats" video. It makes us laugh and laugh and laugh...

I hope there's a Starbucks in the airport. I could use a gigantic cup of coffee right now. None of those little European shot glasses of coffee, no sirree.

I think we're going to be under budget for the trip. Go us! I guess there are perks to being anal and OCD about being cheap. Because of this, we're going to continue our vacation at home. It worked out that we'd save hundreds of dollars to a) fly home on a Wednesday, and thus b) have 3 nights we could've been in Europe at home instead. Now we get to recover from jet lag at home. We're going to go to the 4 or 5 restaurants we've been craving, as well as to the beach at least once. I'm hoping to have a painting party on Saturday though, to finally get rid of the nasty walls of the guest room. And then Sunday is church! I'm so excited about church. =oD

Well, that's all I have to tell you for now. My goal is to get pics uploaded and recaps written sometime next week, although I make no promises. Talk to y'all soon - from the USA!

P.S. Soon I will have CLOTHES! Lots and lots of CLOTHES! Clothes of every color and style... clothes that are not the same 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants and 1 skirt! Different underwear! JEANS! *chorus of angels*